Archives for December 2018

Listen to “‘It Was All A Fairy Tale:’ UN Radically Raises Cost of Climate Battle” on Spreaker.

In 2015, United Nations officials and leaders from around the world congratulated themselves on the Paris Climate Accords, which committed nations to significant reductions in carbon emissions and compelled the wealthiest nations to help fund similar efforts in developing nations.

Now, just three years later, the UN says those commitments are not even close to sufficient to confront human-caused climate change, so they’re asking nations to pony up even more resources to confront the threat to our climate.

So how did everyone get the price tag so wrong just a a short time ago and why is the estimate so much higher now?  We ask Rob Bradley, CEO at the Institute for Energy Research.

We also ask Mr. Bradley whether the French tax revolt is a sign that even liberal nations are fed up with the costly climate agenda, and whether there’s any renewable source now or in the foreseeable future that could even come close to providing the energy we get from oil, gas, and coal.

Listen to the full podcast with Robert Bradley to get an informed update of where we really are in the energy and climate debates.

Listen to “Mueller, Cohen, and Trump: Where Are We and What’s Next?” on Spreaker.

On Friday, the office of special counsel Robert Mueller released memos which shed more light on guilty pleas from President Trump’s private attorney, Michael Cohen.

Among other confessions, Cohen is pleading guilty to campaign finance violations. Those violations are assumed to be hush money payments to adult film performer Stephanie Clifford (known professionally as Stormy Daniels) and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Those payments were deemed illegal because Cohen’s money was deemed an in-kind contribution to the Trump campaign. While candidates can spend as much as they want on a campaign, their supporters cannot. And the memos seem to suggest that Cohen accuses of Trump directing the payments in violation of federal campaign laws.

Former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy made headlines with a FoxNews.com column suggesting it is likely that Trump will face campaign finance charges after he leaves office.

And all this leads to several questions:

How strong is Trump’s assertion that the payments were private transactions and not a violation of the law?

Why do some people accused of campaign finance violations wind up in prison for years while others just get a fine?

Should we be surprised that Democrats are now talking about impeachment even though we knew about Cohen’s allegations before the midterm elections, when Democrats insisted they would not be gung-ho for impeachment if given the majority again?

There are still no charges against Americans related to alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 elections. Would we have seen something by now if Mueller had found evidence of such a conspiracy?

Listen to the full podcast to hear Andy McCarthy’s insight on these and other critical questions.

Listen to “No Takers for Chief of Staff, Heisman Winner’s Tweets, Time Magazine’s Lame List” on Spreaker.

Jim is back! Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America celebrate Jim’s return from the National Review cruise with three crazy martinis. First, they marvel that President Trump is having trouble finding someone willing to serve as his chief of staff. They also grumble as USA Today decides to tarnish Kyler Murray’s Heisman Trophy win by reporting that he had a few tweets that were unkind toward gays – when he was just 15 years old. And they roll their eyes as Time magazine unveils their ten finalists for “Person of the Year.”

Listen to “Time Running Out for GOP on Border Security” on Spreaker.

Congressional leaders are punting tough spending decisions for two weeks, leaving President Trump and Republican majorities in the lame duck Congress very little time to act on funding a border wall and other security measures.

The funding debate is being postponed so lawmakers don’t descend into a partisan brawl just hours after honoring the late President George Bush, but with Democrats poised to control the House of Representatives and everyone wanting to be home for Christmas, time is quickly dwindling.

The issue is also taking on additional intensity due to the debate over how to deal with the Latin American migrants in Tijuana who are asking for asylum in the U.S.  Trump is demanding $5 billion in spending for the wall.  Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is offering $1.6 billion in general border security spending.

Center for Immigration Studies Director of Policy Studies Jessica Vaughan says President Trump has to put his foot down now.

“The president needs to fight very, very hard for this.  He needs to go to the mat for this and send the signal that he’s going to veto any spending bill that doesn’t give him the resources to solve this problem,” said Vaughan.

She warns Republicans that there’s not telling when they’ll have the opportunity to do this again.

“If Republicans don’t get their act together and come together on something in the next couple of weeks, in January the Democrats take over the House and they will be able to get nothing through that enhances border security or increases immigration enforcement,” said Vaughan.

Vaughan says the caravan debate adds tremendous urgency and she applauds the Trump administration for it’s approach to processing the asylum seekers.

“If you cross illegally into the United States, you’re not going to be able to ask for asylum and they’re controlling the number of people who are allowed to come to the legal port of entry,” said Vaughan.

She says efforts to keep the migrants in Mexico while their claims are being processed because many times individuals and families fail to come back for decisions on asylum petitions once they’re allowed in the U.S.

Listen to the full podcast as Vaughan explains other changes the Trump administration is making to border security policy and why she believes those changes are necessary until immigration law is properly clarified or changed.