In the second, public turn of an oath already taken at the Naval Observatory yesterday, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor swore-in Vice President Joe Biden for a second term.

James Taylor sang “America the Beautiful” with an acoustic guitar.

Original post is Obama, Biden: Take Two by Political Capital.

President Barack Obama took the oath of office today for a second term.

The private White House ceremony led by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. played out at 11:55 am EST.

It wasn’t all that private: The Blue Room swearing-in was streamed live on the Internet by the White House press pool.

The brief event went flawlessly, with Roberts delivering the oath correctly the first time this year (Roberts botched the first oath in 2009 and had to replay it at the White House).

“Thank you, Mr. Chief Justice, thank you so much,” the president told his fellow Harvard Law alum.

To his wife, Obama said, “Thank you, sweetie.”

“Good job, Dad,” daughter Sasha told him.

“I did it,” Dad said.

“You didn’t mess up,” Sasha replied.

The public ceremony and inaugural address will take place Monday at noon at the West face of the U.S. Capitol, with some 800,000 people expected to fill the National Mall on a wintry day.

The post-inaugural parade promises to move more swiftly than in past years, with floats engineered for a quick turn at 15th Street approaching the White House reviewing stands.

Original post is Obama Sworn-In: Second Start Today — ‘I Did It,’ He Tells Family by Political Capital.

Four years later, this time with an improving economy threatened by a showdown with Republicans over the debt ceiling, Obama arrived in the East Room for the final news conference of his first term, wearing his party’s color — a blue tie — and issuing an ultimatum.

“Republicans in Congress have two choices here: They can act responsibly, and pay America’s bills, or they can act irresponsibly, and put America through another economic crisis,” he said. “But they will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the American economy.”

As he prepares to take the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts at a small ceremony Sunday in the White House, Democrat Obama has shed the aura of a hopeful consensus builder determined to break partisan gridlock. Instead, he’s adopted a more confrontational stance, refusing to negotiate with Republicans over the debt ceiling and asserting executive authority on gun control.

“He’s much more battle hardened in terms of understanding that the opposition may not just be subject to sitting down and reasoning together,” said John Podesta, who was former President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff. “He’s shaping the battlefield now, with a much keener understanding of what the opposition looks like.”

See the full story on Obama’s second term at Bloomberg.com.

Original post is Obama `Battle Hardened’ for Term Two by Political Capital.

Photograph by Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo

Cristina Castro, 23, of New York, wraps up against the cold while waiting to enter the Capitol to watch the inauguration of Barack Obama.

The real inauguration will play out indoors.

The outdoor celebration the next day will be chilling.

President Barack Obama’s second term actually starts at noon Sunday, on the date and time demanded by the Constitution. The president will have Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. in for an intimate swearing-in at the White House.

The celebration the public sees outside the U.S. Capitol, on Monday, a federal holiday commemorating the birth of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., won’t be quite so warm.

What’s normal for this date in Washington is a high of 43 degrees Farenheit, and a low of 28, according to the National Weather Service.

The new normal, lately, has been a lot colder.

Ronald Reagan’s second swearing-in, in 1985, set the record. It was 7 degrees outside at noon, with a wind-chill of minus 10 to minus 20 that day, so he took the oath indoors, and the inaugural parade was canceled.

(Reagan already had set another record: His first inauguration, in 1981, was the warmest in history, with a balmy noontime temp of 55.)

It was below freezing for Obama’s first inauguration, in 2009 — 28 degrees at noon. It was just above freezing for both of George W. Bush’s inaugurations, in 2001 and 2005 — 35 and 36 degrees.

Of course, they all had it easy — compared with President William Henry Harrison, sworn into office on a cold and blustery day in 1841.

Harrison talked for an hour and 40 minutes and rode horseback to and from the Capitol without a hat or overcoat. He caught a cold, which turned to pneumonia, and died a month later.

It’s not always dry, either. William Taft was sworn into office in 1909 with 9.8 inches of snow on the ground. Almost two inches of rain fell on the day of Franklin Roosevelt’s second inauguration, in 1937.

There’s a one-in-six chance of precipitation this time around, and also a one-in-20 chance of snow during the outdoor ceremony.

There’s also a one-in-six chance that there will be at least one inch of snow already on the ground.

Though the practical forecast is cheerier: A high of 40 on Monday, and most likely dry, the day that Obama delivers his final inaugural address.

He’ll be the first president since Roosevelt, as we’ve noted before, to be sworn in four times. Obama took two oaths in 2009, after Roberts botched the first one outdoors and delivered a rerun indoors, and Obama is taking two this year. Roosevelt actually was elected four times, which is no longer possible under the 22nd Amendment (ratified in 1951).

(This follows a certain line of Republican thinking: It’ll be a cold day in Washington when Obama takes his fourth oath of office.)

Expect no climatic record-setting, though, other than the general trend toward global warming which Washington largely ignores.

The White House, nevertheless, will be cranking the first fireplaces this weekend.

Original post is Obama’s 40-Degree Inaugural Day — History Dictates a Heavy Top Coat by Political Capital.

Photograph by Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images

The crowd watches a large screen on the National Mall during President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration in Washington on Jan. 20, 2009.

The White House is preparing for another inauguration.

This one will span two days, with an official swearing in on the day required under the Constitution, Sunday the 20th, and a ceremonial swearing in outside the Capitol on Monday the 21st, the day on which the Martin Luther King federal holiday will be recognized.

These, as we’ve noted before, mark the third and fourth oaths of office for President Barack Obama, the nation’s first African-American president, who delivered one oath in public in January 2009 and other in private after Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts botched the lines in the first take.

The president is inviting a crowd, with the turnout expected to fall somewhat short of the million and a half people who filled the National Mall on Jan. 20, 2009. The inaugural committee has posted its first video with scenes and outtakes from that celebration:

“What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility,” Obama said four years ago.

Four former presidents serve as the honorary co-chairs of the inaugural committee — Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The committee also is led by Ambassador Martin Barzun, national finance chair of Obama’s re-election campaign. actress Eva Longoria and others. And, this time, Obama is accepting corporate contributions.

Original post is Obama’s Second-Term Inauguration: `Era of Responsibility,’ Take Four by Political Capital.

Photograph by Dennis Brack/Bloomberg

U.S. President Barack Obama, left, is sworn in as wife Michelle holds up the same bible used by former President Abraham Lincoln, during the inauguration ceremony at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20, 2009.

There’s only one president who has been sworn in as many times as President Barack Obama will be sworn in as chief executive of the nation on the public Inauguration Day of Jan. 21, 2013.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Steve Kerrigan, chief executive of the Presidential Inaugural Committee, noted the historical tie today at a briefing.

Roosevelt, of course, was elected president four times (1932, ’36, ’40 and ’44).

Obama, only twice (2008 and ’12).

But in January 2009, Obama stood for a privately issued second oath of office at the White House, because Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts botched the words in the public ceremony at the Capitol.

And in January 2013, the public inauguration will come the day after the Constitutional requirement for a Jan. 20 start of the president’s term because the 20th is a Sunday. Obama plans an initial, private oath of office at the White House on the 20th.

That will also provide Roberts a dress rehearsal.

 

Original post is Obama’s Fourth Oath of Office: Inauguration Day 2013 by Political Capital.

Photograph by Nick Ut/AP Photo

Chief Justice John Roberts

Does private-equity giant KKR have Chief Justice John Roberts to thank for a stellar quarter?

Yes and no.

The storied buyout firm, run by cousins Henry Kravis and George Roberts, today posted second-quarter profits of $520 million, more than double its profit for the same period last year. Most metrics — including the aggregate value of KKR’s holdings, its share of investment gains and its earnings eligible for distribution to investors — were up in the quarter.

The vast majority of KKR’s profit came from its stake in Alliance Boots, the largest drugstore chain in Britain. After Walgreen agreed last month to buy 45 percent of Boots for $6.7 billion, KKR marked up the value of its Boots holding to $651 million, from $392 million just three months earlier. KKR said today that the Boots stake, which is valued at 1.9 times the cash KKR paid for it, accounted for 82 percent of pre-tax profit for the quarter.

The remainder of KKR’s profit is where Chief Justice John Roberts comes in.

KKR said the stellar performance of its balance sheet, which heavily impacts the firm’s profit metric, was “largely due to the significant appreciation in Alliance Boots, Dollar General and HCA.”

HCA is the biggest hospital chain in the U.S., and it is 20 percent owned by KKR and its affiliated funds, according to Bloomberg data. At that weight, the value of KKR’s stake in HCA jumped $334 million in the final two days of the quarter, when news rippled through the markets that Roberts’ Supreme Court — with the chief justice writing the 5-4 opinion — upheld the core of President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul.

When the dust settled and the second quarter was in the history books, KKR had marked up the value of its HCA holdings to $568 million, more than 2.5 times its cost and a jump from $463 million three months earlier.

Commenting today on the sterling run for his firm’s balance sheet, KKR chief financial officer Bill Janetschek said, “This strong performance translated into the highest book value figure we’ve reported as a public company.”

For at least part of that performance, he has Roberts to thank.

Original post is John Roberts’ Role in KKR’s Profits by Political Capital.

Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

A Tea Party supporter outside the Supreme Court.

Despite an alleged aversion to “judicial activism,” Republican voters applauded as the Supreme Court’s 5-4 conservative majority reversed precedents and overturned legislation, most notably in the Citizens United case removing limits on corporate campaign spending.

The ruling led to an explosion of mostly pro-Republican groups spending millions on elections without disclosing their donors.

A Quinnipiac University poll in April found 62 percent of Republicans approving of the job the Supreme Court was doing, compared with 44 percent of Democrats voicing approval for the high court.

Then came the health-care decision, in which Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the court’s four liberals to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a law designed to provide insurance to millions of Americans without coverage while reducing the federal deficit.

All of a sudden, Republicans fell out of love with the Supreme Court.

A Quinnipiac survey taken last week, after the health-care decision, found only 35 percent of Republicans approving of the way the court was doing its job. A majority, 54 percent, disapproved.

Peter Brown, the polling institute’s assistant director, said: “It’s obvious there is great disappointment among conservatives” that the court upheld the law.

Original post is Republicans Fall Out of Love with Supreme Court by Political Capital.

Photograph by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Mitt Romney supporters.

Updated at 11 am EDT

On the road, the day after the ruling:

Republican Mitt Romney told campaign donors today that the Supreme Court ruling upholding President Barack Obama’s health-care law “calls for greater urgency” in the Nov. 6 election.

“I think people recognize that if you want to replace Obamacare, you’ve got to replace President Obama,” Romney said. “And the urgency of doing that is something which is galvanizing people across the country,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee told donors over breakfast at Cipriani in midtown Manhattan.

While “many people assumed that the Supreme Court would do the work that was necessary in repealing Obamacare,” Romney said, “it did not get that job done. It instead came up with an interpretation to allow it to stand.”

The campaign says it sold about 600 tickets to the fundraiser, which cost $2,500 for a seat and $25,000 for a photograph with Romney. It declined to reveal how much the event raised. The money goes to Romney Victory Inc., a joint fundraising committee that sends proceeds to the Romney campaign, the Republican National Committee and some state Republican committees.

Romney was introduced by Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets professional football team and a top surrogate for Romney in the business community. In introducing Romney, Johnson said that Chief Justice John Roberts, who sided with the 5-4 majority and wrote the opinion upholding the health-care law, gave Romney supporters a rallying call.

“I think Judge Roberts did this intentionally, he’s really revved up our base from what we’re able to gather,” Johnson said. “He’s really revved us up.”

(The Obama campaign says its fundraising is going just fine — outpacing what the Romney camp is claiming in online donations since the health-care ruling.)

Johnson told donors after Romney’s remarks that their money would be spent wisely. “Mitt does not spend money frivolously” and “some people say he’s cheap, which is good,” Johnson said.

Obama and Romney are intensifying their fundraising efforts before the June 30 cutoff for the nextround of campaign finance reports. Those documents, covering receipts and spending for June, are due to the Federal Election Commission by July 20, though campaign officials may reveal their top-line numbers as early as next week.

Since the Supreme Court ruling, the Romney campaign says, supporters have contributed $4.,3 million to the campaign online. This won’t be independently verifiable until the monthly reports are filed with the FEC. However, campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said this morning that they had recorded 43,000 donations since the ruling. The Romney campaign normally clocks about $140,000 a day in online donations, Saul told us. Their biggest online haul, before the health-care ruling, she adds, was one $400,000 day.

The Obama campaign is pointing out the absence of an alternative on health care from Romney, as he pledges to repeal the president’s law offering insurance to more than 30 million Americans.

“It’s perverse that Mitt Romney wont share details about what he’d do for the millions he’d leave uninsured or at the whims of insurance companies when he ‘kills Obamacare dead,’ but he’ll share the hourly details of his fundraising after the Supreme Court ruling,” Ben LaBolt, press secretary for Obama’s campaign ,said  in an e-mail today. “We’ve out-raised the Romney campaign in that time period but that’s not the point –  our supporters are more committed than ever to ensuring that insurance companies can’t drop coverage for people who get sick or discriminate against people with preexisting conditions by reelecting the president.”

Greg Giroux reported from New York, Julianna Goldman and Mark Silva  from Washington 

Original post is Court `Revved’ Romney’s Base, Jets Owner Tells Donors by Political Capital.

Photograph by Christy Bowe/ImageCatcher News/Corbis

Chief Justice John Roberts

Serving as the junior senator from Illinois, Barack Obama met in private quarters with a fellow graduate of Harvard Law School, John Roberts Jr., President George W. Bush’s nominee for chief justice of the Supreme Court .

Obama cast a public vote against Roberts’ confirmation.

In his pubic swearing in as president, Roberts botched the wording of Obama’s oath  - they repeated the ceremony the next day in private, to be certain.

Now Roberts, in the most public way possible, has saved the signature legislative achievement of Obama’s term, as Obama seeks a second, four months from Election Day. He broke the tie and wrote the 5-4 ruling upholding the thrust of Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Roberts is the talk of Washington today — with a spectrum of respect and criticism that runs the gamut from people hailing his statesmanship to people calling for his ouster. The one who has it right, we’ll suggest, is the guy who read a convoluted ruling fastest, the guy who got it right, and first, on decision day.

This is the start of Bloomberg’s Greg Stohr’s take on Roberts:

With a single vote supporting President Barack Obama’s health-care law, Republican-appointed Chief Justice John Roberts asserted his independence and defused claims that partisanship rules the Supreme Court.

Roberts joined four Democratic-selected justices to uphold the biggest change to the U.S. medical system in a half-century. The law, almost universally rejected by Republicans, is designed to expand insurance to at least 30 million Americans.

The ruling injects nuance into the legacy of a chief justice who since his 2005 appointment by President George W. Bush has led the court’s conservative wing in supporting gun rights, overturning campaign-finance restrictions and limiting racial preferences. It came three days after Roberts and JusticeAnthony Kennedy joined liberal justices in striking down most of an Arizona law cracking down on illegal immigrants.

“It would appear that he has put the prestige of the court and the institutional image of the court as nonpartisan above his ideological values,” said James F. Simon, the former dean ofNew York Law School and the author of six books about the Supreme Court, referring to the health-care law.

For Roberts, who worked in President Ronald Reagan’s administration and whose 2005 nomination then-Senator Obama opposed, the decision upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act almost certainly cut against his political and policy instincts. His vote helped avert the prospect of an ideologically divided court undercutting a president’s signature achievement little more than four months before an election.

Read the rest at Bloomberg.com. 

Original post is Roberts Legacy Injected with Nuance by Political Capital.