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Mail
Magazine 24
Republican
Congressman From
Virginia Joins Democrats In Calling for Gun Control
by Eric Odom
The
nation is quickly beginning to
find out what Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is all about. McDonnell
campaigned on promises to hold strong on taxes, only to turn around and
provoke
the largest tax hike in Virginia history. Now McDonnell is seeking an
internet
tax as well, adding salt to a deep wound across his home state. The
betrayal
doesn’t stop at the Governor’s office, though. In fact, Virginia Beach
area
Congressman Scott Rigell is in on the game as well.
Here’s
a good rundown of the
situation via Washington Post.
On
Tuesday afternoon, Rep. Scott
Rigell did what relatively few fellow Republicans are willing to do: He
stood
on stage next to a pair of liberal Democrats.
The
Virginia Beach lawmaker joined
Reps. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) and Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) as
well as
Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.) at a Capitol Hill news conference to
introduce a
bill aimed at outlawing straw purchases of guns.
Amid
the polarization in Congress
and the emotion surrounding gun issues, Rigell said in an interview
that “the
real challenge is to find the folks in the middle” willing to keep an
open mind
and find room for agreement.
In
a little more than two years in
Congress, Rigell has become one of the rare Republicans eager to work
across
the aisle. He has broken with party orthodoxy on taxes and has
advocated a
broad range of reforms in the way Congress does business. Rigell was
also one
of only two Republicans to vote against holding Attorney General Eric
H. Holder
in contempt of Congress in June over the “Fast and Furious” gunrunning
operation.
Rigell’s
willingness to strike his
own path has started to draw notice.
Bold
emphasis mine…
Scott
Rigell recently struck a
nerve among conservatives when he fed into Obama’s request for a photo
opportunity, joining Obama on Air Force One just days before the
sequester
kicked in. Rigell called for a “balanced approach” to avoid the alleged
devastating outcome of sequestration, apparently perfectly willing to
entertain
new “revenues.”
On
the matter of guns, Rigell is
just 1 of 5 Republicans joining 27 liberal Democrats in co-sponsoring
H.R. 452.
According to GovTrack, the bill only has a 6% chance of getting past
committee
and only 1% chance of being enacted. So why is Rigell giving gun
grabbing
Democrats talking points for their campaigns? Why is he playing in to
their
narratives on gun control?
Scott
Rigell is being played like a
pawn as of late. From being Obama’s lap dog on Air Force One, to
throwing his
name into a bill that has no chance of passing, and allows Democrats to
say
they’re teaming up “with the other side” to control guns… Rigell seems
to be
missing the memo sent his way by conservatives.
Stop
being played, Congressman.
Of
course, Rigell is desperately
trying to defend his move here. As seen on Twitter.
HR
452 increases the penalty 4
straw purchasing. It has NOTHING to do w/ a fed registry & does
not violate
2nd Amendment. #GunTrafficking
—
Rep. Scott Rigell
(@RepScottRigell) March 1, 2013
But
this misses the point. Rigell
claims to be opposed to gun trafficking, but voted against holding Eric
Holder
in contempt? Eric Holder’s office WAS OPENLY trafficking guns to
murderers, and
doing it on our dime! We don’t want to see new laws. We’re tired of
Washington,
D.C. acting like a law factory. We need accountability for those doing
harm and
honesty on spending.
We
need leadership, and Scott
Rigell is showing he’s completely void of it.
Source:
LibertyNews
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