Pelosi: Amend the First Amendment

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday endorsed a movement announced by other congressional Democrats on Wednesday to ratify an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would allow Congress to regulate political speech when it is engaged in by corporations as opposed to individuals.

The First Amendment says in part: "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press..."

Television and radio networks, newspapers, publishing houses, movie studios and think tanks, as well as political action committees, are usually organized as, or elements of, corporations.

The story isn't big news but to some conspiracy theorists it's a huge red flag.

A longtime technician in the Los Angeles County Coroner's office has died. He was 61. What makes it suspicious? He was "seemingly healthy," yet "suddenly stricken" and he may have died from arsenic poisoning. And he died last week ––the same week Andrew Brietbart's autopsy report was released.

Authorities are looking into Michael Cormier's death. He became ill on Friday, April 20th, suffering from nausea and vomiting, and was rushed to the hospital. He died a short time later. The LAPD says there was no obvious sign that Cormier died of natural causes.

"At this point we haven't ruled out foul play," said a police spokesman.

U.S. House Oversight Committee Makes Case for Contempt of Congress in "Fast and Furious" Investigation

Back in February, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) promised to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress if Holder didn't hand over Justice Department documents that had been subpoenaed as part of an ongoing investigation into the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives' now-infamous "Operation Fast and Furious" gun-walking operation. 

This week, Rep. Issa--chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee--made good on the pledge and sent out a draft Contempt Order against Holder to members of the committee.  The document makes a case for holding the beleaguered U.S. Attorney General in contempt of Congress due to his ongoing refusal to cooperate with the investigation.  While not actually citing Holder with contempt, the document does establish grounds for the charge.

Michigan House Votes Overwhelmingly to Repeal Permit-to-Purchase and Registration
Yesterday, the Michigan House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to repeal the state handgun “permit-to-purchase” and registration requirements.  House Bill 5225 passed in the state House by a 74 to 36 vote.  HB 5225 would repeal the bureaucratic state “permit-to-purchase” handguns and instead utilize the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System.  House Bill 5498 and House Bill 5499 also passed in the state House along with HB 5225.  These three bills now go to the state Senate where they will be assigned to the appropriate committees.

HB 5225, sponsored by state Representative Paul Opsommer (R-93), which became obsolete when the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) took effect in 1998.  Under the current state process, gun buyers must apply with their local law enforcement agency and pass a written test before being authorized to buy a handgun.  This “permit” is valid for only one gun and it expires after ten days.  Since 1998, federal law has required a national criminal records check for the purchase of any firearm, from any gun dealer, in every state.

Some of the key points of HB 5225 as amended are:
•      Repeal the state requirement to seek police permission to purchase a firearm by traveling to a local police station and obtaining a permit to purchase.
•      Repeal the requirement to register a completely legally purchased and owned firearm by a law-abiding citizen to be registered with the government through the police.
•      Adopt the use of the federally-funded National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
•      Default to the federal standard of prohibited persons and each purchase would still require a background check.
•      Cut Michigan’s costs by using the federally-administered national instant background check system and eliminate wasted man-hours of tracking lawful gun owners in Michigan.

The NRA has been working diligently to repeal this antiquated, costly and unnecessary obstacle for gun owners and has coordinated with several state Representatives to produce the new language for HB 5225.  HB 5498, sponsored by state Representative Richard LeBlanc (D-18), provides for the legal penalties relating to firearms and other weapons.   HB 5499, sponsored by state Representative Ray Franz (R-101), clarifies the regulations regarding the sale of firearms to “prohibited persons” and makes them consistent with federal standards.