All right, I'm officially pissed off at our elected officials who apparently don't have the guts or integrity to do the job they were HIRED to do. Today's Senate vote on the Manchin-Toomey amendment to the Firearms Act (the "Gun Control Bill") failed.
It needed 60 votes to get past the Senate. It got 54. If the Senate was voting the public conscience, it should have gotten 90 votes or more.
To be fair, legislature is complicated and convoluted. Maybe there's something hidden in the bill that soured the milk. So, I did the unthinkable. I ACTUALLY READ THE BILL.
Here's the meat of it.
- There will be NO FEDERAL GUN REGISTRY. It says this in three separate places.
- Every sale of a gun (except between family members who reside in the same state) must include an instant background check.
- People who aren't allowed to have guns for various reasons (felons, mental illness, certain other conditions) are required to be listed in a national directory, to support instant checks.
And other than a ton of who-pays-what and penalties for non-compliance, that's pretty much the meat of the bill. Read it yourself if you think I'm lying. Anyone who says different, including the blathering talking heads, fear-mongers and paid political pundits - is either a liar or too lazy to check their facts.
Period.
I'll ignore the resulting Presidential diatribe. But here are some facts for you.
These are the Republicans who voted FOR the bill.
- Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)
- Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)
- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
- Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.)
ALL other Senate Republicans voted against it, joined by these Democrats.
- Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.)
- Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska)
- Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.)
- Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.)
- Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
I don't know what needs to happen to get these sluggards to do the job they were hired to do. I know that if they were my employees, they wouldn't be working for me for very long. But, to be fair, they aren't really working for any of us now, are they?
Where's Donald Trump when you need him?
I've been a Republican all my life. That's more than just a couple of years. I've never seen a more miserable excuse for an elected government in my lifetime - at least not in these United States. Congress has become a moral, ethical and international embarrassment - lead by the Senate.
If things don't change, I may not be angry enough to change my party loyalties to Democrat - but I'm ready to do anything and everything in my power to see that the blowhards currently warming Congressional seats are sent packing in the next election.
To quote from Network (1976), "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
Or to quote one of my old bosses, "Quit yer bitchin' and do yer damn job!"
If anyone wants to explain to me why this bill shouldn't have passed - I'm listening.
Anyone?
