Friday News: GOP’s “Unffordable Care Act” is “Bad for America’s Health”; Pathetic Ed Gillespie Can’t Decide What He Thinks About It

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, June 23.

• It Really Is Meaner (“Both the House and Senate health care bills would cause a generational disaster for lower-income Americans. But Mitch McConnell’s plan achieves a special cruelty.”)
• The Unaffordable Care Act (“The bill’s real aim is to cut taxes for the rich.”)
• Shifting Dollars From Poor to Rich Is a Key Part of the Senate Health Bill (Appalling, but so Republican!)
• ‘Meanness at the core:’ Obama jumps back into fray to criticize Trump, GOP on health care
• Senate Republicans’ Obamacare replacement is bad for America’s health (“It’s more like a giant tax cut for the wealthy.”)
• Senate Republicans ready themselves for a massive theft from the poor (“The GOP proposal is the first step in redistribution of wealth from struggling wage-earners to the rich.” Reverse Robin Hood.)
• The United States is stumbling into another decade of war (“President Trump’s incoherent strategy in the Middle East is flying under the radar.”)
• Philando Castile’s death poses questions that still need answering
• McConnell’s Calculation May Be That He Still Wins by Losing
• The anti-innovation presidency (“Behind all the theater of ‘Tech Week,’ Trump’s budget makes deeper cuts to research and development than any White House in modern history.”)
• Here’s How Republicans Might Pass Their Cruel Health-Care Bill
• Why the GOP’s Senate Health-Care Bill Won’t Be Getting Much Nicer
• NBC’s Megyn Kelly Problem
• New MSNBC host Hugh Hewitt is Sean Hannity in glasses
• How soon will the alt-right win an election? Neo-Confederate Corey Stewart came shockingly close in Virginia (Translation: how soon will white supremacists win an election in Virginia?
• Senator Tim Kaine says US strikes on pro-Assad targets in Syria are ‘completely illegal’ as lawmakers demand Congress take back war-making powers
• These are all the people the Senate health care bill will hurt (“The poor, the sick, and the elderly are prime among them.”)
• What The Senate GOP Plan Would Mean For Health Insurance (“But the main outcomes are clear. The wealthiest people would get a large tax cut. The poorest would be the most likely to lose their insurance. The cost of insurance would go down for some, particularly younger adults. For middle-income, older adults who aren’t yet eligible for Medicare, premiums would go up. But, as with the ACA, the bill would do little to curb overall spending on health insurance, which means someone will be stuck with the bill.”)
• The Lasting Damage of Trump’s ‘Tapes’ Bluff (“The president’s attempt to intimidate James Comey didn’t merely backfire—it may also embolden hostile regimes to conclude his other threats are equally empty.”)
• The Perilous Path Ahead for the Senate Health-Care Bill (“The long-awaited proposal begins with few friends and many critics—on the right, the center, and the left. But the chilly reception doesn’t mean the legislation is doomed”)
• Trump is struggling to stay calm on Russia, one morning call at a time (This guy is temperamentally unfit to be president.)
• All That Stands Between Democrats And A Massive Freakout Is This Man (“The pressure is on Ralph Northam to score a win in his race for Virginia governor. Barack Obama is going to come off the sidelines to help.”)
• Northam denounces Senate GOP health care bill; Gillespie says he’ll review effect on Va. (As always, Gillespie is pathetic.)
• State says Senate health plan puts Virginia at disadvantage, ‘harsher’ than House proposal
• Obama returning to campaign trail to stump for Northam in Virginia governor’s race (“It’s likely to be the former president’s first time back in campaign fray, for the nation’s next high-profile contest.”)
• Virginia gubernatorial candidates trade barbs over Senate health care bill
• Editorial: We don’t need 10 debates. We need 19. (This one gets an eye roll. There were a bunch of Democratic debates for governor this past spring; how many watched them? Uhhhhh…)
• 2018 U.S. Senate GOP Top 10 … Who Can Win Against Kaine?
• Sen. Warner among Senators to present bill supporting commercial drone use
• 21 D.C.-area business groups agree on plan to fix Metro’s finances, governance
• Williams: On monuments, all ideas must be on the table (“It’s ironic that people often say removing these monuments will ‘erase history.’ We have the statues, bigger than life, yet folks don’t know the history or simply don’t care.”)
• Richmond mayor vows to confront tributes to Civil War with words, not wrecking balls (“Mayor Levar Stoney announced the formation of a commission to find other ways to correct the ‘false narrative’ conveyed by the statues. The approach could set Richmond apart from other Southern cities grappling with its treatment of Confederate symbols.” )
• FERC to issue final environmental impact statement today for Mountain Valley Pipeline (“With only two commissioners, FERC currently lacks the quorum necessary to decide whether to issue the certificate Mountain Valley needs to build the pipeline. But that could change in the weeks ahead if the U.S. Senate confirms, as is expected, two men nominated for the commission by President Donald Trump.” They’re going to approve it, obviously, with the two Trump appointees; the question is what Virginia can/will do about it.)
• Editorial: Long overdue, records released in jail death
• Rain chances focused on early today and late tonight, with isolated storms possible in between