Saturday News: Crucial Week for Brexit, as “Things Are Going the Wrong Way with North Korea”; Weak Jobs Report; “Republicans freak out over HR1: They don’t want America to have fair elections”; VA Beach Councilman Booted

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, March 9.

• Activity At 2nd North Korean Missile Site Indicates Possible Launch Preparations
• Things are going the wrong way with North Korea, and the Trump administration doesn’t know why
• A top Trump official may have just doomed US-North Korea talks (“In a briefing with reporters on Wednesday, a senior State Department official made a stunning remark when asked if the Trump administration agrees on how to handle the complexities of talks with North Korea…’Nobody in the administration advocates a step-by-step approach'”)
• Deal? No deal? Delay? — the week ahead in Brexit votes (“UK Prime Minister Theresa May will put the Brexit deal to a second vote. If it gets defeated, Parliament will vote on whether to leave the EU without a deal, or seek an extension.”)
• Of Civil Wars and Family Feuds: Brexit Is More Divisive Than Ever
• ‘What game are they playing?’ leader of parliament asks of EU (“Less than three weeks before Britain is due to leave the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May has failed to secure the changes to the divorce agreement needed to gain the support of lawmakers, who handed the government a record defeat in a vote on the deal in January.”)
• The more we learn about Brexit, the more crooked it looks (Kinda like the more we learn about Trump and his associates, the more crooked they look.)
• U.S. Hiring Pullback Taps Brakes on Economic Expansion
• A ‘Beat Trump’ Fervor Is Producing Big Turnouts for 2020 Democrats
• Trump’s private talks with Putin may contain clues to his Russia romance (“Democrats say Trump’s attempts to conceal his conversations with the Russian leader raise questions about his motivations”)
• The jobs report shows why the White House should stop touting its ‘economic miracle’ (Actually, they should stop touting it because it’s a huge lie. In fact, Trump INHERITED a strong economy from President Obama, who in turn helped save the economy from the Republican Great Recession.)
• Russian Trolls Shift Strategy to Disrupt U.S. Election in 2020 (“Hackers infiltrate computers to create fake social media users. Fake accounts are used to amplify divisive messages by others”)
• House Democrats just passed a slate of significant reforms to get money out of politics (“Democrats passed their sweeping anti-corruption bill known as HR 1. It’s already doomed in the Senate.” Dems desperately need to take back the Senate and White House in 2020, then pass all this stuff.)
• House passes sweeping voting rights, electoral reform bill (“HR 1 aims to make Election Day a federal holiday, help publicly finance elections, and require presidents to release their tax returns.”)
• Only One Roadblock on the Road to Reform: Mitch McConnell (“Why no vote on the House-passed ethics and election reform bill, Mr. Senate Leader? ‘Because I get to decide what we vote on.'” One right-wing asshole from Kentucky thwarts the will of the vast majority of Americans. Democracy!)
• Trump administration responsible for even more separated children, judge rules (“The hallmark of a civilized society is measured by how it treats its people and those within its borders”)
• Trump budget to propose slashing domestic spending, boosting defense (Budget D.O.A.)
• Trump’s budget to land with a thud on Monday (“Congress, which controls federal spending, is likely to dismiss Trump’s proposal, if recent history is any guide.”)
• “Trump Has Been Calling Him Bill ‘No Shine’”: Why Roger Ailes’s Former Right Hand Is Leaving the West Wing (“Sean Hannity lobbied for Shine to get the job, but things quickly soured. ‘Trump needs someone to blame for his bad press,’ said a former West Wing official.”)
• Conway’s husband: ‘Banana republic’ if Trump got his wish to go after investigators
• Biden eyes fundraising challenge amid new sense of urgency (“Those close to the former vice president believe he would start off at a fundraising disadvantage compared to would-be rivals, whose campaigns have benefited from an early flood of small-dollar donations from the most liberal wing of the party. Biden, a 76-year-old lifetime politician with strong connections to the party’s establishment, would be forced to rely on an ‘old-school grind-it-out’ plan to generate campaign cash from wealthy individual donors, according to a person with direct knowledge of Biden’s thinking.”)
• (“Chats show extremists claim Carlson has ‘done more for’ white supremacists than they ‘could ever hope to.'”)
• Laura Ingraham and Pat Buchanan warn that immigration will change “the whole character and composition of the nation” (Racists.)
• Super Bowl selfie emerges of Trump with founder of spa tied to New England Patriots owner’s charges
• 2020 Dems criss-cross nation building early black support
• A Weak Jobs Report Isn’t All That Donald Trump Has to Worry About (“…there is good reason to believe that we have already seen the best days of the Trump economy. Even if this payrolls figure was an outlier on the downside, it may turn out to be a harbinger of things to come. And that can’t be good news for the President’s reëlection prospects.”)
• This Week Ended With an Outbreak of Hilarious Low Comedy (“It involves Trump, the Republicans, and the owner of the spa involved in the recent Robert Kraft incident.”)
• Trump Owns the Swamp Now, and It’s Awash in Lobbyists
• A Florida Massage Parlor Owner Has Been Selling Chinese Execs Access to Trump at Mar-a-Lago (“The strange, swampy saga of Trump donor Li Yang.”)
• The Most Unrealistic Promise Democrats Are Making Is to Restore Bipartisanship (“The Obama presidency was an eight-year experiment in the possibility of obtaining Republican support for major initiatives. It is impossible to imagine a more conclusive result. Despite having jacked up the deficit during the entirety of the presidencies both before and after Obama’s, Republicans spent the entire time insisting on massive fiscal austerity despite facing objectively the most favorable conditions for stimulus spending since World War II. Obama’s offer to support John McCain’s cap-and-trade plan and Mitt Romney’s health-care plan drew almost zero Democratic and zero Republican votes, respectively. Republicans wouldn’t even accept a deal to trim Medicare spending in return for tax reform.” Bingo!)
• Republicans freak out over HR1: They don’t want America to have fair elections (“Conservatives are in panic mode over HR1, the House bill that would make it easier for all Americans to vote”)
• Exclusive: Grand jury returns 16 felony counts against Jussie Smollett
• Ilhan Omar Backtracks After Calling Obama a “Pretty Face” Who “Got Away with Murder” (“Democrats didn’t abandon Omar over her comments about Israel. Her criticism of Barack Obama is another matter.” Gack.)
• Ilhan Omar Tests the Democratic Party. Will It Pass? (“Omar isn’t a nihilist. She’s taken a chance on her party’s capacity for self-reflection.”)
• The Ilhan Omar Controversy Is a Turning Point for the Jewish Left (Personally, I’ve had it with the right wing in Israel, not to mention Netanyahu working to elect Mitt Romney and to sabotage the Iran nuclear deal.)
• Spanberger Helps Pass Major Campaign Finance & Ethics Reform Legislation, Sides with Central Virginians Over Special Interests
• Spanberger talks about passing ‘For the People Act’
• Virginia Lawmakers find Common Ground Fighting Financial Crime
• Black lawmakers say Northam’s membership in racial reconciliation group lacks substance
• Editorial: Northam’s reading list, part 2
• Northam challenged to engage on budget issues after period of paralysis
• From one scandal-scarred leader to another: McDonnell meets with Northam on racial healing (“Lawmakers criticized Gov. Ralph Northam for listening to his predecessor as he tries to overcome blackface controversy.” Note to Washington Compost – Blue Virginia is progressive, ergo in the majority/centrist according to the polls, on issue after issue.)
• Black caucus members urge ‘substance’ from Northam on path to racial reconciliation
• Kaine likes $15 an hour minimum wage — but wonders if there’s an even better approach
• Schapiro: Northam racial equity push thwarted by Republicans
• Delegates Bagby, Jones, Bourne, VanValkenburg, Price Weigh In On “Racial Reconciliation Group Led by [Disgraced] Former Gov. Bob McDonnell”
• VA House Democrats Commemorate International Women’s Day
• Governor Northam Signs 85 Bills into Law (“Fails to mention that the VAST majority of progressive and enviro legislation was killed by Republicans”)
• Virginia is still expanding its medical cannabis program. But some see a collision course with the hemp-based CBD industry.
• Va. bills on naloxone in schools, nuisance animal control signed by Gov. Northam (That “nuisance animals” bill is appalling and absolutely shouldn’t have been passed or signed.)
• Northam replaces all three members of State Board of Elections (“In a written statement Friday afternoon, Northam said he was appointing Bob Brink, an aide in former Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s administration and former Democratic member of the House of Delegates from Arlington County; lawyer Jamilah D. LeCruise of Norfolk; and former Del. John O’Bannon, R-Henrico.”)
• Pay-per-mile driven instead of gas tax? Testing with tolls coming to Va.
• Williams: Should the mayor who raises the real estate tax own real estate?
• Henrico budget plan calls for additional school funding, raises for employees and teachers
• Chesterfield officials unveil budget proposal with raises, unchanged property tax rate
• Virginia developer to loan $725,000 to his bid for Fairfax County board chair (“The June Democratic primary election to replace retiring chair Sharon Bulova is shaping up to be competitive, with four people vying for the seat.” I love how every popular, 100% CENTRIST thing – paying teachers higher wages, for instance – is a “left-leaning agenda” to the Washington Compost)
• Alicia Plerhoples Responds to Fairfax County Strategic Plan Survey
• Judges say Virginia Beach councilman must leave his seat, but he says he plans to run again (“David Nygaard said on Friday that he plans to run for the City Council again, hours after three judges ruled his Beach District election victory was invalid…The Circuit Court judges determined that Nygaard, a 55-year-old jeweler, was ineligible to run for office last November because he didn’t plan to live at a 20th Street duplex he rented before he ran for office. The decision was issued two weeks after a trial was held to hear testimony in the case.”)
• Publisher of Virginia news website arrested on wire fraud, gun charges
• Feeling uncomfortable at an Arlington bar? The police suggest you ‘Ask for Angela.’
• CNU men rally at Hamilton to reach Elite Eight, but Captains’ women drop Sweet 16 thriller at Scranton (Congratulations to my nephew, who is an assistant coach for the CNU men’s basketball team, and good luck to the team tonight…one more win for the Final Four)
• Cool today, then rain moves through tonight, and it’s on the warm side Sunday (“Hints of spring grow in the days ahead. It’s a season well known for its roller coaster of weather conditions.”)