by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, January 11.
- Zinke Says Florida Got Offshore Drilling Exemption Because Governor Asked Nicely (Hahahahahahahaha.)
- GOP Leaders Mull Giving Up on Obamacare Repeal, Getting Much Else Done in 2018
- Trump administration opens door to let states impose Medicaid work requirements (Utter crap.)
- Trump claims TV anchors sent him private letters praising his ‘performance’ as president (Trump is delusional.)
- Oops! White House admits it has zero evidence of voter fraud in 2016 election (“This is awkward.”)
- We’re at a Crossroads in Our Democracy (“The right to vote, and how much every vote counts, is set to be determined in the courts.”)
- Husted v. Philip Randolph Institute (“Ohio’s legal justification for its massive voter purge is complete gobbledygook.”)
- Excluding Florida from a new offshore drilling plan sure looks partisan
- Trump says an interview with Mueller is ‘unlikely.’ That’s wrong. (“The special counsel’s team cannot get a full picture of events surrounding the campaign without speaking to the candidate himself.”)
- Tuesday’s DACA negotiation stunt showed how dangerously we’ve lowered the bar for Trump (“He remembers names (that are written on placards) — congratulations, America!”)
- Trump is mad that “Sneaky Dianne Feinstein” debunked a key Republican theory on Trump and Russia (“The big news Republicans didn’t want you to see.”)
- Mueller’s obstruction of justice case against Trump looks damning (“This should worry Trump even more than allegations of collusion.”)
- GOP may skip budget, kneecapping 2018 ambitions (“Lacking the votes and fearing political blowback, Republicans are unlikely to deploy powerful budget procedures to enact their agenda.”)
- Trump’s secret plan to scrap Obamacare (“The document, revealed for the first time by POLITICO, shows that despite the chaos surrounding repeal, the administration had an elaborate plan to take apart the law using executive authority.”)
- DACA reinstatement throws lawmakers for a loop (“But members of both parties insist the onus remains to reach a deal soon to protect Dreamers.”)
- GOP angst over midterms grows
- Congress barrels toward another shutdown crisis
- Democrats planning protests for Trump’s first State of the Union
- There are black women not named Oprah running for office across the country (And they’re the ones we shoudl be focused on, not possible candidates for 2020.)
- Republicans in House Issue a Hard-Line Plan on Immigration (BADlatte strikes again!)
- Trump’s Threat to Democracy
- This is how coal dies — super cheap renewables plus battery storage (“New Colorado wind farms with batteries are now cheaper than running old coal plants”)
- Blow: ‘The Lowest White Man’ (“As President Lyndon B. Johnson said in the 1960s to a young Bill Moyers: ‘If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.’ Trump’s supporters are saying to us, screaming to us, that although he may be the ‘lowest white man,’ he is still better than Barack Obama, the ‘best colored man.'”)
- New York City plans to divest $5bn from fossil fuels and sue oil companies (Virginia needs to do the same.)
- Breitbart will be as odious without Bannon as it was with him
- Warner pledges bipartisanship on Russia probe amid Judiciary feud (That’s lovely, but it’s not up to Democrats – and Republicans don’t seem to have any interest in pursuing the Russia probe.)
- Virginia lawmakers say Trump’s offshore oil drilling exemption for Florida should apply here
- Kaine, Taylor oppose offshore drilling, but Wittman supports it (Typo: it’s spelled Witt-less.)
- Kirk Cox elected Va. House speaker as Republicans take 51-49 majority into session’s first day
- Appropriations chairman plans to appoint ranking Democrat as subcommittee chair
- Virginia legislature shuns drama, gets underway with Republican leadership
- Va.’s McAuliffe is leaving office as master salesman, but his legacy will take years to play out (“From party boy to policy wonk: The Democratic governor won grudging respect from his foes.”)
- Official portrait of Gov. Terry McAuliffe shows him working on felon rights restoration
- A legislative peace treaty — for now
- In farewell speech, McAuliffe urges lawmakers to work together, heed lessons of the November election
- Editorial: Region needs a better snow plan (“Cities here do not have enough snow-removal equipment to quickly clear roads after such a major storm. As such, no one should have expected an immediate recovery. Yet, it’s reasonable to have expected a faster rebound than this region has experienced.”)
- Simonds concedes, Yancey takes his seat
- Appeals court won’t intervene in disputed 28th District House race
- Danica Roem sworn into office as Virginia’s first openly transgender lawmaker
- Thomas takes oath in House, looks forward to ‘actual legislating’
- ‘Worst single traffic hot spot in nation’ to get I-95 express-lane extension with 10 more miles of tolls
- Former Richmond City Councilman Jon Baliles ‘no longer employed’ by Mayor Stoney
- 2017 was one of the warmest years for Richmond and Virginia; long-term warming trend evident nationwide
- Rain accompanies our two-day warm up; Arctic air regains control this weekend
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