President Obama says he wants to speed up the shelling out of stimulus dollars and get more people back to work faster than originally planned. He vows 600,000 jobs will be created or saved by the end of this summer. So is this the right move to spur job creation or just pouring money down a rat hole at an even faster pace? We ask Bill Ahern, director of policy and communications at The Tax Foundation.
We have Friday’s top news… How many jobs did the economy lose in May? How are the numbers being interpreted by Democrats and Republicans in Congress? What new numbers could discourage prospective home buyers? Who is buying the Saturn line from General Motors? What is a federal appeals court saying about the merger of Chrysler and Fiat? What happened on Wall Street Friday? And what did President Obama have to say on his visit to the Buchenwald death camp in Germany? We have the answers as we bring you the biggest stories for Friday, June 5, 2009.
On Friday, the Department of Labor reported another 345,000 jobs were slashed in May, and the national unemployment rate jumped to 9.4 percent. So is this a sign that the economy is still in a deep crisis or is it slightly encouraging that fewer jobs were lost than in previous months of this recession? What has been the impact of the Obama stimulus plan on the U.S. job market? Is the stimulus a negative influence or just a trillion dollar venture that’s having no impact at all? How tough is life for Americans in urban areas where the unemployment rate is in double figures? We ask Illinois Rep. Peter Roskam, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.
This week we bring you a double shot of Washington’s favorite political parody troupe, The Capitol Steps. This week, the Steps examine the the swine flu scare in “Fever” and the rough road ahead for the auto industry in “God Bless My SUV”. Our guest is Steps star and co-founder Elaina Newport.
The past several years, and especially the past few weeks, have been filled with debate over how the U.S. interrogates suspected terrorists and at Guantanamo Bay in in the war zones. So what are the interrogation sessions really like? How is most critical information gleaned from the detainees? How often were “enhanced” interrogation techniques really used? When were they used? And should the Guantanamo Bay detention facility stay open or be closed as President Obama wishes? We ask U.S. Army Captain Jason Meszaros, who served eight months as an intelligence officer in Afghanistan. He is also the author of “Interrogation of Morals”.
Earlier this week, New Hampshire lawmakers approved an amended bill legalizing gay marriage starting in January 2010. Why could this backfire on the new Democratic majority in the state legislature? What did national Democratic leaders threaten to do if lawmakers did not pass the bill? Why was this even on the agenda in a severe economic recession? What’s the big goal of the gay marriage movement in the months ahead? And what is the latest news in the fight for traditional marriage in states like Maine and New York? We ask Maggie Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage.
We have Thursday’s top news… What did President say in an effort to extend an olive branch to the Muslim world? What did he say about the U.S. fight against radical Islamic groups? What was his message for Iran? How about Israel and the Palestinians? What the reaction to the speech in the Muslim world? How optimistic are Americans that Middle East peace will ever be achieved? What is the latest on the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor? And how are GM executives viewing the company’s future just three days after beginning the bankruptcy process? We have the answers as we bring you the biggest stories for Thursday, June 4, 2009.
On Thursday, President Obama delivered his long-awaited speech designed to reach out to the Muslim world. So what did he accomplish? How did he impact the Israeli-Palestinian debate? Was he too soft on Iran? Was this just another stop on what conservatives call the apology tour? We ask Ilan Berman, vice president for policy at the American Foreign Policy Council.
Earlier this week, President Obama urged Congress to pass health care reform – with a government payer option – as soon as possible. Obama also says his brand of reform will save our economy money. But is that true? What is the real cost of this plan? Why will the addition of a public option crowd private insurance out of the arena? And what are the right principles to pursue when it comes to reform? We ask Sally Pipes, vice chairman of the Pacific Research Institute.
Thursday marks 20 years since the communist Chinese government brutally crushed student democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. So is there a legacy of those protests or is it just the ongoing brutal repression of those who disagree with Chinese leaders? How has China changed on the world stage in the past two decades? How has the U.S. relationship with it changed? And is it for the better? We ask Walter Lohman, director of the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation.
