Debt Ceiling, Hobby Lobby, and Israeli Conflict – Wingin’ It Wednesday

Today's pre-Thanksgiving holiday edition of ”Wingin’ It Wednesday”, saw a fiery debate about topics both domestic and abroad. Our panelists Carol Ross, Warren Caudle, and Mike Stagg  joined “Mornings With Ken and Bernie” to discuss.

Here’s what the panel had to say:

1. Treasury Sec. Tim Geithner says the solution to all our problems is to eliminate the debt ceiling.  What do you think about his proposal?

Mike Stagg started us off:

First of all, he didn't say it would solve all our problems. I think what he's talking about is the political stunt making that's come around only recently with the arrival of the Tea party that's turned the debt ceiling negotiating into an opportunity for political grandstanding.

One of the interesting things that came up last year was the idea that under the 14th amendment which says the debts of the U.S. will be met and honored that it would be possible for the president to do this unilaterally, to raise the debt limit.

I think we'll see some things will be improved though in congress after the new election.

Carol Ross added:

Oh those nasty Tea Party people. Imagine, trying to get a handle on this spending. Why not just eliminate the IRS so the tax cheating treasury secretary will never have to pay taxes again!

Eliminate the debt ceiling? Nah, let's eliminate Tim Geitner and the administration he works for. That would at least give the tax payer some relief.

16 trillion in unsustainable debt is just not enough for these goobers. We are overloading ourselves with this debt, so let's take a look at the spending first.

Waren Caudle countered:

Let's take the realistic look at this thing. I do agree it's pretty much a charade. Congress is the one that's responsible for the budget. The executive branch doesn't spend a dime that congress doesn't appropriate.

We borrow the money we print which I think is pretty absurd.

I think in a way it's what Geithner is saying. Let's get out of the way and let congress exercise their authority and if they want to print money let them print money.

We all understand that there's got to be a limit to it. Apparently they have no respect for the system we've got today and if you just totally turn it over to them just to pass the bills to print more money they'll have even less respect for that.

What needs to happen is the full faith in credit in the United States of America, and as long as we run around the world lying, cheating, stealing, shooting, and killing everybody, you lose your full faith in credit.

2. A federal judge has rejected Hobby Lobby's request to block part of the federal care overhaul that requires the company to provide insurance coverage for the morning-after and week-after birth control pills.  Your thoughts on the ruling.

Carol began:

You know once upon a time we had a constitution that ensured equal protection under the law, except with Obamacare. There's been 2,000 waivers from Obamacare granted by the Secretary Sebelious of HHS, the majority of them to unions of course, but a good American company like Hobby Lobby must comply because they have the audacity to object on a matter of conscious.

Here's when you know tyranny is afoot in the land, it's when the government decides to enforce a law selectively and arbitrarily, giving exemptions to it's favorite friends and  requiring compliance to those they want to crush.

The Washington Times had a great article that concluded, "If Obamacare is so great, why does the White House keep exempting their best friends from it".

 

Mike countered:

Those exemptions dealt with the requirements on the amount and the types of insurance that are carried. This case with Hobby Lobby deals with a prevision in the law that states that all previsions will be covered. It is exactly about equal protection. That your rights will not be determined by where you work. The access to these services will be available to any woman regardless of where she works. The only exclusions is if you work for an actual religious institution. This is about making sure people have the right to live.

Waren commented:

I guess the first thing i'd ask, Carol is talking about the 2,000 waivers, did Hobby Lobby apply for a waiver?

And what the judge said is that you can't pick and choose which part of a law you're going to obey. The law is the law, and you either abide by it, or you suffer the consequences.

I think the judge made a pretty decent opinion. It's the law, and you can't just say, "I don't agree with it, so I'm not going to do it".

3. Do you think Israel is targeting more than Hamas as it escalates bombing in Gaza?  Is this a prelude to a military strike against Iran's nuclear program?

Waren began:

Short answer, yes.

I think that you have the drums of war that are beating. People are not going to be satisfied until we attack Iran, get involved in more no-win extremely expensive wars. If you go back to the Gaza Strip and those places, no side is entirely right. Both sides bare responsibility and both sides have fault.

 

Mike Stagg countered:

At least in Israel it's a citizen army, it's not a standing army, so it does provide a citizen push back against the political adventurism of their leaders.

I think this is a diversion from their plans to attack Iran. And anything that diverts them from that is probably a good thing overall, but what they're doing in Gaza is reprehensible.

The political landscape in the MIddle East has radically changed since the last time Israel launched an attack like this in Gaza. It's the unintended consequences that trip people up. I think Israel will not be going into Iran anytime soon and I think they'll be embroiled in this fight for a long time.

Warren commented:

Let's start with Iran because Iran the largest funder of terrorism in the area.

You know the guy that throws the first punch in a basketball game almost never get's punished. It's always the guy who responds. This is the problem with Israel . This is really a problem when you consider Israel is surrounded.

If you remember they gave up "Land for Peace" in that last war (which they did not start). They gave up Gaza and they gave up the West Bank.

As Netanyahu said, if the Palestinians gave up their weapons there would be no more war. If Israel gave up their weapons there'd be no more Israel.

 

Click on the play button below for the complete audio.

Now it’s your turn to tell us what you think about today’s Wingin’ It Wednesday topics. Who got it right, who got it wrong, and who was way off? Let us know in the comment section.