Podcast Episode Summary
Starting off the show, Jeff, joined by Jeff Hine, Guest Blogger Extraordinaire, Sec. of Defense Gates has asked for over $100 billion in cuts at the Defense Department. How will the new Republican majority in the House react? Will they, as has been the case in the past, reject his wishes and fund local defense projects anyway? At the 6:30 mark, Jeff and Jeff discuss how this new Republican majority, which prides itself on fiscal responsibility and austerity, may deal with the debt limit and paying for the extension of the Bush tax cuts. They wonder how President Obama will square his vote against (and rationale) raising the debt limit in 2006 with his desire to see it increased in March? Ironically, they point out how the Republicans now are bargaining from a position of weakness on the Debt Ceiling. They also discuss who is going to fill in the communications void on the Republican side -- will it be the Speaker of the House? The Republican Leader of the Senate? Tea Party Republicans? A GOP Presidential Candidate...like Sarah Palin? This is when the Republicans might start losing their discipline and eating their young, so-to-speak. At the 26:30 mark the talk about the new members of the Obama administration. How will Daley's selection as Chief of Staff impact the political landscape and affect Obama's ability to get things done? They conclude with a discussion at the 36:20 mark with a very interesting discussion of the prospective GOP 2012 Presidential field, and how to think about the two camps that are forming: ideologues (Sarah Palin, Huckabee, Pence, Thune, Gingrich, maybe Romney depending on who he wants to be) and manager (Daniels, Huntsman, Haley, Pawlenty, Jindahl, Giuliani). There are likely to be 2-3 candidates emerging from the ideological side, and one from the "managers" side -- who will they be, and how will they impact the political discussions this year? Always irreverent and informative, it's PoliTalk, your weekly political podcast. 
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