American Morning
Allow concealed weapons across state lines?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/22/thune.john.getty.art.jpg caption="Sen. John Thune (R-SD) listens during a news conference on Capitol Hill February 26, 2009 in Washington, DC."]
The Senate is poised to vote Wednesday on its third piece of gun rights legislation this year – and gun control advocates are racing to shore up any wavering Democrats who might join Republicans in supporting the measure.
The Republican-sponsored Thune Amendment, attached to the Defense Authorization Bill, would allow individuals to carry concealed firearms anywhere in the United States that permits carrying concealed weapons, provided they are legally registered.
Colin Goddard is lobbying against the amendment, sponsored by Sen. John Thune (R-SD), that would allow people to carry concealed firearms into other states, so long as they "...have concealed carry permits from the state in which they reside."
Goddard is not a typical lobbyist; he is a survivor – a student at Virginia Tech the day Seung-Hui Cho burst into his classroom and opened fire. Goddard was shot four times. Thirty-two other students died before Cho killed himself.
Now, Goddard is in Washington to tell lawmakers that even if he'd had a gun he could not have stopped Seung-Hui Cho.
"When I smelled that gunpowder, that's when I knew what was happening," Goddard recounted. "I knew there were other students in my class who were sitting in their chairs to be able to effectively respond to someone coming in a door like that guns blazing you need millisecond response time. Even trained police officers can't do that," he says.
He argues the proposed law would make it easier for unbalanced people to carry guns anywhere they choose, including states with more stringent concealed gun laws. And he isn't the only critic. Mayors from 450 cities took out an ad in USA Today urging the Senate to vote down the amendment.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an Independent, is fiercely opposed to the measure. "What it would do is put an enormous number of guns on the streets and it takes away states' rights," he says.
But The National Rifle Association says carrying a gun is a constitutional right, as well as a matter of personal safety.
"At the scene of the crime, there are only two people there, the criminal and the victim," says NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. "The victim always ought to have a right to own a firearm and have a firearm to protect themselves if they choose."
Case in point: last year, a bank customer, legally carrying a concealed weapon near Detroit, thwarted a bank robber who claimed to have a bomb. But gun control proponents say for every hero, there are many villains. Like Richard Poplawski – who legally owned guns and used them to kill three Pittsburgh police officers. And Seung Hui Cho – who bought guns legally and killed 32 others at Virginia Tech.
What do you think? Should concealed weapons be allowed across state lines?
What’s on Tap – Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Here are the big stories on the agenda today:
- Was it murder for hire? New shocking developments in the brutal murders of a Florida couple. A source now tells us there was a second safe in the Billings home with more than 100-grand inside. And now some of the eight suspects are pointing fingers at another.
- It's an all-out blitz from the White House, pushing the president's plan for health care reform. President Obama is taking his sales pitch to prime time, tonight. Does he have a new angle of attack for his critics? Can he convince you? Before you see the president in prime time, hear what outspoken Republican Ron Paul has to say about it! Get ready for an earful. He’s live with us this morning.
And we want to know what you think about the health care debate. You can leave a comment on the blog or call our show hotline at 1-877-MYAMFIX. - You've seen the video filmed by terrorists after he was taken hostage, and an entire town is hoping and praying for his freedom. But who is Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl? Loved ones say he’s a kid with an adventurous spirit who took up fishing, biking, even ballet. Our Ed Lavandera is in his home town and talking to those who know him best.
Historic eclipse plunges Asia into darkness
We Listen – Your comments 7/21/2009
Editor's Note: American Morning's Tuesday audience was filled with political interviews and opinions on health care reform. Debate continued over who should pay for health care, with mixed opinion on taxing the “rich.”
Health care – Against Taxing the Rich
- Louise: We were dirt poor. We got a job, worked and earned and saved for what we have. We did not depend on others to work and GIVE TO us. Now you and Obama want me to give what we EARNED to you!!!!!
- Jessica: I speak for others like me in the silent minority of the top 1% earners. I believe strongly in health care reform and many other social programs. I voted for President Obama. I don't mind paying more taxes to help others less fortunate. But no one ever mentions that many of us have established lifestyles based on our high hard earned income. If I could sell my home and live in a smaller one to help others, I would, but right now most of us in the top 1% have lost a respectively larger percentage of our liquid assets and net worth, our homes are under water, our incomes are down and our expenses (mortgages, health insurance premiums, college tuitions not eligible for financial aid) are the same...you can't get blood from a stone – even a large one.
- Ken: There are many options to pay for health care: cut defense spending 10%, limit farm aid to 50k per yr farmers not millionaires, roll the taxes back to pre Reagan which was a 60% rate for incomes above 250k and 90% for millionaires and billionaires. Eliminate NASA trips to Mars and the moon. I never heard any whining about taxes pre Reagan, now 39% seems too unbearable to the rich. Give me a break.
For Taxing the Rich
- Roger: Yes the rich should pay more (their fair share for a change). When you factor in that Social Security tax stops at less than $100K and all of the deductions available, the effective tax rate for most high income earners is less than the middle class. I would like to see some reports on the effective rates of the rich rather than the posted rate on the IRS website.
- Victor: Somebody has to pay for health care if not the rich, it’s the poor. We know the rich run this country so guess who will pay?
- Bill: IF THE BENEFIT IS TO BE SPREAD OVER THE WHOLE POPULATION,THE PAYMENT SHOULD BE SPREAD OVER THE POPULATION. HOW MUCH DOES $500 PER PERSON RAISE ? OR HOW MUCH DOES AN ADDITIONAL 5-10 % TO THE ALREADY EXISTING MEDICARE TAX RAISE?
- A.R.: Health care.... When you give something free to a person, usually they abuse it or throw it away or give it to someone else. There should be no free health care, if you go to a doctor you pay $30. if you go to the hospital you pay $50. Every person should be required to pay something. If you have to pay something for your healthcare you won't be running to the doctor every time you get a cut or your child coughs. Give the poor some responsibility in the whole mess.
Who should pay for health care? Is it fair to tax those who have more money? Do you believe the “rich” are paying their fair share of taxes now?
Deals to be found at government garage sales
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/21/cho.state.auction.cnn.art.jpg caption="Cartons and shelves of surplus goods up for sale at government auctions online."]
We drove past a heavily fortified prison and psychiatric ward while heading to our destination – New Jersey's Distribution Center located in the capital of Trenton.
It's the hub from where supplies (like boxes of printer paper) are shipped across the state. Long tractor trailers move in and out of the large warehouse on a daily basis.
But once a month, that warehouse becomes a money making hot spot for the state – the Government Vehicle Auction. You can bid on anything from former police cars to seized vehicles, Chevy Suburbans to Dodge Stratuses.
Jacob Olearchik, who runs the vehicle sale lot, said the state is putting more items on the auction block, and people are coming to find deals.
“This car right here,” said Olearchik as he pointed to a green Ford Escort, “if you go to a used car lot, they'll put a $4,000 price tag on that car, maybe a $3,500 price tag on that car. Right now you can buy that car here tomorrow for $1,800 or maybe less.”
Stimulus cash for bridge paint, turkey and work boots
Never before has so much money gone out the door so quickly and that makes it incredibly important to track how this money is being spent.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/21/jennieo3.art.jpg
caption="Stimulus cash is being spent in diverse ways, such as turkey for food banks and soup kitchens."]
The $787 billion economic stimulus is starting to work its way into the economy – by most estimates, about 10 percent has gone out the door.
So where it is going? You can see for yourself on www.recovery.gov. The diverse uses of your money are, well, tantalizing.
How about $5,378,600 for Jennie-O turkey? And $16,784,000 for canned pork?
Stimulus cash for meat? Recovery.gov doesn't specify what the contracts are for, but a quick call to USDA confirmed that stimulus funds are purchasing $100 million worth of food for food banks and soup kitchens.
And for the record, USDA tells us it is paying $1.99 per pound for the pork and is also purchasing 837,936 pounds of mozzarella.
The agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, says "This program will help reduce hunger of those hardest hit by the current economic recession."
We found a small contract for $251 to a company called Workingman's Family Store in Huntington, West Virginia. The money is for work boots for jobs created by the stimulus package, jobs for park rangers, patrol officers and contractors.
A manager for the store told us she didn't even know the store was a recipient of stimulus funds. Because of provisions against using the stimulus this way, the Army Corps of Engineers tells us they are refunding the purchase using general funds instead.
Finally, more typical of the types of stimulus projects – we found $783,776 to paint a bridge in Fort Riley, Kansas – given to a firm called OCCI Incorporated. The bridge spans the emergency spillway of Tuttle Creek.
Watch this space. The money is starting to move.
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