Greg Corombos of Radio America and Kevin Williamson of National Review are encouraged by new polls showing Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow as very vulnerable in next year’s election. We also dismiss the supposed shift in command to NATO in our Libya mission and rip the Obama team for constantly delivering contradictory messages. And we have some fun with President Obama being temporarily locked out of the White House.
Louisiana Rep. Bill Fleming wants to know why President Obama is so reluctant to open up the Gulf of Mexico to more energy exploration but is begging Brazil to boost its oil drilling output. A doctor, Fleming also continues to push for a de-funding of Obamacare as the law reaches the one-year mark and explains why he’s against additional short-term spending measures. And Rep. Fleming criticizes Obama for committing our troops to combat in Libya without telling most lawmakers and only giving the Speaker of the House 90 minutes notice. We discuss all these major issues with Rep. Fleming.
John Gizzi of Human Events sizes up the biggest stories of the week and offers some of his infamous predictions along the way. What is the biggest problem President Obama has with Congress over how he proceeded on Libya? Will this really be over in a few weeks? Will Gaddafi still be in power when we leave? We also get Gizzi’s insight on how financial irregularities will impact Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill’s re-election efforts next year. And he weighs in on the possible presidential run of Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann.
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review hope Michele Bachmann’s likely presidential run will speed up decisions from other GOP hopefuls. We’re also disgusted that President Obama has no trouble saying what we won’t do to achieve victory. And we condemn the administration’s lame efforts to say we are not at war in Libya. We are engaged in “kinetic military action”.
The U.S. is going to great effort to assist the Libyan rebels against Col. Gaddafi and his forces. But who exactly are the rebels? Would they be better than Gaddafi? What kind of power struggle would occur among the various factions? We ask Dr. Walid Phares, author of “The Coming Revolution” and a professor of global strategies here in Washington. He also dissects the unrest in Yemen and analyzes today’s terrorist attack in Jerusalem.
Michigan Rep. Candice Miller says there is no clear national security interest for the United States in Libya and President Obama should remove our forces from this operation immediately. Why does she say that? How does she respond to the Obama rationale that there is a significant humanitarian threat posed by Gaddafi’s forces? What does she think of arguments that Gaddafi (like Saddam Hussein) sponsors terrorism and has U.S. blood on his hands so he must be removed? And what does she make of Obama going to the United Nations but not to Congress to authorize military action? We discuss it all with Rep. Miller, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee.
A few weeks ago, even the most ardent defenders of traditional marriage in Maryland didn’t see how they could stop the enactment of gay marriage legislation in their state. But just when passage seemed inevitable, concerned citizens of all political stripes banded together and convinced enough lawmakers to remove their support that the bill has been shelved for at least a year. So what brought these activists together? What message got the attention of lawmakers? And where does the debate go from here? We ask Maryland Delegate Donald Dwyer, the leading opponent of the gay marriage bill in the Maryland legislature.
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Kevin Williamson of National Review are encouraged that even the CEO of Starbucks has soured on Obamacare. We also lament America’s allies already looking to bail on the Libyan mission. And we laugh as Hugo Chavez claims Mars had a vibrant civilization but it was destroyed by capitalism.
The United States is grudgingly leading a coalition of nations determined to stop Libya’s brutal crackdown on a rebels there. Just how impressive is the firepower we have at our disposal? How easily should we be able to dominate the skies? We ask retired U.S. Air Force General Tom McInerney, former deputy commander-in-chief for U.S. Air Forces Europe and an expert on Libya. But McInerney says despite our obvious military advantage, this mission is a very bad idea. What are his three major concerns and how are they already being realized? We discuss it all with Gen. McInerney.
Should the United States be involving our military in Libya? What is the mission? Will Congress and the public be consulted as the mission continues? We ask Texas Rep. Mike Conaway, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. We also talk with Rep. Conaway about his strong opposition to last week’s resolution calling for an expedited withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. The Congressman explains why he believes the mission there continues to be essential and what he learned from the testimony of General David Petraeus last week.
