Happy Inauguration Day! (officially)

Congratulations to Vice President Joe Biden who was just sworn in for his second term!

Because January 20th falls on a Sunday, the official ceremony is today in private and the public one with all the speeches and parties and excitement is tomorrow.

President Obama will go through a private ceremony with Chief Justice John Roberts later today to take the oath.  Of course, he did that last time also, but for a different reason.  Roberts flubbed some of the words so they did a second ceremony in the White House.  I don't think there will be any problems with that this time.

23 Executive Actions

President Obama presented his twenty-three executive actions on combatting gun violence earlier in the week.  This was ahead of schedule and they should make a great impact.  I decided to post them in full here.

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.

2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.

3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.
5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.

7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.

11. Nominate an ATF director.

12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.

13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.

15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.

16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.

17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.

18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.

19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.

20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.

22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.

23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.

One of the most important items on the list is to nominate a director for the ATF. Like so many nominees during his first term, this appointment has been a victim of the filibuster.  The ATF has had an acting director but that is not the same. 

I also like that it addresses multiple issues surrounding gun violence.  Mental health is a topic for national attention now.  Also, letting mental health professionals know that they are allowed to disclose if they think a patient of theirs is dangerous.  These people should not fall through the cracks. 

Reception to these proposals has been positive.  Through these executive actions, more study is mandated and desperately needed.

The President Has His Game Face On

I predicted last year when I was discussing politics with some friends that a second term Obama would be very different than a first term Obama.  I said that he was playing the long game, a full eight years, instead of just concentrating on his current term.  The person I was talking to was upset that the President had not been more aggressive when dealing with the Republicans on healthcare and the last debt ceiling debate.  Those are legitimate complaints, of course, but if the past couple weeks are any indication, I was right.

The rumor that the President was floating the idea of compromising with cuts to entitlements like Social Security and Medicare threw the leftwing blogoshere into a tizzy.  Of course, now we see that those cuts did not happen to cut a deal.  The cuts were punted down the road but President Obama’s game face has not gone anywhere.  From the recent gun debate in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, to the upcoming debt ceiling talks, the President has made it clear that he is not fooling around. 

Speaker John Boehner is not a strong Speaker and cannot reign in the crazies in his caucus.  The debt ceiling debate should be fun to watch with several congressional Republicans threatening to raise articles of impeachment against President Obama.  Several members are also in support of a government shutdown.

Thankfully, a couple Republican Senators have broken with their party and acknowledge that a rise in the debt ceiling is necessary.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming weeks. 

“Shut It Down”

Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said that a government shut down should be, “on the table” in the talks over the debt ceiling and was insistent.  She claims that her constituents want her, and her colleagues in the House, to use that tactic to get their way if necessary.  I don’t think the congresswoman, nor her constituents really know what a government shutdown could entail.

If the Republican’s fail to pay their bills, and that’s what it essentially is, many of her constituents would be hurt by this kind of stunt.  

The troops that Republicans claim to support, and like to think they have a monopoly on that support, would not get paid.  Many spouses and children of our troops are on a very tight budget anyway, but to cut off that lifeline is tragic. 

Social Security checks would not go out, impacting countless seniors.

National Parks would close which generates approximately $251.2 million each year.

Medicare applications and claims could be held up, impacting many low-income families.

This is not a decision to take lightly.  Congress needs to pay its bills.  I kept hearing from the right that the debt ceiling should not be raised to pay for Obama’s new spending in 2011.  They were being disingenuous by deliberately misleading the public.  This time around, they seem to be singing a different tune but several members of Congress have expressed similar sentiment as Rep. Blackburn.

It is important that Congress pay its bills and the country continues to function.  There are other times, and other ways to make your point, Rep. Blackburn.

Hysteria Should Stay a Def Leppard Song

One thing I know I could quickly fall into with this blog is to only post about things that make me angry or I think are dangerous or silly.  I don’t want it to be like that.  I think this should be a place for ideas and not just ranting about the ignorance, hurtfulness, (insert appropriate adjectives here) of the other side. 

If you are looking for that kind of thing, Al Sharpton’s show is probably for you.  I have ideas for sensible gun control laws and reasoned responses to some of the most ridiculous propositions by the right.  I just can’t work on them as often as I’d like yet. 

If I wanted to read/see hysteria I might just flip on Fox News.  Those folks always have a story that tries to spark outrage in their viewers.  I hope to be more reasoned than that.  Hopefully someone tells me if I go to far someday.