Radio America Online News Bureau

Just one week after a political prisoner in China was named the Nobel Peace Prize recipient, the most prominent political prisoner in Russia faces another trumped up sentence.  Energy company executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky is wrapping up an eight-year prison sentence in Siberia but is about to be kept there another 12 years as a sham trial in Russia plays out.  So how did this happen?  Why is Khodorkovsky being treated like a character out of a Solzhenitsyn novel?  What does this case tell us about Vladimir Putin’s Russia?  What do the Russian people think about this?  Will pressure from Sen. John McCain and others make any difference at this latest trial?  We ask Sandy Saunders, the lead U.S. attorney for Khodorkovsky.

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Greg Corombos and National Review’s Jim Geraghty hail the fierce GOP opposition to the ridiculously pork-laden omnibus spending bill.  They also rip Time magazine for ignoring the Tea Party as the biggest story of the year and grumble about three Republican presidential debate already being scheduled in the first half of 2011.

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Georgia Rep. Tom Price, who is also a practicing physician, will be part of the Republican House leadership in the next Congress.  What is his assessment of Monday’s federal court ruling of the individual health care mandate as unconstitutional?  How will this legal fight impact doctors?  Which side will likely win at the Supreme Court?  Rep. Price also discusses the tax debate and explains why there will be no further compromise to accommodate frustrated liberals.  And he addresses the massive, pork-laden omnibus spending bill Democrats have introduced to fund the government for the coming weeks.

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Retired U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North says the best strategy change for the U.S. in Afghanistan would be for President Obama to renounce his goal of bringing troops home as early as next summer and vowing to have all of them home by 2014.  What impact would that have?  How successful have our troops been in Afghanistan in recent months?  Are Afghan forces ready to provide their own security?  We ask Col. North, who also skewers the Obama administration for trying to lift the ban on gays in the military and pushing to “legalize consensual sodomy on military bases”.  North explains why lifting the ban would be devastating for recruiting and retention.

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Retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Oliver North joins us to discuss the many American heroes who serve this country in obscurity as members of Special Operations.  North is author of the new book “American Heroes in Special Operations”, which chronicles the truly amazing exploits of our American heroes in Iraq and Afghanistan.  He discusses why the media seem to spend little time reporting on the remarkable successes of our troops and the importance of America having heroes and knowing who those heroes are.  He also explains how you can get the book in time for Christmas.

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Greg Corombos and National Review’s Jim Geraghty delight in a federal judge declaring the individual health care mandate unconstitutional.  They also worry about Republicans bringing forward their own version of the DREAM Act and wonder why Michael Steele is mounting a seemingly ill-fated re-election bid for RNC Chairman.

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A federal judge in Virginia says the government cannot force someone to buy health insurance or anything else.  The decision moves this fight one step closer to a Supreme Court showdown over whether we all have to buy a government-approved health insurance policy.  So how significant is this decision?  Why was this the right decision compared with two other judges, who have ruled the mandate is legal?  And what is Congress ready to do to repeal and gut Obamacare next year?  We ask Texas Rep. Ted Poe, a former judge and sponsor of a House resolution to prevent such legislation form being considered in the future.

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Republicans are generally perceived as getting the better end of the deal on their tax cut compromise with President Obama.  But Arizona Congressman-Elect Dave Schweikert says the plan stinks.  Why is he not impressed with the two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts?  What would be a better plan?  How will the huge freshman class in the new Congress approach the massive deficits?  And what issue will Schweikert personally be focused upon after taking office in January?  We ask all these questions to Congressman-Elect Schweikert.

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Greg Corombos and National Review’s Jim Geraghty celebrate the House Democrats admitting defeat on the tax cut fight after just a week of backlash.  They also gauge the danger that the No Labels group poses to Republicans in 2012 and revel in the bizarre theater played out between President Obama and Bill Clinton at the White House.

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While not liking all aspects of the tax cut compromise hammered out between President Obama and Republican leaders, Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker says he is inclined to vote for the deal when it comes to the Senate floor.  Why does he believe this package is worth supporting even though he’s not ‘overly delighted’ with it?  Why does he say it needs to pass before the end of the year?  Will it spark the kind of small business growth needed to jump-start the economy?  How does he sum up the Democratic strategy on the economy?  And does he think it actually will pass in the coming days?  We discuss it all with Sen. Wicker, a member of the Senate Commerce and Small Business committees.

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