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The recent violence is prompting one House Democrat to draft a measure aimed at severely restricting access to the AR-15-style weapons used by different gunmen in the carnage. Rep. Donald Beyer of Virginia, a member of the tax-writing Ways and Means panel, wants to impose a 1,000% excise tax on assault weapons. New AR-15-style guns range from $500 to over $2,000 depending on location, NBC News reported. That means a 1,000% tax on the weapon would add $5,000 to $20,000 to their final sales price — and would probably keep it out of reach from many younger Americans. That probable...

Filmmaker Michael Moore warned Democrats that President Trump appears to have momentum behind his reelection campaign in key battleground states, with the progressive activist saying "enthusiasm for Trump is off the charts" compared to Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Moore pointed to polling in battleground states such as Minnesota and Michigan in making the case that Trump was running alongside or ahead of Biden in key areas, setting himself up for another potential upset in November. "Are you ready for a Trump victory? Are you mentally prepared to be outsmarted by Trump again? Do you find comfort in your certainty that...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll sponsored by Liberty Nation for Monday shows that 51% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Forty-seven percent (47%) disapprove. The latest figures include 39% who Strongly Approve of the job Trump is doing and 40% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -1. (see trends)

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 49% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty percent (50%) disapprove. The latest figures include 36% who Strongly Approve of the job Trump is doing and 41% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -5. (see trends)

Tropical Storm Nate has formed in the western Caribbean Sea and is increasingly likely to pose a threat to parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast as a strong tropical storm or a low-end hurricane this weekend, after tracking over Nicaragua and Honduras today. It is now likely that Nate will make landfall along the northern Gulf Coast, somewhere between Louisiana and Florida, Sunday. It remains too soon to tell where exactly this landfall will occur. The uncertainty in Nate's forecast track is higher than normal. Most guidance also suggests this landfall will most likely be as a low-end hurricane. However,...

Republican Donald Trump has a three-point lead in Rasmussen Reports’ White House Watch survey. Among voters who are certain how they will vote, Trump now has over 50% support. The latest national telephone and online survey of Likely U.S. Voters shows Trump leading Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton 45% to 42%. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson has four percent (4%) support, and Green Party hopeful Jill Stein picks up just one percent (1%). Two percent (2%) like another candidate, and four percent (4%) are still undecided. Clinton and Trump have been tied for the previous two days. Eighty-eight percent (88%) of voters...

If we’ve learned anything from this election cycle it’s that American politics gets the messiest when it’s online. And the Clinton campaign has decided that it wants to fight fire with fire when it comes to online trolls. The Clinton camp has built their own troll army using roughly $1 million of super-PAC funds. The only question remaining: Is this open coordination of online campaigning even legal? As the Los Angeles Times reports, a super-PAC called Correct the Record has hired a legion of “former reporters, bloggers, public affairs specialists, [and] designers” to go after anyone online who is critical...

The GOP had a good night. But the map, the math and the reality of Washington dysfunction favor the presumptive Democratic nominee in 2016. But here’s the thing: In politics, the easy answer isn’t always the only answer, and the winner of an election isn’t always the one who benefits most. Take a closer look at demography, geography and the road ahead for the parties, and it’s clear that the long-term winner of the 2014 midterms wasn’t the GOP at all. The long-term winner, in fact, wasn’t even on the ballot this year. Her name is Hillary Clinton. Of course...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp said on Wednesday it had made a technological breakthrough in developing a power source based on nuclear fusion, and the first reactors, small enough to fit on the back of a truck, could be ready for use in a decade. Initial work demonstrated the feasibility of building a 100-megawatt reactor measuring seven feet by 10 feet, which could fit on the back of a large truck, and is about 10 times smaller than current reactors, McGuire told reporters. In a statement, the company, the Pentagon's largest supplier, said it would build and test a...

In March, the Senate filibustered Obama’s pick to be the nation’s top civil rights lawyer because of election-year politics — and what’s happening in Missouri is unlikely to change that. The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, which has been tasked by Attorney General Eric Holder to help lead an investigation into the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, has been without a confirmed leader since July 2013. And because of Congressional gridlock and election-year politics, it’s likely that the civil rights department will not get a confirmed assistant attorney general any time soon.

LOGAN COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Jared Marcum claims he was targeted at school for wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a gun. Marcum, 15, wore a National Rifle Association T-shirt to Logan Middle School Thursday. School officials asked him to change, and he refused; that's when he says things escalated. "Everyone in the lunchroom was quiet, got up and crowded around us to watch," Marcum said. Marcum says he was charged with disrupting the educational process and obstructing an officer. Logan Police say school authorities called them in when things got out of control in the cafeteria. Chief E.K. Harper told...

Yesterday, the most modest of gun control proposals died in the Senate. It would have expanded background checks to people purchasing weapons at gun shows and online sales, enjoyed 90 per cent support among the public and came on the back of the tragedy at Newtown. Yet, despite all that it had going for it, the Toomey-Manchin bill raised just 54 votes – six short of the number necessary for passage. “This is a pretty shameful day for Washington,” said Obama afterwards. It wasn’t exactly a red letter day for him, either. Barack Obama is a lame duck president. Nobody...

A shooting rampage that left a pregnant woman, her 3-year-old daughter, and seven others dead on Friday near the capital of the Philippines illustrates that the United States isn’t the only nation facing problems with gun violence. The alleged gunman had been on an alcohol and methamphetamine binge for the past week and had just returned home “because of a marital problem,” reports the Associated Press. The shooting spree began in a neighborhood outside Manila. The gunman was killed in a shootout with police.... Illegal gun ownership and gun trade in the Philippines are also problems. Filipinos are required by...

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who suggested earlier in the week that the time had come for some gun control restrictions, said on Wednesday that he’s “not supporting a ban on anything” and he repeatedly defended and praised the NRA. “I’m not supporting a ban on anything. I’m supporting a conversation on everything,” Manchin

Who Did You Vote For? President Barack Obama 43% Mitt Romney 57% 88,098 Votes Cast (at 11:12EST)

In an election in Ohio today for President of the United States, Barack Obama remains where he has been for the past 2 SurveyUSA weekly tracking polls -- ever-so-slightly ahead of Mitt Romney in the battle for the Buckeye State's 18 electoral votes, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted for WCMH-TV in Columbus. 15 days until votes are counted, it's Obama 47%, Romney 44%. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll released 1 week ago, Obama and Romney are both up 2 points. Obama led by 3 points last week, leads by 3 points today.

Like the CBS poll, Obama won the overall debate, 46-39%, but Romney beat him senseless on all the important individual issues like the economy, health care, deficit, and taxes. Economy: Romney wins 58-40% Health care: Romney wins 49-46%. Taxes: Romney wins 51-44%. Deficit: Romney wins 49-36%. Strong leader: Romney wins 49-46%.

Republican Rep. Paul Ryan stopped by a soup kitchen in Youngstown, Ohio, over the weekend for what seemed to be your typical campaign photo opportunity. During his 15-minute visit on Saturday morning, the vice presidential candidate donned a white apron and offered to wash some dishes that—as several bloggers and a pool reporter later pointed out—did not appear to be dirty. But according to the president of Mahoning County's St. Vincent De Paul Society, the faith-based charity that runs the soup kitchen, the campaign did not have permission and "ramrodded their way" into the facility.

In an interview that aired Friday morning, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney told "Good Morning America" that the definition of middle income in America is "$200,000 to $250,000 or less." Romney's answer is a bit confusing, because 200,000 is included in the universe of numbers less than 250,000. If you take the statement at face value, however, it appears that Romney is using the same upper limit as President Barack Obama when it comes to middle-income earners. Obama's proposed tax hike for the richest Americans begins with taxable income over $250,000.

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