March 2009 Entries
Hey everybody, check out my story that aired on the 700 Club this morning.
Today on The 700 Club, I reported from London on the G-20 Summit. The story is a mix of global recession and UK prayer. Have a look. It runs about three and a half minutes.
Hey everybody. The Brody File has landed in London. We’ve been here since Friday night. Have a look above as I get you up to date on the big G-20 Summit this week in the UK. I have a preview piece airing on The 700 Club Monday morning.
This weekend in London, The Brody File took in a worship service near Westminster Abby. Christians are praying for the G-20 leaders and for peace and justice. Watch my mini-report above. My full preview story airs Monday on The 700 Club. <
Hey everybody, The Brody File is heading to Europe Friday. I’ll be covering President Obama at the G-20 Summit in London and the NATO Summit in France. <
I was on The 700 Club this morning talking about President Obama’s press conference last night. Have a look at my live shot with Pat Robertson. <
On Tuesday, Pro-Life groups met with Joshua Dubois, the head of the White House’s Faith Based Office. The president of Concerned Women for America, Wendy Wright was the one who initiated the meeting and The White House agreed. The Brody File caught up with Wendy Wright outside The White House grounds to ask how the meeting went. The video of the interview is above. A partial transcription is below. The point of the meeting was to start building a dialogue as to how the views of pro-life gr
President Obama is like the guy in baseball who always seems to get on base and rarely strikes out. He is what you call a guy with a high on base percentage. At Tuesday's prime time press conference he was at it again. He was hitting singles all night. The guy is methodical. He basically makes his point and moves on and never seems to stumble. Ever.
President Obama is going to give the Commencement Address at the very Catholic University of Notre Dame. For many conservative Catholics it’s become a big problem because of the President’s pro-choice views. <
Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood talked to The Brody File about whether she trusts pro-life groups to be an honest broker in any talk about reducing abortions? Watch her full answer above and a partial transcription below: Cecile Richards will be part of a larger piece I’m working on for The 700 Club. That story airs next Thursday March 26th. <
The President of Planned Parenthood is ready for a fresh conversation when it comes to how both side of the abortion debate can try and reduce abortions in America. Cecile Richards sat down with The Brody File in my blogger hideaway studios. (I was not wearing pajamas, my parents weren’t home and I did not show her my Star Trek Collection) President Obama has signaled a desire to work on this issue and Richards says she's on board with that. Nobody is saying this will be easy but Richards
CBNNews.com - Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, sat down for a one-on-one with The Brody File to talk about the need to reduce abortions in the country. <
Maybe the Obama administration should have nominated George Hamilton instead of David F. Hamilton. The hollywood actor may have an easier time at confirmation.Watch Hamilton in action here. <
So is President Obama’s first judicial nominee moderate or liberal or somewhere in between? It matters because the President doesn’t want to be seen as a wide eyed-liberal by the masses. If a fight erupts over ideology then that doesn’t help this President. The last thing Obama needs is a judicial side show. It’ll put a dent in bi-partisan relations and sour the mood for other legislation he wants to pass. <
Reverend Jim Wallis, one of President Obama’s top religious advisors and a member of his Faith Council tells The Brody File that if covering abortions is part of any government healthcare plan then President Obama’s big plans for healthcare will be dead in the water. <
David F. Hamilton has now been officially nominated by President Obama's as his first Appeals Court nominee. Guess what? It could trigger a serious ideological fight. Get ready. Don't be surprised to see conservative judicial groups raise a stink on the separation of Church and State issue not to mention a few other issues too.
I don’t know if you saw The New York Times this weekend ( I normally read my six year old the editorial section before she goes to bed. It puts her right to sleep.) but there was a great article about how President Obama turns to five influential religious leaders for spiritual advice. Read below and then get my take. <
Melody Barnes, the White House Domestic Policy Council Director may be pro-choice and may have worked for pro-choice organizations in her life but she made one thing very clear to The Brody File. She sincerely wants to work with pro-life groups and conservative Evangelicals to find common ground on the abortion issue. She has been and will continue to be a major player in this conversation.
Let the conversation begin. Melody Barnes, White House Domestic Policy Council Director tells the Brody File that the specifics of whether or not abortions will be covered under a government healthcare plan has not been decided yet because the conversation hasn’t taken place yet with Congress. Her answer is above. Part of the transcription is below:
In a sit down one on one interview, White House Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes tells The Brody File that family planning and adoption should be important parts of the discussion on how to reduce abortions in America. Watch the clip above. It runs about one minute. The transcription is below. <
Melody Barnes, White House Domestic Policy Council Director says it’s time for both sides in the abortion discussion to have those “difficult conversations’ that are needed for the sake of women, families and children. Watch her comments above and the transcription below. <
Can The Obama Administration be an honest broker when it comes to the issue of reducing abortions? They’ll need to convince some skeptical Evangelical groups who think President Obama’s track record is suspect. I brought this up to Melody Barnes, White House Domestic Policy Council Director. Watch her answer above. The transcription is below: <
Will President Obama push for repeal of The Hyde Amendment? If he does, it’ll be all-out war between pro-lifers and pro-choicers. There’s been no full fledged indication that this is a fight the administration is willing to have but with a pro-choice President and a heavily Democratic Congress the chances of a potential fight in Congress are higher.
The White House has no desire to discuss the Freedom of Choice Act…at least not yet. I spoke with Melody Barnes, the White House Domestic Policy Council Director who made clear that reducing abortions is the focus of the administration when it comes to the abortion issue. Read below and watch above:
When it comes to the conversation about reducing abortions, the issue of contraception is certainly going to be at the center of the debate. Melody Barnes, White House Domestic Policy Council Director explained to The Brody File that you can be pro-life and support contraception funding. Watch above and read her answer below.
The Brody File has learned that the Susan B. Anthony List, a major national pro-life group, will begin an aggressive, new pro-active project that will target members of Congress who are not representing their pro-life districts properly. It's a unique move to begin this type of agressive approach in a non election year. The official announcement will come Thursday but The Brody File has it here first. <
“Yes We Can”…spend a lot of money!
With a stroke of a pen….it was done. President Obama reversed President Bush’s limits on embryonic stem cell research. Watch my TV report on the story above. <
Watch CBN News Anchor Wendy Griffith interview me about my story today on how the Family Research Council has temporarily pulled out of weekly conservative meetings led by Senator Sam Brownback. They’re not pleased that the pro-life Brownback is backing the pro-choice Kathleen Sebelius. <
On Monday, President Obama is going to lift the restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. No surprise. Everybody knew this was coming. The real question is: what took so long? The hunch here is that it wouldn’t make sense for the Obama administration to do this stem cell reversal on the heels of the Mexico City Policy reversal not to mention the abortion conscious clause situation as well. Space it out. Have a little deference and not come across so in your face and
Michael Steele may have a growing perception problem. Oy-vey! wait until you get a load of this. <
The Brody File has learned that the Family Research Council is taking a “temporarily leave of absence” from the socially conservative “Values Action Team” meetings on Capitol Hill because of Senator Sam Brownback’s support of pro-choice HHS Secretary-Designate Kathleen Sebelius. FRC says they may rejoin the meetings AFTER the Sebelius nomination is finished. <
Can pro-life and pro-choice groups meet in the middle when it comes to a bill on abortion and depression? <
The White House is holding their big Health Care Summit in an attempt to begin the conversation about how to reform the healthcare system with the goal of bringing America some sort of universal health care system. There’s just one problem. Where are the pro-life leaning medical groups who may have a thing or two to say about reforming healthcare in this country? The Catholic Health Association is on the list and is considered pro-life, but how about the Catholic Medical Association
E.J. Dionne Jr. has a great read in today’s Washington Post editorial section. He addresses Obama and the culture war. Most importantly, he addressed something that I have noticed for the last couple years: the rise, power and influence of religious moderates in the political process. The whole editorial is below. Very good take on all of this. <
Let the debate over healthcare begin. All I have to say is: Mr. President. Good luck. Can we all bow in prayer? “Dear Lord……”
The economy is a mess and now President Obama is playing stock market analyst. Free advice! Watch my report this morning on The 700 Club. <
While a spokesman for President Obama says he doesn’t want to bring back the Fairness Doctrine, candidate Obama’s words back in April may give some of his critics pause. Heck, maybe even angst. Heck, maybe even a reach for the Rolaids. <
The Rush bashing continues. A new television ad is going up this week on national cable TV. It’s being put out by Americans United for Change. Watch it here. <
In a one on one interview with The Brody File, Rep. Chris Smith called Barack Obama the “abortion President”. Nobody should be surprised that one of the strongest and loudest pro-life voices in the Congress would have this opinion. However, it is significant in the sense that it underscores a growing chorus within the pro-life movement. They have already tagged him as the abortion president and that mantra will surely be present in the 2012 election. It may or may not matter in four
Oy-vey. We have a Catholic war over a Catholic nominee. Now conservative Catholics are up with a website bashing Kathleen Sebelius on abortion. The group “Catholic Advocate” is behind the effort. On the site, they even have a link saying the following: <
A wide range of Christian leaders have come together to support Kathleen Sebelius. The HHS Secretary nominee has come under fire from pro-life groups because they say her record on abortion is extreme. Read their letter below. It is signed by some notable conservative Evangelicals like Joel Hunter, Sammy Rodriguez and Paul Devries. The full list of signers is here. <
The Brody File has a three minute television piece up and running on CBN News in which I report on the Kathleen Sebelius nomination. You can view it above. The story looks at how pro-life groups are voicing displeasure with the pick while moderate religious groups are celebrating the decision. <
Can there be some sort of “middle ground” on abortion? President Obama has talked about seeking common ground on reducing abortion in the country. Fervent pro-life Congressmen Chris Smith from New Jersey isn’t holding his breath. The Brody File interviewed him and asked him about how The White House could go about meeting pro-lifers in the middle on this issue. Watch his answer above. (It runs about 30 seconds) The transcript is below. <
HHS Secretary Nominee Kathleen Sebelius may have just gotten the ‘cover’ she needs. Fellow Kansan and U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, a staunch pro-life Catholic seems to signal his support for her in a joint statement he made with Kansas’s other Senator Pat Roberts. Not one mention at all on Sebelius’s abortion record. Read below and then get my analysis: <
You want to know how passionate pro-life groups are going to be over the Kathleen Sebelius nomination? <