Facing pushback on his vote against expanding the scope of background checks for gun purchases, Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) is obscuring his vote against the policy with the use of a familiar …

GOP Nominee In Virginia Called Three-Fifths Clause An ‘Anti-Slavery Amendment’

The Republican nominee for lieutenant governor in Virginia has called the Constitution’s original clause to count blacks as three-fifths of a person an “anti-slavery amendment.”

In an April 28, 2011 statement while he was a Senate candidate, conservative minister and lawyer E.W. Jackson held up the three-fifths clause as an “anti-slavery” measure. The context of his statement was to attack President Obama after a pastor at a church service he attended referred to the three-fifths clause as a historical marker of racism.

“Rev. [Charles Wallace] Smith must not have understood the 3/5ths clause was an anti-slavery amendment. Its purpose was to limit the voting power of slave holding states,” Jackson, an African-American, said in his statement.

Reid Eyes Serial Votes On Obama Nominees In Key Nuclear Option Test

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would hold a vote on Richard Cordray’s nomination to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau before the Senate skipped town for Memorial Day.

Plans change. Cordray will now most likely get his chance after immigration reform legislation clears the Senate. And not because Reid is giving up on Cordray’s nomination, but because he wants to turn Cordray and a handful of other nominees into a test of the GOP’s vows to filibuster top Obama picks, including two designated cabinet secretaries.

The move serves two purposes: First, it removes one of the largest pretexts Republicans will have to walk away from immigration reform. Second, it puts Republicans on the spot in an exquisite — and in Reid’s mind necessary — way, thus providing the nominees their best chance at confirmation, and leaving Democrats little choice, if the GOP blocks them, but to change the rules to immunize executive and judicial nominees from filibuster.

“The more likely scenario is that cloture is filed on some or all of them, because that is more substantive than a unanimous consent request,” says a senior Democratic aide. “But that determination hasn’t been made yet.”

McCain, Collins Slam Republicans For Budget Hypocrisy

In the latest expression of Republican frustration with conservative GOP colleagues, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Susan Collins (R-ME) excoriated Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rand Paul (R-KY) for persistently refusing to initiate House-Senate budget negotiations.

Their comments on the Senate floor Tuesday reflect a growing Republican schism over how to approach the tax and spending fights that have hamstrung Congress for years and dragged its approval ratings to historic lows.

“For four years, four years, we complained about the fact that the majority leader … would refuse to bring a budget to the floor of the United States Senate,” McCain said. “What [do] we on my side of the aisle keep doing? We don’t want a budget unless — unless — we put requirements on the conferees that are absolutely out of line and unprecedented.”

Virginia Lt. Gov. Candidate Fought Against Desegregation Efforts

E.W. Jackson, the Virginia GOP’s nominee for lieutenant governor, began his career as a minister and attorney in Boston. While there, he lent his support to a high-profile 1988 fight against a plan to desegregate public housing developments in the neighborhood of South Boston.

Inhofe: Oklahoma Disaster Relief Will Be Different Than ‘Slush Fund’ For Sandy (VIDEO)

Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), who opposed emergency disaster relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy and called the bill a “slush fund,” suggested he’ll support legislation to provide similar assistance to victims of the tornado in Moore, Okla., provided it’s tailored narrowly enough to prevent federal dollars from being appropriated to other states.

“[Sandy aid] was totally different,” Inhofe said on MSNBC Tuesday morning. “They were getting things, for instance, that was supposed to be in New Jersey. They had things in the Virgin Islands. They were fixing roads there, they were putting roofs on houses in Washington, D.C. Everybody was getting in and exploiting the tragedy that took place. That won’t happen in Oklahoma.”

The NRA Thinks These Are The ‘Coolest Gun Movies’ Ever

After the December killings in Newtown, Conn., the National Rifle Association’s chief lambasted the the evils of violent movies and video games, saying they, rather than guns, were a source of the nation’s woes.

Now, less than six months later, the NRA’s “flagship publication,” American Rifleman, is celebrating cinematic savagery with a list of the top 10 “coolest gun movies” that unabashedly praises Hollywood depictions of death and crime.

“Who has not dreamed of having the power and respect of Michael Corleone? That he built his empire through violence is only that much more alluring,” the magazine’s Associate Online Shooting Editor Paul Rackley wrote in his summary of “The Godfather.”

Reid Mulls Nuclear-Style Filibuster Reform For Nominations

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is telegraphing his intention to use the nuclear option to reduce or eliminate the filibuster for nominations this summer if Republicans follow through with their threats to block President Obama’s upcoming nominees.

“If he were allowed to make the decision himself, he would definitely do it,” a Senate Democratic aide familiar with Reid’s thinking told TPM. “He more than anybody has experienced the Republican obstruction first hand.”

Reid — and other Democratic senators — will face tremendous pressure to change the rules of the Senate if Republicans filibuster Obama’s picks to run the Labor Department (Tom Perez), the Environmental Protection Agency (Gina McCarthy) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Richard Cordray). Reid said he intends to bring up Cordray’s nomination this week and has also promised a cloture vote on Perez soon.

Secret Service Looking Into Radio Host’s Graphic Violent Comments About Obama, Hillary Clinton

The Secret Service is following up on recent comments by right wing radio host Pete Santilli, who claimed to want to shoot former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the vagina and see President Obama tried and shot for treason.

“We are aware of Mr. Santilli’s comments and will take the appropriate follow up action,” Edwin M. Donovan, a Secret Service spokesperson, told TPM on Monday. “He certainly has a right to free speech, but the Secret Service has a right and an obligation to determine what a person’s intent is when making comments like this.”

Poll Shows Obama’s Approval Inching Up Despite Scandals

A recent string of scandals have threatened to beset President Barack Obama’s second term, but the latest CNN/ORC International poll released Sunday found that he has yet to pay a price in his approval rating for them.

In fact, Obama’s approval rating of 53 percent among American adults in the poll amounts to a 2-point bump since the previous CNN/ORC poll a month ago. Forty-five percent said they disapprove of Obama’s job performance, down two points since last month. Two months ago, the CNN/ORC poll showed Obama with an upside-down approval rating: 47 percent said they approved of the President while half said they disapproved.