Archives for September 2010

A new study released by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, American taxpayers pay $113 billion per year to cover the cost of education, health care and other social services used (but not paid for) by illegal immigrants.  But which levels of government bear the largest burdens and what is the cost to the typical American taxpayer?  How high is the cost in border states?  And is there any effective and plausible way to solve this problem?  We discuss it all with Texas Rep. Ted Poe, a member of the House Judiciary Committee and its immigration subcommittee.

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What has the U.S. learned since the horrific 9/11 attacks?  What is the U.S. doing better than it was in 2001?  Why is President Obama wrong to say the war in Afghanistan is not open-ended?  How is getting tough with Iran essential to any progress in this struggle?  And is America now Islamophobic or just more aware of the threats to our nation?  We ask Clifford May, president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

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On Thursday, a federal judge in California ruled the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy was unconstitutional because it violated the first and fifth amendments of the Constitution.  Is that a sound legal decision?  Why should the courts uphold the current policy?  Would it make any difference to opponents if the policy were to be slowly reversed at the Pentagon rather than overturned by a federal judge?  We ask Mathew Staver, chairman of Liberty Counsel.

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Saturday marks nine years since the horrific terrorist attacks against the United States.  But as the distance from 9-11 grows longer, it is also to vital to remember what happened and what it was like to be in the midst of the attack.  In 2002, Greg Corombos interviewed U.S. Navy Captain Tom Joyce, who was working in the Pentagon on 9-11 – very near the location where the hijacked airplane slammed into the building.  Here is an encore presentation of Captain Joyce’s memories of the attack, how he and his colleagues reacted and how his faith in God sustained him and comforted many in the wake of so much death and destruction.

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Without some major developments, Democrats could be looking at huge losses in the midterm elections.  One reason for that is the enthusiasm of Tea Party members, who are furious over the Obama agenda.  This week, the Capitol Steps have some fun with the Tea Party.  Our guest is Steps star Elaina Newport.

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President Obama is on a major media blitz for his economic agenda, but the strategy is also designed to reverse very troubling poll numbers for Democratic candidates around the country.  But National Review Editor Rich Lowry says Obama’s tactics really expose an administration that insists on pursuing the same policies that have yielded poor results and have been rejected by a sound majority of the electorate.  So will the president’s PR offensive boost his party in the final weeks of the campaign?  Can Republicans rely on voters to reject the Democratic agenda or do they need to have a detailed agenda of their own?  And is the public already convinced that we need a different economic approach or could better fiscal news before Election Day make a big difference?  We discuss it all with Rich Lowry.

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Obama says Koran burning could be a ‘recruiting bonanza’ for Al Qaeda, administration conducts extensive discussions about whether a direct dialogue with Florida pastor would convince him to cancel the burning, good news for one U.S. hiker held in Iran, Castro slams Ahmadinejad and suggests the Cuban system no longer works, Obama says rich should get continued tax cuts because it wouldn’t change their spending patterns and a new government report shows Obama’s health care plan will cost more than advertised.

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Another report from the actuary’s office at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services shows the price tag of the forthcoming health care policy changes coming in much higher than was promised by advocates of the new laws.  So how much will these changes cost us and why were the original estimates off base?  We ask Grace-Marie Turner of the Galen Institute.  She also warns of an encroaching Big Brother mentality in government, as officials in North Carolina demand to know the names of all patients with prescriptions for painkillers.

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Gen. David Petraeus and other military leaders have urged a Florida church not to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of 9-11, suggesting that such a spectacle would inflame many people in the Muslim world and possibly endanger our troops.  Yet the military saw no problem burning boxes of Bibles written in local Afghan dialects that a soldier received from his home church.  Does the military apply a clear double standard in how it treats Islam compared to Christianity?  How is this manifested in everyday military life?  Is the military increasingly hostile towards Christianity?  And if so, how could that impact recruiting and retention?  We discuss all this with retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis, who is now a senior strategist with the Army.

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With less than eight weeks remaining until Election Day, President Obama is trying to boost his party’s dismal poll numbers by touting a new economic agenda and attacking the Republican approach.  But will it work?  Will the public believe Democrats are still the best choice to lead us out of the economic ditch?  We ask John Gizzi, political editor at Human Events.  Gizzi also offers more primary predictions, discusses whether Rahm Emanuel will be the next mayor of Chicago and how vocal the Obama administration ought to be in the Koran burning controversy.

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