Radio America’s Greg Corombos and Jim Geraghty from National Review host today’s Three Martini Lunch. They agree with Brit Hume’s analysis that the VA health care scandal is an inevitable result of socialized medicine. They take stock of the potential that Iran could deploy nuclear weapons in the near future. And they debunk President Obama’s point that conservatives are out of touch for wanting answers about Benghazi and Obamacare.
‘They’re Playing Russian Roulette with Our Safety’
The national immigration debate is being rocked by the new report showing more than 36,000 criminals in the country illegally were released on American soil in just the past year, and the author now says this is the result of a badly flawed system and a growing desire within the Obama administration not to deport illegal immigrants.
Jessica Vaughan is director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies. In addition to the number of criminals released, her research shows those offenders committed more than 88,000 crimes, many of them after being released from custody.
The Obama administration admits that it is looking to decrease deportations, essentially focusing efforts on those deemed to be a threat to public safety while allowing non-violent offenders to stay in the U.S. Many of the 36,000 criminals are under orders to be deported, but were released instead of detained until they were due to be sent out of the country. Vaughan says this sort of lax immigration enforcement puts all of us at risk.
“They’re really playing Russian roulette with our safety. We do know from other studies that have been done that a very significant share of these people do go on to commit other crimes. In fact, a 2012 study by the House Judiciary Committee found that about 58,000 crimes were committed by illegal aliens who were released instead of processed for deportation,” said Vaughan.
“That’s a gamble and they’re betting on our safety, but I would rather them err on the side of caution and keep people in custody, not only to keep us safe but also to make sure these individuals are deported,” she said.
The track record of the Obama administration on immigration enforcement has a lot of people confused. The administration claims deportations were up considerably in the early years of the Obama presidency in comparison to the final years of the George W. Bush administration. However, the government has recently admitted that illegals simply turned back at the border are now counted as being deported. Previously, only those who went through the system and were formally deported were counted.
Vaughan says it’s hard to calculate what the real numbers are but the actions of President Obama concern her greatly.
“The most important metric that we could look at is the size of the illegal immigrant population. It was dropping from about 2007-2009 and then has gone up a little bit. That’s a pretty strong indication things are not getting any better,” she said.
“The other important figure to look at is the number of interior deportations, which has been dropping steadily for the last couple of years, even though the number of illegal aliens who have been identified, especially the number who have been identified after arrest, so these numbers are very concerning for those who think the first thing we should do when talking about immigration is to enforce the laws we have,” said Vaughan.
“Clearly they are not being enforced as vigorously as they were in the past and the administration was able to claim this record number of deportations by counting Border Patrol arrests that got turned over to (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) instead of looking at the traditional way which is interior enforcement,” said Vaughan.
The decreasing focus on interior enforcement may well be the tip of the iceberg in the administration’s admitted efforts to limit deportations. In addition to the 36,000 criminals who were processed but released, she says another 68,000 were approached by ICE in 2013 for violating immigration laws but did not ultimately face charges.
Vaughan says the Department of Homeland Security is sending clear signs that this will only become more common.
“Secretary (Jeh) Johnson is saying that he’s going to scale back the Secure Communities Program, which is the program under which all these criminal aliens are identified. So the numbers are only going to go up if what I’m hearing is correct. They’re not going to allow ICE agents to accept referrals of criminal aliens from state and local police and sheriffs. So you’ve got a sheriff with people in custody and they want this criminal removed, and ICE agents are going to have to say, ‘No, sorry,'” said Vaughan.
Defenders of the Obama administration’s goal of reducing deportations claim they are saving taxpayers a great deal of money. They estimate each deportation costs roughly $12,500 and removing young people also eliminates a lifetime of tax revenue from them.
Vaughan isn’t swayed. She says the government’s position is weakened by its own inefficiencies and conflicting priorities.
“It is much costlier for the government, and by extension for American taxpayers, because there are two immigration court systems. One is for people who are detained and that moves very quickly. They get their order of deportation much faster. If they are not detained, there is a backlog that is about two years right now. So the more people that they let out to await their hearing, the longer that hearing is going to take,” said Vaughan.
“That gets especially expensive when people never show up for their hearings and have to be tracked down by ICE. That’s very labor intensive,” she said.
“But I find it ironic that the administration has actually asked Congress to reduce funding for detention for criminals who are in the deportation process. They asked for a 10 percent cut this year. That’s why it was especially shocking to find out they are releasing criminals even as they’re saying they don’t need as much money for detention space,” said Vaughan.
Vaughan says detaining more criminal illegals until deportation would save a lot of money, but she insists a bigger goal needs to be in mind.
“The answer is not to detain and deport every illegal alien in the country. The answer is to have deterrents in place, such as preventing illegal employment, not allowing people who are here illegally to access social welfare systems and have better border enforcement so that fewer people will try to come here illegally and those who are here will realize it’s not as good a deal for them to be here. Over time this becomes much less of a problem. The more we can deter illegal immigration, the fewer people we’ll have to detain and deport,” said Vaughan.
Three Martini Lunch 5/19/14
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review cheer encouraging polls for Republicans in competitive House and Senate races. They also criticize President Obama for his tepid response to the VA health care scandal. And they finish by laughing over the Pentagon’s plan to avert a future zombie apocalypse.
‘We’ve Had Go Along to Get Along for Way Too Long’
Former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel says she is a conservative with proven results, while her opponents for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination are three members of Congress who have failed to solve problems and a multimillionaire who may not even be a Republican.
The primary for the seven-member field is Tuesday.
“I’m an unwavering conservative who has a track record of getting the job done. More than ever, Georgians are looking for someone they can trust to go to Washington and do the job for them,” said Handel. “Look at the rest of the field. We’ve got congressmen who have been there for 10-20 years. They’ve had every chance to do what they’re now talking about and they haven’t. And then you have this so-called outsider, David Perdue. We don’t know very much about him. He’s running for the Republican nomination and hasn’t even found it appropriate to vote in a Republican primary.
“We need someone like me, who is a solid Republican, a solid conservative my whole life, so we can cut spending, repeal the Obamacare health tax and re-energize this economy by lowering taxes and not raising them like David Perdue has suggested and reducing the burden of regulations on businesses,” she said.
Handel cites her work as the chairwoman of the Fulton County Commission, the largest county in the state, as an example of the leadership she would bring to the Senate. She says she thwarted attempts by Democrats to close a $100 million deficit through massive property tax increases and instead tackled the red ink through spending cuts. While secretary of state, Handel cut department spending by 20 percent and successfully implemented a voter identification requirement for voters.
Rep. Kingston rejects that recap of her career in county government. He says the real story is that Handel increased spending in Fulton County by $46 million during her tenure as chairwoman. Handel rejects Kingston’s message and the messenger.
“Jack Kingston has a lot of nerve, when he’s been in Washington on the Appropriations Committee and sat there keeping the seat warm while this country, through his votes, absorbed debt – 17 trillion dollars in debt,” said Handel. “To put it in perspective, Fulton County’s budget is ab out a one billion dollar budget per year and we worked really hard to roll things back. When we finished up my term, we had the first truly balanced budget that Fulton County had had in decades.”
“(Kingston) raised the debt ceiling for our nation multiple times. He voted for millions in things like the Charlie Rangel Center and the Ted Kennedy Center and has the audacity to talk about saving money from his office budget when he helped contribute to a $17 trillion debt,” said Handel.
She saves her most fierce criticism for Perdue, for accepting millions in stimulus dollars and laying off thousands of textile workers while also allegedly being open to tax hikes in a recent meeting with editors at the Macon Telegraph.
Rivals also slam Handel for her time as a vice president at the Susan G. Komen Foundation. She resigned in 2012 after Komen re-committed to giving money to Planned Parenthood after the organization earlier announced it would stop the practice. Other GOP candidates say Handel characterized the initial denial of money to Planned Parenthood as a simple change in funding criteria rather than an abhorrence of Planned Parenthood, which she later cited in her resignation.
Handel says the plain fact is that Planned Parenthood does not do mammograms and so Komen dollars seemed wrongly prioritized going to the nation’s largest abortion provider. She says Congress is the entity that has much more power to stop the flow of money to Planned Parenthood and has failed to do so.
Perdue appears to be leading in the latest polls, with Handel and Rep. Jack Kingston essentially deadlocked for the all-important second place slot that will advance to a July run-off. Congressmen Paul Broun and Phil Gingrey are a few points behind. The winner of the July run-off will face presumptive Democratic nominee Michelle Nunn, daughter of longtime Sen. Sam Nunn.
Handel, who is endorsed by Sarah Palin, says she is clearly the best choice for Republicans to put up against Nunn.
“We do know what the narrative is going to be that Democrats run in the fall. It’s going to be income inequality and war on women. I look at the debate over income inequality and I know first-hand that the way to move someone up the economic ladder is not with minimum wage jobs and raising the minimum wage. We need to build our economy on good, quality, solid-paying jobs, giver working moms the ability to not have to choose between fixing their car and keeping a roof over their heads,” said Handel.
“And when it come to the war on women, well, I’d like to see Michelle Nunn try to drop that on me,” she said.
Three Martini Lunch 5/16/14
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review enjoy the ongoing squabble over equal pay at the New York Times. They also rip Veteran’s Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki for his poor response to the veteran’s health care scandal. And they get a kick out of the Idaho GOP governor’s debate.
Kingston Sprints to Primary, Swings at Rivals
Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston says he has a time-tested conservative record that people can count on if he’s elected to the U.S. Senate, and warns voters they will have buyer’s remorse if they elect either of the other top two contenders in the race.
The GOP Senate primary is one of the most competitive in the nation. Seven candidates are jockeying to replace retiring Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss. The latest surveys show businessman David Perdue in front, with Kingston in second and former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel closely behind in third place. Representatives Paul Broun and Phil Gingrey are a few points back of Handel. With no one in position to win a majority of the vote, the top two finishers head to to a July 22 run-off.
The Georgia primary is on Tuesday.
Kingston has been targeted by his fellow members of Congress as well as Perdue and Handel for being a partner in the growth of government during his 22 years in Washington. Kingston says he has more than two decades of conservative leadership that voters can count on if he’s elected to the Senate. The congressman says his 96 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union and A+ from the National Rifle Association prove his commitments to conservative principles, in addition to endorsements from Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity, Flat Tax author Steve Forbes and Fair Tax architect John Linder.
“We want to make sure people know I have honest to goodness conservative credentials that have been tested and tried. On the other hand, David Perdue yesterday came out for a tax increase. That’s not a conservative position. He’s pretty weak on the Second Amendment. That’s well known. He’s flip-flopped on Common Core. Those are things people care about in Georgia. We want to make sure people know the difference between my voting record and his rhetoric,” said Kingston.
In an interview with the editorial board of the Macon Telegraph, Perdue discussed the need to grow revenue in a way that led Kingston and others to accuse Perdue of being open to a tax hike.
“Well here’s the reality: If you go into a business, and I keep coming back to my background, it’s how I know how to relate is to refer back to it — I was never able to turn around a company just by cutting spending,” said Perdue. “You had to figure out a way to get revenue growing.”
Thursday on Herman Cain’s radio show, Perdue tried to clarify what he meant.
“I’ve been preaching for over a year that to solve the debt crisis we have to cut federal spending, and we have to grow the economy,” Perdue told Cain. “The other day in the editorial-board interview, I said we need to cut taxes so we can grow revenue ‑ without tax increases, I might add.”
Kingston isn’t buying it.
“Let me tell you what happened. He got out of that room and he got clobbered. he was being an insider, which he is. This is a guy who took stimulus money, sat on the board of a company that took three million dollars in stimulus funds. Now he’s going out and telling people the stimulus bill was a bad bill,” said Kingston.
“He absolutely said he supported revenue increase. He didn’t mention growth. He’s coming back to that position. I understand why he’s doing that, because he walked out of there and his handlers said, ‘You got way in front on this thing. You shouldn’t have been talking like that. He’s already come out for one tax increase on internet sales so it’s not that big of a change. This is a guy who likes big government, from stimulus programs to a bailout which he did,” said Kingston.
The congressman also says Perdue’s business career leaves much to be desired, noting Perdue drove a major textile company into bankruptcy and laid off thousands of workers while making out quite well for himself.
“He did it in a nine month period of time and took the largest bonus in textile history. As a Republican, how in the world will he get by in November? I can already see the ad, one of the 8,000 people who were fired saying, ‘I lost my job. He ended up in a very nice luxurious house with his golden parachute,” said Kingston.
“David Perdue has never voted in a Republican primary. If he was charged with being a Republican, is there enough evidence to convict him?” asked Kingston.
So how would Kingston have answered the question about whether spending cuts or revenue growth is the better strategy for restoring fiscal sanity in Washington?
“We do not have a tax problem. We have a spending problem. The way we have got to balance the budget is we have got to cut spending and shrink the size of government. If you do that, obviously the economy is going to grow on its own and I would say the best way get the economy going is to develop energy independence with North American oil, push back on the regulatory overreach, kill Obamacare and replace it with a market-driven, patient-centered health care system, replace welfare with workfare and have a simplified tax code,” said Kingston.
As proof of his conservative credentials on fiscal matters, Kingston points to his opposition to the recent Ryan-Murray budget deal, debt ceiling increases, TARP and stimulus plans under both Presidents Bush and Obama in addition to Obamacare and the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailouts.
Kingston is also unabashed in his contention that he is a far better choice for the GOP nomination than Karen Handel.
“As chairman of the Fulton County Commission, she increased spending $46 million. When she ran for governor, her votes for organizations like Planned Parenthood were very well vetted, which is why people rejected her candidacy. As there’s more of a spotlight on those types of votes, people are going to say, ‘Not what I’m looking for, not a true conservative,'” said Kingston.
Three Martini Lunch 5/15/14
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review enjoy the irony of the New York Times firing managing editor Jill Abramson for demanding more pay after the paper championed the liberal income equality agenda. They also react to Bill Clinton’s assertion that Hillary did everything right on Benghazi. And they share their thoughts on Michael Sam getting his own reality show.
Dr. Gingrey’s Senate Prescription
With just days until the hotly contested Republican Senate primary in Georgia, Rep. Phil Gingrey says he will be the voice of blue collar Georgians in Washington and maintains his vow to repeal Obamacare in his first six years in office.
The six-term congressman also blasted apparent GOP front-runner David Perdue for being more concerned with his own well being than the condition of people in his state struggling to make ends meet.
According to recent polls, Perdue, Rep. Jack Kingston and former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel are in a tight race for the top two spots that will advance to a July run-off. Gingrey and Rep. Paul Broun are a a bit further back.
Perdue and Handel take frequent shots at the three members of the House, suggesting they are part of the problem in Washington and do not deserve a promotion to the Senate. Gingrey says he is the perfect balance of someone who spent most of their life in the private sector but has also worked to help people through his public service.
“Does congressional experience matter? Clearly it does. I think people can stay too long in Congress but I was a physician for 32 years and I’ve been a member of the House of Representatives for 11. This is my sixth term. So if you just do the subtraction, it comes out on the side of being a professional physician and not a professional politician,” said Gingrey.
The congressman says the House has done a lot of good work to improve job creation and preserve freedoms while the Democrats in the Senate do nothing.
“We have voted repeatedly to rein in the EPA, to rein in Obamacare, to try to create jobs, to stop Cap and Trade. We do things. We send them to the Senate, which is of course controlled by the Democrats and Harry Reid. They just sit on it and do nothing,” he said.
“So these two candidates for the Republican nomination for Senate from Georgia who are not in the House of Representatives, who have no experience in that venue, it’s so easy for them to criticize and fire shots at us, but the truth is experience definitely helps,” said Gingrey.
Gingrey exhibits especially little patience for Perdue, the Dollar General CEO who appears to be leading the charge for one of the top two slots next week. The two have sparred on the airwaves as well, with both using crying babies to lampoon each other and some of the other candidates. The congressman also strikes somewhat of a populist tone in comparing himself with Perdue.
“He’s been all over the world and he touts his business experience and the fact that he has been CEO of several Fortune 500 companies. He is purportedly worth $50 million and he says we just need a new person in Washington,” said GIngrey.
“I represent those blue collar Republicans, the people that are not really protected by a safety net because of poverty. They’re not rich and getting richer like David Perdue. They’re just hard working, conservative Georgia Republicans who seem to have been forgotten and no matter how hard they work it’s like being on a treadmill and falling further and further behind. That’s the kind of people I represent. Ultimately, that’s what’s going to get me in the run-off, get me the nomination on July 22 and ultimately give me the Senate seat come November,” said Gingrey.
One of Gingrey’s boldest tactics in the campaign was to promise not to run for re-election if he failed to repeal Obamacare in his first term, a vow he says is getting a lot of attention from voters.
“As a physician of 32 years, I think people understand that I am one who has worked tirelessly to repeal the most egregious aspects of the bill and of course voted five or six times to repeal the bill lock, stock and barrel. When we take over the Senate, and I think we will, and win the presidency in 2016, then we’ll have the whole ball of wax and I’ll still have four years on my first term. By golly, if I can’t get it done for the people of Georgia in that length of time, then I probably should get out of the way and let somebody else take my place,” said Gingrey.
Gingrey says his get out the vote operation is in full swing and will be key to advancing to the run-off. He encourages voters to visit his House website to track his voting record over the past 12 years and his campaign website to learn what he would do if elected to the Senate.
Three Martini Lunch 5/14/14
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review cheer the big primary win by Ben Sasse in Nebraska’s U.S. Senate primary and laugh as the Democrats fail to get a candidate on the ballot in what was once a competitive Florida congressional district. They also react to Russia’s plan to refuse sending U.S. astronauts or satellites into space due to our sanctions over Ukraine. And they detail evidence of a giant waste of taxpayer dollars through an Obamacare contractor.
Broun’s Closing Argument
Georgia Rep. Paul Broun is now trailing in his bid to be the Republican U.S. Senate nominee but he says voters who do their homework will realize he is the most reliable defender of the Constitution in the race and the best choice to defeat likely Democratic nominee Michelle Nunn in November.
The seven-way GOP battle is among the most watched primaries in the country. Early voting has already begun but most voters will head to the polls May 20. No candidate is expected to get a majority of the vote, in which case the top two finishers next week will head to a July 22 run-off.
Five candidates are considered to have the best odds, with recent polls suggesting businessman David Perdue, former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel and Rep. Jack Kingston bunched at the top. Rep. Broun and Rep. Phil Gingrey are a few points back.
Both Perdue and Handel have pounded away at the three members of Congress in the race, suggesting they are all part of the problem in Washington. Broun fiercely resists the label.
“It just shows that they don’t understand. And if they do understand, they’re trying to fool people about how I’ve been fighting to send power back to the states and to the people as the tenth amendment says it should be. I stand firm on the Constitution,” said Broun.
“All the problems that we see today, whether it’s Benghazi, the IRS targeting conservative and pro-life groups, whether it’s the NSA getting your phone records and mine and reading our emails which is totally unconstitutional…the unconstitutional executive orders that presidents of both parties have been doing, out of control spending, this debt that’s unsustainable, all of those are symptoms. The disease is an out of control government that’s left the powers that it has in the enumerated powers as the Constitution expresses them,” said Broun.
“What separates me from all the rest of (the candidates) is that I have a record. I’m fighting to send those powers back to the states and to the people and leave money in your pocket and everybody else’s,” he said.
While Broun says he is happy to compare his voting record in Congress against Kingston and Gingrey, Broun says one episode from the current Congress proves he is not a go along to get along guy in Washington.
“We had 20 of the most conservative members of the U.S. House that had signed a pledge to each other that we would not vote for John Boehner to be Speaker. John Boehner’s a nice guy. He’s got a great sun tan and I understand he plays a good game of golf, but I saw him making deals with Barack Obama that I couldn’t support, the stimulus package and bailouts and increasing the debt on us, as well as our children, our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren. I couldn’t support all those things and I knew we needed a different leader,” said Broun.
While Broun cast his ballot for former Florida Rep. Allen West, Boehner was re-elected.
“There were only 12 of us that upheld that pledge to each other. The other eight caved in because of the pressure from the leadership,” he said, noting voters can be assured he will stick to his principles. “I have sworn to uphold the Constitution against enemies both foreign and domestic. Out of control government and out of control spending are both enemies of the Constitution.”
Recent stories inside Georgia suggest that voters who identify with the tea party movement there like Broun’s positions virtually across the board. However, they fear those same positions and past comments, like calling evolution “a lie straight from the pit of Hell,” might make him difficult to elect statewide.
However, a recent NBC News/Marist College survey shows only two of the GOP candidates leading Nunn in a hypothetical matchup in November. Perdue leads Nunn by four points while Broun edges her by one. The other top candidates are either tied or trailing.
Broun agrees with state and national Republican leaders on one critical fact, that Michelle Nunn needs to lose.
“The most unelectable candidate running in this whole race on either side is Michelle Nunn because she is so radically liberal. When Barack Obama said to bomb Syria, she said go for it, which just indicates she’s going to be a puppet for Barack Obama. Republicans and Democrats alike did not like that position,” said Broun.
“There was a fundraiser for her up in New York City and the special guest was Michelle Obama. Michelle Obama told the crowd there that she’s eager to see Michelle Nunn in the U.S. Senate so they could continue their health care agenda. Well, Obama’s been very clear. They want to go to socialized medicine in a single payer system,” said Broun.
“Then she went on to say (Nunn needed to be elected) so they could get their gun control agenda through the Senate. Well, Obama’s been clear about that too. They don’t believe that anybody, except for the police and military, should own a gun,” said Broun, who chairs the Second Amendment Task Force in the House of Representatives and has the endorsement of two major gun rights groups.
“We must not ever, ever lose our individual right to own a gun. In fact, the second amendment and the first amendment are the guardians of our liberty and the second amendment actually guards the first amendment. So I’ve got the record. Nobody else in this race does,” he said.
Broun says the GOP establishment is worried he would lose the general election, but the congressman says the biggest gamble would be electing one of the other candidates who cannot match his conservative credentials.
“We’ve got four major candidates. Four of them are establishment candidates. I’m the only non-establishment candidate running in this race. The establishment candidates like big government. I like limited government. That’s the reason I’ve been described as a tea partier before there was a tea party,” said Broun.
“I’m the most electable candidate in this race for the simple reason that the only way we’d give the Democrats any chance whatsoever to win is if we were to nominate an establishment, big government candidate. The four of them would fit that bill. Republican conservative voters staying home in November would be the only thing that may give her a chance to win this race. Nominating me is why I will win this race. I just need people to pray for me, people in Georgia to vote for me and people all over the country to contribute to my campaign,” said Broun.