Archives for September 2012

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint says control of the U.S. Senate after November’s elections is just as important as the race for the White House.  DeMint blasts Senate Democrats for doing so little at a time of so many challenges.  He says after 14 years in Congress, he’s never seen fewer things accomplished by a chamber of Congress.  DeMint also accuses the Democratic leadership of punting critical debates over looming tax increases to a lame duck Congress.

DeMint is not worried about values voters staying home since the economy is dominating the headlines and the campaign messages.  He contends those voters understand that misguided government programs are encouraging troubling patterns like rising out-of-wedlock births and that our national debt is a moral issue all by itself.

As a leading Tea Party figure, DeMint is optimistic that Republicans can win a majority of Senate seats in November.  He explains not only where the GOP can pick up seats currently held by Democrats but also how more conservative Republicans are likely to replace fellow party members who are retiring or were defeated in primaries.

DeMint is clearly torn over the state of the Senate race in Missouri, where a golden GOP pick-up opportunity is looking much more unlikely.  He calls embattled GOP nominee Todd Akin “a good man” but believes Akin should “consider getting out (of the race) for the good of the country”.  However, if Akin decides to stay in the campaign against Sen. Claire McCaskill, DeMint hopes Republicans will rally behind him.

Finally, DeMint predicts Mitt Romney will defeat President Obama.  Why?  DeMint says he “can’t imagine that there are 51 percent of Americans who can look at what this president has done and choose to re-elect him”.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review wince a bit at statements by Mitt Romney at a fundraiser four months ago.  But they like the contrast he strikes between government dependency and Americans pursuing and achieving their dreams through the free market.  They also shake their heads as the Pentagon suspends joint security patrols with Afghan troops because our soliders keep getting shot by our supposed friends.  And they laugh as the Obama Justice Department is caught openly colluding with the liberal Media Matters for America to help spin stories favorably for the administration.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review sigh as UN Amb. Susan Rice perpetuates the palpably false narrative that mob violence in Islamic nations is in reaction to an obscure internet movie and not U.S. policy.  They breathe a sigh of relief as Rep. Allen West clearly explains why the Obama administration contention that the attacks weren’t coordinated can’t possibly be true.  And they discuss the chaos surrounding Mitt Romney’s convention speech.

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South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson is unloading on the media and still scratching his head about who exactly we’re helping in Libya.  A member of both the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees, Wilson says this week’s murders of four diplomatic personnel bring a moment of truth to our presence there.  He asserts that if the new Libyan leaders genuinely help us find those responsible for the killings then our relationship should continue.  If not, he says our presence and money should stop.  Rep. Wilson has a special frustration for the mainstream media based on their treatment of Mitt Romney on Wednesday.  The congressman says the endless questions about the tone and timing of Romney’s initial statement prove reporters are not interested in covering the big stories but in re-electing President Obama.

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On Thursday, the Republican House leadership succeeded in passing legislation to continue funding the government at current levels for the next six months.  Michigan Rep. Dan Benishek says he would like to see less spending but there cannot be a government shutdown right before the elections.  Benishek says the path to real reductions in government spending will come with Republican wins in November that give the GOP control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.  Rep. Benishek also details the ‘No More Solyndras Act’, which is aimed at ending massive taxpayer-funded loans to “cronies” of President Obama.  Solyndra and several other green energy firms went bankrupt despite billions in taxpayer loans.

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The economy continues to struggle, and the Capitol Steps point out that part of our problem is China’s ability to flood the market with cheaper products.  But as the Steps point out, those cheaper prices carry some extra costs.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Betsy Woodruff of National Review largely cheer Mitt Romney for saying another round of quantitative easing from the Federal Reserve is proof Obama’s economic policies have failed.  They’re also stunned as President Obama says Egypt is neither an ally nor an enemy.  And they try to make sense of countless contradictory presidential polls.

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House Republican leaders have decided not to wage a major fight over federal spending by moving forward with a plan to extend current government spending levels for the next six months.  If agreed to by Senate Democrats, the plan would avoid any specter of a government shutdown before election day and allow members of Congress more time to campaign back in their districts.  South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson is cautiously approaching this latest decision by his own party’s leadership.  Wilson opposed last summer’s debt ceiling extension and strongly prefers clear reductions in spending.  Nonetheless, he will consider the continuing resolution as long as it is ‘clean’ and does not add any spending.

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Greg Corombos of Radio America and Dan Foster of National Review disagree over the decision of House Republicans to extend current federal spending levels for another six months.  They are in complete agreement in condemning President Obama’s contention that Mitt Romney’s reaction to the violence in Egypt was an example of “shoot first, aim later”.  And they’re stunned at reports that U.S. Marines at the U.S. embassy in Egypt were forbidden to use live ammunition in trying to hold off the mob of Islamic radicals  on Tuesday.

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President Obama has projected a policy of weakness throughout the Middle East and there’s every sign that weakness will continue given Obama’s response to the attacks aimed at U.S diplomats in Libya and the embassy in Egypt.  That’s the conclusion of former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, who is stunned that Obama didn’t have a much stronger reaction to the murders of four Americans by saying such attacks are completely unacceptable and there will be major consequences if those countries cannot guarantee the security of our personnel.  Instead, he says the apologies of the administration for an internet film critical of Mohammed that may not even exist send exactly the wrong message.  Bolton is also incredulous that the U.S. media is far more interested in the mundane details of Mitt Romney’s reaction to this crisis than in the crisis itself.

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