Archives for August 2012

North Carolina has a very different Congressional map following the 2010 census, and that is expected to mean good things for Republicans.  One Democratic seat expected to swing the GOP’s way is in the state’s 11th Congressional district, where Mark Meadows is likely to be a part of the next Congress.  Meadows addressed the Republican National Convention on Tuesday and railed against President Obama’s record on the economy and religious freedom.  Meadows says deficits have to be reined in and he says the 2011 agreement to raise the debt ceiling didn’t even cut real spending.  He also says the contraception mandate as part of the new health care law may be most offensive to the Catholic Church but he says the fight must go on because other denominations and faiths will be next.

Standard Podcast [ 7:12 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Mitt Romney accepted the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday night, which means the Capitol Steps are poking fun at him heading into the weekend.  Washington’s premier political parody troupe offers two Romney selections as they chronicle his changing positions on some issues and his rather large personal fortune.  Our guest is Steps co-founder and star Elaina Newport.

Standard Podcast [ 7:29 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Greg Corombos of Radio America and Charles Cooke of National Review give Mitt Romney pretty high marks on the content and delivery of his acceptance speech.  They also applaud Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for pointing out that many of Obama’s policies are the type of thing most people come to the U.S. to avoid.  And they try to make some sense out of Clint Eastwood’d performance on Thursday night.

Standard Podcast [ 13:10 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

House Republicans will likely pick up an extra member in Arkansas’ 4th Congressional District.  Republican Tom Cotton is expected to score a solid win in the contest to replace retiring Democratic Rep, Mike Ross, thanks to a growing Republican electorate and new district boundaries.  Cotton says several factors prompted him to run, especially his growing concern over jobs, debt and Obamacare.  The lawyer-turned soldier-turned businessman calls the Obama record “a smoking ruin of economic failure”.  He admits that Republicans dropped the ball on fiscal discipline in the past decade but he believes Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will have a very different mindset that will be reflected by the GOP in Congress.  Cotton also promises to be an active voice in repealing Obamacare and shoring up Medicare.  He also rebuts assertions from his Democratic opponent that opposition to Obamacare is racist and insensitive to the poor.

Standard Podcast [ 7:29 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Greg Corombos of Radio America and Charles Cooke of National Review cheer Paul Ryan’s convention speech for its great clarity on small businesses, jobs, health care and more.  They also rip liberal “fact-checkers” for calling Ryan a liar about a part of his speech that was absolutely true.  And they applaud Condoleezza Rice’s speech for shredding the perpetual victim culture of the Democrats.

Standard Podcast [ 11:10 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The presidential race is getting the vast majority of the attention in the 2012 campaign but the battle for the majority in Congress is also critical.  Republicans won back control of the House in 2010 by winning 63 Democratic seats, and the man charged with keeping that majority predicts it will get even bigger.  Texas Rep. Pete Sessions is chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.  He expects the GOP to add another five to seven seats when the dust settles in November.  Sessions says favorable redistricting in states like North Carolina and Texas and open seats in Oklahoma and Arkansas will help his party.  Conversely, Sessions worries that newly drawn districts in Illinois and California will make life difficult for Republicans.  Sessions also admits a convincing win by either party at the presidential level will have an impact down the ballot.  He also rejects the Democratic assertion that House Republicans are obstructing the Obama economic agenda, noting that Senate Democrats won’t even back Obama’s plans and nonpartisan economists believe the president’s plan would grow the national debt yet again.  He also vows House Republicans will have a much more responsible approach to spending than they did from 2001-2007.  He says tough spending cuts will come because “the medicine is necessary to save the patient” and entitlements must be addressed.

Standard Podcast [ 12:11 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review applaud many of the Tuesday night speeches at the Republican convention while giving high grades but some constructive criticism to Ann Romney and Chris Christie.  They also cringe over the rules fight as the RNC tries to assert control over the grassroots and the Ron Paul supporters create a huge ruckus over the issue.  And they tear into Juan Williams for saying Ann Romney came across as a ‘corporate wife’.

Standard Podcast [ 12:39 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Greg Corombos of Radio America and Betsy Woodruff of National Review are glad the GOP turned out a largely conservative platform.  They scold the national media for trying to overshadow the Republican convention with hurricane coverage and for constantly bringing up President Bush and Katrina.  And they’re pleasantly stunned to see Democrats bringing in disgraced ex-Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to speak at their convention next week.

Standard Podcast [ 6:18 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Israel has weeks and maybe months to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and it cannot count on U.S. support in trying to stop it.  That’s the assessment from Deputy Knesset Speaker Danny Danon, who is also author of “Israel: The Will to Prevail”.  Danon says intelligence shows Iran must be stopped soon or the world will have to accept a nuclear Iran – a scenario he says Israel cannot even consider.  He says the Obama administration seems to think more speeches, more United Nations meetings and more sanctions are going to make the threat go away.  He says it is now up to Israel to prevent a nuclear Iran.  Danon also wades into the debate over the Israeli-Palestinian standoff.  He contends the two-state solution cannot work because there are not two good faith parties to negotiate.  Instead, he lays out a three-state solution consisting of Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

Standard Podcast [ 12:54 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Although obscured by the nominations of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan and concerns over a Gulf Coast hurricane, the Republican National Convention is bracing for a contentious floor fight on Tuesday.  At issue is an RNC proposal that conservative critics say is an attempt to silence grassroots conservatives by deciding convention delegates based on the direct results of primaries or even based on the desires of candidates or party leaders.  Dave Nalle is national chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus.  He says the national party is following the same path as the Democrats did in order to squelch minority dissent for the party’s nominee.  Nalle says the smarter move would be to allow debate over the nominees and then the losing side would feel it was treated with respect and allowed to make its case.  He says if the rule passes, conservatives not enamored with Romney may conclude their voices don’t matter to the RNC and be tempted to support Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson.  Nalle also explains why he thinks side will ultimately win Tuesday’s floor debate.

Standard Podcast [ 7:28 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download