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Tag Archives: Benghazi
Media Matters for America & Benghazi
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On May 10,
Oct 10, 2012 by CNN
Rep. Chaffetz defends his criticism of the handling of Libyan consulate security despite voting to cut embassy funding.
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Dying Social?
Guns & Alcohol Don’t Mix
If there’s one thing Americans don’t need a coupon for, it’s an outing mixing guns and alcohol. Unfortunately, LivingSocial seems to think otherwise.
A new report out today from CREDO Action and the Gun Truth Project calls out the daily deal and experience company for offering booze and bullet-fueled experiences from coast to coast. The wide variety of deals even sometimes feature AR-15s, the same assault rifle used to kill 20 children and 6 educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Other experiences include AK-47s, semi-automatic pistols, and rifles.
Beyond perhaps being in poor taste, the experiences suggest that guns and alcohol go together. They don’t.
CREDO didn’t mince words when it came to calling out LivingSocial:
“In the wake of Newtown, I’d like to know how the people who own or work for LivingSocial can justify profiting from the packaging of AK-47 shooting sprees with an evening of bourbon shots,” Becky Bond, CREDO’s political director, said in a statement.
The company, she added, “is endangering the public health by suggesting pairing assault weapons with alcohol binges is just good clean fun.”
Data shows just how dangerous guns and alcohol can be when combined:
Mixing guns and alcohol is unfortunately common among those attracted to risky behaviors. As the report notes, 86 percent of homicide offenders were drinking at the time of the homicide. Gun owners also have far higher binge-drinking and chronic alcohol abuse rates than people who don’t own guns. People who carry concealed weapons or have confronted someone with a gun are more than twice as likely to drink heavily than non-owners.
In contrast to LivingSocial, its main competitor, Groupon, cancelled all gun-related deals in North America after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
LivingSocial, which lost $650 MILLION last year and $50 MILLION so far this year, has received more than $30 MILLION in tax credits from the District of Columbia, which, ironically, has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation.
To find out more, check out the entire report HERE. If you think that guns and alcohol shouldn’t mix, you can contact LivingSocial using this form and tell them so.
Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed
Minnesota passes marriage equality.
GOP congressman claims the president covered up Benghazi by calling it “an act of terror” instead of “terrorist attack.”
Obama mocks charges of Benghazi cover up.
Clothing retailers agree to upgrade safety in Bangladeshi factories.
Seven outlandish things the Heritage Foundation’s remaining employees believe.
Illegal abortion provider convicted of murder.
GOP senator launches hypocritical attack on Health & Human Services Secretary.
The IRS went after the NAACP in 2004.
Why the Department of Justice is going after the Associated Press’ records.
“The Facts Are Indisputable”
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A Clear Path
So Far, So Good on Immigration Bill
Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee began historic work on a bipartisan immigration reform bill. The centerpiece of the bill is a path to earned citizenship for the 11 MILLION undocumented immigrants already present in this country.
As far as today’s proceedings went, it’s so far, so good:
- Modest improvements were made to the bill, including a provision mandating that law enforcement determine whether deporting an individual would raise humanitarian concerns with regard to the individual and/or his or her family.
- GOP extremists attempted three separate times today to put up roadblocks to a pathway to earned citizenship that would have essentially guaranteed that the 11 MILLION undocumented would remain in the shadows for decades, if not forever. Fortunately, all three of these attempts were roundly defeated by Democrats and pro-reform Republicans.
Nearly three dozen amendments from both Republicans and Democrats were cleared during the largely amicable legislative markup, with 21 approved — and all but one of those on a bipartisan basis. The committee will continue working over the next two weeks until all 300+ amendments filed have been dealt with, though many of these will not actually be brought up by their sponsors or receive vote.
Today’s action only adds further positive momentum to the bill and a pathway to earned citizenship, which is supported by a whopping 83 percent of Americans.
BOTTOM LINE: The Senate immigration bill is a strong bill, but already represents a compromise for both sides. A bipartisan group of senators is making sure to hold the line on the bill and maintain a clear path to earned citizenship, despite the best efforts of some extreme, anti-reform Republicans to throw up roadblock after roadblock.
Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed
GOP senators vote to spend tens of billions of dollars to militarize the border.
Minnesota House passes marriage equality.
Ex-official: Heritage Foundation has betrayed Reagan.
Heritage Foundation may be forced to hire PR firm to deal with backlash from anti-immigration report.
Racist author of Heritage Foundation’s anti-immigration report also wrote for white nationalist website.
Leader of GOP witch hunt on Benghazi admits he learned nothing new in hours-long hearing.
GOP Senate nominee caught using $281,500 “tax scam.”
GOP senator tries to impose anti-woman agenda on citizens of Washington, D.C.
Unemployment would be a point lower had we not been fixated on the deficit for the past two years
That Happened
10 Crazy Things the Right Did This Week
Another week, another 10 helpings of crazy brought to by the right wing.
- Heritage Foundation puts out shoddy report claiming immigrants are takers not makers, conservatives pounce. In a remarkable display this week, the Heritage Foundation put out a study claiming that immigration reform will cost $6.3 TRILLION over the next ten years (Ed. note: it won’t). Immediately, conservatives like Grover Norquist and groups like the American Enterprise Institute and Cato stepped up to trash the report.
- Heritage Foundation report co-written by racist who has previously written for white nationalist websites. The co-author of the aforementioned report, Jason Richwine, wrote his PhD dissertation about how racial minorities like Hispanics have inherently lower IQs. In addition to these obviously racist views, he also wrote for a white nationalist website and appeared at a conference alongside a well-known white nationalist. Richwine resigned from Heritage late Friday afternoon.
- Senator proposes ‘Downton Abbey amendment’ to immigration reform bill. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) is an avowed enemy of immigration reform including a pathway to earned citizenship, but he appears to have found some jobs he approves of undocumented immigrants being allowed to have: domestic workers. Lee proposed an amendment to allow undocumented immigrants to be hired, but only as domestic workers, specifically including cooks, waiters, butlers, governessess, maids, valets, gardeners, footmen, grooms, and chauffeurs.
- Shadowy conservative group cuts ad featuring New Hampshire moms, except the moms turn out to be GOP activists. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) has seen her standing with Granite Staters plummet since she voted against expanded background checks. AnIowa-based secret money group rode the rescue this week with an ad backing Ayotte that purported to show regular moms supporting her. It turns out these regular moms were actually regular GOP activists.
- House GOP stages Benghazi hearing, learns nothing new. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) continued the GOP’s Benghazi witch hunt this week with a dramatic hearing. After the hearing, however, Issa admitted that the only thing we learned is that it was a terrorist attack — something President Obama acknowledged in the Rose Garden the day after the attack happened. In other words, we didn’t learn anything new at all as a result of the hearing. In fact, many of the GOP’s star witnesses actually debunked various right-wing conspiracy theories.
- GOP senate nominee claimed a $281,500 deduction that the IRS has referred to as a “tax scam.” Massachusetts GOP senate nominee Gabriel Gomez made an agreement with a local conservation association not to alter the facade of his historic home, something which earned him a $281,500 tax deduction. It turns out that he was already legally barred from making any changes. The IRS and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have both highlighted this practice as an egregious “tax scam.”
- Tea Party activist calls for armed march on Washington, D.C. A Tea Party radio host called for protesters carrying loaded rifles to cross into the District of Columbia, which has very strict gun laws, from Virginia. After the police indicated they would meet the gun-toting protesters at the D.C. line, the host then called for mass lawbreaking in addition to the armed gun march.
- GOP demands budget process then prevents said process from happening. For the past few years, the GOP has demanded that the Democratic-controlled Senate pass a budget and then confer with the House under the “regular order.” Democrats passed a budget in March, but now Senate Republicans are blocking Senate Democrats from starting an official conference committee with the House, since that would expose the GOP’s unwillingness to compromise. “I think for us to after four years of complaining about Harry Reid’s failure to bring up a budget and then we do one and block conference is something that’s incomprehensible,” said Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
- Fox News brings on convicted cover-up expert to discuss alleged Benghazi cover-up. Following the aforementioned House GOP hearing on Benghazi, Fox News brought on Oliver North to discuss the alleged cover up. North himself was of course actually convicted of participating in the Iran-Contra cover-up.
- NRA makes some suspicious suggestions. At their national conference last weekend, the NRA suggested that parents store their firearms in their children’s rooms (in case of a home invasion). And the NRA’s youth magazine suggested that children build their own indoor, at-home shooting ranges.
BONUS: An exhibitor at the NRA’s national convention was selling a female zombie target that bleeds when you shoot it, which the company called “the ex-girlfriend.” After outcry from groups like UltraViolet, not only did Amazon drop the product but the company agreed to stop making it.
