Michael Johns

Release the Birth Documents

2009-09-24T17:25:00.015-04:00

By Michael Johns

One of the most constructive developments of the past eight months is that tens of millions of Americans appear to be reawakening to the critical importance and relevance of the U.S. Constitution. The brazen growth of the federal government, which now controls sizable portions of the economy (automobiles, banks, health care, mortgages and other industry segments), violates the tenets of free market capitalism, the system that has been the foundation of our nation's globally unprecedented growth and prosperity. But this debate is not merely a policy one. Increasingly, as millions of Americans associated with the burgeoning Tea Party and 912 Project movements are demonstrating, the debate is about whether such expansions of federal powers are even Constitutionally permissible.

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when the dangerous disregard for our nation's founding legal document began. It certainly predates this administration. But the culture upon which it rests might be best exemplified in the apparent Congressional and media group think that our 44th President holds no obligation to respond to questions about his Constitutional eligibility, under Article II, Section I of the Constitution, to hold the office to which he ran and was elected. This Constitutional provision states unequivocally that no person except a natural born citizen shall be eligible to the Office of President.

Is Barack Obama a natural born citizen of the United States? Probably. But because Obama is going to great lengths to conceal the documents that would settle this issue definitively, it is impossible to say for sure. Since October 2008, Obama has spent in excess of $1.35 million in legal fees to file protective and privacy motions in at least eight federal lawsuits to avoid releasing the documents--his mother's hospital admission record, his Hawaii certificate of live birth, his educational records during his four years of residence in Indonesia, his Indonesian citizen status at that time and the time of his subsequent reentry to the U.S., and his college and law school admission records--that likely would definitively establish his Constitutional eligibility. Congress, the media, and even many Obama opponents, meanwhile, have failed to exert any pressure on him to halt his pro-active legal measures to avoid disclosure of these documents.

Quite obviously, the question of a President's Constitutional eligibility is serious business. It was serious business when, in February 2008, The New York Times called into question Senator John McCain's eligibility for the office because McCain was born on an American Naval base in the Panama Canal Zone, which was then under U.S. control. "It is certainly not a frivolous issue," The Times quoted Atlanta attorney Jill Pryor as saying at the time. The questions also were serious enough for the U.S. Senate to investigate them, with the Senate ultimately concluding in a unanimous vote that the U.S. administration of the Panama Canal Zone at that time meant that McCain was indeed a natural born citizen and eligible for the Presidency.

Whatever these records might reveal, Obama's extensive, year-long efforts to conceal them are now inexplicable, inexcusable and harmful to the nation. There is no innocuous explanation for his extensive efforts to conceal them, especially since their release is easily authorized and would settle the controversy, permitting the nation to move on with full confidence in his Constitutional eligibility and the Constitutional foundations of our nation in 2009. But Obama has refused to do this and, as a result, a frightening and growing number of Americans now understandably ask the question: What exactly is he hiding?

Let me stipulate that, despite following this issue for a year, I am utterly unable to answer that question. But logic dictates that one would not expend in excess of a million dollars in legal fees, as Obama has done, knowing that the only likely result is that a certain percentage of the American people will view such efforts as non-transparent, or even malfeasant. Conversely, it also is wrong to conclude, in the absence of these documents, that Obama has necessarily misrepresented anything about his birth location or Constitutional eligibility, as some critics of Obama's concealment of these documents continue to do. Under pressure to settle the issue during his Presidential candidacy, the Obama campaign ultimately produced a Certification of Live Birth in 2007, but that document, skeptics argue, is manufactured by the state and is not an unequivocal authentication of his birth location.

The most important point is this: No national interest is served by permitting these important questions to linger and persist. To settle them, Obama should cease blocking release of the documents sought by the plaintiffs in the various federal cases over his eligibility. And going forward, it seems reasonable to insist that our nation's Federal Election Commission (FEC), which is charged with regulatory oversight of Presidential elections, require Presidential candidates to submit, along with their candidacy filing, the documents that clearly establish their natural-born eligibility for the office. Americans' confidence in our Constitutionally-rooted democratic political system requires no less.

My Message to America's 912 Movement

2009-09-21T01:00:00.019-04:00

By Michael Johns

By most estimates, over three million Americans attended a 912 Project event on September 12, 2009. The project was launched by the great Glenn Beck of Fox News, and I have supported it wholeheartedly and believe it to be one of the most constructive political movements to emerge in our lifetimes. Glenn covered the event remotely from Fox's New York studios, and millions more tuned in for his coverage of it.

Because much of my message on September 12 was that change must come to Washington, D.C., not from it, I chose to speak at the second largest 912 Project event that day (after Washington, D.C., where over a million people gathered), held at Washington Park in Quincy, Illinois. Washington Park was selected because of its historic role, on October 13, 1858, as host to the largest of the seven Lincoln-Douglas debates. I was honored to be joined by some of the nation's best leaders in the 912 and Tea Party movements, including Andrew Breitbart, Bill Hennessey, Kevin Jackson, Michael Patrick Leahy, Dana Loesch, and others.

I will let my message in Quincy stand for itself. But the essence is that these are deadly serious times, as were Lincoln's in 1858, and that Americans must--right now--recommit ourselves to our Constitution and liberty, or this nation will find itself far down a very different, ominous path that erodes nearly all the tenets of American exceptionalism:

Speech by Michael Johns to Patriots on the Prairie Tea Party, Quincy Illinois, September 12, 2009.

Michael Johns to Address September 5 New Jersey Tea Party

2009-08-31T23:38:00.008-04:00

National Tea Party leader and conservative writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, will serve as a headline speaker at the New Jersey Tea Party this Saturday, September 5, 2009. The event will be held from 2pm to 5pm EDT at City Hall Circle Park in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, located at High Street and Market Street in Perth Amboy. It is open to media and the public.

Since April 15, 2009, some two million Americans have attended over 2,000 Tea Party rallies across the nation, and the non-partisan movement has been cited widely for its growing influence in national and New Jersey politics and public policy.

Michael Johns to Address Los Angeles Recess Rally

2009-08-21T04:53:00.019-04:00

National Tea Party leader and conservative writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, will be a headline speaker at the Los Angeles Recess Rally this Saturday, August 22. The event will begin at 12pm PT at the Wilshire Federal Building, 11000 Wilshire Boulevard, in Los Angeles.

This Saturday's Recess Rallies are supported by a coalition of grassroots organizations and hundreds of thousands of American voters opposed on multiple grounds to House Resolution 3200, America's Affordable Health Care Act of 2009, and other legislation that would vastly expand the role of the federal government in the management of American health care. In an August 11, 2009 poll conducted last week by Rasmussen Reports, a majority of Americans (53 percent) now oppose this legislation.

The Recess Rallies follow national Tea Party protests held on July 4, 2009, in which an estimated one million Americans in 1,300 American cities and towns participated in expressing their opposition to an expanded federal role in the management and provision of health care and other industry sectors. It is anticipated that 435 such events will be held this Saturday at noon, one in each of the nation's Congressional Districts. The Los Angeles-based event will be held in the Congressional district of U.S. Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who has been one of the strongest proponents of the legislation and who chairs the Committee of jurisdiction for the legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Johns is a leading national critic of this legislation, which is being supported by the Obama administration and the Democratic leaderships of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. In his Los Angeles speech, he will address the many components of the legislation that will prove harmful to Americans' access to quality, reasonably-priced health care services and products, and constructive alternatives that can address the challenges that do exist in American health care.

In addition to his governmental and public policy experience, Johns has over a decade of experience as an executive with health care providers in the pharmaceutical, home health, and medical device and medical supply segments of American health care

In addition, the Los Angeles Recess Rally will feature remarks by Gary Aminoff, President of the San Fernando Valley Republican Club and First Vice Chair of the Los Angeles County Republican Party; Jane Barnett, Chairman of the Los Angeles County Republican Party; Ari David, Congressional Candidate to replace Representative Henry Waxman; Michael Fell, Los Angeles Recess Rally organizer; Tony Katz, Los Angeles businessman and Tea Party leader; Robert Pedersen, President of the Westside Republican Club; and Evan Sayet, a conservative comedian and commentator.

Michael Johns to Address Dover, Delaware Tea Party

2009-08-07T14:43:00.014-04:00

National Tea Party leader and conservative writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, will address the "Silent No More Tea Party" in Dover, Delaware tomorrow, Saturday August 8, 2009.

The event will be held from 2pm to 6pm on Legislative Mall in Dover. It also will feature other national and regional health care and public policy experts, including physicians Janice Chester and Robert Pyles, Colin Bonini of Delaware's Bad Habit, Ana Puig of the Thomas Jefferson Club, Pell Sherman of the Constitution Party, Nan Swift of FreedomWorks, and Kerri Toloczko of the Institute of Liberty and Conservatives for Patients' Rights. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be emceed by WGMD 92.7 talk radio host Bill Colley.

Michael Johns Addresses Independence Day Tea Parties in New Jersey, Texas and Washington, D.C.

2009-07-01T13:08:00.028-04:00

Conservative leader and writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, addressed three large Tea Party events over Independence Day weekend. The national Tea Party movement began this past April, when some 500,000 Americans attended approximately 800 Tea Party events across the nation to express opposition to the growing size of the federal government, high taxes, and various policies of the Obama administration. Independence Day weekend was even larger, featuring an estimated 1,300 Tea Party events in nearly every state in the nation.

Johns spoke at the July 3 New Jersey Tea Party in Summit, New Jersey. The following day, July 4, he spoke at the Washington, D.C. Independence Day Tea Party at the U.S. Capitol. Video of his comments to the Washington, D.C. Tea Party is available in two segments at: Speech by Michael Johns to Washington, D.C. Independence Day Tea Party (first segment) and Speech by Michael Johns to Washington, D.C. Independence Day Tea Party (second segment).

Later on July 4, Johns spoke at the Dallas Tea Party, held at Southfork Ranch in Parker, Texas. Additional speakers included conservative author and blogger Michelle Malkin and author and war hero Scott O'Grady, and the event culminated with fireworks. The Dallas Tea Party was attended by 37,000 people, making it the largest Tea Party held in the nation to date. Video of his presentation to the Dallas Tea Party is available in three segments: Speech by Michael Johns to Dallas Independence Day Tea Party (first segment), Speech by Michael Johns to Dallas Independence Day Tea Party (second segment), and Speech by Michael Johns to Dallas Independence Day Tea Party (third segment).

National Tea Party Leaders Call on Obama to Live up to Meeting Promise

2009-05-01T23:34:00.007-04:00

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 1, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Eighteen national leaders of the Tea Party protest movement, which has drawn the participation of hundreds of thousands of Americans over the past few weeks, today responded to President Barack Obama's invitation to meet with members of the Tea Party movement to discuss solutions to the nation's fiscal challenges.

Speaking at a townhall meeting in Arnold, Missouri this past Wednesday, Obama said: "So, you know, when you see -- those of you who are watching certain news channels on which I'm not very popular and you see folks waving tea bags around, let me just remind them that I am happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care costs down over the long term, how we're going to stabilize Social Security."

The national leadership team of the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition, one of several organizations that form the grassroots ecosystem of the Tea Party movement, this afternoon faxed a letter to the White House accepting the President's invitation for such a discussion. "The Tea Party movement has grown because millions of Americans believe the government is heading in the wrong direction and their government is not only not listening to them, but ignoring them. We need to have a serious, public discussion of these issues. We are ready to have that discussion with you and look forward to your response," the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition leaders wrote in their letter to Obama.

"We have noticed there often appears to be a great divide between President Obama's political rhetoric and the political reality of his policies and actions," said Michael Johns, one of the eighteen signators of the letter. "When the President says he is 'happy to have a serious conversation' with us about the fiscal state of this nation, we think the next question is when and where, and we hope to have an answer to that promptly so we can present concrete, workable policy ideas," he said.

Nationwide Tea Party Coalition leader and letter signator Dana Loesch, who led a protest of hundreds during Obama's Missouri visit this past Wednesday, said: "We didn't stand out in the street by the hundreds at the townhall meeting simply to create sound bites and stock footage for the news circuit any more than the Sons of Liberty dumped tea into Boston Harbor to become an entry in history books." "We stood because we want to propose an alternative, and dare I say better, suggestion as to how fiscal matters should be handled. We welcome an open discussion," she said.

The national leadership team of the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition includes 26 of the more than 900 organizers of the April 15, 2009 Tax Day Tea Parties held nationally and attended by an estimated one million Americans. The Coalition's web site, where today's letter to the president can be seen, is: http://www.nationwideteapartycoalition.com/.

Michael Johns to Address Tax Day Tea Party Rallies in Boston, New York and Philadelphia

2009-04-13T07:00:00.006-04:00

Republican strategist and conservative writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, will speak this week at Tax Day Tea Party rallies in Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia as part of a large and burgeoning movement of Americans calling for a new direction in American public policy.

A national grassroots movement rooted in support for tax and regulatory relief and opposed to income redistribution and most federal governmental subsidies and bailouts, the Tea Party movement has blossomed significantly in recent weeks. Based on many of the same principles that sparked the original Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773, some 2,000 Tea Party events will be held this week in cities across the United States. Michael Johns, one of several national leaders of the Tea Party movement, will speak at three of the largest Tea Party events:

**On Wednesday April 15, 2009, at approximately 11am ET, Michael Johns will address the Tax Day Tea Party rally in Boston, Massachusetts at the Boston Common at the Massachusetts State House, located at 24 Beacon Street in Boston. The event will be emceed by radio talk show host Todd Feinburg of Boston's WRKO Radio. For further information on the Boston Tax Day Tea Party, see the event's official site at: Boston Tax Day Tea Party. A video of this April 15, 2009 speech is now available at: Remarks by Michael Johns to Boston Tea Party.

**Later on Wednesday April 15, 2009, at approximately 7pm ET, Michael Johns will address the Tax Day Tea Party rally in New York City at City Hall Park, located at 249 Broadway in Lower Manhattan. Joining Johns in addressing the New York City Tax Day Tea Party will be Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Johns also will participate in the New York City Tax Day Tea Party after-party, to be held from 10pm to 1am ET at The XChange at 640 West 28th Street, Ninth Floor (between 11th and 12th Avenues) in Manhattan. For further information on the New York City Tax Day Tea Party, see the event's official site at: New York City Tax Day Tea Party. A video of most of this April 15, 2009 speech is now available at: Remarks by Michael Johns to New York City Tea Party.

**Finally, later this week, on Saturday April 18, 2009, at approximately 12pm ET, Michael Johns will address the Tax Day Tea Party rally in Philadelphia at Independence Mall, located at Market Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets in center city Philadelphia. Joining Johns in addressing the Philadelphia Tax Day Tea Party will be radio talk show host Dom Giordano of Philadelphia's WPHT-AM, New Jersey Gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan, National Republican Trust PAC Executive Director Scott Wheeler, and Geno's Steaks' owner Joey Vento. For further information on the Philadelphia Tax Day Tea Party, see the event's official site at: Philadelphia Tax Day Tea Party. A video of most of this April 18, 2009 speech is now available at: Remarks by Michael Johns to Philadelphia Tea Party.

The False and Dangerous Promises of the Pelosi-Reid-Obama Triumvirate

2008-11-03T14:42:00.022-05:00

Republican strategist and conservative writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, this afternoon will discuss the dangers inherent in giving liberal Democrats sole control of the White House and both houses of Congress in tomorrow's Presidential and Congressional election. His analysis can be heard globally on Sirius Satellite's Indie Talk Channel 110, hosted by Sirius' Joe Salzone, from 5pm EST/2pm PST to 6pm EST/3pm PST today.

Barack Obama: The Wrong Prescription for America's Ills

2008-11-02T13:22:00.010-05:00

Republican strategist and conservative writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, will discuss Americans' lingering reservations about the experience and policy proposals of U.S. Presidential candidate Barack Obama this afternoon on Al Jazeera television.

The broadcast, which is available throughout Africa, Asia, Australia, the Americas, the Middle East and Persian Gulf, will air at approximately 4:15pm EST/21:15 GMT. It also is available online at: Al Jazeera television.

Michael Johns to Discuss Presidential Election Tonight on Al Jazeera

2008-10-25T15:49:00.011-04:00

Republican strategist and conservative writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, will discuss the 2008 presidential election on Al Jazeera television tonight, October 25, at 10pm EDT/3am Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The broadcast will be available live in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America and at Al Jazeera's online web site at: Al Jazeera.

Johns argues that recent polls, including one conducted by Associated Press this past week, show the race between John McCain and Barack Obama tightening and that American voters, including those in critical swing states, continue to harbor major reservations about Obama's political ideology and qualifications for the presidency.

Michael Johns to Appear Globally Tonight on Al Jazeera Television

2008-10-15T13:59:00.013-04:00

Republican strategist and conservative writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation foreign policy analyst, will appear tonight in a one hour global television interview on Al Jazeera, one of the world's largest news organizations. Johns will discuss the United States presidential election, American foreign policy and other topics.

The broadcast, which will air from 01:00 GMT to 02:00 GMT (8pm EDT to 9pm EDT), is available in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, the Persian Gulf and elsewhere. It also will be available at Al Jazeera's online site and through other global media outlets.

McCain: Why He's Trailing, How He Can Prevail

2008-10-07T23:31:00.015-04:00

Republican strategist and conservative writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, will discuss the 2008 Presidential election in two global interviews later today, Wednesday October 8th. In these two interviews, Johns will discuss recent poll results that show Republican nominee John McCain falling behind and the steps that McCain can take in the coming four weeks to make up ground in critical swing states and prevail in the November 4th election.

Johns will appear on Sirius Satellite's Indie Talk (Channel 110), hosted by Sirius's Joe Salzone, from 5:30pm EDT/2:30pm PDT to 6pm EDT/3pm PDT and then later in his weekly appearance on The Warren Michaels show from 8pm EDT/5pm PDT to 9pm EDT/6pm PDT. Both programs are available globally, and The Warren Michaels show can be heard both live and by archived replay at The Warren Michaels show.

The Obama Gaffe: For $85 Billion, Should We Not At Least Know Their Name?

2008-09-17T16:20:00.024-04:00

By Michael Johns

With some of America's largest and most prestigious financial institutions undergoing a threatening liquidity meltdown, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has not hesitated to seize the opportunity to exploit the situation for political gain. Despite being the second largest recipient of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac political donations in the entire United States Congress, he is brazenly and hypocritically railing against the very Washington lobbyists who have poured money into his campaign in an effort to buy his influence. This despite the fact that, just a year ago, Obama pledged that he would take no private funding for this election, a promise the major media have never felt too obligated to hold him to.

Obama's political demagoguery and contradictions come at a critical moment. Yesterday, in the largest governmental bailout in American corporate history, the Federal Reserve Board announced that it would lend American International Group, the 18th largest corporation in the world, $85 billion in exchange for a 79.9 percent equity stake in the company. In all probability, this massive infusion of federal funds is just a stop gap measure as the company likely now seeks to liquidate itself in an effort to fend off bankruptcy.

For Obama, the whole mess is not a time for national unity; it is, rather, great political fodder. This morning, in an effort to extract political gain from the situation, he issued a statement, which said in part:

"The fact that we have reached a point where the Federal Reserve felt it had to take this unprecedented step with the American Insurance Group is the final verdict on the failed economic philosophy of the last eight years."

American Insurance Group? For $85 billion, Obama and his big government, tax and spend economic advisers apparently don't fret too much over the details in an effort to make their partisan jabs. One wonders if that $85 billion United States Treasury check would even cash had Obama's Treasury Secretary made it out incorrectly to one "American Insurance Group."

After the glaring error was pointed out, the Obama campaign quietly issued a corrected statement. And to be fair, in the frantic nature of a presidential campaign, one should be forgiving to the inevitable misstatements that will occur when some of the world's most aggressive journalists are following one's every move through a taxing schedule that often includes up to half a dozen campaign appearances in multiple states in one day.

But what is troubling about the Obama misstatement is that, despite his rhetoric of bringing a new bipartisanship to Washington, he has been as quick as any political candidate in recent memory to exploit and distort any and all statements made by his Republican rival and his surrogates. When former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm, the Texas Republican, told The Washington Times this past July 9 that "We have become a nation of whiners. You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of American competitiveness, America is in decline," the Obama camp did not cease exploiting the statement until Gramm, one the brighter economic minds of our nation, was ultimately forced to reliquish his role as an advisor to Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

As recently as yesterday in Colorado, Obama was still quoting Gramm in a twisted effort to suggest that the McCain campaign is somehow out of touch with the economic challenges of ordinary Americans.

Then, this past Monday, amidst AIG and Lehman Brothers' liquidity meltdown, McCain quite properly and understandably sought to reassure Americans, stating accurately that the "fundamentals of our economy are strong." But within hours, Obama was distorting this statement too, suggesting that it somehow implied that McCain did not grasp the magnitude of two major American financial institutions confronting bankruptcy, or that he somehow felt that there did not exist major challenges in the current American economy.

Such is the hypocrisy that has guided the Obama campaign from the beginning. Promise to run a campaign with no private financing in an effort to present a candidacy of independence from the Washington establishment, and then quietly reject that promise and actively seek mammoth corporate, political action committee, 527 group, and other private donations. Rail against unnamed Washington lobbyists for corrupting the American financial system with sub-prime mortgage loans, while simultaneously championing a regulatory mandate that American financial institutions be required to make these loans. Demand an expeditious removal of American troops from Iraq, and then privately instruct Iraqi leaders--in probable violation of the Logan Act--to cease negotiating such withdraws with the Bush administration and to wait for the next administration. Run on a campaign of "change" and then anoint one of Washington's most entrenched liberal partisans as a running mate.

In citing an $85 billion federal loan to the "American Insurance Group," Obama should be reminded that his promises of bipartisanship should be matched with some basic political civility and respect. McCain properly rejects Obama's big government redistribution schemes as the solution to our economic woes. Nothing in that rejection suggests, as Obama has been inclined to say, that "John McCain just doesn't get it." And Obama opponents should operate similarly on an assumption that an error on a campaign statement, even one as glaring as Obama's was this morning, is not enough to suggest that the Obama camp does not have a grasp of the complexities of the current crisis. We need look no further than his policy proposals to know that.

Obama Doublespeak and Liberal Complicity in America's Banking Crisis

2008-09-17T01:10:00.017-04:00

In remarks yesterday in Golden, Colorado, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama passed around plenty of blame for America's unfolding banking crisis: He blamed American corporations. He blamed Washington lobbyists. And he even blamed Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

But the core of political blame for America's banking crisis, conservative writer Michael Johns argues, lies with a Democratic-led Congress that actually mandated much of the very sub-standard mortgage lending that is now setting off a snowballing liquidity crisis at some of America's largest financial institutions. Meanwhile, Johns says, Congress and Washington regulators failed in their responsibility to ensure appropriate regulatory oversight of high-risk leveraged borrowing that now threatens the solvency of these financial institutions.

In seeking to assign political blame for this crisis, and especially in assigning the blame wrongly, Johns says that Obama has revealed the hypocrisy of his pledge to work in bipartisan ways, which he has rarely done throughout his political career and is not doing now. While pointing blame in politically convenient directions, Obama also has been an advocate of many of the exact policies that created this crisis, and is now proposing even worse policy prescriptions that could deepen it even further.

"I've spent my career taking on lobbyists and their money, and I’ve won," Obama said yesterday in Colorado. In reality, however, the exact opposite is true: Among all 535 members of the United States Congress, only U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat, has taken more in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac campaign contributions since 1989, and Obama has only been in the Senate since January 2005.

The reality: Obama has welcomed close connections with the precise lobbyists and corporations he now contends that he has been "taking on." And as Obama has set about seeking and receiving this support, he has brazenly and shamelessly violated his September 2007 pledge to forego private funding in this year's Presidential election.

In his weekly interview with The Warren Michaels show this evening from 9pm EDT/6pm PDT to 10:30pm EDT/7:30pm PDT, Johns will discuss the origins and policy remedies to the crisis currently confronting American financial institutions. The broadcast is available globally, both live and by archived replay, at: The Warren Michaels show.

The Hollow Candidacy of Barack Obama

2008-09-09T15:55:00.011-04:00

Republican strategist and conservative writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, will discuss the United States Presidential election and other current events in his weekly appearance on The Warren Michaels show this Wednesday September 10, 2008, from 9pm EDT/6pm PDT to 10:30pm EDT/7:30pm PDT. This broadcast is available globally, both live and by archived replay, at: The Warren Michaels show.

The Republican Message, 2008

2008-09-01T15:08:00.028-04:00

Coinciding with the 2008 Republican National Convention, which convened this afternoon in St. Paul, Minnesota, Republican strategist and conservative writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, will speak on the 2008 Republican message to voters in several global and national media interviews this week, including:

Monday September 1, 2008: "The Republican Message, 2008," Grizzly Groundswell Network with Stephanie Davis, 8pm EDT/5pm PDT to 9pm EDT/6pm EDT. This show is available live and by archived replay at: Grizzly Groundswell Radio Network.
Monday September 1, 2008: "The Republican Agenda for Health Care Reform," Bio-Med, 9pm EDT/6pm PDT to 9:45pm EDT/6:45pm PDT. This show is available live and by archived replay at: Bio-Med Radio.
Tuesday September 2, 2008: "The Republican Message, 2008," The Halls of Valhalla (live from Republican National Convention), 8pm EDT/5pm PDT to 10pm EDT/8pm PDT. This show is available live and by archived replay at: The Halls of Valhalla.
Wednesday September 3, 2008: "The Republican Message, 2008," Heading Right Radio, 8pm EDT/5pm PDT to 9pm EDT/6pm PDT. This show is available live and by archived replay at: Heading Right Radio. The show's press release on Michael's appearance is available here: "Former White House Speechwriter Michael Johns Provides Americans Inside View of Washington Politics."
Wednesday September 3, 2008: "Presidential Campaign, 2008," The Warren Michaels show, BlogTalkRadio, 9pm EDT/6pm PDT to 10:30pm EDT/7:30pm PDT. This show is available live and by archived replay at: The Warren Michaels show, September 3, 2008 episode.
Thursday September 4, 2008: "The Republican Message, 2008," Grizzly Groundswell Network with Stephanie Davis, 8pm EDT/5pm PDT to 10pm EDT/7pm PDT. This show is available live and by archived replay at: Grizzly Groundswell Radio Network.
Friday September 5, 2008: "The Republican Message, 2008," The Wanda Fay show (Christian religious program), 2am EDT/11pm PDT to 3am EDT/midnight PDT. This show is available live and by archived replay at: The Wanda Fay show.

Each of these broadcasts is available globally.

Government, Not Free Markets, is the Real Impediment to Quality Health Care Access

2008-08-28T12:28:00.007-04:00

Health care executive and Republican strategist Michael Johns today said that Democratic Presidential nominee Barrack Obama's plan to vastly expand the role of the federal government in American health care is likely to reduce, not increase, competitive pressures among health care payers, resulting in a reduction of quality health care access and potentially even the ultimate rationing of health care services, as has happened in other countries with similar nationalized health care systems.

On the other hand, the health care plan of presumptive Republican Presidential nominee John McCain, Johns said, will greatly expand consumer engagement and competitive market forces in health care, leading to enhancements in the quality of care, access to care, and a reduction of overall health care costs.

Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, will discuss his support for McCain's health care plan prior to Obama's acceptance speech this evening, from 7:30pm EDT/4:30pm PDT to 9pm EDT/6pm PDT on The Warren Michaels show. The broadcast can be heard globally, both live and through archived replay, at: The Warren Michaels show, August 28, 2008 broadcast.

Michael Johns to Discuss Selection of Republican Vice Presidential Nominee

2008-08-27T22:08:00.013-04:00

Republican strategist and conservative writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, will discuss the Republican Vice Presidential selection process and the various candidates under consideration tomorrow morning, August 28, 2008, from 8:35am EDT/5:35am PDT to 9am EDT/6am PDT on Sirius Satellite's "Me and Vinnie" show, broadcast on Sirius's Indie Talk Channel 110.

Presumptive Republican Presidential nominee John McCain is widely expected to announce his Vice Presidential running mate this Friday, August 29, 2008, in Dayton, Ohio.

Sirius's "Me and Vinnie" show is hosted by Vinnie Politan, a former New Jersey prosecutor and Court TV host and reporter.

Why McCain is Right on Russia and Right on Health Care

2008-08-20T18:41:00.012-04:00

American health care executive and conservative writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, said today that expanded consumer choice, market competition and quality care incentives each represent keys to solving the most serious challenges currently confronting the American health care system. Among these challenges, Johns said, are governmental regulatory barriers that currently prohibit Americans from obtaining health insurance policies outside of their respective states, and insufficient competition among health care providers and payers that inhibits consistently affordable and exceptionally high quality health care for all Americans, including the 47 million who are currently uninsured.

Johns said that presumptive Republican Presidential nominee John McCain's health care proposals, released April 29, 2008, represent a comprehensive and thoughtful health care plan worthy of broad political support.

Johns will discuss the current state of American health care and remedies to it, along with latest developments in Russia's ongoing aggression in Georgia, during his weekly appearance on The Warren Michaels show this evening, August 20, 2008, from 7:30pm EDT/4:30pm PDT to 9pm EDT/6pm PDT. The show, which is broadcast live and by replay in most nations of the world, can be heard at: The Warren Michaels show, August 20, 2008 broadcast.

In Georgia, America's Defining Moment

2008-08-13T15:50:00.011-04:00

Conservative writer and Republican strategist Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation foreign policy analyst, said today that Russia's ongoing military aggression against Georgia potentially represents a major threat to the global peace that has largely characterized the last 17 years of post-Cold War era relations between Washington and Moscow. Decisive American diplomatic, humanitarian and potentially military responses are warranted, he says, to ensure the defense of Georgia's territorial integrity and its promising and successful democratically-elected government, led by President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Most concerning in Russia's recent aggression, Johns says, is that it appears to represent a return to the expansionist and militarily aggressive tactics that characterized Moscow's foreign policy during the Cold War, and that Russia likely views its current aggression in Georgia as a test case for whether such regional aggression will be resisted or tolerated by the United States and its allies. As with Georgia, which has proven an ally of the United States and western democracies in recent years, Moscow has developed a cantankerous relationship with Ukraine, another democratic ally of the United States that borders Russia. This past spring, for instance, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin threatened to "dismember" the Ukranian peninsula of Crimea.

Johns will discuss his support for President George W. Bush's response earlier today to Russia's regional aggression, along with other current events topics, this evening, August 13, 2008, from 9pm EDT/6pm PDT to 10:30pm EDT/7:30pm PDT, during his weekly appearance on BlogTalkRadio's The Warren Michaels show. The broadcast is available live and by replay in most nations of the world at: The Warren Michaels show, August 13, 2008 broadcast.

How Liberal Congressional Timidity Is Harming America

2008-08-06T00:01:00.012-04:00

In an act of extraordinary political cowardice and irresponsibility, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat, and their liberal Congressional allies last week rejected Republican proposals to address America's skyrocketing gas prices, opting instead to leave Washington on a five-week recess. In the U.S. House of Representatives, over Republican objections, Pelosi had the microphones and television lights turned out on the House floor as Congressional Republicans chanted "vote" and sought votes prior to Congress's summer recess on their proposals to expand domestic petroleum drilling and address America's energy crisis.

Conservative writer and Republican strategist Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, argues that this latest act of timidity by the liberal Congressional leadership is not an isolated incident but part of an ongoing pattern of their failure to address the most pressing challenges confronting the country. In addition to their refusal to adopt a comprehensive energy bill prior to adjourning last week, the liberal Congressional leadership has failed to address America's pressing need for tax relief, comprehensive health care reform, and defense of our porous southern border with Mexico. This liberal Congressional leadership also has been equivocal in the global war on terror and support for American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, which has sent dangerously mixed global messages about whether or not America is committed to victory in these conflicts.

Johns will discuss these and other public policy topics this evening, August 6, 2008, from 9pm EDT/6pm PDT to 10:30pm EDT/7:30pm PDT, on The Warren Michaels show on BlogTalkRadio, one of the world's largest online radio stations. The broadcast will be available live throughout the United States and most nations of the world, and a replay of it will be available following its conclusion. Both the live show and its replay can be heard online at: The Warren Michaels show, August 6, 2008 broadcast.

Building a United America

2008-07-31T01:13:00.020-04:00

Conservative writer and Republican strategist Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, tonight will discuss his thesis that the fastest growing division among Americans is not between social classes, races, or even political ideologies, but between the majority of Americans who identify strongly with the United States and its values and maintain pride in the nation's founding principles, and a much smaller but growing population of Americans who hold the United States in disdain and maintain limited and sometimes no loyalty to the nation and its founding principles. Johns argues that the extensive focus on ideological and political divisions between conservatives and liberals and Republicans and Democrats have largely overshadowed this faster growing and vastly more threatening national division.

Johns will discuss this topic and the state of American patriotism generally this evening, July 31, 2008, from 10:30pm EDT/7:30pm PDT until midnight EDT/9pm PDT on The Warren Michaels Show on BlogTalkRadio, one of the world's largest online radio stations. The broadcast will be available live throughout the United States and most nations of the world, and a replay of it will be available following its conclusion. Both the live show and its replay can be heard online at: The Warren Michaels show, July 31, 2008 broadcast.

The Legacy of Tony Snow, the Case for John McCain, and Why Conservatives Will Win the Battle of Ideas

2008-07-22T13:58:00.011-04:00

In a 90-minute radio interview now available online, conservative writer and Republican strategist Michael Johns says the late Tony Snow, President George W. Bush's former Press Secretary and a former Fox News anchor, will be remembered fondly as an authentic and articulate advocate of modern conservatism, and especially for his success in communicating the vital importance of the outcome of the war in Iraq to America's global security interests.

In an interview with BlogTalkRadio's Patriot Action with Wyatt and Matt, Johns discusses Snow's positive legacy, the case for John McCain in this November's U.S. Presidential election, and how conservatives are bringing constructive solutions to the most pressing public policy challenges confronting the nation. An archived recording of the July 17, 2008 interview is now available globally at: Patriot Action with Wyatt and Matt, July 17, 2008 broadcast.

The Conservative Path to Victory

2008-07-17T00:01:00.007-04:00

Republican strategist and conservative writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, will discuss "The Conservative Path to Victory" this evening, July 17, 2008, at 8pm EDT/5pm PDT, on BlogTalkRadio's Patriot Action with Wyatt and Matt. The broadcast will be available globally through live streaming and archived audio from the show's broadcast page, available at: Patriot Action with Wyatt and Matt.

Johns will discuss his thesis that conservative policy ideas are beginning to gain momentum in the battle of ideas because they are thoughtful, detailed and proven remedies to the various challenges confronting the nation. Conservatives, he argues, are offering bold and promising solutions in the global war on terror, the mounting energy crisis, excessive governmental taxation and regulation in the American economy, the crisis in American public education, the need for expanded choice and access in American health care, and other urgent policy priorities.

Johns has said that he believes that, over the past several weeks, the American electorate is beginning to awaken to the fact that the most thoughtful solutions to America's policy challenges are coming from conservatives. He has further said that he believes this September's Republican National Convention will further highlight the dynamism of these solutions and the fact that it is only a liberal stronghold on the U.S. Congressional leadership that is prohibiting many of these initiatives from being rapidly enacted.

Johns has 20 years of industry, governmental and public policy experience, having served in the White House, the United States Senate, and for the former Governor of New Jersey and one of the world's premiere public policy research institutes. He has written on public policy issues for The Wall Street Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, National Review, Policy Review and other publications and has discussed these topics on CNBC, C-SPAN, Fox Morning News, PBS, and other television and radio media. He also is the author of an influential conservative public policy blog.

Further information on the show is available at Patriot Action's July 16, 2008 video and print press release on the show.