Saturday News: “Putin’s First Year in the White House”; SpaceX Launch; “Did recount judge have a conflict of interest?”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, December 23.

• The real cost of the Republican tax bill (“Is Trump’s IRS really going to tighten the screws on giant new loopholes?”)
• GOP tax bill: “Heightening the contradictions” of capitalism? (“Republicans have enacted the most regressive tax plan in 50 years. Maybe they should study history more closely”)
• The Trickle-Down Mythmaking Begins (“Several companies gave out raises after tax cuts passed Congress. But that was probably already going to happen anyway.” Right, they’re just kissing Trump’s abundant ass.)
• Democrats who supported spending bill face angry backlash for not forcing action on immigration (“Leaders fell short of a promise to enact a permanent solution by the end of the year for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. They will face even more pressure in January.”)
• Bannon and Lewandowski Are Asked to Testify to House Russia Investigators
• The Distrust That Trump Relies Upon
• Maria’s Bodies (“The hurricane in Puerto Rico has become a man-made disaster, with a death toll threatening to eclipse Katrina’s.”)
• Putin’s First Year in the White House
• F.B.I. Director Wants to Move Forward, but the President Is Making His Job Harder
• The mythical ‘war on Christmas’ drives us apart (When I first heard the right wingnuts claiming a “war on Christmas” a few years ago, I thought it had to be a stupid joke, because obviously there’s no “war on Christmas – other than mass commercialism, materialism, etc. But no, the right wingnuts really are that stupid and crazy.)
• Trump-supporting singer claims Lewandowski slapped her butt at recent party (“Joy Villa, who wore a MAGA dress to the Grammys, says Trump’s former campaign manager surprised her with the unwelcome advance at a Trump International Hotel party.”)
• McConnell forecasts bipartisanship in new year (McConnell is panicking because he’s close to losing his majority. Sad!)
• Republicans, fearing midterm disaster, seek course correction
• 9th Circuit rules against Trump’s third attempt at travel ban
• On the Front Lines of the GOP’s Civil War (“In 2016, a group of Republicans broke ranks with their party to try to stop Donald Trump from winning the presidency. Now they’re rallying once more to keep him from destroying the country. Sam Tanenhaus reports on the Never Trumpers.”)
• TPM’s Top 10 Stories Of 2017
• From Trump to Brexit, 2017 was the mourning after the year before (“The two seismic events of 2016, Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, continued to cause mayhem throughout 2017”)
• SpaceX rocket dazzles in California sky as it transports 10 satellites into space (“Launch in setting sun created shining streak widely seen throughout southern California and as far away as Arizona”)
• ‘Pumping sunshine’: Pennsylvania Congressman delivers epic pro-Trump rant
• Pro-Trump Sinclair Broadcast Group is the latest corporation cheering the GOP tax bill (In the DC area, I encourage you to watch NBC4 or WUSA9 local news, NOT Sinclair-owned WJLA7.)
• Trump thanks nonprofit a day after report that its former top organizer said ‘I hate black people’ (“The group’s founder and executive director is BFFs with Donald Trump Jr.”)
• Legislation to restrict flow of fentanyl into U.S. passes Congress (“U.S. Senator Tim Kaine is among the members of Congress who supported the bill, which is called the International Narcotics Trafficking Emergency Response by Detecting Incoming Contraband with Technology, or INTERDICT, Act.”)
• Kaine seeking public release of Senate sexual harassment claims
• Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe joined WTOP on Friday, Dec. 22 for “Ask the Governor” – his final visit before leaving office next month. (“McAuliffe: I-66 tolls are working, Virginia’s ‘bizarre’ tie-breaking rules”)
• Virginia delegate candidate on single vote saga: ‘We’re looking at our legal options’
• Did recount judge have a conflict of interest? (“Experts disagreed on whether Sugg should have stepped aside, but they agree that his remaining on the bench could taint public perception.”)
• Lessons From Virginia for the GOP (All you need to know about this opinion piece is that it’s by a “senior strategist to the Gillespie for Governor campaign” and “former executive director of the Republican Governors Association”)
• After calls for campaign finance reform, Gov.-elect Ralph Northam takes corporate money for inauguration (“Dominion Energy, the state’s top public service corporation whose bankrolling of Virginia politics has made some lawmakers increasingly uneasy, contributed $50,000 to Northam’s inaugural committee earlier this month, the same amount the company has given to help celebrate the last four incoming governors. Northam’s committee received an additional $50,000 from the tobacco giant Altria, and took in $25,000 each from Anthem, Capital One, Hunton & Williams and Aetna Life & Casualty, well-known players in the health care, banking, legal and insurance fields.” Legislators need to ban state-regulated monopoly utilities from lobbying, donating money, spreading propaganda, etc.)
• After crazy ballot fight, all Shelly Simonds wants for Christmas is people to register to vote
• Legislative dominance hangs in the balance in Virginia (“When lawmakers convene in Richmond next month, they should take heed of the voters’ loud-and-clear message. Exit polling showed that voters statewide were particularly exercised about health care — 2 in 5 said that was the issue that mattered most to them, more than twice the number who identified any other issue.”)
• Justin Fairfax, Virginia’s lieutenant governor-elect, leaving white-collar law firm (“His work representing corporate clients could have posed conflicts of interests once he was sworn in.”)
• People just kept mailing Heather Heyer’s family money, so her mom started a foundation to support budding activists (Nice.)
• U.S. Department of Education probes Fairfax school’s handling of sexual harassment allegations (“Administrators at Lake Braddock Secondary School failed to investigate accusations against a former girls’ basketball coach and did ‘nothing to protect the girls,’ said a parent of one of the players. ‘The amount of emails and evidence we have is staggering.'”)
• ‘In love with a community’: Longtime Arlington politician will retire, but he’s not leaving (“Jay Fisette, the first openly gay man to win an election in Virginia, is stepping down after 20 years on the County Board.” Thanks to Jay for his long service to Arlington.)
• Indicted congressional candidate denies ‘any wrongdoing’ (“Appearing with her attorney Friday, accused congressional candidate Shaun Brown vehemently denied any wrongdoing in response to federal fraud charges against her, vowed to fight the charges and said she expects to be fully exonerated. “)
• National spotlight shines on Newport News’ 94th District
• Q&A: Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney looks back on first year in office, ahead to 2018
• Virginia Beach Democrat asking party members to forgive his past controversies (“Democratic Party activist Tom Brock wants a shot at redemption after being publicly scorned in May for his Facebook posts years ago that included a racist joke and sexist comments. Next month, Brock is seeking to be elected chairman of the Virginia Beach Democratic Party.”)
• Showery today as a cold front nears, with a bigger Arctic blast for Christmas