by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, February 1. Happy birthday dad!
- Pompeo to announce U.S. suspension of landmark nuclear arms treaty (“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will announce on Friday that the United States is suspending compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty after discussions to save the pact this week failed, CBS News has learned. Analysts worry ending the treaty could set off a new arms race. The pact has been an arms control focal point since the Cold War. “)
- China Vows to Buy More U.S. Goods, Sees Progress in Trade Talks
- Fed policy turn not good news for Trump as risks mount
- A looming shutdown deadline hasn’t changed the central conflict: the wall (“Trump is as dug in as ever.” Republicans need to override him.)
- Trump signals wall or nothing approach to shutdown negotiations
- Trump, in Interview, Calls Wall Talks ‘Waste of Time’ and Dismisses Investigations
- Elizabeth Warren wasn’t the first candidate to propose a wealth tax. Trump was.
- The scariest thing about Trump’s tweets (“Of all the crackpots on social media, is any more untethered to reality than the president of the United States? Seriously, there are tinfoil-hatted lunatics yelling on street corners who make more sense than President Trump’s increasingly loopy Twitter feed.” And this guy is also at the top of the Republican Party. ‘Nuff said, vote Democratic!)
- White House Abruptly Canceled Trump’s Meeting With Intel Chiefs (“The cancellation came a day after top officials gave testimony to Congress seemingly contradicting key parts of the president’s foreign policy.”)
- Democrats are zeroing in on Treasury’s Mnuchin
- Howard Schultz May Be Even More Disingenuous Than Donald Trump (“The incumbent charlatan-in-chief is nothing if not unabashed in advertising his moral unfitness, parading his ignorance, and spewing his contempt for democracy at every opportunity. Schultz, by contrast, is a fount of disingenuousness, wrapping his entitlement and narcissism in the cloak of high-minded ideals and furrowed-brow civic concern.”)
- Is Trump Trying to Bully America’s Intelligence Agencies Into Silence?
- Trump Lost the Shutdown, but at Least God Made Him President, and He’s Building That Wall (“In the days since his shutdown humiliation, Trump has holed up watching cable news and tweeting his alternative reality as America struggles with an actual deep freeze.”)
- Why This Jobs Report Will Be a Mess (“The lengthy government shutdown will make the Labor Department’s employment data for January hard to interpret.”)
- Howard Schultz Doesn’t Understand American History (“The most effective third-party presidential candidates were polarizers, not centrists.”)
- Attack of the Fanatical Centrists (“Of obsessions, vanity and delusions of superiority.”)
- Democrats Announce Hearing On Trump’s Tax Returns (“To build the public case for disclosure, the House tax committee’s oversight panel will examine its authority to obtain the president’s tax returns at a Feb. 7 hearing.”)
- Let’s Review All the Right-Wing Bullshit Flying Around Today (“From fentanyl busts to a smear campaign against Ralph Northam, it’s all happening.”)
- Mitch McConnell, Enemy of the Vote (“The Senate Majority Leader mocked a bill expanding ballot access while staying silent on foreign threats to our elections”)
- Exclusive: Trump Jr.’s mysterious calls weren’t with his father
- Mitch McConnell just orchestrated a devastating rebuke to Trump — a sign fractures in the GOP may be growing
- Conservatives manufacture controversy over later abortions. Here are the facts. (“How a Virginia abortion bill got caught up in an old, manufactured controversy over ‘infanticide.’” Over at Trumpster radio – aka, “The John Fredericks Show,” they’re even ranting and raving about “genocide.” ‘Nuff said.)
- Fake News About Abortion in Virginia (“No, Democrats aren’t trying to legalize infanticide.” Again: “Under current law in Virginia, third-trimester abortions are permitted when a woman’s physician and two other doctors certify that continuing a pregnancy would result in a mother’s death, or ‘substantially and irremediably impair the mental or physical health of the woman.'”)
- Rick Scott wants Trump to bypass Congress for a wall and DACA using illegal executive orders (“The new senator from Florida dismissed President Barack Obama’s power to protect DREAMers back in 2013.” It’s appalling that Rick Scott is a U.S. Senator.)
- Failed Virginia Bill Sparks National Debate About Abortion
- State battles over abortion policy anticipate a post-Roe world
- New Democrats launch task forces to help craft the House majority’s policy agenda (Reps. Don Beyer and Elaine Luria are co-chairs on Climate Change. Rep. Abigail Spanberger is a co-chair on National Security.)
- Why Rep. Jennifer Wexton Wants to End Shutdowns for Good
- Video: After Two Days of GOP Blowback on Her Abortion Access Bill, Del. Kathy Tran (D) Responds to “a Lot of Misinformation”(“Right now, women are able to access an abortion in the later stages of pregnancy under certain conditions with the approval of medical doctors. I’ve done nothing to change that”)
- Live Blog, Video: Gov. Northam, Virginia Democratic Leaders Hold Press Conference in Response to GOP Attacks on Women’s Reproductive Health, Freedom
- Does the Va. GOP really believe the governor supports infanticide? ‘You saw the tape.’ (Craaazy.)
- Loudoun Democrats who supported controversial abortion bill defend legislation, say Republicans trying to ‘mislead’ (Republicans’ “attacks on the floor and on social media have inflamed a misguided backlash across the country that has put several House Democrats, most of whom are women, at risk”)
- Republicans are ready to come to the table on redistricting reform. Here’s what that means.
- Many medical services that transgender people need aren’t covered by their insurance, but that could change in Virginia
- Democrats say Senate GOP tax plan has ‘zero’ chance of passage
- Northam says he doesn’t regret abortion comments, calls insults directed at him ‘disgusting’
- Virginia has become the epicenter of the third trimester abortion debate. There hasn’t been one here in at least three years./a> (“There have not been any confirmed abortions performed during the third trimester of pregnancy in the state in the past three years, according to Virginia Department of Health data.”)
- This woman just derailed the Equal Rights Amendment yet again (That would be “Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation of Virginia”)
- Del. Kathy Tran was known for nursing her baby on the House floor. Now she’s getting death threats over abortion. (Death threats from people who CLAIM to be “pro-life” but are actually forced birthers.)
- GAO says Metro fails to fully assess risks in making spending choices
- Ralph Northam just gave a huge boost to Trump’s reelection campaign (Written by a right winger. As the top-rated comment says, “Ralph Northam is a pediatric neurologist and you have no medical qualifications whatsoever. What he said about care for babies with fatal conditions was 100% correct…You have misrepresented these laws as allowing 3rd trimester abortion on demand. VA’s proposed bill does not restrict it, but the reality is that you cannot actually get a 39 week abortion the way you are presenting it.” Note that the Washington Post allowed this wild misinformation to be posted in its pages. Why?)
- Senate panel endorses Bible classes for public schools (Hell no.)
- Virginia State Senator George Barker Owes His Constituents a Better Explanation for Why He Argued and Voted Against Banning Political Gerrymandering
- Navy inks two-carrier deal with HII, cites $4B savings
- Headed for another standoff on health insurance
- Editorial: We call out the 14 senators who voted against modernizing schools (The fact that this was defeated 14-2 should tell you something.)
- April Moore Launches Her Challenge to Mark Obenshain (SD-26)
- Stoney announces Virginia’s first eviction diversion program in State of the City speech (Editorial comment: it should be “In State of the City speech, Stoney announces…”)
- Editorial: Beach wades gently into rental regulation
- Some light snow this morning may lead to travel troubles
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