Archives for May 2012

William Murray was barely a teenager when his mother sued Baltimore schools and demanded that prayer and Bible reading be removed from public schools.  Madalyn Murray O’Hair won her case at the Supreme Court but that didn’t make her happy.  She was still the same bitter, vulgar woman.  That’s William Murray’s assessment of his own deeply dysfunctional family.  Murray tells us how bitterness and an embrace of Marxism combined to fuel his mother’s atheistic movement.  He also explains how he changed from a much calmer Marxist and atheist than his mother to a Libertarian-type atheist.  This shift alienated him from his mother to a great extent and set him on a path of seeking worldly fulfillment.  But rather than satisfy him, that course left Murray broke, divorced and begging the mother he loathed to raise his daughter.  Murray also explains how he found salvation in Jesus Christ in 1980 and how he can now see the steps leading to that dramatic conversion.  Now the head of the Religious Freedom Coalition, Murray discusses the role his family had on our nation and his work now to defend the freedom of religion from those still seeking to scrub God from the public square.

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Republicans see Florida as a strong opportunity to pick up a Senate seat currently held by Democrats.  Two-term Sen. Bill Nelson has low approval numbers and three Republicans are fighting for the chance to take on Nelson in November.  But before the general election can get going, the bad blood in the GOP race is already clear more than three months ahead of the August 14th primary.  Rep. Connie Mack IV is the current Republican frontrunner despite getting a late start in the race.  Former Sen. George LeMieux says that lead will evaporate when Florida voters realize that this Connie Mack is not the very popular former senator but the son of that man.  LeMieux says Rep. Mack has a violent personal history and has been part of the spending problem in Washington by embracing earmarks and the notion of “bringing home the bacon”.  LeMieux, who served over a year in the U.S. Senate in 2009 and 2010 after being appointed to fill out the unexpired term of Sen. Mel Martinez, says his record is quite different.  LeMieux points to his votes against earmarks and against raising the debt ceiling.  Claims of illegal campaign tactics are also being alleged.  LeMieux says Mack has just recently been busted for using his Congressional mailing privileges to send thinly veiled campaign materials to voters outside of his district.  He also tells about his approach to job creation that his state sorely needs and debt reduction that will keep our nation solvent.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are encouraged by more revelations from Tuesday’s voting in Wisconsin.  They also marvel at President Obama’s blatant political calculation behind his “evolving” on gay marriage.  And they scratch their heads as Rep. Michele Bachmann pursues dual citizenship in Switzerland.

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Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has long been a vocal critic of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).  His position only intensified after the TSA detained him at length earlier this year and caused him to miss a flight and an important speech in Washington.  Sen. Paul says it’s time to abolish the TSA and claims to have bipartisan support for his plan.  Paul insists this effort is not because of his own experience but because the very young, very old and frequent travelers have been humiliated by a system that he calls ‘ridiculous’.  Sen. Paul explains why he believes TSA measures are not necessary to maintain secure flights and asks how far the invasive techniques must go before Congress makes changes.  He also highlights some the principles he wants to include in a new passenger “bill of rights” and why he thinks airport security should be handled by private firms and possibly by the airlines themselves.

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North Carolina’s embrace of traditional marriage was the marquee election result from Tuesday night, but the complexion of the U.S. House races in redrawn districts also became a bit clearer.  In the Tar Heel State’s seventh Congressional district, State Senator David Rouzer edged out 2010 GOP nominee Ilario Pantano.  Rouzer is a former staff member for the late Sen. Jesse Helms and says Helms taught him how to say ‘no’ and how to defend what needs defending.  Rouzer says he holds many of the same beliefs and positions as Sen. Helms but this campaign is focused mainly on job creation and controlling the nation’s soaring debt.  Rouzer also offers his case for why voters in his district ought to fire eight-term Democrat Mike McIntyre.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review cheer big wins by conservatives in Indiana and North Carolina.  They shake their heads as Joe Biden completely fabricates the Bush administration’s policy on Iran.  And they laugh as convicted felon Keith Judd wins over 40 percent of the vote against President Obama in the West Virginia Democratic primary.

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On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate failed to reach a final vote on the Democratic plan to extend the current interest rates on student loans.  Nebraska Sen. Mike Johanns is one of those who voted to kill the plan.  Johanns tells us why he believes Senate Democratic leaders ought to be embarrassed by their tactics and why the Democratic bill would hurt small businesses and entitlement programs.  Johanns explains why he supports the House GOP approach of tapping Obamacare funds to offset to revenues lost by not allowing interest rates to rise.  He also rejects Democratic contentions that using those funds threatens health care for women.  In fact he says President Obama calls for tapping the fund in his own budget.  Sen. Johanns also talks about the growing fears that student loan debt could be the next economic bubble to burst and why the problem only gets worse as young people fail to find jobs.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review cheer the foiling of a new terrorist plot that apparently involves an enhanced version of the underwear bomb.  They also discuss how the Obama campaign and the media seem intent to focus on anything besides Obama’s record.  And they’re disgusted as Massachusetts prepares to ban school bake sales and candy fundraisers over concerns about childhood obesity.

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As the coverage of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng grows as a result of his ardent opposition to China’s forced abortion and sterilization policies, you need to meet Jim Garrow.  Jim is a Canadian businessman whose life was changed when he took the time to comfort a Chinese employee who was devastated that her sister would have to allow her new baby girl to be murdered.  Garrow intervened and found a new home for the little girl.  That story attracted more cases of baby girls in need of rescue because their fathers were inclined to kill them and try for a son.  It’s all a result of China’s one-child policy and a society that greatly favors males.  Garrow explains why he couldn’t allow one baby to die if he could do something to stop it, how one case turned into finding new homes for 44,000 other baby girls and what the Chinese government thinks of his illegal activities.  Garrow also addresses China’s looming generational disaster as tens of millions of Chinese girls were never allowed to live.

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On Friday, the Labor Department reported 115,000 net jobs were created in April, far below expectations.  The overall jobless rate fell to 8.1 percent, but analysts of all political persuasions agree it’s because many more people left the labor force.  Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh is also a member of the House Small Business Committee.  He says small business owners are not hiring because they’re in a holding pattern.  Walsh says until business owners see what happens with the Obama health laws and dozens of burdensome regulations they are not going to pursue plans to hire or expand.  Walsh describes how some areas of his district look like ghost towns because of unfriendly business policies in his state and from this administration.  Walsh also describes some of the 27 House Republican job bills and what they would accomplish if the Senate Democrats would move on them.

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