None of what the President ordered adversely affects the rights of Americans to firearms except for criminals or people with mental health issues that are prohibited from possession of a gun.  Private gun dealers and online firearms dealers who presently refuse to obtain a firearm dealer’s license will be required to do so and will now have to perform background checks for every gun they sell.  There will be an improved National Instant Criminal Background System (NCIS) greatly expanding the inclusion of mental health records of prohibited firearms buyers.  Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF&E) agents will be added to perform the increased demand for NCIS Background checks.   Firearms purchases by Federal Agencies will be directed to gun manufacturers who invest in “smart gun” technologies and who market their products in an ethical manner.

While the Gun Lobby will undoubtedly issue bombastic claims that the President’s actions violate our 2^nd Amendment rights and are a slippery slope to gun confiscation none of that is true.  Over 90% of Americans and a large majority of gun owners support expanding Background Checks for every single gun sale.  Hopefully, these common sense measures will encourage a national debate that will lead to reforms that result in a reduction in the nearly 90 daily gun deaths each day in America.

We thank President Obama for standing up to the Gun Lobby and call on Congress to take meaningful action to protect American lives.

(From a press release)

You can watch the President Obama’s announcement Here:

Something I’ve never understood
That wolf from Little Red Riding Hood
One date with him and look at me
The fifth month of my pregnancy

A little witch inside me grows
It’s got these ears, this crooked nose
I nourish it with wholesome meals
Bugs and insects, worms and eels

I’m making sure the child will be
A spitting image of hideous me
A sickly thing prone to disease
So I’m lighting up a lot of these

Cigarettes cause low birth weight
Breathing disorders can seal its fate
A cleft palate and birth defects
Are what a smoking mom expects

It fills a witch’s heart with glee
To deliver a kid as unhealthy as me
So light up a butt my sweet Valentine
And your baby could turn out just like mine!

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Read Peet Nourjian’s previous poems here.

Merlo got the invite thanks to the fantastic corporate example the Rhode Island-based pharmacy chain set when it stopped selling tobacco products.

“Last year, CVS Caremark President and CEO Larry Merlo announced that CVS would be the first major retail pharmacy to eliminate tobacco sales in all of its stores,” according to a White House item about CVS and Merlo. “Soon after, the company changed its corporate name to CVS Health — a symbol of the organization’s broader commitment to public health.”

CVS certainly deserves tons of applause for this. But CVS has far from warranted corporate sainthood based on the way it pays employees.

Merlo makes $22 million a year, according to CNN Money. He’s the 8th highest paid CEO in America. And he’s number 1 when it comes to making more more than his or her underlings.

“CVS has the greatest disparity between CEO pay and the median wage of its employees among the 100 highest-grossing companies in the U.S.,” Fortune Magazine reports. “You would have to combine the wages of more than 400 CVS Caremark employees to match the salary of the company’s CEO, Larry Merlo.”

On the other end of the salary spectrum at CVS, some low wage employees say annual raises were denied this year to absorb the cost of an increase to the minimum wage. “Salary increases are based on market-based rates and the individual performance of employees, said CVS spokesman Mike DeAngelis when asked about the allegation. “The increase to Rhode Island’s minimum wage does not change this.”

The median CVS employee earns $28,000 a year, according to Fortune Magazine (DeAngelis did not immediately respond to an email yesterday seeking more exact numbers). According to the Economic Progress Institute, this is about $4,000 a year more than a single adult needs to survive in Rhode Island and $31,000 less than a single parent of two would need to pay their basic living expenses.

CVS can and should do better than this.

Like selling cigarettes, there is money to be made by paying employees a pittance. But there’s also very real, if sometimes latent, negative social costs in doing so. For example, we know many CVS employees will require social services to augment their low wages. And we also know low wages lead to poor health decisions.

Most fortunately, CVS has balked at profiteering on activity with a negative social impact. “This is the right thing to do,” said CVS when it stopped selling tobacco products. Just two years after severing its ties to ALEC, this is a hugely promising step for the Woonsocket-based corporation.

Paying a living wage to all employees is also the right thing to do. Let’s hope Michelle Obama impresses upon Merlo that economic security is also an important function of community health as well.

“The company’s move was yet another sign of its metamorphosis into becoming more of a health care provider than a largely retail business, with its stores offering more miniclinics and health advice to aid customers visiting its pharmacies,” according to the New York Times.

And the National Journal wrote, “The move, which some might see as long overdue at a one-stop shop that doubles as a convenience store and pharmacy, could be a savvy publicity coup that builds brand loyalty with certain demographics.”

I know I’m pretty excited that it’s a Rhode Island company willing to take a $2 billion (less than 2 percent of annual revenue) annual hit so that its business model better matches its values.

So is Congressman Jim Langevin, who sent this statement:

CVS has long been a good corporate citizen and a pillar of the Rhode Island community, and this decision to change their business practice in the interest of public health is yet another example of CVS’s leadership. I believe they are blazing the trail for other companies to put profits aside and join the movement to help decrease tobacco use nationwide and improve public health. I am proud that this bold move is coming from a Rhode Island-based company, and I know that health care providers here are well-equipped with cessation and counseling programs to help CVS customers and all Rhode Islanders quit smoking and get on the path to a healthier life.

Providence Mayor Angel Taveras said:

I am proud that the Rhode Island-based CVS has taken a leading role to end the sale of tobacco in pharmacies. Pharmacies are trusted sources of health information for consumers, and the choice to stop selling tobacco products demonstrates CVS’ commitment to the wellbeing of its customers.

And Governor Chafee said:

This must have been a difficult decision for the corporation and the board to weigh the benefits of making the conscientious choice versus the possibility of jeopardizing the bottom line. I applaud CVS/Caremark for taking the right fork in the road.