BET Wire: Loretta Lynch in the Lurch
Lynch awaits confirmation for 130-plus days and counting.
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In Case You Missed It - Is Loretta Lynch's confirmation holdup because of the Black thing or the woman thing, Congressional Black Caucus members and other leaders want to know; President Obama floats the idea of mandatory voting; the Secret Service now says there was no crash at the White House — and more. — Joyce Jones (@BETpolitichick)
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What's the Holdup? - More than 130 days have passed since Loretta Lynch was nominated to succeed Eric Holder. And after promising a confirmation vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has put it on hold, focusing instead on passing a human trafficking bill that includes an anti-abortion measure he knows Democrats won't support. Most offensive to some lawmakers is his implausible suggestion that the upper chamber can't work on more than one thing at a time. "Never ever did we expect that it would take four months in order to get this done. So then one must wonder, what are the reasons? I think race certainly can be considered as a major factor in the reason for this delay, but it's also the irrationality of the new Republicans," said Rep. G.K. Butterfield, who chairs the CBC. (Photo: Gabriella Demczuk/Getty Images)
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Warning Shots - With Loretta Lynch's attorney general confirmation on hold, the National Rifle Association is rallying its members to lobby their senators to vote against her. As the Nations’ top law enforcement officer, Lynch would almost certainly have an impact on our Second Amendment rights. We know Lynch supports the Obama administration’s position to ban assault weapons. And, we know that the general-purpose rifles that gun control supporters call 'assault weapons' — such as the AR-15 — are the most popular rifles in the United States," reads a message to members, adding that Attorney General Eric Holder already has "clearly demonstrated the damage an Obama-appointed, agenda-driven, anti-gun Attorney General can do to our rights and freedoms as Americans. " (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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Mandatory Voting? - While speaking to a civic group in Cleveland on March 19, the president spoke about the transformative power of mandatory voting. "If everybody voted, then it would completely change the political map in this country," Obama said, adding that universal voting would "counteract money more than anything." (Photo: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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Second Chances - A bill introduced by Rep. John Conyers and Sen. Ben Cardin in their respective chambers would restore voting rights for ex-felons who've been released from prison and enable them to participate in federal elections. "Just as poll taxes and literacy tests prevented an entire class of citizens, namely African- Americans, from integrating into society after centuries of slavery, ex-offender disenfranchisement laws prevent people from reintegrating into society after they have paid their debt by serving time in prison," Conyers said in a statement. The measure would not apply to state elections. (Photo: Erika Kyte/Getty Images)
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