Rep. Mike Rogers, Michael Paddock, T. Boone Pickens

In the search for cuts during the budget battle, Congress took the easy way out by looking at defense.  “It’s easy to say there’s a big budget, let’s just take a slice out of it and move on,” says Congressman Mike Rogers, of Michigan’s 8th district.  However, if we gut the military, he warns, we will suffer the same consequences of the lack of preparedness for North Korea, and both World Wars.  Rep. Rogers, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, joins Frank to discuss these cuts to national security, as well as his efforts to combat Bioterrorism.  Rogers details Project Bio Shield, a bill he introduced to create funding to stockpile vaccines in the case of a bioterror attack, one we are currently ill prepared for.  He also sounds the alarm against Iran’s nuclear ambitions, one he has been ringing since 2004.  “Imagine a regime that is a state-sponsor of terror… now gets the cover of nuclear weapons,” he says, expressing the need to deter this danger, one the Obama Administration continues to ignore.

Next, Michael Paddock, CEO of Grants Office and columnist for Homeland Security Today, discusses the neglect of focus on Homeland Security Prevention programs for local law enforcement.  Since the death of Osama Bin Laden the public perception is that the War on Terror is over.  However, Paddock explains that all the vulnerabilities facing the nation after 9/11 continue to threaten the United States.  He stresses the importance of providing resources to train localities for potential attacks, as it is local police and fire departments that will necessarily be on the front lines if a terrorist strikes.  Paddock also describes the Department of Homeland Security’s lack of strategy for the various threats percolating above and below the surface, as Janet Napolitano seems to be “throwing all the spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks.”

Finally, T. Boone Pickens, oil savant and entrepreneur extraordinaire, joins Frank for two segments to discuss the irrationality of importing oil from the Middle East.  In the late 1940s and 1950s, buying oil from the Middle East was practical given its affordability in the free market system.  However, in modern times, with the introduction of OPEC, it is irrational to import oil from our enemies at much higher prices disconnected from the free market.   That is why there is cause for the “T. Boone Pickens Plan” that aims at making the U.S. energy independent, and the oilman personally explains today on Secure Freedom Radio.