Should Congressional Staffers Have Their Private Twitter Accounts Published?

-By Warner Todd Huston

A Congressional watchdog group called LegiStorm has announced a sweeping new project aimed at government transparency. But part of that project has staffers on Capitol Hill crying foul because it lists all their private Twitter accounts.

On April 3, LegiStorm announced its new StormFeed tool saying it is a, “real-time, full-text searchable access to every official press release and official tweet from Capitol Hill plus the tweets of thousands of congressional staffers.”

But many staffers began to complain when they began finding their own private info on the thing. Worse, many found out of date or simply wrong info on it. As one staffer told Politico, “I was pretty surprised to show that they even listed who I married, when I married him and where. Why in the world does that need to be in there?”

Politico also said this: “A Democratic staffer said the new feature brings an unwelcome level of scrutiny to a group of people who haven’t sought the spotlight.”

Democrat or no, isn’t this staffer correct, here?
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Should Congressional Staffers Have Their Private Twitter Accounts Published?”


Eagle-Killing, Investment-Wasting ‘Renewable’ Energy

-By Warner Todd Huston

The “Green Energy” sector has been hit with a series of setbacks over the last few years. From a wind farm being cited for killing an endangered eagle, to solar energy’s tumble from investor favor over dismal performance, to a growing list of companies gone bankrupt even after President Obama pumped millions of our tax dollars into them, the so-called Green Energy sector has certainly seen better, more hopeful days.

In the realm of farce, a wind farm in Nevada finds itself at an unfortunate crossroads of political correctness. Even as the wind farm in White Pine County, Nevada is a favored “Green Energy” nirvana, the company that runs it is under threat of sanctions by the federal government. Why? Because a protected Golden Eagle flew into one of the farm’s turbines killing itself.

Now, San Francisco-based Pattern Energy is awaiting a decision from the feds on whether or not they will have to pay a $3,000 fine for killing the endangered bird.

But as the President might say, that is but “a bump in the road.” Worse than the death of a protected eagle, a recent analysis reveals that the bottom has fallen out of solar energy investments.
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Eagle-Killing, Investment-Wasting ‘Renewable’ Energy”


VIDEO: What Can Washington Politicians Learn From America’s Moms?

Bankrupting America asks American mothers what Washington D.C. could do better. Their answers are so filled with common sense, that one wonders how Washington could be so stupid.

Listen to your mothers, Washington!

http://BankruptingAmerica.org


Phyllis Schlafly On the GOP Establishment, Karl Rove, Mitt Romney and Other ‘Losers’

-By Warner Todd Huston

This year at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), I was fortunate enough to get some time to interview one of the most redoubtable conservative activists in the nation, Phyllis Schlafly. In this eighteen minute video you will encounter a woman that is extremely vital and at 89-years-of-age still sharp as a tack.

As is her wont, Schlafly eschewed kid gloves with her frank discussion of the GOP establishment and how those effete, east coast, country clubbers are at war with the conservative, Midwestern grassroots.

Take Schlafly’s description of “the establishment,” for instance:
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Phyllis Schlafly On the GOP Establishment, Karl Rove, Mitt Romney and Other ‘Losers’”


VIDEO: Rep. Rick Santorum Talks About Pope Francis and The Media Bias

-By Warner Todd Huston

On March 15 the good folks of the National Bloggers Club hosted a private visit by Senator Rick Santorum at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

The subject of most of his comments as well as the questions asked centered around the new Pope and the Catholic Church. One of his replies was particularly interesting and it wasn’t just interesting because it was an answer to a question I asked the Senator myself.

I asked about how the media is and/or will treat the Catholic Church on the issue of “reform” as the new Pope takes charge of his world-wide flock. Santorum noted that the Church can’t change its spots just because the culture does. The Church is supposed to be teaching truth, not bending constantly to cultural changes.

Santorum’s reply:
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VIDEO: Rep. Rick Santorum Talks About Pope Francis and The Media Bias”


Sen. Schumer Quietly Adds Extreme Measures to Gun Sellers Bill

-By Warner Todd Huston

Senator Chuck Schumer (D, NY) has quietly added a slew of new measures to his self-sponsored gun control bill currently making its way through the Senate.

Schumer has been battling to get his Protecting Responsible Gun Sellers Act of 2013 (S 374)–now to be called the Fix Gun Checks Act of 2013–passed into law, but one of the early problems with the bill was that it was essentially a shell or placeholder bill–a bill not completely written at the time of introduction.

Ostensibly, Schumer’s bill is meant to change current laws to require that all firearms sales initiate a background check on the buyer before the sale is legal. Currently, private, non-gun merchant citizens are exempt from performing background checks when they sell guns to other private citizens.
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Sen. Schumer Quietly Adds Extreme Measures to Gun Sellers Bill”


Sequester? Federal Gov’t Still Offering High-Paid Internships

-By Warner Todd Huston

Even as President Obama ginned up fears of a government shut down because of cuts from sequestration, the federal government is still offering a myriad of high-paid internships.

A search by Fox News of the federal employment site found 84 new internships and student programs that had been posted in the last 10 days.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture warned meat producers that inspections would have to be halted due to sequestration, but even as the dept. threatens to shut down food production it is offering 12 new openings.
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Sequester? Federal Gov’t Still Offering High-Paid Internships”


Sources: NRA Won’t Oppose New Background Check Legislation

-By Warner Todd Huston

A new reports claims that Senate insiders are saying that the National Rifle Association will not oppose new gun control measures that will require universal background checks on all gun sales, including those between private citizens, but only if certain records keeping requirements are removed.

NBC reports that unnamed Senate aides say that the NRA will not oppose Senator Chuck Schumer’s (D, NY) universal background check proposal (S. 436) if the bill does not require private gun owners to maintain records of the background checks filed with the government.

Officially the NRA is denying the claims of these unnamed Senate aides. “We do not take positions on hypotheticals,” said NRA lobbyist Chris Cox. “We will make our position known if and when legislation is introduced.”
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Sources: NRA Won’t Oppose New Background Check Legislation”


Reuters Regurgitates Democrat Talking Points on Budget Plan

-By Warner Todd Huston

On March 12, Representative Paul Ryan (R, WI) released the GOP’s budget proposal sparking an afternoon of analysis and criticism. By Tuesday evening Reuters was contrasting Ryan’s budget with one sponsored by Senator Patty Murray (D, WA). But there is one problem with Reuters’ analysis. The Democrats didn’t actually release any budget for Reuters to analyze at the time of publication. So, Reuters simply regurgitated Murray’s talking points.

In the Reuters report, the pair of budgets were deemed difficult to pass because they appear “crafted to appeal to their respective party bases.”

Reuters claimed that the problem with Ryan’s budget is that it is likely aimed at getting Rep. Ryan the 2016 GOP Presidential nomination as opposed to being a serious attempt to solve Washington’s budget problems.
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Reuters Regurgitates Democrat Talking Points on Budget Plan”


SHOCKING PHOTO: Obamacare and a Seven-Foot Tall Stack of New Regulations

-By Warner Todd Huston

The office of Senator Mitch McConnell, the GOP minority leader in the Senate, has sent out a shocking photo.

This is over 20,000 pages and measures 7′ 2.5″. These are all the Obamacare regulations published in the Federal Register up through last week. Then last Friday they added another 828 pages.

Unbelievable.

And hidden in this giant stack of intrusive new regulations that seem to grow every month is a major job loss problem.

Douglas Elmendorf, Director of the Congressional Budget Office, said in February of 2011 that Obamacare could cost 800,000 jobs and the Federal Reserve has stated that Obamacare is the reason for “planned layoffs.”
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SHOCKING PHOTO: Obamacare and a Seven-Foot Tall Stack of New Regulations”


VIDEO: Anthony Gregory on Rand Paul’s Senate Filibuster

An interesting run down of what Rand Paul’s filibuster brought Washington D.C. posted by Anthony Gregory of California’s Independent Institute.

“This is what’s awesome about Rand Paul’s filibuster… This was over something important for a change…”


Sen. Dianne Feinstein Lies in Senate Gun-Ban Hearing

-By Warner Todd Huston

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D, CA) lied outright in a recent hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee as she advocated for her anti-Constitutional gun-ban bill when she said that it is “legal to hunt humans” with large capacity ammunition magazines.

This is why Feinstein and all like her are clowns…

These anti-American, anti-Constitutionalists are little else but ignorant fear merchants.
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Sen. Dianne Feinstein Lies in Senate Gun-Ban Hearing”


These GOP Senators Went to Dinner with Obama Instead of Supporting Rand Paul

-By Warner Todd Huston

Rand Paul excited conservatives, libertarians, and even some liberals with his filibuster performance on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday. It was some 13 hours of a discussion on Obama’s desire to use drones to kill Americans here at home. Unfortunately, there were seven Republicans Senators that decided it was a better idea to eat dinner with the odious Obama instead of assisting Rand Paul. Worse, two Republicans actually denounced Paul’s efforts. All these Senators need to be gotten rid of.

Rand Paul used the debate about the nomination of John Brennan as his “in” to begin his filibuster. Obama offered the nomination of Brennan as his next CIA chief and Paul used his turn to speak about Brennan as a launching pad to force Obama and the CIA to agree not to kill Americans with domestic drone strikes without trail, warrant, or arrest.

The excitement from rank and file GOPers hungry for some kind of victory was tremendous. Unfortunately, two foolish GOP Senators actually denounced Rand Paul for his successful and exciting effort.

The bobbsey twins, John McCain (Ariz) and his lapdog Lindsay Graham (So. Car.) actually attacked Paul for his filibuster. John McLame, for instance, called Paul “ridiculous.”
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These GOP Senators Went to Dinner with Obama Instead of Supporting Rand Paul”


Tom Brokaw: Obama Spends Too Much Time Campaigning

-By Warner Todd Huston

Old NBC News hand Tom Brokaw made an appearance on MSNBC’s The Cycle on March 4 and criticized President Obama for campaigning too much instead of governing. Brokaw also castigated Obama for refusing to negotiate with Republicans over the budget impasse and the sequester cuts.

Extremely liberal panel member, Touré, asked Brokaw if the budget impasse was because the GOP is “refusing” to work with Obama because they are “incented” [sic] not to work with him.

Brokaw replied that he didn’t think that Republicans were flat out refusing to work with the President but are negotiating with an eye to the 2014 midterm elections and don’t want to give away too much. Brokaw went on to lament that Obama is doing little else but demonizing the GOP instead of looking for ways to work with them.

Transcript
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Tom Brokaw: Obama Spends Too Much Time Campaigning”


What They Said About Hagel’s Confirmation

-By Warner Todd Huston

Strangely, the Old Media establishment seemed to move on quite quickly after former Senator Chuck Hagel was confirmed as the new Secretary of Defense on the evening of February 26. Aside from the perfunctory stories of his confirmation, the media didn’t seem much interested in widespread analysis of what it all meant. It was as if few media outlets felt there was much news in the whole thing

However, there were a few horn-tooters happily proclaiming Obama’s victory.

For the Washington Post, columnist Dana Milbank felt that the whole confirmation process was one “Joe McCarthy would have admired.”

All the anti-Hagel points, Milbank thought, were built only on “innuendos” and “hoaxes.”

The New Yorker’s Alex Koppelman claimed that all opposition to Hagel was just a right-wing “tantrum.”

As far as Koopleman was concerned, this confirmation was an example of GOP “petulance.”
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What They Said About Hagel’s Confirmation”


Sen. Feinstein Gushes Over CNN’s Anti-Gun Piers Morgan, ‘You’ve Been Wonderful’

-By Warner Todd Huston

California Senator Diane Feinstein appeared on Pier Morgan’s evening CNN show on February 28 to talk about her gun-banning bill that is currently on hold in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The interview ended in a gushing mutual admiration society as gun-banner Feinstein applauded gun-hater Morgan and vice versa.

“That gun culture is letting bad things happen,” Feinstein sonorously told Morgan at the tail of the interview.

“Well, you’re doing a fantastic job on this, Senator,” Morgan told her. “I absolutely applaud you and urge you to continue,” he added.

The mutual admiration continued as Feinstein said, “Oh, Piers, thank you.”

“You have been wonderful. Thank you so much for your help. It is uphill all the way,” Feinstein concluded.


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Sen. Feinstein Gushes Over CNN’s Anti-Gun Piers Morgan, ‘You’ve Been Wonderful’”


Assault Weapons Ban Could Get Senate Committee Vote Thursday

-By Warner Todd Huston

The wide ranging gun ban bill introduced by Senator Diane Feinstein (D, CA) could be voted out of committee and passed on to the full Senate as early as Thursday.

A schedule posted for the upcoming February 28 executive business meeting shows the Senate Judiciary Committee intends to discuss Feinstein’s and three other gun control bills, though the eight Republican members of the committee have the option to push the meeting off for another week.

The Feinstein bill bans up to 160 specifically named firearms but might have an uphill battle in the Senate as even some Democrat Senators have said it goes too far by banning too many firearms.

Less than a month ago Senate Democrat majority leader Harry Reid (D, NV) shied from supporting Feinstein’s bill directly, though he praised her “enthusiasm” for her gun banning bill.
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Assault Weapons Ban Could Get Senate Committee Vote Thursday”


Would New Federal Stalking Laws Have Snared Rep. Bill Foster?

-By Warner Todd Huston

This year the Violence Against Women Act is getting some stronger penalties for stalking, assault, and other crimes. With all these new provisions, one wonders that if this law were around 15 years ago, how it would have hit good old Congressman Bill Foster, a man who is guilty of abusing his wife?

The law, called The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (S47), would most certainly have sent Foster to jail for a long time. You see the Illinois Democrat has a chequered history of violence against women.

Some of the additions to S47 include,
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Would New Federal Stalking Laws Have Snared Rep. Bill Foster?”


Chicago Police Chief McCarthy’s Shocking Ignorance of History, the Law, and the U.S. Constitution

-By Warner Todd Huston

Chicago’s top cop is a shockingly ignorant man. Apparently what he knows of American history, the law, and the U.S. Constitution can be held in a thimble. This became glaringly obvious in a radio interview he gave to WLS Radio’s political reporter Bill Cameron.

Chief Garry McCarthy’s blather about the Second Amendment is amazing for its total lack of knowledge. For such a high-ranking official he displays an incredible lack of command on the subject. But, perhaps there is a reason? Perhaps it is less a simple lack of knowledge and more willful ignorance on his part, a purposeful dearth of knowledge he indulges to excuse his authoritarian, un-Constitutional desires to take away the natural, God-given rights of the citizens he polices?

His ignorance is so egregious the only proper way to reply to it is to take his “points,” such as they are, one at a time. So, the following is a transcript of the segment interspersed with my comments.

Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy on WLS, AM 890 with reporter Bill Cameron. 2//17/13

McCarthy: You know, I’m troubled by the special interest. I really, really am and I wonder if we looked at other parts of our society and if there was special interest influencing police work I believe that would be called corruption. So, if it has to do with donating money versus a popular vote I think we have a bigger problem in this country and somebody’s gotta wake up to that.

Even as it almost sounds logical, this is little else but a rhetorical smoke screen that is meaningless and is purposefully meant to both muddy the waters of the discussion and mislead the public. After all, a democratic republic is special interests guiding politicians. Our entire system is set up to operate this way. There isn’t anything shocking, new, different, or even necessarily dangerous about special interests. We’ve always had them.

It is even in the Federalist Papers, the articles written to encourage the people to vote yes on the U.S. Constitution. (Federalist Number 10)
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Chicago Police Chief McCarthy’s Shocking Ignorance of History, the Law, and the U.S. Constitution”


AFP Congressional Scorecard Released

-By Warner Todd Huston

Americans for Prosperity has launched a new project for Americans to track their congressmen. The new website is part of an interactive version of AFP’s congressional key vote scorecard, which includes AFP key votes from the past three congresses.

Eighteen House members and one senator rated an A+ conservative rating while twenty-one reps. and one senator rated an F.

The new scorecard can be seen at afpscorecard.org. (A printable version can be seen HERE).

“The AFP Scorecard is an easy way for our activists, the media, and the general public to keep an eye on Washington. Now that the Scorecard is available on an interactive website it will be even easier to keep an eye on Congress,” said AFP Director of Policy James Valvo.
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AFP Congressional Scorecard Released”


NYT Hails Obama’s ‘Signal’ That Era of ‘Single-Minded Deficit-Cutting Should End’

-By Warner Todd Huston

The paltry spending cuts coming out of Congress are no where near enough to balance Washington’s budget, but in his analysis of the President’s State of the Union speech, New York Times writer Mark Landler happily went to pains to note that Obama signaled the end of “the era of single-minded deficit-cutting.”

One has to wonder what “single-minded deficit-cutting” the Times writer and the President are seeing?

Employing a lot of emotionally tinged rhetoric to favor Obama’s speech, Landler included several subtle tricks to push Obama’s ideas as “tangible” and “helping.” Landler also repeatedly poked Republicans as “still smarting” from the past election and claimed that picking Sen. Marco Rubio for the GOP reply was “implicitly acknowledging” that they had been “damaged.”
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NYT Hails Obama’s ‘Signal’ That Era of ‘Single-Minded Deficit-Cutting Should End’”


NPR Falsely Claims GOP Invented Sequestration

-By Warner Todd Huston

Ahead of the President’s State of the Union speech, taxpayer funded National Public Radio (NPR) tried to help the White House push the false notion that the sequestration budget cut policy was conceived by the Republicans. In truth, it was initiated by Obama and pushed by the Democrat Party.

In order to advertise its coverage, NPR tweeted that sequestration was a “Republican invention.”

“Though A Republican Invention, Obama Could Get Blamed For Sequester… With the deadline approaching for automatic spending cuts, Republicans in Congress are pushing hard to rebrand the cuts that were agreed to as part of the debt-ceiling agreement of 2011,” NPR claimed.
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NPR Falsely Claims GOP Invented Sequestration”


Washington’s Spending Problem

Over the past four years, President Obama and Congress have racked up huge spending bills. From the failed stimulus to the President’ new health care law to runaway spending on entitlement programs, Washington has blown through every dollar taxpayers have sent plus trillions more.

Families all over America are tightening their belts.

It’s time Washington did too.

Thankfully, this year Congress is already poised to cut $85 billion from the federal budget. It’s not enough, but it’s a good start. Let’s make sure Congress doesn’t go back on its word and try to undo the much-needed spending cuts.

Join Americans for Prosperity in sending a message to Washington: it’s long past time to get runaway government spending under control.

SIGN TODAY


Congressman Roskam Previews Obama’s State of the Union Speech

-By Warner Todd Huston

I had a few minutes to speak privately to Illinois Congressman Peter Roskam (R, 6th District) about the upcoming State of the Union speech that the President will give tonight and as far as Roskam is concerned the speech tonight will be nothing but a “highly charged and very, very political” speech that won’t contain many actual solutions.

Roskam, the Chief Deputy Whip of the House, said that he hopes that the President will offer ways to grow private sector jobs and a plan to “live within our means,” but he was not sanguine that he will.

“I think the President is going to lapse right into inauguration speech 2.0 and it’s all going to be highly political, and a lot of wedge issues that are not designed to try and get any kind of concessions or solutions on any of these things,” Roskam told me.

“The irony is, he’s got a real opportunity here if he wanted to lead and try and grow the economy but I think he’s just going to follow the old play book.”

Roskam also noted that the President’s Party is also not trying too hard to offer solutions.
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Congressman Roskam Previews Obama’s State of the Union Speech”


Pelosi: ‘We Avow the First Amendment’ Because ‘People Have a Right to a Gun’

-By Warner Todd Huston

As Nancy Pelosi appeared on Fox News Sunday with host Chris Wallace, she didn’t seem to know the difference between the First Amendment and the Second Amendment.

During her February 10 segment, Pelosi premised her conversation by pointing out that Japan has, “the most violent games and the rest and the lowest mortality from guns.” This, Pelosi imagined, was because Japan “might have good gun laws.”

The Democrat House Minority Leader then went on to tell Wallace that the First Amendment gave Americans the right to have a gun and that was a thing she and the Democrats want to “avow.”
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Pelosi: ‘We Avow the First Amendment’ Because ‘People Have a Right to a Gun’”


Warming to Senate Bid, Geraldo Slams GOP

-By Warner Todd Huston

Geraldo Rivera recently announced on his radio show that he was considering a run as a Republican for the Senate from the state of New Jersey. But as is Geraldo’s wont, he’s already criticizing the very party whose blessing he seeks.

On Jan. 31, Rivera told his radio audience that he is “truly contemplating” a run for Senate and he wants to represent the Republican Party. But only a day later, on Fox News’ “Studio B With Shepard Smith,” he was heard criticizing the GOP as a “party of scolds” and saying it had better go back to being “the party of inclusion.”

Rivera said that the Republican Party had “drifted away from the party of business, the party of free enterprise,” and into a “party of scolds.” He went on to say the GOP has become, “The party of no, you can’t have an abortion. No, if you’re gay you can’t be married. No, if you’re an immigrant you can’t possibly think you are going to get on line to become a citizen of the United States.”
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Warming to Senate Bid, Geraldo Slams GOP”


Joe Walsh Forms Super PAC In Answer to Karl Rove

-By Warner Todd Huston

Former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh has announced he’s forming a super PAC to fight Karl Rove’s RINO incumbent protection PAC.


Hey, Karl Rove: Take a Hike Loser

-By Earner Todd Huston

Karl Rove has declared war on conservatives. With his new Super PAC, he is targeting not Democrats, he is not trying to raise money for good candidates, no he is raising money to defeat conservatives who might have the temerity to make a run for office in 2014.

Karl Rove has identified the enemy… and he is us!

It should be remembered that everything Rove did in the late presidential election misfired terribly. He spent millions of those gullible enough to donate to his efforts, then he went on Fox News and insisted Romney would win despite the evidence mounting by the minute on election night that we were trounced.

Rove is not part of the solution. He is part of the hide-bound, country club Republican, RINO, problem.

The Senate Conservative Fund has issued a statement which perfectly encapsulates what our message to this loser should be.

The Senate Conservatives Fund issued the following statement today regarding news that American Crossroads has formed a new super PAC comically named the “Conservative Victory Project” to oppose conservative candidates in GOP primary elections. The new super PAC is supported by Karl Rove and will be run by Steven Law, the former Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

“The Conservative Defeat Project is yet another example of the Republican establishment’s hostility toward its conservative base,” said SCF Executive Director Matt Hoskins. “Rather than listening to the grassroots and working to advance their principles, the establishment has chosen to declare war on its party’s most loyal supporters. If they keep this up, the Republican Party will remain in the wilderness for decades to come.”

Click HERE to read the rest.
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Hey, Karl Rove: Take a Hike Loser”


Senator Reid Won’t Back Feinstein’s Assault-Weapons Ban

-By Warner Todd Huston

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, NV) took a pass on directly supporting the most talked about Democrat-sponsored anti-gun legislation in Washington. The bill, sponsored by California’s Dianne Feinstein (D, CA), would renew and enlarge a federal ban on assault weapons.

Feinstein’s legislation was introduced to great media fanfare last week, but this week Reid told reporters that he’d bring other legislation to the floor and allow it to undergo what promises to be a lengthy amendment process.

Reid declined to commit to bringing Feinstein’s bill to the floor even though that bill was publicly supported by the Democrat’s second and third ranking senate members.

Senate Leader Reid praised Senator Feinstein for her enthusiasm for her bill but suggested hers wasn’t the only game in town. “We’re going to have votes on all kinds of issues dealing with guns, and I think everyone would be well advised to read the legislation before they determine how they’re going to vote,” he said to reporters.
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Senator Reid Won’t Back Feinstein’s Assault-Weapons Ban”