Radio America Online News Bureau

All the votes have been counted in the 27th Congressional district in Texas, and Republican challenger Blake Farenthold holds a 787 vote lead over longtime Democratic Rep. Solomon Ortiz.  Since Election Day, a bag of votes was discovered – with all votes backing Ortiz.  Now Ortiz is demanding a hand recount of all ballots in the race and the final verdict could be weeks away.  Why is this delay extremely harmful to the people of the 27th district?  What pitfalls could await us in the recount?  What is the reaction to the refusal of Ortiz to exit the race graciously?  And how was a Republican able to make such a successful run against an entrenched Democratic incumbent?  We ask Blake Farenthold.

Standard Podcast [ 9:07 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

After his ‘You Lie’ outburst towards President Obama in last year’s health care address of Congress, South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson was one of the top Republicans targeted for defeat by Democrats.  After a $3 million onslaught, Wilson was re-elected last week – by the same margin he won by in 2008.  So what was it like to be campaign with a political target on his back?  Why did voters decide not to punish him for his outburst?  What will he and Republicans be doing to encourage more hiring in the new Congress?  What besides preserving tax cuts is key to a healthy economy?  How aggressively should Republicans fight to repeal Obamacare?  And should they try to do it all at once or piece by piece?  We discuss all of this with Rep. Joe Wilson.

Standard Podcast [ 8:32 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week, reacting in part to the attempted terrorist attacks via airline cargo, the Department of Homeland Security unveiled new rules designed to protect the U.S.  So what impact will be see as a result of the new bans on cargo from Yemen and Somalia?  How about the crackdowns on toner and ink cartridges?  We ask California Rep. Dan Lungren, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee and chairman of the panel’s Emerging Threats subcommittee.  We also get Lungren’s thoughts on whether the Yemeni government is powerless to stop the growing terrorist presence there or just unwilling to do it.  And he addresses concerns over the revealing and sometimes invasive security upgrades at American airports.

Standard Podcast [ 10:15 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

On Election Night, the vote count suggested New York Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop narrowly won re-election by just over 3,400 votes.  But a recanvassing of the state’s first congressional district showed a massive swing in favor of Republican challenger Randy Altschuler, who now leads by just under 400 votes.  So how did we get such different results in two separate vote counts?  How will a likely hand recount proceed?  Are we headed for a process that resembles the chaos in Florida back in 2000?  How costly is it for candidates to go through a recount?  And when will we finally have a winner?  We ask Republican candidate Randy Altschuler.

Standard Podcast [ 6:36 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The new jobs report shows greater job creation but also greater discouragement and a stagnant 9.6 percent unemployment rate.  So will current conditions yield the type of job growth that we need or will very different policies be necessary?  Is the Federal Reserve helping or hurting our economy by injecting another $600 billion of new money into the economy?  How will the new Republican majority deal with taxes, spending and the Fed?  We ask Georgia Rep. Tom Price, chairman of the Republican Study Committee.

Standard Podcast [ 7:52 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Labor Department reported the creation of 159,000 private sector jobs in October.  But the overall unemployment rate remains at 9.6 percent and more people are giving up the search for work.  So should we see the glass as half full or half empty?  How much of a difference would extending the Bush tax cuts make in spurring job growth?  What else should the new Congress pursue?  And how much do the huge deficits indirectly impact job creation?  We ask Diana Furchtgott-Roth of the Hudson Institute, who served as chief economist at the Department of Labor for President George W. Bush.

Standard Podcast [ 7:10 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Election Night was a very big night for Republicans around the country.  And despite feverish campaigning, President Obama took a ‘shellacking’.  The Capitol Steps take a look at what went wrong for the president and his party.

Standard Podcast [ 6:21 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Following the midterm elections, President Obama admitted his ‘cap and trade’ energy legislation was dead for the next two years.  Does that mean Obama plans to wait for a second term to try again or will he just have the EPA push through new regulations without the input of Congress?  Why would Obama’s proposed shift to new clean energies greatly enrich China and make the U.S. dependent upon Beijing instead of the Middle East?  And what would actually be the smartest energy policy moving forward?  We ask Robert Bryce, energy expert at the Manhattan Institute.

Standard Podcast [ 6:08 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Is President Obama really ready to extend all of the Bush tax cuts?  What will the lame duck Congress or the coming GOP_led Congress do about the expiring capital gains, dividend and estate tax breaks?  Where will Republicans begin slashing spending?  Will they try to repeal the health care bill all at once or piece by piece?  And what will they do to foster job creation?  We discuss it all with Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and the top House Republican on the Joint Economic Committee.

Standard Podcast [ 8:30 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Why could John Kasich’s victory in the Ohio governor’s race be a blueprint for Republicans in their effort to defeat President Obama in 2012?  What message worked for Kasich?  Why does Kasich’s personality come across as so appealing?  How did he withstand 12 Obama visits to the state just to defeat him?  And what do Republicans need to show in the next two years to show the American people they should elect a GOP president again?  We ask Van Hipp, former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party.

Standard Podcast [ 5:50 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download