Just completed an interview (with a few other bloggers) with Sen. Mike Lee.  Ran about 20 minutes.  Catch the full audio below.

Sen. Lee was pimping his Balanced Budget Amendment.  It’s still being drafted, but has the following provisions:

• The budget must be drafted as balanced each year;
• Spending cannot exceed 18% of GDP for the previous year; and
• A 2/3s majority of both chambers needs to approve any deficit spending, any increase in the debt ceiling, and any increase in government revenue (taxes, etc.)

Once ratified by the states – first hurdle is 2/3s of the Senate and House, and then out to 3/4s for the state legislatures – the phase-in period is two years.  He’s not looking to bypass Congress through a state-called Constitutional Convention.  He believes that if enough momentum is generated that the threat of it may be enough.

Over the next few weeks he’ll work out differences with Sen. Hatch’s competing Amendment, which Sen. Lee maintains is too easy to bypass with a simple-majority suspension vote.

He had no answer for how – to grab an example – the $852 billion deficit forecast for FY14 would be achieved.  ”Good question,” he said.  Um, ouch?

Expect to have a Republican-pushed Balanced Budget Amendment in the Congress perhaps as early as the end of March.

If you’re interested, here’s another interview with then-candidate Lee from CPAC last here.

I just completed an interview (along with a few more bloggers) with Sen. Rand Paul. The initial focus was his bill to eliminate $500 billion in federal spending in the next year alone. Details on his proposal are here. Department of Energy – gone. Department of Education – a shadow of its present self. Good stuff.

He’s not stopping there. He’ll have a proposal for both Medicare and Social Security in about two weeks. The focus seems to be raising the age for younger Americans to avoid drastic increases in contribution rates. Those under 55, he said, have time to prepare for a few extra years before SS kicks in. I’ll talk to him further about that – I’ll be 52 in a few weeks.

In my second question, I asked about coal and the new regs being written right now.  My source data is here and here.

Enjoy.

I just concluded an interview with Rep. Price.  He represents Georgia’s 6th District, which is due north and bordering Atlanta.  Rep. Price joined the House in the 109th Congress after 20 years in private practice as a physician.

We discussed his “Empowering Patients First Act,” proposed as an alternative to ObamaCare during the early days.  The Act addresses many of the concerns shared in this country about health care, but from our – a patient’s – perspective.  It also included a limit on Med-Mal cases, which drive hundreds of billions of dollars every year in defensive-medicine costs.

He shred that the prospects for defunding the 159 boards and commissions in Obamacare are good.   He also feels that the individual mandate will be found  ultimately to be unconstitutional.

We discussed the role of the feds in education.  Rep. Price feels that the feds have too large a footprint in this uniquely local matter.  Dismantling the US Department of Education in on the table, but is a process that needs to be accomplished properly.

He likened our debt situation to Greece – their debt was 114% of their GDP before they collapsed.  We’re at 90% and climbing rapidly.

We touched on a few more topics.  Runs about 24 minutes.  Enjoy.

I just completed an interview with Rep. Randy Neugebauer. He joined the 108th Congress in June 2003, representing Texas 19. The district runs from the New Mexico border eastward for almost half of Texas – 27 counties.

Rep. Neugebauer recently received the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Spirit of Enterprise Award, a 100% rating in 2009 by the American Conservative Union, 100% lifetime rating by National Right to Life, the Taxpayer’s Friend Award from the National Taxpayers Union, and was recognized by National Journal as one of the six most conservative members of the U.S. House of Representatives. He’s a true-blood conservative.

We discussed the need for fiscal discipline in the federal government. He has sponsored legislation to require a super-majority vote in the House for tax increases and increases to the public debt. He has fought for small businesses and family farmers – insisting that we now have an environment which does not encourage these folks to grow: There is too much economic uncertainty, an onerous tax system, and an ever-expanding regulatory environment. We discussed the bill passed by the House just today – Barney Frank’s HR 5297 “Small Business Lending Fund Act.” Rep. Neugebauer’s take: It’s another TARP in disguise.

We also discussed the recent report that highlighted Planned Parenthood receiving over $1 billion in federal monies from 2002 through 2009. We hit the sanctity of life and the need for “informed consent” (my phrase) before an abortion is performed. Of note, Rep. Neugebauer was quite clear that the churches have a role to play in the social-support structure.

The interview runs about 25 minutes.

I spoke today with Scott Crosby, President of the San Diego chapter of American Builders and Contractors. The broader subject was the Executive Order requirement of union-enhancing Project Labor Agreements. We also discussed the pushback at the local level, with Chula Vista and Oceanside, CA, passing propositions prohibiting PLAs from being required.

Ginni Thomas is the Founder and CEO of Liberty Central dot org. LC is a site that works to listen, inspire and activate everyday Americans to bridge the gap between citizens and our Capital, and return to a government that adheres to our core Founding Principles – limited government, personal responsibility, individual liberty, free enterprise, and national security.

We talked for just under 30 minutes about traditional conservative issues, the need for activism, and how her site can contribute. There really is such a thing as a 3-minute activist!

Visit her website at Liberty Central dot org.

I had the privilege of conducting three back-to-back interviews with these Congressmen. The opening topic in each was America Speaking Out. I then spent time with each Rep on legislation they sponsored or co-sponsored.

Rep. Scott Garrett goes first. He represents NJ-5. In addition to AOS, we discussed his LEARN legislation which is designed to return control of education to the state and local governments from WDC. I suggested that community colleges be added to the mix.

Rep. Bob Goodlatte represents VA-6. Strong conservative with his support of budget reform, home-grown energy use of oil and gas, and full disclosure to girls and women getting abortions. I left on the cutting-room floor a pre-interview comment where he shared that he’s familiar with the Liberty Pundit family of sites. Good man.

Rep. John Fleming has LA-4. I got a quick lesson in southern pronunciation – always a good thing for a coal-mining Yankee. Rep. Fleming brings us to date on some BP clean-up issues that the Obama Administration needs to stop talking about and start doing.

A great set of interviews. Hope you enjoy them.

I spoke with Mr. Lombardo to discuss President Obama’s Executive Order 13502, which will have the effect of pushing billions of dollars of federal construction work to union shops.

A longer post is on Liberty Pundits dot com here.

I spoke with Katie about the yet-to-be-unveiled Obama policy called the “High Road Contracting Policy.” This proposed policy will “score” all federal contractors before the contents of a bid are viewed using criteria designed to maximize the likelihood of an eventual union award: hourly workers with a “living wage”, health insurance, an employer-funded retirement plan and paid sick days.

The net effect will be to compel workers to join unions in order to get work.

Yet another payback in the works by the Obama Administration.

Steve Schippert and I interviewed Rev. Dobbs concerning how Sharia law is creeping into the United States in the same manner that it has in Europe – and how it needs to be addressed and stopped. We also discussed the fracturing of the Church – a topic near to his history. Very interesting discussion.

See his blog at Church & Islam.

Some background reading:

The beheading of a New York woman last year served as a wake-up call when it comes to the modern day implications of Sharia law (Islamic law).  As of Friday, lawyers for the Muslim man accused of killing his wife are now saying it’s absurd to think religion had anything to do with the crime and are preparing a psychiatric defense. Link.

In a new CNS News column, Rev’d Canon Julian Dobbs of CANA’s Church and Islam Projectsays that too many people are willing to ignore the implications of Sharia law and believe that Islam is a religion of peace. Link.

Rev’d Dobbs has witnessed first-hand the horrors of Sharia law and Islam’s unequal treatment of women in his work to support persecuted Christians across the globe and he cites several modern day examples, including the true story behind the film The Stoning of Soraya M.

U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam hosted conference call with leading Illinois Republicans and policy experts to discuss what the Democrats’ healthcare bill will cost the state of Illinois. The current healthcare overhaul before Congress achieves the majority of its coverage of the uninsured through an expansion of Medicaid. Medicaid’s problems in Illinois and across the country are numerous.

The estimated Illinois budget deficit for FY2011 is one of the largest in the nation at $12.8 billion. In FY2009, Medicaid represented about one-third of the Illinois budget, making it the largest item in the budget. It is also the fastest-growing budget item, having increased 65% from 2001 to 2008.

Illinois’ Medicaid Director has yet to respond to a November 2009 letter authored by the Illinois Republican Congressional Delegation on how the health reform legislation would impact Illinois’ Medicaid system. Additionally, Rep. Cross sent a letter in January to Gov. Quinn asking him to detail how much the national healthcare overhaul would cost the State of Illinois. Multiple estimates put Illinois’ state-share of expansion of coverage over $1 billion.

Medicaid beneficiaries find it increasingly difficult to access quality healthcare services. Medicaid is built on a broken foundation, causing the Illinois State Medical Society to pen an open letter to patients opposing building upon its faulty infrastructure.

We spoke with Sen. Inhofe about earmarks, separation of powers, GITMO, cap & trade, and more. Lively time.

Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, a member of the Finance and HELP committees, held a special blogger conference call to discuss the latest developments on health care reform, including the prospect of Democrats trying to jam it through via reconciliation. In an op-ed for The Washington Post this week, Sen. Hatch wrote, “This use of reconciliation to jam through this legislation, against the will of the American people, would be unprecedented in scope. And the havoc wrought would threaten our system of checks and balances, corrode the legislative process, degrade our system of government and damage the prospects of bipartisanship.”

The Senator describes the tortured and unprecedented parliamentary path the Dems will likely take to accomplish the Obamacare cramdown.

As many are aware, the President yesterday attempted to bribe Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) with an offer to put his brother Scott Matheson on the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in return for a vote in support of Obamacare. Sen. Hatch said that he supported Scott Matheson’s nomination months ago and that this issue did not just materialize out of thin air. However, regardless of the timing, Sen. Hatch also said he talked to Rep. Matheson yesterday and the Senator believes Matheson won’t vote for the bill anyway.

The call runs about 45 minutes and Clyde and I each got in a couple of questions.

Stay in touch with Dan Riehl through his special reporting here and daily on his blog, Riehl World View.

Dan interviews Katie Packer, Workforce Fairness Institute.

Stay in touch with Dan Riehl through his special reporting here and daily on his blog, Riehl World View.

Conference call with Congressman Mike Pence (IN) and Congressman Jeb Hensarling (TX) on the proposed Constitutional Amendment.

Topic: The Deputy Secretary of Defense recently signed a new policy regarding the use of internet based capabilities — including social media. Mr. Price Floyd, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs discussed what the new policy means for the DoD community. A gentleman from Google, Sumit Agalwal, was present, but only responded to one or two questions

Here is the DoD Social Media page, which includes lots of guidance.

Some information to help you track (and perhaps influence) the progress of this project:

Price Floyd’s Price Floyd Bio and Twitter and Facebook:

Sumit Agarwal’s bio and Facebook and Twitter:

The stated desire is that personnel on active duty will be educated in proper use of social-media outlets, and be encouraged to use those outlets within appropriate (and long-standing for other forms of communication) guidelines.

As a side note, Liberty Pundits encourages the Department of Defense to proceed rapidly with their training of the men and women in theater and stationed around the world. We have anecdotal evidence of a recent pullback in military blog posting and social media involvement. When asked if this was an unintended consequence of a new policy, Mr. Price said that he wasn’t aware of any pullback and that he hoped it was not a consequence – stating that was just the opposite of the intended consequence. He stated several times that the “default switch” to access was to be set to open.

Specific guidance is still being formulated – expected in 180 days. Further, the decision to deny access seems to be at the local commanding officer level in both substance and duration. Can anyone say “void for vagueness” before another person says “active personnel checked some of those Constitutional rights at the door”? I asked – Mr. Price jokingly said that he didn’t accept the premise of my question because he didn’t understand it. Pretty funny. He deferred to the 180-day rule-making period.

Overall impression: Mr. Price seems to be an enthusiastic supporter of social media. I expect a lot of bumps in implementation as middle-ranks push the edges of their discretion.

Clyde participates in a conference call with Sen. Barrasso concerning the upcoming White House Summit on health-care. Sen. Barrasso discusses his concerns with the veracity of President Obama’s claims to be open. He also shares that while the threat of reconciliation is real even Sen. Byrd (D-VA) does not support its use.

Director and writer of The Stoning of Soraya M. and The Path to 9/11. Insightful discussion of present-day Iran.

Rep. Steve King (R-IA5) discusses small business, health care, government regulations.

Bill and Clyde interview Representative Bishop. Topics: NASA, defense, education, 2010 budget, working within the House, the improper delegation or transfer of power from the Legislative Branch to the Executive Branch, and more.