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Friday News: "This is supposed to be the age of reason, Donald Trump notwithstanding"

Friday, September 4, 2015


Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, September 4. Also see the video of Rep. Don Beyer talking about climate science/facts, climate change denial, what to do about this crisis, and the many benefits of the Clean Power Plan. Also participating in the discussion were Del. Marcus Simon (D-Falls Church), Sarah Bucci of Environment Virginia and Jennifer Abel of the Virginia Cooperative Extension. With regard to science denial, Beyer had a great line: "This is supposed to be the age of reason, Donald Trump notwithstanding."

*Booker, Warner, Heitkamp Announce Support for Iran Nuclear Deal (Excellent, thank you Senator Warner!)
*Trump's party loyalty pledge ends one GOP problem, brings others
*Republican candidates bash China at our own peril ("The GOP's breakdown of vision and discipline.")
*Kim Davis is off to jail for refusing to do her job (How about firing her?)
*Donald Trump Mixes Up The Quds Force And The Kurds In A Radio Interview
*Joe Biden's plausibly deniable campaign ("The vice president is testing himself and testing the waters, but still does not know if his family can take another run.")
*The media's baffling Bernie bias: How the Vermont senator is undermined at every turn ("Sanders continues to gain ground on the Democratic frontrunner, and still he's treated like a fringe candidate")
*Hell is 4 hours of "Morning Joe": Why MSNBC just made a horrible & disappointing mistake ("MSNBC is in reinvention mode - so why is it giving a boost to its most insulting & predictable program?")
*Report says Virginia ranks 30th in solar power (Embarrassing and disgraceful, thanks a lot Dominion - not!)
*Jim Webb wants help for 'insurgent' campaign (Translation of "insurgent": short on cash.)
*Delegate Hugo joins Rubio's Virginia campaign
*U.S. court moves ahead with plan to redraw Virginia congressional maps
*Candidate rolls out 2nd tv ad in race for Va.'s 29th State Senate seat ("Race between Republican Harry J. Parrish II and Democrat Jeremy McPike will be closely watched.")
*Va. Democrats renew call for background checks for gun-show purchases
*DisgracefUL neglect of mentally ill in jail ("If this is what one mentally ill man endures at a jail that specializes in handling inmates with such problems, what fate do other inmates face? And what of the inmates in lesser equipped jails?")
*Metro will seek a specialist to change management, workplace culture
*Editorial: Keep asking questions about parole
*Commonwealth's attorney announces murder indictment of Portsmouth officer
*A rare laugher: Nationals hammer Braves, 15-1; gain ground on idle Mets (Good, although it still only counts as one win.)
*D.C. area forecast: Heat, humidity, and thundershowers of today take a few days off this weekend
lowkell :: Friday News: "This is supposed to be the age of reason, Donald Trump notwithstanding"
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Video: Virginia Del. Marcus Simon talks about Clean Power Plan, Republicans' denial of climate science (0.00 / 0) [delete comment]
Del. Simon noted that it's "Orwellian" how Republicans won't even say the words "climate change" (because they are terrified of their science-denying "base" voters), and that those who believe in taking action to head off disastrous global climate chaos have to change the words and use convoluted phrases like "persistent local flooding" with Republicans. Great, huh?

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Video: Rep. Beyer on a revenue-neutral carbon tax; Del. Simon on being strategic in Richmond (0.00 / 0) [delete comment]


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Obama continues to kill the economy part #million; oh wait, actually unemployment down to 5.1%, 173k jobs created in August (0.00 / 0)[delete comment]
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- AUGUST 2015Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 173,000 in August, and the unemployment rate edged down to 5.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in health care and social assistance and in
financial activities. Manufacturing and mining lost jobs.
Household Survey Data
In August, the unemployment rate edged down to 5.1 percent, and the number of unemployed persons edged down to 8.0 million. Over the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons were down by 1.0 percentage point
and 1.5 million, respectively. (See table A-1.)
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for whites declined to 4.4 percent in August. The rates for adult men (4.7 percent), adult women (4.7 percent), teenagers (16.9 percent), blacks (9.5 percent), Asians (3.5 percent), and Hispanics (6.6 percent) showed little change in August.
(See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
The number of persons unemployed for less than 5 weeks decreased by 393,000 to 2.1 million in August. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) held at 2.2 million in August and accounted for 27.7 percent of the unemployed. Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term
unemployed is down by 779,000. (See table A-12.)
In August, the civilian labor force participation rate was 62.6 percent for the third consecutive month. The employment-population ratio, at 59.4 percent, was about unchanged in August and has shown little movement thus far this
year. (See table A-1.)
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed in August at 6.5 million. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-8.)
In August, 1.8 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down by 329,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They
were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)
Among the marginally attached, there were 624,000 discouraged workers in August, down by 151,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.2 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in August had not
searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-16.)
Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 173,000 in August. Over the prior 12 months, employment growth had averaged 247,000 per month. In August, job gains occurred in health care and social assistance and in financial activities. Employment in manufacturing and mining declined. (See table B-1.)
Health care and social assistance added 56,000 jobs in August. Health care employment increased by 41,000 over the month, with job growth occurring in ambulatory health care services (+21,000) and hospitals (+16,000). Employment rose by 16,000 in social assistance, which includes child day care services
and services for the elderly and disabled. Over the year, employment has risen by 457,000 in health care and by 107,000 in social assistance.
In August, financial activities employment increased by 19,000, with job gains in real estate (+8,000) and in securities, commodity contracts, and investments (+5,000). Over the year, employment in financial activities has
grown by 170,000.
Employment in professional and business services continued to trend up in August (+33,000) and has increased by 641,000 over the year.
Employment in food services and drinking places continued on an upward trend in August (+26,000), in line with its average monthly gain of 31,000 over the prior 12 months.
Manufacturing employment decreased by 17,000 in August, after changing little in July (+12,000). Job losses occurred in a number of component industries, including fabricated metal products and food manufacturing (-7,000 each). These losses more than offset gains in motor vehicles and parts (+6,000) and in miscellaneous durable goods manufacturing (+4,000). Thus far this year, overall employment in manufacturing has shown little net change.
Employment in mining fell in August (-9,000), with losses concentrated in support activities for mining (-7,000). Since reaching a peak in December 2014, mining employment has declined by 90,000.
Employment in other major industries, including construction, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, and government, showed little change over the month.
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour to 34.6 hours in August. The manufacturing workweek was unchanged at 40.8 hours, and factory overtime edged down by 0.1 hour to 3.3 hours. The
average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.7 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)
In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 8 cents to $25.09, following a 6-cent gain in July. Hourly earnings have risen by 2.2 percent over the year. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 5 cents to $21.07 in August. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for June was revised from +231,000 to +245,000, and the change for July was revised from +215,000 to +245,000. With these revisions, employment gains in June and July combined were 44,000 more than previously reported. Over the past 3 months, job gains have averaged 221,000 per month.


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Unfortunately, Kim Davis can't be fired. (0.00 / 0) [delete comment]
You asked, Lowell, why she can't be fired.As an elected official, Kim Davis, Clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky, can only be removed from office if she resigns or is impeached by the Kentucky legislature. The legislature isn't in session until next year, and, given that one chamber is controlled by conservative Republicans -- many of whom support her -- she is unlikely to be impeached (even though she's a Democrat).
Jailing her was the only way to remove her from office to allow the marriages to be processed. The judge said Davis could be released from jail if she merely promised not to interfere with her deputies processing the licenses. But Davis said she WOULD interfere and do everything she could to stop her deputies from issuing the licenses. (Will she fire them for obeying the law? That would be a very interesting wrongful termination case!)
So yes, jail was appropriate. And Davis will stay there until she resigns, agrees not to interfere with her deputies following the law, or loses the next election. (If Davis runs for re-election in 2018, I assume she'll lose, although maybe some voters will want her to be paid $80,000 to stay in jail?)
[ Reply |  ]
Well that sucks. (0.00 / 0) [delete comment]
n/t

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[ Parent | Reply ]
Sanders... (0.00 / 0) [delete comment]
He may not be getting the attention his fans think he deserves as a viable candidate...but really, be careful what you ask for...he hasn't been the target of the right wing smear machine yet either. Once he is viewed as viable he will get a taste of what Hillary Clinton has had to put up with for 30 years!
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Perhaps so, but... (0.00 / 0) [delete comment]
...that doesn't excuse the corporate media from pushing their own agenda and for failing to cover a major political story for no good reason.

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Not a fan of Sanders.. (0.00 / 0) [delete comment]
At all. I do think he is more than a marginal candidate however. But really, to expect the media to change is tilting at windmills. Anyone running for President has to expect and account for this behavior. Complaining about media coverage - and I haven't heard this coming from Sanders directly, only his supporters - is counterproductive.
[ Parent | Reply |  ]
I'm undecided...not a Sanders supporter (0.00 / 0) [delete comment]
I just think the corporate media has all kinds of agendas in a wide variety of areas and will continue to call them out for that.

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Former Del. Bob Brink named "Senior Legislative Advisor" to Gov. McAuliffe (0.00 / 0) [delete comment]
Governor Terry McAuliffe announced additional appointments to his Administration today. The appointees will join McAuliffe's Administration focused on finding common ground with members of both parties on issues that will build a new Virginia economy and create more jobs across the Commonwealth.Office of the Governor
Robert "Bob" Brink, Senior Legislative Advisor 
Bob Brink has served as Deputy Commissioner for Aging Services, Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, since July 2014. Previously he represented Arlington and Fairfax Counties in the Virginia House of Delegates for 17 years, serving as a member of the Appropriations, Education, Transportation, and Privileges and Elections Committees as well as the Joint Commission on Health Care. Prior to his election to the House of Delegates, Bob served for 15 years as counsel to two Congressional committees and four years as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Posted by Lowell at 8:17 AM