by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, December 14.
- Senate and House G.O.P. Reach a Deal on Tax Bill (Very, very bad news; this needs to be rejected.)
- Trump plan to move U.S. embassy to Jerusalem angers Middle East Christians
- Blow: The Omen of Alabama (“Doug Jones’s defeat of Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate special election is yet the latest signal that the accommodators of Donald Trump, those who have normalized and bolstered him, the gutless, schismatic conservatives who abandoned principle to follow a pariah, will have hell to pay in 2018.”)
- Scam I Am: Why Is the G.O.P. Rushing This Tax Abomination? (Krugman: “Today’s Republicans are apparatchiks, who have spent their whole lives inside an intellectual bubble in which cutting taxes on corporations and the rich is always objective #1. Their party used to know that it won elections despite its economic program, not because of it – that the whole game was to win by playing on social issues, national security, and above all on racial antagonism, then use the win to push fundamentally unpopular economic policies.”)
- Here are the excuses (so far) right-wing media figures are using for Roy Moore’s loss (“Fox News co-host Ainsley Earhardt said Moore’s loss was ‘a referendum on Harvey Weinstein, not on President Trump.'” Hahahahaha.)
- Steve Bannon’s self-immolation (“Roy Moore’s upset defeat shows us that Steve Bannon isn’t the Machiavellian genius he sells himself as” Nope.)
- In Alabama, a Victory for Decency and a Loss for Trump
- The GOP Is About to Tumble Into Full-scale Panic
- Doug Jones’s Victory Shows the Way Forward for Democrats in the South
- Breitbart Didn’t Just Support Moore, They Practically Worked For Him
- Trump’s regulators: Eager servants of oil and gas, at our expense (“Ryan Zinke obeys industry wishes in rolling back methane regulations — it will waste energy, cost us money”)
- The Roy Moore Debacle Should Shock the GOP Into Changing Its Ways (“It won’t”)
- The blame game begins inside the White House after Alabama stunner
- Democrats look to spread that Alabama magic (“Strong turnout and low approval for Donald Trump have Democrats eyeing states where they haven’t been competitive in years.”)
- Trump faults others, spreads blame for Moore’s loss (Does Trump EVER accept any responsibility for anything, say “it’s on me”
or whatever?) - Alabama results remake 2018 election playbook for both parties (“The outcome was the latest recent election in which Democratic candidates exceeded the party’s past performance among key voting groups. Democratic leaders believe the victories represent a growing backlash against President Trump — and a potential building wave for 2018. Meanwhile, Republicans see dimmer hopes for retaining power.”)
- The true tax gap could be as high as $12 trillion (“That’s a more realistic estimate, over a decade, for the Trump-GOP plan.”)
- 2018 looks like a Democratic wave
- Special Elections So Far Point To A Democratic Wave In 2018
- Republican civil war erupts anew (“Roy Moore’s loss has the Bannon and McConnell wings of the GOP heaping blame on one another, with no signs of a resolution.”)
- Democrats see path to Senate majority after Alabama win
- Alabama result deals heavy blow to ObamaCare repeal
- Republicans are worried about the integrity of Mueller’s team. That’s overblown. (They’re not actually “worried,” so much as they are trying to discredit and even kill the Mueller investigation. Very dangerous.)
- Democrats urge GOP to hold off on tax bill until Jones is seated in Senate
- How Doug Jones Will—and Won’t—Shake Up the Republican Agenda
- Omarosa Tried to ‘Storm the Residence’ in Reality TV-Style Ouster (Lunatic.)
- Music Mogul Russell Simmons Is Accused of Rape by 3 Women
- Tavis Smiley Suspended By PBS Following Sexual Misconduct Investigation
- Congressman announces cancer diagnosis months after characterizing illness as a personal failing (“When reality intervenes on rhetoric.”)
- Ignoring widespread protests, FCC moves forward with plans to repeal net neutrality
- Babies born near fracking sites face low birth weight, new study finds (Yet another reason to kill the fracked-gas Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines.)
- Alabama’s newest senator isn’t afraid to take a strong stance on science and clean energy
- Tillerson says U.S. is willing to talk to North Korea about anything, even ‘the weather.’ Really. (“The Secretary of State, yet again, tried to take a diplomatic approach with Pyongyang. But Trump’s rhetoric might have already damaged things beyond repair.”)
- USA Today just ran the most anti-Trump editorial of the year (“A president who would all but call Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand a whore is not fit to clean the toilets in the Barack Obama Presidential Library or to shine the shoes of George W. Bush”)
- FERC delays action on whether to reconsider approval of Mountain Valley Pipeline
- Incoming House of Delegates teachers to Gov. McAuliffe: Give schools more money
- Control of Virginia state House at stake as recounts begin
- Va. governor-elect Ralph Northam names his transportation team (Seems like a solid team; need to focus on transit, rail and other non-automobile transportation options. Also interesting that Republican Sen. Frank Wagner was not picked for this job.)
- For Virginia GOP’s provocative Senate hopefuls, Moore loss is a warning shot (“Corey Stewart shows no sign of moderating his rhetoric while E.W. Jackson softens a bit.” Wait, Jackson has backed off on any of his extremist views/stances? I must have missed that.)
- Top Virginia Republican would help Metro only with rigorous reforms on labor costs, safety (Let’s hope Shelly Simonds wins her recount and Cox is not Speaker.)
- Will Metro build a second station at Rosslyn?
- After first day of recount, Hugo maintains lead over Tanner in key Va. House race (“Democrat Donte Tanner gained a net of four votes to close the gap to 102. The count will continue Thursday.”)
- Virginia Attorney General’s Office contests innocence claim in 1975 rape
- Editorial: Yes to a monumental change in Richmond
- Tax reform concerns Peninsula-area nonprofits
- Northam talks about his priorities and the Eastern Shore
- Chilly air remains through Friday, but things turn milder this weekend
