by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, December 2.
- Senate passes Republican tax plan (And with that, Republicans can NEVER seriously claim to be the party of fiscal responsibility, fiscal “conservatism” or “balanced budgets” again. Nor can they ever seriously claim to care about the deficit or the debt. Or the middle class. Or the working class. Or the poor. Or…)
- Dems rip GOP over handwritten changes to tax plan (Absolutely disgraceful, but then again, typical GOP. Why would anyone vote for these people?)
- Senate Passes Sweeping Tax Bill That Overwhelmingly Benefits the Wealthiest Americans (The polar opposite of what we need to be doing on almost every level.)
- Senate Republicans Pass Their Tax Cuts (“The bill slashes corporate tax rates, but millions of middle-class families could face tax increases under the $1.47 trillion bill.”)
- Trump keeps playing nice with Mueller, for now (What happens if Trump tries to fire Mueller? Will Congressional Republicans put their feet down finally?)
- What Michael Flynn’s Plea Deal Means (“Eleven legal experts weigh in.”)
- So, What Did Flynn Give Mueller? (“This is one sweet plea deal.”)
- Robert Mueller Has a Plan (“How the special counsel’s deal with Michael Flynn neutralizes Trump’s pardon power.”)
- Flake’s flawed logic for supporting GOP tax bill (Based on his actions, not his words, Flake is a right wingnut through and through.)
- Here are the flimsy promises that got key Republican swing votes to support the tax plan (Every one of these Republicans needs to be defeated.)
- GOP sneaks provision into tax bill to benefit one college favored by Republican billionaires
(“Under the cover of darkness.”) - Fox News’ extremely creative coverage of Michael Flynn’s guilty plea (“Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and other people Fox News wants to talk about besides Gen. Flynn.” It’s actually not creative at all; it’s standard Fox right-wing propaganda bullshit.)
- A Historic Tax Heist (“In which Republican donors pick your children’s pockets. Future generations will bear the cost of this terrible bill.”)
- “The hypocrisy is astounding”: this tax bill shows the GOP’s debt concerns were pure fraud
- Senate Republicans pass a tax bill giving corporations a massive tax cut and cutting health care (“How Senate Republicans learned to forget about the deficit and pass their tax bill.”)
- 4 winners and 3 losers in the Senate tax bill (“Winner: Corporations of every shape and size…Loser: 13 million Americans without insurance…Winner: Wealthy individuals…Loser: Charities, especially universities”)
- The Republican tax bill will explode income inequality in America (“The bill is investing heavily in the wealthy and their children.”)
- Michael Flynn’s Guilty Plea Is Bad For Trump In Lots Of Ways
- Clinton on Matt Lauer: ‘Every day I believe more in karma’ (I certainly don’t believe in “karma” — good things happen to bad people ALL THE TIME and bad things happen to good people ALL THE TIME — but I’m glad to see Matt Lauer fired and publicly humiliated, assuming he has any shame.)
- The Republican tax bill is not just immoral. It is an act of violence (“Extremist leaders are proposing to give billions in tax breaks to the wealthy – by raising taxes for poor people, write the co-chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign”)
- After Flynn, What Awaits Kushner and Don Jr.? (Hopefully jail for all of them.)
- Why Republicans Will Insist the Trump Tax Cuts ‘Worked,’ No Matter What (But they never have and won’t this time either.)
- America Is Trapped in Trump’s Delusional World (“On Trump’s first day in office, with respect to the size of his inauguration crowd, he insisted that what was demonstrably, visibly, incontrovertibly false was actually true. At that moment, we learned that all the lies and exaggerations and provocations of the previous year were not just campaign tools, designed to con and distract, but actually constitutive of his core mental health. He was not lying, as lying is usually understood. He was expressing what he believed to be true, because his ego demanded it be true. And for Trump, as we now know, there is no reality outside his own perfervidly narcissistic consciousness.”)
- Kaine: Flynn will get ‘fair legal process’ he tried to deny Clinton (Exactly: Flynn is scum and does NOT deserve fair treatment, but he’ll get it anyway, as he should in our system of government, rule of law, etc.)
- Report: Kushner Told Flynn to Sabotage U.S. Policy With Russia’s Help (Lock him up.)
- What Michael Flynn’s Plea Means to Robert Mueller—and to Donald Trump
- The Russia affair just got bigger (“Michael Flynn’s guilty plea shows coordination with Russia to undermine Obama’s foreign policy.”)
- The volume is all the way up to 11 (“Trump, Twitter, Tillerson, tax bills, borrowing, bitcoin barter, bubbles . . . we’re headed toward the cliff.”)
- The Men Who Cost Clinton the Election (“Many of the male journalists who stand accused of sexual harassment were on the forefront of covering the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.” And we wonder why Clinton “lost” – in quotes because she still managed to get 3 million more votes than the sexual predator in chief.)
- Warner, Kaine respond to Virginia Republican Congressmen
- In Richmond, cabinet-making can be a dark art (“So when Gov.-elect Ralph Northam told reporters at the Virginia Press Association’s annual legislative day that he was busy interviewing candidates for cabinet posts, it was hard not to wonder if any of them might be among the 51 House Republicans certified as winners of this year’s vote, or the 21-strong Republican majority in the state Senate.”)
- Report finds Virginia’s early childhood spending holds steady
- Report lays out potential Virginia coal ash options (“Environmental groups said they were disappointed in the report, which they dismissed as an attempt to validate the plans Dominion has already proposed. They argue the ash should be either recycled or moved to landfills with synthetic liners away from water sources.”)
- Loupassi, who previously conceded to Adams, files for recount in Richmond-area House race
- New Virginia law to prevent identification of juvenile murder victims catches police by surprise, adds to their workload
- Editorial wrap-up: Is traffic on I-95 the absolute worst? Yes, and here’s proof. (Yep, it’s horrible.)
- Holding onto hope, Virginia avoids sending letters to parents warning of the end of children’s health insurance program
- Work on Arlington bridge gets a $227 million boost
- Virginia Won’t Say Whether its Official Spoke at Gas Industry Panel on Curbing Pipeline Protesters (Not acceptable. Also gotta love how this guy now works for Orsted, partners with – yep, Dominion! – on a boondoggle $320 million project to test two offshore wind turbines. Can we say “revolving door?”))
- Charlottesville response to white supremacist rally is sharply criticized in report
- Heaphy report: UVa police’s lack of response to torch-lit rally on Grounds allowed Aug. 11-12 events to escalate
- Editorial: Petersburg starts to get its house in order
- D.C.-area forecast: It’s a good weekend to get stuff done before cold air arrives next week
I guess if you’re going to raise taxes on the middle class and increase the national debt by $2.2 trillion, this is how you do it. https://t.co/SvFh5aYEyq
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) December 2, 2017
479 pages.
That’s how long the brand new Republican tax bill is, now that they’ve finally shared it with all its changes. On a Friday evening. Right before we’re going to start voting on it.
— Tim Kaine (@timkaine) December 1, 2017
This is how we’re writing legislation now? pic.twitter.com/kfy7yghtJA
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) December 2, 2017
In the dead of night @SenateGOP passed a bill written to help billionaires.
It will hurt the middle class, kick millions off their healthcare, and saddle our children with a trillion dollars of debt. They admit they may use Medicare and Social Security cuts to pay off that debt. https://t.co/Y5f5oDIjuD
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) December 2, 2017
