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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

President Obama prepares to tee off while playing golf at Mink Meadows Golf Club on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., in August 2011. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: 600 Hours

The Government Accountability Institute has analyzed how much time President Obama actually spent in economic meetings of any kind during his first 1,257 days in office, based on the official White House calendar and the daily presidential calendar compiled by Politico. Among other things, the analysis found that Mr. Obama spent less than 4 percent of his total time in economic meetings or briefings and that there were 773 days (72 percent), excluding Sundays, in which the president had no economic meetings.

July 19, 2012
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks July 18, 2012, during a campaign event in Bowling Green, Ohio. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Big, bold Romney

The new-and-improved, less-kind, less-gentle Mitt Romney has emerged on the public's radar following his vigorous speeches in Pennsylvania and Ohio that dashed President Obama's theories on employment and the economy right onto the dais.

July 18, 2012

Inside the Beltway: Wooing Florida

After campaign visits to Ohio and Texas this week, President Obama returns to Florida. Again. When Air Force One ascends into the skies Thursday, it will be the president's third visit to the Sunshine State since June 22.

July 17, 2012
“We’re in the fight of a lifetime, and every gun owner needs to join me in going all in,” says Wayne LaPierre, vice president and CEO of the National Rifle Association in a new video salvo from the group aimed at the 2012 presidential campaign. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Rifles for Romney?

"Everything you love about America, all the freedoms our forefathers fought for. All of it is under attack by Barack Obama. But the media won't tell you that," says National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre in an new video salvo from the group aimed at the 2012 presidential campaign.

July 16, 2012
Will this year’s Republican vice presidential nominee be as buzzworthy as Sarah Palin was in 2008? Only time will tell.

Inside the Beltway: Veepapalooza

Mitt and Marco, Mitt and Bobby, Mitt and Condoleezza. Guessing when and where Mitt Romney will reveal his choice of running mate now fixates journalists, strategists and voters. It's almost as popular a pastime as trying to figure out how many golf games President Obama has played since he took office.

July 15, 2012
The SS United States was the fastest passenger liner ever built and a Cold War project. A conservancy group is looking for donors — you can "buy" it by the inch! - in hopes of resurrecting it as a self-sustaining retail and event site. (1952 photo by Nick Landiak)

Inside the Beltway: Romney wealth: Who cares?

Three fourths of the nation's voters don't care. No really. They don't. New Gallup research reveals that 75 percent of all registered voters say Mitt Romney's personal worth of some $250 million makes "no difference" to them; this includes 89 percent of Republicans, 76 percent of independents and 62 percent of Democrats.

July 12, 2012
Oscar-winning movie producer Gerald R. Molen's new film, "2016: Obama's America," is anything but what one would expect from Hollywood in an election year. (mclaughlinresearch.org)

Inside the Beltway: Choosing the dream

Can Americans discern between the "dreams" of President Obama and those of the Founding Fathers? The makers of the upcoming documentary film "2016: Obama's America" hope so. "I've got a strong desire to defend against the changes in our culture, our life, our laws, our freedom. We now have someone in office who has professed a desire for change, and this has disturbed me," producer Gerald R. Molen tells Inside the Beltway.

July 11, 2012
A new documentary examines the future of America if President Obama is elected for a second term as told by Hollywood veteran producer Gerald Molen and conservative author Dinesh D'Souza. It opens July 27. (Rocky Mountain Pictures)

Inside the Beltway: A film challenge

Here comes "2016: Obama's America," a well-funded, feature-length documentary from Gerald Molen, veteran producer of such blockbusters as "Schindler's List" and "Jurassic Park," based on Dinesh D'Souza's best-selling 2011 book, "The Roots of Obama's Rage."

July 10, 2012
**FILE** Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: It’s a sign

As much as Democratic strategists enjoy vilifying or condemning either Mitt Romney's personal wealth or the largesse of Republican donors, the Grand Old Party itself is not playing into the Democratic scenario that an ample treasure chest is somehow shameful, unsavory or "out of touch" with the American people. Why, that Republican treasure chest actually came from the American people.

July 9, 2012
On his new album, country music legend Hank Williams Jr. makes it clear he's not among the many entertainers supporting President Obama.

Inside the Beltway: Hank Williams Jr. tunes up

Country music kingpin and patriot Hank Williams Jr. continues to sing of his politics, not to mention his vision for America and its citizenry. The man's got a new album out Tuesday titled "Old School, New Rules," complete with a few lyrics that go a little something like this:

July 8, 2012
Mitt Romney, seen here in February 2002 as president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, will attend this year's London Olympics. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Romney’s Mount Olympic

As the mainstream news media ramps up reports of Republican disunity over Mitt Romney's campaign style, it's interesting to note that the nominee has been photographed multiple times recently in what could be his favorite summer wear: A navy blue casual shirt with a "Salt Lake City 2002" logo. Lucky shirt? Maybe. Reminder? Perhaps.

July 5, 2012
This holiday libation will surely offend purists, but the "Patriotic Red, White and Blue Martini" has got the color combination to truly celebrate the Fourth of July. (Hpnotiq)

Inside the Beltway: Name that festival

The American spirit of independence ensures that Fourth of July celebrations across the nation remain in the grass-roots realm, despite intense efforts by clever marketers and merchandisers to co-opt, standardize and "brand" such events.

July 3, 2012
Lt. Cdr. Rorke Denver, a Navy SEAL among the stars of the film "Act of Valor,"will speak at a Las Vegas conference for the unmanned-aircraft, or drone, industry next month. (Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment)

Inside the Beltway: Doting on Roberts

It is a case of "liberal lionization." Even Daily Beast uberanalyst Howard Kurtz notes that the media have developed a man crush on Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., framing him as a "profile in courage," and in gushing terms. But beware, there's agenda afoot, others say.

July 2, 2012
An Obama campaign T-shirt recalls an off-mic comment by Vice President Joseph R. Biden about the Affordable Care Act. (ObamaForAmerica.com)

Inside the Beltway: [Expletive]

Could President Obama's re-election campaign be overmarketed and overpackaged in the trite era of political "likability"?

July 1, 2012
With the Capitol in the background, Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks about the Supreme Court's health care ruling, Thursday, June 28, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Inside the Beltway: The long aftermath

Republicans pre-loaded rebuttals to an Obamacare win in the Supreme Court, promising to "double down" on their efforts to repeal the health care law, and insisting the ruling would bolster Mitt Romney's campaign and appeal for him. They have a point. Pollsters consistently find that a majority of Americans either don't understand the law, or are wary of its big government implications and staggering costs.

June 28, 2012

Inside the Beltway: Drooling over ruling

Journalists and pundits can't figure out if the Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare is New Year's Eve, Halloween or Armageddon. Will the moment of truth be celebration, masquerade or destruction? Everyone is poised to strike, armed with talking points, implications, prognostications and wonkish complexities of every demeanor.

June 27, 2012
Seth MacFarlane, TV's "Family Guy" creator, has funded the collection and organization of the work of Carl Sagan for donation to the Library of Congress. (Associated Press)

Library of Congress gets Sagan papers

It's not "billions and billions." It's more like 800 boxes worth. That is the sum total of the personal and scientific papers of one Carl Sagan, acquired Wednesday by the Library of Congress.

June 27, 2012
First lady Michelle Obama has given Family Circle a cookie recipe, as has Ann Romney, following a tradition going back to 1992.

Inside the Beltway: Republican diagnosis on Obamacare

Obamacare has a big date with destiny, drama and, oh yes, the Supreme Court on Thursday. The odds are good that Democrats will repeat their "false claim" that Republicans have no alternatives to President Obama's health care law. So says the Republican Study Committee, which intends to make its case not with a 2,700-page bill, but a 27-page summary. The terse outline showcases 200 pieces of health care legislation introduced in the past 18 months by members of the committee, chaired, incidentally, by Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.

June 26, 2012