Radio America Online News Bureau

Archives for May 2019

Bravo Bel Edwards, Illinois Abortion Agenda, Trump’s New Tariffs

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Listen to “Bravo Bel Edwards, Illinois Abortion Agenda, Trump’s New Tariffs” on Spreaker.

Alexandra DeSanctis of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America cheer Democratic Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards for making good on his promise to sign pro-life “heartbeat” legislation that was also sponsored by a Democrat.  They also shudder as a pro-life lawmaker in Illinois explains just how expansive pro-choice lawmakers there want to make their abortion laws.  And they groan as President Trump threatens to address the very real and very serious problem at the border by imposing tariffs on Mexican imports.

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How to Protect Our Elections

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While the political uproar continues following former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s statement on Wednesday, little attention is being paid to his most important point: that other nations and other adversaries are trying to impact our voters and our elections.

This influence is nothing new but in the digital age the depth and breadth of this meddling takes on even greater scope.

“Mueller’s warning is spot on, not just for America, (but) for all democratic elections around the globe,” said Theresa Payton, who served as White House Chief Information Officer for President George W. Bush.

In the podcast, Payton explains how these bad actors not only hack and disseminate private information but also target impressionable voters through social media campaigns.  Payton also tells us what’s being done to prevent those efforts from succeeding in 2020, how to spot suspicious activity, and what to do about it.  And she explains how U.S. foreign policy ought to address the problem.

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Trump Fires Back at Mueller

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President Trump ripped former special prosecutor Robert Mueller for his handling of the Russia investigation and called into question his qualifications to lead such an investigation. Meanwhile, Democrats made clear all options are on the table after Mueller reiterated he could not prosecute Trump or clear him on obstruction of justice charges. Matt Fisher reports.

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Bernie Promises Tax Hikes, ‘Molecules of Freedom,’ McConnell & the Supremes

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America oppose pretty much every big government plan being pushed by Bernie Sanders but they welcome his honesty that big tax hikes will be required to pay for his agenda. They also cringe as Department of Energy tarnishes a wonderful program to become a more prominent supplier of natural gas to other nations by referring to the gas as “molecules of freedom.” And Jim and Greg discuss Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s promise to confirm a Supreme Court nominee if a vacancy opens up in 2020.

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McCarthy: Mueller Gave Dems All They Could Hope For

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Special Counsel Robert Mueller stepped down Wednesday saying the work of his team is done.  And while partisans on all sides latched on to different comments from Mueller’s statement, former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy says Democrats got everything they could have reasonably hoped for.

President Trump and his allies exulted that Mueller repeatedly insisted the report he issued in April serves as his full testimony and that he didn’t want to distract from that.  But Democrats are seizing on two parts of the statement as fuel for impeachment – both related to Mueller’s refusal to exonerate or indict Trump for obstruction of justice.

“If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so,” said Mueller.

Mueller further stated that he was constitutionally barred from indicting Trump due to a long-established policy from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, or OLC .

“It explains that under longstanding department policy , a president cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office.  That is unconstitutional,” said Mueller.

Mueller’s pronouncement that OLC policy precludes him from charging Trump flies in the face of testimony from Attorney General William Barr, who stated that Mueller told him and then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that he was not relying on the OLC precedent in refusing to make a decision on obstruction charges.

McCarthy, who served as Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, says both men may be telling the truth.  He says Barr is referring to a March meeting with Mueller that took place weeks before the Mueller report was submitted to the Justice Department.

“It was at that meeting that Mueller first alerted the attorney general, the deputy attorney general and others that he was not going to make a decision on obstruction.  I think it was at that point that Barr asked him – and he said that Mueller was emphatic on this – whether the OLC guidance was the rationale for not making a decision and Mueller evidently said no, that that was not the reason,” said McCarthy, who suspects Mueller changed his mind on the basis for the rationale during the intervening weeks.

Nonetheless, McCarthy says House Democrats now have more ammunition to push further down the road to impeachment, even though key leaders are not calling for that yet.

“He doesn’t want to testify, but he did give Democrats as much as they could hope for from his testimony, I think, by saying, ‘If I thought there was no crime here, I would’ve said so,’ and it’s up to you Democrats who run Congress to decide what to do about it,” said McCarthy.

Listen to the full podcast to hear McCarthy’s fascinating dissection of how Mueller and Barr appear to differ on what is required for a president to obstruct justice, whether Trump’s worst impulses are criminal even if his subordinates did not obey him, and much more.

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Mueller Speaks, No Moore for Trump, Dems Tighten Debate Rules

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America discuss Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s public statement that is only going to inflame the political tensions in Washington. President Trump and Don Jr. are both throwing cold water on another possible Roy Moore run for U.S. Senate.   And Jim and Greg examine the Democratic Party’s tightening of the rules for presidential candidates to qualify for the primary debates.

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When God Called ‘The Shot Caller’

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From the time he was a young boy, Casey Diaz watched his father assault his mother on a regular basis.  He witnessed a triple homicide by the time he was eight.  By age eleven he was in a Los Angeles-area gang and five years later he was a gang leader on his way to prison for killing a rival gang member.

That’s the bleak beginning to Casey’s life but it also sets the stage for his dramatic transformation, which he recounts in the new book “The Shot CallerCasey’s life appeared hopeless.  He was staring at a long prison sentence that he had no qualms about serving because it was expected of gang members.  He was thoroughly unrepentant.

Then Frances Proctor walked in his prison.  Proctor was a tiny lady from a nearby Baptist church who faithfully came to pray for and evangelize the prisoners.  Corrections officers told her she would be wasting her time on Casey Diaz.

Proctor didn’t listen to them.

At first, Casey politely told Proctor he wasn’t interested in her message.

“She had the boldness of a lion.  I remember her telling me, ‘I’m going to pray for you and Jesus is going to use you,'” said Diaz, who is author of “The Shot Caller,” which tells the story of his dramatic conversion.

For the next 18 months, Proctor visited Diaz once a month and assured him each time she was praying for him.

“I would spend maybe two to four minutes with her and she was just giving me the love of Christ and talking to me,” said Diaz, who says Proctor’s intercessory prayers led to him surrendering his life to Jesus one night in his cell.

“There was something so authentic about her concern for inmates in there and for some reason she just zeroed in on my life,” said Diaz.

Listen to the full podcast to hear how Casey’s life changed after that, how he soon became a target in prison, how he connected with Proctor after getting out of prison, and what he thinks are the best ways to reduce gang violence.

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Private Sector Builds Wall, Economy & 2020, Michael Cries Wolff Again

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Listen to “Private Sector Builds Wall, Economy & 2020, Michael Cries Wolff Again” on Spreaker.

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America discuss how the private sector is picking up the slack for the bureaucrats when it comes to border security. They also discuss The New York Times revealing their economic models predict President Trump winning re-election next year. And they laugh as Michael Wolff’s new book on the Trump White House already has it’s most salacious claim shot down by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

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