Joining “Neal Asbury’s Truth for America” for a repeat visit was Ernest Istook, Distinguished Fellow in Government Relations for the Heritage Foundation, a research and educational institution—a think tank—founded in 1973 whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.  Istook also served 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives before joining Heritage in 2007.

Istook is concerned that the new $26 billion proposed by Congress to bail out states is just another example of the White House throwing more good money after bad, adding to the $787 billion already spent on the federal stimulus program. Istook is particularly angry that the administration attempts to downplay the rising debt by holding up a weak promise that the debt will be offset by cost-cutting measures that are allocated for years from now.  Istook characterizes it as a “big fiction.”

Istook also takes great exception to the White House’s ongoing ploy to reward states with bail out money in exchange for voting in favor of White House policies.  The latest was money allocated to the State of Maine to garner votes from Olympia Snow and Susan Collins.

“These White House policies are merely postponing the day of reckoning, when the country discovers that the administration isn’t paying down the national debt.  They talk about spending reduction, but never give a year when that will happen.  It’s a phony baloney system,” argues Istook.

He added that the biggest beneficiaries of the stimulus package are the public employee unions, who are doing better financially than most employees in the private sector.

The discussion turned to Obama Care and the situation in Virginia where Judge Henry Hudson sided with the State, which is suing the federal government over the mandatory insurance mandate of Obama Care.  Istook believes that this issue will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.

Discussing the Kagan appointment to the Supreme Court, Istook understands that Kagan will continue Justice Stevens’ liberal rulings, but also hopes that she will become a consensus builder, as Stevens was.

Although Neal began the show by noting that the Wall Street Journal believes that the Cap and Tax bill is dead, Istook isn’t convinced that it won’t be resurrected during the period he calls “zombie politics”, where politicians just go through the motions, delaying acting on legislation until after the mid-term elections. This also is a time when unpopular legislation, like Cap and Trade, may be re-introduced after the election since they no longer have to fear voters for another two years.

Istook is fairly confident that the House will change direction, since every House   seat is up for re-election. This will make it much harder for Obama to pursue his agenda, so he is likely to begin pushing legislation when he still has the majority in both Houses.

Neal Asbury Truth for America tackles free trade and enterprise issues every Friday from 5:00 PM until 6:00 PM on WZAB-AM 880 and is co-hosted by Richard Roffman, a veteran 30-year publisher with extensive domestic and international experience.

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