That is the message I take away from Grassley’s vote against very weak tea gun control legislation Wednesday. I can almost hear him thinking “Let’s see which side can pony up the big bucks for my vote.”

And now Grassley is all over the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing
“Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley says the attacks raise questions like how to beef up security checks on people who wish to enter the U.S.”

Seriously, the suspects were kids when they came to the United States. People’s beliefs change over time and by influence. For instance, today’s Republican party would probably not let Ronald Reagan in the door. After all he did raise taxes and practiced Keynsian economics. Don’t believe me?

Look it up.

This Captures The NRA
Let me pass on a description I saw that truly captures the spirit of the NRA. Unfortunately the link where I saw it is no longer available, but here it is anyway:

The North American Man-Gun Love Association

In case you don’t recognize it this is a word play off of the the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), that most disgusting of organizations. In both cases they are out of the norm and alter perceptions.

Bradstad Doesn’t Understand How To Count Jobs
His administration once again can’t seem to understand the concept of subtracting jobs when they go away. Branstad claims another 1,600 jobs added whereas the true bean counters saw a decrease of 5,500 jobs. Since taking office, Branstad claims a stellar 70,000+ jobs created while the Iowa Workforce Development count a rather dismal 15,500. Maybe the state needs a ‘truth spokesperson.’

A Couple Of Observations On Boston
1) I am so glad there weren’t any self-appointed vigilantes ready to open up with their AR15 or even a shotgun. In a crowd like Boston  had, some goofball popping out shots and hitting innocent bystanders would have turned a totally chaotic situation into a bloodbath of monumental proportions. In the real world the guy with the gun seldom stops the evil doer and usually just adds to the confusion and casualties.

2) Who pays the bills for those who do not have health insurance? I have asked around among friends and most seem to believe that if you get hurt and can’t pay, well good luck. So to add to the pain of injury or death, one can probably look forward to bankruptcy and a meager existence.

I know in some cases hospital bills have been forgiven. But I can’t imagine hospitals can do too much of that. They are businesses. Beyond that many victims are often disabled from their experience, so working may be out of the question.

I am less concerned about a Boston style incident, but more wondering about the one person shootings where an individual survives, but has no money to pay the bills and has been disabled for life. I wish someone could tell me that there is some victims fund that helps with this, but I am not holding my breath. And if there is a fund, I would bet it is woefully inadequate.

3) Late addition to say well done to the good citizens of the Boston area and their public servants. When Republicans start crying about how much public servants make and how bad it is that they have unions, remember these folks. Well done.

3rd ‘Storm Of The Century’ In 2 Decades.

“Storms of the century” seem to be coming around quite a bit more often than before. Actually what we had last Wednesday and Thursday was not termed by anyone a storm of the century. But it does seem the big flooding rains come much more frequently than before. It actually seems like some part of the country is under the gun every year. Starting to look like this may be our turn after a couple of very dry years. The weather is a-changin’.