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| Eve of US supreme court healthcare ruling – live politics coverage | Eve of US supreme court healthcare ruling – live politics coverage |
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| 10.52am: The NRA's animus against the Obama administration and Eric Holder goes back a long way, despite the lack of any evidence or serious efforts in favour of gun control from either since taking office in 2009. | |
| Salon's Steve Kornacki explains: | |
| The question is why the NRA has decided to emphasize the Holder vote. The group's official explanation, believe it or not, involves conspiracy theory – the idea that the Fast and Furious gun-walking program that led to the death of a border patrol agent in 2010 was actually "a political attack on the 2nd Amendment and that the Justice Department facilitated a crime to further their gun control political agenda." | |
| That was NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre's assertion, and it's been echoed by several Republicans in Congress, including Darrell Issa, the Oversight Committee chairman who has been leading the contempt push. | |
| Reuters notes: | |
| The NRA, one of America's most powerful interest groups, with four million members, has by now invested a year-and-a-half of energy and undetermined sums advancing the congressional investigation of Fast and Furious. | |
| The NRA theory remains only a theory – without proof, and dismissed by an administration spokesman on Tuesday as "absurd." But the NRA's efforts have borne considerable fruit, including the ATF's reassignment of a half dozen or more officials involved in Fast and Furious. | |
| 10.30am: The healthcare decision isn't the only big political event tomorrow. The House of Representatives is to vote on whether to hold US attorney general Eric Holder in contempt over the Fast and Furious investigation – and the National Rifle Association is aiming to turn it into a battle over gun rights. | |
| The NRA – the powerful and feared arm of America's gun lobbyists – has told members of Congress that it will take their vote on Holder's contempt citation into account when compiling its ratings on political candidates, blaming "an anti-gun agenda" by the government and claiming that the White House is using the failed gun-running sting as a vehicle to impose limits on gun sales. | |
| For representatives desperate to maintain a high rating from the NRA, the NRA's move is an attempt to push them to vote for Holder to be held in contempt. Already, Democratic representative Jim Matheson, running for re-election in Utah in a mostly Republican district, has said he will vote for the contempt motion. | |
| The Republican majority in the House meant that Holder was going to be vulnerable but Matheson's decision gives Republicans the opportunity to claim the vote has bipartisan support. | |
| Here's a copy of the NRA's letter sent to Congress [pdf]: | |
| Heightening the NRA's concerns – and requiring our involvement – is the White House's use of this program [Fast and Furious] to advance its gun control agenda. The White House actively sought information from the operation to support its plan to demand reporting of multiple rifle sales by the nearly 9,000 federally licensed firearm dealers in border states. | |
| 10.15am: It's the eve of what promises to be the biggest day in US politics since 2008 as the supreme court delivers its verdict on President Obama's health care reforms. Whichever way the justices fall, it's going to be a big day. | 10.15am: It's the eve of what promises to be the biggest day in US politics since 2008 as the supreme court delivers its verdict on President Obama's health care reforms. Whichever way the justices fall, it's going to be a big day. |
| Meanwhile here's a summary of today's political news from Ryan Devereaux. | |
| A new three-state poll from Quinnipiac University has president Obama slightly ahead of Mitt Romney. In Florida he leads 45% to 41%, Ohio 47% to 38% and Pennsylvania 45% to 39%. On Tuesday a poll from NBC and the Wall Street Journal had registered voters at 47% for Obama and 44% for Romney. | A new three-state poll from Quinnipiac University has president Obama slightly ahead of Mitt Romney. In Florida he leads 45% to 41%, Ohio 47% to 38% and Pennsylvania 45% to 39%. On Tuesday a poll from NBC and the Wall Street Journal had registered voters at 47% for Obama and 44% for Romney. |
| • President Obama will embark on a two-day bus trip through Pennsylvania and Ohio next week, his first of the 2012 election. Road tripping through the two swing states will offer the president an opportunity to meet and greet with supporters who cannot afford to attend the high-dollar fundraisers he's been appearing at lately. | • President Obama will embark on a two-day bus trip through Pennsylvania and Ohio next week, his first of the 2012 election. Road tripping through the two swing states will offer the president an opportunity to meet and greet with supporters who cannot afford to attend the high-dollar fundraisers he's been appearing at lately. |
| • Rick Santorum will be heading back to Iowa next month to hold a pair of "thank you" events. Iowa was key to launching Santorum's bid for president. The events will be sponsored by the Super Pac that supported him, the Red, White and Blue Fund. | • Rick Santorum will be heading back to Iowa next month to hold a pair of "thank you" events. Iowa was key to launching Santorum's bid for president. The events will be sponsored by the Super Pac that supported him, the Red, White and Blue Fund. |
| • New York assembly member Grace Meng won the Democratic nomination for outgoing Representative Gary Ackerman's district last night. The victory puts Meng on track to become New York City's first ever Asian-American member of Congress. In other results, long-time New York congressman Charlie Rangel held onto his seat in Tuesday's primaries, while city councilman Hakeem Jeffries handily defeated the controversial Charles Barron by nearly 42 percentage points to be the Democratic nominee for New York's eighth district. In Utah's GOP run-off primary, Senator Orrin Hatch easily defeated Tea Party challenger Dan Liljenquist by 33 points. Meanwhile in Colorado, Doug Lamborn defeated Robert Blaha, 62% to 38%. | • New York assembly member Grace Meng won the Democratic nomination for outgoing Representative Gary Ackerman's district last night. The victory puts Meng on track to become New York City's first ever Asian-American member of Congress. In other results, long-time New York congressman Charlie Rangel held onto his seat in Tuesday's primaries, while city councilman Hakeem Jeffries handily defeated the controversial Charles Barron by nearly 42 percentage points to be the Democratic nominee for New York's eighth district. In Utah's GOP run-off primary, Senator Orrin Hatch easily defeated Tea Party challenger Dan Liljenquist by 33 points. Meanwhile in Colorado, Doug Lamborn defeated Robert Blaha, 62% to 38%. |