• The prescription for healing - Daily Pilot
    Nov 10, 2008  - Democrats widened their majority in Congress, and Sen. Barack Obama was elected president last week, leading many conservatives to speculate how Republicans can get back on track. Considering that Sen. John McCain won Orange County by only a few percentage points and that Obama won Costa Mesa, what’... More
  • THAT’S DEBATABLE: How should Bush leave things?
    Nov 5, 2008  - The Washington Post recently reported that on his way out President Bush is pushing for a wave of deregulation regarding consumer protection and the environment that would be difficult for his successor to undo. For instance, Bush wants to clear some hurdles to commercial ocean-fishing and estab... More
  • THATS DEBATABLE: How to fix federal finances? - Daily Pilot
    Sep 24, 2008  - Lawmakers and the Bush Administration are talking about a comprehensive plan to bail out financial institutions by acquiring all of the bad debt that is threatening to torpedo them. The hope is that by backing up the financial system this way, the government would later be able to sell off the bad a... More
  • THAT'S DEBATEABLE: Bailout bill debate - Daily Pilot
    Jul 23, 2008  - Capitol Hill conservatives are debating President George W. Bush’s proposal to shore up struggling mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with some Republicans saying a bailout amounts to too much government. Others are saying emergency funding is necessary to restore confidence in the governmen... More
  • THAT'S DEBATEABLE: Should Medicare payments be cut? - Daily Pilot
    Jul 16, 2008  - George W. Bush vetoed a bill, which Congress quickly overrode, that would stop a 10.6% cut in Medicare payments to physicians and boost them 1.1% next year. Many Republicans opposed the legislation because the money to pay for it would come from more than $12 billion in reserve to pay private insura... More
  • THAT’S DEBATABLE: Should inmates have the right to habeas corpus? - Daily Pilot
    Jun 25, 2008  - The U.S. Supreme Court again recently rejected President Bush’s policy of holding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and suspending their rights to habeas corpus — the right to seek their freedom before a judge. Bush has indicated, as he has after similar High Court rulings, to seek some relief ... More
  • THAT’S DEBATABLE: Do you back GI Bill changes? - Daily Pilot
    May 29, 2008  - The Senate last week approved war-funding legislation that would expand the benefits of the WWII-era GI Bill. President George W. Bush opposes it, saying it would encourage retirements while the military struggles to retain troops. The education benefit offers full tuition up to the cost of the most... More
  • THATS DEBATABLE: How to cut costs?- Daily Pilot
    May 1, 2008  - Several House Democratic leaders urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate oil and gas markets for price manipulation. A group of senators meanwhile encouraged President Bush to halt billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Middle East oil producers until they boost oil pr... More
  • THAT’S DEBATABLE: How should the government solve mortgage crisis?
    Apr 3, 2008  - GOP presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain stopped by Orange County last week to raise money and participate in a roundtable discussion with Latino small business leaders. While here he made a policy speech about the mortgage crisis basically spelling out a laissez-faire approach to the problem, ... More
  • THAT’S DEBATABLE: Should Congress block contract with Airbus?- The Daily Pilot
    Mar 12, 2008  - The Air Force recently awarded a $40 billion aircraft contract to the France-based Airbus consortium, bypassing Chicago-based Boeing. The move has outraged some in Congress because they believe it will ship jobs and money overseas. Should Congress step in and try to block the contract? As I’ve sa... More