Thursday News: GOP Courts Disaster with “Trumpcare,” as Colbert Calls It; Perriello Enters Va. Gov. Race

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, January 5. Also check out Stephen Colbert on calling the GOP health plan (or lack thereof) “Trumpcare.”

• Republicans Are Courting Disaster on Health Care
• Kristof: The G.O.P. Health Care Hoax
• FACT CHECK: Once Again, Lawmakers Are Stretching The Facts On Obamacare (That would be REPUBLICAN lawmakers stretching the facts. C’mon, NPR, it’s not that hard to report what’s really happening.)
• No one likes “repeal and delay”: The GOP plan for Obamacare meets cross-ideological resistance (“Conservatives and Republicans warn that the GOP’s current Obamacare strategy is an invitation to disaster”)
• GOP launches long-promised repeal of Obamacare with no full plan to replace it (They really need to ditch this insane idea; given that the Affordable Care Act was largely a conservative/Republican plan, there’s no way Republicans are going to come up with anything better. Also, repealing the ACA will increase the deficit by a lot.)
• Republicans’ Obamacare repeal plan will add $9 trillion to national debt, but that may not bother them
• Trump’s “if you like your insurance, you can keep it” moment (“One of Trump’s top advisers just made repealing Obamacare much, much harder.”)
• Democrats must fight harder to save Obamacare — and must convince Americans repeal will be devastating
• Largest group of doctors in the country warns the GOP doesn’t have any real health care plans
• Bernie Sanders tells Rachel Maddow: Republicans don’t have a mandate
• Study: racism and sexism predict support for Trump much more than economic dissatisfaction
• Trump’s criticism of intelligence on Russia divides Republicans (“Critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin, such as Sens. John McCain and Lindsey O. Graham, want to go full-bore on holding Russia to account for suspected interference in the U.S. election. But they may be slowed by other GOP senators who prefer a different approach.”)
• Trump to face sworn deposition in coming days (“The headache related to a restaurant suit is just one of Trump’s many legal woes threatening to dog his presidency.”)
• How Christie’s top aide shook Bridgegate and won over Trump (“Ousted by the New Jersey governor, Bill Stepien made an extraordinary political journey into Trump’s White House.”)
• The House Science Committee just used global warming to… challenge global warming? (“Like Donald Trump, the House deniers keep tweeting fake news about climate change”)
• Donald Trump’s reality TV bamboozle: A political style shaped by “The Apprentice” (“Trump loves to play the reality TV host promising next week’s big reveal, but he never has the goods”)
• Stop trying to hush up the truth about election hacking (“The Russian angle cannot be ignored, despite Trump’s apparent lack of concern” My guess is that Trump is VERY concerned — at what might come out about HIM and his kids.)
• The American auto industry does not need Trump to stage-manage it
• The farewell message Obama wishes he could give: ‘You’re welcome!’ (“After eight years of achievements, it must vex the president that more aren’t lining up to say thanks.”)
• Trump and Assange, an Unlikely Pair, Sow Hacking Doubts (They’re not an “unlikely pair” at all; they’re both sociopaths for starters.)
• Obamacare signups on federal exchange HealthCare.gov hit almost 8.8 million amid repeal efforts
• Democrats Look At The 2018 Map And Get Ready To Fight For The Filibuster
• NBC Is Building A Trump Normalization Machine (“Joe Scarborough, Megyn Kelly, Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice Connection, And Maybe Greta Van Susteren Will Just Make Things Worse”)
• Trump Administration Echoes Right-Wing Media Claims That Intelligence Agencies Are Politicized
• Don’t Forget That Megyn Kelly Is a Racial Demagogue (“The recent flattering coverage of her move to NBC leaves out the ugliest episodes of her work at Fox.” Yep, another media #FAIL on this story.)
• High Crimes and Misdemeanors (“Donald Trump appears determined to violate the Constitution on Day One of his presidency”)
• Trump Prepping Ominous Moves to Gut US Intel Capacity
• Editorial: Smackdown in the swamp (“Who would have thought that the first person that Donald Trump would smack down in 2017 would be … Rep. Bob Goodlatte?”)
• Unexpected Candidacy Upends Virginia Democrats’ Plans for Key Governor Race (The NY Times broke this story, by the way; everyone else got scooped.)
• Shake-up in the governor’s race: Another Democrat emerges
• Former Democratic congressman threatens to scramble race for Va. governor
• Donald Trump looms over the Virginia GOP (“A stray tweet could make or break candidates in the commonwealth.”)
• Cable companies, including Cox, are pushing to repeal Obama-era Internet privacy rules
• Terry McAuliffe announces workforce and education initiatives
• Dozens plead with lawmakers for social services funding
• Can Virginia’s only Muslim legislator help Democrats connect with Trump voters? (Short answer: highly doubtful, but I wish him well!)
• Services set for Sen. Charles J. Colgan
• Rep. Scott Taylor, of Virginia Beach, gets post on clout-heavy House Appropriations Committee
• Virginia Beach Democrat hauls in money from all 50 states in bid to take Scott Taylor’s House of Delegates seat (Impressive!)
• Virginian-Pilot editorial: Good riddance to Portsmouth gag order
• Senate 22 candidates weigh in on issues ahead of Tuesday’s special election (“Washington and Hines both supported creating an independent commission for redistricting while Peake said he would leave the redistricting process as is, with Virginia legislators drawing state and congressional districts under state constitutional guidelines.”)
• Stewart: Standing for Virginians’ right to keep and bear arms (“Very few firearm deaths occur in the places where gun ownership is highest.” FALSE!)
• Candidates for Lynchburg-area state senate seat share views at public forum (If you think the minimum wage needs to go up, vote Ryant Washington!)
• Light snow by tonight as Arctic chill settles in for the next few days