http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/milwaukee-man-to-be-sentenced-on-gun-fraud-charge-b99560011z1-322283481.html

In giving probation with no jail time to a Milwaukee man charged with 55 counts of buying firearms with fake identification and dealing them without a license, a federal judge delivered a message:



"People kill people," U.S. District Rudolph Randa said, echoing a common gun rights slogan. "Guns don't kill people."

Dontray Mills, 24, purchased a total of 27 firearms, mostly handguns, between December 2012 and April 2014 and pleaded guilty to one of the charges on April 22, 2014, after an ATF investigation. As a result of the conviction, Mills will never again be able to buy firearms legally.

On Wednesday, he was sentenced. As part of the plea bargain, prosecutors agreed with the one year of probation.

Martha Laning, who took over the chair of the Democratic party in June in a contested race, has been missing in action. A quick Google search find quite a few stories about the election but nothing after that. Knowing that she has to have been doing something, I dug a little deeper.

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Posted July 15, 2015Following is a statement from Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning on the deal for a new Milwaukee Bucks arena.

“With the extreme divisiveness and polarization we’ve seen in Wisconsin over the past few years, bipartisan cooperation has become practically non-existent. So it’s incredibly encouraging that Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are working together now that the disastrous budget is over to reach an agreement on building a new Milwaukee Bucks arena.

“This project is good for workers, it's good for Milwaukee, and it's good for Wisconsin. Thanks to Senate Democrats for working with Republican leadership in crafting a deal that will create thousands of family-supporting jobs in Milwaukee.”

Last week, it involved the Obama administration's sad record on transparency and open government: More than 50 media and open government groups sent a letter to the White House, calling on President Barack Obama "to stop practices in federal agencies that prevent important information from getting to the public," in the words of the Society of Professional Journalists.

"The national organizations sent a letter to Obama Monday urging changes to policies that constrict information flow to the public, including prohibiting journalists from communicating with staff without going through public information offices, requiring government PIOs to vet interview questions and monitoring interviews between journalists and sources," the SPJ report said.

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On his first day in office, Obama issued a directive to create the Open Government Initiative, aimed at "creating an unprecedented level of openness in government," in the president's words. There's even a website for the initiative, which lists policies, a national action plan, open government progress and a heading that says "We want your input on building a more open government."

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Last week's letter to the administration noted that "The public has a right to be alarmed by these constraints — essentially forms of censorship — that have surged at all levels of government in the past few decades.... Surveys of journalists and public information officers (PIOs) demonstrate that the restraints have become pervasive across the country; that some PIOs admit to blocking certain reporters when they don't like what is written; and that most Washington reporters say the public is not getting the information it needs because of constraints. An SPJ survey released in April confirmed that science writers frequently run into these barriers. This information suppression is fraught with danger."

Walker was keen to recast his record as governor as legitimate foreign policy experience. He clumsily compared the ISIS terrorist group to the tens of thousands of Wisconsin citizens who exercised their democratic right to protest his union-busting policies, asserted that Ronald Reagan's strike breaking of the air traffic controllers union intimidated the Soviet Union and attempted to reframe national security as "public safety." These stretches landed Walker in a Sarah Palin-like foreign policy boot camp, which, according to press reports, is ongoing.

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Walker, a shrewd political operator who should not be underestimated, has pivoted from his early foreign policy missteps by taking shockingly belligerent foreign policy positions. Walker's boot camp instructors seem to have convinced him that a bellicose foreign policy stance will make up for his lack of international credentials by making him seem like a strong leader.

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On terrorism, Walker is promoting unlimited pre-emptive war in multiple countries, promising to attack terrorists wherever they are in the world. As the U.S. is already engaged in constant air and drone attacks against ISIS and other suspected terrorists groups, Walker takes an even more extreme position. When pressed by Martha Raddatz of ABC News on how he would be even more aggressive than more than 2,000 airstrikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, Walker said "we have to be prepared to put boots on the ground" in Syria. Walker also says that cold-war style "containment" will not work, that terrorism is like a virus that will come back stronger if we don't take it all out. Walker seems oblivious to the lesson of recent history that the overreliance on force breeds more terrorists. If we had not needlessly invaded Iraq, which had nothing to do with Sept. 11, there would be no ISIS.

On the Iran nuclear deal, to distinguish himself, Walker has taken an extreme position to the right of his rivals. Walker promises to cancel the Iran nuclear deal on day one of his presidency, before he even has a cabinet in place or consults with our allies. In response to criticism from Jeb Bush that Walker's promise of rash action reflects immaturity, Walker upped the ante to a shocking extreme, saying he would be prepared to take military action against Iran on the first day, apparently without congressional approval or any intelligence indicating an immediate threat.

GOP debates are like a game of Password where candidates give clues to the base without sounding racist, except no one told Trump the rules.

If Secretary Clinton wants more debates, we'll get them

Did you watch last night’s Republican presidential debate, Steve?

If you are one of the wealthiest people in this country, then you had ten candidates talking about your needs for two hours.

But in the entire time I watched, I saw very little discussion about the issues important to most American families. There was no talk about climate change and clean energy, raising wages and providing healthcare for all Americans, criminal justice reform and the undermining of the Voting Rights Act, and nothing at all about the crushing burden of student debt.

And when they did talk about campaign finance reform and the billionaire class buying candidates and elections, it was the butt of a Donald Trump joke.

We need to be discussing issues facing working families at a debate hosted by trade unions. We need to discussing climate change and environmental issues at a forum hosted by the environmental community. We need to be discussing civil rights issues and racial injustice at a forum sponsored by civil rights groups. We need to be discussing gay rights at a forum hosted by the LGBT community. In other words, more discussion, more debate is good for the Democratic Party and good for the American people.

I know, and you know, that the best chance for this country is to discuss the issues that matter. Republicans aren’t going to do it, so we need more Democratic debates — more than the four scheduled by the Democratic National Committee before the Iowa Caucuses.

And I know that if Secretary Clinton wants more debates, we’ll get them.

Sign my petition and tell Secretary Clinton to encourage the Democratic National Committee to schedule more debates before the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire primary in February and to allow important constituencies within the Democratic Party to host their own debates.

Here’s what I did hear a lot about last night: I heard a group of ten Republicans on stage longing for a return to the days of George W. Bush. The return to more war and tax breaks for the rich, and less jobs and health insurance for most American families.

Do they remember the two wars George Bush put on the credit card?

I do. Some of us voted no.

Do they remember the 800,000 jobs a month we were hemorrhaging when Bush left office?

I do. Some of us voted against the policies that led us there.

The American people deserve more debates — debates about how we got to where we are today, and how we move this country forward. And if all the candidates running for the Democratic nomination, especially Secretary Clinton, call for more, then we’ll get them.

Add your name and encourage Secretary Clinton to call on the Democratic National Committee to schedule more debates before Iowa and New Hampshire, and let’s start right away.

We are at a moment of truth. We need to face up to the reality of where we are as a nation, and the best ways to move forward.

Thank you for standing with me.

Bernie Sanders