>> i said it, the worst candidate to go against barack obama on the issue of the day. that's w every speech throughout the course of tham i don't regret "the new york times" reporter who was out of line, if you're a conservative and you haven't taken on a "new york times" reporter, you're no concerned. so we're going to stand up and fight, you know, the twisting of remas in is campaign. oh, by the way, in part authored by the romney campaign which is feeding these kinds of lines to the reporters and you know, our feeling is we're going to go out and speak the truth and we're going to talk about how this issue is critical for our country and our country's

future. and that i'm the person who is best able to go up on capitol hill and get this accomplished. i'm someone who has a record of taking on tough entitlement programs, getting rid of them. i did it owy we can do it through the process of reconciliation, if we run this campaign which i will, on obama catral issue in the campaign and we're successful there is nowille repd in one form or another. and that's not going to be the case with governor romney because he can't make the argument, becaus argument the o machine will turn it right back on him and therefore there won't be the mandate. he may say he wants to repeal obama care but he won't have the mandate through the course of this campaign to be able to win the argument, notcotress but ac. i'll be making that argument throughout the course of our campaign. hel

be clear where the american public is. that won't be the case with governor romney becse not here, making the argument in his race, all he says was i'll repeal obama care and in the same breath he defends obama care at the state level. it just doesn't wash and it won't wash in the general election, that's why if you really want obama care repealed, if you want obama care repeal there had is only one p that ha. that's someone who makes obama care the central issue in this race. that's what i do. anybody else? i think -- i'm having troublear. i would say whether i believe it's constitutional, look,don'tt believe that obama care is constitutional and i didn't advocate for a federal mandate at the federal level. for free t

health care, not government-run health care. >> w you think republican s -- >> of course, governor romney supporou aof the way. nice if governor romney and everybody else got out of my way.work. i heard governor sununu say all said that rick santorum should get out of the race. well, i guess we'll have to leave it to the insignificant voters of america in the remaining primaries to step forward andthe significant people who are speaking in washington, d.c. the significant people in my mind are the people inis on saturday who significantly gave us a big win, and we believe as we goor lot of signi voters out there who want to

have their voices heard from the folks here in washington and the romney campaign who don't rse beev this primary. >> you were saying health care is a right. is at right? >> i believe basic rights are guaranteed under the independen recognized under the declaration of independence. rights come from our creator, they are protected by the constitution of this rights should not and cannot be created bye because any time government creates a right, they can take that right away and they can force you as you've seen with they can force you to do things that are against what you believe is right for you anddo which you believe are against the teachings of your faith. that's not what rights are about. rights are basic things because of the dignity of who you are

enjoyed in our society. they are not things that the government says they can give to you. those are falt rights. thank you, appreciate it. >> offering his comments about the health care law and about his chief competitor, mitt romney, for the gop nomination. you're watching c-span's live coverage of the supreme court. sorry about that breakup from our transmission. you can imagine there are all sorts of media all using wireless equipment there on the capitol hill area. and it's a little challenging from time to time. so we apologize. we're doing the best we can.

we're taking telephone calls. next up is jacksonville, north carolina. eileen, democrat. go ahead. >> hi. this is arlene. i have two things. the elephant, the second elephant in the closet as they spoke earlier this morning on washington journal is that we can't allow the government to dictate what freedoms we have. we already have those freedoms dictated in the constitution. so the government should not be able to make those decisions. i'm all for health care for everybody, but i believe it needs to be readdressed and they find a different way to deal with it. and as far as your speaker just now, mr. rick santorum, my mother and my father though i never knew my fa made me and gave me life.

so i don't believe that some jesus did this. i believe that they gave me life and i do have rights once i'm born and rick santorum is not the person who represents me as far as whether we should have health care or not for everybody. because he wants us all to live the way he wants us to live. which is the same thing that the government is to do. the new world order is to make everyone who is not wealthy servants of the country, and everybody needs to realize if you give up your rights, you are making yourself a servant. >> arlene, we're going to jump in. thank you so much. jacksonville, north carolina. on twitter, why is that the

every caller says when someone goes to the emergency room we're paying for it. i'm self employed and i pay my own way. to facebook here is robin nelson van dyke writing i am not forced to buy mortgage insurance. the percentage of my loan to home value determine it's required thus i determine if mortgage insurance is required. i'm not forced to buy auto insurance. i determine if i own and operate an automobile. this is the first time i would be mandated to buy insurance. danbury, connecticut on the phone. john is an independent. hi, john. you're on. >> thank you. my question is, everybody's making a big thing about the health care bill. what about the ultrasound bills that they are passing in all of these states that are mandating women that they got to take ultrasounds and some of it is

invasive. isll brought up as being -- the states aren't clean either. they are like a small mini government, and they're not squeaky clean either. and i think it's the biggest intrusion of women in the of th. and the other thing i have is, all the -- said they want to appeal health care and replace it. they're not talkininabit and thn tell you how they are going to replace it. so, that's all i have to say. thank you. >> thanks so much. i want to show you a tweet from florida, gordon that we received. they write, c-span stop being objective months ago when the gop threatened to cut their funding. let me show that on screen. i want to use that as an opportunity to explain c-span receives not one penny of

government funding. we are a private company and a public service provided by our affiliates, cable companies and satellite companies across the country. we get 6 cents a month from your cable or satellite bill, no government money here. so response to florida, gordon on twitter. next up is warwick, new york. this is a democrat. go ahead. >> good afternoon. i just want to make a commentto the minister that called earlier and who said there is no example in the new testament that asks any one to sacrifice for another. well, aid like to let that minister know jesus didn't have to because he was the example. he sacrificed his life. my second point, republicans like santorum are trying to end separation of church and state and they are using, i use the word very strongly, using this

bill, the health care bill, to make a wedge in that, to bring the church and state together. i am so frightened by that, those people, meaning the republicans in all of these states mandating like the man said, he was right, hit the nail on the head. they don't mind invasive things against your will but they want you to have the freedom of our country not to have health insurance, these people are crazy. and santorum if he gms president we'll have to move some place because he will have us going to church every day, and schools will still have -- they will start creation lessons and i can't even emotional about it that ladies and gentlemen, most of you calling

in are giving out responses that aren't factual. you don't have the facts. and that's why you're all upset about this bill. this is a good bill. it's a start. please, read, get good newspapers, go online, find out the issues and learn about them. >> thanks, warwick, new york. congressman joe heck posted on twitter as many as 20 million americans could lose their health care coverage under the health care reform law. he says repeal replace. and david harrel posting on facebook writes this. forcing people to buy something is fascism. the unaffordable care act is mussolini meets rube goldberg but still dangerous. people don't realize he writes the crisis is the result of previous government intervention. there has been no free market in health services for decades. people should be protesting to

remove the federal government from health care, not to make the existing mountain of federal health bureaucracy even larger. our next call on our supreme court coverage day here is bay point, california. you're on the air. >> thank you. my concern as well. i'm generally in favor of the affordable care act or that there aren't provisions that require people -- require insurance providers to cover alternative health care chiropractor care, acupuncture and other kinds of treatment. the problem is that if people are going to be forced to pay for health care, they shouldn't be forced to pay for health care they don't want. i worked for a nonprofit corporation and advocate for people with chronic physical and mental disabilities since 1974, and the problem that they -- the problems they face is that the only kind of health care they

were able to get was medicaid and medicare, and the kind and quality of health care that they received is frequently shoddy, and ineffective and many people with mental disabilities and trauma based disabilities only are offered drug therapy and very little else. which causes them to be chronically ill for theiro. the issue is, not whether the affordable care act itse unconstitutional and whether or not we should be forced to pay for health care because we're forced to pay for car insurance for the same reasons. but i think the constitutionality issue surrounds whether people should beo pay for health care they don't want. for instance those people that are tea party don't want to pay for birth control and people who are christian scientists who don't use traditional medicine would be forced to pay for

traditional medicine which they wouldn't access. so, if the affordable care act is going to pacify everyone in this country, it's not just that we are forced to pay for it which i don't think is the biggest issue. i think the real issue is whether we're going to be forced to pay for health care we don't want and whether or not the health care act can be amended to require all insurance providers to cover every form of recognized and proven alternative medicine so that everyone can access the kind of health care they choose zlxt thanks, helen. from twitter, excuse me facebook. sarah writes, i'm tired of people saying that their decision to have or not have health coverage affects no one but themselves. if an individual without coverage gets in an accident or gets diagnosed with an illness, someone has to pay for the treatment. and below that johnny walker, everyone needs health care n,

have you noticed it's already not affordable under the old plan. we're also following members of congress and their tweets about health care. charlie bass is a republican from new hampshire who writes, another disturbing fact, 7.4 million seniors will lose their medicare advantage plans under the health care law. that's his tweet. next is our phone call, scottsdale, arizona. we're looking at live pictures from the supreme court plaza. this is jen. jen is a republican. go ahead. >> thank you so much. i was listening to santorum. i wasn't going to talk about santorum but now i have to. he says that romney's not there because he can't talk about it. you know, isn't it funny that rick santorum doesn't ever talk about medicare drugs, the part d that has put our country and medicare in deep deep financial crap. and the other thing, santorum lives there, he hasn't lived in pennsylvania acts like he's a pennsylvania boy. he went there and lived in a million dollar plus home, lives

on k street, that's how he's making his money and i'm so sick of him putting down i'm a little pennsylvania boy. but okay. i'm going to talk about what i really called about. this cradle to grave medical care, that's what cuba is about. you look at castro, you look at what's going on in cuba, if the democrats want to go there, go there and live that life. i don't want that life here in america. i'm a small business owner. they keep saying this is an individual mandate. no it's not. small business owners like myself have to pay for someone else's health care, when in the world has that happened. and they keep talking about canada and england. everyone of those people in canadaand england pay big taxes. they don't let these people off that don't pay any taxes like 50% of our country doesn't pay taxes. they have to pay taxes in those countries. and the other thing, this is already doubled the cost,

doubled the cost that they told us that obama told us this is going to cost. does that remind you back in johnson's day when medicare was going to be this cheap thing. well, medicare is going to bankrupt us and i don't know why congress whoever you vote for we've got to take care of medicare and social security. i can't believe we can't do this, it's our country isn't that smart. but as far as santorum, i mean, come on. rick, you don't live in pennsylvania. quit playing this, and your mother was graduated from i can't even remember, penn state or something. >> okay, jen, let's jump in at that point. just got word that the audio of the oral argument has now been posted to our website c-span.org, and we are quickly processing and we expect to get it to you on this television network in about the next 10 minutes or so. so stay with us. we're close to being able to let you listen for yourself to the

justices' exchange with the lawyers beginning at 10:00 eastern time this morning. next telephone call from st. joe, missouri. this is julie. republican. you're on the air. >> thank you, ma'am. there's so manyi'veeen listenin phone and while i've been waiting and i've got to say something about this ultra sound mandate that these callers complain about. you know, you forget those are innocent babies and the mother's wombs and the reason they are being mandated to take an ultrasound is to give that mother a chance to see her living baby before it's murdered in abortion. and i think it's appalling that anybody would disagree with something like that. and as far as obama care, the democrats have put a stake through the best health care system in the world. and to me it's about individual freedom, individual liberties,

to be able to eat what i want, do what i want, spend my money how i money, how i want. and we have very good health insurance through my husband's employer, but guess what? we are probably going to lose it all and have to buy it because of obama care. because obama karin sent vised companies to drop the coverage that they provide their employees. so how is obama care going to make my life any better? >> julie, quickly, please. >> caller: i'm sorry? >> please with your second comment. >> caller: the funding coming into medicare is going to come into costs by rations of -- how can people support something like that knowing they're going to be elderly that way. >> thanks, jewel he, st. joe, missouri. from twitter someone who calls himself patriots resistance.

i would go to prison before i pay a fine to the government because i didn't buy health insurance. we're taking these comments in a fee minutes before we're able to transmit to you the oral arguments. the first of three days' arguments challenging provisions in the health care law. while we wait for that telecast next is a call from providence, rhode island. pete is a democratic. >> caller: good morning. thank you so much to c-span. i want to make a few comments and then i'll take any comments offline. i'm in support of the affordable care act. and i just want to point out that for a number of years, a number of presidents have always said they wanted to do something about our health care system. no one has been able to do it. we finally get a president who decides he's going to take it on. what happens, the entire republican party from day one from the word go said, no, no, no. imagine if they would have stepped forward and said okay, let's work for the good of our

country and do something about our health care system. do you think we'd be in front of the supreme court today? it would have been a well thought out piece of legislation that everyone would be relatively happy with. number two to understand and underscore the need for health care that pretty much within week's time of the passage of the affordable health care act what did the insurance companies do? they immediately went out and jacked up their rates to the high point it is right now. that's part of the problem that says we need to have an affordable health care act in place that actually works. thank you very much. >> thank you, pete. this is eric on facebook who writes to us, the government needs to work the insurance companies for a better plan. not work americans for a universal plan. i think everyone agrees insurance is too expense i have and it needs an overhaul. insurance is too complex and needs to be fixed. this is a band-aid plan. next is a telephone call this is gertrude watching us in knew

port news, virginia. hello, gertrude. are you there in. >> caller: i oh, i just wanted to make the statement that we all need health insurance. and the fact that if it's bought in quantity, it's cheaper and it's you get it at a better price. and let the women run it. they -- they can find all the bargains and they take care of all the families. i promise it would be the best run program in government. all other countries take care of their people, why can't we? >> thanks, gertrude. steven hunter has this to say on twitter. health care is a commodity, not a right. about five minutes now before our coverage of the audio of the supreme court's oral argument today. next up is a call from harrison, arkansas. robert, democrat there.

go ahead, please. >> caller: thank you. i have to say i thank c span for the coverage. i've watched it for years and i just appreciated it. it's all i got out was to thank c-span. i support health care. as i listened to santorum speak, there's no outhouse attached to his motorcade. he uses public utilitieutilitiec gas, all these things were part of this great country and they were done through rate payers. you say a lot about tax payers. rate pa rate payers are the ones given the opportunity. i would like to see a plan that would operate like a public utility so everybody could compete and give their share. we did get sold out. i do believe insurance companies were the ones that insisted on the mandatory part of it. someone might check that out.

there was a fear this would bankrupt the insurance companies. for those fundamental right wing chrisaysstns that render under seize sure, this is a government pastors -- they have their charges. i see that this built by rate electric bill, your gas bill and water bill, now that is being challenged because something that's beingic right of way. so if -- for me the affordable part would be to have it operate as a public >> thanks, robert. harrison, arkansas. this network will be carrying the supreme court oral argument in just a few minutes. it will also be available on our website. we have a lot of other features

on our home page. we're trying something new. we have a bit of software that will allow you to comment as you listen to the oral argument. so you can make comments as the lawyers and justices exchange comments and interact. that will all be on the web page to watch for public commentary as the argument proceeds. the other advantage to our home page is that if you have not time now to stay with us for 90 minutes of oral argument, it will be logged and available there, so you can come back to it as you wish on your own schedule. next up is from massachusetts. our caller is kathleen, independent. you're on the air. >> caller: yes, hi. first of all, has anybody read hitler's health program? i have. and they're both almost -- this obama care is almost identical to it. and what will we replace it

with? hill burton is still on the books. i worked as a nurse under hill-burton and that's when you didn't have all these infections and stuff like that going on in the hospitals. you could put your makeup on by the shine on the floor. you got the best care possible. that's what we should replace it with. >> next up, na than yell, democrat. >> caller: we pay for auto insurance. i guess that's mandated. if you don't pay for it, you go to jail. but i don't have a problem with the affordable health care act. what we need to do is cut down on our military budget so -- i mean because this is 21st century. we don't need all these wars or

anything. but we do need affordable health care for all our citizens. >> if anybody says that we can't afford it, there's something wrong with them because we can. we can do anything we want. so that's basically all i have to say. we need to go ahead with the affordable health care act and expand it if we possibly can. >> thanks so much. na than yell will be the last word. it is time to bring you our coverage of the supreme court oral argument day one into the health care challenges about 90 minutes in length. >> mr. long? >> mr. chief justice and may it

please the court. the anti-injunction act imposes a pay first litigate later rule that is central to federal tax assessment and collection. the act applies to essentially every tax penalty in the internal revenue code. there is no reason to think that congress made a special exception for the penalty imposed by section 5,000-a. on the contrary, there are three reasons to conclude that the anti-injunction act applies here. first, congress directed that the section 5,000-a penalty shall be assessed and collected in the same manner as taxes. second, congress provided that penalties are included in taxes for assessment purposes. and third, the section 5,000-a penalty bears the key of a tax. congress dire