Wednesday News: Brexit in Chaos as Theresa May Faces No Confidence Vote; Pelosi Pushes Back Hard on Trump, Who Welcomes Government Shutdown; “I support the Union Hill community”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, December 12.

• Theresa May to face vote of no confidence (“Tory MPs will decide whether or not to back their leader in a ballot Wednesday. If she loses, a party leadership contest will begin.”)
• Brexit in chaos as Tory MPs trigger vote of no confidence in Theresa May
• May Keeps Fighting as Tories Prepare to Vote on Her Leadership
• Trump Threatens Shutdown in Combative Appearance With Democrats (“President Trump vowed to block full funding for the government if Democrats refuse to embrace his demand for a border wall, saying he was ‘proud to shut down the government for border security.’ The extraordinary public airing of hostilities underscored the more confrontational dynamic that Mr. Trump will face when Democrats take control of the House.”)
• Gunman Traumatizes French Town, Killing at Least 3 in Possible Terror Attack (“Tourists and shoppers scrambled for safety as a gunman opened fire in Strasbourg’s Christmas market, killing at least three people and wounding a dozen.”)
• Don’t Characterize the Strength That I Bring,’ Pelosi Tells Trump (“In the Oval Office, Nancy Pelosi, the likely new speaker, took on a president who is rarely challenged to his face in public, especially not by a woman.”)
• Trump says he would be ‘proud’ to shut down the government over border wall funding (Trump is a sociopath, part infinity.)
• Trump jams Republicans with shutdown vow (“The president’s eagerness to take ownership of a partial government shutdown if he doesn’t get border wall funding has painted Republicans into a corner.”)
• Top senators ask for leniency for ex-staffer who lied to FBI
• Trump Boosts Shutdown Odds by Hardening Demands for Border Wall
• Exclusive: Trump says he is looking at 10 or 12 candidates for chief of staff job
• Pelosi privately disses Trump’s manhood after White House meeting (“The House minority leader told Democrats that Trump’s push for the border wall is ‘a manhood thing.’”)
• Incoming New York attorney general plans wide-ranging investigations of Trump and family (“Just-elected Letitia James, who takes office next month, tells NBC she will probe real estate deals, Trump Tower meeting, emoluments, Trump Foundation and more.”)
• The EPA May Strip the Protections on Water That 1 in 3 Americans Drink (“While they’re at it, they’ve neatly summarized the Republican regulatory philosophy since Reagan.”)
• Trump administration to strip pollution protections, harming vital wildlife (This is COMPLETELY unacceptable, must be stopped by the courts, by legislation, by the states, etc.)
• Awkward Oval Office Fight With Trump Produces Exactly What Pelosi and Schumer Came For (“Though the bickering wasn’t a flattering look for any of the leaders in attendance, Democrats ultimately secured the sound bite they wanted, with Trump welcoming blame for any shutdown that might come.”)
• Stacey Abrams Says She’ll Run Again After Losing Fierce Battle For Georgia Governor (“The Democrat lost November’s heated race against Republican Brian Kemp in an election plagued by voter suppression. She not sure yet what office she’d seek.”)
• Things in Politico That Make Me Want to Guzzle Antifreeze: First-in-a-While Edition (“This is such a perfect, unspoiled example of Beltway political wisdom that somebody should hang it on the wall at the Smithsonian. There is the appeal to Saint John McCain. There is the fundamentalist reliance on polling data—two years before anyone votes anywhere. There is the assumption that the nation was so grieving the passage of Saint John McCain that it noticed, to its sorrow, that there was a terrible rent in the country’s moral fabric.”)
• GOP quest to shrink food stamps thwarted as ‘clean’ Farm Bill passes Senate
• After nearly 2 years, a lawmaker finally fact-checked President Trump to his face (“Pelosi to Trump: ‘What the president is representing in terms of his cards over there is not factual.'”)
• Pelosi, Dem rebels near deal on term limits for party leaders
• Twitter users mercilessly mock Mike Pence for ‘Elf on the Shelf’ performance in Oval Office
• Jamal Khashoggi Is Time’s Person of the Year (And “the guardians of the truth”)
• Trump says he’s not concerned about being impeached: ‘The people would revolt’ (Actually, the majority of Americans would celebrate.)
• Maybe Florida Should Just Sit the Next Few Elections Out (“Thousands of mail-in ballots were—you guessed it—not counted.”)
• Joe Biden Is Going to Take His Sweet Time Deciding Whether to Run for President
• Beto beats Bernie: O’Rourke edges out Sanders to top Democratic straw poll
• Groups sue over seismic testing decision that could pave the way for Atlantic oil drilling
• Governor Northam Announces Budget Proposals to Invest $268.7 Million in New Money for K-12 Education
• Virginia should quickly adopt tax conformity, resolve policy debates separately
• House GOP leader calls on Herring to step down as Va. attorney general if he runs for governor (“Majority leader Todd Gilbert notes that Herring promised not to politicize the AG’s office”)
• Virginia House Republicans’ Laughable Calls for AG Mark Herring to Resign Demonstrate Their Utterly Shameless Hypocricy, Cynicism
• Gov. Northam proposes $269 million in new funding for Virginia schools (“Changes in federal tax law and the chance to collect Internet sales taxes would largely bankroll his plans.”)
• With a positive economic outlook, Northam proposes teacher pay raise, more money for school construction
• Al Gore: “I support the Union Hill community…fighting this dirty fossil fuel infrastructure & I support Environmental Justice.”
• Audio: Despite 81% of Virginia Voters Supporting ERA Ratification, Far-Right Sen. Amanda Chase Invites Equally Far-Right Former Del. “Sideshow Bob” Marshall On Her Radio Show to…Yep, Trash the ERA
• Schapiro: Filler-Corn brings multiple firsts to her new job
• Coal ash debate continues: Should it be buried or hauled away?
• Assault charges dismissed against Joe Morrissey and King & Queen County man
• Editorial: Why the silence on Stanley’s school bonds proposal?
• Kilgore and Ruff: Virginia’s Tobacco Commission: Supporting education, job creation and investment for 20 years and beyond
• Editorial: Grants give oyster-saving efforts more muscle
• Virginia priest under investigation for inappropriate conduct with adults and a minor
• Charlottesville panel recommends against urban farm proposal
• Bryce Harper is out . . . of his lease in Arlington, according to a report
• Richmond DB Augustus Lee dies in apparent suicide
• The Washington Redskins’ Interest in Colin Kaepernick Went Nowhere. Good. (“Racism is the Redskins organization’s calling card.” Agreed.)
• Still cool but trending a bit milder; rain likely late Friday into Saturday