Archives for February 2012

Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are encouraged that the Republican nominee should have no problem explaining how President Obama is clueless on energy policy.  They also chide Jeb Bush for saying Republican presidential candidates are appealing to emotions and fears of the voters.  And they discuss how the very same liberals who preach tolerance are usually very intolerant themselves, as evidenced by New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow telling Mitt Romney to “stick it in your magic underwear”.

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The four remaining Republican presidential candidates locked horns in the final debate before next week’s contests in Michigan and Arizona and the Super Tuesday races to follow.  Former USA TODAY White House Correspondent Richard Benedetto says many Americans got their first good look at Rick Santorum.  Benedetto says Santorum did pretty well in the spotlight but didn’t have the lights out performance he may have needed.  He explains how Santorum has a tough time separating himself from the Bush administration.  Benedetto also assesses new polling numbers showing Romney leading Obama and Santorum within one point.  He says despite the competitive numbers, the best news in the poll belongs to Obama.  Benedetto explains how Obama could be hampered by high gas prices and why the recent fight over contraception and religious liberty may have been the intent of the Obama White House.  And he offers some very tentative predictions on next week’s Republican primaries.

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On Thursday, the average price of regular unleaded gasoline jumped to $3.61 per gallon and most expect it to go much higher.  That’s about double the price when President Obama took office.  Traditional explanations for the spike range from Middle East turmoil to increased worldwide demand to price-fixing by OPEC.  Louisiana Rep. John Fleming sees international demand as one issue but he says a failed Obama energy policy should be blamed most.  Fleming says Obama’s efforts to restrict exploration are exactly what America does not need.  Fleming also addresses multiple Democratic contentions on energy.  He says the notion that we have a miniscule percentage of the world’s energy reserves is simply wrong.  He also rejects the Democratic contention that starting offshore projects now wouldn’t impact gas prices for a decade or more.  And he explains what House Republicans are doing to ease energy costs.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are encouraged by a new poll showing 50% of Americans think the Obama administration is a failure.  They also cringe as gas prices skyrocket.  And they comment on General Electric forcing thousands of employees to buy Chevy Volts.

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In the late 1980s, the United States and the USSR negotiated a maritime treaty adjusting the borders between Alaska and our Cold War rival.  The treaty moved the border to the east, which gave the Soviets more land.  It also included islands north of Siberia.  The premise of this deal was to thaw relations and even though the treaty was not ratified, our two nations have been honoring the proposed boundary changes ever since.  Upon the conclusion of the Cold War, the treaty was still not ratified but no effort has been made by four subsequent presidents to restore what is still the official border.  Joe Miller was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 2010.  He tells us what kind of energy is beneath the islands in question, how Alaska has been given no voice in this debate and why getting the State Department to scrap the treaty sooner rather than later is very important.

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President Obama is hoping to win over more moderate voters by pushing a reduction of the federal corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent.  However, Americans for Tax Reform says the complete Obama plan is light on reductions and heavy with additional tax burdens.  Ryan Ellis is ATR’s director of tax policy.  He says the proposed cut is too small when comparing our corporate tax rate with those of our economic rivals and when factoring in state taxes on corporate revenues.  Ellis also says the plan blatantly raises taxes on small businesses and compounds the pain by doing away with critical tax deductions.  Ellis also offers what he considers a more effective tax reform plan.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review see a good lesson in Great Britain raising taxes on the rich and taking in far less in revenues.  They also discuss the political fallout of Rick Santorum’s 2008 speech at a Catholic university in which he said Satan was targeting America for destruction.  And we prepare for the first GOP debate in more than three weeks.

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The move to legalize gay marriage in Maryland now waits for a verdict from the State Senate.  On Friday, traditional marriage advocates watched their majority position erode in the House of Delegates, as several members were convinced to back gay marriage at the 11th hour.  Delegate Don Dwyer led the effort to preserve traditional marriage in the Old Line State.  He explains how Gov. Martin O’Malley used the power of his office to win final passage.  Dwyer also rips three trusted colleagues who fought with him on the issue only to be “bought off” in the end.  Dwyer also sounds off on multiple elements within the Republican party that fiercely lobbied in favor of gay marriage.  He also discusses how the bill might fare in the Maryland State Senate and describes the new effort to have Maryland voters ultimately decide the issue through a referendum in November.

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After discussing the dire financial state of the U.S. Postal Service and chronicling the different explanations for the shortfall, we now turn to the proposed solutions.  We discuss a proposal to fund the pension system without adding to the debt, a plan to create more independent authority over the USPS if the huge deficits persist and the renewed call to privatize the U.S. Postal Service.

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Two weeks ago, the U.S. Postal Service announced a huge financial loss in the final quarter of 2011.  The USPS says much of the problem lies in a substantial decline in mail volume.  Some in Congress blame overly generous union contracts while the unions and others say a burdensome mandate to pre-fund the pension system is badly distorting the overall numbers.  Listen here to learn the financial facts and the debate over what’s truly responsible for them.

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