POLITICO Playbook Now WHITE HOUSE JOBS COUNCIL UNVEILS AGENDA (364 hits)
WHITE HOUSE JOBS COUNCIL UNVEILS AGENDA -- Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE and chairman of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, and Darlene Miller of Minnesota, CEO of Permac Industries and a member of the jobs council, in the Dayton Daily News: "The first priority, and the one that brings the jobs council to Dayton today, is small business. ... We'll focus on ways to grow small businesses through partnerships with large businesses. ... The second priority is the intersection of education and innovation. ... The job council's third focus is winning in global markets. ... We're also looking at the issue of whether to make strategic investments in infrastructure ... The final priority is improving collaboration between government and business with regard to regulation." http://bit.ly/jdoufd
DRIVING THE DAY -- Obama's first trip as president to U.S.-Mexican border: At 3:30 p.m. ET in El Paso, the president will deliver a speech on the "importance of fixing the broken immigration system for our nation's 21st century economic and security needs." Before that, he'll tour the cargo facility at the largest crossing of the El Paso Port of Entry.
ELEVATOR POINTS -- 1) A big immigration bill has zero chance of passing this year. 2) Hispanic voters are a big component of Obama 2012's plan to expand the map into Georgia and Texas, focusing on big pockets of unregistered voters. 3) Advocates are increasingly realistic. Carrie Budoff Brown says they're focused on urging Obama to implement the DREAM Act, providing immediate relief to illegal immigrants such as college students. http://bit.ly/k21Mxm
--AP: Microsoft Corp. says it will buy the Internet phone company Skype for $8.5 billion in cash.
BREAKING - NBC's Peter Alexander, in Islamabad: "U.S. officials ... tell NBC News that they expect [the administration] request for access to bin Laden's widows to be granted soon."