>> a note, one of the appeals court judges that concerts -- concurred with ruling for the city on of firefighters is supreme court son yet supple my

door. we will bring new ongoing coverage of the final court decision here on the c-span network, on c-span review, and online at c-span.org. you can also watch a house hearing on regulating executive pay a publicly traded companies. that is coming up at 12:30 eastern time on c-span to repair it right now on c-span 2, you can see a live discussion on u.s.-india relations from the american enterprise institution. later on today, admiral timothy teaching speaking at the atlantic council. this will include north korea's most recent missile testing. live coverage of that will be at 5:30 eastern, here on c-span.

now all look at some of this morning's washington journal. >> faiz shakir is the editor of a local newspaper. we're talking about congress wrapping up and the influence of media on politics. there's a front-page story in the on the roll call pokey about the gop and their plans of the fourth of july recess. how effective are parties at getting their message through to the public, particularly through july 4 recess? guest: it requires gas -- grassroots work. people need to amplify your message. if your focus on a d.c. message, advertising in "roll-

call" or "the washington post," many of these groups are hoping their messages are bombarding both the lawmakers and their staffs and constituents, getting across the message. they are effective when they started in that fashion. host: it is a down time for politics in general. what are you looking at as the recess developed? guest: the districts that democrats have won over the past two election cycles have been taken from republicans. republicans are targeting those districts which would be the ones easiest to win back. this recess time that they have, they target their advertising to those districts specifically in hopes of at least cutting the democratic majority a little bit.

host: there is also an article about the liberal agenda, that gay-rights groups are looking for the president' take up their cause, the "don't ask, don't tell"issue. how much of an effect will it have on on the president said his godmother things after congress. guest: he made promises during the campaign to do some things. they started extending benefits to federal employees. congress wants to take that up, at least the democrats want to take that up. they have a legislative priority, as well. host: how big of a win was the for the president to get that bill plastic -- pastor the house on friday? guest: it was significant. they had to make concessions to

get it passed but it is a bill were most liberals can be happy. it cut emissions by 17% by 2020, 83% by mid century. it is accomplishing many global warming objectives. it also gives us a significant victory to move on to health care. ultimately, immigration reform will come around next year. there are many legislative hurdles but the fact that one was won, you can move on to the next agenda. host: the numbers are coming up on the screen and we will get to your calls. you had a piece friday on the gop and pushing back on energy. they passed a bill but it did not pass by a wide margin. how hard is it for the gop to go out and rail against speaking

against that bill with other things coming down the pike. ? guest: this top -- this took the focus of the health care plan. the quick deal happened last week between the agriculture committee chairman and speaker policy and henry waxman changed -- and speaker nancy pelosi and henry waxman changed but ththe . there was a gap between the majority and the minority, there is little the republicans can do. host: let's get to our first call from new york. caller: thank you for cspan. ne congressman that bloated --

any congressman that voted for the cap and trade bill should be impeached because they did not read the bill perr and. they should allow the american people to read it. the ron paul website explains it better than i can. i would like to hear them talk about ron paul at the federal reserve. caller: it is important to read the bill. guest: cap and trade has been going on for a decade. this is been a gradual process. we have had debates for a while. john mccain has been a leader in pushing similar legislation.

this agenda did not surprise anybody. it is one that president-elect barack obama campaigned on. the details were well-understood by leaders of both parties in the house. host: the president expressed doubt about the tariff provision in the bill. does he go into this negotiation with political capital and getting out of the bill once it goes to the senate? guest: he gave an interview yesterday and it was an effort to influence the senate debate. they want to take out what they see as a protectionist item in the house compromise. hopefully, they will have help doing that. there is still room to strengthen the senate bill for it is far weaker than the house bill. there has to the effort made to make sure that the global warming emissions targets are

raised. host: nashville, go ahead. caller: i have a comment than a question -- my comment is, i feel that capt. trade is important because the united states has been the leader in the world and with china as an upcoming power with millions and millions of people going to get cars in the next decade or so, we need to lead the world. my question is, what do your guests feel the republicans can run on in light of the fact that the democrats have total control and have double the national debt and increased the size of government 40%? guest: that is something republicans have admitted to. they made mistakes over the last few years. the american people answered that. the one thing they can run on

now is exactly what president- elect barack obama ran on last we're -- last year and that is jobs. they can only hope to pin it to nancy pelosi and president-elect barack obama. that is what they are banking on. guest: there is a real concern about what the house and senate republicans have to say about crucial issues like national energy. if you listened to the bid on friday, use of many of the leading conservatives say the global warming is a hoax. they do not believe in the basic science. that is a critical problem for the house republicans, that they are divided on such a critical issue. that puts them in a fundamental, a difficult position to articulate a reform of any kind. on the one hand, they don't believe on the problem and their efforts are simply status quo. they just want to burn more coal and burn more earth along

the way. they are stuck in a difficult box and then not found a way to get out of it. host: calmest of it, pa. -- caller: a couple of comments. first of all, i listened over the weekend since the energy bill passed, have not heard about the fact that the united states says 5% of the population of the world and we are responsible for 25% of the pollution. china, although they are a miserable polluter, they are taking some heavy-duty action to counteract that. they have mass transportation, etc. another comment is -- obama and the democrats better fight back against the republican onslaught that is coming on. we can see the beginnings of it. if they do not, they will lose in 2010 and 2012.

progressives like myself and independents who make up the largest segment of the population, we are disgusted with what obama is doing. that will be the bottom line for it is not because of the strength of the republicans, it is because of the discipline of democrats and independents. host: one of the sunday shows made a statement yesterday and they thought it would be two or three election cycles before the republicans came back in power. guest: republicans see that as a possibility. they are so far down, 19 senate seats. it does not look good for them next year. they will lose at least one more. what happens in this congress and over next year with the economy, especially, with the energy bill, it does not look

great for them. host: how much harder is it in the senate now that one senator has stepped down as the lead center of the campaign committee. ? guest: it was the policy committee. i'm not sure there will lose a lot from that. they will take a hit, image- wise. guest: obama is more trusted than the gop on literally every issue. deficit control, terrorism, he is still broadly more trusted than the house gop and the senate gop. there is a fundamental problem the media often says that the battle between the gop and obama it is a problem for ed obama. that is not the case politically speaking, it is a problem for

the gop that they are stuck on the critical issues, losing to obama and having very little trust from the american public on these critical issues. it poses a major problem going into these future elections. host: myrtle beach, south carolina, go ahead. caller:mr. shakir, i would hope that you would find yourself embarrassed. people like you are the only ones we have to rely on. the media is totally in the tank with this president on every level. why didn't abc bring things up people like me who was getting ready to retire and have the common knowledge of the average american about so security and health care? i believe that congress is exempt from the health-care plan that they are trying to give us. they have about the help -- the best health care plan on a world. when i have freedom of choice come, and i sent unto their

stacks -- up to theirs? how many people do you think will start getting medicare the next seven years? i am the original baby boomer. i was born in 1946. it will be catastrophic. all those people will go off private and employers paying their health care and going to the government. host: we will give our guest a chance. guest: i have a book coming out with governor howard dean on the issue of health reform. our view is that one of the fundamental problems over the next 20, 30, 40, 50 years is the cost of health care. if you do not put in place fundamental measures to rein in the cost of health care, you will not succeed regardless of what ever you put into it. one of the staples that howard dean and many other advocates have been pushing for is a

public plan, an option that would compete against private insurers. the hope is that it would be able to compete in a way that would drive down costs from private insurers but administer a plan that would cost far less over the longer term. that is one of the critical issues that is now up for debate in the house and senate. host: why our seniors, in minority, receiving some of blame for health care crisis when the nation continually over spent elsewhere? guest: there is no doubt that we have overspent a great deal in the private insurance industry because they spend on advertising, they put in costs to make sure that they do not have to cover those who require the most costs. one of the problems is that we have people who need coverage to do not have coverage who go to

the er and take up a great deal of cost and the private industry and those of us who have coverage, have to pay for that. you need an affordable defense of option for people who do not have insurance or who are in the risk of losing insurance to have a plan to fall back on so they can get coverage throughout the course of their life and they are not heading into the emergency room only when they have a catastrophic problem and getting huge costs that impact all of us. host: on the town held health care meeting last week at the white house, what were your thoughts on that? guest: it was interesting because the white house has led in two networks with unprecedented access. many people blame that on the white house and maybe the american people are tired of seeing these things. the other argument is that abc may not have promoted as much.

it was obviously a good thing for the white house to do to get this conversation going to the american people. host: the issue of health care came up with george stephanopoulos yesterday. let's show you a bit of what they had to said. >> i do not -- i want to show you something that president- elect barack obama said during the campaign. >> i can make a firm pledge, under my plan, no family, making less than two under $50,000 per year, will see any form of tax increase -- making less than two under $50,000 per year, will see any form of tax increase. -- $250,000 per year. >> the president said what ever

has to be done cannot add to the deficit. we have issues with our budget. we do not want to add to our deficit. this will have to be paid for. 2/3 of the expense of this under the president's's plan and proposal will be done by transferring money within the health-care system from medicare, on wasteful spending, and so on. we are talking about the final 1/3. he has proposed a plan that would keep with the promise he has made to cap deductions for the wealthiest americans on their taxes. host: was there any change of message from the candidate obama in september, 2008, and presently? guest: they are trying to maine -- remain consistent on taxes. we have to see what comes out of these bills. there may have been all lawson

there but it is a wait and see thing. guest: the administration is stuck in a box to try to figure how to pay for health reform. they have to figure out where the money will come from. the administration is large it looking to congress to resolve its of the ideas that are coming from congress would involve some of these tax increase that the administration is not willing to take a firm position on. they want to let congress debated, figure out how to pay for, and then present the proposal. host: in the first five months, has this been the pattern of this administration? guest: i think so, obama came into office with big ideas but he once the approach by congress. he has asked for their schedule

and details that they would like to offer. he has given republicans ample opportunity to weigh in. those efforts have not succeeded greatly with republicans but he is still sticking to his original ideas which is to let congress have an equal say. host: next caller -- you are on the air. caller: i would like to make comments regarding the health care plan and the public plan that president-elect barack obama wants to have in place. 72% of the american people are in support of this public health care plan at this time, people are aware of the crisis in the health-care industry. i would like to know why the

congress and the president do not work more toward a federal plan like the congress and the federal police have? i am a retired va maris and i was the head of the most wonderful health care plan. congress has it. this plan includes -- i think there are eight or 10 -- private companies that you can pick from which includes bluecross, blueshield -- i think there is a railroad -- i know there is a post office plan. you get to pick which plan you want. there is no problem going to any doctor you wish, and a specialist. your medicine is taken care of. it is a wonderful plan. i cannot understand why congress is not fully behind a plan like this.

i saw senator grassley had received campaign contributions from insurance companies of almost $400,000 from 2003-2008. he had received almost $300,000 from the pharmaceutical companies. host: we will get a response. guest: the obvious answer is the great expense. some people in the military might be happy with their plan, as well. it is extremely expensive. to provide that for every american, that would be beyond the means of what this federal government can do. guest: governor deane and myself -- howard dean and myself

argue that when it comes to health reform, they lose their principles on the free market heard what liberals are trying to argue to put a public auction on the table and shoes just as they would choose in the federal employes benefit plan, choose which often they would like. right now, a public auction is not available. there is a dichotomy between poll numbers. 72% of the people believe in a public auction as opposed to what goes on in the senate. they are little club of their own. they lose sight of what is going on how america having their own health plan. one of the efforts is to make sure that the senate debating society does not lose sight of the fact that there is this public sentiment. host: of what is your organization"think progress" all

about? guest: we advocate of progress of reforms across the board. that is our official blog. we are a rapid response blog that puts out all kinds of stores throughout the course of the day, rebutting conservative myths. host: what is real clear politics doing now? guest: we track all polls for presidential approval, for congressional approval, for all those things. you can come to our site and we average the numbers of all those polls and make one clear number that people can look at. host: we talked about the poll numbers on health care which does not resonate in the senate, do you find that the case in

other issues that the numbers support? guest: republicans find one called a match their rhetoric and they will use that one. that is the great thing about our website is that we average) host: are there too many balls out there? guest: yes, there were quite a few in 2008. you would see about 15 calls for the election last year. host: you had an article back in april and it said that the gop transition to super-minority. what does that mean? guest: if al franken becomes the next senator from minnesota, democrats could control -- they

would have 60 seats in the senate. that is a much you need to pass the legislation you want. they have a huge majority in the house. to me, that is a super-minority. host: can either of you give us an update on the al franken issue? guest: he may ceo frank and if the court battle continues to drag on forever. -- he may seek al franken if the court battle continues to drag on forever. they are waiting for the court to have the final say. host: another half-hour of politics, calif., on our independent line. caller: it seems that advocates of global warming think that the debate is over. it strikes me that it is not the case for global warming is not based on science.

it is statistical correlation and computer models that global warming is caused by humans. there is an alternative explanation that the changes in temperature of the planet are caused by solar activity. this seems to be verified by the fact that you have a correlation of warming on other planets like mars which correlates with the temperature changes on the earth. i'm wondering if the president can provide me with a persuasive argument that reebok's this or point me to a website. guest: i would talk -- i was directed to the panel on climate change. they are the foremost experts on global warming. they have come to a determination that the science that global warming is caused by men and we need to take immediate action to address it. this is not just a governmental panel.

a whole variety of u.s. experts have determined that this is real. it has been happening and we need to take action to confront the fact that man is causing further emissions that are degrading our environment and potentially will cause huge ramifications for our weather patterns and all kinds of resources that we pay into. this happened during hurricane trip -- hurricane katrina. host: bonnie lake, washington. caller: good morning. one thing i have not heard the republicans mention much is on the health care reform plan, if people are focusing more on preventive medicines, getting into exercise programs, learning more about nutrition, i think it has en