by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, January 8.
- Carbon emissions up as Trump agenda rolls back climate change work (“Last year’s 3.4% jump in emissions is the largest since 2010 recession and second largest gain in more than two decades” Trump ignores a REAL emergency – the climate crisis – while manufacturing a FAKE “emergency” – immigration/the border.)
- U.S.-China Talks Near Close With Positive Signs From Both Sides
- Trump aides lay foundation for emergency order to build wall, saying border is in ‘crisis’ (Wait, a president can just declare an “emergency” even when there clearly is NOT an emergency? That’s crazy and seems to be totally anti-rule-of-law and anti-democracy, among other things.)
- Turkey’s Erdogan snubs John Bolton as rift between NATO allies deepens (“The national security adviser was accused of making a ‘serious mistake’ in calling for a new condition for the U.S. exit from Syria.” Actually, Bolton was right for once.)
- Pelosi cranks up shutdown pressure on Trump, GOP (“Sensing a winning hand, Democrats this week will repackage a handful of uncontroversial bills funding a number of shuttered agencies — excluding Homeland Security, which covers the proposed wall — and send them off to the Senate one by one, forcing GOP leaders to explain their promised inaction on measures they supported just weeks ago.”)
- Shutdown’s impact shows signs of growing
- Trump struggles to replace Mattis as Pentagon chief (“Former GOP Sen. Jon Kyl is at least the second person to say he’s not interested in the traditionally sought-after top Pentagon post.”)
- Trump wages intense but lonely campaign for his border wall (“The president has griped about a perceived lack of public support for his shutdown stance and Syria withdrawal plan from within his administration.” Well, don’t be an idiot then.)
- Networks giving Trump free airtime on Tuesday refused to air Obama’s 2014 immigration speech (“Trump’s address is supposed to be about the government shutdown he initiated.”)
- Networks set to air Trump’s prime time address; Pelosi, Schumer demand equal time
- Broadcast networks should not turn over their airwaves so the president can lie to the public (“Update: But they’re going to do it anyway”)
- Networks agree to carry Trump’s speech about nonexistent ‘crisis’ at U.S.-Mexico border (“A 2014 Obama address on immigration was called too ‘overtly political’ to air by many of these same networks.”)
- Shutdown Ripples Across Nation, Affecting Farmers, Homeowners, Even Craft Brewers (“The impact of the second-longest shutdown in history began to reverberate across the economy, with mortgage applications delayed and paychecks missed. It has affected about 800,000 federal workers, many of whom will miss their first paycheck this week. That includes the Secret Service.”)
- A Joe Biden 2020 Campaign Would Be the Most Divisive Thing for the Democratic Field (“The vice president’s track record in Congress puts him on the wrong side of every issue that currently energizes his political party.”)
- House GOP leaders fear support eroding for Trump’s shutdown fight (“A growing number of Republican lawmakers could vote for Democratic measures to reopen the federal government.”)
- The Trump administration is considering a major rollback of civil rights regulation (“A recent Washington Post report says plans to alter disparate impact regulation, a key part of civil rights enforcement, might be in the works.”)
- Only six immigrants in terrorism database stopped by CBP at southern border in first half of 2018 (“The low number contradicts statements by Trump administration officials.”)
- Trump claimed ex-presidents told him they wanted to build a wall. Four of them say it’s not true.
- House Democrats to unveil universal background check bill on anniversary of Gabby Giffords shooting
- It Might Be Time to Start Fireproofing the Reichstag (“Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s absence signals our last line of defense is in peril.”)
- Seth Meyers Calls Out Networks for Letting Trump ‘Repeat His Lies’ in Primetime (“President Trump ‘shouldn’t get to address the nation just to repeat his lies,’ Meyers argued Monday night.”)
- Ocasio-Cortez’s 70% Tax Idea Isn’t Very Radical (“It won’t do much to discourage people from working, raise revenue or lower inequality.” Agreed. Remember, “the top marginal tax rate was 73 percent in 1920, more than 90 percent during the 1950s, and 69 percent in 1981.”)
- Borderline Insanity (“President Trump rained cruelties on immigrants and asylum seekers and now wants hundreds of millions of dollars to address the humanitarian crisis he caused.”)
- The one reason Trump refuses to reopen the federal government? He doesn’t want to look like a loser (“Until Trump finds a way that he thinks he can end the shutdown without looking incompetent, it’s likely to continue”)
- Trump Is Grinding the System to a Halt (“Thousands of air-traffic controllers and TSA employees continue to work without pay. It’s unfair—and it’s potentially dangerous.”)
- Democrat Beto O’Rourke Plans Solo Road Trip to Meet Voters Outside Texas (“Texan would visit places like community colleges as he weighs 2020 presidential bid”)
- A 1970 U.S.-Mexico treaty shows why Trump’s border wall is absurd (“Barriers built in the Rio Grande floodplain will either wash away during floods or become dams that worsen the flooding.”)
- Advocates, Florida officials vow to register disenfranchised voters despite governor’s objections
- Trump Needs a Fig Leaf (“The shutdown won’t end unless the president can look like he fought for and won something—even if it’s meaningless.”)
- Republicans Can Reopen the Government With or Without Trump (“Instead, they’re ducking their duty.” Cowards.)
- Will Democrats stop the Senate from doing other legislating until the government shutdown ends? (“Chris Van Hollen leads call to block other bills until the Senate votes on House-passed appropriations bills”)
- Why the shutdown is a good thing for House Democrats (“New majority can spend otherwise slow first few weeks of session messaging on opening government”)
- Virginia races will gauge Trump’s appeal in suburbs (“Later this year, 12 months before Trump faces voters again, Democrats hope for a repeat of the suburban slaughter that caught the GOP so off guard.”)
- Northam touts package of bills addressing state’s environmental threats
- Editorial: Northam’s deft touch serves Virginia well (Except on the pipelines.)
- Here’s which Virginia members of the U.S. House are forgoing pay during the shutdown
- Is Virginia interested in environmental justice? We’re about to find out. (Ralph Northam clearly isn’t.)
- Dominion Energy & Environmental Racism: a case study in how to lie with maps
- Former board members challenge state data ahead of key vote on pipeline facility (“The record Dominion prepared was based on a not-very-serious look at the neighbors. . . . It’s a historic free-black community. There are churches and cemeteries and people who live there — none of which shows up in the analysis they presented.”)
- Former Va. Gov. McDonnell files for divorce, years after trial aired marital woes (Not surprising, but amazing it took so long.)
- Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell files for divorce but the paperwork has been sealed
- Rep. Denver Riggleman to donate paycheck to fire department during federal shutdown (Yeah, after HIS PARTY – including him! – voted to shut down the government!)
- Report rates Chesapeake Bay’s health a D+, the first drop in a decade, but Virginia sees bright spots (“In the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s biennial State of the Bay report, released Monday, the group found that 2018’s heavy rainfall increased stormwater and farmland drainage into the bay, mostly from Pennsylvania. That led to higher levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, while also affecting water clarity…Still, Baker highlighted good news as well: Bay grasses remain intact, and recent studies have shown an improving trend in the long term for underwater dead zones, which are low-oxygen conditions that can suffocate underwater life and shrink habitat.”)
- Virginia board set to vote on pipeline compressor station
- Apex acquires 425MW of in-development solar projects in Virginia from SolUnesco
- A more diverse General Assembly (Right, but only on the Democratic side.)
- Governor Northam Announces Legislative Proposals to Protect Voting Rights and Reform Campaign Finance Laws
- Former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe aims to unseat Democratic prosecutor who opposed him on felon rights
- Video: Del. Jennifer Carroll-Foy, Packed House of Supporters, Help Parisa Tafti Kick Off Her Campaign for Arlington/Falls Church Commonwealth’s Attorney (“Here’s the truth; there is one progressive in this race…and there is nothing principled about pretending to be a progressive just to win re-election”)
- Assessing some odds on gaming
- Oh, that 20 percent! (“The challenge of that 20 percent matters because legislation enacted by the General Assembly takes effect on July 1 — well after federal and state income taxes are due — unless 80 percent of the House and Senate agree that a measure is an emergency requiring immediate effect.”)
- Gordon C. Morse: Road to happiness passes through the tax code
- Del. Rasoul and Del. Guzman Announce “Green New Deal” Virginia Co-Chairs, Lobby Day, Website
- Corey Stewart, the firebrand Virginia Republican, will leave politics in December
- Editorial: Did Herring just show how someone could sue the state over school funding?
- Don’t Forget to Vote Tomorrow for Democrat Jennifer Boysko for SD33 (That election is now TODAY. Make sure you vote!)
- Bowles: Northam’s proposal to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit is good for working families. It helped my mom raise three kids
- Richmond School Board keeps same chairwoman, appoints new vice chairwoman
- Warm today and showers possible, then cold returns with weekend snow chance
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