Radio America Online News Bureau

news

The Wasteful Spending Inside the Coronavirus Relief Bill

by

Listen to “The Wasteful Spending Inside the Coronavirus Relief Bill” on Spreaker.

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a $2 trillion coronavirus relief package Wednesday night and the House is expected to follow suit as soon as Friday. But in addition to the critical relief for families and businesses is a lot of spending that hardly seems relevant to the crisis at hand.

For example, the legislation allots $250 million for the IRS, $350 for migration and refugee assistance, $75 million for NPR and PBS, $25 million for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and many others.

So how did this happen and what was happening behind the scenes even as the Senate floor debate was under way? How does House Speaker Nancy Pelosi justify these spending demands from the GOP-led Senate? And how should a fiscally conservative member approach a bill like this when other provisions need to be approved immediately?

We discuss these and other questions with Adam Andrzejewski, founder and CEO of OpentheBooks.com.

Share

How to Protect Our Prescription Drug Supply Chain

by

Listen to “How to Protect Our Prescription Drug Supply Chain” on Spreaker.

There’s no crisis of prescription drug availability right now as the COVID-19 crisis unfolds, but as supply chains suffer some disruptions and China threatens to withhold medications produced there by U.S. pharmaceuticals, how can we make sure there’s never a problem?

Former FDA Associate Commissioner Peter Pitts says there is a way to induce much more domestic production of prescription drugs. In this interview with Greg Corombos, Pitts explains what the federal government would need to do to give drug makers the incentive to move production back home and the major infrastructure investment pharmaceuticals would need to make.

But Pitts also points out that domestic production is more expensive, so how does the tension between price and availability of drugs play out?

Pitts walks us through these key issues and explains the role of the FDA during the current crisis and what it ought to be doing once it is over.

Share

‘The Left Is All About the Pursuit of Power’

by

Listen to “‘The Left Is All About the Pursuit of Power'” on Spreaker.

Partisan emotions are at a fevered pitch on Capitol Hill Monday, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the House Democrats would draft their own bill, effectively derailing bipartisan legislation in the Senate.

On Monday, the GOP frustrations boiled over as details of the House bill emerged. Pelosi and her allies are looking to add many policy items to the bill that do not seem to have much relevance in the present circumstances.

For example, House Democrats want to greatly expand collective bargaining power for labor unions, implement parts of the Green New Deal, bail out the U.S. Postal Service, and enact national same-day voter registration.

“The left is all about the pursuit of power. They’re doing a gun grab. They’re coming after the free press. Free speech on campus is under assault. Religion is under assault,” said former Virginia Rep. Dave Brat, who is now dean of the Liberty University School of Business.

“You couldn’t copy the cookbook any better. The left is just pursuing power for its own sake,” said Brat.

In this interview with Greg Corombos, Brat also discusses whether the economic damage inflicted by the coronavirus response could do greater damage than the virus itself. A longtime college economics professor, Brat also weighs in on whether economic relief would be more effective by focusing on helping businesses or putting money directly into the pocket of the American people.

Share

What’s Next for the Energy Industry?

by

Listen to “What’s Next for the Energy Industry?” on Spreaker.

Coronavirus fears are driving the massive Wall Street sell-off, but turmoil in the oil market is also contributing to the instability. Even with demand falling due to the virus, Saudi Arabia is increasing production in order to drive prices down. Their goal is to drive American energy producers – particularly fracking shale producers out of business.

So how dire is the financial condition for U.S. energy producers and what is the Trump administration considering to help these companies?

American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers details what’s on the table and why he doesn’t want any federal interference in the energy market. He also explains what government action would do some good and why the energy industry is built for the long haul.

Share

The Economy: Another Jump in Jobs, Coronavirus Impact Looms

by

Listen to “The Economy: Another Jump in Jobs, Coronavirus Impact Looms” on Spreaker.

The U.S. economy keeps humming along, boosted on Friday by much stronger February job growth than expected, but with the markets in turmoil over the coronavirus, what will the economic impact be in the weeks and months to come?

On Friday, the Labor Department released the February jobs report, showing 273,000 new hires, nearly 100,000 more than Wall Street analysts anticipated.  Hiring was strong across most sectors and the unemployment rate once again dipped to a roughly 50-year low of 3.5 percent.

What is driving this continued hiring and economic growth?  Supporters of President Trump or his policies point to tax cuts and regulatory reductions as spurring business owners to add personnel or expand operations, but how exactly do those policies do that?

Heritage Foundation economist Joel Griffith shares those answers with Radio America’s Greg Corombos.  Griffith also explains why the markets are wildly fluctuating in response to the coronavoirus threat, which policies make the most sense in response, and why the Federal Reserve was wrong to institute an unscheduled interest rate cut this week.

Listen here for the full podcast.

Share

Inside the Israeli Elections

by

Listen to “Inside the Israeli Elections” on Spreaker.

On Monday, Israeli voters went to the polls for the third time in less than a year to determine it’s political leadership. After two election results that failed to result in a winner, voters this time seem more favorable to keeping Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Incomplete returns show Netanyahu’s Likud Party winning the most seats. When factoring coalition partners, Netanyahu is within a seat or two in the Israeli Knesset of being able to forge a new government, but getting those final few seats could be a major challenge.

Why is Israeli so divided politically? Why did Netanyahu do better in this election despite having formal corruption charges lodged against him? What are the pros and cons of Netanyahu’s chief rival, Gen. Benny Gantz of the Blue and White Party.

We discuss all of these questions with retired Israeli Brig. General Elihu Ben-Onn, who also offers his advice on how to avoid another exhausting campaign if Netanyahu cannot form a government in the days ahead.

Share

Why Non-Bernie Dems Are Rallying Around Biden

by

Listen to “Why Non-Bernie Dems Are Rallying Around Biden” on Spreaker.

Joe Biden scored a dominating win in Saturday’s South Carolina primary. Less than 48 hours later, three rivals have dropped out and the endorsements are flooding in.

So why are so many prominent Democrats coalescing around Biden after one win and three disappointing finishes? The immediate answer involves a huge number of delegates at stake tomorrow on Super Tuesday. But why Biden?

For answers, we turn to former Clinton administration official Larry Haas. We also ask whether Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar dropped out of the race on their own accord or were pushed out.

Haas and Radio America’s Greg Corombos also discuss President Obama refusing to join the parade of endorsements, Joe Biden’s regular verbal gaffes, and how Bernie is likely to respond to Democrats uniting against him.

Share

Coronavirus: ‘We Seem To Be In A Panic Phase’

by

Listen to “Coronavirus: ‘We Seem To Be In A Panic Phase'” on Spreaker.

Coronavirus is making its way around the world.  It has government officials in the U.S. warning there might be disruptions in school calendars and work schedules due to its highly contagious nature.  Markets around the world spent most of the week in panic mode, as investors lost trillions in value in the U.S. alone.

But is coronavirus, or COVID-19, really a menace that could kill thousands of Americans?  Is the media egregiously overhyping the threat?  Or is the truth somewhere in the middle?

Dr. Roger Klein has advised a wide variety of government agencies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Department of Health and Human Services.  Also a former medical director of molecular oncology at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Klein is now with the Regulatory Transparency Project’s FDA and Health Working Group.

In this interview with Radio America’s Greg Corombos, Dr. Klein walks us through how well the government has prepared for this threat, whether the media reports are responsible or hyperbolic, and he explains why China’s response to COVID-19 seems so inadequate.

Share

What Should We Expect from Our Government on Coronavirus?

by

Listen to “What Should We Expect from Our Government on Coronavirus?” on Spreaker.

Coronavirus fears have the markets badly spooked and some Americans wondering how it may impact their daily lives in the weeks to come.

But as the Trump administration prepares to deal with the issue, what can we reasonably expect our government to do in a situation like this and what is beyond its control? How aggressive should it be in pressing China for accurate data? How tough is it for the feds to keep tabs on what 50 state government are doing? And how much responsibility lies with us as citizens?

Galen Institute President Grace-Marie Turner addresses all of these questions with Greg Corombos and she also flatly rejects media suggestions that coronavirus is proof that we need government-run health care. In fact, she says it proves just the opposite.

Share

Pro-Life Dems Plead for Party to Change

by

Listen to “Pro-Life Dems Plead for Party to Change” on Spreaker.

The Democrats running for president disagree on quite a few things but all of them support Roe v. Wade and most seem to have little regard for pro-life members of their party.

Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Pete Buttigieg have all indicated they are not interested in finding common ground with a group that makes up about 30 percent of the Democratic Party according to a recent Gallup survey. Amy Klobuchar says she welcomes them in the party but has not said where she would be willing to compromise.

Democrats for Life Executive Director Kristen Day says the party has lurched left on abortion over the past 20-30 years, shifting from wanting abortion to be safe, legal, and rare to advocating for abortions at any stage of pregnancy for any reason and wanting taxpayers to cover the bill.

Ms. Day gained notoriety for asking Buttigieg whether pro-life Democrats belonged in the party at an Iowa town hall earlier in the campaign season.

In this conversation with Greg Corombos, Day explains how she hopes to change hearts and minds among Democrats on abortion, what she thinks of Senate Democrats rejecting measures to ban most late term abortions or require care for babies who are born following an attempted abortion, and how she is approaching her vote in next week’s Virginia primary.

Share