host: good morning. on capitol today, fed chairman ben bernanke before a house committee, taking questions on that merger between bank of america and merrill lynch. one headline in "the new york times," the gop expected to paint ben bernanke as an ally of big government. the senate health committee continues its market appearance today on the issue of health care reform. nancy pelosi holding her weekly news conference. president obama meeting with some members of congress. today the issue is immigration. there's also a white house picnic on the south lawn for lawmakers. governor mark sanford admitting his affair yesterday on the front page of "the washington

times." social conservatives fall from the moral high ground. that is our focus for the next half-hour. our phone lines, as always, 202- 737-0001, of our line for republicans. 202-737-0002 for democrats. if you are an independent, the number to call is 202-628-0205. beginning with the "los angeles times," another gop bombshell. the "atlanta journal constitution," where the governor flew back cut from his trip to argentina, a costly confession for the south carolina governor. also this morning from the leading newspaper in south carolina from columbia, emails that were posted yesterday on a number of web sites around the country. inside "the new york times," some of the details on how this story all came about. i will read you some experts --

i will read you some excerpts from "the new york times. from "the new york times," "for the press, rumors that the governor was strained, but no hard evidence." six months ago an anonymous tipster sent the state newspaper in columbia copies of the e-mail messages supposal exchange between governor mark sanford and the woman named maria in argentina. in an effort to verify the the messages were genuine -- they never heard back so the paper did not publish them until wednesday after mr. sanford admitted to having an affair. the story goes on to say that before that, reporters and editors at the state were aware that the possibility -- of the possibility that mr. sanford was having an affair. the whiff of adultery had not followed him, reporters remained skeptical. last thursday the governor to take an interview with sean

hannity for fox news in which mr. sanford criticize the federal stimulus plan and said that he had not thought of running for president. later he left the governor's mansion without security and rumors about his absence percolated in law-enforcement circles, according to some officials. other politicians and government officials got wind of his accent -- of his absence and tick off reporters. thomas joining us on the phone from lafayette, louisiana. -- tom is joining us on the phone from lafayette, louisiana. caller: thank you for taking my call. thank you for c-span. i wanted to comment that we had a problem here with our senator, david vitner, who had some kind of a thing with prostitutes, and it seems like the republicans in louisiana overlooked that, maybe because of his politically conservative positions. but i am tired of these sanctimonious politicians that want to tell us about family

values, moral values, and this other guy, sanford, from south carolina, is another example of that. i am thoroughly disgusted with david vitter, but i guess that is politics these days. host: this story as above the fold in most of them. our next caller is mary. caller: good morning. i really nervous, but i guess i get that way. host: no need to be nervous. caller: the ok. i figure nobody is perfect, but all this stuff really should just be private between them. between a husband and wife and stuff, because we have so many other things we need to worry about. unemployment, stuff like that -- the economy, the business in iran and overseas. it is just incredible to me that

we are in such a dither about somebody who cannot control themselves when we have war criminals around this country making billions of dollars off book deals and stuff and nothing is being done about that. but that is just my opinion. thank you so much. host: thank you for the call. from s a miller wh, writing for "the washington times." "the once powerful source -- force that focus through public agenda on moral virtue and family values, have suffered a diminished brand on the national political landscape as a steady stream of their icons have fallen prey to devices that once preached against. leonard is joining us on the phone from plainfield, new jersey. good morning. caller: good morning. good morning.

host: good morning. caller: yeah, i think -- host: leonard, please turn the volume down on your television set. go ahead, we can hear you. caller: i think they should cut their pay, because when we do not go to work, we do not get paid. host: tania is on the phone from west virginia. good morning. caller: good morning. the new thing with the republicans seems to be, i get caught cheating, i resign from the committee. why not resign from the senate? why not resign from the government? when china is told not to trust the financial record of this country, the democrats should have them on the floor, in peach them come all the hateful things coming out of the republicans' mouth.

sounds like they should be brought up on treason. host: "in politics, hypocrisy has become a heavy cross to bear for those who once sought to owned the moral high ground. as champions of those standards, they are held to a higher standard, said tony perkins, president of the family research council, which promotes marriage and family as the foundation of civilization. if you are going to hold to these issues, you have to live by them. governor mark sanford admitted his affair yesterday. it was an 18-minute press conference. at >> the bottom line is this. i have been a faithful to my wife. i began their relationship with someone who started out as a dear, dear friend, from argentina. it began very innocently, as i suspect many of these things do

come in just a casual e-mail back and forth, advice on one's life there and one's life here. but here, recently over this last year, it developed into something much more than that. and as a consequence, i hurt her, i hurt your wall, i hurt my wife, i hurt my boys, i hurt friends like tom davis. i heard a lot of different folks. host: some of the headlines from the new york tabloids. "run away governor." "daily news" says "buenos airhead." the question that we are asking, the private lives of public officials. what is your take on this? caller: i think the politicians should concentrate on the few

morals that government should concentrate on, one of which is stealing, which we have plenty of in the government, and leave the other morals to the churches and the preachers and the general public. i think that politicians have plenty to clean up without worrying about extramarital affairs. host: john, thank you. gail collins writes inside "the new york times," "love parte." on behalf of the people of illinois and new york, i would like to think south carolina for giving us mark sanford. finally, a governor who is where the band rod blagojevich and less responsible than eliot spitzer.

really, we are relieved. she goes on to say that he was widely regarded as a republican presidential contender. many have forgotten this, but for a while in 2008 he was a serious candidate to be john mccain's running mate. we now stopped briefly to contemplate that possibility that there were even worse options then sarah palin. now he has become the second gop hopeful in the week to do a swan dive off the adultery cliff. if they do not drop it, pretty soon the youngest contender will be 75. can this joins us from riverdale, maryland, on the independent line. caller: good morning, mr. sculley. i believe that public officials private lives should be just that, private. however, when you have politicians like mr. sanford and senator bentsensign, who were so

vehement in public against senator clinton -- against president clinton and his problems, there is something very hypocritical about their actions in the public stance that they took. you take this type of positions and it comes back to blow up in your face, then you are fodder for comedians, you are fodder for the public, and you are fodder and you deserve the criticism and the comments that you get. people are looking for politicians to be true blue, not hypocritical. what the walk, talk the talk, and these two individuals have fallen short. host: thank you for the call. from the style section of "the washinton post," this is the first sentence in the piece from two washington post staff writers. "wow, was that a press

conference or was that a press conference?" here is the comments from the republican senator, john ensign, from nevada. >> last year i had an affair. i violated the vows of my marriage. it is absolutely the worst thing that i have ever done in my life. if there was ever anything that i could take back in my life, this would be it. i take full responsibility for my actions. i know that i have deeply hurt and disappointed my wife, darlene, my children, my family, friends, my staff, and all those who believed in me. and to all of them, especially my wife, i am truly sorry.

i will not mention any names, but the woman who i was involved with and her husband were both close friends, and they both worked for me. our families were very close. that closeness put me into situations during a very difficult time in my marriage which led to my inappropriate behavior. we caused deep pain to both families. for that i am truly sorry. i am committed to my service in the united states senate and my work on behalf of the people of nevada. host: the comments earlier this month from senator john ensign. this is based on a new mason- dixon polling for the las vegas review, finding that 39% of voters had a favorable view of

mr. anson, that is down from 53% -- mr. ensign, down 53% from last month. he has a 34% favorable rating from the same poll. the comments from our twittered site, "private lives should be private, but hypocritical gop ranos have been doing this since the 1980's. our next call. caller: good morning. i think you have got to have a moral standard, and i do not think the democrats have got that because of the abortion, the premeditated murder of babies. i just do not think they have got that -- you have to have something immoral to fall from. god forgives people for that,

but it is hard to get forgiveness for premeditated murder. host: from "the new york times," mark sanford was sworn in as south carolina's governor last year. our next call is from david, from virginia beach. caller: i find it strange that we have not heard from any south carolina college yet. they call all the time. i was born and raised in south carolina, so i am rather familiar with the politics of that state. i feel sorry, first of all, for his wife and children, who should not have to go for this. where was the right wing when they were bashing clinton? that was ok. we use government vehicles, he used government computers to e- mail this woman for eight years. the reason why we need to know

is because he is spending government money, and if you are going to turn down the stimulus funds to spend the hard earned tax payer dollars, they need to know. what is going to happen -- his press conference the yesterday was worse than robert gibbs, and i am a democrat. he even lied to his staff and his lieutenant governor, so how can we support him? we need to forgive everybody, not just the republicans, but we need to forgive the democrats. i am wondering when a republican is going to have a mistress have an abortion, because i am sure that is next. host: the headline from the state newspaper, others follow the exchange of emails between the governor of south carolina and his friend in argentina. meanwhile, the newspaper has this on its web site. sanford has much to do to make amends for deceit. in an attempt to conceal this private matter, mr. sanford

willfully and intentionally deceive the citizens of south carolina. he lied to staff about his whereabouts, and he abandoned his duties and exposed the state in a way that no elected chief executive should. the editorial goes on to say the governor has decided to resign as head of the republican governors association because of problems. there are those in our state who question whether he will be able to continue as our state's chief executive, and we believe he should resign as governor as well. we are not ready to join them in the call for his resignation as governor. that is available on-line at thestate.com. myrtle beach, south carolina, we will show you how that is playing out in that state. steve, good morning. the private lives of public officials.

what do you think? caller: he is not going along with obama on policy. the morals and our country are in the toilet right now. host: what does that have to do with the president's policies? caller: well, he did not want to accept the stimulus package, and i think obama's reporters were not going along with the program. host: jackie is on the phone from an actor, new hampshire. good morning. caller: good morning. i am very ashamed of what he didn't come as a republican. but, -- of what he did, as a republican. but what goes around comes around. the democrats will pound on him, especially "the new york times" all the time. you read liberal newspapers, i do not go along with that.

i do not believe what "the new york times" says. host: well, i respectfully disagree with that. we read from a number of different publications. caller: anyway, i am very hurt by what he did. but now the liberals and the democrats are going to have a field day with that. it is ok. but like i say, what goes around comes around. one day will come back to them. host: the news conference we're showing you on the larger screen from yesterday took place shortly after 2:00 from columbia, south carolina. if you want to watch the entire news conference, it is available on c-span.org. a tour, "i come from a conservative country. gop's have destroyed family values in the u.s. with hypocrisy. none is perfect, but it is private."

next call, good morning. caller: good morning. this just reminds me that these are the good old boys. the interracial abortions -- it just reminds me of how these good old boys act. they just can't do anything they want to do. they get together in there -- they can just do anything they want to do. they get together in their little clubs, and all this is just coming out in the open. host: thank you, calvin. inside "the wall street journal," "when south carolina governor mark sanford stood choking back tears in front of a horde of reporters on wednesday, explaining his mysterious disappearance and apologizing for an extramarital affair, he said he would lay it out and let the chips fall where they may.

those chips may fall -- may ricochet be on the governor's mansion in colombia. the news conference became the latest symbol of the struggles vexing his republican party as another of its rising stars was up ended by a sexual indiscretion." it was last year in that we learned about john edwards, as he spoke to what bob woodruff on abc's "nightline" program. >> 2006, two years ago, i made a very serious mistake, a mistake that i am responsible for and no one else. in 2006 i told elizabeth about the mistake, asked her for her forgiveness, asked god for his forgiveness, and we have kept this within our family since that time. all of my family knows about this. and just to be absolutely clear, none of them are responsible for it.

>> is this a fair completely over? >> yes, it has been over for a long time. host: that interview conducted by bob woodruff of abc news. in "the washington post," more on the metro accident that took place, but next to that, "governor sanford admits to a fair." next call. good morning. caller: good morning. i am calling because it seems to be a tit-for-tat. democrats do not one the republicans to get an edge in. republicans want to come back at the democrats. i said they are technically one of us. the problem is everybody is trying to get information on someone else, and men and women are about to stray when they

have these kinds of situations. you are in the public, you are exposed to so many people. you have best friends, acquaintances. you do not want to talk to your wife about it, you talk to your wife's neighbor or your best friend or vice versa. but what is most important is we are trying to get transparency in government. we are trying to recreate ourselves in a way -- not this democrats, republicans, and i am an independent -- but the most important thing is what committees are they working on? are they espousing family values? then maybe they should not be on a family values committee when it would be may be better for them to be on transportation or energy, something that would not be related that way. i understood senator kennedy was on the judiciary committee, and we know about kennedy's situation.

so why was he not on health care -- so why wasn't -- why was he on health care knowing about that? he may have been better on health care or energy because the family is so, you know, activist environment. this is the thing i find most important, is that our representatives do not go where there is more of a neutral -- or where their interests aren't most exposed. host: -- are most exposed. host: thank you for the call. later we will have as a guest david frost. also, former pennsylvania governor and former homeland security leader tom ridge.

an e-mail from a viewer, robert, saying that the mainstream media refused to write about their birds affair for a year, quite different from sanford. next is dorothy -- about their affair for the year, quite different from sanford. see, i think it should be private. i also feel that you cannot trust anybody in a corrupt government, just like they came in and threatened and fired all the gm people. they're just doing away with it, destroying lives with it. speaking of the administration now. it is so corrupt, everything about it, from one end to the other. host: the headline from "the miami herald," "missing governor: i have been cheating. next is a call from mary in orangeburg, south carolina.

caller: good morning. you had a caller who said he was going to -- who said that south carolina has not been calling in. for one reason, the state is in shock right now because when something like that happens to your governor or you're president, you are in shock. i am a staunch democrat, and i feel really bad for the family and what he has done. but, you know, we are all human. this went on with president clinton and all that. the country was in a state of shock as well. as people, we have to learn to forgive. you know, we all sometimes fall from grace, so i just feel bad about, you know, what has happened to our state. i can throw stones, but i would not do it because i know he is hurting right now. you know, when you do something like this year, it is devastating not only to your family but he did damage to

himself. the man is really hurting, and i think as a nation we should not try to throw stones like it has not happened in the past. we have to learn to forgive and let it go. host: thank you. twittered.co.com/c-spanwj. next call, good morning. caller: good morning to you. i want to make a brief statement. i think he should step down. i know he is a politician, but he has republicans and democrats calling to say that, you know, he should not step down. this is a moral issue. he is a liar and he is a thief. he committed adultery. i think we should forgive, but you do not forget things like

that. i do not think -- i think he should step down, and just blaming obama? no, i do not think these people -- i have been listening to other calls, and i cannot believe the stupidity. when you start blaming another party for somebody doing what he has done. host: thank you. the issue is cap and trade. in just a couple of minutes, congressman rick boucher will be joining us. representative eric cantor will be joining us. the business section of "the new york times," "the gop picking bernanke as an ally of big government." republican lawmakers are mounting a ferocious attack on the republican chairman of the

federal reserve, while democrats are coming to his defense. ben bernanke will be grilled today by the house oversight and government reform committee about his role in orchestrating bank of america's controversial takeover of merrill lynch last year. the house investigation is heavily covered by partisanship. president obama is proposing to give the fed new powers to regulate giant institutions including bank of america. it could pose risk to financial systems. below the fold in "the washinton post," "a first lady who demands substance." some of the changes inside the first lady's staff and her efforts to have an agenda here in washington and around the country. we will come back to this issue in the next hour on the private lives of public officials. we will take a short break. when we come back, congressman boucher will be with us.