Outgunned

The assault weapons ban was taken out of the gun control bill in the Senate. The magazine limit was taken out of the gun control bill. And then, the proposal to expand background checks beyond licensed gun dealers got 54 votes. . . and thus failed because you need at least 60 votes to pass anything in the Senate. Commentators have suggested that the gun bill is in trouble. What's left in it???

The expanded background checks were the only reform mentioned above that had any chance of passing because Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, NRA supporters both, crafted it and insisted it did not prevent law-abiding citizens from owning firearms. But the NRA was having none of that.

Having struck out three times against the gun lobby, a disappointed President Obama used another sports metaphor, calling today's votes on amendments to the gun control bill the first round. Yeah, like the Ali-Liston fight of 1965.

Does Congress pass anything anymore? Yes - a provision of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act requiring high-ranking federal employees to disclose their financial information online in the interest of allowing transparency and easy enforcement of the law was recently repealed . . . with bipartisan support.

I give up. I don't understand why I should expect anything worthwhile from Washington.