A September to Surrender: Syria and Summers Spell Second-Term Slump

President Barack Obama, joined by Congressional leaders, speaks to the media in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013, prior to a meeting with members of Congress to discuss the situation in Syria. From left are, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, the president, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

There is no greater and politically significant power of the presidency than the use of military force, no matter how “unbelievably small” it is supposed to be. The summoning of a nation to military action on behalf of national security interests, no matter how diffuse, regional, or nuanced they might be, is the supreme act of presidential power, persuasion, and projection.

A commander in chief speaks intimately to America, constitutionally to Congress, and authoritatively to the world when he deploys the bullet, bayonet, B-52, or Tomahawk missile. Presidents don’t dopinpricks, either. Every military maneuver—real or feigned, decisive or disastrous—echoes like a drum. The vibrations change the rhythm of domestic politics.

These truths transcend the Obama presidency. They are resonant enough in the aftermath of Syria, where new and unflattering stock is being taken of President Obama and his application of this vast and consequential power.

But Obama also elevated the choice of the next Federal Reserve Board chairman to a place of exalted power, describing it in a White House news conference as the “most important economic decision of his second term.”

This was after Obama had devoted weeks to retooling his economic message, when he downplayed deficit reduction and emphasized job creation and wage growth. The president concluded and signaled to Senate Democrats that he could only surmount the GOP hurdles of sequester, shutdown, and debt ceiling if he changed the debate from belt-tightening to middle-class security.

Taken together, Syria and Summers therefore represent—by history’s decree in the case of military power, and by Obama’s own grandiose vision of the Fed’s role in the economy—the most important second-term presentations of power.

Via: National Journal

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WARNING: Our government is a threat to public safety by Michelle Malkin

Forget gun control. America needs government control. Have you noticed the common thread among several mass killings and homeland security incidents lately?

Time and again, it’s the control freaks in Washington who have fallen down on their jobs, allowing crazies, creeps and criminals to roam free and wreak havoc while ignoring rampant red flags. Let’s review:

Washington Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis: Despite gun-grabbing Democrats’ best efforts to blame a nonexistent “AR-15″ for this week’s horrific Navy Yard massacre, the truth is seeping out about shooter Aaron Alexis. The 34-year-old Navy veteran had been treated since August by the Veterans Administration for a host of mental problems that plagued him for up to a decade.

Officials say Alexis was paranoid, had a sleep disorder, suffered from schizophrenia and was “hearing voices.” He told Newport, R.I., police after an altercation just last month that he believed a “microwave machine” was sending vibrations through a wall into his body. Friends say he was a heavy drinker and violent video game addict. A ticking time bomb, he had racked up a string of misconduct incidents during his military stint ranging from absenteeism to insubordination to disorderly conduct. He was arrested in Seattle in 2004 and in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2010 for separate anger-fueled shootings that terrorized neighbors and innocent bystanders.

Yet somehow Alexis passed several military background checks, gained high-level security clearance and had access to multiple military installations. The civilian contractor who employed Alexis blasted the feds on Tuesday for failing to fully disclose his history. “Anything that suggests criminal problems or mental health issues, that would be a flag,” Thomas Hoshko of The Experts told The Washington Post. “We would not have hired him.” And 12 innocent people might still be alive today.

Via: Michelle Malkin

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Conservatives Rescuing Obama

Trounced on Obamacare, Obama is rhetorically routing divided and ineffective conservatives.

Obamacare has not even gone into effect yet, and there it lies substantively smashed on the floor in ruins. The cost of health insurance on the Obamacare Exchanges for next year is already soaring, for those states that will have Obamacare Exchanges opening on October 1. Obamacare also already promises to limit access to health care for those with Obamacare health insurance next year, meaning you won’t have the same access to the same doctors and hospitals that you have with health insurance today.

Thought Obama promised if you like your doctor you can keep him? Haha, sucker, sue him!

To evade the high costs of the employer mandate to buy for their workers next year the health insurance that Kathleen Sebelius says they must buy, employers across the country have constricted hiring, with many stopping altogether. Millions of other workers across the country are finding their job opportunities limited to part-time work, to which Obamacare does not apply. Most if not all net new jobs these days in the land of the former American Dream are in fact part-time jobs, thanks to Obamacare. Middle class incomes have been falling continuously since Obama has been President, and with the rise of this new part-time Obamajob trend, this is only going to get worse, not better, President Obama’s soaring rhetoric on behalf of the middle class to the contrary notwithstanding.

And wait till next year, when tens of millions find themselves losing their employer provided health insurance. UPS has already announced that health benefits for spouses of employees are bye-bye next year. And already millions with their own individual insurance have been greeted at their mailboxes with termination letters from their shrinking and withdrawing insurers. You thought Obama promised if you like your health plan you can keep it? Haha, sucker, get in line to sue him.

Via: American Spectator

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MSNBC's Ed Schultz Compares Obama to George Patton, GOPers to Nazi General

Are film references a prerequisite for a 5pm show on MSNBC? Ed Schultz, who took over for movie-mad Chris Matthews, on Wednesday compared Barack Obama to George C. Scott's portrayal of General Patton. Schultz attacked House Republicans for disparaging ObamaCare and not allowing supporters of the President's health care reform to testify. The anchor salivated, "Can we say that President Obama has 'em exactly where he wants 'em?"

He added, "You know, it kind of reminds me of that 1971 movie Patton...General Patton was in the field, and he was watching Rommel bring his tanks into a trap. And General Patton put the glasses on...and said 'Rommel, you bastard! I read your book!'" Quite pleased with his comparison, Schultz concluded, "Our guy [Obama] reads a lot too. He's got these folks right where they deserve to be." [MP3 audio here. See video below.]

Matthews, who previously held the 5pm spot on MSNBC, once compared Dick and Liz Cheney to aliens from Superman.

In March, Matthews asserted that Pro-Second Amendment voices are like the Nazis in Casablanca.

Via: Newsbusters

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Ousted Dem’s campaign manager calls for vote fraud investigation

Jon Caldara, the president of the Independence Institute, is the target of a criminal complaint submitted to the Colorado attorney general’s office.

Caldara made headlines by switching his voter registration from Boulder to Colorado Springs — roughly 100 miles away — so that he could “vote” in the Sept. 10 recall election. He cast a blank ballot.

But his larger point was to show that a new Democratic-sponsored election reform law that allowed him to do so was ripe for abuse. It allows people to register as late as Election Day and to affirm that they intend to make the district their permanent home, even if they “moved” to the district that day.

Caldara and others have pointed out that such a promise is impossible to enforce. Shortly before the election, he rented a room in a friend’s house in Colorado Springs, told elections officials that he planned to make it his permanent home and was allowed to cast a ballot.

“I’ll see what the town is like,” Caldara told reporters when he voted. “I’ve heard great things about it. I’m looking forward to checking out Colorado Springs.”

Later, however, he changed his mind and decided to continue living in Boulder, according to The Colorado Independent. The website reported that recent floods convinced him to keep his Boulder residence in order to be close to his children.

“Not only did I intend to move to Colorado Springs, I did move to Colorado Springs,” he’s quoted as saying in a statement responding to the article.

At least one person doubts his sincerity — John Morse’s campaign manager, Christy Le Lait, who filed a complaint with the local district attorney, who forwarded it to the Colorado Attorney General John Suthers.

Via: Daily Caller

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OBAMA WASN'T READY IN 2008, ISN'T READY NOW

In 2008, the RNC warned what would happen if Americans voted to elevate one of the least experienced presidential candidates in history to the Oval Office. 

Like boarding a plane with a pilot who has never flown, we would be trusting the security of our nation to a man with no executive experience and a thin foreign policy resume. In the wake of crises, Americans would have to play the waiting game while we determined whether our commander in chief could perform on the world stage.

Enter President Obama’s recent handling of the Syrian Conflict: a batch of mixed messages to the American people and a Congressional sales pitch that convinced more people to vote against his proposal than in favor. Five years of on-the-job-training later, we have a president who cornered himself in what can only be described as a foreign policy debacle.

Worse, he had no plan and no experience on how to get out.

<>A day after Syria threatened retaliation and Vladimir Putin offered Obama an escape route, our President took the bait and handed a victory to Syria and Russia.  

Time’s Joe Klein writes:

He willingly jumped into a bear trap of his own creation. In the process, he has damaged his presidency and weakened the nation’s standing in the world.”

It’s not just Republicans who are questioning his leadership. His performance is so haphazard, he disappointed even his most ardent supporters.

The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus writes:

In the past few weeks, I have encountered not a single person outside the White House, Republican or Democrat, who has kind words for Obama’s performance. Scornful may not be too strong a word for the consensus view, though it is scorn leavened, at least among the more thoughtful critics, with appreciation for the no-good-options reality of Syria.”

His struggling poll numbers shows he isn’t winning over the American public either. 

Via: Breitbart

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The Five Diagnoses ‘Problem’ with CNN and MSNBC’s Shooting Coverage

Is the media “sensationalizing” the Washington Navy Yard shooting story? That was question that kicked off Wednesday afternoon’s edition of The Five, with Greg Gutfeld leading the charge to argue that the press should spend more time focusing on the victims of Monday’s mass shooting than on the perpetrator. “Isn’t the sad reality,” Gutfeld asked, that the “culture finds the culprit more interesting than the victim?” Beyond that, the show’s hosts singled out some of the media outlets, including rivals CNN and MSNBC, that made the biggest errors in reporting the story.

On the question of sensationalism, Dana Perino remarked that two days later, many of the major newspapers had moved on, with only one featuring gunman Aaron Alexis on the cover Wednesday. But, she said, “the truth is the good guys, the victims, they never get enough attention, ever. That’s reality.”

The group also discussed the issue of mental health care in light of comments Fox’s Charles Krauthammer about how America’s dedication to civil liberties are keeping people like Alexis out of institutions. Perino warned against a slippery slope when it comes to putting people in mental hospitals against their will. “What if they just say, ‘You’re a right-wing nut and we’re putting you in an institution?’” she asked.

Towards the end of the segment, Gutfeld steered the conversation back to the media’s handling of the story. “A lot of red faces over getting a lot of stuff wrong,” he said, pointing first to the New York Daily News cover that falsely claimed Alexis had used an AR-15 assault rifle in his shooting spree.

But it was Eric Bolling who shined the light on the cable news competitors. “Chuck Todd tweeted the wrong name of the shooter,” he said, in reference to Todd’s retweet of the false NBC News report. “Piers Morgan spent a whole lot of time on air saying ‘There’s that darn AR-15.’” Bolling argued instead that the AR-15 “probably saved lives” when officers arrived on the scene and used the gun to take down Alexis.

“Their haste to be first precedes their interest in being right,” Bolling said, “and that’s a problem.”

“Yeah, you’d rather be second or third and right than first and wrong,” Gutfeld agreed.

Of course, as America learned from Jon Stewart last night, CNN may have been the worst media offender on Monday, but Fox News was not immune.

Watch video below, via Fox News:

Via: Mediaite.com

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Barbara Boxer pledges to push carbon tax as part of tax reform

After being rebuffed on the carbon tax, California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer said she will try to pass it again through tax reform.

Boxer’s carbon tax bill from earlier this year does not have the 60 votes necessary to pass the Senate unimpeded, reports the Hill newspaper. She claims a carbon tax would enable other tax rates to be lowered.

“We are looking at tax reform to see whether there is a possibility to utilize a fee on carbon that could be returned to the people in dividend form, such as the Bernie Sanders bill and there are others like it. So, we are really mostly working toward the tax reform issue,” Boxer said.

Republicans have vehemently opposed the idea of a carbon tax “swap” where certain tax rates — like corporate or income tax rates — are lowered in exchange for implementing a gradually rising tax on carbon emissions.

“Other countries are running from similar policies, the most recent example being Australia’s rejection of a carbon tax in their last election,” said Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter. “That’s because a carbon tax is clearly a failed idea that could significantly ruin any chance for the United States to have a full economic recovery.”

A spokesman for Michigan Republican Rep. Dave Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, told The Daily Caller News Foundation that the chairman opposes a carbon tax “either as a standalone or as part of a larger package.”

At the beginning of his second term, President Obama called on Congress to pass market-based solutions to lower U.S. carbon dioxide emissions or he would use his executive authority to tackle the issue himself.

Soon after, Boxer and Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced carbon tax legislation to slap a gradually rising tax on carbon emissions that would start at $20 per ton in 2014, rising to $35 per ton over twelve years.

Via: Daily Caller

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The New York Times’s Imaginary Gun Law

As I noted yesterday, the victims of the Aaron Alexis at the Washington Navy Yard had hardly hit the floor before the gun control lobby had started using the tragedy as a clarion call for new, better gun control laws.

The tool they attempted to use was the AR-15 which is an “assault weapon.” Dozens of news organizations reported that this was the weapon used in the massacre, but it turned out to be a false report. The shooter actually used a modified 12-gauge shotgun (the stock had reportedly been sawn off at the handgrip to shorten it) and 00 (double aught) sized buckshot.

When video surfaced of the gunman test firing an AR-15 at a Northern Virginia gun store, a narrative had to be developed as to why the gunman did not but the AR-15. As to be expected, the New York Times was in the forefront:

The suspect in the killing of 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday test-fired an AR-15 assault rifle at a Virginia gun store last week but was stopped from buying one because state law there prohibits the sale of such weapons to out-of-state buyers, according to two senior law enforcement officials.

So if you can’t have an assault weapon used in a killing, you can at least go for the moral high ground in demonstrating that “common sense” gun control can mitigate loss of life.

Via: Red State

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Illinois’s Medicaid Scandal: A tale of questionable dealings and taxpayer risk

Bollywood performers, a Boston boat cruise with an open bar, gifts of cigars and wine — the vendor working on Illinois’s expensive new Medicaid information-technology system entertains public officials in style, according to sources in the Illinois government.

These whistleblowers tell National Review that when Client Network Services, Inc., was seeking the Medicaid contract, it wined and dined state officials, who then circumvented Illinois’s standard procurement procedures in order to outsource the multimillion-dollar contract to CNSI, which is currently under criminal investigationin Louisiana. CNSI, headquartered in Maryland, has a history of work of questionable quality, overrun project budgets, delays, and litigation in several other states.

Documents procured by OpenTheBooks.com, a national transparency organization based in Illinois but involved in all 50 states, have raised questions about the close relationship between Illinois state officials and CNSI. Several whistleblowers tipped off OpenTheBooks.com about what records to request, and National Reviewspoke to some of them. These sources within the Illinois government allege unethical and potentially unlawful behavior.

Via: National Review Online

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[VIDEO] WashTimes Writer Miller Notes Media 'Obsessed' with Linking AR-15 to Navy Yard Murders

At the New York Times on Tuesday, Michael S. Schmidt claimed that "The suspect in the killing of 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday test-fired an AR-15 assault rifle at a Virginia gun store last week but was stopped from buying one because state law there prohibits the sale of such weapons to out-of-state buyers, according to two senior law enforcement officials."

The portion of that statement about being "stopped from buying" an AR-15 isn't true, writes Emily Miller at the Washington Times, not only because "state law" wouldn't have prevented such an attempt, but also because Aaron Alexis didn't even try to buy one. Miller asserts that the New York Times "should issue a correction immediately." She also decries the establishment media's "obsession" with tying the AR-15 to the Navy Yard shooting (bolds are mine throughout this post):

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New York Times gets it wrong, media obsessed with linking AR-15 with Navy Yard shooter

The liberal media is so obsessed with linking the Navy Yard shooter with the AR-15 rifle that it is making up false tales of Aaron Alexis trying to obtain one.

The New York Times attempts to give the impression that a so-called assault-weapon law stopped Alexis from buying a rifle in Virginia, but that is not true.

... Apparently neither the reporter nor his editors took the time to fact check their vague “law enforcement officials” sources.

“Virginia law does not prohibit the sale of assault rifles to out-of-state citizens who have proper identification,” Dan Peterson, a Virginia firearms attorney, told me Tuesday night. The required identification is proof of residency in another state and of U.S. citizenship, which can be items like a passport, birth certificate or voter identification card.

... John Frazer, also a firearms attorney in the Commonwealth, told me that, “State law in Virginia — like most states — allows purchase of rifles or shotguns by residents of other states. Virginia simply requires some additional forms of identification.”

Federal law is clear on this residency issue. A quick glance at the ATF website would have informed the New York Times journalists that a person may buy a rifle or shotgun, in person, at a federal firearms licensee’s premises in any state, provided the sale complies with state laws, which it would in this case.

... While it is true that Alexis rented and shot an AR-type rifle at Sharpshooters Small Arms Range in Lorton, sources close to the investigation tell me that he did not attempt to buy the rifle.

... Despite all the stories over the last 48 hours about the AR-15, it was never used by anyone but law enforcement at the shooting on Monday. The New York Times should issue a correction immediately.

Via: Newsbusters

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DC'S STRICT GUN CONTROL IMPOTENT TO STOP NAVY YARD SHOOTING

Although Washington DC has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation, the Navy Yard shooter proved once again that even this amount of gun control cannot stop a criminal intent on carrying out his crime.

While Breitbart News and The Wall Street Journal indicate Aaron Alexis legally purchased his shotgun in Virginia, he only did so late last week. Which means he did not have the time to go through the process to register the shotgun and obtain the firearm registration certificate necessary to possess and/or transport the firearm legally in DC.

According to the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) website, Alexis had a 48-hour window from the time of purchase in which to let the Firearms Registration Section of the MPD know he needed to register his shotgun. After that, he would be required to bring his shotgun--unloaded--to the Firearms Registration Section along with the eligibility and requirement forms "necessary to complete the registration process." 

After filling out the paper work, getting fingerprinted, etc., Alexis would then be required to leave his unloaded shotgun with the Firearms Registration Section until his registration application was approved. Once approved the Firearms Registration Section would have contacted him to come pick up his registration certificate or have it mailed to him. Only then would Alexis get his shotgun back and be able to legally possess it.

The approval process alone normally takes five days, so there is simply no way Alexis went through the process to legally possess and transport the firearm. And why would someone go through all this trouble to legally possess a gun they intended to use in an illegal fashion? 

The bottom line--Criminals are not hindered by gun control laws.

Via: Breitbart

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Kennedy: Libya Is Not Allowing U.S. Law Enforcement to Enter Country and Arrest People

Under Secretary of State Patrick Kennedy said the government of Libya is not allowing U.S. law enforcement into the country to arrest individuals connected with the Benghazi attack because the Libyan government “is not in control to that degree” Wednesday in a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.

Kennedy explained ever since the events of September 11, 2012 the country has taken a “serious turn for the worse.”

Journalists, according to Kennedy, still have access to the country but the Libyan government’s authority is so diminished it is incapable of allowing the United States in to arrest people:

REP. TED POE: But at the end of the day, here we are. Nobody has been taken out. Nobody is in custody. Nobody is in jail. Either on the side of the State Department, nobody is in jail, accountable for the murder. So whether it’s the people who were responsible for the killing or the people who may have made mistakes about the administration of this, nobody’s in custody.

Via: WFB

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White House: Republicans engaged in an 'all-out civil war'

The White House said Wednesday that the GOP was engaged in "essentially an all-out civil war" and accused Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) of bending to "the will" of a small group of House conservatives after deciding to press forward with a government funding bill that would strip funds for ObamaCare. 

"What has become more and more apparent is the leaders of the Republican Party in Congress may want to avoid a shutdown ... but there are members of that party, especially in the House, who seem to embrace the prospect," press secretary Jay Carney said.

Earlier Wednesday, Boehner said the House would vote on a continuing resolution that would keep the government open — if the Affordable Care act was defunded.

The move was an about-face for House leadership, which initially recommended a plan that would have forced the Senate to take a vote on defunding Obamacare but did not link that requirement to a spending bill. But conservative backbenchers in the party revolted at the symbolic gesture, demanding leadership marry ObamaCare funding directly to funding.

The White House used that shift Wednesday to argue that Republicans needed to assert their leadership to avoid a financial crisis.

"Republicans in the Congress need to make a decision about what outcomes they really desire here," Carney said.

Via: The Hill

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Michelle Obama Calls Food Marketing Summit To Ask Companies To Stop Advertising Unhealthy Foods To Kids

WASHINGTON -- Michelle Obama wants food makers and entertainment companies to spend less time advertising sweet and salty foods to kids and more time promoting healthier options.

Concerned about the nation's childhood obesity issues, the first lady on Wednesday is convening the first White House summit on food marketing to children to get involved parties talking about how to help consumers make healthier food choices. That includes enlisting the persuasive power of the multimillion-dollar food marketing industry.

As she helped kick off a nationwide campaign last week to encourage people to drink more plain water, Mrs. Obama said she would keep reaching out to new people and organizations and keep making the case for healthier choices like water and fruits and vegetables.

The White House says it has invited representatives from the food and media industries, advocates, parents, representatives of government agencies and researchers, though it did not release a list of names and organizations. Mrs. Obama will open the meeting with public remarks. The rest of the meeting will be closed to the media.

Consumer advocates say studies show that food marketing is a leading cause of obesity because it influences what children want to eat.

A 2006 report on the issue by the influential Institute of Medicine concluded that food and beverage marketing to children "represents, at best, a missed opportunity, and, at worst, a direct threat to the health of the next generation."

Via: Huffington Post

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OBAMA ADMIN. STARTS PREPARATIONS FOR SHUTDOWN

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration is telling federal agencies to prepare for a possible government shutdown.

The Office of Management and Budget sent a letter to agency heads this week ordering them to make contingency plans if Congress does not reach a deal to fund the government after Sept. 30. The letter from OMB director Sylvia Burwell says there is still enough time for Congress to prevent a lapse in funding, but "prudent management" requires that the government get ready for a shutdown.

House Republicans plan to vote on a budget bill this week that withholds funding for President Barack Obama's health care law. But the effort stands little chance in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

OMB has sent similar warnings to agencies during previous budget battles.

Via: AP

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Obama: GOP using debt limit to 'extort' me over budget

President Barack Obama turned to business leaders on Wednesday ahead of brewing fiscal fights, urging them to oppose GOP efforts to link raising the debt limit to further spending cuts and entitlement reforms.

“You have never seen in the history of the United States the debt ceiling being used to extort a president or a governing party,” Obama said in a speech to the Business Roundtable.

The White House and Congress face two looming deadlines. Lawmakers must pass a spending bill to prevent a government shutdown on October 1 and two weeks later must raise the nation's borrowing limit to avoid a default.

House Republicans, though, are moving ahead with plans to defund Obamacare in their spending bill, a measure likely dead on arrival in the Senate. GOP lawmakers also want Obama to agree to more spending cuts before signing off on increasing the debt ceiling.

Obama told the nation’s top corporate executives that strategy would wreak havoc on the economy.

The president argued that Republicans are making a phony argument, and said that the debt ceiling applies to past spending not future budget decisions.

“Initially, this was an argument about how much we spend,” Obama said of his Republican rivals. “That’s no longer the argument. What we now have is an ideological fight that has been mounted in the House of Representatives.”

Speaker John Boehner’s office rejected the president’s criticism, pointing out that as a senator, Obama had opposed raising the debt ceiling in 2006.

The White House has repeatedly said that Obama now regrets that vote.

In an effort to gain leverage over Republicans, Obama has sought to focus on the impact the next round of fiscal debates have on the public.

Via: Washington Examiner

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TIME FOR A GREAT NATIONAL CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL ILLNESS

Emily Miller of the Washington Times busted the New York Times for straight-up fabricating a gun control angle to the Washington Navy Yard shooting, in a transparent effort to keep gun laws in the story somehow:

The Times has a story Tuesday on its homepage with the headline “State Law Stopped Gunman From Buying Rifle, Officials Say.”

The first line says: “The gunman who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday test fired an AR-15 assault rifle at a Virginia gun store last week but was stopped from buying one because state law there prohibits the sale of such weapons to out-of-state buyers, according to two senior law enforcement officials.”

Apparently neither the reporter nor his editors took the time to fact check their vague “law enforcement officials” sources.

“Virginia law does not prohibit the sale of assault rifles to out-of-state citizens who have proper identification,” Dan Peterson, a Virginia firearms attorney, told me Tuesday night. The required identification is proof of residency in another state and of U.S. citizenship, which can be items like a passport, birth certificate or voter identification card.

The Commonwealth defines “assault firearm” as any semiautomatic centerfire rifle or pistol with a magazine which will hold more than 20 rounds or can accommodate a silencer or is equipped with a folding stock.

Via: Human Events

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Opinion: What Maryland does better than Texas

Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, is governor of Maryland.

With gridlock and partisanship having all but paralyzed Washington, governors are at the forefront of our country’s policy divide. On the No. 1 issue facing our nation — how to ensure that Americans are winners, not losers, in the 21st-century economy — two divergent approaches frame the debate. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is highlighting this debate with his trip to Maryland on Wednesday.

The contrast is clear: Should we slash taxes on the wealthiest Americans — crippling our ability to invest in schools, job training, infrastructure and health care — because we believe that even lower taxes for our wealthiest will magically lead to jobs and robust economic growth? Or should we make tough choices together that provide the resources to invest in schools, bolster growing industries and create quality middle-class jobs?

Perry and like-minded Republican governors subscribe to the slash-and-burn economic philosophy — a belief that “less” will somehow become “more.” In Texas, he has implemented this vision with gusto, cutting taxes and slashing funding for critical middle-class priorities such as public schools, higher education, health care and infrastructure. The results? Texas ranks 49th in high school graduation, 10th in the rate of poverty and 50th in the percent of residents with even basic health insurance.

And while Perry likes to promote the job creation in Texas during his time in office, he leaves out a critical point: The jobs “miracle” he touts is driven by low-paying, non-sustainable jobs. This year, Texas — tied with Mississippi — leads the nation for the percentage of hourly paid workers earning equal to or less than the minimum wage. More than one in 10 workers nationwide earning at or below the minimum wage works in Texas.

Via: Washington Post

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