United Liberty

If you’ve been decrying the militarization of law enforcement, hold on to your hats boys and girls. because crap just got real.

Senator Barbara Boxer, seeking to be heard in the din of “do something” that has gripped the beltway, trotted out her own idea of how to prevent the Sandy Hook tragedy from ever happening again.  Her brainiac idea?  Bring in the National Guard:

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., proposed using National Guard troops to help make schools across the nation safer and avoid another shooting like last week at Sandy Hook.

“Three hundred million weapons are out there, nothing I know is going to change that. And in the meantime we better — we darn better — keep our kids safe,” Sen. Boxer said at a press conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday. “And if we avoid looking at that question I think we are failing.”

The Save Our Schools Act (SOS) would allow the federal government to reimburse Governors who want to use National Guard troops in schools and is modeled after the National Guard program that allows governors to use the Guard to assist with law enforcement efforts related to drug interdiction activities.

“So we take a successful program and we say we’re going to add a new purpose,” Boxer said. “National guard troops could be used to help support local law enforcement agencies in protecting our children at schools.”

Because really?  What could be more awesome than armed troops in our schools?

Now, if one believes that teachers shouldn’t be armed under any circumstances, why would you want armed troops hanging the school?  After all, a teacher with a concealed carry permit - or even one trained at taxpayer expense - will most likely have their weapon in a very inconspicuous location.

David Zucker, a movie director and producer, is having some fun at Barbara Boxer’s expense. You may remember her telling a Brigadier General during a hearing to call her “Senator” and not “ma’am” because she “worked so hard to get that title. “The video is pretty funny, and includes a cameo by Clint Howard.

Boxer is still ahead in recent polls, though by single-digits, over Carly Fiorina. The race is listed as a “Toss-Up” by Real Clear Politics.

For those of you that don’t remember or don’t know, the health care reform contains an onerous provision that requires businesses to file 1099 forms for expenditures totaling over $600 in a year. The provision is opposed by the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Obama Administration and several members of Congress in tough re-election bids support removing nixing this job killer.

Congress had a second chance to repeal the provision that is part of ObamaCare, and for the second time, they failed. When it first came up in the House, Democrats decided to play games by putting repeal of the requirement in a bill containing tax hikes. Yesterday in the Senate, Democrats did the exact same thing, this time putting the provision in an amendment with a tax hike on oil companies, which would hurt states like Louisiana that depend on that industry for jobs, in the president’s latest gimmick to “create jobs.” You can see how your Senators voted here.

A new poll out of California, conducted by Survey USA, shows Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) trailing Carly Fiorina (R) by 5 points:

The CBS 5 poll, conducted by the research firm SurveyUSA, showed Fiorina edging Boxer 47 percent to 42 percent, compared to a CBS 5 poll one month ago showing Fiorina over Boxer 47 to 45 percent.

The poll results indicated Fiorina’s support was essentially unchanged among men and women, young and old, white and Hispanic while Boxer had lost small ground among men, younger voters, and independents.

The poll also showed Fiorina tripling her lead in the Central Valley, from seven points one month ago to 21 points in this latest poll.

Eleven percent are undecided. Fiorina leads Boxer among independent voters, 49% to 32%, and leads in three of the four regions of the state, the Bay Area is where she trails.

You can read the crosstabs here.

I have to tell you, I’m shocked to read this, but it a Republican can win Ted Kennedy’s old Senate seat, then a Republican can beat Barbara Boxer. Voters are that angry.

Rasmussen Reports released their rankings of United States Senate seats in the 2010 mid-term elections. The rankings show 10 seats up for grabs, six of those being held currently by Democrats.

Listed below are the seats expected to be competitive in November. Not included are Arkansas, Delaware, Indiana and North Dakota, which are all currently held by Democrats but are expected to turn Republican.

Toss-up

• Colorado
• Florida (open)
• Illinois (open)
• North Carolina
• Missouri (open)
• Nevada
• Ohio (open)
• Pennsylvania (open)
• Washington
• Wisconsin

Lean GOP

• Kentucky (open)
• New Hampshire (open)

Lean Dem

David Boaz takes issue with the Washington Post profile of Bernie Sanders. He is the only self-described socialist in the United States Senate. If that’s the case what do you call the 11 Senators that are rated to the left of him by the American Conservative Union?:

In a profile of the poetry-reading chief of staff to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the Washington Post calls Sanders not only “the only socialist in the U.S. Congress,” but also “surely [the Senate’s] most liberal [member].” Surely. I mean, he’s a socialist, right? (And by the way, that isn’t a label that Sanders rejects.)