Happy Friday, Everyone. More Eagles!
New Kid in Town
Peaceful Easy Feeling
The Best Of My Love
-
-
Black Girls Rock!
Flickr Photos
-
Potus Takes Oath of Office
Flotus & Daughters at Great Wall of China
My Brothers Keeper
-
-
-
-
-
AFRO PUFFS
Most Adorable Shoe Stealer
Six Little Babies
Fatherhood
-
-
Even though 3Chics Politico is written and curated by three women: Ametia, Rikyrah, and SouthernGirl2, I must nominate this as one of the most engaging blogs I've found. Devoted to politics and culture, these three shine a light on contemporary life with humor and spirit.
-
3Chics Action Alert
Lets Make It Happen
3 Chics Trio
-
REALITY Blog Award
Recent Comments
Top Posts
Guard The Change
Vote 4 Democrats
-
-
-
Go to the polls
President Barack Obama
First Lady Michelle Obama
Obama Love
Your Vote Matters
President Obama & Bo
The Obama Family
-
-
-
-
Presidential hug
-
https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/518073169580937217
The ‘pressing’ need for more tax breaks for the rich?
10/03/14 12:39 PM
By Steve Benen
President Obama delivered a pretty interesting speech on the economy yesterday, but towards the end, he completely abandoned his prepared text, ignoring the teleprompter to reflect on something that clearly bothered him on a personal level.
“[J]ust last month, at least one top Republican in Congress said that tax cuts for those at the top are – and I’m quoting here – ‘even more pressing now’ than they were 30 years ago. More pressing. When nearly all the gains of the recovery have gone to the top 1 percent, when income inequality is at as high a rate as we’ve seen in decades, I find that a little hard to swallow that they really desperately need a tax cut right now, it’s ‘urgent.’
“Why? What are the facts? What is the empirical data that would justify that position? Kellogg Business School, you guys are all smart. You do all this analysis. You run the numbers. Has anybody here seen a credible argument that that is what our economy needs right now?”
Almost every word of this was ad libbed. Presented with the Republican argument that the wealthy really need yet another tax cut, the president seemed genuinely gobsmacked. To appreciate the degree to which Obama was amazed, watch the video – go here and forward to the 48:02 mark.
Of course, the president wasn’t making up any of the allegations themselves – a leading congressional Republican really did argue last month that tax breaks for the very wealthy are “even more pressing now” than a generation ago.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-pressing-need-more-tax-breaks-the-rich
Repairs to New York Tunnels Will Limit Rail Service
By PATRICK McGEEHAN
OCT. 2, 2014
Amtrak officials said on Wednesday that they will have to sharply curtail use of the century-old rail tunnels leading to New York City for at least a year to repair the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, a move that would affect train service for tens of thousands of commuters.
One of the four tubes that carry trains under the East River between Manhattan and Long Island would be the first to close, possibly in late 2015. The work on that tube would take a full year and would affect service on the two railroads that also use the tunnel, the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit, which uses a rail yard in Queens to park its trains.
Floodwaters from the storm two years ago inundated two of the four tubes of the East River Tunnel and both tubes of Amtrak’s two-track tunnel under the Hudson River. Eventually, Amtrak will need to shut each of the four damaged tubes to fix the extensive damage caused by the saltwater, said Stephen Gardner, Amtrak’s vice president for Northeast Corridor Infrastructure and Investment Development.
Closing and overhauling the tubes, one by one, was among the recommendations in a report that Amtrak commissioned and planned to make public on Thursday. The report, which details all of the damage caused by the storm, estimated the total cost of repairs at $689 million.
Mr. Gardner said Amtrak hoped that most, if not all, of that money would come from the railroad’s insurance companies. “We have insurance and we believe insurance covers the work,” he said.
Amtrak has begun designing the process of replacing the interior walls and the tracks inside one of the East River tubes, Mr. Gardner said. The railroad plans to start there because the effect on train service would be less drastic.
A shutdown of one of the four tubes in that tunnel would reduce capacity by less than 25 percent, Mr. Gardner said.
But shutting one of the two tracks in the tunnel under the Hudson River would cut service by about 75 percent because trains headed into New York would have to share the remaining track with trains headed west from the city, he said.
All told, more than 400,000 passengers ride trains through the two tunnels on a typical weekday, an Amtrak spokesman said. At peak commuting times, 24 trains an hour pass through the Hudson River tunnel, which is the only direct rail link between Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan and all points west. Reducing that traffic to just six trains an hour would have an unacceptable effect on travel in the metropolitan area, said Anthony R. Coscia, the chairman of Amtrak’s board of directors.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/nyregion/repairs-to-new-york-tunnels-will-limit-rail-service.html?_r=0
Review: I Was Surprised by How Much I Liked ‘Survivor’s Remorse.’ It’s Refreshingly Funny.
By Dylan Green | Shadow and ActOctober 3, 2014 at 11:55AM
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/review-i-was-surprised-by-how-much-i-liked-survivors-remorse-its-refreshingly-funny-20141003
13 crucial differences between Broadchurch and Gracepoint
(includes spoilers)
http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/gracepoint/32366/13-crucial-differences-between-broadchurch-and-gracepoint
https://twitter.com/WNINnews/status/518099797170192384/photo/1
‘How to Get Away with Murder’ – Episode 2 Recap + Your Thoughts
By Abdul Ali | Shadow and ActOctober 3, 2014 at 1:03PM
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/how-to-get-away-with-murder-episode-2-recap-your-thoughts-20141003
Anyone else watching Gracepoint – it’s the American version of the BBCAmerica’s Broadchurch.
Watch Idris Elba Play Daddy in First Clip From Slice of Life London-Set Drama ‘Second Coming’
By Zeba Blay
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/watch-idris-elba-play-daddy-in-first-clip-from-slice-of-life-london-set-drama-second-coming-20141001
Governor Krispy Kreme…Karma’s coming a knocking
……………..
This upcoming traffic apocalypse will be the end of Chris Christie In a sane world, it would end fiscal austerity too…
By Ryan Cooper | 6:08am
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) is infamous as the guy whose underlings caused an epic traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge as part of some weird political punishment. In time, though, he will be known as the guy who caused the worst transportation snarl in the history of New York City.
I can’t see how this traffic disaster will mean anything but the end of Christie’s 2016 aspirations. The question for New Yorkers looking down the barrel of this sucker is whether it will be bad enough to break the hegemony of austerity in Congress.
So, what is happening? Let’s wind the tape back to 2010. The Recovery Act was in full swing, and all manner of stuff was being built across the country with stimulus money. The biggest project of all was called Access to the Region’s Core, a plan for a desperately needed new tunnel under the Hudson River and a new train station in Manhattan. There are only two other tunnels under the Hudson, both single-track and over 100 years old, both stuffed to capacity during rush hour, with demand only projected to grow.
The cost was projected at around $8 billion to $10 billion, with the federal government and the Port Authority picking up roughly three-quarters of the tab. Construction started in 2009, and hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on rights-of-way and initial work.
Then Christie unilaterally canceled the project, charging that costs were skyrocketing, that New Jersey would thus have to pay 70 percent of the bill, and that the feds were going to stick the state with any cost overruns.
He was lying through his teeth. A Government Accountability Office report later detailed that cost estimates had not increased, that New Jersey was only paying 14.4 percent, and the feds had offered to share the burden of any overruns. Instead, Christie swiped the money earmarked for the project and spent a bunch of it on New Jersey’s highway fund, so he wouldn’t have to raise the gas tax. (He’s under investigation by the SEC and the Manhattan DA for that, among other things.)
It was an infuriatingly stupid decision. But Hurricane Sandy changed it from stupid to disastrous. During the storm surge both the tunnels under the Hudson were flooded with ocean water, and the deposited salts are eating away the 100-year-old metal and concrete. Therefore, according to a recent study, both tunnels will need a total top-to-bottom overhaul in the next few years. Shutting even one of them down would basically be traffic apocalypse:
http://theweek.com/article/index/269184/this-upcoming-traffic-apocalypse-will-be-the-end-of-chris-christie
FlowerInFaith @FlowerInFaith
Follow
TY, Charles Pierce: local, county & state & conservative failure in TX ebola case: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/The_Man_With_The_Disease …
1:11 PM – 3 Oct 2014
https://twitter.com/TriniPrincess/status/518091748888039425/photo/1
Clinton/Panetta, 2 peas in a pod.
https://twitter.com/NEWSjordanv/status/518100647968006144/photo/1
https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/518074288817991680/photo/1
PODS! Could these be the offspring of Crocodile Dundee?!
They look like stromatolites.
Some Blacks See Secret Service as Flawed Shield for the President
By PETER BAKER
OCT. 2, 2014
WASHINGTON — Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland was at the grocery store the other day when he ran into an elderly black woman who expressed growing concern about President Obama’s safety. Why, she asked, wasn’t he being better protected by his Secret Service agents?
The furor that led to this week’s resignation of the director of the Secret Service resonated deeply among blacks, outraged that those supposed to be guarding the first black president were somehow falling down on the job — and suspicious even without evidence that it may be deliberate.
“It is something that is widespread in black circles,” said Representative Emanuel Cleaver II of Missouri, who like Mr. Cummings is an African-American Democrat who has been approached repeatedly by voters expressing such a concern. “I’ve been hearing this for some time: ‘Well, the Secret Service, they’re trying to expose the president.’ You hear a lot of that from African-Americans in particular
Both Mr. Cummings and Mr. Cleaver said that they did not believe the Secret Service lapses reported recently had anything to do with Mr. Obama’s race and that they had tried to dispel the notion among their constituents. But the profound doubts they have encountered emphasize the nation’s persistent racial divide and reflect an abiding fear for Mr. Obama’s security that has unnerved blacks still mindful of the assassinations of Malcolm X and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
It is a longstanding fear. Colin L. Powell’s wife urged him not to run for president in 1996 out of fear that he might be targeted. And when Mr. Obama took office in January 2009, the Secret Service recorded an alarming surge in threats against him. The threat level since then has actually fallen back to a rate more typical of previous presidents, officials said, but potential racial animosity persists in risk calculations by the Secret Service as it seeks to protect Mr. Obama.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/us/politics/in-secret-services-missteps-blacks-sense-a-flawed-shield-for-the-president.html?smid=nytcore-iphone-share&smprod=nytcore-iphone&_r=1
Don’t think for one minute that if you walked up and asked ANY BLACK AMERICAN about WH dismal SS and this POTUS they won’t say it isn’t about the BLACK PRESIDENT.
If the SS can’t do the job then our president should hire the FOI. That would get a rise out of the nation.
Chris Christie’s other transportation nightmare
10/03/14 11:39 AM—UPDATED 10/03/14 01:50 PM
By Steve Benen
When it comes to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) transportation problems, much of the political world probably thinks of the George Washington Bridge scandal. For reasons we still don’t know, top members of Christie’s team caused dangerous traffic conditions, on purpose, as part of an outrageous election scheme. Team Christie’s misdeeds are still the subject of state and federal inquiries.
But there’s also the matter of the tunnel under the Hudson River.
As Ned Resnikoff reported a while back, the Republican governor made a bizarre decision in 2010, killing a project called Access to the Region’s Core, “a years-in-the-making effort to build a new rail tunnel from New Jersey to New York City. Proponents of the project say it could have created as many as 44,000 jobs in and around the state and hiked local property values by up to $18 billion. A recent report from the office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo even suggests that an additional tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York could make regional infrastructure more resilient in the face of disasters like Hurricane Sandy.”
I remember following Paul Krugman’s coverage of this closely at the time. Four years ago this week, he wrote, “At some visceral level, I guess I was expecting Christie to back down at the last minute – expecting that there would be a still, small voice in his mind saying, ‘If we can’t do even this – if we can’t follow through on a project so obviously needed, so clearly in the interests of the state and the nation – what hope is there for America?’ But no. He went ahead and killed the tunnel.”
Indeed, the governor killed the tunnel, for reasons he struggled to explain, after millions of dollars of infrastructure investment had already been spent.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/chris-christies-other-transportation-nightmare
‘One is a federal bill, one is a state bill’
10/03/14 10:17 AM
By Steve Benen
For a guy who’s been talking about “personhood” for six years, it’s interesting to see how much Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) is struggling to explain himself.
When social conservatives put the issue, which would ban all abortions and many common forms of birth control, onto the Colorado ballot in 2008, Gardner helped champion the measure. Voters rejected it easily. Two years later, the right tried again, Gardner rallied behind the measure once more, and Coloradans again said no.
Gardner went to Congress and again championed personhood, signing on as a co-sponsor on the “Life Begins at Conception Act,” which his fellow co-sponsors agree is a personhood bill.
But once the conservative congressman launched a Senate campaign, he announced a change of heart: he no longer supports personhood at the state level. What about the federal legislation? Gardner said he would remain a supporter.
The contradiction, of course, has caused a mess – a politician can’t say he’s dropped his support for an extremist policy, while continuing to support the extremist policy. It led to an amazing interview earlier this week in which the Republican congressman argued, over and over again, “There is no federal personhood bill,” even though we know this plainly isn’t true.
Yesterday, the Durango Herald tried to get Gardner to say explain himself.
“They are two different pieces of legislation. Different from a procedural standpoint; from a legislative standpoint. So, they are not the same, and they are completely different,” Gardner told the Herald on Tuesday.
When pressed to highlight the policy differences, Gardner answered, “One is a federal bill, one is a state bill, one’s an amendment to the state constitution with a number of other implications. They are different, they are not the same.”
Oh my.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/one-federal-bill-one-state-bill
*SIGH*
Another day, another incongruous casting choice: Catherine Zeta-Jones to play Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco
By Soraya Nadia McDonald October 2
Here we go again.
Catherine Zeta-Jones, who is Welsh, has been cast to play Griselda Blanco, the fearsome, murderous Colombian drug lord whose legendary life of crime was detailed in the documentary “Cocaine Cowboys 2.” Deadline Hollywood broke the news Wednesday night.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/10/02/another-day-another-incongruous-casting-choice-catherine-zeta-jones-to-play-colombian-drug-lord-griselda-blanco/
Jury still out for me on “How to Get Away with Murder.”
And who da hell’s styling Viola Davis? That WIG has got to GO!
Yea her natural hair would work.
Hong Kong Stream @hkstream Follow
GLOBV: Hong Kong’s Pro-Democracy ‘Occupy Central’ in Photos: The massive rally has so far stood its ground aga… http://bit.ly/YXjx7D
12:54 AM – 3 Oct 2014
Working America @WorkingAmerica
This #jobsreport is a reminder of why it’s so important to VOTE in this election. If working people aren’t at the table, we’re on the menu.
FROM POU:
Sepia
Total Black Unemployment dropped from 11.4% to 11%
Black men UER rose from 10.8%to11%.
Black women UER dropped from 10.6%to 9.6%.
Black teen UER dropped from 32.8% to 30.5%
Overall Black participation rate increased from 61% to 61.7%
https://twitter.com/stevebenen/status/518034682790051841
But of course it’s not any of the president’s doing. Many people have dropped out of the employment market. eyes rolling.
SG2, LOOKIE
Sweden to recognise state of Palestine
STOCKHOLM Fri Oct 3, 2014 8:50am EDT
(Reuters) – Sweden’s new center-left government will recognise the state of Palestine in a move that will make it the first major European country to take the step, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said on Friday.
The U.N. General Assembly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine in 2012 but the European Union and most EU countries, have yet to give official recognition.
“The conflict between Israel and Palestine can only be solved with a two-state solution, negotiated in accordance with international law,” Lofven said during his inaugural address in parliament.
“A two-state solution requires mutual recognition and a will to peaceful co-existence. Sweden will therefore recognise the state of Palestine.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/03/us-sweden-politics-palestinians-idUSKCN0HS0XN20141003
I believe in angels, says Pope Francis – and they help you make right decisions
Each of us has a guardian who protects and helps us understand things, says the pope, in contrast to his predecessor, who was known as a ‘killjoy’
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/02/pope-francis-angels-believe-guardian-help/print
Appeals court sets back reproductive rights in Texas
10/03/14 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
When Republican policymakers in Texas approved sweeping new restrictions on women’s reproductive rights, critics of the new measures realized that their only hope was the judiciary, where they expected to prevail.
Abortion-rights proponents, however, have struggled in the courts, too. Irin Carmon reported late yesterday
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday allowed Texas to begin enforcing tough new abortion restrictions that will effectively close all but eight abortion facilities in the nation’s second-largest state. Unless the Supreme Court steps in, the law is poised to have the most devastating impact on abortion access of any such restriction across the country.
Under the law’s force, which will close 13 clinics, one out of six Texan women seeking an abortion will now live more than 150 miles from the nearest clinic. A lower court judge said that was unconstitutional, because it “would operate for a significant number of women in Texas just as drastically as a complete ban on abortion.” But the three-judge panel in New Orleans said the law would not impose an “undue burden,” staying the district court decision as the state appeals.
The ruling took effect immediately – as in, the affected clinics closed their doors literally last night. Women in Texas who had an appointment with medical professionals at one of these clinics this morning are out of luck. The 5th Circuit hopes they don’t mind driving 150 miles – each way – to the next closest office.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/appeals-court-sets-back-reproductive-rights-texas
5.9 % biatch
LOL
Job growth picks up steam in Sept, unemployment rate drops
10/03/14 08:47 AM—UPDATED 10/03/14 08:52 AM
By Steve Benen
When August’s job number fell far short of expectations, many wondered whether it was just an off month or the start of a more alarming trend. As of this morning, there’s evidence of the former.
The new report from Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the U.S. economy added 248,000 jobs in September, above expectations and far ahead of August’s totals. The overall unemployment rate also dropped to 5.9% – the lowest since July 2008, which was over six years ago.
Once again, public-sector layoffs did not drag down the overall employment figures. Though jobs reports over the last few years have shown monthly government job losses, in September, the private sector added 236,000 while the public sector added 12,000. The latter may not sound like much, but after several years in which that total was negative, it’s at least somewhat heartening.
As for the revisions, all of the news is good: July’s totals were revised up from 212,000 to 243,000, while August’s figures were revised up, from 142,000 to 180,000. Combined, that’s an additional 69,000 jobs.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/job-growth-picks-steam-sept-unemployment-rate-drops
Damn you, President Barack Obama. You Pretty m*^ther%$#!
About that ACA ‘repeal’ poll…
10/02/14 03:22 PM
By Steve Benen
The conservative Weekly Standard ran a piece yesterday with a headline that featured unexpected news: “60 Percent of Voters Want Obamacare to Be Repealed.” Since literally every independent national poll conducted this year shows most Americans don’t support a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, it seemed likely something was amiss.
And there was.
On the surface, it’s understandable that Republicans would find results like these encouraging.
A new poll finds that three-fifths of likely voters support the repeal of Obamacare. A large plurality – 44 percent – wants to see Obamacare repealed and replaced with a conservative alternative. A much smaller group –16 percent – wants to see it repealed but not replaced. […]
Repeal and replace was chosen by a plurality of every age group, every income group aside from those making over $150,000, and both sexes.
And at first blush, some might see this as great news for the right. After dozens of polls showing mainstream opposition to repeal, here’s a survey that finally tells conservatives what they want to hear – even as the Affordable Care Act’s successes become more obvious to more people.
What’s more, the poll wasn’t conducted by some obscure, fly-by-night operation; it was done by McLaughlin & Associates, a major Republican pollster.
So what’s the catch? Take a look at the amazing way in which the poll worded the questions.
From the actual polling memo published by McLaughlin & Associates:
“Would you support or oppose repealing and replacing Obamacare with a conservative alternative that would save $1 trillion, reduce premiums, enhance access to doctors, and increase the number of people with private insurance by 6 million, but would cover 6 million fewer people overall because fewer people would be on Medicaid?”
Joan McCarter joked: “And everybody gets a pony, too!”
The pollster presented respondents with a bizarre scenario, describing an alternative to the Affordable Care Act that doesn’t exist. The question isn’t why most respondents endorsed the plan; the question is why this wording didn’t produce results above 60%.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/about-aca-repeal-poll
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Employment Situation Summary
Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until USDL-14-1796
8:30 a.m. (EDT) Friday, October 3, 2014
Technical information:
Household data: (202) 691-6378 • cpsinfo@bls.gov • http://www.bls.gov/cps
Establishment data: (202) 691-6555 • cesinfo@bls.gov • http://www.bls.gov/ces
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION — SEPTEMBER 2014
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 248,000 in September, and the
unemployment rate declined to 5.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported today. Employment increased in professional and business services,
retail trade, and health care.
Household Survey Data
In September, the unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 5.9
percent. The number of unemployed persons decreased by 329,000 to 9.3 million.
Over the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons were
down by 1.3 percentage points and 1.9 million, respectively. (See table A-1.)
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
Good Morning, Everyone! :-) Happy FRY-day.
Morning, everyone.
U.S. economy added 248,000 jobs in September; jobless rate dips to 5.9 percent
The U.S. economy added 248,000 jobs in September, according to a Labor Department report released Friday morning. The unemployment rate ticked down to a 6-year low of 5.9 percent.