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NEW: Inflation at Three-Year Low as Biden-Harris Administration Continues To Fight to Bring Down Costs, While Trump-Vance Ticket Would Raise Them

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Blue Virginia
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1

From the Democratic National Committee:

NEW: Inflation at Three-Year Low as Biden-Harris Administration Continues To Fight to Bring Down Costs, While Trump-Vance Ticket Would Raise Them 
Today’s strong PCE report continues to show inflation at a three-year low, while the Biden-Harris administration continues to work to lower costs and bolster the economy from the bottom up and middle out so that every American family can thrive. Under their leadership, annual PCE inflation is down to 2.5% and core annualized inflation is down to 2.6% — both the lowest in more than three years. Meanwhile, gas prices are down almost 50 cents from last year, the lowest Labor Day gas prices in three years, and wages are rising faster than prices and are up $1,400 since the pandemic for the typical worker. From taking on corporate greed and price gouging, to taking on credit card companies and Big Pharma and slashing junk fees – the Biden-Harris administration is making life more affordable for countless Americans. While Trump wants to rig the economy for his ultra-wealthy friends and greedy corporations, the Biden-Harris administration is holding price gougers accountable while fighting to ensure that every American has a fair shot.

NEW: The latest PCE report shows inflation at a three-year low while the Biden-Harris administration continues to fight to bring costs down for hardworking Americans.

Lael Brainard, Director of National Economic Council: “We are actually seeing relief at the pump, so $3.35 national average, that’s a reduction of about 50 cents since last Labor Day and the lowest Labor Day gas prices we’ve seen in three years.”

White House Council of Economic Advisers: “Today’s Personal Income report shows that inflation came in as expected in July, with both headline and core PCE inflation at 0.2%. In addition, today’s data showed that consumption growth remained strong through July.”

Carl Quintanilla, CNBC: “FITCH, on #PCE:

“… This is a double dose of good news on inflation and economic growth. Inflation prints are slowly but surely becoming boring again as this report continues the recent streak of benign core and headline inflation prints. Consumer spending continues to surprisingly exceed all expectations, a clear indication that the economy continues to be in good shape …”

A recent poll shows voters trust Vice President Harris more than Trump to handle the economy.

Axios: “Voters trust Harris more than Trump on economy: poll”

The Hill: “More voters say they trust Vice President Harris to handle the economy than they do former President Trump, according to a poll released Monday by the Financial Times and the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.”

REMINDER: Trump and Vance’s Project 2025 agenda would line the pockets of the ultra-wealthy and big corporations while raising taxes on low- and middle-income families. 

Center for American Progress: “Project 2025’s Tax Plan Would Raise Taxes on the Middle Class and Cut Taxes for the Wealthy”

“In [Project 2025], far-right extremist plans are outlined that raise taxes on low- and middle-income households to finance tax cuts for the wealthy and large corporations. Project 2025’s tax plan includes an ‘intermediate tax reform’ that includes changes to tax brackets and corporate tax cuts that would shift the tax burden toward middle-income households…

“The shift toward a flat consumption tax while eliminating income taxes would lead to an average $5,900 tax increase for the middle 20 percent of households and an average $2 million tax cut for the top 0.1 percent…

“Project 2025’s new tax bracket system, however, represents an enormous shift of the tax burden from wealthy tax filers to middle-income tax filers. … The end result of these changes would be a tax increase for middle-class households. The median family of four made about $110,000 in 2022 and would experience about a $3,000 tax increase from this change. … In addition, the median one-person household made about $40,000 in 2022 and would experience a $950 tax increase under the plan…

“Combining the changes to tax brackets, the cut in the tax rate on capital gains and dividends for the wealthy, and the elimination of the net investment income tax, this would deliver an average tax cut of up to $2.4 million for the 45,000 households making more than $10 million annually… 

“Project 2025 does not stop at cutting taxes for wealthy individuals; it also proposes an array of tax cuts for corporations. … This would amount to a $24 billion tax cut for the Fortune 100, the 100 largest companies in America…

“[Project 2025] proposes replacing income and corporate taxes with a flat consumption tax as part of a ‘fundamental tax reform’… The lowest-income households (the bottom 20 percent) would pay $4,100 more in taxes, and middle-income households (the middle 20 percent) would pay $5,900 more. The top 1 percent, meanwhile, would see a $360,000 tax cut, and the top 0.1 percent would see a $2 million tax cut.”

According to a recent study by Moody’s, Donald Trump’s MAGAnomics agenda could slow down economic growth and cause higher inflation, even triggering a recession by 2025.

USA Today: “‘Biden’s policies are better for the economy,’ says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. ‘They lead to more growth and less inflation.

“According to a Moody’s study, Trump’s plan would trigger a recession by mid-2025 and an economy that grows an average 1.3% annually during his four-year term vs. 2.1% under Biden. (The latter is in line with average growth in the decade before the pandemic.)

“Next year, under a Trump administration, inflation would rise from the current 3.3% to 3.6%, well above the 2.4% forecast under Biden, the Moody’s analysis shows. Compared with Biden, the U.S. would have 3.2 million fewer jobs and a 4.5% unemployment rate, a half percentage point higher, at the end of a Trump tenure.”

Trump’s destructive MAGAnomics tax scam left middle-class families behind while giving tax handouts to the ultra-wealthy and big corporations. 

ITEP: “55 Corporations Paid $0 in Federal Taxes on 2020 Profits”

New York Times: “How Big Companies Won New Tax Breaks From the Trump Administration”

Forbes: “Trump Tax Cuts Helped Billionaires Pay Less Taxes Than The Working Class In 2018”

CBS News: “Two years after Trump tax cuts, middle-class Americans are falling behind”

The Guardian: “Donald Trump’s $1.5tn tax cuts have helped billionaires pay a lower rate than the working class for the first time in history.”

Economic Policy Institute: “The TCJA overwhelmingly benefited the rich and corporations while overlooking working families”

ProPublica: “In the first year after Trump signed the legislation, just 82 ultrawealthy households collectively walked away with more than $1 billion in total savings, an analysis of confidential tax records shows.”

NPR: “More than 60% of the tax savings went to people in the top 20% of the income ladder, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. The measure also slashed the corporate tax rate by 40%.”
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Video: Fairfax County School Board Chair Karl Frisch BLASTS Youngkin for Dishonestly “disrespecting our hard-working educators and the students that they teach”

By
lowkell
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1

See below for video from Fairfax County School Board Chair Karl Frisch, responding to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s press conference last week about SOL data “before the information was shared with school divisions.” According to Frisch, the information was NOT presented by Youngkin in a fair way.

“Now, a person who’s actually looking out for public education, their first thought would not be how do I put this into a slide in a press conference before I even tell the school division about these numbers. Their first thought would be, well, that’s an outlier, I wonder why that is, and then they’d dig, and they’d see the tiny number of students who take the SOL exams in those subjects in Fairfax County. And then they’d wonder, well, where’s everybody else, what are they taking? And they’d see that, oh, they’re taking  the approved alternative assessments that are approved by my very own Department of Education. That’s some of the context that might appear in a press conference if there’s actually a care to partner with school divisions to see students improve. And that would be the charitable way of describing it…What they wanted was not accuracy, they wanted their headlines, and they got their headlines about Fairfax County Public Schools – misleading and confusing a lot of people, disrespecting our hard-working educators and the students that they teach…One thing we teach kids to do in our schools is admit when they were wrong; it is the very least we can expect from the Chief Executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia…So we’re being penalized by [Youngkin] for allowing our students to take a college-level exam instead of an outdated SOL exam. Wonderful. It’s good to know what side he’s on.”

‘At last night’s board meeting, we discussed annual pass rate data for student SOL assessments. As I noted, I was dismayed when the Governor held a press conference last week about the data before giving it to local school divisions. It was especially troubling that he misrepresented our writing and history/social science scores and ignored the fact that we continue to lead the Commonwealth in math, science, and reading.

As the Superintendent mentioned last night, the latest SOL data shows Fairfax County improved in math and science and held steady in reading, outperforming Virginia as a whole in all subjects. Our math pass rates increased even while more students took accelerated math courses (6.8% increase in 5th graders taking Advanced Math and 9.5% increase in 8th graders taking Algebra I or higher).

In addition to the SOL data, Superintendent Reid also noted that Fairfax students succeed at a rate of over 90% in writing and history/social science when considering all state-approved exams, which include AP and IB (writing & history), WorkKeys (writing), and State performance tasks (history). Not only that, the number of AP tests taken went up by 6,275, and the percentage of tests passed also increased.”

Friday News: “Solar power is shattering global records”; “Kamala Harris Hits It Out of the Park, CNN Not So Much”; Trump Campaign Attacks Army Leadership as “Trump’s Awful Arlington Cemetery Scandal Takes a Dark and Ominous Turn”

By
lowkell
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11

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, August 30.

In CNN Interview, VP Harris Lays Out Her Priorites for “Day One,” Makes the Case to “Turn the Page” on Trump, etc.

By
Blue Virginia
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3

From the Kamala Harris for President campaign:

In CNN Interview, Vice President Harris Lays Out Her Priorities for ‘Day One’

VP Harris to CNN: “One of My Highest Priorities Is To Do What We Can To Support and Strengthen the Middle Class”

In her interview with CNN today, Vice President Kamala Harris laid out her vision for creating an “opportunity economy” and how her work to build the middle class will begin on day one of her presidency. The Vice President has a plan to expand the Child Tax Credit, bring down grocery prices, cap drug costs, invest in small businesses, and lower the expense of owning and renting a home – and as she told CNN, she will get to work on this agenda on day one.

WATCH THE CLIP

Dana Bash: “If you are elected, what would you do on day one in the White House?”

Vice President Harris: “Well, there are a number of things. I will tell you, first and foremost, one of my highest priorities is to do what we can to support and strengthen the middle class. When I look at the aspirations, the goals, the ambitions of the American people, I think that people are ready for a new way forward in a way that generations of Americans have been fueled by – by hope and by optimism.

“I think, sadly, in the last decade, we have had in the former president, someone who has really been pushing an agenda and an environment that is about diminishing the character and the strength of who we are as Americans, really dividing our nation, and I think people are ready to turn the page on that.”

Dana Bash: “So, what would you do day one?”

Vice President Harris: “Day one, it’s going to be about, one, implementing my plan for what I call an ‘opportunity economy.’ I’ve already laid out a number of proposals in that regard, which include what we’re going to do to bring down the cost of everyday goods, what we’re going to do to invest in America’s small businesses, what we’re going to do to invest in families – for example, extending the Child Tax Credit to $6,000 for families for the first year of their child’s life to help them buy a car seat, to help them buy baby clothes, a crib.

There’s the work that we’re going to do that is about investing in the American family around affordable housing — a big issue in our country right now. ”

Vice President Harris has made clear that building up the middle class will be a defining goal of her presidency. She will deliver for Americans who are demanding a new way forward, toward a future that lifts up all Americans so that they can not just get by, but get ahead. Her plans stand in stark contrast to Trump, who would increase costs for families by $3,900 with his Trump Tax on everyday goods American families rely on, like gas, food, clothing, and medicine. Sixteen Nobel laureates agree that Trump’s economic agenda would ignite inflation, and other experts predict that his plans would plunge the United States into a recession.

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Paid for by Harris for President

In CNN Interview, Vice President Harris Slams Trump’s Economic Record

In her first sit-down interview as the Democratic nominee for President, Vice President Harris laid out the case against Donald Trump’s disastrous economic record that only helped the ultra-wealthy and his corporate buddies, while leaving working Americans behind.

President Biden and Vice President Harris came into office and immediately got to work to clean up the mess Trump left behind, leading America out of the COVID crisis.

WATCH HERE

Dana Bash: “But I wonder what you say to voters who do want to go back when it comes to the economy specifically, because their groceries were less expensive, housing was more affordable when Donald Trump was president?”

Vice President Harris: “When Joe Biden and I came in office during the height of a pandemic, we saw over 10 million jobs were lost.  People — I — I mean, literally — we were all tracking the numbers — hundreds of people a day were dying because of COVID.  The economy had crashed.  In large part, all of that because of mismanagement by Donald Trump of that crisis.”

Compare that with Trump’s record and agenda:

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Paid for by Harris for President

 

In CNN Interview, Vice President Harris Makes the Case to ‘Turn the Page’ on Trump

Vice President Harris: “I’m so proud to be running with Tim Walz for president of the United States, and to bring America what I believe the American people deserve, which is a new way forward”

In her first sit-down interview as the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris laid out her belief that it was time to “turn the page” on Donald Trump and the division, anger, and chaos he represents. She instead offered a new way forward, “fueled by hope and by optimism.”

“That’s what’s at stake,” she said, “as much as any other detail that we could discuss in this election.”

WATCH THE CLIP

Vice President Harris: “I am so proud to be running with Tim Walz for president of the United States and to bring America what I believe the American people deserve, which is a new way forward and turn the page on the last decade of what I believe has been contrary to where the spirit of our country really lies.

[…]

“I’m talking about an era that started about a decade ago where there is some suggestion — warped, I believe it to be — that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down, instead of where I believe most Americans are, which is to believe that the true measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up.  That’s what’s at stake, as much as any other detail that we could discuss in this election.”

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In CNN Interview, Vice President Harris Responds to GOP Attacks on Her Positions

In her CNN interview today, Vice President Harris laid out her vision and responded to Donald Trump’s and Republicans’ attacks on her policy positions.

Vice President Harris explained how her work in the Biden-Harris administration has shaped her views on how best to achieve policy outcomes – on issues from energy and environment to the border.

Vice President Harris set the record straight on a number of issues where Republicans have been attacking her:

On why she doesn’t support the Green New Deal:

  • “You mentioned the Green New Deal. I have always believed — and I have worked on it — that the climate crisis is real, that it is an urgent matter to which we should apply metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines around time. We did that with the Inflation Reduction Act. We have set goals for the United States of America and, by extension, the globe around when we should meet certain standards for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as an example.  That value has not changed.”
  • “I believe it is important to build consensus, and it is important to — to find a common place of understanding of where we can actually solve problems.”

On why she doesn’t support banning fracking:

  • “I made that clear on the debate stage in 2020 that I would not ban fracking.  As vice president, I did not ban fracking.  As president, I will not ban fracking.”
  • “Let’s be clear. My values have not changed. I believe it is very important that we take seriously what we must do to guard against what is a clear crisis in terms of the climate. And to do that, we can do what we have accomplished thus far. The Inflation Reduction Act — what we have done to invest, by my calculation, over… a trillion dollars over the next 10 years, investing in a clean energy economy. What we’ve already done: creating over 300,000 new clean energy jobs.”
  • “That tells me, from my experience as vice president, we can do it without banning fracking. In fact… I cast the tie-breaking vote that actually increased leases for fracking as vice president. So I’m very clear about where I stand.”

On why she doesn’t support decriminalizing illegal border crossings and in fact wants to strengthen border security:

  • “We have laws that have to be followed and enforced that address and deal with people who cross our border illegally, and there should be consequence.”
  • “And let’s be clear. In this race, I’m the only person who has prosecuted transnational criminal organizations who traffic in guns, drugs, and human beings.  I’m the only person in this race who actually served a border state as attorney general to enforce our laws. And I would enforce our laws as president going forward.  I recognize the problem.”
  • “My value around what we need to do to secure our border, that value has not changed.  I spent two terms as the attorney general of California prosecuting transnational criminal organizations — violations of American laws regarding the passage — illegal passage of guns, drugs, and human beings across our border.  My values have not changed.”
  • “The root causes work that I did as vice president, that I was asked to do by the president, has actually resulted in a number of benefits, including historic investments by American businesses in that region. The number of immigrants coming from that region has actually reduced since we began that work.”
  • “But I will say this — that Joe Biden and I and our administration worked with members of the United States Congress on an immigration issue that is very significant to the American people and to our security, which is the border.  And through bipartisan work, including some of the most conservative members of the United States Congress, a bill was crafted, which we supported, which I support. And Donald Trump got word of this bill that would have contributed to securing our border, and because he believes that it would not have helped him politically, he told his folks in Congress, “Don’t put it forward.”  He killed the bill — a border security bill that would have put 1,500 more agents on the border. And let me tell you something. The Border Patrol endorsed the bill, and I’m sure… in large part, because they knew they were working around the clock and 1,500 more agents would help them. That bill would have allowed us to increase seizures of fentanyl.  Ask any community in America that has been devastated by fentanyl what passing that bill would have done to address their concern and a pain that they’ve experienced.”

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Paid for by Harris for President

Anne Holton on Some “Terrible Changes” by the VA Board of Education’s Youngkin-Appointed Majority

By
lowkell
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2

Thank to Anne Holton for alerting us to these “terrible changes” by the Virginia Board of Education’s Youngkin-appointed majority, and explaining why they are “wrong for Virginia.”

  • “The new Accountability Framework will likely declare 70%+ (1200+) of VA schools ‘off-track’ or ‘needs intensive support’—that could go even higher w/ changes being considered re: grading SOL tests.”
  • “The current Administration has not proposed any meaningful new resources to help schools improve—creating a huge ‘support gap’. Many schools currently making dramatic progress and helping students grow will be labelled ‘off-track’ but get no new help.”
  • “This new framework is not well thought through or vetted—and will not meaningfully focus attention on schools that most need it, which should be the top goal of accountability.”
  • “My lonely ‘no’ vote was overruled by Youngkin appointees. We absolutely must do better by our neediest students but punishing schools & teachers who serve them will hurt—not help. Very disappointing. This will create a mess for the next administration or legislature to clean up.”

ICYMI: Trump Threatens Federal Workforce, Calls Civil Servants “Crooked” and “Dishonest”

By
Blue Virginia
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2

From the Democratic Party of Virginia:

ICYMI: Trump threatens federal workforce, calls civil servants “crooked” and “dishonest”

This week, in a YouTube interview, Donald Trump doubled down on firing civil servants, many of whom live in Virginia. When asked about his plans, as outlined in Agenda 47 and Project 2025, Trump did not hesitate to answer: “[Civil servants] are going to be held accountable. They’ve got to be held accountable. What they’re doing, they’re destroying this country. They’re crooked people. They’re dishonest people. They’re going to be held accountable.”

More than 140,000 Virginians who work for the federal government are at risk of losing their jobs if they are replaced by a MAGA loyalist or if their job is moved out of Virginia. Erich Wagner for GovExec examined the threat:

“Though Trump did not explicitly say how he would hold federal workers accountable during the interview, he has previously indicated that if elected this fall, he would revive Schedule F, an abortive plan from the end of his time in office to reclassify tens of thousands of federal employees in “policy-related” into the excepted service, effectively making them at-will employees.

Officials with Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign quickly tied Trump’s comments to Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation-led Republican transition project known as Project 2025, whose policy book also calls for Schedule F’s return.

Though Project 2025 entered the public consciousness due to a slew of unpopular proposals in the Heritage-produced book series, entitled Mandate for Leadership, a key objective of the initiative was to build a database of 20,000 potential political appointees for the next Republican president. The discrepancy between Project 2025’s recruitment goals and the roughly 4,000 federal jobs set aside for political appointees has raised concerns among Democrats and civil service experts that conservatives may be gearing up to stack previously non-partisan posts with Trump loyalists.”

Earlier this month, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin did not condemn Donald Trump and JD Vance’s plans to fire thousands of civil servants and move government jobs out of Virginia, rather he said, “There are fabulous opportunities for folks to find a new employer in Virginia should the one they work for move away.”

This week, The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press Editorial Board responded to Donald Trump and JD Vance’s plans to upend thousands of Virginia jobs and Glenn Youngkin’s weak and disappointing response

After Trump Desecrates Arlington National Cemetery, Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08) Says “attacking people…who are just doing their jobs to protect the dignity of one our most hallowed sites is beyond the pale”; Sen. Tim Kaine “troubled,” “want[s] to see the incident report”

By
lowkell
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12

See below for more reactions to Donald Trump’s and his campaign’s disgraceful, disrespectufl, ILLEGAL behavior at Arlington National Cemetery on August 26. As Sen. Tim Kaine says:

“As a member of the Armed Services Committee, I am troubled by the reporting and want to see the incident report.”

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08) adds:

“Our local community knows the Arlington National Cemetery is a place of respect, and attacking people here who are just doing their jobs to protect the dignity of one our most hallowed sites is beyond the pale.”

And as Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA11) previously stated:

“It’s sad but all too expected that Donald Trump would desecrate this hallowed ground and put campaign politics ahead of honoring our heroes. This is a man whose own military generals have disavowed, a man who has called heroes like John McCain suckers and losers, a man who has insulted Gold Star families. His behavior and that of his campaign is abhorrent and shameful. I urge Arlington Cemetery to publicly release all that transpired yesterday so the American people can ensure the ground in which our nation’s heroes are buried is not being debased by a man who has no concept of service and sacrifice.”

Meanwhile, as far as I can tell, we’ve gotten nothing but SILENCE from Trump-supporting Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares, Hung Cao, Derrick Anderson, etc. Can you even IMAGINE if a Democrat (e.g., Kamala Harris) had acted like Trump did at Arlington National Cemetery??? Of course, they’d never do anything so disrespectful and disgraceful, but if a Democrat ever WERE to act like this, Republicans like Youngkin, Sears and Miyares (and Cao and Anderson) would be going *APESHIT,” demanding the Democrat’s head on a pike, calling them traitors, etc, etc. Yet it’s perfectly fine if Trump and his goons do it??? Why?

Video: Virginia Leaders Highlight Vice President Harris’ Plan to Lower Housing Costs, Slam Trump’s Agenda to Make Housing More Expensive

By
Blue Virginia
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2

From the Kamala Harris for President campaign:

Virginia Leaders Highlight Vice President Harris’ Plan to Lower Housing Costs, Slam Trump’s Agenda to Make Housing More Expensive

On Wednesday, August 28th, Congressman Don Beyer, House of Delegates Majority Leader Charniele Herring, Delegate Alfonso Lopez, and Alexandria City Councilman John Taylor Chapman held a virtual press call to highlight the stark contrast between Vice President Harris’ plan to bring down the cost of renting and owning a home and Trump’s Project 2025 agenda that would drastically raise housing prices on Virginia families.

“Lowering housing costs and increasing the supply of affordable homes is one of my core issues on the Ways and Means Committee, and the Harris-Walz plan would do so much to help,” said Congressman Don Beyer. “We need more housing in America and in Northern Virginia to help address the affordability crisis, and Vice President Harris’ plan calls for the construction of millions of homes, while making smart use of the tax code to help get them built. We had four years of Trump, the housing crisis just got worse while he delivered big for the wealthy few. Kamala Harris is fighting for a better future for America, and this housing policy shows she has a plan to make it happen.”

“Vice President Kamala Harris has a proven track record of putting middle-class families first,” said Virginia House of Delegates Majority Leader Charniele Herring. “As Attorney General of California during the housing crisis, she took on Wall Street and big banks on behalf of homeowners and won billions of dollars in relief for hard working families. Now, she and Governor Walz are committed to tackling the cost of housing. Her comprehensive, four-year plan to lower housing costs for families would be great for Virginia, and it’s a stark contrast to Donald Trump’s history as a discriminatory landlord and his extreme Project 2025 agenda that would raise costs for working people.”

“We have a choice between someone who came from the middle class and will fight for the middle class, Kamala Harris, versus Donald Trump, who has no idea how hard it is to find an apartment you can afford or a house you can make a down payment on,” said Delegate Alfonso Lopez. “Trump doesn’t understand the challenges Northern Virginia families are facing, and he doesn’t care. He has sold out working people to corporations and his billionaire donors over and over again, and that’s what he’ll do if he gets back in the White House.”

“Kamala Harris is fighting for the middle class, and taking on the big issues, and that includes working to lower housing costs, which is one of the most important challenges for our country and for our Northern Virginia community,” said Alexandria City Councilman John Taylor Chapman. “So many Americans work hard at their jobs, they save up, pay their rent on time, but they can’t put together enough after they pay all their bills to save up for a down payment on a home. The Harris-Walz plan would expand the supply of entry-level homes, and help people be able to afford those homes with a historic $25,000 down payment.”

The call participants spoke about the comprehensive Harris-Walz plan to end America’s housing shortage in the first four years of her presidency by building 3 million new homes in the next four years, creating a fairer rental market, and providing $25,000 in down payment support for first-time homeowners.

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Paid for by Harris for President

Thursday News: “QAnon tributes, crude attacks and hawking pieces of his suit” – “Trump Goes Full Fascist in Truth Social Posting Spree”; “Trump Dishonors Fallen Soldiers Again”; “Harris widens lead over Trump with boost from women, Hispanics”

By
lowkell
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23

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, August 29.

More Evidence That JD Vance is Too Extreme to Lead

By
Blue Virginia
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1

From the DNC War Room:

More Evidence That JD Vance is Too Extreme to Lead
In response to new reporting on a top aide for JD Vance previously working for a group with deep ties to far-right extremist groups, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:

“Just like Donald Trump, JD Vance and his team won’t stop surrounding themselves with ‘far-right’ extremists who want to take America backward, ripping away women’s basic rights and attacking access to everything from contraception to divorce. It’s no wonder Vance is the least popular VP pick in modern American history with an inner circle of far-right creeps and an extreme Project 2025 agenda to match.”

NEW: A top aide for JD Vance previously worked for a group with deep ties to far-right extremist groups.

The Guardian: “Revealed: top Vance aide worked for far-right consultancy with extremist links”

“A senior aide to Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, once worked for a far-right political consultancy that touts its capacity for ‘clandestine actions’ and has links to a network of extremist groups and thinktanks, the Guardian can reveal.

“Parker Magid was recently appointed as Vance’s press secretary and his employment history links Vance and his circle to elements of the extremist right far outside the mainstream of American politics.

“Vance’s staffer links him to Beck & Stone (B&S) and its subsidiary political consultancy Knight Takes Rook (KTR). The brand consultancy with a business address in New York is close to Vance allies including the far-right Claremont Institute, the serial Arizona political candidate Blake Masters and the ‘counter-revolutionary’ magazine IM–1776…

“Beck, Beck & Stone’s co-founder, is closely involved with the Society for American Civic Renewal (SACR), a secretive invitation- and men-only fraternal lodge that has been the subject of extensive previous reporting in the Guardian. Beth Daviess, a researcher at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, who has published research on SACR, said the politics represented by the group are ‘much more extreme than mainstream conservatism.’ She explained there were two elements of that extremism: ‘their opinions on gender and the role women should have in society’ and ‘their views on whether government should be democratic at all.’

“The link is just one of a series of connections between Vance and the so-called ‘new right,’ an anti-democratic movement that attacks feminism, racial equality and immigrants while centering the grievances of white men.”

Beth Daviess: “The SACR admission criteria highlight the importance of ‘Christian sexual ethics,’ and ‘Natural Law,’ but provide no specifics. Yenor’s writing nonetheless provides some insights: in a blog post titled ‘A High Road for Protestant Sexual Ethics,’ Yenor condemns the availability of birth control and divorce as having the potential to weaken the commitment of a married couple.”

Vance is deeply connected with other extremists, including the architects of Project 2025, Steven Bannon, and Tucker Carlson.

New Republic: “Vance has deep ties to the Heritage Foundation, and in particular to Kevin Roberts, who has been president of the right-wing think tank since 2021 and is the architect of Project 2025. Vance has praised Roberts for helping to turn the organization ‘into the de facto institutional home of Trumpism’ and has endorsed elements of Project 2025. Vance is also the author of the foreword to Roberts’s upcoming book.”

Axios: “J.D. Vance wrote foreword of upcoming book from Project 2025 architect”

New Republic: “Project 2025 Leader Is Overjoyed by Trump’s Vice Presidential Pick”

Nick Corasaniti, New York Times: “[Roberts] reacted to the news [of Vance’s VP selection] ‘with a broad smile on my face’ and said that ‘privately, we were really rooting for him.’”

Vox: “Kevin Roberts, the president of the right-wing Heritage Foundation and the driving force behind Project 2025, told Ward that ‘[Vance] is absolutely going to be one of the leaders — if not the leader — of our movement.’”

Politico: “Vance’s inner circle already bears the imprint of Trump’s influence, with a handful of advisers and staffers who have one foot in Vance’s camp and one foot in Trump world…

“​​The leader of the organization behind the now-infamous Project 2025, [Kevin] Roberts is a long-time Vance ally in Washington, having called him ‘one of the leaders — if not the leader — of our movement.’ The two men have appeared together at public events and co-authored op-eds about foreign policy, and Vance even wrote the foreword to Roberts’ forthcoming book…

“[Project 2025 architect Russell Vought] told POLITICO Magazine that he is in ‘regular contact’ with Vance’s Hill office and that ‘we probably have one of the closest relationships with [Vance’s] office that we do with any Hill office.’ …

“The former Fox News superstar [Tucker Carlson] used his prime-time show to promote Vance’s Senate candidacy in 2022 and has remained one of his most ardent public supporters. Vance is a regular guest on Carlson’s new platform… and Carlson reportedly personally lobbied Trump to pick Vance as his vice presidential candidate in the days leading up to the Republican National Convention…

“The former Trump strategist [Steve Bannon] is another of Vance’s key allies in the conservative media ecosphere, frequently hosting Vance on his show, War Room, and promoting him to his sizable social media following.”
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