BLOG.SFGATE.COM 2 Hours Ago Ron Conway pledges to oust senators who rejected background checks by James Temple Legendary tech investor and political mover Ron Conway has a stern warning for the 54 senators who rejected an amendment to expand background checks on firearms sales on Wednesday, a vote that flew in the face of public opinion. “We will employ the most sophisticated social media campaign ever built to remove these people from office,” he said in an interview with The Chronicle. “Mark my words,” he said. “It is shameful and the United States of America should be embarrassed by its Senate.” Known as the godfather of Silicon Valley, Conway is a longtime angel investor who has plugged money into Google, Twitter, Square and countless other well-known companies. Increasingly, however, he has also been flexing political power in San Francisco and elsewhere. He was a mover in the industry’s campaign to kill the much despised Stop Online Piracy Act in late 2011, considered ...

 HOTAIR.COM 4 Hours Ago Boom: First union officially calls for the repeal of ObamaCare by  Erika Johnsen posted at 6:41 pm on April 17, 2013 by Erika Johnsen Labor unions largely came out swinging in favor of ObamaCare's passage in 2010, but many have been  growing increasingly wary  of  ObamaCare's incoming provisions , fearing that the law's requirements will raise the costs of health plans for unions members and make them less competitive compared to non-unionized workers. On Tuesday, one such labor union that initially backed the health care overhaul became the first union  to officially revoke their support for the law.  Ouch . Our Union and its members have supported President Obama and his Administration for both of his terms in office. But regrettably, our concerns over certain provisions in the ACA have not been addressed, or in some instances, totally ignored. In the rush to achieve its passage, many of the Act's provisions were not...

 THEBLAZE.COM 4 Hours Ago Fired-Up GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy Takes Apart Argument That Voter ID Laws Are Racist During House Hearing by  Jason Howerton Known for his fiery tirades on the House floor, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) on Tuesday blasted the Justice Department's assertion that  voter ID laws are discriminatory to minorities . Using South Carolina's voter ID law as an example, Gowdy dismantled the race-based argument against such legislation in about 5 minutes. "South Carolina passed a voter ID law in 2011…and in 2011 one-third of South Carolina's congressional delegation was African-American," Gowdy said. "I may be mistaken, I suspect that South Carolina's percentage of African-American members of Congress may have been the highest in the country in 2011." House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., gives his opening remarks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013, during the committee's hearing on Am...

 THERIGHTSCOOP.COM 3 Hours Ago Kansas Gov. signs 'strictest second amendment protection law' in the nation Posted by   The Right Scoop  on April 17th, 2013 in  Politics  | I'm glad there are states moving in the right direction. Kudos to Kansas: HUFFPO  – Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) on Tuesday signed what is being called the nation's most pro-Second Amendment law, but one that could face constitutional challenges. The Second Amendment Protection Act exempts all guns that were made in Kansas and have not left the state from all federal gun control laws. "We are open for business in Kansas." Last week, Brownback had signed a law to expand concealed carry of guns in public buildings in the state. Both measures had been sought by pro-gun lawmakers as a way to promote and expand the firearms industry in Kansas. "My understanding is, it is the strictest Second Amendment protection law in the nation," state Rep. Brett Hildabrand (R-Shawnee), a co-sponsor ...

 THELEAD.BLOGS.CNN.COM 3 Hours Ago Republicans say 'whistleblowers' with evidence on Benghazi attack located by  Jake Tapper By Jake Tapper Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform have located individuals who have evidence about the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi Libya - ones whom they describe as whistleblowers - and are asking federal agencies to allow the witnesses to be able to share classified information with their attorneys without fear of retaliation. In  letters to Mary McLeod , the principal deputy legal adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. State Department;  Stephen Preston , General Counsel for the Central Intelligence Agency; and  Robert Taylor , acting General Counsel at the Pentagon, Congressman Darrell Issa, R-California, the chairman of the House committee on Oversight and Government Reform, requests clearance for attorneys "to possess and discuss Top Secret and Sensiti...

 THEGATEWAYPUNDIT.COM 3 Hours Ago ODDS ARE Boston Bomber Is Either Islamic Extremist or Left-Wing Terrorist by  Jim Hoft As the investigation  continues  in Boston on the  marathon bombings  this week it is important to remember this— Odds Are the Boston Marathon bomber is either an Islamic terrorist or left-wing extremist. Since 9-11 committed Islamists have carried out more than  20,712  successful deadly terror attacks. The Religion of Peace  has been tracking these deadly Islamist attacks. But, if the terrorist is not an Islamist, he is most likely a left-wing extremist. The FBI arrested  5 #Occupy Cleveland protesters  for plotting to blow up the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Bridge in May. The terrorists  repeatedly tried  to blow up the bridge. Photos provided by the FBI show five men arrested Monday, April 30, 2012, and accused of plotting to blow up a bridge near Cleveland, Ohio, the FBI announced Tuesday, May 1, ...

REASON MAGAZINE 2 Hours Ago Obama Responds to His Gun Control Defeat With Self-Righteous Solipsism by Jacob Sullum White House"There are good people on both sides of this thing," President Obama said in a gun control speech a couple of weeks ago, "but we have to be able to put ourselves in the other person's shoes." He worried that "both sides of the debate sometimes don't listen to each other" and wondered, "How do you build trust?" Not this way: There were no coherent arguments as to why we wouldn't do this. It came down to politics....They caved to pressure, and they started looking for an excuse—any excuse—to vote no. That is how Obama explained the Senate's refusal to approve the gun control measures he supports. According to the president, no one honestly questioned the merits of his proposals; the opposition all "came down to politics." His opponents not only failed to make a convincing case, he says; they...

POLITICO.COM 3 Hours Ago Gun control: Obama’s biggest loss - Reid J. Epstein and Glenn Thrush by Reid J. Epstein Never before had President Barack Obama put the moral force and political muscle of his presidency behind an issue quite this big — and lost quite this badly. The president, shaken to the core by the massacre of 26 innocents at Sandy Hook Elementary School, broke his own informal “Obama Rule” — of never leaning into an issue without a clear path to victory — first by pushing for a massive gun control package no one expected to pass, and then sticking through it even as he retrenched to a relatively modest bipartisan bill mandating national background checks on gun purchases. Continue Reading Text Size “I never saw a president fight so hard, a vice president, never on any issue… It shows us the cowardice of the Senate.” It was a bitter defeat for a president accustomed to winning, a second-term downer that may — or may not — foreshadow the slow decline suffered b...

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Wednesday, April 17th The Hunt Continues It’s been a very bizarre day today. Contrary to many reports, the FBI reiterated there have been no arrests in the Boston Marathon bombing case. The AP has reported that there was a suspect in custody but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I believe that surveillance video and people taking pictures of the event will be our best bet in this case. We need to be careful in this whole process because the world is watching us but once things have settled it’ll be incumbent on all of us, including the Obama administration, to spend some time looking at how this happened and what we need to do to prevent these tragedies from happening in the fut...

Wednesday, April 17, 2013 "The left does not want this bomber to be a minority or an Al-Qaeda or a Muslim or terrorist. The left wants the bomber to be white and conservative. So if a liberal in Boston happens to know that the bomber is not a white American, will the liberal tell the FBI?" -Rush   Transcripts, Rush 24/7 Audio Now at RushLimbaugh.com: Liberals Hope the Boston Bomber is a White, Right-Wing American Dingy Harry Slips: "Anti-Gun" Bill The Public is with Us, But GOP Still Allows Left to Lead on Gun Control, Immigration Regime Slas...

    Tennessee: House Approves School Security Measure   Yesterday, House Bill 6, sponsored by state Representative Eric Watson (R-22), passed in the Tennessee House of Representatives by an overwhelming 82 to 15 vote. Its companion bill, Senate Bill 570 , passed in the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee on Monday by a 6 to 2 vote and is scheduled for consideration on the Senate floor tomorrow. It is important that you contact your state Senator and respectfully urge him or her to support Senate Bill 570. House Bill 6/Senate Bill 570 would allow a person employed or assigned to a Local Education Agency to possess and carry a firearm on the grounds of that school if they are current or former law enforcement. The individual would also be required to have a Tennessee Handgun Carry Permit (HCP) and the written authorization of the director of schools. This legislation would provide parents and teachers peace of mind during the school day, and allow for an important m...