NRA: Gun Rights Group, or Republican Advocates?

Rachel has great chyrons! Image from Raw Story.

It might surprise you to know that even as the lefty, liberal moonbat that I am, I'm not anti-gun. You could say I'm for sensible regulations and restrictions, that is, I don't think every weapon (grenade launcher, rocket launcher, IED, nuclear warhead) is necessarily covered by the second amendment. Much as free speech rights have some limitations (libel, slander, defamation, incitement to riot, "fire in a crowded theater"), so too could guns. I don't see a conflict there.

But, I was raised around guns. We had shotgun shell reloaders in the basement. Dad had several weapons, from revolvers to rifles to shotguns. Grandpa did too. We respected them, never played with them (well, we played with our BB guns), and I never developed a knee-jerk negative reaction to them. On the other hand, I also have been around gun fetishists. People so into their guns, it's almost sexual. . .or religion. . .or some perverted mixture of the two, wrapped up with patriotism. People who hold the 2nd amendment out as the most important--sometimes only important--amendment to the Constitution.

An argument could be made for whether the National Rifle Association has fostered this fetishism, or if they merely cater to the fetishists. But one thing is for sure. The NRA is a lobbying group. And however pure their motives were at the outset, they have become a major business, one that would like to continue and grow. As much as conservatives will often rail against Unions as just about money and power, the same could be alleged of the NRA. And it's awfully curious that they always support the Republican in a political contest, regardless of their actual policies, isn't it?

Case in point, Mitt Romney, who has been involved in multiple "anti-gun" regulations, and Barack Obama, who never has, and in fact has been involved in pro-gun legislation. Guess who the NRA is spending millions to support?

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[Excerpt]

Maddow shows why the NRA is just a ‘Republican interest group’

On her show Monday night, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow accused the National Rifle Association of being far more interested in electing Republicans than defending Second Amendment rights.
Last week, the NRA endorsed Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and has now launched ads against President Barack Obama. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Ryan Plan Cuts Taxes for Rich, Raises Them for the Poor

Actually, that would be the rich tax.
Image from ThinkProgress.

Why oh why do they keep doing this? Over and over again, Republicans propose or enact policies that sting the poor, sick, elderly and infirm, while giving massive breaks to the richest. Why? The very rich in this country are actually very, very, very rich (and I'm probably missing a few verys). They don't need more money. They don't need more breaks.

I was thinking about this the other day. You've got your Foster Friess, your Sheldon Adelson, your Koch Brothers, all obscenely rich. I will not begrudge them their money, they earned it (one way or the other). But these guys have millions just to piss away on quixotic candidates like Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. They fund think tanks and lobbyists, and cabals like ALEC, which ghost-writes legislation enacted later by Republicans. All of this money is spent with the prospect of making even more money. Much more money then they have to spend buying politicians. All of the guys above are in their seventies. What the frack are these guys saving up for? Are they buying a country (besides the one they're currently buying) to while away their eighties? Why do billionaires need to work so hard to make even more billions? For what?

But I digress.

[Excerpt]

CHART: House GOP Budget Cuts Taxes For The Rich, Raises Taxes On The Poor


As ThinkProgress has detailed, the House Republican budget, authored by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), pays for massive tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans by cutting spending from programs that primarily benefit lower-income Americans. While giving an average of $187,000 to each millionaire, the budget finds 62 percent of its cuts from programs that benefit the lower- and middle-classes, kicking millions off of food stamps, gutting Pell Grants, and slashing Medicare and Medicaid. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Everything Old is Newt Again

Everyone (except Rick Santorum and oddly, Jon Huntsman) gets their turn in the GOP top spot, it seems. And the newest one is the guy with by far the most baggage. The guy who said he cheated on his wives because he loves America so much. The guy who thinks we ought to get rid of child labor laws. Go get 'em Newt, ya big ball of sweaty dough!

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You don't often hear what Herman Cain used to do for a living. Yes, he's been a motivational speaker, and everyone knows he's the ex-CEO of Godfather's Pizza. But that was a long time ago. What about that he left Godfather's for? You know, as the CEO of The National Restaurant Association. That sounds like a nice little group, right? It's an unassuming name. If you weren't paying attention, you could even have been forgiven for thinking it was the other NRA. But Herman's NRA is a lobbying group. And Herman was lord-god-king lobbyist.

This is rarely mentioned, as far as I know, maybe because "lobbyist" ranks somewhere around lawyer or Congressman in the lower levels of respected occupations.  Anyway, here's a little more about the NRA of (mostly fast) food.

SIDEBAR: It should also be often said that Herman Cain also has an unfortunate tendency to lie, as an impulse, sometimes when it is not necessary. Track his sexual harassment interview answers for proof.

[Excerpt]

Who is the National Restaurant Association?

The anti-minimum wage lobbying operation that calls itself the National Restaurant Association now finds itself in a pickle. They are holding Herman Cain's secrets and tomorrow they will decide whether to release them.

The National Restaurant Association lives on the funding of its giant corporate sponsors. In accordance with the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act, the National Restaurant Association puts out a quarterly list of its national corporate members. Here is a sample of who used to pay Herman Cain's salary. . .

Read more at: The Last Word