Bloomberg Begins Multimillion Dollar TV Gun Control Blitz to Push Swing Senators

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Photo Credit: NY Times

The commercial is an unambiguous appeal to gun owners: a middle-aged hunter, rifle in hand, vows that he will fight to protect the Second Amendment. But in a sensible, father-of-the-house tone, he also urges voters to support comprehensive background checks, “so criminals and the dangerously mentally ill can’t buy guns.”

The man behind the advertisement is not known for his kinship with the gun crowd: Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the nation’s fiercest advocate of restrictions on firearms since the December rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Determined to persuade Congress to act in response to that shooting, Mr. Bloomberg on Monday will begin bankrolling a $12 million national advertising campaign that focuses on senators who he believes might be persuaded to support a pending package of federal regulations to curb gun violence. The ads, in 13 states, will blanket those senators’ districts during an Easter Congressional recess that is to be followed by debate over the legislation.

In a telling sign of how much the white-hot demands for gun control have been tempered by political reality, Mr. Bloomberg’s commercials make no mention of an assault weapons ban once sought by the White House and its allies, instead focusing on the more achievable goal of universal background checks.

“You don’t want to lose everything in the interest of getting the perfect,” Mr. Bloomberg said in an interview, acknowledging his disappointment over the apparent unlikelihood of an assault weapons ban, but insisting he is resolved to push the legislation through at a time when its prospects are uncertain.

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The Iran, Hezbollah, Venezuela Axis to “Grow Exponentially” Under Chavez’s Successor

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Iran has illegally laundered billions of dollars through the Venezuelan financial sector and is currently stashing “hundreds of millions” of dollars in “virtually every Venezuelan bank today,” according to a former senior State Department official.

“It’s a huge blind spot in those trying to implement sanctions” on Iran, Roger Noriega, a former United States ambassador and assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, told the Washington Free Beacon.

Venezuela served as Iran’s closest Western ally under the late President Hugo Chavez, who allowed the rogue regime to establish a military and financial presence at the highest levels of the Venezuelan government.

Iran’s foothold in the country is expected to grow exponentially under the rule of Chavez’s likely successor, Vice President Nicolas Maduro.

Noriega and other experts warned House lawmakers at a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday that Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah is gaining power in Venezuela.

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GOP Lawmaker Proposes that Congress “Telecommute” to Reduce DC’s Control and Bring Local Accountability

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Photo Credit: Steve Snodgrass

Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) wants to create a “virtual Congress,” where lawmakers would leverage videoconferencing and other remote work technology to conduct their daily duties in Washington from their home districts.

Under a resolution Pearce introduced on Thursday, lawmakers would be able to hold hearings, debate and vote on legislation virtually from their district offices.

While Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer may have recently nixed the Web company’s work-from-home policy to boost its performance, Pearce believes a remote work arrangement may benefit Congress and make lawmakers more accountable to folks in their home districts.

Pearce says the resolution would eradicate the need for members to jet back and forth from their districts to Washington each weekend. This would allow lawmakers to spend more time with their constituents rather than the armies of lobbyists from K St., he argues.

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Ted Cruz’s ‘Big Gulp Amendment’ Latest Mockery Of Bloomberg Soda Ban

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Mockery and scorn for New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s bid to ban big sodas came swiftly, and now conservatives are pouring it on: Freshman Sen. Ted Cruz proposed a “Big Gulp Amendment” Friday to prohibit the federal government from following Mr. Bloomberg’s lead…

The Daily News reported that the Texas lawmaker and tea party favorite submitted the resolution as part of the Senate’s debate over a new budget, and calls for “prohibiting federal regulation of food and beverage size and quantity.”

The legislature is largely symbolic. Even if it was passed by a Democrat controlled Senate, it would not be binding on federal agencies. The federal government has no plans for such restrictions.

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Starbucks CEO: If You Support Traditional Marriage, We Don’t Want Your Business

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At the Starbucks annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday, CEO Howard Schultz sent a clear message to anyone who supports traditional marriage over gay marriage: we don’t want your business. After saying Starbucks wants to “embrace diversity of all kinds,” he told a shareholder who supports traditional marriage that he should sell his shares and invest in some other company. [Click HERE for Schultz’s recent statement regarding guns in Starbucks]

According to a report by Forbes, Schultz seemed a bit intolerant of any Starbucks shareholders who opposed gay marriage for moral or religious reasons. During the meeting, shareholder Tom Strobhar (who founded the Corporate Morality Action Center) pointed out that after the company voiced its support for a referendum backing gay marriage in Washington state, a boycott by traditional marriage supporters caused a drop in sales revenue. Schultz told him “You can sell your shares in Starbucks and buy shares in another company” if he did not agree with the company’s pro-gay marriage stand.

READ: Constitutional Lawyers Say Gay Marriage Decision Illegitimate, Unlawful, and a Fraud on the American People

READ: Scalia’s FACE-MELTING Dissent on Gay Marriage: Justifying a Second American Revolution?


READ: States Say “HELL NO” to Supreme Court’s Lawless Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

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U.N. Threatens to Override Second Amendment

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While President Obama lost a round this week on his gun-control agenda in Congress, he’s making up for lost ground by pursuing a broader gun grab at the United Nations.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said there was not enough support to give Sen. Dianne Feinstein the stand-alone vote she demands on the “assault weapon” ban, but the upper chamber may soon be the deciding factor in whether the United States ratifies an international treaty that could strip Americans of their Second Amendment rights.

On Monday, the United States joined in the nine day conference in New York to finalize negotiations of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The treaty is intended to regulate the global trade of conventional weapons, but depending how the final document is worded, it could put at risk Americans’ right to keep and bear arms.

The countries were negotiating the draft last July, but stopped when the U.S. asked for a delay. Many believe Mr. Obama pushed the issue past Election Day in order not to further alienate gun owners. Now that he has more “flexibility” in his second term, the U.S. is back at the table.

Secretary of State John Kerry has encouraged reaching consensus by March 28. “The United States is steadfast in its commitment to achieve a strong and effective Arms Trade Treaty that helps address the adverse effects of the international arms trade on global peace and stability,” he wrote in a statement Friday.

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Obama’s Discrimination Agency Sued for Religious Bigotry

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The government agency charged with investigating discrimination in the workplace is itself facing a discrimination lawsuit by a worker claiming he was forced to violate his religious beliefs.

Greg Somers, an investigator for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, has filed a lawsuit over an agency policy requiring employees to investigate and prosecute claims against employers based on allegations of “sexual orientation.”

However, claims of discrimination based on “sexual orientation” have no basis in federal law.

In 2011, the EEOC, under the Obama administration, issued a policy directive requiring that claims of discrimination on the basis of lesbian, “gay,” bisexual or transgender status be processed as gender discrimination.

Shortly after the memo was issued, Somers requested a religious exemption from being forced to investigate LGBT claims, arguing it violated his sincerely held religious belief that homosexuality, along with adultery and other sexual practices, is a personal choice. Towards the end of last year, after working its way through the federal administrative process, Somers was told his request had been denied.

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Conservatives Revolt As Gay Marriage Lobbyist Appointed Head of Ohio Republican Party

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The Republican Party of Ohio has appointed as its executive director a registered lobbyist actively campaigning to redefine marriage in the state, deepening the conflict between voters and the party elite. The move triggered swift backlash, as a coalition of 80 conservatives from across the state issued a letter warning party bosses they “will not support them” in the future.

The new GOP leader is Matt Borges, a lobbyist for Equality Ohio, the group pressing to overturn the state’s constitutional amendment against same-sex “marriage.” He was hand-selected by retiring state GOP chairman Bob Bennett, who has led the party since 1988, and is seen as Bennett’s heir apparent.

“With this letter we put the party bosses on notice that we reject their betrayal of the party platform and our conservative values,” said Tom Zawistowski, the executive director of the Portage County Tea Party. “We will not support them going forward but will instead support those who are true to our cause.”

The letter represents the views of a broad coalition, “not just liberty group members and social conservative voters, but rank and file registered Republican voters,” it states.

“Some of our Republican officials seem hell-bent on alienating conservative voters and volunteers, which reduces voter turnout,” said Lori Viars, Vice President of Warren County Right To Life, who also serves as Vice Chair of the Warren County Republican Party. “They ignore the GOP platform, choosing to put themselves outside the mainstream of our party base.”

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Round Two Of Gun Control Battle: Extension Of Federal Background Checks

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Photo Credit: Christian Gooden/AP

In the early hours of Monday morning, James Seevakumaran pulled the fire alarm in his dorm at a Florida university, at the start of what he intended to be the latest mass shooting to horrify the nation. The plan was to force his fellow students out of their rooms, so he could “give them hell” with a military-style assault rifle equipped with a high-capacity magazine and plenty of back-up ammunition.

It was only the sharp wits of Seevakumaran’s room-mate that spared the US another massacre. He locked himself in the bathroom and called 911; as the SWAT team arrived minutes later the would-be gunman turned his rifle on himself and, before he had the chance to take anyone else’s life, ended his own.

A few hours later, Harry Reid, the majority leader in the US Senate, called his fellow Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein into his office and gave her some disappointing news. He told her that the chances of success of the bill she had sponsored – a ban on the sale of the type of assault rifle that Seevakumaran had just come so close to using – were so remote that he had decided to drop it from the gun control legislation that he will be bringing to the Senate floor next month.

Reid’s dumping of Feinstein’s assault weapons ban marks the first stage in the epic political struggle over guns prompted by the Newtown school tragedy in December, in which 20 children and six teachers were killed. Round one goes to the pro-gun lobby and its cheerleader, the National Rifle Association.

Now, almost exactly 100 days after the Sandy Hook massacre, round two begins. The stakes are even higher. On Thursday night, Reid indicated that unlike the assault weapons ban, he would be including in his bill a provision to extend federal background checks to all gun sales.

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Senators Paul, Cruz, and Lee Join Democrats to Vote Against Ryan Budget

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Earlier this week, GOP Rep. Mick Mulvaney offered the Senate Democrat budget proposal for a vote in the House. The budget plan was defeated, with 35 Democrats crossing the aisle to oppose it. Thursday night, Dem Sen. Patty Murray responded by offering Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget for a vote in the Senate. The measure failed, 40-59, with 5 GOP Senators joining in opposition. Interestingly, among these 5 were Sens. Paul, Cruz and Lee.

Sens. Paul, Cruz and Lee are providing the nucleus of an emerging conservative opposition in the Senate. While there are other conservatives in the GOP caucus, these three are establishing themselves as reliable voices to articulate the conservative opposition to an ever encroaching government.

They are becoming skilled at identifying issues to make a stand on principle. I have no doubt that if their votes could have pushed the Ryan budget into passing, they would have voted for it, as it is likely the best option on the table. Frankly, however, the Ryan budget doesn’t go as far as conservatives would prefer. A vote against an amendment that was already going to be defeated was a good moment to stand on that principle.

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