Nation
Democrat leaders write letter pressuring credit card companies to track gun purchases
The mainstream media is not covering a very dangerous attempt by Democrats to strip Americans of their civil liberties. On September 1, dozens of Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to credit card companies “pressuring the company to start monitoring gun purchases” reports The Washington Examiner. “They essentially want the credit card company to create a special category for gun purchases.”
Senior Democrats such as Senators Elizabeth Warren and Dianne Feinstein spearheaded the letters addressed to the Chief Executive Officers of American Express, Visa and Mastercard credit card companies.
“Banks and credit card companies could help law enforcement preempt some mass shootings by identifying suspicious gun purchases through the implementation of a new MCC,” the lawmakers wrote. “MCCs are four-digit codes maintained by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that classify merchants by their purpose of business.”
“The creation of a new MCC for gun and ammunition retail stores would be the first step towards facilitating the collection of valuable financial data that could help law enforcement in countering the financing of terrorism efforts,” the letter continues.
“A new MCC code could make it easier for financial institutions to monitor certain types of suspicious activities including straw purchases and unlawful bulk purchases that could be used in the commission of domestic terrorist acts or gun trafficking schemes. Such coordination between financial institutions and law enforcement has been instrumental in efforts across the federal government to identify and prevent illicit activity.”
Credit card companies like @Visa, @Mastercard, and @AmericanExpress can and should do more to help stop mass shootings.@RepDean and I are urging these companies to step up and help identify suspicious purchases to prevent gun violence.https://t.co/kkqsYxpmzd
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) September 6, 2022
Many Twitter users immediately responded, likening the Democrats’ attempted move to fascism:
“Fascism should rightly be called corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power."
⁰— Benito Mussolini (speaking of corporate fascism) https://t.co/Gc7oLLAosS— Jess Corr (@Jessmcorr) September 8, 2022
Ah yes, nothing like pressuring private companies to violate your right to privacy so that the government can violate your 2nd amendment rights. https://t.co/bpV6QcYTML
— Patrick Henry (@PatrickHry1776) September 8, 2022
education
BREAKING: Disney drops suit challenging special district status in settlement with Florida, DeSantis
A settlement was reached Wednesday in the two-year lawsuit over who controls the special governing district that encompasses the Walt Disney World Resort, which includes Disney dropping its lawsuitsagainst a newly created tourism board.
“We are glad that Disney has dropped its lawsuits against the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and conceded that their last-minute development agreements are null, void, and unenforceable,” Bryan Griffin, DeSantis’ communications director, said in a statement. “No corporation should be its own government. Moving forward, we stand ready to work with Disney and the District to help promote economic growth, family-friendly tourism, and accountable government in Central Florida.”
Fox News explains the dispute began “after Disney’s criticism of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act – derided by critics as the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill – prompted the DeSantis administration to revoke the special Disney-controlled tax district that gave the entertainment autonomy over its theme parks in the region.”
“No corporation should be its own government,” Bryan Griffin, a spokesman for the governor, said in an emailed statement. “Moving forward, we stand ready to work with Disney and the District to help promote economic growth, family-friendly tourism, and accountable government in Central Florida.”
Misleadingly deemed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, prohibited the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity to young students in the state. National Review reports:
After receiving pressure from employees, Disney’s then-CEO, Bob Chapek, said that the company’s leaders had been opposed to the bill “from the outset,” and Disney declared that the legislation “should never have passed and should never have been signed into law.”
In February 2023, DeSantis signed House Bill 9B, which established the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District to replace Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District. Reedy Creek was a 56-year-old special taxing district that allowed Disney control its own development, regulations, building codes, and other municipal services.
Lawmakers voted to give the governor the power to appoint the district’s board members.
However, before a DeSantis-appointed board took over last March, the Disney-controlled board handed control of the district’s development over to Disney…
…As part of the settlement, Disney acknowledges that the development agreement approved by the outgoing Reedy Creek board has “no legal effect or enforceability.”
As for the media reports that DeSantis had been humiliated and out-maneuvered by Disney, Griffin said that “as usual, the media were wrong.”
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