Thursday News: “Biden Opens Overseas Trip Declaring ‘United States Is Back’”; “An Exposé Has Congress Rethinking How to Tax the Superrich”; The primary election reveals Virginia Democrats’ strength”; “Inside Elections rates the Virginia race Likely Democratic”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, June 10.

• Investors holding $41 trillion demand action on climate — now
• Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Food Production are Far Greater Than Previous Estimates Suggest (“A new study finds that if all parts of the food system are included, food production is responsible for as much as 40 percent of global emissions.” Ugh.)
• Oil Drilling in the ‘Land of Water’: ExxonMobil Hunts for More Fossil Fuels in Guyana Amid Sea Level Rise Fears (That’s bonkers.)
• Biden offers a warning to fellow leaders before G7 (“The President is huddling with allies at a time when the greatest threat to democracy comes from within the US”)
• The G-7 summit: Here’s a quick guide to everything you need to know (“The climate, trade and the recovery from the coronavirus, as well as Russia and China, are expected to be on the agenda.”)
• Biden warns Britain: Don’t imperil N.Irish peace
• Biden Opens Overseas Trip Declaring ‘United States Is Back’
• China is the elephant in the room at the G-7
• Five finance ministers: Why we need a global corporate minimum tax
• The 15 percent global minimum tax is a welcome development, but there’s more work to do
• From Russia to Brexit: the key issues at the G7 summit (“Russia – and threats to democracy…China…Vaccines..Tax…Climate…Brexit,” etc.)
• G7 leaders will call for fresh WHO inquiry into Covid origins, leaked communique suggests
• Leading investors urge governments to end support for fossil fuels (Agreed – dump all government support, both direct and indirect, for fossil fuels NOW.)
• Biden administration to buy 500 million Pfizer coronavirus vaccine doses to donate to the world
• U.S. Weighs Possibility of Airstrikes if Afghan Forces Face Crisis
• At Her Last G-7, Merkel Has Had Enough of U.S. Leadership
• Biden Should Offer the Vaccine to Iran
• Finance Risks Falling Behind In a Greening World
• With a Ban on Navalny’s Group, Putin Sends Clear Message to Biden
• World’s Richest Face Tax Squeeze After 40% Run-Up in Fortunes
• Ex-Mossad chief Tamir Pardo: Netanyahu broke policy with Iran, US
• As India’s pandemic surge eases, a race begins to prepare for a possible next wave
• Pipeline Investigation Upends Idea That Bitcoin Is Untraceable
• May was busiest month along Mexico border since Biden took office, CBP figures show
• Fear and anger in Canada after Muslim family is killed: ‘How many more people have to die?’
• Joe Biden has many roads to an infrastructure deal (“The president and Republicans remain light-years apart. But that doesn’t mean the bill is doomed.”)
• Democratic senator says his party should move forward on infrastructure without GOP: ‘We cannot just sort of twiddle our thumbs’
• Which Groups Are Still Dying of Covid in the U.S.?
• U.S. Consumer Price Numbers Out Today Could Give Insight on Inflation
• Consumer Prices Likely Rose Strongly Again in May
• Keystone XL pipeline nixed after Biden stands firm on permit (Good riddance to this horrendous project.)
• FDA adviser resigns over approval of new Alzheimer’s drug
• Five Former Treasury Secretaries: Fund the IRS
• Joe Manchin’s “highly suspicious” reversal on voting bill follows donation from corporate lobby (“U.S. Chamber of Commerce sure loves Joe Manchin. Is that why his op-ed on voting bill echoed their talking points?”)
• Here’s Exhibit A for dramatic tax reform
• The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax
• Why We Need to Tax Wealth More Effectively
• Wealthiest Americans’ tax avoidance – the shock report’s most striking details
• Biden’s plans would give families a surprisingly big lift. New data shows how. (“The total effect of Biden’s tax proposals would be surprisingly progressive.”)
• An Exposé Has Congress Rethinking How to Tax the Superrich
• Why on earth is Biden’s DOJ backing Trump in a rape denial case? (“The Justice Department’s institutional obligations do not change because Donald Trump is a horror show.”)
• Garland’s Trump defamation lawsuit decision might be legally defensible. It’s also wrong.
• Voter Suppression Must Be the Central Issue
• The Senate can still protect voting rights from GOP assault. Here’s how.
• How NBC’s Lester Holt and other mainstream media outlets have adopted a Fox News talking point against VP Harris
• JBS Paid An $11 Million Ransom In Bitcoin To Cyberattackers
• U.S. Capitol Police officer gives firsthand account of Jan. 6 attack
• The first report on Jan. 6 gives nauseating new details. But its scope was far too limited.
• A U.S. solar company will build a new factory in Ohio, giving Biden a boost.
• House panel takes up Democrats’ $547 billion roads, transit bill with focus on environment
• Believe it or not, the Senate actually passed a very ambitious bill (“As long as it helps corporations and Biden won’t be able to take too much credit, Republicans can live with it.”)
• Watchdog says police were already planning to clear Lafayette Square before Trump photo op.
• Statement from Inspector General Mark Lee Greenblatt Regarding Special Review Report “Review of U.S. Park Police Actions at Lafayette Park”
• Trump administration pursued CNN reporter’s records in months-long secret court battle
• Val Demings: ‘Marco Rubio is afraid of a tough fight. I am not.’
• Democrats have a path to victory. It starts on the ground. (“They need to invest in registration and organizing – not right before the next election, but right now.”)
• AP Exclusive: State bar investigating Texas attorney general
• The Congressional Black Caucus Is Blocking A Black Republican From Joining The Group
• Texas Republican asks: can we fix the moon’s orbit to fight climate change? (Yep, it’s the stupidest Congressman, Louie Gohmert, again. He’s a Republican, of course.)
• Sen. Tim Kaine supports president’s trip to Europe as ‘strong statement’ (“He believes alliance will show strength ahead of Pres. Biden’s meeting with Putin”)
• Kaine, Spanberger react to Senate report on January 6, call for more
• Video: On Investigating the 1/6 Insurrection, Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA05) Says “Helping Democrats right now is helping the country”; Former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA10) Says “Democrats need to [start sending subpoena requests] yesterday”
• New Report Calls Out Jen Kiggans and Her Refusal to Say Who Won the 2020 Election (Kiggans joins class of Republicans candidates in “embrac[ing] the fiction that the 2020 election was illegitimate”)
• A. Donald McEachin column: Preserving place, history, identity
• Huge Democratic turnout for Virginia governor primary is a bad sign for the GOP
• How Trump’s Political Legacy Is on the Ballot in the Virginia Governor’s Race
• Political Winners and Losers: Virginia Primary Elections 2021
• The primary election reveals Virginia Democrats’ strength (“The governor’s race is Terry McAuliffe’s to lose.”)
• Glenn Youngkin Is Donald Trump’s Hand-Picked Candidate For Virginia (“While Terry McAuliffe focuses on building a better future for all Virginians, Glenn Youngkin is running because of Donald Trump”)
• Virginia Primary Turnout Dips, But Still Among Highest in Recent History (“In all, turnout dipped about 11% from 2017, to about 480,000 votes cast.” That’s great, actually…especially when you consider that only 30k Republicans participated in their “unassembled convention” b.s.)
• Do Republicans have a chance in New Jersey or Virginia in November? (“Republicans likely need a Youngkin surge and a McAuliffe collapse to prevail. Inside Elections rates the Virginia race Likely Democratic.” Hopefully, people will listen to Youngkin, because if they do so for more than a minute or two, they’ll find him deeply weird, spewing out a bizarre Fox-style right-wing word salad of idiocy, etc.)
• Virginia Democrats choose pragmatism
• Legendary fundraiser will face super-rich self-funder in Virginia governor’s race (Such a lame headline, really epitomizes a lot that’s wrong with the corporate media to focus on this as a “horse race,” sort of “equivalent” sides, etc.)
• Video: Hours After Winning Democratic Nomination, Terry for Virginia Launches First Digital Ad of General Election (“I worked with reasonable Republicans to get things done. But let me be clear. Glenn Youngkin is not a reasonable Republican”)
• McAuliffe’s sweep beat expectations that were already sky-high (“By winning the most votes in all 133 of Virginia’s cities and counties, McAuliffe’s victory exceeded the most optimistic expectations of his own campaign, even with its cash advantages and built-in name recognition.”)
• Schapiro: Getting off on the right foot by not going too far left
• Far left Dems Carter, Samirah to lose in Virginia primary
• Democratic establishment tightens its hold on the party as far-left candidates fall short
• Regardless of outcome, Virginia lieutenant governor’s race will make history (Again, the WaPo’s framing is that there’s some sort of equivalence between a normal, center-left candidate like Hala Ayala, and a right-wing extremist like Winsome Sears.)
• Virginia House Democrats Kick Off General Election Campaign (“Democrats have strong momentum to defend their majority”)
• OPPO DUMP: Virginia GOP Nominates Far-Right Extremists for House of Delegates (“Virginia primary results demonstrate that the far-right has overtaken the GOP”)
• House primaries turn Democrats a bit more toward center – except in Portsmouth – and GOP more to right
• Deaths rose in Virginia’s mental hospitals last year, but COVID-19 wasn’t the prime culprit
• Wednesday (6/9) Virginia Data on COVID-19: Hospitalizations, 10-Day New COVID Cases Near Lowest Points Since Start of Pandemic
• Editorial: Incentives hold promise. Offer them.
• EVMS will pay $500K to PR firm with ties to blog spreading negative Sentara stories
• Virginia Beach mass shooting gunman was ‘motivated by perceived workplace grievances,’ FBI says
• Virginia Tech football player told police he ‘stomped’ murder victim after meeting for sexual encounter (“A now suspended Virginia Tech football player told police he punched a person five times in the face and stomped on them after discovering a sexual partner he thought was a woman was actually a man, according to arguments presented Wednesday in a Montgomery County courtroom.” Evil.)
• Chesterfield’s legislative delegation seeks diversity on the bench, but is not unanimous on vacant judgeships
• D.C.-area forecast: Showers at times through Friday before drying out this weekend