Dem gun hypocrites

Liberal Sens. Feinstein, Schumer have both had concealed carry permits

As liberal Demcrats line up behind Obama’s intention to restrict gun ownership, it’s well to revisit the words of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who was outspoken in her defense of arming herself, declaring she obtained a concealed carry permit in California when she felt her life was threatened. In 1995, Feinstein described this experience:

 Fast forward to December 2012. Now Feinstein wants law abiding citizens of the United States to have their Second Amendment rights restricted.

After the deadly Aurora, Colorado theater shooting. Feinstein, speaking with FOX News’ Chris Wallace, was critical of those (video) who said responsible conceal carry permit holders could have stopped the killer. Feinstein declared, “…and maybe you could have had a firefight and killed many more people. These are people in a theater.”

Feinstein, author of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, is now leading the charge on Capitol Hill to reinstate the legislation that expired in 2004. “I’m going to introduce in the Senate and the same bill will be introduced in the House, a bill to ban assault weapons. It will ban the sale, the transfer, the importation and the possession. Not retroactively but prospectively. And it will ban the same for big clips, drums or strips of more than 10 bullets. So there will be a bill,” she recently told (video) Gwen Ifill on NBC’s “Meet The Press.”

Feinstein is a strong proponent of gun control, yet is known to have carried concealed handguns herself, obtaining a nearly impossible to secure California carry permit, available to few people, other than high placed politicians and celebrities. At one time, she was the only person in San Francisco to possess a concealed carry permit.

New York Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer is also reported to possess a concealed handgun permit in his state. Both senators regularly employ armed guards for their personal protection. These politicians realize that being armed makes them safer, although that’s where their support for the right to keep and bear arms ends.

Among the Hollywood double talkers on the issue of gun ownership are these folks, all Democrat donors and gun owners: Robert DeNiro, James Earl Jones, Marc Anthony, Howard Stern, Whoopie Goldberg, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They stand united to restrict your rights while exempting themselves.

 The Second Amendment is about much more than simply carrying concealed, hunting, or sport shooting. Our right to keep and bear arms is a bulwark against tyranny.

The U.S. Constitution and 44 States have Constitutional provisions enumerating the Individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

Threats undergird Hispanic demands, pressure on politicians

Acquiescing to amnesty pressure historically not a winning plan for GOP

Phoenix is center stage today as an alliance of illegal immigration proponents attempt to intimidate Congress and pressure Barack Obama to pass amnesty legislation in the upcoming session or pay a political price.

“Latino voters went to the polls with the economy on their minds but immigration reform in their hearts.” declared LULAC National President Margaret Moran. “Latinos will pay close attention to this debate, noting who helped move the ball forward and who stood in the way…of providing a path to citizenship for the undocumented. Republican’s dysfunctional relationship with our community was a big key to their loss,” she said. “Republicans better change their tune when it comes to our community,” warned Moran.

Participants in this coercive campaign are the usual leftist activists and unions: League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the racist National Council of La Raza*, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, Hispanic Federation, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Mi Familia Vota, NALEO Educational Fund, Consejo Nacional de la Raza, Service Employees International Unionists and Voto Latino.

More than 70 percent of the 12 million Hispanics who voted in November cast their ballot for Obama.  Obama has promised that Congress will take up the issue soon after he is re-inaugurated on January 21.

To no one’s surprise, Arizonans John McCain and Jeff Flake will lead this parade off the American cliff. Joining them are Sens. Michael Bennet, (D-Colo), Dick Durbin, (D-Ill.), Charles Schumer, (D-NY) ,Robert Menendez, (D-NJ), Mike Lee, (R-Utah) and McCain’s shadow Lindsey Graham, (R-.SC)

The faulty reasoning is that if Republicans submit to this pressure and ignore our borders and rule of law, Hispanics will lavish them with their votes. History shows that’s not going to happen, regardless of concessions.

Hispanics overwhelmingly vote Democrat, because on average, they earn far less than Whites. It is simply not in Hispanic self-interests to vote for the party which declares itself for limited government. Rather than caving to demands and colluding with Democrats, Republicans need to begin a dialogue about the destructive influence of government programs on the Hispanic family and community.

In 1984 Walter Mondale won 61 percent of the Hispanic vote. Ronald Reagan took just 37 percent although he won 49 of the 50 states. Two years later, Reagan signed the 1986 Simpson-Mazzoli Immigration Reform Act which gifted amnesty to what was then claimed to be three million illegal aliens in the United States. The amnesty prize was supposed to bring Hispanics into the GOP.

But in 1988, Democrat Michael Dukakis took 69 percent of the Hispanic vote while George H.W. Bush won only 30 percent. Reagan’s amnesty concessions were obviously not a factor.

In 1996, Bill Clinton garnered 72 percent of the Hispanic vote while Bob Dole received only 21 percent –  the lowest Hispanic support for a Republican candidate ever recorded.

In 2004 John Kerry got 58 percent of the Hispanic vote while George W. Bush won 40 percent which is the highest Hispanic support for a Republican candidate on record. Clearly, amnesty was not a major issue in either election.

*The motto of La Raza is “Fuera de La Raza nada,” or “For the Race, everything, outside the Race, nothing” This excellent exposé  printed in Human Events, was written in 2006 by the late U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, a Republican who represented the 9th District of Georgia.

Iceberging conservative Schweikert = Boehner needs to go & Update

Principled David Schweikert booted off Financial Services Committee

We hear a lot about the impending “fiscal cliff” these days. But the hard truth that neither party is prepared to meaningfully take it on is ever more apparent. First, Obama & Co. arrange for the annual Christmas festivities in Hawaii — estimated this year to cost at least $4 million dollars.  And the all-too-eager-to-acquiesce, perpetually weeping Republican, John Boehner is engaged in a wholesale iceberg float of conservatives out of key leadership and committee posts in the upcoming 113th Congress. His shrieking declarations of all items being on the table obviously mean little.

Arizonans should be up in arms. Many labored in the vineyard of the Schweikert campaign because we are all too aware of the outstanding credentials he brings to the task at hand. He has been a leading proponent in the U.S. House for curbing the massive debt, reigning in out-of-control spending, reforming the tax code, and reducing the size of government. His background as an effective numbers-cruncher has been evident since his days as Maricopa County Treasurer. At the fiscal helm of one of the nation’s largest counties, he was responsible for protecting billions of taxpayer dollars and earned over $300 million in investment income while never showing a deficit — despite a tough economic environment.

The fact is we will never cut spending without conservatives such as Congressman David Schweikert remaining on the House Financial Services Committee. Conservatives have also been ousted from Appropriations, Ways & Means, and Energy & Commerce.

Jonathan Strong writing for Roll Call said the purging of rebellious Republicans sparked a quick backlash on the right. Heritage Action for America CEO Michael Needham called Schweikert’s ouster “unthinkable.”

“Congressmen Schweikert, Huelskamp, and Amash are now free of the last remnants of establishment leverage against them,” Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said. “The dirty little secret in Congress is that while refusing to kowtow to the wishes of party leaders can sometimes cost you some perks in Washington, the taxpayers back home are grateful.”

Read the complete article here. Then pick up your phone and call Speaker John Boehner. No doubt he’d like to hear from you. His contact information is available here.

Conservatives Reps. send letter to Boehner asking for explanation:

Here is the December 7, 2012 letter Republican Congressmen David Schweikert, Tim Huelskamp, and Justin Amash sent to GOP Speaker John Boehner asking for a vwritten explanation as to why they were kicked off their respective committees. They also requested the scorecard used to judge their votes:

http://schweikert.house.gov/press-releases/conservatives-send-letter-to-leadership/

CD 2 final votes in: Martha McSally concedes

In a race that has remained too close to call, the votes are finally tabulated, and in the end Republican Congressional District 2 candidate Martha McSally, was unable to maintain the lead she had held over Democrat Ron Barber. Former Giffords aide Barber retained the congressional seat by a narrow margin of 1,402 votes out of a total of 285,479 ballots cast.

This is Martha McSally’s message:

“Today I called Congressman Barber to congratulate him on his victory. It was a hard fought campaign and I’m proud of the race we ran with integrity, honor, authenticity, and grace.

While ultimately we didn’t get the results we hoped for, I’m amazed at the historic nature of what we did with the odds stacked so high against us. Across this district, people of all political stripes who voted for President Obama and Richard Carmona also voted for me. As the single highest Republican vote getter in the district, over 141,000 people believed in our message of putting leadership and independent thinking ahead of party politics.

While this particular battle is over, I still have a fire in my belly to make a difference and serve our community and country. I look forward to seeing where that call to duty takes me next.”

We wish this outstanding woman all the best and hope to see her back in this race in two years. Our work is cut out for us. Democrats now hold a five-to-four advantage in Arizona’s House delegation in the upcoming 113th Congress.

FBI Agent goes Flakey

Shirtless, classless, mostly jobless

Among the provocative revelations still spewing forth from “The Generals and the Honeypots,” comes this bizarre addition:

An FBI Agent was assigned to investigate the complaint of Tampa socialite Jill Kelley, who reported menacing e-mails to the Bureau from a source that turned out to be David Patraeus’ squeeze, Paula Broadwell. This FBI Agent apparently became so enamored of Mrs. Kelley, that he started sending the surgeon’s wife shirtless photos of himself!

He’s now off the case.

So, if you’re scoring at home…an FBI Agent and two Congressmen who photographed themselves shirtless have met with public scorn. The Agent is off the case, and may soon be out of a job. The two Members of Congress resigned in disgrace.

But there was a third Congressman who made sure his staff widely distributed his shirtless self portraits. In the irony of ironies, he’s now the Senator-Elect from Arizona!

Lt. Col. Ralph Peters on Petraeus: “Timing is just too perfect”

 Wreaks of Chicago-style politics

Regarding the disclosure of information relating to CIA Director David Petraeus’ extramarital affair and subsequent, abrupt resignation,  Ret. Lt. Col. Ralph Peters had this to say to FOX News’ Neil Cavuto:

“The timing is just too perfect for the Obama administration. Just as the administration claimed it was purely coincidence that our Benghazi consulate was attacked on the anniversary of September 11th. Now it’s purely coincidence that this affair — extra-marital affair — surfaces right after the election, not before, but right after, but before the intelligence chiefs go to Capitol Hill to get grilled. As an old intelligence analyst, Neil, the way I read this — I could be totally wrong, this is my interpretation — is that the administration was unhappy with Petraeus not playing ball 100% on their party-line story. I think he was getting cold feet about testifying under oath on their party-line story. And I suspect that these tough Chicago guys knew about this affair for a while, held it in their back pocket until they needed to play the card.

I don’t like conspiracy theories, I may be totally wrong, but the timing of this, again, right after the election and right before Petraeus is supposed to get grilled on Capitol Hill, it’s really smells.”

Peters is not alone in his views.

When asked if Petraeus will testify, U.S. Rep. Peter King called the retired four-star Army general an “absolutely necessary witness.”  The New York Republican is the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security.

“As far as I’m concerned, the intelligence committee has to interview Gen. Petraeus. Whether or not he’s head of the CIA is almost irrelevant to him testifying,” King said. “He’s the only one who would have the facts that we are looking for, so he’s going to have to testify one way or the other.” King expressed skepticism about the circumstances and timing of Petraeus’ resignation.

“The main issue is: Why was the investigation launched in the first place?” King asked. “There’s more here. This story does not add up. There is something missing in the entire story. I don’t see any good explanation coming out of this. There’s no way you can defend what the White House and the administration is saying. It just doesn’t make sense, and that’s the point I’m making.”

The Daily Caller has more here.

Boehner leans left, downplays Tea Party influence

Efforts to halt ObamaCare nixed, amnesty top priority

During this interview (excerpted) with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, Speaker John Boehner puts distance between Congressional Republicans and the Tea Party that helped put many of them in their cushy D.C. offices.

Boehner went out of his way to downplay the influence of the Tea Party on Congress, although at least 51 members of the Tea Party caucus won re-election and will return for the 113th Congress in January. 

“This has been the most misreported story of my two years’ tenure. We don’t have a Tea Party caucus to speak of in the House,” Boehner said. “All of us who were elected in 2010 were supported by the Tea Party.”

“These are ordinary Americans who’ve taken a more active role in their government. They want solutions, but we’ve all come a long way over the last two years. I think we all understand each other a lot better.”

Boehner also revealed that a “comprehensive, bipartisan immigration overhaul” [more correctly known as amnesty] would be a top priority of his agenda during the upcoming congressional session. “This issue has been around far too long,” he said. “A comprehensive approach is long overdue, and I’m confident that the president, myself, others can find the common ground to take care of this issue once and for all.”

“What Republicans need to learn is how do we speak to all Americans. You know, not just the people who look like us and act like us, but how do we speak to all Americans,” Boehner said.

Americans, regardless of what we “look like,” don’t need an ”immigration overhaul.”  Our laws need to be respected and obeyed, Mr. Speaker. Legal citizens — of either party or any nationality — can speak to each other without your instruction. We all belong here.

AZ Republic’s farcical senate campaign ad indignation

Past comes back to haunt McKyl

Today’s editorial in the Arizona República must have had a fair share of astute readers across the state spewing their morning coffee out their nostrils.

The high-minded editorialist exhibits a fit of pique over campaign ads (video link) used by Dr. Richard Carmona in which he showcases compliments heaped upon him by Arizona Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl during Carmona’s 2002 confirmation hearings when he was appointed U.S. Surgeon General by President George W. Bush.  McCain and Kyl publicly lavished praise on the then-registered Independent Carmona.  He, in turn, is using those clips to his advantage in the state’s tight senate race. 

But a decade later, the Senate Duo has a new honey. Six-term Congressman Jeff Flake is much younger, with blonde streaked tresses, an omnipresent plastic grin and a buff bod to flaunt. Who could blame them for dumping the older model who has lost more than a bit of hair and luster — and reregistered as an Obama-recruited Democrat, to boot? Their ire is understandable.  But it should be self-directed.

McKyl’s laudatory and effusive words are what they are. The Senate Duo couldn’t get enough of Carmona at the time. Now their besotted words haunt them. And the newspaper, which in March of 2011 soundly scolded Flake for falling off of their amnesty wagon while in campaign mode, joins the senators in exhibiting righteous indignation today. What a difference a year makes. In 2011, editorialist Doug MacEachern called Flake’s new illegal immigration posture “jarring,” disparaging him as a mere “politician” — no longer a “statesman” — for emulating John McCain’s campaign border epiphany, ditching his previous amnesty stance during his own last senatorial campaign.

When it comes to political expediency, memories can be short. Today the daily chastises Carmona (República’s new pay wall might prevent access) for using the glowing recommendations, calling the Carmona campaign’s defense of their use “pure idiocy.”

The “idiocy” more accurately was the extravagant praise — which continued long past the 2002 confirmation hearing. This exceedingly warm handwritten letter* from “Jon” to “Dear Richard” was postmarked in 2005.

It’s time for the newspaper and Team McKyl to give the sanctimonious indignation a rest.

*H/T Politico

McCain pal Graham colludes w/Dems against GOP senator

The recent bizarre actions of Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R-SC) should not be much of a surprise to Arizonans who know his propensity for following too close to his senate cohort John McCain.

But his opposition to fellow Republican Senator Rand Paul’s  political ads targeting several Democrat senate incumbents should create a major re-election issue for Graham in 2014.

The Daily Caller reports that  Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) launched an ad campaign against Democrats who opposed his proposal to end foreign aid to Libya, Egypt and Pakistan. Graham, who takes his aisle-crossing cues from McCain, took the unusual step of defending the Democrats from Paul — a fellow Republican.

Graham held a conference call with Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin (WV) to slam both the ad (Click here to view) and Rand Paul’s foreign aid bill.

This Public Policy Polling survey conducted last year found 42% of South Carolina Republicans considered Graham too liberal. Among the two-thirds of state GOP primary voters who consider themselves conservative, that number soared to 53%.

We have often referred to McCain clone Lindsey Graham as “Gramnesty” since he collaborated with Señor McCain and Jon Kyl on legislation granting amnesty to illegal aliens.

A reliable left-leaner, Graham voted to confirm both of Barack Obama’s liberal nominees to the Supreme Court. He joined only four other Senate Republicans voting in support of the confirmation of Elena Kagan for the U.S. Supreme Court, and just 6 other Republicans in voting to confirm Sonia Sotomayor for the high court. He voted with McCain for the confirmation of Hilda Solis as number shuffling Secretary of Labor, and voted with both enablers Kyl and McCain in support of the nomination of Eric Holder as U.S. Attorney General — heading the Justice Department.

South Carolina Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy should begin giving some serious consideration to a senatorial bid. It’s past time for Lindsey to find some other pursuits.

Join Gabriela Saucedo Mercer & friends: Debate viewing, dinner

October 16, 2012 – 6:00 pm – Fountain Hills Holiday Inn

This is sure to be a great evening with an all-star lineup in support of Gabby.  RSVP today! (520) 333-4204 or click here to make your reservation.

Check out Gabby’s impressive website, read her bio,  stance on the issues and her stellar endorsements.