That's the quote you'll see in the inevitable Democratic attack ads, anyway.  During a post-Florida victory lap interview on CNN, Romney attempted to explain that his focus as president would be to restore economic prosperity for America's battered middle class -- but in doing so, he handed the Left a ready-made soundbyte to slice and exploit:
 

Within the full context of the quote, Romney's point is fairly harmless.  He's saying that the most indigent among us already have a generous safety net on which to fall back (welfare, SCHIP, Medicaid, etc), and that very well-off citizens are doing just fine on their own.  In other words, this was a terribly ham-fisted effort at talking about improving most Americans' lives by trimming government and liberating private enterprise to create jobs.  But while sites like this one -- and even some mainstream news outlets -- will quote Romney in context, Democrats will feel no such obligation.  Their commitment to the truth has been well documented.  As the borderline-prohibitive frontrunner, Romney needs to avoid waltzing into totally unforced rhetorical errors like his "not concerned" quote.  This latest episode should concern his campaign because isn't an isolated incident. 

Last year, Romney joked that he, too, was "unemployed." It was an awkward attempt to be funny, but it probably wasn't all that amusing for genuinely unemployed people, coming from a multi-millionare.  During a December debate in Iowa, Romney tried to lure Rick Perry into a $10,000 bet over a minor disagreement.  It was cringe-worthy.  And just last month, Romney made the entirely uncontroversial statement that he enjoys having the option of dumping a service provider over poor performance, but he phrased it in such a way that included the snippet, "I like being able to fire people."  Just like his gaffe this morning, the substance of that comment was innocuous; it was the way he framed it that flung open the doors of demagoguery.  Mitt Romney's enormous wealth is not a liability for his campaign in and of itself.  (He gives prodigious amounts of money to charity, which belies any suggestion that he actually doesn't care about the poor).  But how Romney discusses economic issues in light of his own affluence really does matter.  Fair or not, optics are consequential in our political system.  Democrats' entire strategy against Romney, if he's the nominee, is to beat the class warfare drum loudly and relentlessly to try to drown out President Obama's demonstrable failures.  There's nothing that Team Romney can do to prevent Democrats from employing this cynical strategy, but their candidate should consciously avoid making his opponents' job any easier.

UPDATE - Mark Steyn has a bone to pick with Romney's premise, not his phraseology:
 

Romney’s is a benevolent patrician’s view of society: The poor are incorrigible, but let’s add a couple more groats to their food stamps and housing vouchers, and they’ll stay quiet. Aside from the fact that that kind of thinking has led the western world to near terminal insolvency, for a candidate whose platitudinous balderdash of a stump speech purports to believe in the most Americanly American America that any American has ever Americanized over, it’s as dismal a vision of permanent trans-generational poverty as any Marxist community organizer with a cozy sinecure on the Acorn board would come up with.

After half-a-century of evidence, what sort of “conservative” offers the poor the Even Greater Society? I don’t know how “electable” Mitt is, but, even if he is, the greater danger, given the emptiness of his campaign to date, is that he’ll be elected with no real mandate for the course correction the Brokest Nation in History urgently needs...

As usual, Steyn makes an incisive and crucial point.

Odd question?

Well yesterday Daniel Burke’s article in the Washington Post titled, “Will Mormons’ racial history be a problem for Mitt Romney?” tried to tarnish Romney with the brush of past discrimination in the Mormon priesthood.  Burke states that “Until 1978, the LDS church banned men of African descent from its priesthood.”  But ifthe actions of others in a group you belong to reflect on you then should Obama be tainted with the racial bigotry of the Democratic Party.  For none other than Bull Connor was a Democrat and the history of many elected Democratic who were historically significant racists is well documented and was tolerated by their party.   Bull Connor was also a member of the Democratic National Committee.   That’s the governing board of the national Democratic Party, the one currently chaired by Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Not sure if Mr.Burke’s guilt by association would have painted President Kennedy as anti-women’s rights given that the Catholic Church won’t allow women in the priesthood.   But my guess is Mr. Burke and the Washington Post would find an excuse to hold a different standard for Democrats.

Anyway, this is clearly the angel the progressive Main Stream Media will work in the months ahead.  Get ready for Obama surrogates like Chris Matthews to push this theme.  Come to think of it Mr. Burke, isn’t Chris Matthews one of those anti-women Catholics?

This post was authored by Gwilym McGrew

As I chronicled over the weekend, Massachusetts U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren is under scrutiny for asserting on national television last week she was not a wealthy individual. According to her Personal Financial Disclosure form, however, the erstwhile Harvard professor is worth at least $14.5 million and owns a $5 million home. Quite rightly, the Republican Party of Massachusetts has a released a devastating new campaign ad drawing attention to her asinine comments and reminding voters just how out-of-touch she is.

Incidentally, instead of lying to Bay State voters, Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) is actually introducing legislation on their behalf.

Joining a bipartisan group of lawmakers, Sen. Scott Brown today urged his colleagues to swiftly pass legislation that would make it a crime for members of Congress to use privileged information to make financial investments.

The Massachusetts Republican has championed the so-called Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, or STOCK Act, designed to address rising concerns that members of Congress may be engaging in insider trading while investing in the stock market and real estate deals.

“Members of Congress have to live by the same laws as everyone else,” Brown said at a Capitol Hill press conference this afternoon. “This is a good, strong start to closing our deficit of trust with the American people.”

Last week Brown took President Obama aside after the State of the Union address to ask him to intervene with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to give the bill a full vote in the Democratic-controlled chamber. The move seems to have paid off. Last night the Senate voted 93 to 2 to proceed to a full vote.

“I’m glad he was able to give the majority leader a little nudge,” Brown said today of his exchange with the president.

In remarks on the Senate floor last night, Brown explained why he believes the legislation is so important to rebuild the tattered reputation of Congress.

“The American people have lost faith,” Brown said. “They think too many members of Congress have come to Washington to make themselves rich.”

The moment in question comes at the tail end of Rush Limbaugh's Tuesday program as he shares some parting thoughts before election night.  Listen as Rush takes a shot at Gingrich over global warming just before walking right up to the endorsement line on Santorum's behalf.  Did he cross that threshold?  You decide (via The Blaze):
 

"Nobody is innocent.  Everybody is guilty of some transgression somewhere against conservatism, except...Santorum.  See you tomorrow."

As for Santorum's blemish-free political record, RedState's Erick Erickson would beg to differ, as would Santorum endorser Michelle Malkin:
 

He lost his Senate re-election bid in 2006, an abysmal year for conservatives. He was a go-along, get-along Big Government Republican in the Bush era. He supported No Child Left Behind, the prescription drug benefit entitlement, steel tariffs, and earmarks and outraged us movement conservatives by endorsing RINO Arlen Specter over stalwart conservative Pat Toomey.

Within the context of the overall race, I took Rush's point to be that Rick Santorum's ideological heresies pale in comparison to Romney and Gingrich's.  So here's my question: If he believes the former Senator's conservative credentials are clearly superior to his rivals', why did El Rushbo hold off until (literally) the very last second to unambiguously state that opinion?  By the time he uttered those words at 2:59pm ET yesterday, the vast majority of votes in Florida had already been cast, so the pronouncement was unlikely to (and didn't) make much of an impact.  Could Rush be setting the table for a longer-haul fight, wherein Santorum supplants Newt as the leading Not Romney?  Newt certainly hasn't gotten that memo.  I know the powerful radio host has said he's intentionally staying neutral to help him remain objective on the air, but he also said he planned to vote in the Florida primary.  In light of his comment at the end of Tuesday's broadcast, is there any doubt that he voted for Santorum, or am I totally overblowing the comment?  If I were on Team Santorum, I'd be turning that soundbyte into radio and television ads today.  Tick tock.

Just one day after telling a woman it was "interesting" that her engineer husband is unemployed, Barack Obama, his wife and his vice president went on a five stop fundraising blitz where he raised around $5.3 million. He ended the day full of fundraising events with an event at the St. Regis in D.C. Ticket cost? The cheap seats started at 35,800.

President Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are all stumping for cash at fundraisers today – expected to raise at least $5.3 million combined for Democrats and the president for the 2012 campaign.

Obama will mingle with 50 supporters at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington tonight, where tickets start at $35,800 per person, a campaign official told ABC News.  Then he’ll attend a fundraising dinner at a private residence in Chevy Chase, Md., with 70 guests. Tickets are $35,800 per couple for the exclusive event as well.

Meanwhile, both Michelle Obama and Biden have been outside Washington, delivering their re-election pitches on the road.

The first lady will spend the evening fundraising at a private residence in Beverly Hills, Calif., with 135 supporters each contributing $5,000 or more to the Obama Victory Fund. (She is also taping an episode of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” that will air tonight.)

Biden traveled to Texas to collect checks, first stopping at the Historic Hilton in Fort Worth, where 200-plus guests paid $5,000 each to see him speak. He later hosted an event at the Billy Hall Bend Ranch in Dekalb with 20 supporters. Tickets there began at $35,800 per person.

All money raised benefits the Obama Victory Fund, a joint account that funnels cash to both Obama for America and the Democratic National Committee.

TAMPA, FL - Mitt Romney claimed a massive prize tonight, winning Florida's closed (registered Republicans only) primary election by a robust double-digit margin.  The former Massachusetts governor battled a faltering voice during his victory address, which congratulated his GOP opponents, predicted a united Republican Party in the fall, and laid into President Obama's warped vision for the country and failed policies:
 

Romney went "big picture" tonight, drawing major contrasts between himself and the man he hopes to defeat in November.  Echoing some of the lines from his New Hampshire speech, he sought to claim the mantle of prohibitive frontrunner.  "I stand ready to lead this party" and the nation, he said, promising to "end the Obama era, and begin a new era of American prosperity."  Bold stuff, and to his critics, perhaps a tad arrogant.  After all, his delegate lead is relatively measly at this stage, despite sweeping Florida's slate of 50.  Before I dive into the exit polling data, it's important to mention the candidates who essentially skipped this state.  Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are already in Nevada preparing for Saturday's caucuses -- an electoral format in which they've both thrived.  Instead of giving a concession speech in the Sunshine State, Santorum is giving television interviews.  On CNN, he telegraphed his campaign's strategy moving forward, offering that "Newt Gingrich had his chance" to assert himself as the conservative alternative to Romney in Florida, and fell short.  Santorum said he'll press ahead, avoid personal bitterness, and stick to issues.  He mentioned Romneycare specifically, promising to give a major speech on the subject, and citing polls in two states that show him leading Romney in hypothetical head-to-head matchups.  The former Senator also went out of his way to decry the negativity of the race.  I'm not sure how much mileage he'll get out of that critique, but he's right: 93 percent of presidential TV ads here in Florida were negative.  Ron Paul is also regrouping in the Silver State, where he hopes to mobilize his dedicated supporters to surprise some people on Saturday.

Now, onto the Florida exit polling, which contains a veritable political cornucopia of interesting nuggets.  I'll focus on the Romney-Gingrich dynamic, since they were the top finishers by a significant margin.  Romney won a broad and resounding victory across almost every demographic group.  He carried men and women, whites and Hispanics, all age groups, voters of all educational backgrounds, married people and singles, Protestants and Catholics, and voters of all income levels.  A few significant bits:
 

WOMEN: Romney 51 - Gingrich 29

HISPANICS: Romney 53 - Gingrich 30

YOUTH: Romney 39 - Gingrich 23 - Paul 26 (I mention this because Florida is the first contest in which Ron Paul didn't win the 18-29 year old demographic)

UNDER $50K INCOME: Romney 42 - Gingrich 32

CONSERVATIVES: Romney 41 - Gingrich 37

TEA PARTY SUPPORTERS: Romney 40 - Gingrich 38

CATHOLICS: Romney 56 - Gingrich 30

Unsurprisingly, a whopping 62 percent of voters said the economy was their top issue this cycle.  Among them, Romney topped Gingrich by 20 points, 51-31.  On questions of personal qualities, a large plurality (45 percent) of Florida Republicans said a candidate's capacity to defeat President Obama was paramount.  Romney carried this group, 58-33.  On personable favorability, both Romney and Gingrich were above water among Florida Republicans, but the gap was wide.  Newt's favorable/unfavorable figures were 55/40.  Romney's were 76/21.  Last but not least, with 98 percent of votes tallied, Romney has won more votes than Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum combined.  As for the notion that Santorum dropping out would overwhelmingly benefit Newt, ABC News' Amy Walters points out that Santorum backers told exit pollsters that they more favorable opinions of Romney than Gingrich by a 14-point margin.  There were, however, some silver linings for Newt supporters:
 

VERY CONSERVATIVE VOTERS: Gingrich 42 - Romney 29

WHITE EVANGELICALS: Gingrich 39 - Romney 36

DEBATES MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR: Gingrich 41 - Romney 39

PRO-LIFE: Gingrich 39 - Romney 39

Unlike Paul and Santorum, Gingrich chose not to congratulate Romney on his Florida victory in his post-election remarks.  Slate's Dave Weigel reports that Gingrich did not call to concede the race, despite Romney having done so in South Carolina.  Speaking at a podium adorned with a sign reading "46 States To Go," Gingrich was defiant in defeat.  He vowed to "contest" every state moving forward (which may be tough in Virginia) and predicted that he would ultimately emerge as the party's nominee.  Newt essentially recited the stump speech he delivered across Florida over the last week, pledging to defeat Romney and Obama's "money power" with "big ideas."

Up next: Nevada.  Romney is favored to win this weekend, but we haven't seen fresh polling in a while, and both Santorum and Paul have demonstrated strength in caucus settings.  Later in February: Maine, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri (non-binding), Arizona and Michigan.  The next GOP debate is scheduled for February 22 in Mesa, Arizona.

UPDATE - One concerning note for the GOP generally: Overall Republican turnout in Florida was down from 2008 by roughly 250,000 votes.

First on the docket, we got Politico's Jonathan Martin discussing Florida's "cracker counties" with a visibly uncomfortable Chuck Todd on this morning's "Daily Rundown":

Later this afternoon Mr. Leg Thrill scolded Republican Mario Diaz-Balart for calling the Washington Post liberal. Matthews clarified to Mario that WaPo is the "most hawkish paper in the country" and it is also "right-wing" and the New York Times is "almost always right." 

And, of course, there's this from earlier today.

Amidst rumors that the Florida Republican establishment deliberately handed Rep. Allen West a bluer -- ie, tougher -- Congressional district ahead of the 2012 election cycle, it appears that West has struck a backroom deal of his own.  I just spoke with The Shark Tank's Javier Manjarres, who broke the story that incumbent Rep. Tom Rooney has decided to run in one of Florida's newly-formed districts, allowing West to run for his vacated seat.  The Washington Post has more details:
 

Tea party firebrand Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) announced Tuesday that he will switch districts and run for reelection in Florida’s new 18th district. West’s 22nd district, which was already Democratic-leaning, got even tougher under a new GOP redistricting plan released last week. The new district would have gone about 57 percent for President Obama in the 2008 presidential race. But Rep. Tom Rooney’s (R-Fla.) decision earlier Tuesday to run in the open and Republican-leaning 17th district rather than the swing 18th freed West up to make the switch to the neighboring district, which is just north of his current district, which spans from West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale.

Manjarres tells me he thinks this agreement is a win/win for both participants.  Rooney gets to run in the R-leaning 17th district, while West carries his redoubtable war chest into relative friendly crimson territory.  As a point of reference, Romney defeated his Democrat opponent in the district (now the 18th) by a margin of 67-33 in 2010.  In another Florida politics shake-up, Manjarres tells me he's also hearing that Adam Hasner will likely abandon his US Senate bid and run for West's old House seat in the 22nd district.  That decision would clear the field for either former placeholder Sen. George LeMieux or Rep. Connie Mack -- both of whom hope to unseat incumbent Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson in the fall.

Even though West now looks like he's relatively safe, some conservatives may still be irked by the notion that the party may have cut a deal with Democrats to oust him.  Did they? RealClearPolitics' resident election data savant took a peek at Florida's redistricting laws and concluded that political foul play was highly unlikely in this case (via HotAir):
 

So making West’s district redder is pretty difficult. In the southern half of the district, almost all of the reddish precincts are already included. It could conceivably go northward, but that would weaken the 16th district and potentially set up a member vs. member matchup with Tom Rooney (who is also supposedly a target of the legislature). But even this is next to impossible, because of a change in Florida redistricting law approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2010. The Fair Districts Initiative amended the state’s constitution as follows:

“Congressional districts or districting plans may not be drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party. Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice. Districts must be contiguous. Unless otherwise required, districts must be compact, as equal in population as feasible, and where feasible must make use of existing city, county and geographical boundaries.”  The Florida Legislature may well be hostile toward West. But given the map the Senate drew, I think it’s done about as much as it could permissibly do to save his career.

Color me relieved.  If Trende had found clues in the other direction, this feud could have opened up a malignant rift between the state party and grassroots activists.

I may be doing my first Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure this summer; they've cut ties with Planned Parenthood. The breast cancer organization used to provide funding to the abortion provider for mammograms, but has made the decision to discontinue this practice. Planned Parenthood has issued a statement on their website about the issue:

“We are alarmed and saddened that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation appears to have succumbed to political pressure. Our greatest desire is for Komen to reconsider this policy and recommit to the partnership on which so many women count,” said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

In the last few weeks, the Komen Foundation has begun notifying local Planned Parenthood programs that their breast cancer initiatives will not be eligible for new grants (beyond existing agreements or plans).

Remember, Cecile Richards is the woman who thinks seeing a baby before having an abortion is "abhorrent." 

Planned Parenthood is trying to blame the Komen decision on political pressure, but really, it's most likely the unethical actions of Planned Parenthood, such as promoting underage sex trafficking, had a bigger impact.

Or maybe Komen cut funding based on the fact that Planned Parenthood actually doesn't  provide mammograms.

Prager + Alison Armstrong = awesomeness.

Tomorrow the Arizona State Legislature will annouce new laws gutting the ability for public sector unions to do pretty much anything, going beyond moves made by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to limit collective bargain rights of unions in his state, saving taxpayers millions.

According to the Arizona Republic:

The bills would:

-Make it illegal for government bodies to collectively bargain with employee groups. Public safety unions would be included in the ban.

--End the practice of automatic payroll deductions for union dues.

--Ban compensation of public employees for union work.

Coupled with Gov. Jan Brewer's plan to do away with civil-service protections  for state employees, the new legislation could make Arizona ground zero for union protests during this election year.

The Goldwater Institute  worked with state lawmakers to draw up the bills. The libertarian think tank has churned out research and reports over the past few years highlighting what it views as excesses in public-sector employment.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was the guest of honor at Goldwater's annual dinner last November. Walker had some advice for Arizona legislators when I interviewed him on "Sunday Square Off."

Buckle your seatbelts folks.

An impressive turnaround by the RNC rapid response team to the awkward exchange Katie highlighted this morning.  Aside from giving this story more oxygen, Republican researchers also dug up a relevant statistic, which is showcased just after the one minute mark:
 

One of the few redeeming elements of Obama's original answer was his apparent pledge to take Jennifer's husband's resume and circulate to key people.  According to RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was asked today about the progress of that process, and came up empty.  Status: Unknown.  Nice work, guys.  Especially in light of today's abysmal economic projections, Obama is going to have to substantially upgrade his public relations vis-a-vis unemployed voters if he wants to secure a second term -- which he "badly" does. 

And before it slips down the memory hole, I wanted to tackle another recent piece of galactically hypocritical Obama spin.  In his weekly address over the weekend, Obama decried "perpetual political campaigns," which is laugh-out-loud funny.  Allahpundit chuckles that Obama's been running for president every single day since 2005, and how virtually all of his decisions as president have been made through the lense of re-election.  AP's right, of course, but The One's election itch pre-dates his presidential run by more than a decade.  The fact is that Barack Obama has been engaged in a non-stop political campaign since at least 1995,when he first geared up for an Illinois State Senate run.  After Obama was elected in 1996 and re-elected two years later, he began the process of challenging Bobby Rush for a US House seat -- which would be the first and only loss of his career thus far.  After failing in his primary challenge to Rush in 2000, Obama set his sights on the United States Senate.  After more than a year of campaigning, Obama secured the Democratic nomination in 2004, then easily won the general election against hapless Alan Keyes.  (For the full tale of Obama's unbridled opportunism and ruthlessness, read this).  Upon his arrival in Washington -- despite his assurances to the contrary -- Obama instantly began positioning himself to run for the Oval Office.  And here we are today, with our campaigner-in-chief imperiously giving the 'thumbs-down' to "perpetual campaigning" from the perch he's worked relentlessly to attain for 16 years. 

UPDATE - Here's video of Carney floundering on the question of where this guy's resume actually ended up, and what the White House intends to do with it:
 

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are officially trying to cover for Attorney General Eric Holder just before he testifies on Thursday about Operation Fast and Furious, with anti-Second Amendment Ranking Member Elijah Cummings leading the way. Last night, Cummings released a 95 page waste of paper and taxpayer money report, alleging that top Justice Department officials did not authorize the program, despite evidence showing otherwise.  The report tries to pin the blame back on a few "rogue" managers in the ATF Phoenix Field Division. This is the same argument we've heard since the beginning of the scandal: it was a local operation, nobody important knew anything.

A few important points:

First, Deputy Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny Breuer (the number two man in DOJ), approved wiretaps for Operation Fast and Furious. Wiretap applications require excruciating detail about a case to be presented before approval. Wiretaps are considered the most intrusive tool law enforcement can use. Breuer, who read through the wiretap applications, knew details of the strategy used in Fast and Furious, letting guns walk into Mexico without alerting Mexican authorities, yet he approved it anyway. New emails released last Friday in a late night document dump, show Attorney General Eric Holder was briefed about Brian Terry's death just hours after he was murdered in the early morning hours on December 15, 2010. Later in the day, Holder's deputy chief of staff at the time Monty Wilkinson, was told directly by former Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke that the guns found at the murder scene were part of Operation Fast and Furious. According to the report, Wilkinson doesn't "recall" that email, despite replying to it with, "Call you tomorrow." Burke, who resigned from his position as U.S. Attorney in August, was in "complete agreement" with former ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Division Bill Newell about Fast and Furious tactics according to a January 8, 2010 briefing memo.

If Wilkinson's "I don't recall," argument sounds familiar, there's a reason why. On May 3, 2011, Attorney General Eric Holder testifed before the House Judicary Committee that he had only known about Fast and Furious, "for a couple of weeks." Five months later, memos addressed directly to Holder surfaced, with details and discussion about the program. In defense, Holder said he didn't read the memos and that his staff didn't inform him of their content.

Second, the report claims Fast and Furious was not used as a way for the Obama administration to push through back door gun control measures.

"The report debunks many unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. Contrary to repeated claims by some, the Committee has obtained no evidence that Operation Fast and Furious was a politically-motivated operation conceived and directed by high-level Obama Administration political appointees at the Department of Justice," Cummings wrote in the report.

FLASHBACK: Designed to Promote Gun Control

"Internal ATF emails seem to suggest that ATF agents were counseled to highlight a link between criminals and certain semi-automatic weapons in order to bolster a case for a rule like the one the DOJ announced yesterday [Monday]."

Townhall has obtained the email which states "Can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same FfL and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks Mark R. Chait Assistant Director Field Operations."

Remember this email from Assistant Director in Charge of Field Operations Mark Chait?

Wondering what a demand letter is? This:

“The international expansion and increased violence of transnational criminal networks pose a significant threat to the United States.  Federal, state and foreign law enforcement agencies have determined that certain types of semi-automatic rifles – greater than .22 caliber and with the ability to accept a detachable magazine – are highly sought after by dangerous drug trafficking organizations and frequently recovered at violent crime scenes near the Southwest Border.  This new reporting measure -- tailored to focus only on multiple sales of these types of rifles to the same person within a five-day period -- will improve the ability of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to detect and disrupt the illegal weapons trafficking networks responsible for diverting firearms from lawful commerce to criminals and criminal organizations.  These targeted information requests will occur in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas to help confront the problem of illegal gun trafficking into Mexico and along the Southwest Border.”

Although Cummings claims he wants to bring justice to the Terry family for his murder, which was a direct result of this recklass program, he has done the opposite by using the scandal to promote new gun control measures, implying ATF should be given more power and as a chance to blame President Bush for using the "same tactics" that were used during Fast and Furious for other programs during his time in the White House. During Bush-era "gunwalking" programs, the Mexican government was informed and cooperating with ATF to interdict and follow guns into Mexico. During Fast and Furious under President Obama, Mexican officials were left in the dark as 2500 guns were delivered to the hands of ruthless cartel members thanks to DOJ and ATF officials.

Note to Cummings: Your cover-up is showing.