Jay Carney at a White House press briefing last March. (Photo: Getty)

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney responded to a plea from a group of sixth graders who had their tour of the presidential residence canceled due to the so-called "sequester" cuts in a press briefing this afternoon. Mr. Carney described the situation as "extremely unfortunate," but unavoidable due to the $85 billion in automatic budget cuts that took effect March 1 after lawmwakers were unable to reach a deficit reduction deal.

"The President and the First Lady have throughout the time that they’ve been here made extraordinary efforts to make this the people’s house, and it is extremely unfortunate that we have a situation like the sequester that compels the kinds of tradeoffs and decisions that this represents," Mr. Carney said. "The fact is the Secret Service, like other agencies of government, is affected by the sequester. And the Secret Service presented options that ranged from canceling tours to potential furloughs and cuts in overtime. And in order to allow the Secret Service to best fulfill its core mission, the White House made the decision that we would, unfortunately, have to temporarily suspend these tours."

The White House announced the decision to cancel tours due to the sequester cuts on Tuesday. According to the Secret Service, the tours cost the agency tasked with protecting the President and his family $74,000 a week. Because of the cancellations, a group of sixth grade students from St. Paul's Lutheran School in Iowa will miss out on their planned March 16 field trip to the White House. The sixth graders released a filmed plea to the White House to "please let us visit!" on the school's Facebook page yesterday.

In the briefing, Mr. Carney described the decision to cancel tours as a choice between letting guests visit the White House or cutting pay for Secret Service agents.

"The issue here is a choice between potential furloughs--and that's not just an issue that goes to the Secret Service mission, but also the individuals affected," said Mr. Carney. "We're talking about pay cuts and overtime cuts or a choice to suspend tours. And I'm not suggesting it's a happy choice, but it is one that we had to make."

Mr. Carney also urged Congress to make a deficit reduction deal and suggested that might allow the children's trip to be rescheduled.

"We are obviously disappointed about that kind of decision, but it would have been far better, in our view, if Congress had taken action to delay the sequester in the very same way they took action two months ago -- two and a half months ago, to delay the sequester to avoid just this kind of outcome," Mr. Carney said.

The sixth graders from St. Paul's Lutheran School in their Facebook plea to the White House. (Photo: Facebook)

A group of sixth graders from St. Paul's Lutheran School in Waverly, Iowa has turned to the internet to save their school trip to the White House. The children were scheduled to tour the White House on March 16, but their visit was cancelled yesterday along with all other tours of the presidential residence due to "staffing reductions" caused by the so-called "sequester" budget cuts that took effect last Friday after lawmakers failed to make a deficit reduction deal. In an effort to muster support and salvage their trip, the school posted a brief video on Facebook featuring a plea from the children.

"The White House is our house, please let us visit!" the sixth graders say in the clip.

According to Christi Line, the principal of St. Paul's Lutheran, the trip is a "big event" for the children, who are in their final year at the private, Christian school.

"This is our first White House trip and we'd hoped to make it an annual event," Ms. Line told Politicker in a phone call this evening. "This is a new capstone project that we have initiated this year for our sixth grade."

Ms. Line said a parent of one of the students was working to plan the tour. Requests for White House tours are generally processed through the requester's congressional representative. According to Ms. Line, the children were first told their request had been accepted and then cancelled this morning leading to widespread "disappointment" in the class.

"It was kind of a good news, bad news thing. we just found out that our tour had been approved and, of course, we were finding out at the same time that they were not doing White House tours now," said Ms. Line. "Students had been hoping that we would be accepted for a tour. Our trip was coming up in just a couple of weeks and we knew based on when we applied for that that we would find out sort of at the last minute with just a little time left. So, we had been waiting every day to hear."

Ms. Line said the Facebook plea was proposed by the parent who tried to plan the tour. She stressed it was simply an effort to salvage the tour for the children and "not a political statement." As of this writing, the White House Press Office has not responded to a request to respond to the children's video.

"We were absolutely adamant that this not be a political issue for us. This is not about politics for our students, this is just about wanting to have the opportunity to visit the White House. One of the reasons we chose Washington D.C. as opposed to Chicago or St. Louis or some place else for our capstone trip was that it's the kind of trip that not every family has the ability to take on their own," Ms. Line said.

Ms. Line described the D.C. trip as a chance for the students to "find out more about how the government works," to "extend their learning in the classroom about American history" and to learn more about "how they can live out their lives to make the world a better place." Though the sixth graders won't be able to visit the White House, Ms. Line said the school was not canceling the field trip and that the students would visit other landmarks, including the U.S. Capitol, where House Speaker John Boehner has vowed public tours will continue in spite of the "sequester" cuts.

"We will still go to D.C.," said Ms. Line. "We are not canceling our trip because the White House tour will not be accessible to us."

Update (3/7/13 6:57 P.M.): White House Press Secretary Jay Carney responded to the sixth graders' video in a briefing with reporters today and described the situation as "extremely unfortunate," but unavoidable.

Joe Biden (Photo: Getty)

Vice President Joe Biden is in Iowa today to appear at a campaign rally at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs. On his way there, Mr. Biden visited a Hy-Vee store where, according to the press pool report, he mingled with the other patrons and cracked jokes. One of his interactions, which was particularly priceless, occurred as Mr. Biden stopped at a food counter and poured himself a cup of vegetable beef soup while lamenting that he had to take it to go in order not to be late for the rally.

"They’re hard on me, man," Mr. Biden said to his fellow shoppers. "This vice president stuff is tough."One of the Hy-Vee customers, Peggy Nelson, apparently felt Mr. Biden's pain.

"That really sucks, doesn’t it?’" she said.

The pool report did not say whether Mr. Biden answered her question.

Despite the vice president's complaining, he apparently had time to eat his soup in the store. The reporter accompanying his trip was taken out of the store before Mr. Biden left. Once the vice president departed, he no longer had his doggie bag.

Mr. Biden also chatted with a woman named Karen Foley, who told the reporter in attendance he jokingly introduced himself as "Joe Finnegan" because she had an Irish last name. When Ms. Foley responded that she was aware of who Mr. Biden really was, she said he responded with a compliment.

"You’re very pretty," he said.

With all that soup, speeches and small talk it's hard out there for a veep.

Congressman Bruce Braley in his new ad. (Photo: YouTube)

In his latest campaign ad, Democratic Iowa Congressman Bruce Braley highlights the differences between Brooklyn, New York and his hometown, Brooklyn, Iowa.

"In the movies, growing up in Brooklyn meant the rough and tumble of New York. Well, I grew up in Brooklyn, Iowa where I learned that it's less important how loud you talk than how well you listened," Mr. Braley says in the ad.

Mr. Braley goes on to explain how his Iowa upbringing and his parents taught him "what it meant to work hard, meet your responsibilities, respect your community and your country." This all sounds well and good, but Mr. Braley's Brooklyn bashing makes it seem as though he may have learned to respect his own community, but he doesn't necessarily know how to show respect to other peoples' home turf. If Mr. Braley grew up in Brooklyn, New York rather than Brooklyn, Iowa, it almost certainly would have been louder, but he probably would have learned a lot more about how not to piss people off, a crucial life skill.

Watch Mr. Braley's commercial below.

Mitt Romney (Photo: Getty)

In his Ohio ad, Mr. Romney vows that, on his first day in office he will stand "up to China" and demand "a level playing field for our businesses and workers." By his hundredth day, Mr. Romney says he will have repealed "regulations that are strangling our energy industry and costing us jobs." In the end, he says the Buckeye State will be "a better place to do business as we see more factories and jobs coming back."

For his Virginia ad, Mr. Romney promises that on day one of his hypothetical administration he will "repeal Obamacare" and attack the deficit. By day 100, Mr. Romney says he will have "reversed Obama's offshore drilling ban, creating thousands of new jobs for Virginians." He claims all of these plans will leave Virginia with "new life" and "new energy."

Mr. Romney's ads in Iowa and North Carolina also begin with a promise to "repeal Obamacare" and attack the deficit on his first day in office. In the Iowa spot, he says by his hundredth day he will be "working towards a balanced budget" leaving Iowans with "fewer worries about their future and their children's future." In the North Carolina commercial, Mr. Romney says, by day 100, he will "cut taxes that kill jobs" and bringing the state "new certainty to our economy at the promise of new banking and high tech jobs."

Watch Mr. Romney's new ads here, here, here and here.

President Obama

"He should be proud of the great personal success he's had as a CEO of a large financial firm. There are plenty of good and honest people in that industry, and there’s an important, creative role for it in the free market," said the president. "But Governor Romney has made his experience as a financial CEO the entire rationale of his candidacy for president. Now, he doesn’t really talk about what he did in Massachusetts. But he does talk about being a business -- business guy. Right? He says this gives him a special understanding of what it takes to create jobs and grow the economy. ... So I think it’s a good idea to look at the way he sees the economy."

President Obama explained that private equity firms do not exist to create jobs.

"Now, the main goal of a financial firm like Governor Romney’s is not to create jobs. And by the way, the people who work at these firms will tell you that’s not their goal," he said. "Their main goal is to create wealth for themselves and their investors. That’s part of the American way. That’s fine."

Though he called the work of these financial firms "part of the American way," he also described situations where private equity has a negative impact:

"Sometimes, jobs are created in that process. But when maximizing short-term gains for your investors rather than building companies that last is your goal, then sometimes it goes the other way. Workers get laid off. Benefits disappear. Pensions are cut. Factories go dark. In some cases, companies are loaded up with debt -- not to make the companies more productive, not to buy new equipment to keep them at the cutting-edge, but just to pay investors. Companies may go bankrupt as a result. Taxpayers may be on the hook to help out on those pensions. Investors walk off with big returns, and working folks get stuck holding the bag."

President Obama went on to say the president has to look at the economy far differently than those in private equity.

"The job of a President is to lay the foundation for strong and sustainable broad-based growth -- not one where a small group of speculators are cashing in on short-term gains. It’s to make sure that everybody in this country gets a fair shake," President Obama said. "When you’re the President, your job is to look out for the investor and the worker; for the big companies and the small companies; for the health of farmers and small businesspeople and the nurse and the teacher. You're supposed to be thinking about everybody -- and the health of the middle class. ... That’s how I see the economy."

President Obama also reminded the crowd that the Iowa State Fairgrouns was the setting for one of Mr. Romney's more controversial moments on the campaign trail. Last August at the fairgrounds, Mr. Romney infamously responded to a heckler asking him to raise taxes on corporations rather than people by saying, "Corporations are people, my friend."

According to President Obama, Mr. Romney's background in private equity explains that remark.

"Of course, the worldview that Governor Romney gained from his experience as a financial CEO explains something," President Obama said. "It explains why the last time he visited these very same fairgrounds, he famously declared that corporations are people."

Abby Huntsman suggested her father, Jon Hunstman, would make a worthy successor for Mike Bloomberg.

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Politico reporter Alex Burns heard about an intriguing investment opportunity.

Houston Chronicle blogger Kathleen McKinley shared an interesting observation about the death of RFK Jr.'s ex-wife.

Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney's campaign is continuing to keep their focus on the economy with a new web ad that tells the stories of Americans who are unemployed or underemployed under President Barack Obama. The ad features brief interviews with struggling workers in Iowa accompanied by a moody piano soundtrack.

“Hope and change has not been kind to millions of Americans, but they still believe in this great country, and deserve a leader who believes in them: Mitt Romney," the narrator said in the ad.

Mr. Romney's campaign has continually pushed to make the sluggish economic recovery the central focus of this campaign. President Obama's team has countered by attacking Mr. Romney for his career at private equity firm Bain Capital.

Mr. Romney's new ad will air online. Watch the video below.

President Barack Obama

With his latest campaign ad blitz in the battleground states, President Barack Obama would like to remind you that the economic crisis began before he was in office. His ad, which will air in nine states, articulates what are clearly becoming the main early messages of his reelection bid; the economic recovery may be slow, but it is happening and the Obama administration has made a number of acheivements that make it worth keeping the faith for the many voters who believed in him during the last election.

"In 2008 an economic meltdown, 4.4 million jobs lost, America's economy spiraling down. All before this president took the oath" a narrator says in between grim news clips from the financial crisis as the ad begins.

As shots of Tea Partiers play, the narrator said,  "some said our best days were behind us, but not him." The narrator goes on to give the Obama administration credit for several accomplishments as clips of the president play beginning with a shot of his inauguration clearly labeled "January 2009."

"He believed in us. Fought for us and today our auto industry is back firing on all cylinders. Our greatest enemy brought to justice by our greatest heroes Our troops are home from Iraq. Instead of losing jobs were creating them," the narrator said.

President Obama's ad, which is called "Go" ends with an acknowledgment the economy hasn't fully recovered. However, it argues the president still deserves the fervent hope he infamously inspired and courted in 2008.

"We're not there yet, it's still too hard for too many," the narrator said. "But we're coming back, because America's greatness comes from a strong middle class. Because you don't quit and neither does he."

"Go" is airing in all of the biggest battleground states; Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, Iowa, North Carolina, Florida and Colorado. Watch the ad below.

Mitt Romney (Photo: Wikimedia)

The Republican competition to see who will finally face off against Barack Obama experienced a notable development tonight when Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney won the Iowa caucus by the narrowest of margins over former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.

Iowa's Republican Chairman made the announcement shortly after 2:30 am EST that Mr. Romney managed to finish with a mere 8 vote lead over Mr. Santorum, resulting in what is certainly the closest Iowa caucus vote count in memory. Although Mr. Romney's ultimate victory is impressive, the results are particularly remarkable for Mr. Santorum, who was polling near last place while running a shoestring campaign for all of the past year.

While the two front-runners were roughly tied at 25% of the vote, Congressman Paul also made a respectable showing by coming in third with about 21%. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich and Governor Rick Perry did not perform nearly as well, bringing in approximately 13% and 10% respectively. From his concession speech, Governor Perry appeared to be considering dropping out of the race completely.

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is probably most disappointed with her results tonight, achieving only 5% of the vote.

The next state to weigh in on the Republican presidential primary will be New Hampshire on January 10th, where Mr. Romney has steadily polled ahead of his political rivals. Unlike Iowa, which collects votes with a relatively complicated caucus system, New Hampshire employs the traditional ballot, which creates a different electoral dynamic.