#nobillnobreak--no kidding!

Good Friday morning, everyone.  Got a little off schedule with some other activities but found some time for a post this morning.

I’m going to start by saying that I wholeheartedly approve of the #NoBillNoBreak sit-in that occurred in the House of Representatives.  The National Rifle Association has such a stranglehold on anything related to gun control via its massive amount of political contribution to many, MANY candidates that something had to give, and we have Congressman John Lewis, who has certainly “been there, done that,” to thank for helping get the effort going.  I was like many who watched the entire story unfold on social media and marveled at the solidarity shown by so many Democratic members of both the House and Senate.  Of course, the entire House is running for reelection and many Senators are, too, so it’s never a bad thing to show how hard you’re fighting for your consitituents.

I am also appalled that House Speaker Paul Ryan (you know, the one who didn’t even WANT to be Speaker) referred to the sit-in as a stunt and swore he would not allow it to keep the House from doing the people’s business.  If memory serves, that “business” involved attempting to override a Presidential veto on a bill that would have allowed financial advisors to avoid regulation, and the override effort was unsuccessful.  Ryan gaveled the House back into session shortly afterward (and in the middle of the night) in order to adjourn it until after the July 4 holiday.

I see this morning that Ryan feels the need to affirm that our country will continue to be an ally to Great Britain in the wake of that nation’s vote yesterday to secede from the European Union.  In my view, that is the role and responsibility of the President, and not the Speaker of the House.

Speaking of what has been called “Brexit,” I’m concerned about what this vote does to the long-term stability of the world economy, but it also appears that this would not take effect for some time.  From what I’ve read this morning, the vote to leave the Union carried mostly from areas of England outside of London.  The fallout has only now begun, so it will probably be a while before we really see the total effect of this move clearly.

Totally separate note—I have received several calls in the last week informing me that I have been selected to receive a federal government grant for nearly $10,000.  The call always originates from a call center populated by heavily accented agents and they start out by asking for information about me, always a dead giveaway that it’s a scam.  Slightly tempting, of course, but not so tempting to make me lose my sense of suspicion!