WASHINGTON--President Obama's reversal on Super Pac fund-raising--he now will encourage donations to Priorities USA, a Super Pac run by two former Obama White House staffers--made in a late night Monday phone call to his National Finance Committee--was slammed Tuesday morning by the Republican National Committee.

"Yet again, Barack Obama has proven he will literally do anything to win an election, including changing positions on the type of campaign spending he called nothing short of a 'threat to our democracy,'" said Joe Pounder, the Republican National Committee's research director. "In less than 24 hours, Obama has gone from decrying super PACs in the morning to opening up the door to their money during a conference call with his big money donors in the middle of the night."

My Monday night post on the Obama fund-raising switch is HERE.


Flashback to June 19, 2008, when Obama backed down from taking public financing for his campaign....

WASHINGTON--Presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) riding on a wave of unprecedented and seemingly unlimited fund-raising capacity, announced Thursday he will reject public financing for his general election bid against Sen. John McCain (R-Az.). At one time Obama said he wanted to try to negotiate a deal with whoever would be his GOP rival to stop the fund-raising race and agree to both running their bids with public funds.

WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle will host a dinner Feb. 29 at the White House to honor representatives of troops who served in Iraq and their families.

The First Couple dinner comes as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the Pentagon told it was still too risky to throw a parade for soldiers as long as some military remain.

The White House said the dinner is "an expression of the nation's gratitude for the achievements and enormous sacrifices of the brave Americans who served in the Iraq War and of the families who supported them --- will include men and women in uniform from all ranks, services, states and backgrounds, representative of the many thousands of Americans who served in Iraq. The White House has been working with military and civilian leaders from the Department of Defense on this tribute, and will release more details regarding the dinner when they are available."

(White House photo by Pete Souza)

WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama met with former President George H.W. Bush and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the Oval Office on Friday--a visit not put on his public schedule later described as "personal" by the White House.

Jeb Bush--the son and brother of presidents--is often mentioned as a presidential contender--but did not jump in the 2012 race. With the Florida primary on Tuesday, Jeb Bush is neutral--denying Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney coveted endorsements.
Former President George W. Bush, who preceded Obama, is also staying neutral. Their father has endorsed Romney.

The Bush father and son Jeb are in town for the annual Alfalfa Club Dinner on Saturday night, according to the Associated Press. Obama will attend with First Lady Michelle and deliver remarks. The AP reported that the senior Bush, 87, used a wheelchair in the White House. The meeting took place around 5 p.m. The Alfalfa Club exists mainly for an annual banquet and its members are current or past Washington powerbrokers or celebrities.

WASHINGTON -- The Obama team's newest slogan, "An America built to last," rolled out this week for President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, is brawny and evocative of a headline on a car ad.

It's a phrase that draws a contrast to the intangible investment products that figured centrally to the economic bubbles that have burst and left us bust. You would laugh out loud, of course, if anyone suggested "mortgage funds, built to last."

Obama used the words "built" or "rebuilt" 13 times as he focused on domestic matters in his third State of the Union speech. The "built to last" theme works in two -- probably more -- ways.

The first is fairly concrete. In his speech, Obama offered a variety of plans to try to stop the flow of jobs out of the U.S. and to bring back manufacturing jobs that have left, most having to do with tax code revisions to give more incentives to stay rather than go.

The other goes to to the allegation of the GOP presidential candidates that under Obama's watch the United States has somehow been diminished.

"Anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned, doesn't know what they're talking about," he said. Obama offered proposals on making taxes fairer, education, regulatory reform and green energy to be unveiled in more detail in the next three days -- when he travels to five 2012 battleground states: Iowa, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Michigan.

The greatest threat to Obama's re-election is a poor economy, a bigger challenge right now than Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich. The economy has been on an uptick in recent weeks, but there is no guarantee a slide won't occur before November.

Obama made several pleas to Congress to work together; he's not counting on it, but he reached a rhetorical high in the speech when he talked about the day U.S. special forces carried out the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Partisanship can run its course,"just like it didn't matter that day in the Situation Room, when I sat next to Bob Gates, a man who was George Bush's defense secretary, and Hillary Clinton, a woman who ran against me for president."

WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union speech, called for community colleges and businesses to form partnerships to train students with skills employers in their area explicitly need--programs that community colleges in Chicago have in place.

"Now you need to give more community colleges the resources they need to become community career centers - places that teach people skills that local businesses are looking for right now, from data management to high-tech manufacturing," Obama said.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel--who talked about Chicago's experience in a speech before the U.S. Conference of Mayors here last week--and Obama's former chief of staff--said in a statement, "the President gave a great speech tonight. As he outlined his vision for the country, I am pleased that he mentioned strengthening our nation's community colleges as a way of providing our young people a ladder to the middle class. Chicago is leading the way in that effort with our College to Careers Program, linking our community colleges with partners in industry to provide students the skills they need to compete.

Chancellor Cheryl Hyman of City Colleges of Chicago said in a statement, "President Obama tonight called for a national effort to equip Americans with the right job skills and make college more affordable. Community colleges hold a large part of the answer to both challenges.

"Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and City Colleges of Chicago have launched the College to Careers initiative to partner with high-growth industries to align curriculum with market demand. This will ensure we address our nation and region's enduring skills gap and empower students to compete and win the global jobs of today and tomorrow.

"City Colleges of Chicago similarly plays a critical role in reducing the student debt crisis, removing cost as barrier to job training and college degrees. A City Colleges of Chicago student can save up to $40,000 versus comparable coursework elsewhere.

"It is incumbent on community colleges to ensure that students have access to quality programs that prepare them for success, and provide a truly worthwhile return on students' investment in time and resources.

"City Colleges of Chicago remains committed to delivering both access and success through the Reinvention of our entire system so that Chicagoans receive academic credentials of true economic value that help drive our city's economy."
The City Colleges of Chicago includes seven colleges: Richard J. Daley College, Kennedy-King College, Malcolm X College, Olive-Harvey College, Harry S Truman College, Harold Washington College and Wilbur Wright College. The system also oversees the Washburne Culinary Institute, the French Pastry School, two restaurants, five Child Development Centers, the Center for Distance Learning, the Workforce Institute, the public broadcast station WYCC-TV Channel 20 and radio station WKKC-FM 89.3. For more information about City Colleges of Chicago, call: (773) COLLEGE or visit www.ccc.edu.

WASHINGTON--President Obama is announcing in his State of the Union address that he will use his executive power to create two massive new green energy projects.

Obama will order the Defense Department to make the biggest renewable energy purchase in the history of the nation--one gigawatt.

He will also order his administration to build solar and wind energy areas on public lands for 10 gigawatts of projects by the end of 2012.

WASHINGTON--In his State of the Union address, President Obama is calling on every state to require students to stay in high school until they graduate or reach 18.

Some 20 states already have that requirement; Illinois does not.

Illinois requires students to stay in school until the age of 17. That was increased from 16 years old in 2005.

Obama is making the proposal because stronger anti-dropout laws keeps students in school longer--thus increasing their lifetime earning potential.

WASHINGTON-- President Obama in his State of the Union address is announcing the creation of a Financial Crimes unit in the Justice Department to probe banks and financial companies that helped contribute to the mortgage meltdown with risky loans.

He is also asking Congress to increase the penalities for fraud, so fines are not just seen as a business expense.

WASHINGTON--In advance of President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address tonight, the
White House Office of Legislative Affairs--the president's lobbyists--put together talking points for members of Congress and their staffs.

The memo stresses Obama's newest slogan, "America, Built to Last" and highlights some of the very broad theme of the speech before the Joint Session of Congress.

Read the talking points for yourself, click below...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel stopped at the White House on Friday to see President Barack Obama. Emanuel, Obama's former chief of staff and friend of departing chief of staff Bill Daley, was in Washington to deliver a speech before the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

City Hall told me, Emanuel "and the president had a productive conversation about a host of topics."

Emanuel's speech before the mayoral group was about bolstering community colleges investment.

Excerpt....
"If we modernize our training programs to match the needs of our high-growth industries, our community college system can catapult millions of people into employment and into the middle class, as it has done for generations of Americans," Mayor Emanuel said to conference attendees. "There is no greater investment we can make in the life of our cities than the one we make in the lives of our students."

And for those who didn't hear, Obama channels Al Green at a New York fundraiser Thursday with his take on "Let's Stay Together."

Click below for Emanuel speech text...

WASHINGTON--President Obama is doing a lot--on the government side and within his campaign--but having a hard time convincing people that he is accomplishing much, according to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll out Wednesday.

From the Post: "Slightly more than half the respondents -- 52 percent -- say Obama has accomplished "not much" or "little or nothing" as president, while 47 percent offer a positive assessment of his record. Those findings are identical to public attitudes two years ago."

And more: "This Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted by telephone January 12 to 15, 2012, among a random national sample of 1,000 adults, including landline and cell phone-only respondents. The results from the full survey have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by Abt-SRBI of New York."

WASHINGTON--Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's former chief of staff, is skipping a reception for mayors hosted by Obama at the White House on Wednesday in connection with the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter meeting here. During the day, Emanuel is presiding over a City Council meeting. Emanuel is speaking to the mayors group on Friday, but not attending much else of the conference. During the summer, Emanuel addressed the organization at a Baltimore meeting--he got a big reception--and also did not attend most of the working sessions.

WASHINGTON--Chicago's Ertharin Cousin has been tapped by the United Nations to be the executive director of the World Food Program. The appointment came from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Since 2009, Cousin has been the U.S. ambassador to the Rome-based U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture, appointed to the post by President Barack Obama. The UN position is also based in Rome.

"I am pleased to offer my congratulations to Ambassador Ertharin Cousin on her appointment by the United Nations Secretary General as Executive Director of the World Food Programme," Obama said in a statement.

"I am confident that the United Nations and its members will be well served by Ambassador Cousin's experience and commitment to the World Food Programme's vision of a world in which every citizen has access to the food they need to survive and to thrive. I also offer the thanks of the United States Government for the service of Josette Sheeran, under whose leadership the World Food Programme has become a stronger and ever more critical partner in the fight against world hunger, and for food security."

Cousin is a veteran of local Chicago and national politics, the Obama 2008 campaign, the Clinton State Department and the non-profit and corporate world dealing with food distribution to the needy and the food industry.

During the Clinton administration, Cousin was the White House liason to the State Department between 1994 and 1996.

Cousin was Executive Vice President / Chief Operating Officer with Feeding America from 2004-2006; she served as a board member for International Food and Agriculture Development 1997-2000. She was Senior Vice President Public Affairs and other positions at Albertsons Foods, 1999-2004 and was Vice-President Government and Community Affairs at Jewel Food stores, 1997-1999.

Seven things the Obama re-election team is doing right now to win in November:

*Organizing around President Barack Obama's Jan. 24 State of the Union speech before a joint session of Congress. The campaign is organizing watch parties, even putting together a host guide to go step-by-step on how to put together an event. Obama's State of the Union speech is being leveraged by the campaign in order to keep people engaged and to create more data for the digital analysts at the Chicago headquarters to study to see what makes people respond to different web-based requests for actions.

*Organizing around First Lady Michelle Obama's Tuesday 48th birthday, asking folks to sign an on-line card. Again, the point is to create engagement points while letting the campaign reap data from the respondents.

*No matter the flap over Jodi Kantor's new book, "The Obamas," reporting on East Wing/West Wing tensions, Mrs. Obama is one of the campaign's strongest assets. She launched her Twitter account @michelleobama on Jan. 12 and as of Monday, she had 337,884 followers.

*Fund-raising with new designer products. The campaign is already previewing "Runway to Win," which features higher end "Obama inspired" apparel, tote bags and the like, by 23 U.S. leading designers. The "official" launch is Feb. 7 in New York.

While the Obama campaign already has a full line of products--and a print and online catalogue--the designer pitch in part is that their stuff is "limited edition."

*Running an "Obama fellows" -three, 12-week programs-- in cooperation with the Democratic National Committee's Organizing for America. "Organizing Fellows who complete the program will leave with a full understanding of the most effective tools and methods that organizers use to make change in their communities. This program is often a first step in preparing for employment as some Organizing Fellows will go on to full-time jobs with the campaign."

*Vice President Joe Biden is fund-raising this week in Los Angeles and Sacramento.

*Obama is fund-raising Tuesday in New York, with the New York press reporting that Obama returns to the Apollo Theater in Harlem for a concert with stars as well as a $35,800-a-person dinner hosted by Spike Lee.

President Obama, First Lady Michelle, Malia and Sasha made a rare visit to church on Sunday, heading to Zion Baptist in Washington--a congregation founded in 1864 by African-Americans-- the day before the nation celebrates the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. At the service, a deacon read from Rev. King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."

The Obama administration--and the Obama re-elect campaign--are focusing activities on MLK Day. The campaign is asking for supporters to take part in service projects--which is also a way to help organize the troops for the November election.

Obama cabinet and top officials are fanning out to mark MLK Day: Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett keynoted on Sunday at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga.

On Monday, in Chicago, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack will speak to Rainbow PUSH to, according to the White House, "highlight USDA advancements on Civil Rights and the Obama administration's settlement of the Pigford lawsuit."

President Obama came home Wednesday for three fund-raisers and a stop at his Prudential Building 2012 campaign headquarters. He also made a quick stop at his Kenwood home before heading back to the White House. The Chicago Sun-Times Abdon M. Pallasch was in the pool; his story is HERE.