Hillary + Obama Play Gun Card Against Bernie
January, 2016
Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Gun Violence AND Vehicle ViolenceBoth are bad and need to be ended ASAP.
Now President Obama and Hillary are using the gun violence issue against Bernie.
President Obama is adding his tears and thumb on the scale to help Hillary on gun violence – ignoring crash violence. See Molly Ball comments on Washington Week at time 17:39.http://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/episode/executive-action-guns-north-korean-nuclear-threat-and-countdown-iowa-nh And see Huffingon Post Blog atlctabus.com/new.asp?entry/sotu-gun-violence_56900d90e4b0c8beacf6e71a?utm_hp_ref=politics Is this fair? Balanced? In the Public Interest? Let’s look at the numbers.
Deaths by Motor Vehicle vs Firearms
2013 Firearm Deaths = 32,383
Injuries by Motor Vehicles vs Firearms
In 2010, guns took the lives of 31,076 Americans in homicides, suicides and unintentional shootings. This is the equivalent of more than 85 deaths each day and more than three deaths each hour.1
73,505 Americans were treated in hospital emergency departments for non-fatal gunshot wounds in 2010.2
Firearms were the third-leading cause of injury-related deaths nationwide in 2010, following poisoning and motor vehicle accidents.3
See http://smartgunlaws.org/gun-deaths-and-injuries-statistics/
2013 MV-Occupant Injuries Hospital Treatment =2,462,684
(note does not include non occupants such as pedalcyclists)
2013 Other Assault Injuries (Guns) Hospital Treatment =1,291,100
See http://www.cdc.gov/injury/images/lc-charts/leading_cause_of_nonfatal_injury_2013-a.gif
In sum, by the numbers, more harm by vehicle violence than gun violence.
Political Tilt So why the political tilt? Why an empty seat at the State of the Union for gun violence victims but not one for crash victims?
NY Times reports on the coming State of the Union address:“Mr. Obama plans a thematic message that effectively will be as much a campaign agenda as a governing document. While not on the ballot himself, Mr. Obama hopes to use what may be the largest television audience left in his presidency to frame the debate about who should replace him and where the country should go from here….”
“At the same time, Mr. Obama hopes to generate support for his approach to issues like climate change, gun control, immigration and income inequality that can boost Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, even if it does not result in further action during his tenure…. “In a survey conducted by The New York Times and CBS News in December, 68 percent of Americans said the country is on the wrong track, the highest such figure in more than two years.” See
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/11/us/politics/obama-last-state-of-the-union In another article, the NY Times reports:
“Hillary Clinton holds a three-point edge over Senator Bernie Sanders in Iowa, a tightening of the race with roughly three weeks until voting begins, according to a new set of surveys of likely voters from NBC/The Wall Street Journal/Marist.” See
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/10/bernie-sanders-makes-strong-showing-in-new-polls/What about past, present and future crash victims and voters?
Iowa lost 317 lives in 2013 to crash injuries.
Iowa suffered about 1200 serious injuries, such as brain and spinal cord injuries in 2013. Using DOT values about $9 million per statistical life = $2.8 billion
Using DOT values of about $1 million per serious injury = $1.2 billion
Note: Iowa ranked in the worst percentage group (greater than 60%) of fatalities that were not even transported toany medical facility for emergency care.
Imagine if all voters knew how big a problem crash deaths and serious injuries were in their State.
Not the “Hope and Change” I expected from President Obama after 7 years as President. He could have done better. Yes he could.
Lou
