Georgia Gun Owners Take Aim At Gingrich

By Mike Hothi

Grassroots guns rights groups in Georgia blasted GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich today for supporting gun control laws during his time as Speaker of the House.

In a statement Monday, the group stated “Georgia Gun Owners know Newt’s history of gun control. He represented parts of our state for 20 years. He’s been playing both sides of the gun issue as long as we can remember.”

Prior to becoming Speaker, Gingrich had an “A” rating with Gun Owners of America (GOA). However, once he came to power the GOA dropped his rating to a “D.”

The activists said today that Gingrich spoke against more gun regulations despite supporting gun control legislation in the House.

Gingrich had stated, “as long as I am Speaker of this House, no gun control legislation is going to move in committee or on the floor of this House and there will be no further erosion of their rights.” However, Gingrich supported a gun control bill that stripped Second Amendment rights from citizens charged with misdemeanor domestic violence.

“Newt Gingrich is no friend of gun owners,” said the group. “I wish Georgia Gun Owners had a mountaintop to scream this information from.”

This criticism of Gingrich comes as he has achieved frontrunner status in Iowa less than a month away from the Iowa caucuses.

Trump To Moderate GOP Presidential Debate

Real-estate mogul and reality TV host Donald Trump has worked his way back into the political arena by teaming up with Newsmax, the conservative magazine and news website, to moderate a Dec. 27 GOP presidential debate in Des Moines, Iowa. 

“Our readers and the grass roots really love Trump,” said Newsmax Media chief executive Chris Ruddy according to the New York Times. “They may not agree with him on everything, but they don’t see him as owned by the Washington establishment, the media establishment.” 

Trump’s new role as debate moderator is sure to ruffle some feathers and add to an already circus-driven primary race. 

“We are pleased to cordially invite you to ‘The Newsmax Ion Television 2012 Presidential Debate,’ moderated by a truly great American, Mr. Donald J. Trump,” the invitation reads, according to Newsmax. 

Candidates were sent formal invitations Friday afternoon for the debate set to be broadcast on Ion Television two days after Christmas. Jon Huntsman’s campaign has already declined to participate, but no word yet from the remaining candidates. 

“Lol. We look forward to watching Mitt and Newt suck-up to The Donal with a big bowl of popcorn,” said Tim Miller, Huntsman’s campaign spokesman, in an email to Business Insider. 

Obama Pledges $4 Billion In Energy Upgrades

The White House announced a nearly $4 billion plan Friday morning aimed at improving the energy efficiency of buildings in both the public and private sector.

The project will require $2 billion in energy upgrades across all federal agencies and includes a commitment from 60 CEOs as well as local officials and labor leaders to invest an additional $2 billion within the private sector.

“Upgrading the energy efficiency of America’s buildings is one of the fastest, easiest, and cheapest ways to save money, cut down on harmful pollution, and create good jobs right now,” President Barack Obama said in a statement.

Playing a strong role in the project is former President Bill Clinton, who through the Clinton Global Initiative was able to secure a commitment last summer to invest $500 million from private financing to improve energy efficiency and to improve efficiency across 300 million square feet.

A coalition of labor organizations including AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Teachers and the Building and Construction Trades Department applauded the announcement.

“It will create profitable investment opportunities for worker pension funds, create badly needed good jobs, increase America’s competitiveness around energy savings, and address the dangers of climate change,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement.

The initiative is part of the President’s We Can’t Wait campaign, which is centered on spurring job creation on an executive level without going through Congress.

White House Acknowledges Shrinking Workforce

The White House is fully aware that a sharp drop in the total labor force is largely to credit for the fact that the nation’s unemployment rate has fallen below 9 percent.

In a blog post, White House Council of Economic Advisors Chairman Alan Krueger noted that “about half of the drop in unemployment in the household survey was due to a decline in the labor force (-315,000) and about half to employment growth (+278,000).”

Krueger went on to add that although the official national jobless rate is now at 8.6 percent, “the pace of improvement is still not fast enough given the large job losses from the recession that began in December 2007.”

Obama Annoyed By Senate Failure To Extend Tax Cuts

President Obama released the following statement in response to the Senate voting to reject a pair of bills aimed at preserving a payroll tax holiday for businesses and their employees:

“Tonight, Senate Republicans chose to raise taxes on nearly 160 million hardworking Americans because they refused to ask a few hundred thousand millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share.  They voted against a bill that would have not only extended the $1,000 tax cut for a typical family, but expanded that tax cut to put an extra $1,500 in their pockets next year, and given nearly six million small business owners new incentives to expand and hire.  That is unacceptable.  It makes absolutely no sense to raise taxes on the middle class at a time when so many are still trying to get back on their feet.”

“Now is not the time to put the economy and the security of the middle class at risk. Now is the time to rebuild an economy where hard work and responsibility pay off, and everybody has a chance to succeed.  Now is the time to put country before party and work together on behalf of the American people.  And I will continue to urge Congress to stop playing politics with the security of millions of American families and small business owners and get this done.”