Chad’s Morning Brief: New Performing Arts Center for Lubbock? Gun Vote Coming Soon, & More
Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of April 10, 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.
1. New Performing Arts Center? (link)
An $85 million dollar performing arts center could be heading to Lubbock. Yesterday the Lubbock Entertainment and Performing Arts Association (created by the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce) announced plans for the project. The new center would be located at Ave. L and the Marsha Sharp Freeway.
So far the organization has raised $20 million dollars. Members of the association would like to see construction begin by early 2014, but that all depends on funding. According to the AJ, the association says they want the center to be privately funded.
I wish this organization luck in raising the money they need to build a new performing arts center. I am glad they are wanting to fund this project privately and I think in the long run, they will be glad it's privately funded as well. As soon as this is built, I hope the citizens of Lubbock will vote to return the City Bank Auditorium to Texas Tech.
2. Thursday Test Vote (link)
Harry Reid is gearing up for a test vote on Thursday over new gun regulations. According to FOX News, Democratic leaders are hoping to get 60 votes to prevent a Republican filibuster.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid is teeing up a Thursday test vote on sweeping new gun regulations, as supporters ratchet up efforts to pressure wavering lawmakers in the face of mounting roadblocks from conservatives.
Democratic leaders are hoping to build a bipartisan coalition strong enough to overcome Republican threats to filibuster, which would require 60 votes to proceed. But Reid acknowledged Thursday he's not sure if Democrats have enough support to advance the legislation.
"If they don't help me invoke cloture on this bill, we're going to vote on these things anyway," Reid said Tuesday. "It will take a little bit of time but as I've said for months now, the American people deserve a vote on background checks, on federal trafficking, on safety in school, on the size of clips, and on, yes, assault weapons."
Cloture is the Washington word for overcoming a filibuster and, in this case, proceeding to debate on the bill.
At least 14 Republican senators have threatened to filibuster the bill, complaining it would curb the rights of the law-abiding while doing little to reduce crime. "The more people learn about the consequences of current gun control proposals, the less they will support the new restrictions," Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said.
If Lee and his colleagues follow through, Reid would need at least a handful of Republicans on board for Thursday's test vote. Fox News confirms that at least seven Republicans have said they would not join the filibuster. While there are 55 members in the Democratic caucus, Reid could lose some moderate Democrats -- meaning Thursday's vote will be close. Even if Reid overcomes that hurdle, it's unclear whether he could again marshal that support to approve the legislation.
The Republicans who are scared to filibuster should be ashamed of themselves. They aren't the only ones who should be ashamed though. The White House, President Obama, and other Democrats who have paraded around the families of the Newtown, CT shootings should all be ashamed. The Democrats are taking advantage of people and trying to make the general public fall for emotional issues.
3. Texans on Concealed Carry (link)
Should it take less time to get your CHL in Texas? It may surprise you, but most Texans say no.
While it is no surprise to find that Texans tend to be more conservative when it comes to federal gun control measures (the one major exception is the expansion of background checks, though support in Texas lags behind national levels of support), Texans are also conservative in another, more literal sense — expressing caution toward change when it comes to proposals seeking to reduce the requirements to carry a concealed handgun.
We asked respondents their opinions on many local and national gun control proposals in our February 2013 University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Although their attitudes were, for the most part, ideologically conservative, one major exception came when we asked whether they supported or opposed “reducing the existing requirements for carrying a concealed handgun” — the crux of HB 47. Fifty-nine percent expressed opposition, with more than 70 percent of those expressing opposition doing so strongly.
The desire to leave current law unchanged was not limited to Democrats (73 percent of whom opposed reducing the requirements); 48 percent of Republicans were in opposition, 6 points more than those in support.
What are your thoughts on the issue?
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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