The Brody File

Explaining "Deem and Pass"

David Brody — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:32:13 GMT

If you're a little confused about what Democratic Leadership is trying to do in the House on healthcare, watch below. I did a TV story today on this whole "Deem and Pass" technique.

"Deem and Pass": A Medical Nightmare?

David Brody — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:34:17 GMT

"Deem and Pass". Sounds like a medical procedure you get when you're in your 70's.

Now it may become a medical reality and nightmare for the GOP and for the millions of Americans who hate this bill.

Watch my analysis below.

Let's Make a (Healthcare) Deal

David Brody — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:20:55 GMT

The Brody File not only brings you newsmakers but also game shows! Play Let's Make a Healthcare Deal below starring Brody File Show Producer Dana Ritter. This is a clip from this week's show.

Brody File Show: March 15, 2010

David Brody — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:16:27 GMT

On this week's edition of The Brody File Show, we go one-on-one with House Minority Whip Eric Cantor who talks about the chances of the GOP winning back the House in 2010.

Also, a talk with one of President Obama's spiritual advisors and the Bible verses he is sending the Commander in Chief.

And get ready to play "Let's Make a (Health Care) Deal" -- It's must see TV.

Jim Wallis to Brody File: "Christians Should Leave Glenn Beck"

David Brody — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:30:54 GMT

When you hear the words “Christian social justice” what do you think? Glenn Beck says Christians should leave those Churches in a heartbeat. As you might imagine, his comments have created quite a firestorm.

Jim Wallis, the President and Founder of Sojourners spoke to The Brody File about these comments and is calling on Christians to stop watching Glenn Beck’s FOX News show. You can watch his comments below along with a partial transcription.

Wallis tells me, “Personal salvation and social justice are bound together in the Bible and he's saying leave Churches who talk about the central teachings of Christ and the scriptures?”

What say you?

I can tell you this. The Church I belong to puts the focus first and foremost on personal salvation in Jesus Christ. At the end of the day that is what it is ultimately all about. Having said that, my Church puts a SIGNFICANT amount of time, money and energy into reaching out to helping those who are needy and struggling through life. They might not call it “social justice’ but the result is the same.

Jim Wallis: "Christians should leave Glenn Beck. They should stop watching his show. Howard Stern practices pornography on his show. Glenn Beck is denying central cores to our faith and so I'm saying Christians it's time to pray for Howard Stern pray for Glenn Beck but don't watch Glenn Beck's show anymore."

Jim Wallis: "I don't know Glenn Beck. Is he strange? Is he trying to make money? Is he trying to do a controversy? I don't know but he's attacked the core of our faith here. This is a central core. Personal salvation and social justice are bound together in the Bible and he's saying leave Churches who talk about the central teachings of Christ and the scriptures?

More info on the Glenn Beck controversy below from The New York Times:

Last week, the conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck called on Christians to leave their churches if they hear preaching about social or economic justice, saying they were code words for Communism and Nazism.

This week the remarks prompted outrage from several Christian bloggers. The Rev. Jim Wallis, who leads the liberal Christian antipoverty group Sojourners, in Washington, called on Christians to leave Glenn Beck.

“What he has said attacks the very heart of our Christian faith, and Christians should no longer watch his show,” Mr. Wallis wrote on his blog, God’s Politics. “His show should now be in the same category as Howard Stern.”

In attacking churches that espouse social justice, Mr. Beck is taking on most mainline Protestant, Roman Catholic, black and Hispanic congregations in the country — not to mention plenty of evangelical churches and even his own, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Mr. Beck said on his radio show on March 2, “I beg you, look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words.”

“Am I advising people to leave their church? Yes! If I am going to Jeremiah Wright’s church,” he said, referring to President Obama’s former pastor in Chicago. “If you have a priest that is pushing social justice, go find another parish. Go alert your bishop.”

Religion scholars say the term “social justice” was probably coined in the 1800s, codified in encyclicals by successive popes and adopted widely by Protestant churches in the 1900s. The concept is that Christians should not merely give to the poor, but also work to correct unjust conditions that keep people poor. Many Christians consider it a recurring theme in Scripture.

Mr. Beck himself is a convert to Mormonism, a faith that identifies itself as part of the Christian family, but is nevertheless rejected by many Christians.

Philip Barlow, the Arrington professor of Mormon history and culture at Utah State University, said, “One way to read the Book of Mormon is that it’s a vast tract on social justice.”

“A lot of Latter-day Saints would think that Beck was asking them to leave their own church,” he said.

Mr. Barlow said that just this year, the church’s highest authority, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, issued a new “Handbook of Instructions” in which they revised the church’s “threefold mission” and added a fourth mission statement: Care for the poor.

Abortion: The Only Bi-Partisan Vote on Healthcare?

David Brody — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:06:52 GMT

The White House and Democratic leadership talk about wanting to have a bi-partisan healthcare reform bill. But if that’s the case, why would they decide to dig in against the one element of the bill (abortion) that actually has bi-partisan support? The question I ask is clearly rhetorical because we all know the answer.

The Pro-Life Stupak Pitts amendment in the House bill is the ONLY bi-partisan agreement in the entire bill. 64 Democrats joined with nearly all Republicans to vote for it. The problem is Stupak-Pitts would go down as one of the biggest pro-life achievements in decades and liberals in the House just can not live with that. Period end. If they would allow Stupak and his pro-life Democratic friends to have their way, they would have their healthcare bill. Instead, pro-choice liberals have chosen to defend abortion over healthcare for tens of millions of Americans. (You can say the same of Stupak on the other side of this debate)

Don’t get me wrong. I understand why liberals are fighting against Stupak-Pitts. It makes sense from a pro-choice standpoint. But if you’re a liberal it’s hard to make the argument that Stupak is going to let healthcare die over the abortion issue when pro-choice liberals are willing to do the same.

Unless Nancy Pelosi and company can turn some no’s to yes’s in a hurry, abortion politics may indeed be the end of the road for a healthcare reform debate that has dragged on for what seems like a lifetime.

Congress Hears from Diverse Christian Leaders on Healthcare and Abortion

David Brody — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:13:10 GMT

With the healthcare reform bill tangling by a thread, a couple dozen moderate and liberal Christian leaders have sent a letter to Congress and their message is pretty simple: the language on abortion will do just fine so just vote for the bill!

Millions of conservative Evangelicals would beg to differ with their conclusions but because The Brody File always listens to both sides of a debate without further adieu I give you some of the full letter to Congress.

Read the whole letter here including the Christian leaders who signed the letter and the abortion related provisions in the bill that they say is good enough for them.

Dear Member of Congress,

As Christians committed to a consistent ethic of life, and deeply concerned with the health and well-being of all people, we want to see health care reform enacted. Our nation has a rare and historic opportunity to expand coverage to tens of millions of people, make coverage more affordable for all families, and crack down on many of the most harmful practices of the health insurance industry.

We are writing because of our concern about the lack of clear and accurate information regarding abortion provisions in the health care reform bill passed by the Senate on December 24, 2009.

Reforming our health care system is necessarily complex, and the provisions related to abortion, or any other issue, require careful examination of the facts as they exist in the legislative language. We believe that the provisions below provide extensive evidence that longstanding restrictions on federal funding of abortion have been maintained. Furthermore, this bill provides new and important supports for vulnerable pregnant women.

We are now at a critical moment in the history of our country. More than 30 million Americans may finally gain access to a health care system that is affordable -- providing families, children and seniors with fundamental care that is essential to human dignity. We respectfully ask that you make an informed decision about this legislation based on careful deliberation guided by facts.

Eric Cantor to Brody File: Rahm Emanuel Should "Know Better"

David Brody — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:59:45 GMT

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor tells The Brody File that Rahm Emanuel gave the President poor advice on the healthcare bill and should have “known better”

The Brody File spoke to Cantor in his Capitol Hill office.

Rep. Cantor will be a guest on this week’s edition of The Brody File that will air Monday March 15th on the CBN News Channel.

The video is below along with a full transcription.

David Brody: There have been a lot of stories about Rahm Emanuel. There have been a lot of stories about him. I know you’ve had conversations with him. What is he like exactly because there’s been a lot of ways people are painting him specifically. The reason I ask that is because I’m wondering how much The White House has kind of pulled back in reaching out to folks like you and Minority Leader Boehner.

Rep. Eric Cantor: "There’s been very little outreach from The White House as far as trying to work together in a bi-partisan basis. That’s reflected in this healthcare situation. If there was a bi-partisan effort, if there was a bi-partisan project we were talking about we wouldn’t be here today mentioning reconciliation so you know Rahm Emanuel is a creature of the House of Representatives. I would think he’d know better than to allow the administration to conduct a policy that is really my way or the highway that the majority of Americans now feel that their opinions have been ignored.”

Eric Cantor to Brody File: Republicans Must "Seize the Opportunity" to Lead Again

David Brody — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:46:17 GMT

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor tells The Brody File that Republicans have to now “seize the opportunity” to lead Congress after years where they didn’t have a “great record to brag about.”

The Brody File spoke to Cantor in his Capitol Hill office.

Rep. Cantor will be a guest on this week’s edition of The Brody File that will air Monday March 15th on the CBN News Channel.

The video is below along with a full transcription.

David Brody: Do you feel Republicans are ready to step up and lead?

Rep. Eric Cantor: "There’s no question that in ’06 Republicans were fired from the majority. In ’08 the country said we’re not ready for you to re-assume the presidency either. I do think though that the frustration that has now reached a fever’s pitch is focused on the fact that the promise of hope and change has not been delivered upon by the majority in this town, has not been delivered upon by the administration and the country realizes through the stimulus bill, through the proposal of the cap and trade bill, the national energy tax, the healthcare bill and all the other things that have been proposed including the position the administration is taking on the Mexico City Policy and the rest these are not reflective of how we are as America and I do think that Republicans have demonstrated this year that we now understand that there wasn’t a great track record to brag about perhaps in the past but we’ve got to at this point seize the opportunity and rewrite the ship because if we don’t do that I’m very fearful for the future of the American ideal which is to make sure that the next generation has a better life than we do.”

Eric Cantor to Brody File: “I think we can take back the majority.”

David Brody — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:28:47 GMT

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor tells The Brody File that he thinks Republicans will win back the House of Representatives.

The Brody File spoke to Cantor in his Capitol Hill office.

Rep. Cantor will be a guest on this week’s edition of The Brody File that will air Monday March 15th on the CBN News Channel.

The video is below along with a short partial transcription. Please watch the entire clip to get the full answer.

Rep. Eric Cantor: "David, I think we can take back the majority. I think in this country is very much desirous of a new direction."

Rep. Eric Cantor: “Then it will be up to Republicans to step up and demonstrate that we listen to the people and that we are going to be executing a vision that will allow us to return to this sense of security in the pursuit of that American dream.”