Sorry, everyone knows the place is under the thumb of the Israeli warship AIPAC.
In any event, God Bless the NRA!
Americans need their guns for the same reason the founding fathers did.
"Capitol Hill victories keep mounting for powerful NRA; Group’s influence evident no matter political landscape" by Dan Eggen, Washington Post | June 18, 2010
WASHINGTON — Even with Democrats in control of Washington, the National Rifle Association usually gets what it wants.
Long regarded as one of the most powerful lobbying groups in town, the GOP-friendly NRA has had a remarkable series of political victories in recent months that underscore its continuing influence on Capitol Hill — no matter which party holds the reins and no matter what policy issues are involved.
You could say the same about a small Middle Eastern nation that has a better record of success than the NRA!
The latest example came this week, when House Democrats disclosed a deal exempting the NRA and a handful of other large nonprofit groups from donor disclosure requirements in a proposed campaign-finance law. In exchange, the NRA agreed to back down from fomenting opposition to the bill.
It doesn't matter which party is in power anymore.
In addition, the gun rights group helped push legislation through the Democratic Congress last year that lifted a decades-old ban on carrying concealed weapons in most national parks and wildlife refuges. It also effectively scuttled congressional representation for Washington, D.C., by supporting pro-gun legislation attached to the bill; rebuffed attempts to stop the destruction of background-check records; and has blocked legislation to forbid gun purchases by people included on the government’s terrorist watch list.
The reason for the group’s recent successes? “It’s a well-known fact that it’s bad politics and bad policy to be on the wrong side of the gun issue,’’ said NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam, adding that lawmakers are responding to strong support for Second Amendment rights among voters.
Because THEY CARE about THIS COUNTRY!
It’s a message the group regularly sends to members of Congress, particularly Republicans and centrist Democrats who view opposing gun restrictions as a key issue for their most-motivated voters back home. The NRA deal on campaign disclosures came three weeks after the Fairfax, Va.-based group sent a blistering letter to House lawmakers, warning that it would oppose the bill as written — and would hold yes votes against those who cast them.
With more than 4 million dues-paying members, the NRA has reported spending about $2.5 million on direct lobbying through its Institute for Legislative Action since the beginning of last year, according to disclosure reports.
But the gun lobby’s real influence is felt in areas not measured by official statistics, from vote scorecards used at election time to the millions spent on issue ads not documented in campaign reports. The group plans about $20 million in political spending this year.
Those kind of numbers only add to the frustration of gun-control activists such as Kristen Rand, legislative director for the Violence Policy Center, which has a lobbying budget so small it doesn’t have to be reported. Rand said the NRA has built “an aura of power’’ around itself despite its shortcomings, such as the group’s failed campaign against President Obama in 2008.
Yeah, that zounds like Zionism.
WASHINGTON — House Democrats agreed to exempt an unspecified number of large, well-known interest groups from proposed new disclosure requirements on political advertising yesterday, seeking to quell charges they were giving special treatment to the powerful National Rifle Association.
Pffft!
What a disappointment the Pelosi House has been.
The bill’s chief sponsor, Representative Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, said that under the last-minute change, “well-established organizations on the right and left’’ engaging in campaign activity, the NRA among them, would not be required to identify their top donors.
Democratic leaders had originally intended to vote on the legislation yesterday, but that schedule appeared less than firm after rank-and-file moderates and members of the Congressional Black Caucus raised new objections.
The leadership arranged meetings with representatives of both groups, and other changes were possible in the measure....
Additionally, the US Chamber of Commerce, a Republican ally that represents businesses and plays a robust role in political campaigns, is strongly opposed to the legislation.
You know what that mean$, right, reader$?
“It is unconstitutional, since it picks winners with respect to speech,’’ said Bruce Josten, executive vice president for government relations.
Notice he didn't call it "free" $peech.
He said the measure contains a loophole for unions, and he criticized it as a politically motivated attempt to shut down corporations’ ability to engage in political activity.
Corporations complaining!
PFFFFFFTTT!!!
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WASHINGTON — Four months before midterm elections, the Democratic-controlled House approved new limitations on the political activity of outside interest groups yesterday after carving out exemptions that benefit the National Rifle Association, labor unions, and numerous federal contractors.
They think this is going to make us happy? Something they can campaign on?
They are dumber than I thought.
The vote was 219 to 206 on the legislation.
Democrats trumpeted the measure as a move to bring fuller disclosure to the world of shadowy campaign ads and Republicans attacked it as an unconstitutional restriction on free speech.
They are nuts.
Is that what keeping your head in a s*** pile does?
Passage sent the measure to the Senate, where majority leader Harry Reid has pledged to seek its approval despite strong Republican opposition that makes its prospects uncertain.
I doubt it is going anywhere at all.
Organizations as diverse as the American Civil Liberties Union and Sierra Club on the left to the Chamber of Commerce and the National Right to Life Committee on the right opposed the measure. The NRA was officially neutral — and drew a jab from House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio because of that.
Translation: The bill will die in the Senate; however, House members can look good on the trail.
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