Jennifer Harper
Articles by Jennifer Harper
Inside the Beltway: Jeb Bush-mania
His book is out, buzz is shrill. The press is aflap over Jeb Bush, otherwise known as son-of-president, brother-of-president and spouse-of-Latina. Will Jeb run in 2016? Will we have Bush No. 3 in the White House? Published March 5, 2013
![“Pick six former governors, three from each party, and give them two hours and lunch. They’ll find [2.4 percent] to cut before the fried pies arrive,” says former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on the fairest and fastest way to cut the federal budget.](https://twt-thumbs-staging.washtimes.com/media-staging.washtimes.com/media/image/2013/03/04/20130304-222147-pic-515952227_c0-200-2485-1648_s652x380.jpg?636c1b2b29c16408ce4f95f01d697f07c2f978c1)
Inside the Beltway: The guest watch
"I applied to speak and was ignored. I tried to get a room for an American Freedom Defense Initiative event, 'The War on Free Speech,' and was ignored. So, for the first time in five years, I won't be at CPAC," declares Pam Geller, the outspoken opponent of radical Islam, who has her own theories about the situation. Published March 4, 2013
Inside the Beltway: Mitt Romney in seven words
Ann Romney told Fox News anchor Chris Wallace that her husband "would have been a fabulous president." Published March 3, 2013
Inside the Beltway: O’Bama on Irish-Americans
"They endured prejudice and stinging ridicule. But through it all, these new citizens never gave up on one of our oldest ideas: that anyone from anywhere can write the next great chapter in the American story," said President Obama on Irish-Americans Published February 28, 2013
Inside the Beltway: Carsonmania
It was almost inevitable. Dr. Ben Carson will be a featured speaker at the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference in mid-March, praised by American Conservative Union Chairman Al Cardenas as someone deeply in touch with the fiscal and social challenges of the age, who nonetheless "represents the optimism and hope of the future of the conservative movement." Published February 27, 2013
Inside the Beltway: Republican resilience
It's pile-on time. "Republican party implodes" has been a popular headline with news organizations and pundits since November, and they continue to use it -- with zest. Critics are also fond of these phrases: Republican failure, Republican disgrace, Republican suicide, Republican-assisted suicide and Republican misery, among other dire descriptions in recent coverage. Published February 26, 2013
Inside the Beltway: Channeling Glenn Beck
"If we control the debate, we change politics. And if we change politics, we change the country," declares Glenn Beck, in a new public pitch to bring The Blaze, his independent libertarian broadcast network, to cable TV. Published February 25, 2013
Inside the Beltway: Perfect sequester storm
A canny White House and compliant media have used the sequester to generate a perfect storm of blame, meant to strand the Republican Party in a pool of lousy public opinion right into 2014. That's the intent, anyway. Published February 24, 2013
Inside the Beltway: Cruz control
Hispanic voters soon may wonder whether the Democratic Party is friend or foe if the treatment of Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas is any gauge. "Rubio-ridicule, Cruz-hatred" reads the headline at Powerline, where analyst Paul Mirengoff notes that Democrats have made Mr. Rubio "the butt of bottle jokes," and just plain vilified Mr. Cruz. The party is getting jittery about the pair, the analyst says, and now seeks to slow their political momentum. Published February 21, 2013
Inside the Beltway: Who is James E. Risch?
Why, he's only the most true-blue conservative in the U.S. Senate, according to the National Journal's "Congressional Vote Ratings" released Thursday. The judgment was made by roll-call voting records alone. Sen. James E. Risch, Idaho Republican, has the most conservative voting record for 2012. Published February 20, 2013
Inside the Beltway: The trillion-dollar coin
The White House had better snap up one of these quick: American Mint has just issued the "$1 Trillion Coin," a gleaming, platinum-plated collector's coin that shows what the legendary, imaginary trillion-dollar coin could look like. There's an image of the U.S. Capitol's "Freedom" statue on the front, and "one trillion dollars" and "no legal tender" on back. And to the inevitable delight of both President Obama and the Republican Congress, this version is only $9.95. Published February 19, 2013
Inside the Beltway: Meteor media frenzy
Of interest to those following meteor mania around the planet, and hysteria over fireballs and sonic booms: The 101-year-old American Meteor Society is a straightforward resource amid alarming press accounts about big sizzlers overhead. Published February 18, 2013
Inside the Beltway: Dawdling Democrats
A recent Bloomberg Government study reveals that Democratic congressional districts will be harder hit than Republican districts with the March 1 sequester. It stands to reason that conscientious Democrats might be leaping for compromise. Or maybe not. Published February 17, 2013
Inside the Beltway: Pining for Ben Carson
The warm glow of public appeal for Ben Carson is growing after his recent provocative speech at the National Prayer Breakfast before an audience that included President Obama. The pediatric neurosurgeon cut a fearless, straightforward path through health care, taxes and American woes, prompting The Wall Street Journal to run an immediate op-ed titled "Ben Carson for President," declaring that Dr. Carson "may not be politically correct, but he's closer to correct than we've heard in years." Published February 14, 2013
Inside the Beltway: An expensive address
It's a pricey policy landscape. According to National Taxpayers Union Foundation's line-by-line analysis of President Obama's most expensive State of the Union address yet: his 40 proposals weighed in at $83.4 billion worth of quantifiable agenda items. But wait. That could balloon to $100.4 billion, depending on how Mr. Obama deals with the looming sequester March 1. Published February 13, 2013
Inside the Beltway: Fire up the old campaign mobile
Some wonder if President Obama prefers to be in campaign mode rather than tending the home fires -- or putting them out, anyway -- in the nation's capital. There could be truth to that notion this week. Published February 12, 2013
Inside the Beltway: Ted Nugent’s Big Show
The cameras could linger on rock icon, carnivore and gun-rights advocate Ted Nugent when he takes his seat in the House gallery for the State of the Union address on Tuesday, a guest of Rep. Steve Stockman. And the Texas Republican's intent? His communications adviser Donny Ferguson has thoughts on that. Published February 11, 2013
Inside the Beltway: Rand Paul’s moment
Sen. Rand Paul is delivering the grass-roots retort on behalf of the Tea Party Express at the National Press Club, to ensure that the media and the Republican establishment don't write the movement off as "dead," organizers say. Published February 10, 2013
Inside the Beltway: Seeking a ground game
Fierce tea party loyalists and traditional conservatives continue to squawk about Karl Rove and "establishment Republicans," convinced that the faction will compromise GOP chances in upcoming elections. Outspoken tea partyers say their grass-roots sensibility is the key to supporting and electing viable candidates. Published February 7, 2013
Newspapers defend sitting on, publishing U.S. drone stories
For more than year, two of the nation's top news organizations withheld major stories revealing secret details about American drone bases in the Middle East, complying with a request from the Obama administration to withhold the reports. This week, however, the race was on between The New York Times and The Washington Post to spill all the details. Published February 7, 2013
