June 8, 2022
Permission to republish original opeds and cartoons granted.
U.S. Senate gets ‘Dazed and Confused’ on guns
By Rick Manning
You just cannot make this stuff up.
The very politicians who demanded that police be defunded and supported prosecutors who don’t prosecute criminals are pushing their agenda to ban law-abiding citizens from having guns.
And some GOP politicians are now meeting with the blame America first crowd to discuss what “reasonable” gun laws they can enact.
It is enough to make me sick.
But it is the natural result of the Mitch McConnell philosophy to avoid any tough issues so he can squeak by with a 51-vote majority in the Senate in 2023, all with the promise that they can’t do anything positive until the White House is won and occupied on January 20, 2025.
I am a life-long Republican. My family handed out Barry Goldwater for President rulers (gold colored we want a President, not a ruler) to trick or treaters for Halloween in 1964. I was the head of the University of Southern California College Republicans and the Executive Vice President of the California College Republicans.
After running or being campaign and consulting staffs for political campaigns supporting conservative causes like ending the California state inheritance and gift tax and the No on 15 campaign which stopped a statewide handgun ban, I became a state lobbyist for the National Rifle Association.
Unfortunately, time and again, when the going got tough, GOP legislators looked for ways to be “reasonable”. You got bullet bans, background checks, one gun a month sales, restrictions on individual transactions, and guess what, the left wasn’t satiated.
I became an NRA lobbyist right after a small Chicago suburb, Morton Grove, passed a handgun ban, and the slogan instilled in our then-young lobbying team by NRA Executive Vice President Harlon Carter was “Morton Grove, Never Again.”
So, today years later, we have actor and erstwhile politician Matthew McConaughey wandering the Senate halls urging “reasonable” gun laws. His idea of reasonable is to not allow the same kid we send off to war to be able to buy a rifle at home. His idea of reasonable is to empower police to break into someone’s home to confiscate their firearms due to a random call saying something might be amiss (and good luck getting your guns back once they have been stolen.)
The “Dazed and Confused” actor cannot be faulted for not understanding that the simple act of smoking a joint can get the cops called to storm your castle to find guns. Based upon his personal history, I’m certain that isn’t something he intends.
He cannot be faulted for not realizing that a spousal claim of abuse would be justification for having SWAT teams raging through your home at the break of dawn in search of firearms. Anyone paying attention to the Johnny Depp trial this past week can understand the damage done by false accusations. For someone without the financial means and Hollywood glint in their eye that both Depp and McConaughey possess, good luck getting your stolen property or reputation back.
What he and those politicians who are sworn to uphold the Constitution cannot be excused for is not recognizing that these types of search and seizure raids effectively end the primary concept of our criminal justice system that an American is innocent until proven guilty.
The failures of the Uvalde police and the school resources officer to do their jobs will be litigated in court. The failure of the cower in place hoping, praying active shooter policy predicated on the lie that help is on the way needs to be fully examined. The human instinct of fight or flight exists for a reason, yet we train people to stay and pray with disastrous consequences time after time.
Somewhat obviously, if school buildings were properly secured and willing teachers and school staff were empowered, equipped and trained to fight, our nation’s children would not be sitting ducks.
No one can see what happened in Uvalde and Buffalo and not be affected.
But rather than cower and stay, or just “do something,” isn’t it time for honest members of Congress to be smart and consider real alternatives that get to the root cause of the evil that drives these attacks, rather than acting upon the knee-jerk irresponsible actions demanded by the media?
Somehow, I don’t think this is too much to ask. Even for those politicians who would cower than stand up for individual liberty.
Rick Manning is the President of Americans for Limited Government.
To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2022/06/u-s-senate-gets-dazed-and-confused-on-guns/
Video: Biden's unconstitutional gun ban must be stopped
To view online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EHxxg-W-qM
Americans for Limited Government states ‘strong opposition’ to flavored cigar ban as unnecessary, harmful to businesses and trampling on informed freedom of choice
June 7, 2022
Americans for Limited Government (ALG), in a letter to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf, has expressed its “strong opposition” to a proposed ban of flavored cigars, stating that it is “not necessary based on the government’s own studies, is not supported by scientific evidence, would harm businesses and destroy jobs, and would trample on individual freedom of choice in a way that further undermines already ebbing confidence in public health authorities.”
In backing these assertions, ALG President Richard Manning:
- refuted FDA’s assertion that “youth consumption of cigars is substantial” by pointing out that 2020 survey data showed youth usage of under 1% and that 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey data “shows a more than 45 percent one-year decline in a single year among high-schoolers.”
- blasted FDA for “not being content to push the pause button” to see whether recently enacted nationwide Tobacco 21 legislation, which may have contributed to the rapid decline, “will lead to further reductions in underage initiation and consumption.”
- underscores that the evidence “indicates moderate cigar use by a small percentage of the adult population, most of whom … experience little if any risk of morbidity or mortality” and decries FDA “attempts to produce sufficient evidence of flavor-driven initiation and resulting mortality by endlessly extrapolating from outdated and flawed data based on limited evidence.”
- Points out that “the rule will undoubtedly harm a flourishing industry” enjoying record sales “and destroy small businesses and jobs,” including small manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers.
- Underscores that public health authorities and experts are otherwise “returning to an emphasis on empowering citizens to make informed decisions about their own health after the disastrous effects of two years of similar rush-to-judgment mandates not based on sound science. Research shows that “heavy-handed, top-down COVID dictates” “hampered the economy,” “damaged the nation’s mental and physical well-being,” “devastated children,” and resulted in “plummeting” confidence in these authorities, including CDC and FDA.
Manning concludes by urging FDA to “withdraw this unnecessary, unsupported, destructive, and restrictive rule and focus instead on enforcement of age limits and empowering adult cigar consumers with the accurate information on risk they need to make educated decisions related to their own health and enjoyment of a legal product.”
Democrats Fear Trump Re-Run and Worry Biden is the Only One Who Could Beat Trump
“A lot of us feel that if Trump runs, there’s no one else that could beat Trump than Joe Biden.” – Biden pollster John Anzalone to Politico
A New York Magazine report released last month reveals Democratic insiders are bitterly split about whether President Biden will be capable of running in 2024, let alone winning.
While some insiders are concerned about Biden’s advancing age and plummeting polling numbers, others do not believe anyone except for Biden stands a chance of beating former President Trump if he runs in 2024. It is abundantly clear that for Democratic party insiders and Biden’s inner circle, the fear of a Trump re-run looms front and center in their strategy for 2024.
One of Biden’s pollsters John Anzalone told Politico, “A lot of us feel that if Trump runs, there’s no one else that could beat Trump than Joe Biden. Yet Anzalone himself contributed to polling showing less than a third of Americans think Biden will run again in 2024 and even among Democrats less than half think he will run.
The preoccupation with whether Trump runs in 2024 and the sentiment that despite his flaws Biden would be the best candidate to block a Trump victory were echoed by other Democratic insiders throughout the report.
According to the report, a former Biden aid said that “if it’s Trump, Democrats will circle the wagons”, while a Biden veteran advisor said, “If Trump is alive, Biden is running.”
“If it’s Trump, Democrats will circle the wagons.” – Former Biden aid
This infighting comes at a time when President Biden’s polling numbers are in freefall. The President’s approval rating has fell to just 36% according to a May 25th Reuters-Ipsos poll, the lowest on record in that poll. The pollsters note Biden’s approval rating is had dropped 6 percentage points from the week before.
As Market Research Foundation recently noted, Biden is continuing to lose support with younger Americans and Latinos at an alarming rate.
A recent NPR/Marist poll found Biden’s approval rating fell 16 points among Gen Z and millennials in the past year, from 53% to just 37%. Gen Z and millennials view Biden unfavorably by a margin of 57% to 36%, while Trump’s favorable rating sits four points higher than Biden’s at 40%.
Gen Z and millennials view Biden unfavorably by a margin of 57% to 36%.
Harvard’s Institute of Politics found Biden’s approval rating with Gen Z fell 18 points in the past year, from 59% to 41%. Gallup found the steepest decline, showing President Biden’s approval rating plummeted 21-points with young people from 60% to just 39%.
The NPR/Marist poll found Gen Z and millennials say 42% to 16% the GOP is better positioned than the Democratic Party to deal with national security issues.
Young Americans also say the GOP is better positioned to handle the economy by an almost two to one margin (21% to 39%) and young people disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy 58% to 31%.
A March poll conducted by Democratic pollster and professor Eduardo Gamarra shows Trump leads Biden for the 2024 presidential race among Hispanics.
Hispanics prefer Trump over Biden in 2024 20.4% to 18.3%.
When asked who they would vote for if the 2024 election were held today, the largest share of Hispanics (20.4%) chose Trump. Former First Lady Michelle Obama came in second with 18.7% of the vote, and Biden came in third, with 18.3% of the vote.
Even more notable is the diversity of those who say they would support Trump in 2024. Although unsurprisingly, the largest share of Latinos who say they would support Trump in 2024 identify as Republican (53.8%), almost a fifth of Trump’s support stems from Independent Latinos (18.2%) and over 5% of Latino Democrats say they would support Trump as well. Twenty-five percent of Hispanics who identify as Greens also support Trump, but the sample size is relatively small.
President Biden’s dropping approval ratings are a problem for Democrats in the midterms, but they complicate the 2024 field much more. Democrats are aware of Biden’s flaws as a candidate, but whether rational or not, many fear Biden is the only candidate who could hold back a Trump victory.
To view online: https://marketresearchfoundation.org/2022/05/26/democrats-fear-trump-re-run-and-worry-biden-is-the-only-one-who-could-beat-trump/