Photo Credit: REUTERS/Michael DalderU.S. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said on Wednesday he has been “assured” that if workers at the Volkswagen AG plant in his hometown of Chattanooga reject United Auto Worker representation, the company will reward the plant with a new product to build.

Corker’s bombshell, which runs counter to public statements by Volkswagen, was dropped on the first of a three-day secret ballot election of blue-collar workers at the Chattanooga plant whether to allow the UAW to represent them.

Corker has long been an opponent of the union which he says hurts economic and job growth in Tennessee, a charge that UAW officials say is untrue.

“I’ve had conversations today and based on those am assured that should the workers vote against the UAW, Volkswagen will announce in the coming weeks that it will manufacture its new mid-size SUV here in Chattanooga,” said Corker, without saying with whom he had the conversations.

In the past few weeks, Volkswagen officials have made several statements that the vote will have no bearing on whether the SUV will be made at the Chattanooga plant or at a plant in Puebla, Mexico.

Read more from this story HERE.

After a report earlier this week about the US Postal Service’s massive ammunition purchase, more eyebrows are being raised over a Department of Homeland Security procurement for tens of thousands of sniper cartridges.

Specifically, the government solicitation seeks to purchase 141,160 rounds of “Hornady .308 Winchester 168gr A-MAX TAP Ammunition.” One law enforcement supplier describes the cartridge as “a traditional match grade bullet with the performance advantages of a polymer tip. This bullet demonstrates an increase in penetration and retained weight . . . [and] demonstrates controlled and impressive soft tissue expansion.”

Another retailer claims this .308 cartridge is “the best 308 tactical ammo made . . . This load features a 168 grain bullet with a ballistic tip type bullet. TAP (Tactical Application Police) is made for law enforcement use and is loaded to the tightest specs for supreme accuracy and reliability. You will not get better ammo than TAP.”

Of course, some international conventions ban this type of bullet in small arms, given the catastrophic injuries potentially created by non-ball ammo. But that’s apparently not stopping Washington’s DHS.

Although these type of purchases may have been made in the past, the real question that needs to be asked is, “Why are the feds – outside of military units – apparently training sniper teams”? Broader questions might be, “Why are the feds engaged in law enforcement in any significant context outside of border security? What constitutionally enumerated power are they relying on to authorize their sniper teams?”

Please contact your congressional members HERE so that they will demand answers from DHS for why that agency finds it necessary to purchase ammunition designed for long-range, sniper applications.

Here’s a copy of the actual solicitation: