thanks for being with us. >> my pleasure. >> what else stood out for today's hearing and will there be new policies put forward to help jump start the economy? >> it doesn't sound like they're planning to do anything soon about policies to jump start the economy. sort of the tone of today's hearing of the testimony was that they don't see anything in the current data to suggest they should change their basic position. which is to say they neither think the economy is kbrufing so quickly that they ought to dial back on things they're already doing. nor do they see sufficient reason for concerns to do new things. >> i guess the word is cautious optimism from the fed chair. >> that's probably a good way of characterizing it. they've been burned a couple of times in recent years by being overly optimistic about the condition of the economy by predicting that things were about to take a turn for the better and then when things, in fact, flatlined or took a turn

for the worse they looked foolish. >> let me ask you about one of the looming concerns. we heard a moment of that a moment ago. that is the potential of higher gas prices, oil prices, energy prices overall and the impact it would have on any economic recovery. >> the higher gas and oil prices go, the greater the impact on the economy. you know, there's an estimate that for every $10 increase in the price of gas, the economy will expand about .2% points this year. >> i want to ask you about the twitter feeds and for those who want to follow you where can they follow you? >> on twitter it'

it's @bcaapplebaum. >> could you tell me, mr. bernanke, do you do your own shopping at the grocery store why did congressman paul ask that? >> he pointing out the price of food has been increasing in recent years. and when the fed talks about the amount of inflation they want to see that they want prices and wages to increase no more than 2% per year. food is increasing more than that, and the fed does not include food prices in the calculation of inflation, because the food prices fluctuate up and down. same reason they don't include gas price in that measure. and for ordinary americans buying food or gas and living their lives, inflation can feel much more significant than the numbers show. challenging mr. bernanke saying that isn't inflation actually more of a problem than the fed is acknowledging. >> another benjamin applebaum

tweet. bringing an ounce of silver to the hearing. what was that about? >> well, senator paul has a long history of arguing dr. paul, and that is that american currency should be exchanged for precious metals which it was for a long time and it was the called the gold standard which we went off in the early 1970s and haven't had cause to look back. but he feels the stability of the can economic situation in particular would be kbrooued by returning the metal standard. he was brandishing a silver coin as the type of currency he wished we all used. >> at the hearing you wrote that this hearing if it were your introduction to politics, you never would have guessed which party counts ben bernanke as a member. why? >> he is interesting, because he has served under president bush he was appointed to the fed by president bush.

if you talk to him about his political views and his prescriptions to fiscal policy, he is a centrist republican. it's not as if he strayed from that ideology. democrats have exbraced him while republicans are extremely critical of the steps he is taking. the part of the natural thing that occurs in parties out of powering with the angle is to criticize the operations of government and that includes the fed. it also reflects a change in the right wing of the republican party which has come to view what might once have been roundly embraced republican policies as being too centrist in their view. the type of republican that mr. bernanke now is is no longer the type of republican that many members of the house would like to see atop the fed. >> we're talking with benjamin

applebaum from the new york times. this happens twice a year, why does the chairman come before congress? >> it's the law. the law says that the fed chairman needs to appear to discuss monetary policy. the fed was created by congress to manage the nation's monetary policy. and this is its oversight process. twice a year the fed chairman comes down. he held an appearance before the house today. and he'll do it all over again in june. >> as you take away from this hearing indicating that economists and the fed chairman specifically seeing modest growth and modest growth continuing over the next couple of months, what else did you learn today if anything? >> you know, i think as far as new information, there wasn't an abundance of it. what was most striking was we didn't see any change in the fed's outlook. there's ban lot of talk lately that the economy is improving, growth is accelerating. the housing market may have bottomed out. none of that good news has yet

been sufficient to show the good times have returned. that's a caution for americans. his opinion which is worth more than most perhaps is that we're not there yet. >> it was important enough for a candidates to get off the campaign trail and go back to congress. >> any opportunity to get in front of the cameras, right? >> thanks very much for being with us. this is "washington today." we're streamed on the web on c-span.org. and today a bipartisan luncheon. we saw somewhat unusual because it was the first time in seven months the president hosted a white house meeting in which congressional leaders sat down in this election year following the luncheon. the speaker of the house joined by mitch mcconnell talking to

reports. >> good afternoon, everyone. we had a positive lunch at the white house today and we discussed a number of areas where i believe that there is common ground between the two political parties and particularly on jobs and on energy. i'd like to think that some of the bipartisan bills that we have moved through the house will be taken up soon by democrats over in the senate. you know, during the state of the union address the president said that he was for an all of the above national energy policy. the house republicans have been through a national all of the above energy policy now for about five years. and it is the same approach that his jobs council in their annual report supported as well. so we offered to work with the president on some of those bipartisan bills, again, that have been passed in the house, and the president believed that there were some areas where we could find common ground and frankly i was encouraged by that.

we also discussed the jobs act. the package of bipartisan bills that was introduced yesterday. the president was very optimistic about moving that bill through the house. so, frankly, it was a very good lunch and i'm encouraged by the attitude and the tone that we had in the meeting. >> yeah, i share the speaker's view that the lunch was productive. and i think that all of you know that the bottleneck to accomplishing things on a bipartisan basis has been the united states senate. the house of representatives as passed as the speaker indicated on a bipartisan basis and many of them supported by the president of the united states have not been acted upon by the senate. so i hope that the majority leader who is responsible obviously for deciding which bills we turn to will turn to

bills that can actually pass and be signed into law. the house has passed a number of those bills, and as i indicated that the president has indicated he is for them, and the bottle neck is in the senate. i think that we ought to pass these bills and get them to the president for his signature as soon as we can. >> couple of questions. >> can you talk directly to the president about the energy policy in, you know, can we move on the keystone pipeline and did you say what can we specifically do in this timely fashion to address the gas prices and what did he say? >> we talked about a number of energy policies. we talked about the bills that have come out of the house, and the president thought that on some of those we could find common ground. i did press the president on the keystone pipeline. the president said, well, you're going to get part of it. i just wish we were getting the part that would actually deliver the oil out of canada and out of north dakota. >> mr. boehner -- >> well, let me add that part of the keystone pipeline that we are getting, the president has nothing to do with it. it does not require his approval

to build the pipeline from the oklahoma to the gulf. we hope he will reconsider the unions that are going to build that pipeline are aggressively in favor of moving ahead. we know it has been studied for four years already. the nebraska issue has been solved. there's no reason to create those jobs now. >> and that is house speaker john boehner and minority leader mitch mcconnell. telling reporters that the speaker of the house and congressional republicans will remain hopeful that democrats would finally consider republican proposals for jobs and energy production. those are two key areas, part of the discussion today led by the president at the white house. at the briefing today, ben feller with questions to jay carney. >> talk of the speaker being

encouraged about what the president had to say about the jobs act and speaker boehner would be happy to work with the president on a true energy policy. your read out there, pretty upbeat too. was there a specific agenda that came out of the agenda that the american people can say that will likely be done? >> well, i don't want a specific piece of legislation or itemize the topics. as we talked about yesterday, i said and we put out a statement from amy brunledge, that the republicans jobs act was put out with elements in it that overlap considerably with the president's priorities and, in fact, echo the very things the president brought up first in his speech in september when he put forward his american jobs act. he repeated those very same areas in terms of the small business and assistance to small business in the state of the union address and again last

week when he signed the payroll tax extension. so, certainly, there is reason to hope that if congress can focus on resolving some differences that we could get some progress in that arena or that area. and as for energy policy, the president stressed that he will continue to focus on an all-of-the-above approach, and that does not mean just drilling. it includes drilling, and as you know under, since the president obama took office the domestic oil and gas production has continued to increase to a point where we are now at an eight-year high. and the president is very committed to expand the domestic oil and gas production safely and responsibly, but he knows and it is important that

politicians be responsible and acknowledge that if drilling were the answer, we would not see the spikes in oil prices that we see. because we have been expanding oil drilling, and we saw global oil prices spike up last year and of course they are doing so again now. we need to take an all of the above approach, and that all of the above approach includes renewable energy sources, and investments in innovative clean energy technologies and approving the construction of the first nuclear power plant in the united states in 30 years as well as developing more areas of domestic oil and gas production. >> the comments of the white house press secretary jay carney was reacting to a question by a.p.'s ben feller on a question from the luncheon between members such as john boehner and mitch mcconnell, and nancy

pelosi and harry reid, and also joining the luncheon today, vice president joe biden. on capitol hill lawmakers are hearing the testimony today on the safety of cruise ships, a hearing prompted by the deadly january 13th accident on the "costa concordia" which hit a killed 25 people after hitting a reef. some are still missed and believed dead. and several people cited incompetency on the parts of the captain and the crew. a couple from massachusetts were on board. they were there to celebrate their wedding anniversary. they escaped on a lifeboat and they were there when the chaos began. some questions on all of this today. we'll hear part of this in the next hour.

we'll get respective from the hill newspaper. rick larson, he's a democrat from washington and a member of the maritime subcommittee which held the hearing. >> thank you for the testimony, and sorry about your experience. i'm having nothing to do with it, i'm embarrassed by what happened. it is shocking what happened. were you at any time informed by anyone that the vessel had struck a rock and was severely damaged at any time? >> no. never. >> any time? >> no. the first time we knew that a rock was struck is when we were in the u.s. embassy the next day that's when we saw the picture of the ship completely submerged in water with the rock sticking out. >> a full 24 hours later about. at any time were you given any concise guidance about how to evacuate the ship? any time? >> no.

there was -- no time at all as long as we were on the ship or on to the lifeboat that what to do, whatever. it was always in the crucial time they had on their hand and not one person from the crew or anybody had mentioned that what had happened and what to do in the emergency. >> and not even when things were calm and you were about to sit down to dinner or before then? >> no, nothing at all. >> mr. serna, you stated in the testimony that you spotted life jackets, but that left me with the impression that you didn't know where the life jackets were, but you happened to see them in your closet? >> no, it is only because i was hanging up one of his suits and that is the only closet that didn't have any shelves, and it was easy for me to hang in, and that is when i ended up spotting the life jackets. they didn't tell us where they were, but that is where when i

opened up the closet and i saw the orange jackets there. >> and i had no idea where the life jackets were. only she knew where the life jackets were. >> well. on the upside the italian coast guard, it sounds like a good response from the italian coast guard once they heard about it? >> yes. >> well, i, again, i'm glad that you are here to give us the firsthand experience. i am sorry for your experience, but thank you very much for coming. thank you, mr. chairman. >> congressman rick larson who is a member of the house coast guard and maritime subcommittee taking testimony from divia and samir sharma. they are survivors of the "costa concordia" disaster. they were telling the company

that the entire company was saddened by the incident and already taking steps to ensure that the tragedy is not repeated this is "washington today" on c-span radio. on wall street, the dow fell below 13,000 at 12,952, and the nasdaq down 19 and the s&p down six. the u.s. economy started the year off well with higher factory, jobs, and home sales. all 12 banks districts reported some growth in january and the first half of february. the manufacturing output rose in all districts, auto manufacturing reported strong growth. home sales increased in half of the district, and noting a little improvement from the last report in january. rules aimed at helping the drivers avoid unintentionally backing over children already

overdue are delayed again following complaints of automakers that say requiring rearview mirror video cameras on vehicles would be too expensive. ray lahood said that the department needs more time for research and data analysis before it can issue the regulations. more than a year ago the national highway and traffic safety group authorized that all vehicles would have in-vehicle display screens and cameras mounted in the back. regulations were to be phased in applying to all by the 2014 model year. but the announcement today from the secretary that that is being delayed. nearly 300 people are killed and 1800 injured each year injured because of backover accidents according to to nhtsa data. five chemicals used to make

fake pot products. the agency is working on permanently designating smokeabsmoke herb herbal products. the dea says that brands like spice, k-2, blaze, red x dawn were labeled incense to mask their purposes. but emergency room physicians say some have convulsions, elevated heart, disorientation, vomiting. finally, three house members today proposing legislation that would cut federal compensation given to former president of the united states. they argue that former presidents are able to own a decent living on their own and cutting compensation could cut

taxpayers $3 million per year. back in a minute with more "washington today." subscribe to the daily c-span alert and receive the latest c-span schedule of events from the white house, capitol hill, and politics. you'll also get the capitol spotlight news story, trivia, and promotions. you can sign up for the c-span alerts at c-span.org. welcome back. this is "washington today" on c-span radio. david dreier being described in the l.a. times as one of california's most influential republicans announcing today he will not be running for re-election. it is perhaps the biggest casualty for the state's first-ever citizens drawn

political map which cast him in an inhospitable district. he is the sixth to announce his retirement when his term expires. polite clout in washington because of its stability over the years. david dreier is of course chair of the house rules committee. he made the announcement on the floor of the house of representatives this morning. >> mr. speaker, what i'm about to announce will not come as much of a surprise. we all know this institution has an abysmally low approval rating and the american people are asking for change in congress. i'm announcing today that i will leave congress at the end of this year. i take the unusual step of announcing it here in the house because i am a proud institutionalist. i believe that this institution is as great as it has ever been. and, mr. speaker, i announce it from here because between the

rules committee upstairs where you serve with me pro tem and the house floor, this is where the people of california sent me to represent them. now, as we look at the challenges that lie ahead, they are very, very great. i deliberated over this decision. and i have to say that three years ago i contemplated leaving at the end of that congress. but ultimately made a decision that i wanted to continue to serve through this term. and i wanted to do so in hopes we would win the majority with a goal of pursuing the four-point platform i had always run on. that being the pursuit of a free economy, limited government, a strong national defense, and personal freedom. and mr. speaker, i wanted to work with not just my republican colleagues, but my democratic colleagues as well. working in a bipartisan way to

accomplish a number of things. first, it was absolutely essential that we do everything to end the course that we had been on that ultimately brought us an 82% increase in non-defense discretionary spending. i'm happy to say we've turned the corner on that. second, after years of languishing, we were able to create jobs by virtue of having passed the panama, colombia, free trade agreements. we also believe it's important to recognize as we look at the national security the notion of people all over the world who are seeking to determine their own futures has created a wonderful opportunity for us. and the house democracy partnership another strong bipartisan organization has just now partnered with its 17th country in central asia to help the legislative body strengthen

and have the executive over their body we have here. and i feel strongly that it was essential to work that both democrats and republicans have the opportunity to have their ideas heard through their amendments on the floor of the house of representatives. now, i do believe, again mr. speaker, this is the greatest deliberative body known to man. we've got a great deal of work throughout this year. but i'm looking forward to following the madisonian that after here should live with the laws that have passed. i will say as passionately as we've been pursuing a jobs creating agenda, i look forward to doing that myself as i move into the private sector next

year. mr. speaker, i will say that i want to express my appreciation. i want to express my appreciation, mr. speaker, to lots of people. of course the volunteers, family and friends, supporters, and the people who've offered prayers for our country on a regular basis. and i also want to most important express my appreciation, mr. speaker, to the people of california who back in 1978 when i was living in the dormitory at college, they gave me the nomination for my party. and it's been a very, very exciting time. i also want to say, mr. speaker, that i express my appreciation to the very, very dedicated public service. in my office in california and my offices here in washington, for their commitment to do the best job possible to help me represent the people of california. and with that i yield back the

balance of my time. [ applause ] >> from the floor of the house of representatives this morning, congressman david dreier, a veteran of the house of representatives republican from southern california. the current chair of the house rules committee announcing he is stepping down at the end of this year. david wasserman joining us live. >> thanks for having me. >> this did not come as much of a surprise. why? >> well, california transferred power to redistrict its congressional line from the state legislature to a citizens commission who proceeded to dismantle dreier's safe district seven ways. so the district where he lives is now a heavily latino, heavily democratic district which is likely to be won by congresswoman grace napolitano. the district where he would have had the better chance of winning

to the east is where congressman gary miller, a republican, has fled to run. so there were very few options left for david dreier. this is a decision he was probably sitting on for quite a while. >> put this in terms of numbers. he is the latest to announce he's retiring. either because he doesn't want to seek higher office or in other cases those who are seeking higher office, what number is he? >> well, there are 36 members who are not running for re-election. including 20 democrats and 16 republicans. some of those are members who are running for other offices. many of those are just simply retiring. and a higher than average of those retirements are from california. there are now seven members from california who are not seeking re-election. and so in california, it's hard because of redistricting. this is likely to be a generational transition period. not necessarily a partisan transition period. >> let me also ask you about

member contests in the district. facing each other in a primary on april 24th. this is direct result of redistricting in pennsylvania. and just next week in ohio, the ninth congressional district a race between den nis kucinich and democrat marcy captor. >> there are unlucky districts they have been thrown in together. in ohio next tuesday, we'll see who wins that face-off between kucinich and captor. it's got fierce in the final week. and obviously the race in pennsylvania has heated up in pa