Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, October 7. Also, if you want yet another example of right-wing insanity, check out the audio from yesterday's call with E.W. Jackson - the 2013 Republican nominee for Virginia Lt. Governor, I'd remind eveyrone - and raving anti-Muslim bigot William J. Federer. A classic moment comes when Jackson asks Federer how he reads Barack Obama, who, according to Jackson, "of course some people suspect [Obama] is a Muslim...I don't share that view but I do think he has a lot of Islamic sympathies, that's not even in dispute...how do you see him and his response and the way he approaches Islam together with the influx of refugees and all of that." Cuckoo! Cuckoo! We'll have more on this conference call later, as there is a ton of stuff in there that exposes the far right wing for what it is.
- Paul Krugman: TPP Take Two ("Rs in general are mad because the labor protection stuff is stronger than expected. All of these are good things from my point of view. I’ll need to do much more homework once the details are clearer.")
- The war on Planned Parenthood ("Lives hang in the balance.")
- Joe Biden: No Money, Weak Polls, but Still Clinton’s Toughest Rival Jindal Pens Angry Blog Post Blaming Oregon Shooting On Abortion, Movies, Absent Dads (Yep, it IS the "stupid party," just as Jindal said, except that Jindal is the epitome of it!)
- Ben Carson advocates arming kindergarten teachers
- New Analysis Ranks Presidential Candidates By Their Supporters’ Grammar (Don't know the difference between its/it's or your/you're or they're/their/there? You're probably a Trump supporter! LOL)
- Gallup gives up the horse race (Well, they were totally wrong in 2012, so unless they can fix that, it's probably the right decision.)
- Editorial: In Virginia, reforming juvenile justice McAuliffe tells local governments K-12 spending
- 'No.1 priority' for budget Schapiro: Norment-Saslaw debate a reminder of old-school Senate ("Tommy Norment and Dick Saslaw showed just how out of step they are with the new politics of the Virginia Senate.")
- Opposing Medicaid without good reason ("Republican state lawmakers' refusal to accept billions in Virginians' federal taxes to subsidize insurance for some 400,000 uninsured people has repeatedly been exposed as the partisan political ploy that it is.")
- Absentee voting stirs up Democrats, Republicans (Republicans, as usual, want to make it HARDER to vote, constantly raising the specter of non-existent "voter fraud" as a lame excuse.)
- Senate candidates face off in doubleheader forum ("In a doubleheader forum, candidates chasing the 19th and 21st District Virginia Senate seats made their cases to voters Tuesday on issues surrounding Medicaid expansion, business regulations and the economic needs of Southwest Virginia.")
- Radio ad campaign to urge Goodlatte to act on criminal justice reform Virginia 6th Senate District forum hears testy questions Economist: Regional economy is "running in place" ("Hampton Roads is still far behind the state and nation in terms of job growth...")
- Obenshain, Moore eye campaign differences ("Moore said her campaign is focused on opposition to lavish campaign spending by corporations, curbing global warming and support for Medicaid expansion.")
- Voter Forum Showcases More Emotion Than Policy Clashes In Chairman Race Virginia Beach councilmen propose funding cut for light rail, referendum (Stupid.)
- Metro acknowledges breakdowns might be adding to a ridership decline ("In an unusually candid report, transit managers cite the possible financial consequences of daily rail problems." Also, constant maintenance, "single tracking," etc. At this point, I rarely if ever take Metro on the weekend, for instance, because it's so pathetically slow and unreliable.)
- The humbling of Mike Rizzo and the Nationals ("The franchise’s pride and swagger have taken a hit. Now is the time to learn from the disappointment.")
- Alexandria Democrats set up ‘truth squad’ Web site in City Council race
- D.C. area forecast: Superb stretch until shower chances Friday into Saturday
