Archives for May 2009

We have Wednesday’s top news… How is the international community reacting to the latest defiance from North Korea?  Is that situation rapidly escalating or are we just hearing more bluster from Pyongyang?  What are some of the latest GOP concerns over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor?  How is the White House responding?  What boast is President Obama making about the impact of his stimulus plan?  And what happened on Wall Street Wednesday?  We have the answers as we bring you the biggest stories for Wednesday, May 27, 2009.

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President Obama promised to nominate a Supreme Court justice with empathy – and he says he’s done that in picking Sonia Sotomayor for the high court.  But should that be a major factor?  How has that led to rampant judicial activism?  And how are minorities reacting to this aspect of picking a new justice?  We ask Mychal Massie, chairman of the Project 21 black leadership network.

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Should Senate Republicans wage a fierce battle against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor if they feel she does not belong on the high court?  Or is in their long-term political interest to avoid a major fight they can’t win and does not change the balance of the court?  How could this be a litmus test for where the GOP is headed as a party?  We ask Rich Galen, former press secretary for Newt Gingrich and Dan Quayle.  He now writes the internet column mullings.com.

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Why is North Korea being so brash about its latest missile and nuclear weapons tests?  Are they making enough progress on their weapons to worry the rest of the region?  Will North Korea really attack the U.S. or South Korea for inspecting incoming cargo?  We ask KT McFarland, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for President Reagan.  She is also back from Afghanistan and we will hear her thoughts on our progress and goals in that theater of operations.

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Just months after the Obama administration rescinded Bush administration policies allowing expanded offshore energy exploration. Now House Democrats are looking to make oil and natural gas exploration on federal lands less attractive to energy producers as well. What is their plan to reduce the amount of exploration on land? Why are they doing it? Are Democrats right when they say oil companies have access to millions o acres and are just sitting on the leases? And what will be the impact on your bottom line if there is even less exploration here in the U.S.? We ask former Virginia Gov. George Allen, founder of the soon-to-be-launched American Energy Freedom Center.

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We have Tuesday’s top news… Who is President Obama nominating for the U.S. Supreme Court?  What factors led to his decision?  What did the nominee have to say about their qualifications for the bench?  What are the prospects for confirmation in the U.S. Senate?  What decision did the California Supreme Court make today on the definition of marriage in that state?  How many Guantanamo prisoners return to terrorism upon their release?  What did North Korea do today to further frustrate the international community?  And what happened on Wall Street?  We have the answers as we bring you the biggest stories for Tuesday, May 26, 2009.

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On Tuesday, President Obama nominated Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.  She fits all the demographic boxes the media have been discussing, but what kind of judge is she?  How would she act and reach decisions on the highest court in the land?  Is she fair-minded or a judicial activist?  Are Republicans right to worry she will legislate from the bench?  Find out why at least one conservative legal scholar likes this selection, when we discuss all these questions with Pepperdine University law professor Douglas Kmiec.

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Now that President Obama has nominated Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court, what awaits her on Capitol Hill?  Will the large Democratic majority breeze her through the process?  How will Republicans handle this nomination knowing they can’t really do anything to stop it?  What issues will Sotomayor need to address during her hearings?  We ask Erin Billings of Roll Call newspaper.

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Over the past few days, the communist government in North Korea has conducted an underground nuclear test and several missile tests. Why are we seeing this behavior when not long ago the regime agreed to dismantle its nuclear program? What’s the proper response? Are the Chinese really interested in seeing a nuke-free North Korea? We ask retired U.S. Army Col. Bill Taylor, a North Korean expert who also teaches at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.

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On Tuesday, the California Supreme Court ruled 6-1 in favor of upholding the constitutional amendment defining marriage in the Golden State as the union of one man and one woman – which was approved by voters in November.  So how big of a win is this for traditional marriage?  What does it mean for the national marriage debate?  Are gay marriage advocates gaining much traction in their effort to change the definition again in the 2010 elections?  And why did the court also allow the 18,000 existing gay marriages to remain legal?  We ask Matt Staver, founder and president of Liberty Counsel.  He also argued the case for traditional marriage before the California Supreme Court in 2008.

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