President Obama calls for another televised bipartisan summit on health care, Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha dies, federal government closed after snowstorm and Iran rattles is nuclear saber again.

 

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Arizona Rep. John Shadegg talks about the upcoming meeting between Congressional Republicans and President Obama.  Shadegg says he doesn’t want a repeat of Obama’s filibustering that happened at the House GOP retreat.  He also explains how Obama’s rhetoric is carefully couched to seemingly agree with Republican priorities, but there is actually very little agreement.

 

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Grace-Marie Turner of the Galen Institute discusses the common ground President Obama and Republicans could find if they start over and take small steps to improve health care.  But she says his unwillingness to scrap the current bill means we’re probably headed for more gridlock.

 

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On Friday, we learned the economy lost 20,000 jobs in January and a million more than previously thought throughout the current downturn.  However, the overall jobless rate fell to 9.7 percent.  Are we on the right track?  Will we see sustainable job growth in the months ahead?  What are employers worried about?  And what is the key to long-term job growth?  We ask Diana Furchtgott-Roth, chief economist for the Department of Labor in the George W. Bush administration.  She is now director of the Center for Employment Policy at the Hudson Institute.

 

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The Capitol Steps roll out a recent favorite lamenting the loss of American jobs to China.  Guest is Steps impressionist Mark Eaton.

 

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Health care legislation is on life support in Congress, but some states are taking no chances.  Virginia is the latest to pursue legislation making it illegal for the federal government to force residents to buy health insurance.  How does it work?  How many states are doing this?  and will it survive a court challenge?  We ask Christie Herrera, director of the Health and Human Services Task Force at the American Legislative Exchange Council.

 

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You’ve heard the debate about what cap and trade legislation might do to the economy.  What about the environmental impact.  Why could legislation designed to save the planet actually do it great ecological harm?  What’s the truth about carbon dioxide and what levels are ideal?  We ask Leighton Steward, author of ‘Fire, Ice and Paradise’.

 

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President Obama says he wants to overhaul the ‘No Child Left Behind’ law, by changing the system away from the pass/fail mark for schools to a more graded process.  He is also pushing changes to the testing policy by which schools are judged.  Are these good ideas?  What’s encouraging and what’s discouraging about the Obama agenda?  Will he really push to have bad teachers fired?  And why is Obama’s decision to let the DC vouchers program expire a sign that he’s not committed to doing what’s necessary to give every kid the best possible education?  We ask Dr. Jay Greene, professor of education reform at the University of Arkansas and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

 

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On Thursday, the House of Representatives approved the largest-ever increase in the federal debt ceiling - to the tune of $1.9 trillion.  The ceiling now stands at $14.3 trillion.  South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson calls this a sad day for the American people as President Obama proposes the largest annual deficit in history.  Wilson says the added PAYGO provisions are just a ruse and are littered with loopholes for a free-spending Congress.  He also addresses the health care debate and the controversy over where to hold the 9-11 terror trials.

 

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Scott Brown will be sworn in today as the new U.S. senator from Massachusetts.  John Gizzi of Human Events says this one vote kills any hopes of the Democrats passing their preferred version of health care legislation.  He says we won’t even see a pared-down version.  Gizzi also predicts immigration reform is dead before it really even starts.  He says Republicans are poised to win President Obama’s former senate seat in Illinois and also make a run at the Indiana seat held by Democrat Evan Bayh.

 

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