After a Presidents’ Day break, Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review return to cheer consistent American opposition to Obamacare. After the European Union bails out Greece yet again, Greg and Jim fear what financial calamities await the U.S. And they have some fun with Vice President Joe Biden’s office announcing he was traveling to “Road Island”.
On Friday, the House and Senate overwhelmingly voted to extend current payroll tax rates. The deal was reached after House Republican leaders agreed to scrap demands that the revenues lost from lower rates be offset with spending cuts elsewhere in the government. One GOP House leader did not go along with the compromise. Texas Rep. John Carter serves as GOP Conference Secretary. He doesn’t think the lower rates are helping the economy and he doesn’t like the idea of taking money away from Social Security recipients. But his biggest criticism is that Congress is adding to an already staggering debt and a Republican-led House is a willing partner. Carter says the GOP needs to get back to regular order, which means passing a conservative bill and then negotiating with the Senate Democrats rather than negotiating before anything is passed. Despite his frustrations, Rep. Carter strongly believes voters should trust Republicans much more than Democrats when it comes to addressing the nation’s fiscal challenges.
All four of the remaining Republican presidential candidates claim to be pro-life. Three of them can boast strong records throughout their political careers in defense of the unborn. However, the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List says Rick Santorum stands head and shoulders above the rest and has been out front as a leading voice for the cause. That’s why the group is endorsing Santorum for president. SBA List President Majorie Dannenfelser tells us why the group decided to endorse a candidate for the first time in its history. She also takes us inside Santorum’s days in the U.S. Senate to give us a glimpse of how he approached life issues. Dannenfelser also discusses whether Santorum’s emergence as a possible nominee was a major influence on the group’s decision and whether abortion will be a key issue in this year’s campaign.
This past week, Iran proudly hailed its domestically produced nuclear fuel rods. That announcement combined with the attempted murders of Israeli diplomats in multiple countries and recent statements advocating the killing of all Jews has greatly intensified the standoff in the Middle East. South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson is a member of both the House Armed Services Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He explains why he believes President Obama failed to lead on this issue at the most critical time and what the best policy would be for the U.S. moving forward. He also explains why Iran’s targeting of Israeli diplomats is far worse than the alleged Israeli killing of Iranian nuclear scientists. And he explains why he bucked his own party’s leaders to vote against the extension of the payroll tax compromise.
Three years ago, a newly minted President Obama signed the economic stimulus bill into law. He and his allies declared the plan would stave off another massive depression and that unemployment would get no higher than eight percent if it was enacted. Ever since, Republicans have cited the stimulus as a symbol of Obama’s big government vision and a huge giveaway to special interests. Florida Rep. Daniel Webster joins us to explain why he believes this is not an anniversary worth celebrating. Rep. Webster tells us why he believes the stimulus was a failure. He also predicts the economy will be the dominant issue in every major race this year and spells out how Republicans plan to contrast their economic vision with what we’ve seen from the president.
Earlier this month, Facebook began the process of going public by valuing itself at $10 billion. As investors decide whether to buy a sliver of the social media giant, the Capitol Steps examine how the site has changed so many lives. Our guest is Capitol Steps star and co-founder Elaina Newport.
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review cheer Paul Ryan for pointing out that Obama has no plan for dealing with long-term debt other than demonizing Ryan himself. They also wince as Rick Santorum and his backers get distracted from freedom of conscience issue and start denouncing birth control. And they chuckle as another Democrat gets busted for not paying taxes.
Within just a few weeks in 2009, Jenny Beth Martin went from losing her home to foreclosure and cleaning bathrooms to pay the bills to becoming one the key leaders of the grassroots Tea Party movement. Along with Mark Meckler, Martin founded the Tea Party Patriots. They are also co-authors of a new book by the same name. Martin tells us why she and her husband did not want to be part of big government programs that may have allowed them to keep their home. She also explains why she’s disappointed with many of the freshman Republicans her group and other Tea Party members helped to elect. Martin also explains why ideas will be the focus of the Tea Party in 2012 and not a lot of campaigning for specific candidates. She also explains some of the reform ideas she thinks need to be pursued both in the near term and the long term.
President Obama released his budget blueprint this week to typical reviews. Republicans called it more deficit spending and another attempt to soak the rich. Obama and his supporters say the plan institutes greater fairness into the system and advances the economic recovery Obama claims is taking place. President Obama also got a win this week when Congressional Republicans scrapped their demands that any extension of the payroll tax rates be offset with equal amounts of spending cuts. John Gizzi of Human Events evaluates both issues and believes voters will reward GOP members for not raising taxes rather than punish them for not demanding spending cuts. Gizzi also explains why he expects Mitt Romney to roar back and win his home state of Michigan at the end of the month and eventually claim the Republican nomination. And Gizzi spells out what we can expect the U.S. policy to be towards an Iran moving closer and closer to a nuclear weapons program.
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review cheer Rep. Scott Garrett for getting Obama’s budget director to admit the individual mandate penalty in Obamacare is not a tax, an acknowledgement that would be a huge blow to the constitutionality of the mandate. They also slam open primaries as they discuss a new liberal effort to influence the GOP presidential race. And they have fun with the Obama campaign’s creation of Truth Teams.
