Senate Republicans opposed passage of additional jobless benefits unless they were offset with spending cuts somewhere else. Why does President Clinton’s former budget office spokesman say that is a ‘silly argument’ and that paying for these benefits was not that important? And why does he believe letting the Bush tax cuts expire for the wealthiest Americans will be of great help to the economy? We ask Larry Haas, who also served as communications director for former Vice President Al Gore.
Last week, we learned that Sarah Palins’ daughter, Bristol, is planning to marry Levi Johnston after two years of hostility between him and her family. Reports suggest Sarah Palin didn’t know about the engagement until the announcement went public. So what does the former VP candidate really think about this wedding? The Capitol Steps find out.
In recent days, reports from the Daily Caller website reveal a large network of left-leaning reporters, activists and academics who collaborated on ways to help President Obama during the 2008 campaign – from trying to minimize Jeremiah Wright story to the immediate targeting of Sarah Palin once she was announced as John McCain’s running mate. How was this effort organized? How did they plot to go after Palin and what does this tell us about present-day journalism? We ask Jamie Weinstein, deputy editor at The Daily Caller.
Without action by the Congress and President Obama, the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts will expire at the end of the year. Why are they expiring? Would extending the cuts really add trillions to the deficit? Why could small businesses suffer the most? What will happen to the middle class? And how brutal will the estate tax be next year if nothing changes? We ask Scott Hodge, president of The Tax Foundation.
The temperatures have been sweltering this summer in Washington, and tempers have reached the boiling point as well. John Gizzi of Human Events joins us to discuss how the White House and conservative bloggers will fare after the Shirley Sherrod race fiasco from this week. He also weighs in on the political fallout for GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham following his vote in favor of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. In addition, Gizzi offers his thoughts on his conversation with RNC Chairman Michael Steele and the Washington visit of British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Obama signs financial regulatory overhaul bill, GOP still denouncing higher deficits to pay for unemployment benefits, White House takes heat for firing USDA employee on racial comments taken out of context, Sen. Graham under fire for backing Kagan, panic and desperation grip North Korea after massive devaluation of currency.
Senate Democrats got their way on extended aid for the unemployed, but why didn’t they want to take money from somewhere else to balance the books? Where would Republicans have found the money to pay the $34 billion tab? We ask Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso. The senator also discusses where he stands on the Elena Kagan nomination to the Supreme Court and reacts to the Obama administration admitting the individual health care mandate is a tax on the American people.
Racial tensions are rising in the wake of the NAACP labeling elements within the Tea Party as racist and an Agriculture Department official fired over racial comments that didn’t include the full context. So how damaged are race relations right now? What are the best ways to calm things down? We ask U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Co-Chair Abigail Thernstrom and get her reaction to allegations of a racial bias at the Justice Department in voting rights cases.
North Korea has radically devalued its currency in recent weeks, triggering widespread panic, desperation and even suicide as people in the poverty-ridden nation watch their life savings reduced to pocket change with the stroke of a pen. So how bleak is the situation in North Korea? Can the ruling regime hang on much longer? Why are Christians in North Korea suffering the most? And how can you help? We ask Dr. Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors USA, a leading organization in assisting the persecuted Christian church.
Two Republicans assist Senate Democrats in passing jobless benefits that add to deficits, six in ten American workers believe Social Security will not be there for them in the years ahead, Sen. Lindsey Graham joins Democrats in approving Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court, Obama and Cameron insist they never supported the release of the Lockerbie bomber and Cameron confirms the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster is BP’s responsibility.
