Month: January 2013

Record Numbers in Florida Locked and Loaded

Trish
Welcome to Florida

The news that nearly 800,000 people in Florida requested the background checks needed to purchase a firearm in 2012 gives the rest of the country one more reason to avoid the Sunshine State. If you come, keep in mind that one in every 24 people around you is probably armed.

A bulletproof Hawaiian shirt to go with those black socks and shorts might not be a bad idea.

Gun sales surged after Obama’s re-election, but really took off after the recent shooting with semi-automatic weapons in Newtown, Conn. killed 20 children and six adults (plus the shooter).

In December alone, there were 131,103 background checks requested through the [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] — the highest number the agency has recorded in any single month. That beat the previous record, set only a month earlier, when 84,745 background check requests were submitted in the same month that Obama was re-elected.

It doesn’t hurt that the NRA and Gun Owners of America keep telling people that Obama is going to take their guns and then turn the country into a socialist dictatorship.

[…]

Huntsman On the State of the GOP

Buck Banks

The party right now is a holding company that’s devoid of a soul and it will be filled up with ideas over time and leaders will take their proper place. We can’t be known as a party that’s fear-based and doesn’t believe in math. In the end it will come down to a party that believes in opportunity for all our people, economic competitiveness and a strong dose of libertarianism.

— Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R), in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, on the state of the Republican party.

House Republicans Have to Be Shamed Into Voting for Hurricane Sandy Relief

Buck Banks

When tragedy strikes, Americans come together to support those in need. I urge Republicans in the House of Representatives to do the same, bring this important request to a vote today, and pass it without delay for our fellow Americans.

— President Obama, urging House Republicans to approve a Hurricane Sandy relief bill passed by the Senate. The Hill: “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a joint statement saying it was ‘inexcusable’ that the House wasn’t voting on a bill. The Senate has already approved a bill providing the states hit by Sandy with $60.4 billion. Just before noon, the White House weighed in with a statement from President Obama… In response to the pressure, Boehner will meet Wednesday afternoon with GOP lawmakers from the effected states.”

Grover’s Story, and He’s Sticking to It

Trish

The Bush tax cuts lapsed at midnight last night. Every R voting for Senate bill is cutting taxes and keeping his/her pledge.

— Grover Norquist, tweeting the line he and every other Republican will be quoting in the coming days. Obama strategist David Axelrod responds: “Halfway through a vote he was going to lose, @GroverNorquist sprints out in front to keep from being trampled by the parade.”