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I see this having a huge unintended consequence: the creation of "factory high-rate semi-autos", rifles that _come_ with bump stocks, gatling cranks, other creative mechanical solutions capable of out-of-box pushing the physical limits of how fast a semi-auto can be "fired". The buyer can then either remove the annoying high-rate device and use it normally, or just enjoy the popularization of a new exciting category of firearm. They haven't even had the first vote on it, and already we're cooking up workarounds and marketing methods.

Commentary: Welcome to the dysfunction of Illinois government Diana Sroka Rickert I walked into the Thompson Center on my first day, not knowing what to expect. In many ways, my new workplace was like any other large organization: big building, thousands of people and plenty of broken computers. Except this building is dilapidated, many of the employees are political hires and the computers will never be repaired, ever. And it’s all paid for by you, Illinois taxpayers. “Welcome to state government,” said a new colleague, as we boarded the elevator for the 16th floor. This summer I got to see...

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The U.S. State Department has backed away from a demand that Israel return $75 million in military aid which was allocated to it by the U.S. Congress. The repayment demand, championed by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, was described as an underhanded attempt by the State Department to derail a campaign pledge by U.S. President Donald J. Trump to improve relations with the Jewish state. The dispute is the just the latest example of what appears to be a growing power struggle between the State Department and the White House over the future direction of American foreign policy. The...

Kurt Smolek, a Diplomatic Security special agent with the State Department and Dayton Police Academy graduate, was found dead in the Potomac River on Wednesday and the cause is listed as undetermined pending an autopsy. We're hearing tonight that Smolek, 45, is a 1998 academy graduate and one of his assignments as a special agent was as a member of Condoleezza Rice's security team. According to DC Metro police, Smolek was last seen Monday, Aug. 28, in the 600 block of Water Street, Southwest, about 10 p.m. A missing persons bulletin described hims as white with graying brown hair, brown...

Misunderstandings and neglect create more confusion in this world than trickery and malice. At any rate, the last two are certainly much less frequent. –Goethe It is our nature, whenever we are examining the failings of our enemies, to assume the absolute worst of motives and purposes. We want our enemies to be evil, so all of their mistakes and failures are cast as proof of their villainy. It’s human nature. This is particularly true in politics, where there is no benefit to acting honorably. In fact, the normal virtues are vices when it comes to jockeying for power in...

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday that the lack of diversity at the State Department is a “leadership” issue as he outlined the department’s efforts to recruit more African-American, Hispanic and female personnel. “It’s not just to achieve a mix of population that looks like the rest of our country,” Tillerson said during an address to students of the department’s internship and leadership programs in Washington, D.C. “It enriches our work; it enriches our work product.” Tillerson’s remarks come at a time of tension in Washington as President Trump weathers scrutiny for his response to the white nationalist rally...

President Trump is in front of the rhetorical brinkmanship with North Korea, but it’s Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson who has the tough behind-the-scenes role of managing fallout from the administration’s first genuine international crisis, sparked by reports that Pyongyang may now have a nuclear bomb small enough to fit on a missile that could hit the U.S. mainland. The standoff is a defining moment for America’s top diplomat six months into his tenure at Foggy Bottom. Meanwhile, many key leadership posts — including ambassador to South Korea — remain unfilled, fears of budget cuts and reorganizations are high,...

Our Guests: Daily Caller investigative reporter, Luke Rosiak & Former deep-cover FBI Special Agent, John Ligato This Week: The mainstream media continues its obsession on Russia while ignoring a story of espionage and possible theft has been building for years. Could it be they are providing cover for their Democrat allies? We go where the mainstream media doesn't want us to and investigate the real story behind how three Muslim brothers and two of their wives have been able to skirt security clearance protocols while obtaining the most sensitive IT material from oversight Congressional committees. Sensitive material that was supposed...

Disgusted with the subway? Well, chew on this: Since 2014, the city has forked over more to its pension funds than it has for building and repairing schools, parks, bridges and, yes, subways — combined. In fact, the city’s current predicament is the result of benefit increases that state lawmakers have showered on retired city workers. The pension sweeteners added just in 2000 alone cost the city $13 billion over the next 10 years. These two factors (over-optimistic assumptions and ever-greater benefits) are why the city’s yearly contribution to the funds has had to mushroom nearly sevenfold, from $1.4 billion...

Illinois is now spending over 100% of its monthly revenue and talk of Chapter 9 bankruptcy has begun; Congress has yet to step in, but chatter predicts it may not be much longer. The problem remains that until Illinois (and more specifically Chicago) changes its economically suicidal policies, there is almost nothing that can be done to stop the spiral. Major ideology changes will be blocked constantly, but there is something they can do that will keep all sides relatively happy. People have been talking about Illinois going bankrupt for years (in fact it seems to be an almost annual...

Want proof taxes can actually go down? In the last three years, nine states have eliminated or lowered their estate taxes, mostly by raising exemptions. And more reductions are coming. Minnesota lawmakers recently raised the state’s estate-tax exemption to $2.1 million retroactive to January, and the exemption will rise to $2.4 million next year. Maryland will raise its $3 million exemption to $4 million next year. New Jersey’s exemption, which used to rank last at $675,000 per person, rose to $2 million per person this year. Next year New Jersey is scheduled to eliminate its estate tax altogether, joining about...

Not shockingly, the MSM and DC elites have come to the conclusion that the masses are too ignorant to realize what is afoot. Either that, or they have simply stopped caring what the masses think, at least they masses that disagree with the DC elites. What is going on here needs to be summarized from soup to nuts. I have seen bits and pieces of this tossed around here and there, but never an overall view of the coup that is playing out before our eyes. Some talking heads call it an "attempt to de-legitiimize the President" or some such...

The administration of Gov. Dannel Malloy, a Democrat who has been in office since 2011, projects a budget deficit of more than $5 billion over the next two years, thanks to generous pension benefits and the burden of servicing its big debt, plus falling tax revenue due to the exodus of large employers and residents reaching retirement age. Its budget woes, as well as concerns that they will be repeated year after year, helped lead General Electric in 2015 to consider moving its headquarters out of the state. Last year, it did exactly that. The state’s population is falling: Its...

Earlier today Secretary of State Rex Tillerson talked to the employees at the State Department and delivered outstanding remarks to explain the Trump administration foreign policy approach. T-Rex talks about the ongoing State Dept. mission and how values and policies intersect with the larger ‘America-First’ strategy. Specifically T-Rex explains how the distinction between U.S. ‘values’ relates to U.S. ‘policy’ but determinations of influence and our best interests cannot necessarily be contingent upon foreign governments accepting values that are inherently different to their culture. These remarks delivered to State Dept personnel are exceptionally well presented and intensely interesting.

A State Department employee pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday after being charged in an FBI investigation, the Department of Justice announced. Candace Claiborne, who worked in the Caucasus Affairs office of the State Department, is being charged for two felony offenses. Claiborne is being charged with “obstructing an official proceeding and making false statements to the FBI, both felony offenses, for allegedly concealing numerous contacts that she had over a period of years with foreign intelligence agents,” a Department of Justice release said. Claiborne, who has a Top Secret security clearance, failed to disclose her foreign contacts abroad...

Last month, America lost a great defender of freedom, Michael Novak.Novak was committed to rightly ordered liberty and cared deeply about the principles and practices that produce it. His enormous body of work emphasized the cultural prerequisites for political and economic freedom, as he stressed that economic conservativism and social conservatism are indivisible.In the words of Heritage Foundation founder Ed Feulner, “Michael forced those of us trained in the dismal science of economics to explain that we should be more than ‘free to choose’—rather we should be free to make good free choices.”Last year, I was the recipient of the...

Tony Podesta's firm failed to file legally required disclosures after emails with his WH adviser brother A high-dollar lobbyist and fundraiser for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign failed to file legally required disclosures for his advocacy on behalf of a foreign government in discussions with Clinton’s future campaign chairman, according to a political law expert. High-powered Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta emailed his brother John, a top White House adviser who would later chair the Clinton campaign, in January 2015. Tony wondered if John would attend a meeting with the Indian ambassador to the United States. “I’m at Camp David Friday,” John...

President Trump’s budget blueprint for the coming fiscal year would slash the Environmental Protection Agency by 31 percent and cut State Department spending by a similar amount in a brash upending of the government’s priorities, according to congressional staff members familiar with the plan. The budget outline, to be unveiled on Thursday, is more of a broad political statement than a detailed plan for spending and taxation. But it represents Mr. Trump’s first real effort to translate his bold but vague campaign themes into the minutiae of governance. The president would funnel $54 billion in additional funding into defense programs,...

Illinois Is Prepared—for Zombies The state readies for an undead apocalypse while its financial situation grows worse. Gerald Skoning Illinois’s state lawmakers are busy these days, but not with trying to reform the pension system or improve Springfield’s dismal bond rating. Instead, they’re moving to designate October 2017 as Zombie Preparedness Month. This may sound like a joke, but it’s (un)deadly serious: A resolution adopted by the state House last month contends that “while a Zombie Apocalypse may never happen, the preparation for such an event is the same as for any natural disaster.” Residents are urged to “create a...