Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are cautiously optimistic about reports suggesting that the Obama campaign is reducing campaign efforts in Florida, Virginia and North Carolina. They also applaud the foiling of a terror plot against the Federal Reserve Bank in New York but note the threat of terrorism in this country remains very real. And they slam the Obama campaign for it’s pathetic attempt to gain an edge on Mitt Romney’s “binders full of women” comment.
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review believe Mitt Romney did well in Tuesday’s debate but could have done much better on a couple of key issues. They liked his point-by-point condemnation of the Obama economic record but believe he missed major points in slamming Obama’s handling of the deadly attack against the U.S. consulate in Libya. They also discuss the impact of the very confrontational tone throughout the debate and the flawed moderating performance by CNN’s Candy Crowley.
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan voted against the 2011 debt ceiling deal that ultimately led to big mandatory spending cuts for the military, but he says the huge resulting cuts in defense spending ought to go forward.
“The only thing worse than defense cuts are no cuts at all,” he said. “I thought this was a bad deal that was put together. I opposed it, fought it every step of the way. The super committee, which was supposed to solve things to come up with actual cuts. It completely failed like many of us thought it would. And now the only scheduled cuts that are to take place in sequester, there’s talk of suspending those. If that happens, then the only thing taxpayers will have gotten out of the deal last summer is $2.4 trillion more in debt.”
Jordan, chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, says he does not want to see cuts this big inflicted upon our national security efforts. But he says the cuts have to start somewhere.
“We’re going to have to deal with spending,” said Jordan. “I don’t want to cut defense in this haphazard way, but I will tell you it’s better to cut than not to do anything at all.”
Jordan also invoked the dire warning on debt from former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen.
“As Admiral Mullen has said, the biggest threat to national security is the national debt. We’ve got to deal with it.”
The congressman believes spending cuts must be the answer to our debt crisis because he sees tax increases as the worst possible approach to a sputtering economy. Jordan would be open to finding cuts in other programs to lighten the reductions in defense spending. Don’t look for that to happen. House Republicans have already approved that legislation, but Senate Democrats haven’t touched it.
“It’s what we should do,” said Jordan. “After all, we’re supposed to spend your tax dollars on national defense. I have certainly supported that and voted for it and it sits over there in the United States Senate like so many other good pieces of legislation with Harry Reid doing nothing with it. So I hope that the Senate will find Jesus and do the right thing and pass that, and substitute the defense cuts with cuts elsewhere in government which is what we should do.”
Jordan believes there will be real progress in tackling our debt and deficits if Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are elected next month. He says Romney’s selection of Ryan proves this will be a top issue in his administration. Jordan also says they would have no choice.
“We have to,” said Jordan. “The facts are the facts. If we don’t address it pretty quickly, we’re going to have a debt crisis and the greatest nation in history will be in a situation similar to the countries in Europe that we’ve been reading about for the past couple of years.”
Jordan is optimistic Romney and Ryan will win. He says Romney dominated Tuesday’s debate, especially on economic issues, because President Obama has an indefensible record.
“President Obama’s real record is a record of failure,” said Jordan, noting issues ranging from taxes to regulation. “You can go to every major policy area and this administration’s doing it wrong.”
Traditional marriage is undefeated at the ballot box in the U.S. but the issue is before the voters in four more states next month. Three states will be deciding whether to legalize same sex marriage, while Minnesota residents will be asked to approve a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as only the union of one man and one woman.
Right now, polls show support for the amendment just barely outpacing opposition. Minnesota for Marriage Communications Director Chuck Darrell says he’s confident his state will defend traditional marriage.
“Most Minnesotans understand that marriage is between a man and a woman,” he said. “It’s not simply about the love of any two adults. Kids need a mom and a dad and not just any two people that are committed to each other will do. Marriage is rooted in natural law. It’s who we are.”
Darrell says this isn’t about denying homosexuals personal choices but about making sure they don’t force those choices on everyone else.
“They can love whoever they want, but they don’t have the right to tell everybody in Minnesota that they’re going to redefine marriage and force same sex marriage on Minnesotans.”
Religious freedom and parental authority are also endangered, according to Darrell. He says the evidence from Canada and states that have legalized gay marriage shows tolerance for disagreement evaporating and parents being told they don’t have a say in what their kids are taught.
“Once same sex marriage is legalized then that is what the schools are forced to teach,” said Darrell. “What we’re seeing in other states is if parents object to it, if they want to opt their kids out of the class they’ve been told no. One father who objected was actually taken out of school in handcuffs and spent the night in jail. In Canada what we’re hearing is that parents are being told you have no right to know what we’re teaching your kids about marriage or when we’re going to teach it. School bureaucrats are actually beginning to describe themselves as co-parents which is certainly usurping parental authority.”
He says the Canadian government is already telling homeschooling families and religious schools what they can and cannot teach about human sexuality.
Darrell says free speech is also on the line in this debate. He says traditional marriage supporters already feel intimidated to stay quiet about their beliefs and legalizing same sex marriage will only intensify that political correctness.
Louisiana Sen. David Vitter is unloading on the Obama administration for once again trying to limit domestic energy production.
The latest episode in this debate centers around the 23.5 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. The energy industry and political leaders in both parties worked to open as much of the reserve as possible to exploration but the Department of the Interior agreed to allow exploration on just 11.5 million acres.
“Unfortunately, this is very much par for the course,” said Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee who has been very critical of Obama’s reluctance to approve domestic energy production. “This fits into a much broader pattern, and that is to back off all of the enormous and exciting opportunities we have for domestic energy production.”
Vitter adds that the administration is doing the same thing with respect to the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), as the Obama plan calls for half the production in the OCS as the previous five-year plan.
“We’re actually the single-most energy rich country in the world bar none,” he said. “The problem is we take well over 90 percent of those resources and put them off limits like we’re doing here.”
The senator says leaving 50 percent of the resources off limits is bad enough, but even the 11.5 million acres that have been green lighted may never be tapped because of endless litigation from environmental groups.
“This isn’t the end of the road,” said Vitter. “This isn’t as if we’re even beginning to produce energy on that portion of it tomorrow.”
Vitter says Obama is missing a golden opportunity on two critical fronts and Mitt Romney is embracing energy as the key to the American economic comeback.
“We’re not just talking about energy and energy independence and Lord knows that’s important enough on its own,” he said. “But it’s jobs, it’s great jobs, great American jobs, high paying jobs and jobs which can’t be outsourced by definition. You can’t develop domestic U.S. energy from China or India.”
Vitter says a third benefit is reducing our national deficit, nothing that federal revenues from the energy industry is the nation’s greatest source of income after federal income taxes.
The senator also updated his frustrating fight to expand energy exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico after the Obama administration drastically curtailed activity following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. Vitter says the amount of work being done in the gulf today is just a fraction of what was happening before the explosion.
“Lots of big rigs have left,” he said. “and when one of these giant rigs moves to Africa or South America or the Middle East it’s not coming back in three months.”
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are mildly encouraged by new battleground state polls showing an edge for Mitt Romney. They react to Hillary Clinton taking the blame for the lack of security in Benghazi. And they groan as the mainstream media are obsessed with determining whether Paul Ryan and his family really washed pots and pans at an Ohio soup kitchen.
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are increasingly bullish about Mitt Romney’s electoral college map. They also remember the good and bad from the late Arlen Specter’s U.S. Senate career and they grow weary of the latest kerfuffle over the presidential debate moderator.
Polls showed America split on who won the vice presidential debate, but Ohio Rep. Steve Chabot agrees with much of the country that Vice President Joe Biden conducted himself beneath the dignity of his office for his frequent smirks, grins, laughs and interruptions.
“It was juvenile, really,” said Chabot. “In fact less than that because I would expect most young people and teenagers would act more responsible and be more respectful than he act last night. It was very, I think, off-putting for an awful lot of people. It’s kind of scary to think that this guy is just a heartbeat away from the presidency itself.”
Chabot also slammed Biden for what he calls a continuing effort by the Obama administration to keep the truth of 9-11 terrorist attacks against our Libyan consulate from the American people.
“It looks like a huge cover-up. I don’t think there’s any other word that you can use about it,” said Chabot, noting that the facts now prove the administration explanation of the attacks has been proven false. “I thought Biden was very ineffective and just not believable in his defense of the administration.”
Chabot also lauded Ryan and slammed Biden over their differences on abortion and specifically the new administration mandate that all employers pay all costs for contraceptives, including the so-called morning after abortion pill. Chabot says Biden’s contention that Catholic entities are not seeing their religious liberties eroded is obviously false since Catholic bishops around the nation are suing the federal government over the issue.
The congressman also believes the Romney-Ryan ticket will ultimately win his home state of Ohio. Chabot says the reason Obama stays ahead in Ohio is because the new GOP governor and legislature have pursued pro-growth policies that have encouraged expansion of existing businesses and attracted new ones. He says Ohio’s jobless rate has plunged a full point below the national rate and Obama is falsely taking credit for the drop.
Chabot is also optimistic about his own race. He was defeated in 2008 after several terms in the House but won back the seat in 2010.
The 2012 vice presidential debate is in the books and the Capitol Steps are still trying to figure out what we saw from Joe Biden Thursday night. Fortunately for the Steps, they’ve had a few years to evaluate the many stumbles and bizarre behavior of the man next in line for the presidency. Here’s their ode the the VP, “Just Can’t Hide that Biden Guy”.
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review credit Paul Ryan for a strong performance in the vice presidential debate and for staying focused while Joe Biden acted like a clown. They’re also disappointed in how often Martha Raddatz inserted herself into the debate yet failed to maintain order. And they try to make sense of the bizarre and belligerent behavior of Vice President Biden.
