Sunday News: Maria Following Irma’s Path?; Obamacare Repeal is Baaaack; Really Stupid WaPo Article

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, September 17.

• Three storms raging in Atlantic — with one aiming for Irma’s path
• Tax Cuts Quiet Once-Deafening GOP Call For Fiscal Discipline
• Establishment gears up for Steve Bannon’s war on the GOP leadership
• Don’t Look Now, But Full Obamacare Repeal Is Back On The Table (“A bill nobody took seriously suddenly sounds serious.”)
• Last-ditch Republican health care effort could reduce federal funding by nearly $300 billion (“Graham-Cassidy could be even more damaging than repealing Obamacare without a replacement, a new study says.”)
• This ethnic cleansing in Asia is the most brutal the world has seen in years (“U.S. pressure on the military could help Burma’s persecuted Rohingya minority.”)
• White House denies backtracking on Paris pact withdrawal
• Trump Administration Seeks to Avoid Withdrawal From Paris Climate Accord, International Climate Officials Say (“White House spokeswoman says ‘no change’ in U.S. position on deal”)
• The White House’s new way to defend Trump: Smear James Comey
• Equifax bungles details over and over again
• Eric Cantor: How to End the Immigration Wars (“In exchange for a much improved program for Dreamers, Congress should significantly increase America’s border security by funding additional personnel, technology and physical resources at our border.” I’m mostly ok with this idea by our old friend Eric Can’tor, believe it or not.)
• Single-Payer Movement Shows: Life After Trump May Not Suck (“The flip side of the Trump phenomenon is that Democrats may finally be ready to offer voters something real” Wait, the Affordable Care Act wasn’t “real?”)
• Facebook gives special counsel detailed records about Russian ad buys
• Tim Kaine: Congress should help communities prepare better for hurricanes
• Schapiro: Big win for one of Va.’s big boys (“… the nearly $5 million in campaign contributions that Dominion Energy Virginia, the state’s biggest political donor, has thrown at aspiring and incumbent legislators since 1996 is yielding huge dividends — literal and figurative — for the local electric monopoly. The latest: a lopsided decision by the Virginia Supreme Court this past Thursday affirming a controversial 2015 law that — for seven years, but perhaps permanently — strips the State Corporation Commission of its century-old power to order utilities to surrender lavish profits as refunds to their customers.”)
• If Trump was a rock star, Va. governor candidates are looking like wallflowers (This is a really stupid article, the premise being highly flawed. For starters, Trump was not a “rock star.” Second, as far as I can recall, this quote is simply not accurate: “Normally you’d have big rallies at this point in the campaign.” For instance, I checked back to 2013, and Terry McAuliffe had his big rallies – with the Clintons and with Barack Obama – in late October/early November.)
• Democrat has twice the cash of opponent in Va. governor’s race
• Metro says it needs $15.5 billion over 10 years. And that’s just so it doesn’t get worse.
• Monument Avenue rally attracts few Confederate supporters, ends peacefully
• CASEY: ‘Voter fraud’ speech article stings state Board of Elections member (“Virginia Democrats have called for the resignation of a Republican state elections official, after a newspaper’s account of a luncheon speech she gave in Winchester began making the rounds.”)
• Gillespie, Pam Northam, McAuliffe address state employees group (“the audience grew silent when Gillespie outlined his proposal for a ‘more efficient, smaller state workforce’ by leaving some jobs vacant as employees retire in order to generate savings to improve the compensation of those who remain in the workforce.”)
• Frank Wagner: Region needs a great proposal for Amazon headquarters
• To draw Amazon will take a lot more than an occasional flight to Denver
• Editorial: Should Virginians move to North Carolina? State policy encourages it. (“We have a sure-fire way for Virginia college students to save between $3,500 and $6,000 a year on their tuition. Move to North Carolina.”)
• Public rejection of compromise riles Bellamy opponents
• Opinion/Commentary: UVa picks impressive next leader
• Coalfields counties, towns along the Clinch River embrace potential of recreation, tourism
• Community votes for new name of J.E.B. Stuart High School (“The name with the most votes was ‘Stuart Raiders.’ Thurgood Marshall and Barbara Rose Johns came in second and third place respectively.”)
• Community Suggested Names and Vote
• Warm and summery through midweek and beyond, as Hurricane Jose lingers offshore