Radio America Online News Bureau

Late Night Activism, Trump Resists Gun Control, GOP Embraces Deficits

by


Jim Geraghty of Natonal Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America sigh as liberal late night comedians demand new gun control legislation while getting their facts wildly wrong.  They also react to reports that President Trump does not appear likely to embrace gun control efforts in the wake of the horrific attack in Las Vegas that killed dozens and wounded hundreds.  And they shake their heads as White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney  – a deficit hawk while in Congress – says he is embracing deficits as part of the emerging tax reform legislation.

Share

‘We Are Hurting and Only God Can Heal America’

by

As Americans stand horrified by the atrocities in Las Vegas, a leading Christian author says turning to God is the only way to heal this nation from wounds of division, violence, and even natural disasters.

Dr. Michael Brown is a national radio host and a contributing editor at thestream.org.  His latest book is “Saving A Sick America.”

“America is hurting, be it from the hurricanes ravaging our nation, be it from the murders that take place in our inner cities every single day, be it from the racial strife and division that’s in our nation to the mass murders.  We are hurting and only God can heal America,” said Brown.

He says with the onslaught of horrible news in recent weeks and recent years, it’s easy to lose sight of just how devastating events like the concert shooting in Las Vegas is, with at least 58 people dead and more than 500 injured.

“We become so desensitized that I don;t even know if we understand how evil evil really is, how dark dark really is.  What’s going to make it apparent?  The light shining.  Martin Luther Kind said, ‘The church has to be reminded it’s not the master of the state or the servant of the state but the conscience of the state,'” said Brown.

“My greatest concern is not so much with the presence of darkness but with the absence of light,” added Brown.

Brown says a reliance on God is vital to America thriving again.

“America can only be great if America is good.  America cannot be good without God.  The founding of our nation attached our freedoms to morality and morality to God,” said Brown.

However, Brown is very quick to clarify that the carnage inflicted in Las Vegas is the responsibility of one depraved gunman with massive firepower and should not be interpreted as dive judgment.

“This [isn’t] because of gays or abortion.  No.  There’s a madman who’s a murderer.  He and anyone who’s complicit with him, he or they alone are responsible.  I am not saying, oh this is because they’re in Las Vegas and it’s in Sin City.  Come on.  These are people attending a country music concert.  They’re just like anybody else, any other family,” said Brown.

“To make it as if they’re the worst of sinners or this because of is Las Vegas or this is God’s wrath.  No, this is human evil,” said Brown.

So what does a nation turning to God look like?  Brown begins by explaining what it doesn’t include.

“I’m not talking about a theocracy.  I’m not talking about imposing the Bible on the culture and hitting people over the head with it.  I’m saying that our very liberties, our very foundation are based on scriptural principles, on human beings being created in the image of God and our need for him as a creator.  If we turn back to Him, I believe He’ll help us,” said Brown.

“The problems are too big.  This is not a gun control issue.  This is a political issue.  There’s no social band-aid.  We need to say, ‘God, right now we need you.’  I don’t think there’s any other solution,” said Brown.

Brown says it’s clear to him that’s there’s only one smart direction for America to turn.

“Where are we going to go?  Who can help us?  Who’s big enough?  You going to look to the president?  You going to look to the Republican Party, the Democrat Party, the media?  Even the church itself is often so compromised.  Many times our pulpits sound like they’re entertaining people than challenging people.

“We need a fresh awakening.  The bad news is I think America’s in critical condition.  The good news is we’ve had really dark times before in our nation and those were followed by Great Awakenings,” said Brown.

He says such an awakening is possible because God rescued him from being “a heroin-shooting, LSD-using hippy rock drummer” in 1971.

Brown says Christians need to be the light that Jesus called them to be.

“I don’t believe people are really turning away from God.  They’re turning away from religion as they know it.  I believe if we could come – not with just a pep talk message but with a real message of truth.  If those who claim to follow Jesus  and believe the Bible can demonstrate there’s a better way, I believe our families will be healthier, our kids would be healthier, our country would be healthier,” said Brown.

 

Share

Horror in Vegas, Attack Quickly Turns Political, Honoring the Heroes

by


Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America react to the horrific attack in Las Vegas that left at least 58 people dead and more than 500 wounded.  They also slam the endless politics as so many activists  – and politicians themselves – immediately declare the Las Vegas shooting to reinforce their political cause long before the facts are in.  And they join President Trump in applauding the heroism of the first responders, saved countless live with their rapid response.

Share

Bongino Sounds Off on Hillary, NFL Protests, GOP Failure on Obamacare

by

In a week full of of political frustration, former Secret Service Agent Dan Bongino is blasting Hillary Clinton for blaming racism and uninformed women for her defeat, NFL players for not standing for our national anthem, and the latest failure of Republicans to address Obamacare.

Bongino served 12 years in the U.S. Secret Service after spending multiple years before that with the NYPD.  Since retiring from the Secret Service in 2011, Bongino ran twice for the House of Representatives and once for U.S. Senate.  He is also a conservative commentator and author of the new book “Protecting the President: An Inside Account of the Troubled Secret Service in an Era of Evolving Threats.”

Bongino served on the protective detail for Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.  In 2000, he was part of the detail protecting First Lady Hillary Clinton as she campaigned for U.S. Senate in New York.  He says it was a nightmare as Mrs. Clinton, through her staff, made it clear they were to protect the candidate but never be visible so the public would see her as “approachable.”

As Clinton makes the rounds promoting her new book on the 2016 campaign, Bongino says he is infuriated by Clinton’s attitudes towards those who did not support her.  As an unsuccessful candidate in a very close race, Bongino says he knows how tough it is to lose, but he says Hillary is taking her frustration to a different level.

“Now it’s not that she lost and she’s blaming people.  It’s that she lost because we’re all racists and women who voted for Trump are all unacceptable examples of females.  It’s so personally condescending that I felt the need to tell people who Hillary really is,” said Bongino.

On Monday, Bongino tweeted, “I worked with Hillary. Hillary is an obnoxious, rude, condescending, fraud who cares about ONE thing-herself.”

He doubled down later in the week.

“I’ve seen her behind the scenes.  She’s not a good person.  She’s condescending.  She’s rude.  She’s obnoxious.  She’s fake.  She’s a fraud.  And the fact she gets to go out now on this national scale on this book tour and basically indict every single group or person who didn’t vote for her is really grotesque,” said Bongino.

The new book is the first time Bongino has spoken out on his experiences as a Secret Service agent.  While acknowledging the culture of remaining mum about while on detail, Bongino says speaking out is warranted in the case of Hillary Clinton.

“I get it.  There is an omerta in the Secret Service.  I opened up with this.  I understand that, but I think there are times it’s more appropriate to set the record straight, and the record on Hillary is clear.  She’s a fraud and she’s a fake.  Don’t believe a word she says,” said Bongino.

After putting his life on the line as a police officer and Secret Service agent, Bongino is also appalled at the extent of protests taking place by NFL players during the national anthem.

“I think these guys are a disgrace.  They’re a total disgrace to this country, to our veterans, to our police officers, to people who put out everything.  That flag means something to them.  It’s not a tablecloth.  It’s not a curtain.  This isn’t some joke and it’s really an absolute disgrace that these guys are able to kneel and embarrass our republic like this.

“This is an issue that really hits me deep beneath the skin.  These guys should be humiliated and yet the far left celebrates them as heroes.  It’s a joke,” said Bongino.

During his congressional campaigns, Bongino, like virtually all other Republican candidates, promised to repeal Obamacare if elected to office.  Senate Republicans failed again this week to advance a bill, this one to block grant federal dollars back to the states.

Bongino says the GOP’s inability to get something passed when it controls all the levers of legislative power in Washington is unacceptable.

“This is probably the greatest political disaster and broken promise of our generation.  Is there another way to frame this thing?  Every single Republican in the House or the Senate – outside of Susan Collins, who’s not a Republican, she’s literally a Republican in name only – ran on the issue of repealing Obamacare.  Yet when it came time to do instead of talk, what did they do?  They all folded like cheap suits,” said Bongino.

He fears this series of failures on Obamacare exposes the weakness of Republicans but suspects President Trump won’t take as much heat on this as Congress.

“This is going to have ramifications long past this election.  I think this hurts Republicans.  It doesn’t hurt Donald Trump.  I’m not a Trump acolyte.  I support the president.  I just think this isn’t going to effect Trump.  He’s managed to distance himself from this really pathetic shell of a party we have now,” said Bongino.

Standard Podcast [ 5:04 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Share

Trump’s Solid Court Picks, NFL to Stand? Crazy Left Targets Melania Over Books

by


Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud President Trump’s nomination of Don Willett and James Ho for spots on the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.  They also are cautiously optimistic that this NFL weekend might actually focus on football as three teams announce they will be standing for the national anthem.  And they throw up their hands as a anti-Trump elementary school librarian publicly rejects the donation of Dr. Seuss books from First Lady Melania Trump, while also slamming Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and falsely accusing Dr. Seuss of racism.

Share

Brat Lauds Trump Tax Plan

by

Economics professor turned Rep. Dave Brat, R-Virginia, says the framework of the Trump tax reform plan provides tremendous progress on all the key issues, sets the table for tremendous economic growth, and may even provide a path to resolving the standoff over immigration policy.

Brat is a member of the House Budget Committee.  He says the panel is just about ready to clear the road for Congress to take up formal legislation based on Trump’s priorities.

“It’s par of the whole budget negotiation process.  We just wanted to know, roughly speaking, what’s in this tax package.  Is the S corporation going to be taken care of?  Is it rate reductions?  Is it enough to get economic growth?  They came out with a good plan that satisfied all those major categories and bullets,” said Brat.

On the business side, Brat is very excited that the corporate income tax rate would fall from 35 percent to 20 percent, a move he says would make us far more competitive with other nations and entice Americans firms to scrap their headquarters in other nations and bring their trillions in capital equipment back home.

For small businesses, the key issue is the S corporation, which files under individual tax rates.

“The highest personal income tax is 39 percent.  That’ll go down to 25.  That again is a significant pro-growth piece for the small businessperson that generates 70 percent of all the jobs,” said Brat.

On individual tax rates, Brat says Trump is bring virtually everyone’s rates lower.  He says one point of confusion is that the lowest bracket, which is now 10 percent bumps up to 12 percent.

“The Democrats are jumping all over that.  ‘You’re taxing the poor more.’  But as (House Speaker) Paul Ryan has said umpteen times now, it’s actually 10 percent to zero.  (Democrats) are skipping the biggest detail, and that’s a $26,000 deduction for a couple.  The bottom income earners are going to pay zero income tax,” said Brat.

However, adding more Americans to the number who pay no income taxes creates other concerns.

“People who are fiscal hawks are worried we’re creating too many people who don’t have skin in the game.  There’s a balancing act there, but roughly speaking Trump is trying to do a middle class tax package,” said Brat.

He says even in a zero sum game the package is good for the middle class, but he says if the incentives in the legislation jumpstart the economy as expected, the benefits will be abundantly obvious.

“People are going to lose some of their deduction, but you’re going to get much lower rates.  So even if you break even – and I don’t think you will, I think you’ll be better off just on that – but what people can’t forget about is it’s pro-growth.

“If your stock market and retirement account isn’t growing, if the economy isn’t growing and your wage rate isn’t growing over time, you’re losing the power of compounding and everything,” said Brat.

He says tax cuts are a proven positive jolt to the economy.

“If we get people entering the labor force instead of leaving, I think we can get back to the good old days.  JFK got four to five percent growth.  He was pro-tax cuts, pro-supply side, pro-business.  Reagan did the same thing,” said Brat.

“If this thing gets the optimism flowing.  Kids will be pro-business, people will get back in the workforce and then you’ve got a virtuous circle instead of the opposite,” said Brat.

But even with Republicans controlling Congress and the White House, getting big legislation done is proving elusive.  Brat says that job gets even more complicated once the lobbyists flood Congress trying to keep their favored nuggets of the tax code in place.

“Now we’re going to go head-to-head with the swamp and K Street will come in and try to get every special deal and deduction, etc.  All of those will come at the expense of the American people, so we’re going to keep our eyes open as well,” said Brat.

The House Freedom Caucus, of which Brat is a member, is already enthusiastically on board with the Trump framework, but Brat says the special interest push is getting ugly,

“Karl Rove wrote a cynical, biting piece against the Freedom Caucus.  He said, ‘Just pass it.  You don’t need to see what’s in it,'” said Brat.

“Are you kidding me?  So when K Street and the cronies say that, they probably know more about what’s in it than I do and that makes your radar go up all the more.  When they’re saying to just pass it without seeing it, it’s like, ‘OK, somebody you’re protecting has a hidden nugget in there and my job is to look out for my constituents,” said Brat.

However, if the fundamentals of the tax plan stay in place with minimal tinkering from the special interests, Brat thinks the economic growth can actually take a lot of the vitriol out of the immigration debate, specifically how to treat those who came here illegally as children.

In addition to demanding that any enshrinement of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program be conditional on aggressive use of E-Verify to ensure legal hiring and an end to chain migration, Brat says robust growth changes the equation a great deal.

“Immigration and all the controversy has to do with economics.  You’ve got to fix the labor market, the welfare system.  We’ve got to get these kids jobs.  Then you won’t have this contentious issue surrounding DACA.  Everybody wants to help kids but we want to do it legally.  First, you’ve got to get your own house in order,” said Brat.

Brat urges Trump to force very tough concessions from Democrats before doing what they want on DACA.

“The Left has to meet us halfway.  They should meet us more than halfway.  We won the House, the Senate, and the White House.  President Trump wants to make a deal.  He has all the levers.  We should compromise with them and work with them but let’s get the story straight.  That’s the basic framework, I think, going forward,” said Brat.

Standard Podcast [ 10:43 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Share

Helping Puerto Rico, Michelle Slams Pro-Trump Women, Chuck Todd Whiffs on Rights

by


After cheering the return of Steve Scalise to Congress more than three months after being shot, Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud President Trump for lifting the ban on foreign ships bringing critical supplies to Puerto Rico from the U.S. and they discuss the problem of getting the supplies form the ships to the people who desperately need them.  They also fire back at former First Lady Michelle Obama for suggesting that women who voted for Trump “voted against their own voice” and just liked the candidate they were told to like.  And they hammer NBC’s Chuck Todd for mocking Roy Moore’s beliefs that out rights come from God rather than government, apparently without reading the Declaration of Independence.

Share

Moore Victory Sends Shockwaves Through GOP

by

Roy Moore defeated interim Sen. Luther Strange in the run-off for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Alabama Tuesday, a decisive win that the Senate Conservatives Fund says is already having reverberations throughout the nation.

Moore, twice elected Chief Justice of Alabama and twice removed for refusing to follow federal court orders on the Ten Commandments and same-sex marriage, defeated Strange by roughly ten percentage points.  Strange was appointed to the seat earlier this year by disgraced former Gov. Robert Bentley following the confirmation of former Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general.

Not only did Moore win and win easily, he also overcame millions of dollars in attack ads from the Senate Leadership Fund, which is closely aligned with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.  Moore also won despite President Trump’s active support for Sen. Strange.

Senate Conservatives Fund President Ken Cuccinelli says the impact of Moore’s win is huge.

“Judge Moore’s spectacular performance and the support of the Alabama’s grassroots was a sign across this country that the grassroots is serious about draining the swamp, about repealing Obamacare, about getting rid of amnesty and building the wall and all of those substantive reasons that motivated people to give the Republicans the majority in the first place,” said Cuccinelli.

He says the willingness of GOP voters in Alabama to defy Trump showed how deep the frustration goes with the status quo in Washington.

“The people of Alabama were serious about that.  They were so serious about it that they disregarded the president’s endorsement of Judge Moore’s opponent because they knew the president was just trying to be nice to Mitch McConnell and this race really turned into Moore vs. McConnell,” said Cuccinelli.

“Ten million dollars and the president and the vice president could not save Luther Strange from the albatross around his neck in Mitch McConnell and the Gang of Five, the leadership team that loomed so large to the grassroots in Alabama,” he added.

Cuccinelli says a look at Strange’s voting record over the past few months wouldn’t necessarily alarm most conservatives but he says Strange’s alliance with McConnell turned into a liability.

“Luther Strange bought a ticket on the first-class cruise liner that was the SS McConnell.  It turned out to be the Titanic,” said Cuccinelli.

“Luther is no Susan Collins or Lisa Murkowski, but he made it very clear from the moment he arrived in Washington that he was going to be on the McConnell team and Mitch McConnell is bad for America.” pronounced Cuccinelli.

Cuccinelli didn’t stop there.

“People think in terms of Republican-Democrat.  Everything isn’t Republican Democrat.  When we talk right-left, Mitch McConnell is part of the left.  He’s part of the big government cronyism that is destroying this country,” said Cuccinelli.

“If we’re going to get America on a track to saving it for our children and grandchildren, Mitch McConnell is part of the problem, not the solution,” added Cuccinelli.

So how does this reverberate beyond Alabama?  Cuccinelli says McConnell allies started sprinting before the exits even before the polls closed on Tuesday.

“Roy Moore didn’t just unseat appointed Sen. Luther Strange.  He also forced the retirement of Bob Corker,” said Cuccinelli, alluding to the decision of Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn,. not to seek a third term in 2018.

Cuccinelli says the private data from the Moore-Strange race was clear days ago that Moore would win handily, and he believes Corker saw the handwriting on the wall for his own re-election bid.

“Bob Corker wanted to get out before it looked like he was running scared from his own grassroots.  But, you know, that’s exactly what he was doing with his retirement yesterday,” said Cuccinelli.

Cuccinelli also asserts that the fact the Senate Leadership Fund was even involved in a GOP primary belies what McConnell’s goal really is in campaigns across the country.

“Mitch McConnell says, ‘Donate to my Super PAC so we can keep a Republican majority.  That is not what the Senate Leadership Fund is about.  It’s about protecting the Gang of Five and keeping Mitch McConnell leader.  It has nothing to do with making America better.  It has nothing to do with a Republican majority,” said Cuccinelli.

He says the Senate Leadership Fund will go all-in for candidates who are kindred spirits with McConnell but will leave strong conservatives twisting in the wind.

“Last year, they wouldn’t lift a finger – well they lifted their middle finger – but they wouldn’t lift a finger to help Darryl Glenn in one of only two states Republicans could win last year.  and you know why they wouldn’t help Darryl Glenn in Colorado?  Because he’s a conservative who wouldn’t knee-jerkingly support the leadership.

“Here’s a black conservative veteran, graduate of the Air Force Academy elected in one of the biggest counties in Colorado.  They refused to support him despite the fact that he’s a candidate practically out of central casting  from the 2012 Republican autopsy,” said Cuccinelli.

“They wouldn’t support him because they wouldn’t support Mitch McConnell.  They were willing to risk the majority rather than support conservative Darryl Glenn last year.  So no one should be fooled by Mitch McConnell’s so-called commitment to the Republican Party or the Republican majority.  Mitch is for Mitch,” said Cuccinelli.

Cuccinelli is bullish on the midterm elections, not only in the possibility of insurgent conservatives replacing existing Republicans loyal to McConnell but in conservatives winning nominations and defeating Democrats in states Trump won big.

Specifically, he’s excited about the candidacies of Matt Rosendale against Sen. Jon Tester in Montana, Josh Mandel versus Democrat Sherrod Brown in Ohio and West Virginia Attorney General vying for the nomination to face Sen. Joe Manchin.

“This is the best cycle we’ve seen for conservatives that we’ve seen, frankly, since 2010,” said Cuccinelli.  “There’s an awful lot of opportunity, not just to get Republicans replacing Democrats but to get good Republicans replacing Democrats.”

Share

Corker’s Lame Legacy, Price is Wrong, Trump’s Alabama Two-Step

by


Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America react to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker deciding not to seek re-election by remembering his most significant moment in office was failing to stand up for the Senate’s power to consider treaties and instead greased the skids for President Obama to enact the Iran nuclear deal without any effective protest from the Republican majority.  They also slam Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price for using private planes on at least two dozen occasions to the tune of $400,000 in taxpayer money.  And they weigh in on the results of the Republican U.S. Senate run-off in Alabama and President Trump subsequently deleting tweets in support of Luther Strange after it was clear Roy Moore had won.

Share

‘That Is a Direct Assault on the First Amendment’

by

The lawyers for the Christian owners of a Minnesota video services company are firing back after a federal judge there called the couple’s efforts to limit their wedding work to heterosexual couples “akin to a ‘White Applicants Only’ sign.”

Carl and Angel Larsen operate Telescope Media, a video business that the Larsens want to include wedding videos.  But they have a problem in the recently amended Minnesota Human Rights Act, which forbids businesses to treat people differently  based upon “race, color, national origin, sex, disability (or) sexual orientation.”

Violation of the Human Rights Act could result in fines as high as $25,000 per violation.

The Larsens launched a pre-emptive lawsuit that was rejected last week by federal Judge John Tunheim, who wrote that the effort by the Larsens to film weddings but decline requests to video same-sex ceremonies was “akin to a ‘White Applicants Only’ sign.”

The Alliance Defending Freedom, or ADF,  is representing the Larsens.  Senior Counsel Jonathan Scruggs says Judge Tunheim’s rationale is way off base.

“That comparison is entirely false.  The Larsens do not discriminate based off of any status.  They are willing to serve all people, including people of all different sexual orientations.  They just can’t promote messages they disagree with and events they disagree with.  That’s a common sense distinction,” said Scruggs.

He says the judge’s disturbing language did not stop there.

“The court acknowledged that this law was raising first amendment concerns yet said that was only an “incidental burden” on the Larsens first amendment rights, when they are compelled to create and promote videos of a same-sex wedding ceremony,” said Scruggs.

“That is a direct assault on the first amendment.  We’re hopeful that the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is the appellate court, will be receptive of our arguments to protect the Larsens’ rights,” said Scruggs.

Scruggs says a bedrock American constitutional principle is at stake here.

“All Americans should have the right to choose what messages they promote or the messages they don’t promote.  It is a great burden on our clients’ freedoms for the state to come in and say, ‘You’ve got to create from scratch a video that promotes and honors a same-sex wedding ceremony,” said Scruggs.

In just over two years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled there was a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, Scruggs says states are clearly putting Christians on the defensive – in this case as well as the legal battles over bakers, florists, and other business owners often dealing with weddings.

“What you see in all these cases is states using these laws really to attack and restrict the rights of Christians to choose the messages they can and cannot promote,” said Scruggs.

“All these laws are telling people essentially to either toe the line or get out of the marketplace.  Literally, Christians are being excluded from the marketplace because they can’t in good faith promote a message they disagree with,” said Scruggs.

He says that leaves Christians in a no-win situation.

“We represent people all over the country who are literally facing the choice of closing their business or giving up their religious beliefs about marriage,” said Scruggs.

As the legal battle proceeds, Scruggs says precedent is on the side of his clients.

“The Supreme Court had held that these public accommodation laws cannot compel speakers to voice messages they disagree with.  It really runs right in line with that,” said Scruggs.

Among ADF’s clients is Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, who is at the center of oral arguments at the Supreme Court later this year.  While Scruggs says all of these cases have different wrinkles, the precedent set in the Masterpiece case will have a huge impact on all the others.

“It is likely that whatever the Supreme Court rules in Masterpiece will have a large impact, even if it’s maybe not a decisive impact but a large impact, on how these cases [proceed].  There is a lot of attention on the Masterpiece ruling, and for good reason,” said Scruggs.

No date has been set for oral arguments in that case, but Scruggs suspects they will be scheduled for sometime in November.

Standard Podcast [ 8:21 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Share