Monday marks the start of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. After weeks of reviewing her legal and political record, what will lawmakers focus upon when they question her? What does her record show about the type of justice she would be? And why did the American Bar Association describe her as “well qualified” for the Supreme Court? We ask Robert Alt, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
During the health care debate, President Obama and Congressional Democrats bristled at the idea their reform plans would trigger health care rationing. We are nearly four years away from full implementation of the plan, but rationing has already begun. Why are doctors refusing to see more Medicare patients than ever? And why will this problem also cripple the rest of the system very soon? And what if anything is Congress doing about this? We ask Tennessee Rep. Phil Roe, who is also a practicing physician.
John Gizzi of Human Events shares the reaction he heard on Capitol Hill to the dismissal of Gen. Stanley McChrystal and the return of Gen. David Petraeus to lead our military operations in the most intense theater of the war on terror. We also get Gizzi’s evaluation of the big primary wins for Tea Party figures in Tuesday’s primaries and how they are likely to fare in November.
President Obama accepts the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal and names Gen. David Petraeus to command forces in Afghanistan. Obama restates commitment to achieving goals in Afghanistan. Lieberman details why winning this war is essential and hails the selfless service of Petraeus. McCain wants clarification on what July 2011 withdrawal date really means.
Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis says President Obama had little choice but to give Gen. Stanley McChrystal the boot, and he applauds the choice of Gen. David Petraeus to succeed McChrystal. But what about the current policy in Afghanistan? What does Maginnis see as major problems? And when we will we know whether our current strategy is working? We ask Col. Maginnis.
President Obama accepted the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal on Wednesday and replaced him with Gen. David Petraeus. How significant is this move? How much is our mission helped by putting Petraeus on the job? Are we following the right policy in Afghanistan? And how vital is victory there? We ask South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson, a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Louisiana Rep. Bill Cassidy is praising a federal court ruling overturning President Obama’s offshore drilling ban and determining the economic impact of a drilling ban could be greater than the oil leak itself. How significant is this decision for workers in Louisiana? Has the the federal response to the oil crisis improved much in the past couple of weeks? What’s his assessment of BP’s response to the disaster? We ask Rep. Cassidy.
House Democrats say they will not pass a formal budget resolution but will deem one to have passed? Where have we heard that before? Dem leaders also say a formal budget should not be passed until a presidential commission makes its recommendations. Will this shield Democrats from election year accusations of fiscal irresponsibility or just prove they aren’t even trying to cut spending? We ask Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, member of the House Ways & Means Committee and top House Republican on the Joint Economic Committee.
On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled against the Obama administration and ordered an end to the moratorium on deep offshore drilling. Why did the judge side with the plaintiffs in this case? What will happen when the administration appeals the decision? How soon does the drilling need to start again if the oil companies are going to stay in the gulf? And will workers be OK during the moratorium because of the money Obama is ordering from BP to compensate workers? We ask Texas Rep. Ted Poe, a strong opponent of the moratorium.
The senior commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan is on his way to Washington to face the music after ripping President Obama’s national security team in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. Retired U.S. Air Force General Tom McInerney says Gen. Stanley McChrystal severely breached protocol but his negative assessments of members on the Obama national security team were completely accurate. Listen here for McInerney’s evaluation of what went wrong on the Obama approach to Afghanistan and why his national security team has underperformed.
