The big problem, as best I can see, is that the President and the Democrats are acting like they didn’t lose the 2010 midterms big time, and the Republicans are acting like they won the Senate and the White House. There are two fundamental truths here, that is the debt ceiling needs to be raised, and to accomplish that, there’s going to need to be compromise. There was no universe where the GOP taking the House in 2010 was going to eliminate the deficit. Those cuts will need to happen over a period of years, and it’ll require a GOP Senate, and a responsible adult in the White House. Note I don’t say Republican in the White House. We tried that formula for six years, and it only resulted in spending that was only mostly out of control, rather than spending that was completely out of control.
Category: Politics
Canton Ohio Council President …
… forgot the first rule of PR is that when you find yourself in a hole, to stop digging:
What your officer did was unconscionable. There’s absolutely no fucking excuses for that video I saw. This guy needs to be raked over the coals. You Sir, no matter what you say, are against the Second Amendment. This guy should not have a council meeting for the next several months that is not inundated with angry gun owners from Ohio. This guy has thrown down, and it’s time to act.
Fast and Furious Hearings
First from local Congressman, and former US Attorney Pat Meehan:
Meehan represents the Congressional district I grew up in. Also see this clip from Congressman Jason Chaffetz from Utah:
Dave Hardy is reporting the press is finally starting to really pay attention, and points to all the articles appearing about the scandal. I have to hand to Mike Vanderboegh and David Codrea, who stuck on this story when a lot of folks, including me, were skeptical, and were reporting on this long before the media had a peep to say about it. Despite whatever differences I may have with them, I feel they deserve some recognition for top notch citizen journalism.
Fast and Furious Hearings
John Richardson is doing a pretty good job of covering the developments, including testimony of ATF attache to Mexico Darren Gil that they were in the dark in regards to this operation. If you want to watch live, follow this link.
Ten Year Felony? Slap on the Wrist!
As Dave Hardy notes, the WaPo has finally gotten around to acknowledging Fast and Furious as an actual scandal, but naturally their star anti-gun reporter Sari Horwitz, can’t do it without a healthy dose of deception and apologism:
Agents along the border had long been frustrated by what one ATF supervisor later called “toothless†laws that made it difficult to attack gun-trafficking networks. Straw buyers — people with no criminal record who purchase guns for criminals or illegal immigrants who can’t legally buy them — are subject to little more than paperwork violations. Even people convicted of buying AK-47s meant for the cartels typically just get probation for lying on a federal form attesting that they were buying the guns for themselves. With such a light penalty, it is hard to persuade those caught to turn informant against their bosses. And federal prosecutors rarely want to bring such charges because they do not consider the effort worth their time, according to ATF supervisors.
In what world is a ten year mandatory prison sentence and a quarter of a million dollar fine “toothless?” That’s up there with armed robbery. It took me three minutes to look that up and double check my facts just to be sure. I’m not at all convinced it would be that hard for Ms. Horwitz. I can only assume the reason she’s reporting untruths is because the truth doesn’t fit the narrative, which is the need for more laws.
And this is unfortunate, because the rest of it this lengthy article otherwise pretty good.
ATF, FBI Sold Guns to Felons
Howard Nemerov points to evidence that shows ATF and FBI collaborated to sell guns to people who were convicted felons, who otherwise could not pass a NICS check:
When asked about the breakdown, Stephen Fischer, a spokesman for the NICS System, said the FBI had no comment. However, an ATF agent who worked on the Fast and Furious investigation, told Fox News that NICS officials called the ATF in Phoenix whenever their suspects tried to buy a gun. That conversation typically led to a green light for the buyers, when it should have stopped them.
I don’t think I really care whether or not Holder says he didn’t know about it. This happened on his watch and he should step down. This operation is looking more and more reckless and illegal every day.
Liquor Control Woes
Speaking to reporters in his Capitol offices last week, Scarnati, R-Jefferson, said legislators need to “take the handcuffs off” the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board by allowing the agency to vary its prices by region and to try different mark-ups for different products. Allowing the agency to act more like a private business will drive up the state’s potential asking price for the current system, he said.
The problem here is that when you have monopoly pricing power, you have to put handcuffs on the body that wields that power. The PLCB does not and can not act like a private business because it is not a private business. The Capitol Ideas article speaks of Scarnati’s concern that we do not know the true value of the system. They could give it away for all I care. My goal is a decent selection of bourbon and scotch without having to smuggle it across the neutral zone.
Law Dog on Canton Video
PA Senate Republicans Screwing Us Again
Capitol Ideas is reporting that Senator Joe Scarnati, the top Republican in the PA Senate, has put the brakes on privatizing the state liquor system. He believes the PLCB needs to be given a chance to act more like a private business. You know what makes private businesses act like private businesses, Senator? Competition.
I’m getting to the point I’d rather vote out these soft Republicans in the Senate and replace them with Democrats. What good are they?
No More TSA Nude-O-Scope
Apparently a software upgrade is taking care of the issue:
After complaints from travelers the TSA earlier this year began testing at four airports software for the full-body scanners that instead uses a generic body outline and highlights the area where any anomaly is detected, eliminating the actual image of the passenger.
This deals with my primary concern about these things. I’d also want to know that there’s no way an agent can pull up the image, and that the image is not stored. I don’t really give a crap if a computer analyses an image of me. Now the only concern is the long-term effects of the radiation.
Someone should probably FOIA specs for this software upgrade to ensure everything is as advertised. You know, someone like the media, who’s supposed to hold the Government accountable. Or something like that. Hard to say that with a straight face these days.