Senate Rejects Gun Control Bill; Obama Says 2nd Amendment Advocates 'Willfully Lied About Bill'

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By Ted Barrett and Tom Cohen. In a major defeat for supporters of tougher gun laws, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday defeated a compromise plan to expand background checks on firearms sales as well as a proposal to ban some semi-automatic weapons modeled after military assault weapons.

The votes were on a series of amendments to a broad package of gun laws pushed by President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders in the aftermath of the Newtown school massacre in December.

However, fierce opposition by the powerful National Rifle Association led a backlash by conservative Republicans and a few Democrats from pro-gun states that doomed key proposals in the gun package, even after they had been watered down to try to satisfy opponents.

After the votes, Obama angrily criticized the NRA and senators who voted against the expanded background checks for rejecting a compromise he said was supported by a strong majority of Americans.

“Instead of supporting this compromise, the gun lobby and its allies willfully lied about the bill,” Obama told White House reporters. Read more from this story HERE.

Obama: Gun defeat ‘shameful day for Washington’

By Reid J. Epstein. Defeated and angry — and surrounded by Newtown families and former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) — President Barack Obama blamed a gun lobby that “willfully lied” and senators who “caved to the pressure” for the defeat of his effort to pass gun control through Congress.

Obama blasted the Senate’s voting down the Manchin-Toomey amendment — a bipartisan agreement on background checks that was itself a compromise on a fraction of the comprehensive gun control package the president called for after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary.

“All in all this was a pretty shameful day for Washington,” Obama said in the Rose Garden, after walking to the podium with his arm around Giffords and hugged the relatives of victims of the December shooting.

Obama directed much of his anger at Republicans and seizing the political high ground for himself and fellow Democrats as he called out the opposition for rejecting an idea that polls show 90 percent of people support. Read more from this story HERE.

Gun control: Obama’s biggest loss

By Glenn Thrush and Reid J. Epstein. Never before had President Barack Obama put the moral force and political muscle of his presidency behind an issue quite this big — and lost quite this badly.

The president, shaken to the core by the massacre of 26 innocents at Sandy Hook Elementary School, broke his own informal “Obama Rule” — of never leaning into an issue without a clear path to victory — first by pushing for a massive gun control package no one expected to pass, and then sticking through it even as he retrenched to a relatively modest bipartisan bill mandating national background checks on gun purchases.

It was a bitter defeat for a president accustomed to winning, a second-term downer that may — or may not — foreshadow the slow decline suffered by so many of his predecessors. Obama seems to have the public behind him, but it illustrated his less-than-Johnsonian powers of personal persuasion, the possible shortcomings of his decision to wait a month after the killings to present a plan and above all the limits of his go-to “outside” strategy of taking his case directly to the American people.

More than anything, it was an emotional blow to Obama, who was as irritated at the four members of his own party as he was at the 90 percent of Republicans who defeated the bill. Read more from this story HERE.

Update on the Boston Marathon Bombings: Search for Suspects is 'Wide Open'

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Photo Credit: Fox News

By Fox News. The FBI and state and local police are intensifying their probe into Monday’s bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, vowing a “worldwide investigation” and appealing to the public for tips and cell phone pictures that might yield clues about who was behind the horrific attack.

“At this time there are no claims of responsibility,” FBI officials said in a press conference Tuesday. “The range of suspects and motives remains wide open.”

Three died and at least 176 were injured when two bombs went off just before 3 p.m., shattering a festive atmosphere several hours after the legendary race began on the city’s 238th annual Patriots’ Day.

Officials found that the bombs consisted of explosives put in ordinary 1.6-gallon pressure cookers, one with shards of metal and ball bearings, the other with nails, a person close to the investigation tells the Associated Press. The bombs were stuffed into black duffel bags and left on the ground, the person said.

Richard DesLauriers, FBI agent in charge in Boston, confirmed at a press conference investigators had found pieces of black nylon from a bag or backpack and fragments of BBs and nails, possibly contained in a pressure cooker. He said the items were sent to the FBI laboratory at Quantico, Va., for analysis. Read more from this story HERE.

Boston Marathon bombs have hallmarks of ‘lone wolf’ devices, experts say

By Tim Lister and Paul Cruickshank. The devices used in the Boston Marathon attack Monday are typical of the “lone wolf:” the solo terrorist who builds a bomb on his own by following a widely available formula.

In this case, the formula seems very similar to one that al Qaeda has recommended to its supporters around the world as both crudely effective and difficult to trace. But it is also a recipe that has been adopted by extreme right-wing individuals in the United States.

The threat of the “lone wolf” alarms the intelligence community. “This is what you worry about the most,” a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN’s Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger. “No trail, no intelligence.”

Officials have told CNN that among the materials used in the attack on the marathon were some sort of timing device, a basic mixture of explosives and some sort of metal container containing nails and other projectiles. The FBI said late Tuesday that what appeared to be fragments of ball bearings, or BBs, and nails had been recovered and had possibly been contained in a pressure cooker.

One federal law enforcement source told CNN’s Deborah Feyerick the devices contained “low-velocity improvised explosive mixture — perhaps flash-powder or sugar chlorate mixture likely packed with nails or shrapnel.” Read more from this story HERE.

Boy killed in Boston blast wrote, ‘No more hurting people’

By Ashley Fantz. Almost a year ago, 8-year-old Martin Richard wrote four simple words on a sign at school “No more hurting people,” it said.

For the camera, he held up the bright blue sign decorated with hearts framing the word “Peace.”

It’s a photograph that many find difficult to look at Tuesday as they struggle to comprehend the violence that took Martin’s life. On Monday, the boy and his family were watching the Boston Marathon near the finish line when two bombs exploded just off Copley Square in the heart of the city.

The grade-schooler was killed, authorities said. Martin’s mother, Denise, and his sister were grievously injured, The Boston Globe reported.

Denise Richard underwent surgery for an injury to her brain, and Martin’s 6-year-old sister lost her leg, CNN affiliate WHDH reported. As of 1 p.m. ET Tuesday, both were still hospitalized, according to WHDH. Read more from this story HERE.

Experts have long warned about IEDs in U.S

By Stephanie Gaskell. Military and law enforcement officials have warned for years about the danger of attacks involving improvised explosive devices like the ones said to be involved with Monday’s explosions at the Boston Marathon.

In 2010, the Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin alerting law enforcement agencies across the country to be on the lookout for pressure cookers, the same kitchen appliance said to have been used to form the two explosive devices that killed three and wounded some 183, many severely.

The cookers, according to the alert, posted online by The Smoking Gun website, have been widely used in Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

“Pressure cookers are common in these countries, and their presence probably would not seem out of place or suspicious to passersby or authorities. Because they are less common in the United States, the presence of a pressure cooker in an unusual location such as a building lobby or busy street corner should be treated as suspicious,” the bulletin said. Read more from this story HERE.

Salon: ‘Let’s Hope Boston Marathon Bomber is a White American'

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

The liberal online magazine Salon published an opinion piece Tuesday evening by columnist David Sirota entitled, “Let’s hope the Boston Marathon bomber is a white American,” in which Sirota argued that if the perpetrator of Monday’s bombing attack, which left at least three people dead, is identified as a Muslim then conservative Republicans will use the tragedy to block Obama administration policy goals like immigration reform.

“If recent history is any guide, if the bomber ends up being a white anti-government extremist, white privilege will likely mean the attack is portrayed as just an isolated incident — one that has no bearing on any larger policy debates,” Sirota wrote in his Salon piece, which featured an image of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh cropped beside a photograph of Osama bin Laden.

“It will probably be much different if the bomber ends up being a Muslim and/or a foreigner from the developing world. As we know from our own history, when those kind of individuals break laws in such a high-profile way, America often cites them as both proof that entire demographic groups must be targeted, and that therefore a more systemic response is warranted.

Read more from this story HERE.

Actor-Comedian Jay Mohr Blames Bombing on Guns, Says '2nd Amendment Must Go'

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Actor and comedian Jay Mohr waded into the gun debate on Twitter after Monday’s deadly terrorist attacks at the Boston Marathon.

“What bothers me most about today is that we’re getting used 2 it. ENOUGH. 2nd amendment must go. Violence has 2 stop. Culture MUST change,” the Jerry Maguire actor tweeted Monday night.

Mohr, who hosts a podcast and Jay Mohr Sports on Fox Sports Radio, followed it up with another tweet connecting the Second Amendment to a “culture of violence.”

Following push back on Twitter, Mohr elaborated on his contention further, explaining that he finds it sad that gun massacres are becoming increasingly common.

Read more from this story HERE.

Pressure Cookers Make Good Bombs … and Clues

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Photo Credit: AP

By Seth Borenstein. In kitchens, they prepare food faster, but pressure cookers by their very nature help make good bombs, amplifying the blast and the carnage.

They don’t just hold the explosives. The tightly sealed pot that speeds the cooking of beans and meat makes easier-to-obtain but weaker explosives faster and stronger. And they may also help investigators find out who built the deadly homemade bombs that exploded at the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Investigators found fragments of BBs and nails, possibly contained in a pressure cooker, said Richard DesLauriers, the FBI agent in charge in Boston. He said the items were sent for analysis.

If a pressure cooker was used, it probably cost around $100 to construct, say former federal forensic and explosive investigators. It’s like a pipe bomb but bigger and more powerful.

Pressure cooker bombs are more often used in Afghanistan, Pakistan India, and Nepal – where the pots are more commonly used for cooking. But they have also been prominent in bombings and attempts in the United States, especially in New York in Times Square in 2010 and Grand Central Terminal in 1976. Read more from this story HERE.

Deadly Boston Marathon Bombs Were Packed with Nails and Ball Bearings

By Shaun Waterman. The deadly bombs that struck the Boston Marathon on Monday were fashioned from large pressure cookers packed with nails and ball bearings and hidden in black bags on the ground, said FBI investigators and a U.S. official briefed on the investigation.

The construction of the devices, which killed at least three and injured more than 170, many of them gravely, showed signs of “training or knowledge,” the official said.

A task force of federal, state and local law enforcement authorities ramped up a huge investigation Tuesday, but officials said they had no suspects or motive. Federal authorities cleared the 20-year-old Saudi national who briefly was considered a “person of interest.”

Led by FBI bomb technicians, authorities are working painstakingly to rebuild the two bombs in an effort to determine their origin.

“This will be a worldwide investigation,” Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston field office, said at a news conference. He added that agents will go “wherever the leads take us.” Read more from this story HERE.

Al Qaeda magazine on pressure cookers: ‘Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom’

By Associated Press. Homemade bombs built from pressure cookers, a version of which was used in the Boston Marathon bombings, have been a frequent weapon of militants in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen once published an online manual on how to make one, urging “lone jihadis” to act on their own to carry out attacks.

President Barack Obama underlined Tuesday that investigators do not know if the twin bombing the day before that killed three people and wounded more than 170 was carried out by an international organization, a domestic group or a “malevolent individual.” There has been no claim of responsibility.

Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen gave a detailed description on how to make a pressure cooker bomb in the 2010 first issue of “Inspire,” its magazine that only appears online, in a chapter titled “Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom.”

“The pressurized cooker is the most effective method” for making a simple bomb, the article said, describing how to fill the cooker with shrapnel and gunpowder and to create a detonator using the filament of a light bulb and a clock timer.

“Inspire” magazine has a running series of such training articles called “Open Source Jihad,” which the group calls a resource manual for individual extremists to carry out attacks against the enemies of jihad, including the U.S. and its allies. The magazine is targeted heavily at encouraging “lone wolf” jihadis. Read more from this story HERE.

News Watchdogs Slam ‘Secretive’ Food Stamp Program

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Photo Credit: Getty

Seven journalist and government watchdog organizations have called on the Agriculture Department to release information on how much money retailers that accept food stamps make from the program and what products food stamp dollars are purchasing.

In a letter [pdf] to Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack the organizations — which have a combined membership of more than 16,000, many of them journalists who cover health care, nutrition and the federal government — requested the USDA make public records pertaining to the use of SNAP dollars.

“The USDA has refused to reveal how much money individual retailers make from SNAP, arguing in FOIA denials and subsequent court documents that the law governing the program prohibits it. But we (and others) see nothing in the law barring such disclosures,” the letter reads. “And we believe this information is essential to an informed discussion of the Farm Bill reauthorization and the future of the SNAP program.”

“As the number of Americans receiving SNAP continues to increase, along with the federal taxpayer support of it, a greater level of transparency is more essential than ever,” it continued.

The organization heads who signed the letter were from the National Freedom of Information Coalition, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Association of Health Care Journalists, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Association of Food Journalists, the National Association of Science Writers, and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Administration has SLASHED Budget for Domestic Bombing Prevention by 45 Percent, Says Former DHS Assistant Secretary

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Photo Credit: Official White House Photo by Pe

Barack Obama’s administration has cut the budget nearly in half for preventing domestic bombings, MailOnline can reveal. Under President George W. Bush, the Department of Homeland Security had $20 million allocated for preventing the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by terrorists working inside the United States. The current White House has cut that funding down to $11 million.

That assessment comes from Robert Liscouski, a former Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection, in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15 that killed three Americans and injured at least 173 others. He told MailOnline that the Obama-era DHS is, on the whole, about as well-positioned as it was during the Bush administration to handle the aftermath of the April 15 bombings in Boston, ‘but the Obama administration has continued to cut the budget for offices such as the Office for Bombing Prevention from $20 million started under Bush, to $11 million today.’

‘Comparatively,’ he added, ‘the Defense Department’s Joint IED Defeat Organization had a budget of $1 billion per year focused on preventing IEDs in the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters.’

‘Clearly more money needs to be focused on countering domestic IEDs,’ Liscouski concluded. He is now a partner at Edge 360, a security and intelligence consultancy.

The Office for Bombing Prevention (OBP) was created in 2003 when the Department of Homeland Security was founded. Its original name was the WMD/Bombing Prevention Unit, and it was part of the department’s Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate.

Read more from this story HERE.

Republican Money Backs Immigration Push

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Photo Credit: AP

As Congress readies for a drawn-out immigration debate, an expanding network of Republican fundraisers is pressing for a path to legal status for millions of immigrants living in the United States illegally.

Business leaders and donors who raised tens of millions in the last election are meeting with top GOP fundraisers and Republican lawmakers who may be reluctant to support what critics call “amnesty” for immigrants who broke the law.

At the same time, a coalition of fundraisers who support overhauling immigration is funneling donations to a new crop of outside groups designed to protect like-minded congressional Republicans who fear a backlash by GOP’s core supporters.

In most cases, the donors have ties to Wall Street and businesses that want more high- and low-skilled immigrants in the nation’s legal labor pool. Backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, these business-minded Republican fundraisers say they’re getting a relatively receptive audience in the face of an undeniable new political reality. Record Hispanic turnout helped President Barack Obama defeat Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney last fall. And projected population growth ensures that immigrants’ political clout will grow stronger.

The network of Republican donors is at odds with many on the GOP’s right flank — tea party activists among them — who argue for increased border security first and foremost. That was largely the position of Romney, who encouraged immigrants without legal status to “self-deport.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Ricin Letter to Senator Roger Wicker Intercepted at Screening Facility

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Photo Credit: Kevin Steinhardt

Police intercepted a letter laced with the poison ricin that was sent to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), senators told reporters Tuesday.

The Senate sergeant-at-arms broke the news to members in a classified briefing, saying that the substance was intercepted at an off-site facility where Congress gets its mail, according to several lawmakers. It was tested repeatedly.

“It was caught in the screening facility. That’s why we have an off-site screening facility for mail,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). “The system worked the way it was supposed to.”

She added that authorities may suspect an individual who often wrote to senators. Other senators did not describe a suspect.

“There is an ongoing investigation,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters as he left the briefing with FBI Director Robert Mueller and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano that the letter was addressed to Wicker. Mueller and Napolitano also presented detailed information on the Boston bombings.

Read more from this story HERE.

McCain, Schumer: Obama Supports our Immigration Bill

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Photo Credit: White House

Sens. John McCain and Chuck Schumer said they were encouraged after a meeting with President Obama at the White House Tuesday, saying he supports the immigration reform bill they plan to introduce tonight and hope to pass by June.

“We’re feeling very good about this,” Schumer said outside the West Wing. “The president’s supportive of our proposal.”

“The president realizes that everybody didn’t get what they wanted,” McCain said. “We appreciate the president’s support. We believe that that’s important as we move forward with the process.”

One of the things the president didn’t want, Schumer said, was a trigger that tied the opening of a pathway to citizenship to tighter border security. But, he said, he and the other members of the Gang of 8 senators who brokered the legislation felt it was important to prevent a so-called third wave of immigrants, who would flood the country and require another immigration-reform bill in the future.

McCain credited the election in November with helping to build support for the measure, and he said it has a much better chance of succeeding than previous efforts. “Most Americans support this proposal far more than did in 2007,” he said.

Read more from this story HERE.