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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

The "Spend a Day With President Clinton Sweepstakes" is a new fundraiser sponsored by the Arkansas-based William J. Clinton Foundation. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Gun tour countdown

As promised by the White House, President Obama will fire up Air Force One on Wednesday and journey to Colorado to "continue asking the American people to join him in calling on Congress to pass common-sense measures to reduce gun violence."

March 31, 2013
(Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: GOP + U.N. = Very little

"Republicans are much less likely to say the United Nations is doing a good job, and to believe the U.N. has a necessary role in the world, than are Democrats," points out a Gallup poll.

March 28, 2013
** FILE ** Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Obama’s ‘founding’

The talk is a call to arms — and a cultural indicator that Republicans and conservatives should note. Democrats are borrowing a page from the tea party playbook, using dramatic language and historic reference. But this message is not from heartland folk. It is a contrivance from the most loyal of President Obama's loyalists.

March 27, 2013
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker speaks at the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., on Saturday, March 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Inside the Beltway: Walker’s aggressive memoir

The recall, the demonstrations, the rogue charm? It will be on book shelves in the fall. Here comes "Unintimidated: A Governor's Story and a Nation's Challenge," penned by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. But wait. A memoir of intent such as this could equal White House aspirations.

March 26, 2013
“I do anticipate that you will see the president using the power of the bully pulpit … by traveling across the country a little bit and talking about some of these issues, including” gun control, said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Truly gun-free

News outlets have reported with much fanfare that President Obama will soon fire up Air Force One and travel around the nation in campaign mode, making his case for gun control. And in its own halting way, the White House officially confirmed this Monday during the daily press briefing, where a hefty part of the questions targeted assault weapons, background check and sales, plus gun-related violence.

March 25, 2013
Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart, who died a year ago, was “a great champion of truth, but we also know that it’s up to us to let his courage and commitment to truth inspire us to carry the torch forward,” so says Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Inside the Beltway: Lawmaker march madness

A spate of Democratic lawmakers are using March Madness to raise some campaign funds as the NCAA men's basketball tournament arrives in the nation's capital.

March 24, 2013
The American Legion has taken issue with the CBS reality show “The Amazing Race” showcasing the wreckage of a B-52 bomber shot down in Vietnam in 1972. The plane is now the centerpiece of a monument celebrating the “defeat of U.S. imperialists.” (American Legion)

Inside the Beltway: CBS is the Clueless Broadcast Network

The 2.4 million-member American Legion is mighty vexed with "The Amazing Race" after the CBS reality show featured the wreckage of a B-52 bomber shot down during the Vietnam War. The plane is now the centerpiece of a monument celebrating "defeat of U.S. imperialists."

March 21, 2013
Ideal for weary political operatives, perhaps, Death Wish Coffee has three times the caffeine as the typical brew. (Courtesy of Death Wish Coffee)

Inside the Beltway: The nose knows no more marijuana

Narcotics dogs have one less job to do in the state of Washington. Now that marijuana has become legal within the borders, many law-enforcement agencies, including the Seattle Police Department and Washington State Patrol, will no longer train their drug-sniffing canines to alert handlers to marijuana.

March 20, 2013
The insignia of the Air Force’s 36th Wing at Anderson Air Force Base in Guam reveals the prevailing sentiment for the host unit of B-52 training flights over Korea.

Inside the Beltway: Shalom, Mr. President

The press already has billed President Obama's first jaunt to Israel since entering office as yet another charm offensive, a "symbolic visit" or simply a photo op. The White House does not appear to be festooning the four-day trip with any fancy predictions either.

March 19, 2013
“Rather than seeking to grow and mobilize the energetic pro-life majority, the GOP has allowed itself to operate solely on the defensive,” says Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List. (Courtesy of the Susan B. Anthony List)

Inside the Beltway: Apres-Priebus

Alas, the Grand Old Party needs grand old changing. So says Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who is convinced the weary GOP needs a fancy new identity, as outlined in the "Growth and Opportunity Project" study released with much ado Monday.

March 18, 2013
CNN’s “The Lead,” hosted by former ABC News correspondent Jake Tapper, debuts Monday. “Hopefully, people will be left with the impression that I ask tough but fair questions,” he said. (CNN)

Inside the Beltway: Jake Tapper takes the lead

Broadcast debut of note Monday: that would be CNN's "The Lead," showcasing the he-man talents of Jake Tapper, who has managed to sidestep the land mines of broadcast to emerge with his own show, credibility intact.

March 17, 2013
Ian "Rooster" Jacobson (left), a student at the University of Texas whose multicolored mohawk attracted much attention at the Conservative Political Action Conference over the weekend, stands with Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, at a recent campaign event. (Photo courtesy of Ian Jacobson)

CPAC 2013: Conservative youth ready to rumble

The CPAC crowd reaffirmed its heroes with gusto: God, Ronald Reagan, the late Andrew Breitbart, Barry Goldwater, the Founding Fathers, William F. Buckley Jr., Sen. Rand Paul and a new entry to the traditional roster — the young.

March 17, 2013
“It’s going great so far,” American Conservative Union Chairman Al Cardenas says of the start of this week’s CPAC gathering in Prince George’s County. “I’d rate it a 9.5 right now. Pretty good for the first day of the festivities.” (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: CPAC world

Old Glory is a presence at the Conservative Political Action Conference. There are four immense American flags surrounding the main stage where all things CPAC transpire. There's some magic here of the Reagan variety.

March 14, 2013
Former Rep. Allen B. West is among the speakers taking the stage early Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: The dawn of CPAC

One thing's for sure about the Conservative Political Action Conference, which begins Thursday. It starts bright and early at 8 a.m. sharp, and on a note of traditional patriotism and respectful gravitas, countering critics at Politico who already have declared that "CPAC muddle mirrors GOP mess," and deemed the event a "carnival."

March 13, 2013
The One America News Network van in front of the Washington Times office in Washington.

The Washington Times extending reach with cable network

Herring Broadcasting, owner of the Wealth TV network, and The Washington Times announced Thursday that they have joined in a strategic partnership to create a new national cable news network called One America News, set to debut nationwide this summer.

March 13, 2013
New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg could have some union-related trouble involving the Teamsters. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Inside the Beltway: The Koch brothers’ doozy

"A doozy. A bombshell. It's a doozy wrapped in a bombshell exploding inside a Drudge siren." And so reads the headline from the L.A. Weekly, the West Coast insider publication that first broke news that Charles and David Koch — dutifully described as "infamous right-wing billionaires" — were interested in buying The Los Angeles Times, along with other media properties from the bankrupt Tribune Co. Nothing has been confirmed, but the idea already has gotten the press in a dither. A sampling of speculations that quickly emerged:

March 12, 2013
“Rumsfeld’s Rules: Leadership Lessons in Business, Politics, War, and Life,” a book from former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, is set to be published in mid-May.

Inside the Beltway: Obama’s elusive victory

The Obama administration is not necessarily winning the sequester game, despite blaming Republicans for the nation's economic woes, employing nimble rhetoric and staging melodramatic public events. Many Americans are not buying the buoyant White House talking points: a strong plurality of likely voters believe economic conditions in the U.S. are worsening, and the federal spending cuts will only compound the problem. So says a new poll from The Hill.

March 11, 2013
Maryland state Sen. J.B. Jennings has introduced “straightforward” legislation to address overreaction from officials if children playfully reference guns in school.

Inside the Beltway: Maryland senator’s bill to counter punishment for gun images in schools

Young children have been suspended recently from the nation's public schools for brandishing a toy bubble-blowing gun, for pointing their fingers in a gunlike matter or for mentioning a toy Nerf gun in casual conversation. The latest uber-caution can be found in Baltimore, where a second-grader was suspended after his teacher determined that he nibbled a strawberry Pop-Tart into a gun shape.

March 10, 2013
A rare, hand-copied draft of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address goes on public view March 22 for six weeks at the Library of Congress. (Library of Congress)

Inside the Beltway: Still crying for Rep. Paul Ryan

Republicans apparently have not forgotten the earnest face and serious economic insights of Rep. Paul Ryan. The former vice presidential hopeful bests potential 2016 presidential contender Sen. Marco Rubio and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in theoretical matchups with Vice President Joseph R. Biden and Hillary Rodham Clinton, says a new Quinnipiac University poll of registered votes. The numbers:

March 8, 2013
Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Inside the Beltway: Publicity prowess

In the fine art of strategic prattle, House Democrats are "outhustling" Republicans, grinding out more press releases than their GOP rivals.

March 6, 2013