Mr VJP

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7371245n&tag=mncol;lst;1

Sure do see a reason to hate the NRA here. How dare they try and help shooters and hunters!

Unbiased news sources are pretty rare, especially when it comes to gun control. http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/7827 The bottom line clearly seems to be that if you have the cash, reporters around the world are willing to write whatever kind of "news" you want them to.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/7916-qlive-free-or-dieq-nh-ranked-freest-state-in-union

(AuctionArms.com) -- Roger Hedgecock, writing at HumanEvents.com, believes that the ultimate target of the "Fast and Furious" Mexico Gunrunning Probe is President Obama himself. Hedgecock writes, "Did the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), an agency of President Obama's Justice Department, operate a program that deliberately allowed some 3,500 guns bought in the U.S. to be 'walked' across the Mexican border and into the waiting hands of the murderous Mexican drug cartels? At first, PresidentObama and Attorney General Eric Holder denied such a program existed." Four ATF agents who worked in the program, called Operation Fast and Furious, however, answered yes this week in testimony before the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R.-Calif.). In 2009, Obama, Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Dianne Feinstein had all charged that the increasing violence in Mexico was caused by guns purchased too easily in the U.S. They called on Congress to act to tighten gun control laws. Obama specifically claimed 90% of the weapons in the cartels’ hands were purchased in the U.S.—sheer nonsense. Of the 100,000 or so guns recovered by the Mexicans at crime scenes at the time, 18,000 were found to be manufactured, sold or imported from the U.S. Of those, 7,900 came from federally licensed gun shops. Of those, up to 3,500 came from Operation Fast and Furious. Was Operation Fast and Furious an Obama program to create a self-fulfilling prophecy and accomplish a gun control objective? Members of the Mexican Congress think the answer is yes and have opened their own investigation. From the Mexican standpoint, Operation Fast and Furious was an act of war on Mexico.

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Holds NRA Entitled to Attorneys’ Fees in Lawsuits Against Chicago and Oak Park, Illinois Thursday, June 02, 2011 Fairfax, VA—Today, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals conclusively and forcefully held, without need for oral argument, that the National Rifle Association has the right to recover attorneys’ fees in its lawsuits against the city of Chicago's and the village of Oak Park’s unconstitutional gun bans. The court held that the NRA was a prevailing party in the case of National Rifle Association v. City of Chicago and Village of Oak Park. “This is a Second Amendment victory and a civil rights victory. The National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment prevailed against those who sought to deny the right to keep and bear arms in Chicago and Oak Park,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director of NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. “The attempt to avoid paying the NRA’s attorneys’ fees was rightly found to be unjust by the Court." After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental right to keep and bear arms for all Americans in the historic McDonald v. Chicago and NRA v. Chicago and Oak Park cases, it remanded them for the purpose of issuing an injunction against Chicago and Oak Park's unconstitutional gun ordinances. Before that injunction was issued, however, those ordinances were repealed. The City and the Village then argued that the NRA was not a prevailing party and should not be allowed to recover attorneys’ fees. The District Court, which originally ruled against the NRA, agreed and denied the fee award. Today’s Seventh Circuit decision overturns that ruling, holding instead that the NRA is indeed a prevailing party and is entitled to receive reimbursement for attorneys’ fees. The amount to be recovered will be established by the District Court. “This is a major victory for the NRA. While we are grateful to recover our attorneys’ fees, however, we remain steadfast in our belief that Chicago and Oak Park continue to circumvent the law of the land and deny their law-abiding residents the Second Amendment freedoms protected by the Constitution. We will continue to fight those efforts until the Second Amendment is fully respected," concluded Cox. --NRA— Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’s oldest civil rights and sportsmen's group. Four million members strong, NRA continues its mission to uphold Second Amendment rights and to advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. The Association remains the nation's leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the military.

http://www.nationalgunrights.org/its-getting-easier-and-easier-to-be-treated-like-a-terrorist-these-days/

It is no small irony that as Obama endeavors to disarm the American people, he is contemplating how to arm “freedom fighters” (who are revealed, more each day, to be al-Qa’ida operatives or their useful idiots) in Libya. “I’m not ruling it out,” says Obama. “If we wanted to get weapons into Libya, we probably could.” Indeed, just call the ATF!

http://randysright.wordpress.com/2011/04/01/obamas-assault-on-weapons-project-gunrunner-backfires-on-the-left/ "While Project Gunrunner failed in charting weapons distribution channels south of the border, Democrats saw its utility as a means to implement new gun regulations north of the border by asserting that all the violence in the region is the result of gun sales in the U.S. The Obama administration hoped to make a case that Mexican organized crime syndicates depend on illegal U.S. sales of so-called “assault weapons.” In doing so, they hoped to revitalize their political agenda to register and regulate the sale of those weapons — a major Leftist goal for the last two decades." "On 28 December 2010, I was contacted by a career federal agent who, like many of his colleagues, honors his oath to “support and defend” our Constitution, whose support and defense is contingent on the Second Amendment’s prohibition against government infringement on the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. The contacting agent, who has a good track record of identifying government agendas designed to thwart 2A rights, told me that he suspected the weapon used in the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry on 14 December was among those lost by the ATF during the Gunrunner operation a few months earlier. Senior career agents in Phoenix and Tucson confirmed that some of the weapons recovered at the scene of the murder of Agent Terry were, indeed, Project Gunrunner weapons, but because the ATF took control of the weapons, it could evade the establishment of any ballistic link between Project Gunrunner and the bullet that killed Terry. Further, the agent I spoke with confirmed that the mission of Project Gunrunner was now purely political, an effort to “implement the registration of ‘assault-type’ rifles purchased anywhere in the United States.” Obama’s political appointees at ATF rejected numerous objections from field agents, including supervisory agents. Some objections were career terminators, including that of the ATF’s attaché in Mexico City, Darren Gil, whose objections resulted in forced retirement on 31 December 2010, just two weeks after the murder of Brian Terry."

Confirmation for you cynics from about the most far left source in America regarding gun control http://www.cbsnews.com/8300-31727_162-10391695.html?keyword=Issa I'm sure some will still say it's all BS.

OK, this source is about as far left as it gets concerning gun control. Still think it's all bull? http://www.cbsnews.com/8300-31727_162-10391695.html?keyword=Issa

You used interpretation, where you meant understanding. Must be your motto to post without understanding.

It used to be that the "Made in China" label translated to "inexpensive," but no more. The costs of imported goods are going up, due to a combination of a deflated dollar, a rising yuan, and higher wages in China. China is also consuming more as a nation, including cotton, the demand for which is driving up the cost of shoes and clothes. Rather than holding down inflation in the U.S. (as in days past), Chinese products are now costing more for the American consumer. Experts say there is a simple remedy for this problem: The U.S. needs to start producing and shipping more goods overseas and importing less. As is often the case, the simplest answer is also the one that make the most sense. No one blames the Chinese for demanding better jobs, wages and lives. But we should be fighting for our national interests just as staunchly.

While Barack Obama spews "job-creation" rhetoric, his administration's penchant for regulations tells a different story. Case in point: two proposed EPA regulations that will cost many, many jobs. According to a study by National Economic Research Associates (NERA), the Clean Air Transport Rule (CATR) and Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) requirement, both of which target the utility industry, will cost 1.44 million job-years by 2020(a job-year is one full-time job for one person for one year), while hiking average retail electrical prices for consumers by 11.5 percent. Manufacturers use about one-third of the nation's electricity, and any cost increase above 10 percent for these users is directly passed on to consumers. But what do a few jobs and higher costs matter in the quest for "environmental protection"? Apparently not much to this administration. Meanwhile, speaking of the environment, global warming just got the cold shoulder from the U.S. Supreme Court. On Monday, the High Court rejected a lawsuit by states and conservation groups attempting to use the courts to force power plants to cut greenhouse gas emissions. In a unanimous opinion (Justice Sonia Sotomayor recused herself), the Court stated that the authority to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions lies with the EPA and not with the courts. Plaintiffs will now target the EPA to push for regulations. Of course, given the jobs already at stake should proposed regulations be implemented, one can only wonder how many more jobs the new regulations will cost. The answer can't be good.

The 28 member nations of the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced the release of 60 million barrels of oil reserves over the next 30 days to put downward pressure on oil prices. The Obama administration said that 30 million barrels would come from our domestic Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which currently holds 727 million barrels. The IEA claims the release is because of disruption of supply due to events in Libya. However, Libya produces just 2 percent of the world's oil (1.5 million barrels per day), most of which goes to Europe. Perhaps replacing that much will have a positive short-term effect (oil did drop $5 a barrel on the news), but it's not a solution to the problem of high oil prices, or for Obama's sagging poll numbers. In 2000, Bill Clinton likewise released 30 million barrels of SPR oil over 30 days. As a result, the average price of gasoline fell by just one cent. By law, we must replace these 30 million barrels later, too, which means we're pouring oil from the deep end of the well into the shallow end. Instead of gimmicks like this one, the administration should remove restrictions to onshore and offshore drilling. Experts say that Alaska's wildlife reserve could supply one million barrels of oil every day. We know that "supply-side economics" is to leftists what holy water is to demons, but in this case and in so many others, it's the best answer. And adding supply for 30 days that must be demanded back later isn't it.

Mexico, long a source of illegal aliens and southern border anarchy, now wants to export that lawlessness further into the U.S., all with the assistance of the usual American Leftist cadre. The state of Georgia recently passed an anti-illegal immigration law similar to one passed by the state of Arizona and subsequently shot down by the Despotic Branch. Georgia's new law would allow police to investigate the immigration status of certain suspects, as well as to punish people who transport or harbor illegal immigrants or who use fake identification to obtain jobs. It also requires businesses to use the federal E-Verify program to ensure that newly hired workers are in fact eligible to work in the U.S. In other words, just like the Arizona law, Georgia's statute seeks to ensure that we remain a nation of Rule of Law, and not of rule of men. Naturally, Mexico and several other Central- and South American countries, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, the leftist Southern Poverty Law Center, and numerous other anti-American groups, are seeking to have the will of the Georgia people overturned by judicial diktat. Just as the Obama regime argued against the Arizona law, Mexico argues that Georgia's law is poorly conceived and would burden people who "look like illegal immigrants." Mexico also argues that the law "substantially and inappropriately burdens the consistent country to country relations between Mexico and the United States of America." One might think that the murderous Mexican drug cartels who shoot and kill American citizens and federal Border patrol agents using illegal arms provided by the Obama regime's Department of Justice (more on that below) would be something that "burdens" country-to-country relations, but apparently not in Mexico's eyes. Sadly, it will be a Clinton judicial appointee who decides whether Rule of Law still holds in Georgia.

There has been much outcry over the enhanced "security" procedures implemented by the Transportation and Security Administration. Now the arrest of a TSA agent shows that Big Sis is not only stealing our dignity; her agents are stealing our belongings. A Houston agent was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor after an undercover cop posed as a Good Samaritan and turned in a wallet containing $1,000 in cash. The wallet, however, didn't go to lost-and-found, but instead found its way into the agent's backpack. For those who think this is the isolated act of an underpaid government employee, think again. The thievery has become nothing short of epidemic. In fact, a Newark agent was arrested after it was discovered that he was moonlighting as an eBay merchant. His merchandise? A $40,000 trove of goods he had stolen from the luggage of unsuspecting travelers. While agents at the New York City-area airports seem to be the biggest culprits, this is a nationwide problem. In fact, since its inception in the wake of the September 11th attacks, 500 TSA agents have been fired or suspended for ripping off airline passengers. Yet TSA continues to make excuses, saying that less than half of one percent of its employees are thieves. Now, imagine a private corporation offering up such a lame defense.

It's not too shocking anymore to uncover a terrorist plot. Regardless of how small or insignificant it may appear to be, a nation on high alert always seems to catch someone in the planning stages of mayhem. So it was with the case of Yonathan Melaku, a 22-year-old lance corporal in the Marine Corps Reserves and a native of Ethiopia. He was caught with a cache of ammonium nitrate, which is the kind of stuff one can use to blow up a building when the proper materials are added. Melaku's arrest was the talk of Washington because he was caught snooping around Arlington National Cemetery, which was closed at the time, and his car was later found near the Pentagon. More clues emerged when his notebook praising al-Qa'ida and the Taliban was discovered. However, a key element of the story was missing. It wasn't the lack of co-conspirators or the assertion of the Associated Press that "the suspect is not thought to have been involved in a terrorist act or plot." (Sure, people walk around with potentially explosive ammonium nitrate all the time.) No, lost in most background reporting was the fact Melaku is Muslim. So as not to equate the potential of terrorism with the Religion of Peace™, it seems that news organizations are hesitant to bring religion into the discussion except on those rare occasions when it suits their agenda (in other words, only when it involves a supposed Christian engaged in malfeasance). Apparently, we're supposed to forget that radical Islamic terrorists tried to destroy the very Pentagon at which Melaku's car was parked. Perhaps it's now so common an assumption that would-be terrorists are Muslim that reporters aren't bothering to report that fact. Somehow, though, we doubt it.

Under the Obama regime, it appears that federal employees, including the military, will provide a proving ground for various theories on how to make homosexuality palatable to the general public. Take the example of a sensitivity training model dubbed the "LGBT Special Emphasis Program" brought over from, of all places, the Department of Agriculture. The USDA training coins the term "heterosexism" to deride the belief that marriage should be between one man and one woman by equating this faith-based (and nature-based) principle with racism. For example, proponents see a golden opportunity for changing hearts and minds in the military, which had until recently been subject to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for homosexuals serving within their ranks. It doesn't stop there, however, as USDA officials have asked the Office of Personnel Management to extend the training government-wide. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsask, in particular, is pushing the training. The former Iowa Democrat governor launched a department-wide "cultural transformation" and hopes to force that upon the rest of the government.

Several Senate Democrats introduced the Military Access to Reproductive Care and Health (MARCH) for Military Women Act this week to support taxpayer-funded abortions performed on military personnel while in the service. This bill, also introduced in the House by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), would reverse a ban that prohibits Department of Defense personnel from performing abortions at domestic and foreign DoD facilities. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Patty Murray (D-WA) co-sponsored the legislation, which quickly received support from the ACLU, NARAL and Planned Parenthood. This is only the latest in a long line of attempts to reverse the ban. None of the previous Senate attempts have ever reached cloture, and with more Republicans now in the chamber, it's difficult to imagine success this time. Bill Clinton introduced taxpayer-funded abortions in military facilities in 1993, but all military physicians refused to perform or assist in the procedures. The ban was put in place three years later.

The ObamaCare waiver program is quietly coming to an end, or at least morphing into something else to take it out of the news. In a typical Friday afternoon news dump, the Obama administration announced last week that it's changing the way it will grant waivers to temporarily exempt companies and organizations from complying with the health care law. The waivers were originally created to bridge a major flaw in ObamaCare that would have ousted millions of lower-wage workers from their current insurance plans. The waivers were meant to expire after one year, but can be renewed until 2014, at which point ObamaCare will have completely sunk its claws into the insurance market. The 1,433 issued waivers have been a growing PR problem for the administration. The process of granting waivers has taken place completely behind closed doors, with each month's fresh tally further proving that ObamaCare is a disaster. After all, if it was such a good law, there wouldn't be a need for millions of people to be exempted from it, many of them the lower income families the plan was meant to aid in the first place. A massive granting of waivers to undeserving establishments curiously located in Demo Rep. Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco district didn't help. The Government Accountability Office concluded that there was nothing suspicious about how the waivers have been distributed, but only last week did the White House release a list of applicants who have been denied. Republicans have been calling for months for this and other information. The new method doesn't improve ObamaCare's transparency problem; it only removes the much-despised program from the news cycle in advance of next year's presidential election. Currently the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approves a new batch of one-year waivers every month. Now, applicants have until Sept. 22 to apply for waivers that will last until the end of 2013. Current recipients whose waivers will expire some time after the deadline may renew for the full two-year period. Regardless, there are many other flaws in ObamaCare, and it's certain to remain a hot topic in next year's election. Another recently discovered ObamaCare screw-up is that it allows access to Medicaid by early-retiree couples earning up to $64,000. This costs an additional $450 billion over 10 years that would add three million non-needy people to an already overburdened program. Government budget analysts claim the error was caused by changes in the Medicaid eligibility calculation of income. Perhaps if there had been an opportunity to read the bill before it was rammed through Congress, this and other stupid mistakes would have been caught. But, then again, maybe they weren't mistakes at all.

"If the Constitution was intended to limit the federal government, it sure doesn't say so." --Time magazine's Richard Stengel, who also asks if it even still matters. Au contraire. Stengel must be the product of some gubmint-run educational institution preaching the gospel of a "living" constitution. Has he ever heard of the enumerated powers or Bill of Rights?

Hypocrisy on Display Democrats have changed their tune on the national debt over the years. In 2006, under Republican leadership, they were spending hawks. Since their election wins that year, however, it's been an entirely different story.

This Week's 'Alpha Jackass' Award "If you don't touch revenues and you leave in place the tax cuts for the top 2 percent that were put in place by President Bush ... and you're trying to bring our deficits down over time, then you have to do exceptionally deep cuts in benefits for middle-class Americans and you have to shrink the overall size of government programs." --Treasury Secretary Tim "Tax Cheat" Geithner The top 2 percent are often small business owners who create most of the jobs in this country. And heaven forbid we might have to shrink government!