saying that the latest incidents fit a pattern. this is "washington today." on march 20th, the u.s. supreme court hear the oral arguments in a case about a life sentence without parole for someone con victimed of murder at 14 violates the constitution on cruel and unusual punishment. from 2005. superind dent at the correctional office. >> legislators can evaluate the series of studies and pick an arbitrary age. there is no study that justifies that particular day 18, they talk about young adolescence,

adolescence continuing until the mid-20s, nothing justifies the age of 18. that makes the fact that legislation or the should be value waiting not a court. >> question here is, where are society's evolving standards of decency now draw that line? 15 years ago, this court found insufficient evidence to justify a bright line at 18. but since stanford, a consensus has evolved and new ed has emerged and these developments changed the constitutional calculus for much the same the court found compelling in atkins. >> saturday on c-span radio. across the country, we're on xm satellite radio channel 119. "washington today" continues.

it's an honor to welcome the vice president and the entire chinese delegation. i told the vice president his visit to iowa tomorrow will assure more delegates than i got the last time i was here. >> the comments of vice president joe biden at the state department earlier in the day as he welcomed his counterpart from china. following a series of meetings between the two here in washington. and in beijing. also, the vice president of china as he met with the president and was hosted to the luncheon by secretary of state hillary clinton. the president assuring the chinese vice president, offering a warm welcome despite some sharp policy differences over syria and iran. cbs news reporting on a new poll that shows rick santorum has

pulled ahead slightly over mitt romney in this republican pao primary 37 among those surveyed 30% in this national poll favor rick santorum. newt gingrich at 10%. terry madonna is writing about the santorum's rise in the poll. his piece looking at what happened in 2006 when rick santorum lost the pennsylvania senate race by 8 percentage points. also, today, a look at -- later in the program, we'll look not only the polling that's taken place but also more details on the budget. as members travel to capitol hill to discuss the president's government plan. the president welcoming the leader of -- the man who's expected to be the next leader of china, who will take over officially in 2013, this is the president's comments from the oval office earlier in the day.

>> throughout this process, i have always emphasized that we welcome china's peaceful rise. that we believe that a strong and prosperous china is one that can help to bring stability to the region and the world. we expect to be able to continue on the cooperative track that we have tried to establish over the last three years. >> we have tried to emphasize because of china's extraordinary development, over the last two

decades, that, with expanding power and prosperity also comes increased responsibilities and so, we want to work with china to make sure that everybody is working by the same rules of the road when it comes to the world economic system. and, that includes insuring that there is a balanced trade flow, between not only the united states and china, but around the world. it also means that, on critical issues like human rights, we'll continue to emphasize we believe is the importance of recognizing the aspirations and rights of all people. and we expect that china will continue to take a growing role in world affairs. and we believe that it's critically important that the united states and china develop a strong working relationship to

help to bring stability, order and security that ultimately provides a better life for both the people of the united states and the people of china.

>> so, mr. vice president, i hope you have a wonderful visit while you're here. i'm sure that the american people welcome you. i'm glad that you're going to get an opportunity to get out of washington. i know you'll be visiting iowa where you visited many years ago when you were a governor. and i understand that you're also going to be going to los angeles and taking in a lakers game. i hope you enjoy that very much. but i want to extend my deepest welcome to you. and look forward to a future of improved dialogue and increased cooperation in the years to come. >> president obama made his comments earlier today in the

oval office as he met with china's vice president and joining us on the phone with some perspective is kenneth lieberthal, a senior fellow at brookings. let me ask you about the personal relationship and maybe even more importantly the chemistry between the u.s. and china, between our leaders and the chinese leaders. >> i think in recent years, it's been somewhat of a problem. president obama has met with china's current president hu jint jintao, ten times. president jintao presents china's views on things, but he doesn't show anything on his own personal take on things. i think president obama has had a difficult 250i78 relating to

him as two different personalities. the hope is that of course, that he'll come across as someone who's warmer, get a better understanding of his own concerns, goals and frankly credibility. his ability to follow through on what you talked about it. it's the early days. >> obviously it's important with any core relationship between the u.s. and our allies, but is it more important with china if. >> i think it's very important with china. you know, i had the privilege of serving president clinton as his top person on asia so i got to sit in on a number of these state meetings. it makes a difference. when the top two leaders feel like they can talk with each other as politicians and leaders. they go through the talking poin poin points. when the leaders get beyond them

the staff start sweating, but you often get to the most significant payoffs of the meetings. that's when leaders get a good feel for what they can really get done here. and though, personal trust as well as respect as an anational leader, so i think it makes a great deal of defense. clearly in a country like china where you have an author tan system, having the leader going home, look, this is someone i trust, this is someone i can work with. >> i want to ask the next question, in a brookings essay you wrote -- the balance of resources and capabilities is shifting. can you elaborate? >> sure. china has had the fastest rate

of growth on earth for 30 years now. it has the gdp that's the second largest in the world. barring something more dramatic somewhere between 5 years and 15 years from now it will have the largest gdp in the world. we're looking at military budget discipline of somewhere between $500 billion and $1 trillion over the coming ten years. where the chinese are increasing their military expenditures but the gdp of their military expenditures. china has now a fair amount of momentum. the u.s. is trying to figure out how we prevent from slipping from the can-do place we have been for so many years. the key for that on the u.s. side is getting our own house in order, in other words, we have the productivity among our own workers and managers, the wealth

in our society, the military et cetera, to be the most important country in the world for a very long time to come. if we can get our act together. if we can do what we have done so many times in our history which is to stay confront, huge domestic mistakes, make the adjustments to deal with them. finally the chinese on their side, while they have a lot of momentum now, also face some very daunting problems. frankly, more daunting than what we confront. they need to make adjustments if they're going to move their economy from a resourceful-intensive, not very efficient overall economy to one that is much more sustainable. environmentally a lighter footprint. less energy consumption. produce better outputs in

employment. >> we're talking with ken lieberthal. let's take a longterm prospective. this month, the richard nixon's historic visit to china, the anniversary. >> i think it's now remarkably unclear, frankly, we have a very effective wide-ranging i would argue mature relationship with china. if there is a huge failure of the development of this relationship over the last 30 years it is that 30 years into the relationship we frankly do not trust on either side. the other side's longterm intentions. that is coercive. interpretations of diplomatic

initiatives that can feed distrust and produce a self-fulfilling prophesy of real antagonism. we need to keep tilted in the direction of not of becoming the best friends in the world, given the difference i don't think that's in cards for a very long time, if ever, but keep it in the direction of a major power relationship that is normal where we can cooperate, where our interests reasonably coincide. where we can work together and where one we have irreconcilable differences. i can't tell for sure if we're going to basically cooperative or basically antagonistic.

i do think that smart, guard-leaning diplomacy can make a difference in that outcome. >> the insights from ken le lieberth lieberthal, thank you for being here. so, let's turn our attention to one issue which continues to be a source of contention here in the u.s. with relations to china as the president again reiterated a long-standing concern over the human rights concern in china. the vice president saying that the country is making progress. at the luncheon he also said that his comments would echo what the president hu jintao stated last year, he was here for a state dinner just a year ago in washington. let's bring through the translator the comments of the vice president of china at the state department luncheon on this topic. >> translator: we also had an

candid exchange of views on human rights and other issues. i stressd that china has made tremendous and well-recognized achievements in the field of human rights over the past 30-plus years. since reform and opening up. of course, there is always room for improvement. when it comes to human rights. given china's huge population, considerable regional diversity, we're still faced with many challenges improving people's livelihood and advancing human rights. the chinese government will always put people's interests first and take seriously people's aspirations and demands. we will in the light of china's national conditions continue to take concrete and effective policies and measures to promote social fairness, justice and harmony and push forward china's cause of human rights. at the same time, we're ready to

conduct candid and constructive dialogue and exchanges on human rights with the united states and other country on the basis of equality and mutual respect. narrowing differences, learning from each other and achieving common progress. >> as heard through the translator the comments of the vice president of china at a state department lunchon here in washington, d.c. the issue human rights, an issue that has been front and center for frank wolfe, he's also a co-author of a book, in the book, he outlines not only what he has seen but also what he has heard over his 30-plus years in washington a career which he raised the alarm of violations of human rights by dictators around the globe.

to advance a political goal. that's the summary of the book and here is more with congressman wolfe as he testified in front of a congressional hearing on human rights. >> -- all of the groups around this country should know this and not pretend that it is not true. that catholic christians should know this administration should know this administration has failed them. the vietnamese in vietnam, got to know that this administration has failed them. of course, the catholic bishops in china, should know that this administration failed them. and the dalai lama ought to know

that this administration has failed them. but i want to bring it back, back to this. and i didn't know that you had made a request. i would like to ask both of the wives if they would say publicly, i see the media here looking and what would you say, because there's still an opportunity to meet after the vice president from china leaves. what would you say if you had an opportunity to meet with president obama and shame on both of them if you do not meet. you know that president reagan would have met with you. you know that president clinton would have met with you. you know that president bush would have met with you. you know that president carter would have met with you.

this may be the only opportunity. what would the wives want to say if they were talking to president obama? >> translator: if i had an opportunity to meet president obama and the vice president biden, i would tell him my husband is a good people. he always did good deeds. what he has done in china, comply with the world standard, international standards, so why in china he has to be persecuted, why did he have to be suffering from all kinds of tortures? please help release him immediately. >> the translation through her

attorney the comments of a wife of imprisoned chinese. again, reiterating many of his concerns that he has been talking about over the years. speaking of china, ucla talking about nixon going to china. shorthand of what ucla professors called a bold political move. this month marks the 30th anniversary of the president's trip to beijing. reflecting on the 40th anniversary and some iconic photographs of richard nixon shaking hands with the chairman. of course the relationship has had an enormous repper cushions in the ensuing four decades. let's go back to 1972 as richard nixon reflects on his travels to

china, the great wall and the relationship that was just begin zblg yesterday, along with hundreds of millions of viewers on television we saw what's truly one of the great wonders of the world, the great wall, as i walked along the wall, i thought about the sacrifices that went into building it, what it showed about the determination of the chinese people to retain their independence. i thought about the fact that the wall tells us that china has a great history and that the people who built this wonder of the world also have a great future. mr. prime minister, you have noted that the plane which brought us here is named the spirit of '76, just this week, we celebrated the birth of george washington, the founder

of our country who led america to independence. bid farewell at the close of his term with these words to his countrymen. observe good faith and justice toward all nations. cultivate peace and harmony with all. >> the comments of president richard nixon in beijing, china, 40 years ago this month. david ig thnatius writing about this in the washington post. -- what the conventional wisdom of the day seems to support. that was true of nixon in china. kennedy in the cuban missile crisis. lincoln in the civil war. a look back at the 40th anniversary of u.s. relations opening up the doors to china and president richard nixon's

historic visit to beijing. back to washington, back to the budget debate and we heard earlier in the hour from jeff zinins, testifying on capitol hill, one of the number of the president's cabinet secretaries, discussing the 2013 budget plans. it calls for taxes on wealthy americans. a republican of idaho, he questioned the obm director on when the budget ultimately will be cut facing a debt and growing. >> the concern that i have it's now time to prepare the 2012 budget. we still hear that it's not time yet. for us to begin the austerity part of controlling spending at the federal level but we still have to engage on the spending side. we're not there. my question rhetorically is, can when will we ever get to step

two? and the question i do want to ask you is about this budget -- i have seen a lot of budgets in congress, i have analyzed a lot of congressional budgets and one of the biggest problems that i think we have that we overlook every year is that you have a built, in this case a ten-year budget that makes all kinds of proposals over a ten-year period of time but it's only the first year of the budget that really counts, it's only the first year of the budget that congress will operate from in this year. the first year in almost every budget that i have seen congress established, there's just more taxing and more spending but the control of spending doesn't happen. and i note that that's happening in this budget. two years ago, the president's budget claimed billions in savings by freezing nonsecurity discretionary spending in fiscal year 2013.

one year ago, the president in his budget proposal claimed an additional savings in that same nonsecurity discretionary spending in that year fiscal year 2013. saying that in fiscal year 2013 we should get to an even lower level. now we're looking at fiscal year 2013 it's arrived. and the president proposes not the 446 that he said in his budget two years ago and not the 397 that he said in his budget one year ago, but 5012, if i read the numbers correctly. and so, the same dynamic that i'm describing has occurred again. in this circumstance. in previous budgets we say well in the future we'll fix things and here's how we'll fix them and then we get to the future budgets and lo and behold the

fix is gone and the spending is back in place. could you respond to that in. >> yeah, i think that on the discretionary side, we are biding by the bcs caps which as you know control discretionary spending. if you look at d.o.d. as an example, they put together a budget that follows a new strategy and the budget as a result of that strategy actually results in a 1% decrease. if you look across agencies, beyond d.o.d., half of our agencies have flat or negative spending. in 13 versus 12. so this is a budget that i would argue that has a lot of spending control. and attend of the day, the bottom line as i mentioned earlier, we're down in 2013 to 5% 5% of gdp and then in 2014,

3.9%. significant progress. we need to have debt stable as a percentage of gdp. >> but you have adjusted the baseline which allows you to make the claims that you're making in a number of context here, let's forget about the baseline. let's forget about the percentages and all of the -- all of the arguments that have made about how we're going to reducing percentage of spending. is it not accurate to say, that the president proposes in this budget for 2013 more spending than he proposed for this same 2013 budget last year and the same 2013 budget the year before? >> i think you have to go back and benchmark those numbers. i don't have them in front of me. what i can tell you this is a very tight budget 57bd certainly a budget that abides by the bca

caps. >> except the sequestration is eliminated -- >> i want to be very clear on the sequestration, it's not eliminated. the president believes it's a very important enforcing principal. >> your word was replaced? >> well, the 1.2 trillion that sequestration would create through what we think bad policy, in the d.o.d. area, is bad policy on the discretionary side. it would be replaced with balanced budget deficit. it's mutually assured destruction. >> be you're replacing wit the 1.2 trillion increase. >> i cante