Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of August 27, 2013. Give me your feedback below and tune in to The Chad Hasty Show for these and many more topics from 8:30 to 11am. Remember, you can listen online at KFYO.com or on your iPhone/Android with the radioPup App.

Scott Olson, Getty Images
Scott Olson, Getty Images
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1. Gun Tax (link)

A pair of Democrats and probably more than that want to raise taxes on guns and ammo. Why? In order to make the world a safer place.

A pair of Democratic lawmakers are proposing steep new taxes on handguns and ammunition, and tying the revenues to programs aimed at preventing gun violence.

Called the “Gun Violence Prevention and Safe Communities Act," the bill sponsored by William Pascrell, D-N.J., and Danny Davis, D-Ill., would nearly double the current 11 percent tax on handguns, while raising the levy on bullets and cartridges from 11 percent to 50 percent.

"This bill represents a major investment in the protection of our children and our communities, and reflects the long-term societal costs of gun and ammunition purchases in our country,” Pascrell said.

The lawmakers say the bill would generate $600 million per year, which would be used to fund law-enforcement and gun violence prevention.

Critics predicted defeat for the measure.

“What the anti-gun interests can’t ban, they want to tax it out of existence,” Alan Gottlieb, chairman for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, told FoxNews.com. “It’s nothing more than confiscatory taxation.

“I doubt this bill will pass, but we will lobby against it if need be,” he added. “This is simply another shot against gun owners in this country.”

The bill would exempt all federal, state and local agencies, including police departments, from paying the tax.

The bill would also increase the transfer tax on all weapons (except antique guns) covered under the National Firearms Act (which excludes most common guns) from $200 to $500 and index to inflation and  increase the transfer tax for any other weapon from $5 to $100.

The amendment will be voted upon when the House returns for the new session in the fall.

Davis, who represents a portion of Chicago which has been ravaged by gun violence in recent years, said money raised from the new taxes will go to good use.

"This legislation is a pro-active approach to reducing gun violence by using proven preventive programs which have been starved for funds until now," Davis said. "As part of a comprehensive, multidimensional strategy to reduce gun violence, this legislation closes major loopholes in tax law and lays out an equitable, long term, sustainable strategy to provide the requisite resources.”

No way this passes, but it serves as a reminder that the Democrat's war on guns will continue.

2. Syria (link)

Secretary of State John Kerry says that Chemical Weapons were used against the Syrian people. The question going forward is what should the U.S. response be? Should the U.S. even get involved?

Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that the use of chemical weapons in attacks on civilians in Syria last week was undeniable and that the Obama administration would hold the Syrian government accountable for what he called a “moral obscenity” that had shocked the world’s conscience.

In some of the most strident language used yet by the administration, Mr. Kerry accused the Syrian government of cynically seeking to cover up the use of the weapons, and he rejected its denial of responsibility for what he called a “cowardly crime.”

Mr. Kerry’s remarks, in a prepared statement he read at the State Department, reinforced the administration’s toughening stance on the Syria conflict, which is now well into its third year, and he suggested that the White House was moving closer to a military response in consultation with America’s allies.

“The indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity,” Mr. Kerry said.

“By any standard, it is inexcusable,” he said. “And despite the excuses and equivocations that some have manufactured, it is undeniable.”

Mr. Kerry also said the Syrian government’s refusal to allow immediate access to the attack sites last Wednesday was a telling indicator that it was trying to hide responsibility. Even though a United Nations team was finally permitted by the Syrian government to investigate starting Monday, he said, the government’s authorization was “to late” to be credible.

“Our sense of basic humanity is offended not only by this cowardly crime but also by the cynical attempt to cover it up,” he said.

What do you think the United States should do here? Airstrikes? Removal of the current government? Should the U.S. even get involved or should we let Syria solve their own problems?

3. Due to Obamacare, Covenant Lays Off Employees  (link)

Obamacare strikes again.

Some Covenant Health System employees have been laid off from the hospital system.

According to Covenant Health System, the organization has reduced their staff by 49 people due to reductions in reimbursement from the Affordable Care Act, sequestration cuts to Medicare funding, and other payment reductions.

The system employs approximately 5,400 staff members across the South Plains, and they say that the organization will try to find other positions for employees affected by the reductions.

“Covenant Health is financially stable, but the changes we’ve experienced thus far and will continue to undergo are the direct result of reduced reimbursements and our efforts to make affordable health care services available in our community going forward,” said Richard Parks, executive vice president and CEO of Covenant Health.

Covenant Health also says that they will offer severance packages for some that were laid off, and outplacement services to help those former employees find new positions.

Obamacare must be defunded.

Other Top Stories:

These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show. Tune in mornings 8:30-11am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard online in our podcast section after the show at kfyo.com.

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