Coburn Embraces Gun-Clinging Tea Partiers

Flickr/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/senate_democrats/">Senate Democrats</a> (Creative Commons)

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


At “question time” last week, President Obama called for an end to reckless and bitter partisanship. Rejecting this idea, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) will attach a set of gun rights amendments to must-pass appropriations bills to make Democrats who oppose such measures appear out of step with the public, Roll Call reports. But it’s unclear whether these amendments will achieve their desired effect.

An October Gallup poll, for example, found that only 12 percent of respondents favor making gun laws less strict, compared with 44 percent who support stricter regulations. And even Republican propaganda guru Frank Luntz says that the gun-rights culture war has been blown out of proportion. Luntz and Democratic Mayor of Milwaukee Tom Barrett wrote in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last month that even some of the most fervent gun rights advocates support stricter safety laws. Dennis Henigan, vice president of the Brady Center, explains the political odd couple’s argument for the Huffington Post:

For example, 69% of self-described NRA members, and 86% of gun owners who do not belong to the NRA, support closing the “gun show loophole,” by extending Brady Law background checks to private sales at gun shows. As Luntz and Barrett say, “the poll also found support among NRA members and other gun owners for numerous other policies to strengthen safety, security and law enforcement,” including blocking gun sales to persons on the terrorist watch list, requiring gun owners to report lost and stolen guns, and providing more crime gun data to local police

So more than a ploy to make Democrats take unpopular positions on guns, Coburn’s bills are another sign of the growing Tea Party takeover of the GOP. “Patriot” groups like the Three Percenters and the American Resistance Movement are petrified that Obama plans to nix the second amendment and take their guns away. And Coburn intends to cater to these groups to impair Democratic priorities amidst a massive deficit, mounting unemployment rate, and continuing recession.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate