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by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, January 11.
- The U.S. and Europe Should Stand with Congo’s Voters (“The surprising outcome of a flawed election demands scrutiny and a willingness to hold any malefactors to account.”)
- U.S. Recession Risk Hits Six-Year High Amid Trade War, Shutdown
- Trump Ends Shutdown Talks, Raising Odds He’ll Declare Emergency
- World’s Oceans Are Warming Faster, Studies Show, Fueling Storms and Sea Rise (“Global warming is here, it has major consequences, and it’s going to be very, very difficult to get this under control”)
- Government Shutdown Raises Fears of Scientific Data Loss, Climate Research Delays
- American Forces Begin Withdrawing From Syria (“A surprise announcement by the military said that the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS had ‘begun the process of our deliberate withdrawal from Syria.’ As recently as Sunday, the national security adviser, John Bolton, had said that U.S. forces could remain in Syria for months or years.”)
- Reckoning with climate change will demand ugly tradeoffs from environmentalists — and everyone else
- Trump’s Hannity interview reveals a president out of touch with reality (“He can’t explain what he’s trying to do or why” In a sane country, Trump would have been booted from office a loooong time ago. Of course, he never would have been “elected” after losing the popular vote by millions, either.)
- Trump’s advisers push for emergency declaration — while assuming it’ll be stopped in court (“They are treating a state of emergency as a get-out-of-shutdown-free card. That is a terrible mistake.”)
- Trump’s new claim about Mexico paying for the wall is debunked by his own campaign website (“Trump said that he never said Mexico would pay for it, even though he said Mexico would pay for it many times.”)
- This is exactly what collusion looks like (“What remains to be seen is whether the collusion was also a crime.”)
- Trump is turning a budget crisis into a constitutional crisis — all for a fool’s impulse (“President Trump’s border ‘crisis’ is a case study in failed and erratic leadership.”)
- Trump is terrified of the far-right echo chamber (“Surely the president doesn’t really believe his own racist nonsense about the U.S.-Mexico border.”)
- Trump has conjured a crisis out of thin air. That should worry us all. (“Congress should limit the powers of the president before it’s too late.”)
- The wall is Trump’s ‘read my lips’ pledge (“Trump’s base didn’t take him seriously on Mexico paying for the wall, but they took him literally on the wall being built.”)
- Will the Media Be Trump’s Accomplice Again in 2020? (“We have a second chance. Let’s not blow it.” They’re already blowing it)
- The Worst Speech by a Secretary of State (“Mike Pompeo’s address in Cairo was a series of lies, contradictions and smears”)
- ‘American shame is over’: Pompeo vows to quell Obama’s Mideast ‘mistakes’ (Pompeo is demented.)
- Trump and Pompeo Embrace Autocrats and Disparage Opponents at Home (“President Trump’s affinity for strongmen is well established, but rarely has his administration offered such a striking break with diplomatic tradition.”)
- Mike Pompeo lambastes Obama — and then embraces Obama’s Syria strategy (Pompeo is a liar, among other things.)
- Trump administration lays groundwork to declare national emergency to build wall (So the next president gets to just declare a “national emergency” to do whatever he or she wants? Got it.)
- Farm Country Stood by Trump. But the Shutdown Is Pushing It to Breaking Point.
- 183 House Republicans just voted against resuming food safety inspection (“H.R. 265 would have provided funding for agriculture, rural development, food stamps, and the Food and Drug Administration.”)
- Trump could take billions from disaster areas to fund wall (F*** no.)
- At White House, Empty Desks and Unpaid Bills as Trump Shows No Sign of Relenting
- Prosecutors Examining Ukrainians Who Flocked to Trump Inaugural
- Michael Cohen, Trump’s Former Lawyer, Agrees to Testify to Congress (“Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s former personal lawyer who implicated him in a scheme to pay hush money to two women claiming to have had affairs with him, said on Thursday that he had agreed to testify before a House committee next month and give ‘a full and credible account’ of his work for Mr. Trump.”)
- Sherrod Brown plans Iowa trip as top aide accelerates 2020 prep
- Documents Show NRA and Republican Candidates Coordinated Ads in Key Senate Races (“You do this if you think no one is going to investigate”)
- ‘Never been more depressed’: Trump kills Graham effort to end shutdown (“The South Carolina senator and his GOP allies had been pushing to reopen the government and begin a broad immigration debate in the Senate.”)
- Democrats will object to Senate adjourning amid shutdown
- Steve King under fire after embrace of white supremacy (He’s always embraced white supremacy and bigotry, the question is why the good voters of his district in Iowa keep voting for him???)
- Exasperated Democrats try to rein in Ocasio-Cortez (“I’m sure Ms. Cortez means well, but there’s almost an outstanding rule: Don’t attack your own people…Democratic leaders are upset that she railed against their new set of House rules on Twitter the first week of the new Congress. Rank and file are peeved that there’s a grassroots movement to try to win her a top committee post they feel she doesn’t deserve.”)
- California gets it right with its new health-care initiative (The best-governed state in the country is also, not coincidentally, all Democratic. Funny how that works.)
- Kaine, Riggleman on ongoing government shutdown
- Senator Warner working on legislation to help furloughed employees
- Warner Wants Federal Worker Protections
- Democrats Are Ready to Push Gun Reforms. But Their Last Republican Allies Got Picked Off. (“Only five Republicans have signed onto a new universal background checks bill.”)
- ‘Brought to Jesus’: the evangelical grip on the Trump administration (“The influence of evangelical Christianity is likely to become an important question as Trump finds himself dependent on them for political survival”)
- ‘Pay the workers, furlough Trump’: Federal workers rally at White House for end to shutdown
- Some Mortgage Deals Are In Limbo As Government Shutdown Drags On
- The 5 Corners Of The 2020 Democratic Primary (“It’s easy to identify three or four groups within the party that Harris or Beto O’Rourke might have a lot of natural appeal to, for example. It’s harder to do the same for someone like Sanders.” Yeah, I’m not at all interested in Sanders. I’m definitely interested in Harris and O’Rourke.)
- We Had to Elect the Dumbest Guy Available (“Not even the second dumbest.” Actually, Pence might be as dumb or dumber.)
- Steve King Is a Public Racist. Iowans Have Elected Him to Congress 9 Straight Times. (“Also, the president* is his dreamboat on immigration.”)
- Editorial: Bay health at risk without commitment
- Medicaid will cost Virginia half a billion dollars more than expected over the next two years. How should the state fix its forecasting?
- Up against election deadlines, judges could pick new Va. legislative map in next two months (“Three federal judges said Thursday they could decide on new districts for Virginia’s House of Delegates in the next one to two months, replacing a current map that was found to be unconstitutional.”)
- Virginia’s redistricting fight among three gerrymandering cases U.S. Supreme Court is hearing
- Bill would allow challenge to junk science in court
- Federal judge in Northern Virginia criticizes prosecutors over increase in illegal immigration cases
- Itemizing an issue with itemizing (“Maybe it’s because he’s an accountant who’s had to deal with complicated tax returns that Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne thinks House Republican leaders idea about allowing more Virginians to itemize deductions could be a headache.”)
- Video: “Enraged” ERA Opponents Rant and Rave About Abortion, Co-ed Showers and College Dorms, Other Supposed Horrors. Ignore Them and Ratify the ERA Now!
- Lawmakers poised to tackle medical balance billing this session, but question of payment still looms
- Ex-delegate Ron Villanueva charged with defrauding federal government (“Former state Del. Ron Villanueva was arrested Thursday on charges he improperly helped two Virginia Beach companies secure special government contracts that had been set aside for women- and minority-owned small businesses.” It’s about time.)
- Higher energy bills could be coming. Dominion hopes to raise rates to cover costs.
- Loudoun Dems, Dem Candidates Mavis Taintor and Tia Walbridge Request AG Mark Herring Intervene Regarding Rockwool Factory
- Arlington NAACP President Launches Primary Bid Against Lopez
- A Virginia school that honored a Confederate general gets a new name: Washington-Liberty High (“School board members in Arlington County voted unanimously for the change.”)
- Virginia Beach Navy officer stole $2.7 million to feed high-stakes poker habit
- Hampton mayor announces dedication of MLK memorial
- Sunny but blustery today. Snow likely Saturday with more possible into Sunday.
