The New Black Friday Means Lines But Less Frenzy At Kmart, Sears

DES PLAINES, Ill. -- "Be safe everybody," a Kmart worker instructed customers here as they filed into the store at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, looking for deals on items such as headphones and clothes.

But the instruction may have been more of a formality. Once the dozens of people lined up outside the store were inside, they calmly browsed the aisles and compared prices on towels and toasters to those listed in the circulars they had brought along.

The line outside a Des Plaines, Illinois, Kmart at 5:50 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. (Jillian Berman/The Huffington Post)

Welcome to the new Black Friday. It starts on Thursday or even earlier, lasts for days and isn't quite the harried environment of years past. The increased popularity of online shopping, combined with retailers' interest in capturing shoppers' limited dollars as early as possible, has made the one-day deal bonanza obsolete. Instead, this year Walmart, Target, Amazon and others offered days of deals starting in mid-November.

Sears, which is also owned by Kmart's parent company, Sears Holdings Corp., opened at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving, two hours earlier than last year, and offered its longest string of doorbuster sales ever -- more than 1,000 deals over a 17-hour period -- said Jamie Stein, the vice president of public relations at Sears Holdings. The chain is also letting shoppers buy items online and pick them up in person at both Sears and Kmart stores. At one New York Kmart, more than 100 people stopped in Thursday in a period of just a few hours to pick up items they ordered online, Stein said.

"That's what we saw this year, not a Black Friday but a Black November," Stein said Friday. "In previous years, the focus on one day did create this craze, but was that the best for our customers? Now it's less of a frenzy but better in the end."

Crowds were reportedly thin at malls across the country on Friday morning.

The aisles were relatively clear at 6:30 a.m. Thanksgiving Day at the Des Plaines Kmart. (Jillian Berman/The Huffington Post)

Of course, there were still some elements of the classic Black Friday frenzy at stores across the country. Stein said Kmart managers reported "consistent lines" at 6 a.m. openings Thursday, with 100 people waiting to get in on average.

The increased availability of earlier deals didn't change the holiday plans of Cindy Bergate and Nancy McFall, two shoppers who were browsing the shoe aisles here around 6:15 a.m. on Thanksgiving. The two said they've been Black Friday shopping with four other relatives for years.

After Kmart, they were headed home to cook and eat Thanksgiving dinner, then someone in their shopping crew would leave the meal early to get in line at Walmart. They said they also planned to hit Target and other stores and then head back out again on Friday.

"We're crazy," said McFall, 48, adding that she preferred the experience in years past when shoppers waited in line outside for hours.

Pam Pitakis, 53, who was browsing a rack of jackets that were 50 percent off, said she's nostalgic for the traditional Black Friday for different reasons.

"It's kind of annoying" that so many deals are on Thanksgiving, she said. Pitakis came to Kmart in the wee hours of the morning to get a tablet. "We'd rather just have it be on Black Friday."

Stores have been opening earlier on Thanksgiving in recent years.

Kmart has been open on Thanksgiving for 23 years. But it's been a target of criticism in recent years, along with other retailers, as more chains moved their opening times and best deals to earlier on the holiday. Detractors deride the stores for requiring workers to come in on the holiday and compelling shoppers to rearrange their turkey dinners to make it in time for deals.

"I hate this time of year," one Kmart veteran who works in human resources in a California store told The Huffington Post earlier this month. Several others, who also requested anonymity to protect their jobs, expressed similar sentiments in interviews, saying they weren't given the option not to work on Thanksgiving.

Stein said the company "makes every effort" to staff its stores on the holidays with seasonal employees and volunteers before requiring others to come in. Many employees appreciate the chance to work the holiday because they're paid one and a half times their hourly rate, she said.

The retail giant sets holiday hours for Sears and Kmart based on feedback the company has heard from customers, Stein said. It's also an aim to stay competitive with other retailers.

Sears Holdings has been struggling for the past several years. The chain hasn't reported a positive quarter of same-store sales since 2005, according to Retail Metrics, a retail data firm. CEO Eddie Lampert has been using a controversial strategy to turn things around that critics argue has little to do with actually selling more stuff.

The company is trying to maximize the value of its real estate by selling hundreds of its stores to a newly formed real estate investment trust and renting out space to stores such as Whole Foods, Dick's Sporting Goods and others. It's shuttering other, underperforming locations by the dozens.

"It's a very difficult scenario that they find themselves in," said Ken Perkins, the founder of Retail Metrics. "There's no buzz."

Those difficulties are compounded by the struggles facing other retailers that cater to low- and middle-income shoppers. Slow wage growth has meant that most Americans have limited money to spend in stores. Chains are ramping up the deals all month in hopes that strapped Americans will spend their money in their stores, but the traffic and high volume of purchases at steep discounts may do little to actually help their bottom lines, according to Mark Cohen, the director of retail studies at Columbia Business School.

Sears and Kmart "are attempting to participate aggressively," said Cohen, a former CEO of Sears Canada. "At the end of the day, it's all for naught. This entire Black Friday window of hyper-promotion is really a race to the bottom for all retailers participating."

Buick Dealership Offers A Free Car -- And A Lesson In The Derivatives Market

Bill Kay Buick GMC is promising a complete refund to anyone who buys a new car on Friday or Saturday if it snows more than 6 inches on Christmas Day in Chicago.

"No one has ever done this in the car business before," Karl Regalado, Bill Kay's general manager, told The Huffington Post. "It's legit. A lot of people think it's a scam."

It's not a scam; it's a derivatives contract.

(Bill Kay Buick GMC)

For two days only, your new Buick comes with what is essentially a weather derivatives contract. Typically the only people dealing in weather derivatives are investment banks and insurance companies with teams dedicated to betting on things like hurricane and flood risk.

For example, to offset its risk of paying out millions of dollars to homeowners in case of a hurricane, an insurance company will set up a derivatives contract with an investment bank. The bank agrees to pay out some amount of money in case the storm actually does hit. If the storm misses land, the bank wins. If the storm hits, the insurance company loses less.

At Bill Kay Buick GMC, the deal is more simple: If it snows 6 inches or more on Christmas at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, you get your money back. And really, Bill Kay means that quite literally -- 2 inches on Dec. 24 and 5 inches on the 25th without melting won't cut it. A half-foot of snow has to fall from midnight to 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 25. If that doesn't happen, you keep your car for the price you paid. That's risky, so Bill Kay bought insurance from a company called HCC that specializes in financially protecting companies and people from odd things, like the chance that a professional athlete's career will be cut short by injury.

Regardless of what happens, Bill Kay gets some publicity (this post included, you're welcome!). That insurance should have been pretty cheap -- a little more than $10,000 based on my estimate. The fair price to insure the dealership's expected $1 million in sales is less than 1 percent of $1 million, but for the sake of round numbers, let's assume it's $10,000, plus a bit more because the insurance company is being conservative and tacks on a fee. Still, the total cost the dealership paid to the insurance company is probably less than $12,500. That's the equivalent of a 10 percent discount on five $25,000 Buicks.

So Bill Kay's Buick GMC, the only weather-derivatives-dealing car dealership in America, is doing something pretty smart: Offloading its entire refund risk to its insurance company at a price that's cheaper than a run-of-the-mill sale to which no one (myself and the Tribune included) would have paid much attention.

That's because, based on historical data, the chance of Chicago getting 6 inches of snow on Christmas is less than 1 percent. Chicago is a cold, snowy city, but heavy snowfall happens infrequently, as you can see from this chart. Snow days of 3 inches or more are the dark blue lines occurring around 2 percent frequency in December:

The record Christmas Day snowfall in Chicago, according to the state's climatologist, was 2.5 inches in 1965.

According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, from 1981 to 2011, it snowed 5 inches or more in December an average of just 0.3 days. That's just 1 percent of the days. It's not enough snow to trigger the free-car deal, and it includes the entire month of December. The odds of big snow days are the same in January, which is useful. The dealership and its insurer don't need to worry about a more-frequent early January storm happening in late December.

Bill Kay has already seen the deal's payoff. It has "been a great media blitz in the last 24 hours or so," Regalado said. And things will only get better, he says, if they give away cars on Christmas.

"No matter how many cars we sell, whether it's 40, 50, 60 or 70, this is a win, win, win. If it snows 6 inches on Christmas, everyone is going to know who we are."

Black Friday Is One Of The Busiest Days For Gun Purchases

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. (AP) — More gun sales than ever are slipping through the federal background check system — 186,000 last year, a rate of 512 gun sales a day, as states fail to consistently provide thorough, real-time updates on criminal and mental histories to the FBI.

At no time of year is this problem more urgent. This Friday opens the busiest season for gun purchases, when requests for background checks speed up to nearly two a second, testing the limits of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS.

The stakes are high: In the U.S., there are already nine guns for every 10 people, and someone is killed with a firearm every 16 minutes. Mass shootings are happening every few weeks.

"We have a perfect storm coming," FBI manager Kimberly Del Greco told The Associated Press during a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the system.

Much of the responsibility for preventing criminals and the mentally ill from buying guns is shouldered by about 500 men and women who run the system from inside the FBI's criminal justice center, a gray office building with concrete walls and mirrored windows just outside Bridgeport, West Virginia.

By federal law, NICS researchers must race against the clock: They have until the end of the third business day following an attempted firearm purchase to determine whether or not a buyer is eligible.

"They won't proceed or deny a transaction unless they are ABSOLUTELY certain the information they have is correct and sufficient to sustain that decision," FBI spokesman Stephen G. Fischer told the AP.

In roughly two percent of the checks handled by the FBI, agents don't get this information in time. If three business days pass without a federal response, buyers can legally get their guns, whether or not the check was completed.

Americans are buying more than twice as many guns a year now as they did when the background checks were first implemented in 1998. And that means more gun sales are effectively beating the system.

The federal government often takes the heat in debates over gun rights, but the FBI says states are largely to blame for this problem. They voluntarily submit records, which are often missing information about mental health rulings or criminal convictions, and aren't always rapidly updated to reflect restraining orders or other urgent reasons to deny a sale.

"We are stewards of the states' records," Del Greco said. "It's really critical that we have accurate information. Sometimes we just don't."

There are more than 48,000 gun retailers in the U.S., from Wal-Mart stores to local pawn shops. Store clerks can use the FBI's online E-Check System, which federal officials say is more efficient. But nearly half the checks are phoned in. Three call centers — in Kentucky, Texas, and Wheeling, W.Va. — take these calls from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. every day but Christmas.

NICS did about 58,000 checks on a typical day last year. That surged to 145,000 on Black Friday 2013. They're bringing in 100 more workers than usual for the post-Thanksgiving rush this year.

The call centers have no access to privileged information about buyers' backgrounds, and make no decisions. They just type in their name, address, birthdate, Social Security Number and other information into the system. On Black Fridays, the work can be grueling: One woman took a call that lasted four hours when a dealer phoned in the maximum 99 checks.

"Rules had to be stretched," recalled Sam Demarco, her supervisor. "We can't transfer calls. Someone had to sit in her seat for her while she went to the bathroom."

In the years since these background checks were required, about 71 percent have found no red flags and produced instant approvals.

But ten factors can disqualify gun purchasers: a felony conviction, an arrest warrant, a documented drug problem or mental illness, undocumented immigration status, a dishonorable military discharge, a renunciation of U.S. citizenship, a restraining order, a history of domestic violence, or an indictment for any crime punishable by longer than one year of prison time.

Any sign that one of these factors could be in a buyer's background produces a red-flag, which sends the check to the FBI researchers to approve, deny or investigate. They scour state records in the federal database, and often call local authorities for more information.

"It takes a lot of effort ... for an examiner to go out and look at court reports, look at judges' documents, try to find a final disposition so we can get back to a gun dealer on whether they can sell that gun or not," Del Greco said. "And we don't always get back to them."

These workers have considerable responsibility, but little independent authority. They must use skill and judgment, balancing the rights of gun owners and the need to keep would-be killers from getting firearms.

Researcher Valerie Sargo said outstanding warrants often come up when they examine a red flag, and that can help police make arrests.

"It makes you feel good that this person is not supposed to have a firearm and you kept it out of their hands," she said.

It also weighs on them when the red flags aren't resolved in time. Tacked to a cubicle wall, a sign reads: "Our policy is to ALWAYS blame the computer."

FBI contractors and employees oversaw more than 9 million checks in the first full year, when the NICS system was established as part of Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1998. By last year, they oversaw more than 21 million. In all, only 1.25 percent of attempted purchases are denied. Denials can be appealed.

People can get guns without background checks in many states by buying weapons at gun shows or from individuals, a loophole the National Rifle Association does not want closed. But even the NRA agrees that the NICS system needs better data.

"Any database is only going to function as well as the information contained within," NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said.

Del Greco doesn't see the states' data improving soon, which only adds to the immense challenge of getting through huge numbers of requisite checks on Black Friday.

___

Associated Press Writer Matt Stroud can be reached through Twitter @mattstroud.

A Quarter Of Uninsured Say They Can't Afford To Buy Coverage

This story was originally published by Kaiser Health News.

Just days before the health law’s marketplaces reopened, nearly a quarter of uninsured said they expect to remain without coverage because they did not think it would be affordable, according to a poll released Friday.

That was by far the most common reason given by people who expect to stay uninsured next year, according to the latest tracking poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation. (KHN is an editorially independent program of the foundation.) Forty-one percent of individuals without health insurance said they expected they would remain uninsured, while about half said they plan to get coverage in the coming months.

The law includes subsidies to reduce premium costs and cost-sharing assistance for those who qualify, although it was not clear if the uninsured knew that.

Despite heavy news coverage and marketing from insurers about the re-opening of enrollment, about 9 in 10 of the uninsured said they didn’t know when the health law’s open enrollment period began (Nov. 15). That was similar to the findings in last month’s Kaiser poll.

More than 8 in 10 of the uninsured said it is at least somewhat important to them to have health insurance, with 62 percent saying it’s very important. Seven in 10 said health insurance is something they need.

Other findings in Kaiser’s November poll include that most of the public reports their families have not been directly impacted by the health law, with more (24 percent) saying they have been hurt than helped (16 percent).

Forty-six percent of those surveyed hold an unfavorable view of the law and 37 percent view it favorably, a slight change from last month’s survey, where 43 percent of those questioned held an unfavorable view of the law and 36 percent a favorable one.

With the midterm elections giving Republicans control of the Senate and increasing the party’s majority in the House of Representatives, Americans were divided about whether the debate between the two parties over the health law would increase, the poll found. Forty-seven percent expected it, while 42 percent predicted it would stay at about the same level.

This KHN story can be republished for free (details).
There’s a variety of opinion about what Congress should do next with the health law. Twenty-nine percent of the public supports the law’s repeal, 17 percent favors scaling the law back, 20 percent wants the law to move ahead as is, while 22 percent chooses expanding the law.

Republicans are more likely to favor repeal (52 percent) or scaling it back (24 percent), while Democrats are more likely to favor moving ahead with the law in its current form (40 percent) or expansion (34 percent). Independents fall in between, but lean toward repeal or scaling back.

The poll was conducted from Nov. 5 through 13, using a telephone sample of 1,501 adults. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points for the full sample and +/- 9 percentage points for the uninsured.

maryagnesc@kff.org | @MaryAgnesCarey

Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a nonprofit national health policy news service.

Goldman Sachs Fires Employees Over Leak Of Confidential NY Fed Info

(Adds details, background, statement from New York Fed)

By Tanya Agrawal

Nov 20 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc said it fired two employees over the leaking of confidential information from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, raising again questions about the bank's alleged cozy relationship with its regulator.

The bank said a junior employee was sacked for passing on to a colleague information from the New York Fed, his former employer, while a supervisor was fired for knowing about the matter but not escalating it.

The disclosure of the firings comes a day before a U.S. Senate subcommittee is scheduled to start hearings on whether the Fed's relationship with the banks it regulates is too close.

The hearing follows the release of secretly recorded conversations between the New York Fed and Goldman officials that suggested Fed officials were reluctant to push Goldman for answers on a transaction with Spain's Banco Santander.

Goldman said on Thursday it had immediately reported the incident that led to the firings to the New York Fed.

The junior banker had been employed with the bank for less than four months, Goldman said.

The confidential information provided Goldman a window into the New York Fed's private insights, including details about at least one of the bank's clients, the New York Times reported, citing lawyers familiar with the matter.(http://nyti.ms/1yVpoq6)

It is unclear whether Goldman's bankers used the information, the Times added.

The "revolving door" relationship between Goldman and other government agencies such as the New York Fed has been a source of criticism in the past, with frequent movement of employees between the bank and its regulators.

Current New York Fed President William Dudley, for example, was Goldman's chief economist until 2005.

In an internal memo obtained by Reuters, Goldman said the proper handling of confidential information was among its highest priorities and that it had a specific policy prohibiting an employee's use of information obtained from former employers.

Goldman added that it was reviewing its policies regarding hiring staff from government institutions to ensure they were effective and robust.

The New York Fed said in a statement it had detailed rules and controls for protecting confidential information.

"Of course, we also know that we are not perfect, that information today is more difficult to safeguard, and we are resolute to learn from our experiences." (Additional reporting by Rama Venkat Raman and Avik Das; Editing by Rodney Joyce and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Arizona AG Sues General Motors For $3 Billion For Allegedly Concealing Defects To Avoid Recalls

(Reuters) - Arizona State filed a lawsuit against General Motors Co (GM.N), claiming the carmaker put the public at risk by concealing safety defects to avoid the cost of recalls.

Arizona was seeking an estimated $3 billion from GM, the New York Times reported.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said civil penalties could be up to $10,000 per violation. Hundreds of thousands of "unsuspecting" car owners and lessees had been driving unsafe vehicles, he said in a statement.

GM was not available for comment outside of regular U.S. business hours. The New York Times quoted spokesman James Cain as saying GM had not had a chance to assess the complaint.

GM has been hit by a slew of lawsuits this year since it announced the recall of 2.6 million vehicles because a problem with the ignition switch could cause it to slip out of position, cutting power to air bags, steering and brakes.

The recalls have grown to encompass numerous problems affecting millions of vehicles. About 300,000 of the vehicles recalled this year were registered in Arizona, the New York Times reported.

The attorney general said the case was the first by a U.S. state against GM for its alleged role in suppressing knowledge of defects and not recalling vehicles in a timely manner.

The state cited ignition switches and numerous other car parts, including airbags, wiring, brake lights and seat belts.

Though many issues relate to cars produced before GM went bankrupt, Horne said "New GM" was liable because it had concealed known safety defects.

"New GM was not born innocent," he said in the filing.

GM has argued it should not face lawsuits based on safety issues on cars made before its 2009 bankruptcy.

The company is running a compensation program for the faulty ignition switches.

Arizona argued consumers lost money because GM vehicles fell in value. It also said GM Chief Executive Mary Barra, while head of product development, was informed in 2011 of a safety defect in the electronic power steering of several models.

"Despite 4,800 consumer complaints and more than 30,000 warranty repairs, GM waited until 2014 to disclose this defect," the filing said.

The case is State of Arizona vs General Motors LLC, Case No. CV2014-014090, the Superior Court of the State of Arizona, County of Maricopa.

(Reporting by Rama Venkat Raman in Bangalore; Writing by Rodney Joyce and Robin Paxton; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

If Pimco Were A Country, It Would Be The Most Unequal Place On The Planet

The main force driving income inequality in America is the skyrocketing pay of not the 1 percent, but the 0.1 percent and the 0.01 percent. We just got a prime example of that.

Bill Gross and Mohamed El-Erian, former top executives at Pacific Investment Management Co., the nation's largest bond-fund manager, received $290 million and $230 million bonuses, respectively, in 2013, according to a report last week by Bloomberg View's Barry Ritholtz.

Massive pay for the financial elite has become so routine that individual salaries are rarely shocking any more. These were big enough to cut through the torpor. Gross and El-Erian alone made 17 percent of all the pay given to Pimco employees in 2013, according to Ritholtz's report, which was based on leaked internal documents. The top six employees at Pimco took home a quarter of the pay given to 2,462 employees.

Bill Gross has publicly decried rising income inequality, and yet even by financial-industry standards, pay at Pimco is very unequal. In fact, by our estimates, if the firm were its own country, it would be by far the most income-unequal country in the world. And on a smaller scale, if Pimco were a county, it would be the most unequal county in America. These are conservative estimates -- tweak them at all, and Pimco would look more unequal.

This is evidence of what researchers like Emmanuel Saez have been saying about income inequality: Even the merely wealthy are losing ground to the new income elite. That income elite is, like the top earners at Pimco, by and large a financial industry elite.

Pimco claimed that Ritholtz's report was wrong, but didn't offer any numbers of its own. The firm doesn't disclose its pay, so it's hard to know for sure exactly how unequal that pay really is. But it is possible to do a rough calculation of its pay distribution, based on what we think we know about pay at the very top and how much money is divided among the rest of the staff.

There's a full explanation of how I arrived at Pimco's income distribution at the bottom of the post. Suffice to say, for now, that this distribution is fairly typical of financial firms like Pimco, according to Raghavendra Rau, a finance professor at Cambridge University who studies executive pay.

Huge payouts at the top, combined with relatively flat pay at lower levels, give employees an "incredible incentive to get into the top" of the pay scale, Rau said in an interview with HuffPost. Such a pay scheme also gives employees at the top a "huge incentive to stay at the top. It’s a matter of getting these guys to work really hard."

With everyone working incredibly hard to move up or maintain their place at the top, Rau said, “it becomes a treadmill... everyone is working their butts off to stay in the same place.”

Pimco did not respond to The Huffington Post's request for comment. Janus, Bill Gross' current employer, declined to comment. Gross could not immediately be reached for personal comment. Mohamed El-Erian and Allianz, his current employer, did not respond to The Huffington Post's requests for comment.

According to my calculations, and using the most conservative assumptions possible about Pimco's pay, the company's "Gini coefficient" -- a way of measuring and comparing inequality, where 1 represents complete inequality and 0 complete equality -- is an exorbitantly high 0.769. By way of comparison, one of the world's least-equal economies, South Africa, has a Gini coefficient of 0.631, according to the World Bank. The Gini coefficient for the U.S., based on the latest U.S. Census American Community Survey, is 0.476. New York County -- a.k.a. Manhattan -- is tied for the highest county-level Gini in the U.S. at just over 0.6.

Here’s the chart that helps put this in perspective. It’s called a Lorenz curve. It shows what percentage of a population gobbles up what percentage of total income. In a world of perfect equality, it would show a straight line from the lower left-hand corner to the upper right-hand corner. In the real world, where inequality exists, it bows down and to the right and then spikes up at the end, representing how earners at the very top take up much of the income. The chart below compares perfect equality to inequality in the U.S. and at Pimco:

As you can see, the pay distribution is seriously warped at Pimco. 70 percent of Pimco employees make just 5.7 percent of the total income, while 0.3 percent of the employees – six people – take home a quarter of all the pay.

Because the Lorenz curve might be kind of confusing for the uninitiated, here’s the same data in pie charts:

(The percentages correspond to the portion of the population; the size of the slices shows how much income they receive)

In the United States -- where income inequality is relatively high compared to other developed economies -- the top 20 percent take home about half the income. At Pimco, based on Ritholtz's reporting on the size of the bonus pool for the top 60 employees, the top 3 percent take home at least half the income.

A hedge-fund executive once said of Goldman Sachs: “The amazing thing about Goldman... is not that a few talented people make $20 million -- it’s all the mediocre talents that make over $1 million.”

The amazing thing about Pimco is that some talented people make $20 million, while once-extraordinary talents that have recently had mediocre results can make $290 million.

___________________________________________________________

*Some explanation and caveats about the distribution of income at Pimco:

The figure on bonuses for the top six employees comes from Ritholtz’s reporting. Ritholtz also reported that the total bonus pool for Pimco’s top 60 employees (known as managing directors), including the six whose bonuses he specified, was $1.5 billion. Senior employees in the finance industry receive an insignificant salary relative to the size of their bonuses. Adding details of these top earners' salaries would likely have almost no impact on the calculations. If anything, adding salaries would likely make inequality slightly higher.

I made the conservative assumption that the remaining portion of that $1.5 billion was equally split among the remaining 54 managing directors. That’s $14.7 million per MD. It's not unreasonable to assume that large swaths of Pimco's most senior employees are awarded almost equal bonuses, according to Cambridge's Raghavendra Rau.

To estimate the salaries for the remaining employees, I assumed that the rest of the $3 billion in revenue that Pimco withholds from its parent company, Allianz, is used to pay the rest of its employees. This is another conservative assumption: If Pimco paid less than $3 billion to employees, inequality would be worse than my calculations indicate.

Pimco has 2,462 employees. 758 of them are investment professionals, including 60 managing directors. For the 1,704 support staff, I followed Felix Salmon’s assumption that they make $100,000 each. Some, of course, make more and some less, but this is a very generous average income. And averaging it this way understates inequality at Pimco.

For the 698 non-managing-director investment professionals, I assumed they equally split what was left of the pay pool after the MDs got their $1.5 billion, and the support staff got their $100,000 each. That works out to $1.9 million per person.

To be clear, changing these assumptions would change the picture of inequality at Pimco -- but changing these assumptions would likely make that picture look even worse.

(h/t to Felix Salmon for suggesting calculating Pimco’s Gini coefficient. And huge, huge thanks to Guan Yang and Thomas Hauner, PhD students at NYU in finance and The Graduate Center at CUNY in economics, respectively, for reviewing my calculations and suggesting smart refinements.)

San Francisco Votes To Raise Minimum Wage To $15

San Francisco will gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour over the course of three years after residents voted in the pay hike Tuesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The city’s minimum wage will increase to $12.25 per hour in May 2015 and to $13 per hour in July 2016. From there, the wage will go up by one dollar every year until July 2018 when it lands at $15 per hour, bringing the annual pay for a minimum-wage employee working full time to $31,000.

When announcing the measure in June after convening with activists, business representatives and city leaders, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee (D) said the city's current $10.74 minimum wage "doesn't cut it."

The wage hike is a major step in addressing the city’s extreme economic inequality, triggered in part by the growth of Silicon Valley technology companies and the influx of their high-paid employees pricing out lower-income residents. One study this past summer found that the city’s income disparity was comparable to that of developing countries in Central America and sub-Saharan Africa.

San Francisco is already the city with the highest minimum wage, and passage of the wage increase will help it keep that placement. In the same month the city’s ballot measure was introduced, the Seattle City Council passed an ordinance gradually raising that city's minimum wage to $15, set to start taking effect in April 2015.

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Oldest Newest Share + 11/05/2014 8:27 AM ESTChristie: GOP Wins Show Focus On Leadership

The AP reported Wednesday:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says Republican victories in governor's races across the country show voters want leaders who will "get things done," rather that fighting over ideology.

Christie, chairman of the Republican Governors Association and a possible 2016 candidate for president, said he was gratified by GOP wins in Democratic-leaning states such as Maryland, Massachusetts and Illinois, as well as victories in key swing states like Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio.

Christie said voters "elect and re-elect governors to get things done."

Christie, who campaigned for GOP candidates across the country, said the winners deserve the credit, not him. He said elections are "always about the candidate."

Christie spoke Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show, ABC's "Good Morning America" and Fox News Channel.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 7:46 AM ESTPresident Obama To Address Midterm Results In Afternoon Press Conference

President Barack Obama will speak to the press Wednesday afternoon to address his party's resounding loss in the 2014 midterm elections, according to White House press secretary Josh Earnest. He is expected to strike a tone of compromise and accountability following a Republican takeover of the U.S. Senate and many of the nation's gubernatorial offices.

Obama tried reached out to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is widely expected to be the next senate majority leader and who also won re-election Tuesday night, and left a message, CNN reported.

The president's press conference will take place at 2:50 p.m. Eastern time from the East Room of the White House.

Igor Bobic

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 6:57 AM ESTIndictment, Dog Killing, Infidelity Overcome By GOP Candidates

How bad was it for Democrats? Rep. Michael Grimm, a Republican facing a 20-count indictment won in New York and another known for outbursts of rage and killing a beagle, Mike Bost, won a seat in President Barack Obama's home state of Illinois that had been Democratic for 70 years.

Down in Tennessee, Rep. Scott DesJarlais' past infidelities and pushing of abortion on a mistress continued to not matter to voters, who handed him a landslide victory.

There were a couple of bright spots for Democrats, or at least the more moderate crowd. Florida Rep. Steve Southerland lost to Democrat Gwen Graham after holding an all-male fundraiser and joking about Graham in lingerie. And in Louisiana, GOP Rep. Vance McAllister, dubbed the "Kissing Congressman" after he was caught on tape smooching a staffer, finished far back in the field in his contest.

-- Michael McAuliff

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 5:24 AM ESTExpect A Delay In Results

AP not calling these races until the number of outstanding votes can be verified: Va. gov.; Conn. gov.; Colo. gov.; Alaska gov, Senate.

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 5:07 AM ESTAlaska Becomes 4th State To Legalize Recreational Marijuana

In yet another major pushback against the war on drugs, Alaska legalized recreational marijuana on Tuesday, joining Oregon and Washington, D.C. -- both of which legalized cannabis only hours before. Alaska becomes the fourth state in the U.S. to legalize retail marijuana, along with Oregon, Colorado and Washington state.

Voters approved Measure 2, which legalizes the possession, use and sale of recreational marijuana. Adults, age 21 and older, may possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana and grow up to six plants (with no more than three being mature) for personal use. The measure also legalizes the manufacture, sale and possession of marijuana paraphernalia, such as devices used for smoking or storing the plant.

“The folks trying to keep marijuana illegal are relying on the same scare tactics today that they have relied on for decades, but voters just aren’t falling for it anymore," Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said in a statement early Wednesday morning. "The results are particularly encouraging since voter turnout during a midterm election is typically smaller, older, and more conservative. Clearly, support for ending marijuana prohibition spans the political and ideological spectrums."

Read more here.

-- Matt Ferner

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 4:28 AM ESTAh, Politics... Chicago-Style

People are STILL voting on Chicago's north side because of election judge problems @cbschicago #Election2014

— Elizabeth Godvik (@GodvikNewzGirl) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 3:40 AM ESTSarah Palin To GOP: You Didn't Build This

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin took to Facebook last night to issue a hearty congratulations -- and warning -- to her GOP brethren:

Thank you, wise voters! Tonight is a big victory for We the People! Credit is due to the victorious candidates. Your message to President Obama is undeniably received, though he'll try to ignore it.

...

The Democrats got mauled today, deservedly so. To prohibit that from happening to the GOP in 2016, it must learn the lesson from the last time Republicans held the Senate majority. This time they must not retreat, and it's our responsibility to hold them accountable. Will they fight for reform that aligns with the limited government planks of the Republican platform, or will they return to the big government cronyism and status quo favored by the permanent political class? Will they drain the swamp or decide the D.C. cesspool is really just a jacuzzi they can't wait to jump on into and shake us off?

If GOP leadership returns to business as usual, then this majority will be short lived, for We the People say, “once bitten, twice shy.”

Click here to read the full statement.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 2:55 AM ESTAlaska Approves Minimum Wage Increase

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) _ Alaskans have voted to raise the minimum wage.

— Becky Bohrer (@beckybohrerap) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 2:39 AM ESTAlaska Rep. Don Young Projected To Win 22nd Term

The Associated Press is projecting that Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) will win re-election as Alaska's only member of Congress.

--Sam Levine

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 2:36 AM ESTVoter Turnout In The U.S. Is Always Awful.. And This Year Was No Different

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 2:36 AM ESTDCCC Chair Tries To Find A Silver Lining

.@DCCC Chair @RepSteveIsrael: "In short, it could have been worse"

— Josh Lederman (@joshledermanAP) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 2:21 AM ESTMaine's Fourth-Largest City Legalizes Marijuana Possession

Voters in South Portland, Maine, the state's fourth-largest city, approved a measure that removes all legal penalties for possession of up to one ounce of marijuana by adults.

Public consumption and display remain illegal. Maine's largest city, Portland, legalized recreational marijuana last year.

A similar measure in Lewiston, the second-largest Maine city, failed Tuesday night.

-- Matt Ferner

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 2:17 AM ESTCruz Says He Won't Challenge McConnell

Ted Cruz tells CBS that "under no circumstances" would he challenge McConnell for leader. So there's that.

— Susan Davis (@DaviSusan) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 2:15 AM ESTDemocrats Are Not Sugarcoating Tuesday's Election Results

Business Insider's Hunter Walker and Brett Logiurato report:

Democrats knew they were in trouble on election night Tuesday when a Virginia Senate seat that was expected to be a blowout victory began to come in much closer than expected.

"When you're cheering for an eke-out win in Virginia, not going to be a good night," one Democratic strategist told Business Insider.

Read more here.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 2:09 AM ESTHope And Change? Not This Time

Wednesday's front page, NY Daily News: pic.twitter.com/2mChPO9FuU

— Joel Siegel (@joelmsiegel) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 2:08 AM ESTPat Quinn Refuses To Concede Illinois Governor's Race As Rauner Declares Victory

CHICAGO -- Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) addressed supporters late Tuesday night saying he was not ready to concede the election to challenger Bruce Rauner, despite the fact that the Associated Press and others have called the race for the Republican political newcomer.

“There are a lot of votes still to be counted,” Quinn told supporters. “I don’t believe in throwing in the towel when there are that many votes still to be counted.”

As of late Tuesday night, the splash page for the Quinn For Illinois campaign website said, "We're still waiting for the final results to come in. Thanks for your support."

Meanwhile, Rauner declared victory in a speech late Tuesday, promising a "new direction" for Illinois.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting by midnight Tuesday, only Quinn's Chicago base of Cook County tipped in his favor; Rauner won the influential "collar counties" around Chicago and easily carried downstate counties as well.

Cook County, which encompasses Chicago, was the only county that hadn't reported all its results at the time of Quinn's announcement. Election issues rippled throughout Chicago since the polls opened at 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

Election officials alleged "dirty tricks" were afoot after "malicious" robocalls were sent to election judges as early as Friday. Chicago Board of Election Commissioners spokesman Jim Allen told the Sun-Times that the calls -- which reportedly gave election judges false information about voting requirements and eligibility -- prompted more than 2,000 no-shows on Election Day.

"You're interfering with the orderly conduct of a federal election in our opinion," Allen said.

Fire crews had to break down the door of one polling place located inside a restaurant after the owners failed to show up and open. The polling station was just one of several that stayed open beyond the regular poll closing to accommodate the late start.

Additionally, a new policy that allowed voters to simultaneously register and vote at a polling place contributed to the hundreds of voters still waiting in line when the polls closed at 7 p.m.

-- Kim Bellware

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 1:58 AM ESTDemocratic Gubernatorial Candidates Had A Very, Very Bad Night

HuffPost's Samantha Lachman reports:

Republicans had been predicted to take control of the Senate Tuesday evening, but Democrats hoped to do better in gubernatorial races. That hope was more than disappointed, as even Democrats who had been expected to easily win in Democratic-leaning states were defeated.

In deep-blue Maryland, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown conceded to Republican Larry Hogan. In Massachusetts, Attorney General Martha Coakley suffered a crushing loss. And in Maine, deeply unpopular Republican Gov. Paul LePage beat back a challenge from Democratic Rep. Michael Michaud. In all three of those states,

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, didn't even get the requisite 50 percent of the vote needed to win outright in his state.

Read more here.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 1:35 AM ESTMia Love Projected Winner In Utah Congressional Race

Mia Love wins Utah House race, @AP projects http://t.co/x8zvDVQksC #election2014

— HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 1:29 AM ESTIn Bed At A Reasonable Hour: Mitch McConnell's Election Night Extravaganza

HuffPost's Eliot Nelson reports:

When the crowd at Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell's election party first learned their candidate had won a sixth term to the U.S. Senate, the reaction was somewhat less than euphoric. A few yelps of excitement erupted here and there, but it seemed as if no one wanted to stand out by making a fuss. It took a few minutes, but the cheers eventually coalesced into something resembling a roar.

It was a decidedly understated bunch. Men in blazers with prep school haircuts had been mingling with demure women sporting bleach-blond helmet hairdos. Many of their children -- themselves seemingly straight out of a Crewcuts catalog -- noshed on complimentary bags of popcorn.

There were flashes of eclecticism, like the two young men toting a sign reading "COME AT ME BRO" featuring a picture of McConnell holding out his arms. Otherwise, the room felt less like a raucous, eardrum-shattering political celebration and more like history's rowdiest Presbyterian church mixer.

Read more here.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 1:27 AM ESTMartha Coakley Not Ready To Concede In Massachusetts

.@marthacoakley campaign says NO CONCESSION TONIGHT

— Sarah Birnbaum (@sbirn) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 1:17 AM ESTRand Paul Taunts Hillary Clinton After GOP Victory

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wasted no time using the GOP’s new majority in the Senate in the face of potential 2016 presidential rival Hillary Clinton.

Paul posted an entire Facebook album of photos of Clinton campaigning with candidates who lost on Tuesday. Each photo was tagged #HillarysLosers.

On Twitter, Paul continued to attack Clinton, saying that the GOP’s victory on election day was a repudiation of her and President Barack Obama.

Today voters sent a message to Pres. Obama & Hillary Clinton, rejecting their policies & often, their candidates. pic.twitter.com/uQ07JIkwU9

— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) November 5, 2014

You didnt think it could get worse than your book tour? It did. Courtesy of the U.S. voters: https://t.co/kGAZVFq7ze pic.twitter.com/zABFStFM67

— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) November 5, 2014

-- Sam Levine

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 1:16 AM ESTNew Jersey Passes Major Bail Reform

Voters approved Public Question No. 1, a bail reform measure that will reduce the pretrial incarceration of those accused of low-level drug violations. Poorer defendants who can't afford bail, but who are not considered a threat to the community, will now be eligible to be freed while awaiting trial through an alternative release system.

Judges can still deny pretrial release to individuals who pose a clear danger to the community, to repeat offenders and to those who are a probable flight risk.

A recent report from Luminosity and the Drug Policy Alliance found that almost 75 percent of the almost 15,000 individuals in New Jersey's jails are awaiting trial rather than serving out a sentence, and almost half of them remain incarcerated simply because they cannot afford bail. The Drug Policy Alliance backs Public Question No. 1.

-- Matt Ferner

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 1:15 AM ESTElection Results Leave Immigration Advocates Frustrated With Obama

HuffPost's Elise Foley reports:

As of next year, the Senate will be controlled by Republicans, as will the House. The fact that the Senate flipped to Republicans wasn't necessarily surprising to advocates, but it was a frustrating reminder of the president's decision to delay executive action on immigration. That move was meant to protect vulnerable red-state Democrats like Hagan, but most of them either lost anyway or are poised to lose.

In Colorado, executive action could have boosted enthusiasm from Latino voters to the benefit of Udall. Instead, he lost to Republican Cory Gardner, whose immigration stances are far more conservative. The only tangible effect of the delay may have been the deportation of thousands of people who could have been helped by executive action.

Read more here.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 1:15 AM ESTCould The Shellacking Have Been Avoided?

HuffPost's Sam Stein and Ryan Grim report:

Call it a thumping. Call it a shellacking. However you want to describe the 2014 midterm elections, the point remains the same. Democrats took it on the chin Tuesday night, losing the Senate, getting crushed in winnable governors' races, solidifying their minority status in the House for years to come, and stemming the party's ability to continue putting its stamp on the judiciary.

The question is whether it was all avoidable. Democratic strategists will say that the party was dealt a terrible hand, forced to defend too many vulnerable Democrats in red states against too much money. It was, to be sure, a lousy hand. But Democrats never tried to play it.

Candidates across the country shunned the president, with one famously refusing even to say whether she voted for him; they ran from the party's signature accomplishment, national health care reform; and they panicked when the White House considered doing broad-based immigration reform by executive action. Instead, a robust get out the vote operation was supposed to save the party, which rested its hopes in shifting demographic trends and fear of GOP extremists. But when you don't give your voters much to "get out" for, what's left?

"We gave Dems no reason to run," said an adviser to President Barack Obama. "We ran as Dems-lite."

Read more here.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 1:13 AM ESTNew Mexico Voters Approve Ending Criminal Penalties For Marijuana Possession

Voters in New Mexico's Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties overwhelmingly approved the decriminalization of marijuana Tuesday. While they are nonbinding, the questions are aimed at gauging support for such a move.

The county questions com after the Santa Fe City Council's decision in August to decriminalize possession of marijuana and marijuana-related paraphernalia. The city's penalty was reduced to a $25 civil infraction.

-- Matt Ferner

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 1:11 AM ESTWinner: Karl Rove

After the 2012 elections didn't quite go the way the GOP wanted it, Republicans responded by impaneling a team of experts to divine what hard lessons needed to be learn, and come up with a long-term strategy to get back on the winning side. That effort yielded the 100-page "Growth And Opportunity Project" report (more colloquially known as the "RNC Autopsy"). Progress on this venture has been decidedly mixed, at best.

Elsewhere, however, key GOP figures were contemplating a short-term solution, focused on the 2014 midterms. Chief among them was former Bush adviser and Fox News contributor Karl Rove. His vision: the Conservative Victory Project. Its goal: No more Todd Akins! Rove attributed key GOP losses to the fact that too many undisciplined candidates were making it through party primaries and into general elections against Democratic candidates that more seasoned, established GOP candidates could beat.

In an interesting coincidence of timing, Rove's project launched around the same time that Iowa's Democratic senator, Tom Harkin, announced he would be retiring. Subsequently, one of the first people to end up in the crosshairs of Rove's new organization was U.S. Rep. Steve King of Iowa. As The New York Times reported at the time:

Representative Steve King, a six-term Iowa Republican, could be among the earliest targets of the Conservative Victory Project. He said he had not decided whether he would run for the Senate, but the leaders of the project in Washington are not waiting to try to steer him away from the race.

The group’s plans, which were outlined for the first time last week in an interview with [American Crossroads president Steven J.] Law, call for hard-edge campaign tactics, including television advertising, against candidates whom party leaders see as unelectable and a drag on the efforts to win the Senate. Mr. Law cited Iowa as an example and said Republicans could no longer be squeamish about intervening in primary fights.

“We’re concerned about Steve King’s Todd Akin problem,” Mr. Law said. “This is an example of candidate discipline and how it would play in a general election. All of the things he’s said are going to be hung around his neck.”

Iowa ended up with Iowa state Sen. Joni Ernst as their standardbearer in that Senate race, and while she's pushed the envelope in the wrong direction at times, she's more or less proved to be a manageable candidate. (Though it arguably helped Ernst that the media, by and large, chose to give her multiple passes.) Over in Colorado, Rove got the sort of candidate he prefers in U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner -- again, a manageable alternative to Ken Buck. Throughout the primary season, Republicans avoided elevating the types of candidates -- your Todd Akins, Sharron Angles, and Richard Mourdocks -- that had previously sunk ambitions.

Tuesday, in the critical Colorado and Iowa races, Gardner and Ernst both prevailed, beating established Democratic candidates thought to have superior ground operations. The GOP may still need to revisit that "RNC autopsy." But in the short term, what Karl Rove wanted to get, he got.

-- Jason Linkins

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 1:08 AM ESTOne Of The Nation's Most Unpopular Governors Wins Re-election

HuffPost's Amanda Terkel reports:

Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) won re-election on Tuesday, despite being one of the most unpopular governors in the country.

LePage won in part for the same reason he did in 2010: A crowded race split Democratic votes, paving the way for his victory.

Read more here.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 1:07 AM ESTMaine Voters: We Want To Bait Bears

For the second time in 10 years, a ban on bear baiting, trapping and hounding was defeated by Maine voters on Tuesday.

According to the Bangor Daily News, the majority of liberal voters (those residing in the more urban Portland area) were for the ban. The rest of the state? Not so much.

The pro-ban campaign was funded almost entirely by the Humane Society of the United States, which hoped to convince voters that hunting the state's black bears using bait, dogs and traps was cruel and unsporting. The opposition claimed these practices were necessary to control the state's population.

With 54 percent of precincts reporting, the no votes were leading, 53 percent to 47 percent.

Click here for more.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 1:03 AM ESTRepublican Projected To Win Re-Election In Maine

Maine Gov. Paul LePage wins re-election http://t.co/l7QJfMRt4n #Elections2014

— HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 12:58 AM ESTGOP Senators Begin Jockeying For Leadership Posts

confirmed: Thune will run for majr. conference chairman, per sources close to him. Expects McConnell and Cornyn to win top 2 posts.

— Robert Costa (@costareports) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 12:45 AM ESTBallot Measure To Drug-Test Doctors Fails In California

HuffPost's Lydia O'Connor reports:

Under Prop. 46, physicians could have been tested for drugs at random, within 24 hours of an adverse event suffered by a patient under their care, and when they were accused of possible substance abuse. Had it passed, California would have been the only state requiring random drug tests of doctors, the East Bay Express wrote.

Reform groups criticized that provision as ineffective in decreasing substance abuse, unfairly punitive of doctors and a step backward in ending the war on drugs. In a statement sent to The Huffington Post, the Drug Policy Alliance noted that random drug testing "cannot be used to determine the extent of drug misuse, impairment, frequency or amount of use." Moreover, it said, random drug-testing “often creates incentives to use riskier substances in counterproductive ways.”

Read more here.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 12:41 AM ESTSenate Now Has Enough Votes To Pass Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Bill

HuffPost's Kate Sheppard reports:

The new Senate Republican majority creates an opportunity for likely Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to force a vote on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline he's been waiting years to hold.

By The Huffington Post's count, the new Senate will have at least 61 votes in favor of a measure forcing the pipeline's approval -- a filibuster-proof majority.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Tuesday in an appearance on MSNBC that passing a Keystone approval bill would be the second item on the Republican agenda, after a budget. "I actually think the president will sign the bill on the Keystone pipeline because I think the pressure -- he’s going to be boxed in on that, and I think it's going to happen," Priebus said.

Read more here.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 12:28 AM ESTNobody Wants To Run Against Harry Reid For Minority Leader

Politico's Manu Raju reports:

Harry Reid will run for Senate minority leader, and it appears he will have no significant opposition.

Senior Senate Democratic aides said Tuesday night that Reid would have the full support of his entire leadership team, despite his party incurring huge losses on Election Night.

Read more here.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 12:22 AM ESTAmerica, Meet Your New Republican Bosses

HuffPost's Dana Liebelson reports:

Republican victories in Tuesday's Senate elections push out a Democratic old guard and usher in a new crop of hungry GOPers, some just getting their feet wet in politics.

Republicans won control of the Senate partly with the help of newcomers who ousted Democratic incumbents and whipped rivals for seats vacated by retiring liberal lions, whose political service spanned decades that included some of the biggest moments in modern U.S. political history. These departing senators have chaired powerful committees, authored landmark bills, exposed torture in Vietnam, debated CIA interrogation methods, and voted on the Iraq war.

Politically inexperienced Republicans fought to victory by linking Democratic opponents with President Barack Obama and by emphasizing business or military experience, rather than Washington savvy. A Republican outsider also snagged a seat held by a retiring Republican heavyweight: Businessman David Perdue, who will take the seat of departing Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.).

Read more here.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 12:20 AM ESTPat Quinn Wants Every Vote Counted In Illinois Gubernatorial Race

Quinn says "They're entitled to make sure that the election authorities in every single county, counts the votes."

— natasha korecki (@natashakorecki) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 12:19 AM ESTCalifornia Votes To Imprison Fewer People

HuffPost's Matt Sledge reports:

California approved a major shift against mass incarceration on Tuesday in a vote that could lead to the release of thousands of state prisoners.

Nonviolent felonies like shoplifting and drug possession will be downgraded to misdemeanors under the ballot measure, Proposition 47. As many as 10,000 people could be eligible for early release from state prisons, and it's expected that courts will annually dispense around 40,000 fewer felony convictions.

Read more here.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 12:15 AM ESTSam Brownback Projected To Win Re-Election In Kansas Gubernatorial Election

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback wins re-election, @AP projects http://t.co/ofVzXwtzru #Election2014

— HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 12:11 AM EST2016 Dem Contender Will Have To Explain Loss Of Historically Blue State

How does Martin O'Malley explain losing Maryland to the GOP on the 2016 trail?

— Scott Conroy (@RealClearScott) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 12:10 AM ESTMartha Coakley Loses Another Election In Massachusetts

Charlie Baker defeats Martha Coakley in Massachusetts governor's race, Fox and ABC project http://t.co/ofVzXwtzru #Election2014

— HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 12:08 AM ESTDavid Axelrod Says Returns Show A Wave Election

Said on @NBCNews earlier that this was not a wave. But the returns since then say otherwise.

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 12:07 AM ESTRepublican Larry Hogan Projected To Win Maryland Gubernatorial Race

BREAKING: GOP Larry Hogan wins election as governor of Maryland. @AP race call at 12:05 a.m. EST. #Election2014 #APracecall

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/05/2014 12:04 AM ESTVermont Legislators Will Select Governor

BREAKING: Vermont legislature will pick governor after no candidate wins majority.

— The Associated Press (@AP) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/04/2014 11:56 PM ESTKay Hagan Announces Concession

Hagan: I just called Speaker Tillis to congratulate him pic.twitter.com/InaRTrM2dF

— W.J. Lowery (@WesleyLowery) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/04/2014 11:56 PM ESTAnti-Abortion Ballot Measure Passes In Tennessee

HuffPost's Laura Bassett reports:

Tennessee voters on Tuesday approved a controversial ballot measure that ensures the state constitution does not protect a woman's right to abortion under any circumstances. Nearly 54 percent of voters approved the measure, with 46 percent opposed, according to Politico.

Amendment 1 overrides the Tennessee Supreme Court's 2000 decision to block a 36-hour mandatory waiting period before abortions. The court had ruled the state constitution protects women's right to privacy, which includes the right to have an abortion.

Read more here.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/04/2014 11:55 PM ESTMitch McConnell Claims To Admire Collegial Leaders, But Can He Be One?

HuffPost's Howard Fineman reports:

In his Capitol Hill office, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) proudly displays an oil painting of his state’s most famous senator, Henry Clay, “The Great Pacificator” and unifying statesman of 19th century America. But as the 72-year-old McConnell prepares to take over as Senate majority leader, a job he’s spent decades plotting to win, it’s not clear whether he can be -- or wants to be -- another Clay.

McConnell has said recently that the past majority leaders he most admires are two Democrats -- Mike Mansfield of Montana, who moved most of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society legislation, and George Mitchell of Maine, who was noted for his diplomatic and collegial style.

On Election Day, McConnell staffers referred me to a speech their boss had made in which he vowed to run a more bipartisan and consultative Senate than now exists. He would be Clay, Mansfield and Mitchell all rolled into one.

Many of his critics scoff at the notion.

Read more here.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/04/2014 11:54 PM ESTAnother Kennedy Enters Politics

NECN reports:

Ted Kennedy Jr. has won his first political race and a seat in the Connecticut state Senate.

Kennedy is the 53-year-old son of the late U.S. senator and a nephew of President John F. Kennedy. He beat Republican Bruce Wilson Jr. on Tuesday for an open seat in a district along Connecticut's shoreline.

Kennedy had been mentioned in 2012 as a possible Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in his family's home state of Massachusetts. But he decided to seek office in Connecticut's 12th District, where he has lived for about 20 years.

Read more here.

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/04/2014 11:53 PM ESTMississippi Now Outlier On Political Progress For Women

Now there's only one state that's never elected a woman to federal office or the governorship: Mississippi. #2014

— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/04/2014 11:48 PM ESTTed Cruz Won't Commit To Mitch McConnell As Majority Leader

Ted Cruz won’t say whether he’ll support McConnell as Majority Leader

— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/04/2014 11:48 PM ESTOregon Becomes Third State To Legalize Recreational Marijuana

The reformation of marijuana laws across the nation took another step forward Tuesday when voters in Oregon approved a measure to legalize the drug for recreational use.

Voters passed Measure 91, which legalizes the possession, use and sale of recreational marijuana for adults 21 and over, according to The Oregonian, NORML and a Fox affiliate in the state. Oregon becomes the third state in the nation to end the prohibition on cannabis.

"People are no longer being fooled by the anti-marijuana propaganda that they’ve been hearing their entire lives," said Mason Tvert, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project.

“This is another example of voters standing up and saying, ‘Enough is enough.’ Marijuana prohibition has been a massive failure and voters are ready to move on. This is a particularly impressive victory because voter turnout for midterm elections is typically smaller, older, and more conservative. Clearly, support for ending marijuana prohibition spans all age groups and the ideological spectrum."

Read more here.

-- Matt Ferner

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr Share + 11/04/2014 11:46 PM ESTScott Brown Concedes In New Hampshire Senate Race

Scott Brown concedes http://t.co/p9A9YAaDcb #Election2014

— HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) November 5, 2014

Share this: Tweet Share tumblr More

Black People Are More Than Twice As Likely As White People To Struggle To Afford Food

Think we're living in a "post-racial society"? Think again. A recent Gallup poll found that black people are more than twice as likely as white people to have trouble putting food on the family table.

Gallup surveyed a random sample of 148,854 adults age 18 or older and asked if at any time in the last year they did not have enough money to afford food.

On the whole, 17.2 percent of Americans reported difficulty paying for food, which is down from a peak a 18.9 percent in 2013.

The percentage of black people who can't afford food was a lot higher.

Twenty-nine percent of black people surveyed by Gallup said they had trouble affording food, more than twice as much as the percentage of white people (13.3 percent). Hispanic people were right behind blacks at 25 percent.

The survey is just the latest indicator of the huge racial economic divide that persists in the U.S. As Gallup points out, the median household income among black people ($34,598) is far less than that of white people ($58,270). And when it comes to household wealth, white families are about six times as wealthy as black families. According to data cited in a 2013 report from the Urban Institute, the average white family held about $632,000 in assets in 2010; the average black family had $98,000. That gap grew wider in the last couple of decades.

Black people are also more than twice as likely as white people to be unemployed.

Red Lobster Attempts To Save Itself With More Lobster

NEW YORK (AP) — It turns out people go to Red Lobster for the seafood.

The struggling chain on Monday announced another revamped menu that removes dishes including Spicy Tortilla Soup and a Wood-Grilled Pork Chop, while tacking on more dishes featuring lobster. The non-seafood dishes had been added by the chain's previous owner, Darden Restaurants Inc., in hopes of attracting people who don't like seafood as sales declined.

But the new management thinks that was a mistake.

"At the end of the day, we believe that seafood is really why people come to Red Lobster," said Salli Setta, Red Lobster's president, in a phone interview.

The revamped menu is 85 percent seafood, up from 75 percent. Red Lobster says the menu will be easier to navigate and features more photos of the food. Four of the five new dishes include lobster, and it's increasing the amount of shrimp in the popular "Ultimate Feast" platter by 50 percent. The price of the dish, which also includes lobster and crab, will go up by a dollar to $26.99.

The reversal comes after Red Lobster was sold off to investment firm Golden Gate Capital by Darden this summer. Darden, which is based in Orlando, Florida, and owns Olive Garden, had failed to turn around the chain's declining sales and blamed a variety of factors such as the growing availability of shrimp at other restaurants and price-sensitive customers.

For its last fiscal year, Darden had said Red Lobster's sales declined 6 percent at established locations, following a 2.2 percent decline the previous year. Red Lobster, which is still operating out of Darden's offices until it moves into its new home, no longer has to disclose its sales figures because it is privately held.

Whether its new menu will win back customers remains to be seen, with people increasingly heading to chains like Chipotle where they feel they can get high-quality food without paying as much.

Other changes had already been in the works.

CEO Kim Lopdrup, who is back at Red Lobster after serving as its president from 2004 to 2011, has said steep discounting like "30 shrimp for $11.99" was a mistake. The chain this summer also started changing the way it plates its dishes, with fish piled over rice instead of having foods spread out on a dish. Red Lobster says that presentation is more visually appealing, while also helping retain the food's heat.

Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/candicechoi

The Economy Is Still The Biggest Issue For The Voters

WASHINGTON -- For all the talk about ISIS and Ebola, and all the political firestorms over the Affordable Care Act, most voters this year remain focused on the economy.

In a new HuffPost/YouGov poll of likely voters, 56 percent named the economy as one of the two issues most important to them. Health care, named by 35 percent, was a clear but relatively distant second choice, followed by immigration, "how things work in Washington" and foreign policy/terrorism. Three more topics -- social/women's issues, the environment and gun policies -- barely broke into the double digits.

Priorities diverged sharply between those supporting a Democratic candidate for Congress and those backing a Republican. While both groups overwhelmingly named the economy as a top issue, the Republican voters picked immigration and foreign policy as the second and third most important issues, with health care in fourth place. The Democratic voters, in contrast, rated health care nearly as important as the economy, with how things work in Washington, social issues and the environment following behind.

Voters under 30 were far more likely than their older counterparts to be concerned about the environment: 29 percent cited it as a top issue, compared to 10 percent or fewer in every other age group. Those with household incomes under $40,000 were considerably more likely to worry about health care than those with higher incomes. Women were slightly more likely than men to mention both health care and social issues.

Other findings from the poll:

Most voters agree on which issues dominate ad campaigns.
About two-thirds of voters remember seeing the economy and health care mentioned in political ads or campaign mailers. Around half also say they've seen immigration, social issues and how things work in Washington mentioned.

Analysis from Kantar Media/CMAG earlier this month found similar results, with both Democratic and Republican TV advertising in congressional races dominated by economic issues, like jobs or the budget, and health care. Environment and energy topics came in third.

But there's a partisan divide over each party's priorities.
Asked which two topics GOP candidates had discussed the most, voters again named the economy and health care. Very few thought that Republicans had spent much time on the environment, gun policies or social issues.

Supporters of the two parties, however, had different ideas on which of the top two issues the GOP had highlighted more. Over half of the likely Republican voters said the Republican Party was more focused on the economy, compared to 37 percent who said health care. The likely Democratic voters saw the GOP as paying about equal attention to both issues.

The Democratic Party, in contrast, was seen as focusing on social/women's issues: 43 percent of voters said that topic was among the Democrats' top concerns. Just 26 percent named the economy, and 23 percent identified health care.

The perception that Democrats have leaned heavily on social/women's issues was especially prevalent among groups that may not have been the intended targets of the message. Fifty percent of male voters and 51 percent of likely Republican voters said Democrats were focused on social issues, compared to just 35 percent of female voters and 36 percent of likely Democratic voters.

President Barack Obama isn't on the ballot, but he's still on voters' minds.
Nearly seven in 10 voters said they consider their congressional choice this year to be a referendum on President Obama and his policies, with many giving him a thumbs down. Forty-seven percent said they'll be voting against Obama, 22 percent said they'll be voting to support him, and 29 percent said he won't be a factor in their choice.

The likely Republican voters were nearly unanimous, with 86 percent saying they're against the president. The likely Democratic voters, though, were roughly evenly split between saying they'll vote to support Obama and saying he won't play a factor.

The HuffPost/YouGov poll was conducted Oct. 28-30 among 802 U.S. likely voters using a sample selected from YouGov's opt-in online panel to match the demographics and other characteristics of the adult U.S. population. Factors considered include age, race, gender, education, employment, income, marital status, number of children, voter registration, time and location of Internet access, interest in politics, religion and church attendance.

The Huffington Post has teamed up with YouGov to conduct daily opinion polls. You can learn more about this project and take part in YouGov's nationally representative opinion polling. Data from all HuffPost/YouGov polls can be found here.

Starbucks Plans Delivery After Sales Fall Short

NEW YORK (AP) — After reporting disappointing quarterly sales Thursday, Starbucks said it will offer a delivery option on its mobile app in select areas of the U.S starting next year.

The Seattle-based company declined to provide more details, but has been pushing to get people to use its app as a way to build customer loyalty. It also previously said it plans to let customers across the country place orders ahead of time on their smartphone by next year, an option intended to get people in and out of stores quicker.

"We are playing offense," CEO Howard Schultz said in explaining the various steps the company is taking to adapt to changing customer habits, including their move toward online shopping and away from brick-and-mortar stores.

The delivery plans for the second half of 2015 were announced by Schultz during a conference call Thursday discussing the company's fiscal fourth quarter results. For the period ended Sept. 28, Starbucks reported sales that rose but fell short of Wall Street expectations. Global sales at established locations rose 5 percent, including in the Americas and Asia.

Starbucks Corp. is pushing aggressively into different areas as it faces more competition from fast-food chains serving specialty coffees. To boost sales of food in the afternoon, for instance, it has been revamping its sandwiches and adding new offerings like a grilled cheese sandwich that's warmed up in an oven.

This summer, Starbucks also launched its Fizzio soda drinks in the Sunbelt. But Wells Fargo analysts said in a note this week that their checks at a dozen stores in six states suggested the drinks aren't performing up to expectations so far.

In a phone interview, Chief Operating Officer Troy Alstead said the soda drinks are doing "exactly what we expected it to do," but that a national launch isn't planned for 2015. In a previous interview, Alstead had said he expected the drinks to be in much of the U.S. by the upcoming summer.

Alstead said Starbucks is instead focusing on growing its tea business. He said tea accounted for a "high single digit" percentage of sales last year, and that the company expects it to reach "well into the teens" over time.

For the quarter, Starbuckst earned $587.9 million, or 77 cents per share. Not including one-time item, it earned 74 cents per share, which was in line with Wall Street expectations, according to FactSet.

Revenue came in at $4.18 billion, short of the $4.24 billion analysts expected.

For the current quarter ending in December, Starbucks expects its per-share earnings to range from 79 cents to 81 cents. Analysts expected 83 cents per share. The company expects full-year earnings in the range of $3.08 to $3.13 per share.

Shares of Starbucks were down 4 percent at $74.04.

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Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/candicechoi

If You Had A Verizon Family Plan In The 2000s, There's Some Cash Coming Your Way

Verizon agreed to a proposed settlement last week under which it would pay $64.2 million to settle claims that it overcharged customers who signed up for family plans.

Family SharePlan customers were allegedly billed for in-network calls that were supposed to be free, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in 2006 in a New Jersey federal court. Customers with that plan were also allegedly billed more than the advertised rate for additional minutes they used over their monthly allowance.

The alleged overcharges happened between 2002 and 2006, at the height of so-called "family share" plans' popularity with customers.

Under the terms of the settlement, which has yet to be approved by the court, Verizon would pay $36.7 million into a settlement fund, according to court filings obtained by Consumerist. Once lawyer fees and other expenses have been deducted -- $19.26 million alone will be paid to plaintiffs' attorneys, Law360 reports -- Verizon would pay the remaining amount in cash and bill credits to affected customers.

Verizon would then pay out another $27.5 million in the form of credits for free phone calls, the court documents state.

When asked whether Verizon had deliberately overcharged people with Family SharePlans, or whether it was merely a mistake, Peter Bezek, one of the attorneys who filed the class-action suit, said he believed it was “primarily an oversight.”

“I assume they legitimately believed in the billing practices they had,” Bezek told The Huffington Post. “Ultimately, when they were shown there were, in fact, billing problems, they acted responsibly and settled the case.”

Verizon declined to comment for this story.

Of course, we don’t make phone calls today nearly as much as we used to, opting instead to send text messages and emails. As a result, cell phone providers now offer plans with unlimited talk time, meaning this problem is unlikely to happen on a large scale again.

But just because charging for "minutes" isn't as common now doesn't mean that Verizon -- and companies like it -- won't overcharge you in other ways. Verizon and AT&T have both been accused of other types of improper billing, and have had to pay out substantial sums of money in order to make such cases go away.