Chad’s Morning Brief: Can You Really Be Both a Catholic and a Democrat? Texas Opens 85 MPH Highway and People Freak Out, & More

Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of October 25, 2012. Give us your feedback below and tune in to The Chad Hasty Show for these and many more topics from 8:30 to 11 am.

1. Democrats & Catholics (link)

How do Democrats who support President Obama look at their Catholic faith and believe that it all lines up? Has the modern Democratic Party betrayed the Catholic Church? Those questions have been out there for a while now, and one new group is now airing ads about it.

Matt Mackowiack who appears on The Chad Hasty Show every Monday is a spokesman for the new tax-exempt PAC, Defending Our Faith. The group will start to run ads against Democratic lawmakers that have turned their backs on the Catholic faith. According to the Daily Caller:

The tax-exempt PAC, Defending Our Faith, will run ads against Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin.

“They openly and unapologetically support a president who is persecuting religious believers and especially the Catholic Church,” said Matt Mackowiak, a spokesman for Defending Our Faith, in reference to the senators.

“Because of Obama’s actions — and those of his Democratic allies — people are asking: Can a Catholic vote Democratic? The real question is: Can any American who values religious freedom vote Democratic?” said Mackowiak.

In the ad, the group accuses Democrats of supporting policies that would make the first Catholic nominees for president cringe.

“What would Al Smith or Jack Kennedy say about a Democratic President telling Catholics of America: ‘Change your religious beliefs or I will use the federal government’s financial power to shut down your hospitals?’” the ad states.

Said Mackowiak: “Some of these Democrats like to say they disagree with the president on his order to Catholic hospitals. This is stunning political duplicity. They vote for the enabling legislation — then give themselves a tiny verbal parachute for the voters back home — and then keep the liberals in Washington happy by wholeheartedly supporting Obama for re-election.”

Thoughts?

2. Is 85 MPH Safe? (link)

Is driving 85 mph too fast and too dangerous? Some think so.

The new section of toll road provides an alternative to I-35, the congested artery that’s the spine of the Texas highway system. People who have driven between San Antonio and Austin can attest to the traffic -- it can be bumper to bumper. In addition to long haul truckers headed from the border to the interior of the U.S. and back, there are also soccer moms hopping on and off to get to Walmart and thousands of suburban commuters headed into the office.

So an alternate highway makes sense, but why 85 mph? Clearly drivers want to get where they’re going faster, and at 85 mph, the new toll road potentially cuts the drive time from Austin to San Antonio in half.

The Texas Department of Transportation says although it’s fast, the new speed limit is safe. The road was designed for it. It’s straight and through rural areas. But critics point out the Transportation Department had a financial incentive to set the speed higher.

As part of its contract with SH130 Concession Co., the company funding the new toll road, the state would receive $67 million for setting the speed limit at 80 mph and $100 million if the speed was 85 mph. Even so, Chris Lippincott, a spokesman for the company, said, “Drivers retain the ultimate responsibility for safety.”

The high speed has some concerned. Groups like the Governors Highway Safety Association point out that as speeds go up, so do fatalities.

“Speeding is a big issue where we are not making progress,” the association's Jonathan Adkins said. He said although seatbelt use is up and drunken driving is down, deaths due to speeding continue to climb. In fact, he said, 13,000 traffic deaths each year are due to speeding.

And what about the tendency to drive five to 10 miles over any posted speed limit? Does that mean cars really will be cruising closer to 100 mph?

The company points out that the state can revise its posted speed limits at any time if it turns out 85 mph is, in fact, too fast. Officers will be patrolling the new road, and Texas law enforcement sources say although it’s up to each individual officer, they can ticket drivers for going just a mile over the speed limit.

My advice? If you travel on this highway, don't go under 80 mph. It's possible that I've driven 85 mph before, and yes it's safe as long as drivers are responsible and all go the same speed limit. If someone decides to travel going 60 mph, then you will have problems.

3. Flip-Flops (link)

The President hit the campaign trail yesterday and blasted Mitt Romney on flip-flopping on issues. Then Obama did something he shouldn't have done. He challenged the press to look at videos of his statements and try to find any instances of flip-flopping.

Well, Buzzfeed did and guess what? Lots of flip-flops. Check out the link above for the video goodness.

4. Another Email (link)

The emails that have been obtained by Reuters and other news organizations over Libya should make every American upset with the Obama administration. FOX News yesterday obtained another email yesterday that was dated September 11.

Fox News has obtained an additional email sent by the State Department to diplomatic, security and military platforms about an attack on the shelter where Ambassador Chris Stevens and others were apparently hiding out during the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

The email was sent at 11:57 pm on September 11, 2012. The subject line of the email reads “Benghazi Shelter Location Under Attack CBU”

The body of the email reads as follows:

“SBU DS Command reports the current shelter location for COM personnel in Benghazi is under attack by mortar fire. There are reports of injuries to COM staff.”

Still more than a week went by and Obama and his administration were still blaming a video. The President lied to this country. There should be more outrage about this.

Other Top Stories:

Allred Met With Obama Weeks Before 'October Surprise'

North Carolina Voters Complain Ballot Was Cast for Obama, Was Supposed to be for Romney

Mother Made Call That Got Her Son Arrested

These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show. Tune in mornings 8:30-11 am on NewsTalk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard online in our podcast section after the show at kfyo.com.