tv [untitled] CSPAN June 22, 2009 11:30am-12:00pm EDT
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working in different fields of jobs. currently, i am unemployed. i have to say, the amount of jobs that are available here in miami is pathetic. the amount of people looking is more than 10 times the actual job of the trees out there. as far as how i feel, i am against all the bail outs. -- bailouts. the spending to try to help the economy may sound good, but when you think about it especially since we are bailing at gm, all we are doing is keeping the company and the bad assets and the come -- country. we are now forcing the american people through these bailout bills through our tax money to except general motors.
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we don't want them, that is why we are not paying for any of their services, but the government is stepping in saying we have to our jobs will be lost. companies go under all the time and jobs are lost. in the long run, the unfortunate it will be worse. the company is being bailed out and nationalize would be worse than that. we will have more host: unemploymenof that. host: is there any highway infrastructure work going on in your area? caller: i don't notice any big improvements in my area. i have noticed deterioration in some places.
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host: indiana, pa. on the democrats' line. caller: i live in a small county in monster in pennsylvania -- and i recently retired. we have been affected by the coal industry. things have been slow here probably slower than what has been on the national scene. stimulus money is coming in and there are construction jobs. there are bridge and road repair jobs that are coming in, and i have been doing volunteer work. there stimulus money is just now coming in in this month in june. i believe their fiscal year ends in june 30th. some of those payments we are
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just receiving care in the local county, which will bring jobs that will not be high-paying, and they will not pick up everyone who is applying for a job. but they are going to provide a stimulus to our local economy. i sat -- i think the economy will be slow, i think it will take patience on the part of all of us. i am retired and my husband is retiring. we are in a different position. i do think that there are pockets -- i just visited my son in jacksonville, north carolina. car dealerships are having some problems there, but that is almost recession-proof. i think it will take more time.
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the stimulus money is just reaching us. it is coming in and county bridges are being worked on, county bridges are being worked on. host: following up on a couple of her comments, this article in u.s. debt -- usa today. where some of the stimulus spending is going. it's as cash goes to districts and legislators directing funds. most of the $2.2 billion in economic stimulus money for the army corps of engineers construction projects are being spent in the home districts of members of congress who can oversee the funding. two-thirds of that money will be spent in states with this represented by the members of the house and senate subcommittees.
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they are building and fixing water and sewer lines, reservoirs' come up levees. they also right that the states getting the most money, california, mississippi, illinois, texas, and florida, all have member serving on the infrastructure committee's. . she also brought up the issue of the end of the fiscal year. this is the front page of the new york times. the states returning to last resorts in the budget crisis, painful cuts in taxes. even officials in the same party is it -- are fighting as the deadline looms. the economy is choked by the worst recession in 60 years. governors and legislatures are proving program cuts, layoffs and to eight small degree, tax
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increases. all states must have a new budget in place by july 1st. most are already predicting shortfalls as tax collection schrank, unemployment rises and the stock market remains in turmoil. georgia, on our in a pat line. caller: the jobs that didn't go overseas, confession taken over by the illegals. this administration has no intention, no feasible way of creating an economy that can say -- sustain a married couple with a couple of kids. these jobs might be able -- the stimulus package might be able to buy a cheeseburger and 99¢ menu at mcdonald's, but it does
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not change our standard of living. the two industries that are profitable our health care and education. most of them are heavily subsidized by taxpayers, and both of them will be taken over basically by the government shortly. until the american people wake up, we will stay in this situation. host: another article, a story about stimulus spending in the state of georgia. the headline reads, basics take priority. kansas city, on the democrats lined. caller: our jobs went overseas
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york times about education. education chief arne duncan warning people that charter schools harm the effort of the administration. education warns advocates of charter schools today that low- quality institutions are giving their movement a black eye. charter movements are putting themselves at risk by allowing too many second and third grade schools to exist. he is scheduled to deliver these remarks today at the gathering of the national alliance for public charter schools. the economy has improved the savings rate. in the section of the washington times, consumers rediscover the concept of thrift. the savings rate rebounds after the collapse.
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to cleveland and -- on our republican line. caller: i see a little bit of infrastructure improvement happening. it still seems like a small amount as far as what they could have spent for helping that out. water systems are over 100 years old. they could have spent a lot more on helping that out. i think the biggest -- i think that has hurt us is the loss of industrial manufacturing jobs. all those economic experts to said that would not hurt a thing, those people have been proven wrong. china has built themselves into an economic superpower through industrial manufacturing. go to your local hardware store.
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hardly anything is made here anymore. until we get off of this disastrous free trade policy, i don't see things as getting better. they have to put a cap on immigration. the only thing this will do is make the wage scales even lower than they have always -- than they have already been hammered down. they are kneecapping the middle- class, to destroy it. working at a restaurant is honest, hard, work. but it doesn't have a pay scale that will enable somebody to buy a home or a car, or get a driveway or a roof put on a house or anything else. host: another caller mentioning
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immigration in relation to jobs. this is a story inside the times this morning about arizona considering tougher immigration laws. supporters cite the inadequacy of the federal effort on the border. the right that the proposal in arizona, which has cleared the senate is being considered by the house would require police in the state to try to determine immigration status, when they have a suspicion that the person does not have status. to grand rapids, mich. independent color. -- independent caller. caller: i am calling from florida.
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i have been out of work since january. host: what kind of work did you do? caller: i am a long haul truck driver. i bought -- i held exotic cars. the price of freight has gone down. i have done some work on bridging equipment in maine. my friend said in the whole state they'll have two bridge projects going. host: the free you are calling is because of the stimulus spending in the state of maine? caller: yes.
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what is ahead in the house in terms of how they will work on the legislation. guest: i think the white house has realize that the job so wish it -- situation may not be improved by the 2010 elections. they want to ensure that health care passes, so that's the voters can see that something can be done to help them. they said, right now there really need to move health care by the elections that are coming up. that is their priority. they have put everything else on the back burner. right now, that intense committee work going on. one is in the senate, and one is in the house. a second one in this house might be coming after the july 4th break. first, they will work on the two bills that have already written.
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those are full of controversy with a lot of disagreement. they do not appear very close to a consensus on health care. host: the senate looks like they started marking up the health committee virgin last week. it is likely that the house will wrap up their work on the bill before the senate does? guest: it is hard to say who will get done first. both are struggling. in the senate, there has been a lot of disagreement. republicans say this costs too much, full of vagueness and blank spaces. senator john mccain called the bill a joke and democrats say you may not like this, but we are going to do health care. there are some competing issues in the senate. in the house, the bills have three different jurisdiction --
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committee jurisdictions who will examine the bill this week and try to mark it up a lot of republicans in the house saying, we will not support this. the democrats will have to work out the differences themselves in the house on that bill. by the end of this week, i don't think there'll be any resolution to health care. host: the president today will sign the tobacco bill passed last week by the senate. how significant is it? what will it do? guest: it regulates tobacco, let's the fda regulate tobacco. this is the first time in history they have been allowed to do that. cigarettes are very expensive. the tobacco industry has already been reform for years. this will eliminate things that might lower in young smokers, like flavored cigarettes and
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promoting cigarettes to minors, limiting advertising. it is a big step for the fda to regulate tobacco. guest: susan ferrechio, we will check back in with you in a bit. the new york times has an article about posting bills online before the president signs them. the white house changes the terms of a campaign pledge about posting bills online. obama during the campaign promise that once the bill was passed by congress, when there is a bill that ends up on his desk, you the public will have five days to look on line to find out what is in it before it i signed it, so that you know what i am doing. five months into the administration, mr. obama has signed two dozen bills but has never waited five days.
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on the recent credit card legislation, he would do just two days. there's watchdog groups were repeatedly failing to live up to the pledge, the fact checking arm of the st. petersburg times has branded it a promise broken. grand rapids, mich. on the independent line. caller: i am calling in regard to a standpoint from a college graduate last may. i am calling because i feel like everyone is pointing the fingers at illegal immigrants, but coming from a 22-year old male, i point the finger at the baby boomers. they never stood up for anything, they never stopped and revolted against elitist, corrupt, politicians.
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you have people in the '20s getting out of college, still working jobs that they did in high school. living as was $60,000 in debt. host: what did you major in? caller: i majored in political science with a minor in real estate. from fellow friends, we all graduated in may, and they're serving at restaurants making $10 an hour and tips. my goal is to be a political activist like abbie hoffman. host: where digital to undergraduate school? caller: central michigan university in mount pleasant. host: good luck. we have a -- i'm a democrat
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line. caller: i am a registered nurse and registered nurses are in high demand. it takes a compassionate and sympathetic person, with a show of steel to do this. i would also like to say that the administration should involve nurses and the american nurses association the black nurses association, because registered nurses, we are on the front lines. we see what -- health care is doing. we can see what needs to be cut and what needs to be given to patients. we can tell you cost-effective ways of managing health care. this would really help host: are there a shortage of registered nurses in washington in particular? caller: yes. i get calls all the time. they are offering us bonuses if we get nurses to come on.
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not everyone can do it. if you are willing to do it, it is out there. host: we are asking you where the jobs are this morning. the unemployment numbers and also stimulus spending. kansas city, kan. on the republican line. caller: i really like c-span. i am a retired industrial arts teacher, and i do home remodeling right now. business has been pretty good. a lot of people are not buying new homes, fixing up what they have. it's not great, but it has been very steady. host: how long did you teach? caller: 20 years. i was glad to hear somebody say something about nursing.
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the health industry around kansas is doing well also. to me, the key to getting a job is training. if you don't have training, i am sorry for the delivery guy, if you are trained in hvac, you will have a job. if you are trained in most of the high demand trades come you will have a job. to many people are getting degrees in political science, things that they were marginal to begin with. all of the basics, the basics skill jobs the help career jobs, there are jobs for those people. in kansas city, if you want a residential roof, they will have an immigrant put it on or you probably won't have a roof. the same thing with landscaping. but those are all semi skilled, and skilled jobs. they always have been fairly low paid. most people, most immigrants can
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qualify to do that. there is -- are not a lot of train hvac people that are trained. the trade jobs that you have to have a skill for, i think they still have a future. the trouble is, we have too many americans that cannot read a tape measure. host: the front page of the washington times, their story about stimulus spending. obama and gop at odds over stimulus spending. it has been for months and still the president is criticized. >> we leave this recorder portion of today's washington journal and take you live to the white house where the president is expected to announce a deal with drug companies to cover costs of medicare recipients. >> aarp is proud to stand with
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you, chairman bacchus, senator dodd to announce that the gap in medicare, the drug coverage gap known as the doughnut hole for all of you will be substantially filled for millions of middle income americans as part as health -- of health report. -- health reform. we are honored to stand with you. senator baucus, it is your strong leadership with the finance committee and your creativity that led to the development of this unique solution. we also support you and look forward to the next up with optimism. the bottom line, without you, we would not be here today. we offer all of our thanks to
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you. >> when the president issued his call for all parties to come together to address the issues of health care reform, aarp, representing over 40 million members was proud to be one of the first to step forward. when today's announcement means that struggling americans looking for help in their pocketbook just to stay healthy, to say -- who say that one of the single largest drivers of their health care cost is prescription drugs. today, americans in medicare, the doughnut hole, the gap in coverage will have their brand name drug costs cut in half. a 50% reduction in drug costs, a 50% reduction. to many americans fall into this coverage gap. they stopped taking their
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medications, because they cannot afford it. now they will have a new opportunity to lead a healthier life. every american who is burdened by this high cost of health care, or has inadequate access to health care, every business who is fighting for their life, fighting to be competitive and to stay competitive and to save american jobs, they all know that health care reform cannot wait. it cannot wait. this is an early when for reform, a major step forward. it is a signal that the process is working and will work. aarp's work is not done. it is our job to protect those who rely on medicare to further lower drug costs and have
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guaranteed access coverage for all americans. together, we will complete the mission of comprehensive health- care reform. we would like to thank you, mr. president, for your leadership on this issue. thank you. >> i have an opportunity to address the leader of the free world, our president, president barack obama. >> thank you. first of all, i would like to thank you for the introduction, but aarp, the represent -- the organization you represent on this issue today. last week, in my address to the ama, i spoke about the urgent need for health-care reform and what will be required to achieve
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it. one of the things that will be required is that everyone in our health care community will have to come together and do their part. in recent days, chairman max baucus, who has been doing an outstanding job leading the finance committee on this issue, as well as members of my administration's has been in discussion with the pharmaceutical industry to bring down costs for america's seniors. i am pleased to report that over the weekend, we reached an understanding that will help close the notorious bowknot hole in medicare part d. this is a significant break -- breakthrough on the road to health care reform, it will make the difference in the lives in -- of many older americans. the doughnut hole refers to a gap in prescription drug coverage that makes it harder for millions
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