The NRA's Political Sellout

WSJ ^ | 6/18/10 | KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL

[dervish]

The National Rifle Association slipped into a Beltway backroom this week to cut a deal with Democrats on their new campaign-finance legislation. Conservatives are ripping the gun-rights group for selling out free speech, and fair enough. But don't underestimate the political sellout. The NRA has potentially armed unions and Democrats for the midterm elections.

'snip'

America, meet the DISCLOSE act. The bill restricts corporate political participation for companies that contract with the government or have some foreign ownership. But its real aim is to use "transparency" as a weapon. CEOs would have to appear in ads to "approve" messages. Business groups like the Chamber of Commerce would have to "out" donors who give money that might be used in political activity.

'snip'

And the unions? Carved out. The bill technically requires both corporations and unions to report donors of more than $600 a year. But that number wasn't pulled out of a hat. The average dues of the nation's 15 largest U.S. unions were $377 in 2004. And while government contractors are restricted, the bill contains no such bars for unions that receive federal money or have collective bargaining agreements with government. The AFL-CIO and SEIU can continue speaking loudly and anonymously.

The one hang-up: The NRA. The gun group was bitter (and rightly so) that it would have to out its own donors. And its pressure on those Blue Dogs that it helps in elections was making it hard for Democrats to round up the votes. The result was this week's special deal, which was tailored to exempt the NRA from key disclosure burdens.

[Dan Nunn]

Thanks for your post. These articles only stand to divide us into groups and it’s sad when people take the bait.

There are those who say the NRA is only out for itself and must play up both sides of the issue for sustainability. Yet they refuse to recognize that the GOA exists to put out anti-NRA material to justify its own existence. They see fault in the NRA but refuse to recognize it about their own group.

[Dan Nunn]

Thanks for your post. These articles only stand to divide us into groups and it’s sad when people take the bait.

There are those who say the NRA is only out for itself and must play up both sides of the issue for sustainability. Yet they refuse to recognize that the GOA exists to put out anti-NRA material to justify its own existence. They see fault in the NRA but refuse to recognize it about their own group.

[Joe Brower]

As a life member myself, I concur. Unfortunately.

[Lurker]

The NRA does NOT support this legislation.

Then why are they not trying to block it?

The “R” in the NRA stands for rifle. Not Republican.

The first vote any Dem Rep casts is the most important. And that vote is for Speaker of the House. That's Nancy Pelosi quite possibly the most anti-gun Speaker in history. If the NRA Board is too dim to grasp that simple fact they don't deserve a nickel.

Get rid of Reid AFTER taking control of Congress

Why wait? He's vulnerable NOW. It'll be a LOT easier to take control with a Republican in that Seat than a Dem. Or is the NRA Board unable to do basic mathematics?

[Redcloak]

Get rid of Reid AFTER taking control of Congress

Why wait? He's vulnerable NOW. It'll be a LOT easier to take control with a Republican in that Seat than a Dem. Or is the NRA Board unable to do basic mathematics?

	The basic math in the Senate is that the GOP needs far more seats than Reid's to take control. If Reid is defeated, and the GOP doesn't win a majority, then Chuckie Schumer is next in line to be the Majority Leader.
Furthermore, it's not just winning enough seats to outnumber the Democrats that's necessary, you also need enough seats to overcome squishy RINOs like Snowe and Collins. Even if the GOP wins a skin-of-its-teeth majority in the Senate, it would only take one RINO to seat Chuckie as Majority Leader.

[dragnet2]

I left the NRA after Charlton Heston’s term as President.

Yup....The NRA turned into a corporate fund raising scheme....

[Lurker]

The basic math in the Senate is that the GOP needs far more seats than Reid's to take control. If Reid is defeated, and the GOP doesn't win a majority, then Chuckie Schumer is next in line to be the Majority Leader.

And he would be worse than Reid how exactly?

Even if the GOP wins a skin-of-its-teeth majority in the Senate, it would only take one RINO to seat Chuckie as Majority Leader.

Not even Snowe would vote for Shumer. We're in a fight for what's left of the Republic here. If the NRA doesn't realize that then they're worse than useless, they're complicit.

L

[Redcloak]

And [Schumer] would be worse than Reid how exactly?

Did you really ask that question? If the choice is between Reid and Schumer, then it's a no-brainer; Reid is far friendlier to the rights of gun owners than Schumer will ever be.

As gun owners, we really need to work on our target identification skills. Not all Democrats are the enemy and not all Republicans are our friends. Over the years, I've seen lots of gun laws written by Democrats and passed by Republicans. Out here in California, some of our staunchest pro-gun allies in Sacramento have been liberal Democrats.

"Be aware of your target and what's behind it."

[Lurker]

Not all Democrats are the enemy

Yes they are. The more Dems we knock of in the General the better. Reid is vulnerable. The NRA knows that the National Dem party is no friend to gun rights no matter what their individual droids say when they're running for office.

[Dayman]

The GOA is a grass roots organization. Boot lickers like you don’t understand the difference between a compromising lobbying organization and a grass roots organization designed to alert its’ membership so they can hound their representatives.

Lazy people like you are content to sit on your ass and let other people do your lobbying for you. Keep begging for those restrictions, you’ll get what you deserve in the end.

The NRA has reduced gun rights over the past 15 years and advocates for restriction. That makes them no better than the Brady center.

[GATOR NAVY]

LaPierre needs to go.

His attempted explanation of the situation on last week's "Gun Talk" radio program was certainly pathetic.

[Shooter 2.5]

Boot lickers????

Name a single thing the goa has ever done on their own or are you stupid enough not to understand the goa has NEVER done a single thing on their own. Nothing. They ride on the NRA’s coattails and DO NOTHING.

The goa mentioned the NRA a total of NINE times in their legal brief for McDonald.

The goa never does a single thing. They turned their backs on the Katrina victims.

Go ahead, stupid. Name a SINGLE thing the AWOL goa has ever done. NAME IT!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dayman]

From wikipedia:

On June 6, 1995, GOA successfully helped in lobbying the House of Representatives to vote against the Moran Amendment, by a vote of 278 to 149. The Amendment would have banned .50 caliber weaponry from being licensed for export.[12]

On July 13, 2006, The Senator David Vitter (R-LA) got a sweeping victory by a vote of 84-16. His amendment declares that no federal money can be used for federal agents to confiscate weapons during a declared state of emergency. This bill was passed not even a year after the devastation in Vitter’s home state from Hurricane Katrina. The GOA consider this a sizable win for pro-gun activists.[13]

On June 27, 2007, GOA recorded a victory by getting the Pence Amendment passed. The bill, named after Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), was passed by a vote of 309-115. According to GOA the amendment would have allowed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to radically limit the speech allowed by organizations like GOA over the airwaves.[14]

On August 9, 2007, GOA received another huge win in congress. Sen. Vitter once again pushed through a bill stating that no US funds can be used by the United Nations or any group affiliated with the United Nations to restrict or tax the 2nd Amendment rights. If they attempt to do so, the US can rightfully pull out all of their funds from the organization. This bill, HR-2764, passed with an 81-10 vote.[15]

On February 25, 2008, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) amended bill S-1200, The Indian Health Care Improvement Act. In the Act, the wording stated that the funds were to be used for “violence prevention”. Once the funds were attempted to be used for gun buy-backs and other such anti-firearm policies, Sen. DeMint pushed through an amendment to the Act stating that the money cannot be used for any anti-gun programs. The bill passed by a margin of 78-11.[16]

Don't forget to make your contribution to the Brady center. They're after the same goal you are, just at a different speed. Keep sitting on your butt and letting others do your lobbying for you.

Supporting the NRA means supporting their participation in the disarmament of veterans. You should be ashamed of yourself but you are probably in agreement with it. May your chains weigh lightly upon you.

Quisling's like you are lower than gun controllers because you cloak yourself in the 2nd amendment while trying to take it away from others.

[Dayman]

Your use of insults (”stupid”) shows that you don't have the facts to back up your position. That's very telling.

The NRA supports the NICS background check system. Explain that.

The NRA supports expanding the NICS system to exclude veterans with PTSD. Explain that.

The NRA still backs GCA ‘68 and favors the current FFL system. Explain that.

The NRA still supports the Lautenburg amendment. Explain that.

The NRA supports the NFA and won't advocate for the loosening of restrictions of machine guns. Explain that.

The NRA has current board members who favor the reauthorization of the “assault weapons” ban. Explain that.

Keep supporting them. Continuously giving away 70% to gain 50% is not a winning strategy.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"The NRA does NOT support this legislation."

Shooter, I agree with you on just about everything you have said about the GOA. I believe they are a group that is basically there to rip on the NRA. They don't do anything to move the second amendment debate forward.

That being said, just because you strongly disagree with what the NRA has done in this instance does not mean that you support the GOA. As an NRA life member who contributes and supports the NRA I'm telling you they screwed the pooch on this one. Yes, they have come out and said they are against this bill. However, they cut a deal with congressman to not score this bill against their NRA rating in turn for an NRA carve out.

If they don't score it against the congressman's NRA ratings the NRA being against it is meaningless. It has no teeth. We will most likely have a situation in the fall where you have a Dem congressman who voted for this thing have an A + NRA rating being pushed to be re-elected (by the NRA) and running against a Republican candidate who would be a strong advocate for our second amendment rights and would never vote for this piece of garbage.

Face it, by their turning the other way, they have allowed the enemies of freedom to advance their cause. Please don't tell me they don't get involved with first amendment issues. Here is a link to the press statement they put out after the Citizen United case was ruled on and one in which they filed a brief on:

http://www.nraila.org/legislation/read.aspx?id=5324

"NRA-ILA has been in the forefront of defending the First Amendment so we can protect the Second Amendment."

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks dervish.

The gun group was bitter (and rightly so) that it would have to out its own donors. And its pressure on those Blue Dogs that it helps in elections was making it hard for Democrats to round up the votes. The result was this week's special deal, which was tailored to exempt the NRA from key disclosure burdens.

Couldn't keep it from passing. But it would have been better to just go down fighting, and then be destroyed over the next couple of years by the Party of Treason. Yeah, that's a great idea. Let's all turn on them now, those dirty bastards.

some (recent) archival stuff:

• NRA isn't the villain in the free-speech fight
• NRA exemption shows campaign disclosure bill's cynical, fatal flaws (from board member)
• How Dems' NRA loophole backfired
• House Passes DISCLOSE Act
• Did Kagan Compare the NRA with the KKK?
• Kagan notes label KKK and NRA as 'bad guy' organizations
• NRA Discourages Board Members From Testifying Against Kagan
• NRA endorsement of McCain destroys groups credibility (McNasty attempting to buy his reelection)
• Why Does the NRA Support Harry Reid?
• New Jersey Politicians Want A List of NRA Members and their Employers!
• NRA Cuts Deal With House Democrats
• Statement From The National Rifle Association On H.R. 5175, The DISCLOSE Act
• Guns and Free Speech (The NRA sells out to the Dems and aids their re-election)
• NRA deal on campaign finance throws smaller groups under the bus
• NRA cuts deal to Limit Free Speech
• NRA sells out freedom with separate deal on the DISCLOSE Act
• Statement From The National Rifle Association On H.R. 5175, The Disclose Act
• The NRA's Deal with the Devil
• Disclosure Act in jeopardy after interest groups balk at NRA deal
• Response from David Keene, NRA First Vice President, to DISCLOSE Act Criticism
• AUDIO: Wayne LaPierre Tries to Explain NRA Position on Campaign Law and Fails
• NRA bails on Constitution to pursue self-interest

[SunkenCiv]

• Kimberley A. Strassel | Media Matters for America

[bobby.223]

add the longtime NRA board member grover norquist’s also longtime involvement with the muslim terrorist front group CAIR to your list Day.