Archives for May 2014

Georgia Rep. Paul Broun is now trailing in his bid to be the Republican U.S. Senate nominee but he says voters who do their homework will realize he is the most reliable defender of the Constitution in the race and the best choice to defeat likely Democratic nominee Michelle Nunn in November.

The seven-way GOP battle is among the most watched primaries in the country.  Early voting has already begun but most voters will head to the polls May 20.  No candidate is expected to get a majority of the vote, in which case the top two finishers next week will head to a July 22 run-off.

Five candidates are considered to have the best odds, with recent polls suggesting businessman David Perdue, former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel and Rep. Jack Kingston bunched at the top.  Rep. Broun and Rep. Phil Gingrey are a few points back.

Both Perdue and Handel have pounded away at the three members of Congress in the race, suggesting they are all part of the problem in Washington.  Broun fiercely resists the label.

“It just shows that they don’t understand.  And if they do understand, they’re trying to fool people about how I’ve been fighting to send power back to the states and to the people as the tenth amendment says it should be.  I stand firm on the Constitution,” said Broun.

“All the problems that we see today, whether it’s Benghazi, the IRS targeting conservative and pro-life groups, whether it’s the NSA getting your phone records and mine and reading our emails which is totally unconstitutional…the unconstitutional executive orders that presidents of both parties have been doing, out of control spending, this debt that’s unsustainable, all of those are symptoms.  The disease is an out of control government that’s left the powers that it has in the enumerated powers as the Constitution expresses them,” said Broun.

“What separates me from all the rest of (the candidates) is that I have a record.  I’m fighting to send those powers back to the states and to the people and leave money in your pocket and everybody else’s,” he said.

While Broun says he is happy to compare his voting record in Congress against Kingston and Gingrey, Broun says one episode from the current Congress proves he is not a go along to get along guy in Washington.

“We had 20 of the most conservative members of the U.S. House that had signed a pledge to each other that we would not vote for John Boehner to be Speaker.  John Boehner’s a nice guy.  He’s got a great sun tan and I understand he plays a good game of golf, but I saw him making deals with Barack Obama that I couldn’t support, the stimulus package and bailouts and increasing the debt on us, as well as our children, our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren.  I couldn’t support all those things and I knew we needed a different leader,” said Broun.

While Broun cast his ballot for former Florida Rep. Allen West, Boehner was re-elected.

“There were only 12 of us that upheld that pledge to each other.  The other eight caved in because of the pressure from the leadership,” he said, noting voters can be assured he will stick to his principles.  “I have sworn to uphold the Constitution against enemies both foreign and domestic.  Out of control government and out of control spending are both enemies of the Constitution.”

Recent stories inside Georgia suggest that voters who identify with the tea party movement there like Broun’s positions virtually across the board.  However, they fear those same positions and past comments, like calling evolution “a lie straight from the pit of Hell,” might make him difficult to elect statewide.

However, a recent NBC News/Marist College survey shows only two of the GOP candidates leading Nunn in a hypothetical matchup in November.  Perdue leads Nunn by four points while Broun edges her by one.  The other top candidates are either tied or trailing.

Broun agrees with state and national Republican leaders on one critical fact, that Michelle Nunn needs to lose.

“The most unelectable candidate running in this whole race on either side is Michelle Nunn because she is so radically liberal.  When Barack Obama said to bomb Syria, she said go for it, which just indicates she’s going to be a puppet for Barack Obama.  Republicans and Democrats alike did not like that position,” said Broun.

“There was a fundraiser for her up in New York City and the special guest was Michelle Obama.  Michelle Obama told the crowd there that she’s eager to see Michelle Nunn in the U.S. Senate so they could continue their health care agenda.  Well, Obama’s been very clear.  They want to go to socialized medicine in a single payer system,” said Broun.

“Then she went on to say (Nunn needed to be elected) so they could get their gun control agenda through the Senate.  Well, Obama’s been clear about that too.  They don’t believe that anybody, except for the police and military, should own a gun,” said Broun, who chairs the Second Amendment Task Force in the House of Representatives and has the endorsement of two major gun rights groups.

“We must not ever, ever lose our individual right to own a gun.  In fact, the second amendment and the first amendment are the guardians of our liberty and the second amendment actually guards the first amendment.  So I’ve got the record.  Nobody else in this race does,” he said.

Broun says the GOP establishment is worried he would lose the general election, but the congressman says the biggest gamble would be electing one of the other candidates who cannot match his conservative credentials.

“We’ve got four major candidates.  Four of them are establishment candidates.  I’m the only non-establishment candidate running in this race.  The establishment candidates like big government.  I like limited government.  That’s the reason I’ve been described as a tea partier before there was a tea party,” said Broun.

“I’m the most electable candidate in this race for the simple reason that the only way we’d give the Democrats any chance whatsoever to win is if we were to nominate an establishment, big government candidate.  The four of them would fit that bill.  Republican conservative voters staying home in November would be the only thing that may give her a chance to win this race.  Nominating me is why I will win this race.  I just need people to pray for me, people in Georgia to vote for me and people all over the country to contribute to my campaign,” said Broun.

Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review react to a study showing that 74 percent of Obamacare enrollees had coverage before they were forced onto the exchanges and only 14 percent of people had no coverage.  They also discuss Virginia releasing health care premium increases with many states to follow.  And they discuss Karl Rove’s suggestion that Hillary Clinton may have suffered a brain injury when she hit her head and developed a blood clot last year.

A former State Department official cautions that a quick U.S. decision to get directly involved in the search for hundreds of girls kidnapped by Islamic radicals could be a big mistake and he also believes the Nigerian government will probably agree to a prisoner swap to free Boko Haram members in exchange for the missing students.

Over 300 schoolgirls were abducted from northeastern Nigeria last month.  Last week, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau announced his group was responsible for the abductions and that he intended to sell the remaining 276 girls into slavery.  The announcement triggered worldwide outrage and discussion of what could be done to rescue the girls.  The Nigerian government, which had previously rejected any international assistance, agreed to allow American advisers into the country.

While few officials are suggesting America deploy troops in the rescue effort, former State Department official Fred Gedrich cautions that too much direct involvement of any kind may bring more consequences than we bargained for.

“I think we’ve got to be very careful and fully comprehend the situation.  What we’re dealing with is a complicated situation.  Population-wise, Nigeria is the largest country in Africa, with 177 million people .  There’s 250 ethnic groups.  About 50 percent of the population are Muslim and it happens to have a Christian leader now.  With a Christian as president I think that creates complications because Islam is marching throughout the country,” said Gedrich.

The latest message from Boko Haram is a video of many girls in traditional Muslim dress and reciting prayers in traditional Muslim ways.  The message also contains an offer to return the girls in exchange for Boko Haram figures being freed by the Nigerian government.

“The modus opeandi of the Boko Haram group and the group they’re they’re tied to (Al Qaeda in the Magreb) is they kidnap for ransom and in this case it would be people.  In the case of getting those poor kidnapped girls out of the clutches of that terror group, I think they would be willing to almost do anything,” said Gedrich

Gedrich is a fierce critic of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying she really doesn’t have any major accomplishments to boast about during her tenure.  Still, he says Clinton should not be pilloried for refusing to label Boko Haram as a terrorist organization.

“If you look at the criteria that’s used to judge a foreign organization as a terror group by the State Department, it’s whether or not they’re a foreign organization.  Certainly, Boko Haram qualifies in that regard.  Does it engage in terrorist activity?  Yes, it does,” he said.

“The third one is the one that probably held her up and that’s whether or not the group is a threat to the U.S. citizens and the security interests of the United States.  In that case I think it gives her an out because all three criteria should be met,” said Gedrich, who also doesn’t fault current Secretary of State John Kerry for applying the terrorist label to Boko Haram in 2013.

“He went the other way.  We do have an embassy there.  It’s well-staffed and a case could be made that our diplomats are in danger.  That could apply anywhere in Africa and many parts of the world for that matter,” he said.

Gedrich says much of the evaluation of alleged terrorist organizations happens through the State Department Bureau of Counterterrorism although the secretary of state has the final say in adding or removing groups from the list.

Another debate arising from the crisis surrounding the Nigerian girls is the impact of so-called hashtag activism.  Millions of people have used the phrase #bringbackourgirls to put pressure on the terrorists to release the hostages and urge the U.S. and other governments to do more to get them freed.

Columnist George Will says this is nothing more than “an exercise in self-esteem” that has no real world impact.  Gedrich says he is skeptical of the social media trend’s usefulness but he says it can’t hurt.

“I believe anything to get people out of the clutches of kidnappers is a good thing, even if it’s something like that.  But we’ve got to be careful it’s not a wag the dog effort, something where celebrities and everyone else hops in to make themselves feel good and nothing really positive happens.  What Nigeria is facing is a long term problem that is not going to be resolved in the near term,” said Gedrich.

Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review react to former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner revealing that the Obama administration asked him to lie on national television.  They’re also a bit worried as Mark Pryor opens a sizable lead on GOP challenger Tom Cotton.  And they slam the Secret Service for getting involved in a dispute between an agency secretary and her neighbor.

Immigration reform supporters are pursuing “gimmicks” ranging from granting amnesty through military service to the needless exploitation of children, according to Center for Immigration Studies Executive Director Mark Krikorian.

This week, Attorney General Eric Holder admonished public schools that they must enroll students who are in the U.S. illegally and members of both parties continued their advocacy of the ENLIST Act, which would allow illegal immigrants to earn legal status by serving in the U.S. military.  All of this comes as leaders in both parties push to get legislation done in the face of fierce conservative opposition.

On Thursday, Holder told school leaders across the country that denying enrollment because students are here illegally is unacceptable and a violation of federal law.  His position is consistent with a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Texas law at the time that allowed districts either to deny enrollment to such students or charge their families tuition to cover the costs for their education.

Krikorian says the puzzling aspect of Holder’s comments is not that he holds that position but that he felt the need to articulate it.

“Why he’s even making this announcement isn’t really clear.  I think it’s more for political purposes to make them sound proactive to their left flank because there’s really no change in the law that he’s announcing.  This has been the case for 30 years,” said Krikorian, who says between these comments by Holder and President Obama’s unilateral implementation of much of the DREAM Act, it’s clear the administration is using children to create emotional momentum for his immigration agenda.

“The DREAM Act was designed merely as an advertising and marketing gimmick so they could say, ‘Look at these young people.  They’ve lived here since they were three months old.  They’re valedictorians.  They want to join the military and hunt down America’s enemies.  Therefore, lets give all 12 million illegal aliens amnesty.’  It’s really kind of transparent and cynical,” said Krikorian.

“This announcement by Eric Holder I think is really more of the same.  It sends the implicit message that people who don’t want to pass (New York Sen.) Chuck Schumer’s amnesty bill hate little kids.  That’s the crude message that they’re trying to send,” he said.

Krikorian says he’s actually not opposed to all of the DREAM Act.  He says children who came here as babies and toddlers should be given a break, but those who arrived as teenagers should not.  However, Krikorian also foresees a day mandates for schools to enroll subsequent children who come illegally should be scrapped.

“With the number of illegal immigrants we’ve allowed to settle here, I actually don’t think it would be a good idea to keep illegal alien kids out of school now.  I think it is something, though, that once we get to the point of an amnesty, and I think we are going to do that after we fix the enforcement system.  As part of that deal going forward for future purposes, then yes, I think localities should be allowed to prohibit illegal immigrants from school,” said Krikorian.

Meanwhile, the delicate dance of drafting immigration reform legislation in the House proceeds cautiously.  While various components are drafted primarily through the Judiciary Committee, a fierce debate is brewing in the Armed Services Committee over the ENLIST Act.  Sponsored by California Rep. Jeff Denham, the bill would confer legal immigrant status to any people in the nation illegally who serve in the military.

Proponents see the ENLIST Act as a positive incentive for young illegals to make a major contribution to their new country by risking their lives in exchange for legal residence.  Krikorian sees a slippery slope.

“This bill is also a gimmick like the DREAM Act.  There are no illegal aliens in the military.  It’s illegal to enlist if you’re an illegal alien.  Occasionally, someone sneaks through but not very often.  The legislation would basically create a program allowing illegal aliens to enlist in the military and thereby get amnesty,”

Krikorian says this bill is mostly hype but does make life tougher for American citizens.

“The number of people it would cover is minuscule, a few hundred a year maybe because the military is actually harder to get into than most colleges.  There’s lots of requirement s and only a very small number of people would actually get accepted,” said Krikorian.

“Number two, we’re shrinking the military overall apart from any immigration aspect.  The military is downsizing, so opening up enlistment to illegal aliens means that Americans who want to get into the military will actually be elbowed out and will not be able to join the service because illegal aliens are being allowed to enlist,” he said.

Furthermore, Krikorian sees the ENLIST Act as a Trojan Horse for much greater amnesty.

“The point of the gimmick is to be able to get it to the Senate so that Harry Reid can then add more amnesty stuff to it and bring it back to the House, at which point the House leadership will say, ‘You have to vote for this whether you like it or not,'” said Krikorian.

Despite that dire review, Krikorian does not believe the ENLIST Act or any other immigration bill will pass the House this year, meaning supporters would have to start from scratch again next year in a new Congress.

Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are glad to see the IRS finally turning over Lois Lerner’s emails to congressional investigators.  They also shake their heads as Mitt Romney embraces a minimum wage increase.  And they discuss some of the Republican Party’s new rules heading into the 2016 primary debates.

The World Health Organization recently warned that common infections are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics and putting many more lives in danger, a trend one expert says is attributable in large part to government “chains” squashing incentives for drug makers to develop new antibiotics.

In it’s latest report, the WHO released data showing that common infections like E. coli and staph, which can turn into the deadly MRSA infection, are far tougher to conquer with traditional antibiotics than in the past.  E. coli was resistant to traditional antibiotics in 48 percent of the samples taken in the western hemisphere.  The numbers are higher everywhere else in the world and shoot as high as 82 percent in Europe.

Staph infections were even harder to kill, with 90 percent of the samples in the Americas surviving antibiotic treatment.  The number is 80 percent in Afr60 percent in Europe and

Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review discuss the House of Representatives voting to hold Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress.  They also sound off on the Pentagon spending $150 per gallon of algae-based jet fuel.  And they shred Charlie Crist for claiming he left the GOP in 2010 because the party was being cruel to a black president and not because Crist was about to be trounced by Marco Rubio on the U.S. Senate primary.

Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert is appalled at reports that at least 40 U.S. veterans died after being included on a secret list to delay them needed medical treatment, and he says disgraceful practices like this could have been stopped long ago if care of our veterans mattered more to President Obama.

The comments come days after a veterans hospital in Phoenix was found to be keeping hundreds of veterans on a secret list to have their care delayed.  Forty of them died.  Three hospital administrators are currently on paid leave as an investigation proceeds.

Gohmert is not accusing the Obama administration of playing a role in the creation of any lists to delay care, but he still believes Obama deserves a lot of the blame.

“It is clear there is a systemic problem with the Veterans Administration and it didn’t just all of a sudden crop up under this president.  President Bush started making some inroads and this president has made some efforts.  The fact is the buck does stop with the top commander over all of our armed forces and over all executive branch activities,” said Gohmert.

The congressman says the president makes it very clear which issues matter most to him, and health care for vets doesn’t appear to be very high on the list.

“If the president wanted to make this as much of a central issue as he has this climate change issue that allows the government to take over more people’s property and their rights and their lives, then we’d get the VA fixed very quickly,” said Gohmert.

“Apparently this climate change that was global freezing back in the 1970s, then global warming and then when it quit warming now it’s climate change.  That apparently is a much bigger issue to this administration than helping those who laid down their lives and put themselves in danger for the good of the country,” he said.

Two major veterans organizations, including the American Legion, are calling for Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign.  Other veterans groups disagree.  Gohmert says he reluctantly agrees that it’s time for a change.

“I think that Gen. Shinseki has tried to do an appropriate job.  I know he cares about veterans.  But when you have a team that is just performing poorly across the board, except for a few exceptions, then I think it’s time to get a new coach.  It’s time for him to step down and get somebody in who will have the free rein to get the VA running as it should and not just as another Obamacare facility,” said Gohmert, who reiterated previous comments suggesting the bureaucratic nightmare unfolding at the VA is a preview of what we can all expect through the new health care laws.

“Some in America say we don’t have to worry about repealing Obamacare because socialized medicine falls of its own weight.  But that’s not true.  Socialized medicine never falls of its own weight.  You see what’s happening in the VA is what will happen to any socialized medicine system and it’s what will happen with Obamacare, more and more government takeover.The way it avoids going broke is you put people on lists the way the VA does.  So it doesn’t go broke.  You just don’t give them the treatment they need if you don’t have the funding and the backing,” said Gohmert.

“Therefore, you have people dying waiting to get the treatment they need or having to live in horrible pain because they can’t get a hip replacement or a knee replacement.  They have a terrible quality of life because they can’t get the help they need.  But the system doesn’t go broke, it just puts more Americans either at risk of death or at risk of misery while they’re living.  That’s why we need to reform health care but we need to get rid of Obamacare once and for all,” said Gohmert.

So what is Gohmert’s short-term solution for veterans being denied care?  He says more choices is a great place to start.

“If we got a majority of veterans to say, ‘I’d rather just have a card that says I’m a veteran and I can walk into any clinic and any hospital and get the care, then that would probably be the best thing to do for our veterans,” said Gohmert.

“If there VA clinics or hospitals that are performing above standard, then leave those open for veterans, but I think we need to move toward those who are getting substandard care as veterans,” he said.

Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are glad to see the Republican Party avoid a costly, bitter run-off as Thom Tillis wins the North Carolina Senate primary convincingly.  They sigh as President Obama contends his agenda to combat climate change will roll back rising temperatures.  And they discuss the re-emergence of Monica Lewinsky.