Tuesday News: “Nothing Normal” About This Snowstorm; Trumpcare = “Apocalypse Foretold”; Will GOP Condemn “stark, raving racist?”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, March 14. Also, check out the white supremacists – Rep. Steve King (R-IA) and Tucker Carlson (Right-Wing Wacko) – on Fox “News” last night. So far, Republicans’ reaction has been mostly either silent or muted. VERY telling!

• 24 million more uninsured by 2026 under GOP plan, CBO says (Beyond horrific…totally unacceptable!)
• “Life-threatening” late winter storm lashing Northeast
• There Is Nothing Normal About the Snowstorm About To Slam the East Coast (“Wrong again, science deniers.”)
• White House analysis of Obamacare repeal sees even deeper insurance losses than CBO (“The executive branch analysis forecast that 26 million people would lose coverage over the next decade, versus the 24 million CBO estimates.” Either way, it’s absolutely unacceptable, cruel, stupid…Republican!)
• Trumpcare vs. Obamacare: Apocalypse Foretold (“Obamacare is actually an intelligently designed system, and Republican claims that they could do much better even while slashing funding so they could cut taxes on the rich were always obvious nonsense. Trumpcare is a slapdash, incompetent piece of legislation; but even a much more competent set of people couldn’t have done better given the constraints of Republican Party ideology.”)
• Editorial: Preet Bharara, Who Knew How to Drain a Swamp
• Somebody Else’s Babies (“What is new is the favorable ecosystem in which Wilders now moves. A dozen years ago no U.S. Congressman would have tweeted this: “Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.” That is what Republican congressman Steve King of Iowa declared over the weekend (and was hailed by David Duke, the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, who tweeted ‘God Bless Steve King’; most Republicans remained silent). Fascist genetics now have a place on Capitol Hill.”)
• Defunding Planned Parenthood could lead to thousands more births, CBO projects (“The Republican health-care proposal would leave many women, particularly those in low-income and medically underserved areas, without services to help them avoid pregnancy, congressional budget analysts say.” Nasty.)
• Why Trump’s prosecutor purge could haunt the GOP (“Democrats are already looking at former U.S. attorneys as potentially formidable 2018 candidates.”)
• GOP scrambles after scorching health bill appraisal (“A Congressional Budget Office report is expected to make it harder to win over centrist Republicans.”)
• The CBO reveals Republicans’ health-care cruelty (“The numbers are in, and they’re very bad.”)
• Being an American is life-threatening (“Republicans must look at who will really benefit from their health-care plan.”)
• White supremacism is ready to roar (“Trump’s silence on Steve King’s ‘culture’ comments is deafening.” Also VERY telling!)
• Republicans are defining lunacy down (“It’s time for the GOP to stand up to the president’s conspiracy theories.”)
• The Trump administration dons a tinfoil hat (“The White House is rife with beliefs that are wholly disconnected from reality.” Great job, Trump voters…)
• Time to grill Trump’s nominee for agriculture secretary (“Now that Sonny Perdue has turned in the necessary documents, senators should press him on ethics and policy questions.”)
• Spicer: Trump ‘doesn’t really think’ Obama wiretapped him personally (Trump is unhinged, as are many of his top aides.)
• CBO health score stirs alarm in the Senate
• Republicans Have Absolutely No Idea How to Handle This Awful CBO Report
• The Republican Health Care Plan Is a Nightmare for the Old and Nearly Poor
• The CBO Deals Paul Ryan’s Health-Care Plan a Major Blow (Hopefully that kills it.)
• Sean Spicer: Reporters should “trust” President Donald Trump “if he’s not joking, of course” (“The White House continues to tell Americans to take Trump seriously, not literally” How about NEITHER?)
• “A stark, raving racist”: Democrats turn up the heat on Republicans who refuse to condemn Rep. Steve King’s white nationalism (King is evil in many other ways as well. The fact that Republicans won’t outright condemn him, demand he resign, etc. is VERY telling.)
• Steve King is a virulent racist — why be surprised? He represents the current Republican Party perfectly (He really is the quintessential Republican these days.)
• Tucker Carlson Defends Rep. Steve King’s Racist Tweet: “Everything You Said I Think Is Defensible And Probably Right” (So Tucker Carlson is a virulent bigot and white supremacist as well. Lovely.)
• Americans are getting more secular all the time — which is one reason why Trump voters are so angry (“A new poll shows white evangelicals are out of step with the country, which may explain their resentful behavior” The country’s also getting less white all the time, which is another reason they are so “resentful.” Poor “snowflakes”…)
• Abortion rights group NARAL endorses Northam in Virginia Democratic primary (“The group cited the lieutenant governor’s longtime support and criticized rival Tom Perriello’s record in Congress.”)
• Whoops! Sorry about that frigid camp-out, but ballot placement is a lottery (“Staff for two GOP campaigns, acting on bad advice from state, sleep under stars for nothing.”)
• Reeves, Stewart staffers camp in cold in mistaken effort to get candidates first on primary ballot (LOL)
• It’s 2017 and Campaigns Still Don’t Understand Virginia Ballot Placement?
• Va. hospital group concerned about American Health Care Act replacement
• Trial opens in third effort to redraw Virginia election maps
• After hearing evidence on first day of political gerrymandering trial, Richmond judge rejects motion to strike case
• State revenues rise 3.6 percent in February, compared with February 2016
• Gov. McAuliffe expected to sign marijuana reforms
• Virginia Republican Rep. Rob Wittman opposes GOP health care plan (“The five-term congressman has not ruled out running for Senate in 2018”)
• Energized by Trump, Hanover Democrats install new signs to spread message
• Officials investigate death of Hampton Roads Regional Jail inmate, who had twice hourly checks
• Virginia Beach needs $450M to fix stormwater problems, but no money for it is in next year’s plan
• Alexandria school activists pressure council for millions more for buildings
• Rep. McEachin’s forum draws less rowdy crowd, with many saying they don’t know who he is (“Rep. Donald McEachin’s Chesapeake public forum Monday was nothing like the rowdy audience that his Republican colleague Scott Taylor in a neighboring district faced a few weeks ago.”)
• Editorial: Navigating the pitfalls of regional transit
• Ex-Virginia mayor pleads guilty in meth-for-sex sting (“Ex-Fairfax mayor Richard ‘Scott’ Silverthorne, 51, is to remain in custody until a June 9 sentencing hearing where he faces a maximum 40 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.” 40 years is absurdly long for a drug crime.)
• Wintry mix falling on D.C. area expected to change back to snow