Wednesday News: “New US intel report shows Russia, Trump and GOP acolytes have same goals”; Biden’s ABC News Interview; “Make voting rights suppressors pay”; “A remade SCC and a new path toward Virginia’s Clean Energy transition”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, March 17.

• The Rock Standing in the Way of China’s Climate Ambitions: Coal (“Beijing’s new development blueprint is meant to steer the country to carbon neutrality before 2060, but companies and regions dependent on the fossil fuel aren’t making it easy.”)
• The Race to Scale Up Green Hydrogen to Help Solve Some of the World’s Dirtiest Energy Problems
• US warns North Korea could be planning ICBM test ‘in near future’ in test for Biden
• UN Envoy Paints Grim Picture Of Political, Economic And Humanitarian Crisis In Yemen
• Australia’s biggest coal state could reach 100 pct renewables by 2030, Reputex says
• Blinken blasts ‘aggressive’ China; Austin reaffirms U.S. deterrence on Korean peninsula
• New US intel report shows Russia, Trump and GOP acolytes have same goals
• Putin Ordered 2020 Election Meddling to Aid Trump, U.S. Intelligence Says
• Putin targeted people close to Trump in bid to influence 2020 election, U.S. intelligence says
• US intelligence report says Russia attempted to interfere in 2020 election with goal of ‘denigrating’ Biden and helping Trump
• US intelligence: Russia tried to help, and Iran tried to hurt, Trump’s 2020 reelection
• Italy and France ready to restart AstraZeneca vaccinations if regulators give the green light
• Europe’s Vaccination Effort Just Went From Bad to Worse
• Did Europe Go Too Far in Pausing the AstraZeneca Vaccine? (“Out of 17 million doses given, there are 37 people with clots in an older population — that is way below the risk of just clotting in general from a general population.”)
• Trump’s Incomplete Border Wall Is in Pieces That Could Linger for Decades
• The race between variants and vaccines in US will be a close call, expert warns, and eased restrictions aren’t helping
• Republicans revive one of Trump’s most notorious immigration lies (“They’re attacking Biden with fact-free claims about terrorists crossing the southern border.” Batshit.)
• Migrants are not overrunning U.S. border towns, despite the political rhetoric
• Biden tells migrants ‘don’t come over’ in ABC News exclusive interview
• Border Patrol agents are ‘working to sabotage the Biden administration’, according to insiders
• Sheldon Whitehouse Is Following the Money Around Brett Kavanaugh (“What did happen with his debts before he was confirmed to the Supreme Court?”)
• FBI facing allegation that its 2018 background check of Brett Kavanaugh was ‘fake’ (“A Democratic senator has asked attorney general Merrick Garland to facilitate ‘proper oversight’ into concerns on the investigation”)
• Could Brett Kavanaugh Be Booted From the Supreme Court? (“A Democratic lawmaker has demanded the Justice Department investigate the ‘fake’ background check that led to his confirmation.”)
• Biden Chooses Prosperity Over Vengeance (“The future of American democracy depends on the president’s ability to show that even when the Republican Party loses, Americans who vote Republican do not.”)
• Biden Wants No Part of the Culture War the G.O.P. Loves (“The generosity of his $1.9 trillion relief bill has the added benefit of shifting attention where he wants it.”)
• Biden’s Hopes for GOP Backing on Next Economic Plan Shrinking (“McConnell shuts door to tax hikes to pay for infrastructure”)
• Republican attorneys general threaten key element of the $1.9 trillion stimulus
• Mitch McConnell Is Scared to Death, and He’s Running the Most Amazing Bluff (“Call me crazy, but I think a ‘scorched-earth Senate’ would look a lot like it did under Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.”)
• The pressure to reform the filibuster is already working (“Moderate Republicans are eager for bipartisanship, and Mitch McConnell is livid.”)
• The selling of Biden’s relief bill will test a hopeful theory among Democrats (“How the rescue package might begin to solve some of Democrats’ political problems.”)
• Taking Charge: Commissioner Clements on FERC’s ‘make or break’ role amid the energy transition
• Tensions flare over Senate filibuster
• Watch these states as GOP tries to make it harder to vote
• GOP dreams of a return to Jim Crow — and not just through racist voting laws (“Republicans come ever closer to embracing overt white supremacy. At least that would be honest”)
• States that pass Jim Crow-style voting laws will feel the backlash (“We need every business to speak up.”)
• Make voting rights suppressors pay (“Economic pain might persuade Republicans to cease their ham-handed crusade to disenfranchise voters.”)
• Congress Could Change Everything (“Forty-three states are trying to enact legislation that could make it harder to vote. The Senate can stop voter suppression by passing the For the People Act, which recently passed the House.”)
• There Have Been Nearly 4,000 Incidents Of Anti-Asian Racism In The Last Year (Trump’s anti-China rhetoric contributed to this.)
• Massage Parlor Massacres Suspect Said He Loved Guns & God (“At least six of the victims were Asian women, and a 21-year-old was in custody.”)
• 8 People Killed in Atlanta-Area Massage Parlor Shootings
• NEW DETAILS: 8 dead in metro Atlanta spa shootings; 1 suspect captured
• Calls grow from lawmakers for IRS to extend filing deadline
• Poll: 72 percent approve of Covid relief law (“Support is nearly universal among Democrats and strong among independents, while GOP voters are split.”)
• A Close-Up Picture of Partisan Segregation, Among 180 Million Voters (“Democrats and Republicans live apart from each other, down to the neighborhood, to a degree that raises provocative questions about how closely lifestyle preferences have become aligned with politics and how even neighbors may influence one another.”)
• Cuomo should resign if allegations confirmed: Biden in exclusive ABC News interview
• Biden says he supports reforming Senate filibuster in ABC News exclusive interview
• Biden Endorses Filibuster Rule Changes
• Fact check: No, Biden’s plan to tax the rich won’t hurt working Americans
• White supremacist propaganda in 2020 reached highest level in at least 10 years: ADL
• The Ideas That Are Reshaping The Democratic Party And America
• Kissing the ring: Inside the GOP courtship of Trump’s endorsement
• Trump encourages Americans to get the Covid vaccine
• Poll: 50% of unvaccinated Trump voters say they will ‘never’ get inoculated for COVID. How Biden hopes to change their minds.
• Trump’s Ailing Empire (“His Fortune Slips to $2.3 Billion as Covid and Riot Take a Toll”)
• Hundreds Of People Who Joined The Capitol Riot May Never Face Charges (“Roughly 800 people entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, but few were arrested on the spot.”)
• The Most Radical Republicans Aren’t in Congress, They’re in the State Houses (“In Virginia, the current frontrunner for the GOP gubernatorial nomination is Amanda Chase, a state senator who has been at the center of a number of controversies since she assumed office in 2016…”)
• Activists call on Coca-Cola, Delta to fight Republican anti-voting bills in Georgia (“Groups say companies’ support would help kill measures which aim to cut early voting, require voter ID and limit ballot drop boxes”)
• The Alaska Republican Party Is Trying to Push Out Lisa Murkowski
• Bob Menendez calls Ron Johnson ‘racist’ on Senate floor over Capitol riot remarks (Yep, 100% certainty on that one.)
• Facebook must tackle ‘Spanish-language disinformation crisis’, lawmakers say
• Right-wing media lash out at stimulus package provision providing aid for Black farmers (Racist as always.)
• As signature collection ends, California heads toward recall
• How Cuomo’s Team Tried to Tarnish One of His Accusers
• Inside the New York Democrats’ messy fight over whether to impeach Andrew Cuomo
• Conservative Activist Charlie Kirk Leaves Liberty University Think Tank
• Rupert Murdoch Got His Shot but Fox News Wants You to Die to Own the Libs (Evil.)
• Feinstein’s Future Could Swing on Husband’s Potential Posting Overseas
• Luria: Navy Should Not Decommission Ships Early in Favor of New Construction
• Tuesday (3/16) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +1,276 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 597,141), +116 Hospitalizations (to 25,439), +44 Deaths (to 10,104) (Lowest 10-day COVID-related hospitalizations since 11/4)
• Who’s Eligible For the Vaccine? Some Health Districts Shift to Phase 1C
• Virginia Expands Mobile Vaccine Unit, Thanks to Federal Grant
• Four major community vaccination clinics — including one at VSU — launch across Virginia to bridge divide in access
• Virginia proved models wrong with a dramatic drop in COVID-19 cases since January. But experts still worry about the spring.
• BREAKING: Gov. Northam Announcing Executive Action to Restore Voting and Other Civil Rights to >69,000 Formerly Incarcerated Virginians [UPDATED]
• Northam restores civil rights to 69,000 Virginians and says he’ll do so any time someone is released from prison (“The governor is mirroring what would happen under a proposed constitutional amendment that would broaden the right to vote and more.”)
• GOP Candidates for Governor Oppose Crucial Relief for Virginia (“The Republican opposition to these essential priorities once again proves that these extreme candidates are fundamentally unfit to lead.”)
• Video: “Virginia People’s Debate” Between 4 of 5 Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates (Participating candidates are Del. Lee Carter, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, former Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, State Sen. Jennifer McClellan)
• Sen. Jennifer McClellan Statement on Sen. Amanda Chase’s Racist Attacks
• Video: Sen. Amanda Chase (R) Says Sen. Jennifer McClellan (D) “is the vice chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus and I’m all for diversity but we cannot continue” (Chase also claims McClellan “will not be a governor that supports everyone”)
• Did Virginia lawmakers accidentally vote to legalize skill games for another year?
• Sullivan: A remade SCC and a new path toward Virginia’s Clean Energy transition (“After years of modest and calculated energy regulation, the status quo is set to be broken as the General Assembly has confirmed two new commissioners to the State Corporation Commission…The appointments of Angela Navarro and Jehmal Hudson to the SCC will usher in a new era of regulatory policy, where Virginia will launch a clean energy economy that will add thousands of new jobs and bring in millions in revenue and economic growth to the commonwealth for years to come.”)
• New Report Finds Virginia Added a Whopping 1,406 Megawatts of Solar Power in 2020, Ranking #4 in the Country Behind CA, TX, FL (“According to Wood Mackenzie’s 10-year forecast, the U.S. solar industry will install a cumulative 324 GWdc of new capacity”)
• Plastics Industry Greenwashing Scores Big In the 2021 Virginia General Assembly
• What Did We Learn About Ranked Choice Voting From Online Polling? Ehhh, Not Much!
• Editorial: Why are Democrats so complacent about the parole board? (“Virginia Republicans have a lot of things going against them in this year’s election.”)
• Fairfax will return to ‘near normal’ five days a week of in-person learning this fall
• Roanoke Gas’s Mountain Valley Pipeline Scam Hurts Children and Teachers
• Mountain Valley Pipeline’s extension opposed by existing Transco pipeline
• Editorial: Regional jail reaches a tipping point (“The cities responsible for the Hampton Roads Regional Jail must make the recommended changes it needs for public safety or close the facility for good.”)
• D.C.-area forecast: Cloudy but not as cold today; showers likely tomorrow