NSSF Awards $109,500 in Grants to Colleges to Promote Recreational Shooting

NEWTOWN, Conn. — With an increasing number of college students taking up target shooting at competitive and club levels, the National Shooting Sports Foundation is providing $109,500 in support to ensure that even more young men and women have the opportunity to give shooting a try. (more…)

Dear Folks,

This Week’s City Business

While the Mayor knew back in September that the Wizards were moving to Kansas, (because Kansas was able to use Star bonds to secure the Wizards stadium) that didn’t preclude the Mayor from continuing to negotiate hard to retain the Cerner jobs that were promised for The Trails development project in the old Bannister Mall site.

The incentive package (more…)

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I hadn’t planned on emailing you today, in the thick of the holiday season, but I really think you should know about the deceptive, late night vote that Senator Specter cast last night.

Sen. Arlen Specter provided the crucial 60th vote to advance the senate Democrats’ massive government-run health care bill. (more…)

“This is not about politics,” Mr. Reid said. “This is not about polling. It’s about people. It’s about life and death in America. It’s about human suffering, and given the chance to relieve this suffering, we must.”

So, how exactly did Senate leadership persuade the few remaining Democrats who were dragging their heels? By appealing to their principles, of course. FoxNews.com reports:

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., won between $100 million and $300 million in additional federal aid for her state’s Medicaid population. The deal, secured before she cast her critical vote in favor of bringing the health bill to the floor, was immediately dubbed the “Louisiana Purchase,”  though the actual Louisiana Purchase was considerably cheaper.

… Florida, New York and Pennsylvania — where five of six senators are Democrats — will have their seniors’ Medicare Advantage benefits protected, even as the program sees massive cuts elsewhere.

… Nebraska’s [Sen. Ben Nelson] won permanent federal aid for his state’s expanded Medicaid population, a benefit worth up to $100 million over 10 years. Other states get the federal aid for three years, but Nebraska’s benefit is indefinite.

Even if Congress passes legislation — a good bet — the finished product will fall far short of Obama’s extravagant promises. It will not cover everyone. It will not control costs. It will worsen the budget outlook. It will lead to higher taxes. It will disrupt how, or whether, companies provide insurance for their workers. As the real-life (as opposed to rhetorical) consequences unfold, they will rebut Obama’s claim that he has “solved” the health care problem. His reputation will suffer.

1. Public Revulsion. The bill was already under water in every major public-opinion poll, and opposed by a margin of almost 2 to 1 in the latest CNN poll. The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll put its support at freezing, 32 percent. A few ticks downward and the bill will be in the 20s.

Make no mistake. This bill is so unpopular because it has all the characteristics that most Americans find so noxious about Washington.

It stinks of politics. Why is there such a rush to pass this bill now? It’s because the President of the United States recognizes that it is hurting his numbers, and he wants it off the agenda. It might not be ready to be passed. In fact, it’s obviously not ready! Yet that doesn’t matter. The President wants this out of the way by his State of the Union Address. This is nakedly self-interested political calculation by the President – nothing more and nothing less.

Barack Obama, who seemed so confident of his powers as he prepared for his inauguration, evidently believed that he could persuade Americans to support left-of-center policies that they had never favored before.

A Democratic Congress rejected Hillary Clinton’s health care plan in 1994, and a unanimous Senate rejected the central provision of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. But this time, with a steep recession and a new leader, things would be different.

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Even in World War I there was a Christmas truce.

The rushed, secretive way that a bill this destructive and unpopular is being forced on the country shows that “reform” has devolved into the raw exercise of political power for the single purpose of permanently expanding the American entitlement state. An increasing roll of leaders in health care and business are looking on aghast at a bill that is so large and convoluted that no one can truly understand it, as Finance Chairman Max Baucus admitted on the floor last week. The only goal is to ram it into law while the political window is still open, and clean up the mess later.

The OCE decision affects Democratic Reps. John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, Norm Dicks of Washington and James Moran of Virginia. The decision for the three Democrats was announced Dec. 18.

Despite legislation’s requirement, some Americans say they’ll go without insurance

If Congress passes a law that requires Americans to buy health insurance, Rebecca Antonelli knows what she’ll do: Just say no and pay a penalty instead.