president obama said today at the victory automakers are turning a profit and that an agreement has been made to sell the remaining stake of chrysler. he spoke to workers at a chrysler plant in toledo ohio. this is 20 minutes. >> ladies and gentlemen, to introduce the president of the united states, please welcome jill. [cheering] [applause] >> good afternoon. [cheering]

- a chrysler employs heat for 17 years. i'm a second-generation worker. my mom retired from here after 30 years of service. she has provided for me and my family growing up in toledo. like many of you i am a parent, my husband chris who also works here and i have two beautiful children, janeth uzi and carter who is three and in may of 2009 when chrysler announced the bankruptcy and closed the door, things did not look good. my family's future became on certain. we rely on this company for our livelihood. many thoughts were running through my head. would we be able to keep our home and stay in toledo? what we have health care? what we be able to send our children to college and give them a better future? what we even get a better opportunity to retire? debt as there is overwhelming at times while we waited for some words of hope.

after several months of on certainty the news came of government loans and a partnership that would give chrysler the opportunity to reorganize. since adopting the quote class manufacturing principal, the outlook for our future is must better. now exactly two years later i am proud to be part of this company that has achieved so much and has shown the president the chance that he took on chrysler was a good one. if not for the president -- if not for president obama's decision, americas's ogle industry would have been at risk and good paying jobs would have been lost we would not be here today without his commitment to protecting those things. on behalf of the hard-working men and women here at toledo jeep it is my honor and

privilege to welcome fell one man who put his faith and belief in the workers to save chrysler, our president, barack obama. [cheering] >> thank you, everybody. [cheering] thank you. thank you. thank you, everybody. thank you, everybody. please come have a seat. it is good to be back in toledo. [cheering] it is good to be with all of you. now for those of you who i met up close, i just want you to

know that i stopped by rudy's luft -- [laughter] had two hot dogs, two chili dogs with onions. so i've been looking for a mint backstage. [laughter] it tasted pretty good going it is wonderful to see you. we have got some outstanding public servants who are here who have been working hard on behalf of working america their entire career. one of the finest center as i know of, senator sherrod brown is in the house. [cheering] congresswoman marcy kaptur is in-house. [applause] your mayor is in the house. give them a big round of applause. [applause] i just took a short tour of the

plant and watched some of you putting the finishing touches on the wrangler. as somebody reminded me i need to call it the iconic wrangler. and that's appropriate because when you think about what rangel has always symbolized, it symbolizes freedom, and venture, hitting the open road, never looking back, which is why malia and sosha will never buy one and tell me the figure 35. i don't want any adventure for them. [laughter] i want to thank jill for the kind introduction. somebody asked jeal to describe herself in three words or less, and she said hard-working. hard working. and her entire family agreed.

so, she's with the right team here at this plant because i know there are a lot of hard-working people here. [cheering] and i am proud of all of you. jill was born and raised right here in toledo. her mother retired from the plant. her stepfather retired from the plant. her uncle still works of the plant and she met her husband at this plant. i don't think her story is unique. i am sure there are a lot of you with similar stories, previous generations working for chrysler. and this plant or the earlier plan to that i guess is still right down the road is an

economic bloc of the community. you depend on it and so do thousands of americans. it treacly supports 3,000 other jobs with parts, manufacturing's, all across america. axles from kentucky, tie years from tennessee and the plant in directly supports hundreds of other jobs right here in toledo. after all, without you, could eat at rudy's or by all of those cold one sat zingers? [cheering] [applause] >> that's the crew who right there. [laughter] [applause] all right. what would it be -- what would

life be like here in toledo if you didn't make these cars? now two years ago became pretty close to finding out. we were still near the bottom of a vicious recession -- the worst that we have seen in our lifetimes -- and ultimately, that recession cost 8 million jobs. and at this industry particularly hard. so in the year before i took office, this industry lost more than 400,000 jobs. in the span of a few months, one in five american autoworkers got a pink slip. and to great american companies, chrysler and gm, stood on the brink of liquidation. now, we had a few options. we could have followed the status quo and kept the auto makers on life-support by just giving them tens of billions of dollars of taxpayers' money but

never really dealing with the structural issues at these plants but that would have just kicked the problem down the road. or we could have done what a lot of folks in washington thought we should do, and that is nothing because just let a u.s. auto makers dillinger and uncontrolled free fall, and that would have triggered a cascade of damage all across the country. if we let chrysler and gm failed plants like this would shut down and dealers and suppliers across the country would have shriveled up, then ford and all other automakers could fail, too because they wouldn't have the suppliers the need. by the time the dominoes stop falling, more than a million jobs in countless communities and the industry that helps build america's middle class, for generations wouldn't have been around any more. so in the middle of a deep recession, that would have been

a brutal and irreversible shock to the economy and the future of millions of americans. so we have refused to let that happen. i didn't run for president to get into the auto business. i've got more than enough to do. i ran for president because too many americans felt their dreams slipping away from them. that core idea of america that if you work hard, if you do right and are responsible, then you can leave a better life and the most important a better life for your kids and that american dream felt like it was getting further and further of reach. folks were working harder for less, wages were flat while the cost of everything from health care to groceries kept on going up. and as if things were not hard enough, the bottom fell out of the economy in the closing weeks of the campaign back in 2008. so life got that much harder.

i wanted your body to understand our task hasn't just been to recover from the recession. our task has been to rebuild the future of mr. conquer foundation than we had before to make sure that you can see your income and savings rise again and retire with security and respect again and opened doors of opportunity for your kids again and we can live out the american dream again. that's what we are fighting for. [cheering] that's what we are fighting for. [applause] that's what drives me every day as a step in the oval office. that's why we stood by the american auto industry was by you. you're family's commodore jobs, your lives, your dreams.

making sure that we were doing everything possible to keep them within reach. so we decided to do more than just rescued the industry from crisis. we decided to to live for a new age. we said that if everyone involved was willing to take the tough steps to make the painful sacrifices the were needed to become competitive, that we would investing your future and the future of communities like toledo and we would have your back so i place my bet on you. i put my faith in the american workers, and i tell you what, i'm going to do that every day of the week because what you've done vindicates my face. today all three auto makers are turning a profit. that hasn't happened since 2004. today all three american automakers are gaining market share. that hasn't happened since 1995. and today i'm proud to announce

the government has been completely repaid for the investments we made under my watch by chrysler. [applause] [cheering] [applause] chrysler has repaid every dime and more of what it owes to the american taxpayer from the investment we made during my watch. and by the way, you repaid it six years ahead of schedule. [applause] [cheering] and last night we reached an agreement to sell the government's remaining interest in the company, so soon chrysler will be 100% in private hands,

faster than anybody believed. [applause] so, i couldn't be prouder of what you've done, and what's most important, all three american automakers are adding shifts and creating jobs. at the strongest rate since the 1990's. so for the auto industry has added 113,000 jobs over the past two years. in detroit chrysler added a second shift at the jefferson north plant, gm's adding a third shift at its plant for the first time ever. in indiana chrysler is investing more than 1.3 billion in its facilities and across the country gm plans to hire back every one of its laid-off workers by the end of the year.

every single one. and then makes a difference for everyone who depends on this industry. the company is like a small precision tooling manufacturer in pennsylvania has brought back many of the employees of a leadoff two years ago. manufacturers from michigan to massachusetts are looking for new engineers to build advanced batteries or american made electric cars. and obviously zingers have your business for some time to come especially those guys over there. [applause] [laughter] so this industry back on its feet repaying its debt and gaining ground. because of you could we can say the best cars in the world are built right here in the u.s.a., right here in ohio, right in the midwest. [applause] >> each day when you clocked in, you're doing more than turning

your pay by turning out cars. george standing up for this company. you are sticking up for this way of life. you are scoring one for the home team and showing the world that the mannion to become american manufacturing and american industry is that. now i don't want to pretend like everything is solved. we've still got a long way to go. not just in this industry but in our economy, for all our friends, our neighbors who are still feeling the sting of the recession. there's nobody here who doesn't know somebody looking for work that hasn't found something yet. even though the economy is growing and it's created more than 2 million jobs over the past 15 months, we still face tough times. we still faces some challenges. this economy took a big hit.

just like if you had a bad illness or got hit by a truck, it's going to take awhile for you to amend and that's what's happened to the economy it's taking awhile to mend, and there's still some head winds coming at us. lately it's been high gas prices that cause a lot of hardship for a lot of working families then you have the economic destructively to disruptions colin the tragedy in japan. you have the instability in the middle east, which makes folks on certain. there are always going to be bumps on the road to recovery. we are going to pass through some rough terrain that even a ringing there would have a hard time with. we know that. rangler can go over anything? [laughter] but you know what, we know what

happened here. we know what's possible when we invest in workers and just as we succeeded in retooling this industry, for the new age, we've got to rebuild this whole economy for the new age so it doesn't just survive but it thrives to read these are tight fiscal times. you guys have all heard about the deficit and the debt and that the demands that we spend wisely, cut everywhere that we can. we've got to live within our means. everybody's got to do their part. middle class workers like you shouldn't be there in all the burden. you work too hard for someone to ask you to pay more so that somebody who's making millions of billions of dollars can payless. that's not right. [applause] and even though we are in tough times there's still some things

we've got to keep on doing if we are going to win the future. we can't just sit back and stop. we've got business we've got to do. we've got to make sure that our schools are educating our kids so that they can succeed. i was looking at all the gizmos and gadgets you've got at this plant here. it's a lot more complicated working, a plant than it used to be. kids have to know math and science, we've got to have a transportation and communications network that allows our businesses to compete. the best roads, bridges, airports. that anymore. you go to china, beijing, they have a fancy airport. you go to europe and they've got fancy trains. we can't let our infrastructure crumble and fall apart. we are americans and we've got

to make that investment. [applause] we've got to invest in innovation the will pave the way for future prosperity. we invented stuff the world now uses and the world now makes. we've got to keep on inventing stuff and make sure that it's made right here in america. [applause] that requires investments in basic research and basic science. so these are things that will all help america out innovate, compete, how hostile everybody else in the world to get on want america to win the future. and i want our future to be big and optimistic, not small and fearful. so we have got a lot of hard work left to do, ohio, we've got a lot of work to do. but we are going to get there and if anybody tells you

otherwise, i want you to remember the improbable turnaround that's taken place here. i want you to remember all those folks, all those voices were saying no, we can't because toledo, you showed that this was a good investment. what we fear is a reminder that in fiscal times americans dig deep, recapture the toughness that makes us who we are, builders and do worse. we never stop imagining a better future. what i see is a reminder of a character that makes us great. there are people who will forge a better future because that's what we do. what i see is an america that is resilient, that understands when we come together nobody can

stop, so i tell you what, i'm going to keep on betting on you and as long as i continue to have the privilege of being the i'm going to keep fighting alongside you for a future that is brighter for this community, for toledo, for ohio, for america. thank you. god bless you. god bless the united states of america. [applause] [cheering] thank you. ♪ [inaudible conversations] ♪

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next, a discussion on the debate of raising the debt ceiling and proposed efforts to cut the federal deficit. congressman charlie rangel of new york was a guest on this morning's washington journal. this is 30 minutes. co >> host: new york congressmanonm charlie rangel of new york thene ways and means committee and joint committee on taxation back at the table this morning. >> it's good to be here again. i wanted to get your take on what happened at the white house yesterday in the meeting between the democrats and the president on the debyet ceiling. what was the message? >> guest: it was a real solid ra communication that we recognized that we had a very serious problem the we were not getting much cooperation from slashas te insisting on destroying the medicare program.

and, of course, older americans are very concerned. they have no clue about what the substitute would be. we received assurances from the president that the social network of our great country will not be destroyed in order to balance the budget. there were the assurances that we wanted, and this was the confidence that we gave to our president. host: medicare trustees says at the system is set to go bankrupt even earlier than predicted. how is it possible to preserve medicare as it is structured right now? guest: i think we have to take a look back a second. if we do not deal with this immediate problem, if we do not worry about it now, we do not have to worry about what will happen with medicare. the president of the united

states took into consideration every aspect. experts were brought in from all over. medicare, and the protection of medicare, the expansion of medicare was a key part of the program. $500 billion of duplication was provided. even more important than that was the fact that the whole idea of bringing down the cost of medicare is to make certain that, one, which prevent people from getting sick, and two, the way we reimburse providers is based on the quality and the value of the service that they have given. that is what the president's medical program is about, including medicaid and medicare. host: some people argue that as long as you have a fee to serve

as model, those costs will escalate because there is nothing to clamp down the provider from ordering tests or whatever. how you keep the costs of the medicare program and medicaid from escalating and costing more to the taxpayer over time? guest: we have had several pilot projects. if there is something that the democratic majority missed, if there is something in the plan that does not answer the question specifically that you are asking, it would seem to be the majority should be able to say let's fix that. but if i remember the testimony that some of these committees had in the house, how do you restrict over-building or preserve the quality of care and avoid people sending patients are around in order to increase the amount of money that they get, as long as you going to

have fee for service, their income has to be based on the number of procedures as they call it they give to a p atient. keeping patients well will help fiscally. if hospitals new, there was something wrong with that picture, they give you ideas of what they can do to avoid the repetition of the services that are not needed, give it a try. we have to give it a try. the testimony is there. i must say that the questions should be asked -- i am just saying you are going to destroy obamacare. if you come into office saying this is the last time we are going to hear from the president, our mission is to destroy him -- here we are now

in may, we are not even talking about jobs. everything we are talking about is dismantling services to people and avoiding increasing revenues at any cost. it is mad. it is insane for intelligent people lot to be able to discuss what the solution has to be. what is it? reduce spending and borrowing and raise the revenue in order to bring some sanity to this great country moving forward. host: so for you, there is a twin description. guest: there is no vested political interest in this. all they are concerned about is our country survives with credibility fiscally, and sick people get the basic care that they deserve and work so hard for in this country. host: but the economists do not

get a vote. that is why it is important to understand your view. guest: i get to vote. it reminds me how many people are out there that really do not know what this vote is all about. i do not think there are a lot of americans going to sleep at night wondering if we are going to raise the debt ceiling. especially the jobless people, i do not think they are concerned about whether or not we will have a default on obligations close to $15 trillion. it seems to me there is a group of people out there that do not vote who have a massive influence on how we vote, and i am talking about our spiritual leaders. you may say that is a heck of a reach for a politician, but i do not think so. there is nothing we are talking about in this debate that is not very true in nature. i would just like to believe

that we are talking about the miracle of raising a child. we should protect that child's life in order to become an adult .riti you have to respect the outlets. you are not supposed to cut health care away from them. if you talk about preserving what god and nature has given to us to have an environment to feed people and to have pure water, these are the things to me that, if we could hear from our religious leaders and say we are now in getting involved in politics, but you have a basic obligation, the human side, and that is not just the united states of america. i think the whole world depends on what we do. host: we have been waiting all morning for the new jobless numbers. here they are. employers added 54,000 jobs in

may, the fewest in eight months. the unemployment rate has risen to 9.1%. do you have a reaction? guest: the longer people believe that we have no clue about what we are doing and how we are going to get there, the longer people have invested in the united states of america believe that it is possible that the ceiling might fall on us, the less likely they are to make investments. this is true of wall street that has had the ability to raise a trillion dollars but yet they have not releasing the need to invest to create the jobs that are necessary. it is a vicious circle. we have to have people working. we have to concentrate on jobs. we have to have people have confidence in our market so our smaller businesses can have the ability to hire people.

if they are not hired, then they are not buying, and this thing gets worse. i think we owe it to the investors of the united states to bring a more positive look that politicians are more concerned about the welfare of citizens then they are of who is going to win the political battle. this has been forecast. the president and economists have said it is going to get worse before it gets better. we have a rough problem, and both of us have to give. we are not going to be irresponsible and reckless and allowed this thing to get worse. a host: i am anxious to get callers. let me take a couple calls. this is your first visit back since your ethics procedure. i would like you to talk about that after a couple of calls about what you would like people to understand about that

experience. george, go ahead please. caller: good morning. i am concerned that when you refer to small businesses in light of the economy the way it is now, we are talking about taxes. i think both the democratic party and the republican party needs to work together to see how taxes are reduced across the board. period. no question about it. anything that will bring this economy it to the brink of disaster, which is a continued spending and waste in government -- i appreciate your position because a lot of folks that become part of the government and were there for many years forget about making payroll like some of us do. there is no bank loan and us money, so we have to raise our own capital, save it, and use it to hire people. we have to spend our own money in order to fund our businesses.

we get taxes from our first year of business, you take 30 percent out, where do we put that money back into our business is so that we can find it to keep growing. host: what kind of small business do you have? caller: it is a technology business. guest: we need you more than ever to maintain that our leadership in the world. technology is where that investment has to be. to have small businesses and encouraging people to come in at what level they to come in is where america has been in the past. no one can challenge the fact that we can and should reduce the rate of taxes that we have on individuals as well as corporations. we talk about it. we had hearings yesterday at the ways and means committee and everyone agreed that 35% is too

high and we cannot compete with people who continue to do that. but the same token, they agreed to in the tax code, there are trillions of dollars of waste that are there, preferential treatment that was given to given to oilntives to give a companies and yet we are not even asking for a fairer tax. taxes under the corporate structure are lower than they have ever been since the 1950's. if we reformed the system, we could encourage small businesses, the heart of our recovery -- we cannot wait for the multinational corporations to bring that money back from overseas and create jobs here rather than abroad, but we can give incentives to provide for small business to get health insurance and to provide it for their workers, to appreciate

expenditures that they make, and provide every incentive, because the heart of america's economy is not big business. it is small business. it has to be people that are working to be able to buy the goods and services that you have it. tax reform, tax reform, tax reform. if you eliminate the unnecessary credits and waivers and deductions and preferential treatment, we can get to a rate that will allow you to be competitive. everyone agrees. host: the next call is from texas. walter is a democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. this is the second time i have gotten in. i think a lot of these problems are the president's problems. i am a democrat saying that. the president had the

opportunity to get out of afghanistan when he did not have a partner. he had a chance to say, listen, i am going to stand -- i will extend the tax cut for people making less than $250,000, and he did not stand on that. he led them all go through. he couldn't let them expire -- he could have let them expire. he did not do that. this all could have been avoided had he just took a stand and had some backbone. i am just disgusted. thank you. guest: i do not blame you. i think the whole country was disgusted. i do not think this is a time that we can say what would have been. if we did not get involved in vietnam, if bush did not take us into iraq, if we were not in afghanistan, if we did not have

these ridiculous tax reductions, we would not have the deficit. if the wars that bush started were put on budget, we would not have had to go to china at to borrow the money. you can blame who you want. but what do we have to do about it to fix it now? now is the time to come to get there and make certain that we are strong enough to be able to have debates as to whether or not we should pull out of afghanistan. i do not think we should have been there in the first place, but that is not going to help us resolve the problems that we are facing today. host: someone on twitter asks the following question. guest: they told us that if we were to consider reducing the corporate rate to allow them to be more competitive, that

instead of keeping the money overseas where they do not have to pay american taxes, that it would be willing to invest in the united states of america. they said by investing in the united states at a high corporate rate, they actually lose money. the full committee, republicans and democrats, a reformation of the system. everyone asked the question -- if we reduced the rates and closed the loopholes, would you accept that these loopholes be closed and not look at it as a tax increase for people who do not pay their fair share cholesteric they said that they would. the president has to put his foot to the fire. we save money. we have a more equitable distribution of the burden of government, and there is no question that the tax structure

now encourages our multinational companies to invest overseas and create jobs overseas rather than having the jobs right here in the united states of america. host: our next call is going to come from new york city. i would like you to talk about your own ethics situation in congress which is centered around your own payment of taxes. what is the message that you want to send to them about that experience? guest: that the tax code is too damn complicated. the truth of the matter is it was a political time of the year where you could take a member of 40 years with legislative experience, not a blemish on his record that served his country well, say that he committed no crimes, no act of corruption, no self in richmond, but he violated the house rules. as a result of that, the timing

means we have to show him that we mean business. at the end of the day, i think that what you learn from it is, one, never ask to be investigated for 20 years as i did, two, a small piece of property that i had a foreign country and did not pay taxes on it -- actually, taxes were paid each and every month and each and every year. they were paid to the government in the dominican republic. i did not receive any income. whatever in, was received went to reduce the mortgage that was there. had my accountant been more attendant, i would've had no tax liability at all in the estate of america. people like to say that i was convicted of 11 counts of violating rules.

charlie rangel trying to raise money to help minorities in the city college of new york to be able to compete intellectually and academically and having a school that would train them for public service. to be able to make a contribution back to this great country. when they looked at it, they said did you do this on official stationery? i thought what was doing was official. two, did you not put stamps on this postage? i said no. it is official. why should i? did you get other people to help you in the office? of course i did. i thought it was official. anyone would have to tell you that it is totally unfair to take one event n to stretch it

to cover eight. at the last day, by the end up with a new attorney. they came up with a new sink in the ethics committee and said we do not have to bring witnesses for any of this. they had what they call summary judgment. two and a half days without a witness and what people were saying, and the record indicates we have to get rid of charlie rangel before this congress concludes. due process was never a consideration of what happened to me. i have written a book, and quite frankly, that is kept me going to such an extent that nothing has happened in my life as terrible as what happened in 1950. since that time, it is not just the fact that my life was saved or speared, but have had a

contributions to the ways and means committee, a public servant, reelected by my constituents, and 80% victory after the incidents occurred. and on your program, which clearly indicates i still have a contribution to make it to the congress and to the country. it was a bad experience. based on my life, i really have not had a bad day since. host: a very quick, and for you -- a very quick comment for you. how is your working relationship with your colleagues? guest: extraordinary. as a matter of fact, i would really encourage those people who know any member of congress ask what do you really think about charlie rangel. it is very moving the number of my republican and democratic friends who wished that this would never have happened.

a waiver, being a political climate, they did not want to be in a position to explain their support for me for fear that it may be misconceived as not being the highest ethical standards. i want to make it abundantly clear. those of us to get involved in the public and tell them we expect to be treated on a higher ethical standard than most people -- i do not think it is plain to say that you have just been on treated fairly. the record will have to speak for itself, and the record is there. i committed no crime. i was not trying to enrich myself. i violated no rules intentionally. it happened at the wrong time, and they brought it up without a hearing. they did have a hearing, except that i was not there. host: let's get back to your telephone calls. new york city, thank you for waiting. you are on the air.

caller: thank you very much. every time i hear about medicare,i blow up. the republicans -- paul ryan and his republicans love it. they don't give a damn about people. i live in new york. you change plans every year for medicare. you give a barrage of all different plans coming in. you can go to a diner and it will tell you about the plan. ok. i don't go. i have been told by various administrative administrators

where i go. i have been told i have a daughter that works in it d.c., a corporate health-care lawyer, who does not deal with the medicare side, but i have heard about various things through her. i am 73. i worked until 67 and a half. i knew the plan i was going on to. a medical advantage plan. host: is the bottom line that you do not want medicare to change? is it too complicated? caller: i am sorry. i am furious. at the bottom line is, you have to be very, very highly sophisticated to do what paul ryan wants to do. he is going to give youa voucher

and you're going to opt for your -- glenn host: let me interrupt you. we want to get an answer. the current medicare system is already complicated as seniors get vouchers. guest: she is lucky that almost the entire new york city delegation agrees with her. we do believe that no one that reaches a senior age, especially at 80 years, can be shopping around with a voucher asking an insurance company to cover us when we are the people who are vulnerable. i think that the american people -- even those people who want to say they want to keep big government out of medicare -- they recognize more and more that this is an issue about americans. whether a republican, democrat, or conservative, we have to

preserve medicare as we know it. i hope that spiritual leaders would recognize that health care for infants and aged people, please, no matter what political persuasion you have, call your congressman and tell him what you honestly believe about our national responsibility to poor folks, sick folks, education, housing, shelters, and all those things that regard to the lesser of our brothers and sisters. host: the next phone call is from idaho. tim is a republican. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for your comments. number one, it just seems like, you know, all i hear is that elected officials have been complaining about social security and medicare and they say it is costing too much. it is going to bottom out.

prior to this, and they knew what was going to happen, and they did not take action against it. number two, you know, obamacare, i think it is appalling that calling it obamacare is disrespectful to our president. he is a great president. like you said, he inherited a lot of what is happening right now. i am retired military. i go to the va. while in the military, it was basically a socialized medical program. i in 61 years old. they take care of me and show me dignity and respect. you know, everybody is required to have automobile insurance. why not everybody have medical insurance? take the insurance companies and limit the amounts they can charge these people.

if they are taxed, the immediately raised their rates. they make a profit. all of these ceo's and corporations make a profit, but it is not trickling down to small businesses and the people. guest: let me thank you for the service that you have provided our country. i would hope that all veterans do not believe that they are getting good medical treatment get in touch with your congressperson because we owe them, especially those who fought for our country. let me make it abundantly clear. a social security, medicaid, and medicare expenses have nothing to do with the deficit we are facing today. it is true that we will be reducing expenditures, but that is not why wwe have this deficit. it is the fact that we went into

a war that in my opinion we should not have been involved in, where we got troops all over the world, and god knows if it was not for oil we would never have been involved in afghanistan or iraq. the whole issue as to what we are not paying off the interest on our debt is costing us -- the interest goes up the longer we have this. you are right on target. we can protect our people and make sure health care and education is out there, and we can have a fair rate of taxes if only we reform the existing system in to give confidence to the people that we borrowed money from -- investors -- to let them know that we are alive and well and have a domestic differences, but at the end of the day, we are going to be secure financially and responsible to our obligations.

host: we have about two minutes left until the house comes into session today. david is an independent. good morning. caller: thank you for your military service. you princes of politics -- look at your rings, your cufflinks. do not u -- don't you feel entitled? all of you politicians, i think, everybody ought to be voted out. you have been there too long. guest: this great constitution of hours allows you to say that. unfortunately, the community that was raised in and still live in, over 84% of them thought i was the best person that should represent them in the united states congress. i have to respect all americans. i would hope that you understand that.

but thank you for your compliments about my service. i hope to continue to serve. host: you are corn to be the last one this morning. caller: thank you for your service, mr. rangel. i just wanted to say that i agree with you, that we need to be helping the less fortunate and loving they labor. i am sure that jesus was a democrat. i am going to get some t-shirts made and then say that. i think the last election reflects one thing. the citizens united case allows to be politicians to be bought legally, and it looks to me that they got in there and bought a whole lot of freshmen, people that did not have their own minds and brains and programmed them.

we are running out of time here. what do using about the campaign finances? guest: i think is wrong. it is unfair. this is not a democrat or republican thing. it is whether or not the average american hopes and dreams that they can serve and get elected in politics without having to go through the sources mentioned by barbara. i do not want to overstate the case about spiritual leaders, but there's a lot of morality involved in what we are trying to decide today and i just hope that the silence you hear from religious leaders and not speaking out on the issues of war and peace, the economy, health, education, i hope that i do not get myself in any more trouble, but i do hope we hear from them. host: we detest speculation that we might have the first $1

billion election coming up. guest: i think we should be decent and i think we need to recognize to the rest of the world and what $1 billion can be used for. this is what every great nation should be known for, not just bring each other down politically and charge the economy $1 billion for it. host: how will you vote on libya resolutions? guest: i will be voting for the president to explain to us, which i really thought he should have before invading