HAPPY HUMP DAY! Smooth jazzin’ with Mr. Kenny G. Happy Anniversay, Honey. I LOVE YOU!
Kenny G with Peabo Bryson – By The Time This Night Is Over
Kenny G & Stevie Wonder
Kenny G and Austin G “Over the Rainbow” at Humphrey’s San Diego
Yolanda Adams & Kenny G – I Believe I Can Fly (LIVE)
Kenny G & Chaka Kahn- Beautiful
Kenny G & Gladys Knight- Misty
Well..
well…
well…
…………………………
Reporter Pens Damning Resignation After Writing Story On GOPer’s Threat
ByDaniel Strauss
PublishedOctober 22, 2014, 3:29 PM EDT
The Chicago Sun-Times reporter who co-wrote a story on how Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner (R) allegedly threatened a business associate and then was reportedly targeted by the Rauner (pictured) campaign announced his resignation from the newspaper on Tuesday.
The reporter, Springfield, Illinois bureau chief Dave McKinney, wrote
a long letter about how after he co-wrote the story he was put on leave
by the Sun-Times. He also described how, when he came back to the
paper, he was “advised” not to have his byline on reporting related to
the company that Rauner and his business associate argued over.
He noted that he was pulled off his beat and his reporting for that day was “removed inexplicably from the Sun-Times website.”
McKinney, in his letter, did note that top members of the Sun-Times
defended him against criticism from the Rauner campaign. McKinney also
noted that the Sun-Times recently broke a three year no-endorsement
policy and backed Rauner. McKinney suggested that there had been a
“breach” in the wall between the owners of the paper and the newsroom.
He concluded the letter saying that under the circumstances he had to resign.
He wrote, “I’m convinced this newspaper no longer has the backs of reporters like me.”
“We reporters have a healthy suspicion of both parties and
candidates,” McKinney wrote. “It’s our job. It’s regrettable that this
issue has emerged in the homestretch of an important election in
Illinois, but respectfully, this isn’t about either candidate or the
election. It’s about readers and their trust in us. So my decision could
not wait. I hate to leave, but I must.”
“And so, it is with great sadness today that I tender my immediate resignation from the Sun-Times.”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bruce-rauner-dave-mckinney-resignation-sun-times
of course BP wrote it
………………
BP Oil Spill ‘Didn’t Ruin The Gulf,’ Says Politico Article Written By BP
by Emily Atkin Posted on October 22, 2014 at 2:16 pm Updated: October 22, 2014 at 4:32 pm
When Politico ran an article last year titled “What BP Owes America,”
a big disclaimer was scrolled across the top of the piece: “Opinion.”
The article, written by the President of the National Audubon Society,
argued that BP needed to take more responsibility for the devastating
environmental effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico.
When Politico Magazine ran an article on Wednesday titled “No, BP Didn’t Ruin The Gulf,”
there was no disclaimer. The article, written by an executive of BP,
argued that the Gulf of Mexico has “inherent resilience” when it comes
to oil spills and that environmentalists are overreacting about its
impacts.
In addition to lacking a disclaimer, the article did not disclose
that the article was written by BP senior vice president of
communications Geoff Morrell until the bottom of the piece. So, to an
objective observer, the article looks, on its face, like a regular piece
of journalism, written by a journalist employed by Politico Magazine.
This lack of attribution is a problem, most notably because it tricks
readers into thinking they’re getting something they’re not. Readers
have to go through ten paragraphs of someone telling them that the
environmental impact of BP’s historic oil spill was of “short duration
and in a limited geographic area” before they know that the person
they’re listening to is one of BP’s top executives.
Why? Why not just put that disclosure at the top of the article? A
Politico spokesperson told ThinkProgress that all opinion articles have
the attribution and affiliation of the author at the bottom of the page,
which looks to be true. But all other articles have an immediate
disclaimer that the piece is “opinion.” Why not on this article?
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/10/22/3582972/bp-oil-spill-politico/
Good Afternoon 3Chics,
Happy Anniversary Mr. and Mrs. Ametia!
I know we need to vote (WE put Dayton and Franken in office here, but you’ll never hear it in MSM) but I don’t want us to be blamed if by chance the Senate is lost. To absolve voter suppression, crackas being crackas, Stepford Wives following suit… I don’t wanna hear it.
Thank you, Tyren. 2 weeks to go, and we’d better take our black asses to the poll.
Happy anniversary!!! Many more happy, healthy, love-filled years!!!
Is there really a ‘fear factor’ in the elections?
By Greg Sargent October 21
As this blog and others have noted, Republicans have been using Ebola — layering it on top of ISIS and the border — to foment generalized fear and anxiety among voters and nationalize the elections. The goal is to distract from issues and GOP vulnerabilities that help Democrats, and to turn the midterms into a referendum on Obama’s competence amid a hyped-up sense that the country is careening out of control. Skittish Democrats, fearing the potency of such attacks, have been all too quick to embrace a travel ban, even though experts say it’s a terrible idea.
But how is this generalized effort to gin up fear as a factor in the elections really playing? Does it matter?
Two new focus groups of so-called “Walmart moms” — conducted by Republican pollster Neil Newhouse and Democratic pollster Margie Omero — shed a bit of light on this question.
The focus groups of Walmart moms — described as “voters with children age 18 or younger at home” who “shopped at Walmart at last once in the past month” — were conducted in Charlotte, NC, and New Orleans, LA. According to the pollsters, these are selected as proven swing voters.
In a memo about the focus groups, Newhouse and Romero write that “Ebola has replaced ISIS as a worry about instability and government leadership.” But it is not a factor in their vote:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/10/21/is-there-really-a-fear-factor-in-the-elections/
Blistering Attach on Mitch McConnell
By Greg Sargent October 22 at 12:34 PM
Whatever chance Alison Lundergan Grimes has of ousting Mitch McConnell in Kentucky probably turns on just how badly disliked the Senate Minority Leader remains within the state. As Aaron Blake has observed, the McConnell camp has bet it all on tying Grimes to Obama — who is even less popular than McConnell is — but if Grimes can make the election about the guy who is actually on the ballot, she just might be able to prevail.
And so, the Grimes campaign is going up with its first paid ad attacking McConnell over the leaked audio of him vowing to a Koch brothers donor conference that a GOP Senate won’t allow debate on a minimum wage hike, extension of unemployment benefits, or student loan relief. The ad also hits McConnell over his promise to the donors to use budget procedural tactics to roll back Obama’s agenda, and unleashes a harsh attack on his mendacity:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/10/22/a-blistering-attack-on-mitch-mcconnell/
GOP alienated Latino voters because it could
10/22/14 10:56 AM—UPDATED 10/22/14 11:23 AM
By Steve Benen
After the 2012 elections, Republican officials said the party had to face its demographic challenges responsibly. Party leaders said outreach to Latino voters was a necessity, and the Republican National Committee’s autopsy report said it was obvious the party would have to support comprehensive immigration reform.
But as the 2014 elections near, Republican politicians have proven that they simply do not care, and the party is arguably more anti-immigration now than any point in modern history. In an unexpected twist, though, the consequences of such fierce, far-right attitudes appear to be non-existent: after two years in which Republicans almost seemed determined to alienate Latinos on purpose, voters appear likely to expand the House Republican majority, and possibly even hand over control of the Senate to the GOP, too.
How is this possible? Nate Cohn crunched the numbers and discovered that Republicans blew off this entire constituency because they could – even if the GOP loses 100% support of the Latino vote this year, the party would still be positioned to keep control of the House and win the Senate.
Even a situation in which every Latino voter in America chose the Democratic candidate would mainly allow Democrats to fare better in the heavily Hispanic districts where the party already wins. This is already occurring, to a lesser degree. Over the last decade, Democratic gains among young and nonwhite voters have allowed Democrats to win a majority of the House vote without flipping enough districts to earn a majority of seats.
The Upshot analysis found that if not one of the eight million Hispanic voters supported the Republican candidate, Republicans would lose about a dozen House seats…. But given the Republicans’ current strength across rural areas and in conservative suburbs, the loss of every Hispanic every voter would not be enough to cost them the 17 seats that would flip House control…. In districts held by House Republicans, Hispanics represent only 6.7 percent of eligible voters and an even smaller share of the electorate.
The point isn’t that the GOP will get literally 0% of the Hispanic vote this year, because that’s obviously wrong. Rather, the point is, Republicans realize they could get 0% and keep power anyway.
And it’s not just the House: in the eight states with the closest U.S. Senate races, “fewer than 5 percent of eligible voters are Latino, according to a new Pew Research report.”
With this in mind, the post-2012 recommendations appear to be wrong – sort of.
Republican lawmakers were warned about their demographic problems, but they ignored the calls for change and won’t pay any price at all. Indeed, the party may even soon be rewarded for failing to govern.
The question, however, is whether the GOP recognizes the tradeoff between short-term electoral security and a long-term electoral shift.
Congressional Republicans, by and large, have spent the last two years telling Latino constituencies the party will not try to earn their support. On the contrary, the GOP has occasionally gone out of its way to offend these voters, pushing Latinos even further into the Democratic camp. And two weeks from today, far-right figures will probably feel pretty good about themselves. “See? We killed immigration reform, pushed Latinos away, and won anyway.”
But by creating a semi-permanent wedge between Latinos and Republicans, the party is also setting itself up for long-term failure: the 2016 electorate is likely to look much different than the 2014 electorate, and if GOP presidential hopefuls struggle once again to get Hispanic support, the party will remain locked out of the White House.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/gop-alienated-latino-voters-because-it-could
Christie wants GOP control over ‘voting mechanisms’
10/22/14 02:26 PM
By Steve Benen
When it comes to Republican governors imposing harsh, new voting restrictions, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is hardly the first name that pops up. The Republican vetoed an early-voting bill last year, he’s offered some odd criticisms of same-day registration recently, and he played some shameless political games when scheduling his state’s U.S. Senate special election last year, but in general, Christie isn’t known for electoral mischief, at least not by contemporary GOP standards.
But that’s all the more reason to take note of Christie’s comments this week on “voting mechanisms.” The Bergen Record reported this morning:
Governor Christie pushed further into the contentious debate over voting rights than ever before, saying Tuesday that Republicans need to win gubernatorial races this year so that they’re the ones controlling “voting mechanisms” going into the next presidential election.
Christie stressed the need to keep Republicans in charge of states – and overseeing state-level voting regulations – ahead of the next presidential election.
In remarks to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the New Jersey governor said, “Would you rather have Rick Scott in Florida overseeing the voting mechanism, or Charlie Crist? Would you rather have Scott Walker in Wisconsin overseeing the voting mechanism, or would you rather have Mary Burke? Who would you rather have in Ohio, John Kasich or Ed FitzGerald?”
I’m not sure which is worse: the prospect of Christie making these remarks without thinking them through or Christie making these remarks because he’s already thought this through.
In theory, in a functioning democracy, control over “voting mechanisms” shouldn’t dictate election outcomes. Citizens consider the candidates, they cast their ballots, the ballots are counted, and the winner takes office. It’s supposed to be non-partisan – indeed, the oversight of the elections process must be professional and detached from politics in order to maintain the integrity of the system itself.
So what exactly is Chris Christie suggesting here?
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/christie-wants-gop-control-over-voting-mechanisms
https://twitter.com/NormOrnstein/status/524969788351975424
Tracy Mourning Is Helping Black Girls Shine Nationwide
At a recent cocktail reception in Washington, D.C., Mourning celebrated the national launch of Honey Shine Inc.
By: Breanna Edwards
Posted: Oct. 18 2014 3:00 AM
It all started when Tracy Wilson Mourning saw a group of girls walking around their Florida neighborhood seemingly directionless, “babies raising babies,” as she described it, with their own children on their hips.
She saw something of herself in them and wondered where she would be without the people—especially the women—she had in her life believing in her.
“I wondered, ‘Which one am I?’ out of that group, had it not been for the mommy I had, had it not been for the amazing women in my life. And that’s when God placed it on my heart that I was supposed to do something with Honey Shine,” Mourning said at a cocktail meet-and-greet on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., that celebrated the organization’s national launch.
Founded in South Florida in 2002, Honey Shine Inc. is a nonprofit mentoring and sisterhood organization that focuses on empowering and reaching out to young girls of color and showing them that they can be even bigger than their dreams. What Mourning, 44, a Howard University alumna and former broadcast journalist who is married to NBA Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning, wants to show these young women is that there is a world beyond what they know and believe. It’s a vision that Mourning is now planning to take nationwide, starting in Las Vegas, where she grew up.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/10/tracy_mourning_is_helping_black_girls_shine_nationwide.html
Video Showing 7-Eleven Employees Refusing to Sell Chips to a Black Child Until a White Woman Steps in Goes Viral
How do you not sell chips to a child?
By: Yesha Callahan
Posted: Oct. 22 2014 12:15 PM
A video capturing the apparent mistreatment of customers at an Alexandria, Va., 7-Eleven has gone viral. The video, which was posted to Facebook, shows 7-Eleven employees refusing to take money from a young black kid and his father. The father was holding his son and allowing him to pay, but the employees refused to accept the money—until a white woman stepped in and voiced her frustrations about it.
“You all are acting like crazy people. You are in the customer-service business,” the unnamed white woman said.
She then threatened to report the issue to corporate headquarters. “I am going to report you to the 7-Eleven franchise. All three of you,” she stated.
In the video you can also see other customers venting their frustrations about the incident, even using several expletives.
Jeramey Williams, the owner of the video, posted on Facebook that the video shows blatant racism.
“7/11 clerk refuses to sale [sic] bag of chips to African American customer for no reason in Alexandria Va. Little Black Boy wouldnt hav [sic] gotten the chips if the nice white lady didnt put the money in the clerks hand,” Williams wrote.
http://www.theroot.com/blogs/the_grapevine/2014/10/video_showing_7_11_employees_refusing_to_sell_chips_to_a_black_child_until.html
Wow!!!
Florida’s Scott on minimum wage: ‘How would I know?’
10/22/14 08:00 AM—UPDATED 10/22/14 08:25 AM
By Steve Benen
For the second time in five days, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) faced off in a televised debate against former Gov. Charlie Crist (D), and this time, the incumbent didn’t hide backstage over the use of an electric fan. Then again, given how the debate went, maybe he should have.
The two covered quite a bit of ground over the course of the hour, but one of the more memorable exchanges came on the issue of the minimum wage. Moderator Jake Tapper raised a question of increasing importance in contemporary Republican politics: whether the minimum wage should exist.
TAPPER: Governor Scott, you have said that you oppose raising the minimum wage because you think it would be a job killer. Clarify something for Florida voters, do you support the principle of a minimum wage? Do you support the concept of a minimum wage?
SCOTT: Sure.
TAPPER: What should it be?
SCOTT: How would I know? I mean, the private sector decides wages.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/floridas-scott-minimum-wage-how-would-i-know
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
House Republicans Versus Los Innecesarios
Posted by Zandar
Over at his new NY Times Upshot digs, Nate Cohn breaks down the electoral picture for Latino voters and comes away with some hard numbers and harder truths: as far as hyper-gerrymandered House districts go and even Senate races, Latino voters are Los Innecesarios: The Unnecessary Ones.
Political analysts keep urging the Republican Party to do more to appeal to Hispanic voters. Yet the party’s congressional leaders show little sign of doing so, blocking an immigration overhaul and harshly criticizing President Obama for his plan to defer deportation for undocumented migrants.
There’s a simple reason that congressional Republicans are willing to risk alienating Hispanics: They don’t need their votes, at least not this year.
Republicans would probably hold the House — and still have a real chance to retake the Senate — if they lost every single Hispanic voter in the country, according to an analysis by The Upshot.
Such a thing would never happen, of course, but the fact that the Republicans may not need a single Hispanic vote in 2014 says a good deal about American politics today
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2014/10/house-republicans-versus-los.html
Dear White People Skewers College Life as a ‘Black Face in a White Place’
Always funny, sometimes flawed, indie-house darling Dear White People finally hits mainstream cinemas.
By: Monique John
Posted: Oct. 17 2014 1:36 PM
After years of writing, publicizing, crowdfunding and screening his smart-house film to packed film-festival audiences, Justin Simien is finally seeing Dear White People, his send-up of the pitfalls of black-student life at a mostly white college, released in mainstream cinemas today.
And having had the opportunity to see the film on the festival circuit before it won this year’s Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent at Sundance, I’m excited about the release Friday in New York City, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and nationwide starting Oct. 24.
Dear White People’s entree into the mainstream scene is overdue. Its humor, style and overall premise are a refreshing departure from most other films that have made it onto the big screen (race-themed or not) in recent years. But Dear White People’s arrival is also bittersweet as it occasionally struggles to illustrate and unpack microaggressions, in the truest sense, under the pressure of incorporating limiting tropes, jokes and story arcs that are more typical of mass media in order to be accepted by wider audiences.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/10/dear_white_people_premieres_in_new_york_atlanta_d_c_and_l_a.html
US’ Oldest Private Black University Is in Trouble
With its accreditation on the line, Wilberforce University’s alumni are dedicated to keeping their alma mater open.
By: Erin C.J. Robertson
Posted: July 31 2014 7:35 AM
Ohio’s Wilberforce University, the nation’s oldest black private university, founded in 1856, is in dire straits amid plummeting student enrollment, a financial deficit of $9.7 million and its accreditation hanging perilously in the balance, the Associated Press reports.
Alumni have rallied together in an effort to raise $2 million in cash donations that includes $400,000 promised during a weekend alumni conference, notes AP.
Alumni and university officials announced Wednesday that the floundering university has received $200,000 of the weekend pledge amount.
Wilberforce’s alumni feel that a major overhaul is needed if the school plans to remain relevant, Talbert Grooms, president of Wilberforce’s alumni association, said in a statement, according to AP.
The school is implementing changes such as reshaping its board of directors, renovating facilities, reforming academics and scouting for a new university president with a vision to propel the school forward.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/07/u_s_s_oldest_black_university_is_in_trouble.html?wpisrc=obinsite
Turn Out For What? Black Voters Must Hit The Polls In November Or Risk GOP Takeover
Oct 20, 2014
ByMichael H. Cottman,
The sense of urgency over the Black vote in the upcoming mid-term elections is mounting. Black congressional leaders are feverishly urging black voters to turn out strong on November 4th, saying that Democrats could lose multiple elections across the country and Republicans could take control of the U.S. Senate, if African Americans don’t pack the polls. Two weeks before the mid-term elections, there’s a lot at stake: Republicans already control the House and there is a strong chance that the GOP could also take over the Senate.
That means for the next two years Republicans can block President Barack Obama’s legislative agenda, stalling social programs and health care reforms designed to uplift African-Americans and people of color. African-Americans could help swing critical elections in Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and Arkansas where Democratic candidates are vulnerable — but only if they turn out in large numbers. “Anybody who looks at the data realizes that if the black vote, and the brown vote, doesn’t turn out, we can’t win. It’s just that simple,” Rep. Marcia L. Fudge of Ohio, the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, told The New York Times. “If we don’t turn out, we cannot hold the Senate.”
President Obama cast his ballot Monday in Chicago where he worked to rally Democrats to turn out for Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and other Democrats in the midterm elections. “I love voting. Everybody in Illinois: early vote,” he said at his neighborhood polling place. “This is the most important office in a democracy, the office of citizen,” Obama said. Later, at Chicago State University, a predominantly Black college on the South Side of Chicago, Obama said: “Republicans have been trying to make it harder for folks to vote, but the truth of the matter is, so often we disempower ourselves.”
http://blackamericaweb.com/2014/10/20/turn-out-for-what-black-voters-must-hit-the-polls-in-november-or-risk-gop-takeover/
Al Sharpton said on Tom Joyner’s show this morning that if African American votes did not matter, the opposition wouldn’t be spending millions of dollars trying to take voting rights away (he was addressing voters’ concerns that their votes didn’t matter).
Totally!
President Obama: ‘I Need Black People To Turn Out And Vote On Nov. 4′
Oct 22, 2014 By Tonya Pendleton, BlackAmericaWeb.com
President Barack Obama needs your help. This year’s midterm elections, taking place nationwide on November 4, are crucial to the President’s legislative agenda in his last two years in office.
“We know what we’ve got to do,” he says.“We’ve got to increase the minimum wage. We’ve got to make sure that women are getting paid the same as men for doing the same work. We’ve got to rebuild our infrastructure. We’ve got to make sure that young people – our youngest children – are getting early childhood education that helps them succeed. All these things we could be doing right now, if we had a Congress that was willing to cooperate.”
The President says that when the Black vote doesn’t turn out in the midterm elections, Republicans are able to dominate those contests. That’s why, he says, Congress is Republican-controlled right now and he’s often unable to get through important legislation. Democrats, especially, seem to view the midterms as less important, something the President says is due to several factors.
“We’re younger, there are more minorities, more low-income folks, more working folks, so they’re not always high consumers of information. And so, a lot of times, what ends up happening is that they don’t even know sometimes a midterm’s coming up. They know when there’s a Presidential race, but what folks don’t always realize is that voting for Congress and the Senate and the gubernatorial races – that’s going to have as much impact on anything aswho the President is.
http://blackamericaweb.com/2014/10/22/president-obama-i-need-black-people-to-turn-out-and-vote-on-nov-4/
MEDIA ALERT! First Lady Michelle Obama will be on The Joe Madison Show this Friday on Sirius XM Channel 126
joshuafoust @joshuafoust 2 minutes ago
I’m equally sure Coburn’s use of monkeys on the cover is totally not at all racist toward President Obama http://www.coburn.senate.gov/p… …
A Holder Legacy: Shifting Terror Cases to the Civilian Courts, and Winning
By MATT APUZZO OCT. 21, 2014
WASHINGTON — After commandos and F.B.I. agents snatched a key suspect in the 2012 attack on an American diplomatic compound in Libya, some Republican lawmakers urged the Obama administration to take him to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for a military trial, sounding what has become a common refrain — that a civilian trial for a terrorist is, among other things, too dangerous.
But on Monday, the defendant, Ahmed Abu Khattala, was ushered into a federal courthouse here, pleading not guilty to new charges that make him eligible for the death penalty. And for all the talk of security concerns, he appeared — as he had before — in open court, not behind the bulletproof glass reserved for particularly dangerous defendants. The hearing itself was routine, which is what made it so remarkable.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/22/us/a-holder-legacy-shifting-terror-cases-to-the-courts-and-winning.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0
Police: NJ Woman Stole and Resold $3.7M in Goods From Sears
Kim Watson, 37, allegedly stole millions of dollars’ worth of goods from a Sears warehouse, where she worked as an inventory clerk, and sold or traded them.
By: Breanna Edwards
Posted: Oct. 21 2014
A Clementon, N.J., woman was busted in a big-time hustle after she allegedly stole and resold about $3.7 million worth of goods from a Sears warehouse, the New York Daily News reports.
Authorities are claiming that Kim Watson ran her scheme while working as an inventory clerk at a Sears distribution center, allegedly stealing merchandise and reselling it or bartering it for other goods, the news site reports.
The 37-year-old, who allegedly ran the ring for about two-and-a-half years, fabricated orders for items including expensive electronics, appliances and bedding before selling them in multiple states, police say. She was charged with theft.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/10/nj_woman_stole_and_resold_3_700_000_in_goods_from_sears.html
Enabling the little Hoovers
Posted by Richard Mayhew at 8:16 am Oct 222014
There are many good reasons to support full federalization of funding for Medicaid. The most obvious is that it eliminates the Mississippi problem where Legacy Medicaid is skimpy as hell, and Expansion is not part of the conversation. Federalization would dramatically improve the quality of life and health for hundreds of thousands of people in Mississippi and millions across the country. This would be good in and of itself.
Almost as importantly, Medicaid demand is generally cyclical with the general economy. Demand increases as the economy gets worse as people lose their jobs, lose their previous employer sponsored coverage and disability rolls increased. At the same time, the states which pick up twenty-eight to fifty percent of the bill on average, see a massive revenue drop as their tax revenues tend to be extremely pro-cyclical as well. A bad economy will see a state have a big budget hole that by law in forty nine states, it can’t paper over with deficit spending and a massive increase in eligible population for Legacy Medicaid. Usually the response by the state is to cut Medicaid reimbursement, reduce what Medicaid will cover and reduce the number of people covered. This is not a good thing from a minimizing human suffering perspective and it is not a good thing from the stabilization of macro-economic conditions perspectives. The states make things worse when they cut back. That is the story that Calculated Risk has been telling for years.
For the states that have elected to not be run by sociopathic assholes and thus expanded Medicaid, the expansion portion of the Medicaid budget goes from being a pro-cyclical to either neutral to slightly counter-cyclical. When bad times hit and more people lose their jobs, see their hours cut back, or see their wages reduced so that they drop under 138% FPL, the federal government is picking up 100% of the initial tab and then at least 90% of the future tab. This means the state would be receiving a big infusion of federal money in bad times, which acts as a counter-cyclical stimulus. It is balanced out in good times when the Medicaid Expansion eligibility pool shrinks because wages are rising in the state. It is not a pure long term counter-cyclical play as the states still have some temptation to reduce Medicaid expansion as they are on the hook for 10% of the costs and the incentives don’t change for cutting the Legacy Medicaid population (although I would suspect an amazing number of people claiming exactly 100% FPL plus a dollar as their income on their applications) but Medicaid expansion paid for by the federal government now acts as an automatic stabilizer.
Charles Gaba does some yeoman’s work on figuring out what the current Federal committment to funding Medicaid expansion and produces a nice first cut at the stabilizer at risk:
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2014/10/22/enabling-the-little-hoovers/
Carol’s Daughter Is Acquired by L’Oreal USA
The Brooklyn, N.Y.-based company has been a staple for many natural-haired people, but there are changes coming.
By: Yesha Callahan
Posted: Oct. 20 2014 3:21 PM
Lisa Price started Carol’s Daughter in her own kitchen in 1993, way before the natural-hair beauty-product business was booming. Carol’s Daughter products are a staple in many naturalistas’ beauty regimens, but over the last year, there were reports that the company was having financial issues.
In April, companies affiliated with Carol’s Daughter filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. According to documents, Carol’s Daughter reported assets and debts each in the $1 million-to-$10 million range. But it looks as though the company has found a way to remedy its financial troubles.
On Monday, Price posted a video on Facebook informing fans that the company has been purchased by L’Oreal USA:
http://www.theroot.com/blogs/the_grapevine/2014/10/carol_s_daughter_is_acquired_by_l_oreal_usa.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr%3Acontent%26
Sleepy Hollow’s Founding Mother Is… Buffy Vet Michelle Trachtenberg!
By Kimberly Roots / October 21 2014, 3:23 PM PDT
We’ve met Sleepy Hollow‘s versions of historical figures like George Washington and Ben Franklin; now the Fox drama is about to remember the ladies.
Michelle Trachtenberg has been cast as founding mother Abigail Adams, TVLine has learned exclusively.
The Buffy the Vampire vet will play the First Lady — her husband was John Adams, America’s second president — in an upcoming episode.
In addition to being the second FLOTUS, Abigail was mother to future President John Quincy Adams and an early advocate of equal rights for women.
In typical Sleepy fashion, we’ll learn that Abigail had a secret life that involved Katrina Crane. (Ooh, maybe Mrs. Adams hung out with the Sisterhood of the Radiant Heart from time to time?)
http://tvline.com/2014/10/21/sleepy-hollow-michelle-trachtenberg-season-2-cast-abigail-adams/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spoilerscastingsscoopsalert#
Social Security checks will rise by 1.7% — which translates into $22 more each month for the average retired worker.
In 2015, the average worker will receive $1,328 a month, or $15,936 a year, according to the Social Security Administration.
Next year’s annual cost of living increase is up from 1.5% this year, but still less than 2012’s increase of 3.6%. Seniors received no increases to their benefits for two years prior as prices fell due to the recession.
http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/22/retirement/social-security-cola/
The media is pushing the LIE that Michael Brown might have been reaching for Darren Wilson’t’s GUN. Yeah, whih would explain why Wilson saw fit to pump 9 bullets in Michael… 3 in his HEAD!
uh huh
UH HUH
Wilson’s claims of injuries don’t make sense to me in light of the fact that videos of Wilson right after the shooting don’t indicate that he was suffering from any injury. He wasn’t rubbing any part of his face or hands or did he point to any injuries while talking with the second officer. But of course it’s no longer “reporters'” jobs to actually investigate claims provided by Rethuglican/Fascistista talking points.
The media is pushing the LIE that originated with the New York Times and this wouldn’t be the first time the NYT lied. Remember Judith Miller, Dick Cheney’s useful idiot? Anyhow, what concerns me is that the NYT sources supposedly are these anonymous government “officials” who were briefed by those involved in the DOJ’s civil rights investigation. The NYT article goes on to claim that these “officials” said that the evidence so far does not support a civil rights indictment against Wilson.
I googled and found nothing except this article and references to this article. The NYT is deliberately leading people to believe that these anonymous officials are leaking information for the federal government. Well, I want to know WTF is going on. Is the NYT lying their ass off for some reason? Are these anonymous government officials for real? Is there any truth in what they have vaguely stated about the DOJ position regarding a civil rights indictment?
Dammit to hell, this is bullshyt. This is wrong, all kinds of wrong. I would hate to think that the DOJ really is leaning toward no indictment because I have believed from Day One that they were the only hope in this case given that St. Louis is the racist cesspool that it is. Having said that, it is also entirely possible that the NYT published a bad article with questionable sources, and it wouldn’t be the first time.
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Morning, Rikyrah & Everyone! Happy HUMP day. :-)))