Last Call

A couple of stories as we head into the last day of the year tomorrow:

First, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been hospitalized as a routine procedure after her follow-up exam to clear her to return to work after her recent illness and concussion turned up a blood clot.  Her docs are not fooling around on this one, and it's a good thing this one was caught when it was.  Blood clots are no joke.

Second, still no fiscal cliff deal as of tonight, and all sides seem to agree that the defense sequestration cuts are going to happen regardless, which could lead to some 800,000 defense contractors having to take some unpaid leave.  Also, no joke.

We'll see where we are tomorrow night.  I'll also pull out my 2012 predictions from last year, and make my 2013 predictions.  Hopefully, we'll have some good news for you guys on New Year's Day, too.

Stay tuned.

Null If I Know

If there's a state currently trying to nullify federal regulations because STATE'S RIGHTS and whatever, you can bet that state is South Carolina.

Claiming that the federal government lacks the Constitutional authority to regulate firearms maintained within one state, a South Carolina State Senator has introduced a bill that would exempt the state’s guns, ammo and accessories from all federal regulation.

The bill, called the South Carolina Firearms Freedom Act, cites the Ninth and Tenth Amendments for legal support, in conjunction with the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. The argument goes that the two Amendments give to states all powers not specifically given to Washington, and that since state’s regulate intrastate commerce—in this case, the sale and purchase of firearms—states have the sole authority to regulate firearms manufactured and used within their borders.

The bill’s scope is specifically limited to only natively built and sold firearms to keep it from broaching the federal government’s power to regulate interstate trade via the Commerce Clause.

State Sen. Lee Bright (R) pre-filed the bill earlier this month for the state legislature to take up the issue in the coming session. Bright filed the same bill during the current session, but it never reached a floor vote.

This is really a clever plan to create jobs by attracting the rocket-propelled grenade industry, right?

"If we make it and sell it within the state then the Feds can't touch us" is something that's been used before in legal arguments over the decades in the US, and for the most part, it hasn't worked.  But good luck for trying to have your own firearms industry, guys.  Maybe you haven't thought this through, but I'm sure gunmakers have.

Just declare nullification and secede already.  Worked well for you last time, I understand.

Press The Meat With POTUS And Fluffy

President Obama sat down with David "Fluffy" Gregory of Meet The Press and spent half an hour or so kicking Gregory's ass up and down the block, along with the collective asses of the GOP.




It's a very informative interview as President Obama makes his case for trying to work with both Republicans and the press, both of which have been less than respectful to him.  POTUS kindly informed Gregory exactly what he thought of that, and Gregory knew pretty early on he was being called on the carpet, and deservedly so.

Meanwhile GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham was on Fox News Sunday all but signalling a GOP cave.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Sunday morning that he believes the odds are quite good that Senate can pass a narrow measure to avert the “fiscal cliff” and prevent taxes from rising for most Americans.

Graham said on “Fox News Sunday” that the odds are “exceedingly good” a deal can get done. “I don’t think people want to go over the cliff,” he said. Graham added that such an outcome would be a “political victory” for President Obama.

Graham also said he spoke with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Saturday night about the deal, and Panetta said it wasn’t likely to address the defense sequester, the automatic reduction in military spending set to take place early next year.

It's looking more and more like the GOP is tripping over itself to try to give President Obama a deal good enough that the President doesn't go over the cliff and leave the GOP broken at the bottom of the ravine.

We'll see.