Gathering in homes, campaign offices—and, in Garner, North Carolina, at the “Touch of Class” salon—supporters got together last night at hundreds of Women for Obama house parties across the country. Take a look at the photos above to see the women of Garner make plans for the next eight and half months and listen in to a conference call with First Lady Michelle Obama.

Did you go to a Women for Obama house party last night? Let us know how it went.

Our new infographic shows exactly how many millionaires pay a lower tax rate than a typical American couple like Mary and John.

In his State of the Union, President Obama outlined a “Buffett Rule” that would close loopholes and require millionaires to pay their fair share in taxes. It’s based on the simple question Buffett himself has raised: Why does his secretary pay a higher tax rate than he does?

Find out just how unfair the current system is—then share the infographic with your friends.

President Obama traveled to Florida today to visit the University of Miami, where he met with students specializing in energy efficiency. After touring the school’s engineering facilities, the President talked about his work to support families struggling with the rising cost at the pump:

I have directed my administration to look for every single area where we can make an impact and help consumers in the months ahead, from permitting to delivery bottlenecks to what’s going on in the oil markets. We’re going to look at every single aspect of gas prices, because we know the burden that it’s putting on consumers. And we will keep taking as many steps as we can in the coming weeks.

Looking to the longer term, President Obama announced a number of new energy programs and investments.

We’re launching a program that will bring together the nation’s best scientists and engineers and entrepreneurs to figure out how more cars can be powered by natural gas, a fuel that’s cleaner and cheaper and more abundant than oil. We’ve got more of that. We don’t have to import it. We may be exporting it soon.

We’re making new investments in the development of gasoline and diesel and jet fuel that’s actually made from a plant-like substance—algae. You’ve got a bunch of algae out here, right? If we can figure out how to make energy out of that, we’ll be doing all right.

Believe it or not, we could replace up to 17 percent of the oil we import for transportation with this fuel that we can grow right here in the United States. And that means greater energy security. That means lower costs. It means more jobs. It means a stronger economy.

Find out more about President Obama’s energy policy here.

"We cannot, and must not, and we will not let our auto industry simply vanish. This industry is like no other—it's an emblem of the American spirit; a once and future symbol of America’s success."
—President Obama, March 30th, 2009

The American auto industry was facing collapse in 2009 with millions of jobs at stake. President Obama made the decision—at the time, politically unpopular—to not let the auto industry just go bankrupt. He extended emergency rescue loans to GM and Chrysler, helping to save 1.4 million jobs up and down the supply chain. The auto rescue “totally reshaped a bloated and dysfunctional industry, forcing sacrifices from all, into something that now looks sensible and sustainable." In the years since the rescue, American auto companies have made a steady comeback—repaying their loans, making record profits, adding over 200,000 jobs while planning for hundreds of thousands more, and regaining their place as leaders in the industry.

It’s important to note that as Detroit struggled in 2009, each of the GOP candidates turned their back on the industry, calling the rescue a “mistake” that would leave the industry worse off than if it went through bankruptcy. But as President Obama told Chrysler workers in 2010: “Don’t bet against America. Don’t bet against the American auto industry. Don’t bet against American ingenuity. Don’t bet against the American worker. Don’t bet against us.”

Warren Buffett wrote to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse in support of the “Buffett Rule” bill, which requires millionaires to pay a fairer tax rate:

“I’m delighted to be identified as a supporter” of the bill, Buffett said in a letter to Whitehouse, according to a release from the Congressman’s office.

“I have no problem endorsing any large step in the direction of greater fairness in the tax code,” Buffett continued.

The idea, which is typically referred to as the Buffett Rule, was put forth by President Barack Obama in the State of the Union address last month when he called for legislation that would require individuals making more than $1 million a year to pay at least a 30 percent tax rate to put them on par with the percentage paid by most middle-class taxpayers.

For more on Warren Buffett’s official endorsement of the bill that carries his name, read the rest of the Roll Call article.

Students turned out in the hundreds for Tuesday night’s Greater Together Student Summit at North Carolina Central University. Take a look at the photos above for a recap of the night's events—and if you were there, see if you can spot yourself in the crowd.

My name is Joan Sherman. I've owned a needlepoint business in Kansas City, Missouri since 1967, and I live in Leawood, Kansas. I'm a volunteer for President Obama's re-election campaign.

I'm 76 years old, and my history with politics goes back about as far as I can remember, even if it wasn't always official. I went to Smith College, which was a birthplace of the women's movement—so that activism was always smoldering in my background. It showed up in the little battles I fought every day—even as a businesswoman, when I still had to get my husband's signature on my lease. Finally I told my landlord, "My husband doesn't own this business. If you can't take my lease, I'm going to move." They came around.

I was a member of the Republican Party for a lot of my life—I even voted for Reagan. Then one day, after his presidency was over, I looked at the direction my party had taken, and I felt so snookered. Suddenly I was on the opposite side of every issue: women's rights, fairer taxes, voting rights. Having my business took me almost 18 hours a day, seven days a week, so for a great deal of my career I was unable to get involved in a campaign or anything like that—but I was raging inside over what was going on.

Barack Obama was very inspiring to me when he came along. I had just sold the retail part of my business and I decided to really get active in politics. That's what happened in 2007 and 2008: I just thought, "Hey, get up and get going!" And now, in 2012, I feel more motivated than ever.

Kansas is an extremely conservative state, but I've met some wonderful people as a volunteer. The first time I ever canvassed here, I was afraid every door I knocked on would get slammed back in my face, or that the person who answered would make terrible fun of me. But there's a long history of good, working-class people here in Kansas, and as I went down the line, I ran into people who were friendly and supportive and just so glad to see me. Nowadays I really like knocking on doors and making phone calls.

I would encourage everyone to step up and get involved—especially young women. You're going to build your future on where we've left things for you, and that means staying strong. This whole business of not wanting women to have a choice of what to do with their bodies—that's not a fight we should be having. Women are still struggling to earn equal wages—though at least now we're able to fight for them—and like the President says, that's just basic fairness. And a lot of the Republicans say they would repeal health reform, which would make it acceptable to charge us more for our health insurance, so the deck would be even more stacked against us.

This election isn't about staying where we are—it's about moving forward or going back. That's one of the things history teaches us, and you see it very clearly when you're my age. Today we're having to strike out and fight for things we never worried about when I was younger—health care wasn't as expensive, and nobody went bankrupt because they got sick. You worked hard, and you knew someday you'd be able to retire with a degree of security. But at the same time, we never could have imagined some of the progress we're looking at today—and we need this man in office if we're going to get where we want to be as a country. And that's going to take a lot of work from all of us, but you know what? I'm up to it.

Keep an eye on Joan and the rest of the Kansas crew by following them on Twitter—and check the state blog for more stories and photos.

Now available in the Obama 2012 store: iPhone cases, all proudly made in the USA.

Choose from your favorite of four designs to support President Obama and add some style to your smartphone all at once.