Weekly Address: Now Is The Time to Take Action Against Gun Violence

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

Hi, everybody. This week, I announced a series of concrete steps we should take to protect our children and our communities from gun violence.

These proposals grew out of meetings Vice President Biden and his task force held over the last month with more than 200 different groups – from parents and teachers; to law enforcement and sportsmen; to religious leaders and mental health professionals.

And in the weeks ahead, I will do everything in my power to make them a reality. Because while we may not be able to prevent every senseless act of violence in this country, if there is even one thing we can do to reduce it – if even one life can be saved – we’ve got an obligation to try.

My administration is taking a series of actions right away – from strengthening our background check system, to helping schools hire more resource officers if they want them, to directing the Centers for Disease Control to study the best ways to reduce gun violence.

But the truth is, making a real and lasting difference also requires Congress to act – and act soon.

First, it’s time for Congress to require a universal background check for anyone trying to buy a gun. The law already requires licensed gun dealers to perform these checks, but as many as 40% of all gun purchases are conducted without one. That’s not safe, it’s not smart, and it’s not fair to responsible gun buyers or sellers. An overwhelming majority of Americans agree that anyone trying to buy a gun should at least have to prove they’re not a felon, or someone legally prohibited from owning one. That’s just common sense.

Second, Congress should restore a ban on military-style assault weapons, and a 10-round limit for magazines. Many assault rifles, when combined with high-capacity magazines, have one purpose and one purpose only: to fire as many bullets as possible as quickly as possible. These weapons have no place in our communities. And a majority of the American people agree with me.

Finally, Congress needs to make it easier, rather than harder, for law enforcement to do its job. We should get tougher on people who buy guns only to turn around and sell them to criminals. And at a time when many communities have been forced to make cuts to their police force, we should put more cops back on the job and back on the street.

Like most Americans, I believe the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. We have a strong tradition of gun ownership in this country, and the vast majority of gun owners act responsibly.

But I also believe most gun owners agree that we can respect the Second Amendment while keeping an irresponsible, law-breaking few from causing harm on a massive scale. That’s what these reforms are designed to do. 

None of this will be easy. Already, we’re seeing pundits, politicians, and special-interest lobbyists calling any attempt at commonsense reform an all-out assault on liberty – not because that’s true, but because that’s how they get higher ratings and make more money. And behind the scenes, they’re doing everything they can to protect the status quo.

But this time, it can’t be up to them. It’s got to be up to you. If, like me, you want this time to be different, then I need your help to make it different. Ask your Member of Congress if they support universal background checks and renewing a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.  And if the answer is no, ask them why not. Ask them why an A-grade from the gun lobby is more important than keeping kids safe in a first grade classroom. 

Since the tragedy in Newtown, I’ve gotten letters from all over the country – including many from our young people. One of them was from 8-year-old Rachel, who lives in Brooklyn, New York. She wrote: “Please do something so that bad people cannot get guns to kill other people. Children should be safe, especially in school.”

Rachel is counting on us. Let’s get this done for her, and let’s make this country a safer place for all our children to learn and grow. 

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

The Kids Inaugural Concert: Our Children, Our Future was held to show military kids how much the country appreciates the sacrifices they make while their parents are serving.

The First and Second families kick off Inauguration weekend by participating in the National Day of Service.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden hosted a roundtable for reporters from some of the leading magazines for kids to talk about Joining Forces.

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Whole Foods CEO on Obamacare

 Highlight transcript below to create clipTranscript:  Print  |  Email Go  Click text to jump within videoFri 18 Jan 13 | 07:51 PM ET John Mackey, Whole Foods CEO and author of "Conscious Capitalism," explains why he says Obamcare is worse than "socialism" and might even be "fascism."

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Utah Man Carries Rifle Into JC Penney To Defend Against ‘Criminals, Cartels, Drug Lords’ and ‘Evil Men’

(Photo Credit: AP/Cindy Yorgason)

A man in Utah was photographed at a JC Penney carrying around an unloaded version of the gun used in the Newtown tragedy to prove that guns aren’t as dangerous as they’re portrayed.

In addition to the unloaded rifle, a loaded Glock pistol was strapped to his hip when his picture was taken by shopper Cindy Yorgason on her cell phone camera. Speaking with the Salt Lake Tribune, the man — identified as 22-year old Joseph Kelley — said that he called the local police to let them know about his actions before he left his home and intended to display that weapons aren’t dangerous when handled by law-abiding citizens.

Kelley also said he was told that he was “well within his rights” and that bystanders’ reactions were positive.

“I felt no negative vibes from anyone,” Kelley said. “I think it went rather surprisingly well.”

Kelley added that he carries weapons to protect children and other people from “criminals, cartels, drug lords” and other “evil men.”

Kelley also holds a concealed-carry permit from the State of Utah and was formerly in the military. Utah has made the news several times lately in relation to their rather lax gun laws. A small town recently proposed every citizen owning a firearm, while a child at an elementary school in the state brought a handgun with him “for protection” in the days after the shooting at Sandy Hook. Utah currently has absolutely no waiting period in place for purchasing firearms.

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Democratic Rep. Pushes Regulators To Limit High-Frequency Trading

High-frequency trading — using computer algorithims to trade stocks by the millisecond — has exploded in recent years. One Democratic Rep. is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to do something about it, using a law that he authored more than two decades ago:

Rep. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who has waged a decades-long struggle against computerized trading sent the SEC a hint: The power to curb high-frequency trading has been within its grasp all along.

In his letter, Markey described a law he co-sponsored in 1989 to increase the agency’s power to regulate computerized trading, a precursor to HFT that employed computer programs to make trading decisions without the participation of conscious humans. The law lets the SEC “limit practices which result in extraordinary levels of volatility,” according to Markey’s citation.

Markey, nudging further, added: “If the commission simply makes a finding that the markets are currently in a period of extraordinary market volatility and that HFT is reasonably certain to engender such levels of volatility, the Commission can immediately promulgate rules that restrict or eliminate the practice.”

This chart from the research firm Nanex illustrates how high-frequency trading has grown since 2007, spiking in the aftermath of the Great Recession:

High-speed trading now makes up more than half of the stock market’s volume. During one week in October, one trader alone made 4 percent of the stock market’s trades. As Reuters’ Felix Salmon noted, “The stock market is clearly more dangerous than it was in 2007, with much greater tail risk; meanwhile, in return for facing that danger, society as a whole has received precious little utility.”

In 2010, the Chicago Federal Reserve warned the SEC about the perils of high-speed trading. If Markey is right, the SEC has had the power to do something about it all along.

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Remarks by the First Lady and Dr. Biden at the Kids Inaugural Concert

The White House

Office of the First Lady

7:45 P.M. EST

DR. BIDEN: Hello, everyone! (Applause.) Thank you for that wonderful introduction, Jaelen. I’m so proud of Jaelen, and I know you brought some other kids from Lee Hall Elementary. It’s so good to see all of you. (Applause.) Oh, they’re over there. And I want to thank your mom and your whole family for their service to our country.

J.R. Martinez, it is always wonderful to see you. Thank you for your service and all that you continue to do for our military families. The First Lady and I are so excited to be here with all these military kids.

I want to give a special welcome to some very brave kids from the Delaware Army National Guard 153rd Military Police Company. (Applause.) Just a few weeks ago, I was with them when their moms or dads were deployed to Afghanistan. I want you all to know that we are so proud of you and we will be here for you while your moms and dads are away.

The First Lady and I knew from the start that we wanted to celebrate the strength and service of our military families. That’s why we started Joining Forces -- our effort to encourage all Americans to find ways to honor and support our troops, veterans and military families. Joining Forces is especially important to me because I know something about being a military mom. Our son Beau is a major in the Delaware Army National Guard, and he was deployed to Iraq for a year. Beau has two children, Natalie and Hunter, so I know -- (applause) -- thank you -- so I know firsthand just how important it is for a child to have everyone’s support -- their friends, their teachers, and their entire community -- when mom or dad is away.

So we want tonight to be one special way that our country shows all of you just how much we appreciate everything you’re doing for our country. And we are so excited to be here with you tonight, here with everyone.

Now I would like to introduce someone else who is so proud of you and excited to be here. She’s been working so hard for military families. Please welcome my great friend and partner, First Lady Michelle Obama. (Applause.)

MRS. OBAMA: Wow. Thank you so much. Thank you, Jill. Big hand to Jill, my partner. (Applause.) How is everybody doing? (Applause.) Are you guys having fun? (Applause.) Are you excited to be here for the inauguration? (Applause.) Well, we are all excited that you could join us tonight, both here in Washington and from all across the country and around the world by video.

We’ve got kids from Fort Hood that are here. (Applause.) We’ve got folks who have joined us from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. They’re in the house. (Applause.) We have folks from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base here. (Applause.) We’ve got folks from Camp Pendleton who are here with us. (Applause.) And we’ve got Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater here as well. (Applause.) Yes!

And for the wonderful kids from Naval Air Station Sigonella who led the Pledge of Allegiance -- (applause) -- yes! -- we have some very special guests that are here as well -- your parents! (Applause.) Those are your parents. So let’s give them a round of applause. We’ve beamed them in. (Applause.) They’re right there. Wave to them. They can see you. (Applause.)

Now, inauguration is a pretty big deal. The President and the Vice President are sworn in. There are all these inaugural balls, everybody dresses up and dances. We had a wonderful day of service today, and hundreds of thousands of people come from all 50 states to join in the celebration. And let me tell you, I love every single minute of it. Every single minute. But I have to tell you that my very favorite part of this entire weekend is being right here with all of you. (Applause.) Absolutely. Because for me, this is what inauguration is all about. It’s about celebrating who we are as Americans and all the things that make this country so great. And when I think about who we are, when I think about what makes America great, I think about all of you --our men and women in uniform, our military spouses, and our amazing military kids.

And that’s why Jill and I wanted to host this event. And we’re not the only ones that wanted to pay tribute to all of you today. You see, when we said we wanted to host a concert to honor our military kids, let me tell you, everyone wanted to be here. Usher wanted to be here. (Applause.) Katy Perry wanted to be here. (Applause.) Nick Cannon, the folks from Glee, and all the other amazing performers -- they wanted to be here, too. (Applause.) And let me tell you, they’re not here for me. They’re not here for Dr. Biden. They are here for all of you. Because they know the kind of sacrifices that you all make every single day.

Let me just share something. Did you know that the -- that a military kid attends an average of six to nine schools by the time he or she graduates from high school? I mean, just think about that. Just imagine how much courage it takes to always be the new kid -- to walk through the doors of a new school every couple of years; to have to make new friends again and again. And did you know that our men and women in uniform often have to be away from their families for months, sometimes years.

Just think about the level of maturity that is required for military kids during those times, just think about that. Think about how they have to step up at home without even being asked -- taking out the trash when dad’s not there; helping brothers and sisters with their homework when mom is away.

Think about how hard it is for military kids to be apart from the people they love most, how they miss their moms and dads every day and would do anything to have them back home. And that’s just a glimpse of what it means to be a military kid. It means always thinking about things that are so much bigger than yourself. It means growing up just a little faster and working just a little harder than other kids. And it means doing the greatest thing you can ever do with your life at such a young age, and that is to serve our country.

So to America’s military kids, let me tell you, make no mistake about it, you all are an important part of the greatest military on Earth. (Applause.) By supporting your families, you all are helping to protect this country and keep every single one of us safe. You’re doing that. And Dr. Biden and I are so incredibly proud of you all. Every day, we’re proud of you. Let me tell you, our husbands are proud -- the Vice President, the President -- they are proud of you.

And in the coming years, as these wars draw to an end and we draw down our troops, I want you all to know --(applause) -- absolutely -- but here’s the thing: I want you to know, you and your families to know that we will not be drawing down our work to support you. We will be doing just the opposite, because the fact is that today we have a greater obligation to serve you than ever before. And we will do everything in our power, everything to meet that obligation to make sure that our military families get the benefits they’ve earned and the support and recognition you all deserve.

So in the coming months and years through Joining Forces, Dr. Biden and I, we will keep calling on Americans to translate the love and pride that we all feel into action that makes a real difference for you and your families. Every single one of us has a role to play here. And I encourage everyone watching tonight to go to JoiningForces.gov and find out how you can give back to our military families. Because we cannot rest, no, we cannot be satisfied until we are serving all of you as well as you’ve served this country. You all deserve nothing less.

And with that, there is someone else here tonight who would like to show her appreciation for you all. She is our final performer for this evening. Should we bring her out? Are you ready? (Applause.) Are you really ready? (Applause.) All right, then. It is now my pleasure to introduce the fabulous Katy Perry!

The Kids Inaugural Concert: Our Children, Our Future was held to show military kids how much the country appreciates the sacrifices they make while their parents are serving.

The First and Second families kick off Inauguration weekend by participating in the National Day of Service.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden hosted a roundtable for reporters from some of the leading magazines for kids to talk about Joining Forces.

view all related blog posts

View the original article here

Democratic freshman lawmaker: Congress not working enough

Rep. Rick Nolan (D-Minn.) said Friday that Congress is not working enough.

Speaking on MSNBC’s “The Ed Show,” Nolan, who served before in the House for three terms starting in the 1970s, told host Ed Schultz that lawmakers are working less now than they did the last time he was in Washington.

“Back when I served before, we worked 48 out of 52 weeks. This Congress is going to work, you know, 31, 32 weeks out of 52 weeks,” Nolan said. “We used to work four and five days a week. And we would be in committee in the morning. We would be in session during the afternoon and into the evening. And we got things done.”

Nolan said that time spent together would lead to lawmakers getting to know each other and learning how to better collaborate on legislation. The lawmaker, who beat Republican Chip Cravaack last election to return to Congress, has blamed fundraising in the past for the low legislative workload.

“Money has really corrupted the entire political process. The sad story, Ed, here is that the one with the most money generally gets the most votes,” Nolan said on Friday. “So people have come to the conclusion — and, quite frankly, understandably so, that there`s no sense running unless you're going to have at least enough money, and hopefully more than the other person that you're running against.”

Nolan also said Congress is not governing.

“Congress isn`t governing, in your opinion?” asked Schultz.

“No. You can`t run a business that way. You can’t run a country that way,” Nolan said.

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Remarks by the President and the First Lady on Volunteering on National Day of Service

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

Burrville Elementary School
Washington, D.C.

12:46 P.M. EST

     THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody!  Well, this is a good-looking crew here.  (Applause.)  First of all, we just want to acknowledge Burrville Elementary School -- (applause) -- and the principal here, Tui Roper, who is doing outstanding work.  (Applause.)  If you see Tui, you may think she’s a student, but no, she’s the principal. 

     As I look around the room, I see friends from all across the country, people who have been such great supporters of ours, but more importantly, everybody here -- adults to children -- understand the importance of giving back.  And as we think about not so much Inauguration, but we think about the fact that this is Dr. King’s birthday that we’re going to be celebrating this weekend, I’m always reminded that he said, everybody wants to be first, everybody wants to be a drum major; but if you’re going to be a drum major, be a drum major for service, be a drum major for justice, be a drum major for looking out for other people.  (Applause.)

     And organizations like City Year -- (applause) -- the Corporation for National Service -- (applause) -- all the great work that’s being done day in, day out shows that there’s a huge hunger on the part of young people to get involved and to get engaged.  And it was interesting -- we were talking to one of the young people, I was staining a shelf --

     MRS. OBAMA:  He did a fine job.

     THE PRESIDENT:  And Michelle says I did a fine job.  (Laughter and applause.)  And one of the City Year folks, I was talking to them, I said, how’d you get involved, they said, our parents every holiday we’d always do service and so I was taught at a very young age.  So the fact that we’ve got some outstanding young people here today, I want to say thank you to the parents for showing early on to all our young people how gratifying and how fulfilling this is. 

This is really what America is about.  This is what we celebrate.  This Inauguration we’re going to be -- it’s a symbol of how our democracy works and how we peacefully transfer power, but it should also be an affirmation that we’re all in this together and that we’ve got to look out for each other and work hard on behalf of each other.

     So we’re thrilled that all of you are here.  We hope you guys are having a great time.  (Applause.)  I hear reports that the very young people did some really good work and some of the older folks like me, who it hurt getting our knees kind of bending down a little bit, we were able to manage also, and somehow Michelle looked stylish the whole time she was doing it.  (Applause.) 

     So, Mich, you want to say a few words?

     MRS. OBAMA:  You all, thank you so much.  It’s wonderful to have such great turnout for this day of service.  And I know that we have a lot of family members in the audience -- (applause) -- and we always force our family, when they come up and do something really cool, they have to serve and they do it happily.  So I’m proud of our families for always being there for us.  We love you guys. 

     So as Barack said, this is a weekend of celebration, but through it all we have to remember that the reason why we’re here, why we’re standing here, why we’re able to celebrate this weekend is because a lot of people worked hard and supported us.  And we’ve got a job to do.  And this is a symbol of the kind of work that we need to be doing for the next four years and beyond. 

(Loud crash.)

THE PRESIDENT:  That was a cameraman.

MRS. OBAMA:  That was the press.  This is press.  (Laughter.)  It’s okay, though, it’s okay.  Hope you didn’t break it.  (Laughter.)

So for all the young people, and we’ve got a lot of young people -- City Year members, the students here at this school -- as Barack says, we’re passing the baton onto you all.  So the goal is, is that as you make your way through life, who are you pulling up behind you?  And as long as you’re pulling somebody up behind you, you’re doing the right thing.

So thank you all.  We’re very proud of you and we’re going to come down and shake some hands. 

                                                              END              12:52 P.M. EST

The Kids Inaugural Concert: Our Children, Our Future was held to show military kids how much the country appreciates the sacrifices they make while their parents are serving.

The First and Second families kick off Inauguration weekend by participating in the National Day of Service.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden hosted a roundtable for reporters from some of the leading magazines for kids to talk about Joining Forces.

view all related blog posts

View the original article here

Virginia Senate Republicans Obstruct Gun Violence Prevention Measures

State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-VA)

The Virginia Senate’s Courts of Justice Committee defeated several proposals for gun violence prevention, on party-line votes at an unscheduled meeting on Friday. And while one bill initially passed the committee — a proposal to prevent unlicensed vendors who don’t run background checks from selling firearms at gun shows — the committee rescinded its initial 8-6 vote an hour later and delayed reconsideration until Monday after a Republican Senator changed his mind.

On eight-to-six votes, the committee’s Republican majority defeated proposals to require universal background checks, ban guns in Richmond’s Capitol Square, and to allow local governments to establish firearm ordinances for their own property. One Republican crossed the aisle to back a proposal to ban high-capacity magazines, but that measure too failed on a 7-7 tie.

A separate bill, which would allow only federally licensed vendors who perform background checks to sell guns at Virginia gun shows initially passed with two Republicans voting in support. When one of those Republicans became concerned about the language, a hastily called informal meeting of the committee was held at the chairman’s desk at which the bill was reconsidered and postponed until Monday.

Sen. Adam Ebbin (D), author of several of the defeated bills, told ThinkProgress, “It was really sad to see committee Republicans searching for any pretense to defeat bills that would require all gun buyers to go through the same commonsense background check that most buyers already go through. We don’t need to have loopholes the size of Texas. People who want to buy guns in VA and don’t want to go through the background check can easily work their and that’s deadly wrong.”

Ebbin, along with Del. Patrick Hope (D), recently recorded an undercover video at a gunshow and was told since he didn’t look like a felon or a bank-robber, as long as he had a Virginia driver’s license everything would be fine. He was able to purchase guns and high-capacity magazines without any background check.

Watch their video:

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Limbaugh Tarnishes Civil Rights Movement To Advance Pro-Gun Agenda

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh sought to equate the fight for African American civil rights with opposition to gun safety on Friday, suggesting that the movement could have better protected itself from segregationists had it been armed. Limbaugh specifically signaled out Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), a nonviolent civil rights activist who was beaten during the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery.

“Try this,” Limbaugh said. “If a lot of African-Americans back in the ’60s had guns and the legal right to use them for self-defense, you think they would have needed Selma? I don’t know. I’m just asking. If (Rep) John Lewis, who says he was beat upside the head, if John Lewis had had a gun, would he have been beat upside the head on the bridge?” Listen:

Lewis has issued a response to Limbaugh, noting that “Our goal in the Civil Rights Movement was not to injure or destroy but to build a sense of community, to reconcile people to the true oneness of all humanity.” “African Americans in the 60s could have chosen to arm themselves, but we made a conscious decision not to. We were convinced that peace could not be achieved through violence. Violence begets violence, and we believed the only way to achieve peaceful ends was through peaceful means.”

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr — a strict disciple of nonviolent resistance — was shot by an assassin in 1968. In the wake of his death — as well as the murders of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Malcolm X — Congress passed, the Gun Control Act of 1968, the nation’s first comprehensive federal firearms regulation. Unfortunately, gun advocates have seized on King’s legacy to prevent gun safety reforms and are hosting a Gun Appreciation Day for the weekend of President Obama’s second inauguration. Larry Ward, chairman of the event, claims that it “honors the legacy of Dr. King.”

(HT: MMFA)

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