Gosh, things are starting to get a little uncomfortable in the Senate these days. The senior harridan from California went to all the trouble to draw up a new, more restrictive “assault weapons” ban, but can’t manage to round up enough members of her own party to get even close to passage. So Harry Reid, recognizing the uncompromising tyranny of mathematics, yanked the AWB from the larger gun control bill so that it won’t kill the chances of the remaining, less off-putting items on the gun-controllers’ to-do list; namely universal background checks and anti-gun trafficking measures. But while DiFi isn’t happy her baby is mostly dead, she’s been promised a vote on adding her common sense gun ban back to the big bill as an amendment once it reaches the Senate floor. Which is exactly what some of her colleagues in the majority fear most . . .
An up or down vote on the AWB amendment will inconveniently put a clear spotlight on each member’s gun rights bona fides. In other words, they won’t be able to tell the folks back home, ‘Gee, I’m a gun owner and support the Second Amendment, but closing the gun show loophole is just too important, so I had to vote for the overall package.’
With a clear binary option, as thehill.com reports, red state and vulnerable Dems will be in a damned if you do, damned if you don’t position:
Democrats facing tough reelection races will either attract the ire of the National Rifle Association or prominent gun control activists such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I). A vote against the ban could spark primary challenges that could weaken Democrats in the general election.
It’s one thing to throw in your lot with the civilian disarmament caucus and stump for a gun grab when you represent a safely blue state like California, New York, New Jersey or Massachusetts. It’s another kettle of fish if you’re a “moderate” Dem representing a toss-up or right-leaning state. In those cases, a bright line vote in favor outlawing your constituents’ ARs could be detrimental to your reelection prospects. Particularly if your term is up in 2014.
Even Democrats who reliably vote with their leadership, such as Sens. Mark Warner (Va.), Tim Kaine (Va.) and Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), on Wednesday said they were not certain they would support the assault weapons ban. Warner faces reelection in 2014. Kaine, who formerly headed the Democratic National Committee, was on Obama’s short list to be his running mate in 2008.
Bummer. But Feinstein intends to hold her pal Harry to his promise. She laid out her thinking for CNN via realclearpolitics.com:
This is very important to me and I’m not going to lay down and play dead. I think the American people have said in every single public poll that they support this kind of legislation. It’s aimed to protect children, to protect schools and malls. It’s aimed to dry up the supply of these over time. And it came out on a 10-8 vote of the Judiciary Committee. Not to give me a vote on this would be a major betrayal of trust.
So when Feinstein offers up the AWB amendment to the gun control bill on the floor, she’ll be putting some of her more vulnerable fellow Dems in a mighty tight spot. A vote for the ban would only further enflame their already highly PO’d RKBA constituents. The ones who aren’t likely to forget before election day what the blue bunch has tried to do their gun rights. Then again, the Gun Control Industrial Complex won’t be very understanding of a ‘no’ vote either, no matter how precarious their home state electoral position may be.
“People are not going to say, ‘That’s a tough vote for them, let’s not do anything,’ ” said Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. “There is a feeling that to win this thing we need all the Democrats. That means people who are in tough races in 2014 don’t get passes. I would expect issue ads and advocacy for all senators.”
Rock meets hard place. Brought to you by the senior senator from the great state of California.
If politics wasnt so entrenched in BS and politicians such BS artists in the first place this wouldnt be a problem.
Like any lie the longer it goes on the worse it gets.
Just be honest. It’s a lot easier and a lot less stressful.
There’s an easy out. The socialists simply need to book a Carnival cruise to any of any of a number of totalitarian states where the people are already under the boots of the government and they won’t feel the compulsion to destroy non-existant freedoms.
My heart bleeds for them.
You reap what you sow.
Trust no one. Even trust but, verify does not apply!!
There’s a big difference between mostly dead, and all dead.
+1
POTUS and VPOTUS are still campaigning their @sses off to pass their package of anti-constitutional self defense restrictions. We had better not quit until they do.
This is how they manipulate all the house moms into calling and contacting their Senators, posting the faces of the dead on magazine covers and using emotional tactics. We must all maintain the pressure we’ve put on our elected officials, don’t stop calling or writing.
Agreed. We need to keep the pressure on: that we will not accept any new gun control legislation and will punish those that side with the antis come election time.
as a house mom myself I have to strongly object to most of your comment. its either broadly unfair, or maybe I’m just an oddball. from the minute CNN broke SH, my first thought was if somebody had had a gun to blow his head off with, then 26 people would still be alive today. it is what it is, and I still think that no matter how they try to manipulate moms. the moms against guns crowd are idiots btw.
” posting the faces of the dead on magazine covers and using emotional tactics” I find it sickening….
well, they tried, ad nauseum. didn’t work here knowing right off where this was going to lead. no, if somebody comes at my kids I would have no problem shooting them dead, and sleep very well knowing I did everything I could to ensure they were safe in their beds.
but yes, definitely keep up the letters and emails. even though this one died, they will still keep trying, and we keep fighting.
Arkansas has a Democratic Senator up for reelection in 2014. Mark Pryor is screwed if he votes on anything remotely pro gun control so good job Democrats, way to thin out your herd proactively.
This is the great thing about American politics. Just when you start to think that the Republican party is dead from self-inflicted wounds, here come the Democrats to prove that they can do the whole self-immolation thing even better.
Their plan is to attach her AWB legislation as an amendment to a “Must Pass” bill.
Do you now understand why this is not dead yet?
WOW , It’s here THE 2A Superbrochure.com (Right to BEAR ARMS) once lost ,Never Regained….. 8 pages full color ….covers lots details on gun rights …. I got them and am giving them out …. We need to give out millions … everyone has the tools now… FIGHT NOW or enjoy your CHAINS!!!
If we think trading AWB for Universal Checks is a victory, then we’re as dumb as they think we are. If we don’t defeat Universal Checks, they STILL win.
Reid is the NRA’s boy. If Reid claims that the AWB can’t get 40 votes, it’s because he’s been privately arm-twisting his bros to register their disapproval and break with their godlike president. Good for Harry. Good for us. If the AWB never sees the floor of the Senate, that’s even better, and a major relief.
Harry Reid has done more to keep this nation from running completely off the rails than anyone in the executive branch, full stop.
So very little then?
More than Obama and Biden, at least.
Not sure if serious…
Yes, I’m serious. Dem is short for Democrat, not Demon.
While I’m glad Reid is pro gun, I still don’t like him as he’s screwed a lot of things up.
Reid is a jerk — but he’s not a disarmament jerk.
Bingo.
The emotion you are feeling now is delightfully called “SCHADENFREUDE”:
“Schadenfreude i/ˈʃɑːdənfrɔɪdə/ (German: [ˈʃaːdənˌfʁɔʏdə]) is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.”
Revel in it.
How can it be Schadenfreude without the Schaden?
had to look up HARRIDAN, but it was worth it; thanks for enhancing my vocabulary. HOO-ahh!!
Harridan gives DiFi too much respect. I would have said ugly, senile, shopworn old puta.
In a post a few weeks ago someone called her Baba-Yaga. I think thats the best description so far.
Ah, the great game of politics.
I hope the resulting devastation caused by Feinstein’s AWB obsession reminds both parties Dem and Republican, that the firearm rights of the average American are NOT to be trifled with. With a little hope, Feinstein’s zeal will make her a pariah after any Democrat in a tight race that happens to vote pro-AWB gets sacked from their seat thanks to her insistence that issue be brought to a vote.
Seems like the anti-gun wing of the DNC managed to wrest away the message control console for a few months… But now their more rational counterparts are remembering 1994 and reminding everyone that an anti-Dem landslide, during an off-season election with a 2nd term President, is a Very Bad Thing that could very well be triggered by a highly motivated subset of voters.
Off-season elections are frequently decided by a riled-up activist faction driving higher turnout for one side or the other. Pissing off America’s gun owners pretty much a guaranteed recipe for that result, as the DNC learned in 1994.
For example: I’m a Democrat, gun owner, and because of this foolishness I’ve sworn off voting for another Democrat for “the rest of my life”. I’m actually changing my party affiliation to Independent. How do you like that gun grabbers?
Better late than never.
Yep, totally agree with ya there. Too bad people’s memories are short, and 2014 is shaping up to be the new 1994. People decide to gamble, and play ball with Feinstein… they’re gonna lose big. Obama thought his first term was tough? Whatever mandate he won beating the crap outta of Romney has already been burned by wasting time on pushing AWB and other gun control laws.
On a local level, I think here on the West Coast, being that it so Democrat-dominated, GOP candidates tend to be more center-right than faaaaaaar right. As it should be.
The Republican party has a golden opportunity to make itself the representation of “middle America”, but the minute it starts spouting off about smaller government while endorsing tighter laws on abortion / gay rights / immigrants / marijuana, they make themselves look like hypocrites.
Libertarian party or another 3rd party needs to get their act together too.
On the plus side, it’s abundantly clear that Feinstein knows that this is her last term, and therefore this is her last opportunity to pass AWB 2.0.
We can only hope.
No chance of that. She’s already half way through the embalming process, and plans on holding her seat for another thousand years.
Find out who is supplying her with the blood of virgins and genetically engineered nanotech bone marrow and perhaps we can put a stop to this…
Being a l-o-n-g time resident of what once was California and is now a socialist la la land, you can be pretty certain that whoever replaces DiFi will be just as rabid a gun grabber as she is on all 2A and firearms issues, if not worse.
I guess I’ll never understand it:
I know lots of “liberals” who support “gun control”. I don’t know ANY that care enough to make it a crucial Senate election issue. I know the media gives the few who do lots of publicity, but I don’t see how Democrats gain anything by voting for “gun control”.
How is Harry Reid A+ rated from the NRA?
That’s the rating you get if you vote the way the NRA wants on specific votes.
Personally, I think the NRA should start scoring judicial confirmation votes, as a Supreme Court ruling could make a lot of legislative effort irrelevant, but…
Court rulings are no substitute for legislative battles.
Even after Heller and McDonald, owning a handgun in Chicago, DC, and New York City is a major pain – the licensing costs are not always reasonable, and the procedures are onerous enough that they deter many, if not most, prospective gun owners from ever applying.
It’s much better to prevent a bad law from being enacted than to hope the courts will save us from it once it’s in place.
Which kind of raises the question of which portion of one’s donations should go to the SAF and which portion to the NRA-ILA. I haven’t settled on the numbers yet, but I am not entirely sure they should be 50-50.
He’s now down to a B rating. But still very much on the NRA’s side, on the whole. He knows which side his bread is buttered on and how the majority of Nevadans vote.
Obama said he will campaign for the assault weapons ban as soon as he gets back from Israel.
Obama focused his weekly address on the Senate’s gun control efforts, reminding Americans of the Sandy Hook massacre.
“These ideas shouldn’t be controversial – they’re common sense,” Obama said. “They’re supported by a majority of the American people. And I urge the Senate and the House to give each of them a vote.”
As I understand things, DiFi cannot simply attach her ban to any bill–there has to be a vote of the Senate to allow the amendment. Although this should be a simple case of a straight up or down vote on disarmament, I am wondering how many dems will simply NOT register a vote and allow the repubs to vote it down by lack of sufficient affirnative votes.
I agree with Ralph.
I think it wont pass. But to counter dim bat Biden we must still call and email all Sens and keep the pressure on.
Agree Ralph?
Agree totally. Thanks to Reid, it won’t pass if we keep fighting it. If we take our foot off the accelerator for even a second, we’re screwed. The gungrabbers are all in. We need to re-raise and remind them that we’re not the only ones with skin in the game.
I hope it comes to a vote just so we know know who to vote out. It could never pass the supreme court anyway! http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/03/the-assault-weapons-ban-as-understood-by-a-second-amendment-scholar.html
Whats really juicy is that this rock / hard place vote is meaningless because there isn’t a chance in flying fig that it would pass the house. So if they toe DiFi’s line not only is it going to hurt them in their home district, they also know that their self-damage doesn’t have any chance of making a difference. Bwaa Ha Ha!
we need to stand behind the politicians that are trying to protect our Rights. And we need to get rid of the ones that are trying to take them.
“I’m not going to lay down and play dead”. BITCH could have fooled me, as she looks plenty dead.
Notice that they have to use the Sandy Hook incident to fuel the argument.
It’s basically turning into 9/11/2001 for me. I’ve stopped giving a crap about that specific event.
Yes, it’s sad. Yes, it’s a tragedy. Yes, we need to learn from our mistakes and yes we need to make the future not have that happen. However, nothing they want to pass would have made a difference if it was in effect when the incident happened, and the nation really needs to stop dwelling on the past. It sounds rude, but I get really *really* aggravated when someone brings up a specific incident in the past as for why we need to focus our efforts.
Note that no one cares about any other gun incidents, or the random guy shooting rivals in gangs, or any of the other random acts of terrorism we’ve had over the years, and people only focus on the big events to push agenda. I can see through the BS a mile away.
Things were OK when they were about spending money they didn’t have on free shit for people, and all the socialist stuff that goes along with it. Now the true divisions in the Free Shit Party are coming out. And they say Rs are a divided party.
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