Posts Tagged ‘GOA Alert’

Payola: Epic Fail obama style

March 31, 2010

One has to admit grudgingly, that the impostor in chief does things with style, Chicago politics style…

Obama Pushing Another Radical Anti-gunner to the Federal Bench

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org

“Liu believes that judges have the authority to impose their views… using clever verbal camouflage to disguise what they’re doing.” — Ed Whelan, a one-time clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia and now president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center (3/4/10)

Monday, March 29, 2010

Imagine a judicial candidate that is so far to the left that even Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel, is hesitant to push him forward.

Imagine a liberal law professor that not only fails to meet the ABA’s basic requirements for a federal judge, but is so green behind the ears that it appears the only reason he is being nominated to the federal courts is because he served as part of President Obama’s transition team.

If you can imagine such a leftist candidate, then you would be thinking of Goodwin Liu, the President’s recent nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Liu is the Associate Dean and Professor of Law at the ultra-left UC Berkeley School of Law.  Only 39 years old, he comes nowhere near fulfilling the ABA’s standards for a judge.

But what he lacks in experience, he makes up for in radical liberalism.  In a recent book that he co-authored, Liu says that, “Applications of constitutional text and principles must be open to adaptation and change… as the conditions and norms of our society become ever more distant from those of the Founding generation.”

Got it?  Like many radical progressives, Liu believes that our rights are constantly evolving.  The Second Amendment might have been necessary in the 1700s, he believes, but now those rights are no longer necessary.

In Liu’s world, there would be no gun rights

Noted author David Kopel cites a law journal article of Liu’s where he criticizes the Supreme Court for declaring two gun control laws as unconstitutional — the Brady Law’s unfunded mandate and the Gun-Free School Zones Act.

Liu said that Supreme Court cases like these did “damage” to civil rights and “upset settled understandings of congressional power.”  What?!  Striking down gun control laws does damage to civil rights?  Well, let’s be clear:  the Court did upset someone’s “settled” understanding of things, but it was the LIBERAL’S misunderstanding of the Constitution.

By the way, Liu co-authored the 2002 law journal article with then-Senator Hillary Clinton… which should tell us all we need to know about Liu’s liberal, anti-gun views!

Rights evolve over time?

The bottom line is that Liu would not be a stickler for the Constitution if he were to sit on the appellate court.

“It becomes pretty clear why ‘originalism’ and ‘strict construction’ don’t make a lot of sense,” Liu said in an interview promoting his book. “The Framers deliberately chose… broad words so they would be adaptable to new challenges over time.”

No wonder that the ranking Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Jeff Sessions (R-AL), spoke out so forcefully against the nomination of Goodwin Liu:

I am very disappointed by President Obama’s nomination of Professor Goodwin Liu to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit….

Instead of nominating an individual who has demonstrated an impartial commitment to following the Constitution and the rule of law, President Obama has selected someone far outside the mainstream of American jurisprudence.  Professor Liu believes that judges should look to “evolving norms and social understandings” in interpreting the Constitution, he has a history of advocating for racial preferences, and he served on the Board of the directors of the ACLU.

ACTION: Please urge your two Senators to oppose Obama’s appointment of Goodwin Liu, the latest anti-gun liberal to be picked for the federal courts.  You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your legislators the pre-written e-mail message below.

—– Pre-written letter —–

Dear Senator:

I oppose the nomination of Goodwin Liu, the President’s recent nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Liu is an anti-gun, radical leftist who doesn’t even meet the ABA’s basic requirements for a federal judge, as he has neither practiced law for 12 years, nor has he any experience as a trial lawyer.

Liu believes that our rights are constantly evolving… which is why I’m very concerned about his Second Amendment views.  He co-authored a law journal article in 2002 with then-Senator Hillary Clinton, wherein he criticizes the Supreme Court for declaring two gun control laws as unconstitutional — the Brady Law’s unfunded mandate and the Gun-Free School Zones Act.

Leftists like Liu think our gun rights might have been necessary in the 1700s, but are no longer necessary today.  I agree with Senator Jeff Sessions’ critique of Liu, as the latter mistakenly thinks that judges should look to “evolving norms and social understandings” in interpreting the Constitution.

I vehemently oppose this view and hope you will vote against any nominee who doesn’t stand strong on the Bill of Rights.

Please oppose Goodwin Liu.

Sincerely,

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Law, mysandry, News, Non Compos Mentis, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 5 Comments »

Does Massachusetts Hold the Key to Stopping ObamaCare?

January 12, 2010
Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund Alert:
Does Massachusetts Hold the Key to Stopping ObamaCare?

Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Pl, Suite 102
Springfield, VA 22151
http://www.goapvf.org

January 12, 2010

The best opportunity to defeat ObamaCare may come from, ironically, Massachusetts.

In the race to succeed the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, Republican State Senator Scott Brown could become the key vote to stop nationalized health care.

With Senate Democrats controlling 60 votes, Republicans were unable to muster the 41 votes needed to block the anti-gun health care bill when it passed the Senate on Christmas Eve.  But the bill must still be voted on by both the House and Senate, and the Senate is scheduled to reconvene on January 19 — the same day as the special election in Massachusetts.

How big of an issue is health care in this election?

Scott Brown told Politico: “If you feel that Washington and the health care bill that they’re proposing is systemic of the problems in Washington and the failure to understand average people anymore, then you vote for me because as the 41st senator. I can stop a lot of this stuff in its tracks.  I can actually force them to go back to the drawing board.”

Ordinarily, a Massachusetts Senate race is a cinch for Democrats, who dominate state politics.  But a recent Public Policy Polling poll shows Brown up one point against his opponent, anti-gun State Attorney General Martha Coakley!

Should Scott Brown pull off a win, the ObamaCare legislation would die instantly as Democrats will have lost their 60th vote.

As state Senator, Brown is considered one of the most conservative Republicans in the Bay State — supporting issues like concealed carry of firearms and earning an “A+” rating from the state pro-gun group, Gun Owners Action League.

His opponent is the type of radical anti-gunner people have come to expect from Massachusetts.  Late last year, Attorney General Coakley filed a brief urging the state Supreme Court to uphold a law requiring firearms to be kept under lock and key when not in use.

The choice for gun owners in this race could not be more clear — and the stakes could not be higher.

After telling gun owners for a year that they had nothing to fear from the national health care bill, Democrats in Washington finally admitted that that was a bald-faced lie.  So they stuck a bunch of language in the most recent version of the bill supposedly addressing the gun problems (which they claimed for so long did not exist!)

But the new language does not prohibit the FBI or the BATFE from trolling the ObamaCare medical database in search of medical reasons to disqualify citizens from owning firearms.

Already, the Department of Veterans Affairs — which operates its own nationalized health care system — has denied around 150,000 veterans their Second Amendment rights based on the opinions of doctors, and not on the basis of any criminal conviction.  And that is just the tip of the iceberg should the health care bill pass for the rest of the population.

So you can see how important this Massachusetts special election on January 19 is for the nation.

It is also clear that concerned citizens from all over the country should do all they can to get Scott Brown over the finish line.

This is a very expensive race, and Scott’s opponent has so far out-raised him significantly, as she’s raked in millions of dollars from ObamaCare supporters.

And, even though Scott is carrying the Republican message that will likely dominate the 2010 Congressional elections, news reports indicate that the Republican national committees have shown only token support.  That must change, and change quickly.

Sure, Massachusetts is normally a safe Democrat state — but these are not normal times.  This race is winnable.  Scott Brown was down by 31 percentage points in November, but he is now effectively tied in the latest poll.

There are several action items that can be taken by people from every state:

1. Visit Scott Brown on the web at http://www.brownforussenate.com and make a generous contribution.  And, please make sure all your contacts know about the importance of this race.

2. Contact National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn at info@nrsc.org and urge him to pull out all the stops to elect Scott Brown.

3. Email Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele at info@gop.com and deliver the same message.

4. Of course, if you live in Massachusetts, vote for Scott Brown on Tuesday, January 19.

Together, we can strike a blow to anti-gun national health care — and send a powerful message to Washington — by scoring a win in liberal Massachusetts.

Sincerely,

Tim Macy
Vice Chairman

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Law, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 2 Comments »

Urgent Calls Needed Against ObamaCare‏

November 21, 2009

note: this is from yesterday, my net was down 😦

Urgent Calls Needed Against ObamaCare
— Vote is scheduled for tomorrow night

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://gunowners.org

Friday, November 20, 2009

Tomorrow will be as important a day as any in our lifetimes in determining whether the anti-gun health care bill moves forward.

The key vote will be on shutting down a Republican filibuster of the ObamaCare bill, HR 3590.  In the Senate, we are faced with a health care bill that:

* Costs $2.5 trillion during its first ten years of full implementation (2014-2023);

* Increases insurance premiums and imposes $376 billion in tax increases — many on the middle class; and

* Cuts Medicare by $465 billion, while increasing health costs by over $100 billion.

Fox News is reporting today that the word “tax” appears 183 times in the health care bill.  Is Obama serious?  Is that what he and Reid want to do to us in the midst of a recession?

Of course, all this increased spending — and taxes — means that you will have less money to spend on pursuing your real passions:  like providing for your family and purchasing guns and ammunition!

The strategy in the Senate is to cram this bill down the American people’s throats before we have a chance to fully read and evaluate it.  And the vote on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. will determine whether, at least initially, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will be able to get away with this.

Gun Owners of America has already gone into several states represented by key Democrats who will be central to the Saturday vote.  But this is sufficiently important that all 100 senators need to know where we stand.

Finally, as we have mentioned several times in the past, the mandates in the legislation will most likely dump your gun-related health data into a government database that was created in section 13001 of the stimulus bill.  This includes any firearms-related information your doctor has gleaned… or any determination of PTSD, or something similar, that can preclude you from owning firearms.

And, the special “wellness and prevention” programs (inserted by Section 1001 of the bill as part of a new Section 2717 in the Public Health Services Act) would allow the government to offer lower premiums to employers who bribe their employees to live healthier lifestyles — and nothing within the bill would prohibit rabidly anti-gun HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius from decreeing that “no guns” is somehow healthier.

We all need to contact our Senators right away.

Do you want left-wing bureaucrats appointed by Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid determining whether you should own a gun via the health care system?

If not, then you need to call right away.  Our gun rights — and the fate of our economy — are hanging in the balance.

ACTION: Call your two U.S. Senators.  Please urge them to vote against “cloture” on the “motion to proceed” to HR 3590.

You can call your Senators toll-free at 1-877-762-8762.  The phones are ringing off the hook right now on Capitol Hill.  More likely than not, you will have to try several times because the circuits have been overloaded.

But don’t be discouraged… keep calling!

Also, ask your wife, your relatives, your neighbors, your church — everyone, short of your dog — to do the same.  This is crunch time!

NOTE:  The alternate, non toll-free, number is 202-224-3121.

—– TALKING POINTS —–

1) Support the filibuster of HR 3590 by voting NO on cloture.

2) Socialized health care is too expensive.  I would rather spend my money the way I want to spend it!

3) Increasing my taxes during a recession is insane.

4) This bill will threaten to register me as a gun owner, because the mandates in this bill will force my medical information into the database that was created by the stimulus bill.

5) Vote NO on this bill!

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Posted in Economics, Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Law, mysandry, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 3 Comments »

Force Feeding: Long term leftest strategy

November 13, 2009

As we see our freedoms and liberty evaporate with the leftest Congress we can become ever more active politically. We can vote the bums out, as some like to say. That is all well and good, and, come Judgment day 2010 perhaps some sanity may be restored.

However, it becomes more complicated when those same people that are in office now gerrymander districts with the long term goal of complete political domination for the foreseeable future. Too make things even more desperate for those that love our nation, there is the ever present threat of the judicial branch being stacked with activist’s that ignore the Constitution that they swore to uphold. That, is what we truly need to concern ourselves with.

We can fight tactically, as in voting out treasonous members of Congress and the Senate. We can fight operationally, as was seen this past summer by letting those that Laired it over the masses know that they may well be in for a figurative Tar and feathering.

However, we have indeed lost the initiative in the theater of strategic politics. Lifetime appointments of judicial appointees by the aforementioned enemies of freedom can, and will, undermine any of our other efforts. Witness the rulings this past year that made such blatant a thing as ex post facto law, something that is profoundly immoral, the law of the land, and that is only one example. Hence, this latest threat in the form of a radical that only obamanites could love.

Obama Pushing a “Radical’s Radical” to the Federal Bench
— Vote could come as early as Monday

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org

Thursday, November 12, 2009

He has been called “extreme” by some.  But to others, he’s beyond extreme… he’s a “Radical’s Radical.”

Whatever he is, he could become President Obama’s next choice for the federal judiciary.

This radical is Judge David Hamilton, and he’s been nominated for a position on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Hamilton has made many political enemies on the right, seeing that his politics are to the far left of the political spectrum.  Oh yes, judges aren’t supposed to be political, but this one has engaged in quite a bit of leftist activism.

His biggest opponent on Capitol Hill is Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Based on his analysis of Hamilton, gun owners should be very concerned about a judge who is all to willing to “amend the Constitution.”  According to Senator Sessions:

Judge Hamilton stated in a 2003 speech that the role of a judge includes writing footnotes to the Constitution: “Judge S. Hugh Dillin of this court has said that part of our job here as judges is to write a series of footnotes to the Constitution. We all do that every year in cases large and small.” In explaining this statement to Senator Hatch, Judge Hamilton wrote that he believes the Framers intended judges to amend the Constitution through evolving case law.

Of course, we have seen this pattern time and time again.  Judges ignore the clear wording of the Constitution — in essence, amending the Constitution through each new case they decide.

The courts then become the vehicle for rewriting the Second Amendment!

Not surprisingly, Judge Hamilton’s politics are to the extreme, far left.  He spent a brief stint as a fundraiser for ACORN, the organization that was an aggressive supporter of Barack Obama in the presidential election.  In addition to all the evils surrounding ACORN is the fact that the organization has lobbied against Second Amendment rights — as seen by the New Jersey chapter supporting a one-gun-a-month ordinance in Jersey City.

Certainly any judicial nomination put forth by our anti-gun President is suspect, but it’s interesting to note who his chief backer is in the U.S. Senate.  It’s none other than Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, who holds an “F” rating from Gun Owners of America.

Lugar has never failed to support one of Obama’s anti-gun nominations, as evidenced by his votes for Attorney General Eric Holder, State Department lawyer Harold Koh, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and the incredibly wacky Regulatory Czar Cass Sunstein.

On policy questions, Senator Lugar is no better.  To wit, he voted against repealing the gun ban in Washington, DC this year.

Considering Hamilton’s extreme track record, it’s no wonder that Senator Lugar — in introducing Hamilton to his colleagues — begged his fellow Senators to ignore the judge’s policy views.  Lugar asked them not to base their votes on “partisan considerations, much less on how we hope or predict a given judicial nominee will ‘vote’ on particular issues of public moment or controversy.”

Instead, Lugar asked his colleagues “to evaluate judicial candidates on whether they have the requisite intellect, experience, character and temperament that Americans deserve from their judges….”

In other words, ignore Judge Hamilton’s liberalism and just vote for him because he’s so smart and because he’s such a nice guy!

Judge Hamilton’s rulings have made a lot of enemies on the political right, especially the one in Hinrichs v. Bosma where, according to a November 3 editorial in The Washington Times, he “prohibited prayers in the Indiana House of Representatives that expressly mentioned Jesus Christ… yet he allowed prayers which mentioned Allah.”

Gun owners have much to be concerned about, as well.  Anytime a judge who believes in rewriting the Constitution is elevated to sit as an appellate judge, that’s a scary thing — especially given the fact that most cases never reach the U.S. Supreme Court and are, thus, decided at lower levels in the federal judiciary.

ACTION: Please contact your Senators right away and urge them to vote AGAINST Judge David Hamilton.  You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your legislators the pre-written e-mail message below.

—– Pre-written letter —–

Dear Senator:

I urge you to vote against Judge David Hamilton for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.  In addition to opposing his far left views, I don’t appreciate his disdain for the Constitution.

To quote Senator Sessions, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

“Judge Hamilton stated in a 2003 speech that the role of a judge includes writing footnotes to the Constitution: ‘Judge S. Hugh Dillin of this court has said that part of our job here as judges is to write a series of footnotes to the Constitution. We all do that every year in cases large and small.’ In explaining this statement to Senator Hatch, Judge Hamilton wrote that he believes the Framers intended judges to amend the Constitution through evolving case law.”

Of course, we have seen this pattern time and time again.  Judges ignore the clear wording of the Constitution — in essence, amending the Constitution through each new case they decide.

The courts then become the vehicle for rewriting the Second Amendment!

Not surprisingly, Judge Hamilton’s written answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee show his lack of understanding regarding the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.  While Hamilton cannot ignore what the Supreme Court said in DC v. Heller (2008), he refuses to admit that the individual right to keep and bear arms applies anywhere outside of Washington, D.C. — instead, he just says he will rely on evolving “case law [as] developed in earlier incorporation cases.”

Once again, evolving case law — more often than not — takes us away from what the Constitution actually says.

Please vote NO on David Hamilton.

Sincerely,

The Larry Pratt News Hour is carried by the Information Radio Network on Saturdays (rebroadcasts Sundays). The show is simulcast on the web at http://irnusaradio.com/ and previous episodes are archived at http://irnusaradio.com/our-programs/larry-pratt-news-hour with a number of listening formats, including podcasts, supported.

Recent guests and topics, among many others, have included:

* Jim Kouri — Police Against Socialized Medicine
* Chris Knox — Neal Knox and the Gun Rights War
* Mike Adams — The Campus Wars Against Gun Owners

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Posted in Domestic Violence, Economics, Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Immigration, Law, Men's Issues, mysandry, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | Comments Off on Force Feeding: Long term leftest strategy

How Much Will The Anti-gun ObamaCare Bill Cost?‏

October 3, 2009

Senator Baucus Thinks You’re Too Dumb to Understand Legislation
— Don’t let your two U.S. Senators go along with his arrogance

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://gunowners.org


Friday, October 2, 2009

It didn’t seem like such an unreasonable request.  Before the Senate Finance Committee passes one of the most important pieces of legislation in our lifetime, we (the American people) wanted to see two things:

* First, the actual language of the latest anti-gun ObamaCare bill.

* Second, a definitive Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reading of the cost of the legislation, based on its specific language.

But, incredibly, this simple request is too much for Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, who intends to force the committee to vote on the bill with nothing but a “quickie guesstimate” of the cost — a “guesstimate” which CBO will have to reach WITHOUT EVEN HAVING ACCESS TO THE ACTUAL LEGISLATION.

That’s right.  The committee has virtually finished consideration of the health care bill — the most important in our lifetime — AND THERE IS STILL NO LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE.

Shouldn’t we at least have a cost estimate that is based on what is actually in the bill?  Yes, but a full CBO cost estimate would take two weeks — and this is inconsistent with efforts by liberal Democrats to cram this bill quickly down the throats of the American people.

Moreover, don’t you realize that “legislative language is very complex” and the American people are just too stupid to understand it.

Well, are the members of the committee too stupid as well?  And what about the CBO?  Is it too stupid?

A Third World country would be embarrassed by the sleaze, corruption, and fraud being used to pass the most expansive government intrusion into health care of our lifetime.

It’s time to put an end to these disgusting tricks.

ACTION:  Call your two U.S. Senators.  Ask them to oppose any ObamaCare legislation — at least until we have two things:

1. The actual legislative language.

2. A definitive Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reading of the cost of the legislation, based on what’s in the bill.

You can call your two Senators toll-free at 1-877-762-8762.

You can also use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your senators the pre-written e-mail message below.

—– Pre-written letter —–

Dear Senator:

I would urge you, in the strongest terms, to resist considering any health care bill from the Senate Finance Committee until we have at least two things:

* First, the actual legislative language.

* Second, a definitive Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate of the cost of the legislation, based on legislative language.

It has been reported that, incredibly, this simple request is too much for Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, who intends to force the committee to vote on the bill with nothing but a “quickie guesstimate” of the cost — a “guesstimate” which CBO will have to reach WITHOUT EVEN HAVING ACCESS TO THE ACTUAL LEGISLATION.

It is unfathomable to me that the committee has virtually finished consideration of the health care bill — the most important in our lifetime — AND THERE IS STILL NO LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE.

Contrary to Senator Baucus’ assumptions, the American people are not too stupid to understand legislation which will affect whether they live or die.

Neither are the members of the committee nor the CBO.

A Third World country would be embarrassed by the sleaze, corruption, and fraud being used to pass the most expansive government intrusion into health care of our lifetime.

Please vote against the legislation under these circumstances.

Sincerely,


—————————–

Olofson Update

You may recall that Gun Owners Foundation is taking David Olofson’s case to the Supreme Court.  Olofson was railroaded by the federal government.  The feds claim that when David loaned a friend a semi-auto AR-15 that malfunctioned at the range, he was guilty of illegally transfering a machine gun.  A major step on the road to the Supreme Court has now been taken, as GOF has filed its Petition for Certiorari.  You can read that document at: http://gunowners.com/Olofson-Petition-for-Certiorari.pdf

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Posted in Economics, Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Immigration, Law, mysandry, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 1 Comment »

Senate Confirms Radical Anti-gunner to the U.S. Supreme Court

August 6, 2009

We knew this was coming. Now, we need to see to it that anyone that voted for her is out of a job.

Senate Confirms Radical Anti-gunner to the U.S. Supreme Court
— But Obama nomination suffers a higher than normal number of opposition votes

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org

Thursday, August 6, 2009

The Senate easily confirmed the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Only 31 Senators took seriously their oath to uphold the Constitution and voted against this radical anti-gun nominee, with 68 voting for confirmation.

All the Democrats in attendance voted for Sotomayor, while nine Republicans joined their ranks.

The Republican Senators who voted for Sotomayor were:  Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Christopher Bond of Missouri, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, Mel Martinez of Florida, George Voinovich of Ohio and Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine.

Many Democrat Senators campaigned on a pro-Second Amendment platform, yet voted to confirm a nominee who does not believe you have a fundamental right to self defense or an individual right to possess a firearm.

Placing the prerogatives of President Obama over their constitutional “Advice and Consent” duty, many so-called pro-gun Senators reneged on their promises to voters that they would support the individual right to keep and bear arms.

The common refrain heard in the Senate before the vote was:  “The President deserves his pick.”

Of course, Senator Barrack Obama did not hold that view in 2006, when he opposed President Bush’s pick of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.  Then-Senator Obama said:

There are some who believe that the President, having won the election, should have the complete authority to appoint his nominee, and the Senate should only examine whether or not the Justice is intellectually capable and an all-around nice guy. That once you get beyond intellect and personal character, there should be no further question whether the judge should be confirmed.

I disagree with this view. I believe firmly that the Constitution calls for the Senate to advise and consent. I believe that it calls for meaningful advice and consent that includes an examination of a judge’s philosophy, ideology, and record.

Thankfully, we are seeing more and more Senators stand up to Obama’s radical agenda.  You will remember that GOA encouraged you to lobby other gun groups so that gun owners across the country could speak with a unified voice in opposition to Judge Sotomayor.

We were hugely successful in this endeavor!  News reports credit the gun lobby’s strong and unified opposition to Sotomayor as resulting in at least three NO votes from Senators who were previously undecided or in favor of the nominee. Even that figure is probably low, considering that 31 NO votes is a lot better than three NO votes (in the case of Justice Ginsburg) and nine NO votes (in the case of Justice Breyer).

One of the fence-sitting Senators who voted right today was Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah.  For the first time in his 33 year Senate career, Hatch voted against a Supreme Court nomination.  You may remember that Hatch even supported Obama’s pick for Attorney General and voted to end the filibuster on Harold Koh, the radical choice for the State Department counsel.

But faced with mounting pressure from grassroots in his state, Sen. Hatch broke with long-standing tradition regarding his support for Supreme Court nominations.  Today, he voted against Judge Sotomayor.

“I feel very badly that I have to vote negatively — it’s not what I wanted to do when this process started — but I believe that I’m doing the honorable and right thing,” Sen. Hatch was quoted as saying in Newsday.

Thank you, everyone, for putting the heat on your Senators.  President Obama would do well to interpret 31 NO votes as a “shot across the bow.”  With his approval ratings plummeting, the president’s next Supreme Court pick may have to be far more in the mainstream.

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Law, Men's Issues, mysandry, News, Non Compos Mentis, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 1 Comment »

National Concealed Carry Bill

July 18, 2009

Someday I will figure out why a permit is needed for an unalienable right. But? This is certainly a step in the right direction.

Vote on Right to Carry Coming Soon
-- Please urge your Senators to vote YES!

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org

Friday, July 17, 2009

A vote to protect your right to travel out-of-state with a firearm could
come to a vote next week -- even as early as Monday!

Senators John Thune and David Vitter are the sponsors of S. 845 -- a
bill that will establish concealed carry reciprocity amongst the several
states.

Senators Thune and Vitter offered the bill as an amendment (#1618) to
the Department of Defense authorization bill (H.R. 2647).

This provision will use the constitutional authority allowing Congress
to enforce "full faith and credit" across the country, so that each
state respects the "public acts, records, and judicial 
proceedings" of
every other state (Article IV).

The benefit of the Thune/Vitter legislation is that -- unlike other,
competing measures -- it would protect the right of any U.S. citizen to
carry out of state (regardless of whether he possesses a permit), as
long as he is authorized to carry in his home state.  This is important
because of states like Vermont and Alaska, where residents can carry
concealed without prior approval or permission from the state... in
other words, without a permit!

ACTION:  Please urge your Senators to vote YES on the Thune/Vitter
concealed carry reciprocity amendment that will be offered to the
Department of Defense authorization bill and NO on any modifying
amendments.  This vote could come as early as Monday, so please act on
this right away!

You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at
http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your Senators the
pre-written e-mail message below.

----- Pre-written letter -----

Dear Senator:

Please support the Thune/Vitter amendment to the Department of Defense
authorization bill. This amendment will protect the right of citizens to
carry firearms outside of their home state without violating the rights
of the other states. Thus, the reciprocity language masterfully protects
the principle of federalism while also promoting Second Amendment
rights.

A person's right to defend himself and his family should not end at the
border of his state.

I urge you to vote for the Thune/Vitter concealed carry amendment and to
oppose any modifying actions that seek to weaken their amendment.

Sincerely,

****************************

Please do not reply directly to this message, as your reply will
bounce back as undeliverable.

To subscribe to free, low-volume GOA alerts, go to
http://www.gunowners.org/ean.htm on the web. Change of e-mail
address may also be made at that location.

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Law, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 3 Comments »

Ted Kennedy Bill Could Send Your Gun Info Into A Massive Federal Database

June 18, 2009

More “Laird it over” from the Kennedy clan…

Ted Kennedy Bill Could Send Your Gun Info Into A Massive Federal
Database
-- And you could be forced to spend $13,000 of your own money toward
this effort!

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

At long last, Teddy Kennedy has partially revealed the health care
system he wants to foist on the whole country -- and it isn't pretty.

It won't be pretty for your pocket book... OR FOR YOUR GUN RIGHTS!

But first, let us explain what TeddyCare is all about.

At the center of the plan is what's called a "universal 
mandate." What
this means is that you -- and virtually everyone in the country -- will
have to buy as much health insurance as the government demands, and that
insurance plan will actually have to be approved by the government.

If you work for a small business, the business will buy the insurance on
your behalf. But you may be saddled with an enormous part of the cost.
And, if the employer's contribution is too large, you will be fired.

If you fail to buy TeddyCare, as the government orders you to do, the
IRS will fine you, garnish your wages, put a lien on your house, and,
ultimately, put you in prison.

How much will you have to spend on your TeddyCare insurance? Teddy's not
saying.

The portion of your paycheck that will have to be forked over to Teddy's
latest social experiment will be revealed ONLY AFTER THE MASSIVE HEALTH
CARE BILL IS SIGNED INTO LAW.

This should set off alarm bells in your brain, because, for instance,
the average family policy is currently $12,700.  "So," 
proclaims Teddy,
"everyone's going to get a subsidy to pay for this."  There's 
going to
be a "chicken in every pot," and no one's going to have to 
pay for it.

Yeah, right. If you're a welfare mother, the government will pay for
your TeddyCare, and it would pay for it -- the first time -- by taxing
employer-provided health benefits of working Americans. But if you a
"working Joe" your Kennedy-subsidy will be a microscopic 
fraction of the
cost of your mandated TeddyCare insurance policy.

Okay, all of this sounds ominous... but why is this a gun issue?

The answer is that TeddyCare will allow radical left Health and Human
Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to determine all of the fine print
in every TeddyCare policy -- which you will be required to buy under
penalty of imprisonment.

Currently, as a result of the stimulus bill and a whole lot of other
factors, the government is rapidly moving in the direction of
computerizing all of your most confidential medical records and putting
them into a federal database.

So remember when your son was asked by his pediatrician about your gun
collection? That would be in the federal database.

Or remember when your wife told her gynecologist that she had regularly
smoked marijuana ten years ago -- thereby potentially barring both her
and you from ever owning a gun again? That would be in the database.

Or if a military veteran complains to his psychiatrist that he's had
emotional stress since coming back to the States, that would be in the
database.

Or remember when gramps was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, thereby making
him a "mental defective" who would have to relinquish his 
life-long gun
collection? That's in there too.

And, while we are dangerously close to allowing BATFE to troll all of
that information, TeddyCare would allow Sebelius to put EVERYONE'S
private data in a database with a stroke of a pen.

When we say "everyone," we don't mean quite everyone.

Teddy has conveniently excluded Washington bureaucrats from his
TeddyCare mandate.

Also, Teddy and his friends in the media don't want you to hear about
the details until after the bill is passed. That's why they're trying to
slam it through within the next month and a half before anyone's had a
chance to read or debate it.

In fact, the TeddyCare proposal is currently circulating around Capitol
Hill without even a bill number.

ACTION:  Urge your two U.S. Senators to oppose Sen. Ted Kennedy's
mandate that will result in the registration of all your gun
information.

Please forward this email to your friends and family and urge them to
contact their Senators as well.

You can go to the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at
http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your Senators the
pre-written e-mail message below.

----- Pre-written letter -----

Dear Senator:

At long last, Teddy Kennedy has partially revealed the health care
system he wants to foist on the whole country -- and it isn't pretty.

At the center of the TeddyCare plan is what's called a "universal
mandate." What this means is that I -- and virtually everyone in the
country -- will have to buy as much health insurance as the government
demands, and that insurance plan will actually have to be approved by
the government.

But this is not only an issue of individual freedom; it is a gun issue.

This is because Teddycare will allow radical left Health and Human
Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to determine all of the fine print
in every Teddycare policy -- which Americans will be required to buy
under penalty of imprisonment.

Currently, as a result of the stimulus bill and a whole lot of other
factors, the government is rapidly moving in the direction of
computerizing all of our most confidential medical records and putting
them into a federal database.

So if a kid is asked by his pediatrician about his dad's gun collection,
that would be in the federal database.

Or if a wife told her gynecologist that she had regularly smoked
marijuana ten years ago -- thereby potentially barring both her and her
husband from ever owning a gun again, that would be in the database.

Or if a military veteran complains to his psychiatrist that he's had
emotional stress since coming back from Iraq or Afghanistan, that would
be in the database.

Or when gramps was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, thereby making him a
"mental defective" who would have to relinquish his life-long gun
collection, that would be in there too.

And, while we are dangerously close to allowing BATFE to troll all of
that information, TeddyCare would allow Sebelius to put EVERYONE'S
private data in a database with a stroke of a pen.

You cannot imagine how angry I, my family, and my neighbors are about
this most recent fraud scheme to cheat me out of perhaps over $10,000
for TeddyCare -- and to violate my privacy in the process.

I insist that you oppose TeddyCare -- immediately and loudly. Please do
not try to shower me with propaganda about how a mandate on how I spend
my own money is somehow good for me.

Sincerely,

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Law, mysandry, News, Non Compos Mentis, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 4 Comments »

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