Midday Roundup: Filibuster early, filibuster often

Paul plots another filibuster. Republican Sens. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Mike Lee have threatened to filibuster any gun-control legislation that comes through the Senate. In a letter delivered yesterday to Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Tea Party-affiliated senators said they would block the legislation procedurally, rather than hold it up with the talk-without-ceasing method Paul used to delay a vote on the nomination of CIA Director John Brennan. The bill Reid plans to bring to the floor would call for expanded background checks, stiffer penalties for interstate gun trafficking, and more school safety measures. Reid already removed the measure calling for an assault weapons ban, saying it didn’t have enough support to pass.

Voucher program upheld. In a ruling issued this morning, the Indiana Supreme Court upheld a state program that provides vouchers to parents who want to send their children to private school. About 9,000 students currently participate in the voucher program, which uses a system of tax deductions and tax credits to avoid sending state money directly to private schools. The state teachers’ union sued because many of the private schools that benefit from the vouchers have religious affiliations. Indiana lawmakers are considering expanding the program, adopted two years ago, to include more students.

Not for sale. A Tucson, Ariz., gun shop owner has decided not to sell a military-style assault weapon to former astronaut Mark Kelly, husband of shooting victim and former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Kelly and Giffords have become gun control advocates, and Kelly said he bought the gun to demonstrate how easy it is for anyone to acquire such a weapon. But Kelly’s publicity stunt misfired. Gun control advocates and Second Amendment activists both criticized the purchase as hypocritical. Kelly bought the AR-15-style rifle and a .45-caliber handgun at Diamondback Police Supply, but he had to wait 20 days to pick up the rifle. The store owner now says he will refund Kelly’s money and donate the gun to a charity so it can be auctioned to raise money.

Ethics complaint. Congressional ethics investigators are looking into allegations that U.S. Rep Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., who ran for president in 2012, made improper payments to an Iowa official also under investigation. One of Bachmann’s top campaign staffers filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission earlier this year, prompting the investigation. Bachmann denies any wrongdoing, blaming political adversaries for the attack. (See Marvin’s Olasky’s interview with Bachmann in the latest issue of WORLD.)

Killer squid. A fishmonger in China discovered a live bomb inside a 3-foot squid he was gutting inside a local fish market. Police removed the bomb and detonated it in a controlled explosion. Based on its rusty exterior and suspected age, officials said the fishmonger, and for that matter the squid, was lucky the bomb hadn’t already gone off.