Chad’s Morning Brief: Was Rick Perry on Painkillers? Obama Tells the Supreme Court What He Thinks, & More

Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of April 3, 2012. Give us your feedback below and tune in to Lubbock’s First News with Chad Hasty for these and many more topics from 6-9 am. Join Chad & Rex as they broadcast from Good Brews Coffee & Tea Lounge from 7-9am today.

1. Rick Perry and Painkillers (link)

Governor Rick Perry was pretty bad when it came to debate performances and one new eBook may shed some light on why the debates went the way they did. According to the Daily Caller, the new book claims that Perry was on painkillers to help him stand up for two straight hours. According to the Daily Caller:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry was under the influence of painkillers during televised presidential debates over the last year to help relieve severe back pain, according to a soon-to-be released eBook on the 2012 Republican race for president obtained by The Daily Caller.

“It became an open secret that he was using painkillers in sufficient dosages to keep him standing through the two-hour debates,” write the authors of “Inside the Circus.”

A source provided TheDC with an advance copy of the eBook, authored by Mike Allen and Evan Thomas. The book comes out Tuesday.

The authors imply that the painkillers may have led to a humorous incident before an October debate in New Hampshire when the “manager of a rival campaign” overheard Perry belting out the song “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” while in the bathroom.

The book doesn't allege that Perry misused the drugs or that anything was wrong with him being on the pain pills. Really, I don't blame the Governor if he was on painkillers. He just had back surgery and went on a Presidential campaign. Doctors normally tell people to take it easy for a while, not to run a campaign. Having said that, maybe it wasn't a good idea for Perry to have the surgery when he did or to even run for President this go around.

I have to be honest. After seeing Perry in those debates, I hope he was on painkillers because that was just tough to watch.

2. Lawmakers Target Gun Laws (link)

Who didn't see this one coming?

Capitol Hill lawmakers are doing more than donning hoodies on the House floor to respond to the death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin. Members of Congress are pushing new legislation calling for everything from gun control to restrictions on neighborhood watch groups.

The legislative steps in the wake of the fatal shooting face an uncertain fate. So far, they come exclusively from Democrats in the Congressional Black Caucus -- not power-wielding Republicans who would no doubt be leery of a hasty legislative response, particularly with an investigation still underway.

But the sponsors are working on the measures over spring break and plan to push them when lawmakers return later this month. They claim they're trying to prevent another killing like the one that has touched off a raging national debate about race and the justice system.

"I am tired of burying young black boys," Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., said on the House floor. Martin lived in Wilson's district.

Wilson, who organized a rally in Miami Sunday calling for an arrest in the case, is taking a well-traveled path in response to a high-profile case -- she's forming a commission.

A spokesman confirmed that Wilson plans to call for the creation of a commission to study racial disparities among black men and boys in America.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, is meanwhile working on a bill that would require neighborhood watch groups -- like the one for which shooter George Zimmerman was a volunteer -- to register.

"No one's registered," Jackson Lee spokesman Michael McQuerry told FoxNews.com.

Let's be honest. The Congressional Black Caucus only cares about black kids dying when someone of another race, or someone who looks white, kills the black kid. The Congressional Black Caucus is using the death of a black teenager to promote their agenda and it's pathetic. When has the CBC spoken out on black on black crime? It happens every day, yet they are silent. Luckily, most people see through this stunt by the CBC and any legislation they come up with will be voted down.

All over the country, people are starting to distance themselves from the defense of Trayvon Martin. Except of course the Congressional Black Caucus.

3. Obama Calls Out the Supreme Court (link)

President Obama has decided that he wants to tell the Supreme Court what he thinks about a case they are deciding.

In a rare instance of a president weighing in on a high court case in which the ruling has not yet been released, Obama suggested that the high court would be guilty of “judicial activism” if it overturned the law. He also argued that the justices should uphold the individual mandate, saying it’s a key — and constitutional — piece of the law.

“We are confident that this will be upheld because it should be upheld,” Obama said at a joint news conference at the White House with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

Later in the story the President of Mexico agreed with President Obama and said when it comes to health care the U.S. should be more like Mexico. Not sure that's what Obama wanted, someone telling the U.S. to be more like Mexico.

President Obama calling the Supreme Court "activists" is laughable. The court is deciding whether or not the law is constitutional. Not deciding to approve it because they think it should.

President Obama weighing in on the case again shows how much he doesn't care for the Separation of Powers. The President should not be lobbying the court and that's exactly what he was doing.

4. Romney's VP (link)

Who will be Romney's VP? Apparently not Nikki Haley.

I made a promise to the people of this state. And I think that promise matters. And I intend to keep it. This is what I want to do … So do I want to think about anything in the future? No.

Haley did defend the GOP against liberal charges that there is some sort of conservative “war on women” in the works. “The public likes to think that women only care about contraception,” said Haley. “We’re so much smarter and broader than that.”

Meanwhile, Romney’s choices seem to be centralizing around a few select candidates: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA), and Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH). Of these, Ryan is likely the best pick – he’s from a swing state, and has solid Republican support. He’s a policy wonk, and he gives the Romney ticket the patina of expertise it will need to compete with Obama’s broad rhetoric. Ryan endorsed Romney this week. Don’t be surprised to see him on the ticket.

The writer doesn't believe Rubio will be on the ticket or even considered. I'm not so sure about that. I think we could even see a person rise up from out of no where.

5. Dumb story of the morning (link)

Lotto fight!

The New York Post is reporting, Mirlande Wilson, an employee at a Maryland McDonald’s claims she has a winning ticket from Friday’s historic lottery jackpot. The only problem – Wilson’s coworkers at the McDonald’s allege her ticket was part of a work pool.

Wilson’s coworkers, who make little more than $7.50 an hour, say they each gave her $5 to buy tickets for the group. A list of the 15 contributors was tallied and the purchased tickets were placed in an office safe. A source also tells the paper Wilson bought the pooled tickets from a 7-Eleven in Milford Mill, where the winning lottery ticket was sold.

The owner of the McDonalds’s, Birul Desai said before the winning numbers were drawn Friday, he gave Wilson $5 to buy more tickets for the pool but those were not added to the office safe and instead went home with Wilson.

Wilson told the New York Post she did take part in the office pool but that her winning ticket came from a personal purchase. Lottery officials announced winning tickets were also sold in Illinois and Kansas.

Predictable.

6. Good Brews Good News of the Day (link)

8 year old saves friends life.

An 8-year-old girl is being called a hero after she saved her best friend's life with the Heimlich maneuver.

The two girls were recently playing at Samantha Kelley's Puyallup home when Kelley said she decided to crack some jokes.

It might have been a little too much for her best friend, who was eating a tangerine.

"I had just grabbed a movie for us to watch and I made her laugh with one of my jokes," Kelley said.

Kelley said her friend started choking and gasping for breath, she got behind her and used the lifesaving technique.

"I was just really scared, so I just did that on her the Heimlich maneuver."

Read the rest of the story at the link above!

Everyday, Good Brews Coffee & Tea Lounge brings you the Good News of the Day! Join Chad and Rex Tuesday morning at 7am at Good Brews!

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These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of Lubbock’s First News with Chad Hasty. Tune in mornings 6-9am on News/Talk 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.