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VIDEO: Ahead of Democratic National Convention, Delegates Hernandez, Feggans Contrast Health Care Accomplishments of Biden-Harris Administration with Trump and Project 2025’s Plans to Rip Care Away from Virginians

By
Blue Virginia
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5

From Protect Our Care:

NORFOLK, Va. – In case you missed it, Delegate Phil Hernandez (D-Norfolk) and Delegate Michael Feggans (D-Virginia Beach) joined Protect Our Care Virginia at Slover Library on Aug. 16 to preview the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The delegates contrasted the differences Virginians should expect to see this week between the Biden-Harris administration’s record of protecting and expanding health care and Donald Trump and Project 2025’s plans to rip health care away from seniors and hardworking families.

Friday’s event coincided with the second anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, which narrowly passed the U.S. Senate when Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote. Thanks to the landmark law, the cost of insulin for seniors on Medicare is capped at $35 dollars, seniors are protected from drug company price hikes, and seniors’ prescription drug costs will be capped at $2,000 dollars per year starting next year. The Inflation Reduction Act also ensured that for the first time in history, Medicare is negotiating prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies to lower costs for seniors. The Biden-Harris administration last week announced the new, lower prices for 10 of the highest-cost, most popular drugs taken by people on Medicare. These new prices are known as “maximum fair prices,” and are the highest prices drug companies are allowed to charge for these life-saving medications.

Meanwhile, Project 2025 calls for the repeal of the health care provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.

“The two different visions that you’re hearing about health care could not be more different,” said Delegate Hernandez. “On one hand, you’ve got President Biden and Vice President Harris, who, two years ago, signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act …. One of the really powerful things that it did was giving Medicare, for the first time in history, the ability to negotiate prescription drug prices. That’s something that has been in the works for a long, long time. They actually got it done.”

“The bottom line is that the former president’s plan is to really just empower Big Pharma and hurt families,” said Delegate Feggans. “Thankfully, though, you know what we’ve seen over the past two and a half years, President Biden and Vice President Harris’ administration has been time and time again stepping forward to take care of everyday citizens. Vice President Harris was the one who actually cast the tie-breaking vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, and it shows you where her priorities are.”

“Project 2025, and yes, I read the veterans portion specifically, Project 2025 wants to privatize the VA,” said Susan Hippen, a veteran from Virginia Beach. “That means they want to provide us health care at their profit. No, no, no, no, no. Health care is a right. I have paid into it, you have paid into it … You take Medicare out of your taxes. We are all paying for this, and no one should grow rich because my grandmother had colon cancer. Or my sister has ovarian cancer, they shouldn’t be getting rich off of this. That’s just morally wrong.”

Laurice Yarn, a retired high school counselor from Virginia Beach, shared her story of managing ulcerative colitis, which requires high-cost prescription drugs.

“Without Medicare, I probably would not take my prescription drugs as prescribed. I would probably cut back a little here and there, trying to save money. However, because with Medicare and the cap of $3,000 right now, I can afford my meds, and I’m looking forward to it becoming the $2,000 … I am thankful that the Inflation Reduction Act is helping me save money, and I will save far more money in the future. We need to protect this law against any attempts to take it away from us. Thank you, President Biden, Vice President Harris, Delegate Hernandez, Delegate Feggans, for championing our health care.”

At the event, Protect Our Care Virginia State Director Katie Baker read a statement from Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach on the Biden-Harris administration’s announcement on the savings from the first round of Medicare price negotiation.

“For too long, we’ve lived in a broken system that has allowed drug companies to charge whatever they want while hardworking Americans struggle to afford the medications they need to survive,” said Dach. “This announcement is 40 years in the making. The Biden-Harris administration and Democrats in Congress stood up to the greed of big drug companies and won, and now prices will come down for millions of seniors. The Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program will give seniors long overdue relief while saving taxpayers billions of dollars: it’s a win-win for the American people. Meanwhile, after spending $100 million to try to stop the Inflation Reduction Act, drug companies are still working with their Republican allies to repeal the law and ban Medicare from negotiating lower prices. As the Biden-Harris administration delivers savings to seniors, the contrast with Republicans could not be more clear.”

You can watch the full event here, and learn more about the MAGA Republican attacks on affordable health care here.

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Protect Our Care is dedicated to making high-quality, affordable and equitable health care a right, and not a privilege, for everyone in America. We educate the public, influence policy, support health care champions and hold politicians accountable. We fight to expand access to affordable, high-quality health insurance, lower the cost of health care for individuals and families, and reduce inequities in health care based on gender, income, race, ethnicity, geography, or sexual preference.

Sen. Tim Kaine Campaign Statement On Hung Cao Skipping The Northern Virginia Chamber Debate And AARP Forum  

By
Blue Virginia
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1

From Sen. Tim Kaine’s reelection campaign:

Kaine Campaign Statement On Hung Cao Skipping The Northern Virginia Chamber Debate And AARP Forum   

Richmond, VA — Last week, the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce/NBC4 and AARP had to cancel their respective Senate debate and forum because the Cao campaign informed them that he refused to participate. The Northern Virginia Chamber/NBC4 debate was originally scheduled for September 19, and the AARP forum was scheduled for September 13.

Michael Beyer, Communications Director for Kaine for Virginia, released the following statement in response:

“As is tradition, Senator Kaine accepted four invitations for debates and candidate forums in different regions of the Commonwealth. He is disappointed that his opponent has refused to participate in the first three. But he isn’t surprised—his opponent skipped 12 of 13 candidate forums during the GOP primary.

“Senator Kaine looks forward to appearing with his opponent in Norfolk on October 2 to talk about his record of standing up for Virginians and describing his ongoing work to create high-quality jobs, reduce health care costs, protect reproductive freedom, and support our military families and veterans.”

Last month, the Virginia Bar Association canceled their debate on July 20 because they were “unable to obtain a timely commitment to participate from the Cao campaign.”

Cao skipped 12 out of 13 candidate forums during the GOP primary, only attending a single forum in his home county. The list of GOP forums he skipped is as follows:

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Monday News: “Biden to Pass the Torch to Harris as Democratic Convention Begins”; Kamala Harris – “Anybody who’s about beating down other people is a coward”; “Meet the new Trump, same as the old Trump”; “For Virginia delegates, excitement for history at Democratic National Convention”

By
lowkell
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31

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, August 19.

Video: Former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA10), Who Was a Fierce Republican/Conservative for Many Years, Says She’s Voting for Kamala Harris for President!

By
lowkell
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11

It’s very impressive to see this endorsement of Kamala Harris by former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA10), who was a fiercely partisan Republican warrior for many years. That includes having “served as chief investigative counsel and senior counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform from 1995 to 1999, working as one of Washington’s most prominent anti-Clinton opposition researchers”; working for the George W. Bush campaign in 2000, including helping put together “massive stores of paper and electronic data, known as ‘The Gore File’, that were a key source of information on the former vice president for GOP publicists and ad-makers”; voting 97.8% of the time with Trump; etc.).

Given that background, nobody can even semi-plausibly argue that Comstock hasn’t been a conservative and loyal Republican for most of her adult life. The big question is, why are there so few Republicans like Barbara Comstock (and Denver Riggleman, Joe Walsh, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, etc.) out there? What does it say, for instance, about Glenn Youngkin and Jen Kiggans that they’ve 100% thrown in their lots with a wannabe dictator, scumbag, felon, traitor, insurrectionist, misogynist, racist, etc. such as Donald Trump??? Why are there so few people of principle and courage in the Republican Party these days?!? It’s really, really disturbing – and should never be forgotten or forgiven.

With that, here’s what former Rep. Barbara Comstock had to say in endorsing Kamala Harris for president!

“This time, I think it’s very important, after January 6, after what Donald Trump refused for four years to acknowledge that he lost and his threats against democracy. I think it’s important to turn the page and that’s why I will be voting for the vice president.”

Well said!

Video: VA Speaker Don Scott, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA03) Slam Donald Trump for Disparaging “the service and the sacrifices that veterans and their families made…for our freedom in this country”

By
Blue Virginia
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4

“I mean, this is what a former President of the United States thinks about the service and the sacrifices that veterans and their families made in service for our freedom in this country. It’s shameful and it’s really sad that Republicans are not denouncing him because they lack the courage and the heart to do it.” –  VA Speaker Don Scott

“Former President Trump has been disparaging veterans for a long time, what he said about John McCain and many others, I think says more about him than it does about the veterans he’s trying to disparage.” – Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA03)

 

From DPVA:

Trump’s Medal Of Honor Mockery Draws Sharp Response from Congressman Bobby Scott, Speaker Don Scott During Harris-Walz Hampton Roads Campaign Stops 

Donald Trump’s remarks disparaging Medal of Honor winners and comparing their sacrifices unfavorably to his billionaire donors are drawing sharp condemnation across the country, including in Virginia, which is home to one of the highest concentrations of veterans, military families, and active duty service members in the country.

On Friday, the national VFW condemned Trump’s words as “asinine” and questioned whether Trump “would discharge [his] responsibilities to our men and women in uniform with the seriousness and discernment necessary” for the presidency.

Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott and Congressman Bobby Scott, both veterans, agreed with the VFW and condemned Trump’s comments during campaign appearances for Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz in the Hampton Roads region on Saturday:

“This is what a former president of the United States thinks about the service and the sacrifices that veterans and their families made in service for our freedom in this country is shameful,” Virginia Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, Don Scott, said. “It’s really sad that Republicans are not denouncing him because they lack the courage to do it.”

Scott was campaigning for the Harris-Walz campaign at a barbershop in Portsmouth on Saturday afternoon. Third District Congressman Bobby Scott — no relation to Don Scott — also chimed in on the 45th president’s comments.

“Former President Trump has been disparaging veterans for a long time. What he said about John McCain and many others, says more about him than the veterans he’s trying to disparage,” Congressman Scott said.

More– 13 News Now: Trump Criticized Over Remarks Disparaging Medal Of Honor Recipients

On Saturday night, Virginia Gold Star Father Khizr Khan weighed in during an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins:

“I was saddened and appalled. That’s typical Trump: hate and division. These awards are [the] acknowledgement of a grateful nation of the service of the recipient.”

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote that the comments underscore that Trump is “unfit to be commander in chief.”

Sunday News: “Chechen warlord drives Cybertruck, invites Elon Musk to Russia”; Harris Takes Lead, Prepares for Convention and Reserves $370M for “Swing-State Fall Ad Blitz” as Trump Holds Completely Unhinged Rally in PA; “80 Days to Go: Media Failure Reaches a Turning Point.”

By
lowkell
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20

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, August 18.

JD Vance DEFENDS Donald Trump’s Shameful Comments Disparaging Our Nation’s Veterans

By
Blue Virginia
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3

From the DNC War Room:

JD Vance DEFENDS Donald Trump’s Shameful Comments Disparaging Our Nation’s Veterans
In response to JD Vance defending Donald Trump’s insulting comments about our nation’s veterans, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:

“Instead of standing up for America’s service members and veterans, JD Vance would rather stand behind Donald Trump, a man who has repeatedly insulted Americans who have bravely chosen to serve our country. Trump has referred to Americans who’ve chosen to serve our country as ‘suckers,’ ‘losers,’ ‘dopes,’ and ‘babies,’ and in office, he pushed to cut funding for veterans’ benefits. The Trump-Vance Project 2025 agenda would rob veterans and active duty troops of billions in benefits, and severely undermine the VA’s ability to get our veterans the care they deserve. America’s heroes in uniform deserve the very best, and voters will ensure they have it when they reject the Trump-Vance ticket in November.”

NEW: JD Vance said it is “totally reasonable” for Donald Trump to say the Medal of Freedom is “much better” than the Medal of Honor because the Medal of Honor goes to “soldiers” who are “in very bad shape” or “dead.”

Vance: “I don’t think him complimenting and saying a nice word about a person who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom is in any way denigrating those who received military honors. They’re two different awards, and I think the president was saying some nice things about a person that he liked, and that’s a totally reasonable thing to do.”

Trump: “That’s the highest award you can get as a civilian. It’s the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor… But [the] civilian version, it’s actually much better because everyone [who] gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they’re soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead.”

MSNBC: “Donald Trump insults veterans yet again”

Newsweek: “Donald Trump’s Medal Of Honor Remarks Spark Anger From Veterans”

Trump has repeatedly disparaged our military: He’s called veterans “suckers” and “losers,” and attacked active-duty service members as “dopes and babies.”

The Atlantic: “Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead.

“Trump said, ‘Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.’ In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as ‘suckers’ for getting killed.”

New York Times: “Moreover, people familiar with Mr. Trump’s private conversations say he has long scorned those who served in Vietnam as being too dumb to have gotten out of it, as he did through a medical diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels. At other times, according to those familiar with the remarks, Mr. Trump has expressed bewilderment that people choose military service over making money.”

Washington Post: “Trump unleashed his disdain, calling Afghanistan a ‘loser war.’ That phrase hung in the air and disgusted not only the military leaders at the table but also the men and women in uniform sitting along the back wall behind their principals. They all were sworn to obey their commander in chief’s commands, and here he was calling the war they had been fighting a loser war.

‘You’re all losers,’ Trump said. ‘You don’t know how to win anymore.’ …

“[Trump’s comments] stunned nearly everyone in the room, and some vowed that they would never repeat them. Indeed, they have not been reported until now. ‘I wouldn’t go to war with you people,’ Trump told the assembled brass. Addressing the room, the commander in chief barked, ‘You’re a bunch of dopes and babies.’”

The Hill: “President Trump on Wednesday minimized the injuries of several U.S. service members who suffered concussions during an Iranian missile attack on two Iraqi bases that house American personnel.”

The Trump-Vance ticket’s Project 2025 agenda would rip away benefits from veterans and active duty troops and undermine the VA’s ability to fulfill its mission.

Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership: “The VA’s Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) has assigned disability ratings to a growing number of health conditions over time; some are tenuously related or wholly unrelated to military service. The further growth in presumptive service-connected medical conditions pursued by Congress and Veteran Service Organizations, begun with Agent Orange and most recently for Burn Pits/Airborne Toxins, has led to historic increases in mandatory VBA spending in recent years. The VA has a time-phased plan to reassess the VASRD and its ratings for compensation, but this internal process can be slow and laborious, requires Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approvals, and can become politically charged both in Congress and with VSOs. The next Administration should explore how VASRD reviews could be accelerated with clearance from OMB to target significant cost savings from revising disability rating awards for future claimants while preserving them fully or partially for existing claimants.”

Raw Story: “Project 2025 will rob veterans and active duty troops of billions in benefits”

“Among other recommendations, the plan proposes eliminating concurrent eligibility for both service-related disability benefits and military retirement benefits…

“The plan also proposes to end enrollment in VA medical care for veterans in two low-priority groups to save an estimated $69 billion through 2032 and narrow eligibility for veterans disability by excluding disabilities that cannot be related to military service…

“Project 2025 also calls for privatizing the Department of Defense’s current TRICARE system offered to military families.”

Fulcrum: “Project 2025 focuses on conservative political goals and extensive outsourcing, risking politicizing the VA further and undermining its ability to serve veterans effectively.”

Axios: “This is undeniably a Trump-driven operation. The biggest tell: Johnny McEntee — one of Trump’s closest White House aides, and his most fervent internal loyalty enforcer — is a senior adviser to Project 2025. One of the most powerful architects is Stephen Miller, a top West Wing adviser for the Trump administration.”

The Week: “Many of Trump’s indicated plans for a second term fall in line with the Project 2025 outline.”

New York Times: “Roberts told me that he views Heritage’s role today as ‘institutionalizing Trumpism.’ This includes leading Project 2025, a transition blueprint that outlines a plan to consolidate power in the executive branch, dismantle federal agencies and recruit and vet government employees to free the next Republican president from a system that Roberts views as stacked against conservative power. The lesson of Trump’s first year in office, Roberts told me, is that ‘the Trump administration … simply got a slow start. And Heritage and our allies in Project 2025 believe that must never be repeated.’”

Vance stands by Trump, who repeatedly broke his promises to service members and veterans. As president, Trump proposed cuts to veterans’ benefits and left the Department of Veterans Affairs in turmoil after putting his wealthy MAGA allies at the helm.

ProPublica: “Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Buddies Tried to Get the VA to Sell Access to Veterans’ Medical Records”

“Former President Donald Trump empowered associates from his private club to pursue a plan for the Department of Veterans Affairs to monetize patient data, according to documents newly released by congressional investigators. As ProPublica first reported in 2018, a trio based at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort weighed in on policy and personnel decisions for the federal government’s second-largest agency, despite lacking any experience in the U.S. government or military. While previous reporting showed the trio had a hand in budgeting and contracting, their interest in turning patient data into a revenue stream was not previously known.”

Military Times: “Trump’s ‘Mar-a-Lago Three’ had unusual, improper access on vets policy issues, VA now says”

ProPublica: “The Mar-a-Lago Crowd spoke with VA officials daily, the documents show, reviewing all manner of policy and personnel decisions. They prodded the VA to start new programs, and officials traveled to Mar-a-Lago at taxpayer expense to hear their views. ‘Everyone has to go down and kiss the ring,’ a former administration official said.”

USA Today: “[President Donald Trump’s proposed budget plan] would also slash individual unemployment benefits for disabled veterans by more than $40.8 billion over 10 years.”

Military.com: “Elderly Vets Could Face Benefits Cut Under Trump Budget”

“Veterans Affairs Secretary Dr. David Shulkin defended Wednesday a proposal in President Donald Trump’s federal budget plan that would cut a benefit paying thousands of dollars annually to disabled elderly veterans.”

MAGA Malarkey: The Extremism You Missed From Republicans This Week

By
Blue Virginia
-
5

From the DNC War Room:

MAGA Malarkey: The Extremism You Missed From Republicans This Week
MAGA Republicans stooped to new lows this week with their extremism, hypocrisy, chaos, and — as President Biden would call it — malarkey. In case you missed it: Russell Vought got caught describing his “second phase” of Project 2025; Trump is bringing back MAGA creep Corey Lewandowski into his campaign’s inner circle; Trump lied at least twenty times in his conversation with Elon Musk; Trump is having a full-scale meltdown; new reporting revealed that JD Vance said companies supporting abortion rights just want a pool of “cheap labor”; an unearthed podcast showed Vance agreed that having grandmothers to help raise children is “the whole purpose of the postmenopausal female”; Vance reposted a disgraced, white nationalist-linked former Trump staffer; new polling showed that the more voters learn about Vance’s views on women, the more they dislike him; and Vance tried to stop his plummeting unpopularity by saying that he doesn’t matter.

Project 2025 chief architect Russell Vought was caught describing his extreme MAGA blueprint and the “second phase” of Project 2025 – saying Donald Trump has “blessed” his work and that he expects to be in Trump’s inner circle if he wins.

CNN: “Hidden-camera video shows Project 2025 co-author discussing his secret work preparing for a second Trump term”

“Vought said his group, the Center for Renewing America, was secretly drafting hundreds of executive orders, regulations, and memos that would lay the groundwork for rapid action on Trump’s plans if he wins, describing his work as creating ‘shadow’ agencies. He claimed that Trump has ‘blessed’ his organization and ‘he’s very supportive of what we do.’ …

“Vought also served as the policy director of the Republican National Convention committee that rewrote the GOP’s official platform this year – a sign of how central he is to Republicans’ policy goals… 

“‘I see what [Trump is] doing is just very, very conscious distancing himself from a brand,’ Vought said. ‘It’s interesting, he’s in fact not even opposing himself to a particular policy.’ …

“[Micah Meadowcroft, the research director for the Center for Renewing America] described Vought’s work preparing executive orders and policy playbooks as ‘the second phase’ of Project 2025…

“Asked if he had been offered a job in a second Trump administration, Vought said no, but added, ‘I think there’s an expectation that I would go in.’”

Trump is bringing back ultra-MAGA creep Corey Lewandowski into his campaign’s inner circle — despite Lewandowski facing battery charges and allegations of physically assaulting a journalist.

Politico: “Trump campaign brings Corey Lewandowski back on board”

“Donald Trump’s campaign is expanding its ranks as he seeks to regain his footing in the presidential campaign, bringing on a handful of top allies — including former Trump 2016 campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. 

“Lewandowski, who has remained an informal Trump adviser since his first campaign, is being brought on to advise the campaign’s senior leadership team…

“Lewandowski has a controversial history in GOP politics. He was removed from a top post with a pro-Trump super PAC in 2021. Lewandowski at the time was accused by a top Trump donor’s wife, Trashelle Odom, of making unwanted sexual advances towards her while at a Las Vegas charity dinner. He was later charged with a misdemeanor, but entered an agreement with prosecutors to have the charge dismissed in exchange for completing impulse control counseling, community service and paying a fine.”

In his bizarre conversation with Elon Musk, Trump lied again and again and again.

CNN: “Former President Donald Trump delivered his usual bombardment of false claims – at least 20 in all – during a Monday conversation with billionaire supporter Elon Musk, which aired on Musk’s social media platform, X.

“Most of the falsehoods uttered by the Republican presidential nominee were claims that have been repeatedly debunked before, some of them for years. They spanned a broad range of subjects, from immigration to the economy to foreign policy to Trump’s record in office to Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent.”

Trump is having a full-scale meltdown as his campaign spirals out of control.

Salon: “Tormented by the images of boisterous crowds at Vice President Kamala Harris’ full-capacity events from Pennsylvania to Nevada, including thousands greeting her and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at the Detroit airport on Aug. 7, Trump opted for a decisive break from the world that the rest of us are living in.

“That rally on the tarmac in Michigan? Fake as the news industry. ‘There was nobody at the plane, and she ‘A.I.’d it,’ the 78-year-old posted Sunday from his home-resort in south Florida, where he has largely been stewing while his rivals jet around the country. Photos (and videos, by the way) ‘showed a massive ‘crowd’ of so-called followers,’ Trump wrote, ‘BUT THEY DIDN’T EXIST!’

“Trump’s denial of this reality, if sincere, could well cost him. Even if were capable of a late-stage pivot, he seems incapable of even acknowledging the need for one. At a hastily-called press conference last week, the Republican candidate rambled off a series of quarter-formed thoughts on his personal grievances while fabricating a tale about a near-death helicopter experience, failing to coherently deliver his talking points about the economy and immigration.”

New reporting revealed that JD Vance said companies supporting abortion rights really just want a pool of “cheap labor.”

Christian Science Monitor: “In the same 2021 speech, Mr. Vance argued that companies supporting abortion rights really just want a pool of ‘cheap labor,’ with workers unburdened by the cost and time commitment of caring for children… he said: … ‘When the big corporations come against you for passing abortion restrictions, when corporations are so desperate for cheap labor that they don’t want people to parent children, she’s right to say that abortion restrictions are bad for business.’”

An unearthed podcast showed that Vance agreed with a host who said having grandmothers to help raise children is “the whole purpose of the postmenopausal female.”

Vance: “It makes [his son] a much better human being, to have exposure to his grandparents. And the evidence on this, by the way, is super clear.”

Interviewer: “That’s the whole purpose of the postmenopausal female, in theory.”

Vance: “Yes.”

After bragging less than two weeks ago about posting whatever he wants on social media, Vance reposted a disgraced white nationalist-linked former Trump staffer.

Vance: “Most politicians, they have a staff member who sort of runs their Twitter. I don’t do that … I just put whatever I want to on X.”

Polling showed that the more voters learn about Vance’s dangerous and weird views on women, the more they dislike him.

Semafor: “New polling shared exclusively with Semafor shows Democrats’ attacks on JD Vance’s views on abortion, divorce and ‘childless cat ladies’ are sticking with voters.

“A pair of surveys by Blueprint, the centrist Democratic pollster backed by Reid Hoffman, one taken July 21 – July 22, two days after Vance was announced as Donald Trump’s running mate, and then again two weeks later on August 4, showed Vance’s net favorability falling from -7 to -11 with fewer voters unsure either way. That’s similar to other public polling, which has also shown Vance making a poor first impression since joining the Republican ticket.

“The main shift in how respondents viewed Vance: He’s become more and more identified with his particular brand of conservatism and less with his famed biography as an author, veteran, and politician. Presented with a list of options to describe Vance in August, the most common answers were ‘conservative,’ ‘anti-woman,’ and ‘weird,’ while more positive options like ‘young,’ ‘smart,’ and ‘businessman’ declined from July. The percentage calling him ‘extreme’ shot up 13 points…

“Of the statements offered, participants were most aware of the ‘childless cat lady’ comments with 50% of those surveyed saying they had heard of the remarks and 55% saying they were bothered by them. Scoring worse, but less well-known: A 2021 interview with Spectrum News in which he defended a Texas abortion law’s lack of exceptions for rape and incest by suggesting pregnancies from such circumstances are ‘inconvenient.’ Sixty-two percent of voters said they were ‘bothered’ Vance used the word ‘inconvenient’ to describe pregnancies that stem from rape and incest with 50% reporting ‘it bothers me a lot.’”

In an effort to escape his growing unpopularity, Vance said that he doesn’t matter.

Margaret Brennan: “President Trump has said… the vice presidential pick rarely matters. How are you going to prove him wrong?”

Vance: “Well I think President Trump is right about that actually.”

ABC News: “Sen. JD Vance affirmed former President Donald Trump’s assertion that the vice presidential pick doesn’t matter to the vast majority of voters.”

Saturday News: “Biden’s goal: Gaza deal by the end of next week”; “Harris Touts Plan for ‘Opportunity Economy’”; JD Vance cites [movie “Gangs of New York”] to defend mass deportations” – WTF???; “Trump belittles Medal of Honor award in campaign speech”

By
lowkell
-
17

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, August 17.

On The Second Anniversary Of The Inflation Reduction Act, A Reminder That Hung Cao Opposes Lowering Costs For Virginians And Creating Good-Paying Jobs

By
Blue Virginia
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2

From the Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA):

On The Second Anniversary Of The Inflation Reduction Act, A Reminder That Hung Cao Opposes Lowering Costs For Virginians And Creating Good-Paying Jobs 

Richmond, VA – As we celebrate the second anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act being signed into law, it is a stark reminder that Hung Cao would’ve voted against it.

In an interview with WJLA, Cao flat out said, “I would never vote for that Inflation Reduction Act.” On Twitter, he even called it the “Inflation Deduction Act.”

The IRA is one of the largest investments in the American economy, energy security, and climate that Congress has made in the country’s history. For the first time, the IRA allows Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, caps out of pocket costs to $2,000, and lowers ACA healthcare premiums for millions of Americans. And as a result of this historic legislation, the cost of insulin is capped at $35 a month for this life-saving medication.

Because of the IRA, businesses are making historic investments in the jobs of the future in Virginia. Last month, LS Greenlink announced they were investing $681 million in Chesapeake to manufacture high-voltage subsea cables used for offshore windfarms, which is expected to create over 330 jobs. Because of the IRA, Volvo’s New River Valley truck manufacturing facility will be awarded over $208 million from the Department of Energy and sustain 7,900 union jobs and create 295 new jobs in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Because of the IRA, Topsoe, a new manufacturing facility, will be coming to Chesterfield County, and bringing more than $400 million in investments, creating at least 150 new jobs, and supporting over 1,000 indirect domestic jobs. New jobs are coming to Virginia because of the IRA – and Hung Cao would have opposed every single one.

“Today’s anniversary is a reminder that Senator Kaine voted for historic legislation that took on Big Pharma to lower the cost of insulin for Virginia families to $35 a month and supported creating good-paying jobs of the future that will help us compete with China,” said DPVA Chairwoman Susan Swecker. “On the other hand, Hung Cao has drunk the MAGA Kool-Aid and has come out on-the-record against the Inflation Reduction Act, which means he is against creating jobs and wants people to pay more for their insulin. All I can say to him is, good luck with that.”

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