Friday News Roundup - Hour 1
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-09-30/friday-news-roundup-hour-1
The House approved a four-day stopgap spending bill, deferring a vote on a longer-term measure to next week. The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of the new health care law’s key provision -- the insurance mandate -- raising the possibility of a decision during the height of the 2012 presidential campaign this summer. On wednesday, a federal judge upheld most of Alabama’s far-reaching immigration law. And a federal program to help homeowners avoid foreclosure ended short of it’s goals. A panel of journalists joins guest host Susan Page for the domestic hour of the Friday News Roundup.
Guests
Laura Meckler
White House correspondent, The Wall Street Journal.
Matthew Cooper
editor, National Journal Daily.
Jackie Calmes
national correspondent, The New York Times.
Comments
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"I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that."
Democrat Governor Bev Perdue of NC speaking at rotary club event in Cary, NC.
"In other words, radical as it sounds, we need to counter the gridlock of our political institutions by making them a bit less democratic."
Peter Orszag, the former budget director of the White House, September 14, 2011
Does sub host Page, or the panel, believe either Perdue or Orszag were joking when they made these inane, but deadly serious, comments?
Marcus, just the kind of comments that no one should be surprised to hear coming from democrats. The people are just too dumb to know whats good for them but we the elite ruling class do. They might have been half serious but we know that's how they really feel.
Democrats aside for the moment, Republicans should be removed from any position of power....period. Because rather than taking care of the Nations business by dealing intelligently with insane Wall Streeters, Hedge Fund Managers run amok, stinking rotten corrupt corporations who won't pay their taxes, and the greedy wealthy....House Republicans on Thursday unveiled plans to cut federal money for NPR, job training, heating subsidies and grants to better-performing schools.
Because we all know just how much money is wasted on those programs!
What bizzaro planet have I been taken to?
Teece, some people just cannot get off the nipple, supporters of the democratic party. Wall Street has both democrats and republicans in their pockets equally, so I don't see your point, but if your angle is infantile jealousy as in class warfare then I get it entirely because it ties into the first statement about suckling and other very basic human behaviors.
First lady looks great shopping in Target and carrying her shopping bags and cart but she forgot the RECYCLING BAG. She is pardoned. I'm proud of her despite the security nightmare this event could have caused.
Monte,
I should not even dignify your ignorance with a comment. It is clear that your views are infantile and naive.
The breathless, hyperventilating speculation about Chris Christie running for President is nauseating and insane. Christie is as unqualified to be President in 2012 as Obama was unqualified to be President in 2008. Christie has been governor of NJ for 10 minutes. He's accomplished absolutely nothing as governor. Christie is an empty suit with an incredibly Big Mouth. The only reason for the buzz surrounding Christie among Republicans and the MSM is his BIG mouth. Christie doesn't have the intellect or the experience to be President and he certainly doesn't have the personality to be President.
How many times does Chris Christie have to say, "I'm not running for president!" before people start accepting that he's not going to run for president? Jon Stewart spoke about this the other night, but for some reason the media can't take "no" for an answer.
"doesn't have the intellect or the experience to be President and he certainly doesn't have the personality to be President."
Which one of the Republican nominees does the above not also apply to?
I am annoyed that none of the news media seem to ever mention one candidate who IS already running and we're not waiting on a decision from at this date. Please start talking to and about Buddy Roemer. He is already declared. He is a serious candidate for the Republican nomination. Please start talking about him. Thank you.
Can the pannel comment on why would Chris Christie want to run on THIS election. Wouldn't he benefit from waiting?...I live in NJ and did not vote for him, but I am very happy with everything he has done so far. Here in NJ we hope he doesn't run and takes care of business here at home first. Also wouldn't that give him even more to go on for a future campaign?...
I cannot condon the US financial expense of illegal aliens and their families. As a small farm owner in Pennsylvania, my farmers hired their friends who were not legal residents. I witnessed the annual birthing of ilegal women who were not married to their illegal mate, and who, I discovered, had children they abandoned in Mexico. Also, in a trip to Mexico, I was witness to small villiages where the able bodied men had left to go to the U.S. and left behind the women, children, elderly and the drunks. Mexico is being destroyed and we are being bankrupt in this present system. As a fiscal conservative Libertarian, I believe we must end allowing citizenship just because you are born on US soil, and returning illegal aliens and their families to their homeland.
Teece Bowman wrote:
"House Republicans on Thursday unveiled plans to cut federal money for NPR, job training, heating subsidies and grants to better-performing schools."
Teece, Recommend you read Article 1, Section 8. Then explain to the class why the Federal government should EVER have funded any of those items.
You show yourself to be a hyper-partisian liberal progressive. As such, I'm sure you think all your commrades hang out here so you can all rub your hands together and chortle about the Republican nomination process. That's your right under the first ammendment, but many of us who value our Nation's Constitution and are prepared to defend it against the likes of you also hang out here. Our main task is to make liberal progressives look stoopit. In your case, it ain't that tough of a job.
Lets be honest here, Ron Paul isn't viable at all. The man's far too honest to be a presidential candidate and just below the surface, the vast majority of his policies come apart once it gets down to the details of law.
ccspear wrote:
"Can the pannel comment on why would Chris Christie want to run on THIS election. Wouldn't he benefit from waiting?...I live in NJ "
ccspear, Christie himself says he is not experienced enough to run for President this time so I completely agree with you. He needs to be governor for a while. The country also needs to get a better feel for his views. The Republicans are jumping on his bandwagon because he is a no-nonsense guy. That's attractive. But many do not know his positions on important issues. It's going to take some time for the country to absorb that.
ecgberht
Chairman
Racist Tea-Partiers for Herman Cain
The "Ron Paul" caller made exactly the same points in the same order as a caller to yesterday's Talk of the Nation. Could it be we are seeing a scripted, organized effort to embarrass NPR into giving Mr. Paul more (and most likely undeserved) coverage?
Regarding the poll about whether the government is working well: I thin k the poll question reflects a poor choice of wording. I think the government, by and large, is working well. It is the congress is not working well and has not been for years, a situation that was described well some years ago in a book by Norm Ornstein and his co-author titled The Broken Branch
Follow up to media coverage question from Ron Paul Supporter:
This seems like a chicken and egg to me. I believe that most people get most of their information about politicians from media. People who are polled provide info based on what they've learned from media. While the 2 major political parties have the most money, more indepth coverage of candidates outside those two parties by the media could be instructive to the population at large, possibly enabling something beyond the current interminable stalemate....
Thanks,
Bruce - Cape Cod MA
carolquinn wrote:
"I think the government, by and large, is working well."
You're kidding right? The Federal Government is a snake pit of fraud, corruption, and abuse. It wastes billions of our tax dollars. That is "working well" for you? Ugh!
I'm sorry, I guess I missed it. Can you explain WHY NPR decided to NOT cover the occupy wall street protests? And is the rough treatment from the police news? Thanks
ecgberht
Your main task is quite simple.... revealing the social ethic behind Republican/libertarian values: every man for himself; selfishness is a virtue.
Destroy the country in the name of liberty and freedom.
I'd like to comment on the who's more at fault in the current congressional gridlock question. I'm not sure who's at fault. But, we should not act like it started in the current congress. This same gridlock prevented the congress from passing a budget for this year! Recall that the budget fight earlier this year was not about the upcoming fiscal year. It was about the fiscal year already under way.
"Congress avoids a government shutdown--again."
Hey gang, remember when this wasn't news?
Remember when the ordinary nuts-and-bolts day-to-dayness of goverment in this country wasn't under contintual threat by a bunch of WATBs throwing fits over everything?
Thank you, GOP. Thank you, Grover Norquist.
Teece Bowman wrote:
"revealing the social ethic behind Republican/libertarian values: every man for himself; selfishness is a virtue."
Teece, please explain to me then, why study after study shows that Republicans/Conservatives are far more generous than Democrats/Liberals. Here's one example:
http://reason.com/archives/2006/12/19/the-giving-gap
In 2000, for example, Al Gore gave just .2% of his (considerable) money to charity.
Liberals are "liberal" with money all right, it's just that they're liberal with OPM (Other People's Money). Forced wealth redistribution. That's easy to do. But it's immoral.
Now. Do you care to revisit that "selfishness is a virtue" comment?
With respect to the the Supreme Court, ruling on the federal health care law. I wish to commit. People will live or died, have physical impairments or not, based on whether or not this law is upheld, weaken or in congress strengthened. I have been to the emergency room three times, with medical conditions which could kill me or leave impaired permanently, with minutes making a difference on my outcome, and had to wait, up to four hours, do to other people who did not have insurance and were using the emergency room as a doctors office, because they did not have access to a doctor. And the hospital did prioritized its patients as to who got service first. Additionally one of my children has an eventually fatal medical condition, She has good medical coverage through me all her life and at 23 continues to have relatively good health. and can be covered through my insurance do to this law until age 26. At age 26 she will go to to a health care pool if this law remains in effect.
Wall Street coverage
caller, (paraphrase) The media has not covered the Wall Street protests.
response, We are doing it now.. giggle snicker.
Treece, can you even see what you are writing, your statements are not about solutions just bashing the conservatives. If your beloved liberals are so wonderful and the panacea that you seem to think. Then why do they refuse by enlarge to actually donate to the same persons they claim to support. Open your check books and help your fellow man, or does the government, which has no mandate as outlined by the constitution have the exclusive authority to do so.
Teece and ecgberht, come on. Don't you think that at the core left and right both care about their fellow man? They just have different ideas on how to do it. Left wing thinks it's better to pool the money, right wing thinks it's better everybody decides for themselves. Each has pros and cons. For example the downside of pooling the money is that it is distributed in a way not everyone agrees with. The downside of letting everybody decide for themselves is a fractured end-result. Left wingers think government has a task taking care of those in need (maybe that's why they give less to charity) and don't mind paying high taxes for it, right wingers think that's not a government task, they want low taxes, but are happy to give money away themselves. Deeply ingrained in the American spirit has always been a sense of distrust in government, which is why I think it is inevitable we'll end up more on the right wing side compared to Europe.
The dismissal of the woeful lack of coverage of Ron Paul was quite terse and contrary to facts. Quite the contrary to what was stated by the guests, Ron Paul appears to be in third place, right behind Mitt Romney. By contrast, Michelle Bachmann has received much more coverage, even before she won the Iowa straw poll. Further, Herman Cain isn't even a blip on the radar, despite his winning the Florida straw poll, and to lump him together with Ron Paul is quite insulting. Better yet, Santorum and Huntsman both have received more press coverage than Paul, and neither appears even close to being a serious contender for the GOP nomination.
While Mr. Paul is likely not to win the nomination again, he nonetheless appears to be a formidable force in the Republican primary. One cannot help but feel that given the sparse coverage of his campaign, the media is determining and shaping the public perception to the effect of hampering his odds.
And, in case there was any doubt, I am not a Ron Paul supporter, and take issue with his Libertarian ideology. To the contrary, I find none of the Republican candidates to be palatable, let alone electable. I would have considered John Huntsman until he joined the crazy-train with "reverse Dodd-Frank" because regulating Wall Street is really what caused our economic depression? The lot of them are buffoons, and it makes me sad to see how our politics now only seems to promote the most insincere, hypocritical demagogues to the seat of power.
I'm sorry but have you seen these protestors. They are a motley lot; lots of tatoos, piercings, facial hair, dreadlocks. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but these are a disaffected crew already. Their slogans are extremely anarchist and deconstructionist, and I don't think we should be paying much attention to them.