Archives for July 2012

Earlier this year, the Obama administration announced that employers would now be forced to cover all costs for contraception and even abortion-inducing drugs.  After a torrent of protest, the administration made an exception for religious organizations.  The outcry against the mandate extends far beyond faith-based groups.  Hercules Industries of Denver, Colorado, filed suit against the government in April, contending the mandate conflicted with the deep Christian faith of the owners of the firm.  The government fought back, claiming that since Hercules makes HVAC equipment and is not a faith-based organization that is cannot be exempted from the new rules.  Therefore, Hercules Industries had to comply with the law or face onerous fines.  Hercules sought an injunction in federal court and received one last week.  Hercules Vice President Andy Newland tells us how this court fight began, what benefits are already offered to his employees and what the reaction has been to this court fight from his company and across the nation.  Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defending Freedom is representing Hercules Industries in court.  He says the government mandate on contraception is blatantly unconstitutional and he expects the case to be watched very closely by the Catholic Church and other challengers to the mandate.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are somewhat pleased that the markets may be rallying because investors predict a Romney win in November.  They also slam NBC and Twitter for a fierce critic of NBC’s Olympic coverage being banned from the social media site.  And they rip the press and a Romney media aide for their dust-up in Poland.

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Adam Ulbricht of Radio America examines how gas prices are set. There is no simple answer to how the price consumers pay at the pump really works. Instead, prices are set through a process that begins with drilling and ends at gas stations across the country. Taxes, regulations and crude oil prices are all major factors that increase the price you pay. Dan Kish of the Institute for Energy Research, John Felmy of the American Petroleum Institute, Scott Drenkard of the Tax Foundation and Rob Underwood of the Petroleum Marketers Association of America each help explain the complex issue.

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During an election year, passions run high and accusations get thrown around with regularity.  Usually those charges relate to the current candidates or the present-day politics of the party.  But former Time magazine associate editor Michael Walsh says the entire history of the Democratic party is one of crime and corruption – from Aaron Burr’s building of Tammany Hall to how Democrats tried to defeat Abraham Lincoln’s re-election bid and from Franklin Roosevelt’s rise to the presidency to the Chicago machine connected to the current administration.  Walsh says doing whatever it takes to win led to these political machines that seemed to run big city politics for years.  Walsh explains why he believes this trend is worse among Democrats than any other party and why the current administration is not that different from previous generations of Democrats – just more direct about it.  Walsh also indicts his former colleagues in the mainstream media for doing little more than carrying water for their preferred candidates and issues.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review believe the prominent role of Bill Clinton at the upcoming Democratic convention means Obama doesn’t have much to highlight.  They also caution conservatives not to make too big a deal of news that President Obama called off the Bin Laden raid three times on the advice of Valerie Jarrett.  And they comment on the Olympics, including the astonishing number of empty seats at many venues.

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When Chick-Fil-A President Dan Cathy told a radio show that he endorsed traditional marriage and not gay marriage, liberal activists unloaded on the business famous for its Christian roots.  Boycotts were called, gay people threatened to hold kiss-ins at Chick-Fil-A restaurants and at least two big city mayors announced they planned to forbid Chick-Fil-A from opening any new franchises in their cities.  Liberty Counsel President Mathew Staver says this reaction proves that pro-gay marriage activists are militantly intolerant and are interested in intimidating and silencing critics rather than engaging in an actual debate.  Staver says the statements by Boston Mayor Tom Menino and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel are irresponsible and blocking a business from opening because of the personal beliefs of its leader is discriminatory and unconstitutional.  We’ll also hear why Staver calls this debate a zero-sum game where there can be no compromise.

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Human right promotion has been an important factor in U.S. foreign policy for generations – and especially in the years following World War II.  But what is meant by “human rights” and how do we decide which situations warrant intervention and which ones do not?  What are shining examples of successful policies based on the promotion of human rights and how should we view policies couched in human rights that resulted in worse regimes coming to power?  We discuss this all with former Clinton administration official and columnist Larry Haas, author of “Sound the Trumpet: The United States and Human Rights Promotion”.  Haas also answers concerns that our active foreign policy is responsible for some of our descent into debt and that the rest of the world does not view human rights the same way we do.  Listen here for the full interview.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review applaud Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly for his passionate defense of American business and his rant against excessive government regulation.  They also groan as the economy grew by a paltry 1.5 percent in the second quarter of 2012.  And they discuss the British furor over Mitt Romney suggesting their were some concerns over whether London was ready for the Olympic Games.

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On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed its second major bill of the week designed to spur greater job creation.  This one takes aim at a myriad of Obama administration regulations that Republicans contend is a massive burden on small business owners, farmers, energy producers and others.  Texas Rep. Mike Conaway serves on the House Agriculture Committee and is pushing rollbacks to new rules on commodities enforced through the Dodd-Frank law.  He explains how those restrictions impacted business owners and job creation.  He also explains some of the other key components of the plan, which now faces a very bleak future in the Democratically-controlled Senate.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are thrilled that President Obama is now campaigning on the idea that his economic plan worked – especially as Obama’s own Treasury Secretary says the economy stinks.  They also discuss the liberal outrage at a Romney adviser hailing the shared Anglo-Saxon heritage of the U.S. and the United Kingdom.  And they react to the ridiculous cultural and political outrage over Chick-Fil-A’s president defending traditional marriage.

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