On First Day, Democrats Propose Eight Anti-Gun Bills

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With the left looking for its next big cause, Congressional Democrats have latched onto the Sandy Hook massacre as an opportunity to push gun control. Yesterday alone, eight new bills were introduced relating to gun control. Two conservative bills were introduced relating to ending “gun free zones” under federal law.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) led the way with four bills introduced. Her husband was shot to death in 1993 and her son was severely injured when Colin Ferguson, a mentally unstable black militant (he spent time in his apartment chanting, “all the black people killing all the white people”), shot up a Long Island commuter train.

She has been a longtime gun control advocate. In 1997, she tried to push a federal law that would have mandated trigger locks on all firearms. She introduced legislation that would have forced gun companies to produce firearms that were “child-resistant.” In 2007, she tried an “assault weapons” ban that would have targeted some 65 types of firearms.

The measures McCarthy introduced include:
•Significant restrictions on gun show transactions, which would in effect end gun shows;
•No online purchases of ammunition, and licensing of ammunition dealers, as well as reporting to the federal government all bulk ammunition purchases;
•Prohibition on the transfer, sale, or possession of ammunition clips beyond a certain size.

But McCarthy wasn’t alone.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obamacare Layoffs, Hiring Freezes Begin

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Obamacare opponents warned that forcing companies employing 50 or more full-time workers to buy healthcare would prompt employers to slash jobs and worker hours. And that’s exactly what’s happening, says one of President Barack Obama’s favorite economists, Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics.

“It will have a negative impact on job creation” this year, says Mr. Zandi.

The Obamacare employer mandate doesn’t go into effect until January 1, 2014, but the government requires businesses to track worker schedules for three to 12 months in advance. That means many employers plan to get a jump start on avoiding Obamacare’s $2,000 per-worker fine by firing workers now, reducing employee hours, or replacing full-time employees with part-time workers.

A survey by the International Franchise Association finds that 31% of franchisees say they plan to cut staff to duck under Obamacare’s 50-employer mandate. And another study by Mercer consulting firm found that half of businesses who don’t presently offer health insurance plan to reduce employee hours to avert triggering Obamacare’s penalties.

As Breitbart News has reported, Pennsylvania Community College of Allegheny County has already slashed the hours of 400 adjunct instructors, support staff, and part-time teachers to sidestep the Obamacare fines. Doing so will save the already cash-strapped college an estimated $6 million.

Read more from this story HERE.

Non-Believers on Rise in Congress

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photo credit: 4ThGlryOfGod

The number of members of Congress who don’t identify with any particular religion is on the rise, according to an analysis by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

In the 96th Congress (1979-80), not a single member of the House or Senate said they didn’t belong to any particular faith, didn’t know or refused to disclose their religion. But in the new 113th Congress, 10 members fall under that category.

That’s twice as many as in the 111th Congress (2009-10).

Pew notes there’s still a great disparity between the percentage of U.S. adults and the percentage of members of Congress who don’t identify with any particular religion.

From Pew’s fascinating report on the religious composition of the 113th Congress:
“About one-in-five U.S. adults describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” – a group sometimes collectively called the “nones.” But only one member of the new Congress, Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), is religiously unaffiliated, according to information gathered by CQ Roll Call. Sinema is the first member of Congress to publicly describe her religion as “none,” though 10 other members of the 113th Congress (about 2%) do not specify a religious affiliation, up from six members (about 1%) of the previous Congress. This is about the same as the percentage of U.S. adults in Pew Research Center surveys who say that they don’t know, or refuse to specify, their faith (about 2%).”

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama’s ‘Cash For Clunkers’ Unleashed ‘Environmental Nightmare’

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In a classic tale illustrating the “law of unintended consequences,” a new report concludes that President Barack Obama’s $3 billion “Cash for Clunkers” taxpayer-funded boondoggle artificially drove car prices up, not down, and unleashed an “environmental nightmare” through shredding, not recycling, many of the 690,000 cars people traded in for an up to $4,500 car credit.

In 2009, Mr. Obama proudly declared that his Cash for Clunkers program, officially known as the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), was a stunning success. “There were skeptics who weren’t sure that this ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program would work,” said Mr. Obama. “But I’m happy to report that it has succeeded well beyond our expectations and all expectations, and we’re already seeing a dramatic increase in showroom traffic at local car dealers…So I’m very pleased with the progress that’s been made in the House today on the “Cash for Clunkers” program.”

But as Yahoo News notes, the program’s decision to shred, not recycle, many of the trade-in vehicles unleashed an “environmental nightmare”:

“Shredding vehicles results in its own environmental nightmare. For each ton of metal produced by a shredding facility, roughly 500 pounds of “shredding residue” is also produced, which includes polyurethane foams, metal oxides, glass and dirt. All totaled, about 4.5 million tons of that residue is already produced on average every year. Where does it go? Right into a landfill.

E Magazine states recycling just the plastic and metal alone from the CARS scraps would have saved 24 million barrels of oil. While some of the “Clunkers” were truly old, many of the almost 700,000 cars were still in perfectly good condition. In fact, many that qualified for the program were relatively “young,” with fuel efficiencies that rivaled newer cars.”

Read more from this story HERE.

White House Weighs Broad Gun-Control Agenda in Wake of Newtown Shootings

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The White House is weighing a far broader and more comprehensive approach to curbing the nation’s gun violence than simply reinstating an expired ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition, according to multiple people involved in the administration’s discussions.

A working group led by Vice President Biden is seriously considering measures backed by key law enforcement leaders that would require universal background checks for firearm buyers, track the movement and sale of weapons through a national database, strengthen mental health checks, and stiffen penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors, the sources said.

To sell such changes, the White House is developing strategies to work around the National Rifle Association that one source said could include rallying support from Wal-Mart and other gun retailers for measures that would benefit their businesses. White House aides have also been in regular contact with advisers to New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I), an outspoken gun-control advocate who could emerge as a powerful surrogate for the Obama administration’s agenda.

The Biden group, formed last month after the massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school that killed 20 children and six adults, plans to submit a package of recommendations to President Obama this month. Once Obama’s proposals are set, he plans to lead a public-relations offensive to generate popular support.

“They are very clearly committed to looking at this issue comprehensively,” said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, who has been involved in the discussions. The proposals under consideration, he added, are “a deeper exploration than just the assault-weapons ban.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Iranian death squads in America

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Reza Kahlili, a double agent who worked for the CIA Directorate of Operations and spied with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has warned that Iranian death squads are presently in America.

Kahlili released their report last month but news of this is now being picked up several sources including Act for America and being spread among their supporters stating that Iran has infiltrated a team of Quds Force terrorist leaders into the United States to attack from within in 2013, according to a source Kahlili said.

Although the mainstream media ignored this news report and was missed by many, Act for America presented Kahili’s news report on their website on Thursday.

Kahili said, “The source within the office of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic regime, said the team is to create instability in America through terrorism should the U.S. fail to accept the regime’s illicit nuclear program, increase sanctions, confront Iran militarily or intervene in the Syrian civil war.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Inmates Use Newspaper’s Gun Map to Threaten Guards

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The entirely predictable consequences of the Journal News’ decision to publish a map of gun-owners marches on…

“Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco, who spoke at a news conference flanked by other county officials, said the Journal News’ decision to post an online map of names and addresses of handgun owners Dec. 23 has put law enforcement officers in danger.

“They have inmates coming up to them and telling them exactly where they live. That’s not acceptable to me,” Falco said, according to Newsday.

Robert Riley, an officer with the White Plains Police Department and president of its Patrolman’s Benevolent Association, agreed.

“You have guys who work in New York City who live up here. Now their names and addresses are out there, too,” he said adding that there are 8,000 active and retired NYPD officers currently living in Rockland County.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Ex-Officer Is First From C.I.A. to Face Prison for a Leak

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WASHINGTON — Looking back, John C. Kiriakou admits he should have known better. But when the F.B.I. called him a year ago and invited him to stop by and “help us with a case,” he did not hesitate.

In his years as a C.I.A. operative, after all, Mr. Kiriakou had worked closely with F.B.I. agents overseas. Just months earlier, he had reported to the bureau a recruiting attempt by someone he believed to be an Asian spy.

“Anything for the F.B.I.,” Mr. Kiriakou replied.

Only an hour into what began as a relaxed chat with the two agents — the younger one who traded Pittsburgh Steelers talk with him and the senior investigator with the droopy eye — did he begin to realize just who was the target of their investigation.

Finally, the older agent leaned in close and said, by Mr. Kiriakou’s recollection, “In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that right now we’re executing a search warrant at your house and seizing your electronic devices.”

Read more from this story HERE.

GOP Increasingly Ready for Government Shutdown

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The appetite for a government shutdown is growing among Republicans, who had shied away from one during the debt and spending fights in the last Congress but now say one may be needed.

Several high-profile senators this week began laying the groundwork for a shutdown, saying that it may be necessary in order to restore “fiscal sanity” on the federal budget.

“I think the last time we saw a shutdown, the fact that Republicans were willing to stand together — on fiscally conservative principles — ended up producing a result that was responsible and that benefited the country and that ultimately produced enormous economic growth,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, a freshman Republican from Texas.

Fellow Texan Sen. John Cornyn, the second-ranking Republican in the chamber, wrote an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle on Friday saying a partial shutdown may be needed to show Congress is serious about cutting spending.

“It may be necessary to partially shut down the government in order to secure the long-term fiscal well being of our country, rather than plod along the path of Greece, Italy and Spain,” he wrote.

Read more from this story HERE.

Sperm Donor For Lesbian Couple Pursued for Child Support

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It’s a mixed up, jumbled up, shook up world these days, but especially for William Marotta.

Marotta, a Kansas City man responded to a Craigslist ad 3 years ago placed there by a lesbian couple. The couple was looking for a sperm donor to help them conceive a child. Marotta, the Good Samaritan, was up for the task.

Marotta and the couple signed an agreement stating his responsibilities for the future child stopped with his donation. He was not to be involved in the raising of the child, have any financial responsibility, or have any contact with the child…..Pretty much a standard agreement for this type of situation.

But the lesbian couple, broke up and then sought welfare assistance from the state of Kansas. This set off an investigation by the state on behalf of its taxpayers who have to foot the bill…and the trail lead to Marottas front door.

Evidently the state of Kansas doesn’t think Marottas responsibilities stopped after his donation and have decided to make him financially responsible for the child.

The state of Kansas says since the impregnation procedure wasn’t done under the auspices of a Dr’s supervision, the agreement the couple and Marotta have, is not valid.

Marotta has lawyered up and already claims the state has no proof it is his child, since no DNA tests have been performed. Besides, it’s not fair since he had a written agreement with the couple.

The state of Kansas is claiming it’s not fair for the citizens of Kansas to pay for other peoples children.

Hillary Clinton popularized the often repeated quote “it takes a village to raise a child.” Evidently Kansas doesn’t agree with the “village” meme and they want these 3 villagers to pay for their own children.

Angela Bauer and Jennifer Schreiner, the couple who have now separated, plan to help Marotta fight the state’s decision to force him to pay child support.

These three did create a human life. Is it fair that the state requests they be financially responsible for it and not expect the taxpayers to pick up the tab? We all have rights, but there are responsibilities as well.
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Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.