Archives for January 2012

As the nation pauses to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the debate rages on as to where Dr. King would find himself along the political spectrum if he were alive today.  Many suggest Dr. King would be mostly liberal given where other civil rights leaders currently stand.  But others like Stacy Swimp say King’s writings, speeches and actions tell a very different story.  Swimp is president of the Frederick Douglass Society and is a spokesman for the Project 21 Black Leadership Council.  Swimp explains what he sees as King’s greatest legacy and why King would be far more conservative today than other black leaders.  Swimp also rebuts assertions from former Green Jobs Czar Van Jones that Dr. King would have been a strong supporter of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Charlie Cook of National Review are glad to see Jon Huntsman finally leave the presidential race.  They also slam Harry Reid for moaning that Republicans make it harder to raise the debt ceiling.  And they chuckle as Newsweek fades into greater absurdity by declaring all of Obama’s critics dumb.

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In the coming days, President Obama will ask Congress for a $1.2 trillion extension of the debt ceiling – just five months after the last hike.  South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson was one of a few House Republicans to vote against the final version and the Boehner plan that triggered the compromise.  He offers his reaction to the new request and explains why last year’s “Cut, Cap and Balance” is a better approach.  And while Congress is largely powerless to block debt ceiling increases before Election Day, he also embraces the idea of refusing future hikes and letting the government survive on revenues alone.

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South Carolina will be the epicenter of the 2012 campaign for the next week as the Republican presidential hopefuls push hard for a win in the state’s critical primary on January 21.  Rep. Joe Wilson tells us what voters in his state want to hear from the candidates about how they would help to reduce South Carolina’s high unemployment.  He explains why the long fight between Boeing and the National Labor Relations Board will be a key issue, and he discusses other issues important to the electorate.  Wilson was an early supporter of Tim Pawlenty and tells us whether he’s endorsed anyone new.

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This week, Newt Gingrich launched a new television spot accusing Mitt Romney of not changing his policies despite a professed conversion to the pro-life position on abortion.  The ad accuses Romney of appointing a pro-abortion judge, nominating pro-choice people to key positions but not doing the same for the pro-life side and allowing taxpayer-funded abortions in his health care plan.  Dr. Janice Crouse says the Gingrich ad is effective and pro-life activists still have plenty of doubts about Romney.  But Dr. Crouse says she and other pro-life activists will have no trouble backing Romney against President Obama if Romney is the GOP nominee.

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Rick Perry’s presidential campaign has fallen on rough times but he is banking on South Carolina to turn things around.  The Capitol Steps try to give Perry a shot in the arm by bringing in another famous Texan for support.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review cheer a sting during the New Hampshire primary that shows how fraudulent elections can be without photo identification.  They also rip Debbie Wasserman Schultz for blaming the Tea Party for making the political discourse more harsh.  And they laugh as CNBC has to make an embarrassing correction.

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Last week, President Obama announced $450 billion in cuts from proposed defense spending increases over the next decade.  Obama says it’s necessary to address our growing debt and to retool the military for a different role in the 21st century.  Florida Rep. Tom Rooney is a member of the House Armed Services Committee.  He doesn’t think the cuts are smart and he wonders how much of this is designed to appease Obama’s liberal base.  He also insists that an additional $600 billion in defense cuts triggered by the super committee’s failure is utterly unsustainable.  Rooney explains why he now regrets voting for the debt ceiling compromise in August and wishes President Obama and House Speaker john Boehner had agreed on a “grand bargain”.

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Mitt Romney won the first two contests of the 2012 campaign.  John Gizzi tells is whether he thinks Romney is unstoppable or whether criticism of his time at Bain Capital and his abortion record in Massachusetts will trip him up in South Carolina.  Gizzi also reacts to the Obama recess appointments despite the lack of a Senate recess and the death of longtime journalist and political figure Tony Blankley.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are impressed that covert operatives have taken out another Iranian nuclear scientist.  They also examine a tough Gingrich ad that suggests Mitt Romney had a very pro-abortion record even after his professed conversion to being pro-life.  And they rip President Obama for trying to position himself as an outsider again in 2012 and for telling supporters that real change will come if he wins again.

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