Election 2019: House freshman Abigail Spanberger campaigns for the 2019 slate.

One of the two, top-priority Virginia Senate races for Democrats to win on November 5 is in SD10, a Chesterfield County/Richmond City/Powhatan County district Ralph Northam won by 15 points (57%-42%) in 2017. Aside from the district’s clear “blue” tilt, another reason to feel optimistic about Democrats winning here in 59 days is that the Democratic Party’s nominee, Ghazala Hashmi, is super impressive – and also that the Republican incumbent, Glen Sturtevant, is…well, not. For more on Hashmi, see the Blue Virginia endorsement here and also Sen. Tim Kaine Campaigns for…Ghazala Hashmi, in which she (correctly and confidently) asserts, “In 2019, Virginia is my home, and Ghazala Hashmi is an American name!”

Also, check out the following video and photos by Dem activist extraordinaire, Carrie Pruett, who reports: “Fantastic turnout for @hashmi4vasenate. Great to hear from our electeds @repspanberger, State Senator McClellan + Delegates Kathy Tran and Sam Rasoul!” Note that the event was hosted by Asian Americans Impacting Virginia.

According to Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA07), Hashmi “is an educator, she is a woman who has given herself to her students, to her community, to teach, to educate…who has spent her life helping people in our community…and will now be in the State Senate focusing on ensuring that you have affordable, quality healthcare and that we can make forward movement on issues like background checks and gun violence restraining orders…legislation that will make our communities safer.”

For her part, Hashmi quotes the poet Walt Whitman, stating, “I hear America singing. I hear America singing. When he said those words he was talking about all…of what it means to be an American.” As Hashmi has previously explained, Whitman’s words are relevant today, as “we are living through a rather ugly, ugly period” and that “there are some people who do not want to hear other people singing in America, or other people daring to claim this country as their own.” Which is one of many reasons, of course, why it’s so important that SD10 voters elect Ghazala Hashmi on November 5. There’s also the fact that Glen Sturtevant is a phony “moderate” and an all-around bad representative for this diverse, progressive State Senate district. Definitely time for a change in 59 days!



https://bluevirginia.us/2019/09/video-photos-rep-abigail-spanberger-sen-jennifer-mcclellan-del-sam-rasoul-del-kathy-tran-support-ghazala-hashmi-for-state-senate-in-district-10

Tweet of the Day

Manufacturers Invest Less as Trade War Continues

Wall Street Journal: “U.S. manufacturers are investing less in their factories and workforces as the trade dispute with China makes it more difficult for executives to anticipate costs and demand. The shifting contours of the tariffs that the U.S. and China have applied to each other’s goods are prompting some companies to put business plans on hold. Others are cutting back investments as trade volumes and economic growth slow around the world.”

“These companies are buying fewer machines for their factory floors and shortening shifts. The knock-on effect means lower sales for those suppliers and less pay for workers, contributing to slower U.S. economic growth.”



https://politicalwire.com/2019/09/08/manufacturers-invest-less-as-trade-war-continues/

Scottish government dragged into USAF scandal.

A powerful committee in the US Congress has launched an inquiry into spending by the US Defence Department at the Scottish Government owned Prestwick Airport amid concerns of "serious conflicts of interest" and potential violations over military custom at the loss making hub and President Donald Trump's nearby Turnberry resort.


The House Oversight and Reform Committee said US military spending at the publicly owned South Ayrshire airport had "increased substantially" since Trump came to office, and points out that the airport is "integral" to Turnberry's financial success.

Its comes after a recent Scotsman investigation detailed how Prestwick's parent company has received more than £9.02m for 644 orders to refuel US Armed Forces aircraft between October 2017 and March this year.

The deal with the US Defence Logistics Agency (DLA), which manages the global supply chain for the US Army, Air Force, and Navy, is by far the airport's single biggest revenue stream.

Patrick Harvie MSP, co leader of the Scottish Greens, has accused the Scottish Government of "propping up Donald Trump's militaristic agenda" given the airport's extensive US military custom.

However, the spending has also raised questions over whether Trump's golf resort and hotel is benefiting from the flurry of US military activity in the area.

It emerged yesterday that an Air National Guard crew who stopped over at Prestwick on a C-17 military transport plane while en route to Kuwait stayed at Trump's loss making flagship Scottish resort.



https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/congress-probe-as-us-military-spending-increase-at-prestwick-airport-linked-to-trump-turnberry-1-4999593

Prosecutors Are Going After A Woman Acquitted For Having A Stillbirth -- For A Third Time

MEXICO CITY — El Salvador’s attorney general is appealing the decision to acquit Evelyn Hernández, a Salvadoran woman who served prison time for aggravated homicide after delivering a stillborn baby, marking the state’s third attempt to prosecute her.

Hernández, who said the pregnancy was the result of rape, was acquitted last month after a retrial, having spent almost three years in prison. But despite everything the 21-year-old has had to endure, she might have to stand trial once more.

“There are no elements to consider her a victim,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement Friday morning, “on the contrary, the only victim is her son.”

Hernández’s acquittal by a Salvadoran court three weeks ago was seen as a victory for women’s rights in the conservative country. Abortion there is banned in all cases, including when the woman’s life is in danger. Impoverished women suspected of having undergone an abortion are regularly prosecuted for homicide and sentenced to as many as 40 years in prison.




https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/karlazabludovsky/evelyn-hernandez-el-salvador-stillbirth

Ted Lieu puts NOAA on notice.

Extra Bonus Tweet of the Day

Election 2019: Money flowing to Virginia legislative races from both sides of gun control issue

RICHMOND — National groups on both sides of the gun control issue are pouring money into Virginia legislative races, with the NRA making an unusually large donation to a Republican leader and Everytown for Gun Safety escalating its contributions to Democrats.

Everytown’s Action Fund said Thursday morning that it was spending an additional $438,000 to help turn the Virginia legislature blue in November, on top of $135,000 in digital ad buys it announced last month. The gun-control group founded by former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has promised to spend $2.5 million this year in Virginia, where all 140 seats in the GOP-controlled state legislature are on the November ballot and the balance of power is at stake.

The announcement came two days after the National Rifle Association donated $200,000 to the political action committee of House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah). That’s by far the NRA’s largest one-time contribution in Virginia in at least the past 20 years, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. The NRA has contributed a total of about $800,000 directly to candidates over that same time frame, according to VPAP.

The NRA traditionally wields power by mobilizing its network of members rather than through large donations. It also makes relatively small independent expenditures, advocating for or against candidates without going through a candidate’s campaign. So far in 2019, the NRA has reported just over $12,000 in such expenditures, according to VPAP.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/money-flowing-to-virginia-legislative-races-from-both-sides-of-gun-control-issue/2019/09/04/7971a008-cf52-11e9-8c1c-7c8ee785b855_story.html

NOAA staff warned in Sept. 1 directive against contradicting Trump

Nearly a week before the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration publicly backed President Trump over its own scientists, a top NOAA official warned its staff against contradicting the president.

In an agencywide directive sent Sept. 1 to National Weather Service personnel, hours after Trump asserted, with no evidence, that Alabama “would most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated,” staff was told to “only stick with official National Hurricane Center forecasts if questions arise from some national level social media posts which hit the news this afternoon.”

They were also told not to “provide any opinion,” according to a copy of the email obtained by The Washington Post.

A NOAA meteorologist who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution said the note, understood internally to be referring to Trump, came after the National Weather Service office in Birmingham contradicted Trump by tweeting Alabama would “NOT see any impacts from the hurricane.”


https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/noaa-staff-warned-in-sept-1-directive-against-contradicting-trump/2019/09/07/12a52d1a-d18f-11e9-87fa-8501a456c003_story.html

Gabbard: Impeachment would only tear U.S. apart

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) said in a new interview that she opposes an effort by dozens of House Democrats for an impeachment inquiry into the president, saying it would cause further divisions within the U.S.

In an interview on "Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren," the 2020 candidate for president took a firm stance against impeachment, putting her at odds with other Democratic candidates for president including Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

"I don’t [support impeachment,]" Gabbard said. "You know, I think it’s important for us to think about what is in the best interest of the country and the American people, and continuing to pursue impeachment is something that I think will only further to tear our country apart."

"Make no bones about it: We need to defeat Donald Trump. But I think it’s important for our country’s sake and our future that the voters in this country are the ones who do that, and I believe that we will," Gabbard added.

132 House Democrats have come out in favor of beginning impeachment proceedings, though the issue is not supported by Democratic establishment leaders such as Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has called for investigations into the president to continue.

A Monmouth University poll in August found that 57 percent of Americans want to see Trump replaced with a different president, but also found that just over a third support beginning impeachment proceedings.



https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/460398-gabbard-impeachment-would-only-tear-us-apart