DOJ Proposes Merging ATF with DEA in Major Shakeup: What It Means for Gun Owners

Liberty Doll

Reuters.com reports that, in line with President Trump’s plan to streamline the federal government, the Justice Department is weighing a historic merger between two of its most controversial agencies: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

DOJ Proposes Merging ATF with DEA in Major Shakeup: What It Means for Gun Owners

Wisconsin Supreme Court Race Breaks Spending Record, Fueled by Out-of-State Money

Wisconsin Supreme Court Race Breaks Spending Record, Fueled by Out-of-State Money

The two campaigns and their supportive outside spenders have already spent more than $73 million, and the rate of spending is likely to ramp up even more in the final week.

Crawford’s campaign spending of $19.4 million is more than double that of Schimel’s $8.9 million. (These figures are based on estimates of television ad spending, and candidate filings due this week will paint a fuller picture of their fundraising and spending.) But independent groups like super PACs and nonprofits spending untraceable “dark money” favor Schimel by a much larger margin: $12.9 million benefiting Crawford compared with almost $32.1 million boosting Schimel.

Two of the biggest spenders in the race, the Schimel-boosting America PAC and a group called Building America’s Future, have spent over $14.3 million, which is nearly one dollar for every five spent in the contest. Elon Musk has provided almost all the funding for America PAC. While Building America’s Future doesn’t reveal its donors, Musk is reportedly a major funder.

Schimel is also supported by $4.3 million from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, an industry dark money group; $4 million from Fair Courts America, a national group with ties to conservative megadonor Richard Uihlein of Illinois; $3.2 million from Americans for Prosperity, a libertarian group affiliated with Koch Industries; and $1.8 million from the Republican State Leadership Committee.

Crawford’s biggest independent support includes $6.2 million in expenditures by A Better Wisconsin Together, a state group with major donations from Wisconsin philanthropist Lynde Uihlein (a cousin of Richard Uihlein) as well as national liberal groups. The ACLU Voter Education Fund also spent $1 million boosting Crawford. In addition, liberal megadonor George Soros gave $1 million to the state Democratic party, which supports Crawford.

Related:

SourceWatch: Fair Courts America

Billionaires fight for control of Wisconsin Supreme Court

[2008] When the Left Was Right

The ghosts of 1968 are haunting Barack Obama, which is tremendously unfair, I say as his coeval, given that our cohort spent the Chicago Democratic Convention sticking baseball cards in our bicycle spokes rather than pelting Mayor Daley’s finest with porcine epithets. But guilt by association is ironclad in these days when American political discourse is controlled by hall monitors and tattletales. Obama’s friendship—acquaintance?—with Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn is about to get extended play as the Republicans contrast Obama’s Weatherfriends with their nominee’s stint in the Hanoi Hilton.

When the Left Was Right

Mexican drug cartels pay Americans to smuggle weapons across the border, intelligence documents show

Mexican drug cartels have been smuggling a vast arsenal of even military-grade weapons out of the U.S. with the help of American citizens, a CBS Reports investigation has found.

Mexican drug cartels pay Americans to smuggle weapons across the border, intelligence documents show

Related:

Documents: ATF used “Fast and Furious” to make the case for gun regulations

Rifle Capable of Taking Down a Helicopter, Found in El Chapo’s House – Guess Who Gave it to Him

Operation Fast and Furious: The Forgotten History of the ATF’s Notorious Gunwalking Scandal

Fast & Furious Gun Found At Mexican Beauty Queen Murder Scene