jobs to go to another job where the health insurance is not as good. it does not make sense from a personal point of view or eight economic point of view. -- or an economic point of view. we have to move from the employer based health-care to national health care. if you are an american, no matter what your job is, you're going to have the same quality, conference of health care. host: this viewer says -- guest. the program that i have as a senator is the same as postal workers and the same as my secretary and the same as anybody who works for the federal government. second of all, the caller is right. like many other employer based health-care systems, our health

care system is subsidized by the government. host: our last call from my domain independents, 202-628- 0205 -- from wyoming on the independent line. caller: i am a retired social worker. i just retired less than one year ago. 20 years in social work in nursing homes, hospitals, assisted living, and i worked with medicare and medicaid in the v.a. system. it is terrible. people have a terrible time with it. you have to employ two or three people to try to get reimbursement from medicare, to argue with medicaid. i worry that a national health- care system run by the government is going to be

another problem like that. i saw my doctor recently, my heart doctor. i saw him for 10 minutes and it cost me $92. that is part of the problem with health care. host: also, what do you think congress is going to vote on? guest: i would say to sandy, if you talk to most physicians, they will tell you that dealing with the private and insurance companies is a lot worse than dealing with medicare or dealthe v.a. in terms of paying $92, citing issues doing pretty well. i have heard stories of people coming out with a bill of $1,000. that deals with reimbursement rates among other things. in many ways, we're not putting enough money into primary health-care.

too many doctors are going into specialty care. the conclusions of doctors and specialty care is driving up the cost. what is going to happen? i do not see a crystal. i think the situation today is a negative nine flux -- the situation today is significantly influx. we do not know what is going to happen. i would conclude by saying that i hope that the american people get actively involved in this process. i hope that they will demand that health care in america become a human right, that all of us have that regardless of income, and that we have a simple, comprehensive, high quality system. host: senator bernie sanders of vermont, thank you. guest: thank you. very nice to be here. host: one of the headlines this morning dealing with politics can be found inside "the hill"

newspaper. this is part of a fund-raiser held here in washington that raised $14.5 million for house and senate republicans. we want to come back and we want to hear from republicans only. we want to divide the phone lines regionally. we want to know who you think speaks for your party. first, we want to share with you the remarks by the former speaker of the house newt gingrich. >> i recognize that 2009 is not 1994. but i want to say to all of you, as republicans, we have been here before. 1965, 1977, 1993. in each case, we have lost, they have been hard years, and the news media was gleefully hoping we would disappear.

1965 was followed by a 1966 in which we picked up the 47 house seats, swept the measure governorships, including an elected ronald reagan in california. two years later, we began the first of 40 years of presidency in which no over liberal in 40 years won the presidency. host: for the next 25 minutes, republicans only. please abide by that. republicans, who speaks for your party? host: is is a story inside "the washington times." joining us on the phone is the executive editor, amy walter.

let's ask about this story of this dinner, both the remarks by the former speaker of the house, and the on-again off-again appearance of the alaska gov.. guest: so much of this is driven by the ambivalent feelings that a lot of republicans have about sarah palin as a messenger for the party. on the one hand, she is still somebody who i think will be able to raise money and energize the base. there will be candidates running for reelection in 2010 who will watch her on the campaign trail with them. on the other hand, there are lots of republicans who look at the election results from last time, especially those in suburban areas, who say that part of the problem was that she was unable to broaden the message, and we need to find a

new messenger for the party, and we need to stop looking backwards, and start looking ahead to who the next leader will be. host: let me share with you one of the clquotes from "the hill" newspaper. host: do some people view sarah palin as a joke? guest: if you are looking in washington, d.c., which is not necessarily kind to people who do thethey do not see working tr benefit. for sarah palin to come back as a major player, i think everybody recognized that she needed to prove that she had some policy hat, something to talk about on the campaign trail

that went beyond a lot of the characters that had intended of her during the campaign. the energy issue, the gas pipeline, and things like that. she could go home, build a that resume, and talk about it in two years. other governors are making that case. for her part, sarah palin has been engaged in a big struggle with the legislature because of the budget situation. she has had to fight over all kinds of issues, including appointments to major offices, and this is with republicans and democrats. the struggles she is having there are problematic, and she is having problems with the national party who sees that she is not to be helpful to them. the back-and-forth began on this fund-raising event long ago. she apparently said she was

going to come and then she backed out at the last minute, which is why newt gingrich was invited, and at the last minute she said she wanted to show up. there is some frustration berlin. -- is some frustration bringing their. it is understandable that they will want to look for some folks to blame, and try to stay focused on who can bring them out of this plan. host: we are talking to amy walter. we have been hearing from a number of republicans. mitt romney spoke yesterday at the heritage foundation, and then last night newt gingrich and sarah palin spoke at the dinner. on sunday, we did an interview with him plenty -- tim pawlenty. who else do you think speaks to the gop? guest: the problem is that

there's no such thing as an organized opposition party. the bottom line for most americans is the leader of the party is the person who either is president, and for the party out of power, it is whoever the last president was. in this case, i still think that is george bush. george bush era defines republicans, which is why republicans still find themselves with low approval ratings. even congressional republicans. they seem to be capturing a lot of the blame for whatever frustration voters have. there are a lot of people trying to get the message out there of people the party is and what it needs to stand for. i think it is too early to speculate about who is going to be the leader that brings republicans back into power.

in lot of it is going to depend on how barack obama does. his success or failure will determine how successful republicans will be in the next election. it is from there that they can start to define themselves. fundamentally, it is not really until 2012, when there is a nominee for the republican party, where republicans will start to say this is the person who speaks for our party and here's the message we have going forward. host: thank you for joining us. we are going to speculate a little bit with some of you. we want to hear from republicans. curtis is on the phone from virginia. caller: i like to have gov. mitt romney with sarah palin run the next time. i like newt gingrich, but i do

not think he is electable. i just think if we can get mitt romney and sarah palin in the re. a lot of the things they say about sarah palin -- she does have a lot of negatives. that is because george soros and his clan have spent so much money against her. host: we are going to hear from sarah palin. she was on the fox news channel last night. jordan is on the phone from phoenix. again, we're hearing from republicans only. who speaks for the gop? guest: mitt romney is a strong upcoming moderate voice for republicans. another person i am impressed with is jon kyl. unfortunately, i think jon kyl is not ambitious enough.

he has been hesitant politician. i do not think he would personally run for office. adding that is a shame. i think he would do a great job. host: tom from michigan, good morning. caller: rush limbaugh the stakes for the conservative party. mitt romney is level by to see ron. host: david in denver, what do you think? caller: i have a few comments. i think is pretty clear that -- i'm a moderate republican. my family always has been. the right ring republican party has been speaking too often. i saw newt gingrich yesterday at that dinner. i would say that ye-- it is very

scary, some of the things that he says. he is a very smart man. just disrespecting the world mainly because this is a globalized economy. we have to be cautious of that. host: tyrrone is joining us. guestcaller: i feel and lookingr is the republican party spokesperson, as he is setting forth the ideals and the agendas of the republican party. host: leanne in ohio, who speaks for your party? caller: sarah palin all the way. what happened with the republican party this last eight years is president bush was a

social conservative, but we need a fiscal conservative in the white house. host: sarah palin on the fox news channel last night with strong hannity -- sean hannity. here's what the two talked about with regard to the rhetoric in american politics today. >> we are hearing a lot of good rhetoric. but we are not seeing those actions. this many months into the new administration -- quite disappointed, quite frustrated with not seen those actions to rein in spending and slow down the growth of government. instead, it is the complete opposite. it is expanding at such a large degree. unfortunately, our country could evolve into something that we do not even recognize. that is so far from what the founders of our country had in mind for us. that is where we're headed. you have to be blunt about the candidate and honest with the

americans to let them know. if we keep going down these roads, nationalizing many of our services and projects, yes, that is where we would head. that is why americans have to pay attention. we have to have our voices heard and it needs to be our will, the american people's will, imposed on washington instead of the other way around. host: the headline in "the washington times" -- also, a story called "reagan unveiled." "where are the leaders that will increase the power of eac behind mr. reagan's thoughts?" who speaks for your party?

caller: ron paul. the other republicans are republicrats. they are a bunch of socialists. ron paul is against the war. he knows who is behind it. he knows about the lobbies. he is not for socialized medicine. he is for free markets. and i appreciate some of the colors that got through to speak against socialized medicine. host: thank you for the call. colleen from new jersey. caller: the gop has never been missing. i loved mark sanford, and there is jeb and sterlihenserling.

mark sanford, when he was a congressman, never took a penny of living expenses. he basically lived in his office during his three terms. host: going back to this peace in "the help" newspaper -- this article in "the hill" newspaper. host: caller from charlottesville, va.. who speaks for the gop caller: i do not think anybody speaks for the gop right now. nobody is really speaking for

them. it is just a bunch of negativity. it is a lot of things that are kind of disturbing. rush limbaugh being a leader of the party is a sign of political suicide. host: the front page of "the washington post." host: michael is joining us from mobile, alabama.

who speaks for your party? caller: dr. ron paul. host: randy is next from california. caller: it is yet to be determined. there's not a clear standout voice for the republicans. of course, for the conservatives, rush limbaugh is doing a pretty good job. dick cheney is making his will alone. as far as sarah palin, first of all, she motivated me to become a nra lifetime member of this year. i'd really like her. i think she has a good record. she is a popular governor. when the mainstream media people like amy walter say she needs to bring something to the table -- what did barack obama bring to the table when he was running? i did not see any plethora of

experience or anything that he brought. the pendulum will swing. democrats were in the wilderness just a few years ago. we will get over it. thank you, c-span. host: this e-mail from john from tennessee. host: more from last night's dinner with the former speaker of the house, the keynote address by newt gingrich. >> i think our goals should be to reach out to the american people in every possible way, to make sure that john boehner becomes the speaker of the house in january of 2011. [applause] that mitch mcconnell becomes the

senate majority leader. [applause] and that this is a one-term presidency in the jimmy carter tradition. [applause] host: that is from new gingrich at the fund-raiser for house and senate republicans. $14.5 million for the 2010 midterm elections. it is election day in virginia. the front page of "richmond times dispatch." a three-way race. polls showing it dead even in primary day. the winner of this primary will face bob macdonald. howie is on the phone from philadelphia. good morning. caller: thank you for bringing this up. this is the fact that the republican party is a dark horse and newt gingrich is wrong. the first time that we were

under such conditions is one reason for hays was president. the democratic party took over the party. we needed james garfield. we know what happened with that. i believe that representative steve locke is for the populist republicans. nixon tried to bring back the fact that tell them to which was very successful during his presidency. that is a populist republican. host: more headlines this morning. "ginsburg stalls the sale of chrysler." because of her decision, she has put the brakes on chrysler's sale to fiat, at least for now. dee is on the phone from santa

cruz, california. caller: good morning. i just want to tell you my representative for the republican party would be: how wi colin powell. he is reasonable and he is truthful, although he did lie about the iraq war, although he may have been tricked into that. sarah palin and michelle bachman are totally embarrassment. they started to insinuated that there is something wrong with being educated. we want ourselves and our children and our grandchildren to be educated. so when the republican party started to bash education and calling the media of the elite -- i do not know. it was really ridiculous. host: jennifer harper has

this story in "the washington times." host: that is a story in "the washington times." this is what the front page of "the boston globe" looks like today. virgil is on the phone from texas. caller: good morning. i. colin powell speaks well for the republican party.

i'd like to see him get a broader role in the future. newt gingrich has a lot of good ideas, but too much baggage. bobby jindal is a good up-and- coming voice. i think sarah palin is a light and she needs to go back to alaska. host: front page of "but chicago tribune." "harsh sentence for the two journalists in north korea" is making the front page. we are turning our attention to the situation there at the bottom of the next intel rep. john is on the phone from atlanta. who speaks for your party? caller: it is hard to tell who speaks for our party right now. i believe that we need to go more moderate. with john mccain or colin powell or the main senators. i think the republican party has been hijacked by more radicals

like dick cheney and rush limbaugh. i think we need to be more inclusive of the minority. host: thank you for the call. in the next hour, we turn our attention to two foreign policy issues. shibley telhami will join us to talk about the elections in lebanon and what is next in the middle east following president obama's speech in cairo last week, and the elections in iran, and the dynamics in the middle east. later in the program, the w ill turn areour focus to the two american journalists in north korea. >> "the wall street journal" says treasury officials expect nine of the biggest banks are free to repay their funds with

an initial payback of $50 billion in government bailout funds. congress approved the $700 billion troubled assets relief program eight months ago. the joint economic committee will meet today to secure from the chairman of the tarp congressional president obama program president will announce new rules requiring lawmakers to pay for new initiatives, including an overhaul of the health system, or face automatic spending cuts. the announcement will come from the east room of the white house. more on chrysler today. fiat says it will not walk away from its deal to buy chrysler despite a supreme court justice ruth painter ginsburg putting the deal on hold while she reveals a challenge. a federal bankruptcy judge in new york years arguments from chrysler dealers who do not want to lose franchise agreements. more from "the wall street journal" -- mitch mcconnell says

republicans are not satisfied with the administration's nominee to run the u.s. census. president obama's pick to lead the bureau was approved by the senate homeland security committee in may, but republicans blocked a confirmation vote last week. the justice department says the first guantanamo bay detainee has been brought to the united states for trial. he of arrived in new york earlier this morning trade he is alleged to the been involved in the al-qaeda up bombings of the u.s. embassies in kenya and tanzania. finally, in illinois, the newspaper says that the son of dennis l. hester will seek his congressional seat. he's as people are ready for the next generation of leadership. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. ed >> "washington journal" continues. host: we want to welcome sey