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Townhall.com’s
Washington Beat...
By Katie Pavlich
July 19, 2011
In
this edition of the Washington
Beat, Townhall’s Guy Benson sits down with Rep. Paul Ryan to discuss
the
continuing debt ceiling debate in Washington.
DEBT
CEILING DEBATE STILL STUCK GOING
NOWHERE
This
week, the House of
Representatives, after gridlocked talks between Congressional Leaders
and
President Obama, will vote to pass Cut, Cap, and Balance while rumors
swirl
that the Senates’ “Gang of Six” have reached a deal. Problem is, the
new Gang
of Six plan doesn’t lay out specifics and doesn’t reform entitlements.
However,
the plan claims to reduce the debt by $3.7 trillion over the next 10
years with
$500 billion in immediate cuts. President Obama has come out in support
of the
new Gang of Six plan, leaving conservatives skeptical of what could
really be
hidden in the bill, especially without specific details being revealed.
Last
week, Senate Minority Leader Mith McConnell introduced a “back-up” plan
to avoid
default.
NEW
GUN CONTROL LEGISLATION INTRODUCED
Democrat
Representatives Maloney,
Cummings and McCarthy, all members of the Minority on the House
Oversight
Committee chaired by Republican Congressman Issa, introduced what they
call
“anti-gun trafficking legislation” last week in light of Operation Fast
and
Furious. The “Stop Gun Trafficking and Strengthen Law Enforcement Act,”
is
designed to “keep high powered firearms out of the hands of dangerous
criminals, including Mexican drug cartels,” by requiring gun shop
owners to
report multiple sales of long gun rifles. If Democrats on the House
Oversight
Committee were really serious about keeping guns out of the hands of
Mexican
drug cartels, they’d vote to get rid of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms,
where agents and senior officials deliberately put high powered rifles
into
their hands in hopes of “tracking” guns in Mexico through Operation
Fast and
Furious.
ATF
HEAD SAYS DOJ PROTECTING POLITICAL
APPOINTEES
According
to Senator Charles Grassley
and Representative Darrell Issa, both who have been at the front of the
investigation into the Obama Justice Department’s Operation Fast and
Furious,
it appears DOJ is withholding vital information about the lethal
operation to
protect political appointees. This week, Grassley and Issa asked
Attorney
General Eric Holder why documentation requested by the Oversight
Committee has
not been provided, specifically a “smoking gun” report ATF Acting
Director
Kenneth Melson mentioned during closed testimony over two weeks ago.
Issa and
Grassley have sent a letter to Drug Enforcement Administrator Michele
Leonhart
requesting information about DEA’s involvement with Operation Fast and
Furious.
A similar request for information was made on March 15, 2011 but was
ignored.
Grassley and Issa have also requested memos, emails, briefing papers
and
handwritten notes from the FBI to be provided to the Oversight
Committee after
reports showed bureau officials may have paid informants to help the
FBI, DEA,
ATF and DOJ with the operation.
GROUND
ZERO MOSQUE GETS LEGAL
CLEARANCE TO BUILD
Although
backers of a mosque planned
to be built steps away from Ground Zero still need millions of dollars
to break
ground, the legal system has given radical Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf the
go-ahead
to build this week. New York Supreme Justice Paul Feinman dismissed a
lawsuit
filed by a former NYC firefighter who argued the site for the mosque is
part of
Ground Zero and should be marked historic. Remember, Rauf has said
America was
an accessory to the 9/11 attacks, that Osama bin Laden “was made in the
USA,”
and doesn’t believe Ground Zero is hallowed ground.
BACHMANN
BEATING ROMNEY NATIONALLY
In
a new national Public Policy Poll
released today, Rep. Michele Bachmann has pulled ahead of Former
Massachusetts
Governor Mitt Romney. The new poll shows Bachmann with 21 percent of
support
while Romney raked in 20 percent among primary voters. Rick Perry (who
has not
officially entered the race) came in third with 12 percent with Herman
Cain
trailing close behind at 11 percent. The new poll comes fresh off the
heals of
Bachmann releasing her fundraising totals for the second quarter. She
raked in
$4.2 million in just three weeks.
QUOTE
OF THE WEEK
Las
Vegas Wynn CEO Stephen Wynn
discussing second quarter earnings and the economic atmosphere in
America under
the Obama Adminstration:
“This
administration is the greatest
wet blanket to business, and progress and job creation in my lifetime.”
-Katie
Pavlich is the News Editor for
Townhall.com
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