Skip to content
TRENDING:
Donald Trump
Advertisement
Author profile
Jennifer Harper

Jennifer Harper

jharper@washingtontimes.com

Jennifer Harper wrote the daily Inside the Beltway column for The Washington Times.

Articles by Jennifer Harper

President Barack Obama waves as he boards Air Force One at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014. Obama attend two fundraising events in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

Inside the Beltway: Back to normal for White House fundraising

It took the Ebola crisis to dampen White House enthusiasm for relentless fundraising. After a previous week filled with six moneymakers around the nation, President Obama canceled three similar events this week to tend the growing public distress over the disease and its threat. But prudence, perhaps, has ended.

October 16, 2014
Dr. Ben Carson speaks at the National Security Action Summit II held at the Marriott Wardman Hotel, Washington, D.C., Monday, September 29, 2014. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Inside the Beltway: Run Ben run: Dr. Carson’s fans chip in $10.5M

Along with offering his usual straightforward take on the nation, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson was warning health officials and the Obama administration about containing Ebola over two months ago. It is no wonder, then, that he continues to garner the attention of the voting public.

October 15, 2014
Thick smoke rises following an airstrike by the US-led coalition in Kobani, Syria while fighting continued between Syrian Kurds and the militants of Islamic State group, as seen from Mursitpinar on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Inside the Beltway: Michele Bachmann reinvents the tea party

The press has wondered what to call the Islamic State war since August. Now they can relax. The Pentagon has at long last given the operation a name, and that name is "Inherent Resolve." Not bad. That'll do. Thank you Joint Chiefs of Staff.

October 14, 2014
Independent U.S. Senate candidate Greg Orman is giving Sen. Pat Roberts, Kansas Republican, a run for his money, but tea party activists say Mr. Orman is "independent" in name only and the Mr. Roberts is the conservative choice. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Greg Orman: ‘Independent’ in name only

Election drama in Kansas continues. The bout between incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts and independent hopeful Greg Orman grows intense with news that Democrats are in serious wooing mode, seeking to attract the partyless challenger into their fold.

October 13, 2014
With the intense media coverage of two Ebola cases in Texas, Gov. Rick Perry has risen to the opportunity and in the polls. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Booster shot: Rick Perry’s Ebola Factor

Yes, the presence of a deadly disease in Texas has benefited a certain governor. What with intense and alarming media coverage of two Ebola cases in the Lone Star state, Gov. Rick Perry has risen to the opportunity and gotten decisive indeed. It has paid off.

October 12, 2014
President Barack Obama waves as he steps out of Air Force One upon arriving at JFK International Airport in New York, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014. The president is in New York to attend fundraisers. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Inside the Beltway: Voters want their Congress members to get back to work

Maybe lawmakers figure that their favorability ratings are just so low that nothing much matters anymore. They are wrong. Voters want them back in the U.S. Capitol acting like responsible elected officials. Nearly four out of five Americans — 78 percent — say House and Senate members should return to Washington for a vote to authorize the use of military force against Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq. Return now. Please. So says a Reason-Rupe poll, which also reveals a little something about the voters themselves.

October 9, 2014
Back when military conflicts had names, U.S. Army troops in Afghanistan in December 2009 carry out Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Air Force)

Inside the Beltway: War with ISIS has no name

In the age of branding and cultural concerns, the U.S. military and the federal government are very meticulous when it comes to naming weapons, conflicts, agencies, operations. But there's been a lull in these combative times.

October 8, 2014
Michael Savage warns of an incoming civil war between those who treasure the nation's founding principles and those who would alter them in the name of change. (Center Street/Hachette)

Inside the Beltway: Savage warns of a second Civil War

"I fear the worst. Right now Americans are angrier and more divided than I've seen them since the 1960s. What fires this rage is that we've become a post-Constitutional society," says Michael Savage, who is more alarmed than usual about the state of the nation.

October 5, 2014
This May 14, 2012, file photo shows conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh speaking during a ceremony inducting him into the Hall of Famous Missourians in the state Capitol in Jefferson City, Mo. (AP Photo/Julie Smith, File) **FILE**

Inside the Beltway: America gets a case of Ebola blame game

Anxiety, distrust, paranoia - beware. Sensational news coverage of Ebola is now out of quarantine, and moving at a rapid pace around the nation. The prospect of travel restrictions to and from affected African nations plus the question of U.S. preparedness is under discussion.

October 2, 2014
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014, before the House Oversight Committee as it examines details surrounding a security breach at the White House when a man climbed over a fence, sprinted across the north lawn and dash deep into the executive mansion before finally being subdued. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Inside the Beltway: The novelty of a Secret Service probe

Bored with the midterm horse races, the press frolicked through a real novelty: raking a clandestine group over the coals. Their inspiration was the bipartisan investigation of a White House security breach conducted by nine Democrats and eight Republicans, all members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and all with much on their minds.

September 30, 2014