Here is a sample of what is fed to the masses.
The New York Times
March 8, 2004
Senator From the N.R.A.
Editorial
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/08/opinion/08MON2.html
After hard politicking on both sides, the Senate last week defeated a bill
that would have granted immunity from civil lawsuits to gun makers, dealers
and industry "trade associations," defined in terms that might be read to
include the National Rifle Association. The chief sponsor of this gift to
the gun lobby was Senator Larry Craig, Republican of Idaho, who sits on the
N.R.A.'s board of directors in addition to his day job as a federal
lawmaker.
Mr. Craig's bill showed disdain for crime victims and public safety. Beyond
that, his shameless attempt to create a special exemption from legal
liability for gun interests closely aligned with the N.R.A., and potentially
the N.R.A. itself, amounts to an apparent conflict of interest warranting
scrutiny by the Senate Ethics Committee. An ethics complaint filed recently
by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence correctly notes that while
senators may serve on the board of an outside organization, they may not use
their official position to promote legislation that benefits, or even
appears to benefit, that group.
The more-or-less moribund House ethics committee no longer accepts
complaints from the public. But it, too, has a duty to address this issue,
given that two Republican representatives, Don Young of Alaska and Barbara
Cubin of Wyoming, serve on the N.R.A. board with Mr. Craig, and served as
sponsors of an immunity measure approved by the House last April.
The New York Times
March 8, 2004
Senator From the N.R.A.
Editorial
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/08/opinion/08MON2.html
After hard politicking on both sides, the Senate last week defeated a bill
that would have granted immunity from civil lawsuits to gun makers, dealers
and industry "trade associations," defined in terms that might be read to
include the National Rifle Association. The chief sponsor of this gift to
the gun lobby was Senator Larry Craig, Republican of Idaho, who sits on the
N.R.A.'s board of directors in addition to his day job as a federal
lawmaker.
Mr. Craig's bill showed disdain for crime victims and public safety. Beyond
that, his shameless attempt to create a special exemption from legal
liability for gun interests closely aligned with the N.R.A., and potentially
the N.R.A. itself, amounts to an apparent conflict of interest warranting
scrutiny by the Senate Ethics Committee. An ethics complaint filed recently
by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence correctly notes that while
senators may serve on the board of an outside organization, they may not use
their official position to promote legislation that benefits, or even
appears to benefit, that group.
The more-or-less moribund House ethics committee no longer accepts
complaints from the public. But it, too, has a duty to address this issue,
given that two Republican representatives, Don Young of Alaska and Barbara
Cubin of Wyoming, serve on the N.R.A. board with Mr. Craig, and served as
sponsors of an immunity measure approved by the House last April.