Brandon’s Proposed Budget Looks To A Federal Crackdown On Guns

Obviously, his budget proposal won’t go anywhere in full, but, the Democrats in the Senate might try to incorporate a lot of it into their version

Biden’s Budget Proposes Massive Funding Increase For Federal Crackdown On Guns

President Joe Biden’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2024 proposes increasing funding to the FBI, Department of Justice (DOJ), and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to crack down on guns.

The funding, which draws from a $17.8 billion “investment” in the DOJ’s federal law enforcement capacity, will be used to further regulate the firearms industry, create gun trafficking strike forces, enforce background checks and implement the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, according to the budget. The ATF alone will receive $1.9 billion, a $200 million increase from the 2023 budget.

Alongside the DOJ and ATF, the FBI will receive $51 million to support the continued implementation of enhanced background checks required by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, implemented in 2022, provided funding for the implementation of red flag laws, expanded background checks and invested in state crisis intervention orders, according to the legislation.

On the surface this doesn’t seem bad, but, dig down and you realize that they are coming after the law abiding, not the criminals who use guns illegally. That would require many uncomfortable initiatives, like, having to go into minority neighborhoods where the use of firearms by criminals is way higher than in other areas.

The ATF’s “zero tolerance” police has been criticized by Republican lawmakers and Second Amendment advocacy groups, as Federal Firearm License (FFL) revocations hit a 16-year high in 2022 under the rule. The increase in license revocations, 92 in 2022 alone, is due to the new policy and the updated procedure that the ATF follows, as they no longer always go through a multi-step process, often opting to pull licenses for a multitude of “willful” violations.

“That’s not how regulatory agencies are supposed to work in the sector that they’re supposed to regulate. They are supposed to help the companies, they’re supposed to ensure compliance but they’re not supposed to punish and destroy an entire industry based on just political opposition or political distaste,” Gun Owners of America’s director of federal affairs Aidan Johnston told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Shut down gun dealers, and gun makers, and you make it even harder for Citizens to engage in their 2nd Amendment Right to protect themselves and their families.

Read: Brandon’s Proposed Budget Looks To A Federal Crackdown On Guns »

Ashland, Oregon Youts To Walk Out For ‘Climate Change’

Notice that they aren’t having their little protest on a Saturday or Sunday, because those are days they can go have fun. They surely do not want anything interfering with that, so, they’ll walk out of school

Ashland students plan climate change walkout

Ashland High School students are taking a stand on climate change.

They’re hosting a walkout to demand climate action.

Students say they will walk out of class on Friday around 10:30.

The group will march from the quad on campus to the downtown plaza.

The rally will have speakers, art, and performers.

“We need to really take action, right now so having space where community members can unite especially those impacted by the climate crisis coming together to create calls of action,” said student, Temaia Wiki.

Taking a stand, huh? That photo comes from the article. Will the same students forgo their own riding in buses and fossil fueled vehicles to school? What are they doing in their own lives to reduce their own carbon footprint? Of course, it’s very easy for 1st World youts to yammer about Doing Something while living their modern lifestyles. It’s the kids in 3rd world countries who will be digging in the mines to produce metals for EVs, solar panels, and more.

But, hey, the school should treat the kids to their beliefs. Keep the AC at 80, heat at 60. No more fossil fueled buses. Let them walk or bike. Serve insects for lunch, or at least a straight vegan diet. Turn the WiFi down, so they cannot connect and stream videos. That’s a start.

Meanwhile

U.N. official: Decarbonization might not happen fast enough to stop climate change

The world is not acting fast enough on global warming, according to a top official at the United Nations.

“If we don’t solve the climate crisis, we’ll have a massive destabilizing impact across this entire planet,” Selwin Hart, the special adviser to the secretary-general on climate action and just transition, said.

Under the leadership of Secretary-General António Guterres, the United Nations has placed climate change at the top of the international agenda, warning of the dangers of global temperatures rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Current policies to reduce carbon pollution place us on a 3 degree, 3.2-degree Celsius pathway. So clearly, countries are not doing enough,” Hart said.

Well, if every Warmist practiced what they preached there would be no problem.

Read: Ashland, Oregon Youts To Walk Out For ‘Climate Change’ »

If All You See…

…is a horrible carbon intensive pool, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Outside The Beltway, with a post on not getting what you paid for with Fitbit and Ring doorbells.

Read: If All You See… »

Surprise: Qanon Shaman’s Lawyers Accuse DOJ Of Serious Misconduct

It’s quite serious prosecutorial misconduct when the prosecution withholds evidence, asked for or not

‘It’s Appalling’: QAnon Shaman’s Lawyer Says DOJ Lied, Withheld Videos Aired By Carlson

An attorney for the so-called “QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley asked federal prosecutors repeatedly for all videos showing his client inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, yet told The Daily Wire he never received the bombshell – and potentially exculpatory – footage aired Monday night by Tucker Carlson.

Albert Watkins, whose client Jacob Chansley pleaded guilty to felony charges in connection with the Capitol riot and was sentenced to 41 months in prison, said Department of Justice prosecutors were legally bound to turn over the footage. Clips shown on Carlson’s Fox News Channel program show Chansley walking freely and peaceably through the building, often accompanied by multiple police officers.

“We did not receive that video footage,” Watkins said. “We asked for it, and not just once or twice. Whether we asked for it or not is irrelevant because the government had an absolute, non-compromisible duty to disclose that video and they did not do so.”

“And all the while, they were actively representing to the court and the American people that Jake was a leader, leading the charge into the Capitol,” he said. “They did not disclose that footage because it ran contrary to their rote narrative.”

Watkins, an attorney for nearly 40 years, told The Daily Wire he was stunned to see the footage, which he could have used to defend Chansley.

It’s disgraceful, and grounds to file and have the charges dismissed and the federal prosecutors, at a minimum, sanctioned. They should be disbarred and terminated for such an egregious, willful act.

“It’s appalling,” he continued. “Whether you’re right-leaning, you like Tucker Carlson, you hate Tucker Carlson, is irrelevant. This is about putting a dagger in the heart of our justice system. And the person holding the dagger and thrusting it with all its might is our Department of Justice. This required collaboration from the top of the Justice Department right down to the Assistant U.S. Attorney lying to me, a fellow officer of the court, knowing I had a duty to put my client in the best position I could based on the evidence.”

The question now is, what happens? Does this get blown off by the courts? You know that the Credentialed Media will ignore it, just like they have ignored left wing Antifa and BLM loonies being left off the hook for violent felonies. The system is broken.

Read: Surprise: Qanon Shaman’s Lawyers Accuse DOJ Of Serious Misconduct »

Surprise: California’s Truck Electrification Plan Will Screw Small Companies

Hey, remember how Democrats always say they’re for the little guy, but, in practice they tend to help out the big companies? Here’s another case

California’s plan to electrify trucking may be hard for small companies

Before the sun rose on a cold January morning, Alex López navigated an 18-wheeler through busy traffic on the 710 freeway. He was headed to the Port of Long Beach, just south of Los Angeles, to retrieve a shipping container and haul it to a warehouse. In the eight years he’s been driving trucks, it was a process López had done thousands of times.

“There’s usually nothing new with the routine we have as truckers,” he said.

But on this day, there was something new: He was driving an electric truck.

López drives for Hight Logistics, a family-owned company that moves cargo in and out of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. In January, Hight added four battery-electric trucks to its 50-vehicle fleet. They will mostly haul containers between Hight’s warehouse and the port, a route that cuts through a cluster of communities that have some of the dirtiest air and highest rates of asthma in the country. (snip)

Hight is one of about a dozen fleets in California that have added electric trucks, a number that will grow as companies rush to comply with looming zero-emissions mandates. But as the state’s effort to electrify the sector begins, some fear it is moving too quickly and could drive small operators out of business.

But, see, it’s totally worth it to drive (no pun intended) small operators, from single truck owners to small business, out of operation as they cannot afford these trucks, and cannot deal with the short ranges and long charging times, because diesel trucks and all the infrastructure necessary is Bad for ‘climate change’ and the environment. Especially those minorities. So what if it hurts a whole bunch of working class people: they’re Saving The Planet.

Read: Surprise: California’s Truck Electrification Plan Will Screw Small Companies »

All That Backlash To COVID Tyranny Will Make Next Pandemic Tough

Listen, all you peons just need to suck it up and forget about all that was done to you since the Chinese coronavirus broke out. Just move on from being locked down, being forced to get a vaccine, wear a mask, have your kids kept out of school, seen your kids have to eat lunch outside in the cold while wearing a mask, see businesses shuttered, etc and so on. So says the Washington Post (behind the paywall, so, use this link)

Covid backlash hobbles public health and future pandemic response

When the next pandemic sweeps the United States, health officials in Ohio won’t be able to shutter businesses or schools, even if they become epicenters of outbreaks. Nor will they be empowered to force Ohioans who have been exposed to go into quarantine. State officials in North Dakota are barred from directing people to wear masks to slow the spread. Not even the president can force federal agencies to issue vaccination or testing mandates to thwart its march.

The unhinged Covid Cult writers at the WP really aren’t making the case for the government, are they?

Conservative and libertarian forces have defanged much of the nation’s public health system through legislation and litigation as the world staggers into the fourth year of covid.

I wasn’t aware of the public health system having the power to be Stalinesque.

At least 30 states, nearly all led by Republican legislatures, have passed laws since 2020 that limit public health authority, according to a Washington Post analysis of laws collected by Kaiser Health News and the Associated Press as well as the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University.

Health officials and governors in more than half the country are now restricted from issuing mask mandates, ordering school closures and imposing other protective measures or must seek permission from their state legislatures before renewing emergency orders, the analysis showed.

Why is this a bad thing? I guess in Progressive (nice Fascism) World it might be. They’re really showing their true digital brown shirt colors. State general assemblies should have the ultimate power, backed by the state high courts to rule if constitutional.

The Alabama legislature barred businesses from requiring proof of coronavirus vaccination. In Tennessee, officials cannot close churches during a state of emergency. Florida made it illegal for schools to require coronavirus vaccinations.

This is what the citizens wanted, hence, laws, especially since we’ve learned that masks do not work, and the vaccines really don’t either. I’ll tell you what, WP: if churches close then newspapers and news stations close. How’s that?

The result, public health experts warn, is a battered patchwork system that makes it harder for leaders to protect the country from infectious diseases that cross red and blue state borders.

They’re Very Upset that bureaucrats cannot go all dictator on you peons anymore. It’s a really long piece that has a big problem with freedom. You’re welcome to read it.

Read: All That Backlash To COVID Tyranny Will Make Next Pandemic Tough »

John Kerry Is Upset That China Being A Bad Country Is Getting In The Way Of Solving Climate Apocalypse

All these real world issues are just so inconvenient

Kerry: China tensions hurting climate talks

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry tells Axios his work with China has stalled amid wider tensions between the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters.

Driving the news: “Regrettably, in the last year … what was not supposed to happen has happened, which is the climate issue has gotten mixed up into all the other tensions that exist between our countries,” Kerry said in an interview at the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference.

“And so they’ve kind of pulled back a little bit, expressing the feeling that all we’re doing is bashing them and bashing them,” he said.

Why it matters: It’s impossible to meet the Paris Agreement’s goals for holding global warming in check without more aggressive steps by China, the world’s top current emitter.

It’s so terrible

China Has Disappointed John Kerry

China has disappointed John Kerry. Or has the U.S. disappointed Kerry? It’s not always clear as it should be.

Talking to Axios earlier this week, our climate Metternich expressed his disappointment that “what was not supposed to happen has happened, which is the climate issue has gotten mixed up into all the other tensions that exist between our countries.”

This is, doubtless, despite his best efforts. After all, back in late 2021, he sidestepped a question about whether he had brought up human-rights issues in the discussions he had held with Chinese leadership, issues including China’s used of forced labor in the manufacture of solar panels. The latter, of course, is a horror within a wider horror — the genocide of the Uyghurs. Kerry’s response was to say that it was not in his “lane.’ His job was to be “the climate guy, and stay focused on trying to move the climate agenda forward.”

China really doesn’t care about the climate crisis scam, except in that they can sell under-priced junk solar panels and such to 1st World nations, all while making pledges it isn’t keeping and will never keep, and offering assistance to 3rd world nations to supplant the influence of the US, European nations, and even Russia. John Kerry cares way more about the scam than China does, to the point he and the other Warmists will blow off China’s abysmal human rights record, it’s moves to take over Taiwan, it’s technology dangers, and more.

Rep. Michael Waltz has some choice words

Our country recently received a sobering wakeup call with China’s spy balloon hovering over our skies. The blatant violation of American sovereignty wasn’t just an off-hand stunt, it was emblematic of Communist China’s view that they can get away with any aggressive actions against America with little consequences.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cares first and foremost about displacing the United States from its perch among the world’s powers, and this is particularly true when it comes to powering the world. (snip)

Some on the left, however, say that we must appease China so that they will help us fight climate change. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry has said that the CCP’s human rights horrors are “not my lane.”

Just last month, at a Heritage Foundation event about China and Ukraine, a protester took to the stage with a message consistent with Kerry’s actions: “China’s not our enemy, the climate crisis is.” (snip)

John Kerry is the Neville Chamberlain of climate change. China interprets this posture as weakness and is exploiting it.

The Cult is all that matters, even as Kerry flies all around the world on private fossil fueled jets.

Read: John Kerry Is Upset That China Being A Bad Country Is Getting In The Way Of Solving Climate Apocalypse »

If All You See…

…are the colors of a serious carbon polluting nation, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is White House Dossier, with a post on Biden withdrawing his FCC nominee, who was too moonbat for some Democrats to support.

Read: If All You See… »

NC Democrats Pimping Gun Laws That Would Not Have Stopped Mass Shooter

Obviously, the local news outlet, WRAL and their reporter Chelsea Donovan, failed to ask any of the Democrats how these laws would have stopped the little wackjob

‘My life forever changed’: Fiancé of Raleigh mass shooting victim advocates for gun safety bills

The fiancé of a Raleigh mass shooting victim spoke Tuesday with state Democratic leaders about proposed changes to North Carolina’s gun laws.

Rob Steele lost his fiancée Mary Marshall in the October 2022 mass shooting in Raleigh’s Hedingham neighborhood. Marshall was among five people killed.

“My life forever changed Oct. 13 of [2022],” Steele said of his late wife. “She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Steele joined Democratic leaders Tuesday at the General Assembly as they introduced multiple gun safety bills. It included House Bill 281– the red flag law – sponsored by state Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham, that would temporarily restrict a person’s access to a gun, if they are a danger to themselves or others.

The kid was underage and did not own guns. He took them from his parents. Were there any indications that would have caused a red flag to be played? Would a red flag allow the guns of the adults to be taken? Explain how this law would have stopped the unhinged nutter.

Steele said he believes red flag laws help save lives.

“It’s time for North Carolina to have a judge that can make decisions that a gun owner is not responsible and safe to have their gun,” Steele said. “Allow a judge to take the gun for a temporary amount of time so that [the gun owner] can get help.”

The kid wasn’t a gun owner.

Morey also introduced House Bill 284, which would allow law enforcement to destroy unclaimed guns, or those confiscated after crimes.

Wouldn’t have stopped the crime.

Senate Bill 210 – known as the Gun Violence Prevention Act – would require authorization to purchase an assault weapon or long gun, and require a waiting period of 72 hours before it’s delivered.

Wouldn’t have stopped it.

Read: NC Democrats Pimping Gun Laws That Would Not Have Stopped Mass Shooter »

Surprise: Government Inefficiency Slowing Up IRA Spending On Electric Lines

Not only is the Inflation Reduction Act not reducing inflation, it’s being jammed up because government is slow. And, guess which party is represented the most in the federal and state governments?

Biden’s climate chief: ‘Delays and bottlenecks’ slowing IRA spending

U.S. President Joe Biden’s top climate advisor says the United States needs to build electricity lines at double the current pace, blaming a sluggish permitting process for delaying vital arteries for the nation’s clean energy transition.

“On average, interstate gas pipelines that require environmental impact statements are approved nearly twice as fast as transmission lines requiring the same,” John Podesta told energy executives at the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference on Monday. “We don’t have that time.” (snip)

However, when it comes to building new electricity lines and other projects, he describes a permitting process “plagued by delays and bottlenecks.”

“Plenty of delays happen at the state and local levels, and those need to be addressed. But there is plenty that we can do and must do federally,” Podesta said, adding that he and U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm are tracking the pace of more than 20 key electricity transmission projects.

Ignoring the climate scam stuff, he does have a point on it taking too long to build new lines. Supposedly. Because we sure do not seem to have a problem here in North Carolina, where building new apartments, townhomes, and houses continues unabated. Perhaps in other states, like those run by Democrats?

Anyhow, perhaps the Biden admin should have considered upgrading the infrastructure before pushing ahead willy nilly with all their “green” projects, eh?

Read: Surprise: Government Inefficiency Slowing Up IRA Spending On Electric Lines »

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