Mostly stuff he has the power to order unilaterally -- mostly.

Actions the president could take on his own are likely to include imposing new limits on guns imported from overseas, compelling federal agencies to improve sharing of mental health records and directing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct research on gun violence, according to those briefed on the effort.

Unfortunately there is precedent, thanks to Bush 41, for that first measure (unilaterally imposing new limits on gun imports).

Meanwhile, two boys were suspended for playing cops 'n robbers at recess -- finger-guns, you know. They're banned.

And Rand Paul says we don't have a king -- or rather we shouldn't have one.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 09:36 AM | Comments (284)
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Ben Shapiro embarrassed him on TV, so Piers Morgan wants a rematch.

But he wants the deck stacked -- he wants the rematch to be in a "townhall-style debate," in which, yes, Piers would load the audience with victims of gun crime.

Ben Shapiro, of course, had accused Morgan of "standing on the graves" of murder victims to render himself immune to counter argument. Morgan vigorously denied it.

But that's his offer now-- and he's baiting Shapiro with "grow a pair" taunts do to Shapiro's reluctance to play with a stacked deck.

Posted by: Ace at 08:22 AM | Comments (418)
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Great stuff, probably his best sting yet.

O'Keefe and his team posed as anti-gun violence activists offering signs to anti-gun journalists saying "This House Is Gun Free". Surprisingly Toure (of minor MSNBC "fame") and staff members of the paper who exposed permit holders took a pass on announcing they had no guns in the home. The really fun part was an armed security guard at one of the paper's employees home declining the sign.

I don't want to embed the video here and steal their traffic but it's well worth the time.

We've passed the exit from the highway about whether or not this is still a fiscally conservative country (we're not) but we're at a crossroad about whether or not to still be a republic or not. We either make the elites live by the rules they impose on the rest of us or we give up the game entirely.

Related: New York state sucks. Without any public debate, the State Senate passed a sweeping gun control measure in the middle of the night. I guess they wanted to do it a month to the day of the Sandy Hook massacre.

Welcome to what it's like to live in a banana republic.

UPDATE: Toure takes to Twitter to attack O'Keefe, O'Keefe responds.

Posted by: DrewM at 07:02 AM | Comments (337)
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A couple short items to put on your radar. First, if you didn't see it, here's my post detailing all the wasteful spending in the Sandy relief package that will be taken up by the House today.

Second, last night the GOP-led House Rules Committee blocked almost all amendments to the Sandy bill that would have trimmed out the fat. I suspected the GOP was ready to welcome defeat on this yesterday. Now we know for sure. They just want the issue gone.

There's something else in the air here in D.C. too. And that is the feeling, propelled by pieces like this one in Politico and this column by Ed Morrissey that conservatives in the GOP would prefer to get the debt ceiling out of the way so they can score points off of a government shutdown -- or the threat of a government shutdown -- in late March, when the current CR expires.

This seems, to me, to be skipping past the immediate problem, the debt ceiling, in favor of fantasizing about a supposedly easier fight to be had months from now. My concern is what form a debt ceiling deal will take since these folks are so obviously telegraphing their disinterest in fighting that battle. In case you were wondering, that sound you hear is Speaker Boehner's leverage slamming the door on its way out.

This is doubly confusing because not only is the debt ceiling our immediate problem, but it is the only one of the two on which we poll better. Whereas the public at least says it supports spending cuts equal to the amount we raise the debt ceiling (they say this, but I'm not sure they mean it), the public absolutely hates government shutdowns.

Shutdowns poll terribly. That's why both parties try so hard to avoid them. But Ed and Politico's GOP whisperers are kidding themselves if they think that Sen. Reid will take the blame for the next one, particularly because Ed and Politico's GOP whisperers have gone to such lengths to explicitly describe this GOP strategy and detail its benefits. That type of talk does not exactly give the impression that the GOP wants to avoid a shutdown.

I suppose I should slightly amend that previous bit: shutdowns poll terribly, except in some deep red districts. That's more truthful and it gets to the heart of the issue here. Most Republican congressmen want to avoid a shutdown because their constituents want it avoided. They're not looking to upset their constituents and that's reasonable since the alternative is a Democrat in that seat.

However, a small group of congressmen come from such solid red districts that they could threaten to close the government for months and they'd never face even the threat of electoral punishment for it. In fact, some of these districts would welcome not just the threat of a government shutdown, but an actual government shutdown. Which means their priorities are exactly opposite the priorities of most of their GOP colleagues.

Do you see where this is going? Because it is a repeat of the Plan B debacle. The Safe Republicans from solid red districts will refuse to cut a deal, even one that cuts spending, because they can survive a gov't shutdown that cuts more. Meanwhile, Republicans in unsafe districts will have to go to the Democrats to cut a deal if they want to avoid losing their seats. And any deal that depends on House Democratic support for passage will be further to the left than a deal that had received uniform Republican support.

The far right,* because it refuses to work with their Republican colleagues on a compromise, will once again have impelled final legislation that is further to the left than would otherwise be the case.

Anyway, the course has been set. All that's left is to watch this trainwreck.

*Update: Several commenters are unhappy with my use of the phrase "far right."

What I meant by that was, as I had previously written in the post, those members who are from such safe districts that they can give their GOP colleagues the middle finger on the issue of a government shutdown. Instead of "far right," it would have been better had I continued to use the phrase "conservatives" or "more conservative members." "Far right" was too antagonistic.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:10 AM | Comments (458)
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• WH Planning 19 Executive Orders On Guns
  
• Welfare Spending To Skyrocket 80% In The Next Decade
  
• Kentucky Sheriff To Obama, There Will Be No Gun Control In My County
  
• Obama Accused The NRA Of Ginning Up Fear And Then Claims SS Checks Won't Go Out Unless The GOP Raises The Debt Ceiling
  
• Turns Out Chrysler Is Going To Build Jeeps In China After All
  
• Obama's Entire Press Conference From Yesterday(autoplay video)
  
• French Led Intervention In Mali Gains US And British Support
  
• The Atlantic Published, And The Removed Scientology Sponsored Story
  
• The Decline Of England Part 3,432,333
  
• Michael Savage Has Reached His Sell By Date
  
• No Labels? No Thanks
  
• Lance Armstrong Now Ready To Rat On Everyone(autoplay video)
  
• CNET Reporter Quits Over CBS Interference
  
• After Having Watched Die Hard 3, The Germans Have Asked For Their Gold Back
  
• "Pension Tapeworm" Devouring PA Budget
  
• Stewart Vs. The Krug Man
  
• Obamacare Architect Cashes Out And Will Begin Suing Insurers Using Obamacare's New Laws
  
• Krauthammer: Obama's Tone Was Remarkable
  
• Clarence Thomas Breaks Nearly 7 Year Silence In Court
  

Follow me on twitter. All the cool kids are doing it.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:28 AM | Comments (45)
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Happy Tuesday.

Rep. Paul Ryan endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio's immigration proposal. Under Rubio's proposal (there is no legislation yet) aliens would have to pay a fine and back taxes and maybe do community service. Most would then be able to apply for permanent residency and, eventually, just like current LPRs, apply for citizenship, but "they'd get behind everybody who came before them" in line.

Rob Lowe had a cogent thought on Piers Morgan last night: "I do think that the last thing viewers want is another Hollywood actor telling them anything about guns pro or con." Yup.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 02:49 AM | Comments (293)
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So...I guess you found your way here then. Okay have some love in Bacon Pie Form...

Jim Geraghty: Bah Humbug on Valentine's Day

How Japan Does Valentine's Day

Posted by: Maetenloch at 06:20 PM | Add Comment
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What Kills You

One of these is going to get you eventually and sadly angry husbands, jealous mistresses, and over-clocked sexbots do not make an appearance.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 05:51 PM | Comments (579)
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Please do not click "save as" if this is popping up every time you open Ace of Spades.

RD found a tech site discussing the issue here. I see it and I'm using Firefox, what about you guys?

We're not sure if it is malware or browser issue. Either way, don't click "save as".

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 PM | Comments (308)
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Hey, do you know this guy's name?

I don't.

I guarantee you if he were a Tea Partier you'd know his name.

As the Media Leaders and Democrats insist we have a National Conversation about violence, they completely ignore an Occupier who plotted to blow up a national landmark.

That sort of suggests that some acts of violence are justified, does it not? If they cannot gin up any outrage over this planned crime, then a Strange Young Man might take that to mean they secretly approve -- or, at least, do not strenuously disapprove.

The media is very insistent that some violence is completely unjustified. And this message is heard loud and clear by every Strange Young Man in the country. And they're all pretty sure the media is giving them the secret wink when they plot mayhem and murder.

Posted by: Ace at 04:39 PM | Comments (167)
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