Search Results for Congress

Second Amendment Roundup: ATF redefines “engaged in the business”ATF’s Final Rule Definition of “Engaged in the Business” as a Dealer in Firearms amounts to 466 pages of responses to comments and the final rule itself.  Over 252,000 of the 258,000 comments or 98% in favor of the proposed rule were form letters with identical text found online and recommended by (anti-gun) organizations.  Only 5,140 were not form letters.  Of the 99,000 comments opposed to the rule, 80,000 or 81% were form letters.  That means that 18,810 were not form letters.  So more than three times the numbers of opponents filed comments with actual substance as did those in favor. The final rule is substantially the same as the proposed rule.  See my previous post “‘He’s at it again!’  Merrick Garland proposes ever-more intrusive ATF regulations.”  A number of points that I (and others) made in comments filed in opposition to…

Elon Musk Comes Out Against Banning TikTok: ‘Not What America Stands For’AP Photo/John Raoux, File Billionaire Elon Musk has come out against efforts by the Congress to ban TikTok from operating inside the United States. The owner of X, formerly Twitter, sent out a post on Friday noting that he is against banning the platform even though it would benefit X. Musk added that a ban is “contrary to freedom of speech” and “not what America stands for.” “In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the 𝕏 platform,” Musk wrote to his millions of followers on X. In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the 𝕏 platform. Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for. — Elon Musk…

House, and Speaker Johnson,  move Ukraine aid toward a key voteViewStaring down a decision so consequential it could alter the course of history — but also end his own career — House Speaker Mike Johnson prayed for guidance.A conservative Christian, the speaker wrestled over whether to lead the House in approving $95 billion in desperately needed war-time aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies, which many in his own Republican majority opposed — some so strongly they would try to boot him from office.Or, he could do nothing, halting the flow of U.S. aid and potentially saving his own job but ensuring his place as the House speaker who led America’s retreat from the global stage and left Ukraine to fend for itself as it loses ground against the Russian invasion.As Johnson met with colleagues late into the night this week at the speaker’s office, they prayed on it.“And…

A New Police Force Chased a 17-Year-Old Boy to His Death. Then It Vanished.Cruising south down a two-lane highway in Montana, Braven Glenn looked out onto the open road, the evening sky chilly and dark. It was November 24, 2020—half a year into the pandemic and three months after his 17th birthday. He was a good student, on his way to pick up his girlfriend, a basketball player like him, at her house on the Crow Indian Reservation. Most days, Braven took his time while driving; his friends sometimes teased him for staying below the speed limit. But lately he hadn’t been feeling like himself—not since his grandma died from Covid weeks earlier. On this particular night, when a car ahead of him sat at around 60 mph in a 70 mph zone, he signaled and passed it, slowing again to the speed limit after crossing back over the dotted…

Gaza Is Dividing DemocratsThe Iranian attack on Israel has heightened the fierce cross-pressures shaping President Joe Biden’s conflicted approach to the war in Gaza.Throughout Israel’s military engagement, Biden has struggled to square his historic inclination to support Israel almost unreservedly with growing hostility in his party toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the war. For months, Biden has been escalating his criticism of Netanyahu, but once the Iran attack began, the president snapped back to his instinct to rally behind Israel.The barrage of missiles and drones that Iran fired at Israel on Saturday may have a similar short-term effect on slowing what has been a steady increase in congressional Democrats urging Biden to suspend offensive weapons sales to Israel until it fundamentally changes its strategy in Gaza. Yet, unless Israel and Iran descend into a full-scale confrontation, last weekend’s hostilities are not likely to end that pressure. That’s…

The Manufactured Crisis of Migrant Terrorists at the BorderSince late 2020, Border Patrol along the United States–Mexico border has encountered over 6.9 million illegal crossers. A recent Pew Research survey reveals that 57 percent of respondents consider “dealing with immigration” a top policy priority this election year—just below “defending against terrorism” at 63 percent.  Amid this backdrop, politicians and pundits have been quick to conflate these issues, holding numerous congressional hearings on the purported threat of terrorists entering the U.S. to commit acts of terror. This has given rise to a flood of rhetoric about said terrorists exploiting border chaos to harm Americans.  Despite this fearmongering, the actual threat of foreign-born terrorism is relatively minor and manageable. New research from the Cato Institute indicates that since 1975, the annual likelihood of an American being murdered in a foreigner-committed terrorist attack is about one in 4.5 million. Nonetheless, the public remains…