Good Politics Radio

The Republican Weekly Address was delivered by Congressman Parker Griffith of Alabama. He talked about the upcoming battles in the House over health care.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Parker Griffith, and I have the great privilege to represent Alabama’s 5th Congressional District. In the next 10 days, Democrats in Washington will try and jam through a massive government takeover of healthcare. It would raise taxes, slash Medicare benefits and destroy American jobs.

It would put federal bureaucrats in charge of medical decisions that should be made by patients and doctors. And it must be stopped.
The American people have said loudly and clearly that they do not want this job-killing government takeover of care. They want us to start over with a clean sheet of paper and a step-by-step approach focused on lowering costs for families and small businesses.

But President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid refuse to listen to the American people. For them, healthcare reform has become less about the best reforms and more about what best fits their ‘Washington knows best’ mentality – less about helping patients and more about scoring political points.

This is no idle observation. I’ve witnessed it firsthand.

You see, two Januarys ago, I was sworn into office as an independent, conservative Democrat. But like so many Americans, I became increasingly concerned that the policies being pushed by Democrats in Washington were dangerous for our country and out of step with our values. (more…)

In his weekly address President Barack Obama said that Congress owes the country an up-or-down vote on health reform and he described how more American families will have more control over their health care this year after health reform passes.

“This week, I asked Congress to schedule a final vote on reform that will give families and businesses more control over their health care by holding insurance companies more accountable.  This comes after nearly a year of debate, as well as a seven hour summit with Democrats and Republicans where we had a public and substantive discussion on health care.  Since then, I’ve said that I’m willing to incorporate some ideas offered by Republicans, and we’re eliminating special provisions that had no place in health care reform.

Now, despite all the progress and improvements we’ve made, Republicans in Congress insist that the only acceptable course on health care is to start over.  But you know what?  The insurance companies aren’t starting over.  I just met with some of them on Thursday and they couldn’t give me a straight answer as to why they keep arbitrarily and massively raising premiums – by as much as 60% in states like Illinois.  If we do not act, they will continue to do this.  They will continue to drop people’s coverage when they need it.  They will continue to refuse coverage based on pre-existing conditions.  These practices will continue.

That’s why we must act now.  That’s why the United States Congress owes the American people an up-or-down vote on health insurance reform.

The proposal we’ve put forward would end the worst practices of the insurance industry, lower costs for millions of Americans, and give uninsured individuals and small businesses the same kind of choice of private health insurance that Members of Congress get for themselves.  And while it will take a few years to fully implement these reforms, there are numerous protections and benefits that would start to take effect this year.  (more…)

The Republican Weekly Address was delivered by Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. He discussed the recent health care summit between President Obama and Democrat and Republican representatives and why it’s important to start over on health care.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Tom Coburn, a practicing physician from Oklahoma and a member of the United States Senate.

This week I had the opportunity to join President Obama and my Democrat and Republican colleagues for a summit on health care. We had a respectful and constructive discussion.

While we listened to one another, I’m concerned that the majority in Congress is still not listening to the American people on the subject of health care reform. By an overwhelming margin, the American people are telling us to scrap the current bills, which will lead to a government takeover of health care, and we should start over.

Unfortunately, even before the summit took place the majority in Congress signaled its intent to reject our offers to work together. Instead they want to use procedural tricks and backroom deals to ram through a new bill that combines the worst aspects of the bills the Senate and House passed last year.

The American people have rejected the majority’s plan for good reason. Their plan includes half a trillion dollars in new tax increases, a half a trillion dollars in cuts to Medicare, job-killing penalties for employers, taxpayer funded abortion and new boards that will ration care to American citizens. At its core, their plan continues a government-centered approach that has…

…made health care more expensive. Federal and state governments already control 60 percent of health care. If more government spending and control was the answer we could have fixed health care long ago. (more…)

In his weekly address President Barack Obama said that the nation cannot lose the current opportunity to finally enact meaningful health care reform.  At Thursday’s meeting on reform, both sides were able to find several areas of agreement, but there were some differences.  While the President is willing and eager to move forward with members of Congress from both parties, American families and businesses cannot afford to wait another generation for reform.

“As the Winter Olympics draw to a close this weekend, I just want to take a minute to congratulate all the athletes who competed in these games.  And I especially want to say how proud I am of all the American men and women have achieved over the last few weeks.

Whether it was the men’s hockey team’s stunning upset of the Canadians on their way to the gold-medal game, Lindsey Vonn’s heroic gold-medal comeback from a shin injury, or Apolo Ohno becoming the most decorated American winter Olympian of all time, you can’t help but be inspired by the sheer grit and athletic prowess on display in Vancouver.

And it’s not just the medal count that’s inspiring – though we’ve certainly done great on that score.  What’s truly inspiring is the character of the men and women who have won those medals.  The sacrifices they’ve made.  The integrity they’ve shown.  The indomitable Olympic spirit that says no matter who you are or where you come from or what difficulties you may face, you can work hard and train hard and still triumph in the end.  That is why we watch.  That is why we cheer.  That is why in the middle of an extremely challenging time for America, we’ve been able to come together as one nation for a few weeks in February and swell with pride at what our citizens have achieved.

Now, when it comes to meeting the larger challenges we face as a nation, I realize that finding this unity is easier said than done – especially in Washington.  But if we want to compete on the world stage as well as we’ve competed in the world’s games, we need to find common ground.  We need to move past the bickering and the game-playing that holds us back and blocks progress for the American people.

We know it’s possible to do this.  And we were reminded of that last week when Democrats and Republicans in the Senate came together to pass a jobs bill that will give small businesses tax credits to hire more workers.  We also saw it when Democrats and Republicans in the House came together to pass a bill that will force insurance companies to abide by common-sense rules that prevent price-fixing and other practices that drive up health care costs.  (more…)

Mark Levine’s Inside Scoop on Washington

Mark Levine debates with Republican strategist Mike Lane.

They talk about the perils of partisanship.  They debate whether 60 votes will be the new requirement for either party to be able to pass legislation.  They talk about why the filibuster is a tool that can be used by the Senate only but not in the House.  Mark gives a history of the filibuster and its use.

They also talk about Presidential appointees, such as judges, and whether they should be given an up or down vote or whether the nomination can be filibustered and blocked by a minority.

They also talk about the health care insurance reform and the differences between Democratic and Republican goals.Their debate is very vigorous.

Finally, they open the show up to phone calls from citizens and answer some questions.

Click here to listen to this podcast.

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The Inside Scoop is nationally syndicated on the Head-On Radio Network and iTunes. The show can be heard on radio weekdays, 5-6 pm Eastern, and can be seen on television Monday 7-8 pm Eastern.

Since June 2003, Mark Levine has given listeners The Inside Scoop from political players inside the Beltway - news that the Media almost never reports and those in power in the Government do not want you to know about. Mark welcomes all during his talk radio hour, and he particularly values calls from folks who disagree with him.

Visit Radio Inside Scoop.com to access more information and additional podcast shows.

This week on American Radio Journal: Lowman Henry talks with former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese, now with the Heritage Foundation, about The Mount Vernon Statement of conservative principles; Andy Roth of the Club for Growth has the Real Story on the “jobs” bill, and an update on special Congressional elections; And, Col. Frank Ryan, USMC (Retired) has an American Radio Journal commentary on the perfect financial storm.

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American Radio Journal is produced and distributed by the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc. The Lincoln Institute is a 501c3 non-profit educational foundation based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Founded in 1993, the mission of the Lincoln Institute is: “To promote the ideals of free market economics, individual liberty, and limited government through the conduct of public opinion research and related educational programs.”

The Lincoln Institute accepts no government money and is completely funded by philanthropic grant making foundations, corporations, and individuals.

To listen to the broadcast click here.

The following podcast is brought to you courtesy of A World of Possibilities and The Mainstream Media Project.

So what belongs to all of us? To none of us? And how do we best protect our common inheritance? We asked people from all over the country about our common wealth and our common future. Join us in this audio commons and reinhabit the space between us.

This program funded by the HKH Foundation.

To listen to this podcast click here.

In his weekly address, President Barack Obama, used his weekly address to call on Democratic and Republican leaders to attend next week’s health care meeting in good faith to find reforms that work for American families and small businesses.

“The other week, men and women across California opened up their mailboxes to find a letter from Anthem Blue Cross. The news inside was jaw-dropping. Anthem was alerting almost a million of its customers that it would be raising premiums by an average of 25 percent, with about a quarter of folks likely to see their rates go up by anywhere from 35 to 39 percent.

Now, after their announcement stirred public outcry, Anthem agreed to delay their rate hike until May 1st while the situation is reviewed by the state of California. But it’s not just Californians who are being hit by rate hikes. In Kansas, one insurance company raised premiums by 10 to 20 percent only after asking to raise them by 20 to 30 percent. Last year, Michigan Blue Cross Blue Shield raised rates by 22 percent after asking to raise them by up to 56 percent. And in Maine, Anthem is asking to raise rates for some folks by about 23 percent.

The bottom line is that the status quo is good for the insurance industry and bad for America. Over the past year, as families and small business owners have struggled to pay soaring health care costs, and as millions of Americans lost their coverage, the five largest insurers made record profits of over $12 billion.

And as bad as things are today, they’ll only get worse if we fail to act. We’ll see more and more Americans go without the coverage they need. We’ll see exploding premiums and out-of-pocket costs burn through more and more family budgets. We’ll see more and more small businesses scale back benefits, drop coverage, or close down because they can’t keep up with rising rates. And in time, we’ll see these skyrocketing health care costs become the single largest driver of our federal deficits. (more…)

The Republican Weekly Address was delivered by Congressman Dave Camp of Michigan. He argued against the Democratic health care plan.

“Hello, I’m Congressman Dave Camp from Michigan, and I serve as the lead Republican on the House Ways & Means Committee.This is a time of economic uncertainty. Tens of millions of Americans are either looking for work or have just given up entirely. They’re looking to Washington for solutions. But instead it seems Washington keeps adding to their problems.

That’s why Americans are demanding that President Obama and the Democrats in control of Congress scrap their misguided plan of a government takeover of health care . They don’t want a 2,000-page bill that threatens jobs and drives up health premiums; they already have enough challenges to deal with in their daily lives.

They want Washington to start over with a step-by-step approach to health care reform that begins with reducing costs and ensures they can keep their current plan if they like it.

For those families and small businesses looking for a sign that Washington is ready to wake up and find common sense on this issue, next week’s White House health care summit may not be it.

In fact, right now, Democrats are continuing to work behind closed doors, putting the finishing touches on yet another massive health care bill Americans can’t afford and don’t want. (more…)

This week on American Radio Journal: Lowman Henry talks with Ambassador Terry Miller of the Heritage Foundation about the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom; Andy Roth of the Club for Growth has the Real Story on the PA-12 special Congressional election and a case of Congressional “musical chairs” in Florida; And, Dr. Paul Kengor of the Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College has an American Radio Journal commentary on President Obama’s speech at the National Prayer Breakfast.

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American Radio Journal is produced and distributed by the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc. The Lincoln Institute is a 501c3 non-profit educational foundation based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Founded in 1993, the mission of the Lincoln Institute is: “To promote the ideals of free market economics, individual liberty, and limited government through the conduct of public opinion research and related educational programs.”

The Lincoln Institute accepts no government money and is completely funded by philanthropic grant making foundations, corporations, and individuals.

To listen to the broadcast click here.

The following podcast is brought to you courtesy of A World of Possibilities and The Mainstream Media Project.

The Copenhagen climate summit saw fierce jockeying for advantage among the great powers but few tangible results. Smaller nations and indigenous peoples were left out in the cold. Yet for them it’s not a matter of power politics. They face the power of nature thrown out of balance by heedless human activity. Seas and temperatures continue to rise, disrupting their ancestral livelihoods. In this program, native peoples from the Arctic and the Amazon to Pacific islands under siege by rising waters testify to what’s happening to them and will likely happen to many others in the decades ahead. Their responses to these changes offer much-needed guidance about how to develop the resilience and inventiveness that are essential to our long-term survival. We also hear from climate activists, including well-known representatives of indigenous peoples, about what can be done to build momentum for essential transformation outside the UN process in the wake of stalled international negotiations.

This Program was funded by The Christensen Fund.

To listen to this podcast click here.

Left, Right and Center is a weekly half-hour radio broadcast and podcast produced by KCRW in Santa Monica.

The panel is all together in the Santa Monica studio for the first time and begin by talking about the approval polls about President Obama’s administration.  They debate the direction the administration has been headed and spend time talking about the disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street

Can the President reboot and redirect his administration?  There is some discussion about what may happen during the mid-term elections this year.

The panel talks about the meaning of and influence of the Tea Party Movement.  They also talk about the bailout of the Banking Industry and its effect on public opinion.  They talk about what the Tea Party wants.

The panel has a lively discussion about the economy and especially about the anger of the American public over the bailouts.  Homeowners were ignored and jobs were lost while the focus was elsewhere.

The war in Afghanistan and the Health Care Reform debate are also discussed vigorously.

Next, the panel talks about the role of Sarah Palin in the Tea Party and the future elections.

The participants on the show are Robert Scheer who represents the left, Tony Blankley who represents the right,  Matt Miller, the moderator, who represents the center, and  Arianna Huffington, who represents the progressive blogosphere.

At the end of this entertaining show the participants each have a 30 second rant to summarize the issue that each sees as most significant.

Click here to be taken to the Left, Right and Center home page where you can download or listen to the podcast.

Fazle Hasan Abed is the Founder and Chairperson of BRAC, the Bangladesh- based international development organization dedicated to poverty alleviation and empowerment of the poor. Abed, an accountant by training, founded BRAC in 1972 after Bangladesh’s war of independence initially to provide relief and rehabilitation to returning war refugees. Under Abed’s leadership, BRAC grew to become the largest development organization in the world in terms of the scale and diversity of its interventions operating in 9 countries across Asia and Africa. Fazle Abed has been honoured with numerous international awards for his achievements within BRAC, among which: the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership (1980); Unicef’s Maurice Pate Award (1992); Olof Palme Award (2001); Gates Award for Global Health (2004); Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership (2007); Clinton Global Citizenship Award (2007) as well as several honorary degrees from renowned universities including Columbia, Yale and Oxford. Abed is to be knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for services in tackling poverty and empowering the poor in Bangladesh and more globally. He is to be appointed Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG). (more…)

In his weekly address, President Barack Obama, having just signed the “Pay As You Go” law, discussed the importance of this fundamental rule to getting budget deficits in check.  Ensuring that new spending and tax cuts are offset was a important factor in creating the budget surplus of the late 1990’s.

“All across America, people work hard to meet their responsibilities.  You do your jobs, take care of your families, pay your bills.  Sometimes, particularly in tough times like these, you have to make hard choices about where to spend and where to save.  That’s what being responsible means.  That’s a bedrock value of our country.  And that ought to be a value that our government lives up to as well.

Yet, over the past decade, this hasn’t always not been the case.  Ten years ago, we had a big budget surplus with projected surpluses far into the future.  Ten years later, those surpluses are gone.  In fact, when I first walked through the door, the government’s budget deficit stood at $1.3 trillion, with the budget gap over the next decade projected to be $8 trillion.

Partly, the recession is to blame.  With millions of people out of work, and millions of families facing hardship, folks are paying less in taxes while seeking more services, like unemployment benefits.  Rising health care costs are also to blame.  Each year, more and more tax dollars are devoted to Medicare and Medicaid.

But what also made these large deficits possible was the end of a common sense rule called “pay as you go.”  It’s pretty simple.  It says to Congress, you have to pay as you go.  You can’t spend a dollar unless you cut a dollar elsewhere.  This is how a responsible family or business manages a budget.  And this is how a responsible government manages a budget, as well. (more…)

The Republican Weekly Address was delivered by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. He said that giving a civil trial to foreign terrorists can lead to the inadvertent release of valuable intelligence and is not the right way to prosecute terrorist suspects.

“Hello, I’m Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. The Obama administration’s decision to prosecute the mastermind of 9-11 Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and four other co-conspirators in civilian court inNew York City makes no sense to most Americans — including me. All of these cases were pending before military commission at Guantanamo Bay before the Obama administration suspended the trials and dismissed charges. That was a major mistake in the war on terror.

These Al Qaeda terrorists are not common criminals.

Their attacks resulted in the biggest loss of American life from an act of war on our homeland since the Civil War.

Never before have we allowed non-citizen, enemy combatants captured on the battlefield access to our civilian courts providing them with the same constitutional rights as American citizens.

Al Qaeda terrorists should not receive more rights than a Nazi War criminal. And now is not the time to go back to the pre-9/11 mentality of fighting crime instead of fighting a war. A civilian trial of hard-core terrorists is unnecessarily dangerous and creates more problems than it solves.

Let me explain why.

Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey was the presiding judge in the 1995 Blind Sheik trial involving….

…the first attempt to blow up the World Trade Center and has warned of using civilian courts in terror trials.
These same concerns were recently echoed by the bipartisan chairman of the 9-11 Commission.

In the 1995 trial, because of civilian court rules, the government was required to disclose the identity of all known co-conspirators to the defense.

One of the conspirators — relatively obscure at the time — was Osama bin Laden. (more…)

This week on American Radio Journal: Lowman Henry interviews pollster Scott Rasmussen on his new book In Search of Self Governance; John Gizzi of Human Events talks about the TEA Party national convention and the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC); And, Colin Hanna of Let Freedom Ring, USA has an American Radio Journal commentary on how a basic sense of fairness powers the TEA Party movement.

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American Radio Journal is produced and distributed by the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc. The Lincoln Institute is a 501c3 non-profit educational foundation based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Founded in 1993, the mission of the Lincoln Institute is: “To promote the ideals of free market economics, individual liberty, and limited government through the conduct of public opinion research and related educational programs.”

The Lincoln Institute accepts no government money and is completely funded by philanthropic grant making foundations, corporations, and individuals.

To listen to the broadcast click here.

The following podcast is brought to you courtesy of A World of Possibilities and The Mainstream Media Project.

From the margins of factory farms, a new generation of agricultural entrepreneurs is sprouting with innovations that are small scale, local, and highly replicable. Their inventions portend not just a healthier food supply but a more sustainable economy. Join us for the stories of entrepreneurs who are pioneering new approaches to growing food that is healthy, safe, and financially sustainable.

This program was funded by The W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

To listen to this podcast click here.

Left, Right and Center is a weekly half-hour radio broadcast and podcast produced by KCRW in Santa Monica.

The budget report is the first topic for the panel.  There is agreement from all fronts that the budget news is gloomy.  The deficit is deep and there is little optimism that it will improve acceptably.  The panel searches for optimistic signals.  They talk about the problems in Greece and its meaning for us all.  It seems that taxes will have to rise while expenses are reduced.

The panel talks briefly about bonuses that certain executives will be receiving.  They talk about the upcoming budget freeze.  They also talk about needed regulations and the insurance industry.

Next, the panel talks about China flexing its muscle, criticizing President Obama for his planned meeting with the Dalai Lama and military support for Taiwan.  Is it possible for the Chinese economy to overtake ours?  Bob remembers the condition of China when he was a China expert at Berkeley in the 1960’s, and he is impressed how wrong opinion was back then.

Lastly, they talk about a number of apologies that have been given lately.

The participants on the show are Robert Scheer who represents the left, Tony Blankley who represents the right,  Matt Miller, the moderator, who represents the center, and  Arianna Huffington, who represents the progressive blogosphere is away.

At the end of this entertaining show the participants each have a 30 second rant to summarize the issue that each sees as most significant.

Click here to be taken to the Left, Right and Center home page where you can download or listen to the podcast.

Click here to read the Wall Street Journal article on the worsening debt situation.

The Republican Weekly Address was delivered by Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas. He said that President Obama’s latest job-killing budget spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much from our kids and grandkids.

“Hi, I’m Congressman Jeb Hensarling of Texas; I serve as the number two Republican on the House Budget Committee.

Some of you may have seen me on television last week when I had the opportunity to ask the President if his new budget would once again triple the national debt and dramatically increase the cost of government to 25 percent of the economy – up from its traditional 20 percent.You may recall that the President declined to answer the question last week. But he has certainly answered it this week by submitting a new budget that does exactly what I feared.

The numbers in his budget are simply breathtaking: a record $3.8 trillion in spending, more than $2 trillion in new job crushing taxes, not to mention a tripling of the national debt – on top of the largest deficit in our nation’s history. Interest payments alone on this debt will set us back roughly $6 trillion over the next decade – that’s about $50,000 per household.

Now, you’re probably like me and believe, in America, you ought to work hard today, so your children can have a better, more prosperous tomorrow. But with this budget, it is like Washington has said, ‘let’s let government live easier today, so our children have to work harder tomorrow.’

You know, it was about this same time last year, President Obama and Democrats in Congress promised that if we passed their trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ bill – and grew big government even more – that jobs would be created ‘immediately,’ they said unemployment would remain below eight percent. (more…)

In his weekly address, President Barack Obama said that America’s small businesses are key to rebuilding the economy on a new, stronger foundation and creating jobs. He called on Republicans and Democrats in Congress to pass – without delay – a series of proposals that will help American small businesses thrive.

“Even though our economy is growing again, these are still tough times for America.  Too many businesses are still shuttered.  Too many families can’t make ends meet.  And while yesterday, we learned that the unemployment rate has dropped below ten percent for the first time since summer, it is still unacceptably high – and too many Americans still can’t find work.

But what we must remember at a time like this is that we are not helpless in the face of our difficulties.  As Americans, we make our own destiny.  We forge our own path.  And I am confident that if we come together and put aside the politics that keeps holding us back, we can do that again.  We can rebuild this economy on a new, stronger foundation that leads to more jobs and greater prosperity.

I believe a key part of that foundation is America’s small businesses – the places where most new jobs begin.

These companies represent the essence of the American spirit – the promise that anyone can succeed in this country if you have a good idea and the determination to see it through.  And every once in awhile, these ideas don’t just lead to a new business and new jobs, but a new American product that forever changes the world.  After all, Hewlett Packard began in a garage.  Google began as a simple research project.

Government can’t create these businesses, but it can give entrepreneurs the support they need to open their doors, expand, or hire more workers.  And that’s what we’ve always done in this country.  The folks at Southwest Windpower in Flagstaff, Arizona started their company in a small home.  Since getting a loan from the Small Business Administration, they’ve sold 160,000 wind turbines to about 90 different countries, and are hiring even more workers today.  When Sam Ko walked into one of the SBA’s small business development centers in Illinois, he didn’t have any business experience at all – just a patent for a new metal manufacturing technology.  He was given a loan and a business plan, and today his company is still growing, with offices all over the Midwest. (more…)