June 19, 2013

Politics

Crony capitalism: Obama going for gun control with tactic used to pass Obamacare

BY: JOEL GEHRKE JANUARY 5, 2013 | 9:56 PM
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President Obama plans to ally himself with big business once again by using crony capitalist tactics to pass gun control just as he used them to pass Obamacare. In this case, Obama reportedly plans to make sure that the new gun control law benefits big businesses that sell weapons.

“[T]he White House is developing strategies to work around the National Rifle Association that one source said could include rallying support from Wal-Mart and other gun retailers for measures that would benefit their businesses,” The Washington Post reports.

“Wal-Mart and other major gun retailers may have an incentive to support closing a loophole that allows people to bypass background checks if they purchase firearms at gun shows or through other types of private sales,” the Post explained, citing a source who works with the Obama administration on gun issues.

Obama used the same tactic when passing his health care law, when Jim Messina (the White House deputy chief of staff, at the time, who went on to manage the 2012 presidential campaign) negotiated with the drug industry to get them to pay for pro-Obamacare television ads.

In exchange, “drug lobbyists and White House officials crafted the legislation,” as The Washington Examiner’s Tim Carney recalled. “Obama abandoned his campaign promises and pledged to protect the drug industry’s government-granted privileges. The industry also secured subsidies and lengthy government-protected monopolies on biotech drugs.”

 

 

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