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FROM AP: Quotations of the day
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The agreement to back near universal background checks on gun sales was a hopeful signal that at least some previous hardcore congressional gun lobby shills finally got the message that an aroused public wants action -- any action -- to pass long thwarted meaningful gun control curbs.
I am so happy to shed light on what fellow conservatives feel about gun control! Obviously, it's no good. I mean, why not give guns to kids?
It's a shame that a party can get away with opposing something that has majority support, let alone 90 percent, but that's where we are with the GOP today. Most of these Republicans are blinded by the fear that they'll face a primary challenge if they buck the fringe of their vocal base.
Now the Senate has the chance to put this proven problem-solver at the helm of the entire agency, so that our country can make more progress combating the climate crisis and protecting our air and water.
DREAM Act kids? They deserve a vote. Judicial nominees? They deserve a vote. As long as the "they" being referenced are sympathetic to the vast majority of the American public, then the logic works.
What's the path towards legislating reasonable restrictions like mandatory background checks, waiting periods, and assault weapon bans? To do this successfully we must buck the criticisms from the gun lobby and support gun crimes statistics with testaments to the human impact of gun violence.
This is a pretty straightforward cap-and-trade proposal very similar to the one currently in place to control acid rain. In fact, there was a time when members of the GOP were the most enthusiastic advocates for cap-and-trade.
Another filibuster and another headline for Rand Paul. The junior senator from Kentucky seems to be on a roll. First there was his attention-grabbing filibuster of America's drone policy, and now he is threatening the same on gun control.
Parents, seniors, business owners, and workers are already sharing experiences with their elected leaders that make it clear sequestration must be replaced. And these stories are changing the one that's being told in Washington, D.C.
Is the issue of government interference, fear of the NRA, or the possibility of a tedious Republican filibuster really as important as a life?
How many of these Senators who have just declared their support for same-sex marriage over the last few weeks have also come out in support of the ENDA, which would protect the jobs and incomes of the families these politicians now say should be allowed to be formed?
In spite of what the National Rifle Association says, the majority of Americans favor tighter gun control legislation. The hold-up in the Senate represents a failure of our democratic process.
It really would be great if governments, organizations, associations, companies, or what have you would just keep things simple so we could truly understand what is expected of us. All of us would be so much more likely to abide by the rules, regulation, and laws, and to get along better with each other.
As a member of the National Council on the Arts, the advisory board to the National Endowment for the Arts, I was pleased to read about the recent unveiling of the Rosa Parks statue in the U.S. Capitol Building's National Statuary Hall.
While it certainly was (quoting the Flintstones theme) a "gay old time" in Washington this week, I have already spent the whole week on the subject, so I'm really only going to mention it in passing.
