>> up next charnel sardou's and increasing number of americans think they are entitled to benefits from the hard work of others. he says that the occupied movement, which started as a legitimate protest against wall street moochers has come to exemplify the way of thinking. this is just over an hour. ..

please raise your hand and then waits until our sound guy with the long who comes over near you so they can pick up sound of your question. so if you can handle that we are all good with that. wonderful card thank you great match. sure they will speak and then take your questions. we will hopefully have a lively discussion. afterwards will be at this table to assign a personalize your books. if you haven't purchased a copy already come it's available at the end of the program as well. tonight is a remarkable opportunity come a chance to see, hear and meet and not there. my staff and i worked hard to provide these opportunities for an ever-changing -- in an ever-changing, ever charged environment. if you enjoyed tonight's program could be grateful if you would mention next chapter book chapters on monday. sign up for a newsletter.

remember your locally owned independent bookstore in your community that pays its taxes, creates jobs and believes firmly in the freedom to speak one's mind. i think those are values we can all agree with. these give a warm welcome for charles sykes. [applause] >> thank you very much. i'm usually not this talk, just so you know. you know, it's usually a lot of fun when you talk about at the economic radio and the radio is instant gratification. you see some and it goes out. but the book, you write it and wait and wait and wait in a year or so after that they publish and people notice it. so i've had a chance to go around and do a number of talk shows. i haven't done any bookstore is certainly to be here. is that a political event last week, talking with legislators about this. it is the nation of teachers.

i explained that thesis of the book and one of the politicians have to reset billy sounds interesting. can i get a free copy? [laughter] i'm thinking he wasn't really getting at or maybe if you're in government long enough you're just so used to given by others peoplemoney but it just seems natural. you know, one of the first questions i get asked by like to be asked is, why features? bridgett come up that? what a weird word that would be. in fact commit the publishers in new york give me a little bit of pushback on that. they wanted something like, i don't know, a nation of freeloaders were the entitlement culture. i kind of dug in on this one. i said it's really got to be moocher because it is such an old-fashioned word. it needs to have a come back

now. i have just finished rereading ayn rand's atlas shrugged and she talks about the miniatures and the looters and i thought that it kind of captured a lot of things were going along. but also, it was appropriately pejorative in the introduction i say that if you're at a cocktail party talking with some corporate executive who is just bragging about how he got that from washington and got some special break, i don't know, it launchers taxpayer-funded loan or something like that, but if you are to respond by saying so, you're a moocher, you might ruin the party, be at lease help clarify what is going on here. i also try to define -- and i'm not going to read extensively on it, but one of the things i try to do, and really didn't set out to not make this a completely

wonky book. i tried to mix up a number of different interactive chapters of the book, including what i call the moocher checklist, which you can take home with you. i wonder if any of you. you can see, and i am moocher? the reality is a lot of us are miniatures. it's the multiplication of machine that is the name of the boat. i try to define what we mean by moocher? industry someone who believes there's always a free lunch and among all should pay for it. someone who expects others to pay to clean up their messes, someone who lays claim to something to which they are now gratefully do, summoner shifts the cost of their own stability and to others who behave responsibility as a matter of choice to take him rely on the efforts and sources of others. sony takes on for advantage of others who enrich themselves or built themselves out. someone who is the recipient of the transfer of wealth created by others without just cause a list of project developers of others and appropriate the

fruits of their enterprise without making a proportionate contribution. the money voluntary seeks to be independent of others. of course the whole question of the book is whether we've reached the tipping point, whether we've gotten to the point where more americans now or will get to the point or more americans are looking to other people to bail them out or freebies for entitlements or transfer payments. we've reached this remarkable moment in american culture where we have the heritage foundation last week said the 49.5% of americans no longer pay any federal income tax because the payroll tax that the federal income tax. last year for the first time the federal government paid out more in the form of interface, wrote a large tax for larger amounts than the federal government took in on taxes so that at the same time fewer and your americans pay and, more and more americans

are dependent on government. so a lot of the book does deal with that question. what kind of a nation deeply cometh in that we get to the point where 50, 60, 70% of the households in this country will receive more from the federal government may pay an. part of -- though sometimes when i discussed this, people want to focus on one or another. one of the points that i hope people take away from the book is that what has happened is we have multiplied forms of mooching across the board. something happened during the great bail out when you have wall street companies, aag, goldman sachs, general motors go to the federal government and say we've been reckless, greedy, irresponsible, bail us out. do not hold us responsible for decisions. because once that happens, then

the rest of the country understandably says, okay. if you get a freebie, a bailout, where's mine? i have a little chapter called the moocher's dilemma. the moocher storm as this. it is based on reality. consider the escalating temptations of the moral dilemmas of these scenarios. number one, car keys and he better left running. you take advantage of the situation drive off on the car? why or why not? number two, the grocery store gives you too much fun. you keep it? why or why not? your bank statement proves a larger balance than you believe is warranted and realized the bank is made a mistake. credited your account with too much money. you take the money records they made a mistake. number four, the government simply comes to your door with a check for disaster aid. you do nothing to deserve the

money, you suffered no damage at all. he explains to his legal and you're entitled to the cache. if you object, saying i don't need this money, so plain that if you don't accept the check, your neighbor will get a bigger check, your neighbor who is also set no damage. so what do you do? to accept the check? most people accept a check? what is your decision based on quite character, morality or just common sense? at a certain point in america, what happens if the people who play by the rules, people who work, put money in 401(k)s, try to get an education they can afford to decree that given the job, who buy a house that they could pay for, those people, what happens in simulacrum ago okay, i am a. i am a because we are rewarding and encouraging the takers rather than the makers.

what happens then not just a economics and politics of the country, but to the care for the country? i want to read one more thing and then i will open up for lively conversation although i hope you're not intimidated by the big boom. i piggyback, which i suggest people will be printed on the public or high blood pressure. my 401(k) is down 30%. my employer just cut the matchup looks like they have to work until i'm 70 years old yet i also pay for pensions for public employees. i don't have enough money to go on vacation this year but i paid my share of the federal government's $2.6 million grant to teach chinese to drink responsibly. i pay for bridges to nowhere. i drive a 1997 honda accord, but i have to pay for my neighbor is $47,000 electric car. i also built a united auto workers and contribute to my children by 29 college savings

plan reasons i don't qualify to pay for other peoples kids to go to school as well. i also pay for sociology class for instead of from a lack of social conscience that's announces the very environmental sensitivity. i exercise regularly, watch my cholesterol, pay for my own health insurance as well as co-pays and deductibles. i also pay for other peoples tonsillectomies come appendectomies and i pay taxes for poor children and now i look at the subsidized health care several million dollars not utterly, not impoverished americans. my small business just lost his unaccredited, but i paid the bill of citigroup, aig, goldman sachs whose executives get you no bonuses bigger than my entire net worth. i pay my mortgage podesta pays you bailout banks to make risky loans and yuppies who have trouble paying an hundred thousand dollar mortgages on the mansion that they bought with no

down payment that an adjustable-rate deal. i pay for groceries for my family, but i also pay millionaire farmers to not grow stuff like rice. i buy dinner for more than 42 million food stamp recipients they also pay for school lunches since other parents cannot be expected to feed their own kids. i get redmeat once a week, but i pay for urban hipsters to buy stamina whole foods. i pay my electricity and other peoples air-conditioning digital television to pay for my daughter's ballet lessons, but to develop computerized choreography programs to help create interact good progress with real-time audience interactions. probably won't be a limit to shows because i'll be working. i'm trying to save enough money case i lose my job, but i pay for more than 70 different means

tested poverty programs because i work in unsuccessful in the 10% of americans to pay more than 71% of the total federal income tax burden, top 50% of earners pay 97.11%. in other words, the bottom half of american earners theoretically 50% of the voters pay less than 3% of the federal income taxes. i pay for them. i pay property taxes, sales tax, excise tax, tax on the phone, my cable, water, state income tax, social security and medicare taxes and also help pay the bills for nearly half households are no longer pay any federal income tax. they also pay bills for the 60% to 70% of households receive more from the government than they pay. i expect their gratitude for any of this. it has been years since the term provider was a matter of societal perspective personal pride and i understand the transfer of wealth for makers to takers is seen as morally pure than the efforts of those who create wealth in the first

place. i know my role. i am the piggy bank. so that is my own personal, somewhat fictional brand, the situation you get in america and i wonder at what point do people say alright, i know i'm supposed to do these things. i know i'm supposed to play by the rules, but somehow it doesn't seem like i am being rewarded now. again, i don't want this to become just an issue about 12 for the poor. but his have been his corporate cronyism, crony capitalism and other forms of bailout has fueled this and has created this momentum because if you say yes to one group of moochers, how do you say no to the next? so i'd be glad to open this up for questions. if i don't audience there, i will say i don't audience there, but i'm guessing that i have opinions on almost everything you ask me about. and by the way, i really want to

thank you for coming out here because i am a huge fan of independent bookstores at local bookstores and i just want to say really appreciate the fact that next chapter is hosting this. it is one of the pleasures of life. don't think the american you cannot get experience of wandering deeds and looking at all of these books have been able to sit in peace to these books and i will tell you a very fond memories of this particular bookstore when i had one of my son who learn to love books, just in the other room over there when he was about as big and now he is six-foot five. he's at georgetown university. for this particular bookstore has special memories for me. so who wants to be the first person to ask a question? or should i try to pinions at random? >> says charlie, good to see. thank you for writing another courageous book. you write another tipping point and we obviously have an important election coming this

november. we are such a resilient country. we've been through a lot. how bad you think it could get if we get the election from? >> that is the $64 trillion question, isn't it quite is the pendulum model of the society that she's been back one way and come back in the country as a resilient on. the other model is going over the niagara falls model can do to keep going in a certain direction and all that so much debt which undermine to the point where you can't come back. i'm worried about it. i vote paul ryan and this book. he makes the point. this is unsustainable. look at what is happening increase in europe and you see what happens when you built the social welfare state comes to and in the end, our per capita national debt is now higher than greece. that economically, you get to a

point where you have a deck that is so large and relationship to the national economy that everything we assume about the american economy and its resilience is no longer true. what we do is kind of assume everything is okay because we are american. the world is changing. the other problem is quite frankly, i think we had the two parallel cultures in america, thank god. we have the older culture of self-reliance, independent, playing by the rules that if you want to buy a house, buy when you can actually afford. if you want to buy a car pay for it yourself. that culture side-by-side with this emerging entitlement culture, this notion that if i want something, it becomes my right. my right as you buy it for free. that culture is changing in this country you can see it in the public dialogue we have. so there is one tipping point when it comes to the economy.

there's the other tipping point when it comes to the culture. i try to be optimistic about it, but this is the real -- this is the year that if we keep going this direction, i'm not sure we can come back. the comebacker to be a very different country. >> charlie, what do you see is the role for younger people versus the majority of people who have gone through the current system and changes? i stand here at 25 years old looking at my future. what specifically can people do who don't want to be a part? >> you take a very important step that buying my book. [laughter] for which he should be congratulated. this is part of it. i wonder whether -- and i'm not completely sure that young

people understand that we are engaging right now in the greatest intergenerational transfer of wealth in human history. this is the mother of all moochers. you think about 40% of every dollar that we spend this coming from you and your kids and that's very easy. it's easy to spend money from other people. so i think the first thing is to understand how much you have a state. a lot of us in this room go okay, we know these entitlement programs are in a lot of trouble, but as long as they last long enough, we all think that. as long as the money doesn't run out before we ran out, it's going to be okay. you don't have that luxury. so part of it is that generationally you have to address the fact that i'm sorry, we baby boomers are squandering their seed corn for you guys. and i do sense that airs in terms terms of the pendulum swinging back on this a little

bit. i think that the economy is help with this, but this is one of those moments where, what we need to do is give you guys the reality check. i think we have may be to use a phrase from another book, bubble wrap the younger generation excessively, told them they are entitled to do anything they want. we saw those people that occupy wall street. it is time for a reality check, nature is going to have to go out there and achieve some pain and a half something. but hopefully one of screw things up for you by the time you get there. and i've got to tell you something. as a baby boomer, i can see this as a boomer because in terms of, the way that we celebrated ourselves and said how wonderful we were, you know, what is our great legacy going to be? the greatest generation fight world war ii, we then grew up in about a transcendent spirit

against them and then we spent all of our kids money. i mean, think about that. yes. >> and my first career delivering newspapers, shoveling snow, cutting moms, i finally got my first job at 14 years old. now i've been working ever since. so that officially makes me a. >> i hope not. >> i guess what i'm really concerned about is eating even though least bit negative that our society is not going to be successful in the upcoming elections because we have people that i willing to spend $100 million on a choo-choo train --

>> i've heard this. >> $100 million. where's all this this money coming from? >> with the school system -- >> 50% of the kids don't graduate. how can they not become moochers? are going to become moochers. i've always been about a domestic person. but you can even make it out of high school. what is your future and he was going to pay for these people to survive? >> unfortunately when you have a huge portion of american culture they don't think it's a problem because they think their programs for them. you listen to a lot of the dialogue, for example in urban areas and there is what i call misspoke the assumption of incompetence, the assumption that we can expect you to get an education and be able to manage your life. so we are going to make you

dependent. the other thing he talked about in the book is a learned helplessness dependency, where what happens after 30, 40 years of dependent the culture come you undermine the whole sense that i need to take responsibility for my life, my future, my children. you see that. you mention some spending plan. u.s. to question and we need to keep asking the question. part of the money come from? is the program so valuable that we are willing to borrow another $100 million from the chinese? a really going to mortgage this? is this so crucial that we have to go further into debt? because what we have is a total disconnect. in the miniature culture may at some point intellectually know that it is unsustainable that margaret thatcher is right and sooner or later you are out of other people's money. they think it is me, it is free and i'm going to get an feed at

this traffic get money from us -- as much in as quickly as they possibly can. everyone not of it, that is somebody else's problem. it's going to be the rich or some other group we've managed to marginalize for the future generation. that is what we're doing. we say, i will give you free stuff. don't worry about it. it is not your responsibility. we will tax somebody else and penalize somebody else. i think a lot of americans understand will go bust at some point, but the figure that's never been my problem is i'm i get my stuff. yes. >> you mentioned georgetown and i was just wondering if you're concerned at all about your son falling hundreds influence in some fashion or another of the sex starved girls that are rolled in moscow. >> i do understand the panic georgetown university have $3000

worth of sex a year. okay, i went to uw n. but you know, the story he is referring to is actually classic story. everyone on newspaper if they wish it could've gotten us into the boat. it's dishonest and georgetown law students says we have to have sex or if we have to have it a lot and you need pay for re-contraception otherwise we will go broke. but on the larger point, she really is redefining what rates are. at the chart and the boat, this whole process. i want something, therefore it becomes my need. therefore you need to transform it into a right. if it is a right, therefore it is an obligation of other people to give it to me for free. i am not questioning her right to have sex. that is her deal. i'm not questioning her rito

contraception. but she is now insisting that i want to comment it is my right and it should be free. this is the new ideology. you can apply that to one area of life after another. when you do to a point where half of americans say you know what, i want this and i want this and you are depriving me of a right if someone else doesn't pay for it, then again we have completely redefined rights comers on its abilities and obligations in this culture and i definitely am going to talk to him about that over the weekend. because he is about to head off on spring break. >> charlie, thank you for being -- [inaudible] carrying on with which are talking about, please comment on this story about georgetown 40 years ago if you had told --

[inaudible] [inaudible] >> that may be my next book. i can only cover certain things at a time. i am fascinated by the transformation of the media. just take it from the kidneys to is that we live in an age of the proliferation of media. so she had media, alternative media. we are able to get out ideas. you say you feel insignificant, but you should. they're still more of us. but we now have a way of getting a voice out that we don't -- didn't in the past. he used to be on the way if you were a conservative you would be up to see if there can riveted and describe one or two weekly

magazines would come up with every other week. now there were so many other ways of getting this out so that when your house somebody saying hey, i does there for you jeff, the mainstream media may say yes this is an example of how we need to be more of a compassionate society, there are still millions of americans who remember, hey, you are not necessarily entitled and hopefully what we can do is make it clear you're not alone, that a lot of people had the exact same reaction you had. but again, think about how profound the intellectual shift is when you have somebody this well educated and she was invited to speak at a congressional committee and the entire assumption that that was that my behavior imposes an obligation on the federal government to give me some for free so that i can continue to have unlimited consequence a consequence free sex. she said with a completely straight face. and how remarkable if you had

our decision-makers are masters in washington were saying what a wonderful role model for children. well, all right. this is a new deal. you could replace that with her lunches, free converter boxes for digital television, free cars, whatever. this whole idea that i have a right to freebies. think about how many freebies we have out there. we live in the era of freebies. cash for conquerors, wireless welfare programs, explosion of food stamps. you go off and make awful business decisions then you run into timothy geithner and ben bernanke and getting to open -- gimme the keys to the kingdom. we are living in a rather extraordinary, historic moment and she just happens to be the case this week. >> you feel that we need --

[inaudible] >> well, [inaudible] even though i use the word moochers, i don't want to be confused with that. i pick and choose on the part, although i do think her description, and john calls by the way with a cheese head. john g-golf was from wisconsin. he realized he was from wisconsin quite the pivotal scene in the book is when a fat jury decides the air going to do is change the way they get paid, they're going to pay everybody based on need, not on the basis of private entity. so it happens of course is if you want to get more money coming to become the neediest person. the work the least and you develop all kinds of ways in which are a bit them, all sorts of ways in which you are needier than everybody else. the people who work the hardest realized that week, whole day,

and working for the benefit of other people. john gall stands up and goes, okay, i am not here. i'm done, i quit. he said i'm just not going to participate in the system. the problem is when you become a country in which people do things -- the makers are working for the benefit of the takers and they feel there the are banks, whatever word i can use here, then i think what you're going to have is people saying, why should i continue to do that? why should i continue to work for the benefit of the system that not only does not respect me and reward me, but which demonizes me, confiscates money for me. so again, there's a little bit of john gall and everybody, which explains why would we keep raising the marginal rates, politicians also doesn't rise,

people do not work harder to get my money from the government and they find all kinds of ways to do that. but it's an interesting question. [inaudible] [inaudible] >> well, first of all, you need to get new friends. [laughter] no, no. this goes back to this new media. every single person out there can have a voice. you don't have to have corporate

backing of a face me via twitter to do these things. i think what you are expressing is the culprit, countercultural and maybe bit isolated. one of the things -- one of the reasons why i like writing a book like this is i want to clarify what is going on, what the issues are. because once you sort of layout that this is what is in the country and these are the ideas behind it, i think it becomes easier to realize that come you know what, we are not the problem. we are not the freaks in america. it is the people who believe that there is this endless, bottomless trough of other peoples money. so don't despair on that. but will continue to speak out, continue -- while -- [inaudible]

>> i wish i had a really easy answer for you on this one. i'm going to be giving a talk next month on the cost of economic illiteracy. one of the experiences i had been on talk radio, but also as an author, people are very, very smart. they didn't give a great deal of common sense, but when it comes to economics and financial literacy, there is a real deficit there. in part because we haven't time anyone. i wrote a book called down our kids, why kids can't read, write or do not underpin all studies about historic café in england on a map, all of which is a serious problem, but frankly pale in comparison to what people don't understand or don't know about basic finance. let's be honest, the entire credit card industries based on

people being really good at -- bad at math. not to mention politicians to realize that voters are really bad at math, what a great opportunity for us to promise them all kinds of dates that they won't even ask how we intend to pay for it. so you know, we rail against the darkness. yes, sir. >> the reason the government has a spending problem is because they haven't sent it to spend. because take food stamps as an example. 42 million people you just bought and then in the case of west virginia, everything is named after bob byrd. he builds monuments to himself in the west virginians don't get upset because the money could come from wisconsin and florida, texas, wherever. how do you legalize bribery, by info. they have incentives. have you remove that?

>> well, not so great. you take money out of their hands. that is part of the problem and that's why you make it as difficult as possible. you're absolutely right and i quote in the book. i admire thomas and fellow. he's a liberal liberal progressive writer commutes to be political writer for the "washington post." he essentially makes the exact same case we are making from the other side. he wrote a piece for the atlantic called the obama coalition. it cannot the majority by expanding these benefit programs, getting as many people by expanding government employees, the number benefit programs, the number of people get a check from the government. you get sick or get 55%, 60% of the electorate becomes dependent. under obama carry of a vast expansion of dependent into the middle class.

i probably still stands and saturn of the problem of feeding the hungry. at another probably. i got called a squished by some of the massachusetts this morning. i really don't. but once he began expanding it as widely as they have, you have to ask whether or not dependency is the goal for the course they, that they are intending to do that. and you are right. the easiest in american politics is to say, you know what, chris. i've got something for you for you. the hardest thing is to go when and if the guy that says hey, you know what, can't afford that. you can't have that. you have to pay for that yourself. you know uncle guido when he came and said he was going to take all you guys on a cruise to the caribbean and promise to office staff. i've got to tell you, uncle guido's chat just bounced. unfortunately in american politics, uncle guido so the popular guy in the guy who comes in and says the chat bounced his

bitter needy. >> in your book come you talk about health care and he asked the haitians -- [inaudible] insurance companies will provide birth control? >> i wasn't able to get to the issue because it came out before we decided that was the latest entitlement. but yes, what is about to happen without care is a dramatic expansion of looking at and what did into the government to pay for it. there's also a couple of -- i think i have a section in the book that specifically talks about what this all mean for the middle class. the middle classes in this crunch right now, with the more money you made, you can actually get to the point where you would get to keep that money the more you make, and that you are basically screwed the harder you work. when it comes to the way the health care lattice structure,

there are incentives built in there with the more money you make, the less subsidy you get for your health care premium and at a certain point, you just drop off the cliff. i don't think many people realize this. there is a pointer to make literally one more dollar, you will lose some the next $78,000. maybe for like eight or $9000. but suddenly if you are going to be having middle-class families sitting down -- that conversation does take place. i go do we really want to work harder and have a job? we really want to take a promotion? should retake over time because the more money we make, the less they get. in fact, we may lose money. we are getting very close to that. i think going back to thomas edsall, thomas edsall would say that the way you create that permanent progressive majority is to get as many people looking

to politicians to make decisions about their lives and give them benefit in this health care reform is going to exponentially increase the number pier one that goes into place, it is going to be extremely hard to unravel that. anyone who says he will be able to repeal that for five years down the road does wonders and the dynamic of american politics. we in wisconsin have a sensitive, the most dangerous place in the world to be in between a public employee in the public dross. it's kind of scary place to be. you get between people and a half care dollar, you know what that's going to be like. he's asking about my opinion of the middle east situation. do you really want to know? >> i can give you an answer, but if you think i'm an expert on that, i am not.

i may opinion it is totally screwed up, which it has been for my entire life. i'm sorry. and will be dead for the rest of my life. [inaudible] >> hermas b. is days where you wake up and think, going to talk for three and half hours. with so much material out there? >> well, for the last three years, there has been no shortage of material to talk about on any given day. on the other hand, i would be not telling you the truth i didn't say it would really be great to have one of those jobs we could get to go, i'm just going to slowly working today.

and it's going to read the paper and have coffee until 10:00 horrified to talk about the federal budget deficit one or do you think i'm just going to swallow my head. but i got to go to work everyday. i've got to do it. so there's no point in complaining about it. it pays the bills. one of the things though is i really like also been able to sit down and write a book because it's a very different in the doing of radio show. in the radio show is very spontaneous, very consumable. when you read a book, you have to really think through issues at a completely different level and i enjoy doing it. is difficult, time-consuming, and a few that are authors in the room and i know at least one other author in the room knows it's like a chronic disease every day. i can imagine every day of a term paper to do. but there's a real sense of

satisfaction. in a lot of ways we see why the right looks when you're in the radio? the book in some ways keeps me sane because it makes me think it through and then to have some good. is that true? to find that? it goes on forever and ever. i thought you would understand. yes. [inaudible] >> liberals are more intelligent because they will tell you that all the time. they are also more tolerant and compassionate except of course when they are telling you what a redneck bbq wire or something like that. well, there's a really interesting difference. i really always fascinated by the difference between

intelligence and good judgment. i have known some really cogent and sophisticated people who at the worst judgment i've ever met. have you read david hammond spoke? ea in comes the closest to describing what goes on, where it's basically almost tribal to blunt this cultural club. if you're part of this club, you share a certain set of values and you're the good people. you're the caring and compassionate people who are more sophisticated. the people aren't in the club if you dare by beginning may be wrong about that come your cast out and you don't have the secret knowledge. so it's almost like your theory telogen people, but there were certain beliefs you have to have. if you start saying the wrong thing, you become a bad person. i don't want to spend a huge amount of time, but as a former liberal i've described myself as a recovering liberal and my dad

was president of the civil liberties union in wisconsin. i first political campaign was for candidate gene mccarthy. i was actually one the chairman of the north shore young democrats. and when i was growing up, but prose for the people who were just good people. he was a sophisticated people. conservatives are mean, greedy. your prejudice. and so, my whole upbringing was part of this liberal culture. i was very comfortable until i began saying, maybe days programs don't really haul. maybe what you're seeing here with some of these urban welfare programs not only for healthy people, but destroying families, communities, destroying the fabric of the culture. maybe these ideas are having unintended consequences. then people say how did you become so mean? they say wendy ju sellout?

so we don't have the eligibility to change her mind finesse questions because of course that is more directly to your question. there's people who evaluate the program based on whether it works, whether it's a fact that or how it makes you feel. a lot of liberals i believe support these programs because it shows how compassionate and caring they are. but it shows they are the good people. they care about children and the downtrodden. when you ask them yet, but is actually improving the condition an opportunity for the children in the downtrodden? now, what is important is we care. so i became a recovering liberal by asking questions like that. and at some point not particularly caring whether liberals like me or not. [inaudible]

[inaudible] event from the programs -- >> i don't think many of them have crossed that. the interesting thing about this is there've been a number of studies indicating that conservatives and churchgoers are much more generous when it comes to giving many are much more charitable. there are many, exactly, so whether you define, as a progressive i show that i am progressive than that i care by taking your money from you. you get more money to hand.

so yeah, there is not problem. but of course once again, if you see things from an emotional point of view or as a litmus test of whether or not you're a good person, you are not running those numbers. you're not taking about that because you try to have a conversation about what is, what was happening with the debt. look works and independent lives. what you get is that is why we need to raise taxes higher. that is why it is not enough. the 10% are paying whatever the percentage they are paying the need to pay more politicians will always figure out. unfortunately there is nothing new about this. back to thomas jefferson. they warned about this. when you reach the point of democracy where people realize that they can simply use the government as an instrument of plunder, it's very difficult to dialback back.

yes. >> we've got worn outfit saying -- [inaudible] in the news got the hollywood actors making a gazillion dollars. well, why are they giving away their money first? >> yeah, if it was chris christie who said i didn't want the order of warren buffet is really concerned about that. you should write out the check. [inaudible] okay, spend your money. >> here's the interesting thing about warren buffett and the hollywood elite. they are the rich. you know who gets hammered by the interest taxes, do not get rich. the people struggling to put their kids to school. they are not you're at that. it's easy to sit on the knot top say we have a gazillion dollars and we have lawyers that will

make sure that we pay the absolute minimum amount of taxes and lecture the rest of us on how greedy we are from wanting to keep our money. the problem with warren does it is not what he doesn't get paid enough. he said he feels he can now become a spokesman for government confiscating and taking more money out of the economy. that is the concern. i am more concerned about the not yet reached the name of the rich. yes. >> it was interesting when you talk about the recovered liberal because i am 20 years old, a college student and my family, most of them are pretty liberal. even though that's a pretty conservative area, my mom is one of the foremost figures on the paul walker moved. ironically enough since going to college i've learned to have different viewpoints and open up tonight and i'm pretty much a

solid conservative now. that's a nice family members -- >> teacher mum once you have a a dna test? >> she hasn't said anything yet. anyway, the proud with that offense senseless whether family members or the pearl my aunt are also really to the left. so when election future political moves to the right, i'm assuming since you say your dad was the civil liberties union, with the accent diener did they eventually say you're okay? >> my dad actually was making the same transition almost went badly when i was. so we did have a calm lake there. and maybe was a bit easier to do that. but i did find was the number of friends i lost, the number of people who thought that i was just a wonderful, honest, intelligent person when i was a liberal and suddenly became corrupt and hypocritical and i

sellout when i began to question whether or not these things work. and part of it is obviously you're willing to put up with a certain amount of that. we should just say is look, disagree with my ds without attacking me as a person. this is beyond the scope of my, but one of the things has a recovering liberal at this but i generally think that people on the other side of the political spectrum are wrong. i think that they have an incorrect analysis of economics. a different definition of fairness and opportunity than i would have. they have an attitude towards the entitlement culture. we disagree. they think conservatives are evil, bad people. there is a little bit -- obviously i'm generalizing there, but that might explain some of the queasy and we have in american politics now, the real poison that a person has disgraced themselves by having the wrong political view.

but good luck with that. but by the way, i'm also is fascinated by young people going to college and become more conservative. i think apart because you have a little bit of country menu. your rebellion -- you're the guy with a ponytail and when you were valid college, you rebelling against the political orthodoxy. [inaudible] >> that's what regrets not lower the voting age. >> can you describe your relationship with debbie tm magazine quite >> my relationship with them is outstanding. the state democratic or if he actually asked that i be fired the other day and management -- but it's going to use a phrase

that i realized the camera is here. i told them that is not going to happen. no, they are absolutely wonderful. they gave me tremendously late and are very supportive and i'm sure they will be supportive as long as i make money for them. last night and only until then. you've got to be very clear about what this is all about. it's not because i have a pretty face. >> i first want to say that your dad is one of my -- [inaudible] what is your sense of the so-called silent majority? [inaudible] >> rate.

[inaudible] >> i don't know. i don't know nationally. things could've been so confusing. in wisconsin i do think you get the sense that the silent majority. and maybe a a small majority, to what we saw over the last year we saw tonight a whole chapter in the book about the empire strikes back in the because this whole issue of the two americans is so crucial, the public sector in the chair, what happens when your government that says a governor or politician is to actually solve these problems. we've lived in this wisconsin. we saw nothing but the drums in drums in the overzealous in protests in addison. you could've gone to six, seven months believing that everybody hated what was going on, was absolutely in an uproar and then you had the election for state supreme court justice, some of the recall election and it turned out that not everybody

felt that way. not everybody by a long stretch because the silent majority can't go and hang out at the capitol and sing by because the silent majority has to go to work to pay the taxes and raise their kids, the come out and they can vote. so i do think this is one of those areas where do not get discouraged if you don't see people like you out there on the streets. i understand there was a very difficult. you've got to understand there are still more people out there who are working hard and trying to pay the taxes and make a living out of their and unfortunately the only time he got to be heard is during an election, which of course we are living through here in wisconsin, the attempt to overturn the election because we had a year-long temper tantrum. somebody asked -- i think we showed what is the significance of this year's election in terms

of -- i know i overuse this term, tipping point this because i do think there is a tipping point. what is going to happen in wisconsin with reforms here is going to be a real tipping point because we in wisconsin are this extraordinary political moment. we have people at paul bryant and scott walker is that okay but of talking about solving this problem, but if we were to make the kinds of fundamental reforms in structural changes to put us on a sustainable path? would have been? are they going to be rewarded for that courage, for fixing problems as opposed to a point in a force or kicking the can down the road or would they be turned out of office clicks every other state is watching this from the members of congress are watching and we talked about political courage, how much easier it is to give people step is to post some and they can afford stuff. trust me of scott walker goes down, the politicians throughout this country are going to see

that as a clear indication, do not mess with this culture. do not mess with entitlements, don't try to fix problems. if you want to stay in office, appointed a blue-ribbon task force. there's two kinds of people in politics. there's lots of different kinds of people in politics, but there's the doers and the beers. people want to be in politics. they run because they want the title, they want to be important and they want to people up to them all the time. and then there are the doers, the people get into public life because they want to do some things, to fix something. but we will find out is whether or not we really want people who do something because trust me, if we don't get it right in wisconsin, what are the chances we get it right in wisconsin? what are the chances that one will deal with social security or medicaid are medicare or the fact that we have it that that is growing too larger than the

entire u.s. economy? how will we ever get a political class that was how the american people, you can't have electric car, free lunch, free all of a sudden we're not going to be buying you all a new house, for example, if the politicians that say no or kicked out of office. we will know a lot more at the end of this year than we know now and we will know whether or not we've reached that point when the majority of americans say hey, gimme. if you want me though, you've got to tell me how much are going to give me to give me and you got to tell me if i vote for that other guy who's going to take away my freebie because i have a right to that. just outside georgetown law student. okay, just a few more questions. >> just following up on not on the last election, it was like 52, to 48 --

>> close. [inaudible] are some of them not going to vote for walker -- [inaudible] >> well, i think what they are counting on is the people of the independents who may have liked the results, but might the process, that there is a period there were a lot of people saw the chaos are not the same as that of flaming on the people who are creating the chaos, they blamed it on the government and should be very candid with you right now, i think that a lot of them know they are not going to build to run on the collective bargaining reforms of the budget. they are just hoping this john doe investigation comes up with something that will take the governor down, which is why talk about that incessantly on the air. ..

and they are all about the new culture and it affected them so they are going to go against it. >> not a majority of them are government employees but one of the concerns on the base of 300, 500,000 government employees who would vote no. that might change the dynamic a little bit. but again, when you talk about the culture, and i spend a good

deal of time in this book talking about how we have gone off on this creative privilege and i'm not denigrating public employees, i'm not saying they should be demonized but let's have a reality check of how different the world is for the people who are paying the bill and what is next jordan normally sweet deal they have and what is one of the frustrating things to watch all these people, you know, talking about this is the new egypt and congenital our rights are being destroyed and adolf hitler because you have to pay 12% of your health care premium? the average american pays about 25% of their health care premium because they have to contribute their own pensions and they are paying nothing such as the cultural images of people that felt so entitled to a lavish pension and health care and not

contribute anything at all and we've seen this revolution in wisconsin. what is happening in wisconsin is in a lot of ways prelude to what you think is going to happen. what happens when you start going after some of the other transfer programs or entitlement programs to i would also remind people because someone was mentioning in the mainstream media i found it fascinating that president obama spoke out against the reforms on collective bargaining and it was only after a month of all this somebody said excuse me, as your president, the federal employees by and large do not have collective bargaining rights, and to extend the of unions that are not allowed to bargain for wages and benefits, so while the left is demonizing would governor walker is doing in wisconsin, federal workers have never under democrats or republicans been granted those collective bargaining rights and

just try to find how many stories in the dead tree. one more question and then we have some signing them. >> [inaudible] you are absolutely right the benefits entitlement -- [inaudible] in school, in a public school they were aware of political events. >> [inaudible] >> since they are always accused of being intolerant any way i think we ought to be intolerant of that kind of propaganda in the public school.

you ought to push back on all of that. [applause] here is the reality. first of all it is unethical to use that position as a form of bullying. i do understand how difficult it is to take a stand because you are afraid that your child will be affected. it is a breach of trust and confidence. my real frustration and i've written about education now for 20 years is i have tremendous respect for teachers and i wish they would have more respect for themselves, that they would want to be treated and regarded as professionals because they ought to be treated as professionals as opposed to the decision which many of them made that they would rather be trained union activists. you can choose, you can either be lockstep on the trade union members who do not get award for being the better you are not

held accountable, or you can be a professional, somebody who is rewarded for being gifted. i personally don't have any problem at all with paying six figures to an outstanding teacher. if you are an inspired teacher come if you change kids' lives, you should do everything possible to incentivize that and every word. the flip side of that is if you are burned out, if you are dead weight, you should be treated the way any other profession is going to handle the burnout or deadweight we shouldn't have a system that protects mediocrity, so this is a challenge for teachers to a sum would rise to this because it is a calling to be a teacher and unfortunately we've turned it into this sort of factory unionized setting you wouldn't see stories like that wouldn't you say that it would be great if we would see the teachers like professionals if they acted like professionals

that would decide that teacher gration i guess. thank you. i appreciate very much. [applause] more from little rock. booktv visited the city with the help of our local cable partner comcast of central arkansas. >> i'm deborah baldwin, associate provost and the university of arkansas little rock center for arkansas history and culture, and we are in the arkansas studies institute building in little rock arkansas he's affectionately known as jay m.. he moved here in 1902 from tennessee with his family when

the family bought the controlling interest of the arkansas gazette. he was editor for 70 years and lived to be 100 guided the arkansas gazette of important times in history through the world war got through the imam. she's best known for his coverage of the 1957 central high school crisis and he won two pulitzer prizes. he began collecting in the 1920's, and by the 1950's, he was probably one of the few newspapers editors to have on staff before the prime historians. he collected everything related to arkansas. he collected a variety of assortments of things and includes 40 minutes collections,

newspaper titles come to a drug 50, photographs, 4500 pamphlets, 2400 buckson. >> his economic concentration in the mississippi every in a very specialized the book from that. that is the purpose with which 79 deutsch about 1880 but included in that was the arkansas material in general contained in a thing that was to arkansas so he was interested in magazines, comic-book materials, newspapers, photographs he collected oddly enough in the 1950's the detective magazines and crime magazines these are magazines that represented a murder story is about our kansan

so it is strange to collect comic books but it pertained to arkansas. he also was interested in newspapers and we have a turn-of-the-century magazine called arkansas thomas cat and a series of magazines from the 1910 this was a great collection because of the documents for the turn-of-the-century and documents sense of humor who published the magazine. he went after the wealthy, the poor, the religious the politically inclined and the ignorant. it is a very entertaining piece. probably one of our famous or more favorite holdings is the davy crockett almanac. we have a run of the almanacs

from 1935 to 1850. the 1845 years the first year of publication, and it's fascinating because it's a very crude 1835 publication, and when you first look at, it's what people could imagine life would be liked talking about possums and there is davie nonchalantly shooting of a bear with his faithful dog but he passes and 1836 at the alamo, and his reputation grows with each passing year to the decade and we ended with 1850 the davy crockett almanac. he's writing an alligator and is spectacularly wrestling bears

and fighting sneaks in caves so we've gone from the bear bones to this legendary figure in the this is an important collection, because you can see how the stereotypes and the legend of this person grows through the years come so for scholars this is a fabulous way charting the history of his legend. we also have two very important books published in 1848, 1850 and 51. these books are important the war started in 1846 and these are primary source materials where people are actually documenting what happened during that war. summit 19th century material that is firsthand account of a war in a long period ago is very important for scholars, so this is a key holding for the high school collection. he was also interested in the slavery issue is obviously being

a southern state that would have an impact on his collecting he collected quite a few bucks on the issues of slavery in the 19th century of the more important books is an abolitionist book came down and spent three years in the south and went through the 11 states which help the union cause in terms of the propaganda against slavery but also historical document what was going on in each state and arkansas is mentioned in this book so that is important for scholars as well as a somewhat unbiased look on slavery this is an academic book on slavery from the beginning of history to 1858 very scholarly let terri hail -- scholarly material, very long opinionated the this is an academic viewpoint of slavery. a rare book and important for

scholars in that time period to rich was also interested in calloway's. he has many collections and books on cowboys but this one is particularly interested in because it is a bit from the 1870's, and it talks about what was actually going on in the western frontier at the time, so it talks about real roseanne crops and gives an account of what is going on in the west so people on the east coast are fascinated by the west and are getting a lot of hyperbole but this is an important but because it gives fact and this could be important for scholars to see what people were thinking of the west in that time period from a concrete point of view. then finally again she's interested in crimes and criminals as i pointed out, the comic books. this is a book from the 18 eighties and this is important because it mentioned in one of the post civil war