Monday, April 22, 2013

NRA demonstrates that capture of lobbying organizations by manufacturers not limited to just Wall Street's sell-side

In his Sports Illustrated column, Peter King showed that the capture of lobbying organizations like the American Securitization Forum which claims to represent all participants in the structured finance market is not limited to just Wall Street's sell-side.
Read this by Augustus Busch IV, the Anheuser-Busch heir and, for years, one of the biggest National Rifle Association advocates. 
He resigned his "lifetime'' membership in the NRA last week in the wake of the Senatorial inaction, and he wrote this in his resignation letter, among other things, that the NRA was going against the will of its members by hand-grenading the background-check issue. 
He also wrote in his letter renouncing his NRA membership: "I am simply unable to comprehend how assault weapons and large capacity magazines have a role in your vision. 
The NRA I see today has undermined the values upon which it was established. 
Your current strategic focus clearly places priority on the needs of gun and ammunition manufacturers while disregarding the opinions of your four million individual members ... One only has to look at the makeup of the 75-member board of directors, dominated by manufacturing interests, to confirm my point. 
The NRA appears to have evolved into the lobby for gun and ammunition manufacturers rather than gun owners."

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