Maybe stop digging

On: By: admin

Not all think creating special classes of people with SAFE exemptions is a good thing.

First, Greg Ball explains his vote:

Next, Bill Nojay calls for Seklos’ resignation. From his original e-mail to Fred Dicker:

“Skelos is either too dumb to understand he just played Useful Idiot to Cuomo’s efforts to further Balkanize the GOP, or he is intentionally igniting a civil war within the Republican Party and what is left of the Republican base. Either way, Skelos’ doubling down on support for the SAFE Act is another wedge for internal divide within the GOP at exactly the time they should be unifying for the beginning of the 2014 election cycle. If Cuomo is behind it all, I’ll give him credit for brillant political gamesmanship. At this point the only way to salvage the 2014 cycle for the Senate GOP is for his fellow Republicans to thank Skelos for his service and let him retire to spend more time with his family.”

Legislative Report #10

On: By: admin

Legislative Report #10 is now online.

The legislature has not gone into recess yet.  Despite popular demand, they will be in session today.

Keep on digging

On: By: admin

Late last night the Senate approved a bill exempting retired police from certain provisions of the SAFE Act:

“… Republican Sen. Marty Golden, a retired NYPD officer from Brooklyn, said the change would affect 200,000 people around the state.  “After working 20 years or 30 years as a police officer, or a peace officer, or as a federal officer, they encounter people when they are with their families and when they are in their communities, and they act appropriately,” he said. “They’re not a separate class of people, ladies and gentleman, but they are an experience class of people. … They know how to deal with the criminal element, so if anybody deserves to have a 10-round magazine” it is them …”

They’re doing this hoping to get the police unions off their backs.  What it will likely do is inflame an already seriously pissed off public, especially with Golden’s statement.  Since Dean Skelos has to know he’s dug himself and the Senate Republicans into a deep hole over their original SAFE vote, I guess he figures that since they can’t climb out, why not keep on digging?

Kahr considering moving next door

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The Pocono Record reports that Kahr Arms is considering relocating their corporate headquarters from Rockland across the state line to Pike County:

“A gun manufacturer is considering buying the entire 620-acre Pike County business park for $2 million to escape an unfriendly gun climate in New York.  Kahr Firearms Group would move its corporate headquarters from in Pearl River, N.Y., to Pike County, bringing a some 100 jobs, company spokesman Frank Harris said … “We were ready to sign a deal in rural Orange County, N.Y.  But when the governor passed stricter gun control, it made it tough to continue on that path, so we jumped over the river,” Harris said …”

Pearl River is represented in Albany by Democrats Ellen Jaffee and David Carlucci, both of whom voted for the SAFE Act.

Oops.

MAIG mourns murders and thugs

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MAIG has been getting some much deserved bad press today when it was discovered that they were “honoring” one of the Boston Bombers:

“Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older Boston Marathon bomber who was killed in a gunfight with police, was mentioned in a list of gun-violence victims who’ve died since the Newtown shooting at a Mayors Against Illegal Guns rally yesterday …”

Oops!  After being picked up by national media outlets they quickly apologized:

“… “He was absolutely not a victim, his name should have been deleted before the list was provided to a family member for reading and his name should never have been read,” Mayors Against Illegal Guns said in a statement to ABC News. “It was a mistake, it should not have happened and we sincerely apologize.” …”

But wait, there’s more!

Lack of emotionalism didn’t sink gun control bill

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An op-ed from Newsbusters, “Slate Says Lack Of Emotionalism Sunk Gun Control Bill“:

“As the six-month half-anniversary of Newtown was observed, some families of the victims are renewing their push for more gun control measures and liberal scribes in the media are on board, hoping to help the cause by lambasting gun rights advocates in print.  Take Justin Peters of Slate, who dismisses gun rights advocates as full of “inarticulate rage” before suggesting that gun control pushers need to hulk out by tapping into their own inner, righteous rage …”

That isn’t the problem.  Peters is recycling the same line some people at the Center for America Progress came up with over a month ago to try and explain their loss.

As I said before, the antis are full of emotionalism.  They’re also batshit nuts.  There aren’t very many of them either.  The gun control agenda is largely controlled by professional politicians and activists with negligible real public support.  These two facts, coupled with increasingly activist gun owners, are the reason the antis failed in Congress.

Zombies more popular than Bloomberg

On: By: admin

I don’t have much use for the teacher’s union, but their mouthpiece hits the bullseye with this quip:

“… In a statement, UFT President Michael Mulgrew said, “Dozens of candidates in local and citywide elections have won with UFT backing in recent years, and many are seeking it this year, while running away from Bloomberg and his record.  Right now most candidates would rather be the victim of zombie attack than get a Michael Bloomberg endorsement.” …”

Same thing with guns. Mayor Mike doesn’t get this.

McLaughlin for Governor

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Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin’s name has been floated as a possible Republican candidate for Governor for awhile.  Today Fred Dicker raises the level of rumormongering on his possible candidacy:

“An aggressive upstate lawmaker who backs gun rights and Texas-style low taxes and calls Gov. Cuomo a “bully” has emerged as a likely — some say certain — Republican candidate against Cuomo next year, The Post has learned.  Rensselaer County Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin … has privately told legislative colleagues he’s planning to run …”

Steve is one of the few Albany politicians who speaks his mind and is not afraid to stir the pot.  That’s good.  The bad is that while Governor Cuomo’s popularity continues to decline, he does have a large campaign warchest as well as a nearly 2-1 Democrat enrollment advantage in the state.  Being able to raise enough money to make the race competitive would be his biggest hurdle.  His next obstacle would be the GOP establishment itself:

“… Republicans are also bitterly divided over the SAFE Act, which was supported by Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos of Nassau County and nearly all other GOP senators in the city and Long Island.  State Republicans privately concede McLaughlin could wind up being their nominee by default, because few in their party believe Cuomo can be beaten …”

This concerns me because the downstate RINO’s are in bed with the Tammany Democrats.  Having a candidate who disrupts the status quo would not be welcomed by either party.

Clueless progressives

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They still have no idea why they could not move the gun control agenda in Congress.

Making friends

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Mayor Bloomberg isn’t.

From the Daily News, “Schumer asks Bloomberg to holster attacks against anti-gun-check Democrats“:

“Top U.S. Senate Democrats, including New York’s Chuck Schumer, want Mayor Michael Bloomberg to lay off his attacks Dems who voted against background checks for gun buyers …”

From ABC News, “Reid Warns Bloomberg Against Attacks on Democrats“:

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said today that he expressed his displeasure with Michael Bloomberg in a phone call this week over his plan to target Democratic senators who voted against gun legislation, but Reid conceded he could not control the mayor of New York City …”