FOX NEWS SUNDAY REVIEW

For those of us seeking intelligent political debate, there is only one show to watch on Sunday mornings. Fox News Sunday always has the most relevant guests, features the most important subjects of the day, and host Chris Wallace is a gritty interviewer who gives no quarter to the politicians across the table. Let's face it, Meet The Press has gone right off the cliff since Tim Russert unexpectedly passed away, leaving the program with a major hole that has yet to be filled. David Gregory is the wrong man in the wrong job, having been a shill for the Democrats for many years before his current assignment. Before MTP, Gregory served at the White House, where he spent his time finding ways to ask questions for the liberal left at press conferences. The other similar programs available to Sunday morning viewers are, to say the least, less than satisfactory. I would rather do time in a Ugandan prison than watch the Chris Matthews or George Stephanopoulis programs in their entirity.

The first discussion featured Senators Chris Dodd and Chuck Grassley discussing the pending debate on healthcare. This could dramatically impact funding available for national defense since one-sixth of our economy is related to the medical field. President Obama and his allies in the Senate (Dodd and Kennedy) have formulated a disturbing plan that could drive the economy even further into the ground. Guesstimated costs for the program amount to over a TRILLION dollars over the next ten years. Obama has proposed $300B in cuts that cannot be calculated by the Congressional Budget Office and are apparently completely unverifiable. Both Senators spoke of the need to control costs through preventative health measures, and as usual, they singled out smoking as the number one problem, totally ignoring the tidal wave of obesity sweeping the land. Both Senators also agreed that any mandates for health insurance should be placed on the individual and not on companies. Senator Grassley suggested health insurance could be checked just like car insurance, and we all know how well that system works. Further, the American people should reject the concept of the federal government once again expanding size and scope, especially in an area where we lead the world. Senator Grassley tried to knock down worried about the costs of such a plan, pointing out that the costs for the Medicare prescription program are short of the estimates. That may be true, Senator, but remember we are discussing a federal program that will come complete with all the bells and whistles Congress can possibly hang on it. The management of the system will no doubt be as effective as everything else the federal government does so well. It will be prohibitively expensive, likely resulting in higher taxes, and will constantly expand once in place. Clinton's attempt to do something similar collapsed under heavy scrutiny, and we can only hope Obama's attempt faces the same fate. Indeed, something must be done about healthcare, but a federal government takeover is not the answer and will only make things far, far worse. Host Chris Wallace pointed out at the end of the segment that Senator Dodd's wife serves on the board of four healthcare companies. Dodd dismissed those concerns, saying she had a career before they married and that the companies in question are research firms. The phrase you could not find, Senator, was "conflict of interest". Are we supposed to believe any reform passed by Congress would have no impact at all on the companies for which she works? She should resign, and there's no telling how many other Senators and Representatives are in a similar situation. Open the prisons, make room for Congress!

The next guest was President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Thomas Donahue talking about his new program to promote free markets. Interesting, considering the Chamber supported the outrageous amount of money spent by the administration for attempted economic stimulus. Now, all of a sudden, they've found religion. Mr. Donahue warned of the effect of additional mandates and regulations forced on the business community and said "everyone came to church" on the stimulus plans. Not true, Mr. Donahue. Some of us warned from the very beginning that excessive government spending would make things worse. Anyone out there think that all that money has made anything better? Not one person or group can point to specific and reliable economic or employment date that suggests that. One has to question the thinking of Mr. Donahue when he said the "big" companies need to get back to creating jobs. Small companies create most of the jobs in America, sir, and as President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, you should know that.

The best part of FNS is always the panel of journalists and their debate of the subjects of the day. Today the panel was optimally configured and balanced left/right with Brit Hume, Bill Krystol, Mara Liasson, and Juan Williams. The most amusing part of the discussion is watching Juan Williams from NPR squirm and grimace while the conservatives are speaking. It brings me joy to know that Juan is so bothered by the expression of anything short of communism. Iran and the reelection of Ahmadinejad the madman was the main subject. Brit Hume correctly called the Iranian election "defective if not fraudulent". Bill Krystol pointed to mass demonstrations and labor strikes in Iran
scheduled for Tuesday and hoped the President will reach out in some way and support those demonstrating. Even Chris Wallace chimed in on this one, calling the Iranian government a "totalitarian regime" and mentioning their shutdown of cellphones and websites during and after voting took place. Mara and Juan, the big libs on the panel, both admitted that this is a setback for the Obama engagement policy. Juan even said that it would "embolden" U.S. hardliners. We're already bold, Juan. We didn't need any more evidence that Iran is a fascist government that supports terrorism around the globe and is seeking nuclear weapons. We're convinced. The fact is that Iran is a dangerous force controlled by mullahs hoping to bring on the apocalypse. Both Iran and North Korea continue their provocative behavior while Obama plays nice and wants to talk.

MTP featured Vice President Joe Biden, always an amusing individual. Seeing him attempt to speak makes one hope for the safety of President Obama. Biden is a clown, presumably added to the ticket for his foreign policy "experience". In the Democrat party, traveling abroad to have tea with foreign potentates constitutes "experience". As if that weren't atrocious enough, the ensuing pity party for the GOP with Joe Scarborough was even worse. Scarborough has made a living trashing the party over on MSNBC, consorting with the Dems and nodding in agreement with them. Good thing their ratings are abysmally low.

I probably shouldn't even mention this, but it was so offensive I must. Chris Matthews had an all liberal female panel, and they spent most of their time deriding men and gushing over how great women are. I would love to have five minutes on the air with that group.

Fox News Sunday once again demonstrated that it is the premier Sunday morning political talk show. Chris Wallace is the perfect host and rarely gives his guests any place to hide. FNS has become the preeminent show for political interviews and debate, and from the looks of the competition, doesn't face any serious competition for the foreseeable future.