JAMIE DIMON APPROVES OF TRUMP’S BOOMING ECONOMY (MORE JOBS, MORE MILITARY):
U.S. ECONOMY STRONGEST SINCE 2014.
TRUMP’S TRADE WAR YIELDS POSITIVE RESULTS FOR U.S. ECONOMY.
TRUMP KNOWS BUSINESS & BLOWS OFF TRADITIONAL, COUNTERPRODUCTIVE POLITICS.
MEDIA NEEDS TO FAIRLY GIVE THE PRESIDENT CREDIT WHEN IT’S DUE HIM, REGARDLESS OF PARTY.
GOD BLESS AMERICA
Post Sources: CNN, Fox News, 4-Traders, Youtube
***** US economy grows at fastest pace since 2014
The US economy roared into high gear in the spring, growing at the fastest pace in almost four years.
Second-quarter economic growth came in at an annual rate of 4.1%, the government said Friday. That was the best showing since the third quarter of 2014.
By many metrics, the United States economy is in excellent shape: Unemployment is near an 18-year low, factories are seeing more orders, and exports are surging.
Economists are generally predicting slower growth in the second half of the year, as the effects of the tax cut wear off and rising interest rates depress consumer spending.
Already announced tariffs are forecast to be only a slight drag on economic growth, unless more are imposed. And it seems that corporate executives are treading carefully, as surveys of business confidence and hiring expectations begin to flag.
The strong second-quarter growth reflectedlarge increases in orders of durable goods, investment in non-residential construction, exports, intellectual property, and government defense spending.
Weak home construction and increased imports, which subtract from economic growth, took it down a notch.
Growth in the first quarter was revised up slightly, from 2% to 2.2%.
Personal consumption expenditures, a key metric that the Federal Reserve uses to decide whether to raise interest rates, also came in at a very strong 4%, although that may reflect a bounceback from last quarter's 0.5%.
CHARLOTTE MAYOR VI LYLES (DEMOCRAT) WISELY CHOSE BUSINESS & JOBS OVER FOOLISH PARTISAN POLITICS.
CHARLOTTE VOTERS NEED TO FIRE ALL CLOSE-MINDED PARTISAN POLITICIANS SO THE CITY’S ECONOMY CAN FINALLY REBOUND.
NOW IT’S TIME FOR CHARLOTTE TO DEVELOP A ZOO & OTHER TOURIST ATTRACTIONS THAT WILL ENTERTAIN LARGE CROWDS FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK.
VI LYLES WOULD SOMEDAY MAKE A GREAT PROGRESSIVE 21st CENTURY GOVERNOR FOR NORTH CAROLINA.
CONGRATS
Post Sources: Charlotte Observer, Youtube
****** GOP picks Charlotte for 2020 convention. Now, the fundraising and organizing begin
Charlotte won its second national political convention in a decade Friday, kicking off two years of planning, fundraising and anticipation.
The Republican National Committee on Friday formally awarded Charlotte the 2020 party event, pushing Charlotte into a small group of cities that will have held both major party conventions.
The vote capped a dramatic week in which the Charlotte City Council agreed to host the convention Monday by a single vote. Four Democrats joined two Republicans in support. Five Democrats voted no.
“We could not be more excited,” North Carolina GOP Chair Robin Hayes said in a statement. “Today’s announcement is a testament to the strong leadership in Charlotte that has followed a long North Carolina tradition of putting the needs and opportunities of our people before politics.”
But politics was behind the contentiousness surrounding the council decision.
More than 100 people debated the convention publicly and passionately before Monday’s council vote. Through it all, Democratic Mayor Vi Lyles championed the event and urged people to put partisanship aside.
Asked Friday if she would have started the bidding process had she known the opposition it would spark, she said she would have. She said the city would have had the same debate, even if the outcome may have been different.
“I think we would have done exactly what we did,” she told reporters. “The outcome I can’t project.”
Friday’s RNC vote means Charlotte will host its second national political convention eight years after finding itself the site of Democrat Barack Obama’s nomination for a second term.
Lyles and council members who joined her in Austin said they’re confident that law enforcement officials can provide security for the convention and the city.
“We’ve got two years to plan for protests we know will happen,” said Mayor Pro Tem Julie Eiselt, a Democrat.
Republican council member Ed Driggs agreed.
“We were very clear-headed about the political climate we’re in right now,” Driggs said. “We felt the benefits to the city outweigh the risks.”
Businessman Ned Curran co-chairs the host committee with Doug Lebda, the founder of Lending Tree, and attorney Walter Price. Former council member John Lassiter will be the host committee’s CEO and executive director.
Curran said the committee is “way ahead of schedule” in reaching its $70 million fundraising goal. In 2012 Democrats fell $10 million short of theirs. Duke shareholders footed about $6 million of that after the company was not repaid.
Lassiter told reporters the host committee already has raised “more than 10 percent” of what they need.
Other Republicans applauded the RNC’s selection.
“I think it’s going to be great,” said Saul Anunzis, Michigan’s former GOP chairman. “It’ll make sense politically for us.”
GOP National Chair Ronna McDaniel complimented not only Charlotte but Lyles.
“I love that it’s the Queen City and we have Mayor Vi Lyles — you are a queen,” McDaniel said. “We look forward to Charlotte being center stage when the Republican Party nominates Donald Trump and Mike Pence for a second term.”
“To be one of only a few American cities to host conventions from both political parties is a testament to the people of our state,” Pat McCrory, North Carolina’s former governor and Charlotte’s former mayor, said in a statement.
The convention is expected to involve not only uptown Charlotte but venues around the region.
“Every venue in the region is in play, and part of the attraction,” Curran said.
Reebok announced the newest member of its family with the appointment of R&B artist, dancer, actress and famed sneaker head Teyana Taylor, as its official brand ambassador.
Taylor will join Reebok's like-minded collective of innovative and inspirational creators, including the likes of Future, Gigi Hadid and Top Dawg Entertainment Recording Artist Kendrick Lamar.
Taylor will spearhead the re-release of the Reebok Classic Freestyle Hi, the first fitness sneaker that was specifically designed for women.
First introduced in 1982, the Freestyle Hi was a groundbreaking silhouette that embodied then exactly what Taylor represents today: fearlessness and bold expression.
Taylor is known for her provocative moves, her unapologetic style and her freedom of language in music, fashion and dance - all characteristics that also describe the Reebok Classic and the Freestyle Hi in particular.
Taylor officially launched the partnership today via her social channels through new campaign images and video that she shared with fans worldwide.
With her trademark ferocity and her personal message to everyone to "Free Your Style," Taylor is pictured wearing the Freestyle Hi, which will include three OG colorways - the Triple Red, Triple White, and Triple Black - launching this month.
"Teyana Taylor is the perfect collaborator to join the Reebok family," said Todd Krinsky, Global Vice President of Reebok Classic and Entertainment.
"She is a risk-taker who brings her own perspective to every project and she stands uniquely at the intersection of fashion, music and fitness, which are the core tenets of Reebok Classic.
This partnership continues to solidify Reebok's commitment to women who express themselves through confidence in style," he added.
Commenting on the partnership, Taylor said, "Reebok has always been a brand that's been very special to my heart ever since I was young.
Freestyles were all I wanted to wear growing up so it feels like everything's come full circle with this partnership.
The 5411's really opened the door for creativity in womens fashion, it gave permission for sneakers to be feminine.
I'm honored to be the face of the Freestyle campaign for everything it stood for yesterday and what it still represents today."
Taylor and Reebok have notably worked together in the past, collaborating on her own brazen red colorway of the Question Mid as part of the 20th Anniversary of the iconic Allen Iverson sneaker in 2016, called the "Question Mid Teyana T.
The Women’s March organization is hosting a one-year anniversary event, called Power to the Polls, on January 21. But Washington D.C. is hosting its own Women’s March today, January 20. A year ago, the women’s march in D.C. was massive, so expect a big crowd again today. The March on Washington 2018 (in D.C.) rally begins at 11 a.m. Eastern today, January 20, at the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The march itself is expected to start around 1 p.m., according to the event’s official Facebook page. You can’t bring tripods, chairs, or tables. But you can bring cardboard posters or signs, as long as there are no metal or wood posts to hold them up.
Be sure and arrive early, because the event is going to be massive. At least 9,600 have RSVP’d that they plan to attend, and about 5,500 are expected. The rally portion of the event will feature several talented speakers. Here is a map of where the rally will be taking place:
The march, which is expected to begin around 1 p.m., will march all the way to the White House. Although the organizers did not to release the march on their website, according to their march’s Route Webpage, they have released the map via other sources. Thrillist shared a map of the march and where it will be taking place, courtesy of the Women’s March. You can view the map and route here. The march will travel along Constitution Avenue and Independence Avenue. Marshals will help direct the marchers so they know where to go.
Numerous special guests will be speaking at the rally before the march begins. They include:
• Daryl Davis, musician, actor, lecturer, and race relations consultant. He’s the leader of the Daryl Davis Band and wrote Klan-Destine Relationships. He appeared on HBO’s The Wire.
• Judith Heumann, an international disability rights advocate. She served as the first Special Advisor for International Disability Rights during the Obama administration.
• Kofi Annan, president of the Fairfax County NAACP. He’s a native of Georgetown, Guyana, and immigrated to America at the age of 12. He served eight years in the U.S. Army and is now the founder and CEO of Veteran Career Counseling Services, LLC.
• Judy Gearhart, executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum. She teaches human rights at Columbia University.
• Tim Kaine, former Vice Presidential nominee for the Democratic Party.
• Brittany T. Oliver. She’s the founding director of Not Without Black Women, and is a race and gender activist. In 2016, she received national recognition for challenging white feminism during the early stages of the Women’s March on Washington.
• Joanna Lohma, professional soccer player. She’s been a professional athlete for 13 years and is a Sport Diplomat.
• Mia D. Mason, owner of Managers Lendors Investors, Inc.. She’s a veteran LGBT Infantry servicewoman, an Army electronic warfare officer, and a Naval aviation electronic technician.
• Chris Carson. She’s President of the League of Women Voters.
• Kelly Convirs-Fowler, delegate for the 21st district in Virginia.
• Kamala Lopez, director, actress, and President of Heroica Films.
• Jean S. Gearon, Ph.D., Women’s Alliance for Democracy & Justice
• Susan Platt, President of Platt Consulting.
• Kings Floyd, co-chair of DC Metro ADAPT
• Marcela Howell, executive director of In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda
• Eve Hurwtiz, Treasurer of March On
• Nuchhi Currier, President of the Women’s National Democratic Club
• Muthoni Wambu Kraal, VP for Outreach and Training at EMILY’s List
• Eleanor Smeal: President and co-founder of Feminist Majority Foundation
• Toni Van Pelt: President of the National Organization for Women
• Marilyn Karp: A leader of Indivisible Nova West, a group focused on Getting Out the Vote.
• Elise A. Bryant: Director and Labor Educator
• Greisa Martinez Rosas: DACA recipient and potential Dream Act beneficiary
• Nadia Hassan: Young Leaders Institute
• Ann Marie Benitez: Senior Director of Government Relations, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
• Wendi Wallace: Political Outreach Director for Planned Parenthood Action Fund
• Tom E. Perez, Chairman of the DNC
• Bryce Armstrong, Miss District of Columbia USA 2018
•Performers will include Batala in Washington D.C. and SongRise.
This isn’t the only event in the nearby area that you can attend this weekend. On Sunday, January 21, at 7 p.m., a book discussion on feminist books will take place at the home of an Arlington NOW member (details here.) And on Saturday at 1 p.m., Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in DC will be hosting an abortion discussion, focusing on the effects the pro-life movement has had on African Americans.
In the wake of the ongoing sexual harassment scandals in Hollywood and beyond, women across the world are taking a stand.
This Sunday, thousands of women (and men) will join forces in cities the world over, taking to the streets to march and send the message that 'Time's Up' - the name of a legal defence fund set up to financially support women who have experienced sexual harassment, assault, or abuse in the workplace.
It comes exactly a year after the global women's marches in protest at Donald Trump's inauguration, which saw half a million people descend on Washington DC to defend women's rights, amid concerns that the US President would begin to dismantle them. Many wore hats with pink ears, and celebrity supporters included Emma Watson and Madonna.
The 2018 march in London - which starts opposite Downing Street at 11am on Sunday January, 21 -, seeks to capitalise on the activism kick-started by the #MeToo hashtag that sprung up in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, and has seen a widespread move to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace.
In a statement, the organisers said: ‘We are coming together to pledge that we are going to make change in big and small ways. We will stand side by side, once again, in solidarity with our sisters, brothers and siblings around the world. Together we are strong and if we all work for a better world then time is really up for oppressors of women.’
In 2016, just nine per cent of all start up funding went to female founders, according to data from Barclays and the Entrepreneurs Network. With male entrepreneurs 86 per cent more likely than their female counterparts to raise venture capital funding in the UK, it’s safe to say there is an issue.
Such a climate even lead two young women entrepreneurs to invent a fake male co-founder to correspond with potential investors. Penelope Gazin and Kate Dwyer, who founded the online art marketplace Witchsy, created an imaginary third co-founder Keith Mann to help get their business off the ground.
"It's frustrating that a significant proportion of funding goes towards male-founded or led businesses," Annabel Denham, programme director at The Entrepreneurs Network, previously toldThe Telegraph. "This is not just an economic discussion, though we know start-ups are vital to the UK economy: we want to see smart, savvy businesswomen getting the same opportunities as their male counterparts."
Since launching January 1, the Time’s Up initiative has raised $15.86 million of its $16 million goal.
To celebrate, Reese Witherspoon shared a video on Instagram with Brie Larson, Kerry Washington, Tracee Ellis Ross, Rashida Jones and Tessa Thompson thanking everyone for their generous donations.
“We have raised $15 million so far from more than 10,000 people who have donated from 60 countries, all 50 states and this is just the beginning,” Ross said.
“This is only possible because of you,” Thompson added.
Time’s Up is also raising money for a legal defense fund for both women and men who believe that they’ve been discriminated against or harassed in the workplace.
Jones and Washington invited viewers to wear black Sunday in honor of the 2018 Golden Globes, where stars are wearing black to take a stand against sexual harassment and sexual assault.
Many attendees are also donning the Time’s Up pin, which was created by costume designer Arianne Phillips and jewelry designer Michael Schmidt.
GOP 2017 TAX BILL PROVES REPUBLICAN PARTY STILL CONTROLS MOST OF THE MONEY IN POLITICS: (BILL HIGHLIGHTS)
WHAT CAN DEMOCRATS DO BEFORE 2020 TO PUT SOME OF THAT MONEY BACK INTO HANDS OF "AVERAGE, HARDWORKING JOE" VOTERS??
TRUMP CALLED FOR CHANGES TO THE HOUSE TAX BILL BEFORE IT PASSED.
13 HOUSE REPUBLICANS VOTED AGAINST THIS OMNIBUS "RICH GET RICHER" TAX BILL.
Sources: AP, Fox News, MSN, NY TIMES, Youtube
**** The House just passed its big tax bill. Here's what is in it.
President Trump and GOP House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) won a major victory as the House passed the tax bill Thursday, the central piece of the Republican plan to boost the U.S. economy.
No Democrats voted for the bill. Ryan could lose 22 GOP votes, but in the end, he only lost 13.
The legislation would affect every American household and business owner.
The bill was first introduced Nov. 2 and was voted on just two weeks later, leaving little time for analysis or debate on the 440-page legislation.
The next step is for the Senate to pass its version and then for both chambers to reconcile their substantial differences.
The main goal of the House's “Tax Cut and Jobs Act” is to lower taxes on companies in an effort to make them more competitive and discourage them from moving abroad.
The bill reduces the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent and the rate for pass-through businesses down to 25 percent (with some restrictions).
Many families would also pay less, although Ryan has admitted that won't be the case for everyone. Here's a rundown of what is actually in the final version of the bill that passed.
It keeps the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate.
The House voted on a tax bill only.
The Senate bill includes a provision to scrap the legal requirement that almost all Americans buy health insurance or pay a penalty.
The House isn't touching that, which may lead to a showdown between the two chambers if they have to resolve their very different versions of the bill
Big businesses win.
The House bill cuts the top rate that large corporations pay from 35 percent to 20 percent, the biggest one-time drop in the big-business tax rate ever. It is a permanent change that does not expire.
On top of that, companies would get some new tax breaks to help lower their bills, such as the ability to deduct all the costs of purchasing new equipment for five years, as well as a special low rate on any money they bring back to the United States from low-tax countries such as Ireland.
Many businesses have been holding cash overseas to avoid 35 percent U.S. taxes.
Now they would get to bring the money home at a tax rate of 12 percent.
The entire business tax system would also change from a worldwide system, in which money anywhere around the globe is taxed, to a territorial system in which it's mostly money made in the United States that is taxed.
Businesses have long lobbied for this change.
Small businesses get a mini-win.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses, the largest small business lobby, initially was against the House bill, but Republicans made some changes and now the NFIB is giving its blessing.
95 percent of American businesses are organized as pass through companies (LLCs, S-Corps, partnerships), and they “pass through” the business income to the owner's individual tax rate.
The House plan lowers the top rate from 39.6 percent to 25 percent for small businesses (excluding “service companies” like consultants and lawyers) and requires a complex formula where the 25 percent rate only applies to about 30 percent of the business income.
But the reality is most small businesses — 85 percent — already pay taxes at rates of 25 percent or less.
To help out the small “mom and pops,” the final bill has a 9 percent rate on the first $75,000 in income for business owners making $150,000 or less.
But that tax break phases in, meaning it isn't fully available until 2022.
<<<<< The rich do very well. The wealthy get a lot of benefits in the bill.
The estate tax, which is paid only when property and other assets worth over $5.5 million are passed on to heirs, doubles to about $11 million in 2018 (around $22 million for couples), meaning a lot fewer people have to pay it.
And the estate tax goes away entirely in 2024.
The mega-wealthy also would get to keep charitable deductions, a popular way that lowers their tax bills, and they no longer would have to pay the alternative minimum tax (AMT), a safeguard against excessive tax dodging that's been in place since 1969.
Some wealthy business owners would be able to take advantage of the lower pass-through rate as well.
Overall, the Tax Policy Center found that half the benefits of the bill go to the top 1 percent by 2027.
Donald Trump would probably benefit a lot.
As The Washington Post explains, many parts of the bill help Trump.
One of the interesting ones is that the lower 25 percent pass-through rate would apply to all income for passive real estate investors like Trump, a much better deal than most active pass-through business owners get.
Most Americans pay the same — or lower — taxes until 2023. For the next five years, the vast majority of Americans (92 percent) would either pay less or see little change, according to the official estimates from the Joint Committee on Taxation.
But that shifts sharply after five years. In 2023, only 40 percent of Americans would pay less. Twenty-two percent would pay more (the rest see little change), JCT found
Taxes will get simpler for many. The House bill collapses the seven tax brackets the country has down to just four (12 percent, 25 percent, 35 percent and 39.6 percent).
The top rate becomes a “millionaire rate” applying to income of $1 million or more a year for couples (and of $500,000 or more for individuals).
In an effort to simplify, the House bill also does away with many of the credits and deductions and replaces them with a larger standard deduction, a slightly larger child tax credit ($1,600 per kid versus $1,000 now) and a new Family Flexibility Credit worth $300 a year for individuals and $600 for couples.
The larger standard deduction means the first $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for couples is tax-free
Say goodbye to most deductions. Almost all itemized deductions are going away, except for three.
The final House bill keeps the deductions for charitable donations, property taxes up to $10,000 a year and the mortgage interest deduction.
The mortgage interest deduction would be capped at $500,000 for mortgages (down from $1 million now).
About 30 percent of filers itemize. Most of the people who itemize claim the state and local tax deduction (SALT) where they deduct their state and local sales, income and property taxes.
Under the House bill, only the property deduction would remain. This hurts people living in high-tax (and often blue) states like New Jersey, New York and California. Several GOP representatives from these states plan to vote no on the bill in protest.
The adoption credit stays. The 401(k) exemption stays.
But . . .
Say goodbye to the tax credits for plug-in motor vehicles. It gets repealed in 2018.
Say goodbye to the deduction for medical expenses. It goes away in 2018.
Say goodbye to being able to write off the costs of your tax preparer. That goes away in 2018.
Say goodbye to the deduction for moving expenses. It goes away in 2018, except for members of the military.
Say goodbye to most tax benefits for college.
At the moment, low and middle income Americans can deduct up to $2,500 a year in student loan interest.
That benefit would go away in 2018.
In addition, grad students who get tuition waivers because they teach or do research would now have to pay income tax on the waiver, a big change.
For students currently in school, the American Opportunity Tax Credit would remain, which allows a $2,000 credit for higher education expenses.
Another day, another massive data breach. Except this one involves Equifax, one of the credit-monitoring companies you might expect to be ultrasensitive to the importance of safeguarding your personal information from hackers.
Instead, the company revealed on Thursday, the personal data of 143 million U.S. consumers in its care — nearly half the country — was potentially compromised.
The data now at large includes names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, addresses and driver’s license numbers, all of which can be used fraudulently to validate the identity of someone trying to open a bank or credit account in another person’s name.
In some cases, Equifax says, the security questions and answers used on some websites to verify users’ identity may also have been exposed. Having that information in hand would allow hackers to change their targets’ passwords and other account settings.
"The fact that the breached entity (Equifax) is offering to sign consumers up for its own identity protection services strikes me as pretty rich." Quote by Security Expert Brian Krebs
This isn’t the largest data breach ever — that crown belongs to Yahoo, which allowed account information for 500 million people to be hacked. But it has several elements that make it much worse than the usual. The breadth of the hacked information is one.
Another is the signal it sends that firms like Equifax are much more concerned about collecting personal information than protecting it.
Here are three others:
— Equifax waited six weeks to disclose the breach. The firm says it discovered the breach, which it reports began in mid-May, on July 29.
That’s six weeks that consumers could have been victimized without their knowledge and therefore left without the ability to take countermeasures. Equifax hasn’t explained the delay.
— Three Equifax executives sold shares after the discovery of the breach and before its public disclosure, according to Bloomberg. They collected $1.8 million from the sales, which weren’t part of any prearranged option-execise programs. The sales were made on Aug. 1 and 2, the third and fourth days after the breach was discovered.
An Equifax spokeswoman says the executives were unaware of the breach at the time of their sales, but that’s hardly comforting: One was John Gamble, the firm’s chief financial officer. If the firm’s No. 2 executive wasn’t immediately informed about a catastrophic security breach, why not?
In any case, the executives’ timing was exquisite.
Gamble sold 6,500 shares for $145.60, or about $946,400. As of midday Friday, following the firm’s disclosure, the shares are trading at a bit over $123, down about 13% on the day.
— Equifax already is trying to take advantage of the victims of its own breach. The firm set up a website allowing individuals to check if their information was potentially compromised, but it requires users to plug in their last name and last six digits of their Social Security numbers.
That raises the question of why anyone would trust Equifax with even a partial Social Security number at this stage.
The site also invites users to sign up for Equifax’s “TrustedID Premier” credit monitoring service. As a recompense to the victims, the firm is offering this service free for a year.
But be warned: Not only is that woefully inadequate, since hackers can exploit stolen personal data for many years, but it gives Equifax a lucrative database of possible customers to be sold continuing subscriptions for the service after the year is expired — at a price currently set at $19.95 a month. In fact, enrollment in the service typically requires customers to provide Equifax with a credit card number, which the firm uses to automatically bill them after the free trial is over.
“The fact that the breached entity (Equifax) is offering to sign consumers up for its own identity protection services strikes me as pretty rich,” security expert Brian Krebs observed on his website.
Even worse, the TrustedID terms of service state that enrollees give up their right to sue Equifax and prevents them from filing or joining a class action in the case of any dispute — they’ll have to go to arbitration as individuals, which almost always places consumers at a disadvantage.
It isn’t clear how those restrictions apply to preexisting data breaches, but judges have held in other cases that arbitration clauses may have retroactive effect. People should be very, very cautious about signing up with Equifax’s service.
The most important lesson in the Equifax breach is an old one: Consumers whose information is held by Equifax are not its customers or clients — they’re the product, and their personal information merely raw material to be exploited by the firm for its own profit.
Equifax and its two major competitors in the credit-monitoring game, Experian and TransUnion, make their money by compiling detailed files on individuals and selling them to credit card firms, banks and marketers. In short, they don’t care about you, except so far as you’re an entry in their databases.
Equifax Chief Executive Rick Smith tried hard to demonstrate that he does care, with little success. In a video on the firm’s website, he called the breach “a disappointing event for our company,” sounding a bit like Mr. Spock after he’s told that a catastrophic attack on the Enterprise is underway.
Smith further stated, “We pride ourselves on being a leader in managing and protecting data.” But the evidence contradicts that claim. Just last May, Krebs reported that thieves were able to access W-2 tax data of employees at client companies of Equifax’s payroll service subsidiary TALX, thanks to lax security. That breach lasted almost a year, starting in April 2016.
The firm has suffered a string of other breaches, too.
The credit bureaus have “shown themselves to be terrible stewards of very sensitive data, and are long overdue for more oversight from regulators and lawmakers,” Krebs wrote.
But lawmakers at the state and federal level have been inexcusably lax about regulating these data firms and any others holding sensitive consumer information.
Only eight states — Connecticut, Florida, Maine, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Vermont — impose a firm deadline on how quickly companies must inform consumers of a breach, usually 30 to 90 days after its discovery. (California requires “timely” notification, whatever that means, except for medical information, which carries a 15-day notification deadline.)
In Europe, starting next May, the deadline will be 72 hours after a breach is discovered. That seems adequate.
In the meantime, what can consumers do? Krebs and other security experts recommend going beyond signing up for account monitoring services, and placing a security freeze on your credit lines. This can be done through Equifax and the other agencies, though there may be a fee.
The freeze prevents anyone from opening a new credit or loan account in your name.
That includes you, however, which means you have to lift the freeze when you wish to open a new account yourself, and reimpose it (possibly incurring another fee) afterward. That’s an inconvenience, but a worthwhile one to protect your credit, the experts say.
The real action needs to take place in Congress. If there were harsh federal penalties for the kind of sloppiness that seems to be demonstrated by Equifax — life-threatening penalties for the companies — it would be a good bet that they’d get their act together. After every major breach, lawmakers talk about taking action, but seldom go further than holding a hearing or two.
If that happens this time, it won’t be long until the next monster breach.
SONNY PERDUE - NEW POWER BROKER IN TRUMP'S EXEC CABINET (SEC OF AGRICULTURE):
PERDUE IS NO DUMB SOUTHERN FARMER.
PERDUE IS WEALTHY, UNDERSTANDS BUSINESS & NEGOTIATES TOUGH.
Sources: CBS News, Fox News, The Federalist, USDA, YouTube
***** Senate confirms Sonny Perdue as agriculture secretary
The Senate on Monday confirmed former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to be agriculture secretary in President Donald Trump's administration as the farming industry looks to Washington for help amid a downturn in the market.
Perdue won confirmation on a strong bipartisan vote of 87-11, as several Democrats backed a Trump nominee after razor-thin outcomes for his choices earlier this year.
Perdue's cousin, Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., voted "present" but presided over the vote and announced the final tally.
The son of a farmer from Bonaire, Ga., Sonny Perdue will be the first Southerner in the post in more than two decades.
He has owned several agricultural businesses, but isn't related to or affiliated with the food company Perdue or the poultry producer Perdue Farms.
At his confirmation hearing in March, Perdue assured nervous farm-state senators that he will advocate for rural America, even as Trump has proposed deep cuts to some farm programs.
He also promised to reach out to Democrats.
Still, Perdue, 70, is getting a late start on the job. Trump nominated him just two days before his inauguration, and then the nomination was delayed for weeks as the administration prepared his ethics paperwork.
Perdue eventually said he would step down from several companies bearing his name to avoid conflicts of interest.
As agriculture secretary, he'll be in charge of around 100,000 employees and the nation's food and farm programs, including agricultural subsidies, conservation efforts, rural development programs, food safety and nutrition programs such as food stamps and federally-subsidized school meal, Perdue will take office as farm prices have been down for several years in a row and some parts of the industry, including cotton and dairy farmers, say they need the department and Congress to rewrite agricultural policy to help revive their business.
Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said Perdue will help facilitate recovery in small American towns.
"I know he will put the needs of farmers, ranchers and others in rural America first," Roberts said.
Perdue's main task over the coming year will be working with Congress and coordinating his department's input on the next five-year farm bill. Current farm policy expires next year, and lawmakers on the House and Senate agriculture committees will have to find a way to push it through Congress amid heightened partisan tensions and concerns over spending.
At his hearing, he pledged to help senators sustain popular crop insurance programs and fix problems with government dairy programs.
Perdue may also find himself in the uncomfortable position of defending agriculture in an administration that has so far given the issue limited attention, despite Trump's strong support in rural areas. Trump has proposed a 21 percent cut in USDA programs and has harshly criticized some international trade deals, saying they have killed American jobs. But farmers who produce more than they can sell in the United States have heavily profited from some of those deals, and are hoping his anti-trade policies will include some exceptions for agriculture.
At the hearing, Perdue said, "Food is a noble thing to trade."
Perdue will also be part of the administration's response to a dispute with Canada's dairy industry, which has a new lower-priced classification of milk product that Trump says is harming
U.S. producers in dairy states like Wisconsin and New York. Canada changed its policy on pricing domestic milk to cover more dairy ingredients, leading to lower prices for Canadian products that compete with U.S. milk.
Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, voted for Perdue and encouraged him to come to Wisconsin to talk to affected farmers.
"I stand as a willing partner to work with Secretary Perdue and President Trump to address this urgent issue," Baldwin said.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York also talked to Trump about the dairy issue last week in a rare phone call between the two men.
Trump has reached out to farmers on regulation, saying the government has too many rules that negatively affect farm country. That issue is expected to come up on Perdue's first day in office Tuesday, when the president holds hold a round table discussion with farmers and sign an executive order "to provide relief for rural America," according to the White House.
The White House hasn't said when Perdue will be sworn in, but he is scheduled to speak to USDA staff Tuesday morning.
After Perdue, remaining nominees for Trump's administration to be confirmed are Robert Lighthizer for U.S. trade representative and Alexander Acosta for labor secretary.
NET NEUTRALITY UPHELD BY FEDERAL COURTS AGAINST CABLE COMPANIES (GOOGLE FIBER):
Sources: Politico, Youtube
It's Official!
Thanks to a Federal Appeal judge's decision, Pres Obama and some members of Congress, all human beings who reside on American soil will enjoy access to a Free and Open Internet highway.
The Cable company barons have vowed to continue fighting for their legal right to restrict access.
A federal appeals court Tuesday upheld a White House-supported effort to make internet service providers treat all web traffic equally, delivering a major defeat to cable and telephone companies.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 vote, affirmed the FCC's latest net neutrality rules, which consumer groups and President Barack Obama have backed as essential to prevent broadband providers from blocking or degrading internet traffic.
The telecom industry and Republicans have heavily criticized the rules as burdensome and unnecessary regulation, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruzonce labeling it “Obamacare for the Internet.”
AT&T immediately announced it would appeal the ruling, saying it's always expected the issue to be decided by the Supreme Court.
Several industry trade groups are expected to join the effort.
The court decision marks a victory for FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who led the agency’s Democratic majority in approving the rules in February 2015 over the objections of the agency's two GOP commissioners.
The rules apply utility-style regulation originally written for telephone companies to both land-based and wireless Internet services.
Wheeler on Tuesday celebrated the ruling, calling it a “victory for consumers and innovators who deserve unfettered access to the entire web.”
“It ensures the internet remains a platform for unparalleled innovation, free expression and economic growth,” the FCC chairman said in a statement. “After a decade of debate and legal battles, today’s ruling affirms the Commission’s ability to enforce the strongest possible internet protections — both on fixed and mobile networks — that will ensure the internet remains open, now and in the future.”
Big internet service providers, such as Verizon and Comcast, argued the rules will chill investment in network infrastructure. AT&T and CenturyLink, along with cable, wireless and telecom trade groups, filed the lawsuit to overturn the order.
During oral arguments in December, appeals court judges David Tatel, Sri Srinivasan and Stephen Williams had seemed receptive to the FCC’s decision to ground its net neutrality rules in telephone-style regulation.
In the majority opinion, written by Tatel and Srinivasan, the judges said the FCC's approach was bolstered by how people view the internet today.
"These conclusions about consumer perception find extensive support in the record and together justify the Commission’s decision," they wrote.
The majority also let stand the FCC's decision to apply net neutrality rules to the wireless internet, citing the "rapidly growing and virtually universal use of mobile broadband service.”
That's a critical feature of the rules, since many people today access the web through smartphones.
Williams, the lone dissenter, said he agreed the FCC has the authority to change how it regulates broadband providers, but said the agency didn’t provide enough reasons doing so.
Congressional Democrats cheered the court decision as a win for consumers and free speech, with Bernie Sanders tweeting that it "will help ensure we don't turn over our democracy to the highest bidder."
Republicans criticized the opinion, and some GOP lawmakers reiterated calls for legislation to undo the FCC's order and create rules that are less burdensome to industry.
"This is why we need to rewrite the Communications Act," Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) said. "There's a better way to protect consumers from blocking and throttling without stifling innovation or delaying build-out. That way requires action by Congress."
But public interest groups involved in the net neutrality battle urged industry and Republicans to give up the fight.
"The people have spoken, the courts have spoken and this should be the last word on net neutrality," Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron said in a statement.
Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai — who voted against the net neutrality order — said big cable and telecom firms should keep pursuing the case in court.
"I continue to believe that these regulations are unlawful, and I hope that the parties challenging them will continue the legal fight,” Pai said.
The telecom sector has a successful track record in thwarting the FCC’s net neutrality efforts.
A lawsuit by Verizon scuttled the agency’s previous 2010 Open Internet order.
YVETTE CARNELL OF "BREAKING BROWN" YOU ARE ONE OF MY HEROS
BLACK FEMALE POLITICAL POWERHOUSE & SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSWOMAN.
Sources: BreakingBrown, Boyce Watkins, YouTube
Yvette is a BLACK female, extremely intellectual political powerhouse and Businesswoman who should be on national mainstream television, just as Melissa Harris-Perry once was.
This Howard University alumni adds a wealth of flavour and logic to Dr Boyce Watkins' social media platform.
Yvette Carnell writes about politics, international and cultural issues for Your Black World and is the founder of BreakingBrown.
Before embarking on a career in new media, she served as a Congressional aide, first to Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and later to former Congressman Marion Berry (D-AR).
In her time on the Hill, she also worked as Regional Field Director for America’s Families United (AFU), one of the largest non-profit Get Out the Vote (GOTV) campaigns active during the 2004 election cycle.
In the broader Democratic Party, she served as assistant to the Director of the Women’s Vote Center at the Democratic National Committee (DNC). She has since distanced herself from the Democratic Party and considers herself an independent.
Her articles have been featured in the Huffington Post and YourBlackWorld. She has been featured by national news outlets including, but not limited to; The Nation, The Guardian, Politico and NPR.
She received a B.A. in Political Science from Howard University.
Contact her HERE. Or email editor@breakingbrown.com for speaking engagements or media appearances.
Let’s start off this piece with the understanding that hypocrisy is a liberal virtue. They won’t openly claim to be hypocrites, but they will openly engage in hypocritical behavior. Without that glaring absence of self-awareness, the progressive left would likely lose some of their Stalinesque charm.
Now, turn your focus to PayPal. As reported here, yesterday, PayPal has withdrawn plans to expand their operations in North Carolina, in response to the newly passed House Bill 2, or the “bathroom bill,” which prohibits NC cities from setting gender neutral policies for all businesses and schools in their area.
The bill came as a response to a Charlotte, NC ordinance that was set to go into effect on April 1, 2016, that would have allowed men to enter the locker rooms or bathrooms of women, in accordance with how they claimed to “feel,” gender-wise, for that day. Gov. McCrory signed the bill correcting the ordinance. Cue pearl-clutching.
North Carolina Lieutenant Governor, Dan Forest, issued a statement today, in regards to PayPal’s decision to cease expansion in the state over the bill:
"If our action in keeping men out of women's bathrooms and showers protected the life of just one child or one woman from being molested or assaulted, then it was worth it. North Carolina will never put a price tag on the value of our children. They are precious and priceless.
If a corporation wanting to do business in North Carolina does not see the worth of our children in the same light, then I wish them well as they do business somewhere else."
Kudos to North Carolina’s state government for holding the line, where other states have stood, only to quickly fold under outside pressure, in this war against cultural Marxism.
Paypal has no problem maintaining operations in areas like Cuba, Singapore, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia – all known for their stringent anti-LGBT policies (and they don’t stop at just prohibiting mixed bathrooms). Hypocrisy.
Also, while PayPal would see North Carolina’s women and children put in harm’s way, simply to save the feelings of what amounts to 0.3% of the population, they don’t exactly practice what they preach. Lt. Governor Forest displayed this picture of PayPal’s global operations center on his Facebook page today. They’ve highlighted the symbol indicating the way to the Men’s restroom – not “gender neutral,” but an honest-to-goodness, segregated-by-gender bathroom!
PayPal, like every other business, is free to conduct their business any way they see fit. If that means they just can’t tolerate doing business with a state that keeps bathrooms and public shower rooms separated for the privacy and safety of the different sexes, then so be it. However, they should know that their customers are equally free to decide if they want to do business with a company that doesn’t reflect their values and would use coercive means to force their beliefs on that population.
There are unsubstantiated reports of PayPal office phone lines being backed up with calls of users cancelling their accounts, in protest of their stance against North Carolina’s bathroom bill.
Time will tell who suffers the most damage in this cultural conflict.
Sources: DOT.gov, Bloomberg News, Charlotte Center City.org, Youtube
Ten years ago the city of Atlanta, Georgia bypassed the city of Charlotte, North Carolina in population growth and quality of life.
As it relates to business opportunities for Black people, ten years ago Atlanta was deemed to be a "Black Mecca".
Fast forward to the year 2016.
Charlotte is now the place to be!
While Charlotte's population remains right at one million residents versus Atlanta's six million residents, Charlotte receives much higher ratings than Atlanta for Smart Sustainable Growth and Quality of Life.
In the video above I give kudos to Charlotte's leaders for their excellent Development and Urban Planning
As I mentioned in a previous video, Charlotte is the best venue to host the 2017 NBA All Star games.
~ Charlotte, North Carolina - Integrated Land Use and Transit Planning
Funding Sources and Amounts: South Corridor received $463 million (47% Federal, 25% State, 28% local sales tax).
South Corridor Infrastructure Program (SCIP) provided $50 million, funded through government-issued bonds. The Smart Growth Fund (for South Corridor) provided $5 million revolving fund to purchase and assemble land around transit stations. General funds.
Years: Mid-1990s–present
Agencies/Organizations Involved: City of Charlotte (Planning, Department of Transportation, Economic Development, Charlotte Area Transit System); towns of Davidson, Huntersville, Cornelius, and Matthews.
Geographic Area: Mecklenburg County of North Carolina; southern Iredell County (for the North Corridor Transit Line).
Problem to Be Addressed
Between the 1970s and 1990s, Charlotte, NC, experienced tremendous population growth as it slowly rose to become a top banking and financial center. Charlotte knew it needed a strategy to ensure the growth was controlled in a way that enhanced the livability of the city and the metro region.
Objectives of Project
The Centers, Corridors, and Wedges visioning effort was undertaken to map out how Charlotte should grow over time and understand what infrastructure investments are needed to support this growth. The integrated land use and transit planning and implementation projects that followed were a direct response to this regional vision.
Summary of Project
Charlotte's successful transit planning and implementation are direct results of a forward-thinking regional growth strategy, coupled with targeted land use and infrastructure investments and a coordinated transit-supportive land use policy and regulatory framework. The multicorridor transit systems plan has begun to be implemented with the highly successful (both from ridership and transit-oriented development (TOD) standpoints) South Corridor LRT (Blue Line).
Type of Funding Used for Project / Plan
South Corridor: $463 million (47% Federal, 25% State, 28% local sales tax).
SCIP: $50 million funded through government-issued bonds.
Smart Growth Fund (for South Corridor): $5 million revolving fund to purchase and assemble land around transit station.
General funds.
Population Served and Modes Served
Metro Charlotte region residents; all modes.
Project Details
Integrated Land Use and Transit Planning Key Events and Activities
Charlotte is recognized as a national model for integrating land use and transit planning. Its success story starts with a comprehensive regional vision for growth, a deliberate and aggressive policy and infrastructure response to this vision, and a city organizational structure that encourages a broad-based livability focus. The following are the key events and activities related to Charlotte's integrated land use and transit planning:
Centers, Corridors, Wedges Vision Plan.Originally developed in 1994, Charlotte's regional vision provided the development framework that called for focusing most future growth in centers and along five radial corridors. The plan's main goals were to establish long-term growth management strategies for the region and provide guidance to better link transportation and land use. Central to this strategy are proactive and aggressive investment of accompanying transportation and transit infrastructure that supports the targeted growth areas.
2025 Integrated Land Use and Transit Plan.In 1998 the city advanced the regional vision through a 25-year transportation plan. The goals of the plan were to support the "Centers and Corridors" land use vision, expand choices in mode of travel, develop a regional transit system, and support economic growth and sustainable development. Over an intensive 9-month period, a series of transit/land use alternatives was tested for each of the five corridors called out in the regional vision. An extensive public outreach effort fostered community understanding and consensus around the recommended plan, which called for phased implementation of various transit technologies along the five corridors. This and the prior visioning effort galvanized the community around a common vision of sustainable growth supported by thoughtful land use planning and transit investments. Consequently, a half-cent sales tax was passed through a referendum providing a dedicated revenue source projected at $1 billion over 20 years.
Multicorridor Transit Planning, Station Area Plans, and Regulatory Changes. Detailed planning for the transit corridors started immediately after the sales tax referendum passed. The Major Investment Studies (MIS) for all five corridors were conducted in 1999 and 2000, and these recommended a combination of light rail, bus rapid transit, streetcar, commuter rail, and extensive bus systems serving more than 200,000 riders by 2025.
South Corridor (now called the Blue Line) was the first to be advanced among the five corridors, and it received a "highly recommended" rating from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in 2002. It is important to note that even prior to receiving the full funding grant agreement from FTA and while necessary environmental and engineering studies were being conducted, the city was aggressively crafting land use policies and regulations that would support the land use vision set out in "Centers and Corridors" and were necessary to support the transit system's success. The city developed transit station area planning principles, detailed station area planning efforts, and adopted regulatory changes to enable and encourage TOD to occur.
Station Area Joint Development Principles and Policy. Together with the Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC), the city of Charlotte and towns of Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, and Matthews adopted a set of Transit StationArea Joint Development Principles in 2003. The principles provided the framework for developing around station areas, in a manner that would maximize the benefits to a community. The principles address co-location of public facilities around stations, emphasize the necessity of public infrastructure to serve TOD, support development of affordable housing and public/private partnerships, provide private sector incentives for18 Livability in Transportation Guidebook - Appendix TOD, and encourage location and retention of a mix of transit-supportive businesses. Together with the Station Area Plans, the joint development principles provided the guidance for the city's TOD zoning and SCIP.
South Corridor Infrastructure Plan. The city set aside $25 million investments in streets, sidewalks, and intersection improvements to support the South Corridor LRT, before and during its construction. This targeted investment aimed at "building community," enabled the corridor to be transit-ready, and optimized the TOD potential around each transit station.
By 2008, SCIP had funded the following projects:
14 miles of sidewalks
1.5 miles of multi-use trails
10 miles of bicycle lanes
8 miles of street widening
7 streetscape improvement projects
27 intersection improvements
Other Related Initiatives
Smart Growth Funds. Charlotte set aside $5 million to purchase property around proposed Blue Line stations and prepare the properties for development. For the proposed Scaleybark station area, the city used part of the money to purchase 9 acres of underutilized properties. This property was combined with a parcel that the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) already owned (a former drive-in theater) to form a 17-acre property ready for TOD. Part of the money used to purchase this site was from the city's Housing Trust Fund, which required development to meet a minimum affordable housing threshold.
TOD Development Response Activities.Throughout the transit corridor and station area planning process, the city held several "development response" sessions. These sessions, developed on an on-call basis, were collaborative workshops held with property owners who wanted to develop around station areas. The intent of these sessions was to collaborate with the developers at the early stages of a project to arrive at solutions that were mutually agreeable and would support TOD. The city rallied key staff together to provide in-house and consultant technical expertise. Several successful development response sessions reshaped projects to become more supportive of community goals and transit ridership prior to implementation of transit projects. Examples of development response activities include modifying the design and site plan of a Wal-Mart and an Ikea, developing a lower impact and less costly solution to the "weave" at the US 29/NC 49 interchange, and refining 3030 South Development, a successful TOD built along the Blue Line.
Urban Street Design Guidelines (USDG). The city developed and adopted a set of planning and design standards that call for "complete" streets - streets that provide mobility for motorists while also providing safe and comfortable pedestrian and bicycle travel. With these guidelines, the city of Charlotte is using street design to shape its development patterns and provide residents and visitors with viable choices for how they move about the city. The guidelines include innovative policies, implementation processes, and a context-driven set of standards. Some of the policies include recommending block lengths for new development that create a well-connected street network, wide planting strips, and improved crossings and traffic signal timing to better accommodate pedestrians.
The USDG received the 2009 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Smart Growth Award and is a model for expanding conventional thinking to context-based street design that considers multimodal travel, infrastructure, green space, and neighborhood and business impacts. The city has since applied the guidelines to more than 20 streets and 10 intersections, including seven "road diets." The guidelines have facilitated the increase in the bike lane network from 1 mile in 2000 to more than 55 miles in 2009. The City Council adopted the USDG in October 2007, and city staff are working on adopting it as ordinance.
Interdepartmental Coordination. Charlotte has a strong tradition of interdepartmental and interdisciplinary coordination, from the City Council to the staff level. The partnership and coordination is a result of the organizational structure of the city as well as strong policies that encourage this to occur. Each year the City Council establishes five focus areas for targeting community resources, including housing and neighborhood development, community safety, transportation and planning, economic development, and environmental issues. The goals for these focus areas are the basis for budget decisions and operational programs, and directly translate to specific strategies that are overseen by interdepartmental subcommittees. In fact, these focus area goals are also incorporated in staff allocation and staff professional development and review.
Because of this strong institutionalized structure for interdepartmental cooperation, and because planning, economic development, transportation, and transit are all under the city's purview, the programs and resources of the various departments are more easily and closely aligned toward the same "community building" goals. The multicorridor transit effort was not just a transit project for CATS but a community-building project that must address economic development and land use goals for all of Charlotte.
Neighborhood Quality of Life Report. The city of Charlotte's Neighborhood Services Division, in partnership with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, conducts a bi-annual study that gauges the quality of life of various neighborhoods around the city. The study evaluates social, crime, physical, and economic conditions, and includes variables such as population characteristics, crime rate, homeownership and value, projected infrastructure improvement costs, access to transit, access to retail, and walkability. The city uses the results of the study to gauge the effectiveness of programs and evaluate changes needed to improve neighborhood conditions. Although not directly related to the transit initiative, this study is an excellent example of the city's holistic approach to performance measurement that includes land use, transportation, and socioeconomic indicators.
Livability Principles Promoted by Project
Promotion
Livability Principles
F
Increase transportation choices
P
Promote affordable housing
F
Enhance economic competitiveness
F
Support existing communities
P
Coordinate Federal policies and leverage investment
F
Value communities and neighborhoods
P: Partly Supports F: Fully Supports
Challenges
How to approach station area and TOD planning differently for urban and suburban areas? We push the envelope even more for urban locations to require higher standards related to livability.
How do we best coordinate station area planning and TOD efforts with the county Parks Department? The Parks Department is under county jurisdiction and the planning, implementation, and maintenance of parks and open spaces around station areas may not always be the department's priority.
Funding and maintenance of structured parking and shared parking (shared between the transit station and private development) can be quite challenging.
Successes
Successful implementation of the Blue Line from both ridership and economic development aspects. The Blue Line opened in November 2007 with 15 stations serving Uptown and neighborhoods on the south side of the city. In 2008, a year after its opening, ridership was already totaling 14,000. This far exceeded the 1999 projected average ridership of 9,100 and almost 80% of the projected ridership for 2025. The city estimates that more than $400 million in private sector development was realized prior to the line's groundbreaking, bringing a projected $1.8 billion in new tax revenue between 2005 and 2011.
The city proactively developed policies, guidance, and regulations that have helped shape land uses along the future transit routes.
The city successfully influenced a number of development projects that are occurring along future transit lines to become more transit-supportive, and more importantly, align with community goals through the station area planning development response process.
The city worked through the issues of development densities and scale, and implemented regulations that will protect residential neighborhoods from impacts of proposed new TOD.
Perspectives on Implementing the Project and Its Impacts
Project Status
As of early 2010, the status of the project is as follows:
Draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the rest of the five corridors has been completed.
Preliminary engineering for the Northeast Corridor is underway and scheduled to be completed in 2010.
The city is awaiting MTC's decision whether to advance the Northeast Corridor and/or the North Corridor for applying to FTA for funding.
Applicability of Lessons Learned to Other Projects or Challenges
Transit Project and Community Building. The joint authorship and ownership of the transit project across various city departments (transit agency, planning, economic development, and transportation) provided a learning opportunity for everyone, broadening the perspective of each department's focus so that transportation is taken as a consideration but not the only driver of community goals. In the end, the transit project became a community-building project and not simply a mobility project.
Integrated Transit and Land Use Planning. The project is a great example of a regional land use vision that called for phased transit investment to support sustainable growth. The decision to build transit was coupled with complementary land use planning, strategic infrastructure investment, and transit-supportive policies and regulations to ensure the success of the transit project (from a ridership standpoint) and realize the community vision.
Roles of MPOs / DOTs and Policy / Plan Outcomes
The city has a healthy partnership with the local MPO, the Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization (MUMPO). The city holds the unique role of maintaining the region's travel demand model for the MPO. The city's understanding of the community's development pattern ensures that a better calibrated model that reflects the multimodal travel demand conditions of an urban setting is used to forecast future conditions. With the Blue Line now built, the Charlotte DOT and CATS are looking at even more accurate data for transit ridership forecasts to plan for the other four transit corridors.
The North Carolina DOT is looking at the city of Charlotte as a case study for how transportation solutions can better respond to the needs and intricacies of urban places. Through the USDG and projects such as the US 29/NC 49 conversion from a grade-separated interchange to a more community and transit-supportive network solution, the city is helping to re-shape thinking toward more context-sensitive transportation solutions at the State level. The city was closely involved in drafting the State's "Complete Streets" policy.
Welcome to the BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ Blog. (Established 2008)
My name is Laurel. (Author & Publisher)
I Blog with a focus on POLITICS, Business, and occasionally Entertainment.
FACTS ABOUT LAUREL:
Wife,
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Sister,
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Blood-related to a nationally known Charlotte Politician.
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Credentialed by the RNC and DNC.
Political Blogger/ Commentator
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Currently reside in CHARLOTTE, NC
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