The greatest deliberative body in the world? Really?
by digby
I thought the old Dan Burton shooting watermelons in the backyard stuff was about as crazy as it could get in the US Congress. I was wrong:
Republican lawmakers are pushing legislation aimed at combating a threat to gun rights that even the National Rifle Association has described as pure fiction.
A bill introduced late last week by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) and Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) would ban federal agencies, excluding the Pentagon, from buying more ammunition during a six-month period if it currently possesses more than its monthly averages during the Bush administration.
The conspiracy theory that incubated the bill is that the Obama administration is trying to buy up bullets so ordinary Americans have less access to them in the marketplace.
“President Obama has been adamant about curbing law-abiding Americans’ access and opportunities to exercise their Second Amendment rights,” Inhofe said in a statement. “One way the Obama Administration is able to do this is by limiting what’s available in the market with federal agencies purchasing unnecessary stockpiles of ammunition.”
Only it’s false — as no less a pro-gun organization than the NRA declared last year.
Not that I care much about federal agencies having more bullets than they need. It’s hardly a big priority. But this is just batshit crazy, illuminati-style nonsense that has no place in an advanced democracy.
I will say this for it: it makes the case for abolishing the Senate very obvious. I’ve always been told that the Senate is a congenial club filled with serious leaders soberly deliberating about the issues of the day, a necessity to temper the more radical nature of the House. I think this sort of thing handily dispenses with that little trope don’t you?
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