your phone calls. ♪ host: the morning, on this thursday, august 13. the big story across the nation continues to be healthcare reform. we will spend much of our discussion this morning on that topic. as we begin we will show you the front page of "usa today" showing that independents are being swayed by protest at town hall meetings. we want to hear your views, as to whether the town hall meetings are changing your mind one way or the other. good morning, here is the front page.

this story was written by susan page. the headline protest tilled views on health care bill. she writes that the raucous protests have succeeded in fueling opposition to proposed health care bills among some americans. particularly among the independents. in a survey of 1000 adults on tuesday, 34% say demonstrations have made a more sympathetic to the protesters' views. later on, there is a reaction to the survey from david axelrod, the white house adviser, who questioned this paper's survey

methodology, saying those to report being more sympathetic to the protesters now worere likely to have already been on that side. he says he does not think this has changed much when it comes to public opinion. we want to hear your thoughts. one place where the discussion has been alive has been the internet. over the next couple of days, people who blog on the internet will be gathering in the city of pittsburgh. mackenzie carpenter is with us to set the stage for both liberal and conservative groups coming to pittsburgh, pa., beginning tonight. what is happening with pittsburgh? leader of the economic summit will be there in pittsburgh. it seems that the city is within

the political limelight these days. guest: there are plenty of those who like to take credit. senator bob casey was joined by the head of the u.s. steel workers union in a conference call. he claimed that pittsburgh has snagged these big events because of its excellent record in labor and business relations, public/private partnerships -- they went back over the whole story of our renaissance that began in the 1950's and said it has all led up to today. frankly, there are probably other reasons why we got picked to be the site of the g-20 summit. i still have not figured the not yet, but i am assuming that we are attractive because we are

perceived as a green city. we have a convention center which i believe was the first leed-certified convention center in the world. many buildings around town have been greened in that regard, so they are impressed by those efforts by arrest belt city to raise its environmental profile. also, i think barack obama has some pretty fond memories of pittsburgh. in the pennsylvania primary he spent a lot of time here last spring in the state and came to the city a few times. and also we do have a fairly strong labor presence here. i'm just speculating here, maybe he just felt it that he owed it

to supporters and laborers to do this. host: tonight will be the gathering of liberal, left of center, bloggers. how many are expected for that convention? guest: those who have signed up will be from 1800 up to 2000 people, bloggers, and various interest groups who want their messages to be blogged about. it will lead off with a keynote speech about president bill clinton. that will probably end up being about 10:30 p.m., who knows. there is also a conservative counter-convention in town, and i believe they did this last year as well -- americans for prosperity. about 600 people are expected at

that and the headliners are mainly a journalist and political pundits. some oakland"wall street journa" types. host: it sounds like there's a lot, how recovering at all? guest: good grief, there is a lot. there are little mini communities there and we will talk about that. we will cover some of the bigger panels including howard dean, having a town hall meeting on health care tomorrow. in addition to bill clinton, there will be the ellery jarrett -- valerie jarrett --

she will appear on saturday. i expect we will give a lot of coverage. host: thank you so much. we appreciate your setting the stage. congratulations on your front page billing this morning. guest: be sure to tell everyone with that website -- post- gazette.com. host: let's return to the discussion of health care on the telephones. have the health care protests changed your mind? beginning with a call from sun city, fla. on the independent line. what is your thinking as an independent? caller: thanks for taking my call. it has changed my mind a bit. i think the american people

would benefit by being a self- insured group, and i think it is nice that obama it is given a choice. what i would like to impress everyone with and this is very important -- on ofe the things we must do is lower costs, the matter which way the vote goes. -- one of the things we must do. cancer is one of the most expensive things to treat and people need to be educated by it. vitamin deficiency caused scurvy and it took hundreds of years for people to realize it was not caused by a virus. when the people sailing on long voyages started stocking with citrus fruits, scurvy ended.

now, there is a vitamin that does prevent cancer. host: what is it? caller: vitamin b-17. there is a book available at the american media on it. host: let's go to wisconsin on the republican line. this is robert. caller: good morning. host: as you are watching these healthcare protest and town hall meetings, have you changed your mind on all this? caller: it opened my mind more concerning the reaction from our president, nancy pelosi, and the statement of robert gibbs. it is un-american to not agree with the proposed plan. i do not agree with the anger

when it gets too out of hand, but i do not agree with it being un-american to agree or disagree. many attacks went on. many of the same making these comments, almost any proposal the bush administration proposed they attacked with malice. now they are doing the opposite. it will change people's minds. just the way that they are attacking just for voicing their opinion. host: here is a question in the gallup poll today from the paper which is tied into your comment. the light gray is democracy, the dark green is abuse. people in this more than 1000 person poll for asked about these actions. angry attacks against the bill -- 51% say that is democracy.

shutting down supporters of the bill -- 33% say that is democracy. good morning, tony, on the line for democrats. caller: people really need to get the politics out of this debate. this is too important. what are the consequences if we do not do anything? people need to become well- informed and get their information from more than one source. this issue must be taken care of. we will go back to 1992 and nothing will be done. the insurance companies will be business as usual, making billions while hard working people are not getting health care they deserve.

we need to go back and have a serious debate and get information from multiple sources. what ever you people are putting forth, they have a special interest. we need to get information from multiple sources. host: ark., on the republican line. caller: good morning. my question just where in the constitution doesn't say that the president of the united states and congress have the authority to take taxpayers' money and spend it on health care? i would like to see you ask the question based on fact and not opinion. you listen to c-span about 10 minutes and find out what a poor job of educating the public our fiscal system seven. host: all right, sir.

caller: where in the constitution does it say that the united states and congress have the authority to take taxpayer money to pay for health care? host: "the washington times" also has a story about the public opinion affect on town halls. here in this column has a columntack on it. he looks at history and suggest that there could be a backlash among voters watching the angry outpouring. he looked to the lyndon johnson era. he writes that in 1960's, he was part of a crowd of several hundred people.

he is making comparisons to how the public might react today in watching town hall protest. our next call is from shreveport, louisiana, on the independent line.

caller: nobody has read this bill, it seems to me. all these so-called congressman will not take the time to read the bill. they get to these town hall meetings and the people have read the bill and do not like it. it is shoved down our throats just like the bailout. democrats and republicans have been bribed or intimidated. mary lynn drew is sitting there like it is wonderful and i do not think she has read it -- mary landrieu. this is communism at its best. it amazes me. if they could throw psychotropic drugs in the trash can maybe

they could wake up and understand what is going on in this country. it is a terrible thing. i know people are hurting for insurance, but the need to pick themselves up and quit waiting on the government. it is a shame. host: thank you, next is new haven, conn., on the republican line. caller: good morning, i do not believe these protests will do any good. if anyone googles this, a town hall meetings began in new england. all this protesting is not doing any good. number one, there's not bill. there are four different bills now. i went to a town hall meeting in milford, conn., with the congressman. i not see anything like that. there were republicans,

democrats, independents. i agree with the writer that the world big backlash against these protesters. i am republican, but we do need to reform health care. i served senator grassley on fox news yesterday. saying that they want to kill a granny -- that is all a-- that s all a lie. host: next up is got on the democrats' line. -- next up is scott. caller: they do not persuade me. in fact, they make me more certain the system needs to be changed. i don't understand it is not changed for the more simple. if you have an automobile with

collision coverage you have a deductible. you know what the deductible is. it will cost you $500 or $1,000. my deductible for my health care through my employer which i have no control over is $10,000 per year. that is in a hmo. the corporations earn billions every year, so the argument that they cannot afford to cover all these exclusions is not correct. there are so many exclusions in my healthcare policy when i read it over that it is mindboggling. when i call my insurance company, they will not discuss with me with the actual costs are. i pay in full my employer for my health care and i believe they are actually profiting from a

health-care. again, very quickly, if there were a simple deductible that we could rely on, even if it is to thousand dollars or $3,000, and we can rely on a co-pay and not deal with the myriad of exclusions that can cost a fortune if we get sick. host: thank you. david kirkpatrick is on the front page of the washington times today. "obama taking an active role in health talks." the next phone call is from

louisiana on the republican line. are you there? caller: did you say mark? thank you for c-span, you have a wonderful show. the protests are nothing that changed my mind. i just wish there were some way we can get it all done on cbc- span, civil war you hear the truth. you listen to one channel where they tell you 15 different situations, and the next channel will have just the opposite. the next channel will have it somewhere in the middle. who are we to believe? the only people can make up their minds sensibly is if it were done solely on c-span. host: good morning, sandra. caller: thank you.

i am a senior citizen and i do get medicare. it seems to me that a lot of people out there forget that government is a government-run program. in their views is socialism. all these people who are collecting medicare and social security, i cannot know what they're arguing about. we have the same argument a long time ago with the republicans fighting against medicare. so, if we can take care of our oldest citizens, why can't we take care of the younger ones? host: to go. next is georgia on the republican line. caller: good morning, i had thought with the white house, the democrats telling us what we need -- what we're thinking,

instead of listening to us, what we have a super tuesday vote on this? that way they have to bring it all out to the american people about the bill? that way everyone is up on it. the american people could get those vote on it instead of having someone tell us what we want? host: don't you think your representatives in congress charged with that? with bringing your point of view to washington? caller: well, i did not collect the official to go up there and tell me what i want. it seems like it is a hard time right now when you were not rigid when they are not really listening to us. i figure that the super tuesday

were you can say what you want. host: jack is talking about a public referendum. next, we will be talking with a government relations senior vice president of the aarp beginning at 9:00 a.m. eastern. the next phone call is from ed, on the line for democrats. what are your thoughts as you watch these town halls? caller: good morning, a couple of points. i've worked in the health-care field. i see both perspectives. there are two issues. one is that these and not grass- roots protests. these are being sponsored by professional organizations and these are not all the sudden interested citizens just showing

up. what i find interesting is one of your callers talked about the concern that the government seems to be forcing-forcingrun health care down the throats of citizens, but no one seems to want to answer -- the medicare program if i recall, that is a government-run program. -- the government seems to be forcing government-run health care down the throats of citizens, they say. the point is that medicare is a government-run program. the fact of the matter is that these individuals, in terms of their approach, are basically making statements that contradict fact. so, i do not think it will have a backlash.

if this is truly a town hall meeting they're supposed to be an opportunity to have diverse views. the approach these individuals are taking, nearly 50% shutting down others -- that will not produce results. if you want to have a discussion -- one last point, the issue as it pertains to this administration forcing something people do not want -- people are forgetting that the prescription part d program, not only did the bush administration force that and, pass its but they also misrepresented the entire cost of the program. no one seemed to have an issue with that and it cost seniors twice as much as they thought it would be. host: here are two different front pages.

this pennsylvanian congressman would very much like to have the job of arlen specter in that state. here the paper from baltimore has a two dialogs. most say that the bill would hurt care and bird in the nation. we will return to your phone calls asking you whether these health care town halls you were either attending or watching the coverage of our changing your mind. let's hear from rich in caller: indiana no, these protesters have not changed my mind. the system is broken. our entire health care payment system is based on a prayer that every company in the country will offer their employees

health care and pick up 80% of the bill. the very second one employer says they will not, the system breaks down. we have 50 million americans without health insurance and is costing us money because a person who does not have insurance does not have money to go see a doctor, is in the hospital emergency room getting routine stuff done. a broken arm, an ear infection. suddenly there is a $1,500 bill. what happens? the hospital will not wait four years for that guy to pay him $5 per week. they will say "you do not only any money." so, when you go to the hospital and you have the gall bladder they charge you $500 for an aspirin. it is costing us more money

right now. i run a small-business. i am not sure how long the king keep insurance for my guys. but the way i look at it, the only way of doing this is telling the insurance companies to take a hike. i am sick and tired of hearing that the government cannot do anything. host: thank you. we're nearly out of time. as we wrap up this half-hour of the will be more discussion about health care. we have the representative of aarp for government relations. we will speak to jackie who has been covering this beginning at 8:30 a.m. here headlines from a couple of different papers. this is on the world trade

organization, handing turned its biggest defeat in the trade battle over books, movies, and music. below that -- food firms warned of a sugar shortage in the u.s. they sent a letter to that agriculture secretary that without freer access to cheaper imported sugar, trading patterns will be distorted, among other issues. also, today, financial coverage of the fed it. it is interesting to watch how different his papers look at what the fed did. this other paper says that the fed starts the rollback of the rescue efforts. will speak later today with jackie about that. we want to get this on the table. federal spending tops $3 trillion mean that the deficit so far is that $1.27 trillion

the u.s. government spent more money last month than any other month in history. outlays were more than double, generating a monthly deficit of $181 billion. all of washington will read this story -- dick cheney unleashes his frustration with bush. the statute of limitations has expired on many of the secrets. it is the vice president reflecting on his time in office as he works on his memoirs. let's take our last phone call from florida, this is georgia on the independent line. caller: good morning, i think some of these town hall meetings are making some changes. i have gone to a couple of them. the citizenry is getting

informed. they are reading. there are some organizations involved, but it is citizens, so i beg to differ. our health-care system is not broken, but it needs tweaking. i only think it is 4% of the population who camcould get on medicare. we are in a terrible situation with medicare and medicaid now. i believe it is a concerted effort by this government to take over the next largest financial institution in our country because they have taken the banks, mortgage companies, and insurance company. i really think it is about the money, nothing to do with healthcare. the little adjustments that we need are not that big of a deal.

host: we have to go. thank you. we will be back to health care later in the program. here is the front page of the detroit paper. since you, the american public, have a stake in general motors' , we thought you'd like to know more about the new model, the volt. we will be right back. >> bill clinton kicks off the 2009 netroots nation convention for bloggers. tomorrow, panels on health care reform with howard dean and senator arlen specter. making change happened and reshaping the supreme court. >> every morning, we talk live

with non-fiction authors about their summer releases. we will be taking your calls, e- mails, and messages from twitter. it will begin this friday morning. >> this radio talk-show executive on the new fairness doctrine, why it is a bad idea, and alternatives to censorship. he will be interviewed by the radio commentator, monica crawley. "washington journal" host: continues let's introduce you to our first guest from detroit. it is the line director from general motors for the chevy volt. please tell us about the volt. guest: good morning, susan, everyone. general motors is very proud of the progress made with the volt,

general motors electric car which is destined to hit the marketplace in a little more than a year. we have handled all the challenges previously associated with electric cars -- ranging, charging. it will give you for the emission-free miles, then if you want to go longer we have an on- board engine generator that allows you to go hundreds of miles more. it is a car that we believe as a chevrolet americans can follow- up with to be a primary car. host: my producer and i have been having a discussion because of that conversion long distance to the gas engine -- whether to call this an electric car or a hybrid. what is the correct terminology? guest: when you look at the department of transportation data and see how many miles people drive on a regular basis, 70% drive at your than 40 miles. for those people if they plug in only once per day will be an

electric car all the time and there will not use any gas. for an average person that probably saves about 500 gallons of gas per year. host: so, what should we call it? electric or hybrid? guest: we call it an extended range of electrical been that it becomes a battery-electric car if you take the other thing out. host: we want to take phone calls from viewers about this. we will learn more about what it might do for general motors and its health of raw. what are executive saying about the prospect of this car in restoring economic health for the company? guest: the show volt is about the future. this is a car -- the chevy volt -- it is a unique, no one else has stated that they can or will do this. we will be a technology leader.

elector drive and general motors technology will lead the way. host: what is the process from today until it shows up and share rooms? guest: we're going through painstaking means to test the battery. we will go to dedication in michigan that will be the battery-assembly plant. the car and battery pack are made in america. we are doing the finishing touches to make certain we have our production tools ready. and that we have tested the battery pack and that will last 10 years, 150,000 miles in the car. it will probably also have a life after the car. host: when will it be insurance? guest: november 2010. stay tuned for a lot of activity during 2010 with the focus on cars, culture -- we will expose this car to customers across the nation to get their feedback. to make sure that the volt will

be a delight. host: how much of the car will be made in the united states? guest: we do not have the exact figures, but the assembly plant is in detroit. the battery plant is in michigan. all of the engineers really are headquartered in the detroit area, as well as some support from global resources. it is also a jobs plan. when you look to the future will police the in additional 300 billion bugles on the planet. we need such a solution. host: do you know what the pricing will be yet? guest: we typically priced cars a couple of months before we launch them. the wonderful thing about a chevy will it is its value proposition. it goes beyond the price tag. think of it as the government

giving us $7,500 of the tax rebate off the top of the prize. electricity probably costs 2 cents per mile. that is compared to an equivalent gasoline car at about 10 cents per mile. we expect many other stakeholders who really wanted the electric drive to work. we think many of those will help. maybe you get free electricity or free home charging unit. in the end, i think it will become quite a value for consumers. host: and some of your discussion this week there were some questions raised. first with pricing -- suggestions in the media are that the car would be possibly priced in the area of $40,000 and the concerns are about competitiveness with the japanese name plate cars coming in at about $12,000 up to $15,000 less.

guest: as i indicated, the price will be reduced by $7,500 a due to the rebate. hypothetically, if the reports are correct at $40,000, it is more like $30,000 car, and probably less. there is nothing comparable with that volt. there's not a mass-market, high- volume car. even the electric battery cars have limited range and take a long time to charge. sometimes it is only a two- seater. but this is a four-seater, sold around the country, and is wonderfully fun. green cars do not have to be born. this goes from zero to 60 m.p.h. in 9 seconds. our vice-chairman likes to say that it will allow you to burn rubber, but not fuel.

host: let's take your phone calls, beginning with mike in wyoming. caller: the question i have is, in the wintertime out here in wyoming we may get 20 below zero, even 35 below zero. how good does that better redo in wintertime situations? have you tested that there really? guest: mike, that is a great question. some of our friends in canada are used to the engine block heaters. the simple answer is that if you have the capability to put it in and a standard 120 volt outlet, and it charges overnight. if you keep it plugged in, we use some of the energy that we peel off the grid and keep the battery condition. if you are not plugged in, the other beauty and the way it is

designed compared to other battery electric cars, is that we do have been in on board that in emergencies and low temperatures the engine can be started. this really is a car that we want everyone to be able to buy, not a niche car, monta $100,000 car. host: how is the moral of your team? guest: i think busy people are pretty happy, especially when you are busy on something very exciting. we have this breakthrough technology. we are quite inspired by it. we get a lot of comments from people, passers-by who are rooting for us. they believe we can do this. host: our next call comes from motor city, detroit, on the independent line. caller: good morning, i am so

proud of what general motors is doing. i am so proud of our president barack obama because i remember when president kennedy was taken up the challenge. we can meet any challenge. the challenge that general motors is meeting could in a few short months -- 200 miles for the gallon, we do not have to look for excuses. gm will go back to the top again, and with the experience and skills we have here in the detroit area, i just think it is a brief moment for america. the whole world is watching. thank you, sir, for your hard work. guest: george, thank you some much for your support. we're working on a card that

will be a breakthrough, transformational, really exciting. the battery is a powerful story. we developed the battery to last 10 years. this can help us capture renewable energy. let's store the energy from wind or sun and store it. we are excited host: your biography says if you have been a line director for general motors for 11 years. can you tell us how long ago the work began on volt? guest: i was lucky to get tapped on the shoulder. one of the original challenges was let's do the electric car again. we have a wonderful history. we learned a lot from a technological perspective. i have been working on this 24/7

since the beginning of 2006. we have a spirited, dedicated team who thinks there will make a difference. host: the development of the battery, the essential ingredient, was it done all with private money, or whether government grants involved? guest: for the most part with the blood, sweat, and tears of general motors employees. recently, a vice-president joe biden came to detroit to announce that general motors was one of the recipients of the grants, specifically associated with the plant in brownstown. we have not had the technical capability in this country to the bettors. but in china, japan, korea and have developed that through funding through their government. we're pleased that our government understands the power of this battery storage.

general motors has taken the next step beyond. who better to help develop its and have it as a core competency than to motors? host: the next question comes from minnesota on the republican line. caller: hello, i have canadian grandchildren and i am concerned over in windsor help it will it affect that plant. those people were hurting, too. how will it affect the canadian side as far as that future of the electric car and the plant? guest: the chevy volt will also be sold in canada. interestingly enough we get a lot of support from an engineering firm in ontario. we have a wonderful facility also in ontario. it is awfully cold there. it relates earlier -- to the

earlier question from our friend from wyoming. we're pleased to be partners with canada for cold-testing and the like. we're hoping that the volt will create jobs not only in michigan, but beyond, from the perspective of being the hub of electrification. windsor is not far from detroit. there are so many wonderful and talented people in canada. we would like to create more jobs even for them. host: we're getting a number of questions from twitter and by e- mail. here is an example. guest: great question. much discussion about future activity around smart grid, how to manage the challenges. our grid is a patchwork. many regional grids that we

must tie together and coordinate. the volt which charges on your standard alleged charges overnight. between six and eight hours. foremost, that will occur when they are sleeping. during that time frame the grid is underutilized. we have enough capacity always to handle needs during august when it is so hot, so in the midterm is a good thing to utilize that capacity available at night. the other beautiful thing is when these batteries are all plugged in we know that we will push for other green technologies. this battery is an asset that can be used to collect that energy. you will see more in the news when some of these smart greed d.o.e. grants come out. i think that will be addressed

ahead of time. when some of this small grid money comes out. guest: it all depends on the price of your electors the plan which varies over the country. -- price of electricity which can vary. it probably would be about the fourth or fifth most consuming a plant in your house, the equivalent of an average electric water heater. we anticipate the consumption, probably increases 15% to 20%. but the off-peak rates for electricity are much less. probably a 10% increase in your

letter bill. for many people that is maybe $150 per year, compared to saving 500 gallons per gas. we're possibly talking about thousands of dollars of savings using electricity compared to a gasoline-powered host: car next is chattanooga, tenn., on the line for democrats. caller: good morning, how are you, tony? i'm wondering about the repercussions of the car and if there has been in a discussion of ad solar panels to its roof? is it a small engine like a lawn mower engine? what are we talking about here? guest: danny, both precautions.

solar cells our technology we are very bullish on. we believe they need to be part of our future. we are looking at lots of studies, one of the near-term challenges is, as you know this battery is very expensive. in the new technology, the early prices generally come down over time when you get more suppliers and competition. your engineers and scientists get smarter and execution. the solar panel is something you'll not see when it is first launched. after rob, this is a chevy and people expect that everyone can afford it. but we do see the opportunities forsolar panels elsewhere in the system. sometimes when a yourvolt is

plugged in outside, could be positioned appropriately. we have thisrange-extending future. it is different from any of the vehicle. i can go hundreds of miles more when i need to. this is a small, 1.4 liter, 4- cylinder block engine. it is an engine that we have today and we sell hundreds of thousands globally. that means the cost is down. in the future we anticipate the bright new generation will have new ideas. they will create a smaller, more efficient engine. maybe even a small motorcycle engine. as those batteries get better we can create even more battery power with every car and displace gasoline. host: here in "the new york

times" there was this reader,. -- this reader comment. do you see the industry going towards a different standard than mpg? guest: that is a great question. i will take a little time with that. it is very important. for years we have trained customers that mpg is somehow a measure of of goodness.

when you have an electric car that metric becomes less important. for the commentary from the person who asked, we do know exactly the number -- 25 kilowatt hours per 500 miles. but whether that is on the label, this must be a customer- focused metric we provide people so that they can compare one car to the next. 230 mpg in the city cycle be it's theepa testing requirements. as we discussed, if a customer drives only 20 miles per day, and even if it is a 30 mile per day level, 60% of the country drives less than that. it would be disingenuous if we said that the fuel economy is

infinity. it takes real-world, real- customer driving data and says there will be people who get more than230, and people who get less, but allows customers to compare a metric they are trained on for many years. this is different from a 30 mile per hour car. final point, ultimately we need to go to cost per mile. that is a customer metric everyone can understand. it is 2 cents per mile volt. the equivalent is 10 cents per month. if gas goes up, that will become an even higher number. host: west virginia, on the republican line mike. caller: first of all, i want to congratulate you on the car. the technology is great, but i have questions. what are the replacement cost

for the batteries? suddenly come how will the subdue in mountainous areas? three, why should we be on the force of the $500 if it is the panacea that you say it is? -- suddenly, how well does it do in mountainous areas? guest: that was number three, what was o #ne caller: i cannot remember the area. host: we have taxpayers on the hood, the mountainous area, and what is the third? caller: basically, i am more concerned with the costar replacement for the battery? guest: that was it. let's begin with the batter one. i want to focus on what consumers need to know. chevy volt battery is designed

to last in the car for 10 years and 150,000 miles. when you see comparative battery-powered cars that is the first question you should ask. what is your battery performance target? second, what is your performance goal? it will be an eight-year warranty. the replacement cost is not something you must worry about for quite some time. it could even be beyond that at 10 years. that is longer than most of your other components. this is our level of confidence. we like to kick around and say that the battery is like a fifth passenger. we treat it so well. we not fully charge and this charge the battery which is tough on it. we do everything in our power to extend its life so that you do not have to deal with the larger

replacement cost. second question, this with the area of the tax credit. like all new technologies if you are interested in stimulating them so that people will adopt them, they require some help. some weather the plasma and screen tvs, cell phones, we see how they have changed over time. they were very expensive at first. we commend the obama administration for the jump start they have given this technology. it has existed in the past. it is not out of the ordinary. third question, mountainous areas -- remember we have both a battery pack and an engine on board. so, when you need totax the car a bit, our motor power is 111 kilowatts. that is the equivalent of a 150-horsepower engine. it is designed to be an everyday

car. host: not much time left. here are two questions, one by twitter. you have talked a lot about the advantages of city drivers. guest: one of the things really nice about the volt is that the recharge time is relatively modest. if you have a 240 volt outlet like your dryer, this is a less than 3-hour charge. general motors will do a great car. this is where we are hoping that plug-in ready communities will help out. others will help to support allowing people toplug in.

we have a wonderful innovation, the electrical grid which is going through transformation. host: the last quick question comes from brian in vancouver, british columbia. caller: good morning. i am fascinated with the volt, but i heard what i hope is just an awful rumor. that the volt will not be released to your canadian chevy dealers at the same time it is released in the states. i hope that is not true because i want my name number one on the list. i am anxious to get one. guest: well, we appreciate your interest in the car. we hear so many people who are inspired. we have to deliver on the promise. the car will come to canada. it will come to vancouver, but like a lot of introductions it

has to be rolled out over time. it will be by region. it will begin in the united states. there are 3000 different electric utility companies. as such, plugging in the car, making it reliable and giving customers confidence is very important. so, it will come to canada. but it will be in the u.s. a little before them. you need to keep an eye on the vancouver olympics. you might see a jolt from volt there. host: we are out of time, but we're getting all kinds of questions about the mechanics and other questions of the car. i am wondering if your website has a place where people can get their questions answered? guest: there are a number of

different ways to do this. our ceo fritz henderson has opened up a line of communication. . . host: lots of ways to find more. thank you for taking our viewers calls. our guests was the line director for the chevy volt vehicle. in the next section, the mayor of indianapolis, indiana, to

talk about how his city is weathering the financial crisis. in between, let us hear some morning headlines from c-span radio. >> the fight continues in afghanistan to clear the taliban from villages ahead of next week's presidential election. today, a british jet called in by u.s. marines had the taliban position in sight but the pilots refused to fire in an effort to protect civilians. the marines themselves a didn't attack militant shooting at them because women and children were in the compound, an approach meant to avoid civilian casualties at all costs. 18 years after being shot down during operation desert storm, navy pilot scott speicher is being brought home to his finer -- final resting place. his remains, found in the iraqi desert, are expected to arrive at the air station in florida. china may appeal a world trade organization ruling that its limits on the sale of books, films, and music from the u.s.

are unfair. china's commerce ministry spokesman said in a statement that the nation regrets the decision. the ruling, handed down in june, was made public yesterday. betsey wright, former aide to bill clinton, it is facing 51 fennel -- felony charges, in an attempt to smuggle needles and knives to arkansas' death row. she was chief of staff of the arkansas governor's office and deputy chairman of this 1992 provincial campaign. those are the sum as -- some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> "washington journal" continues. host: let me introduce you, as promised, to the mayor of indianapolis, greg ballard, joining us live from the capital city. thank you for being with us. guest: @ thank you. host: our goal is to learn how your city is doing in the face of this economic downturn we have been struggling with for the past year and a half. i read in the local press that

this week you introduced the city's $1.2 billion budget plan for the next fiscal year, which spends about the same amount of money as the previous year over all, is balance for the second year in a row and squirrels away $16 million for a rainy day. i bet you there are a lot of mayors who would hear that and feel pretty jealous. how did you do it, sir? guest: of we actually started that back in january of 2008 we got into office and we asked people to start looking at their budgets within the separate department and agencies, and we have been trying to cut as we have gone along. we have not made wholesale cuts. we're not laying off police officers or firefighters. we are just asking people to look at the processes, their contracts, and with organize and that is what we have been doing continuously. as a go year over year we tried to get 95% of what we have done before. it was very important because and this date we have the full effect of property tax caps where residences are capped as

1% of the assessed value. we had to find a lot of savings. but we have been working on this since january of 2008. host: overall, you mentioned public safety jobs will not be hit. but how many state employees will lose their jobs? guest: we do not think many at all. we are not laying off people. i always thought many of the savings is how you do business. we used -- we worked with its ally libya -- eli lilly in indianapolis, the first project was to go to pot holes to see if we could do that more efficiency and more quickly and we have been able to take that down from 19-day repair to a three-day repair. and we save money in the process. we have been doing that as much as possible. sometimes government is not that efficient. we wanted to make government more efficient as we go along. a lot of that is what has happened. host: how much federal stimulus

dollars are you getting? guest: the city is getting about $60 million, coming down and what we call bucket, public works and public safety projects and things like that but also we have a lot of separate corporations, what we call municipal corporations and also the school systems are getting also a piece of the pie. but the city directly is getting about $60 million. host: i want to open the phone lines and e-mail and twitter, your questions and comments for the mayor of indianapolis. the goal is to learn about the health of american cities in the face of economic downturn and we welcome your calls and your own experiences and comparisons around the country. here are the phone numbers -- and just for those in indianapolis, 202-628-0184.

the mayor was elected in 2008 and he is a self-employed leadership and management consultants. before that role he was the north american operation managers for bayer and 23 years in the marine corps. why did you decide to go into elected life? guest: i felt a calling back to public service. i look at this as another duty station. this is my home town. when i retired in 2001, i came back home to indianapolis -- i was stationed in stood guard, germany. i came home because i love this city and the people here are terrific. so many good things to speak about. but i just felt a calling to again, no matter what it would have been, and a common to public service. obviously engendered by my 23 is a marine corps. host: your first run for office? guest: it was my first run at an office. obviously i did not start of the bottom. but a series of circumstances occurred and that was able to become the mayor.

host: you are talking to an audience of political junkies. lots of folks watching wondering what it would be like to take that move. can you tell us what experience has been like? guest: it is pretty much what i expected. i was very, very lucky because we took over from a democratic administration, and for decades before that we were largely republican town, now it is probably mixed and probably a little trending democratic. i was lucky that a lot of people stepped up to help. the state house, run by gov. mitch daniels, has a lot of good people and some of them were ready to move or when to move and can over to help the city, which i very much appreciate. i appreciate gov. daniel flooding that occurred. some people really wanted to step up. our controller, a superstar, david reynolds, former public safety director, he just retired couple weeks ago, a legend in the city. we had a lot of people really stepping up. very lucky that not only were

they looking at the overall quality of life, the fiscal stewardship and public safety aspects and so much of what has to go one, but they were also looking at the overall quality of life in indianapolis. that really made me feel good and i think the citizens of indianapolis understand what we are going to -- wanting to do. host: north carolina. republican my. sir, go ahead. what is your question. caller: i was wondering the seating capacity of the chevy volt. host: 0, i'm sorry. the wrong topic. caller: i'm a fellow marine and i would like to thank you for the job you are trying to do here in the city. i am watching you, trying to work out the problem with the capital improvements. although they are having a money crisis -- financing the stadium

and getting particular taken care of. but mr. mayor, as i said, i am a marine, that run from the vietnam era. i am having a slight problem, or we veterans are having a slight problem. we need the indigo transit company to return to picking up veterans at the compound that the va. it is dangerous to cross the streets and quite a ways when we are in wheelchairs' and blind to actually ride that bus and a drop of on the street. then they started some construction work there, and the bus had a return to the street, but once the construction work was over, indigo would not return back to the compound. i would appreciate if you could try to help veterans out and advocate for us to get indigo transit service to return to

picking up passengers and dropping these veterans off in the compound. host: thank you, freddie. guest: i appreciate the comments. i actually use the va hospital, and as most people see in the city, indigo is a separate corporation with its own border directors and does not report directly to the city but at the same time we have close connections with them. and i will look into the indigo, making sure that they get out there on west 10th street by the va hospital. host: a twitter message -- cincinnati, ohio, could use your help. $28 million budget shortfall and nearly insolvent pension fund. it is the pension fund that want to turn to. we hear from so many mayors and state governments that are having pension fund insolvency. what is this edition in indianapolis? guest: a few years ago the city was paying for public opinion pension-fund, but fortunately,

one of the things a lot for was for the state to pick up the public safety pension funds about not only indianapolis but the state. we were lucky at that point in time that the state was solvent enough and fiscally sound of to be able to do that. so are state now picks up of public safety -- pension funds. host: country club hill, eleanor. jose on the democrats' line. caller: how were you? host: what is your question for the mayor for us? caller: i want to congratulate him for what he is doing in indianapolis and other mayors should really take a look at this and try to emulate what he is doing their to help out in their own cities. somehow it should be a law they do this. you know, for the city's -- the programs that working in the country. host: thank you there are much. in fairness to other cities, how much is indianapolis somewhat

insulated from the economic downturn because of the number of state employees as the capital? guest: well, we are not insulated that much, to be honest. our unemployment rate is between 9% up to 9.3%. we are insulated a little bit because we have diverse economy. manufacturing has taken a hit, but logistics' organizations are here. we have a very robust life science community, motorsports in -- industry. burgeoning i.t. also appeared we are a little more diverse because -- so it has not heard of that much. we have state employees, some live in indianapolis and some just outside. so, yes and no, but the fact is we have been hurt also. our revenues were down as a result of the economy. like i said, property tax cap had also appeared we had to look at our budget very rigidly, but

we have been doing this for a long time looking at how we do the business but not just programs itself. host: indianapolis -- dwight, independent. are you there? you're on the air. caller: two questions. we were promised high speed rail from chicago to cincinnati, how is that working? and the new state budget the past, the cut like $12 million for the city schools, anything we are going to do about that? that is it. guest: i am not sure about the chicago cincinnati convention on a high-speed rail -- i am not sure when you said you were promised that, where it came from. we in indianapolis are conducting a study in the city by itself to see what the effect of light rail could do for the city. we don't have that here yet. we are looking at the possibility of that.

ip schools is one of the 11 school systems here in the city. even though it was cut some much because of declining enrollment -- and that is a state policy -- there is a mechanism in there so they don't lose a lot of money. it is on a declining scale. but at the same time, sometimes their enrollment declines on a year to year basis. so even though they are down a little bit this year, they are sterile per pupil well above -- still per pupil well above district averages. host: what percentage of the budget comes from property tax revenues? guest: really about two-thirds, i believe. and so it is a stable source, obviously. it helps the city. but we did in 2007 have a property-tax crisis here in the state of indiana, not just in the annapolis, obviously. it created a lot of changes.

actually sent a lot of officials packing out of the door. now that has been stabilized, we believe, as we go forward. but it is a lower number. each man is a holiday is getting a much lower number as we go forward. host: give us a snapshot of the foreclosures it wishes. guest: we are one of the worst -- where one of the worst in the nation for a while. it has gone down a little bit. we are probably still in the top 20 but it has slowed down quite a bit in the last year, if you will. we have taken action on abandoned homes. but the foreclosure rate is starting to slow down just a little bit probably in line with the rest of the country. host: what is your view of the effectiveness of the programs from the administration and treasury on foreclosures? guest: well, we have not seen much of an effect -- it is not filtered -- it has not filtered down to much to was, to be

frank. host: next call on the republican line. caller: thank you for given a chance to make a quick comment. i was listening yesterday as well when you have the mayor from youngstown. it is great that you are really high lighting around the country. what we see with all of the stuff in the news -- people skeptical of the power that is happening and we need to focus on getting more resources. the local government, giving them a little more ability -- a lot more ability to get things done. and that really focus on issues there on the ground, i think those people have a better grasp of what is going on.

thank you for giving me the opportunity. guest: a lot of office sold -- officeholders told me around the country where the mayor is the highest office job where you can really touch the people on a daily basis. no question about that. i always made the joke there is not a lot of theory and the mayor's world, a little bit, but not much. we have to be practical and what we do. we ought to live with the money that we have, so we have to make sure the dollars that we have actually worked. all the federal and all the state policies at the end of the day, the mayor has to make things work in the municipality. i certainly concur that mayors and town managers across the nation know what's best for their community and most that i know -- in fact, everyone is really trying to do the best thing for their community. i think a lot of credence has to

be given. u.s. conference of mayors obviously is very robust. it is a very powerful force, i hope, in washington, that puts the message across because it is really important. the mayors know what is happening on the ground in their areas, their cities and towns. we know how to make it work. sometimes we need help, but we know how to make it work. host: the next call is also from indianapolis. richard on the democrats like it ought to cut yes, mr. ballard. i appreciate you taking the time to speak to me. the question i have is, on disability social security, if you could possibly give us an answer on what is going on with no weight on social security. -- wait on social security. i have been waiting for three

years for a hearing. have you got anything like -- if you could tell me anything like how many judges or whatever that is in the hearings on disability and social security. plus, i wanted to say that i really appreciate what you all have don with the pot hole doesn't -- have all gone with the pot holes and everything. you have done a great job. you are really doing a really good job being the mayor of indianapolis. guest: i appreciate that. i will address the second issue first. we have a lot of good people, i appreciate that in helping them out -- help me out in that regard. going to social security and disability, that is obviously not in the city purvey but wanted ensure caller understands that the federal building, 500

north pennsylvania, he needs to make sure he goes into their. it seems like a long time for that sort of issue to be dragging on. there is an office on no. pennsylvania, the federal building he should get into to majority can discuss that issue with those people directly. host: the mayor, a veteran of the first gulf war. as lieutenant-colonel he served in the european command in stu ttgard, germany, and author of a book on leadership. how does that being applied in your office? guest: a lot of people have read it, obviously. for those who did not know about me when i got into the office, the book sales went up quite quickly did i was not talking about, obviously, the people wanted to know what i thought it. it is just a small book, anyway. it has been around a little bit. i think some people enjoy it. it is really targeted toward smaller unit leaders. that is why it is called the

lower and middle level managers. that is where most of the work gets done. that is why i think it applies across the board and almost any energy -- industry to include government. people like reading it but it also gives them in sight been to the mayor and how -- and a look of the sales, and of the debt of this live. i've got better things to do. but it is across the city a little bit. no question about that. host: morgantown, indiana. sherry, republican line. caller: good morning. i was wondering if there were any plans to work on the road in downtown indianapolis. i will take off the air. thank you. guest: as you may have noticed, illinois street has been resurfaced recently. the city of nablus and about $22 million of $23 million for road resurfacing -- the city of indianapolis. we put together an advisory

commission to look at all and the structure, including roads, bridges, sidewalks, sewers, and trying to find some sort of creative way to pay for that brought the entire city. but i think you will see downtown streets, not just illinois street but in the last few days you should notice that, but there will be others. i think sylvester street going out east will bases -- similar. host: indianapolis has a population about 800,000. if you have to tell viewers what you're single biggest challenge is, what is it? guest: i think over the long term, i always say public safety is job one. i think we do a good job. but infrastructure is really an issue that i think applies to indianapolis, but other cities across the nature. going to the conference of mayors and infrastructure is always an issue. to include everything i said about streets and sewers and everything like that. because a lot of those are not built into the budget necessarily. you have to find red ways to do that. so wars are really problem throughout the nation.

sometimes of an anagram for 50 or 100 years without major repair. that is not -- sometimes in the ground for 50 or 100 years without major repair. that is not going to work force. with projects for the next few years, up to 2025. i think over the long haul infrastructure will be a huge issue, not only for indianapolis, but other cities. host: robert, independent line. you're on the line with the mayor. caller: thank you for serving. i'm 11-year veteran. vietnam vet myself. my question is, we are talking about -- you know, jobs coming back and trying to create jobs. i have two questions. the first one, being with the jobs. even as jobs come back, given what the wages are with the countries that we are competing against, how can we get jobs back?

you get good paying jobs where people can afford to buy things. it really doesn't do any good to have jobs if he can't afford to live and buy things, and that is the way things seem to be, right now. separately, on the health-care issue -- i know all of the locales in cities and what not, but on the health care thing, you know, there is a lot of problems -- and as i said, i'm a veteran. however, what happened, i was forced an early retirement due to disease beyond my control and nothing that i did to myself. i do have va, which was promised to me to be free when i got out. i now have to pay for it. plus, i have to pay for my medicaid, which is more than va,

and what i am paying their would help my deductibles for va, but i dropped and i don't have coverage of i'm not near a facility. host: i will jump in. thank you for the call. guest: the second one, i think you need to work with the va. i know things as administrations change. i know all of that changes, too. i have seen a few changes here in indianapolis also, but a lot is related to how the federal dollars come down to the account -- veterans of the station. as far as jobs, there will be a shakeout. industry's shakeout all the time and cities need to position themselves so that they are ready essentially for the new jobs. for instance, the green jobs coming forward. i cannot tell this particular city is doing, but i know what we are trying to do, to make sure we position ourselves well. already we have had 5000 new or

retain the jobs in indianapolis and we are still working on that. a similar number is still in the pipeline in indianapolis. and we are travelling overseas as much as we can to strategic points. not just travel to travel, but to make sure we go to countries and tried to create sister cities in those countries that match our industries here in indianapolis, our industry clusters. motorsports, renewable energy, have any perjury -- burgeoning renewable energy industry going on in indianapolis and central indiana. also talking about advanced manufacturing and that sort of thing. we have been to china, because they have manufacturing and we are a great distribution point. i just came back from brazil a few weeks ago. we will be heading to other countries, strategically -- that will strategic match what we do here in central indiana. that is what i suggest cities to do also. i think it will help us a long run. maybe not necessarily in the

short term -- sometimes in the short term. obviously we were able to have successes in china. but along run i think cities need to look at this and position appropriately and see what the jobs are going to be 20 or 30 years down the road and do the right things right now. host: we have been spending a lot of time talking about health care reform this morning. as the mayor of a city that has responsibility for the population, do you have a view of the reform debate in washington? guest: that is an interesting question beard i get asked not quite a bit. but as a said before, sometimes there is not a lot of theory and a mayor world. when it comes down to the citizens, we have to make it work. i don't know how it is 20 shakeout, frankly. i know a lot of people want to keep a mostly in the private industries hands. we are the home of the largest health insurance and a nation, will point of -- wellpoint. i know there is a lot of push back right now. i don't have an opinion other than i want to make sure that as many people as possible, that we

keep the cost down. i know the costs are higher than in other countries, but at the same time we have the best medical care in the world right now, there is no question about that. so i want to insure we can continue down that path. host: woodbridge, va., you are on the air. caller: thank you for taking my call. do you, as the mayor, said of training are anything like that? -- kinds of training. the good policies you put forth, to be used across other cities in the u.s.? thirdly, what was the biggest challenge that you face and in hindsight, you felt that you were able to overcome the challenges?

and that you are reaping the benefits of those. i will stop here. guest: good questions from angela. there is not a lot of training to be mayor. after i got elected -- harvard has a school out there for new mares, and they bring in there that have been around awhile to talk to you about that particular -- particular issues. there were a lot of things i thought we needed to do in the city of indianapolis already in my mind. i was lucky enough to be able to hire some unbelievable people to help me get that done. going to that, what we call the mayor school at harvard, was very beneficial. i was very lucky to be able to go to that. one of the things we are leaving behind a think in the city -- sometimes as the mayor, people look at what is happening next, short term. but i think one of the long term legacy's we will be leaving in the city of indianapolis, probably if you, but one of the things i am most proud of is the

culture of process improvement. within government, their traditionally has not been government looking at itself trying to make itself more efficient to and doing the best -- more efficient and doing the best that possibly can. if you can't do that, you look at something else. we are actually going to have greenbelt's and black belts in the city of annapolis -- city of indianapolis, before i'm done. we've partnered with eli lilly -- we hired a six sigma black belt in the office, so whenever i leave we still have the culture and going for what all the departments. i think that is one of the best things. host: we are really almost out of time -- you referred to six sigma. i am sure there are people who don't understand the reference. guest: it is a process

improvement techniques that a lot of companies use throughout the nation. it is a quality control measure. we are using it as a way of looking at our processes to see if we are doing the most efficient things. you talked about pot holes. something every major deals with across the nation. our average, 17 days to 19 days, and i wanted to get it down 40 -- to 48 hours, now we're in the 3 day to afford a range but that is still improvement. we find out quickly -- what 6 sigma, it puts everyone in the same room that touches a problem. we've found on pothole repair we had 25 steps to fix a pothole. no wonder it's a 17 to 19 days. we got it down to 11 or 12 steps. we enhance communications. when you put everybody in the same room and look at what everybody does and they say, i didn't know you did that, you

come together. as long as you have the right attitude about it, it has a dramatic impact. that is what we have done here and that is one of the things, i think, a lot of government should look at across the nation. host: mayor ballard, thank you very much for telling us about your job. we look forward to getting to know you better. joining us in the next segment is jackie calmes, national correspondent for " the new york times." you traveled with president obama with to india recently. the headline was, obama visits economically depressed region. we were talking to the mayor about jobs and job creation beard what was your take away from the trip and the challenges? guest: we want to the county, not that far from my home town of toledo, ohio, so it felt sort of like going home. it was a relatively small group of 200 people, but most of them were people who had gotten their jobs back after being laid off, in part due, they think, to

stimulus money from the federal government in that the stimulus encouraged netstar to come in and buy their own company that had gone bankrupt. host: over the last few weeks as we were beginning to see some upbeat language from the treasury department and the fed about the economy, we keep hearing concerns by economists that this might be a jobless recovery. what does that mean, and how can you have a recovery without more jobs? guest: and that we start from a lower base. we have gone down so far in what some call the great recession, that you can recover, but you are at a smaller size. so you are not hiring back new people, and expanding, and growing. hopefully that will come. but it could be literally a matter of years for a lot of people. host: jackie calmes will be with

us until the top of the hour. what are welcoming a telephone calls, your messages by e-mail and your twitter messages. talking about the nexus of politics and economy. she is a national correspondent for "the new york times," it is a regular contributor to "the caucus," it politics and government blog for the times. let me move to health care, knowing it will cause -- calls here. what state keeping the discussions are based on what you've been watching from the town hall and the white house reaction? guest: it is sort of and a state of suspense and suspended animation. there was a lot of talk that when congress -- the house and senate, and neither one of them met president obama's deadline for passing a bill by the august recess. they're hoping of the house and senate both passed a bill, we could come back and september

and the two houses could negotiate and get a compromise to be voted on in the fall. that didn't happen, so there was a lot of thought that they would go back to the district's and their -- they would be assailed, which they have been. but i think this could add to be a good thing, the august recess being a pause point, so people can talk about this more and learn more. host: your colleague has a story -- obama taking an active role in health talks. despite the fact that the president has position this as wanting to come from congress, he writes that the president and his advisers has been very active behind the scenes. can you talk about, within the administration, how they feel about the process they took for health care? guest: they feel fairly good. some things, you look back, and we concede the pros and cons. for example, there never was an

obama plan, per se. never put out a bill that he had fairly is this of the guidelines. the reason why he did have a bill, really two reasons. one, he wanted to move quickly, so he didn't want to take the time, as the clintons did, to write a big bill, that took them 10 months and by that time his honeymoon was over. but when you don't have an actual bill, it creates this boyd whether rumors of such can take root. they are contending with that. i think they are actually closer to a deal then all of the sturm and drang would suggest. it is going to be tough. it is one sixth of the economy and something that touches americans very personally, everyone. host: closer to the deal, but will be tough. let us start with the closer to the deal.

what kind of deal is shaping up? guest: they like to say -- and it has some virtue of being true -- that they are about 80% in agreement. if there is going to be a deal, presumably it will create some sort of an individual/employer mandate in which people are required to have insurance, but those who actually need assistance will get subsidies or tax credits, both individuals and small businesses who would like to provide care to their employees. there will be exchanges created, which are sort of like, give you a menu for options of insurance. this talk of socialism, it there's been no reality -- it does not describe what is going on here. there is a public auction which gives rise to this, but it is along with other insurance options and you can, like and not, but the public auction, whether it works or not, is

designed to be self sustaining. it is not designed or the intention is not to have a prominent government role in this -- keeping a going and undercutting private insurers. and there will be additional money. this is where a lot of the cause, and -- to expand medicaid, for more of the truly poor people come up to a certain level of poverty, whether it is twice, three times, and four times. with the goal of getting as close as we can to universal coverage. host: coalescing around the idea of how to successfully finance it? guest: there are actually two ways. with all the attention to taxes always, most of the savings are intended to come from reduced costs for medicare and medicaid. for instance, now you have a lot of money that is spent, tens of billions of dollars a year --

paying hospitals that cater to a lot of people don't have insurance. and these hospitals to eat those costs and the government's pays them through medicare, a payment that makes up for that. if you are insuring more people, you will have fewer uninsured people, to the hospitals, so you reduce the payments to the hospitals. and then subsidies to insurance companies. there will be a tax, and it will be on upper income people. host: so, that is an income-tax -- surtax? one of but -- taxing the higher level of health care plans. guest: it is not clear what it will be, but it will hit people who make more than a quarter million a year. the president had wanted to limit their deductions, but that ran into a wall and congress. although they are so desperate for money to finance this thing

they might just go there. host: let us get to the calls -- new jersey. joanna on the independent line. caller: i just wanted to make a point and ask a question. until we settle illegal aliens taking over our country in terms of jobs and services and the concept of anchor babies, once a child is born here, they bring the relatives over, this population -- they will be getting health care under this bill, and it will force seniors to be rationed because more of the dollar should be spent, acquitted some studies, on the young girl population. we have to deport the illegals and it only takes six months to aggregate -- obligate all of these trade agreements that outsourced our jobs. until we recognize there is a difference between global list and nationalist, not between the parties, we will never make any

progress. i would like to hear her explain what her understanding is of white illegals should be coming here and spreading disease and taking our money. thank you. guest: well, frankly, we would need a whole half-hour and then some for me to respond to some of the misinformation and the problems inherent in what the caller is suggesting there. it really is a very small percentage of cost. this is not our problem, and the scheme of overhauling health care. there is a lot of misinformation about whether or not undocumented workers or illegal aliens are going to be served. host: based on the legislation

language, that the house has produced, does a specify whether or not you must be a citizen or a legal resident to access the health care system? guest: of the several bills, i am not clear where that stands at this point. most of what i of seen as that they would not be serving the undocumented workers. but there are requirements to medically serve the people who come before any for emergency aid, and those of been upheld by court cases. there is a lot of precedent in this area. i used to work in texas, so i'm familiar with that. host: of birmingham, alabama. deerow on the republican line. caller: @ thank you for having me on. i think your guest, i think it is clear she is an advocate for having health care legislation passed. when she talks about

misinformation and rumors, the american people are realizing what that means is she and the elite, they know what it is all about, so we don't. and the people who are headed to these town hall meetings, they do not know what it is about and when they hear her say that she realized she is saying it is so complicated -- just like the last caller, it would take the whole time. they understand "the new york times" and obama is having trouble getting it through and it will do everything they can to shove down our throats. but the american people now, people in the 60's, 7's, they have other news outlets where people are actually quoting from the thousand pages. we do know some things better in it. it is not disinformation, and we don't like it. guest: well, there are other -- i guess i'm sorry if the caller

thought that was in this. it is complicated and there is a lot of misinformation. and those are facts. i am not an advocate for any plan. i would go so far as to say i'm an advocate for addressing the system that we've got, because they are unsustainable both for private sector and the government. it is going to bankrupt and push out every other costs of government by the middle of this century if we don't aggress the cost. as for working at "the new york times," i might add, that is in the past years. the 18 years before that i was at "the wall street journal." i like to think that no matter where i work, i cover both sides of an issue. and i would really like to do my part as a journalist to get all sides out and educated people as to what is in these bills and what is not. host: let me turn to your former employer, "the wall street journal."

and of life for visited loses favor. -- end of life provision loses favor. what is your view of the debate and code words used around is aspect of the debates and whether or not the pressure points on congress to address this. guest: my guess is given the attention it is getting over this recess, that it will be dropped. it falls in the category often see when they are writing law, if it is more trouble than it is worth. the aarp is for this provision. it has been around for some years. there are republicans who have espoused it, continued to espouse it. you can argue whether or not you -- whether you think it is the government's role to help to cover under medicare or any other policy the cost of people going and consulting with a professional as to whether or not they should have a living will, power of attorney, to someone to make decisions when they perhaps are too sick to do

it themselves at the end of life. but, you know, it is not euthanasia. you know, that is -- i have seen it come up so many times in debates over the years from people that i am not surprised to see it now. host: pearl of the democrats' line. good morning. caller: i'm calling concerning the death panels. what i wanted to relate to you is a story about my husband who had coronary bypass surgery about a month ago. and we are on medicare. it was performed by a robot, the surgeon used a robot to do this surgery and he was home and three days. there is no death panels. and people need to get informed.

medicare takes very good care of their seniors. i am a little nervous, but i just want people to understand that that there is advanced surgery out there for seniors and my husband is 70 years old and had the advanced surgery through medicare. that is all i wanted to say. thank you. host: thank you there are much. guest: i am reminded, as i was listening to her, for all the talk of socialism and the like, we heard that in 1965 -- well, i did hear it, not that i wasn't alive, but i was not listening to the medicare debate but there was a lot of talk back then about socialism and socialized medicine. it is nearly four out of 10 americans currently get their health coverage from a government source, whether it is medicare, medicaid, the state children's health

program, military and public employee programs, and veterans, and so we have a lot of experience with this but aside from expanding medicaid to more of the poor or nearly poor workers, this is really a working within the system to make change. that does not mean i am for -- i am not endorsing anything. i am just trying to say what this is not. host: in about an hour and 10 minutes we will see once again when our cameras are live at the brookings institution here in washington. you are monitoring a panel session you organize their as to whether or not the stimulus plan has been a boom or bust. i am wondering if you're reporting has led you to an answer to that question. guest: it is a mixed picture. the criticisms of the stimulus are sort of -- they are good to

be lodged and we should keep an eye on it. but the stimulus was never intended to be instant relief. it was from the start a two-year package that was supposed to be something of a time released capsule. it is a minor share of it that has been filed so far, although the share that has been felt has gone immediately gone into paychecks through lower payroll taxes, $250 payment to senior citizens, through aid to state and local governments that allowed a lot of them to keep more jobs than they would have otherwise because they are in such bad shape. but we are going to continue to see the money go out over the next two years. typically i will confess to being a real skeptic about stimulus bill is generally, but this economy was in such bad shape that i think together with what the federal reserve has been doing, that the stimulus was necessary and is having some good affect. probably not as much the administration will like to

claim, but some. host: maryland. bob on the republican line. caller: since you are now with "the new york times," i did not have very much respect for your opinion. a sort of like senator specter, now that the democrats are in control, you changed over to become a democrat. let me get to health care. just before i became 65, but i had a blue cross/blue shield, federal plan. it is a very good insurance plan. then just before i turned -- i got a letter. if i did not put medicare as my primary source, then they would not provide anything more -- and there were other disincentives. i had no choice. i had to put medicare as my primary health insurance. so now i am still paying for a blue cross-blue shield federal

plan with after-tax dollars. my taxes are now paying for a medicare. i am naturally pay more money for my medical insurance that i did before. am i getting better medical care? no. i am a small businessman, and that is exactly what is going to happen with the government auction. small businesses are going to opt for the government option, and insurance companies will also ought to for the lowest common denominator, which will be the government's option, and more and more people will be forced into taking the government's option as i was with medicare. what is it going to mean? it will mean a lot more people, it is going to mean a rationing of health care. all you have to do is look at what happened the mid-1990s with the immunization market. when the federal market got into the immunization market, it was to drive the prices of immunizations down some more

people could get immunizations. just the opposite happened. we are already talking about rationing the immunizations for the swine flu that is coming up. host: bob, let me jump in. guest: your paper editorializes about small business and health care reform. -- host: your paper editorializes about small business and health care reform. guest: your past buehler may be surprised and i have not read the editorial in "the new york times was what it did i read three papers and in my three eyes, often the last thing i go to our editorials. i read those at night with my glass of wine. and i don't always agree with everything they editorialize. my job is to report the news. but if you tell me what my paper is saying today, i will respond to it. host: it makes good sense to require small businesses to

contribute to solve the problem that affects most of their workers. anas seems to be little doubt the small business communities could be some of the biggest winners. guest: that's right. uc and big business, they are very protective of the tax rate they get for providing health benefits to the workers because it is a great way to attract and keep workers. a lot of small businesses -- and i know small business people in my own family -- would like to provide health care. it is expensive. there is a consensus, it is clear. we like a system of coverage based on employer-provided benefits. there are people, a lot of economists to say this is something we should get away from, but no one is talking about that. given that, and sends small businesses create so many jobs, critics since small business creates many jobs, if we want

recovery or work toward that goal, there is going to have to be additional help for small businesses to provide that. host: a few examples of how the paper says small business benefit. small businesses that currently offer coverage often pay significantly more for workers that large employers do for the same coverage. under all the current bills, the smallest employers would gain quick access to new insurance exchanges, or plans would compete for their business with rates comparable to those enjoyed by large employers. guest: that is simple economics of health care coverage, if you have major corporations with many employees, you have a much broader pool of coverage and you spread the risk that any one person is going to get very ill and need a lot of care. whereas, if you have 25 employees or less, you know that that is a very small group and you are going to pay more for that risk. if you can pull these people and create a bigger pool some herald -- somehow, you could spread the risk.

host: sandra in georgia. caller: yes, good morning. my name is sandra adams and i'm from georgia. good morning to you both. i have one comment to make to you -- you have -- although you work for a newspaper it you still are a citizens and you have your rights to have your opinion. and i appreciate you for that. i just want to say that i have been watching all of the town halls, listening to all that is going on about death panels and yada. i have had two of my closest relatives did not have a will, no living will, we struggled as a family trying to settle things for them. my father was on life-support, there was nothing written by hand as to what he wanted to do so he was kept on life support

at a hospital in illinois. i finally went to them and said, listen, he can lay here dead on life-support -- i am going to have the va, and given in the morning, they can do the same thing and we don't have to pay this exorbitant bill. i left the hospital at 6:00 that evening, i got to his home at 7:00, by 7:15 p.m., the hospital called me to tell me to come back to the hospital because my father had expired. they took him off life-support -- he was dead. but my point is -- i have another point. host: our time is short. lots of callers. audit of this is america at -- caller: in a crisis we should join together. we are pulling apart. i am not rich. i have no problem if i have to pay higher taxes to help those that are less fortunate, i have

no problem with that. but thank you all very much for allowing me to get that off my chest. guest: thank you. host: response for her? guest: i think she reminds me of one of the central problems of this comment is of selling this change, is there is a big up- front cost with -- on certain payback. but there is a fair consensus in this country among people who have been looking at these questions of the delivery of health services for a number of years, that if you invest up front and it is not a small amount of money, you can get savings over time, for instance, throw comparative effectiveness, a treatment that is more effective, not just cost-wise, but better health outcome. people talk about preventive care. preventive care, that is a different case because actually the more you spend on preventive care, and people think you will get cost savings because those

people won't get as sick. the problem is, and ordered to pay for preventive care for a lot of people, you are only avoiding a few people who might of gotten sick otherwise. so there are greater cost. preventive care will not save a lot, it does not mean it is a bad thing to do. host: jim -- how can you believe that once federal dollars are infused into the public plan that the money will not be used to prop up when it fails? guest: i can't say that won't happen. so, there you have it. host: dorothy, ohio. republican my. caller: i have medicare and part d, and i am very proud of it. i hope congress does not take and gold for this insurance -- take and go for this insurance across because it is no good. i watch c-span and fox news every day, 24/7, i am 75 years

old and i get around, but i don't want my medicare and my plan d taken from me. so i hope congress stops and thinks about these older people. host: is congress thinking about old people? guest: not a soul that you confines thinking about take away any of these things. if for no other reason than the older americans vote in proportions > anyone else, there is never any dearth of people protecting the programs. if i can't say something about the prescription drug -- if i can say something about the prescription drug program, when medicare was created in 965 a lot of people said there should be a drug benefit. one of the big reason they didn't was the cost. lyndon johnson's administration and the congress wanted to try to pay for medicare in part through payroll taxes and in part through government funds. as we have seen, that has fallen short. but they did try. medicare part d, that was

passed in 2003 without any attempt to offset the cost. and for all of the attention now -- i just think it should be injected into the debate that for all of the debate over how to offset the cost of this health-care overhaul and assuming there is one, and the next 10 years when they are trying to raise $1 trillion, $100 billion a year to offset these initial costs for expanded coverage and for research into an effective treatments, that medicare prescription part d benefit will add $803 billion to the debt it is projected. .

host: our next guest is david sloane, senior vice president at aarp. >> the commerce department says that retail sales outside of cars fell one% -- .1% last month. unemployment claims have risen to nearly 600,000 after falling for several weeks. hillary clinton has arrived in liberia to meet with africa's first democratically-elected female leader. the country founded in 1847 by freed american slaves is her sixth stop of her seven-nation tour of africa. in afghanistan, karzai speaking earlier says that he will work with his rival if he wins next

week's presidential election, adding that he will offer government positions to two top challengers if he is elected. the fighting continues as nato troops or to clear the t-bonalin and several villages. documents are released by the house after the investigation of the firing of nine attorneys showed this agreement by karl rove and heather wilson. rove says that mrs. wilson urged the white house to fire david iglesias before the election, but she claims she did no such thing. those are some of the latest headlines. "washington journal" continues. host: this is david sloane, the senior vice president of public relations for aarp. guest: thank you for having me.

host: i want to show our audience two clips. then we will come back. >> the prescription drug companies have already said that they would be willing to put up $80 billion in rebates for prescription drugs as part of the health care reform package. we may be able to get even more than that, but think about it. when the prescription drug plan was passed, medicare part d, they decided it would not negotiate for the cheapest price. as a consequence seniors are way of repaying, and forced go out of pocket -- that the anatdonuts always looming, and if we can

cut that in half it is money back into your pocket. that is one reason that aarp is so supportive because it will save it seniors money. >> aarp says they are supportive and have been for years on comprehensive health care reform. the president does not mean to apply any thing untoward. he has discussed the notion that aarp is supportive of legislation -- an agreement that would fund to linda donut hole for seniors as well as medicare part d, and comprehensive help with healthcare. host: what is the position of aarp on reform? guest: they made a big story out of this and shows how incendiary the health care discussion is. the reality is that the aarp has

supported the need for reform for 50 years . we are in general agreement with many policy makers, democrats and republicans on the need for reform. all we were trying to do with our effort here was to make clear we have not yet endorsed the bill. we are in a listening mode with members. we are doing a lot of education and outreach to members. when there is a bill that has been finalized in the house and in the senate will make a decision about endorsement. host: let's show this ad by aarp about health care reform. >> special interest groups are trying to block progress on health care reform. derailing the debate with miss and scare tactics, desperately trying to stop you from discovering that reform will not ration care. you and your doctor will always decide the best treatment for you.

learn the facts. host: what is the point of that ad? guest: you know, unfortunately, there's a tremendous amount of mythology around with these health reform bills seek to do. we return to make clear to people that this bill, whether the house bill's worked on, or the senate bills, are not going to result in socialized medicine or result in a government takeover. they are not going to put the government between you and your doctor. they are not going to result in euthanasia -- all of these comments that have been made really twist and distort with this legislation seeks to do. host: 1 more broad perspective. if you go on to the aarp website, one of the services it has been offering for years is access to health care insurance. you are player in the health

insurance part of health care. how does that affect your positioning on the reform debate? guest: there are a lot of people who believe our commercial interests really affect our policy, and they do not. the reality is that we use our brand and licensing to providers that provide insurance and sell it to our members. it is a member benefit. three very large group plans we're able to offer the very best deals to members, so we feel it is part of our mission. it does not affect our policy. you will hear as we get into questions that we will have areas we can make that clear. host: let's do that. we have been talking about a lot here. we will begin with a telephone call from brian from michigan. good morning, on the republican line. caller: thank you, thank you mr.

david sloane. guest: good morning. caller: i find it ironic. i am a republican but i did support president clinton the first time around. basically his platform was health care, health reform. the same thing as an a. he got into office, turned it over to his wife. i have high respect for her, she has done well. but it did not pass. now we have president obama who i do support because in an age group that does support the president. the thing about this, it is so ironic to me, so sad that he did the same thing, yet he talks -- he speaks really well, but he says that he will not make the same mistakes expecting better results.

don't you find it ironic as an american citizen, sir, that he did not get out in the forefront and basically write this bill and say this is what i believe host: and why let me interrupt. -- let me interrupt. we will take it from here. guest: this white house has sought to do it differently. books have learned from mistakes previously made. the prior administration sought to send up an extraordinarily detailed bill. -- folks have learned from mistakes previously made. this president is trying to provide broad advice but let congress do actual legislation. i think it is a smart way to go. host: here is this message from twitter. guest: well, the donut hole is one of the reasons we're

supporting health care reform and went to see changes. it is a significant coverage gap and the number one problem medicare beneficiaries complain about, the high cost of prescription drugs. we were fortunate to support the pharmaceutical industry negotiation with the white house to reduce by% costs through the donut hole. we're supporting provisions in the house bill that would close that gap and towed. there is rationing in this country and it is when people decide on their own to cut their bills in half or shooting down on their costs with prescription drugs because they simply cannot afford them. host: next, a phone call from north carolina. caller: good morning. i have beea question after

watching the media and a lot of people are saying that there will not pay for a lot of people's health care, they need to get their own. but from my understanding is like automobile insurance. you pay for people who do not have automobile insurance. same thing with health insurance. they are paying anywhere. tell them it is not couple of dollars. it is a lot of money. guest: you are absolutely right. i appreciate your comment. within the premiums that all of this pay a certain percentage of that is the collective cost of uncompensated care. when people go into emergency rooms without insurance, those costs go somewhere. they go into the premiums that employers, individuals pay,

costs reflected in what the government pays. it is sometimes referred to as the hidden tax anywhere from $800 up to $1,000 per year for the average family policy. there is no free lunch. you are correct. host: some of the language is very common to people in the system, but not for others. let me ask you to explain things. this next comment is about medicare part d. guest: it is the prescription drug benefit that was added to the medicare program in 2003. host: this your rights -- -- this viewer writes -- guest: well, i do not think that aarp supported the coverage gap. at the time there were only willing to put so many dollars into providing that drug benefit. one of the ways they go with

that was by the architecture of a program which provided for the coverage gap which we believe is a serious flaw that needs to be closed. host: here is another question about it. guest: it is interesting you raise that. it was offered as an amendment in the energy and commerce committee showed before the house left for the august recess, and it is a provision we strongly support. that is something we believe ought to be in the final package. host: kentucky, on the republican line. caller: i would like to make a comment about medicare and insurance. i do not appreciate our president to get on the air and say that he will let us keep our insurance that we have. you do not let me do anything as far as i am concerned if i pay for it.

i did not think it is any of his business what insurance co. and i have or the democrat party, either. or the republican party. i just do not believe in that. i do not abuse my insurance. i just found out that i have cancer which is in remission right now. i want to know if they would change everything so you will not have insurance, or not -- if i have to pay for taiwan's that entrance to be there when i needed. i only go to the doctor every three months to get my medication. i cannot take generic drugs. it makes me sick. why should they worry about it? if i pay for it, it is none of their business. the government is sticking their nose in too many things. there will be a civil war here in this country the next thing

you know. i will not live to see it because i'm 86 years old. but if they do not quit arguing back and forth and do not try to get along, and another thing -- they need to get a lot of women out of government because they just run their mouth all the time. host: emma jean, we need to let you go at that point and best wishes for your own health care situation. guest: she raised a number of interesting points. first of all, aarp would not be working toward the passage of health reform the did anything to take away your medicare benefits. those are not on the table. it is not part of the discussion. what is is that medicare which is symptomatic of broader problems in the system is not on stable financial footing. it is going broke. we need to change the way medicare operates just as we

need to change the way our overall health care system operates. we need to move away from a volumetric type of system and move towards a performance-based system that rewards doctors and hospitals for outcomes. it sounds a huge. there are minor steps over time that will have to reorient the system and make a stronger in the future. to make sure that your children and grandchildren have a medicare program they can also depend upon. host: the next call comes from illinois on the independent line. this is rosie. caller: i wanted to ask what the aarp's stance is on people on medicare who choose the

medicare and not a private insurance problem. i have a disabled family on medicare, and grandparents on medicare. because of their low incomes that this, they are also on medicaid and cannot afford the different options like part d. the fact that there is no dental coverage is such an issue. everyone talks about wanting the choice for private insurance. there are people who want the choice for the government option, the medicare, but really the issue is that you have to go the private option to give dentil coverage. it is such an issue for preventative care. i have to drive a family member 50 miles away from home just to get dental work done under their

medicaid because there are no providers in the area close by. host: thank you. guest: one of the problems in the medicare system that need to be addressed is for those people enrolled in medicare advantage which is private plans that offer medicare benefits, the average taxpayer and other beneficiaries are subsidizing what is in many cases are richer benefits package they enjoy to the tune of about 14% per year or about $1,000 more per year to provide benefits to someone through a private plan that they would normally get under the medicare program. you are correct, medicare itself does not offer dental coverage. that is something that obviously would be beneficial. it is a problem. but there are soonly so many

things that can be afforded through a program like this. host: this concerns in of life counseling. would you speak about the part of the debate, please? guest: i would be glad to. many people rely upon information they hear from the news. there is a tremendous amount of mis- even dis- information out there. it has been championed by both democrats and republicans and provides an optional consultation with a doctor under the medicare program once every five years for an individual to talk about whether they want advance directives, a living will, are any advance information to physicians said that in the event they become

critically ill, they will have made wishes known. unfortunately, this has been distorted. it has become a debt panels, euthanasia. all of that kind of demagoguery does not help. -- into death panels. we need to stop confusing and terrified people. it is not a good thing or reasonable thing to do. host: the next call comes from tennessee on the republican line. caller: first of all a couple of things. aarp represents a lot of people, but not necessarily me. isn't aarp a for-profit organization? guest: no, it is not. it is a not-for-profit organization. caller: well, six or aarp eight years or was looked at for receiving receipts from drugs. guest: we do have a for-profit

side of the organization. caller: first of all, parts d medicare is a very good part of the program. it could be worth it to scale it down. the $3,500 donut part -- the first part is covered, the last part they pay for themselves. 95% of medications are paid for by medicare. guest: that is correct. caller: there is nothing wrong asking for people to help pay for their own medications. if they did not have it, where would they be? i did not see where the government will improve on the program. if they want to reduce it, that is fine. but medicare is also paid for by payroll taxes.

i can see where they could extended if they want to make sure it is funded properly. 4% will not hurt someone. but to extend it for longer periods beyond someone was making $90,000 per year, they could probably do that and make it well-funded. host: thanks very much. everyone is giving us complicated questions here. guest: yes, i'm not sure what the question was on that one. but it is our judgment that the donut hole is a problem. we have significant evidence through polling and other means that americans depression their bills. many beneficiaries from medicare are people who typically live on fixed incomes of maybe $20,000 or $30,000 per year and pay very high out of pocket costs, much higher than those in typical private insurance programs that might be employer-

sponsored. they can pay 30% out of pocket for health care. that is very high in relation to the income i just reference. there are people who really have the financial needs. they need some support to make drugs more affordable. we want to make sure that people have access to their drugs. host: this is a frequent topic. has mr. david sloane or aarp or act actually read the bill? guest: first of all, let me admit that i have not read the 1000-page bill in the house, but we have many people at aarp who are expert in legislative language, lawyers and policy people who have read the bill

very thoroughly. i can assure you that there is nothing in that legislation in the house or senate bill that has been reported from the health committee that would in any way unable illegals to receive health care coverage. host: next call from albany, new york. caller: good morning. my question is what are going to be the options for seniors who are going to be living on social security alone because of their retirement plans were derailed when the economy went defunct? also, what would happen if you were an older person in your eighties and your doctor recommended that he needed to check for, let's say, colin cancer? but a colonoscopy would be too invasive for you and a government plan would only cover

the procedure and not one where you might swallow a camera. how the get what you need that would be best for you under those conditions -- how do you get what you need that is best for you under those conditions that are set procedures approved for certain treatments? guest: we have those now under any form of insurance. interest companies deny procedures all the time. i do not think there's anything in healthcare reform that would lead us toward a system of rationing or determinations about which technologies or treatments would be given. there are provisions in the bill that would help to establish best practices and that would do head-to-head comparisons among various technologies and therapies and products to get a better sense of which are most effective. but i do not think there is

anything in the legislation, and we categorically reject the notion of canadian-style health care -- aarp would not support that, and this legislation would not result in that type of legislation. host: here is another message. guest: well, i think you are religious. clearly, just the difficulties they are having you can see how much consternation the idea of a public plan has cost. i think it is an unfortunate distraction.

there are summoning core issues beyond the public plan notion. we would look at a public plan, try to evaluate its benefit and whether it could provide cost- effective care, but for us it is not a threshold issue. however, bipartisanship is important. we need to make sure that they're both democrats and republicans supporting this legislation. we're talking about significant changes to our system. it is better to have as many people in congress supporting these things to provide the broadest base of support to launch such a significant change. host: our guest is a graduate of the american university and has spent time on capitol hill as a legislative director to delete lawmaker from rhode island. he served at the transportation department under elizabeth dole, and it was special assistant to george h. w. bush. how long have you been at the

aarp? guest: four years. host: the next phone call is on the republican line. caller: i am a little surprised to would not support a system like the canadian system. we pay about 6% gdp war and are nowhere near covering everyone. if you factor that out, what does it save us? if we had a system like the canadian one we could save about $500 billion per year. why we do not promote that system? is there some way that aarp cannot negotiate import drugs and distribute them on a not- for-profit basis for those who need them? guest: let me take your last question first. we support re-importation of drugs into the u.s. the situation here is that many of these are very expensive and there are no efforts to control prices here.

there are in other countries we can get them less expensively. we think we should open the system up. there are legislative proposal sponsored by both democrats and republicans that would do that in a safe manner. with respect to your first question, there is some much concerned and hype about the canadian system, and i will not argue over its merits. it might well be a system that works well for canadians, but you see the discussions we have here in the u.s. -- what is possible and the legislative process? it just is not possible. there has been an enormous focus on people having to wait long periods of time for procedures like hip replacements and it scares people here. it is just not a road we can afford to go down. it is imperative that we try to strengthen our health-care system in the u.s. things like the public plans

which may well have some benefits leads to arguments about socialized medicine which is an unfortunate distraction from more important debate. host: the next phone call is from a william. caller: let me make one short statement and ask a final question. i am dvr'ing this and will put it up on youtube. i'm a proud supporter of aarp guest: blood to hear it. caller: i joined back when i was 55, and i'm 75 now. i had allstate insurance on my house and both cars. you cut my prize -- or harper did, exactly in half of what i was pain. -- you cut my price. i have been with you for 20

years now and all thalthough i e one minor accident you only raise my price by about $20 per year. when i go out to rent-a-car and will get the final price and then pull out my aarp card and they still have to give you another. 20another my question -- bill o'reilly compares with some republican plan which is retarded. -- the still have to give you another 20%. here was my question. but you keep advertising? most people have already cut back on advertising. fox news is just as bad. guest: that is a decision made

primarily by the providers who offer insurance using the aarp brand. it is not a decision i would make, but they have lots of information that suggests it is a good place to advertise, so host: they do here is a message from twitter. guest: some people scratch their heads and wonder why medicare is part of the discussion? guesthe medicare is symptomaticf many problems which is not to say it is effective and reliable with huge public support, but just like our standard healthcare system and needs to have incentives changed. the program is not financially sustainable right now and needs to be adjusted to some extent. there are coverage gaps. we need preventative benefits.

we can do a better job of chronic care coordination. one problem in medicare is that 20% of the people who go into the hospital within 30 days return with related illnesses. we need to stop paying for that kind of service with hospitals and incentivize them to do a better job with managing the care of those who leave a hospital so that they can remain out of the hospital. there are subtle, significant changes that need to be host: made john, on the republican line -- that need to be made. host: john, on the republican line. caller: we had a speaker in our church from brazil. he cannot walk, but his wife is on the same type of insurance,

and they have to send all the way back to the u.s. to get it. host: new jersey, go ahead. caller: i don't know why everyone up there screaming is so upset. they all seem to have insurance. it is humanitarian. these people can go to the doctors to get medicine. they have no problem doing that, but 50 million people cannot. insurance companies now control whatever treatment sick people do get. they make profits 19 treatment to those who need it, hoping that they will die before they

have to get treatment -- they make profits not giving treatment to those who need it. also, foreign governments pay for the medical care of their people. businesses could compete more easily with foreign governments if they did not have to pay so much for their employees. i do not understand the excitement of these people. president obama ran on a platform of getting health care treatment and issues change. now everyone else is screaming and yelling, saying it they do not want this to happen. i think it is time for change. i just had to get this off my chest. host: sir, someone who has been

assembled with capitol hill and washington as you have, what is your opinion of how this will shape up after the august recess? guest: honestly, much of the town hall turmoil has taken people of back to some degree, but on the other hand, it is not surprising given where we are. we have the most significant downturn since the great depression and are not out of the woods yet. many people approaching retirement or in retirement have lost an enormous amount of their nest egg. many have to return to work. there have been extraordinary government interventions to try to put a floor underneath the economy which was in freefall, which has added enormously to the deficit. i think there are many people who are quite worried and cynical about the government, so

it is not surprising. but democracy is not always tidy. sometimes it gets a little rough around the edges. i do not think this will deter legislators from moving forward with reform because the costs of inaction are much greater than it actually trying to do the right thing. host: the last call comes from columbus, texas. caller: how many people are on medicare and how much is the estimated shortfall for fiscal year 2009? when that increased our payments to cover the shortfall? the program will be in a position where it will nowill

largely be government transfers to pay for things. the premiums collected are not enough to cover the program. it is scheduled to go broke within the next few years. action is needed. you would not be able to make it up through additional premium increases. people are all looking for 25% with part b and payroll taxes are not enough to close that gap. other steps are needed. individual beneficiaries should not be responsible with trying to cover those. host: thank you for being here. guest: i appreciate your having me. host: at what point will aarp take a position? guest: when we return from the august recess, when the house

finishes their bills, when the finance committee gets an agreement, we will make a determination about which bill to support. host: to go. we will be here until the top of the hour. our phone lines are open. we will be right back for more discussion on health care. ♪ >> bill clinton kicks off this blubbers convention. coverage begins tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. -- that is on the bloggers

convention. tomorrow, pennsylvania politics, making change happen and reshaping the supreme court. >> every morning this month, we talk live with non-fiction authors about their summer releases. these are our guest. we will be taking your calls, e- mails, and tweets, starting this friday morning. >> this radio talk-show executive on the new fairness doctrine, why it is a bad idea and alternatives to censorship. he will be interviewed by the radio and television commentator. it is part of c-span2's "book tv" weekend. host: we're back for open phones and you can talk about health care and anything else on your mind.

let me show you headlines. this is a town hall meeting from detroit that included congressman john dingall. it stirs up the sleepy town hall passion. and in new jersey, "the star- ledger" -- this photograph of a man venting his frustration at arlen specter. the crowd demands further details and lawmakers try to win over the constituents. we will go to your phone calls. we will begin with florida and bob on the independent line. caller: first of all, with the aarp people, they sold out to seniors back in 2003 when medicare part d was passed. i guess there justification was

so they could get into the health-care business themselves and offer policies to seniors. but they never put it in any kind of a nonprofit health care for seniors to help them. so, i think aarp think is sort of a two-faced when it comes to health care reform. the other gentleman you had on earlier this morning said the u.s. has the best health care in the world, and that is not true. the world health organization ranks the 90 states 16th in overall care, and only 37th in healthcare outcomes for treatments. so, at least that fact can be known by the people watching c- span today. host: thank you. this is from priscilla in massachusetts, a registered nurse.

the next comment is from charlotte, north carolina. caller: i was talking with the gentleman who is 84 who was -- and i was surprised to find at his age. he said, that is because i do not put a lot of junk into my body. when you compare the life statistics to other countries, we're always compared -- our life expectancy is 70. think about what they are eating their and what we tend to put

into our bodies here. the community and taxpayers should be responsible for lifestyles. all of a sudden, everyone is supposed to use medicine. in this country we do not make fathers responsible for their children. you can have babies in this country and the country has to pay for their children? at what point are we talking about personal responsibility? it is not fair to those of us who are responsible and take good care of our bodies. all of a sudden we're having this debate. no one wants to say maybe we should think about what we are doing to neourselves. it is not fair to say everyone should take care of people's coverage at the end of luck. what is the cost for those who expect to be taken care of? host: the next call is from san

diego, robin, on the line for democrats. caller: good morning, two things. first of all, for the woman just on the line -- will miss care and preventive medicine is a huge part of this, of all the bills. it is part of the plan. but as far as the people who wonder why they should have to pay if they are covered for people who do not have jobs are who do not want to pay -- it is a good point to remind people that the things that are not covered for those people can be communicable diseases like mersa, mental illness which causes a lot of death and destruction in the world because those people lose control of themselves, kill people or kill themselves.

there are a lot of public health issues that can be controlled and helped with care. i wish that the news media itself would be more honest about the debate. host: that was san diego. here is a a viewer who writes -- the next phone call is from kentucky on the republican line. caller: there are many things in this country with healthcare -- so many people are so polarized. if people would look there's not much difference.

both sides are about controlling people. and they are putting their own pockets. if people would get into the middle where people with any sense seem to stay, so we do not get left or right -- so we do not get lead from behind. host: this person writes that "i am still for it."

the next call is from sue on the independent line in grand rapids, michigan. caller: yes, one comment with regard to the last caller is that what our politicians with your most is a really motivated censor on momus. it is not about cost -- is about profit. it is about extreme profits. they are allowed by both parties. i was a democrat. i am very concerned that our taxes do not come back to us. we do not have money for schools or health care.

these insurance companies need to be regulated. their profits need to be capped. we need to have their health care. quit talking about how everybody gets [inaudible] furthermore, get us out of the war and save our country a lot of money. i wish the democrats would get some gumption. host: next is ohio. caller: we have to be careful of the parsing of words we hear out there and the president is very good at it. the other day at a town hall when the question was asked about whether benefits would be cut on the $500 billion being cut from medicare over the next 10 years if it would affect anyone's benefits -- his response was that no one currently -- there is the key

word -- currently -- receiving benefits would wsee the reduced. that is fine for those who have been curly, but for those five or 10 years down the road there is no way that there will not be of benefit cuts. -- that is fine for those who currently have them, but not for those in the future. host: how would you like this to turn now? caller: i guess because i am kind of out of the loop because in the service-connected veteran and i get all my care through the v.a. -- and i am also on social security disability because i am legally blind. i really fear the we're headed down the road to single-payer. somehow people like the senator

from vermont -- that is his goal. host: since you have told us that you are getting v.a. care and also s.s.i., i want you to react to this message. caller: i think that is wrong because we as veterans served our country honorably and did what we were asked to do or volunteered to go on our own. host: greenberg, texas, cheryl -- granbury on the republican line. caller: i want everyone to read the bill for themselves. if legislators truly wanted reform that would address tort

reform. there let us buy insurance across state lines and let it cover pre-existing conditions. there is not one agency that is not bankrupt. putting something this large in the hands of the government will be a national disaster. every country that has tried that option has been dismantled it or is trying to. host: diane in new hampshire rights this -- writes this. the next phone call is from maryland, james, on the republican line. caller: well, this health-care

thing has really got me bogged down. my wife will retire next year and i have been on disability for the past 20 years. it is really nagging at me because we will be in the real situation where we will have to make a choice with either buying insurance, or what we will have to do. we will have to make a real decision. host: what age are you? caller: right now i'm 58. my wife will be in a position to hang in there for a couple more years, hanging with the government, stay in for a few

more. or bail out -- we just do not know what we will do. host: here is an e-mail. the next phone call is from pensacola, on the line for democrats. caller: good morning, i'm a long

time watcher of c-span. i was listening this morning to open phones and about the third caller in there -- c-span does a great service, but they also do a disservice. that third caller asked where in the constitution allows the congress and president to use tax money to pay for health care. the preamble to the constitution is the reason for the constitution, why we read it -- to promote the general welfare of the country. that is the opposition. you probably should have known that and should have said -- look at the preamble, you know? host: overall, we tend not to answer questions so that we do not become part of the debate. caller: it is not part of the debate. you could have said you thought they were in error, so that others out there listening -- there are others out there who may think that he is right.

you should give them a place to go and look and see. host: thanks for giving people to look into the constitution, and thanks for watching all these years. the next call comes on the republican line. caller: good morning, thank you for c-span. let me give you a quick story. i switched my mother ever to medicare. six months in i did not like the coverage. i called the old company and asked them to take us back, but they would not because they said it had been six months. the coverage -- it was not helpful. the mother had certain things -- in the old company i had someone i could call and they knew my mother's sister. but when it went to medicare

that did not happen anymore. i had to tell the story over and over again. they would send the form letters back at my appeal. who will recall when we feel our coverage is not correct? -- who will we call? and where do we get leverage to have them do what we want to do? a private company does not want to be dropped. host: the next phone call is from colorado. caller: i have been watching for 28 years. [laughter] host: have you always been there, or have you moved around? caller: i was in new jersey for about 10 years. host: are you calling about health care like everyone else? caller: yes, i would like to appeal to the republican party

for them to take back control. they seem to be overrun by people who have no concern for truth. like the woman who just called and said people in other countries are dismantling their social health policies. there are medical tourism trips for americans who cannot get health care here. it is so silly, the statement that rush limbaugh made the other day about the democratic party and nazis -- every point he made with either misleading or false. we need a strong republican party to keep democrats in line. if we do not have a sensible republican party, we will get the opposite of what we had during the bush administration. that is where the democratic party failed to exercise their checks and balance responsibilities. it is the