U.S. Politics

During its national convention held in Houston, Texas, over the weekend, the National Rifle Association asked a vendor to take down a mannequin target that shared the likeness of President Barack Obama.

The vendor, Zombie Industries, sells "life-sized tactical mannequin" targets that "bleed" when they are shot. Some of the other mannequins that were on display for sale at the NRA convention included a clown, a Nazi, and a "terrorist".

A Zombie Industries spokesperson told BuzzFeed.com:

"Someone from the NRA came by and asked us to remove it. They thought it looked too much like President Obama."

When the worker was asked if the resemblance to the President was intentional, he told BuzzFeed:

"Let's just say I gave my Republican father one for Christmas."

On May 1st, Ohio House Republicans introduced three bills aimed at making Ohio a "right-to-work" state. In the same week, however, Republicans in the state Senate quickly abandoned any such anti-union notions just hours after the House bills were introduced, killing the effort for fear it would aid Democrats in 2014.

Republicans in Ohio already tried to attack unions with the infamous Senate Bill 5 in 2011, a move that was widely rejected and overturned by Ohio voters who voted to repeal the law. Even Governor John Kasich, who strongly supported union-busting in the past, won't go there anymore for fear he could be pushed out of office in 2014.

On Thursday, Republican Senate President Keith Faber of Celina all but killed the issue when he issued a statement saying that he does not think that there is support for the issue in the General Assembly, and that bringing the issue up only serves to "generate a bunch of breathless fundraising appeals from the Ohio Democratic Party."

Not deterred by Ohio voters' opposition and repeal of the infamous Senate Bill 5 that attacked workers rights, two Statehouse Republicans are preparing to propose legislation that would make Ohio a right-to-work state.

On Tuesday, Representatives Ron Maag (R-Lebanon) and Kristina Roegner (R-Hudson) sent separate letters to House lawmakers requesting co-sponsorship for a pair of bills that they are calling the "Workplace Freedom" legislation.

The two bills are expected to be introduced on Wednesday, and the lawmakers have said that they want to make Ohio the 25th right-to-work state in the U.S.

According to the letters, the sister bills would ban public and private employers from forcing workers to join or pay dues to unions or other employee organizations. Maag's bill focuses on the public sector, while Roegner's targets the private sector.

Responding to the solicitations for support for these two proposals, House Minority Leader Armond Budish (D-Beachwood) said in a statement:

"Clearly the extremists in the Republican Party didn't get the message when Ohioans overwhelmingly rejected these attacks on workers' rights in 2011. We stand ready to fight these attacks on Ohio's middle class again. So-called right to work means fewer rights, not more, for working Ohioans."

A letter sent to Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker tested positive for the poisonous substance ricin, and initial testing also reveals that ricin was included in a letter addressed to President Barack Obama.

Several U.S. Senators have confirmed that they have receive suspicious letters, with at least one addressed to Senator Roger Wicker confirmed as having included the poisonous substance ricin. The Secret Service is also investigating a letter that was sent to President Barack Obama, which they state that initial testing reveals also contained ricin.

Ricin, which is derives from the castor bean plant, is considered to be the most poisonous, naturally occurring substance. The bean part of the plant is what is poisonous to humans, animals, and insects. The "mash" from the processing of castor beans is ricin, which can be a powder, a mist, or a pellet. It can also be dissolved in water or a weak acid.

A letter mailed to Sen. Wicker that was postmarked in Memphis was intercepted at an off-site Capitol mail facility, and was found to contain a "white granular substance". The letter was quarantined before preliminary test showed that the substance was ricin. The letter has been sent to the FBI for further investigation. A suspect has been identified.

A second suspicious package was received on Wednesday morning at the Washington D.C. offices of Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). A spokesman for the senator says that the package is being investigated by Capitol Police. It is not yet know if it was similar to the one addressed to Wicker and Obama, which contained ricin.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) reversed his position on a ban on military-style assault weapons, coming out in favor of such a ban during a floor speech on Wednesday.

This represents a major reversal for Reid which came only hours before votes were slated to begin on amendments to the gun legislation. Speaking before the Senate, Reid said on Wednesday:

“We can and should make the same common sense approach to safeguard Americans from modern weapons of war, assault weapons. That’s why I will vote for Dianne Feinstein’s assault weapons ban, because we must strike a better balance between the right to defend ourselves and the right of every child in America to grow up safe from gun violence.

I’ll vote for the ban because maintaining the law and order is more important than satisfying conspiracy theories who [believe in] black helicopters and false flags."

The assault weapons ban had been stripped out of the base legislation, but will be voted on as an amendment. The National Rifle Association strongly opposes the measure, and the amendment is expected to fail.

In 2004 when the assault weapons ban expired, Reid had voted against renewing it.

ON Tuesday afternoon,however, Reid signaled that his views had been changed by the string of mass shootings in recent years. Reid also said on Wednesday that protecting police officers and innocent victims is "more important than preventing imaginary tyranny." Reid added:

“The United States military is not out to get us. Federal law enforcement, local police departments are not out to get us. These conspiracy theories are dangerous and they should be put to rest.”

Over the weekend, former President Bill Clinton hinted that his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, may in fact run for president in 2016.

During a Q&A session on Saturday in St. Louis, Missouri, Clinton was asked if he would rather take eight more years as president or complete 16 projects at the Clinton Global Initiative. His response was:

‘I would rather keep doing what I'm doing. Because I think America will have some very good choices for president."

Some suggest that this comment was a hint that his wife would run in 2016, despite having been pretty non-committal to date.

Congress is currently considering legislation that would help curb the act of "showrooming", which is when a customer goes into a brick-and-mortar store to check out products and prices and then later goes online to actually order the product to find a cheaper price and avoid paying sales tax. Ohio retailers argue that they cannot compete with online retailers who aren't required to charge sales tax, and are now encouraging Congress to close the tax loophole.

Both Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rob Portman (R-OH) voted in favor of a Senate proposal that would allow states to collect sales tax for online purchases made from out-of-state retailers. The proposal, which is called the Marketplace Fairness Act, was added in as a part of the budget debate in March.

Portman's spokeswoman, Caitlin Dunn, commented:

“Sen. Portman believes that our tax system should be neutral."

Meanwhile, Meghan Dubyak, a spokeswoman for Brown, says that the proposal would "create a level playing field for Ohio businesses," adding:

“All business should be treated the same – whether they do business at a storefront or on the Internet."

On Monday, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) made a stop at a Boardman, Ohio, diner to announce his plans to promote his legislation calling for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. On Tuesday, Sen. Brown also stopped by Bowling Green State University to discuss his proposed hike in the minimum wage. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 would raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour in three steps, and would also provide the first minimum wage increase to tipped employees in over two decades.

Currently about 1.3 million Ohioans earn the minimum wage of $7.85 an hour, and 80 percent of them are adults.

The last time that Congress approved an increase in the federal minimum wage was in 2007 when it was raised from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour.

The United States' most influential pediatrician's group - The American Academy of Pediatricians - says that gays and lesbians should be allowed to marry in order to help ensure the health and well-being of their children.

The AAP published their new policy online on Thursday, and in it the doctors cite research that shows that the parents' sexual orientation has no effect on a child's development. The academy says that children fare just as well in gay or straight families when they are nurturing and financially and emotionally stable, and believes that a two-parent marriage is best equipped to provide such an environment.

The AAP's policy states that if a child has two gay parents who choose to marry, "it is in the best interests of their children that legal and social institutions allow and support them to do so."

The policy also cites reports which indicate that nearly 2 million U.S. children are being raised by gay parents, many of which are in states that do not permit gays to marry.

The AAP announced its position on the issue of gay marriage on Thursday, with officials from the group stating that they wanted to make the academy's views known prior to two gay marriage cases being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court next week.

The American Federation of Government Employees are holding a rally to end the on March 20th to protest the sequester. They will focus on workers losing their jobs, communities impacted, small businesses jeopardized.

In Cleveland, the union will rally in front of the Federal Building on East 9th from 12:00-2:00 pm.