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Gun background check compromise, assault weapon ban fail in Senate

Ed O'Keefe
Washington Post
Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:00 UTC
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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).
As the Senate began voting Wednesday on nine proposed changes to a gun control bill, the centerpiece proposal on background checks quickly failed to win enough support, despite broad public backing.

The vote on the so-called Manchin-Toomey amendment was 54 in favor, 46 against - failing to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to move ahead. Four Republicans supported it, and four Democrats voted no.

A controversial Democratic plan to ban dozens of military-style assault weapons was also defeated by a vote of 40 to 60.

The votes were a setback for President Obama, who angrily blasted Republicans for defeating the background check compromise, saying, "The gun lobby and its allies willfully lied about the bill."

"All in all, this was a pretty shameful day for Washington," Obama said, promising that "this effort is not over."
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Dominoes

What's next for the 'Monsanto Protection Act'?

Steve Holt
Takepart.com
Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:51 UTC
Despite the passage of the Monsanto Protection Act, food safety and transparency groups vow, 'We will not be stopped.'
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© Win McNamee/Getty Images
Protesters of Monsanto demonstrate against the so-called 'Monsanto Protection' rider that was attached to a budget bill and signed into law last week. They held signs that said, 'Obama! Congress! Monsanto! We're Not Going Away!'
Despite loud public outcry, President Barack Obama signed into law a continuing budget resolution that included the controversial biotech rider that critics call "The Monsanto Protection Act." The rider requires the United States Department of Agriculture to approve the harvest and sale of crops from genetically modified seed even if a court has ruled the environmental studies on the crop were inadequate.

Since the President signed the bill last Tuesday, outrage has continued to echo, with dissent comming from environmental groups and the Tea Party alike. Critics say the provision coddles multinational companies like Monsanto and ultimately threatens the health of farmers and consumers who will be exposed to further bioengineered crops.
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Sheriff

Secret Service and local law enforcement "ready" for dedication

Bud Gillett
CBS Dallas/Fort-Worth
Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:46 UTC
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Monday's bombings of the Boston Marathon raised questions about security for the upcoming dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center on April 25.

All five living Presidents are scheduled to participate. Security planning started months, maybe even a year ago for the event.

Officially, agencies aren't saying much. But at least four police departments and the secret service are planning for it.

"You're always in a state of re-assessment," said Danny Defenbaugh, and he should know.

The former head of the Dallas FBI also led that agency's investigation of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. He said physical security procedures and planning (that were evident today with Dallas police officers) are usually spot on.
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Sherlock

Kerry 'not aware' of State Dept. impeding Congressional probe into Benghazi

Susan Jones
cnsnews.com
Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:39 UTC
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© AP
Secretary of State John Kerry
Secretary of State John Kerry reminded the House Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday that he was "on the other side of the podium" when U.S. interests came under attack in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, and he said if the State Department is trying to impede the committee's investigation into embassy security, he's "not aware" of it.

"There's certainly no position by me to delay anything," Kerry said, "and I was not aware that -- you know, if there's anything that is appropriate to turn over." Kerry said he wants to check "historical precedent" regarding investigative and FBI documents relating to the terror attack.

Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) told Kerry that instead of handing over documents and records requested by the committee, as has happened in the past, the State Department "has insisted that the committee staff sift through thousands of pages of materials in a room in which they are monitored by the Department. And they can't remove any or make electronic copies of those documents," Royce said.

"Mr. Secretary, these are unclassified documents that relate to the critical issue of embassy security. And the Department is literally spending thousands of taxpayer dollars a week to slow the progress of the committee's review. So this has resulted in a great deal of wasted time and money. I think it runs contrary to the administration's promise of increased transparency. And I hope you will reconsider the department's position on this issue," Royce concluded.
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Bizarro Earth

Authoritarian Rep. Pete King: Merchants selling ball bearings, beauty products 'should notify police'

Susan Jones
cnsnews.com
Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:31 UTC
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© AP
Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.)
Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.), a member of both the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Intelligence Committee, wants retailers to tell police about people who buy innocuous items that could be used to make a bomb.

This follows reports that the Boston Marathon bomber used pressure cookers packed with nails and ball bearings to kill three people and maim dozens of others at the finish line on Monday.

"Obviously there's always certain ways that security can be stepped up at an event," King told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday.

"But the fact is that if someone is a terrorist, that they can construct a bomb and put it together. If they can carry it that far, chances are they're going to make it to the event. That's why the intelligence is so important, to be aggressive, to be out front, and why it's important (for) people, if they see something, say something.

"For instance, merchants, if they're selling any components that can be used for a bomb, everywhere from ball bearings to beauty products, they can all be used to make bombs. They should notify the police."
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Vader

Russia's Putin threatens to sack officials over social spending

Alexei Anishchuk
Reuters
Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:26 UTC
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© Reuters/Aleksey Nikolskyi/RIA Novosti/Pool
Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks to ExxonMobil and Rosneft officials in the Pacific island of Sakhalin via a video link, as Putin visits Ulan-Ude in the Republic of Buryatia April 11, 2013 in this picture provided by RIA Novosti.
President Vladimir Putin threatened to sack senior officials over a failure to carry out his orders on social spending in a warning to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's government.

Unofficial video footage released on Wednesday showed Putin berating officials at a meeting on housing attended by several ministers including Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak.

In the footage, published online shortly before Medvedev started a speech to parliament on the economy, Putin called for more action to fulfil his pledges on social spending intended to improve the lives of millions of Russians.

"If we don't do it, we will need to acknowledge that either I work inefficiently or you work badly and you will need to resign," he was seen telling Tuesday's meeting in the southern town of Elista.

"I would like to draw your attention to the fact that I am currently inclined towards the second scenario," he said. "I don't want any misunderstandings and I want us to talk honestly."
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Cowboy Hat

Putin foe Navalny defiant as trial opens in Russia

Gabriela Baczynska
Reuters
Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:19 UTC
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© Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
Russian opposition leader and anti-graft blogger Alexei Navalny (C) looks on surrounded by journalists after arriving for a court hearing in the city of Kirov April 17, 2013.
Protest leader Alexei Navalny accused Russian authorities of fabricating charges against him at the start of a trial on Wednesday that he says is intended to crush opposition to Vladimir Putin.

The anti-corruption blogger, 36, was calm and defiant during a 40-minute appearance in court in the provincial city of Kirov before Judge Sergei Blinov adjourned proceedings until April 24 to give the defense more time to prepare its case.

Navalny could face 10 years in jail if convicted of stealing 16 million roubles ($510,000) from a timber firm in Kirov that he was advising in 2009 while working for the liberal regional governor.

The most prominent opposition leader to be tried in post-Soviet Russia, Navalny has suggested Putin ordered the trial to sideline him as a potential presidential rival.
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Eye 1

Propaganda Alert! 'Government backers' wreak havoc in Venezuelan town

Marko Alvarez
ABC News
Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:13 UTC
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The motorcycles roared into the center of Los Teques and circled its town square, the tough-looking riders clad in T-shirts bearing the image of the late President Hugo Chavez and chanting "Chavez lives!" and "Maduro, president!"

The several hundred supporters of Chavez and his heir, President-elect Nicolas Maduro, converged on the local headquarters of the National Electoral Council, where backers of opposition leader Henrique Capriles planned to hold a protest against the official results of Sunday's election to replace Chavez.

As he drove down the street on a motorcycle, one young man shouted: "Here we are, defending our votes," and sped away. Another man climbed up a light post and pulled down a banner of Capriles, which his cohorts doused with gasoline and burned.

The frenzied government backers moved on to a building belonging to the opposition Democratic Action party and threw a Molotov cocktail inside, causing a small fire. State police arrived and safeguarded the building, but made no attempt to arrest the aggressors.
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Bad Guys

FBI investigated Reid along with Whittemore in 2008

Jeff Garman and Francis McCabe
Las Vegas Review Journal
Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:07 UTC
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Federal prosecutors have disclosed a 2008 FBI investigation of indicted Nevada power broker Harvey Whittemore and longtime friend Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The investigation, conducted by the FBI's Washington field office, was sparked by media reports about Reid's role in helping Whittemore's Coyote Springs master- planned community north of Las Vegas clear government hurdles. It did not result in criminal charges against either man.

Whittemore's defense lawyers want a federal judge to allow testimony about the investigation at his federal trial next month on charges of unlawfully funneling $138,000 in campaign contributions to Reid in 2007. Prosecutors have said the Nevada Democrat was unaware of the alleged scheme.

Defense lawyers, led by Dominic Gentile and Vincent Savarese, argued in court papers filed this week that the 2008 investigation shows Whittemore had no criminal intent to make illegal campaign contributions.
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X

Baucus warns of 'huge train wreck' enacting ObamaCare provisions

Sam Baker
The Hill
Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:50 UTC
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© AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. questions Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as she testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 17, 2013, before the committee's hearing on President Barack Obama's budget proposal for fiscal year 2014.
Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said Wednesday he fears a "train wreck" as the Obama administration implements its signature healthcare law.

Baucus, the chairman of the chamber's powerful Finance Committee and a key architect of the healthcare reform law, said he fears people do not understand how the law will work.

"I just see a huge train wreck coming down," he told Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at a Wednesday hearing. "You and I have discussed this many times, and I don't see any results yet."

Baucus pressed Sebelius for details about how the Health Department will explain the law and raise awareness of its provisions, which are supposed to take effect in just a matter of months.

"I'm very concerned that not enough is being done so far - very concerned," Baucus said.
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