Thursday, January 31, 2013

Article Critiques Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, Never Mentions Benghazi

 The following story runs at McClatchy about Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. The headline seems critical. Should I be surprised that Benghazi, Libya and the murder of our ambassador among the 4 Dead won't even be mentioned in the lengty article?

 Analysts: Hillary Clinton’s record as top U.S. diplomat falls far short of greatness


Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/01/31/181652/analysts-hillary-clintons-record.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy
When Hillary Clinton joined the Obama administration’s famed “team of rivals,” political observers were abuzz with the possibilities of a secretary of state who was already a powerful global celebrity, a former first lady and a hardened presidential candidate.
Despite the star power and political savvy, however, analysts say four years later that they can’t identify an enduring diplomatic approach that would add her to the list of the all-time greatest secretaries of state.
Keep an eye on the media
Beyond Clinton’s far-reaching popularity and well-documented dedication to the job, there’s simply no standout moment or stance that would define her tenure, the analysts say. And there are important missteps involving Pakistan, Russia and Syria.
Steve Coll, a prize-winning investigative journalist and author who serves as the president of the New America Foundation research center in Washington, said a secretary of state should be judged on three main criteria: as a crisis manager, as the public face of an administration and as an innovator of ways to keep the State Department relevant in a digital world.
Coll said Clinton deserved high marks on the latter two, but that she was hamstrung on crisis management by a controlling White House that was singularly focused on a second term and therefore risk-averse when it came to foreign policy. When the administration finally did cede some ground, offering a bigger State Department role in Afghanistan, he said, the Pentagon was frustrated to find that the State Department simply didn’t have the capacity to deliver.
“While she was a very strong voice in the war Cabinet and decision-making on foreign policy, she was not an example of a secretary who wrote the president’s foreign policy, either by delegation or by force of will,” Coll said.
Clinton, often as polarizing as she is popular, is sure to face debates about her legacy long after Friday, when she ends her term and leaves the State Department to the incoming secretary, John Kerry, the veteran Democratic senator from Massachusetts. The topic is sure to come up if she enters the 2016 Democratic contest to succeed Obama.
Her supporters credit her with no small number of diplomatic feats. She worked tirelessly to bring attention to the rights of women and girls worldwide, calling such issues “the cause of my life.” She orchestrated a historic warming of relations with longtime pariah state Myanmar as part of a bolstered American presence in the Asia-Pacific region to counterbalance Chinese influence.
And wisely, analysts say, Clinton didn’t try to save allied Arab rulers from popular uprisings, although those revolts ended up presenting the thorniest policy questions of her time in office.
Fans also note that Clinton was a strong proponent of “digital diplomacy,” shaking up the calcified State Department by putting young people in charge of online initiatives and giving diplomats in the field unprecedented autonomy in social media. That move allowed the embassy in Cairo, for example, to publicly challenge the Muslim Brotherhood’s statements before thousands of followers on Twitter in a way that obviously wasn’t scripted in Washington.
Clinton also won praise for handling the public diplomacy surrounding the covert U.S. raid that killed terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. She was forthright once the mission came to light, analysts said, and firm in her defense of the decision not to tell the Pakistanis in advance.
Individually, such accomplishments are the fruits of a hardworking secretary who surrounded herself with smart advisers and held her own in Obama’s war Cabinet.
But taken as a whole, the successes just don’t add up to an overarching doctrine that will shape the department for years to come.
“Even an admirer, such as myself, must acknowledge that few big problems were solved on her watch, few big victories achieved,” Michael O’Hanlon, a defense and foreign policy analyst at the Brookings Institution research center, wrote in a recent assessment.
Clinton’s performance, he said, doesn’t compare with Henry Kissinger’s work on the opening to China, George Kennan’s containment policy or even the successes of Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan in their stints as president. O’Hanlon added that Clinton has “one of the most solid track records of any modern secretary of state. But you do not yet have a historic legacy.”
Clinton suffered her share of embarrassments, missteps and outright policy failures, first and foremost in the Middle East, but also in other parts of the world.
Christine Fair, a Pakistan expert and assistant professor at Georgetown University in Washington, gave kudos to Clinton for her role in the bin Laden raid and for being among the first U.S. officials to publicly call out Pakistan for supporting militant groups.
However, Fair said, Clinton also made some “vexing and appalling” decisions in her Central Asia policy, such as refusing to apologize for a U.S. airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers or “throwing Cameron Munter under the bus,” a reference to the former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan who went into early retirement after a public fallout with Washington over the intensity of the administration’s drone program.
Even worse, Fair said, was Clinton’s finding in March 2011 that Pakistan was in compliance with five criteria – such as uprooting al Qaida and cracking down on terrorism financing – that made the country eligible for continued U.S. security assistance. Fair said that any close observer of the region would know that the opposite was true – that Pakistan was quietly fueling the Taliban insurgency.
“They thought they could win in Afghanistan by placating the Pakistanis. And the Pakistanis, of course, are driving the Taliban,” Fair said.
Another embarrassment was the collapse of the administration’s much-touted “Russia reset,” which was designed to warm relations with Moscow but instead has seen the Russian government terminate three bilateral agreements with the United States in the past year. The most-publicized rupture was Moscow’s decision to stop American families from adopting Russian orphans, a huge blow to up to 1,000 families that were already waiting for children.
The chilly relations with Russia have only made it harder to reach an agreement on a political solution to the bloody Syrian civil war, which was one of many unintended consequences of the Arab Spring uprisings that have bedeviled Clinton for the past two years.
Some of Clinton’s stances that were praised initially were later cause for hand-wringing, most notably the U.S. support for NATO’s military intervention in Libya, which some claim saved thousands of lives, but which also ended up giving wide berth to extremists and causing a ripple effect that includes the current French-led war on Islamist militants in northern Mali.
Analysts say Syria represents a far more egregious U.S. policy failure.
The bloodshed is just shy of the two-year mark, and many are turning against the United States for its reluctance to give rebels the direct military assistance they claim could’ve spared countless lives by hastening the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime.
The bigger problem is that Clinton didn’t use her stature in the administration to push back against the national security specialists who’ve dominated foreign policy crafting for years, said Leila Hilal, the head of the Middle East Task Force for the New American Foundation research center.
She and other analysts described Clinton and her team of “liberal interventionists” as bigger risk-takers than the defense community, which was pushing a more hands-off approach to the Arab Spring conflicts, especially for Syria.
“She didn’t take on how national security dominates policy toward the region,” Hilal said. “She ended up concentrating more on women’s and girls’ programs and other initiatives instead of trying to pull back more power for the State Department.”
The Obama administration, after seeming to encourage the anti-Assad revolt, left building Syria’s rebels to Persian Gulf allies, and soon Saudis and Qataris were arming allies of the Muslim Brotherhood and, more disturbingly, al Qaida-linked Islamist extremists.
One of those groups, the Nusra Front, performed extraordinarily well on the battlefield and soared in popularity, creating yet another Syria policy conundrum for Clinton’s State Department: how to support Syrian rebels when the most skilled among them turned out to be jihadists.
The State Department decided the answer was to blacklist Nusra by declaring it part of al Qaida in Iraq, a designation that only rallied support for the fighters among Syrians, who charged that the United States had no right to decide the makeup of rebel forces when it was refusing to help in the fight.
“At the end of the day, if you’re going to align with the opposition against a brutal dictatorship, and then do little to ensure that the opposition succeeds, then you should stop talking about the righteousness of the cause,” said Coll, the journalist and author
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 No mention of Benghazi. The left wing media runs cover for EVERY democrat and their LIES. Power and Legacies must be protected. 


The Benghazi Hearing was a whitewash. The obvious questions were never asked or answered.






Leftist's "A FireHose of Hate " @ #TGDN Is ALL WET


Right Wing Hashtags of Hate Versus Progressive Prose of Propaganda at little green footballs

Leave it up to the leftists to manufacture MEMES and FEIGN some Outrage. This following  "piece of journalism" appeared at little green footballs   Cut and paste a bunch of tweets from a new 'right wing'  #hashtag as a story?  It must have the Obama For America  D.B.A.  Organizing for Action theme-team working overtime. Yes a perpetual campaign from a second term FAILED president, that is what leaders do. NO, that is what DIVIDERS do.   The recurring theme of  the left is deception, distraction and disinformation  Here it is a

"Firehose of Hate against the President of the United States"






And see my contribution to the HATE at #TGDN



And my Hateful Video:



Can't Stand the Hate? Well, I can't stand Obama's LIES and the leftist propagandists and apologists running cover. 

Barack Obama doesn't have to tell the truth. The left doesn't dwell in facts or truths, and never hold their own to any standards. . The LEFT is the ANTI-TRUTH. 

All Leftists are KOOL-AID Drinkers and INFEST the Media. There is no doubt the media is LEFT.



On a Scale of 1, and the high number meaning false, I rate the LGF story:


ONE BOOGIEFINGER




.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Green Thumb? Wash. State Looks for Pot Consultant

From the Associated Press:

Green thumb? Wash. state looks for pot consultant

Wanted: A green thumb with extensive knowledge of the black, or at least gray, market.
As Washington state tries to figure out how to regulate its newly legal marijuana, officials are hiring an adviser on all things weed: how it's best grown, dried, tested, labeled, packaged and cooked into brownies.
Sporting a mix of flannel, ponytails and suits, dozens of those angling for the job turned out Wednesday for a forum in Tacoma, several of them from out of state. The Liquor Control Board, the agency charged with developing rules for the marijuana industry, reserved a convention center hall for a state bidding expert to take questions about the position and the hiring process.
"Since it's not unlikely with this audience, would a felony conviction preclude you from this contract?" asked Rose Habib, an analytical chemist from a marijuana testing lab in Missoula, Mont.
The answer: It depends. A pot-related conviction is probably fine, but a "heinous felony," not so much, responded John Farley, a procurement coordinator with the Liquor Control Board.
Washington and Colorado this fall became the first states to pass laws legalizing the recreational use of marijuana and setting up systems of state-licensed growers, processors and retail stores where adults over 21 can walk in and buy up to an ounce of heavily taxed cannabis.
Both states are working to develop rules for the emerging pot industry. Up in the air is everything from how many growers and stores there should be, to how the marijuana should be tested to ensure people don't get sick.

Sales are due to begin in Washington state in December.
Washington's Liquor Control Board has a long and "very good" history with licensing and regulation, spokesman Mikhail Carpenter said.
"But there are some technical aspects with marijuana we could use a consultant to help us with," Carpenter said.
The board has advertised for consulting services in four categories. The first is "product and industry knowledge" and requires "at least three years of consulting experience relating to the knowledge of the cannabis industry, including but not limited to product growth, harvesting, packaging, product infusion and product safety."
Other categories cover quality testing, including how to test for levels of THC, the compound that gets marijuana users high; statistical analysis of how much marijuana the state's licensed growers should produce; and the development of regulations, a category that requires a "strong understanding of state, local or federal government processes," with a law degree preferred.
In case no regulatory lawyers who grow pot in their spare time apply, multiple contracts could be awarded. Or bidders who are strong in one category could team up with those who are strong in another. Bids are due Feb. 15, with the contract awarded in March.
Many of those in the crowd Wednesday had experience in the medical marijuana world.
Several people asked whether winning the contract, or even subcontracting with the winning bidder, would preclude them from getting state licenses to grow, process or sell cannabis. Farley said yes: It would pose a conflict of interest to have the consultant helping develop the regulations being subject to those rules. But once the contract has expired, they could apply for state marijuana licenses, he said.
Christy Stanley, a Kitsap County resident who has researched marijuana and considered opening a medical dispensary in the past, said she'd like the consultant job, to help the state get the rules right. She knows growers, but has never grown marijuana herself, she said.
"This is big. The nation and the world are looking to us to set up a good model," Stanley said. "If it works here, they're just going to cookie-cut this for other states."



DOJ Criminal Division Chief Lanny Breuer Resigns


DOJ criminal division chief Breuer resigns



Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer announced his resignation as the head of the Justice Department’s (DOJ) criminal division on Wednesday.
Breuer and Holder
Breuer had faced steady Republican calls for him to step down over his handling of a botched gun-tracking operation, but Attorney General Eric Holder lauded his top lieutenant’s performance and “unwavering commitment” to the DOJ.
“Lanny has led one of the most successful and aggressive criminal divisions in the history of the Department of Justice, accomplishing record penalties in corruption cases at home and abroad and dismantling major organized crime and healthcare fraud networks around the country while also protecting the integrity of our banking systems and fighting financial fraud,” Holder said in a statement. “Throughout his tenure, Lanny has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the mission of this Department, and I want to thank him for his dedication and exceptional service.”
The DOJ applauded Breuer’s work along the U.S.-Mexico border, saying, “the criminal division has made great strides in the fight against violent crime along the southwest border and across the country.”
Breuer has brought charges against the alleged killers of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Jaime Zapata and those allegedly responsible for the 2010 killing of a U.S. Consular official in Mexico, along with hundreds of others involved in drug and gang warfare, according to the DOJ’s statement accompanying Breuer’s announcement.

 Fast and Furious Timeline and Intro
Calls for his resignation began last Congress amid Republican investigations into Operation Fast and Furious, which failed to track nearly 2,000 weapons sold to suspected criminals in the Southwest. A weapon from the operation was found at the murder scene of a Border Patrol agent.
At the request of Attorney General Eric Holder, the DOJ’s inspector general completed a lengthy report on the operation.

The IG’s report found that four top DOJ officials — Breuer, Holder’s former Deputy Chief of Staff Monty Wilkinson, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein and former acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler — should have raised concerns sooner with their superiors about flaws within Fast and Furious.
Breuer “did not authorize any of the investigative activities” in Fast and Furious, according to the report. But he was aware that a previous operation under President George W. Bush’s administration, "Wide Receiver," had used similar “gun walking” tactics, which he described as “obviously flawed,” the report stated. And yet, upon learning of Fast and Furious, the officials did not take appropriate action.
“Given the significance of this issue and the fact that [the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] ... reports to the deputy attorney general, we believe that Breuer should have promptly informed the deputy attorney general or the attorney general about the matter in April 2010. Breuer failed to do so,” the report states.
The DOJ on Wednesday cast a wider view of Breuer’s tenure with the department, citing a plethora of successes that occurred under his watch, including the development of a program guarding against foreign corrupt officials hiding their ill-gotten spoils in the United States and increasing the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
Breuer’s resignation comes in the wake of a PBS "Frontline" investigation that aired last week criticizing him for not prosecuting Wall Street powerbrokers for their role in the financial crisis.
But combating financial fraud has been at the top of Breuer’s accomplishments, the DOJ said, citing his role in successfully prosecuting and landing heavy prison sentences for the former heads of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker and Stanford International Bank.
The agency also highlighted the criminal division’s successful investigation of the London Interbank Offered Rate, which has led to nearly $2 billion in criminal penalties and a guilty plea by a UBS subsidiary. A separate DOJ unit under Breuer’s watch has reaped $3.1 billion in criminal forfeitures from major financial institutions guilty of money-launderin

Watch The Untouchables on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.


Cuomo Approval Drops 15 Points From High Point After Toughest U.S. Gun Law

Cuomo Approval Drops 15 Points From High Point After Toughest U.S. Gun Law

By Freeman Klopott - Jan 30, 2013 6:52 AM CT  Bloomberg
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s approval rating dropped 15 percentage points from an all-time high reached last month as Republican voters balked at his pushing through one of the toughest U.S. gun laws, a poll found.
Fifty-nine percent of voters approved of the 55-year-old Democrat’s performance in a survey released today by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. Cuomo had a 74 percent approval rating in a poll on Dec. 12, two days before a gunman wielding an assault-style rifle killed 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks about the legislation toughening gun controls and making it easier to keep firearms from the mentally ill. Cuomo's counsel Mylan Denerstein, State Senator Jeffrey Klein, State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins also speak at the news conference in Albany. (Video via New York Network. Source: Bloomberg)
After the massacre, Cuomo began a successful monthlong push to tighten New York’s assault-rifle ban and reduce the number of rounds permissible in a magazine to seven from 10. His support from Republicans dropped to 44 percent in today’s survey from 68 percent. The gun-control package goes too far in restricting owners’ rights, 34 percent of all voters said, including 59 percent of Republicans.
“New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had the political capital to spend when he set out to pass the toughest gun control laws in the nation,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Hamden, Connecticut school’s Polling Institute. “It is possible that the gun law cost him some of that political capital, but a 2-1 job approval rating still makes him the envy of most governors.”
Cuomo Pushes Progressive Platitudes 

First State

New York was the first state to act on growing calls for tighter limits on firearms after the killings in Newtown’s Sandy Hook Elementary School when lawmakers approved the measure Jan. 15. Democratic lawmakers in at least 10 states along with President Barack Obama are seeking new controls, challenging the firearms lobby’s clout.
The shooter in Newtown, Adam Lanza, used a Bushmaster semiautomatic AR-15-style rifle similar to those made at a Remington Arms Co. plant in Ilion, in upstate New York. Two weeks later, two firefighters were killed in Webster, near Rochester, by a 62-year-old man also wielding a Bushmaster.
Cuomo has said the shooting in Webster lowered opposition among Republicans in the state senate who control the chamber thanks to the help of six breakaway Democrats. Cuomo’s measure outlaws the weapon used by Lanza and also allows the state to seize firearms from mentally ill people deemed to be a threat by a doctor.
Cuomo was asked during a radio interview yesterday about the likelihood of his approval rating dropping as a result of the measure. He said his own surveys of voters as he pushed the gun law showed support would likely suffer as a result.
“I know they’re going to be displeased,” Cuomo said. “I would expect that you’re going to see that in the poll. And that will be that. They will be unhappy.”
Obama exploits the Sandy Hook Shooting 



Tuesday, January 29, 2013

White House Releases Obama Skeet Shooting Video



The White House releases video of Barack Obama skeet shooting much to Jay Carney's relief:
 
White House Releases Video of Obama Skeet Shooting After Jay Carney Press Conference

 Fact Checked by @DavidFrum   (sarc)




 Barack Obama LIES ABOUT ASSAULT WEAPONS

Friday, January 25, 2013

Magnet and STEAL: Big Government is Bad Government

Magnet and STEAL



Big Government Is Bad Government Because Power Attracts The Corrupt

 
It's a good bet that no matter where you are on the political spectrum-liberal, conservative, libertarian or something else-you want men and women in government to be honest, humble, fair, wise, independent, responsible, incorruptible, mindful of the future and respectful of others.
But you may be holding profoundly contradictory views without realizing it. This is the bottom line: The bigger government gets, the less likely it will attract men and women who possess those traits we all say we want.
Have you noticed how mean and nasty campaigns for high office have become? Lies and distortions are common political fare these days. Why would a genuinely good person subject himself to the ugliness of it all? Increasingly, genuinely good people don't bother, so we are left all too often with dirtbags and demagogues in government. Unless you enjoy rolling in the mud with the hogs, you stay on the other side of the fence.
There are reasons for this disturbing situation and they have to do with the nature of power. Lord Acton famously stated more than a century ago that "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." He nailed it, though I would add a corollary of my own: "Power attracts the corrupt."
Sean Hannity Special Boomtown Clips


 Walter Egan w/ Stevie Nicks - Magnet And Steel

 Read The Rest of the Story  At CNS News




Thursday, January 24, 2013

Swoons and Loons: Media Bias Means Power Unchallenged

Excerpt from the Daily Caller:

BuzzFeed’s Hastings: White House reporters ‘swoon,’ ‘lose their mind’ in Obama’s presence

By Jeff Poor @ The Daily Caller  7:40 PM 01/24/2013

In his recently released book, “Panic 2012: The Sublime and Terrifying Inside Story of Obama’s Final Campaign,” BuzzFeed’s Michael Hastings reveals a bizarre encounter between a reporter with a sock puppet and President Barack Obama at an off-the-record cocktail party.
On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Martin Bashir,” Hastings elaborated on the tale, relaying it as an example of how the media sometimes act in the president’s presence.

 Swoons and Loons

“Yeah, a hand puppet, a sock puppet, whatever you want to call it — it was a puppet that looked like Obama,” Hastings said. “This individual reporter worked for The Wall Street Journal, put the puppet on her hand and started asking the president for an interview and going like this back-and-forth … It was very strange and I learned later Obama said that it was ‘one of the weirdest moments I’ve experienced with the media.’”

The reporter, as Fishbowl DC later revealed last week is the Journal’s Laura Meckler. But Hastings presented that as example of how Obama can bring out “juvenile and amateurish” behavior.
“That’s the presence of Obama, even on the press corps, even on the people who follow him every day,” Hastings said. “When they are near him, they lose their mind sometimes. They start behaving in ways, you know, that are juvenile and amateurish and they swoon.”

Hastings admitted he was guilty of the swooning as well and said that when he had a chance to question the president, he neglected to go to his well of questions concerning drones and civil liberties, but instead took a softer approach. Hastings also made news last week when he revealed on Current TV he was physically assaulted by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.


Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Climate Change: Democrat Hypocrisy and the DNC 2012

  The following headline caught my attention today. Charlotte seems like a great location and  makes sense for the Republicans to hold a convention , but the DNC 2012 in Charlotte was a much better story. The DNC 2012 host Duke Energy and the location in a right-to-work state seemed to be overlooked and glossed over by the left. The hypocrisy of the LEFT knows NO Bounds. 

Will Charlotte host GOP convention in 2016?

  • Posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/01/23/180807/will-charlotte-host-gop-convention.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=news#storylink=cpy
It worked for Democrats. Could it work for Republicans?
With national Republican Party officials gathering in Charlotte this week, it’s a natural question: Will the party return for its 2016 convention?
“It’s a little premature,” GOP spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski. “I think there’s a little bit of a desire to … make those decisions a little bit later.”
The GOP, like the Democratic Party, hasn’t even begun its process for choosing its convention site. Both parties began a process of picking their 2012 sites in 2010. Republicans chose Tampa that year while Democrats picked Charlotte in 2011.
More than 160 members of the GOP executive committee are scheduled to arrive Wednesday for the three-day gathering. They’ll gather at the NASCAR Hall of Fame for an evening reception hosted by Gov. Pat McCrory.
There they’ll watch a video of the city produced by the Charlotte Chamber. But neither the city, the Chamber nor the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority are expected to make a formal pitch for the convention.
Chamber President Bob Morgan said they’re waiting for the CRVA’s economic impact study from the Democratic convention. That report is expected this month.
“We need to see that and have a conversation,” Morgan said.
Organizers estimated an economic impact of around $150 million. But the cost of putting on the event were large as well.
The host committee for the Democratic convention struggled to raise money for the event. As of October, it had fallen $12.5 million short of its $36.6 million goal.
New reports are due this month.

Even More Interesting, Why Did the Democrats Choose Charlotte? While the Democrats and Obama PRETEND to Champion Climate Change - Their ACTIONS SPEAK MUCH LOUDER Than Words

Video From Democracy Now
Published on Sep 4, 2012 by
DemocracyNow.org - Duke Energy, the nation's largest utility, has played a major role in bringing the Democratic National Convention to Charlotte, North Carolina. Duke has a lot riding on future policies governing coal, nuclear energy and climate change, regardless of who wins November's election. The company has partly been successful in fighting off federal regulations thanks to its ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, reportedly sponsoring ALEC's meetings and bankrolled its attacks on clean energy legislation. We discuss Duke Energy's growing political influence with Monica Embrey, the North Carolina organizer for Greenpeace USA; and Beth Henry, a local activist in Charlotte raising awareness about Duke Energy and its ties to the Democratic National Convention
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Companies including Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. have contributed $20 million toward the cost of the Democratic National Convention, helping fund an event that Democrats initially said wouldn’t accept corporate money, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Organizers of this year’s convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, turned to corporations after the city’s host committee struggled to reach its $36.7 million fundraising goal, according to the people, who requested anonymity.
Energy Policy

Last year, the Charlotte host committee set up a separate entity called New American City Inc., to take corporate cash and to which Bank of America and Wells Fargo contributed, according to the people. The two banks were on a list of corporate donors released Sept. 1 by the host committee that also named AT&T Inc., US Airways Group Inc., Duke Energy Corp. and the law-and- lobbying firm McGuireWoods LLP.
After saying in February 2011 they wouldn’t take corporate money, Democratic Party leaders and convention organizers have grappled with how to cover the estimated $52 million cost of the event, which will culminate Sept. 6 in President Barack Obama’s renomination acceptance speech.
 Duke Energy Chief Executive Officer Jim Rogers, co-chairman of the host committee, “has said that he secured $10 million to $11 million from local corporations from Charlotte,” said Tom Williams, a spokesman for Duke. “He has been working hard to build on those numbers to bring in money” for the convention, Williams said
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Duke Energy Corp. is on the hook for $7.9 million after Charlotte fundraisers were unable to raise enough money for September’s Democratic National Convention.  Oct 17, 2012


Climate Change is really social justice


LaPierre- Two Reasons For A Federal List of Gun Owners

TWO reasons for a Federal List on Gun Owners. To Either TAX them or TAKE them. 


 Wayne LaPierre Of the NRA Responds to Obama's Inaugural Comments

How much does it cost to apply for a handgun license in New York?

The application fee for a handgun license is $340.00. Effective March 9, 2012, the fee for fingerprints is $91.50. These fees may be paid by credit card or with money orders when you submit your application. Money orders should be made payable to the “New York City Police Department.”
 How much for a long gun in New York?

The application fee is $140.00.  The fingerprint fee is $91.50.  You may pay the fees with a credit card or two POSTAL MONEY ORDERS, BANK TELLER’S CHECKS OR CERTIFIED CHECKS. Cash is not accepted. Please make your money orders or checks payable to the “New York City Police Department.” No personal checks will be accepted.

What do I have to do to sell a handgun?

Before selling a handgun listed on your license, you must notify the License Division at (646) 610-5154. When you contact the License Division you will be advised on the proper procedures to follow to complete the sale. Failure to notify the License Division that you are selling a handgun is a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail.
NYPD Page NYC Gov

Cuomotose - Democrat New York Gov. Pushes Progressive Platitudes on Gun Control

Barack Obama, The Great Divider, Exploits the Newtown Shooting
Following is a summary of the 2013 legislation:
  • Bans the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacturing of:
    • 120 specifically-named firearms;
    • Certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and have one or more military characteristics; and
    • Semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds.
  • Strengthens the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and various state bans by:
    • Moving from a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test;
    • Eliminating the easy-to-remove bayonet mounts and flash suppressors from the characteristics test; and
    • Banning firearms with “thumbhole stocks” and “bullet buttons” to address attempts to “work around” prior bans.
  • Bans large-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of accepting more than 10 rounds. 
  • Protects legitimate hunters and the rights of existing gun owners by:
    • Grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment;
    • Exempting over 900 specifically-named weapons used for hunting or sporting purposes; and
    • Exempting antique, manually-operated, and permanently disabled weapons.
  • Requires that grandfathered weapons be registered under the National Firearms Act, to include:
    • Background check of owner and any transferee;
    • Type and serial number of the firearm;
    • Positive identification, including photograph and fingerprint;
    • Certification from local law enforcement of identity and that possession would not violate State or local law; and
    • Dedicated funding for ATF to implement registration.






Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Reid to Sen. Republicans: Filibuster Deal in 36 hours or Face Nuclear Option



 


 After Democrat Harry Reid's Obstructionism and Bully Politics in Obama's first term,  he now seeks to change the filibuster rules to change the deliberative process of the U.S. Senate.  

The Hill Breaks this Story:
Reid to Senate Republicans: Filibuster deal in 36 hours or face nuclear option 
 By Alexander Bolton - 01/22/13 03:29 PM ET  @ The Hill 
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is giving Republican colleagues 36 hours to agree to a deal on filibuster reform or he will move forward with the nuclear option.

“I hope in the next 24, 36 hours we can get something we agree on. If not, we’re going to move forward on what I think needs to be done,” Reid told reporters.


Reid’s trump card in negotiations with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) is the threat he will change Senate rules with a simple majority vote, a tactic known as the nuclear option. This maneuver would allow Reid to change the Senate rules with a simple majority vote, something that has never been done, according to parliamentary experts.

Critics call it the nuclear option but proponents, such as Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) say it is more accurate to describe it as the “Constitutional option” because the Constitution empowers each chamber to set its own rules.

Reid predicted the Democratic caucus would support him in reforming the Senate’s filibuster rule unilaterally.
Obstructionist Harry Reid Plays Politics With Senate Bills & Filibuster

If he did so, he would likely implement a relatively modest change, such as eliminating the filibuster on motions to proceed to new business.

Reid said talks with McConnell are not close to a resolution.

“We’re making progress. Not done yet, we got a long way to go,” he told reporters while walking into the Senate chamber.

A senator briefed on the talks said it appears McConnell will have trouble rounding up enough Republican votes to support any deal he forges with Reid. Changing the rules under regular order requires 67 votes. Reforming Senate procedures through a standing order would need 60 votes.

A Democratic aide said McConnell could have difficulty mustering 12 Republicans to vote to change the standing rules under regular order.






New Mexico Teen Used A .22 Rifle To Kill 4, Father Shot With AR


Details emerge in the killing of 5 members of a family in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The media was quick to point to the use of an AR 15 rifle in their eagerness to push a tired gun control agenda. It turns out that 4 of the killings were done with a .22 caliber rifle. ( A .22 pistol is mentioned in other artticles) The teen changed guns and shot his father later with an AR 15, an ambush from behind. Will the Media continue to use this as a "Newtown-Aurora" gun used MEME?  You bet they will.  The fourth estate is the fifth column.

Here is the Story as reported:

15-year-old confesses to killing family, wanted shootout, police say

A 15-year-old Albuquerque boy has confessed to killing his mother, father and three small siblings in a rampage at their home early Saturday morning, according to a probable cause statement by authorities.
The boy also told police he wanted to "drive to a populated area" to "shoot people at random and eventually be killed while exchanging gunfire with law enforcement," according to the statement, which was posted online by local media.
But after the killings at his family's home, the boy went to church.
At the Calvary Church, where his father had been a pastor, he began to spin stories that would later unravel under interrogation. According to court documents, after arriving at the church, the boy told his girlfriend and her grandmother that his family had died in a car crash.
The document doesn't say how police were led to the boy's home, but after they discovered the bodies, the boy told officers that he found the bodies and wasn't home at the time of the shooting. According to the statement, he called his father's body a "carcass."
The father, a chaplain who volunteered with the local fire department, had been shot in the head with a military-style AR-15 rifle, police said – the type of rifle used in the massacres in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo.
The boy's case is being handled by the juvenile court system. He has not been charged as an adult.
The boy's interrogator, who signed the statement as "A. Gaitan," slowly set out the boy's initial comments to investigators: He admitted that, yes, he'd packed guns into the family van he drove to church; yes, he had fired them, but in the backyard, and only "in anger" after discovering his family's bodies; and yes, he did touch the shell casings.
When the police interviewer told the boy, who said he didn't want an attorney or an adult present, that his story didn't make sense, the youngster confessed, police said. He said he had "anger issues" and had been "annoyed" with his mother.
Around midnight, early Saturday morning, the boy began to feel homicidal and suicidal, took a .22 rifle out of his parents' closet, and shot his mother in the head, police said. She was in bed with the boy's 9-year-old brother, who woke, and then became upset. The boy shot him too, according to police.
At that point, according to police documents, the boy "lost his conscience" and shot his 5- and 2-year-old sisters in the head in their bedroom, where they were crying.
The boy set down the .22 rifle for the much higher velocity .223-caliber AR-15 that had also been in his parent's closet, police said.
Armed with the AR-15, the boy hid in a bathroom until his father came home about 5 a.m., police said.
The boy "stated he hid and waited until his father had walked past him and he then shot his father multiple times with the rifle," the probable cause statement said.
The statement's author, Gaitan,  learned about the youth's plans to die in a large public shooting with police, though the boy still had another detail to share.
"I asked [the boy] if he had told anyone else about murdering his family," Gaitan wrote, "and he stated he had taken a picture of his deceased mother and sent it to his girlfriend."
It's not clear who the guns belonged to. Friends described the father as a former "gang-banger" before beginning his years as a chaplain. Neighbors told local media that the boy had been home-schooled and that the family's children were forbidden from watching violent or objectionable media.
The Democrats Take the Low Road by Exploiting Newtown. The Media Covers-up the Obama Administration Arming the Mexican Cartel with thousands of Assault Weapons with Operation Fast and Furious
The left wing media will push any LIE to further the 'progressive' agenda.

More Links on Fast and Furious:
Fast and Furious - Democrats Deny, Disinform & Delay

Katie Pavlich on Obama’s Lies and Cover-up of Fast and Furious
Pavlich: DOJ using Media Matters to cover up Fast and Furious
Confirmed Again: DOJ Working With Media Matters to Squash Reporters
Guns, Sex, And MSNBC: Daily Caller Publishes Media Matters Exposé
Is the White House manipulating the media through Media Matters? 
 







Sunday, January 20, 2013

CNN 'Reporter' Writes Obama a Letter Every Day For Four Years

20 Jan 2013, 1:08 PM PDT
In a strange exercise, CNN reporter Tom Foreman has written a letter to the president every day of his presidency and intends to continue doing so until the bitter end. Talk about obsessive behavior.
Tom Foreman is one of CNN's third tier reporters and is frequently seen covering a gamut of stories on "Anderson Cooper 360º," "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer," and other CNN shows.
Starting with his first letter on inauguration day in 2009, Foreman began his letter writing campaign congratulating President Obama and asking, "Do you have any idea what you’ve gotten yourself into?"
The creepiest aspect of this strange campaign is how Foreman ends nearly every letter pleading for Obama to give him a call. Thus far the President has not availed himself of that opportunity.
The Blog Poor Richard's News amusingly characterizes this letter-wring campaign as something that might be expected from a "crazy person."
I would expect this kind of thing from a crazy person or maybe a political activist, but not from somebody who works as a journalist for one of the largest news organizations on the planet. I suspect with Mr. Foreman, it might be some combination of crazy and activist.


Complete Article
 CNN 'Reporter' Writes Obama a Letter Every Day For Four Years 

All Media is LEFT

The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column


Friday, January 18, 2013

Barack Obama : Least Transparent Administration in History


The Washington Free Beacon reports on the transparency and openness of the Obama Administration. Progressive Obama  politics is deflection and projection, his actions are opposite of his words. 

Least Transparent Administration in History

BY:

The number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits filed against the federal government has increased dramatically under the Obama administration, according to a December study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).
A comparison between the last two years of President George W. Bush’s second term and the last two years of President Barack Obama’s first term shows FOIA lawsuits jumped by 28 percent, TRAC reports.

FOIA lawsuits are filed to challenge denials of records requests or the use of exemptions of information by federal agencies.
The number of FOIA lawsuits filed against the State Department rose by 111 percent in those time periods, from 18 to 38. FOIA lawsuits rose by 60 percent at both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Additionally, the Department of Justice saw an increase by 50 percent.



Obama pledged to usher in an unprecedented era of transparency and openness in government, but the rise in FOIA lawsuits “adds credence to the criticism of some activists about the Obama Administration’s actual commitment to this goal,” TRAC wrote.
Transparency advocates say federal agencies have largely ignored the executive branch’s directives and memos.

“I think if agencies were updating their regulations and complying with the law better, some of those lawsuits wouldn’t be necessary,” said Patrice McDermott, the executive director of OpenTheGovernment.org, at a conference on government transparency Thursday.
A government-wide audit performed by the National Security Archives found 62 of 99 federal agencies have not updated their FOIA regulations since Attorney General Eric Holder issued a 2009 memorandum instructing them to do so.

More From The Washington Free Beacon.
Least Transparent Administration in History




Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Boeing: It's Been a Bad DreamLiner (Video)

It's Been a Bad Dream-Liner


Flashback 2011:

787 Dreamliner teaches Boeing costly lesson on outsourcing

Boeing 787 DreamLiner
The airliner is billions of dollars over budget and about three years late. Much of the blame belongs to the company's farming out work to suppliers around the nation and in foreign countries.
February 15, 2011
  ------------------------------------------------------


(Reuters) - The recent safety issues with the new Boeing Co 787 passenger jet were not caused by outsourcing production or by ramping up production too quickly, the head of Boeing's commercial airplane unit said on Friday.

At a press conference in Washington, Ray Conner said Boeing was not seeing anything "exceptionally unusual" for a new plane. Federal Aviation Administration head Michael Huerta also said a comprehensive review of the plane would start with technical experts in Seattle looking at the plane's manufacturing process.
January 16 2013



#musicnews









Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Obama & the Leftist LIARS Have ZERO Credibility on Gun Control

Obama Arms the Mexican Drug Cartel With Assault Weapons
    The left lacks any credible 'voice' in the gun-control debate. Murder and coverups should tarnish the credibility of most administrations, that is, unless you are a leftist or democrat.
    It is nice of the Main Stream Media to push the  gun ban propaganda and agenda of the left while they IGNORE Obama's Operation Fast and Furious and the Constitution of the United States. Power, money,agendas and legacies are at stake.
   What is Fast and Furious?  It is Obama's gunrunning operation that Armed the Mexican Drug Cartels with ASSAULT WEAPONS in the hopes of getting more gun control in the United States.
 Mexican government officials have estimated that at least 300 people in Mexico were killed with Fast and Furious weapons.
Holder and President Barack Barack Obama have obstructed the congressional investigations into this scandal. After months of failure to comply with a subpoena for Fast and Furious documents, information and witnesses, Holder was voted on a bipartisan basis into criminal and civil contempt of Congress. Obama has asserted executive privilege over the documents. Previoius Fast and Furious Blog
   The White House works closely with the far left to; control the narrative and attack or smear the opposition . A modern day propaganda machine. Some Links

Katie Pavlich on Obama’s Lies and Cover-up of Fast and Furious
Pavlich: DOJ using Media Matters to cover up Fast and Furious
Confirmed Again: DOJ Working With Media Matters to Squash Reporters
Guns, Sex, And MSNBC: Daily Caller Publishes Media Matters Exposé
Is the White House manipulating the media through Media Matters? 

Obama's First Term Assault Weapons Ban Plan Derailed by the Murder of Border Agent Brian Terry

  Among other groups of Fast and Furious victim stories Univision says it will tell in the special to air Sunday evening at 7 p.m., is one about how “16 young people attending a party in a residential area of Ciudad Juárez in January of 2010″ were gunned down with weapons the Obama administration gave to drug cartel criminals through Fast and Furious.  Fast and Furious Blog - Link to Univision Fast and Furious Special

Fast and Furious - From Assault Weapons Ban to Coverup

The  Obama Gun Control Propaganda Machine At Work

Other Leftist Lies about the guns and the Second Amendment
The 40% of Guns Purchased Without a Background Check LIE


















        




Sunday, January 13, 2013

The 40% of Guns Purchased Without a Background Check LIE

The Gunshow Loophole LIE is REPEATED Over and Over in the media. The Sunday talkshow panels and moderators like Chris Wallace @foxnewssunday were willing to repeat this discredited Bloomberg TALKING POINT.

"There's a loophole where you can sell guns without a background check … 40 percent of guns are sold that way" 

It has been repeated over and over. Surely it must be true?

Politifact rates Bloomberg's Claim as mostly true.
Politifact Rates Bloomberg's Claim Mostly True

In conclusion they write:
"Our ruling

Mayor Bloomberg said 40 percent of gun sales take place through gun shows or the Internet.

The best information on the informal gun market is based on a survey and is about 15 years old. Current regulations don't allow direct tallies of sales of this sort. An undercover investigation found a great deal of internet activity, but it was sponsored by a mayor who seeks greater regulation. Groups opposed to greater regulation were asked to rebut the mayor's assertion and did not respond."

WH and main stream media push the same PREPLANNED agenda. Parrots and propaganda. Video
 
What is the hard science behind this 1997 report, based on a 1994 random telephone survey, that Bloomberg cites to say 40 percent of gun purchases made without a background check. 1997 Study that Bloomberg Cites for the 40 Percent Statistic

The left consists of faux intellectuals eager to engage in dishonesty Video

Politifact even adds another study to back up Bloomberg's 40%  'Cliff Clavinoid' about guns. Bloomberg says in 1997 the figure was 40 percent. Now more than a decade later, add in the internet. and Bloomberg's number is still 40 percent.

New York City's 'Point, Click, Shoot' is another laughable study cited by politifacts to back up Bloomberg's claims. Junk Science at a new level
The Study Cited by Politifacts Called 'Point Click Shoot' 

 An undercover investigation found a great deal of internet activity, but it was sponsored by a mayor who seeks greater regulation......  Politifact

My favorite part of the PCS report is after building their strawman of anecdotes and innuendo, they do include the following quote
      'Private sellers no matter where  they are selling  are prohibited from “engaging in the business” of selling guns, or from repeatedly selling for the purpose of profit. Nor can they sell to an individuals they know to be, or have reason to believe may be, a prohibited purchaser – for example, if the buyer indicates that he or she probably could  not pass a background check. '
More importantly:

 Federally licensed dealers must verify that a buyer has not been convicted of a serious crime or
declared mentally incompetent or is blocked for any of about 10 reasons. Typically this is done online and takes less than a day- and a waiting period may apply.

 Interstate Sale and Shipping - the seller must ship the gun from a licensed dealer in the seller’s state to a licensed dealer in the buyer’s state. After the buyer completes paperwork and passes a background check at his local dealer, he or she may take possession of the gun.-and a waiting period may apply.

Seventeen States REQUIRE Background Checks for Handgun Purchases at Gun Shows, among them Seven that REQUIRE Checks for ANY Kind of FireARM Purchase, Including Rifles and Shotguns.

All Licensed FireArms Dealers are REQUIRED TO Do a Background Check.

 Reminder - Politifacts:

Our ruling

Mayor Bloomberg said 40 percent of gun sales take place through gun shows or the Internet.

The best information on the informal gun market is based on a survey and is about 15 years old. Current regulations don’t allow direct tallies of sales of this sort

The left does not utilize current gun laws, yet they seek populist appeal in passing even more restrictions as part of the 'opportunity of crisis', narratives or MEMES and to maintain power.   Chicago leads in murders with STRICT gun control.


 Update: On January 17 2013 NRO RUNS THIS   Gun Sales and Background Checks: Obama’s Bogus 40 Percent Stat

















Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Mayor Bloomberg's Gun Banning Groups Push Loophole LIE


Chicago set a gruesome record this year.  U.S. Murder Rate Declines, But Chicago's Goes Up
 Chicago marks 500 homicides   Some important background on guns and crime follows........
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chicago gangs don’t have to go far to buy guns

 BY FRANK MAIN Staff Reporter August 26, 2012 7:16PM  Chicago Sun Times
Updated: September 28, 2012 6:13AM
Chicago Tribune Photo of Crime Scene
You might think the Deep South is the biggest source of the firearms in the hands of Chicago’s criminals.
Maybe you heard about the less-restrictive gun laws in the South or the high-profile cases the feds have brought against gun traffickers moving weapons from Mississippi and other states to Chicago — the Dixie pipeline.
But the truth is most guns recovered in crimes here were originally bought in Illinois.
More specifically, in Cook County.
And the No. 1 supplier of those weapons is just a short drive from Chicago, Chuck’s Gun Store in south suburban Riverdale.
From 2008 to March 2012, the police successfully traced the ownership of 1,375 guns recovered in crimes in Chicago within a year of their purchase.
Of those guns, 268 were bought at Chuck’s — nearly one in five.
That statistic comes from a groundbreaking study by University of Chicago Crime Lab researchers, done at the request of the Chicago Police Department, which is grappling with an extra-violent 2012 that has seen a 28 percent spike in the city’s homicide total compared to this time last year.
 and this:
 In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, a South Side gang member admitted he and his crew almost exclusively arm themselves with stolen guns because they can’t afford to buy new ones. Some of those guns, he said, are stolen from freight trains sitting in South Side rail yards. Others are swiped from gun stores

 Crackdown using current laws?
Asked for statistics on how many gun cases ATF has submitted to prosecutors in recent years, a local spokesman for the agency referred the Sun-Times to a Syracuse University system that tracks federal prosecutions.
It showed the ATF office for the Northern District of Illinois had a decline in weapons prosecutions from fiscal year 2010 to 2011, and the trend was expected to continue the following year.
Nationally, there’s been “a shifting emphasis toward drug-related investigations,” according to the analysis.

 What about punishing 'Strawman' purchases? (People without criminal records who buy guns for     felons)
Over the past five years, meanwhile, prosecutors have shifted their strategy involving gun cases, according to records and interviews.
The U.S. attorney’s office is no longer prosecuting most locally based gun cases involving straw purchasing. Instead, federal prosecutors have been focusing on interstate gun-trafficking rings and on felons who have guns illegally.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That information from the Chicago Sun Times seems to contradict the latest leftist gun ban 'factoid' 

"There's a loophole where you can sell guns without a background check … 40 percent of guns are sold that way" at gun shows and over the Internet.

Michael Bloomberg on Sunday, July 22nd, 2012 in an interview on "Face the Nation"



Mayor Bloomberg also has another gun ban group called demand a plan

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And now, the Leftist Disinformation Outfit Politifact pushes the ridiculous Bloomberg gun purchase 'Cliff Clavinoid'

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says 40 percent of guns are sold without a background check

Mostly True
Leftist disinfo site Politifact rates this Bloomberg statement as mostly true. Now we know it is completely FALSE

After a rather lengthy 'fact check' politifact ends with this....

Mayor Bloomberg said 40 percent of gun sales take place through gun shows or the Internet.

The best information on the informal gun market is based on a survey and is about 15 years old. Current regulations don’t allow direct tallies of sales of this sort. An undercover investigation found a great deal of internet activity, but it was sponsored by a mayor who seeks greater regulation. Groups opposed to greater regulation were asked to rebut the mayor’s assertion and did not respond.
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bloomberg's Point Click and Fire even contains this DOOZY
'Buying from an in-state private seller: Private sales to in-state buyers are almost completely unregulated by federal law. No background check and no record of sale are required. Sellers typically ship the guns by mail or meet the buyer in person'  Unregulated By Federal Law? Hardly.

 Beyond these rules, private sellers – no matter where
they are selling – are prohibited from “engaging in the
business” of selling guns, or from repeatedly selling for
the purpose of profit.21 Nor can they sell to an individual
they know to be, or have reason to believe may be, a
prohibited purchaser – for example, if the buyer indicates
that he or she probably could not pass a background
check.  Point Click and Fire

Interstate Sale and Shipping - the seller must ship the gun from a licensed dealer in the seller’s state to a licensed dealer in the buyer’s state. After the buyer completes paperwork and passes a background check at his local dealer, he or she may take possession of the gun.

 Maybe the Cato study would be a little more believable, and just a bit newer.
 According to the U.S. Department of Justice, at most 2 percent of guns used by criminals are purchased at gun shows, and most of those were purchased legally by people who passed background checks Newer Cato Study