Archives for March 2011

It’s been a week of fierce legislative battles on the federal and state levels.  In Washington, Senate Democrats have killed the Republican plan to cut spending for the rest of the fiscal year but also couldn’t pass their own plan.  So where does Congress go from here and will we see two-week spending bills for the next seven months?  We ask John Gizzi of Human Events and also get his thoughts on Wisconsin Republicans moving forward on their agenda for tighter budgets and less collective bargaining.  He also sounds off on the crisis in Libya and Thursday’s Congressional hearings focusing on the radicalization of Muslims.

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Greg Corombos and National Review’s Jim Geraghty applaud Wisconsin Republicans for finding a way to pass their collective bargaining bill with Democrats still out of state.  We also bemoan the momentum behind Gadhafi’s forces and Obama’s complete lack of interest in doing anything about it.  And we wonder how Obama has time for an anti-bullying summit but not to lead on the budget or on the international stage.

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On Thursday, the House Homeland Security Committee will probe the connection between radical Islam and terrorism.  But rather than investigate the obvious link, many have loudly protested the hearings as discriminating against Islam.  So why are these prominent Muslim groups really bent out of shape?  Why has the Obama administration actively tried to court these questionable groups?  Why are many Democrats equally vocal in denouncing the hearings before they even take place?  And how much tougher is it to win a war when many don’t want to identify or discuss the motivation for many of our enemies?  We discuss all these questions with Andy McCarthy, who served on the team of federal prosecutors that secured convictions for the blind sheik and others responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center attack.

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Greg Corombos and National Review’s Jim Geraghty enjoy the panic at NPR as executives get the boot after an undercover video shows them degrading Tea Party activists and Christians.  We also sigh as President Obama insists on much more education spending while paying meaningless lip service to spending restraints.  And we shred Harry Reid for suggesting even his beloved Cowboy Poetry Festival can’t possibly lose federal funding.

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After several years of condemning the Bush administration policy of indefinitely holding terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay, President Obama has largely reversed his plans to close Gitmo, bring detainees to U.S. soil and charge them in civilian courts instead of military tribunals.  So why the change of heart?  How important is this reversal of policy?  Why is Guantanamo Bay such an important piece of the anti-terrorism strategy?  And does this mean President Obama is getting better in this arena?  We ask former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra.  We also get his thoughts on the uproar leading up to the Congressional hearings on Islamic radicalism.

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Greg Corombos and National Review’s Jim Geraghty salute a Democratic senator for saying President Obama has failed to be a leader in the budget debate.  We also rip Obama for taking years to realize Guantanamo is the right policy and for failing to give credit to those who implemented the policy.  And we chronicle the latest lunacy from Wisconsin Democrats.

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Gas prices are rising rapidly in the wake of Middle East turmoil.  And while the Obama administration is considering the tapping of emergency reserves, there has not even been a whisper of opening more of America’s natural resources to domestic production.  What impact could opening access to pre-BP disaster levels have on energy prices?  How are other countries reacting to our refusal to make use of our own resources?  Why is President Obama more than happy to see gas prices rise to as high as seven dollars per gallon?  We discuss it all with Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

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Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter brings his refreshing personality to some the biggest challenges facing our nation.  In his new book “Seize Freedom!”, McCotter explains how heavily-bureaucratic government is a national albatross, why the War on Terror is really a War for Freedom and why moral relativism is very harmful for America.

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Greg Corombos and National Review’s Jim Geraghty find themselves in agreement with John Kerry for once.  They also rip the hyped-up condemnation of Congressional hearings into the role of radical Islam in terrorism.  And they’re stunned to hear White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley say that President Obama never considers the political impact of the decisions he makes.

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The unrest in the Middle East has led to sharply higher fuel prices, and Louisiana Rep. John Fleming says President Obama is in no rush to see them come down again.  Why would Obama welcome painfully high prices?  What is the economic impact of these higher energy prices?  What is the administration doing and not doing to encourage domestic energy production?  Is Obama really in favor of domestic energy or are his policies really just window dressing?  We discuss it all with Rep. Fleming, who grilled Interior Secretary Ken Salazar over these issues this week in the House Natural Resources Committee.

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