Story at Capitol Ideas. I’d get all “This is why we need to boot Casey out on his ass in November,” but I’m afraid both parties love themselves some good warring on drugs, and that goes double if it’s For the ChildrenTM.
Category: Politics
Road Raging Medieval Style
Apparently there was a road rage incident in Philadelphia, where the road raging driver threatened another motorist with a crossbow. Of course, normally I’d point out that you can find a lot of ways to harm others without using a firearm, but I’ve come to the conclusion that our opponents would have little issue restricting anything sharp, pointy, or that you could hurt yourself or others with. I don’t want to give them a new mission.
Quote of the Day: We’re Doomed Edition
But we shouldn’t imagine Harkin is some financial genius or wheeler-dealer… “Harkin credits his wealth largely to his wife, telling The Des Moines Register this month that “I don’t know squat about investing money.â€Â … says the man on the Senate Appropriations Committee, directing billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars.
God help us.
Laws Are For Little People
Pennsylvanians who don’t live in Scranton dodged a political bullet in 2010 when the city’s mayor lost two Democratic primary races for higher office. The MAIG mayor first tried running for governor, but dropped out when it was clear he was losing the primary race. Then he tried running for a state senate seat in his area, but he lost that race to a pro-gun Democrat.
At the time he was running, Doherty announced he wanted the state to enact a one-gun-a-month law and wanted to end preemption. It turns out that it’s a good thing his career has kept him at the local level since he has now decided that laws don’t apply to him.
Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty cut everyone’s pay — including his own — on Friday, saying the state’s sixth-largest city is broke because the City Council blocked his proposed tax increase. Doherty, a Democrat, warned nearly 400 police officers, firefighters and public works employees about his doomsday plan, prompting a Lackawanna County judge to order the city to pay full wages to all employees, citing that it is a violation of their contracts. Hours later, the payday envelopes went out, and, despite the judge’s order, they were light.
What does a judge’s order really mean? It’s not anything Doherty believes should carry the force of law or be used to hold him accountable. Clearly, he can use city dollars however he chooses without the interference of that pesky judicial oversight or even input from his fellow elected officials who actually vote on the budget. If this is how he views division of government for his city, can you imagine what he would have done on gun laws if elected governor with a legislature that wasn’t willing to pass anything?
The Pennsylvania Problem in 2012
Stuart Rothenberg of Roll Call seems to think the Democrats need to look to states other than Pennsylvania if they want to pick up Congressional seats in 2012. They point out two competitive seats being Jim Gerlach and Mike Fitzpatrick. Both have been made safer with redistricting, but still do not have what anyone would consider “safe” seats. But Gerlach has won consistently in tough years. Fitzpatrick is probably the easier pickup, but I doubt Obama will have much in the way of coattails. Meehan’s seat is actually looking surprisingly safe.
Fast and Furious Back and Forth
We all remember the Fortune article suggesting the whole Fast and Furious scandal is a figment of everyone’s imagination. Grassley fired back at the article, and so Eban released another follow-up article, which National Review has found issues with.
Answering the Difficult Questions
Fundraising in 2012
At least once a day I’m getting fundraising e-mails from the Romney camp. They really want a donation so I can win a chance to spend a day on the Mitt Romney tour bus. What’s second prize? Two days on the Mitt Romney tour bus? How about if I win, you let me pick the next nominee to the Supreme Court. That would be a real prize.
Making Up the Record
The New York Times earns it’s little nickname “The Paper of Making Up the Record” in the gunny glogosphere, courtesy of SayUncle, I think (making it an Uncleism):
But it now seems clear that negotiations were never really possible. Beyond the usual hyperpartisanship on Capitol Hill, the National Rifle Association and the even more strident Gun Owners of America wanted a vote in order to push their bizarre theory that Fast and Furious was part of a secret Obama administration conspiracy to further a gun-control political agenda.
You know, one thing the media has never been able to satisfactorily explain is how Fast and Furious was supposed to work, if it wasn’t intended to just to drive up trace numbers. So we let all these guns go to Mexico, we don’t tell the Mexican government we’re doing it, and somehow this is going to result in taking down the cartel kingpins involved in gun trafficking. The only way this makes sense is if you’re so deep in the tank for the Administration you’re getting nitrogen narcosis on the brain.
What Next for Eric Holder?
Dave Hardy discusses one possibility. I don’t think Boehner has the minerals.