that problem, and i m convinced that the only people that should be against this bill is the criminal or the person who wants to be a straw purchaser. one would think so. i would think so. congressman rigell, your party has traditionally sided with the nra. you have reflected you have long been a supporter of then ra. given the comments of people like wayne lapierre who opposes background checks, is it your view, sir, that republicans like yourself are maybe beginning to rethink their allegiance to the gun lobby? well, what we re doing here today i think reflects common sense common ground and what s right for america but does it, sir, reflect republicans like yourself beginning to realize that some of the things that have been coming from the leadership of the nra are simply nonsensical
congressman, your home state of virginia has been cited by mayor michael bloomberg of new york as the source of many of the guns that make their way up the i-95 and onto the strides of new york. according to the atf, in 2011 over 1,700 guns from other states were recovered by law enforcement in maryland alone. 418 of those were from virginia. and virginia ranks in the top five among states that export guns used in crimes. so how would this bill stop the flow of guns into your colleague congressman cummings state? well, martin, this bill is a direct reflection of the wisdom and really the advice and council of our men and women in law enforcement. they re telling us the federal law is insufficient, it s ambiguo ambiguous. they ask us for help, that s why
infrastructure in this country, and to make sure that foundbreaking research in medicine is paid for, to make hour that people have the basic, the college education is affordable. i think you ask phil mickelson to when you tax it s fair to ask phil mickelson to hundred us. when you dirk. at patriotic american i think he would agree. he does not. well 63 crepts on the dollar in taxes. the think that any american who has benefited from living in this wonderful country should be happy to make sure that all americans have a ladder of opportunity. it think that s a good thing. it s 75% fair? i m telling you i have a bill called the balancing act. we close loopholes and we deal with the budget deficit, and we invest in jobs and infrastructure. i didn t bring up mr. mickelson.
our house republican majority stands ready for the president and his party to join us in actually tackling the big problems facing this country. that was mr. eric cantor 6.0-let s turn to representative keith ellison, democrat from the state of minnesota. and to my colleague, joy reid, who is managing editor of thegrio.com. congressman, it seems to me, sir, we have a major collision today. on the one hand, we have speaker boehner and his boys out there purring a bill to balance the budget on the backs of the poor, and now on the other hand we ve got a bill that you are co-sponsoring, the balancing act i believe it s called, that would close upper income tax loopholes and keep nearly 300,000 teachers at work and add 1 million jobs to the economy. have i got that right, sir? you ve got to right. and all we do is close loopholes on the fossil fuel industry, on
infants and children. yes. food grams. yes. they d rather cut things like that than ask rich people for more money? what about meals on wheels, head start. that s what they d like to cut, this is correct. so it s brutal. it s cruel. and it will cause layoffs and we will see economic growth decline, and they re willing to do this just to protect the wealthiest few. and i think it s a moral outrage. i think americans of all stripes ought to stand up and say no. and this is why the progressive caucus members have offered the balancing act. because, you know, there is a way forward. there is a way to address budgetary and gdeficit issues ad invest in our economy. there s a way to protect people who are must vulnerable and to ask people who have been blessed to pony up a little bit more. it s not going to stop them from