Friday News: GOP Tax Plan the “biggest tax giveaway to giant corporations in modern memory”; So Much for “Major, Major” Middle Class Tax Cut

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, November 3.

• GOP vision for taxes: Many people paying more so corporations can start paying less (The polar opposite of what we should be doing. How can anyone vote for this party of/by/for the corporations???)
• Republicans break their promise on tax reform (“Instead of simplifying the tax code in a fiscally responsible way, their proposal would add at least $1.5 trillion to the deficit.”)
• The House Republican Tax Cut Is a Failure on Its Own Terms
• Trump and Sessions Denied Knowing About Russian Contacts. Records Suggest Otherwise.
• As Expected, the Republican Tax Plan Is All Unicorns (“The cuts are for corporations and the rich. The ‘growth’ will never come, because it never does.”)
• ‘Major, Major’ Tax Cut May Not Be in Store for Middle Class (Yet another lie by Trump.)
• Donald Trump Stands to Gain Millions from the Republican Tax Bill
• President Trump is the master of abhorrent identity politics
• Why Men Need to Step Up for Women’s Equality—and How I Plan to Do My Part
• Post-ABC poll: Most Americans approve of Trump-Russia probe, and nearly half think Trump committed a crime
• People Are Skeptical Of The GOP’s Tax Bill. Can Trump Change Their Minds?
• Ixnay on Impeachmentay (“Democratic leaders are trying hard to keep a lid on impeachment talk.”)
• Senators create bogus Facebook group to show how easy it is to spread fake news
• America is facing an epistemic crisis (“What if Mueller proves his case and it doesn’t matter?”)
• Donna Brazile’s bombshell about the DNC and Hillary Clinton, explained
• Is the GOP’s tax plan dead in the Senate? (Sure hope so; this thing is a monstrosity.)
• Trump’s ‘alarming’ death penalty call threatens suspect’s chance of fair trial, experts warn (Moron.)
• Drill, baby, drill: GOP aims to sell wilderness drilling rights — dirt cheap
• On The Larry O’Connor Show, Trump says he is angry he can’t use Justice Department and FBI to go after Hillary Clinton (This guy is an authoritarian, just like his pal Putin.)
• The “United Muslims of America” Are Coming for You (“How Russian trolls used Facebook to exploit the bigotries of Trump’s base.”)
• Gillespie, Northam spar over tax plans for Virginia
• The Makeup of This Year’s Voter Turnout Could Determine Election (Yep, that’s always the case, particularly in non-presidential election years.)
• Progressive group ends ‘direct aid’ to Northam (Howard Dean ripped DFA for this idiocy.)
• Nasty ads sully race for Virginia’s governor (“Primarily, the mud has been flung by Republican Ed Gillespie, who targeted his opponent — Democrat Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam — with a series of exploitive advertisements stoking anti-immigrant fears.”)
• Gillespie ad attacks Latino Victory Fund commercial; Northam ad ties him to Trump
• Trump casts long shadow over Virginia governor’s race
• Virginia Gov’s Race: Campaign Charged With Racial Overtones
• Breaking down Virginia’s lieutenant governor race: Jill Vogel vs. Justin Fairfax
• Republicans in Virginia and nationwide are using ‘sanctuary cities’ as a weapon against Democrats (“Dog whistle politics” at its finest; Lee Atwater would be proud, eh?)
• The G.O.P. Is D.E.A.D. (“Fast-forward to his 2017 campaign: Gillespie is driving straight down Trump’s road at full speed, running anti-immigrant ads rife with racially motivated tropes, abandoning everything he urged his party to uphold.”)
• Hogan, calling Gillespie a ‘great leader,’ will headline a rally in Va. on Nov. 4 (Time for Maryland voters to ditch Hogan.)
• Deadline to pick up absentee ballot Saturday
• Libertarian for Va. governor calls on rivals to drop the ‘wild-eyed accusations’
• Campaign ads in Virginia governor’s race reflect Gillespie and Northam in ungentlemanly light
• Here’s Why Ed Gillespie Doesn’t Like to Talk About His Lobbying Clients (“One repeatedly paid big settlements for alleged medical fraud. Others included tobacco giants.”)
• Wilder endorses Fairfax for LG, says candidate ‘has not been dealt a good hand’
• Editorial: The politics of the attorney general’s office (Mark Herring is doing exactly what he should be doing; reelect him on Tuesday!)
• EDITORIAL: John Adams for Attorney General (Wow, this is super stupid by the Free Lance-Star.)
• Holmberg: Decriminalize marijuana in Virginia; legalization inevitable
• Gothamist local news network, including DCist and DNAinfo, abruptly shut down (The top-rated comment nails it: “Publisher of Gothamist, Mr. Ricketts is pulling a Wal-Mart here…he’d rather shut it down than allow his employees to organize.”)
• ‘We’re all sick of it’: Virginia’s election descends into another hatefest (Yeah, and 95% of that has been thanks to Ed Gillespie and his allies.)
• Williams: Henrico and the region not served by deceptive, divisive politics
• Notes and notables (“In the 94th District, Democratic challenger Shelly Simonds has seen $343,000 in recent donations, more than three times as much as Republican incumbent David Yancey. In the 93rd, Republican challenger Heather Cordasco has pulled in $292,000, almost twice the total of Democratic incumbent Mike Mullin.”)
• Local Republicans Criticize Favola’s ‘Evil’ Remark (The second I heard that, I knew this would not go well…)
• Fogel suit challenges Heaphy review of Charlottesville rallies
• Dominion to start on James River crossing for Skiffes Creek power line
• Alex Ovechkin starts ‘social movement’ supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin (Seriously? Gonna be hard to root for the Caps now.)
• Warm today with a few showers around, but there’s a temperature roller coaster ahead (“There’s something for everyone in the coming days! Sun, clouds, storms, showers, and breezes.”)