By now you have probably heard or read about the tragic shooting in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday. At the time of this story no less than 15 people have been killed in an elementary school—at least 14 of them elementary school children. The Republican Party, which has long fought against enacting any common-sense gun safety laws, has blood on its hands. NRA stoolies like Sen. Ted Cruz have upped their worthless game of thoughts and prayers by adding the adverb “fervently” to their tweets. But the results are the same: dead and traumatized children and families, and zero action by the “pro life” Grand Old Party.
The list of top officials—all Republican—taking boatloads of money from the “bankrupt” National Rifle Association is a who’s-who of people that talk tough and talk a lot about praying but don’t have the courage to do anything that would protect the more than 45,000 people killed in gun-related incidents in the U.S. Considering the stream of blood money many of these officials take in, legally or illegally, from the Second Amendment con-machine, it is no surprise that they will continue to bemoan the lack of “mental health” support (that the GOP fights against providing for in the first place) while counting their macabre compensation for turning away from the horror they’ve helped birth.
In 2019, Brady United put together a list of the top senators to receive money from the NRA over the years in campaign contributions. It’s a list of senators like:
Mitt Romney (UT), $13,647,676
Richard Burr (NC), $6,987,380
Roy Blunt (MO), $4,555,722
Thom Tillis (NC), $4,421,333
Marco Rubio (FL), $3,303,355
Joni Ernst (IA), $3,124,773
Rob Portman (OH), $3,063,327
Todd C. Young (IN), $2,897,582
Bill Cassidy (LA), $2,867,074
Tom Cotton (AR), $1,968,714
Pat Toomey (PA), $1,475,448
Josh Hawley (MO), $1,391,548
Marsha Blackburn (TN), $1,306,130
Ron Johnson (WI), $1,269,486
Mitch McConnell (KY), $1,267,139
John Thune (SD), $638,942
Chuck Grassley (IA), $226,007
John Neely Kennedy (LA), $215,788
Ted Cruz (TX), $176,274
Lisa Murkowski (AK), $146,262
Pulling in hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in “donations.” What’s important to note here is that Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas haven’t pulled in the big, flashy numbers of donations over their careers from the NRA, compared to other senators. But that’s because dead children are cheap in Texas.
A look at further down the list shows that the senators who have received the most money have generally come from states traditionally considered competitive. Second and fourth place go to Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis respectively, both of whom hail from North Carolina. North Carolina is a state that had a Democratic senator as recently as 2014, currently has a Democratic governor and voted for Barack Obama in 2008, so has long been seen as purple. Indeed, Tillis just won reelection in 2020 by less than 2 points, a race that was widely seen as a potential Democratic flip.
After Steve Scalise was shot during a congressional softball game, it cost gun fetishists a little less than $150,000 to get him back on board the do-nothing-about-gun violence train. But cash donations and checks aren’t the only NRA game in town. Spending millions on campaign ads is another way to buy a senator’s pro-gun-violence vote. Sens. Roy Blunt and Thom Tillis have gotten many millions of dollars spent on their behalf, attacking opponents in contested elections.
All that money can’t buy your soul back. But no worries: The NRA, in perfect concert with the universe, is holding its annual convention starting Friday, May 27—yes, in 72 hours. Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and others are scheduled to appear and deliver the Viagra-pumping, ‘masculine’ speeches that get them money and donations when children are killed.
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