NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: People board an Amtrak train at Penn Station on February 8, 2011 in New York City. Amtrak, a government-owned corporation, has joined up with New Jersey’s two U.S. senators to propose a new rail link to New York City under the Hudson River. The “Gateway Project”, which was formally proposed on Monday, would include two tunnels under the Hudson River and increase the train traffic under the river from 62 trains per day to 92 and cost an estimated $13.5 billion. This plan is looked at as an alternative after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie killed another rail link plan last year after he deemed it too costly to New Jersey residents. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Photo: Spencer Platt/2011 Getty Images
Passengers beware: A new report out by the Amtrak inspector general — yes, that’s a real person — shows higher rates of conductors, mechanics, and engineers testing positive for drugs and alcohol than at any time in the past six years. And that’s with Amtrak only testing about a third of its 4,400-strong workforce and only firing those who fail twice, the AP has learned. “These conditions increase the risk that a serious accident will occur that involves drugs or alcohol,” the report warns, prompting Amtrak to up its drug test rate to at least 50 percent from now on. Which should totally put commuters’ minds atease.
Most job gains were in the leisure and hospitality sector, which includes restaurants
Hiring accelerated sharply in February as restaurants and other hospitality businesses reopened, adding 379,000 to U.S. payrolls and fueling renewed growth as the coronavirus pandemic eases.
U.S. employers added jobs for the second straight month in February, the Labor Department said Friday, in what marks a sharp pickup from earlier this winter.
The unemployment rate, determined by a separate survey, ticked down to 6.2% last month. The jobless rate is well down from a 14.8% peak in April 2020, but remains above pre-pandemic levels, when unemployment was near 50-year lows.
According to Quinnipiac, Cuomo’s position post-scandal is not disastrous
New via @QuinnipiacPoll: -New York voters say 55-40% that Cuomo should *not* resign -59-36% say they would *not* like to see Andrew Cuomo run for reelection in 2022 -45-46% Cuomo job approval rating, with Democrats *approving* 65-27% https://t.co/8AGvqH6YTB
If only someone had told them that sort of thing was frowned upon
Punchbowl News: Three Republicans — Louie Gohmert, Kelly Armstrong, and Randy Weber — tried to change Lance Gooden’s vote for him after he voted in favor of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. This is a big, big no-no.
What they did could be a violation of House rules.
Maybe Chao’s resignation on January 7 wasn’t about the Capitol riot?
While serving as transportation secretary during the Trump administration, Elaine Chao repeatedly used her office staff to help family members who run a shipping business with extensive ties to China, a report released Wednesday by the Transportation Department’s inspector general concluded.
The inspector general referred the matter to the Justice Department in December for possible criminal investigation. But in the weeks before the end of Trump administration, two Justice Department divisions declined to do so.
Ms. Chao, the wife of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, announced her resignation on Jan. 7, the day after the Capitol riot. At the time of her departure, an aide to Ms. Chao said her resignation was unrelated to the inspector general’s investigation.
… The investigators did not make a formal finding that Ms. Chao violated ethics rules. But they detailed more than a dozen instances where her office took steps to handle matters related to her father, who built up a New York-based shipping company after immigrating to the United States from Taiwan in the late 1950s, and to her sister, who runs the company now.