Welcome! "What's Happenin'?" is a casual community diary (a daily series, 8:30 AM Eastern on weekdays, 10 AM on weekends and holidays) where you can hang out, talk about what is going on with you, listen to music, talk about the news and the goings on here and everywhere.
Maybe you have seen some news stories that you think are not receiving enough attention and you'd like to post links to them. Maybe you'd like to just chat among friends about your life, your health, your family or social circle, your pets, etc. You can also post links to your own writings here on dkos or elsewhere. Perhaps you want to share some pictures or music or links to other things. This is your kind of place to talk about what's happening.
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Good Morning!
Morning News
Seeing Threat, Boehner Tries Tougher Tack
Though Mr. Boehner seems to have temporarily regained his footing with his Henry V performance in the party meeting — he received his third standing ovation in three days — he is hardly out of danger.
Even if he prevails in the House vote expected on Thursday, the next few days could still spell the difference between success and catastrophe for Mr. Boehner, whose Republican establishment temperament diverges sharply from the fire-breathing conservatives among the rank and file.
Obama, White House seek to reassure base during debt ceiling talks
Those groups have been Obama’s most loyal backers. And high enthusiasm among minorities in key states, particularly in the Hispanic-heavy West, is a central piece of the president’s reelection strategy. But new Washington Post-ABC News polling suggests that budget talks and the economy may be straining that relationship — and shows why White House officials feel the need to step up the outreach.
Although Obama’s overall approval rating among blacks remains high, 57 percent of African Americans surveyed in the poll said Obama is too willing to compromise with Republicans in budget talks. Combined data from recent Post-ABC polls put Obama’s overall approval rating among Hispanics in the low 50s, about 20 points lower than it was two years ago.
On Wednesday, some black and Hispanic lawmakers indicated that their frustration with Obama goes beyond the debt talks to their belief that he has not done more to stem poverty and unemployment in their communities.
Obama's entitlement cuts paved way for Dems' support of Reid's debt plan
Reid’s measure would cut trillions in spending without increasing any taxes on business or the wealthy, making it precisely the kind of unbalanced approach to lowering deficits that House liberals say should be avoided.
Yet Democrats in the lower chamber have rallied around it as a lesser evil compared not only to Boehner’s proposal, but to their president’s.
Indeed, many Democrats have latched on to the Reid plan precisely because it leaves Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid alone. The absence of tax-revenue increases, many said, is just part of the compromise.
Obama To Announce New Fuel Economy Standards Friday
The new standards for model year 2017-2025 cars and light-duty trucks “will result in significant cost savings for consumers at the pump, dramatically reduce oil consumption, cut pollution and create jobs,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
Obama will make the announcement at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
The announcement comes as the Obama administration is nearing a deal with the country’s major automakers on the standards. Several news outlets reported Tuesday that the administration has proposed a 54.5 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2025 standard. Sources on and off Capitol Hill confirmed the number to The Hill.
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