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Jennifer Harper

Jennifer Harper

jharper@washingtontimes.com

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

Articles by Jennifer Harper

White House press secretary Jay Carney says airline delays "are a result of the sequester that Republicans insisted take place."

Inside the Beltway: Hail to the shoes

Fifteen senators have a message for President Obama: The Defense Department spends $150 million a year on athletic shoes for our armed forces. Please makes sure that footwear is made in America, huh?

April 23, 2013
The Washington Times' building on New York Avenue in Washington, D.C. (The Washington Times) **FILE**

The Washington Times garners 14 Virginia press awards

The Washington Times took home 14 awards from the Virginia Press Association in reporting, photography, illustration and multimedia categories, including a best-in-show recognition for investigative reporting on the hiring practices of the District of Columbia government.

April 22, 2013
"Despite the promises made by President Obama Obamacare is causing health insurance premiums to rise," says Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican. A bill he has introduced "would bring much-needed transparency to the onslaught of higher costs families will be facing."

Inside the Beltway: Network silence

During the week that found America coping with the Boston Marathon terrorist attack and a deadly factory explosion, the broadcast networks remained in biased business-as-usual mode.

April 22, 2013
Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, will dedicate the George W. Bush Presidential Center, complete with rose garden, in Dallas on Thursday. President Obama will be among the guests.

Inside the Beltway: W = Green

Behold, some Earth Day news of a different sort. Recall that while in office, President George W. Bush relished his time outdoors in the Lone Star State, and he drew much derision from the liberal press for his habit of clearing out brush on his ranch, by hand, the old-fashioned way. Mr. Bush's basic penchant for earthy fare is still active. Very active, in fact.

April 21, 2013
Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Incubating immigration

It's one big baby: 844 pages of immigration reform legislation is now incubating on Capitol Hill, tended by Sen. Marco Rubio and seven other nervous parents. The so-called Gang of Eight senators who wrote the bill is assuring press, public, advocates and each other that they won't rush the bill along without fair hearings, or shroud it in mystery. Critics, though, aren't buying it.

April 18, 2013
** FILE ** Disgraced former Gov. Mark Sanford, once poised to run as a Republican favorite in the race for South Carolina's vacant U.S. House seat, has hit some speed bumps on the campaign trail. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Stalwart Americans

"As a result of the Boston Marathon bombings, will you change the way you lead your everyday life?" asks a Fox News poll. The answer: 81 percent said "no."

April 17, 2013
Looking back at the 2012 election, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus concluded, "Our message was weak, our ground game was insufficient, we weren't inclusive, we were behind in both data and digital, our primary and debate process needed improvement." (CBS News via Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Please hurry up, GOP

The persistent, noisy refrain that the Republican Party is "out of touch" with mainstream America continues. The phrase and its many variants have been repeated in public opinion polls and throughout the liberal media from the moment Mitt Romney solemnly waved goodbye from the presidential campaign trail. The Grand Old Party has taken the insults, but gotten the message.

April 16, 2013
Dennis Rodman recently traveled to North Korea to spend time with dictator Kim Jong-un. The former basketball star now reports he plans a return visit in August.

Inside the Beltway: The state of diplomacy

With much ado and lots of press, Dennis Rodman recently journeyed to North Korea and spent time with the nation's saber-rattling dictator Kim Jong-un.

April 15, 2013
** FILE ** Herman Cain.

Inside the Beltway: The 9 percent

The press has amplified 1 percent, 99 percent and 47 percent in recent days as a succinct measure of political culture and public opinion. Here is a fourth measurement to add to the collection: 9 percent. That is the number of Republicans who approve of Congress, this according to Gallup. Things are pretty tepid elsewhere: 15 percent of Americans overall and 17 percent of Democrats give the lawmakers a thumbs-up.

April 14, 2013
Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens was killed Sept. 11 during an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: What about Benghazi?

"The American people continue to demand truth and accountability for this tragedy. To date, sadly, they have received neither," says a group of 24 conservative heavyweights in an open letter to Congress, urging members to support House Resolution 36, which would create a select committee to investigate the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

April 11, 2013
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Don Carlos Faith Jr. (U.S. Army Photo)

Inside the Beltway: Faith is found

Army Lt. Col. Don Carlos Faith Jr. will be buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery 62 years after he was killed on a North Korean battlefield.

April 10, 2013
** FILE ** Republican candidate for President Ronald Reagan, left, and his running mate George H.W. Bush answer questions during a press conference Friday, July 26, 1980. (AP Photo/Wally Fong)

Inside the Beltway: Reagan wins — again

America still loves the 1980s and Ronald Reagan, say producers of an upcoming National Geographic Channel miniseries on the decade. And Americans would still vote for Reagan.

April 9, 2013
Gov. Jerry Brown is headed to China to drum up business for California. His entourage includes 90 officials and friends who ponied up $10,000 for the weeklong trip.

Inside the Beltway: A tale of two Thatchers

There were some distinct shortcomings in press coverage marking the death of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. "This was a women who changed the world. And here we get journalists who are talking about her purse, her hairstyle or whether she flirted with Ronald Reagan. This treatment really is noting more than lazy shorthand, if not a complete intellectual deficit," historian and Reagan biographer Craig Shirley tells Inside the Beltway.

April 8, 2013
(United States Marine Corps)

Marines welcome new mascot: Pfc. Chesty XIV will carry on a proud tradition

He wears his uniform beautifully, and he's got undeniable charisma. That would be Pfc. Chesty XIV, a young English bulldog who made his first official appearance as a U.S. Marine when he received his eagle, globe and anchor emblems in a ceremony Monday at Marine Barracks in Southeast Washington.

April 8, 2013
The aggressive new National Republican Congressional Committee website is meant to take on the Democratic political machine with some newfound teeth. The webmaster is Gerrit Lansing, formerly on the staff of Rep. Paul Ryan. (Republican National Committee)

Inside the Beltway: The first volley

"America: Taking it back starts now" heralds the newly reinvented National Republican Congressional Committee website, which jolted to life Saturday and is an aggressive poke at a bullying Democratic presence that now commands much voter attention online.

April 7, 2013
HBO is moving forward with plans to produce a dramatic movie based on the life of Mikhail Gorbachev, with the former Soviet Union president collaborating as a consultant.

Inside the Beltway: GOP not going to pot

The old hippies would be pleased. A new Pew Research Center survey heralds this headline: "For the first time in more than four decades of polling on the issue, a majority of Americans favor legalizing the use of marijuana. A new national survey finds that 52 percent say that the use of marijuana should be made legal." And as the old hippies would say, "groovy."

April 4, 2013
"The science on climate change is in, the debate is over and the time for action is now," says Arnold Schwarzenegger, the newest celebrity climate alarmist.

Inside the Beltway: The Climatenator

Celebrity climate alarmist Al Gore has some competition. Arnold Schwarzenegger has joined the ranks of high-profile folks eager to warn the world about global warming.

April 3, 2013

AP banishes ‘illegal immigrant’

"It's 'illegal immigrant' no more" says The Associated Press, which banished the phrase from its usage guide on Tuesday — the latest stylistic edict for journalists who have juggled such terms as "undocumented worker" or "illegal alien," its politically incorrect variant.

April 2, 2013
After 75 years, Scotland will return to Mount Vernon letters written by "His Excellency, George Washington."

Inside the Beltway: Aiming at the NRA

There already is swift, emotionally charged reaction to a National Rifle Association school-security report that recommends at least one armed guard in every school in the nation. Vilification is afoot.

April 2, 2013
"Wanted: Ted or Alive," a reality-based miniseries hosted by Ted Nugent on Monday, is the No. 1 show in its time period among midsize cable networks. (Provided by Ted Nugent)

Inside the Beltway: Inflexible spendthrifts

"As Republican leaders openly scrutinize their party after a 2012 election that was disappointing for them, rank-and-file Republicans, independents and Democrats voice the same primary criticism of the GOP: it is 'too inflexible' or 'unwilling to compromise,'" says Gallup analyst Lydia Saad.

April 1, 2013