• Show live from CPAC in Washington DC.
• "Brunch with Bernie" with Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont.
• Guest: Mark Mathis, associate producer of "Expelled". Intelligent Design.
• Guest: Dan Gainor, Director of the Business & Media Institute. Economic stimulus package.
• Guest: Carrie L. Lukas, Independent Women's Forum. Who pays for time off?
• Guest: Bruce Bartlett. "Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party's Buried Past".

Topics, guests, upcoming events, quotes, links to articles, audio clips, books & bumper music.

Friday 08 February '08 National show

• Show live from CPAC in Washington DC.
• Bush spoke this morning, saying a vote for the Democrats is a vote for terrorists.
• Article: What a Conservative Candidate Should Tell CPAC, Michael Reagan. "Conservatives should stop looking for another Ronald Reagan and start acting like him".
• Bernie had a schedule conflict, he was only able to be on the show for the last 15 minutes of the first hour.
• Welcome to KBAI in Bellingham and 3 others. KBAI is the third affiliate in Washington state, and governor Christine Gregoire just endorsed Obama. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell endorsed Hillary. Washington is one of 5 states which caucus tomorrow or Sunday. Washington also has a primary election, but Democratic votes won't count; you have to go to the caucuses.
• Last night Thom was sitting in a restaurant reading a paper, with people attending CPAC at the tables either side of him. On one side were 4 guys for Romney, who were really anguished and seriously considering supporting Obama. On the other side were 3 businessmen and their new lobbyist, who were also talking about Romney dropping out, wondering what they could do to make sure Hillary was the nominee, because McCain would eat her.
• Article: Clarity Sought on Electronics Searches.
• The McCain coronation is reluctantly going on.
• Article: 'Human Activity' Blamed for Fish Ills.
• Article: Credit Crunch Pounds U.K. Economy.
  "The financial sector accounts for more than one-fifth of all U.K. jobs, compared with only 6% of jobs in the U.S., and contributed about one-quarter of the nation's economic growth over the past five years.

  But now, amid the deepening credit-market turmoil, the U.K.'s embrace of financial globalization is becoming a liability. The investment-banking business is already stalling, potentially eliminating thousands of high-paid jobs and demand for everything from tailored suits to high-end hunting trips. As mortgage credit dries up, house prices are sliding at the fastest rate since 1995. And retailers are facing a tough time as consumers, coming down from years of credit-fueled spending, turn decidedly gloomy.

  " All thanks to deregulation in the USA. About half of those who got subprime mortgages would have qualified for ordinary mortgages.
• Bumper Music: I'm free, Rolling Stones (video).
• Article: Remarks by the President to the Conservative Political Action Conference, February 8, 2008.
  "Listen, the stakes in November are high. This is an important election. Prosperity and peace are in the balance."
• "Brunch with Bernie" with Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont. The original economic stimulus bill from the House did not include seniors, disabled vets. They added more in the Senate, but the Republicans filibustered. What did pass included seniors in the rebate program, and some disabled vets. Mortgage deregulation. The stimulus package is only a start, so much to address, including infrastructure. 17,000 die a year because they had no health insurance. Bush said, "Listen, the stakes in November are high. This is an important election. Prosperity and peace are in the balance." So if we move away from the Bush ideology we will lose the prosperity we now have - 5 million more slipping into poverty, lower median incomes, millions more losing health insurance, pensions.
• Guest: Mark Mathis, associate producer of "Expelled", by Premise, starring Ben Stein. Scientists expelled from academia for mentioning Intelligent Design. Neodarwinism. It's not just Christians, it includes some Jews. It includes some anecdotes. Why the Intelligent Design hypothesis is worthy of science. Stephen j Gould - punctuated evolution. Adaptation, evolution. Most Intelligent Design scientists believe in evolution, but don't believe that strict materialism is sufficient to drive the process. We can see patterns, irreducible complexity.
• Bumper Music: Anything Goes, Harpers Bizarre.
• Article: Discovery Channel Drops Plans To Air ‘Taxi To The Dark Side’ Because It Is Too ‘Controversial’.
• From the blog: Christopher wi wi said:
  "Watch your back Tom,you are in a den of thieves.It`s amazing what conservatives will do to get at the the Clinton`s dems and neocons alike.No politician is squeaky clean.Keep your eye`s open and your wallet in front pocket. go dems in NOV."
• From the blog: PHYLLIS said:
  "Listening to you to today at the conservatives convention reminds me why we always have to listen to the other side, no matter how distasteful it can be. I loved the way you discredited David Bosse and it was fun to listen to him trying to wriggle out of it. With all that's going on in this country it's so hard to remember that there are people like him who are just mean because they can be. He doesn't really have the welfare of this country in mind. Yet he will tell you he does, as he undermines everything that would actually help this country. I use to know what a conservative was and although I was never one myself, I could understand some of the things they were going for. I can't understand them anymore, though. It seems they have a very anti-American anti-democratic agenda, with no real answers to the problems we face. It's sad, but it seems they've come down to a party of rhetoric with no real purpose."
• Guest: Dan Gainor, Director of the Business & Media Institute. At CPAC. The economic stimulus package. Thom called it a band aid on cancer. Politicians are always willing to spend money. Dan said economists are not sure that we are going to hit a recession. On page 2 of the Wall Street Journal today it said that 49% of economists say we're at or in a recession. Harry S. Truman said, "Give me a one-armed economist!" so they couldn't say, "on the other hand".

  Dan compared the economy with 1992, when the economy had already turned out of recession by the time of the election. Clinton increased the debt spending on an unnecessary stimulus package. The stimulus package is costing less than a year in Iraq; a really low standard. Thom preferred a 1929 comparison, beginning with 1924 property price rises. Today's Wall Street Journal article about the UK economy going in the tank. In '29 the feds tightened credit. Conservative economists' greatest fear is what the next administration and Congress will do; massively increasing the cost of doing business, and taxes. The Warner-Lieberman bill alone would cost each American almost $500 a year. Republicans are very frustrated with leadership, principles, don't want spend spend spend. Reagan.

  Speaking for himself, he wants a conservative Republican, but neither is. Huckabee is a big government big spender. McCain is not a crazy spender, but stabs his party in the back. He would not vote for Hillary, nor for Obama, though he's not so bad, good for race relations. If Hillary runs, they will all campaign against her.

• Bumper Music: You Really Got Me, the Kinks.
• Article: Position Paper No. 606 Who Pays for My Time Off? The Costs and Consequences of Government-Mandated Leave, Carrie L. Lukas.
  "Balancing the demands of work and family life can be a challenge for any worker. Events such as severe illness or the birth of a child can make working outside the home impossible. People overwhelmingly sympathize with those facing these challenging situations and want society to support such individuals during difficult times.

  In recent decades, however, the question has turned not to how civil society can support individuals in times of need, but to how the federal government can dictate how employers must accommodate employees facing these situations. Existing laws require that large employers allow qualified employees to take unpaid leave when facing such circumstances. Some policymakers want to expand these regulations so that they apply to smaller employers and to mandate the availability of additional benefits, such as paid leave.

  "
• Guest: Carrie L. Lukas, Vice President for Policy and Economics, Independent Women's Forum, author of "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Women, Sex, and Feminism. Is the economy here to serve us, or are we here to serve the economy?
• Guest: Bruce Bartlett, economist, domestic policy adviser to President Ronald Reagan and a treasury official under President George H.W. Bush. Author of "Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy". Around 2003 he realized that Bush 43 was a complete idiot, awful president, wrote book. "Incompetent" would fit better than "imposter". New book, "Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party's Buried Past". Libertarian, left leaning. He used to work for Ron Paul. He believes in the free market. Where will Ron Paul supporters go? Many are new voters, will go back to not voting. Obama is good with crowds, but not smoke-filled rooms. If Hillary wins, Republicans could take the message of his book, they could increase their black vote. Hispanic vote. Hispanic is larger and growing faster, so go for Hispanics. Assuming the Democrats wins, for patronage more will go to Hispanics, less to blacks.
• Bumper Music: What a Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong. Thanks.
• John Conyers may be getting ready to move on impeachment. Thom had hoped to get Medea Benjamin on to talk about it, but could not connect. Video of Rob Kall interviewing Conyers. Conyers said that impeachment is not off the table, and he gets to decide. impeachthem.com. callcongress.org.
• David in Seattle called about robocalls claiming to be from Obama saying that the Washington caucuses were Sunday instead of Saturday.
• Coming up on Monday, Larisa Alexandrovna about 60 Minutes Caves to Pressure from White House on Siegelman Story, and professor Peter Swire about the Bush Administration Plans To Install Black Box Sensors On Private-Sector Computer Networks.