Wednesday’s mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that
has left at least 17 kids dead is a good time to remember how hollow
and vacuous many of our elected officials’ “thoughts and prayers”
sentiments are.
While the NRA and the Republican Party spend the next many hours discussing mental illness and how the real issue is the mental illness that they are completely unwilling to tackle regardless of how many people die, let’s remember that meaningful gun safety laws could be enacted right now.
Those laws haven’t been created because the NRA owns the Republican Party. A few months ago the New York Times put together a list of the senators and congressmen and women who receive the most financial funding from the NRA. Here’s the list with each Republican:
Sen. John McCain (R-AR) $7,740,521
Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) $6,986,620
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) $4,551,146
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) $4,418,012
Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) $3,879,064
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FLA) $3,303,355
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) $3,124,273
Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) $3,061,941
Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) $2,896,732
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) $2,861,047
Rep. French Hill (R-AR) $1,089,477
Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) $800,544
Rep. David Young (R-IA) $707,662
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) $385,731
Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-MT) $344,630
Rep. Don Young (R-AK) $245,720
Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) $221,736
Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME) $201,398
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) $158,111
Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA) $137,232
These are the numbers that can be reported. The NRA uses all kinds of dark money to get these candidates tons of “help.” In the end, as you watch the above politicians opine about “tragedy” just remember, the cost to buy their souls wasn’t that much in the scheme of things.
While the NRA and the Republican Party spend the next many hours discussing mental illness and how the real issue is the mental illness that they are completely unwilling to tackle regardless of how many people die, let’s remember that meaningful gun safety laws could be enacted right now.
Those laws haven’t been created because the NRA owns the Republican Party. A few months ago the New York Times put together a list of the senators and congressmen and women who receive the most financial funding from the NRA. Here’s the list with each Republican:
Sen. John McCain (R-AR) $7,740,521
Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) $6,986,620
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) $4,551,146
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) $4,418,012
Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) $3,879,064
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FLA) $3,303,355
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) $3,124,273
Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) $3,061,941
Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) $2,896,732
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) $2,861,047
Rep. French Hill (R-AR) $1,089,477
Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) $800,544
Rep. David Young (R-IA) $707,662
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) $385,731
Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-MT) $344,630
Rep. Don Young (R-AK) $245,720
Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) $221,736
Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME) $201,398
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) $158,111
Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA) $137,232
These are the numbers that can be reported. The NRA uses all kinds of dark money to get these candidates tons of “help.” In the end, as you watch the above politicians opine about “tragedy” just remember, the cost to buy their souls wasn’t that much in the scheme of things.
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