Obama Seeks Sweeping New Gun Laws

President Obama said the laws, including universal background checks and a renewed ban on assault rifles, would lead to "fewer atrocities like the one that happened in Newtown."

Alongside Vice President Joe Biden and a group of children who had written in support, President Barack Obama signed a proposal to Congress Wednesday to strengthen United States gun laws, including universal background checks, limiting the number of bullets in a clip, and renewing a ban on military-grade assault rifles. "If America worked harder to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, there would be fewer atrocities like the one that occurred in Newtown," Obama said. Check out these related stories He listed some specific measures, including a 10-round limit on magazines for firearms, and asked congress to confirm Todd Jones to fill the long-dormant role of chief for the Bureau of Alchol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) — and briefly…

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Obama Visits Pa. Toy Company Amid Fiscal Cliff Debate

President Obama visits Hatfield toy company as part of tour pushing extension of payroll tax cuts.

President Barack Obama visited a toy factory in Hatfield Township, Montgomery County on Friday, citing it as an example of the type of business that would suffer if Congress does not act soon to prevent the country from running over the "fiscal cliff," a series of tax increases and cuts in spending that are due to come into effect at the beginning of the new year. In remarks broadcast live on C-SPAN, Obama called Hatfield-based K'Nex, which makes kits of interlocking pieces that allow children to construct their own toys, "one of the few companies in the toy industry that has aggressively moved jobs back here [to the U.S. from overseas]," The President said middle-class consumers will have money "to buy more K'Nex" if Democratic and …

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Ron Beitler

12:56 pm on Sunday, December 2, 2012

I tend to agree. During Romney's campaign I had a major issue with the definition of small business. I am also a small business owner with employees and growing. You nailed it on the head. My burden is earned income tax at the middle class levels. And yes maybe hopefully someday I'll touch 250k. But it's likely I won't. Of course I hope to and I'm working hard to do so. But reality is what it is.   more ›

Barack Obama Wins Pennsylvania

Voters in Pennsylvania on Tuesday cast their ballots for Barack Obama, giving the president the state's 20 electoral votes.

Mutliple media outlets are calling President Barack Obama the projected winner of Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes. In the 2008 presidential election, the state voted for Barack Obama, and since the 1990s, has voted for the overall winner of the presidential race three out of five times. Former Gov. Mitt Romney and Obama campaigned aggressively in Pennsylvania. The state has typically been a Democratic stronghold in recent presidential elections.  Romney spent part of Election Day in Pittsburgh and visited Bucks County on Sunday, drawing 25,000 supporters. On Monday, former President Bill Clinton was in the Philadelphia suburbs and Romney surrogates, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, swept through eastern Pennsylvania, …

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5:58 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012

Amen....I am going to try to be more civil in my tone going forward as well.   more ›

When Is The Next Presidential Debate?

The second presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney is tonight at 9.

  Nearly 60 million viewers tuned in on Oct. 3 to watch the first presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Analysts and pollsters declared Romney the winner. Who will come out on top in their next face-off tonight? AOL will be live streaming the debate at 9 p.m. You can watch it live on Upper Macungie Patch. Also, you can join the commentary during the debate with your Facebook friends, Twitter followers (#PatchPoliticsPa #PatchPolitics) and your local Patch editors. See related articles on Upper Macungie Patch: Here's the remaining debate schedule: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 Topic: Town meeting format including foreign and domestic policy Air Time: 9-10:30 p.m. Eastern Standard …

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Presidential Debate Schedule 2012

The first presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney was held Oct. 3. Find out when the next matchups are scheduled and what the topics are.

Jill Biden Energizes Obama Supporters

Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, makes a campaign stop in Wescosville Monday to drum up support for the Obama-Biden ticket in the final weeks of the campaign.

Laura J. Marie has been so frustrated with friends and family who do not support the Obama-Biden ticket that she went online a few days ago to offer to help the president's re-election campaign. "And I was invited here today," she said as she stood among the 100 or so supporters who came to hear Jill Biden speak Monday at the Pennsylvania State Education Association office in Wescosville. "I only wish I did it sooner." Marie, who said she voted for Obama in 2008, was clearly among like-minded individuals as she waited for Jill Biden to approach the podium. Some, like Allentown resident and retired Salisbury High School art teacher Dolly Yanolko, were quite emphatic in their support for the president. “Any teacher who doesn’t vote for a …

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Politically Uncorrected

Why Obama Won't Win But Romney Could Lose

Economic hard times bring political hard times for the party in power and that spells trouble for Barack Obama

By G. Terry Madonna & Michael L. Young It’s known as Ockham’s razor. Attributed to 14th-century philosopher William of Ockham, it advocates seeking the simplest explanation necessary to make sense of things. The popular acronym KISS captures its spirit—“keep it simple stupid.” Alas, Ockham’s adage finds few takers today among contemporary electoral analysts. Amid the pundit literati predicting presidential elections, the slogan might be, “seek complexity, lots of it.” This criticism applies particularly to the various and sundry “models” used by the “punditocracy” to predict who will win the next election. These models usually include dozens of variables using arcane statistics to make electoral predictions. Complex and convoluted, they …

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President Obama, Mitt Romney Remember Victims of Aurora Shooting

"They had hopes for the future and dreams that were not yet fulfilled, and if there’s anything to take away from this tragedy, it’s a reminder that life is fragile."

President Barack Obama dedicated his weekly address to remembering the tragedy of the shooting in Aurora, Colo., at a midnight showing of the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises." "While we will never know fully what causes someone to take the life of another, we do know what makes that life worth living," Obama said. See our video above for the president's full remarks.   Presidential candidate Mitt Romney also issued a statement in response to the incident. According to the Huffington Post, Romney called for citizens to focus on loving each other and those affected by what he called "a few moments of evil."  You can watch the video of Romney's remarks here.

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What Does Obamacare Ruling Mean for Pa.?

Keystone state lawmakers say Supreme Court ruling on health care is "unfortunate"

By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent HARRISBURG — Requiring individuals to purchase health care is constitutional. Withholding extensive federal funding from states as punishment is not constitutional. Also: paying a tax for not buying health insurance is constitutional. On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the major components Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that includes the controversial individual mandate on the grounds that Congress has powers to levy taxes and fees. The decision was 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the majority. Upholding the act will give hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians access to health care, whether through an individually purchased policy or through a Medicaid expansion. …

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