Thursday, October 3, 2013
Lonegan Closes In On Booker in NJ Senate Race
Wednesday, 02 Oct 2013 09:59 AM
By Melanie Batley
Republican Steve Lonegan has closed to within 6 points of Newark Mayor Cory Booker in the New Jersey Senate race, according to a new poll.
Booker's once-commanding lead over the former mayor of Bogota is all but gone, internal polling conducted for Lonegan's campaign shows.
Democrat Booker's lead has narrowed from 48 percent to 42 percent, according to the results obtained by National Review Online.
"Booker is 37-27 net favorable, a major shift from the 42-18 numbers he held two weeks ago," says a memo from the pollsters, National Review Online reports. The pollsters noted, however, that the 44-year-old Democrat is "still getting a significant share of the suburban and Republican vote."
Polls conducted by political campaigns generally are more favorable to their candidates than are independent surveys, according to a review of polling by The New York Times.
A Monmouth University poll released Tuesday found Booker's lead had narrowed by 3 points since August, standing at 53 percent to 40 percent.
That virtually mirrored a Quinnipiac University poll from last week, which put Booker ahead by 53 percent to 41 percent.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Bill will result in safer schools
Addiego, Rudder, Brown bill will result
in more secure schools, safe students
Senator Dawn Marie Addiego, Assemblyman Scott Rudder and Assemblyman Chris Brown are introducing legislation to enhance the safety of New Jersey school students.
“As a society, we have learned some hard lessons. The vulnerability of our children demands changes in the way we build our schools,” said Senator Addiego. “Assuring a safe and welcoming learning environment for every child in New Jersey schools is our ultimate priority.”
The bill requires the Department of Community Affairs and the Department of Education to work together to establish a school security construction code, which would apply to the construction of new public elementary and secondary school buildings and school additions.
“Experts should be making the decisions about how to best secure our schools,” said Assemblyman Brown. “We will direct the Commissioner of DCA, in developing the code, to consult with law enforcement authorities, specialists in school building security, and recommendations of national experts on construction and design practices. This will establish the roadmap for constructing safer schools and saving lives.”
The legislation establishes new construction standards and policies for schools, similar to the broad reforms initiated after the 1958 fire that killed 92 students at Our Lady of Angels School in Chicago.
“Our nation has experienced a paradigm shift after the Connecticut tragedy similar to the one that followed the horrific school fire,” said Assemblyman Rudder. “In the aftermath of the blaze, improved school construction standards were established, strict evacuation procedures were adopted, and frequent fire drills became the norm. As a result, no student has died in a school fire in more than 50 years. Our goal is to be as effective with new and better rules and policies.”
“There are strategies already being used in some schools, including ‘hardening’ entrances to impede access to the interior of the facility. Some buildings use improved locks and hardware on classroom and office doors to stop intruders,” Senator Addiego said. “DCA and DOE will determine the most effective safeguards and assure they are integrated into the design of new facilities.”
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Tuesday, July 16, 2013
What if...?
If Trayvon Martin had been white would the Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons and others of their ilk have come out from under their rocks seeking justice for the poor white boy who was killed by George Zimmerman? It's very doubtful. Actually nothing would have happened. No controversies. No one seeking justice.No yelling in the streets. And there probably would not have been a trial. That's the way the world goes.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Allen praises safe corridor grant
Senator Diane Allen has applauded the announcement that Mount Laurel will receive an $83,400 Safe Corridor grant for safety initiatives along the Route 73 corridor.
“This funding will go a long way in helping to deliver vital safety improvements that can save lives and protect motorists, passengers and pedestrians along one of our busiest and most important roadways without further burdening taxpayers,” said Allen (R-Burlington). “This grant will make a real difference for the thousands of people who depend on Route 73 every day.”
The New Jersey Department of Transportation Safe Corridor grant program dates to 2003 and targets resources to the state’s most crash-prone highways. Grants are supported by fines which are doubled in designated Safe Corridors for a variety of moving violations, including speeding. Grants can be used by municipalities to purchase enforcement equipment including police vehicles, radar equipment, computer hardware, software and salaries and overtime for enhanced enforcement.
Senator Allen is the sponsor of three bills (S2772, S2773, S2774) that seek to improve pedestrian safety by increasing fines for drivers who violate crosswalk laws or injure bicyclists or walkers. The additional fees would be dedicated to pedestrian safety enforcement and education efforts.
One of the bills would also divert 10 percent of all fines collected from traffic violations across the state to an existing DOT fund that helps to pay for road and sidewalk improvements for pedestrians near schools. Highways like Route 130 in Burlington County that have a history of pedestrian deaths would be given preference for the funding.
“I will continue working to ensure these bills become law and remain dedicated to ensuring our highways are made as safe as possible,” Allen concluded.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Self-driving cars
Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R-Union, Somerset, Morris) has introduced legislation to position New Jersey as one of the first states to be a hub for autonomous vehicles.
“Centuries ago, people riding on a horse-drawn carriage would have never imagined that people can now push a button to start a car and press a pedal to make it drive 200 miles per hour,” Kean said. “It is hard to imagine cars driving us to work while we read the news, but there are significant technological advances being made toward that end, and New Jersey has a lot to gain from being at the forefront of such innovation.”
Senator Kean’s legislation, S2898, charges the state Motor Vehicle Commission with establishing standards for licensing autonomous vehicles, or any operated by artificial intelligence, sensors, GPS systems or any other self-driving technologies. The Commission would establish regulations authorizing the use of autonomous vehicles, and create rules covering safety, testing, insurance, registration and operation.
Senator Kean added that autonomous vehicles can also offer a more sufficient and flexible avenue of transportation for the disabled and senior citizens who may not have access to public transportation or who may not be fit to drive.
“Just as with the development and implementation of trains and airplanes, we have to trust ingenuity and keep an open mind,” Kean said.
New Jersey would become the fourth U.S. state to adopt a law permitting autonomous vehicles and the first to do so in the densely populated, fast-paced North East Region.
“This legislation sends a strong message to innovators and job creators that New Jersey is not afraid of being the home to new thinking and the way of the future,” Kean concluded. “It is another avenue to continue economic growth in this state, while we continue to cut red tape; make record investments in schools for our next generation; and continue adding private-sector jobs each month.”
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
No smoking in parks
Sen. Addiego, Asm. Brown introduce bills
to clear the air at State parks, beaches
Legislation protects the health of visitors and preserves the beauty of parks
Senator Dawn Marie Addiego and Assemblyman Chris Brown have introduced a pair of bills banning smoking at outdoor public gathering places, including State parks, beaches and wildlife management areas, and at recreation and conservation areas acquired or developed using State funds.
“As a mother, I am troubled by anything that threatens the health of our children,” said Senator Addiego. “Parents should be able to drop down a beach blanket without worrying about being down-wind from smokers and exposing their family to second-hand smoke.”
The bills follow the recent announcements that Burlington County has banned smoking at seven county parks and three other county-run outdoor locations, and that Mount Holly is considering an ordinance to make five parks smoke-free.
“The data is definitive. Smoke is detrimental to health, and even indirect exposure to cigarette smoke is harmful. It is especially dangerous for young lungs,” said Assemblyman Brown.
Evesham, Mansfield and five other county municipalities have already enacted ordinances.
“From Island Beach State Park to wonderful local recreational areas, New Jersey is home to some gorgeous natural areas. Visitors to these sites shouldn’t need to be concerned about air quality,” Senator Addiego said.
The first bill, S-2872/A-4319, prohibits smoking at State parks and forests, State-owned beaches, and State wildlife management areas.
S-2873/A-4318 prohibits smoking or carrying lighted tobacco at any property acquired or developed with the help of State funds for recreation and conservation purpose.
Friday, June 14, 2013
Christie signs O'Toole bill
Gov. Chris Christie today took life-saving action by signing Senator Kevin O’Toole’s legislation to require all hospitals to have protocols to immediately transfer critically ill patients to other facilities for better treatment.
“People need to know that they and their loved ones are guaranteed the best care during the most critical moments of their lives,” said O’Toole (R-Bergen). “There is no excuse to trap patients and their families in intensive care when they have a better chance for survival at a different facility.”
Senator O’Toole’s S1973/A792 requires licensed New Jersey hospitals to establish protocols to request immediate dispatch, timely patient pick-up from the sending hospital, and transport to the receiving hospital by a specialty care transportation unit (SCTU) used for patient inter-facility transfers. It makes hospitals establish contingency SCTU transport protocols in the event that the hospital’s designated SCTU is not immediately available for dispatch.
“People suffer enough trauma and anxiety when they or loved ones are critically ill,” O’Toole concluded. “They need to know their caregivers have their best interests at heart and the necessary protocols in place to transport them to a facility that can better accommodate their needs.”
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Ann Coulter
COULTER: TIPS FOR RIGHT-WINGERS ON THE IRS SCANDAL
Instead of showing endless loops of IRS employees wasting taxpayer dollars line-dancing — Breaking news: Government employees waste millions of your dollars every single day! — I think it would be more useful for the public to hear a few crucial facts about the exploding scandal at the Internal Revenue Service.
At Tuesday’s congressional hearings on the IRS, witnesses provided shocking details about the agency’s abuse of conservative groups.
The IRS leaked the donor list of The National Organization for Marriage to their political opponents, the pro-gay-marriage Human Rights Campaign. This is not idle speculation: The documents had an internal IRS stamp on them. The list of names was then published on a number of liberal websites and NOW’s donors were harassed.
The IRS demanded that all members of the Coalition for Life of Iowa swear under penalty of perjury that they wouldn’t pray, picket or protest outside of Planned Parenthood. They were also asked to provide details of their prayer meetings.
Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash. — who was ordered by the D.C. Circuit Court to pay more than $1 million to John Boehner in 2008 for the sleazy maneuver of publishing an illegally taped private conversation — blamed the conservative groups themselves. “Each of your groups was highly political,” he lectured them, noting that they wouldn’t have been asked any questions if they hadn’t requested tax-exempt status.
Even a fair-minded person — not to be confused with Jim McDermott — might hear about the IRS’ harassment of groups with “tea party,” “patriot” or “liberty” in their names and think: “How do we know the IRS wasn’t equally hard on left-wing groups?”
What might be more helpful than clips of IRS staff line-dancing would be for reporters, say at Fox News, to mention a few examples of the wildly partisan left-wing groups that the IRS has certified as tax-exempt.
Among the many left-wing groups with tax-exempt status are:
– ACORN (now renamed as other organizations, but all still tax-exempt), “community organizers” who engage in profanity-laced protests at private homes, dump garbage in front of public buildings and disrupt bankers’ dinners in order to get more people on welfare in order to destroy the capitalist system and incite revolution;
– Occupy Wall Street, which — in its first month alone — was responsible for more than a dozen sexual assaults; at least half a dozen deaths by overdose, suicide or murder; and millions of dollars in property damage;
– Media Matters for America, a media “watchdog” group that has never noticed one iota of pro-Obama bias in the media;
– Moveon.org, which ran ads comparing Bush to Hitler under its 501(c)(4) arm;
– The Center for American Progress, an auxiliary of the Democratic National Committee funded by George Soros and staffed by former Clinton and Obama aides to promote the Democratic agenda;
– The Tides Foundation, which funnels money to communist and terrorist-supporting organizations;
– The Ford Foundation, which has never found a criminal law that isn’t “racist.”
These groups are regarded by the IRS as nonpartisan community groups, merely educational, while dozens of patriotic, constitutional, Christian or tea party groups are still waiting for their tax exemptions.
That’s to say nothing of Planned Parenthood, PBS and innumerable other Democratic front-groups that not only have tax exemptions, but get direct funding from the government.
By contrast, the conservative groups being raked over the coals by the IRS actually were nonpartisan. The tea party forced sitting Republican senators off the ticket in Alaska and Indiana, and toppled “establishment” Republicans in Utah, Delaware, Nevada, Florida and Texas. Far from being a secretly pro-Republican group, the tea party has been a nightmare for Republicans.
Show me one instance where the Center for American Progress was more of a problem for Democrats than Republicans.
It is obviously in the interest of the left to show us liberal groups also harassed by the IRS, so it’s striking that they haven’t been able to produce one yet.
Instead, they hearken back to the Bush years to claim that the IRS once audited the NAACP, which is treated as ipso facto political harassment.
First of all, the NAACP doesn’t exactly have a sterling record of rectitude when it comes to organization funds. In the 1990s, the NAACP used tax-exempt contributions to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars of hush money to the mistress of then-executive director Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. — as detailed in enraged columns by Carl Rowan at the time.
Find a tea party organization that’s done that, and we’ll understand the IRS conducting a three-year proctology exam on the group.
Second, the Bush-era audit of the NAACP was prompted by a blindingly partisan speech given by NAACP chairman Julian Bond at an organization meeting in Philadelphia in July 2004. Bond attacked a slew of elected Republicans by name, denouncing the entire party as one whose “idea of equal rights is the American flag and Confederate swastika flying side by side.”
That’s what we call “black-letter law” on improper activity for a tax-exempt organization. As a 501(c)(3) group, the NAACP is prohibited from supporting or opposing any candidate for elective office.
The NAACP responded to the IRS’ letter by screaming from the rooftops that it was political payback. Consequently, Bush’s IRS commissioner requested that Treasury’s inspector general investigate the IRS’ tax-exempt unit for political bias. The IG’s report found no politics in the NAACP audit and — to the contrary — that more “pro-Republican” groups (18) than “pro-Democratic” groups (12) had been audited.
Nonetheless, the NAACP simply refused to cooperate with the IRS. There was nothing the Bush administration could do. No Republican was going to allow the NAACP’s tax-exempt status to be revoked on its watch. Two years later, the IRS simply issued a letter clearing the group.
Today, the NAACP openly engages in partisan activity, such as a current weeks-long protest of Republican legislators in North Carolina.
Finally, a tip to the Democrats trying to defend the IRS: As a devoted true-crime TV viewer, I can tell you that when you’re caught red-handed, it’s never a good defense to say, “Why would I be so stupid to kill my wife right after taking out a huge life insurance policy on her?”
You were that stupid and you got caught.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Sweeney, grow up
New Jerseyans by now have grown rather numb to most of the political bickering in the Trenton sandbox. We all know the drill by now: Republicans and Democrats yammer away about the evils and incompetence and warped values of the other party, while holding themselves up as paragons of virtue and public service.
Change a few names, mix in a current event or two, then rinse and repeat, over and over again.
That’s what passes for leadership in New Jersey — and Washington, for that matter. But through it all some things still get done, the occasional compromise emerges, and government trudges along in its wildly dysfunctional but still vital way.
But the escalating feud between Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean Jr., R-Union, demands some special attention because it highlights just how spectacularly childish and egomaniacal these partisan battles can become. And more importantly, it’s a reminder of how damaging they can be to the public.
Kean has launched an aggressive campaign to snatch some legislative seats for Republicans, with Sweeney himself among his main targets. That’s the basic background of the fight — boilerplate stuff, not unusual in an election season.
But this has gone beyond party animosities into something more personal, and it’s having a direct effect on Senate operations. Sweeney has publicly vowed not to post any Republican bills for a vote indefinitely in retaliation for certain GOP offenses including, apparently, a refusal to help expedite a proposal to toughen background checks for gun purchases after a technical error delayed approval.
Each man blames the other for starting the entire mess, for escalating the fight, and for being too partisan. They both share responsibility, of course, but Sweeney’s response in purposely blocking all Republican bills simply because they are offered by the opposing party is unacceptable, like a playground bully taking his ball and going home.
Sweeney has complained that Kean wasn’t showing proper respect for Sweeney’s office, exposing an ego run amok. It’s Sweeney, in fact, who isn’t showing the proper respect for his own office, or New Jerseyans. The refusal to post Republican bills is simply an abuse of his power as Senate president, and while such heavy-handed control over legislation is hardly unusual in the Senate and Assembly, it’s not often this blatant or overtly petty.
What is the practical impact of the spat? One of the bills now being delayed by Sweeney calls for state takeover of the closing of the Fenimore Landfill in Roxbury, where persistent foul odors have sparked public health concerns among residents. The fate of that plan is far more important than Sweeney trying to win some sort of a turf war because Kean dared to disrespect the hallowed office of Senate president.
Our leaders need to grow up and do their jobs — which means they need to stop putting themselves and their parties first.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
ANN COULTER LETTER
COULTER: WHEN DID WE VOTE TO BECOME MEXICO?
At first I thought the IRS scandal was leaked to distract from the Benghazi scandal. But that didn’t make sense because the IRS scandal is a more obvious abuse of power than the White House lying about the murder of four Americans in Libya.
Before I had resolved which scandal was distracting from which, we found out the Department of Justice was spying on The Associated Press — not to protect national security, but to prevent the AP from scooping the White House. Then, this week, it broke that the Department of Justice was also spying on Fox News for reasons that remain unexplained.
Meanwhile, Sens. Marco Rubio, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham and John McCain are working feverishly to turn the country into Mexico.
So now I think all the scandals are intended to distract from Rubio’s amnesty bill.
For decades, Mexicans have been about 30 percent of all legal immigrants to the United States, while only a smidgen more than 1 percent come from Great Britain. Is that fair? Granted, their food is better, but why is it the norm is to have nearly 30 times as many Mexican as British immigrants?
We have been taking in more immigrants from Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Colombia, individually, than from England, our mother country. There are nearly twice as many immigrants from El Salvador as from Canada, and 10 times as many as from Australia.
Why can’t the country be more or less the ethnic composition that it always was? The 50-1 Latin American-to-European ratio isn’t a natural phenomenon that might result from, say, Europeans losing interest in coming here and poor Latin Americans providing some unique skill desperately needed in our modern, technology-based economy.
To the contrary, it’s result of an insane government policy. Teddy Kennedy’s 1965 Immigration Act was designed to artificially inflate the number of immigrants from the Third World, while making it virtually impossible for anyone from the nations that historically provided our immigrants to come here.
Pre-1965 immigrants were what made this country what it was for a reason: They were the pre-welfare state immigrants. From around 1630 to 1966, immigrants sank or swam. About a third of them couldn’t make it in America and went home — and those are the ones who weren’t rejected right off the boat for being sick, crippled or idiots.
That’s why corny stories of someone’s ancestors coming here a half-century ago are completely irrelevant. If their ancestors hadn’t succeeded, their great-grandchildren wouldn’t be here to tell the story because no one was given food stamps, free medical care and housing to stay. (And vote Democrat.)
Now we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel by holding ourselves out as the welfare ward of the world and specifically rejecting skilled immigrants.
As Milton Friedman said, you cannot have open borders and a welfare state. The reason a country’s average immigrant matters is that the losers never go home — they go on welfare. (Maybe if they had to work, immigrants wouldn’t have as much time to build bombs.) Airy statements about wanting to end welfare aren’t going to change that implacable fact.
It should not come as a surprise that a majority of recent immigrants are following a path that’s the exact opposite of earlier immigrants. The immigrant story of lore is that the first generation is poor but works hard, then the second, third and fourth generations soar up the socioeconomic ladder.
But innumerable studies have shown that Mexican first-generation immigrants work like maniacs — and then the second, third and fourth generations plunge headlong into the underclass.
By now, Mexicans are the largest immigrant group in America, with about 50 million Hispanics living here legally.
Marco Rubio’s amnesty bill will soon make it 80 million. First, there are at least 11 million illegal immigrants, a majority from Mexico, who will be instantly legalized. Then we’ll get their entire extended families under our chain migration system.
I wouldn’t want that many Japanese! I wouldn’t want that many Dutch (not that there are that many Dutch)! Why do we have to become a different country? Was there a vote when the country decided to turn itself into Mexico? No other country has ever just decided to turn itself into another country like this.
The nation’s plutocrats are lined up with the Democratic Party in a short-term bid to get themselves cheap labor (subsidized by the rest of us), which will give the Democratic Party a permanent majority. If Rubio’s amnesty goes through, the Republican Party is finished. It will be the “Nancy Pelosi Democratic Party” versus the “Chuck Schumer Republican Party.”
When that happens, the cover-up of murder in Benghazi, a little IRS abuse or governmental spying on journalists will be a good day for civil liberties.
A majority of Americans still do love this country — including, one hopes, legal immigrants who thought they were leaving Mexico. But a policy that will change America forever is about to slip through under the cloak of endless scandals from the corrupt Obama administration.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Kyrillos, Handlin & O’Scanlon Express Outrage at IRS Scandal
Obama Administration Must Be Held Accountable
The 13th District legislators today went on the record taking the Obama administration to task over the Internal Revenue Service’s actions targeting conservative groups. It has come to light in recent weeks that IRS investigators were singling out Tea Party groups for intense scrutiny when those groups applied for tax exempt status. IRS officials learned of the actions last year but said nothing.
“The outrageous actions of the IRS warrant a thorough, immediate investigation,” Senator Joseph Kyrillos said. “The resignation of an acting director does nothing to address a form of political spying at the taxpayers’ expense that does not belong in American democracy. I urge the President, Congress and the media to reveal who was targeted, why they were targeted and who directed the targeting. It would be naive to think that these decisions were made by civilian employees. Government must be held wholly accountable when it fails the people.”
Between 2010 and 2012, the IRS used keywords to single out assumed conservative groups by targeting groups with names including words and phrases such as “Patriot” or “Tea Party”. The revelation prompted President Obama to fire Acting IRS Director Steven Miller who was already set to resign later this year.
“The firing of the acting director is too little, too late,” said Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon. “This is a blatant abuse of power and inappropriate use of a federal agency for political gain. The IRS is an agency that operates under the President’s purview and he cannot simply wash his hands of the matter. The facts behind this scandal are incredibly disturbing and demand a thorough, bi-partisan investigation. This type of behavior is a black eye on our democratic process and serves to do nothing more than stifle new ideas and curb the involvement of citizens in government.”
“I condemn the actions of the IRS for trampling on ANY groups First Amendment Rights,” Assemblywoman Amy Handlin stated. “Congress needs to do a further investigation, and make sure whoever perpetrated these act is duly punished.”
Monday, May 6, 2013
Kyrillos praises National Park Service and Sandy Hook
Says Opening Sandy Hook Critical to Helping Local Economy Recover from Hurricane Sandy
Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth) praised the National Park Service for its work in restoring the Sandy Hook Gateway National Recreation Area, which allowed the park to reopen to the public yesterday in time for the critical summer tourist season.
“The more than two million people who come to Sandy Hook every year are the lifeblood of countless local businesses,” said Kyrillos. “The great restoration work performed by the National Park Service to reopen Sandy Hook will ensure that a Jersey Shore economy already battered by Hurricane Sandy will not suffer the further devastation of a lost summer tourist season.”
During Superstorm Sandy, the park was pummeled by a 13-foot storm surge that devastated beaches and buried roads and other park facilities in sand.
Understanding that the scope of the damage would make it unlikely for the park to open for summer without a concerted and prioritized restoration effort, Kyrillos sponsored a Senate Resolution, SCR-137, urging the National Park Service to make the reopening of Sandy Hook by the summer of 2013 a national priority.
“With the hard work of the National Park Service to reopen our beaches and of local business owners to rebuild stronger and better, it’s clear that the Jersey Shore is on the rebound from Hurricane Sandy,” added Kyrillos. “Even though we’re not at 100 percent this summer and still have more work to do, the reopening of Sandy Hook should send a clear message to the many families from across the country who come to enjoy the Garden State’s beautiful beaches year after year: the Jersey Shore is open for business.”
Thursday, April 11, 2013
ANN COULTER LETTER
COULTER: LIBERALS GO CRAZY FOR THE MENTALLY ILL
Obama has been draping himself in families of the children murdered in Newtown.
MSNBC’s Martin Bashir suggested that Republican senators need to have a member of their families killed for them to support the Democrats’ gun proposals. (Let’s start with Meghan McCain!)
In a bizarre version of “A Christmas Carol,” CNN’s Carol Costello fantasized about “a mother who lost her child,” showing up and knocking on Sen. Rand Paul’s door, saying, “Please don’t do this!”
The victims of gun violence are the left’s latest “human shields” — a term coined by me in Godless: The Church of Liberalism
— for their idiotic ideas. At least it’s not the godawful Jersey Girls this time.
— for their idiotic ideas. At least it’s not the godawful Jersey Girls this time.
The one clear thread that unites all the mass murders currently being exploited by the Democrats is that they were committed by visibly crazy people who were unaccountably not institutionalized. But Democrats refuse to do anything about crazy people. Apparently, the views of families with relatives murdered by severely disturbed individuals are no longer relevant when it comes to institutionalizing the mentally ill.
If liberals had a decent argument for taking guns away from the law-abiding while doing nothing to prevent schizophrenics from getting guns, they’d make it. Manifestly, they don’t, so they send out victims to make the argument for them, knowing no one will argue with a person whose child has just been murdered.
This allows liberals to act as if Republicans’ only counter-argument to their idiotic gun control proposals is: We don’t mind dead children.
The truth is the opposite. Republicans are pushing policies that will reduce gun violence; Democrats are pushing policies that will increase gun violence.All the actual evidence — mountains of it, in peer-reviewed studies by highly respected economists and criminologists and endlessly retested — shows that limits on magazine capacity, background checks and assault weapons bans will accomplish nothing. Only one policy has been shown to dramatically reduce multiple public shootings: concealed-carry laws
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Unfortunately, there are no similar studies on the effect of involuntary commitment laws for the mentally deranged because no such laws exist anymore and therefore can’t be tested. But we do know that the number of mass public shootings has ballooned since crazy people were thrown out of mental institutions in the 1970s.
For most of the 20th century, from 1900 to 1970, there was an average of four mass public shootings per decade. Throughout the ’70s, as the loony bins were being emptied, the average number of mass shootings suddenly shot up to 13. In the 3.3 decades since 1980, after all the mental institutions had been turned into condos, mass shootings skyrocketed to 36 on average per decade.
Mass shootings don’t correlate with gun ownership; they correlate with not locking up schizophrenics.
Mental illness was blindingly clear in the case of Seung-Hui Cho, who committed mass murder at Virginia Tech. Jared Loughner showed signs of schizophrenia for at least five years before he shot up the Tucson shopping mall. James Holmes was being treated for mental illness long before his massacre at the Aurora movie theater. It was clear to Adam Lanza’s mother — nearly the only person who had contact with him — that he was mentally disturbed and had violent fantasies. (Three-quarters of matricides are committed by the mentally ill.)
We can add paranoid schizophrenic One L. Goh, who committed a mass murder at a Christian college in California last year, and the Muslim Army major, Nidal Hasan, known to be crazier than an MSNBC host, who killed 13 and injured 30 in a “gun-free” area of the Fort Hood Army base a couple years ago. For hundreds more examples of the mentally ill committing murder, read E. Fuller Torrey’s book, The Insanity Offense: How America’s Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens
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But Democrats simply will not address the one thing that is screaming out from all of these mass murders, which is that they were committed by crazy people.
As soon as the issue of mental illness came up at a Senate hearing on gun violence in January, Sen. Al Franken leapt in to say: “I want to be careful here — that we don’t stigmatize mental illness. The vast majority of people with mental illness are no more violent than the rest of the population.”
Liberals at ThinkProgress.org and The Huffington Post hailed Franken for his sensitivity. Can we check with the families of the children murdered by crazy people on the danger of “stigmatizing” the mentally ill?
Contrary to Franken’s claim, some of the mentally ill are far more likely to be violent. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, schizophrenics and similarly disturbed individuals are three times more likely to commit a violent crime than others.
The mentally ill are also more likely to be the victims of violence. Ask the sisters of the crazy homeless woman “Billie Boggs” how grateful they were to the ACLU for keeping Boggs out on the street.
Meanwhile, the only target of Democrats’ gun proposals — legal gun owners — are less likely to commit violent crimes than others. To the contrary, armed civilians justifiably kill about 1,500-2,800 felons a year, compared to 300-600 legal killings by the police. Responsible armed citizens protecting us from violent criminals should be subsidized rather than taxed and harassed.
After five mass shootings by deranged lunatics, even liberals know that the only policy — apart from concealed-carry laws — that might have stopped these shootings are laws permitting the institutionalization of the mentally ill.
That’s why they keep claiming their gun bills address mental illness. Warning: Read the bill. You will find nothing in any of the Democrats’ “gun safety” proposals that will make it easier to commit a crazy person or to prevent him from buying a gun.
The Democrats’ argument for doing absolutely nothing about the dangerously mentally ill, while disarming crime-preventing armed citizens is: Tell it to this weeping mother. If the Democrats’ “gun safety” bill passes, there’ll be plenty more weeping mothers to tell it to.
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