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SCOTUS Smacks Down Asset Seizures, Acosta Under Fire, House Race Do-Over

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America welcome a unanimous Supreme Court decision forbidding states from seizing assets in excess of the penalties a convicted person faces.  They also unload on Labor Secretary Alex Acosta as a judge rips the former U.S. Attorney for striking a 2007 plea bargain with Jeffrey Epstein and not sharing those deliberations with the accusers at the request of Epstein’s lawyers.  They react to North Carolina officials ordering a do-over in a North Carolina congressional race after a shady absentee ballot strategy by the Republican campaign.  And they react to the Robert Kraft news, which broke as they were recording.

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Remembering Rep. Walter Jones

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Longtime North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones died on Sunday and is being remembered for his fidelity to God, his constituents, and the Constitution.

Jones was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 as part of the Republican Revolution, but just two years after unsuccessfully running as a Democrat.

Mainstream media outlets are summing up Jones as the member who once wanted to rename french fries as “freedom fries” after French opposition to the war in Iraq but later recanted his support and became a fierce critic of overseas military operations without congressional authorization.

His aversion to deficit spending led him to oppose many spending bills pushed by Republican House leaders.  At one point, former House Speaker John Boehner stripped Jones of a plum committee assignment for bucking his party too often.

Former Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp, who is now president and CEO of the Heartland Institute, also lost a committee assignment for defying GOP leaders.  He calls Jones a “man of honor.”

“He stuck by his principles, which unfortunately is not a very common trait these days in many areas of politics,” said Huelskamp.

Huelskamp says Jones always focused on whom he was serving.

“There were two things he always focused on in representing.  One is to represent “them,” and that would be his constituents, and one is to represent Him.  That would be Jesus Christ.  He always kept “them and Him” in mind.

“Often times it was to the consternation of the Republican Party in Washington because he didn’t follow the party line,” said Huelskamp.

Huelskamp says his friend also had a deep reverence for the the document every lawmaker vows to defend.

“When he talked about the responsibilities of Congress, he wasn’t just talking about the House and Senate.  He was talking about what Walter Jones’ responsibilities are in the Constitution.  He took that to heart and was a fantastic member of Congress, particularly because of his commitment to his constitutional oath of office,” said Huelskamp.

Listen to the full podcast to hear Huelskamp discuss Jones’ change of heart on the Iraq War and other dust-ups with GOP leaders.

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Cuccinelli: GOP Emboldened on Border Wall Fight

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Democrats now control the House of Representatives, but former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says Republicans appear more committed than ever to funding the border wall demanded by President Trump.

A partial government shutdown has been in effect since Dec. 22 over a stalemate between Republicans and Democrats over funding the border wall.  Prior to Thursday, the stagnation was due to the Senate’s inability to find 60 votes for the funding.

The House Democratic majority has no plans to even consider a bill with money for the wall, but Cuccinelli says the GOP seems much more resolute than usual.

“You don’t hear me say this very often.  I was pleased to see (Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell say we’re not going to pass along the House bill that doesn’t include this funding.  So he has expressly sided with the president.  And I think that’s a first on this issue,” said Cuccinelli.

“I think that show of unity between the new Senate Republican majority, which is bigger than the last one, and the president should be able to hold the line,” said Cuccinelli.

Cuccinelli expects Republicans to stand strong even as the post-holiday media pressure to end the partial shutdown intensifies.

“I don’t see a lot of the usual hand-wringing among Republicans, including establishment Republicans, that I’m used to seeing in circumstances like this.  I think, at least for now, they’re girded for a bit of a haul and to salvage some good policy at the border out of this,” said Cuccinelli.

Listen to the full podcast to hear Cuccinelli’s advice for how the GOP’s Senate majority and House minority ought to focus their time and energy over the next two years and how the Trump administration is doing far more to roll back regulations and limit new ones than any administration in recent memory.

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GOP Congress: The Fiscal Hits and Misses

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On Thursday, a new Congress will begins with Democrats controlling the House and Republicans enjoying a bigger majority in the Senate.

So how did the GOP do in the outgoing Congress? What did they get right on tax and other fiscal policy? What did they leave undone? And what issues could be grounds for bipartisan action in a divided Congress?

National Taxpayers Union President Pete Sepp explains why the tax reform bill accomplished a lot more than lower taxes and why Republicans failed to finish the job on that legislation.

Listen to the full podcast to hear Sepp detail how the new Congress may work together to address the most oppressive parts of Obamacare and why he doesn’t expect a big push for “Medicare for all.” He also reveals whether Congress will ever get serious about spending restraint.

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Health Debate 2019: Conservatives Have to Have an Answer

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Earlier this month a federal judge ruled the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional, and even with the the U.S. headed toward a divided Congress next month, a conservative policy expert says this could be a great opportunity for market-based solutions to make progress.

Judge Reed O’Connor struck down the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, using the logic Chief Justice John Roberts used to save the law in 2012.  At that time, Roberts declared the law constitutional because the penalty for violating the individual mandate amounted to a tax.  But with last year’s tax law reducing the penalty to nothing, O’Connor said both the mandate and the entire law must go.

The decision is just the first in what will likely be a long legal battle sure the reach the U.S. Supreme Court, but with the law in legal limbo, Galen Institute President Grace-Marie Turner says the opportunity could be ripe for a legislative fix.

Turner was part of a group urging Congress to adopt the Health Care Choices plan for much of 2018.  GOP leaders ultimately chose not to take up the plan or even the issue.  Turner suspects it’s because they were still wounded from their 2017 efforts.

“I think Congress was traumatized by what they’d been through with the rejection after putting so much effort into trying to do repeal and replace and failing in 2017.  They were afraid to try that again,” said Turner.

Instead, she expects the new House Democratic majority to push for a single-payer system, known on the left as Medicare for all.

“After Obamacare’s failure, you’d think that maybe they’d learned a lesson but no.  They just want to say, ‘If you give us all the money and all the control, we’ll be fine and we’ll be able to fix health care,” said Turner.

“We don’t believe that.  We believe that you’ve got to devolve power down to the states and ultimately to individuals to make better decisions, to give resources to people who are sick, who are low income, who need help purchasing health insurance,” added Turner.

Democrats hammered away on health care in the midterm election campaign.  Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi even mentioned how the fight over coverage for pre-existing conditions was a major factor in her party regaining the majority.

Listen to the full podcast to hear Turner explain how her plan is more generous to people with those conditions than anything provided for in Obamacare, how the Health Care Choices plan could be of great benefit to Medicaid patients, and how it could greatly reduce our all of our health care costs.  She also discusses what’s realistic with Democrats running the House come January.

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Murdock: Trump Should Use Farm Bill to Force Wall Funding

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President Trump is insisting on $5 billion to fund significant construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border and syndicated columnist Deroy Murdock says Trump should use the recently passed Farm Bill as leverage to get what he wants from Congress.

Known formally as the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, the bill has already passed the House and Senate but is awaiting Trump’s signature.  Many conservatives, including Murdock, already oppose the legislation.

“It contains $867 billion over ten years in farm subsidies, including brand new subsidies for barley, for hops, for hemp, ridiculous nonsense we don’t need.

“(It also has) food stamp money used to have work requirements that basically said, ‘If you want to get food stamps, you’ve got to work or take classes, or do something to get yourself out of poverty.  Those work requirements have been weakened if not removed…so this is welfare un-reform,” said Murdock.

Murdock says Trump should threaten to veto the Farm Bill if he does not get the funding he wants for the border.

“‘You give me money for the wall? Great, I’ll sign this bill.  You don’t give me money for the wall?  I veto this bill.’  Throw that right back in their faces,” said Murdock.

But there’s a limit to the effectiveness of that threat.  The Farm Bill passed the Senate 87-13 and cleared the House 369-47, meaning Congress could easily override a Trump veto.

Murdock says it can still be a useful issue for Trump as the funding debate plays out, both by taking the issue directly to the American people and by putting pressure on congressional Republicans to get something done on border security before the House flips to Democratic Party control in January.

“If he vetoes this thing and he gets his veto overridden, he can say, ‘Look, I tried.’  He needs to give Republicans and conservatives, including everybody left, middle, and right in this country the sense that he worked for this and pushed for this as hard as he could.  He needs to whip Republicans.  He needs to get Republicans to do their jobs,” said Murdock.

He says time is of the essence because Trump and Republicans will have an easier time “squeezing champagne out of a cinder block” than getting wall funding our of incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Listen to the full podcast to hear Murdock’s explanation of why congressional Republicans are so hesitant to fight for border wall funding and what he thinks President Trump must get in funding to avoid looking like he broke his promise.

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French Tax Revolt, Really Lame Duck Congress, Slate vs. Sully

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Daniel Foster of National Review Online and Greg Corombos of Radio America cheer the French people for forcing their government to suspend implementation of new fuel taxes, although their tactics leave a lot to be desired.  They also shake their heads as Congress punts any tough spending decisions to Dec. 21 and appears unwilling to do much of anything to rein in spending.  And the liberal site Slate draws an avalanche of condemnation for trashing the late Pres. Bush’s service dog, suggesting there should be no sentimental reaction to the dog since Bush only had him since June.

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Brat Sees Momentum in Tough Race

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Conservative Virginia Rep. Dave Brat is facing his toughest Democratic challenge since coming to Congress but says clarity on the issues and a reinvigorated GOP base have him peaking at the right time.

Brat shot to stardom in June 2014, when he stunned sitting House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the seventh district’s Republican congressional primary.  But after two smooth general election victories, Democrats see Brat as vulnerable in a district that stretches from near Fredericksburg south of Richmond.

Former CIA operative Abigail Spanberger won the Democratic nomination earlier this year and a recent New York Times poll showed Brat ahead 47-43 percent but the margin of error was as big as his lead.

Nonetheless, Brat says momentum is on his side after the intense confirmation fight that concluded last week.

“After the Kavanaugh hearings, I think it’s four (points) plus a big upward bump.  The American people are finally zooming in.  They’re noticing that my opponent doesn’t have a platform.  She’s not running on any issues whatsoever,” said Brat.

Brat says the strong economy is better than any ad he could run.

“My district is booming.  The jobs are doing great.  There’s more job openings than people searching,” said Brat.

Spanberger is attacking Brat for trying to end mandates that insurance providers extend coverage to Americans with pre-existing conditions.  Brat says the charge is ludicrous.

“The mainstream media doesn’t do news anymore.  If everybody missed the memo, that was the biggest debate of the year.  We had the health care vote and we all voted for pre-existing conditions.  That shows you how the Democrats are hurting.  We’re ahead.  They’re losing, so they have to spread total pants-on-fire falsehoods,” said Brat.

Listen here for the full interview as Brat reacts to House Republicans promising to vote on legislation to fund the border wall after the midterms and he discusses a controversial element of Spanberger’s past.

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GOP Pushes Tax Cut Bill, Punts on Spending

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House Republicans approved a tax cut bill that faces a bleak future in the Senate and both chamber pushed off any real debate on spending until December in order to avert a government shutdown.

On Friday, the House approved what Republicans call Tax Cut 2.0, the centerpiece of which is to make the individual tax cuts permanent from last year’s tax cut legislation.  At the same time, the House approved a temporary spending bill of more than $700 billion to cover government operations until December 7.

Spending remains largely at the same levels established in February when Republicans beefed up military spending and Democrats got their way on discretionary spending.  President Trump did get $1.6 billion for his border wall but that’s just a fraction of what he wanted.

On taxes, making those cuts permanent for families won’t have the same impact as the corporate tax reductions, but experts still believe families will appreciate the certainty of stable rates.

“That changes a lot of calculations as you’re budgeting for the future as an individual of what those tax rates are going to be.  As we know from previous experiences with temporary tax cuts like the Bush tax cuts, you don’t change your spending habits or your savings habits as much as you would had those tax cuts been permanent,” said Vance Ginn, senior economist at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

However, on spending, Ginn gives Congress a thumbs down.

“We must get control of spending.  As Reagan used to say, wee don’t have a revenue problem.  We have a spending problem.  I think that’s the same situation here,” said Ginn.

“Passing a bill that’s just going to punt the ball for a couple more months down the road and then have to go through this again, is not an appropriate form of budgeting,” said Ginn.

This year alone, the U.S. is piling up $800 billion in deficits, which in turn grows our massive debt.

“If you have a debt to (Gross Domestic Product) ratio, meaning debt as a measure of economic activity above 80 percent, you have slower economic growth.  We are currently above 100 percent of debt to GDP.

“That is telling me that we are having slower economic growth than we otherwise would have even as the economy looks to be doing pretty well right now.  Just think about how much more growth and prosperity we could have overall,” said Ginn.

Listen here for the full conversation, including Ginn’s suggestions for reining in federal spending.

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Hillary Pushes Debunked Lie, GOP Candidate Attacked, Scarborough’s Shame

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America get a kick out of Hillary Clinton trying to damage efforts to confirm Brett Kavanaugh by spreading a birth control lie that was thoroughly debunked days ago – even by liberals.  They also recoil as an angry anti-Trump voter tries to stab a Republican congressional candidate in California and the mainstream media largely ignore the incident.  And they blast MSNBC host Joe Scarborough for arguing, on 9/11, that President Trump is damaging the United States far more than any terrorist ever has or could.

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