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| All content taken from The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel. Each weeknight by 6 PM EST a preview of that evening's show will be posted and then updated with additional information the following weekday by noon EST.
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"President Obama is feeling major heat and has begun to change his tone. He has announced that he wants to freeze discretionary spending for three years. That is a good thing - any restraint on government spending will help the economy. But both conservatives and liberals are hammering Mr. Obama over the issue. Left-wing zealots don't want any limits on spending; they want 'social justice,' which means big money given to less affluent Americans through a variety of programs. Fervent right-wingers simply don't like President Obama, so whatever he does will be criticized in those precincts. On the right, the argument is being made that President Obama has plenty of money to fund whatever he wants because he's already raised domestic discretionary spending by 24%. He also has $522 billion in unspent stimulus money, so it's clear the President isn't really biting the bullet here. If Mr. Obama is truly interested in shoring up the American economy in the long run, he would put at least $500 billion back into the U.S. treasury to pay down the national debt. Mr. Obama should also rescind the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed civilian trial. $200 million a year for that dog-and-pony show? Disgraceful!"
The Factor invited former Speaker Newt Gingrich to evaluate the proposed spending freeze. "If you look at how much spending has gone up since Reid and Pelosi took over the Senate and House," Gingrich said, "and then you look at how much more it's gone up since Obama became President, a freeze is nothing. Are we supposed to be grateful that he can't spend even more? This promise has about as much validity as the eight times he promised that C-SPAN would cover the health care negotiations. This is a PR stunt and a test of our ability to be suckered once again." But The Factor argued that a spending freeze is at least a good start: "The amount of government spending now, and President Bush is part of that, is truly insane and dangerous. It will lead to massive pain for every citizen of this country." |
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| The Factor asked Obama-watchers Monica Crowley and Alan Colmes what the President should say in his State of the Union address. "What I would like to hear," Crowley began, "is a focus on jobs and the economy. I want him to say the Republicans have been right on how to create jobs and how to stimulate the economy, namely tax cuts. On terrorism, he should be tougher and say he is no longer going to treat it as a law enforcement issue, but as an act of war." Colmes advised the President to vigorously defend his record. "He has to explain how his policies have worked thus far. GM and Ford just announced that they're hiring again and the stock market has rebounded. He should lay out what has worked - I don't think that message has gotten across. And for jobs, he should have another Works Progress Administration like Roosevelt. He should take billions of dollars and spend it through stimulus, which would put people to work building schools and roads." |
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| The pro-life group Focus on the Family is paying more than $2 million for a 30-second anti-abortion ad during the Super Bowl. The spot features University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, whose mother rejected medical advice to have an abortion while she was pregnant with him. The Factor spoke with liberal activist Jehmu Green, who wants CBS to ban the ad. "CBS has approved this ad," Green said, "which contradicts their long-standing policy to not air advocacy ads. Pam Tebow was allowed to make a choice about her own reproductive health decisions that this ad is trying to take away from all American women. This is a thinly-veiled attempt to undermine a woman's right to make decisions." The Factor argued that the TV spot, which has not been seen by anyone, seems to deliver an uplifting message. "This is a positive ad and the Tebows are happy with the choice they made. You're trying to muzzle this, which is not the American way." |
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| Fox Business Network anchor John Stossel entered the No Spin Zone with his analysis of President Obama's proposed tax on banks. "He wants to win votes," Stossel claimed, "by punishing some unpopular people who have made money. He wants a small tax on all loans made by banks that have more than $5 billion in assets, even those that never took TARP money. So banks will make fewer loans. Since when does the government have the right to say 'we don't like you and we're going to have a special tax on you?' This is wrong and counter-productive." The Factor questioned the legality of the targeted levy: "This is punishing an industry because a President and the Congress don't like the industry. I don't think that's constitutional." |
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| The Factor welcomed FNC legal analysts Lis Wiehl and Kimberly Guilfoyle, who tackled the question of whether the U.S. military can target and kill Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who is fighting for Al Qaeda in the Middle East. "The CIA can go after him with a drone," Wiehl explained, "if they have the administration's okay. That means they have to go to President Obama and say there is enough good intelligence, and the President would have to sign off on it." Guilfoyle agreed that al-Awlaki is fair game. "People in the ACLU aren't going to like it, but too bad. Just because you're an American citizen doesn't give you license to commit acts of jihad against the United States." The Factor raised the prospect of a wrongful death civil suit: "This guy has relatives in the USA, and if he's assassinated by a drone, the relatives could file a humongous lawsuit." |
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| The Factor asked Fox News contributor and conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer to assess the political machinations behind President Obama's prospective spending freeze. "This is a fraud," Krauthammer declared, "and not just because Obama is excluding all the other spending and the military and the stimulus. He's not telling you that last year the administration ratcheted up the spending for all these departments at an average of about 20%. Last year alone, they increased the EPA budget by 35%! So instead of reducing spending, the 'freeze' is locking in these huge increases that were instituted last year. They want to give the appearance of being fiscally responsible, and the cheap way to do it is with a freeze." |
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| Tuesday's Patriot: Former TV star Pernell Roberts, who died yesterday at the age of 81. He was a veteran who once played in the Marine Corps Band. And the Pinhead: TV talk show host Wendy Williams, who fawned over a wax replica of First Lady Michelle Obama. |
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Louis Fernandez, Miami, FL: "The Tea Party folks are more libertarian and believe in Constitutionally-sized government. That is hardly far right."
James Roundtree, Brenham, TX: "Bill, you are wrong. Republicans are united. Obama did that job for us. We will get behind whoever is nominated against him."
Lisa Thompson, Flippin, AR: "If President Obama could see himself as the representative of the people instead of a liberal activist, he could do much good." |
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