sanford. i do not want to spend my our talking about what we have already been talking about. this is keven cohen, if you had an ounce of confidence in the lieutenant governor, would this encourage you to resign or walk away? do you think that he could do a better job? >> the original thing went down, i wanted to resign and i never wanted to see a television camera again for the rest of my life. if god is going to make lemons out of lemonade, you have to stay around for the second part of the show. and so, you go through this

process. and this really is not about the lieutenant governor. other people may have a different idea about this. for me, this is about saying, every one of our lives is imperfect. the question is, will we still go on and do we do this? . .

>> of the bear has been a long needed conversation on spending. we pretend that it is. the idea of coming up with a different way of budgeting is important. we have a 6.5 year track record in standing for certain they eggs. we continue to advance on those things albeit more slowly than we would have. it is important we continue to push with those things with a new level in working with the general assembly. >> from the standpoint of the general assembly, the last session was about battling mark sanford on the stimulus. it was a waste.

i was enraged at nothing getting done. can i hold up a marriage to the rest of the general assembly? -- can and hold a mirror to the rest of the general assembly? >> can we take this political energy -- i don't know how many times i have been in this to deal with you -- there are a bunch of reporters on that side -- in tibet local energy -- can we take that local energy and ask where we can go from here. could we have a conversation with a neighbor on changing the way the south carolina government works?

we're the only state with a budget control board. in 49 other states, they do it differently. this is the only state in the union where the administrative functions are handled by the budget control board. in our state, in fairness to my predecessor, he was elected by the people of south carolina as a democrat. his first check was not the general assembly or the judicial branch. he walked across the hall to the lieutenant governor's office. it is a dysfunctional system.

people would normally say this is madness. it was in the 1895 constitution, put forth by pitchfork ben tillman, about a black man being elected. other constitutional amendments are out there. could people pick one area where they want to make a difference and really make noise? >> i have supported reform in this state since i met you. i have defended you on reform issues. i think you have been selfless on that.

if you had a decent relationship with the general assembly, do you think there would have been more done? i have been told by a number of people led up marks answered -- mark sanford had worked with this, they get pressure from other people and they cannot do it. >> there have been missteps in the last 6.5 years. that is the nature of the human experience. you won't get a perfect. borehole we have been pushing for -- the hwole -- the whole of this situation is the guy who holds a gold does not want to give it up.

there is a mark against the system not because we get more in goods and services because we have a totally weird system. a lot of the controversy has been created because we are trying to change the system. many people profit or light or agree with this system, particularly those who benefit. some people and really know it doesn't make sense. on the issue of transparency alone and how close to persistent is, when we came into the office in 2003, you could give undisclosed amounts to a

political party at that time. in 2004, we said no more. money would go to cabinet agency but on the back of the agency, they stated which projects that would like. we said no. a citizen should be able to find out how much has been given to a candidate and from where. they should have online disclosure of expenditures. in columbia, is a good system. that process of trying to open the system up has created sparks.

>> the other part of where sparks have flown -- is tied to this notion of where this executive branch not have a better perspective on where money ought to be spent. historically, when we came into the office, governors did not have operational jurisdiction. if the construct of the budget is what is good for different districts, you could end up with duplication. that is why we are at 138% of operational budget.

the front row seat of what happened is about what you spent and where you were spending it. we pulled up a chair at the table and getting into the historical sandbox has caused sparks to fly. if you stay between the lines, everything would have been great. that is not what i was hired to do. >> how seriously before it hit the fan in late june, how seriously would you have run for president? did you think you're going to run for president? >> no, this is what i have said, this is not where i was. what happens in politics is you

have friends and foes. the friends hope and dream and say they like where you are coming from. there was a certain level that like to where i got elected. the stimulus they came up. by was talking about the exact same thing when i was running for governor. the answer is no, it did not fit. you have to say goodbye to three years of life when you run for president. we have one year left before kid goes back for college. >> when we come back, it is your turn.

for the phone calls, you need to put the headphones on so you can hear the caller is. -- the callers. >> different friends brought it up. i had not crossed that mental bridge. >> you hear things about whether thcertain people were on board. it's out like it was up to jimmy. -- jenny. if you start hearing prominent people you have to wonder.

-- if you start hearing from enough people, you have to wonder. callers will have their term but heaven forbid we actually talk about some issues. it is pretty scary what is being talked about. through the headphones on. -- throw the headphones on. a couple of earlier accidents earlier. are you ok? a car has hit a deerfír off of d bush river road.

>> no agenda,and, just the facts as they happen. columbia's news radio 560, wvoc. >> 23 minutes after the hour. our guest is governor mark sanford in the studio. the only thing i will tell the caller is is that governor sanford's office did not say a word one in terms of any restrictions. we will take your telephone calls. i ask that you keep your questions quick and sex and so we can take as many callers as possible. welcome, you were on with governor mark sanford. caller: governor sanford, our state is plagued with legislators are not coming from principal barry -- principle.

. they are coming from their own political agenda. you are defending it. you need to stay. >> thank you for the call. >> i agree. it is an interesting point. there is a disconnected that i hear as i travel around the state and when i hear the rotary club talk and small businesses and what i hear in colombia. what i consistently here is comments like that one. the disconnect is in political world and the media world. people operate from self interest in life. there is no exception in politics.

some people have thought it would help their political career to keep this been alive and stirred up. other folks in the media think it would sell newspapers. there is a center in the upstate who is holding an investigation on tickets on business development trips. if the issue really was using taxpayer resources, they would say i breughel law. -- i broke block. -- broke the law. it turns out that that has been the accepted practice from the department of commerce for the

last 25 years. republican and democratic governors alike have used this money for the international development trip. other staff members and other members of the general assembly are the same rules. before they accuse me, you would want to investigate a fellow senator who has been on these investigative development trips. there are only three people on senator thomas' subcommittee. if you have three people on your subcommittee, if you were about getting to the bottom line, you bring it up with the folks who are two seats over.

there has been some degree political causation parent -- politicalization. one other thought was the legislative audit committee which is the legislative branch is arm did a study in 20001 and two dozen form both of which said there are no -- did a city in 2001 and 2004 and said there was no misconduct. caller: i was reading a while back that your staff was aware of where they were and had contact with you. is that true? >> it was a backhanded way of

getting hold of me and ultimately folks did. i change my flight and came home. >> caller: the media is portraying it as worse than it really is. >> if you are the guy who messed up and i am the guy who messed up, i will say what i said before which is that some people saw it in their best interest to keep things stirred up more than should be the case. i was gone over that weekend. i am dead guilty. >> is that impeachable? >> that is not for me to say. >> have you done anything that is impeachable? i know you're working on this morally. >> that is for others to decide. there have been a governor's impeachment history of this

state. they have been for fairly heinous things like taking money out of the general fund of the state and other things. hundreds of thousands of dollars so there is a world of difference between what has happened between those people and what has happened here. >> will you get the legal team together for this? >> i am not looking for a fight. water seeks to its own level. the moral wrong was all mine. the consequences are mine. i am working for those. there's a different story that has been the headlines over the last two months. that has been about spending things that are being driven by politics. if you look at the rock data on the investigation of using a business class ticket to go on an economic development trip,

there is a compellingly good record. we still have a jet that had a certain capacity. we sold that so that any trip taken could be taken on a commercial aircraft. i believe that -- if i had read the headlines of folks have read, i would want to impeach me. if i believe they were true. there is the rest of the story, as paul harvey used to say. i have a compellingly good record in looking out for the tax payers. when you use less money for the state budget than any governor in the last 25 years, it tells you something.

it used to be that the governor was given a bmw when he came into office. i could go down a laundry list of savings that have been real and material. i think that eventually water seeps to its own level. i think a lot of the media circus is not helping. >> governor mark sanford is with us and we will come back with more of your calls a minute. >> good afternoon. another top-ranking republican official is calling for the governor to step down. >> what has become clear is that

governor sanford's issue will dominate our state as long as he remains in office. the issues we have an ordinance to accomplish -- >> i am sure they will talk about impeachment. if it gets to that point, that will not change our mind on resigning? >> you know my nature. we have been a remedy to deliver more than 6.5 years. "her arms don't make a right in life. -- two wrongs don't make a right in life. i was wrong and i have said it. i have laid all the cards out

there in agonizing detail. a lot of what has been going on has been selectivity. i called selective outrage. -- i call it selective outrage. they talk about the tickets for business trips and former governors have used this. i have mentioned that initially, when the story broke, i wanted to resign for the obvious reasons. you feel embarrassed and all these different things. we have now gone to people create a picture that does not exist and i don't think that is right. we have done a good job in trying to watch out for the tax payer. for someone to use this for

their political advantage because they did not like me anyway and did not like where i was coming from, to undermine that which was the goal is a problem. >> you and i talked last time about it there was not the other thing, this thing would not draw any attention. >> we have gone the extra mile. >> you don't book a flight. when you go on a trip to get business in germany or china or wherever -- >> if you have a standard practice for 30 years and a

comptroller general decision that says this is ok by us and a previous administration brought up, you can be penalized and pound foolish. -- you can be penny-wise and pound foolish. we had a $600 million -- investment in south charleston. you don't want to show up looking bad and you don't want to fall asleep and afternoon meetings. >> don't people want to fly e governor where he needs to go? >> it has been that way for 30 years. the comptroller general of the

state looks at every budget with regard to spending for every governor. for 30 years, they have not had a problem with it. that's where it  strange in that they have been watching this for 30 years and there legislative audit find no -- no material wrongdoing and now they're saying is a huge problem. it is very selective. it is the world of politics. >> is it worse here or in washington, d.c.? >> i don't know. that is in the eye of the beholder. >> was it worse in d.c. before june? >> again, i want to offend you

guys. in fairness to obama and i have thought about him recently and the storm that exists around health care. whether you disagree or agree with it, if you want to find a guy who most loudly object to his proposal and you throw that guy out on tv, that is advocacy journalism as opposed to -- that is not trying to sell a story. it depends on the event. >> here we go. welcome back to our program. thank you so much for being with us. mark sanford is our guest. we continue with our calls. thanks for your patience, you are on the air. >> caller: our youth governor

sanford? >> i am doing good. >> caller: i appreciate having the support we have in the governor's office especially when things, like re-election and so forth. i wanted to see if you have heard about how that is going and if you have a plan in dealing with that? >> yes ma'am, as you know, we came out against real i.d. janet napolitano who used to be the governor, who was a democrat, and myself pushed against it because of the liberty concerns. we want to be careful about

larger notion of protecting liberty and government. we thought there were too many dangers to civil liberties as well as cost problems. there have been adjustments made. real id when out the window and pass id has replaced it. we have as people to speak up. if there are other listeners who care about the civil liberty component and the privacy concerns that i think are warranted, make some noise.

carolina. you are doing rover clubs and so forth. what about finding jobs for people? what are we doing about unemployment? >> the general, with its legislative goals, if you will, after labor day. we have three goals in terms of the legislative session. one is restructuring the budget. control board changes another. we need spending limits. we don't want to end up in the hole. the third is economic and development/jobs. we want to get input from a

manufacturing concern who was trying to get a virtual town hall meeting on what ideas everybody has to make a difference. i am continuing that process. we will come out with two or three items with legislative colleagues and the chamber and realtors that we think would make a difference. at minimum, the notion of reforming has to be on there. we have to have something that better connects the recruitment on what congress does with where jobs are needed. i think there is a growing level of need for tort reform. we have a compact that was worked out. we have to lock that down. when the panic, canal opened, --

when the panama canal opens, we are in good position. we're still working on that. those to be a couple things we are working on. 2007, 2008, $4 billion of new investment in south carolina. we have to have a department of commerce that tells the story. we will continue to work on that and i think we will have some good jobs news for the next month. the bigger part that has to happen is what are we doing to improve the playing field for the mid-size businesses? >> we are visiting with governor mark sanford. we're taking your telephone calls.

wsc is also listening in charleston. let's continue with our calls. you are on with double governor mark sanford. >> caller: our you? do you think if you resign, all the problems and issues that people are saying about you will just go away? >> i don't. if i did, i would have resigned. if i thought that that was the cure to all the problems of south carolina[q÷ like unemployt and the rest, i would have resigned. at the end of the day, i still think that we need a voice for fiscal sanity as we pushed it over last six years.

i think we need an advocate for restructuring. we have pieces of it. dmv reform came into play. it was the first change to the dot since the early 1900's. we have gotten pieces of it but i would hope for the chance of working with people across the state and with different light- minded representatives to make this year the difference. with the lottery, house members said they were against it but it is such an important issue, it should be decided by the people of south carolina.

we want the people to decide whether they want to elect or appoint different constitutional officers. that is why i am still here. i think there's a real opportunity to get a couple of things done that are important in improving allies of your kids and my kids and many other folks. >> we have gotten e-mails as being something similar to this. a number of people are asking if you had to do it all over again, but soulmates thing, would you do all over again based and everything that has happened? >> know, if you look watched less 60 days of my life -- no, if you watch the last 60 days of my life. that is the nature of being human. i apologize to aas i have so may

times before. i'm human and i make mistakes. god wants imperfect people to perform his will and they perform an all walks of life. it might be in politics or business. we have to get up each day and not call it quits based on the situation. i am trying to say, where are we right now and what of the opportunities we have in regard to change in government for the better. hirschow can we improve jobs and what can we do to protect the taxpayer going forward? that is not where i am.

there is a lot of misinformation out there. the whole state plane thing is in question. i use the state plane 1/3 less than any other governor. in the last administration, they had a hawker jet it was a lot of $10,000 per month. justo[ the use of that debt ale was more money than we spent in everything for the governor's budget. ed to that, -- add to that, whenever we could, we took a

small plant and save taxpayers $60,000. we change procedures by having the plane relocated to a different air field. i could go down a long list. governors used to use the state helicopter extensively. we used it five times. that was a more expensive per our costs. we tried to go the extra mile. >> i think those people understand that. most people looking in the big picture, get that part. if the first half of the story in argentina did that happen, i don't think the second half of the store with a big issue. i think there is a lot of piling on. i am done with that from a talk

radio standpoint. he did the store will be impeachment next or the store will not be governor mark sanford resigning. they either have to pick a fight with mark sanford and he will pick the -- and he will fight back or not. it sounds like you are ready for a fight. >> i am not looking for a fight. i am looking for the truth which is you cannot go out and say you broke the law and you three people on a sub committee, one of home has been taking the same liberties and you do not mention that. there is the notion of selective outrage, i have a problem with that. >> next caller. >> caller: thank you for joining us today, governor sanford. speaking of the truth and the past, without piling on, their original story of your trip to argentina, in 2007, i attended a

south carolina trade dinner. during that dinner, the ambassador mentioned he had met with you during a visit to south carolina and when asked extracting a trade ties between south carolina and argentina would work, the ambassador said you advised him that that would not be a priority. what changed your mind one year later when you decided to add the argentina leg of your trade trip to brazil? >> you are down there. you are in brazil you are in the neck of the woods. i think it is completely true to say that the dominant trading partners with south america for 50 years have been in europe

tied to germany based on the bmw hunb and you have another of european firms. we have a very strong connection with southeast asia. it is for that reason we have had longstanding offices. we had a european office and we had a japanese office. we strengthen that by putting a beach head into shanghai. our point to the chinese was that we don't have a problem, they had a problem. 30% of your experts are tied to exporting to the united states. about 3% are going in the other direction. if you are not investing in a place like south carolina, this problem will grow. we tried to make the pitch of

them investing. we opened up an office in shanghai and the other office during this administration was an office in toronto. it is completely straight for to say you go where your strengths are. if you are in their neck of the woods and you can pick up something else, you do something. there is an ulterior motive for what you were doing in argentina. >> if that was the case, that all the other places i have been around the globe, i guess i should not gone to those places either. the fact is that i was in eastern europe earlier this year prospecting. i was trying to say if there was something missing in poland that

we should have. that is the nature of prospecting. i have been to many other places. >> we have a few more minutes with governor mark sanford. first, fast, and accurately from a team of news professionals.

>> what are you doing with yourself in keeping busy aside from the rotaries? >> that is just the public schedule. for instance, we are on the record, the governor's office has two sets of appointments. we will come back to that. >> it is hard to see where it has gone since june how everything, no matter what you say, it is part of your job, but now everything you say will be dissected. it's not fun right now? >> it is what it is.

>> i have been around too long enough. with every guest, there is time for when the mice are on and one much are off. -- there is time when the microphones are on and when the microphones are off. you made your bed but still -- just a couple more minutes. time for a couple more calls with governor mark sanford. thank you for calling wvoc. you are on with the governor. >> caller ♪

it seems like the republican party is crumbling. >> in the election next year, are you an asset or liability? >> this notion of political liability does not work. >> it worked for obama against bush. >> i don't believe that people will say that but i don't think, at the end of the day, i think obama was an articulate, incredibly well spoken, measured in humané-h being and presenteds ideas well. i was sitting there the night he gave the talk in chicago and i

had tears coming to my eyes. look at the way he presented his ideas the way he believes in them. i think he was the better candidate. i might disagree with his ideas but at the end of the day, politics is about ideas and they are bigger than human beings. the republican party is not me and i am not the republican party. i have been called different things like libertarians. i don't think that what happens in the next election will be based on the golan mark sanford. >> we will do it more tomorrow. governor mark sanford on wvoc, thanks for listening. thank you. >> my pleasure. >> i don't know if it is your pleasure or not.

>> not you guys, but you understand my position very >> can you take a picture over here will >>? brighter year against this wall. thank you, sir. here we go. >> the supreme court has a rare special session today. they're hearing oral argument on a campaign finance case. listen to it on the same day on c-span 3, cspan radio, and at c- span.org. it marks the first appearance on the bench of judge sonia sotomayor. here is clarence thomas on what it means to any new justice.

>> you grow very fond of the court on which he spent a long time. there was a period with chief justice rehnquist and o'connor. we have a long run together. you get comfortable with that and it changes. it is now changing again. the institution, the nine is different, your reaction is different. you get to start all over. the chemistry is different. >> hear from other justices during supreme court week as cspan looks at the home to america's highest court, starting october 4. >> the supreme court hears oral argument this morning in the campaign finance case, citizens united verses the federal

election commission. that will be at about 11:30 on cspan 3. president obama met with democratic leaders senator harry reid and house speaker nancy pelosi tuesday on health care. they spoke with reporters for 10 minutes. >> good afternoon. we just had a very productive meeting with the president and vice president. our main subject was health insurance reform but we talked about other issues that relate to the fall agenda and other issues. in terms of health care reform, we have come together at a time where three bills have been passed out of committee and the house, one in the senate,

hopefully soon, the finance committee will act. we have plenty to work from to pass comprehensive affordable and accessible universal health care. it is a pretty exciting time. the month of august, our members are perching constituents and communicated with them. they bring back the benefit of that thinking. they also have had a chance to explain to their constituents the opportunity that is in the bill. we have legislation that would lower costs, improve quality, and expand coverage, and retain choice. if you like what you have, you can keep it. you have something that you would like to improve, that can happen. if you're not insured, you will have that opportunity. this will be done a fiscally- sound way. it is necessary for us to act. the present situation is unsustainable. as the present has said, health care reform is entitlement reform.

in or forced to reduce the deficit, it is essential that we have real health care reform. we go forward, and welcoming our members back in a series of caucuses and meetings. we are prepared to bring our three bills together in the house to prepare to meet the senate in conference. senator reid, mr. leader? >> the president and vice president were very positive. that is in keeping with the conversation i have had with my members the past week. we are reenergize and ready to do health care reform. keeping in mind that even before the august recess, 80% of health care is already done. the 20% would still love to work on. in our conversations today, we think we are up to 90%. we have 10% that we need to work on. we can do that. as far as the speech tomorrow, the president did not give us a dress rehearsal of the speech

but he did tell us that he will outline to the american people are course. it will be about the health care reform bill that he contemplates that we will do. we are in agreement with him in that regard. i have every belief that when he finishes his speech tomorrow, the american people will be able to put aside some of the ridiculous also it's bad been perpetrated these past few weeks. he will then be able to focus on was important for this country. we have a lot of work to do. we understand that. we're still approaching this in the form of bipartisanship. we still, after all these months, at a place at the table for the republicans. we will do everything we can to work with them. we want a bipartisan bill. we don't want to do reconciliation unless we have no alternative.

i am personally in favor of a public auction. in my mind, there is no question the majority -- i can speak for the house caucus, but they would like that. we will do our best to have a public option before we finish this work. >> why was there not a place for >> we have had a large table with the finance committee and the health committee and the senate. there is always a place for them. i think today it was a positive meeting. that is how i feel. >> the president is meeting with the speaker of the house and the democratic leader of the senate. he has other meetings that we

are not invited to the republicans are at. i don't know what the point of the question was in our committees, in the house, three committees have passed a bill. all of them have strong numbers of republicans on these committees. i saw to that when we did the ratio. they have had a place at the table as their bills have come through the legislative process. that is what we are engaged in now, the legislative process. >> is a possible to hammer out a schedule by middle of october? >> on the public option, i believe that a public auction will be essential to our passing a bill. as the president has said, and i listened to him very carefully, week he believes that the public option is the best way to keep the insurance companies honest

and increase competition in order to lower costs, improve quality, retained choice, and expand coverage. this should be done a fiscally sound way so that it saves money. he said if you have a better idea, put it on the table. if somebody has a better idea of how to do that, put it on the table. for the moment, as far as our house members are concerned, the overwhelming majority of them support a public auction. -- public option. we will have a public option in our bill, presently. we are very pleased that the + will be making his address this evening. we have been on schedule and we

continue to be on schedule. this speech tonight will be a very important -- i mean tomorrow, it will be an important factor in looking forward. >> it was said that a trigger i public option was an alternative. out >> out of context i cannot respect to those remarks. i know that there are strong supporters of the public option. the health insurance industry which is fighting the public option because it increases competition. they don't want that. they would be better getting a public auction now than one that is triggered. if you have a trigger public option, it is because the insurance industry has demonstrated that they are not cooperating, they are not doing the right thing, and i think

they will have a tougher public option to deal with. >> senator re-, can you talk about the center>lm block is dr? -- can you talk about the senator baucus of draft? + + host: cal>> at 10:00 eastern, te houses in session to debate bills that are noncontroversial. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> we will look at the health- care debate with the representative from the center for policy analysis.