How to Defeat The Gun Control Bills

Although Harry Reid had previously said that he wouldn't bring the Feinstein and Schumer gun control bills up for a vote because he didn't have the votes, he changed his mind a few days later and promised to bring the bills up for a vote when congress returns from the Easter break.

Obama is pushing Congress to vote on gun control.

Obama presses Congress to vote on gun-control measures

Many senate Republicans are pushing for gun control, specifically the universal background check. The universal background check is actually a form of gun registration and gun registration is the last step before gun confiscation.

As the gun control issue unfolds in Congress, it's clear that the government fully intends to use prior convictions, including minor drug offense, and mental health screenings to disqualify an individual from their constitutional right to bear arms. The government will indeed use its access to Obamacare healthcare records to identify folks who have sought mental counselling and/or were prescribed medication for any mental health related ailment.

Right now, the Republicans willing to dance with the Dems on gun control are:

McCain emerges as key senator in expanding background checks

McCain and Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.) are at the top of a list of Republicans considered most likely to sign on to legislation expanding background checks....

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) has signaled he will likely support the yet-to-be-finalized proposal he negotiated with Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to expand background checks to cover private gun sales, according to Senate sources.

The proposal includes modifications to attract Republican support. One would let rural gun owners conduct background checks from their home computers. Another would create an appeals process for military veterans who have been declared mentally unfit to own a gun.

Expanding background checks is the centerpiece of President Obama’s proposal to change the nation’s gun laws in response to the mass shooting that killed 20 children in Newtown, Conn., last December.

There are 45 Republicans in the senate, 53 Democrats and 2 Independents who will probably vote with the Dems.  Harry Reid will probably have 55 gun control votes and he only needs to flip 5 Republicans to achieve the cloture vote of 60.  McCain, Collins, Heller and Kirk have already signaled that will endorse some forms of gun control.  Lindsay Graham, SC, has also indicated that he endorses gun control.  Harry Reid will have his votes unless we flip some Dems.

LINDSEY GRAHAM’S GUN-RELATED BILL WANTS TO TRACK THE MENTALLY ILL — BUT WHO COUNTS?

As a Senate bill designed to reinstitute the expired ban on assault weapons moves toward a full vote, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is fighting a rearguard action on gun restrictions for the mentally ill. The issue is one that Republicans have been pushing since the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., when mentally ill shooter Adam Lanza gunned down 28 people. A proposal on the issue was introduced this month by South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who on Thursday again expressed his interest in getting the measure passed. “I believe that the best way to interrupt the shooter is to have a mental health system that actually records and enters into the database people who should not be able to buy a gun,” Graham said.[...]

Graham’s proposal would require that people found mentally incompetent be added to the National Instant Criminal Background System – the database for all new gun sales.

It's not likely that Republican traitors to the 2nd amendment will flip away from Harry Reid or gun control.  However, it is possible to focus on keeping certain Dems from voting for gun control.

There are only 2 strategies to stop these gun control bills.

1.  Constantly call/fax/e-mail Republicans - call them in DC and at their local offices
1.  Identify Dems in swing states, especially those up for re-election in 2014.

Who is up for re-election in 2014?

Alexander, Lamar - (R - TN) Class II 455 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-4944 Alexander is squishy on civil liberties.

Baucus, Max - (D - MT) Class II 511 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-2651 Western state Dems tend to be pro-gun and need pressure.

Begich, Mark - (D - AK) Class II 111 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-3004 Alaska is a big gun rights state and Begich needs pressure.

Chambliss, Saxby - (R - GA) Class II 416 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-3521 Chambliss is squishy.

Cochran, Thad - (R - MS) Class II 113 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-5054 Unreliable and needs pressure.

Collins, Susan M. - (R - ME) Class II 413 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-2523  Big supporter of gun control

Coons, Christopher A. - (D - DE) Class II 127A RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-5042 Hopeless but call

Cornyn, John - (R - TX) Class II 517 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-2934 Cornyn needs a push

Cowan, William M. - (D - MA) Class II 359 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-2742 Probably hopeless but call.

Durbin, Richard J. - (D - IL) Class II 711 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-2152 Hopeless but call.

Enzi, Michael B. - (R - WY) Class II 379A RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-3424 Needs pressure, unreliable.

Franken, Al - (D - MN) Class II 309 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-5641 Minnesota has a lot of 2nd amendment supporters & Franken barely won his last election.

Graham, Lindsey - (R - SC) Class II 290 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-5972 Graham needs to be pounded.

Hagan, Kay R. - (D - NC) Class II 521 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-6342 NC leans purple and Hagan need pressure.

Harkin, Tom - (D - IA) Class II 731 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-3254 Needs pressure, IA has a lot of 2nd amendment supporters.

Inhofe, James M. - (R - OK) Class II 205 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-4721

Johanns, Mike - (R - NE) Class II 404 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-4224 Needs pressure

Johnson, Tim - (D - SD) Class II 136 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-5842 Needs pressure, retiring, unreliable but SD is strong 2nd amendment state.

Landrieu, Mary L. - (D - LA) Class II 703 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-5824 LA loves the 2nd, pressure Landrieu

Lautenberg, Frank R. - (D - NJ) Class II 141 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-3224 Hopeless

Levin, Carl - (D - MI) Class II 269 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-6221 Retiring and hopeless.

McConnell, Mitch - (R - KY) Class II 317 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-2541 Squishy and needs a call.

Merkley, Jeff - (D - OR) Class II 313 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-3753 Probably hopeless.  Many in Oregon love the 2nd call.  Merkley needs pressure.

Pryor, Mark L. - (D - AR) Class II 255 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-2353 Prior needs pressure.  Arkansas folks love the 2nd.

Reed, Jack - (D - RI) Class II 728 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-4642 Probably hopeless but call.

Risch, James E. - (R - ID) Class II 483 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-2752 ID is a strong state for the 2nd.  Pressure Risch

Roberts, Pat - (R - KS) Class II 109 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-4774 KS is a strong state for the 2nd.  Roberts needs pressure.

Rockefeller, John D., IV - (D - WV) Class II 531 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-6472 Retiring and probably hopeless.

Sessions, Jeff - (R - AL) Class II 326 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-4124 Sessions is unreliable and needs pressure.

Shaheen, Jeanne - (D - NH) Class II 520 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-2841 NH leans purple and Shaheen needs pressure.

Udall, Mark - (D - CO) Class II 730 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-5941 Probably hopeless but call.  CO just passed 3 nasty gun control bills.

Udall, Tom - (D - NM) Class II 110 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-6621 Needs lots of pressure in a purplish western state.

Warner, Mark R. - (D - VA) Class II 475 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510 (202) 224-2023 Needs lots of pressure.

The Dems most likely to flip against gun control if pressured to the point of possibly losing re-election:  Baucus (MT), Begich (AK), Hagan (NC), Pryor (AR), Shaheen (NH), Udall (NM), Warner (VA).

The Republicans most likely to sell out that need to be mercilessly pounded:  McCain, Collins, Heller, Kirk and Graham, possibly more.

If activists relentless call their senators and especially pound those up for re-election, we can kill all the gun control bills.

DO NOT CALL HARRY REID on Audit the Fed, not unless you want it to fail 23-77

Do not call Harry Reid on Audit the Fed, not unless you want it to fail by a vote of 23-77. Putting Audit the Fed to senate floor for a vote is a guaranteed FAIL.

Audit the Fed desperate needs co-sponsors because it only has 23.

The senate's 60 vote cloture rule is a very difficult hurdle given the composition of the senate - 47 Republicans, 51 Democrats and 2 Independents (who typically vote with the Dems). All 23 of the current co-sponsors are Republicans so there are 24 Republicans who are not on board, including 4 states with 2 Republicans senators who have not co-sponsored Audit the Fed - Alabama, Indiana, Kansas and Tennessee.

Game Plan

How to lobby a congress critter:

Bombard them! First, plan to call, fax, e-mail and write a letter. Also hit their local offices. In big states, senators have multiple local offices (address, fax and telephone numbers are on their Senate websites).

ALWAYS BE CALM AND POLITE. DO NOT SCREAM AND SHOUT AT THEM.

Try to get through to a legislative aide who is handling the issue.

Get everybody you know to do the same thing over and over.

Congess critters only care about one thing - the next election and nothing else. If they fear they could be voted out of office, they will co-sponsors Audit the Fed.

Senators Who Need to be Contacted

We need to first focus on Republican Senators and then Democrat Senators. There are 47 Republican Senators listed below - their names and term expiration. Senators highlighted in yellow are already Audit the Fed co-sponsors.  States with 2 Republican senators who are not co-sponsors of Audit the Fed are highlighted in red.

AL Sessions      2014
     Shelby          2016
AK Murkowski   2016
AZ Kyl                2012 (retiring)
     McCain         2016
AR Boozman     2016
GA Chambliss   2014
     Isakson         2016
FL Rubio           2016
ID Risch            2014
     Crapo           2016
IL Kirk                2016
IN Lugar            2012 (lost primary)
    Coats            2016
IA Grassley       2016
KS Roberts       2014
     Moran          2016
KY Paul            2016 wrote the bill
     McConnell    2014
LA Vitter            2016
ME Snowe        2012 retiring
      Collins        2014
MA Brown        2012
MS Cochran     2014
      Wicker        2012
MO Blunt          2016
NE Johanns      2014
NV Heller          2012
NH Ayotte         2016
NC Burr            2016
ND Hoeven       2016
OH Portman     2016
OK Coburn        2016
      Inhofe          2014
PA Toomey       2016
SC DeMint        2016
     Graham        2014
SD Thune          2016
TN Corker         2012
      Alexander    2014
TX Cornyn        2014
      Hutchison    2012 retiring
UT Hatch           2012
     Lee               2016
WI Johnson       2016
WY Barrasso     2012
      Enzi             2014

We've got a lot of work to do so let's do it!

Audit the Fed - What Next? Here's What You Need to Know.

With Audit the Fed (HR 459) passing in the House on July 25, 2012 with 326 Yeas to 98 Neas, it's on to the Senate where the challenges will be formidable. For starters, the Senate cloture rules requires 60 votes. Presently, the Senate version of Rand Paul's Audit the Fed (S. 202) has 23 co-sponsors (all Republicans) and 3 of those co-sponsors only signed on after it was clear that HR 459 would indeed pass in the House and by a very wide margin. 

Activists are screaming that we should bombard Harry Reid with phone calls. That's a HUGE error in strategy and tactics at this juncture because it will fail. Forget Dingy Harry. We need to first focus on Republican Senators and then Democrat Senators. There are 47 Republican Senators listed below - their names and term expiration. Senators highlighted in yellow are co-sponsors.

AL Sessions      2014
     Shelby          2016
AK Murkowski   2016
AZ Kyl                2012 (retiring)
     McCain         2016
AR Boozman     2016
GA Chambliss   2014
     Isakson         2016
FL Rubio           2016
ID Risch            2014
     Crapo           2016
IL Kirk                2016
IN Lugar            2012 (lost primary)
    Coats            2016
IA Grassley       2016
KS Roberts       2014
     Moran          2016
KY Paul            2016 wrote the bill
     McConnell    2014
LA Vitter            2016
ME Snowe        2012 retiring
      Collins        2014
MA Brown        2012
MS Cochran     2014
      Wicker        2012
MO Blunt          2016
NE Johanns      2014
NV Heller          2012
NH Ayotte         2016
NC Burr            2016
ND Hoeven       2016
OH Portman     2016
OK Coburn        2016
      Inhofe          2014
PA Toomey       2016
SC DeMint        2016
     Graham        2014
SD Thune          2016
TN Corker         2012
      Alexander    2014
TX Cornyn        2014
      Hutchison    2012 retiring
UT Hatch           2012
     Lee               2016
WI Johnson       2016
WY Barrasso     2012
      Enzi             2014

AL, IN, KS and TN all have two Republicans Senators that are not on board.  They need to be pounded into submission, as do all the other Republican Senators who have not yet co-sponsored Audit the Fed.

Only 5 states have both Republican Senators on board:  ID, MS, OK, SC and UT.

 We've got a ton of work to do to get this in the Senate: