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Audio: Asked About Project 2025’s/Trump’s Plan for Mass Firing of Federal Employees, Youngkin Misdirects, Obfuscates, Downplays, Lies, Doubles Down…

By
lowkell
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7

It’s really impressive how Glenn Youngkin never lets up with his smarmy, faux-“sincere”-but-actually-completely-dishonest routine, while simultaneously gaslighting the public on the dire threat of Trumpism and Project 2025 (“Trump’s promise to purge the civil service could devastate Virginia’s 140,000 federal workers. Youngkin claims they can just find jobs elsewhere.”) – including to the federal workforce and the Virginia economy. Case in point? Check out Youngkin’s response, below, to a question earlier today at a press “gaggle.” It’s HIGHLY revealing; that is, if you can separate Youngkin’s misdirection, bulls*** and lies from reality.

Question: “Governor you spoke about federal employees returning back to the office what about uh the proposal to
have over 100,000 employees moved out of the state and out of the region?”

Youngkin’s rambling response: “Yeah, so first of all I think that’s a complete mischaracterization [editor’s note: it’s definitely not a mischaracterization at all!] and I hope you correct it when if you write something on this. First of all, we could sit around and play… games [editor’s note: this is not a “game”; Project 2025 and the threat of Trumpism are deadly serious] on both sides on what they’re going to propose and what they’re not going to propose. And the reality of course is it’s all speculative [editor’s note: it’s definitely NOT “all speculative”]. Second of all, to think that should there be any movement in workforce, that there aren’t enough jobs in Virginia to absorb that supply of talented workers is a complete mischaracterization [editor’s note: so basically Youngkin’s doubling down on support for firing potentially hundreds of thousands of federal workers, while minimizing the potentially disastrous impacts!]…in fact we have 300,000 jobs in Virginia that are available…we have a hugely talented workforce…my biggest challenge…is keeping keeping people in Virginia as opposed to moving away because of lower taxes in other states and lower cost of living [editor’s note: this is misdirection and also has no relevance to the question being asked]. And so what I would really appreciate that people would pay as much attention to the reality of the migration out of Virginia that has happened over the course of the last 10 years. What we need to fix, as opposed to speculating on one candidate’s proposals – which by the way I think are totally misunderstood [editor’s note: they are NOT ‘totally misunderstood,” except maybe by dishonest politicians like Youngkin who actively WANT people to misunderstand Trump’s/Project 2025’s extremist proposals] – and another candidates proposals that people seem to be ignoring.”

The Brilliant Norm Ornstein Nails It on the “Mainstream” Press’ “irresponsible and reckless” Behavior; They’ve “failed so often and somehow refuse to even consider their shortcomings”

By
lowkell
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5

Under fascist Elon Musk’s ownership, Twitter is obviously becoming more and more dystopian, more of a disaster for democracy, more of a cluster**** in every way. And yet we still do get brilliant exchanges such as the following, between James Fallows and Norm Ornstein, responding to the arrogant/clueless/dismissive/condescending/defensive post by NPR’s David Folkenflik arguing that it “just can’t be the stance for any journalist who cares about the profession or the nation to take” that  – as Jeff Jarvis astutely/correctly put it:

“What ‘press’? The broken and vindictive Times? The newly Murdochian Post? Hedge-fund newspaper husks? Rudderless CNN or NPR? Murdoch’s fascist media? No. [Kamala Harris] can choose many ways to communicate her stands with others outside the old press and with the public directly. The old press can and should be bypassed.”

and

“The press needs Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris doesn’t need the press. Their motive in whining for what they take as their birthright (hello, A.G.) is to salve their editorial egos and earn them attention (and money). They have not earned this role; they have forfeited the privilege by their behavior.”

Sad to say, but Folkenflik STILL has not provided a serious, substantive response to this. Nor has he responded to James Fallows, who nails it:

“I agree w this whole long thread from @NormOrnstein.

3 great institutions have catastrophically failed to “meet the moment” under pressure of Trump era.

—Repub party, for obvious reasons.
—Sup Court, ditto.
—Mainstream political press, in ways that keep being pointed out and keep recurring. As Norm details.”

And yet you will pretty much NEVER get an acknowlegement from the “mainstream political press” that they have, indeed, “catastrophically failed to ‘meet the moment’. Instead, you get – just as with Folkenflik – “wagon circling,” condescension, extreme arrogance, cluelessness, defensiveness, or just complete LACK of response (as well as complete LACK of needed course correction). In this case, many smart, good-faith people are making serious, substantive critiques of the “mainstream media,” yet the “mainstream media” just keeps failing. How so? Check out the brilliant Norm Ornstein’s Twitter thread, which spells it out very well. Oh, and stop trusting the “mainstream media” to give you accurate coverage of U.S. politics, or economics for that matter, because honestly, at this point, you’d probably be better informed if you completely ignored these assholes. With that, here’s Norm Ornstein’s Twitter thread (bolding added by me for emphasis):

  • “David, I understand why journalists want to take this stance. But the fact is we have had no reflection, no willingness to think through how irresponsible and reckless so much of our mainstream press and so many of our journalists have been and continue to be“
  • “Watch how often the White House press briefings end up as embarrassing zoos. Consider for example at O’Keefe’s shouting at and hectoring the press secretary. Far too many questions have little to do with what Americans care about, and more reflect the egos of the reporters.”
  • “Watching the farce of a faux press conference with Trump, with not a single question about what should’ve been the big story of the day, an alleged $10 million bribe from Egypt, and few questions about what is most important, the stakes of the election and Trump’s approach to governance.”
  • “I do think that sometime in the near future Harris should do not a press conference with campaign reporters who will not distinguish themselves with what is important but ask a flurry of gotcha and horse, race questions, but one or two in-depth one on one interviews.”
  • “There are many good journalists who could do this really well. @yamiche @lawrence @GStephanopoulo @JohnJHarwood @AliVelshi @sbg1 to pick a few. But what I have seen over the past two weeks is a bunch of whining by self important narcissistic journalists who think it’s all about them.”
  • “For Kamala Harris, this first period as the Democratic nominee is about defining herself and rallying the party and other voters sick about Trump, carrying through the convention. The Interviews should come after that.”
  • “In the meantime, I watch with dismay as a press corps monomaniacally obsessed with Joe Biden’s mental condition almost completely ignoring the mental state of Donald Trump. His slurring, disjointed and embarrassing two hours with Elon Musk does not even get front page treatment.”
  • “While there are stories and even some powerful editorials about Trump’s unfitness for office or plans for mass deportation, takeover of the civil service, promise of retribution, dictatorship on day one and invocation of the insurrection act, they are piecemeal at best, often relegated to less prominent places “
  • “Which means most voters have no clue what a second Trump term would actually be like. The stakes of this election should be the core of coverage. Including of course, what a Harris presidency would be like and what it would do. I would be far more sympathetic to the push for more access by Harris if that were the case.”
  • “Instead, we get the same insipid focus on the horse race and the polls, while normalizing abnormal behavior and treating this like a typical presidential election, not one that is an existential threat to democracy. The press does not have to side with Harris to do its job. It is falling so far short. “
  • “What frustrates me as much as anything is that the centers of excellence I have so long admired and relied on, including the Post, the Times, the Journal, most news networks, the real opinion leaders that frame coverage for most of the other outlets, have failed so often and somehow refuse to even consider their shortcomings. End”

Former VA Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) Predicts: “2025 could be a big year for Virginia Democrats”

By
lowkell
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6

Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who used to be a relatively sane conservative but has gone full Trumpster of late, is NOT optimistic about Virginia Republicans’ chances in 2025. Check it out (my comments in bold/blue/parentheses):

Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares have both been non-committal on whether they will run for Governor in 2025. (Maybe because neither really sees a path to victory against Abigail Spanberger?)

Just as well. I don’t honestly see either one of them being able to compete with Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who is the presumptive Democratic nominee.  (Agreed. Spanberger would “smoke” either of these right wingnuts.)

In 2021, Republicans changed the playbook, nominating a multi millionaire who had never been involved in politics before. Unfortunately, I don’t see another Glenn Youngkin on the horizon. (Correct: Youngkin was really a unique case, very unlikely to be repeated by Virginia Republicans.)

This all means that 2025 could be a big year for Virginia Democrats. If Spanberger is elected, and Democrats control both houses of the General Assembly, it could be another liberal free for all in the Old Dominion. (Moronic but predictable comment about a supposed “liberal free for all,” when in fact what Democrats did in 2020-2021 was pass POPULAR and EFFECTIVE policies that will move Virginia forward. And that’s exactly what they’ll do again if they win a “trifecta” in November 2025.)

This all begs the question – who do you think would have the best chance of defeating Spanberger in 2025? (Uh…dude, your party’s a bunch of far-right-extremist wackos/nutjobs; why do you think any of them would have a shot against someone as formidable as Abigail Spanberger?)

With Only 83 Days Until Election Day, Harris-Walz Campaign Launches Additional $90 Million Paid Media Buy for Remainder of August

By
Blue Virginia
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2

From the Kamala Harris for President campaign:

Team Harris-Walz Launches Additional $90 Million Paid Media Buy for Remainder of August

Paid Media Campaign Across Television, Radio, Digital Platforms, and Constituency Media Targeting Battleground Voters

With only 83 days left until Election Day, Team Harris-Walz is launching a $90 million paid media buy for the last three weeks of August — a historic sum over a short period of time, and a testament to the campaign’s relentless effort to reach the voters who will decide this election. The August advertising flight represents the most aggressive stretch of paid media for the entire cycle.

Bookending the Democratic National Convention, this paid media buy will continue Team Harris-Walz’s commitment to meeting voters where they are about the stakes of this election. This historic buy will touch on four key areas of focus for undecided voters: Vice President Harris’ personal story and background; her lifelong commitment to fighting for the people and standing up to powerful interests; her long standing focus on the everyday needs of Americans; and the stark contrast between her record and Donald Trump’s dangerous, extreme agenda. Running an aggressive paid media campaign to the tune of $90 million over the course of just a few short weeks will ensure these key messages help cement the choice for battleground voters ahead of Get Out the Vote efforts starting in the fall.

This $90 million paid media buy will target voters in every battleground state and expand the campaign’s reach into markets like Marquette, Alpena, Toledo, Erie, and Youngstown – markets where the Trump campaign is ceding the airwaves as their candidate spends this crucial stretch consumed by personal grievance and his latest conspiracy theories instead of communicating with the voters who will decide this election.

“On the heels of our historic launch, we know that the more voters hear during the month of August about the differences between Vice President Harris’ long-standing history of delivering common-sense solutions for the American people — from her early days as a prosecutor to the present — and Donald Trump’s dangerous, extreme and out-of-touch Project 2025 agenda, the more they will know that Vice President Harris is the only candidate fit to lead our country over the next four years,” said Harris-Walz Principal Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks. “It is precisely through efforts like this that we will break through a crowded media environment early and make clear the choice and stakes of this election for the voters who will decide it.”

Ads will be targeted to high-impact programming that reaches the voters Team Harris-Walz needs to reach to win 270 electoral votes. That includes local broadcast and cable programming and non-political programming like The Bachelorette, Big Brother, The Daily Show, Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, and The Simpsons. The buy also includes a historic investment into targeting voters on digital platforms and Connected TV. Additionally, as a part of this buy, Team Harris-Walz is launching a seven-figure general market radio advertising campaign to expand reach with target voters across the battleground states.

###

Paid for by Harris for President

Wednesday News: “Ukraine hammers Russian airbases as Kyiv’s incursion triggers panic”; Musk, Trump Held “dumbest climate conversation of all time”; Trump Campaign Not Even Trying to Hide Its Virulent Racism; “Here’s What Scares Republicans Most About a Harris Win”

By
lowkell
-
24

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, August 14.

VA Senate Democrats “Deeply Troubled” by Delay in SOL Score Release, Call for Immediate Action

By
Blue Virginia
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8

From the VA Senate Democratic Caucus:

RICHMOND, VA – In response to growing concerns about the delayed release of the Standard of Learning (SOL) exam scores for Virginia’s schools, a representative from the Virginia Department of Education has announced that the scores will be released in the upcoming weeks. With the start of the 2024 academic year just around the corner, educators across Virginia face the challenge of planning for their students without this crucial data.

The Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus is deeply troubled by this delay and the potential negative impact on our public schools. With insufficient time to analyze and incorporate these results, our educators are being put at a severe disadvantage, which could affect students’ learning outcomes from the very start of the school year. Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Senator Mamie Locke, Senate Finance and Education Chair Senator Ghazala Hashmi, and Senator Stella Pekarsky have issued the following statements:

“The Virginia Department of Education’s failure to release test scores promptly is a disservice to our educators and students. I find it particularly concerning that Governor Youngkin, who has been vocal about education, is not launching an investigation into this delay. The lack of urgency in addressing this issue suggests a troubling indifference to the well-being of Virginia’s students,” said Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Mamie Locke.

“Parents, educators, and students deserve a real answer as to why VDOE had failed for a second year in a row to release SOL results in a timely manner. Assessments of student learning are meaningful when they are used appropriately to evaluate strengths and challenges. Educators will begin their school year again in the dark about the students in their classrooms. Parents are left hanging as they consider what supports and resources their student may need in order to have a successful academic year. We’ve never seen these delays before in Virginia, and they harm student learning.”, stated Senator Ghazala Hashmi, Chair of the Senate Finance and Education Committee.

“Timely access to data is critical for making informed decisions in education. The delay in releasing these scores is not just an administrative oversight; it’s a failure that could set back our students’ academic progress. We need transparency and accountability from the Department of Education to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” added Senator Stella Pekarsky.

Video: New Ad Points Out That Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA02) “has repeatedly voted to restrict access to abortion, including for servicewomen, and she even voted to punish doctors for reproductive care”

By
Blue Virginia
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3

From House Majority Forward:

Washington, D.C. – House Majority Forward is launching a new television ad in VA-02 calling on Rep. Jen Kiggans to stop opposing abortion.

The ad comes after House Majority Forward placed over $17 million in television and digital reservations for July and August.

WATCH ‘DELIVERING’ 

‘Delivering’ Transcript:

“I’ve delivered around 3,000 babies during my career and I know the care my patients need.

“When politicians restrict care and ban abortion it puts my patients in danger.

“Jen Kiggans has repeatedly voted to restrict access to abortion, including for servicewomen, and she even voted to punish doctors for reproductive care.

“Now Kiggans could be the deciding vote for a total abortion ban, no exceptions.

“Politicians should never be allowed to limit our health care choices. Tell Jen Kiggans to stop opposing abortion.”

Tuesday News: “Zelensky says ‘war is coming home’ to Russia”; Under Biden, “Violent crime is plummeting”; Tech Glitches, Slurring, Wild Lies as “Elon Musk Throws a Trump Rally”; “Losing Makes Trump Crazier, and Being Crazy Makes Him Lose”

By
lowkell
-
27

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, August 13.

Lies to Look Out for Ahead of Trump’s Interview with Elon Musk

By
Blue Virginia
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6

From the Harris for President campaign:

Hi all,

After ignoring swing voters for 9 days and counting, an angry Trump is taking his backward agenda of hate and division to a Twitter conversation with fellow extremist Elon Musk.

Since this millionaire and his billionaire sugar daddy are infamous for their relationship with the truth, we wanted to send over a note highlighting some lies you can expect to hear. Trump hit 162 lies in his press conference last week, and we expect tonight to be no different.

In case you are not tracking, he is not at his best.

Elon, for his part, knows Trump is a man who he can do “business” with, who can be bought, and who will give him vast tax handouts.

As always, please reach out if you need anything. We’re more than happy to provide information and answer questions about whatever nonsense Trump or Elon says tonight.

Thanks,

Ammar

CLAIM: A Harris-Walz administration would force every American to own an electric vehicle.

FACT: There is no electric vehicle mandate. Vice President Harris delivered the Inflation Reduction Act, which is creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs and fueling an American manufacturing boom that Trump threatens to dismantle.

  • PBS on Trump’s EV claim: “False. There is no electric vehicle mandate to begin with.”
  • AP: “Manufacturing jobs have climbed to their highest totals in nearly 15 years. This is the first time since the 1970s that manufacturing employment has fully recovered from a recession, expanding by 789,000 jobs since Biden took office.”
  • Washington Post: “The IRA was designed to foster green manufacturing jobs in the United States — and the evidence shows that it’s working. … Many provisions in the IRA have sparked a manufacturing boom in the United States — also designed to counter China’s dominance in the green energy arena.”
  • Washington Post: “Many more manufacturing jobs have been created under Biden (762,000 more)” than under Trump.
  • Climate Power: “Since August 2022, companies have announced or moved forward with projects accounting for more than 312,900 new clean energy jobs for electricians, mechanics, construction workers, technicians, support staff, and many others.”
  • Financial Times: “The question any Trump administration will have to face is: do they really want to be the authors of the downfall of the US auto industry?”

CLAIM: The Biden-Harris administration destroyed the economy and Donald Trump will bring it back.

FACT: Under President Biden and Vice President Harris, America has experienced record job growth and an unemployment rate matching 50-year lows. Meanwhile, experts agree that a second Trump term would destroy this economic momentum and skyrocket inflation.

  • Economic Policy Institute: “Fastest wage growth over the last four years among historically disadvantaged groups”
  • Wall Street Journal: “Hiring and Wages are Up, Reinforcing the Economy’s Resilience”
  • CNN: “Biden, not Trump, has the record lows for Black unemployment and poverty”
  • Forbes: “Consumer Price Index: Core Inflation At Lowest Level In 3 Years”
  • Axios: “The United States economy grew faster than any other large advanced economy last year — by a wide margin — and is on track to do so again in 2024.”
  • Axios: “16 Nobel economists see a Trump inflation bomb”
  • Wall Street Journal: “Economists Say Inflation Would Be Worse Under Trump Than Biden”
  • PIIE: Under such a scenario, the bottom quintile loses 8.5 percent of their after-tax income with no offsetting income tax cut… The top 1 percent nets an 11.6 percent increase in after-tax income.”
  • CAP Action: “Trump’s latest idea to replace all income taxes with tariffs … would dramatically increase income inequality and raise taxes for the bottom 90 percent of households. It would raise taxes for middle-income households by $5,100 to $8,300 while cutting taxes for the top 0.1 percent by at least $1.5 million annually.”

CLAIM: The Vice President was “the border czar” who never visited the southern border that she failed to secure.

FACT: Vice President Harris was never appointed “border czar” but she visited the border and helped craft the toughest, fairest border bill in U.S. history that Trump killed for his own political gain.

  • CNN: “Harris did go to the border as vice president, in Texas in mid-2021.”
    • “Harris was never made Biden’s ‘border czar,’ a label the White House has always emphasized is inaccurate. In reality, Biden gave Harris a more limited immigration-related assignment in 2021, asking her to lead diplomacy with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras in an attempt to address the conditions that prompted their citizens to try to migrate to the United States.”
  • USA Today: “Harris’ border work was on ‘root causes’ of migration; she wasn’t in charge.”
  • Axios: “Trump, House Republicans plot to kill border deal”
  • The Hill: “Former President Trump told his supporters during a rally in Nevada that he is fine with being blamed for tanking the bipartisan border bill currently negotiated in the Senate.”
  • Spectrum News: “‘Real leaders should be about solutions’: VP Harris condemns efforts to kill Senate border bill”
  • Washington Post: “U.S. agents have taken fewer than 2,400 migrants into custody per day over the past week, down from more than 3,800 at the beginning of June, according to the latest Department of Homeland Security data. That is the lowest level of illegal crossings since Biden took office, DHS said.”
  • CBS: “Unlawful border crossings drop for 5th straight month, reaching lowest level since September 2020”
  • New York Times: “How the U.S. Captured One of Mexico’s Biggest Drug Lords”

CLAIM: The Vice President is a “radical left lunatic”and her record as a prosecutor proves it.

FACT: During her time as a prosecutor, the Vice President pushed for a fairer criminal justice system that held criminals like Donald Trump accountable and made communities safer. Under the Biden-Harris administration, violent crime is at historic lows, compared to record highs under Trump.

  • Reuters: “As a prosecutor, Harris mixed criminal justice reform with tough-on-crime approach”
  • WSJ: “Wearing the two hats – reform-minded progressive and tough prosecutor – has compelled Harris to perform a balancing act that has continued in Washington.”
  • NBC News: “Throughout her tenure as district attorney, Harris focused on securing convictions. Felony conviction rates rose from 52% to 71%, and gun crime convictions rose to 92% in the first five years she was in office, according to her book.”
  • LA Times: “In 2005, while she was San Francisco district attorney, Harris launched the ‘Back on Track’ program to reduce recidivism by offering nonviolent, low-level drug trafficking defendants job training and other life skills education as an alternative to jail. … The San Francisco program has been used as a model across the country.”
  • Axios: “New data shows violent crime dropping sharply in major U.S. cities”
  • Poynter: “The violent crime rate today is near a 50-year low”
  • Pew Research: “The U.S. murder rate rose 30% between 2019 and 2020 – the largest single-year increase in more than a century”
  • Vox: “The Trump administration proposed a 58 percent cut in the federal government’s COPS Hiring Program, a federal program that supports police department staffing. That’s not a one-off; his administration’s budget proposals have routinely called for huge cuts to this program.”
  • NBC: “A key pillar of Trump’s anti-crime platform demands police departments reinstate stop and frisk — which allows officers to randomly stop and search people for weapons — or else risk critical federal dollars flowing into their coffers.”

CLAIM: The Vice President supports abortion “up to and beyond” birth.

FACT: The Vice President supports restoring the protections of Roe v. Wade. She does not support abortion all the way to the moment of birth.

  • Glamour: “No, Biden and Harris do not support abortion ‘all the way to the moment of birth’”
  • Politico: “Kamala Harris’ call for ‘reproductive freedom’ means restoring Roe”
  • In his own words, Trump has promised to be “leading the charge” in banning abortion nationwide.
  • Last week Trump greenlit his Project 2025 allies’ plans to use the FDA to wipe out access to medication abortion, which would effectively ban abortion nationwide.
  • His allies have laid out a comprehensive strategy to restrict reproductive health care access in all 50 states without the help of Congress or the courts.
  • Trump said that women should face “punishment” for having an abortion and supports allowing states to prosecute women and doctors, as well as monitor pregnancies.
  • The 2024 Trump-endorsed RNC platform stated the party supported states extending 14th Amendment protections to fetuses.
  • JD Vance wants to ban abortion nationwide and advocated using the Comstock Act to prevent women from traveling out of state to receive care and crack down on medication abortion.

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Paid for by Harris for President

Sen. Tim Kaine Releases New Plank of Kitchen Table Agenda, Highlighting His Work To Invest In Career And Technical Education  

By
lowkell
-
13

From Sen. Tim Kaine’s reelection campaign – let’s “raise” some Kaine this election!

Senator Kaine Releases New Plank of Kitchen Table Agenda, Highlighting His Work To Invest In Career And Technical Education  

Floyd, VA – Friday at a roundtable in Floyd, Senator Tim Kaine released a new plank of his “Kaine Kitchen Table Agenda:” investing in career and technical education.

“I’m proud to be a champion for investing in career and technical education in the Senate. I started the Senate Career and Technical Education Caucus to bring together members from both sides of the aisle who want to ensure the future of our workforce is in good hands,” said Senator Tim Kaine. “An important part of building up the local workforce and partnering with career and technical centers is ensuring that students are aware of opportunities outside of a traditional path. That’s why I am releasing the second plank of my Kaine Kitchen Table economic agenda today.” 

Senator Kaine’s Jumpstarting Our Businesses by Supporting Students (JOBS) Act would allow students to use federal Pell Grants to afford high-quality, shorter-term job training programs. He believes that expanding Pell Grant eligibility will open students to more opportunities outside of the traditional path.

In June, Senator Kaine released the first plank of his Kitchen Table Agenda and highlighted his work to lower prescription drug costs. Around the Commonwealth, in the coming months, Senator Kaine will highlight new planks of his plan to discuss how he is working to lower costs for all Virginians. Other planks of his “Kaine Kitchen Table Agenda” include cutting the cost of child care, slashing taxes for working families, and making housing affordable.

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