Friday News Roundup - Domestic
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-01-18/friday-news-roundup-domestic
President Barack Obama lays out proposals to combat gun violence. The Federal Aviation Administration grounds Boeing’s Dreamliner. And new home construction rises to its highest level in four years. A panel of journalists joins guest host Susan Page for analysis of the week's top national news stories.
Guests
Karen Tumulty
national political reporter at The Washington Post.
Ari Shapiro
White House correspondent for NPR.
James Fallows
national correspondent for The Atlantic magazine.

Comments
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Democrat Senate majority leader Harry Reid has a B rating from the NRA, as long as he does not stab the gun owners of Nevada in the back he probably can keep his job. We will know when he doesn't care about reelection when he sells out Nevada gun owners. The democrats in Congress that rely on gun rights voters are the ones who will not allow and do not want more anti second amendment legislation. Obama I'm sure would repeal the second amendment given the chance, however he also realizes a serious push would eliminate the democrats chances for regaining the house in 2014. That is why he has basically done little to nothing, except tighten regulations in areas far off the radar screen.
Great points, Ron L.
Obama is focused like a laser on 2014, to be sure. On the outcome of that election may hinge his ability to complete his "fundamental transformation of America". It's why he had to back off his original plan for harsher executive orders and throw it back to Congress.
Notice how the language is changing a la "Global Warming" becomes "Climate Change".
"Gun control" has become "safety" and "protecting our children and our communities" and in the case of this very web page "combat (or "reduce") gun violence" and "common sense changes" and "keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people". Anything but "gun control". Shift the terms of the debate to get what you want. This is always the methodology and quite fascinating to watch.
Dear Democrats
Please grow a pair and stand up to the NRA NeoNutzi`s. Please show pictures of the dead children at Columbine and Newton. Show pictures of the aftermath of the AURORA massacre.. Let folks see what the NRA represents.
You either care about our children and grand children,or you allow them to be slaughtered. There is no middle ground.
________________________________________________
Where has the media been? Why have you been absent as the NRA lobbyists dismantle our laws? John HinckleyJr. shot Reagan. If he got out,his shrinks could not testify of the danger his gun ownership represents.Thanks to the Lobbying of the GUN INDUSTRY and it`s organ grinder monkey NRA.
Here in Ohio we have a group called A.L.E.C.. Lobbyists who bribe legislators into allowing the LOBBYISTS to write our laws.. They`ve been committing these crimes since the 70`s.. Where has the media been?
Clifford wrote:
"Please grow a pair and stand up to the NRA ..."
I think you really mean "stand up to the Second Amendment", don't you Clifford? I think you really mean "stand up to the Constitution", don't you Clifford? After all, without the Second Amendment, there would be no NRA.
"You either care about our children and grand children,or you allow them to be slaughtered. There is no middle ground."
See what I mean? It's not "gun control", it's "caring about our children and grand children" and not "allowing them to be slaughtered".
LOL. Nice rhetoric, Clifford!
Now, let's get to the interesting part of your post, shall we?
"Here in Ohio we have a group called A.L.E.C.. Lobbyists who bribe legislators into allowing the LOBBYISTS to write our laws.. They`ve been committing these crimes since the 70`s.. Where has the media been?"
The media? Where has the PRESIDENT been?!
"During the campaign [2008], Obama said many times that lobbyists would not run his White House, and the campaign delighted in tweaking rival John McCain for the former lobbyists who worked on McCain's campaign.
Obama's ethics proposals specifically spelled out that former lobbyists would not be allowed to "work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years." On his first full day in office, Obama signed an executive order to that effect.
But the order has a loophole — a "waiver" clause that allows former lobbyists to serve. That waiver clause has been used at least three times [March 2009] and in some cases, the administration allows former lobbyists to serve without a waiver. "
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/240/to...
NeoNutzi wrote: "Show pictures of the aftermath of the AURORA massacre.. Let folks see what the NRA represents."
Considering the NRA does not represent murderers but law abiding citizens, the pictures wouldn't show much in the way of graphic horrors. Maybe pictures of woman protecting themselves or family from home invaders or rapists. Possibly men target shooting or hunting, or people in general keeping themselves trained in firearms and equipped as the founders intended for the possibilities of what they warned us against. What you would see would be everyday good people, people for the most part that are responsible and law abiding in every aspect of their lives that just want to be left alone. To demonize the NRA is to demonize ordinary good people and the Constitution.
Maybe more informing would be to see the people democrats represent, a photographic expose on the failure of the war on poverty. I will stop here because this train of thought could truly get ugly.
"Considering the NRA does not represent murderers but law abiding citizens"
Correct. And as I said the day this happened. Law abiding gun owners, gun clubs, the NRA, hate incidents like this more than anyone, because while some are simply using these shootings as political fodder, others, the law abiding gun owners realize that such events are an attack at the very heart of what they represent.
All I hear from the NRA NeoNutzi`s is their crying and whining over the terrorists Obama got..Like this guy.. "Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen and one of the most wanted terrorists on a U.S. target list, has been killed in Yemen".
The whining and constant crying by the NeoNutzi`s over Bin Laden`s death has been horrible to hear and treasonous.The time for terrorists to protest is when the U.S.Government puts a WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE POSTER UP...
Where is the anguish over all the dead murdered and blood soaked children? No we`re sorry? No remorse? No nothing?Instead the NeoNutzi`s attack the Obama girls. Exactly the low life tendencies of snakes.
HSBC fined for money laundering for the terrorists.The NRA is the arms supplier of the terrorists. Stopping the government`s effort of "Fast and Furious",instead going after the Justice Dept.... Despite it being an ATF function.The same agency the NRA managed to get every director fired since 2005. If the ATF tried to do it`s job,the NRA was there to stop it... If it looks like a terror supporter,smells like a terror supporter,provides the weaponry for the terrorists...THEY MUST BE TERRORISTS TOO!!! There are a reported 20,000 missing and presumed dead at the hands of the Mexican Drug Cartel terrorists. How many must die before the NRA to cares?
It was Ted Nugent,washed up rock star who threatened to kill President Obama and Hillary Clinton last November.He now sits on the NRA board. That is what a terrorist does...
Clifford wrote:
"Where is the anguish over all the dead murdered and blood soaked children? No we`re sorry? No remorse? No nothing?"
Are you referring to the ones in the "medical waste" bags waiting to be picked up from your pro "choice" clinics, Clifford?
Oh wait ... that's different, right?
Many people who one might think would share your horror at all those dead murdered and blood soaked children sit in the seat of power in our country, Clifford - one of them is in the Oval Office. Sorry. That trumps the board of the NRA.
Don’t quite get how rational people insist that they must have weapons capable of killing dozens of folks in seconds.
For self defense? They must be REALLY bad shots.
Because it’s a “freedom” enshrined in B of R and we’s all about “Freedom”?
No, not really, the 2nd Amendment is pretty ambiguous- it seems to endorse well-trained militias- not particularly armed to the teeth vigilantes.
Is it because we need to have super weapons to fend off our own Gov? That’s so ridiculous a supposition it doesn’t even merit discussion.
Is it because responsible gun owners deserve to enjoy the hobby they love with whatever weapon they choose? Can understand that, but firmly believe they may need sacrifice this privilege (sorry), so as that it might be harder for those less responsible to access these weapons.
Is it impossible to imagine that a once responsible gun- owner might one day lose it? Is it impossible to imagine a gun owner not locking his weapons away securely enough that someone not so responsible may one day get access?
It seems that these folks, for all their bluster, don’t have a leg to stand on, morally or ethically, but also realize this hasn’t stopped them in the past.
I’m hoping that sanity will prevail, common sense steps will be taken, and administration's current initiatives will be passed.
Add another leftist label to the top of the heap... if you own a gun in America now you are labeled as "pro violence"... There is a television ad out there now (not NRA sponsored) that shows the POTUS 2 daughters and asks why they merit protection with guns but our children do not.. MSNBC made a big case this morning out of how terrible it is for the president's children to be used in such a horrible way... yet on this forum I see a picture of what??? The POTUS backed by what???? OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN????? The standard, it seems, is one sided.
Another day....same hypocrisy from the left...
Drew Kelly wrote: "Don’t quite get how rational people insist that they must have weapons capable of killing dozens of folks in seconds."
Don't be fooled into thinking this is about an "assault weapon ban" because handguns can do the same damage, all rifles involved in murders amounts to 2.5% all rifles not just "assault rifles", hammers and clubs 3.6%. This is about a foot in the door for a total gun ban. This is a back door attempt to get handguns.
Whatever happened to the feminist movement? Has it been reduced to a patriarchal government dependence movement? Woman are the first responders for any trouble that comes their way, I would think armed self protection would be at or near the top of their list. Nothing equalizes the situation with a criminal than the ability to own and use a firearm.
Maybe the men in the democrat party feel woman are just to emotional to own handguns. Maybe they think PMS renders woman less capable of rational though? In any case obviously they think they are not to be trusted. This is the message of the democrat party, we know better, leave it to the government and wait for the "authorities" to arrive.
NeoNutzi wrote:."The NRA is the arms supplier of the terrorists. Stopping the government`s effort of "Fast and Furious",instead going after the Justice Dept.... Despite it being an ATF function.The same agency the NRA managed to get every director fired since 2005.'
It was the ATF that was trafficking in weapons into Mexico with no way and no effort to trace them once they crossed the boarder. It was the ATF that was deliberately putting arms in the hands of the drug cartels that ended up killing hundreds of Mexicans and at least one U.S. boarder patrol agent. It was ATF agents (whistle blowers) that stopped the program. No one got fired, they only traded desks. The NRA did nothing accept report on it.
If anyone thinks those kids and those fake letters to the president are not some phony put on for your consumption, you really are a fool. Gun rights proponents could easily do the same. These were anti second amendment parents in cooperation with the White House using children to deceive people into giving up Constitutional rights.
Dan D. wrote:
"If anyone thinks those kids and those fake letters to the president are not some phony put on for your consumption, you really are a fool. Gun rights proponents could easily do the same. These were anti second amendment parents in cooperation with the White House using children to deceive people into giving up Constitutional rights."...........
Dan, I supposed the Sandy Hook tragedy was "some phony put on for consumption". Is there no limit to this ugly blame game that you, and others like you, play? There is no such thing as an "anti second amendment parent". They are just people trying to do their best.
I would love to know how your Constitutional rights have ACTUALLY been taken from you...ever! I would bet you're among the most spoiled comfortable people on the planet, so bored with your life that you have to fight shadows on the wall. Who's the fool?
af64 wrote: "I would love to know how your Constitutional rights have ACTUALLY been taken from you...ever! "
I cannot save my money as I see fit for my own retirement because of unconstitutional social welfare programs.
I cannot as a law abiding citizen exercise my rights under the second amendment because of the infringements placed on us by previous anti gun legislation.
My first amendment rights are being violated by the current president for interference in religious liberties.
My fourth amendment rights with unconstitutional search and seizure laws are being violated.
There are more but that's enough, you have no idea of what you are talking about.
You and your guest are absolutely wrong! The NRA ad was NOT despicable or repugnant! All it said was what everyone already knows...the presidents children are protected by armed guards. They were not mentioned by name. They were not attacked. They were not put at risk or even the main point of the ad...it was the President who was at the center. Just because you say something over and over does not make it the truth. Your guest is participating in sensationalism at it's worst...using peoples' fears and knee-jerk reactions to a very benign thing to create some kind of public outrage against another group. Stop it and try to be logical, please.
You and your guest are absolutely wrong! The NRA ad was NOT despicable or repugnant! All it said was what everyone already knows...the presidents children are protected by armed guards. They were not mentioned by name. They were not attacked. They were not put at risk or even the main point of the ad...it was the President who was at the center. Just because you say something over and over does not make it the truth. Your guest is participating in sensationalism at it's worst...using peoples' fears and knee-jerk reactions to a very benign thing to create some kind of public outrage against another group. Stop it and try to be logical, please.
When President Obama announced his list of executive orders having to do with more sensible gun laws he stated that he needed the American public's support and help. How important do your guest think that it is for people to call their Reps in support of what President Obama is proposing to do with gun laws?
A little more thought on what has been taken away from me personally by an unconstitutional federal government. Because the violations of constraints of Article 1 Section 8 by the federal government which have been going on for a very long time and primarily pushed by progressive democrats. In 2013 my very future is at stake because of it and so is the prosperity of the country, the value of my savings are being eroded on a daily basis by the federal reserve printing money to keep the welfare state afloat. My safety is at stake because of the probable riots that will take place when deficit spending comes to a halt and the entitlement addicts revolt. My child's future is being stolen with the massive federal debt, her opportunities in a broken economy will make her prospects a lot more difficult. All the infringements on constitutional personal freedom will expand in her life time. National security will be undermined by the welfare state, and it will be a more expensive and dangerous world for her to live in.
If you do not recognize the truth in my words, you are indeed a fool. So if the road to hell is lined with the faces of children, in your world, it's OK to just keep going. Propaganda is the candy for the idiot, and Obama is expert on serving it, bon appetit!
How long does it take to fix a website.? These problems have been going on for more than a week
Seems it is overwhelmed extremely easy.
Is there something else going on here, something deliberate?
How long does it take to fix a website.? These problems have been going on for more than a week
Seems it is overwhelmed extremely easy.
Is there something else going on here, something deliberate?
I've heard several attempts on NPR to address the NRA's ad re. how the Obama children were receiving armed protection at school while Obama opposes a proliferation of armed guards to all schools. Yet, even though the ad has been out for several days, Ari Shaprio seemed taken off guard by the final caller to today's program.
I have yet to hear either of these really obvious points raised in response to that charge of hypocrisy: 1) the Obama girls (and their fellow students) must surely be at least 10,000 times more at risk of attack and/or of being taken hostage than the average U.S. student; 2) the presence of very highly trained secret service agents (recent antics in Colombia not withstanding) within and in the vicinity of a school surely poses far less risk of guns falling into the wrong hands, death from friendly fire, etc. than would putting the likes of Blackwater in charge of school security.
Carl
I've heard several attempts on NPR to address the NRA's ad re. how the Obama children were receiving armed protection at school while Obama opposes a proliferation of armed guards to all schools. Yet, even though the ad has been out for several days, Ari Shaprio seemed taken off guard by the final caller to today's program.
I have yet to hear either of these really obvious points raised in response to that charge of hypocrisy: 1) the Obama girls (and their fellow students) must surely be at least 10,000 times more at risk of attack and/or of being taken hostage than the average U.S. student; 2) the presence of very highly trained secret service agents (recent antics in Colombia not withstanding) within and in the vicinity of a school surely poses far less risk of guns falling into the wrong hands, death from friendly fire, etc. than would putting the likes of Blackwater in charge of school security.
Carl
The Late Bush Administration was the most corrupt in history and when Obama attempted to keep his promise to close Guantanamo and try the Prisoners in Constitutional Courts, the Reagan/Bush/CIA/Mossad/FBI/NeoCon/GOP/Jew Media/Military/Hoover Institution/NPR/Bloomberg News/MI5-MI6/ NRA Militia/ Kabal unleashed a blizzard of threats.
Threats including numerous Commentaries in the Kabal's Media, like the WSJ, WaPo, NYT etc, by the Bush Attorney General who was up to his keister in the Cover-up and Protection of the Mastermind of the Embassy and first WTC Bombings, intimating at the dire consequences of allowing the Quantanamo Prisoners to tell their stories and reveal any possible involvement of the Bush Administration in the Terror attacks on the US.
Then when the President and his Daughters were Halloweening, the Kabal's media took and printed photos of the President, his kids and Secret Service, completely identifying the Agents.
Then there was the video of the President's kids being driven up to the school in the SUV, alighting from the vehicle and walking into the School.
Never in my lifetime, have I seen such deliberate attempts to expose some of the most intimate parts of the Presidental Family's Security.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
The Late Bush Administration was the most corrupt in history and when Obama attempted to keep his promise to close Guantanamo and try the Prisoners in Constitutional Courts, the Reagan/Bush/CIA/Mossad/FBI/NeoCon/GOP/Jew Media/Military/Hoover Institution/NPR/Bloomberg News/MI5-MI6/ NRA Militia/ Kabal unleashed a blizzard of threats.
Threats including numerous Commentaries in the Kabal's Media, like the WSJ, WaPo, NYT etc, by the Bush Attorney General who was up to his keister in the Cover-up and Protection of the Mastermind of the Embassy and first WTC Bombings, intimating at the dire consequences of allowing the Quantanamo Prisoners to tell their stories and reveal any possible involvement of the Bush Administration in the Terror attacks on the US.
Then when the President and his Daughters were Halloweening, the Kabal's media took and printed photos of the President, his kids and Secret Service, completely identifying the Agents.
Then there was the video of the President's kids being driven up to the school in the SUV, alighting from the vehicle and walking into the School.
Never in my lifetime, have I seen such deliberate attempts to expose some of the most intimate parts of the Presidental Family's Security.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
Without detracting from the accomplishments of former Senator Hagel, who volunteered for Vietnam and was declared a hero by the U.S. Army during his service there, he would not be the first "to rise from the ranks of the enlisted" to serve as Secretary of Defense. James Forrestal, who was the last Cabinet-level Secretary of the Navy, under President Roosevelt and then President Truman, and the first Secretary of Defense, under President Truman, served in the Navy as a seaman during the Great War.
It is interesting to see how carefully political messages have to be crafted so they can be delivered to audiences in good conscience. The White House phrasing makes note that Senator Hagel "would be the first enlisted soldier… to serve as our nation's Secretary of Defense." The addition of the word "soldier" eliminates Mr. Forrestal from consideration and allows the White House statement to be considered true, but how many people note the qualifying noun.
Ron L. wrote:
“Don't be fooled into thinking this is about an "assault weapon ban" because handguns can do the same damage, This is a back door attempt to get handguns.”
No it isn’t. You’re paranoid.
It’s about “assault weapons” & multiple round magazines.
It’s not even about the millions of weapons gun owners already possess out there already-
It’s about not adding twice as many millions.
Get a grip.
Drew Kelly wrote: "It’s about not adding twice as many millions.
Get a grip."
You better take a look a Diane Fienstein's websight, It's right there. It IS about existing rifles, shotguns and handguns.
http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=28d0c...
I do not think the stronger gun laws will help. Criminals don't apply for background checks. Criminals don't follow laws. What is causing the deaths in Chicago? Could the problem be with education, mental health, the economy, & lack of parental responsibility.
Replying to Dan:
Nope.
Even if Feinstein’s bill was to pass in current form without amendment (unlikely), the weapons gun owners already possess would not be effected.
Lighten up- they're not coming for all your guns.