U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

'Quit filibustering!' Angry constituents challenge Republican Chuck Grassley over inaction on gun control



United States Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) was confronted by a roomful of constituents frustrated with the federal government's inaction on stopping gun violence during a town hall in Columbus Junction, Louisa County, Iowa on Wednesday.

Grassley, 88, was bombarded with questions about why he and other Republican lawmakers refuse to agree to modest proposals like raising purchasing age requirements, limiting high-capacity magazines, or expanding background checks, even as the nation grapples with the 233rd mass shooting so far this year.

Grassley declined to reveal what sort of new regulation he would support and insisted that his colleagues are working on the problem.

“Yesterday, they had a meeting by Zoom and they had very positive results, and they think they have a framework put together that something can be done to stop this violence through some gun legislation and through some school safety issues,” Grassley said of Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut). “To answer your question, I’m going to wait until they report next week before I decide what I’m going to do.”

One of the people in attendance asked Grassley if he would consider a ban on the AR-15, which is the weapon of choice in the vast majority of firearm massacres.

“They’re there to kill people," the man said of the semi-automatic rifle.

Grassley noted that because "there are 400 million guns in the United States" and that "15 million of them are AR-15s... you’re still going to have AR-15s even if you stop selling them right now."

A woman sitting in the back of the room immediately shot that down.

“The answer is not to do nothing!” she exclaimed.

Grassley, however, reverted to his previous statement on the Senate's negotiations.

“The answer to your question is a process answer. Whatever we do through the Cornyn/Murphy cooperative effort to make schools safe and do what you can with guns, that probably would not get 60 votes," he said.

“Quit filibustering it then!” another person shouted, referring to Grassley personally blocking Murphy's unanimous consent request on universal background checks last December.

Watch below via Iowa Starting Line:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1532417401777803264

Asked about banning AR-15s, Grassley noted that there’s already millions out there

“The answer is not to do nothing!” one woman replied

Grassley then said it probably wouldn’t get 60 votes anyway

“Quit filibustering it then!” another person said,

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1532419227633733634

[Rick Plant]

Biden calls for ban on assault weapons: 'This time we must actually do something'

A string of deadly shootings continued with one in Oklahoma on Wednesday.



As mass shootings continue to rock the nation, President Joe Biden delivered prime-time remarks on guns Thursday evening, imploring the nation to "For God's sake, do something."

Rows of illuminated white candles lined the carpet of the White House Cross Hall as Biden called on lawmakers to take action, listing off reforms he'd like to see passed to curb gun violence.

"We need to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines. And if we can't ban assault weapons, then we should raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21, strengthen background checks, enact safe storage laws and red flag laws. Repeal the immunity that protects gun manufacturers from liability, address the mental health crisis," he said in an impassioned address.

The latest mass shooting on Wednesday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, leaving four dead, follows a massacre of 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, as well as an apparently racially-motivated attack at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, leaving 10 Black people dead.

"We spent hours with hundreds of family members who were broken, whose lives will never be the same," Biden said. "They had one message for all of us. Do something. Just do something ... After Columbine, after Sandy Hook, after Charleston, after Orlando, after Las Vegas, after Parkland, nothing has been done. This time that can't be true. This time we must do something."

Biden took the national spotlight amid questions over why he has not yet lobbied lawmakers personally and more forcefully as negotiations continue.

The president said he supports the bipartisan effort, but described stiff Republican opposition as a major roadblock. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. Ted Cruz and other GOP figures have made the case that mental illness and school security are the problems underscoring these shootings, not guns.

"The fact that the majority of the Senate Republicans don't want any of these proposals even to be debated or come up for a vote I find unconscionable," he said. "We can't fail the American people again."

"This isn't about taking anyone's rights. It's about protecting children," he added. "It's about protecting families, it's about protecting whole communities, it's about protecting our freedoms to go to school, to a grocery store to a church without being shot and killed. According to new data just released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention guns are the number one killer of children in the United States of America. The number one killer. More than car accidents, more than cancer. Over the last two decades, more school-aged children have died from guns than on-duty police officers and active-duty military combined."

"Think about that," he said, adding, "How much more carnage are we willing to accept? How many more innocent American lives must be taken before we say enough, enough?"

Biden said earlier this week he was "not confident" Congress would succeed in passing gun reform legislation, referencing his own time in the Senate.

While serving as then-President Barack Obama's vice president, Biden was tasked in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting to lead the administration's effort to enact tougher gun control laws -- but in the nearly decade since the nation mourned for Newtown, no action on gun control has passed at a federal level.

The last meaningful gun reform legislation passed on Capitol Hill was the 1994 assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004 due to a "sunset" clause in the legislation. Similar legislation has failed for decades in the Senate due in large part to the filibuster rule, which requires 60 senators for a measure to advance toward a final vote. Though Democrats hold a razor-thin majority in Congress, they cannot push legislation through the Senate without the support of at least 10 Republicans.

The American public is widely supportive of universal background checks, which have already passed through the House's Democratic majority. An ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted in September 2019 found 89% support for universal background checks, including at least eight in 10 Republicans and conservatives.

The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted along party lines, 25-19, to approve the Protect our Kids Act and send to the full chamber for a vote next week.

The markup lasted over nine hours and concluded as Biden addressed the nation and called on Congress to take up specific gun control reforms - many of which are included in Democrats' proposal.

The bill, which would raise the purchasing age for semiautomatic rifles to 21, limit large capacity magazines, create safe storage requirements and tighten regulation of "ghost guns," lacks 60 votes to pass in the Senate.

As Biden prepared for his speech on Thursday, funerals were underway in Uvalde, where he visited families of victims.

He claimed earlier this week to have visited more aftermaths of mass shootings than any other American president.

"Jill and I met with the owner and staff for the funeral home," Biden said during his address on Thursday night. "He's being strong, strong, strong, strong to take care of their own. And the people in Uvalde mourn, as they do over the next 17 days, what will we be doing as a nation?"

"It's time for each of us to do our part," he added. "It's time to act. For the children we've lost, the children we can save, for the nation we love, let's hear the call and the cry. Let's meet the moment, let us finally do something. God bless the families who are hurting."

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-calls-ban-assault-weapons-time/story?id=85139497


'How much more carnage?' Biden cites Scalia in address on plan to save children from America's 'killing fields'

President Joe Biden addressed the nation on Thursday evening as the country mourns a series of mass shootings.

He spoke of visiting Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

"Innocent victims murdered in a classroom turned into a killing field. Standing there in that small town like so many other communities across America, I couldn't help but think there are too many other schools, too many other everyday places that have become killing fields, battlefields here in America."

He said America wants Congress to "do something."

"Just do something. For God's sake, do something. After Columbine, after Sandy Hook, after Charleston, after Orlando, nothing has been done," he said. "This time that can't be true. We must do something."

Biden spoke in front of 56 candles representing the states and territories of America, CNN reported.

"It was Justice Scalia who wrote, 'the rights granted by the Second Amendment are not unlimited.' Not unlimited," he said. "It never has been."

"We can't fail the American people again," Biden said. "Let's meet the moment, let us finally do something."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Another fantastic jobs report for May. Even with record low unemployment, more new jobs continue to be created during the Biden Boom.

Payrolls rose 390,000 in May, better than expected as companies keep hiring

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 390,000 in May, above the 328,000 Dow Jones estimate.

The unemployment rate held at 3.6%, while a more encompassing jobless rate edged higher to 7.1%.

Average hourly earnings rose slightly less than expected but were still up 5.2% from a year ago.



The U.S. economy added 390,000 jobs in May, better than expected despite fears of an economic slowdown.

At the same time, the unemployment rate held at 3.6%, just above the lowest level since December 1969.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for nonfarm payrolls to expand by 328,000 and the unemployment rate to edge lower to 3.5%.

“Despite the slight cooldown, the tight labor market is clearly sticking around and is shrugging off fears of a downturn,” said Daniel Zhao, Glassdoor’s senior economist. “We continue to see signs of a healthy and competitive job market, with no signs of stepping on the brakes yet.”

Average hourly earnings increased 0.3% from April, slightly lower than the 0.4% estimate. The year-over-year increase for wages of 5.2% was in line with expectations.

Job gains were broad-based. Leisure and hospitality led, adding 84,000 positions. Professional and business services rose by 75,000, transportation and warehousing contributed 47,000, and construction jobs increased by 36,000.

Other areas that saw notable gains included state government education (36,000), private education (33,000), health care (28,000), manufacturing (18,000) and wholesale trade (14,000).

Labor force participation edged higher, rising to 62.3% though still 1.1 percentage points below February 2020, as the labor force is smaller by 207,000 from that mark.

A more encompassing measure of unemployment that takes into account those not looking for jobs and those holding part-time positions for economic reasons moved higher to 7.1%, up one-tenth of a percentage point from April. Unemployment for Asians fell to 2.4%, the lowest in nearly three years, while the rate for Blacks was 6.2%, an increase of 0.3 percentage point.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/03/jobs-report-may-2022-.html

[Rick Plant]

If a Republican elected official doesn't go along with the rest of the cult then they will go after that official.

The overwhelming majority of Americans support an assault weapons ban. Republican Rep. Chris Jacobs endorsed the ban and members of the GOP Congress quickly turned on him. So now, he is ending his political career for doing what his constituents want which is an assault weapons ban but his political GOP party won't allow it.

The GOP is out of touch with Americans. Republicans want a violent society with mass shootings every day and want to control women's bodies by prohibiting them from getting an abortion when they have complications to their pregnancy or if they are brutally attacked. They would rather let a woman die than get an abortion but have no problem when children are slaughtered at school with military grade weapons that mutilates the body. That's why the GOP is going to lose in a landslide in November. People are sick of this violence and tired of the GOP preventing gun laws from being implemented. Also, women do not want to become second class citizens and will come out in droves to vote Republicans out of office.       


GOP congressman drops out of NY race just days after endorsing assault weapons ban



On Friday, according to WKBW's Natalie Fahmy, Rep. Chris Jacobs (R-NY) announced that he is suspending his campaign for New York's 23rd Congressional District.

This comes after Jacobs was one of the only sitting Republicans to publicly say last week that he would support a federal ban on assault weapons in the wake of the white supremacist mass shooting in Buffalo, which is near to the district. He acknowledged that that position has made it impossible for him to win nomination for the district, saying, "Since making those comments, every Republican who supported me withdrew their endorsement."

Jacobs currently represents New York's 27th Congressional District, which is being eliminated as a result of the Census reapportioning New York to have only 26 seats. He had hoped to take over the 23rd District, which shares some territory with his old seat, after the incumbent Republican there, Rep. Tom Reed, resigned over a sexual misconduct allegation.

In his place, House GOP Caucus chair Elise Stefanik, also an upstate New Yorker, has announced she is endorsing Carl Paladino, a far-right former member of the Buffalo Board of Education and one-time ally of former President Donald Trump.

Paladino famously caused outrage in 2016 when he said of former First Lady Michelle Obama, “I’d like her to return to being a male and let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla.” Even the Trump campaign itself condemned him as racist following the incident.

Political observers widely believe Republicans will once again block any consideration of an assault weapon ban in the Senate, although President Joe Biden has also called for more modest measures including a 21 year age limit to purchase such weapons.

BREAKING: Representative Chris Jacobs has withdrawn from the NY-23 race. This comes after he publicly supported an assault weapons ban. “Since making those comments, every republican who supported me withdrew their endorsement.”@WKBW

https://twitter.com/NatalieFahmy/status/1532815112301682689

[Rick Plant]

Wisconsin gunman's list included Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's name



Lansing — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's name appeared on a list of a gunman who's suspected in the killing of a retired judge in Wisconsin, her office said Saturday.

Zack Pohl, Whitmer's deputy chief of staff, said in a statement that law enforcement officials notified Whitmer of the list on Friday. That was the same day that retired Juneau County Judge John Roemer was shot and killed in "a targeted attack in his home" in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"While the news reports are deeply troubling, we will not comment further on an ongoing criminal investigation," Pohl said. "Gov. Whitmer has demonstrated repeatedly that she is tough, and she will not be bullied or intimidated from doing her job and working across the aisle to get things done for the people of Michigan."

The incident in Wisconsin is under investigation, according to a press release from the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

At about 6:30 a.m. Friday, the Juneau County Sheriff’s Office received a call about an armed person and two shots fired in home in New Lisbon, according to the department. The caller had left the home and contacted law enforcement.

The Juneau County Special Tactics and Response Team eventually entered the home and located the homeowner, who wasn't named in the department's press release, deceased. A 56-year-old male was also found in the basement of the home with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

He was transported to a medical facility.

"This incident appears to be a targeted act," the Wisconsin Department of Justice said. "There is no immediate danger to the public."

Officials said law enforcement had found Roemer "zip-tied to a chair and fatally shot," according to a Wisconsin TV station.

"A law enforcement official said a 'hit list' was found in the suspect's vehicle," WISN 12-Milwaukee reported.

The list included Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, according to the TV station's reporting.

Whitmer, a Democrat, has faced a string of threats during her time in Michigan's top office. In October 2020, federal agents revealed what they described as a plot to overthrow the government and kidnap and harm her.

In April, jurors acquitted two men accused of being involved in the plot and deadlocked on charges against the two alleged ringleaders. Daniel Harris, 24, of Lake Orion, and Brandon Caserta, 34, of Canton Township were freed after nearly two years behind bars. 

Andrew Birge, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Michigan, has vowed to retry the accused ringleaders Adam Fox, 38, of Potterville, and Barry Croft, 46, of Delaware. The four men in the Whitmer kidnapping case faced kidnapping conspiracy charges, a felony punishable by up to life in prison.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/06/04/gov-whitmer-wisconsin-gunmans-list/7514269001/

[Joe Elliott]

Great news from Georgia last month. The Trump endorsed candidates for Governor, Secretary of State and Attorney General, all lost in the Republican primary. Georgia, at least, will not, in 2022, automatically select Trump as the winner of the 2024 Presidential election. Still, the fight continues in other states. But the results in Georgia are a big relief. If Trump can’t ‘fix’ the election in Georgia, to automatically give him a good result in 2024, where can he succeed?

[Rick Plant]

Great news from Georgia last month. The Trump endorsed candidates for Governor, Secretary of State and Attorney General, all lost in the Republican primary. Georgia, at least, will not, in 2022, automatically select Trump as the winner of the 2024 Presidential election. Still, the fight continues in other states. But the results in Georgia are a big relief. If Trump can’t ‘fix’ the election in Georgia, to automatically give him a good result in 2024, where can he succeed?

The most telling sign that Donnie has lost his relevance with Republican voters is that his own endorsed candidates lost badly in Idaho which is the most radical extreme state in the country.