America’s Funniest Home Videos

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

The "America’s Funniest Home Videos" television show became part of America’s history today, as creator and executive producer Vin Di Bona donated objects from the 20-year-old show to the National Museum of American History.

First aired in 1989, the show is celebrating its twentieth consecutive season on American television. The show, also known as AFV, has broadcast more than 400 episodes and can be seen in more than 70 countries. There are more than 15 international versions seen around the World.

“The show aired on Thanksgiving weekend in 1989 and there were blizzards on the East Coast, terrible weather in the Midwest and rainstorms on the west coast and everybody was home watching this show,” Di Bona said. “So thank you weatherman, thank you mother-nature.”

The AFV exhibit will join other T.V. artifacts, joining Seinfeld’s puffy shirt, Oscar the Grouch, Kermit the Frog and Archie and Edith’s living-room chairs from “All in the Family”.

“I called my mom and said, ‘I think there’s a good chance we might be donating to the Smithsonian.’ She said to me, ‘You know that star on the walk of fame was very nice, but this is big,’” Di Bona said.

The AFV objects to be displayed include: the camcorder used to shoot the 1989 pilot episode, the winning video from the pilot, Vin Di Bona’s personal script-book, one of the original audience voting instruments, a presentation reel used to sell the pilot to the ABC network, Vin Di Bona’s framed ticket to the first taping, an annotated script from the pilot and an original press kit for the show.

Host Tom Bergeron attributed AFV’s success to “No egos in the staff… This is a collaborative effort of very talented people who work like a finely-oiled comedy machine.”

“We try and adhere to the first rule of comedy, which is, it should be funny, and that’s what we do for a living, and that’s what makes it work for us,” Di Bona said.

The exhibit will be on display for the public in 18 and will be exhibited in the entertainment section of the museum.

ICE gets slammed at Congressional Border Issues Conference

by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

“What happens on one side of the border affects the other side. Mexico and the United States are separated by a border, but both communities share a goal of helping all of our peoples,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the 13th Annual U.S. - Mexico Congressional Border Issues Conference, where panelists gathered to talk about topics such as Comprehensive Immigration Reform, drug and weapon trafficking, and the Merida Initiative. 

Among the panelists was Geraldo Rivera, host of “Geraldo at Large” on the FOX News Channel who said that instead of sending troops to the U.S./Mexican border, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) needs to start focusing on catching criminals and stop raiding processing plants where people are just there to work. “The immigration debate in this country has been so poisoned, and it’s become so racist in many ways.... We have distorted policy so that it hurts our national security. We have a totally competent law enforcement agency to deal with these criminals,” Rivera said. Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed with Rivera saying that unnecessary ICE raids are not the American way and that they must stop.

Pelosi talked about the need for comprehensive immigration reform saying that we need it soon. “It would secure our borders, it would protect our workers, it would prohibit the exploitation of workers coming into our country, it would unite our families,” she stated. Pelosi said that she is sending Congressmen to Mexico to see how our nations can work together. President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will also be traveling to Mexico to show support. 

Rivera also expressed his support for the Dream Act, which states that undocumented young people could be eligible for a conditional path to citizenship in exchange for a mandatory two years in higher education or military service. In order for the undocumented young person to have the chance to become an American citizen, they must demonstrate good moral character to be eligible for and stay in conditional residency. Rivera said, “You want to stimulate the gross domestic product? Let’s get these Latino youngsters graduating high school.... But to take kids who are getting A’s and say they can’t get in-state tuition in college because they’re not documented, It’s preposterous, it’s un-American, it’s Anti-American.... Get Dream passed.”

Pelosi also discussed the Merida Initiative, saying that $300 million would be given to Mexico as part of the omnibus bill that was passed last week. “Every person who comes here with that determination, with that optimism, with that hope, with those family values and sense of community and spirit of faith, every person who comes here, certainly from the Hispanic community, when they come here they make America more American,” she concluded. 

Endless delay won’t get the job done

President Barack Obama spoke at a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Indiana on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.

After losing nearly 600,000 jobs in the past month alone, the President said that, “We’ve had a good debate.  Now it’s time to act.  That’s why I am calling on Congress to pass this bill immediately.  Folks here in Elkhart and across America need help right now, and they can’t afford to keep on waiting for folks in Washington to get this done.”

Some of the critics of the bill say that jobs being created will only be government jobs, but according to the President, nearly 80,000 jobs will be created in Indiana and more than 90% of those will be in the private sector.

During the question and answer session, people wanted to know where the money will be going, and the President said that a website will be created at recovery.gov which will give people a report on how the money is being spent.

The President said that “I also can’t tell you with one hundred percent certainty that everything in this plan will work exactly as we hope.  But I can tell you with complete confidence that endless delay or paralysis in Washington in the face of this crisis will bring only deepening disaster.”

The President wants tax-cuts to go to the middle class and said that, “When you give a tax break to working families they will spend it,” and “When you give it to the wealthier families they just put it away somewhere, so it’s not circulating in the economy.”

“We know that even with this plan, the road ahead won’t be easy.  This crisis has been a long time in the making, and we know that we cannot turn it around overnight.  Recovery will likely be measured in years, not weeks or months.  But we also know that our economy will be stronger for generations to come if we commit ourselves to the work that needs to be done today.  And being here in Elkhart, I am more confident than ever before that we will get where we need to be.” said President Obama.

by Suzia van Swol, Talk Radio News Service-University of New Mexico

Gingrich Discusses Fixing America the "Right" Way, Criticizes Obama

Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and current senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute of Public Policy Research (AEI), gave a speech today focused on the problems America faces domestically and his thoughts about correcting such problems.

Gingrich's speech was critical of Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic Party, and American culture in general. Gingrich expressed a desire for America's poor to learn to bring wealth into their communities for themselves, not by doing so with the benefits of government programs.

Gingrich criticized Obama's plans to improve urban education, even opining, "no one on the left is prepared to rebuild Detroit," a city the former member of Congress was particularly adamant about rebuilding.

Gingrich's plan to rebuild America focused primarily upon improving the cultural values that dominate our society today. Also, Gingrich praised former Mayor of New York City Rudy Guliani for his efforts to curtail crime in New York. Gingrich explained that American education must be reformed for our students to be able to compete with Chinese and Indian students.