Buckwheat Cries Like a Smack Nigglet as Background Check Plan Defeated in Senate!

[patriotgames@democrathallofshame.com http://www.democrathallofshame.com]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/17/background-check-plan-in-trouble-as-dems-call-votes-on-gun-bill/

Background check plan defeated in Senate, Obama rips gun bill
opponents
April 17, 2013

The Senate on Wednesday defeated a vital background check amendment
seen as the linchpin to Democrats' gun control bill, dealing a major
setback to President Obama -- who lashed out at opponents in unusually
blunt terms during remarks from the Rose Garden.

"All in all, this was a pretty shameful day for Washington," Obama
said, accusing the gun lobby of lying about the bill.

The vote was 54-46, with supporters falling six votes short of the
required 60-vote threshold.

The failure of the background check proposal authored by Sens. Joe
Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., now imperils the entire
legislation. The proposal would have expanded background checks to gun
shows and Internet sales while exempting personal transactions. The
amendment was aimed at winning over reluctant conservatives, who were
opposed to the more stringent background check plan in the existing
bill.

It's unclear where supporters will go from here. They could try to
vote again, or craft an alternative piece of legislation.

Obama vowed to press on, saying the vote was "just round one," while
decrying those he claimed "caved" to political pressure.

"The gun lobby and its allies willfully lied about the bill," Obama
said. He said the claims "upset" some gun owners who in turn
"intimidated" senators.

"There were no coherent arguments as to why we couldn't do this. It
came down to politics," he said.

In a statement, Manchin said that while he is disappointed in the
outcome of today's vote, that "this is not the end of the debate."

Opponents, which included a few Democrats, voiced concern that the
proposal would infringe on Second Amendment rights by imposing a
burden on those buying and selling guns. They claimed the proposed
system would not have prevented Newtown, and would not stop criminals.
They also voiced concern about the possibility that the expanded
system could lead to a gun registry, though the amendment language
prohibits this.

The NRA said in a statement that the amendment "would have
criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest
citizens, requiring lifelong friends, neighbors and some family
members to get federal government permission to exercise a fundamental
right or face prosecution."

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats hammered
Republicans for not voting in support and vowed to press forward.

"I want everyone to understand this is just the beginning, not the
end," said Reid. "Today, the brand of the Republican Party has become
more out of step, more extreme. And that's saying something."

Four Republicans voted for the amendment, but five Democrats voted
against it. One of those Democrats was Reid -- who only switched his
vote to oppose it because doing so allows Democrats to call up the
measure again. Other Democrats who voted against the measure for
non-procedural reasons were Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Sen. Mark
Begich of Alaska, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Sen. Max
Baucus of Montana.

The Obama administration has made the package, written in the wake of
the Newtown school mass shooting, a top priority and along with its
allies had applied heavy pressure to wavering lawmakers. Vice
President Biden presided over the vote Wednesday.

Lawmakers proceeded to vote on a string of other amendments Wednesday,
including a proposed ban on assault weapons and a ban on high-capacity
magazines, which were defeated as well.

In the run-up to Wednesday's vote, Democratic leaders gave
ever-changing assessments of where support stood.

Biden said Tuesday that Democrats would get the 60 votes, but then
said later in the day that it could come down to one or two senators.

Manchin acknowledged early Wednesday that the bill was having trouble,
but then released a statement saying he remained "optimistic and
hopeful."

Opponents needed just 41 of the Senate's 100 votes to derail the
Manchin-Toomey background check plan.

Thirty-one senators voted last week to completely block debate on
overall gun legislation. Since last week, enough lawmakers who voted
to allow debate switched to oppose Manchin-Toomey, in turn defeating
the amendment.

"I believe very strongly that our current background check system
needs strengthening and improving, particularly in areas that could
keep guns out of the hands of felons and the mentally ill. At the same
time, I cannot support legislation that infringes upon the
constitutional right to keep and bear arms," Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev.,
one of those opposed, said in a statement.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, echoed Heller in a statement released following
the vote saying "Following the tragedy at Sandy Hook, we all wanted to
find answers that would reduce crime and prevent the next senseless
act of violence. Unfortunately, the Senate did not consider any
proposals that would achieve these objectives."

Lee also said he agreed with the president that the debate was not
over and hoped that they could "discuss the problems that lead to
these violent acts" and work on solutions that actually address them.

Only four Republican senators committed to voting for the amendment
ahead of time. The last was Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who announced
his support Wednesday afternoon. The other three were Toomey, Sen.
Mark Kirk of Illinois and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

The Senate gun bill would extend background checks to nearly all gun
purchases, toughen penalties against illegal gun trafficking and add
small sums to school safety programs.

Perhaps helping explain Democrats' problems, an AP-GfK poll this month
showed that 49 percent of Americans support stricter gun laws. That
was down from 58 percent who said so in January -- a month after the
December killings of 20 children and six aides at a Newtown, Conn.,
elementary school propelled gun violence into a national issue. Family
members of Newtown victims, some tearing up after the vote, also
criticized the Senate for the amendment's failure Wednesday.

The Senate held eight other votes Wednesday besides the one on
background checks, all of them amendments to the broad gun control
measure.

They included Democratic proposals to ban assault weapons and
high-capacity ammunition magazines, which are expected to lose; a
Republican proposal requiring states to honor other states' permits
allowing concealed weapons, which faces a close vote; and a GOP
substitute for the overall gun measure. The concealed weapons
amendment, seen by advocates as protecting gun rights, was vehemently
opposed by gun control groups, who say it would allow more guns into
states with stricter firearms laws.

The other amendments were defeated.

The votes were coming a day after former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords,
badly injured in a 2011 mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., and her
husband, Mark Kelly, tried galvanizing gun control support by visiting
Capitol Hill and attending a private lunch with Democratic senators.
Reid, D-Nev., called the lunch -- senators said it included emotional
speeches from lawmakers -- "as moving as any" he has attended.


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