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News & Politics

Merkley Accepts Reality, Crenshaw’s Clear Conservatism, Hillary Rules Out 2020

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley’s decision to not run in 2020 but ask if his announcement was really necessary since very few Americans have any idea who he is. They also take a deep breath of fresh air as Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw gives a clear and calm defense of conservative principles that is often missing from our public dialogue. And Jim notes the Clinton era ends in a whimper as Hillary officially states that she will not run for president in 2020.

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Reassessing the Refunds, Hickenlooper 2020, Gillibrand Denies Flip-Flopping

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America welcome the news that tax refunds are now slightly outpacing the amounts issued last year by the IRS.  They also examine the record of the latest Democrat to run for president – former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper – and whether he has any path to victory.  And they get a kick out of New York Sen. Gillbrand insisting she’s not a flip-flopper after running for Congress as a moderate Democrat and now running for president as a ardent progressive.

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What’s Really in the Universal Background Check Bill

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This week, the House of Representatives passed legislation requiring universal background checks for any gun purchase, but one of the leading defenders of the second amendment says there a whole lot more in the bill than meets the eye.

Universal background checks sound simple.  The idea is that if you want to buy a firearm, you must go through a background check to make sure you don’t have a criminal record or present a threat to those around you.  But Gun Owners of America Legislative Counsel Mike Hammond says there are all sort of transfer provisions that could turn any gun owner into a lawbreaker.

“If you transfer a gun to any other person for as little as a second and you don’t come with an exception, you are a criminal and can be put in prison for up to a year.

“So if you sell your gun to your son for a dollar, you’re a criminal.  If you give your gun to your stepson, you’re a criminal.  If you hand your gun to your neighbor to look at and go into the kitchen for a paper towel, you’re a criminal.  If you go hunting with a friend and hand him your gun and he doesn’t have a hunting license or is a veteran with PTSD, you’re a criminal,” said Hammond.

“It’s simply an effort to make gun ownership so full of trap doors that no one wants to own a gun because every time you handle that gun or hand that gun to someone, you basically risk going to jail,” he added.

Hammond says no mass shooter in 20 years would have been stopped by this legislation.  He says law-abiding Americans are the only ones who get stopped from buying guns with a background check.

“Most people who walk into gun dealers and fail background checks, their overwhelming reaction is absolute surprise.  They’re people like veterans, people who haven’t paid traffic tickets, people whose psychiatrists have turned them in, people who had no idea in the world that the convolutions of federal law would prohibit them from purchasing a firearm.

“The murderers, on the other hand, just get their guns on the street,” said Hammond.

Listen to the full podcast to hear more of Hammond’s analysis of the House bill, why he thinks the legislation is already dead even before getting to the Senate, and what he thinks Democrats would push for if the universal background check bill ever became law.

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Trudeau in Trouble, Pelosi Rips Moderate Dems, Roy Moore Running Again?

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America discuss the sudden political turmoil for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after his former attorney general says Trudeau told her go easy on a major business that was under investigation and then removed her as attorney general when she refused.  They also have fun as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi berates moderate House Democrats for siding with Republicans on multiple motions to recommit and warns that they’ll get less help from the party in 2020 if they don’t vote the way she wants.  And they slam their heads against their desks as Roy Moore considers another run for the Senate seat he lost in 2017.

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In Defense of the Electoral College

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After winning the popular vote but losing the presidency twice in 16 years, Democrats are determined to make a majority of the Electoral College contingent on which candidate wins the popular vote, but one expert says we might want to remember why the founders set things up this way before we change them.

This week, Colorado became the twelfth state to enact legislation requiring it’s electoral votes to be awarded to the winner of the national popular vote, regardless of the outcome in those states.  Right now, those 12 states total 181 electoral votes.

So why did the founders create the Electoral College?

“The founders didn’t fully trust the idea of democracy yet also wanted to give some leeway to the states to have their own voting system.  They wanted to protect the idea of federalism and leave to them how their elections would go,” said Jarrett Stepman, an editor and commentary writer at the Daily Signal, which is affiliated with the Heritage Foundation.

He says it also gives smaller states a slightly larger voice in the presidential election.  Electoral votes are awarded to states based on the number of senators and representatives they have.  Since all states have two senators, smaller states receive a bit more of a percentage of the electoral vote than their populations would indicate.

In the early decades of the United States, state affiliation often trumped national affiliation, prompting the founders to put a premium on state power.

“They all had this general concept that the concept of federalism really protects the idea of liberty and self-government, especially in a broad-based republic like ours,” said Stepman.

In addition to principle, says Stepman, is practicality.  He says as ugly as the 2000 Florida recount was to determine whether George W. Bush or Al Gore would win the state and the presidency, imagine a nationwide recount to settle such a dilemma.

“It would have been a giant national nightmare, even beyond what it was.  This would have looked like a mass national recount.  It was so bad as it was in Florida itself, you can only imagine what this would be across the country,” said Stepman.

Listen to the full podcast to hear Stepman explain the legal hurdles awaiting this movement to circumvent the Electoral College, what Alexander Hamilton said about it in Federalist 68, and why we badly need to improve civics education.

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Toensing: Cohen Testimony Shows Dems Moving on from Russia

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Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen savaged the president as a “racist, a con man, and a cheat,” but also may have provided important evidence that Trump did not conspire with Russians during the 2016 campaign.

While slamming Trump as a corrupt businessman who broke campaign finance laws, cheated on his wife, lied about a Trump project in Moscow, and treated his presidential bid like an infomercial, Cohen also admitted he had no direct evidence that Trump or his campaign colluded with Russia.

He does believe Trump knew about Roger Stone’s contacts with Wikileaks around the time that emails from Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee were released.

Former Justice Department official Victoria Toensing says this hearing is a turning point as the Democrats pivot away from Russia and look for other reasons to investigate the president.

“The Democrats now know that there’s nothing in the Mueller report.  So what are they going to do?  They’re going to go after his finances.  That’s what this is all about laying the groundwork to impeach the president,” said Toensing.

Beyond that, Toensing says Democrats are trying to turn two non-issues into scandals.  She says Trump was perfectly free to negotiate business dealings in Russia up until his inauguration.  She also says the payments to adult film performer Stephanie Clifford, while unseemly, were also legal since Trump paid Cohen from personal funds rather than campaign coffers.

Listen to the full podcast as Toensing explains why she believes neither of those matters were criminal and why Cohen ended up pleading guilty for those payments if there was no crime.

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‘This is Such Extreme Depths of Depravity’

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Pro-life activists are deeply upset that Democrats derailed legislation to protect babies who are delivered after attempted abortions, but they say the silver lining is that there is no doubt where Democrats now stand on infanticide.

“It’s actually immensely helpful.  It reveals with such clarity what the abortion lobby wants, which is a right to a dead child no matter what,” said Susan B. Anthony List Vice President of Communications Mallory Quigley.

On Monday, the Senate failed to reach 60 votes in favor of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.  The vote was 53-44.  Three Democrats voted in favor of the plan.  Three Republicans missed the vote.

In explaining their opposition to the bill sponsored by Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, Democrats cited their pro-choice commitments.

Washington Sen. Patty Murray argued that the legislation would force women to accept “care that may directly conflict with your wishes at a deeply personal, often incredibly painful moment in your life — because politicians in Washington decided their beliefs mattered more than yours.”

“Republican politicians just tried (and failed) again to score political points at the expense of women. Enough. Women and their doctors should decide what’s best for their health – not the Republican politicians just tried (and failed) again to score political points at the expense of women. Enough. Women and their doctors should decide what’s best for their health – not the @SenateGOP,” tweeted Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Quigley says those arguments aren’t even relevant in this debate.

“This is not a bill about abortion.  It’s about infanticide and protecting babies that are born alive during failed abortions, completely separate entities from their moms.  What are we going to do with them?  All this bill would do is require that those infants receive the same care that we would give and expect for a preemie baby born at the same stage,” said Quigley.

Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins supported the legislation.  Quigley says Collins is strongly pro-choice and her vote proves this bill was not about abortion.

Other Democrats said the legislation was unnecessary because infanticide is already banned through the 2002 Born-Alive Infant Protection Act.  Quigley says that’s very misleading.

“The 2002 bill was really a statement about what we believe about these babies, but it didn’t require anything.  There were no legal teeth and no legal requirements,” said Quigley.

The Sasse bill allows for mothers to prosecute providers for not caring for their child once it’s born and prescribes jail time for those who refuse to attempt life-saving care.

Quigley says this should have been an easy vote on the merits and in pleasing the public.

“It’s not just the morally right position to take.  It’s very popular.  Seventy-seven percent of voters support this legislation.  Fifty-five percent strongly support it,” she said.

Quigley expects this issue to resonate loudly in the 2020 campaign now that Americans can see where Democrats stand.

“This is such extreme depths of depravity.  It’s really horrifying that we’re in a place where we have to have these conversations, but I’m thankful for the clarity, because at least having this conversation allows us to change people’s hearts and minds,” said Quigley.

Listen to the full podcast to hear Quigley respond to other objections from Democrats on the legislation, how pro-life lawmakers are working to force a vote on this in the House of Representatives, and how President Trump is taking steps to reduce taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood by as much as $60 million.

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Dems Defend Infanticide, Maduro Detains Media, Sanders Soft on Venezuela

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America lament the Democratic derailing of the Born Alive Act that would have required doctors to provide care for babies who survive failed abortions. They also defend Univison’s Jorge Ramos as he is detained in Venezuela after confronting Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro over his violent and corrupt record. And they are frustrated by Bernie Sanders offering very weak criticism of the Maduro regime while he often passionately condemns American business.

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Equal Opportunity Draft, Children as Political Pawns, Reid Misses Pres. Bush

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America fume after a federal judge decides the debate over whether women should have to register for the draft has gone on long enough and rules the all-male draft is unconstitutional.  They also defend California Sen. Dianne Feinstein after supporters of the Green New Deal send small children to beg Feinstein to join their cause.  Then Jim unleashes a powerful response as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questions whether the planet is in such peril that young people should no longer have children.  And they have their favorite catch phrase ready as former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid bashes Pres. Trump and says he misses President George W. Bush, whom Reid derided as a loser and a liar a decade ago.

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Kraft Case, Sex Trafficking Not Victimless Crimes

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New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is expected to be charged with solicitation of a sex act at a Florida massage parlor, and the story highlights once again the scourge of sex trafficking in the United States.

Kraft was identified, along with many other people, as part of a prostitution and sex trafficking investigation.  He denies the allegations.

Several libertarian voices suggest there ought to be no crime here because it was a transaction between two consenting adults.  Kevin Malone disagrees.  The longtime Major League Baseball executive is president of the board of the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking.

“Anyone who says they’re two consenting adults is truly an idiot and doesn’t understand – particularly in this situation with Robert Kraft – the women at these massage parlors were there against their will.  They were actually sex slaves being sold out of the massage parlor,” said Malone.

He says many of the females involved are 17 years or younger and therefore cannot consent.  In addition, Malone believes few adult women participate in sex trafficking voluntarily.  He says they get caught up in it as girls and then feel that continuing in prostitution is their only option.

Malone says that up to 70 percent of sex trafficking is online, so while parents are right to keep their kids close by when out in public, the even greater threat is who they might be communicating with online.  He also says sex traffickers are known to strike up friendships with kids in public rather than abducting them right away.  They build trust with the kids to lure them into intimate relationships and eventually prostitution.

He urges parents to keep a very close eye on their kids’ internet activities.

Listen to the full podcast to understand how sex trafficking is happening in our communities – and not just on street corners and massage parlors – and how to spot a possible victim when you see one.

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