by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, December 14.
- Draft agreement emerges at UN climate talks, pitfalls remain
- Ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen says Trump knew it was wrong to make hush-money payments during campaign
- Global Stocks Resume Slide as Growth Fears Mount: Markets Wrap
- Strasbourg attack suspect killed by police
- Trump’s Political Troubles Mount After a Week of Court Setbacks
- Trump was in the room during hush money discussions with tabloid publisher (“A source confirmed to NBC News that Trump was the ‘other member of the campaign’ present when Michael Cohen and David Pecker agreed to silence women.”)
- Trump Inauguration Spending Under Criminal Investigation by Federal Prosecutors (“Probe looking into whether committee misspent funds and top donors gave money in exchange for access to the administration”)
- No matter what Trump says, Michael Cohen’s accusations are a big deal (“Michael Cohen’s sentencing makes clear that, at the very least, a fraud was perpetrated on American voters.”)
- The Senate’s resolution was a powerful repudiation of Saudi Arabia — and Trump
- Agent’s guilty plea puts focus on Russia’s relationship with NRA
- Outraged over Khashoggi’s murder, Senate votes to end U.S. support of Saudi Arabia in Yemen war
- Manhood, Moola, McConnell and Trumpism (“So major affairs of state are being decided not by the national interest, nor even by the interests of major groups within the nation, but by the financial interests and/or ego of the man in the White House. Is America amazing, or what?”)
- Trump’s 7 Mutually Contradictory Arguments for His Own Innocence
- U.S. Budget Deficit Hits Widest on Record for Month of November (That’s what you get when you elect Republicans. In stark contrast, the deficit fell sharply under Presidents Clinton and Obama.)
- 7-year-old migrant girl taken into Border Patrol custody dies of dehydration, exhaustion (How the @#$!$ does THAT happen??? People need to be held accountable for this outrage.)
- Trump meets with Chris Christie to discuss chief of staff role
- Trump meets Christie as some advisers urge Kushner for chief of staff: sources
- Congress approves sexual harassment overhaul
- Sanders and Warren Meet and Agree: They Both Are Probably Running (Not sure there’s a “lane” for both of them.)
- AMI’s Immunity Deal Is a Disaster for Donald Trump
- How Jared Kushner worked the media and Senate for his criminal justice bill
- Why this ACA enrollment season has been the worst
- Chief Justice of California Supreme Court leaves GOP over Kavanaugh confirmation
- Yes, The New York Times dropped the ball on covering the rise of right-wing extremism (“Mainstream media failed to cover the rise of the far right because they’re afraid of right-wing media” Agreed, they are terrified and kowtow to the right.)
- ‘We’ Did Not Miss the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism. You Did. (“The New York Times plays itself—but offers a useful window into how establishment media has enabled all this.”)
- Blue Dog Democrats are poised to play a crucial role in the next Congress
- Kentucky’s Crackpot Governor Sees Someone Coming Down the Chimney: George Soros! (“Matt Bevin dogwhistled at ProPublica. It did not go well for him.”)
- Not just Hill interns: Public office pays so little, it’s the realm of the rich and retired (“Pat Hynes, a teacher and a second-term member of the Fairfax County School Board in northern Virginia, estimates that her “part-time” elected office takes up about 30 hours per week. When she joined the board in 2012, the salary was just $20,000 a year, though it was raised to $32,000 four years ago (still well below the cost of living in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, and Hynes says they “took a lot of heat” for the raise). She and her 11 colleagues oversee a $2.9 billion annual budget for the tenth-largest school division in the nation.”)
- Ohio Lawmakers Just Passed One of the Most Restrictive Abortion Bills in the Country (“The ‘fetal heartbeat ban’ awaits the governor’s signature.”)
- Sherrod Brown Wants to Bring a Working-Class Ethos Back to the Democratic Party
- Death sentences and executions continue falling across Virginia and U.S.
- Virginia’s US senators do the commonwealth proud (“A Senate of 100 Tim Kaines and Mark Warners would be fully capable of tackling some complex problems.”)
- Kaine, Warner Hopeful About Avoiding Government Shutdown
- Sen. Tim Kaine discusses potential government shutdown
- Virginia House GOP asks U.S. Supreme Court to stop new electoral map
- Speaker Cox asks Supreme Court of the United States for emergency stay in House redistricting case
- BREAKING: Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Vacates Federal Approval for Atlantic Coast Pipeline to Cross Two National Forests, Parts of Appalachian Trail; Quotes “The Lorax”
- Dominion refutes criticism linking rejected energy plan to pipeline
- What’s up with the SCC and gas?
- Terron Sims column: If Dems want to win, primaries are the key (“… in several congressional campaign cycles, various Virginia Democratic CD steering committees, when faced with more than one Democratic candidate, have chosen an election process other than a primary. However, not holding a primary, and instead holding some form of caucus or convention, is detrimental to winning in the general election for several reasons.”)
- Federal court throws out permit for Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross Appalachian Trail
- BREAKING: Virginia Water Control Board Votes to Reconsider Mountain Valley Pipeline 401 Certification
- State water board will reconsider water-quality certification for Mountain Valley Pipeline
- State board to reconsider key permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline
- ‘If I were Dominion I’d be panicked:’ Federal court vacates another Atlantic Coast Pipeline permit
- Lawsuits claim false arrests by Mountain Valley Pipeline’s security company
- Virginia governor plans $80 million for school construction, but experts say billions are needed
- Governor Northam Announces Budget Proposals to Add School Counselors and Improve School Safety
- Va. House Republican leaders want to open past governors’ records to the public
- Kaine, Warner Hope to Lend a Hand on Affordable Housing Issues to Prepare for Amazon’s Arrival
- GMU panel: Don’t expect Amazon to change the region all at once
- Editorial: A letter to Atlanta about Norfolk Southern
- Bomb threats reported at businesses, schools, government buildings in Hampton Roads
- Rain arrives later today, with flooding a growing concern tonight through Saturday
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