What should we want in a Supreme Court justice? How does that compare with what Barack Obama would look for in a justice for the high court? Should we be disturbed by his belief that the Warren Court was not all that radical or that the court didn’t do enough to promote redistribution of wealth? We ask Ed Whalen, former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
What should we want in a Supreme Court justice? How does that compare with what Barack Obama would look for in a justice for the high court? Should we be disturbed by his belief that the Warren Court was not all that radical or that the court didn’t do enough to promote redistribution of wealth? We ask Ed Whalen, former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
On Monday, a federal jury in Washington convicted Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens on seven counts of making false statements regarding his failure to disclose gifts and free work done to his home in Senate disclosure forms. So what was the clinching point for the jury? What was the Stevens defense? How will this impact his re-election efforts? We ask Paul Singer of Roll Call.
Over the weekend, U.S. Special Forces successfully attacked and killed the senior al qaeda coordinator inside Syria. What do we know about his work? Why was he a high value target? And do we risk esclating the conflict with Syria? We ask Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Vice President for Research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
If Barack Obama wins this election and Democrats win big majorities in the House and Senate as well, the Democratic agenda would find few obstacles for at least the next two years. But what would that agenda look like? Why is big labor poised to pick up a great deal of power if Dems win big? What else could we be facing? And why is divided government a good thing? We ask Mark McKinnon, former media strategist for President Bush and now a representative for the Workforce Fairness Institute.
We have Friday’s top news…Barack Obama in Hawaii, Michelle Obama on the stump in Ohio, John McCain keeps slamming the Obama tax plan, Sarah Palin says Election night could be a long one and the Dow sinks again. It’s all covered in the biggest stories for Friday, October 24, 2008.
Why has John McCain cut Barack Obama’s lead in Pennsylvania from 14 points down to seven? Can he pick up more ground? Why is McCain showing a small lead in Florida and Ohio when the same surveys show Americans immensely dissatisfied with the state of our country? And why is Obama doing better then Al Gore or John Kerry in the red state of Georgia? We ask David Johnson, CEO of Strategic Vision, which conducted these surveys.
In addition to the economy, national security and social issues, energy has been a major topic of conversation in this year’s campaign. But how much should it impact your vote on November 4? Is it possible to wean ourselves from foreign energy within 10 years as Barack Obama promises to do? Will his strategy create a boom of ‘green jobs’ or actually cost jobs because those in the oil, coal and natural gas fields will be out of work? Is John McCain’s goal of 45 nuclear power plants by 2030 feasible? And will his all of the above strategy get this nation where it needs to be? We ask Thomas Pyle, President of the Institute for Energy Research.
Barack Obama promises lower taxes for working families, a tougher foreign policy than the current administration, big new government programs and restrained federal spending. That’s exactly what Jimmy Carter promised in 1976 only to break every one of them except the one about big new government programs. Are we seeing a repeat of the Carter campaign and possibly his presidency? And why might an Obama victory actually be more damaging than Carter’s 32 years ago? We ask historian Dr. Mark Moyar, who teaches at the U.S. Marine Corps University.
The Capitol Steps bring us more laughs to ease the pressure of the recent economic turmoil. This week the Steps bring us two selections, including “Subprime Mortgage Holders.” Our guest is Steps star and co-founder Elaina Newport.
