Wednesday News: “Britain stands at the brink of chaos”; “Republicans Really Hate Healthcare”; “McConnell’s Green New Deal ‘stunt’ shows how little GOP has to offer on climate change,” but “Climate Change Emerges As Key 2020 Issue”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, March 27.

• Britain stands at the brink of chaos (“On Wednesday, Parliament will have one of its last chances to avert disaster when it debates alternatives to the Brexit scheme negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May, which it has voted down twice.”)
• May’s Deal Gains Support Ahead of Votes on Plan B: Brexit Update
• Netanyahu’s AIPAC speech is a knife in the heart of the U.S.-Israel alliance (“As the AIPAC hard-liners condone such chutzpah, cheering the dishonest and partisan jabs of Netanyahu and the Republicans, do they not see that this destroys the American political consensus that has preserved the Jewish state for 70 years?”)
• AIPAC Is Losing Control of the Narrative on Israel (“American Jews are very uncomfortable with Trump, but the pro-Israel lobby has embraced him wholeheartedly.” AIPAC has embraced the hard right in Israel…and here in the U.S.)
• Surprise Justice move on ObamaCare puts GOP in bind
• Trump doesn’t have a post-Obamacare plan. That’s frightening.
• Trump just guaranteed health care will be a huge issue in the 2020 election (“With the DOJ arguing Obamacare is unconstitutional, health care should be a huge issue in the 2020 election.”)
• Why Trump’s New Push to Kill Obamacare Is So Alarming (“It’s not just the potential damage to the health care system and the people who depend on it. It’s also the threat, in the administration’s legal logic, to the rule of law.”)
• Republicans Really Hate Healthcare (“They’ve gone beyond cynicism to pathology.”)
• Trump just handed Pelosi the best birthday gift she could ask for
• White House Obamacare reversal made over Cabinet objections
• Trump surprises Republicans — and pleases Democrats — with push to revive health-care battle
• The Trump administration has turned bigotry into policy in Puerto Rico
• Ungrateful to the President*? The Price Is Human Misery. (“Just ask Puerto Rico.”)
• Even in Victory, Trump Shows His Weakness (“Predictably, the president is overselling his supposed exoneration — and demonstrating why he’s unfit for office.”)
• George Conway: Trump is guilty — of being unfit for office
• ‘Undoubtedly there is collusion’: Trump antagonist Adam Schiff doubles down after Mueller finds no conspiracy (Again, we don’t know what Mueller found, only the short “summary” by Donald Trump’s hand-picked Attorney General. The corporate media just can’t get this right.)
• The Pentagon is putting $1 billion toward the wall — and House Democrats can’t stop them (“The Department of Defense has always asked Congress for permission to move money around. Until now.”)
• Congress’s latest move to stop Trump’s national emergency just failed (Every Republican who voted to uphold Trump’s veto is apparently against the constitution and the rule of law.)
• Despite report findings, almost half of Americans think Trump colluded with Russia: Reuters/Ipsos poll
• Poll: 84 percent want Mueller report made public
• The End of Mueller’s Probe Renewed the Right’s Hillary Clinton Obsession
• Trump’s Latest Attacks Place Him in the Company of Authoritarian Strongmen (“‘This is the kind of thing that gets democracies into trouble,’ says one political scientist”)
• James Comey says he is confused by Mueller’s decision on obstruction (“The entire rationale for a special counsel is to make sure the politicals aren’t making the key charging decisions”)
• Kavanaugh Seems Conflicted On Partisan Gerrymandering At Supreme Court Arguments
• An unlikely alliance on the Supreme Court could end two of the nation’s worst gerrymanders (“Will Kavanaugh and Kagan join forces to take down gerrymanders in North Carolina and Maryland?”)
• The op-ed that got Stephen Moore his Fed nomination is based on two major falsehoods (This imbecile should not be allowed anywhere near the Federal Reserve.)
• McConnell’s Green New Deal ‘stunt’ shows how little GOP has to offer on climate change (“I hope this lame stunt is the last gasp of climate denial.”)
• The United States Government Is Completely Incapable of Dealing With the Climate Crisis (“In response to an actual plan to combat the problem, a senator presented the semaphore version of Wuthering Heights.”)
• Senate defeats Green New Deal, as Democrats call vote a ‘sham’ (Democrats called it a sham because it was a sham.)
• Senate Blocks Green New Deal, But Climate Change Emerges As Key 2020 Issue (“‘I think it’s a real stupid political move for them to show how cavalier they are about climate change by playing games with the Green New Deal,’ said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., ahead of the vote. ‘If they don’t like the Green New Deal, fine, put up your own idea. It smells so disingenuous, especially to young voters. I think it’s a really dumb move for them to mess around with this.'”)
• The Mueller probe is over. Now Fox News wants retaliatory investigations. (This network is a menace to democracy and rule of law.)
• The media coverage vs. reality in the Democratic primary race (“If cable-news coverage matched reality, you would expect voters to think the most important issue out there is the Russia investigation, and that their questions would reflect it. That is not the case, really in any campaign. Voters ask about issues, not scandals.”)
• Fred Malek, GOP fundraiser, presidential adviser and former Marriott chief, dies at 82 (“…he was hounded by his involvement in Nixon’s effort to reassign Jewish officials at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for which he long apologized, insisting he was not anti-Semitic.”)
• How Frank Luntz went from Trump enemy to White House insider (Luntz is such a slimeball.)
• They Grew Up Around Fossil Fuels. Now, Their Jobs Are in Renewables. (This needs to be the norm.)
• As Democrats press for full Mueller report — all of it — GOP erects barriers (“McConnell says he wants to avoid throwing ‘innocent people under the bus’” Yeah, right! Hahahaha.)
• Why the National Rifle Association Is Under Fire Like Never Before
• Betsy DeVos Wants to Eliminate Federal Funding for the Special Olympics (There’s something seriously wrong with this person.)
• Dropping charges against Jussie Smollett a ‘whitewash of justice,’ Rahm says
• Jussie Smollett’s Charges Are Dropped, Angering Mayor and Police
• Border wall could cost Virginia up to $493M in military projects
• Kaine, Herring: Trump administration Obamacare challenge would hurt Virginia
• Sens. Kaine, Warner; Reps. Spanberger, Beyer, Wexton React to Trump Administration’s Assault on Entire Affordable Care Act
• Two More Vetoes by Gov. Northam – On “School Protection Officers,” “Public Accountability of Law Enforcement”
• Northam amends motorist measures with ‘race inequities’ in mind
• “We Stand with Donald Trump”: Trump-Loyal Virginia Republicans “Stand” with Him on Affordable Care Act Abolishment
• Dominion Energy Touts the (Supposed) Wonders of Fracked Gas, Lays Out Its Timeline for Restart of Its $7 Billion+ Atlantic Coast Pipeline Construction
• Transparent GMU Donor Agreement Appeal Accepted by the Virginia Supreme Court
• Arlington County Board Member Calls it “Unreasonable and Not Healthy” to Pay Public Officials So Little, Forcing Them to “Hold Outside Jobs”
• National group wants to back Virginia centrists, boost bipartisanship (Great idea…if the Republican Party of Virginia were still the party of the 1980s and 1990s. But it isn’t.)
• Virginia becomes first to require that health insurers count coupons, copay assistance toward deductible
• Gearing up for health insurance arguments in the ’19 election races
• Justin Fairfax spoke about accusations at NAACP meeting (“According to attendees of the event, Fairfax spoke out in defense of himself and against the accusations. He told the crowd that the accusations being made against him are lies.”)
• Gov. Northam proposes unprecedented tweak to a sex offender bill
• Charles City County Approves $415 Million, 340 MW Solar Project
• Wittmann Announces Campaign for Commonwealth’s Attorney
• Opponent attacks Fairfax County’s prosecutor over comments about Democrats (“Kyle Shivers, campaign manager for Morrogh, said it was the practice of the commonwealth’s attorney Morrogh served under to sometimes try to strike jurors for their political affiliations. Shivers said Morrogh has stopped the practice since becoming the county’s main prosecutor.”)
• Deanna Reed column: Trump’s budget plan cuts programs for 20,000 Virginia kids
• Northam makes final push this year to end driver’s license suspensions for court debt
• Getting around a road block on driver license suspensions
• Northam makes first N. Va. appearance since blackface scandal broke
• Editorial: 50 years ago today, the General Assembly voted to enshrine school disparties (Yep, the Roanoke Times spelled it “disparties,” as opposed to “disparities.”)
• Newport News proposed budget comes with flat school funding, real estate tax rate
• A race for the Democratic nod in the 91st (“There’s an interesting race shaping up for the Democratic Party nomination to represent the 91st House of Delegates district, pitting the 2017 candidate, Michael Wade, against Hampton School Board member Martha Mugler.”)
• ‘Bringing back an iconic location’: Henrico to turn former Macy’s at Regency into aquatics center
• City manager proposes tax and fee increases to deal with stormwater, flooding in Virginia Beach
• ‘It was too much’: Virginia couple stranded in cruise ship off Norwegian coast returns home
• D.C.-area forecast: Gradual warming with highs near and past 70 on the way