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Monday News: “‘Let Them Eat Cake’ Moment: Trump’s Big ‘Pain’ Confession Leaves Critics Horrified”; “Trump, Musk wage two-front war as donor does president’s ‘dirty work’”; “Democrats fume over weak early response to Trump”; “The Logic of Destruction”

By
lowkell
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14

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, February 3.

Virginia General Assembly 2025 Session, Week 3: “Crossover” Is Coming Up!

By
Blue Virginia
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7

Good stuff as always from the incredibly hardworking VAPLAN/Cindy – see below! But first, check out video from today’s Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee meeting, as Sen. Louise Lucas presented details of the budget presented today. According to Sen. Lucas:

“This year, one of the issues that has weighed heavily on my mind is the struggle that working Virginians are feeling from inflation and from the general uncertainty that is currently part of our political environment…I want to help provide Virginians with more certainty and stability…since the governor’s introduced budget came out, I have stated and prioritized that working families and individuals need immediate relief…To that end, I do not agree with the details of the governor’s approach…[it] did not provide relief to everyone…Well, today, I’m excited to tell you that the committee budget provides hard-working Virginians with relief that is a step towards their long-term prosperity.

First, there’s almost $1 billion for a tax rebate that will be sent out around October 15 for hard-working Virginians…individual filers will receive $200 and married filers will receive $400…I have stayed true to my word…In addition to this relief, we have extended the previous increase in the standard deduction for two years to ensure there is no impact on citizens while we wait for Congress to take action on federal tax changes that are set to expire…Again, this is a fiscally responsible way to deal with the many unknowns for our state. But we’re not stopping at maintaining the standard deduction; we are proposing to increase the deduction by another $250 for individual filers and…another $500 for married filers…Increasing and making the state Earned Income Tax Credit fully refundable to 20% of the federal credit…proven progressive tax policy…”

There’s a lot more – check it out, below!

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UPDATE 4:18 pm – See the following press release from the VA Senate Democrats:

Senate Democrats Champion Budget That Delivers Real Relief for All Virginians

RICHMOND, VA – The Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus today applauded the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee for producing a comprehensive budget that makes historic investments in Virginia’s families and future. The budget delivers immediate financial relief while securing long-term investments in critical priorities across the Commonwealth.

The Senate budget includes transformative investments for Virginians:

IMMEDIATE TAX RELIEF: • $977.8 million in direct tax rebates ($200 single/$400 joint filers) • Increased standard deduction to $8,750 single/$17,500 joint filers • Fully refundable Earned Income Tax Credit at 20% of federal credit

EDUCATION & WORKFORCE: • $1,000 bonus for teachers and support staff, plus 3% salary increase • $15 million for high-demand workforce credential training • $15 million for need-based undergraduate aid • $9 million for tuition assistance grants • $25 million for early childhood education employer cost-sharing pilot

HEALTHCARE & FAMILY SUPPORT: • $6.1 million for comprehensive maternal health initiatives • $15 million for rental assistance pilot program • 1.5% bonus for state employees, plus 3% salary increase

COMMUNITY PROTECTION:• $50 million for community flood protection and resilience • $50 million for disaster mitigation in vulnerable communities

The Senate Democrats issued the following statement:

“The Senate Budget is a testament to Senate Democrats’ steadfast commitment to serving all Virginians—not just a privileged few. While the governor’s proposal created winners and losers, our Senate budget delivers targeted relief and strategic investments that uplift every working family across the Commonwealth. From responsible tax reductions to robust education funding, from expanding healthcare access to strengthening community protections, we are building a more resilient, equitable, and prosperous Virginia for all.”

The Senate Democratic Caucus remains committed to working across the aisle to pass a final budget that serves all Virginians, not special interests.

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The Senate and the House (mostly?) completed committee work on their own chambers’ bills; just floor votes (a LOT) remain before crossover next week. In fact, both sides are doing a little finagling to get all three constitutional readings in on a few bills before the deadline.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK, Senator Carroll Foy, asking Sen Peake about his latest attempt to repeal the bail reforms made in 2020: The Governor and Attorney General Miyares had a press conference surrounded by law enforcement and they said that crime in Virginia was down 11% and we had one of the lowest recidivism rates in the country…In 2020 we had a criminal justice reform omnibus package…and I would attest that us having one of the lowest recidivism rates and the reason for crime being down is because we got rid of some of these unfair presumptions, a lot of the mandatory minimums, and a lot of the things that people tout as tough on crime, which is actually ineffective, because we are actually improving public safety. 

How environmental bills fared:

  • A handful of bills to increase the amount of solar energy being created have passed out of committees. HB2037 allows localities to require solar parking lot canopies in new development; HB2090 encourages multi-family shared solar; SB1040 and HB1883 encourage the generation of rooftop solar to meet Dominion’s RPS.
  • A bill from the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation that would create a Clean Energy Technical Assistance Program (a research consortium of the universities) to guide and assist localities in how to create policies to meet clean energy goals seems to have hit a major bump in the road–the Senate version is waiting for a floor vote, but the House cognate has died in subcommittee.
  • A bill to require the utility companies to pilot a virtual power plant (where a network of small-scale distributed energy sources like rooftop solar function together as a remotely-controlled and coordinated power plant) passed the Senate; its House cognate is up for a floor vote.
  • Bills to increase the target energy storage capacity of utilities passed the Senate and are due for a House vote.

Those newfangled technologies bills:

  • House and Senate easily passed bills to expand defamation and slander “words” to include synthetic digital media, such as AI-generated deep fakes.
  • A bill creating a civil cause of action for the unauthorized use of someone’s voice or visual likeness passed the House and goes over to the Senate.
  • Neither the House Housing and Consumer Protections subcommittee nor the Senate General Laws committee was ready to ban algorithmic pricing tools in real estate transactions (used to fix collusive rental prices).
  • The bill to regulate decentralized autonomous organizations (organizations that function like a bank, but are run by computer, using blockchain technology, i.e. crypto co-operatives) passed the House easily and moves on to the Senate.

Oldies but goodies/baddies:

Video: Sen. Tim Kaine Says Trump Race Baited After Plane Crash to Get Everybody “Chas[ing] Down a Rabbit Hole” of “DEI Allegations with No Evidence”

By
lowkell
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2

I’ll post the full video when it’s available, but for now, here are some highlights – courtesy of Aaron Rupar – of Sen. Tim Kaine’s interview with Jake Tapper (ugh, I know!) this morning…

VA State Sen. Danica Roem: “We all want someone, somewhere, to effing do *something*… but, if we’re being honest, the only people coming to the rescue are us.”

By
lowkell
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0

Excellent thread by VA State Senator Danica Roem, over at Bluesky (where every Virginia Democrat should have an account and be posting at this point!). A few highlights (bolding added by me for emphasis):

  • “It’s not going to be far from my mind Monday they’re still pulling bodies out of the Potomac, we just said farewell to civil rights champion Sen. Henry Marsh III by his flag-draped casket in the Old Senate Chamber, and we endured an onslaught of attacks on trans, undocumented and BIPOC Virginians.”
  • “We have to be our own best advocates. We have resist the temptation to lose our cool at each other if for no other reason than we’re looking for someone to blame. We all want someone, somewhere, to effing do *something*… but, if we’re being honest, the only people coming to the rescue are us.”
  • “It’s us. It’s our immediate community. It’s our truest family, friends & colleagues who’ve been there every step of the way. It’s the attorneys and paralegals from, by and for our community who got into law in the first place precisely for this moment. We have to step up and lead. It’s our moment.”
  • “On a call with a constituent, we talked about how I’ve focused my 2025 bills on the very things I campaigned on in 2023 — fixing roads, feeding kids, fighting data center sprawl — representing the 30th District as expected/promised but 🤬, the other side’s just toxically obsessed with trans people.”
  • “Even when it is utterly exhausting and so much is just awful, never lose your sense of purpose, even if it means redefining it. We have to meet the moment of where we’re at, figure out where each of us fits in with all of this and…. just take a minute to breathe where we can find it.”
  • “We all know the worst is yet to come and it’s a scary world, even when that uncertainty isn’t lingering. But to paraphrase a GRRM quote, when we’re afraid is the only time we can be brave.”

Sunday News: “The Price America Will Pay for Trump’s Tariffs”; “Musk’s Team Now Has Access to Treasury’s Payments System”; “Trump is waging war against his own government”; “US society’s plunge into ‘dark times’”; “Democracy DEFCON”; “DOGE is ripping out the guts of government”

By
lowkell
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30

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, February 2. And no, it’s not your imagination – things really ARE spiraling downhill and out of control rapidly, and the Republican-controlled Congress is doing nothing to stop it (while Democrats have essentially no levers of power and the media keeps “normalizing” this totally abnormal situation). Bottom line: we really needed to win the November 2024 election…and we didn’t. As a direct result, now we’re in deep trouble.

Former VA Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a Trump-Supporting Republican, Agrees: “Tariffs Are Great – If You Like Raising Prices, Undermining Jobs, and Inhibiting Innovation”

By
lowkell
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8

The reason I’m posting this from former Virginia Lt. Governor Bill Bolling, a Trump-supporting Republican, isn’t because I like Bolling or think he knows what he’s talking about a lot of the time, but simply because:

  1. Trump actually seems to be barreling ahead with his economically ruinous, moronic, ignorant plans to start a global trade war, slap massive tariffs – aka, TAXES on the American consumer! – on our biggest trading partners, drive up prices, drive down employment, and pretty much undo many of the benefits from trade and North American economic integration that we’ve seen for many years.
  2. Bolling is a Republican and a Trump supporter, and most of those people have been utterly silent as Trump has said and done crazy, illegal, unconstitional, economically harmful, etc. things. So at least Bolling deserves credit (although Bolling isn’t in office anymore and presumably doesn’t plan to ever run for office again, so he feels a bit freer to criticize the Cult Leader?) for contradicting Trump on something – in this case, tariffs/trade.
  3. Bolling IS correct that a trade war “will drive up the cost of goods being exported from the U.S, and that could drive down the consumption of American products in these countries and have an adverse impact on our own domestic economic production.” He’s also correct that “tariff wars rarely benefit anyone. They drive up the cost of goods and services, and they drive down economic production. Everybody loses.” Another good point by Bolling (although note that inflation is waaayyyy down from where it was a couple years ago, about 2.6% on an annual basis in December 2024): “in a time when inflation has already had a significant impact on the cost of goods and sevices, the last thing we should do is pursue policies that will further drive up costs.”
  4. The article that Bolling references, by the George W. Bush Institute, nails it on this: “…tariff barriers weaken the middle class. In the short term, they raise consumer prices. In the medium term, they weaken the nation’s manufacturing competitiveness and undermine middle-class jobs. In the long term, they inhibit innovation and the emergence of the next generation of middle-class jobs, weakening our children’s toe-hold in the middle class and sapping the nation’s prosperity over time.” In short, as the headline says, “Tariffs Are Great – If You Like Raising Prices, Undermining Jobs, and Inhibiting Innovation.” 
  5.  Having said all that, Bolling is 100% wrong that  there is “undoubtedly some validity to Trump’s concerns” about “1) current trade imbalances with these countries, 2) their failure to crack down on fentanyl being brought into the U.S. from their countries, and 3) in the case of Canada, and in particular Mexico, their failure to secure their border and prevent illegal immigrants from coming into America.” That’s all either complete horsesh**, misleading or mostly false. On the issue of trade imbalances, Trump’s obsession with that demonstrates that he either has never taken an international economics course or, if he ever did, completely failed to understand it. As for the “failure to crack down on fentanyl being brought into the U.S. from their countries,” that’s complete nonsense when it comes to Canada, and even in cases where there’s validity to the concerns, what on earth does starting a trade/tariff war do to solve the problem??? Finally, whatever you think about immigration/the border – and note that Trump himself forced Congressional Republicans to kill a tough, bipartisan deal on securing the border and reforming our immigration system, simply because he prefers to demagogue on the issue, knowing that it’s potent politically – how on earth does it help to start a tariff/trade war that will raise prices for AMERICANS, hurt AMERICA’s economy, cost AMERICANS jobs, etc? Just total craziness, and Bolling should be calling that out, not blathering about how Trump’s concerns are “valid.” 

BREAKING: Del. Dan Helmer Files Lawsuit Seeking $15 Million in Compensatory Damages for What He Argues Was Defamation Leading Up to the June 2024 VA10 Democratic Primary

By
lowkell
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3

If you recall, the Democratic primary in VA10 last June got nasty towards the end, with unsubstantiated allegations against Del. Dan Helmer – a leading candidate in that primary to succeed Rep. Jennifer Wexton:

According to the The New York Times, a Democratic Party official, through an anonymous statement from her attorney in June 2024, accused Helmer of “groping her and later making sexually crude remarks.” Current and former Loudoun County Democratic Party officials said that the committee “developed its sexual harassment policies in response to “the egregious harassment” of a Loudoun County party member by Mr. Helmer. Helmer was accused of grabbing the woman’s breast after a political event during his 2018 campaign as he lewdly referred to her body and propositioned her for sex with him and other women while describing the different sexual positions he wanted to try with her.

Numerous Democratic Party politicians and officials, including three former Loudoun County party chairmen, and the National Organization for Women (NOW) called on Helmer to withdraw from the race…

At the time, it was a very close contest between State Sen. Suhas Subramanyam and Del. Helmer, with the final results a fairly narrow victory for Subramanyam over Helmer (30.4%-26.6%), with several other candidates trailing significantly behind – and with no “Ranked Choice Voting” (ergo, no need to get 50% of the vote – just “first past the post”). So, in the end, given how close that primary was, it’s certainly possible that Helmer might have won without the last-minute allegations against him.

Now, over seven months later, Dan Helmer has filed a lawsuit in Fairfax County Circuit Court (see below; also, see here –  case number: CL-2025-0001487) alleging defamation and asking for judgment of $15 million as “compensatory damages,” as well as “an award of treble damages, costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.” The defendants listed in the lawsuit and other details of the case – including Helmer’s case for why he believes he was defamed – can be seen below.  So other than the money, this case is important for Helmer because as of right now, the allegations against him are hanging out there, and obviously if they’re false, he’d want to clear his name for a bunch of reasons – including his future in politics.  Anyway, check out the lawsuit…and stay tuned for more on this story.

 

Saturday News: “FBI Agents Are Stunned by the Scale of the Expected Trump Purge”; “Wrecking ball: Trump’s power-hungry orders wage war on US government”; “Trump’s Test of the Constitution”; As DNC Picks New Chair, Dems “Need More Than a New Message”

By
lowkell
-
9

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, February 1. Disturbing news today on multiple fronts…

Video: VA Sen. Creigh Deeds Joins The Commonwealth Institute, SEIU Virginia State Council and Protect Our Care in Calling on Congressional Republicans Not to Cut Medicaid for Virginians

By
Blue Virginia
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1

From SEIU, Protect Our Care, and the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis on a press conference yesterday in which “Senator Creigh Deeds (D-Charlottesville)…joined The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, SEIU Virginia State Council and Protect Our Care Virginia to discuss congressional Republicans’ plan to slash trillions from Medicaid in order to hand out $4.6 trillion in tax breaks to the wealthy.”

Senator Creigh Deeds Joins The Commonwealth Institute, SEIU Virginia State Council and Protect Our Care in Calling on Congressional Republicans Not to Cut Medicaid for Virginians

Watch the event HERE and view photos from the event HERE.

RICHMOND, Va. – Senator Creigh Deeds (D-Charlottesville) yesterday joined The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, SEIU Virginia State Council and Protect Our Care Virginia to discuss congressional Republicans’ plan to slash trillions from Medicaid in order to hand out $4.6 trillion in tax breaks to the wealthy.

Virginia is one of nine states with a trigger law that will automatically disenroll the entire Medicaid expansion population (more than 600,000 Virginians, or roughly 7% of the state) if federal Medicaid reimbursement levels for that population drop below the current 90%. Fortunately, Senator Deeds and Chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee Ghazala Hashmi have both introduced budget amendments that will remove the trigger language so that the commonwealth is not forced to automatically take health care away from more than 600,000 people if federal reimbursement levels fall even one percentage point.

“In 2018, we recognized that there was a potential for this,” said Senator Deeds. “What if the federal government reneges on their promise? We know since we’ve had Medicaid, since 1965, the federal government has never reneged on their promise. Will they under this president? Maybe that’s the precedent he wants to set. So over 600,000 people are at risk of losing access to health care because of this irresponsible act. It is a federal responsibility. We’ve got to hold their feet to the fire and make sure that the federal government addresses this. But this is something that is going to affect real Virginians.”

“Medicaid is one of the most powerful tools that we have to fight health disparities, poverty and pandemics. Without Medicaid expansion, Virginia would not be leading the South in the percentage of people who have health insurance,” said Senator Hashmi. “Virginia can and must be a leader in the wake of new federal incompetence. Donald Trump and congressional Republicans will continue to prioritize themselves and their ultra-wealthy friends over hardworking people. They do not care if the Medicaid portal doesn’t work because they do not care about Medicaid here in Virginia.”

“Medicaid expansion has removed barriers to care, particularly for many people who are Black and Latino,” said Ashley Kenneth, President and CEO of The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis. “Roughly one in five adults enrolled through expansion are parents, and we know that when parents have health coverage, their children are also more likely to have health coverage. Expanding health care access through Medicaid expansion is about more than health coverage. It’s also about economic security. For people who are eligible due to expansion, Medicaid enrollment is associated with decreased concern about housing, food, health care costs and more.”

“Medicaid makes it possible for people with disabilities and elderly Virginians to receive the care they need and deserve,” said Julia Newton, a home care worker and member of SEIU Virginia 512. “Home care workers make that care possible. We are essential workers who are paid through Medicaid in order to provide assistance for your loved ones. We make it possible for people to receive care and stay in their homes. But now congressional Republicans are trying to gut Medicaid funding in order to pay for tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. Any reduction from the federal government for Medicaid expansion would mean Virginia automatically ends the program. This would leave hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom seek home care services, without care, and that is cruel and unjust.”

“I am self-employed, and I lived without health insurance for years,” said Richmond resident Katina Moss. “But thanks to a decision from Virginia’s General Assembly to expand Medicaid, cost was no longer a barrier to seeking the care that I needed. Medicaid allows me to care for my parents without having to sacrifice my own health and well-being. I really don’t see how I would be able to go to my doctor’s appointments, or, if necessary, get prescription medications if my coverage were taken away. There are over 630,000 people who are in my same situation, keeping an eye on what is happening with federal Medicaid funding and wondering, will we have health coverage later this year, this month, or even tomorrow?”

Most Americans have favorable views toward Medicaid and overwhelmingly oppose cuts to the program. For years, rising health care costs have been on the top of people’s minds, and they have been a core part of the public’s economic concerns.

You can view the full event here, view photos from the event here, and learn more about the GOP threats to Medicaid 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.

Video: In Debate Over Bill on Clean Energy, VA Senate Republicans Show They’re Simply Not Serious (One Even Refers to the “Gulf of AMERICA”); Dem Leader Surovell the Exact Opposite (Fact/Reality-Based, Well-Informed, etc.)

By
lowkell
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1

I dare anyone to watch the video from this morning in the Virginia State Senate, specifically the debate over SB1040 (” Amends certain renewable energy portfolio standard program requirements for Dominion Energy Virginia, including the annual percentage of program requirements to be met with behind-the meter solar, wind, or anaerobic digestion resources of three megawatts or less located in the Commonwealth. The bill also removes the requirement for a solar-powered or wind-powered generation facility to have a capacity of no less than 50 kilowatts to qualify for a third party power purchase agreement under a pilot program.”), and make a case that Virginia Republicans are serious lawmakers. Because, actually, they’re a bunch of clowns.

Check it out and decide for yourself, as Virginia Republican Senators Ryan McDougle and Mark Obenshain throw out straw man after red herring, right-wing talking point after Fox “News”-style blather, nonsensical understanding of Econ 101, even referring to the “Gulf of AMERICA” (that alone marks the individual, in this case far-right-extremist Sen. Obenshain, as a non-serious individual), while Democrats talk about facts, science, empirical evidence, return on investment, etc.  The contrast between these two parties couldn’t be greater.

By the way, in the end, SB1040 passed the Senate overwhelmingly, with only the most wackadoodle Republicans voting against it…

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