Wednesday News: Nevertheless, She Persisted; Trumpcare the Culmination of GOP’s Lies; Gillespie, Stewart Argue Who’s More Extreme

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, March 8.

• Trumpcare Is the Culmination of All the GOP’s Health-Care Lies
• Why Is McConnell Rushing Through a Trumpcare Bill Everybody Hates? (“Whatever the explanation, the strategy behind the bill is almost as incompetent as the bill itself.”)
• How Planned Parenthood Could Derail Obamacare Repeal (“In yet another political fight over abortion, Republicans are divided over a provision in the new House bill that blocks funding for the women’s healthcare provider.”)
• Trump campaign approved adviser’s trip to Moscow (“Campaign leaders knew in advance of Carter Page’s Russia visit in July 2016, former aide says.” Impeach.)
• CIA providing raw intelligence as Trump-Russia probes heat up
• Fractured Republicans face pitfalls on the road to Obamacare repeal
• An Obamacare repeal that’s both heartless and reckless
• Get ready for Trump’s climate-denial offensive (“The administration wants to slash budgets for scientific research and could drop out of the Paris climate agreement, which would be disastrous.”)
• The Republican health-care plan’s top critics? Republicans. (“‘Horse excrement,’ said one representative.”)
• The House Republicans’ health-care bill is a thicket of bad incentives (“It would do far more harm than good.”)
• The Republican health-care bill is all about shortchanging the poor (“The American Health Care Act repeals very little of Obamacare but reshuffles tax credits to benefit the wealthy.”)
• Trump’s attacks on the media are a gift to tyrants everywhere (“Autocrats are already using the president’s words to support harsh crackdowns on journalists.”)
• WikiLeaks posts files it says reveal CIA hacking tools (“The breach will likely cause immediate damage to CIA efforts to gather intelligence overseas and place new strain on the U.S. government’s relationship with Silicon Valley giants, including Apple and Google.”)
• Guess Which Word the EPA Just Deleted From Its Science Mission Statement (“‘Science’ is out. ‘Technologically achievable’ is in.” I despise this administration with a burning passion.)
• Obama ‘livid’ over Trump’s baseless wiretap claim: Wall Street Journal (As well he should be. Hopefully he’ll sue Trump for a few hundred million dollars.)
• No Wonder the Republicans Hid the Health Bill (“When House leaders finally unveiled their plan, the suffering it would inflict on millions of Americans was clear.”)
• The Plan to Ration Health Care (“States will be forced to decide between saving lives and caring for the elderly.”)
• Don’t Roll Back the Vehicle Fuel Standards
• ‘You can’t wait one week?’: Shep Smith hammers GOP rep for pushing healthcare bill without knowing costs
• Senator Warner on GOP Health Care Plan
• Kaine attacks ‘TrumpCare’ on Twitter
• Sen. Tim Kaine’s son arrested while protesting Trump rally at Minnesota capitol
• Why It’s So Hard For The GOP To Agree On Health Care (“There just might not be any single Republican health care bill that can earn the votes of a majority of the House and Senate.”)
• Bernie Sanders: What should we do if the president is a liar? (I guess it’s not surprising that someone as pathetic as Chris Cillizza would hire other pathetic people for his execrable “The Fix,” which not only won’t call a lie a lie, but criticizes others who do. Cancel your Washington Compost subscription until they get rid of Cillizza and Company!)
• Congressman Dave Brat critical of House health-care bill (Because it’s not crazy/extreme/nasty enough for him.)
• Editorial: The choice that Virginia Republicans face (“We understand some showmanship is an intrinsic part of politics, but, really now: Is the Lee statue the most important problem facing Virginia? To hear Stewart talk, you’d sure think so. In reality, of course, it’s a way for Stewart to sound a clarion call in what he sees as a culture war.”)
• Gillespie, Stewart argue at Smith Mountain Lake debate (“As debate continued, the two candidates sparred on immigration, sanctuary cities and Gillespie chided Stewart for being fired from the Trump campaign.”)
• Transgender teen’s road to the Supreme Court detours, but his story is not over (“Gavin Grimm, 17, has become an unlikely symbol in the fight for transgender rights.”)
• ACA replacement proposal could mean less funds for Virginians (“Fewer funds” not “less funds.”)
• Virginia political reaction to the House GOP health care proposal
• Virginia lawmakers continue accepting fewer gifts in post-McDonnell era
• House of Delegates attorneys tell federal court it’s ‘too late’ for redistricting case to impact 2017 elections
• Schapiro: In N.Va. suburb, a microcosm of larger challenge faced by GOP (“Perhaps Prince William is about to shake off its year-to-year swings, imperiling Republicans such as Miller in the 2017 contests for the House. Though Republicans are positioning a replacement candidate, at least one Democrat had declared for the Miller seat before Miller’s announced switcheroo — and others could now jump in.”)
• During tour of Richmond’s worst alleys, mayor talks about plan to reduce backlog of 3,200 maintenance requests
• “Heads should roll.” Norfolk council surprised, upset over $2M overage charge from Hampton Roads Transit
• Arena developers deliver letter to city saying they have a bank that wants to finance project in Virginia Beach
• Becoming mostly sunny and mild through tomorrow; winter cold this weekend