Archives for November 2009

Democratic strategist Michael Lewan offers his assessment of Tuesday’s elections.  What did Republicans do right and Democrats do wrong in Virginia?  How did the GOP win in heavily Democratic New Jersey?  Why does Lewan say Democrat Jon Corzine was ‘a lousy governor’?  What can be read into the Democrats picking up a GOP House seat in New York?  And given the mostly good night for Republicans, what advice does Lewan have for moderate ‘Blue Dog’ Democrats facing the Pelosi agenda on health care, energy and greater power for organized labor?

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South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson says he’s happy President Obama is finally warming up to President Karzai.  He also says it is imperative for Obama to declare a new Afghan strategy.  He says Cheney was exactly right in saying Obama is ‘dithering.

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Michigan Rep. Peter Hoekstra continues the GOP call for the public to come and rally in Washington on Thursday – rally on Capitol Hill and in the offices of their members of Congress.  What does Hoekstra think that will accomplish?  Will any Democrats bother to listen?  When will this vote happen?

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Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis discusses the Democratic and Republican health plans.  What is the real price tag of the Pelosi plan?  Why will it be even more than that after the first 10 years?  What are the fundamental differences between the two plans?  What are the Republican priorities?  How many health plans have Republicans introduced in the House?

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Did too much or not enough government lead to the economic woes of the past couple of years?  Why is Congress about to give government more power when it proved it wasn’t good at wielding the power it already has?  Has too much capitalism or too much government been the reason for our problems with health care and energy?  We ask Steve Forbes, two-time presidential candidate and CEO of Forbes Media.  His new book is “How Capitalism Will Save Us: Why Free People and Free Markets Are the Best Answer in Today’s Economy”.

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House Republicans are organizing what they hope will be a massive rally against the Democratic health care bill.  Why do Republicans want large crowds in Washington?  What do they believe the people can do that their minority party cannot?  What is Nancy Pelosi doing and promising in order to line up Democratic moderates behind this bill?  What happens to this agenda if the House rejects the Pelosi bill?  We ask Iowa Rep. Steve King, one of the organizers of Thursday’s rally.

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Jim McLaughlin, pollster for Conservative Party hopeful Doug Hoffman, explains how his candidate surged in the polls in such a short period of time.  Why does he think the Republican dropping out and endorsing the Democrat is good for Hoffman?  Why was the national party to eager to get behind liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava?  Why does he think the media gets it wrong when they pit this campaign as conservatives and moderates fighting for the future of the party?

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Last week, a House committee heard testimony on the long-term impact of head injuries to football players.  So what does the evidence to show?  How much jarring does it take to leave a lasting condition?  Is there a connection to later diagnosis of dementia or Parkinson’s?  What can be done to reduce the likelihood of head injuries on the gridiron?  We ask Dr. Bennet Omalu, co-founder of the Brain Injury Research Institute.

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Are Republicans really headed for a landslide in Virginia?  Can Jon Corzine survive in New Jersey?  And how is the New York congressional race looking after the Republican drops out and endorses the Democrat over the conservative challenger?  We ask Prof. Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia, one of the nation’s foremost political experts.

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As we await the real jobs report due out on Friday, President Obama claims his stimulus plan is directly responsible for 650,000 jobs being created or saved.  He further asserts that another 350,000 jobs were indirectly created or saved.  So accurate is Obama?  How do you count the number of jobs that would have been lost without the stimulus?  Is this missing the bigger story of millions of jobs lost in the past several months?  Where have many of the new jobs been created?  And why are states that received stimulus dollars less than thrilled?  We ask Sandra Fabry, government relations manager at Americans for Tax Reform.

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