questions about the congressional budget agenda. from the nation's capital, this is "washington journal."

host: good morning. we will get to your calls in just a minute. we are interested to hear from you now that you had 24 hours to absorbent the massachusetts election. talking to your friends, reading some of the blogs and newspaper analysis. we would very much like to hear your analysis for what it means for the parties of the big policy initiatives. we will get to your calls in a minute. emily pierce is our first guest, joining us by phone. front-page story on a "roll call." the question is the biggest policy issue, health care. after a day of observing it, what our leaders saying? guest: in the immediate aftermath they are saying we need to take a deep breath and think about what we need to do.

at the same time, they are exploring this option of the house perhaps taking up the senate bill and just send it to the president. in order to do that, you would need an agreement by the senate to pass a separate bill through budget reconciliation rules, the need for 60 votes, that would do some fixes the house demanded. it is a very complicated negotiation. it is not clear at all this will happen. but leaders continue to say they are committed to trying to pass health care reform. host: you have a front-page story about harry reid. guest: harry reid has had a bad year, and senator chris dodd's announcement that he would retire, harry reid became the most long-haul marble democratic incumbents. health care reform is very unpopular in nevada right now. what we did is we sort of explore how much more difficult harry reid's job might get.

ironically, his job as senate leader might get slightly more easy because with 60 there is a lot of pressure to deliver based just on the partisan -- you have to get all the democrats together. with 59, it takes a little bit of the pressure off, believe it or not, because it is easier to negotiate within the party because you have to say, look, we have to make this palatable for at least a couple of republicans to get past. host: i sort of understand your psychology -- if you have 60, what is your problem? guest: the left, for example, expected a lot more out of the senate then i think senator harry reid was able to deliver. and the moderates, of course, bristled at not having any republicans on board. host: what should people care about politics watch out for today?

guest: senator elect brown, the new one from massachusetts, is expected to make the rounds on capitol hill today. it is unclear exactly when he will be seated. i think they have to wait for the certification from the state. that should be exciting. i do think in terms of health care, we probably are not going to see a real decision for another couple of days on what they are going to do. rounding up the votes from the house to pass the senate bill, which is still a very tough list -- lifting force speaker pelosi. host: emily pierce, from roll call. we will direct our viewers to find your story on rollcall.com. what does the stock brown victory mean? "usa today" headline -- they

have a chart on special election upsets with impact. they said during the past several decades of sets and special congressional elections sometimes have been a sign of coming political trends. that is what we're talking to you about today. they cite the may 1961 election, john tower, first gop senator from texas since reconstruction and republicans became the dominant party. 1974, the first house democrat from that. in michigan in 62 years -- voter anger over watergate. republicans lost 49 house seats and three senate seats. may of 1994, the first republican in 129 years in his district. march of 2008, democrat bill foster, dennis pastor has held the seat for 11 terms, discontent with bush was

building. scott brown coming to washington today, as we heard. and he has recorded his first row -- robocall for john mccain. frank, republican, from beverly, new jersey. caller: you have a great show. the problem here is -- not a problem whether you are d or r -- the problem is these guys go up there and did not represent us any more. and until this starts to change, you are going to see the political landscape change very often in washington, because people are really fed up. not only on the r's and d's, but everything they are doing. they don't listen to us. the only thing they are

concerned about is keeping their jobs. i am telling you, you watch the people that swap party affiliations now and you watch for people who retire and you watch for people who get voted out of office. this was a referendum on what is going on in washington, d.c. i was shocked we got the republican governor in new jersey because new jersey is a democratic state. and what happened in massachusetts, i was stunned, because that is so liberal and to the left, that state, and how they vote and what they do, the people are fed up now over what is going on. host: democrat from detroit. good morning. caller: i am disappointed in a lot of the callers calling in and saying that -- the government, the government.

we have to remember, we are the government. we change things. i know our representatives are bombarded with the high price -- the voices every day, but the citizens, they have the last word. they are the ones who pulled the lever when they go to the polls. we are the government. and until we start realizing that, change will not happen. we need to start taking a closer look at the people who represent us. we need to start taking a closer look at our system, because it is pretty much not working. it seems like big business has taken over washington, d.c., and this government was designed for the people. host: frank is next on our independent line. it sounds like a big year for independents. caller: i am grateful.

it does send a message to the nation as a whole. both parties have failed us and failed us badly for the past 30, 40 years. i am grateful for the fact that a man and massachusetts won. i do not think it would teach obama, pelosi, nance -- harry reid anything, because of the arrogance is beyond comparison. take, for instance, the fact that the president yesterday said he was going to put a tax -- excuse me -- on companies throughout the country who have not been paying their taxes. here is a man who is surrounded by people who don't pay their taxes and all he does is try to curry favor with this liberal -- we want people who are going to do this job who have no stains on them like chris dodd, harry reid, nancy pelosi and other people around him. i am grateful what -- over what

happened and i thank you for giving me time to express my views. host: yester day the victor in massachusetts had his first press conference -- yesterday. let up here what he had to say about republican party policy. >> people ask me what kind of republican i would be. i did not know how to answer that. i said i would be a scott brown republican. maybe there is a new breed of republican. maybe people will finally look at somebody who is not beholden to the special interests of the party and will look to just solve problems. i have always been that way. remember, i supported clean elections, i am a self-imposed term limits person. i believe very strongly that we are there to serve the people and we are there to do a job. i, like many others -- you know, when you talk about what so and so said in a book, my response is, who cares, because we have

terrorists trying to blow of our airplanes and kill our families and shopping malls. we have people dying in afghanistan who are trying to -- and our soldiers are trying to make sure we finish the job there. we have very serious economic problems. so i, like many of you say, what's up with that? host: scott brown talking about what kind of republican he will be. the next phone call is from new york, republican line. caller: good morning. i tell you why he won. he won because of social security. and medicare. people are worried about and no one is talking about. that is what the tea party is all about -- leave social security alone and leave medicare alone and if democrats tried to protect the -- protected, maybe they will keep the seats. but when they keep threatening $500 billion for medicare, 20

million illegal immigrants to get the jobs, they will let a problem. host: are you involved with the tea party or watching from the sidelines? caller: just watching from the sidelines but understand our point. to many people doing our jobs -- nobody wants to talk about illegal immigration. the president is turning his back on it and people are fed up, especially when they talk about social security and medicare. i am a baby boomer. my wife will be caught -- retire pretty soon. we are waiting for this and a lot of people feel the same way. host: doris is watching us from chicago on the democrats' line. caller: he did not mention anything about a 40,000 people who die every year who did not have health insurance. massachusetts told the people of the country, the only state that has universal health care, is we've got ours and to with you. everybody who is sick and don't have health insurance, they need

to back up the cars, kids, dogs, cats, moved to massachusetts and get universal health care -- hello? i am sorry. the democrats need to stop passing off their base. they are moving farther and farther to the right. they are listening to the blue dogs, not listening to the base. and they need to listen to people like anthony wiener, alan grayson, maxine waters, nancy pelosi, who the republicans hate because she is bright, smart, strong, and she does not let anybody push her around. those are the people we should be listening to. president obama, you need to stop letting them push out capable african-americans like mr. suthers. big deal, of course republicans

don't like black people. what is the big deal? you need to push for your appointments. host: the front page of " the new york times" has a cooperative piece on how the gop captured this seat loss for decades. they mention state campaign for freedom works, a group that dick armey, former house majority leader and the republicans is very much involved in. here is what he said --

host: next is holland, massachusetts, dee dee on the independent line. caller: good morning, american. -- america. i'm an independent who voted for scott brown and i responded to his message pretty much of stop the madness. what i'm seeing now is really frightening me because as soon as he won, you saw the big machines starting to move into place -- the media machines, political machines. you see late night talk-show host trashing him and making fun of him, and those clips being replayed over and over. give the man a chance. i think the people of massachusetts responded to this message and as soon as his message, stop the madness, got

him elected now you see people putting spin. the republican leadership trying to exploit his win, the democratic leadership reviling his win and trying to explain it away. you see all the pundits -- it letterman, olbermann, and the republican side, glenn beck, making fun of them. give him a chance, i am pleading with people. thank you so much. go, scott brown. host: "the new york times" reported that john boehner has hired a former top adviser to the house republicans in 1994, barry jackson. he is the one who helped devise the contract with america. he is now on mr. john boehner's staff. his longtime adviser died on january 10 very suddenly. but "the new york times" says the selection of mr. jackson,

who worked for mr. john boehner , it demonstrates how serious republicans are producing a campaign platform for the coming elections. given mr. jackson's reputation as a tough partisan operator. louisiana, this is jason. good morning. calling on the republican line. caller: thank you. yes, i have a wet house for the white house, the republican party and independent party -- message for the white house. obama needs to put the best the ball down and get a baseball bat and start beating heads in his party. rahm emanuel -- punching that -- back, obama has the skills that are verbal but not what needs to knock out. axelrod, one thing about the republican guard, they have not

stopped campaigning cents mccain loss. they need to get -- the white house needs to get in campaign mode. they need to get him out of the white house and send him around the country. robert gibbs, when he comes of tv he needs to be offensive and not defensive all the time. the reason why i say this, i am republican. i have been watching my republican party say no, no to everything and what this win in massachusetts is now the republican party is part of the process of getting things done. now they have to come with an agenda. and when the democrats and the president comes out with the agenda, what is my party going to do? are they going to say no or vote with it, because now have to be part of the process. this win is very good for the party. we have one more seat, but you cannot say no anymore. as far as independents -- what i don't like is one day you want to be a democrat and the other

day you want to be republican. you hear something good, you jump democrat, if you hear something from republican party, a huge republican. stay with your party and try to make the party better instead of jumping ship any -- every month or year. host: i want to engage a little bit because he said republicans can't say no anymore. what is the prescription? it sounds like you watch it closely. if they would like to read -- become the majority party, which logically they would, how would they do that if they work with the president? caller: what i think could happen is -- i mean, we are never going to know the mood of the country until something very catastrophic happens, like jobs. but if you show you are working in a bipartisan way, people will decide coming election time who they want to be in the majority. you might never have a filibuster again after what happened in the past year, but

at least you could have balance, where people have to come together and work. in order to make government work you have to have it equal on both sides. you cannot have a majority in one or the other. 51-49, it does not matter, you need to have a balance on each side because all of this note, no, and back-and-forth bickering will not work. two independent -- for independents, stick with your party, stay with your basic and tried to make the base better. jumping back and forth does not help things at all. what does it mean for me to be republican? we get bad vibes that republicans don't like black people -- i am black. we get a bad vibes that we don't help middle-class people -- we need to show that we help all americans. we have a bad history. we really do. and you have these democrats who are actually very conservative

-- they are middle-class, but they are conservative thinking. so we need to bring them back to our party by showing that we are willing to help them and help everyone. host: stephanie on our democrats line from islands, california. -- highland. caller: republican is a republican. i'm calling from california where arnold schwarzenegger is governor, things don't change. we had eight years of republican rule and look where we are now. because you go out and you change an incumbent and you make a republican, good luck to jersey and two massachusetts because you are going to get just what california got. host: next is conway, south carolina, one need tell on the independent line -- juanita on

independent mine. caller: would like to say to the democrats, independents and republicans out there, if you say republicans have the answers, to south carolina where we have highest domestic violence, lowest sat scores, among the highest poverty rate, and 30% unemployment rate. south carolina was supposed to have bought something about it but the only person who seems to be working down here is a builder who calls himself america's builders but i see no one working on his houses except mexicans. my son is a decorated navy veteran. his salary is so low he cannot afford health insurance. so, republicans don't seem to have the answer, either. i think you have to look at the individual candidate. of course, we have mark sanford as governor who should have been booted out of office right now.

but south carolina -- and i hear this for many, many people. i have all lived here for five years. they say south carolina government is corrupt from the lowest to highest. of course we know it is corrupt at the highest level. thank you for letting me express myself. host: the governor of south carolina gave a state of the state last night and later on we will talk more about that. to the massachusetts fallout, of the "the washington post" has a story. democrats pledged to shift focus from economy to jobs. officials and strategist found little common ground and the specifics on their response. senator robert menendez, chairman of democratic senatorial campaign committee helping to oversee martha coakley's losing bid is that the key in the next months is to

make sure we find a way to engage independent voters. let us hear -- listen to the senate's democratic leaders. let us hear what harry reid had to say. >> we are not going to rush into anything. as we have heard, we are going to wait until a new senator arrives before we do anything on health care. remember, the bill that we passed in the senate is good for a year. there are many things we can do it moving forward on health care but we are not making any of those decisions now. one message i got from the leadership meeting held this morning and the caucus i just had it is the fact that we are concerned about everything going on in the country and we are not going to rush to judgment on any one of them. >> are you committed to finishing that health care bill? are you confident you can get past the president?

>> i am confident that health care is an issue in this country and we would everything we can to alleviate the pain and suffering of people who cannot afford health care. ha i'm not going to be telling them what they should do. host: scott brown's name is being invoked in senate races. the campaign manager for our upcoming guest, democratic u.s. candidate meek -- there is a strong national mood for change. having worked as a florida state trooper and lead a coalition to reduce class size, meek is best in the position. the republican contender in the senate race in massachusetts, a

republican lawyer from the it said it arrived in albany on wednesday to discuss his plans to run against senator kirsten gillibrand. you are angry? i will fight for you. you are frustrated? your voice will be heard. a scene at similar from both sides of the aisle. national, dave is on the republican line. -- nashville. caller: democrats have been in control of congress for four years, the nation's purse strings, and their brand of socialism just brought a trickle of poverty and people are voting against that. what have the democrats learned? i can tell absolutely nothing. our president said he will speak more to the american people. the guy has had 411 speeches in the past year. it that sounds like an awful lot of talking to me, but that is all it is, talk. host: front page of "the

politico." democrats face life after 60. on "the hill close " says white house seeking new direction. keith on the democrats' line. caller: we as democrats need to create a movement behind the president and the democratic party. just like back in the 1960's under president johnson, he said, make me do it. the way we made him do it is we had martin luther king, we have the civil rights movement, to get the civil rights act and the voting rights act. we need to do this. we need to stop talking about it. this is a good program, c-span, but at the end of the day we need to get out on the street and we need to mobilize and do what we need to do. host: 1 event that may happen today, also could have a big effect on elections this year.

robert barnes from "the washington post" who writes about the supreme court is here to talk about it. so -- since september, when the case was re-argued, citizens united, an interesting and out of the ordinary event, people have been wondering when the decision will happen. now we learned yesterday to that there may also be an unusual event. guest: the court has scheduled and unscheduled day today to issue some opinion. the court never says in advance what opinion it is going to issue. but the unusual timing of this makes everyone think that it might be this important case, citizens united, which, as you say, has grown into something much bigger than it started out to be. host: what are the possible implications of a decision? guest: when the courtr e-argued

in september, the asks to be briefed on two important questions, but that would overturn precedents and the court. whether the mccain-fine gold -- feingold was unconstitutional limiting speech before elections. at another case in 1990, which upheld that corporations can't spend from their own profits too fond -- fund campaign ads for or against candidates. host: if it goes in one direction or the other, what will they affect the on party politics? guest: those who favor restrictions on spending in campaigns say it would open a new world of money in campaigns. corporations would no longer have to form political action committees. a and then solicit contributions. they would use their own profits

to fund campaigns for and against candidates. it is important to note that it is not about whether they can give money directly to candidates, but whether they can fund ads for or against. host: while we have on the line -- a different topic. you wrote about the death sentence decision, the 7-2 ruling, especially written by sonia sotomayor. is this her first opinion? guest: it is not her first, but the first about the death penalty. it was fairly complicated, as a lot of the death penalty cases are, and it is not one that split the court ideologically. even though she has a very long record as a judge, she did not deal with very many death penalty cases from the second circuit in new york where she was. so, people have been sort of watching her to see if she was going to be sort of reflexively

against the death penalty or reflexively for the death penalty. staff think what we found out is probably night -- neither one -- i think we found out probably neither one of us, but she does not have the objections to the death penalty of some members of the courts do. host: you confine our guest on the washington post web site. guest: thank you. host: we will look to the possible decision on the citizens united case. everyone watching that because it is unusual for the court to have a special decision day. we are talking about what it means, the scott brown victory in massachusetts. we have about 10 more minutes to take your telephone calls. here are your -- some e-mail messages. i agree with president obama, the same and dirt that elected obama elected senator in a brown. -- senator-elect brown.

what does it mean to be an independent republican? will he not vote lockstep with the party? he seemed to deflect questions when asked specifically about policy issues. i wonder how many independents understand his affiliation with the tea party movement. paul rights -- -- writes -- let us go to calls. oklahoma, on our independent line. this is chris calling us. caller: good morning. i want to express how happy i

am that scott brown 1, and i congratulate him, and i hope he will be able to stop this outrageous health care bill because any bill that imposes fines on good people and sends them to prison for not buying health insurance, that is not health reform. i believe it is an intrusion in our lives, and i am not gone to like it if someone is taking me to prison because i did not buy something from them. and i don't think the american people will, either. i think there are going to be some lawsuits and i'm going to be one of those people, because i'm not going to stand for them all in the off to prison for not buying insurance. that is about all i can say. you have a good day. host: daddy is up next. republican line. -- debbie. caller: it means we do want things done, but done right. not behind closed doors, no money under the table.

for all americans, not for small groups like the unions. we are and a recession and we are in trouble and we know congress is in charge of the money. congress has been democratic for four years. and i'm very proud of the massachusetts people and i want to say, thank you. host: derek from the democrats' line. georgia. what is your analysis? caller: thank you for c-span. a first of all, what i would like to say is the erection of brown is really going to set the country back. first of all, the republicans have no way to pass any kind of legislation. they don't have the white house, they don't have the senate, they don't have the house. all they could do basically is block and complain and be sore losers like they really are. what we must look at is this -- the illegal immigrants and these people over here because the people like the rich republicans

brought them other here as saves which they paid underhanded -- sleeves which they paid underhanded. -- slaves. they started cutting grass and opening their own restaurants. this took the profit out of it for the republican people. democrats did not own these big corporations. these people got smart. this is what black people need to do to empower themselves. it is not about elections and things, but individuals. if president barack obama don't cater to his days he will be a one-term president and i'm a black man saying this and i can't say where he is actually doing that he said in his agenda. he has to push it through. host: in "the washington post"

today -- "brown's victory hardly a repudiation of health care reform." here is a little bit of what she writes --

sorry, that was a lot, but a good analysis of the details in the health-care bill.

the next call is from phoenix, lorenda on the republican line -- lauren. caller: in response to the win in massachusetts, as far as i think the general position for most people, is that i think independents are speaking out, democrats are looking at things and going, this is not what i want but i think more than anything, the process in which people like what congress and the white house are pushing their agenda, it is not a bad idea but it is not a solidly thought through idea. they are not listening to the people. they need to take a responsible approach and incrementally implementing this is the only thing that makes sense. you cannot take something on that large scale and make it

work. it does not work now. and to take that on is unreasonable, irrational, and i really think if they would listen to the people -- it is a democratic house, that is all right, but it has to be somewhat bipartisan because it is affecting everybody. so, they need to lie in up on pushing that agenda and not allowing the voice of the people to be heard. -- they need to lighten up. i think people are angry about all issues, but the approach that are taking is really getting to the approach why tea party go and -- host: let us listen to the republican leader of the senate next. mitch mcconnell. i hope we have him. while we are waiting for that -- we will get ready for you. senate democrats face of hurdles -- hurdles to get votes. it could be part of the fallout.

republicans vowed to oppose the increase. facing growing concern over the debt and president obama's switch of of the economy democrats are aiming to set the debt ceiling high and up -- as the debate opened wednesday finance committee chairman max baucus said a significant increase in the debt limit is the right thing to do. "we have gone to the restaurant, we have the in the meal, and now the only question is whether we will pay the check." let's now listen to mitch mcconnell. >> what is the bottom-line question mark is the health care bill as we know it dead? >> i sure hope so. what we ought to do, which is what we said repeatedly through the month of december -- you know, we were here every day. we ought to stop and start over

and go step-by-step and concentrate on fixing the problem, which is rising cost. and we've laid out a series of things that we thought would address the cost problem without having the government take over one sixth of our economy. we were elected to do the people's business. and what we have been saying repeatedly is that we would like to participate in the process of crafting solutions to america's problems. that opportunity was denied us on health care. you saw the result. host: one other area to watch for tensions between the parties is the idea of a budget commission. here is "the financial times." bipartisan commission to fix u.s. finances. but we learned from "the new york times" that the republicans oppose the president's plan for a panel on deficits.

calling for such a panel was not like the way this one is being structured. finally, an op ed piece on this -- tax increases and changes for and have a much programs are needed. republicans resist the first and democrats, the seconds. the white house would use such a commission for a fig leaf. mary on the democrats' line. caller: i agree with the young lady from california. i don't think it makes much of a difference. look at california, they changed to republican governor and they are in the tank. i don't see why people are complaining. they were out there -- rush limbaugh one of this government to fail, so they are not getting

anything through because the tea party people don't like a black president and so i don't know why you are complaining. you don't have a job, you don't have a job because you don't support the government. the democrats need to just push their agenda through with their 51 votes. they have more votes than republicans. just push it through and fix it later. the gulf -- republicans did, when they want tax cuts for bush, they pushed it through and when they wanted to go to iraq, they pushed it through. do what the republicans threw. forget about the finances. mr. president, we are not on the plantation anymore. you don't have to back out to the master. if you want somebody in the job you need to fight for it. host: peter baker in a "the new york times" setting obama trying to turn around his presidency. inside the white house a debate

ensued about what lessons to draw. trying to annette to much change our not enough? too liberal or too close to financial institutions? that is all we're asking you this morning. the next call is from detroit, randall on the independent line. caller: thank you for c-span. i think the real problem is the parties in control republicans are in, they are in a year and we don't get anything done, then it put in democrats. i'm an independent. i think the real problem is everyone now thinks in terms only of their party. when do we start thinking about america, the whole of us? i thought health care reform was really about the 15% of the u.s.

population that has no health insurance. these people are going in medical units and being stabilized and going home to die. we can do better than that. that is what all of these politicians ought to be working for. this thing is at a point -- there is a tipping point probably around 20%, the whole system will collapse and there will be no health care for republicans or democrats or independents. we have to get our heads out of the sand. host: this message on twitter -- democrats blew it by not instituting a wpa type system. merrill on the republican line. caller: i wanted to mention is the biggest problem is the tax code. both parties use it to split the nation. they got a bill in congress,

h.r. 25 in the ways and means committee. they will not allow it to be discussed. i would love to see if c-span would bring in the economists who study the economy and the tax system's cost on the economy and then bring in -- there is the economist to study it, and people go to fairtax.org. and when they talk about the supreme court looking at corporations -- if we cleanup finance reform and both parties, it will help america, both poor and rich and we can get the economy back on the move. i would love to see on c-span the economist against and the economist for h.r. 25 so people can understand it and finally get people to see the real problem, the tax code. we don't know how many pages of

the tax code are in the new health care bill. they won't talk about it and charlie rangel will not let it out. i think we need an honest discussion. host: we will have about half an hour worth of open phones at the very end of our "washington journal" today so if you did not get through, another opportunity later on. we will take a break and joined by -- by our first guest. congressman meek. he just got back from two days there personally. he brought that video from him and we will learn more about his observations of how that aid is being distributed and how effective it is and what suggestions he has to make it hurts. we will be right back, but first to c-span radio. >> president obama focuses on financial reform and the economy today. he and the vice-president meet this morning with paul volcker, chairman of the president's economic recovery advisory

board. following the meeting, the president makes remarks about financial reform. the president also meet later today in the oval office with secretary of state clinton. she is delivering a speech in this morning on the obama administration's strategy for protecting freedom on the internet, this after the internet co. google said it will remain china only if the government relents on rules requiring censorship. in remarks earlier, china's vice foreign minister said the dispute is having with google should not be linked to its bilateral ties with the united states, adding the rift with google over online center should and security should not be, in his words, over and interpreted. you can hear her speak later today on c-span radio. john edwards of north carolina, former u.s. senator and democratic presidential candidate, is admitting in a written statement to "the today show" that he is the father of his former mistress is baby, francis quinn hunter. he said he will do everything to provide for her, adding it was

wrong for him to the night she was a daughter. a former aide to john edwards, andrew young, initially claimed paternity shortly before the 2008 presidential primary contest began. his book on the experience is due to be released next month. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> wednesday, president obama delivers his first state of the union address to congress, laying out his vision for the future of the country and plans to deal with issues such as unemployment, health care, and the wars in iraq and afghanistan. the state of the union address, wednesday night. our coverage starts at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. you can also listen to the president's address live on your iphone with the c-span radio app. >> "washington journal" continues. host: let me introduce you to kendrick meek, returning to our table, after spending two days

on the ground in haiti. we wanted to learn from him firsthand what he saw there. thank you for being with us. guest: glad to be here. host: what did you see that was useful for you to bring back to washington, d.c., on the distribution of aid? guest: is saw an immediate need for communications with the haitian people -- i saw an immediate need. they lost a loved one, they lost their homes, they are in a situation in which they are sleeping outside. some of them have family members who were injured physically by the event. what is going on between the years -- we don't have enough time to talk about that. i think there is a great need for communication, a great need of what we may call community policing, some level of security since everyone has their belongings within 4 feet of them.

and rumors that going on in haiti about a tsunami or something that is coming, to be able to explain to them that they can get a ride outside to port-au-prince to get to family members, where they can pick up water, where they can get food and medical care. because i believe it will get to the point where tempers are going to rise. i think they have been very patient with the international community, and i know for long- term recovery these decisions need to be made right now to be able to bring about the kind of recovery that all americans and people throughout the world would like to see the people of haiti have. host: we want to open our phone lines for you to express your comments or ask questions about u.s. or international relief efforts for haiti.

you can also send us e-mail messages or contact us by twitter. i guess people looking at the devastation want to know is what kind of infrastructure exist to do what you suggest? is there a government in any capacity to respond in a way you say is needed? guest: there is a government but it will take the united nations to help. the international community. you have a situation where the haitian government was in place but not in power. the parliament and the executive branch did not get along. the non-governmental organizations that were there were really the infrastructure for health and human services, for economic development opportunities and loans to small farmers and businesses that were there. so, the haitian government has never been in a place where people are jumping up and down saying this government is standing for may.

-- me. the justice ministry came straight down. as you can see, it is a pancake, hundreds of people have died and are still buried. the u.n. headquarters, where a good part of the leadership died in the event. has affected the nation -- those who made decisions are no longer there. now a new leader needs to emerge. the president is homeless -- living in temporary housing. it is so very, very important that not only the 82nd airborne but southern command led by general fraser -- francis, i am sorry, take the leadership, but not assume all the responsibility for the recovery. we still have a solvent government, still have an international community that is involved. we are getting more and more flights on the ground. the u.s. has a part of the

flights in getting doctors and medical supplies and evacuation. some, almost close to 7000 americans have been evacuated so far from that island of haiti. everyone has to understand that there are a number of organizations and religious groups that are on the ground doing great things for years. at the southern baptists have a huge ministry in haiti. you have sent all doing great work in haiti beard -- senegal. he had doctors without borders, non-governmental organizations and individuals who took it upon themselves to adopt a village. 38 kids from orlando, florida, that were there on a mission. so, there are a number of connections between the united states and haiti. the last point i would like to make -- the failure of the recovery effort will bring

about -- will affect, i will put it that way, florida. because we do have smugglers and undesirables involved in this and in a whisper in the ears of those haitians who can financially give the money, to get to florida. and it is important we try to settle that country and make sure that the excuse cannot be, poverty or political strife. host: yesterday lots of news about the u.s. navy ship comfort are writing off the coast of haiti and beginning its treatment -- arriving off the coast of haiti. some of the other numbers, if you are wondering about the size of u.s. aid -- 107 $1 million in humanitarian assistance so far just from the u.s. government -- $171 million. 51 helicopters deployed, and also 11,500 military personnel,

including nearly 2000 marines and sailors. some of the u.s. and prepared from the u.s., perspective, congress. yesterday the house passed a tax credit bill for people who donated to be able to get credit on their taxes. there was discussion about debt relief for haiti. what else would you see in terms of a legislative response that would be helpful? >> backing up what the president said, about $100 million in aid, making sure there is this plan for long-term recovery. i think congress can play a role in that in terms of oversight. i requested a meeting with the president and i am still waiting to hear back from the white house. i think it is important that we look at this as an international effort. we cannot do it alone. we know we have a number of military personnel under 15,000 that are in the region, either on the ship or boots on the ground. it is important we have

oversight dispensing u.s. resources in haiti and also working with the international community making sure that they join in -- that there is a master plan. i heard you mention the density in haiti. it is very important as it relates to port-au-prince. if we are going to set up economic act -- opportunities for the people of haiti, it should be outside the main city of port-au-prince so people can live outside of the main city because the law -- a lot of the destruction and homelessness is right in the middle of the city. i think that is very important legislatively. then we have to honor our first responders. it is truly amazing what these americans are doing in digging haitians out and assisting them. your heart would be overwhelmed at the rescue efforts americans are carrying out. host: let us take some calls and after a few we will talk about

one rescue you witnessed. nebraska, charles of the democrats' line. nz13cg=fgffsf-

the u.s. sends and 11,000 people with guns. what good does that do? is there is no security problem, what good does it do having a lot about the people standing around with guns doing basically nothing else? guest: me let me address the fact that when i went into port- au-prince i went as a private citizen. i did not have security. i definitely did not have a gun. people need help in port-au- prince. i am not saying that it is a security risk. i am saying people need to be -- people to communicate with them. there are a number of journalists and individuals who are moving around but there is a set of protocols that have to take place as it relates to international security -- well, security of humanitarian workers and also military personnel. they call it a force protection. i think it is very, very important that we understand that there are people who need help who are not getting it right now.

so, it will be addressed in the coming days. and it has not been 100% -- but people have put their best foot forward and your point is well noted. host: new jersey, mary on the republican line. caller: is similar question. i keep hearing on the news there are medical supplies on the tarmac of the airport and they are not getting out. according to anderson cooper, he says he thinks they are afraid of security issues and he says there are no security issues and the doctors are pleading for the supplies. guest: you are right. .

after a disaster. we have to make sure we do with those individuals, too. host: the miami dade rescue team was there and you watched as they rescued a little girl from the rubble. guest: i was with the urban rescue team, and they were digging out this girl. that is the father in the yellow shirt. i started recording.

she had a great glow about her, the father must so happy to have her. unfortunately, he lost his wife in that structure, which was his home. host: did they only have one child? guest: i believe he has a few other teenagers. it is a mother and this baby two-year old. these rescues are taking place every day. host: the child had been in the rubble for six days. what condition was she in? guest: she was in good condition, needed to the hydrated and to make sure that

she did not had any infections, but they did great work. now the comfort is there. we will be able to take on the number of individuals that we will be able to provide care for now that we have gotten them. host: what did members of the search and rescue team tell you about their work? guest: they are basically fire fighters. they are used to being on call. they are getting very little sleep. by now they have this area in the embassy where they are self contained. this team is actually living in the warehouse you have some that are sweeping upside with flicking beds -- sleeping, side with sleeping bags -- outside

with sleeping bags. gueshost: next phone call. caller: it is an honor to speak to you. my question is, what is happening with the children? i heard that there were 53 of them that were airlifted to the united states. there were some of them that did not have an adopted home either. i also understand the government was putting a restriction on the adoption of haitian children the children they are bringing here, do they know for sure that they do not have relatives that are surviving, or are they in the united states? how are these children being placed? are we going to look first to the haitian community?

will they make them available to other familie toes adopt? i would be more than happy to open up my home to assess. -- assist. guest: i think it is important for everyone to understand many of these individuals come over were already in the pipeline to be adopted. there has been a surge in interest in adopting a haitian. many of these orphans in and around port-au-prince have kids that have been identified as were friends. i am sure the paperwork is being handled the best way it can. there is a process in place with the government to ensure that that child is an orphan.

there are plenty of kids right now that need help. the american spirit once again takes over, and feels like it is their responsibility to help. i know that you can call usaid for more information about adoption. host: next phone call. caller: thank you very much for your selfless participation in haiti. over the last 30 years, the u.s. has poured billions and billions into the country. where is the accountability for that money? number two, where are the results? the country is still the poorest country in the caribbean. if you would, accountability, results?

guest: the balance of jobs is important. we have passed legislation that would allow tax incentives to create jobs in haiti. the arm in a material from haiti -- yarn material from haiti is in competition from things in china and other locations. things that we are funding with u.s. dollars has brought a way of life or so many of them. the fact that it is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, some might say accountability has not been there. i believe it has been there but the government has been inconsistent, at best, to

provide an level of government that can succeed. in this opportunity, the united nations can help the government stand up and make a better way of life for the people. host: we have a twitter -- guest: that is a great idea. that is one thing that i have been speaking to legislative leaders on. how can we legislatively look at how we can help haiti? what role can haiti -- congress play? to help florida will be a staging point for the recovery effort, -- south florida will be a staging point for the recovery effort for a long time.

you will have non-governmental individuals who will be there to help. there are a number of organizations that will hire additional people who will be able to assist in this situation because their situation is our situation. there is nothing more painful seemed -- seeing haitians, across -- come across on a book just to be turned away. host: next phone call. this is rob on the republican line. caller: thank you for bringing all of this good news. let us talk about the media. there has to be a way to marginalize the influence and destruction they are doing down there.

to see anderson cooper -- who i like and enjoy -- but one of his colleagues stand in the middle of folks trying to get food and water. he is in the way. people are trying to reach over him to get sustenance. these people should be put on the sidelines and not interfere with the basic needs that these folks have. the media is being a destructive force here. i would like to see the state department come back with some facts and figures on all the cadet is being done. -- the good that is being done. and the security issue, there is no sikhara the issue -- security issue. we do not need to hype that up for ratings.

guest: i know the clip you are talking about. but i can tell you the media has played a substantial role in getting stories out in areas that were underserved. the media that we enjoy now, some of them are for entertainment purposes. others are more in a journalistic sense. host: just so people understand the particular interest, self florida has the largest haitian community in the country, including an area called little haiti.

temporary protected status, what is this about? guest: it was part of a law that was passed many years ago to allow countries, who found themselves in a position of strength, where they could not take on individuals who are repatriated from the u.s. many years after the war, countries receive this status. heene qualified for this law. it is a discretionary by the homeland security committee and the president. this is something that has been talked about for a long time and was considered by this administration. so there is no longer deportation of haitians for the next 18 months. those that are in the united states, as of the day before the

earthquake, will be able to stay for 18 months. then the president will review that policy to see if haiti is ready to take on repatriated individuals. it has happened to nicaragua, guatemala. host: a tweet -- guest: what we have right now is a situation where you have hundreds of thousands of people that are without structure. when we say rebuild, i think it is important to understand these things -- one, get some of the density out of haiti. you have people that are buried

in the rubble. i think it is important that everyone understands if we do not have a situation where we can put a structure on a community, for patients to be able to house themselves, we would have a situation for the dominican republic, the united states, all of the countries around. it is a problem that the world would have to face hos. host: charles on the democratic line. dallas, texas. caller: i was listening to some people on the radio say that there are a lot of people who still need help. when you get to haiti, i would like to say -- after you are

done with haiti, i would like to see us create some jobs. i am happy what we are doing, but we also need to look at what is happening at home. guest: you are absolutely right. that was something on my agenda prior, but right now we are trying to look at not only u.s. efforts by international efforts in helping individuals that are in desperate need. just like we did in katrina -- some might say to slowly -- but other countries helped us when we were on our knees. we are helping haiti right now to put in and infrastructure to be able to respond in long haul. those of us that are here, trying to work on the behalf of americans every day need to wake

up with the result that there are americans living in deplorable situations right here. we have to be able to change that. the specialty from this member of congress, i want to share with you that this is something that we are working on. we are working hard to try to bring about jobs in our community throughout the country. host: sacramento. independent line. caller: i did not want to sound as if i am not ecstatic about helping other countries but i am a longtime government worker in the middle class. i have saved all my life. when my husband died, his retirement went into a stock

investment that was absolutely manipulated. about 80% of it was stolen. now my home has been stripped of its equity, as have all the homes in this low income neighborhood. we need to stop seeing everything through the eyes of democrats, republicans, black, white. this is the redistribution of wealth from the middle-class to the elite. i was trying to do everything. i have been fighting for five

years. i worked for consumer affairs in the legislative council, so i am familiar with the process. host: the bottom line of your story is what for the congressman? we do not have time to hear all the details. what is your message? caller: the housing and well being of middle america has been forgotten as we are focusing on health care, haiti, and terrorists. guest: it is something that we are focused on quite a bit. i know there is a level of frustration with the back in for -- and forth but we are facing times that we have not

seen before. we are dealing with a financial crisis, foreclosure crisis, a johns situation. for so many people such as yourself -- a jobs situation for so many people such as yourself. however, i believe we will rebound as a country. under the doors will be able to provide those jobs that -- on japan doors -- entrepreneurs will be able to provide the jobs that so many of us me. heene is only two hours away by airplane. -- haiti is only two hours away by air plan. we are seen as the country that would need to take responsibility. we are responding to those in

need just as we did in thailand during the tsunami. it is important that we are there, not only as it relates to international relations, but it is the right thing to do. host: we only have a few minutes left. i am sure everyone is a hearing your analysis -- since you are a candidate of the senate -- what tuesday's election means to you. guest: we do not know what the mood will be in the fall. what we know is if people are in tune to what is happening,

people are paying attention to the individual, i think we will have a number of victories as it relates to democratic candidates. there will also be a number of republican victories. i think it is helpful to know there is a feeling where people are paying attention to what is going on. who is working hard? who is showing up every day and making those hard decisions? who is trying to be a part of the solution, and who it is just saying no? i think the voter has to be motivated. if your passion is about job creation, then you should be motivated. we will see what will happen in the future. i can only speak for myself. we have a very grass-roots effort. we have a petition where over

100,000 and will take place and we feel that we will get those signatures and qualify. we have been out there since january, like any other candidate running. i am excited. i was not drafted to run for the senate. i stood up and said that i wanted to run for the senate. i understood that florida needed some strong leadership. i want to offer myself to surf. host: health care. what should your leadership do about health care legislation? guest: i do not think it will be good to pass the senate version of the legislation before someone is sworn in. i think we need to continue to sit down with legislative leaders. i also think it is important

that republican colleagues do not see massachusetts passed something where they have to hold out. when we look at this issue of health care reform, a doubling of premiums is not an option. nine injured will be paid for. all i have to do -- my insurance will be paid for. all i have to do is pay my coping. -- co-pay. i think right now is a time of responsibility. we have to pass some kind of reform that is in a way that we can come together. i think there is a spirit of saying, i can vote for that, i cannot vote for that. we need to do away with that.

and i believe that cuts both ways. host: tactically, there is some strategy from the elected members saying that it might be better to break this up into smaller, the adjustable pieces. guest: i think health care reform will take place over the next six years. it will not be one piece of legislation and then it is over. i think it is also important we move the legislative agenda on to jobs and opportunities for individuals to provide those jobs. there have been a number of efforts, through the stimulus package -- that saved many teacher jobs across the country. it did provide opportunities for public works projects.

it has been the biggest investment by the government in new energy opportunities. there are some great things happening, but we need to do more of that as it relates to oversight. i am not advocating another stimulus, but the opportunity that came out of the legislation need to be focused on. host: we return to the discussion on haiti. carmel from boston. democrats line . caller: thank you for doing work in haiti. my question is, when is someone going to hold the haitian government accountable for criminally selling this country? i have been here since i was 16. i had the opportunity to go

here. a lot of my friends in haiti did not have that opportunity. someone needs to hold the government accountable for not helping their people. they have no building code. last year, up a lot of children lost their lives. it breaks my heart to see people going through this over and over again. and then you have the government on tv expressing their needs but they are not apologizing to the community, to the international community. that is what i wanted to say. thank you for the work you are doing. guest: that effort was underway

before the earthquake. of course, we cannot completely blame the haitian government, but claiming responsibility is something of this country has embraced. president obama had appointed president clinton at the special envoy many months before the disaster hit. they have had two steps forward, one step back, but we have seen improvement. the government is put in place by the people through the elections that have been found to be just. host: santa fe, new mexico. anthony on the republican line. caller: my heart goes out to everyone in haiti. my question to you -- was there

ever discussion in congress or the united nations for rescue efforts in the southern hemisphere so that the united states does not have to help everyone? it would be good if we could have a worldwide rescue team where everyone pitches in through the u.n. they would have first responders, medical, and they could get there within 24 hours. guest: we have that in place. if you could see what i saw on the ground, the international community is there. i am in miami heat fan. if there was a pickup game, and dwayne wade was next to me, you

would pick him over me. the international community is seen as the leader to not only take over the airport but also be at the head of the table when it comes to deployment and dissemination of assets. there are over 20 countries that are there who are helping in this recovery effort, but that is a point well taken. lessons will be learned. host: richmond, virginia. maria on the democrat line. caller: good morning. i have been trying to get on for one month. every time i try to get on, they cut me off. host: well, you are here. caller: the thing i want to see is that black people are treated right.

they are not treated right because they are not offered a way out. people are laying down on the street and nobody is helping them. it makes me sick the way you treat black people. black people love this country. host: anything for that caller? guest: i feel your a motion of of how countries have looked upon haiti. even when it comes down to temporary protected status, i do not know why they were not given that. they have qualified for it in the last several years.

it is hopeful to see what is happening now. there are many countries down there that are helping out to bring about a better life. u.s. citizens with haitian children who have been allowed to bring their children over to seek medical workers working on the rescued, seeing the children of accepted by u.s. school districts, saying that we will take them on because it is the right thing to do. maybe the paradigm shift that you are looking for will prevail in this disaster. unfortunately, it took this disaster to bring about this spirit, but there is certainly an effort from people in the u.s. that are not of color. there are plenty of doctors down

there working. i was emotionally and spiritually moved to be on the ground and experiencing that. as an african-american, a person of color, and as an american, it brings a special place in my heart. haitians fought with us to gain independence in savannah. host: thank you for being here. we will continue this discussion about u.s. and global aid to haiti with the ambassador to haiti of the u.s.. here is a bit of a briefing from someone in the military in charge of the joint task force talking about military commitments and what their terms of the commitment is likely to be. >> we are here at the invitation

of the government of haiti, and as president obama has made clear, we are here to give all the support we can to the government of haiti for as long as they say that we can assist them in recovering. we have the ability to sustain our forces. we are leveraging all the capabilities of our joint military and supporting forces. we will be able to sustain the effort here as long as it is needed. we are reassured by senior leader that all available resources needed by the government of haiti will be made available and brought to bear as rapidly as possible. we are inspired by the speed and

capability at which help has been brought in here, and the speed to which they have been able to adjust priorities to the changing situations on the ground. we are a very capable department of defense. we are confident the capabilities needed by that government of haiti can and will be provided and sustained for as long as needed hos. host: we continue the conversation with the haitian ambassador to the u.s. raymond joseph. thank you for being here. what is the biggest message you want to tell americans? guest: first of all, i want to thank the american people for their support. i have to say, america was there the next day with help for the

airport and search teams coming from all over america. and also, helping with food distribution by removing many of the impediments on the roads. thank you from my government, from the people of haiti. host: what is the status of the things? are we beginning to turn the corner, are things getting worse? guest: things are much better now. definitely turning the corner. you know, imagine the congressional buildings, the supreme court building, all your

businesses, banks, were flattened. if this was washington, d.c. things would not be up and running the next day. this is what happened to us. many of the country's leaders were thought to be dead. fortunately, all the cabinet leaders are alive. so right now the president, prime minister, the cabinet, all of them are meeting every day. imagine also 300 policemen were killed. the police headquarters was flattened. yet, the justice section of the police department is fair and it

is the headquarters of the government. little by little we are taking control. people in the outlying areas are also starting to get aid. host: because of the news coverage, people are focused on port-au-prince. people do not have an idea of how large the disaster is. what is the effect outside of the capital city? guest: if we had a map -- you see the country of haiti. port-au-prince is over here. all this area has been hit. i do not have all the estimates, but so far more than 70,000 bodies.

the estimate is it could reach 150,000. host: that is over all. in the finger? guest: in the figure -- port-au- prince was -- finger -- port-au- prince was hit the hardest. churches, buildings, everything fell. we do not know exactly how many people, but in total, maybe 150,000. host: is aid getting to communities outside port-au- prince? guest: by now, yes. the reason that we could not get out there faster, in the

southwest, is because the roads were bockelocked. now that they have been cleared, aid is moving again. host: i want to show you this picture from "usa today." it shows one line at a food distribution center. are you suggesting to them that they should stay there even if they do not have basic supplies? should they try to leave the city? try to leave the country? guest: i keep saying this, and i mean it. there is a silver lining to what

happened. port-au-prince was overcrowded. 2 million people in a place that was prepared for about 50,000. since an earthquake hit, a lot of people have been moving out towards the central thailand, even all the way to no. 80, and northwest -- northern haiti, and nw. the silver lining will continue in the fact that the way port- au-prince will be built. there will be codes. it will not just be a few pieces of wood and brick and say this is my house.

i think one thing that should have been done politically, although it was not possible. host: you are recording messages telling people not to leave for the u.s. or elsewhere. why is that? guest: president obama declared haitians could now obtain temporary protected status, meaning they can stay here and get work. you know how the rumors start. it will be, now any nation that can come to the united states can get tps.

among them to know that it is for those who are already here before january 12. that happened back in 1992, 1993, where you had a flotilla of people leaving haiti. many of them died at sea. some of them were taken to guantanamo. to not pay these charlatans thousands of dollars to take you to the united states. you will be sent back. host: donald on the independent line. caller: good morning. i think that things that are fixing haiti can fix this country. we need to use cannibis. host: we are going to move on.

next phone call. caller: i cannot imagine what the people are going through. i do not know if you are aware, but right now there are 900,000 people unemployed in the state of florida. we were supposed to get our unemployment checks this today, but they are not there. i have no gasoline, no food in my pantry. the government of florida -- after i have worked for 40 years, has totally let me down. i am just one of 900,000. i saw on the news this morning starbucks made a profit. maybe someone from the government could call them and say, please hire some people. we need jobs.

host: i think the message is we need help at home, we should moderate our help overseas. hostguest: i definitely think the people here should get the help they need, but you are asking for help to eat properly. in haiti where there is a catastrophe, we are asking for help to help people dying. i hope that these people in florida get checks but i am asking for help for those who are dying from hunger and thirst. host: next phone call. caller: i have a couple of questions. when did you think is the role

of [inaudible] there have been some criticisms of conduct in the emergency matters -- host: i'm interrupting because your call is not very clear. could you get to the heart of it? caller: infrastructure. you talk about infrastructure. not allowing this to happen again, establishing a fire department, helping the people. you mentioned building safety code, which i am glad to hear. how can we prevent this from happening again? can we hold haitian politicians accountable for what has happened?

guest: you are opening up a pandora's box. you are asking me to look into haiti's history to see how we got there. for the first 60 years of our independence there was an embargo declared on us by the u.s. france also claim to repayment to the equivalent of $25 billion. when you start like that in a new country, in debt, under an embargo, the future is pretty bleak. however, the leadership also has to be blamed because they decided to take care of themselves and their families. however, since 2006 we have had a new government that is turning more to the idea that there is

strength in unity, dealing with daily problems. changes are coming. now in the future, we can say in hindsight what they should have done. port-au-prince will be rebuilt differently. the infrastructure has to be dealt with. already we have companies coming to us with expertise on how to build. how to build to mitigate the effects of a hurricane. all of these things are in hindsight. however, i can promise you the future will be different. host: adam in austin. caller: c-span is the only

channel worth watching for news and affairs. frankly, i will like to express my sympathy is with you, mr. ambassador. i cannot imagine what you are going through. i look forward to donating to the clinton-bush hofund that was created. is there a sense among the politicians in the governing class in haiti that they need to prove themselves for a better future? i know lack of governance certainly has a role to play, but is there a sense among your ruling elite that they need to get their act together to improve the lives of the people? guest: thank you for your comments. as far as other tv station to

go, i have been on many of the programs, but they all have their constituency, so even if you do not like it, some people do. it is ok to have different point of view. as far as my country is concerned, there is a unity spirit. the president who was elected in 2006 with over 50% of the vote said that most of those people were good people, and he embraced them and put them in his cabinet. that is why you see unity. that is why through the hurricanes and food riots of 2008, the government did not

collapse, because we had a stake in it. the fact that i am here in washington, six years later -- i had originally taken the job for two years. i believe that we are doing the right thing. the president asked me to stay. for the first time in a long time, we are trying to pull together. host: our guest has a history of promoting efforts through the media. he continues and has been a columnist for papers in the u.s. and in haiti. i am mentioning that because i

want to ask you about the use of facebook and twitter. what have you learned in how they are acting as tools? guest: i do not have much time for it but others are using it. we have many young people who are helping us. the city of washington, the year fanti -- mayor fenty said some young people and they set up a rescue center where they are using all of these modern websites. they are teamed up with some and the sea people, and that is where they do a lot of work. host: is it helping you to raise money? are you -- how are you using

these tools? guest: to be frank, i have not been in touch with what they are doing. we have a unit working with us. by the end of the week, they will give me the first report. however, one thing i can say is they are posting, tweeting, te xting to make a $10 donation. they are using all techniques. it is something that warms my heart. even the nfl is getting involved. hollywood is getting involved. we know about wyclef jean with

his foundation, but now he is appealing to even young people in the street. everyone is getting involved. i do not know how much we have raised, but it is significant. host: gladstone, michigan. dortch on the republican line. caller: our heart goes out to your country. i have been studying up on your history. i knew very little but when i see how the indigenous people of that island were pretty much enslaved by the spanish and french, in conjunction with the vatican, and then eventually wiped out and replaced by your ancestors from africa, it makes

me feel like those three organizations need to match what the united states gives. your country is a creation of the terrible things they did. i was trying to speak to kendrick meek about the students that were buried along with some other american students at the hotel montana and how it took over one week for anyone to get to them. i find it incomprehensible that our government did not get our military people in there to rescue those poor students and faculty members and other americans. it is pathetic. can you explain what it took so long? guest: the congressman is not here to respond, however, i told you, when the earthquake hit, all the roads were blocked.

it took quite a bit of effort to remove the debris to get to the people who were trapped. i wish they had gone to the hotel montana earlier, however, in hindsight, we can see what we did wrong. as far as blame is concerned. you blamed france, spain, the vatican, for their dealings of the indigenous people, how they brought the blacks over from west africa -- my ancestors. the same thing happened here in america. as i said before, if we are going to blame people for the past, we will not stop. this is a new day. we have to stop blaming and start reconstruction. people all over should pull

together to change the situation. host: memphis, yvonne. caller: good morning, mr. joseph. i am proud of what your doing representing the haitian people. i am happy to see that we have this opportunity. i am a veteran of the united states air force. while i was there i was trained in disaster preparedness and shelter management for emergency situations. what i wanted to say is i hear that there are approximately 30 different countries or entities going over there to help. is there a possibility that you

could cordon off the country -- you know, the israeli hospital unit, a military hospital unit, cordoned off and then redistrict. every neighborhood would have their own representative, their own feeding station, medical units. then the soldiers that are standing around, they could be the people guarding each new neighborhood. then while the soldiers are there, i would suggest that they are taking names and documenting the ages of the people living in their neighborhoods. eventually, we can start to find out how many family people they

have, how many they lost. host: we understand your direction. how does the country plan to get a handle on who has survived? guest: since the government established his commissions -- which she said -- she has a military mind. you have to be organized. we have organizations focusing on health, transportation, one on immigration, one on rescue, and one on food distribution. i definitely agree with her. with all these countries coming in, we need a division of labor , a division of territory. that way, we can cover the whole country much faster. that is a very good suggestion.

host: before we take our last call, members of congress spoke out about haitian debt relief. how important is this issue? guest: very important. yes today, i met with the congressional black caucus -- yester daday, i met with the congressional black caucus. maxine waters who is spearheading the haiti effort told me that she had teamed up with, as members from new york to see what they can do with some $600 million in debt for haiti. that is global. last year we got $2 billion in

debt relief. since 2006 until now, we had accumulated about $600 million. maxine waters and other members of the cbc are spearheading this effort. once that is done, no more loans but grants. .

host: i'm going to jump in because we are just about out of time. it's really how the money is being used. guest: yes, accountability will be required for the massive job

ahead. for too long, people have given their money, and the money has been squandered. but this time we are putting in place guidelines and also ways of watching, have watchdogs to carry out the point -- as we carry out the program. yes, i know we had a lot of problems to be dealt with here, this again, we believe in the global village. what happens in haiti affects you here, too. if we do not solve the problem at home, you know what is going to happen. they will get in boats as they have tried to do in the past and make it to florida. which is only 800 miles to away. you'll have your coast guard, and it will not be the pretty

picture on the front pages of the newspaper did so for the sake of all of us, i think we should have a way of dealing with the problems in this country and with problems as a neighboring country. we have been an ally of the united states even during the war of independence. we fought in savannah, georgia, and we helped the u.s. so now i am asking you, while you have your problems in this country, to remember the little country next door who was the second independent in this hemisphere, second only to the united states, but which has been forgotten and, for too long, kept aside. help us. >host: dr. joseph, thank you for being with the c-span audience this morning. we will be taking a short break

and then back with our final guest of the morning, congressman paul ryan of wisconsin, the senior republican on the budget committee. we will be talking about some of the aftermath of the tuesday special election and party politics in the weeks ahead. but it is not a clock for a.m. eastern time. stock futures are falling after a report from the labor department shows jobless claims. house democrats expected to meet this morning to consider a smaller health-care bill, one new approach being considered focusing on insurance company practices like denying coverage to sick people and a measure to help low-income people and small businesses afford coverage. meanwhile, senator john mccain, speaking earlier on cbs's early show says he hopes legislation to overhaul the health-care system is dead following the democrats' loss of the massachusetts senate seat.

adding the democratic efforts to pass the bill without republican support was a major miscalculation. defense secretary robert gates has arrived in pakistan on a mission to explain the u.s. war strategy in afghanistan to pakistani military and civilian leaders. secretary gates says he wants to reassure pakistan that the u.s. is in this for the long haul. meanwhile, pakistani army spokesman, in remarks earlier to reporters traveling with the secretary, says pakistan cannot launch any new offensives against militants for six months to a year to give the country time to stabilize existing gains. federal investigators are wrapping up a 16-month investigation into the 2008 commuter train crash in los angeles. the collision killed 25 people and injured at least 130. the probe found that the train engineer was sending and receiving text messages shortly before the crash. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio.

>> the fort hood shootings review board co-chairman, togo west, formeadmiral vern clark an -- are testified before the senate armed services committee this afternoon. this afternoon, richard holbrooke and british foreign minister david miliband will testify both for the senate foreign relations committee on a civilian strategy for afghanistan. mr. holbrooke, just back from afghanistan and pakistan. that hearing is live at 3:00 p.m. eastern, also on c-span3. >> "washington journal" continues. host: here is congressman paul ryan with us, for the next half- hour or so, from wisconsin, very much involved in politics and policy with his colleagues for the house, and he is the ranking republican on the budget committee. what is the message from the election?

guest: the message is slowdown, do over. it was the virginia election and the new jersey election also. three states that president obama carried candidly. now the massachusetts seagoing for a republican. look, this is not necessarily a statement saying republicans are great, it is about washington control. when i pump gas to the gas station and go to the grocery store, people say and do not do this to us. slow this thing down. people see the louisiana purchase kickback, that is what they call these things. they see the money flowing around in order to get votes, rushing it through christmas eve, muscling it through congress, trying to jam this during-jammed this thing through, 1-party rule, and they are upset about it. then they see the consequences of these laws. we have about 4000 pages of

legislation flowing around the capital, moving really fast. that is going to do all these things to people's health care benefits -- to their prices, their taxes. big tax increases on small businesses, big tax increases on big businesses. and so people see all of this happening, and they want it slowed down. they see the way washington has become so dysfunctional in their eyes, and they want this changed, and for good reason. for my mind, we have problems in health care and we do need to reform health care. health care does have problems, but that does not mean we should have a government takeover of the health-care system. what i think we ought to do is fix what is broken in health care. health-care accessibility for people that do not have health insurance. make sure people with pre- existing conditions can get affordable health care. these things can be done. meaning we can fix what is broken without breaking what is working. lots of us have offered alternatives. many of us have offered

comprehensive alternatives as republicans, trying to get democrats to work with us and do this in a bipartisan way. but a decision was made by the majority, by the leaders in congress and the white house. because they have the power and the votes to go this thing lunt and move it through a consistent with their ideology -- to go this thing alone and move it through, consistent with ideology, this has become more of an exercise in moving an ideological agenda through. host: we started out the morning talking about the election, about health care and the budget. let's pick up that conversation with your questions or comments. we have the numbers beneath me on the screen right now. you can send us a message by twitter and also send us an e- mail. lorton contract he had a column this week he in -- morton kondracke had a column that invoke your name. he said what kind of a party is it going to be? guest: let's recognize that when we had a majority in the

past, mistakes were made. number two, we need to be a party of media sprit, three, we need to be an inclusive party. what i think we ought to say to people is, look, if you believe in the principles that built this country, the founding principles -- liberty, freedom, free enterprise, self- determination -- we want you in our party. we want you to join with us so that we can take this country back and restore its greatness. we have a fiscal and economic situation in this country whereby america, because of its debt and deficits and its economic condition could really become the first time in a generation where we bequeathed the next generation a good standard of living. we are on the cusp of missing this thing up, and we need to fix that fast. we need to take those timeless principles, reapply them to problems of the day, and go to the american people with concrete solutions. the open transparently and tell

the american people here is who we are and what we would do if elected, and we want you to join us in that movement. that to me is what an alternative party owes to the american people so they have a choice in the elections. host: from a tactical standpoint, what policy should be taken away from what mr. banner has said? guest: we -- the person who it was his chief of staff before paul, who recently died, was buried jackson. very jensen ran john boehner's first campaign. barry jackson came back, so i would not read anything into this being the contract got rid this is somebody who hired paul and the first place, and now has come back to put his team back together after this crushing loss. host: bahn bruce, you are on

with mr. bryan. democrats line. good morning. start over again, please. caller: yes, my question is, i know we need health care reform. but people whose doctors have ruined them, who are mentally disabled, it takes two years to get disability prefer those two years they have no health insurance. they have to use emergency rooms. why can't something be done for people applying for disability? host: thank you, terry. guest: that is a really good point. i was on the ways and means committee come -- the ways and means committee, which oversees this. there is a new package of reforms without this ability is administered that i and democrats have been advocating and pushing first in the bush administration, now the obama administration. they are slowly implementing

this. what it is is, we need to say that the no-brainer cases, people who clearly have disabilities, pass them through right now so they get the disability. and the more difficult cases that are not so easy to discern, focus resources on those. so we believe there is a new process where we can get these things moving. you are right, the waiting line is ridiculously long i assist thousands of people in wisconsin with their disability claims, and there are new package of reforms. also, modernizing the system, having teleconferencing. if there is a judge who declined in texas, let him do a hearing in wisconsin. there are things like this that we are trying to do to get all of the inefficiencies out of the system so we can have these waiting lines cut way down. it is a resource question, and a procedure question. those have got to get cleaned up and there is a problem that needs to be fixed.

host: next call is from republican, curtis, from queens new york. caller: my question is why is it, and why doesn't anybody talk about the disparity between the parties, our system? why is it that when we republicans were doing the same thing that democrats do now, during the bush administration, everything got rammed through and nobody wanted to listen to the other side? and then also, why is it our system of government, which is admirable what the founding fathers put together, but it is an adversarial system where we are electing each representative to go and represent us, just us as individuals, and that it creates fights? because we are fighting against each other for what we can individually get out of the

system, instead of fighting for the whole, for us to all benefit, except we constantly hear, what is in it for you and your family, not what is in it for us as a whole. host: thank you. guest: there is a lot there, and these are really interesting point. when the founders created our system of government, they created a adversarial system with checks and balances. they also created an adversarial system with checks on government power. the idea was to have a limited government so that power remains in the people in the states respectively. we have grown way beyond the notion of government by consent of the governed in a limited government to protect our equal rights, to much broader than that. that grew over the 20th century. the other point you make, there are two basic kinds of systems -- the parliamentary system like

the brits have, and the system we have. in the parliamentary system, you do not represent your constituency, you represent your party. that really is one party rule the whole thing. i do not think that is the way we want to go. we have a system where you represent your constituents, representing your state or district. i prefer that model, i think it is better. at the end of the day, it is what is in the mind and the conscience of the people you a last and how they conduct themselves. are they bitterly partisan people, or did they come to washington to advocate ideas on behalf of their constituents? at the end of the day, it really is the quality of people you send to washington, the quality of leaders we elect, and if you do not like them, you can file them. you know what? what we saw with scott brown, we saw the election of someone nobody thought would be elected because the spiegel -- the people spoke because the people are frustrated. host: do you believe that

massachusetts health-care reform system works, a system that governor romney said -- guest: no, i am not a fan of the system. i have relatives in massachusetts. my uncle is a cardiologist in boston. what is happening now is because costs are getting out of control, premiums are increasing in massachusetts. now you have a bureaucracy that is putting in cost controls and rationing on the system. people in massachusetts are saying yes, we have virtually universal health care, 96% or 97% in short, and now they see it bursting at the seams, rationing benefit cuts. number one, they do not want to pay for it, for another system on top of it. number two, they see how this idea of having the government being the single regulator of health insurance, defining what kind of health insurance you can have, and in individual mandate. these kinds of systems are

unsustainable. host: kansas city, missouri, cherie, independent line. caller: good morning. i want to talk about the two parts of the health care plan that came in under the stimulus package, when being a federal coordinating council for competitive effectiveness research. has that set up-has that been set up yet? guest: yes, it has. that is a new bureaucracy, and it is the council for comparative effectiveness. they are still setting up the whole thing. guest: right, and do they set up the treatment protocols for the doctors? and if the doctors do not follow them, they will be penalized, essentially? guest: when you marry it with the health care bill they are trying to push through congress, that is when those two lines connected to the whole idea behind comparative effectiveness is to have smart bureaucrats determined what procedures are

most cost-effective in should be used and use that on a carrot stick on physicians. what you will be reimbursed for or not based on the recent findings of comparative effectiveness. caller: well, isn't that bureaucrats deciding who is treated and why? guest: yes. caller: the second part is the coordinator of technology, who will guide decisions at the time and place of care. guest: so all of these apparatus being set up are basically designed under this kind of a system where the government becomes the primary or single pair of health care. government then has the interest in reducing cost because the biggest problem with our budget, which is making our debt explode, is health care programs. so if we expand our health care programs, which right now medicare and medicaid are going broke, we have to expand

rationing of care rationing care and determined by physicians what will occur. if you want to take this thing to the end here, look at what is being done with other countries , rationing agencies that determine who gets care and when based on cost. one of the administration's. people on this, a guy named emanuel, he advocates a thing he calls a hold life system. that is a statistic that is applied to every individual to determine whether or not they get that kind of care based on life expectancy, based on their ability to contribute to society or their useless. this stuff you cannot even make up. it is that orwellian. the whole thing is that they have this belief that the government should be in the position of determining how and when or if you get the care you or a loved one in your family needs. that is not what the

federal government should be doing. that is why we as republicans have offered an alternative system. we believe the nucleus in the system ought to be the patient and the doctor. they should be making the decisions, and the providers of health care -- insurance companies, doctors, hospitals -- they should compete against each other for our business as patients. we do not want to put that kind of bureaucracy in charge of our health-care system. unfortunately, that is the bill that they are trying to jam through congress today. host: next is fort lauderdale. democrats lined. good morning, are you there? caller: yes, i am, ma'am. good morning to you. guest: good morning. caller: i have been watching you on the house of representatives in the evenings, making your arguments. but the argument you are now

making this morning i think is contrary to your thoughts. because, number one, the republicans stepped into the white house under reagan -- do you remember that? guest: no, i was 10 years old when ronald reagan was elected. the solar panels? caller: he took the solar panels off the white house that we are now claiming the green world for the whole community. guest: now, i cannot comment on it because i am not familiar with the story. host: let's try to find a direction with that, which is the white house is a leader on energy conservation. i think that was the underlying thing about the solar panels on the white house as the way to model it. guest: energy, of capered first of all, i think cap and trade is

a mistake, a bad idea -- first of all, i think happened trade is a mistake, a bad idea. the idea of climate change, by its proponents, it is to reduce temperatures by a fraction of one degree within 100 years. impose this huge tax, and $800 billion tax on our country, an average of $400,000 per family, while our main competitors, especially manufacturing like china and india, do nothing with theirs. so we hurt our economy, they take our manufacturing jobs in an attempt to reduce temperatures by a fraction of a degree over 100 years. what we know is that we reduce our production, our competitors overseas will reduce their production and put more into the atmosphere. cap and trade is not the way to go from a cost-benefit analysis. but do we think we should

keep putting dirty things into the air? of course not. so why don't we do a couple of things? let's acknowledge you can have economic growth and a clean, healthy environment at the same time. these things are not mutually exclusive. we have trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, very clean and cheap, in america. we have oil offshore. let's drill and get our own resources, our own natural gas and oil so that we are not dependent on foreign countries, so that we are not exporting billions of dollars to countries, many of which support terrorism, use that to create not only jobs here but the federal government gets billions and billions in revenue, about $60 billion over 10 years is what we have been estimating. i have seen estimates that are much higher than that, which comes to the form of royalty payments and taxes and leases, and take those revenues to invest in energy trust fund for conservation, for research. so let's use american ingenuity,

science, and research, to innovate a way to clean energy and use our own energy which helps fund that research but also is a bridge to getting for that research. i really believe fundamentally, whether it is our trade deficit, whether it is jobs in america, whether it is energy crisis that affects the way we live, which should use our own energy, use those resources, keep the money here, and invest in new technology so that we can innovate our way out of this is the putting a repressive cap and trade system on the economy and hurt our economy and job creation in the meantime. host: the next call comes from shreveport. this is dale on the republican line. caller: mr. ryan, i believe this, sir. it is an honor to talk to you, sir. i am talking about you. it is an honor. guest: thank you. caller: you make so much common

sense, and you are really a good person. my first comment is, the democrats have been in charge of the purse in congress for the last four years. no one can spend that any other way. they have been in -- no one can spin that any other way. they have been in charge of the money. my last comment is, how does charlie rangel get away from not paying his damned taxes? how does he get away with this? charlie rangel? guest: a i guess i will take the charlie rangel thing first. i served on ways and means, and charlie rangel is the chairman of it. he has had problems with his taxes. he is under an investigation with the ethics committee. i do not know if justice is doing an investigation or not. i know "the new york times" is doing an investigation. we're waiting to see what the ethics committee comes up with.

but how he gets away with it? i am not sure he is going to get away with it. we do not know the answer to that. the first point you made on spending. let the boss look at the last few years. we have seen a gusher of spending increases coming from this majority. i would ask people at home, did your budget increase 11% this year? do you get an 11% raise? well, that is the raise we gave to federal bureaucracy's this year. over the last two years, congress gave the federal bureaucracy a raise just this last year alone per the budget for the environmental protection agency went up 124%. so we are seeing huge spending increases across the board at a time when we have record deficits, record debt, a recession, and what we are fighting is, you know what, spending all this money through washington does not grow prosperity, does not grow the economy. we take the money from taxpayers in the first place.

taken from the treasury markets, which means we borrow it, and moved through washington. this doctrine led us to believe that it was going to keep unemployment below 8%. has not. we have a huge debt and deficit hang over because of its. spent -- is spending more money through washington was the key to prosperity, we would be the most prosperous nation in the world. it does not work. it takes money from productive uses and unfortunately we keep seeing -- washington keeps repeating the mistakes. look, if we are blessed with getting the opportunity to get congress back and being in a position -- and i serve as the head of the budget committee -- i will tell you, we are not getting federal brock receive this kind of race. we should be cutting spending, not increasing spending. if of several papers, bipartisan commission will be asked to fix u.s. finenesses. below it, "republicans oppose

obama's plan on the deficit." why? guest: first of all, it is a stack panel. it was more of a bipartisan panel. this panel is being greeted by executive order by president obama with more democrats stack on the panel pretty with the panel is being created is is basically the majority for democrats, the president gets to pick two republicans to be put on it, and that gives them the plurality the need to bring the recommendations forward. the recommendation on this panel will come to congress after the elections, so after the people have a chance to look at these things. the lame duck session of congress, people who have already been sort of kick out of office by the voters will be voting on whether or not this takes place. to me, the whole notion, founders notion of government by consent of the government -- i am really not a fan of this

spirit i think it will lead to big tax increases -- not a fan of this. i think it will lead to a big tax increase. senator reid and speaker pelosi have committed to bringing these bills to the floor after the election, but before this session of the new congress starts. i have offered this road map for america's future, reintroducing the latest version next wednesday, which is a very specific legislative plan using real numbers, using actual legislative language, to actually fix our fiscal problems -- reform medicare, social security, medicare, our tax system, and get our debt paid overtime. make sure at the size of our government does not balloon. i think we in congress should lead by example with ideas, propose concrete solutions. i am 39 years old and i have three kids, 5, 6, and seven. by the time my kids are my age, it will have to pay twice the

level of taxes we pay today, just for this level of government at that time. we have spent about 20 cents out of every dollar made in america to fund the federal government over the last 40 years. when my kids are my age, you know what that goes to? 40 cents out of every dollar made in america must go to the federal commit to pay for this government at that time, and that is before you get to cap and trade. i just really worry that we are giving the next generation and inferior standard of living. we know we are, and that is an irrefutable statistical truth. so we need to do something about that now. what i am showing with this road map is that you can actually reform these programs, many of which are based on retirement, without hurting current retirees if you act soon. what i propose is people over 55, people in or near retirement, who have already organized a lives around medicare and social security, do not pull the rug out from under them. right now there are cuts in

medicare and medicaid to those people right now. about 64% peopof people on medie advantage will lose that. in order to save the system, stop the country from falling into a collapse of debt, we have to reform these programs so that they are sustainable and so that the government does not grow out of control and tax out of control so that the next generation can have a prosperous future, and economic opportunity. to me, that is what we ought to do. my big fear about this commission is is not going to tackle big ideas about this. it is basically going to around the edges with more tax increases, trim benefits here and there, the basic and more tax increases. the problem is we cannot tax our people anymore. they are already hurting. it costs us jobs. in this 24 central global economy, we have to recognize the fact that when our competitors -- in this 24-

host: jessica, independent line. caller: hello, i have a couple of comments and then a question. regarding scott brown, i mean, really, a new centerfold stripper? he is the equivalent of a male sarah palin, and he is bush- light even that he is bush-like even. guest: and you are on the independence side. caller: if he had been a woman, he would have been disqualified, laughed out of town. in the words of malcolm x, "we have been bamboozled." only in america, where the corporate media propaganda machine rules, would we not have health care. all other countries in the world have health care.

what we have here is an oligarchy where our medical outcomes are somewhere between cuba and slovenia. you can sit there with a smirk, but -- guest: i will sit here with a smile. caller: we are subject to the biggest propaganda machine ever. host: you also said you had a question. do you have a question as well? all right, would you like to respond to her comments? guest: the status quo in health care is an acceptable, and the status quo is where you have an oligopoly or monopoly. i want to break that up. people buy insurance across state lines and let insurance companies compete against each other. we do that with car insurance and home insurance. why can't we do it with health insurance? a lot of this was greeted by

government that props up the oligopoly or the monopoly. let's give the patients more power, more resources, and more rights in the insurance markets to be able to buy insurance so that the companies compete against each other for our services, not begging us to sell out -- that is an hounsustainable situation. i do not think that the antidote to that is to have the government takeover of a separate the government -- the government take over. we spend more on health care than any other industrialized country. we already spend a lot of money. let's spend it more efficiently and effectively. so when you look at where the government run health care in medicaid and medicare, what is happening? lots of massive deficits. we do not want to go down that path of waiting lines and accusqueues.

where we as patients in making our key decisions -- is to we want to take two more calls next is to -- host: we want to take two more calls. next is sarah. caller: i am really frustrated. i am a democrat and have seen what happened in massachusetts, and it was very frustrating for me. the tea party is a force to be reckoned with. i want to say that i believe that health care should be a human right, that just like martin luther king believed, like a lot of people, for the last 50 years they have been fighting for health care reform. the bush administration did nothing to fight for health care legislation in those we did was children's health care legislation. bush vetoed it. all of a sudden, health care is a horrible thing? let me just say this.

you are talking about government-run, how it messes up everything. well, the military has government-run health care, and they absolutely love it. there is a lot of government-run health care that works out really good. the only thing that is really going to change is where the money is going. it is also going to change because insurance companies need competition. right now the only reason insurance companies -- and the public option, i do not know what is going to happen with that. host: sarah, we are running out of time here. guest: she is making really interesting points. first ooff, we as republicans should have done more. president bush made this a priority in the seventh year of office. should have been a priority in the first year. she is right about that. having said all that, we have made lots of reforms, interstate shopping ideas, letting people

in businesses buy their own health insurance. every time we tried to pass something, it was killed in the senate. that was very frustrating. we should have done more. you look at the systems that are in place when the government runs them, and they go bankrupt. we are having a problem with the tri care program because it too is facing bankruptcy in dod. she was making a point about insurance monopolies. we have got to break those things down and give more power to consumers and patience. that is why you need reforms to do that. luck, maybe we are not worlds apart here -- look, maybe we are not worlds apart here about health care being a human right. i would not call health care a right but a very important need. the reason that i would not call it a right is because when we talk about rights with respect to government, it is important to think about. our country was developed on a noble idea. we were founded on the idea that

our rights come from god and nature, not from government. and they cannot be taken away. so if we make health-care a right given to us by government, then it is government's right to define that right, to tell us whether we get it or not, to ration health care. i do not want to have a system where we say this is a right provided to us by government. we should decide how our health care is done, not government. it really offends the entire idea of america, which is our rights to not come from government. in the declaration, it says our rights come from nature and nature's god. meaning they are self-evident and not coming from government is a very important philosophical distinction which defines the creation of this country that i think we need to be redefined and rededicated to pick a cup last call comes from

carolyn. document and the dedicated to. host: last call comes from carolyn. caller: yes, i would like to know why the republicans are not speaking out louder about what they believe. i am not an al gore believer. i do not believe in socialism or marxism. and why don't all these socialists go to england, canada, cuba, venezuela, or wherever and get out of this free country? host: why aren't republicans speaking out more? guest: we are. when you are in the minority party and you have no power, the media does not pay any attention to you. i introduced along with -- a very comprehensive health-care reform, the patient's choice act. it gets us toward universal health care coverage. it gets us toward reforming the

system so people facing pre- existing conditions can get affordable care. it takes care of all these problems and makes medicaid solvent. we have been talking about shouting from the rooftop of the capital and getting press conference, getting editorials written on it. no coverage on it, basically because the democrats decided to run the show with all their bills. that is why the media does not really cover us, because we are not going to have the votes on our bills. so we are putting ideas out there prison or later the american people, and the elections are showing us -- so we are getting ideas out there. sooner or later the american people, and the elections are showing this -- from my money, we had better be ready with good ideas, reforms, and solutions to our problems that we have today. so i hope that we will get the audience that we have been trying to get to put our ideas out there. the fact that you are telling us we're not getting out there, tells us we have work ahead of us. host: the senate democrats face

a vote on the debt limit. guest: they won the biggest increase ever. host: it has to be increased? guest: yes, you have to increase the debt limit if -- if you are going to increase the debt limit, are we going to see a real commitment to getting the debt under control? nope. we are under the president's first budget. it triples the debt in 10 years. this budget never even get close to a balanced budget. lowest deficit in this budget is $633 billion. we are getting a new baseline from the congressional budget office next week. what is frustrating is, yes, the debt limit has to be increased so that people can get their payments and we do not default on our bonds, but we should be getting the debt under control and not out of control. the agenda driven by the ideology is to explode our debt.

the reason you have this commission via executive order is in order to get kent conrad to vote for this to get their 60 votes they need to increase the debt limit. that is why this commission is occurring. i think it is a paper tiger reform. we should just fix this and past budget. i know this is washington and people did not say this too often, but we should cut spending. we should actually reduce deficits and debt and cut spending and lockean those reforms. if we did that, it would be a much easier support raising the debt ceiling temporarily. host: thank you for being here. guest: thank you, susan. host: as we say goodbye to mr. ryan, we will undercut him here. -we will unhook in here. the labor department said thursday initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by $36,000 to eight rose by 36,000

to a seasonally adjusted 482,000. labor department analyst said that much of the increase is due to administrative backlog left over from the winter holidays in the state agencies that process the claims. the total number of people receiving benefits rose sharply as more recipients began emergency extended benefits paid for by the federal government. let's go to your calls for open funds. sacramento, margaret, go ahead. caller: good morning, susan. i want to let you know that i watch c-span every day. i be sure to get my c-span fixed in before going to work. with that being said, i wanted to talk about the new senator that just got elected in massachusetts. it seems like we kind of got blindsided with him. i did not hear much about him until it was almost time for the election, and when i did, you know, i was like, ok, once he got elected, let me check this guy out. i want you to think about these people that bring these nominee

politicians entered we have went out here in california, schwarzenegger. he is the terminator, we know. we have $700 or more, 50% of our income, being taken away from us that we have no say in. now we have this person, scott brown, who is basically a joke anybody could have a goat -- who is basically a joke. anybody could have booed him that could have googled him before the election and found that out. he was in a high-school gymnasium assembly, cursing out the students and naming them by name. what a joke. it costs us when they put these type of people in office. so i just pray for this nation.

we can somehow move forward and start to think before we make mistakes like this again. host: thank you. off to work in sacramento, thanks for watching us in the morning pit next is a call from michigan. ron, good morning to you. caller: good morning. the woman who was on just now, i agree with her completely a few comments about congressman ryan. he said we need energy independence. i agree with him 100 percent. jimmy carter said the same thing back in 1977, 1978, 1979, and the republicans paid him as a failed president. when president reagan took over, he cut back all those programs. maybe if we had been doing it for the last 30 years, we would have been in better shape. congressman ryan made a comment about what you do not get any respect when you are in the minority party. well, they may be in the

minority, they act like they are in the majority. remember, there are 59 senators who wanted health care. now i am not sure we are going to get anything at all. thank you for your time. host: from the ap, senator john mccain says that he hopes the health-care overhaul is dead. the arizona republican says the bill "obviously has been rejected by voters." on the cbs early show, mccain called democrats' efforts to pass the bill without republican support a major miscalculation. he says republicans would be happy to sit down and start over on health care but would not simply accept a scaled-back version of the legislation. next call, virginia, vincent, on the republican line. caller: i want to respond to one of the callers. representative ron was talking about we need to come together. let me tell you something, the country was founded on individual liberty.

that is what the constitution is about, not group liberty. healthcare is a good, not a right. people need to get their facts straight. host: thank you for your call. next up is from michigan. this is robin on the democrats' line. caller: first i would like to ask for a call to action from everyone. hello? host: we are listening. caller: a call to action from everyone to do something about the media manipulation, especially in the cable and media and talk radio. we need a call to action because that is the one thing, no matter which side of the aisle you are on, you agree that there needs to be something done about the media. our politicians cannot even be good and decent people if they wanted to because they aren't too busy trying to maneuver around the sound bites and the

little minions that sit there and discuss things that we as citizens sit around and discuss every day. they get paid to do that and they are influencing people and exploiting the minds of people. anyway, i wish i had caught the congressman because in america we forget so easily, and the media accounts on this. in 2000, george bush and the republicans campaigned on fixing the economy. the economy has not been fixed. the debt has been there since ronald reagan. all we have been doing is refinancing ronald reagan's debt, finding ways to do it. now we have republicans, and on television, rewriting history as if they are experts now on how to do this, and they have been campaigning since 2006 and they did not do it. host: barack obama says his administration has overestimated

its ability for meaningful peace talks, says a new ap story. obama says both parties have been on willing to make the bold gestures needed to make the process move forward. if the u.s. had anticipated that earlier, obama says he might have raised expectations so high. he says the u.s. will continue to work toward a two-state solution in which israel is secure and the palestinians have sovereignty. next is a call from west virginia. kevin, independent line. good morning to you, kevin. caller: good morning. i have a comment to make, and then i have a question. i will not take much time. i expected to get through this quick. i have listened to a lot of people call in to c-span every morning, and all i am hearing is this complaining, complaining, and bickering back and forth.

here is the deal. we are dealt cards, ok? let's use what we have got. now, my question is -- and this is to the leaders of the united states -- i am an unemployed plumber, and i have been unemployed for one year. i know our union leaders are in there working with washington in securing this and securing that, but i looked down there at haiti, ok, and i looked down there at katrina. let's go to work. let's get busy. let's get off unemployment. let's push. there is no reason that the u.s. -- they are going to be the ones, i feel, that end up rebuilding haiti so it can be

rebuilt correctly to withstand mother nature. we are going to get other aid from major countries. those major countries have problems probably just like we do. but let's go to work, you know? let's travel. i have been traveling all over the u.s. since i have been in the union to stay working. now i am willing to travel and cannot get a dispatch. you know, former president bush, former president clinton put all this money together and i commend them. five days, $12.8 million. let's use it. let's go. host: ok, kevin. good luck in your job search. marvin, republican, geneseo, illinois. caller: as long as i have no way you are democrat, republican, or independent, -- as long as i

have known as you are a democrat, republican, or independent, they vote for the party or for government or they vote for being reelected to office. they do not really represent the people, so i am really disgusted with the holehold government situation. host: next is from sal in virginia. caller: i have a couple of points i would just like to make. in regard to what representative ryan had to say, i like some of his points. as a democrat, that is nice to say. however, when he comes to addressing health care is something that should not be meted out by the government, something that should not be regulated so tightly by the government as an entitlement -- well, if he were to apply that logic to something like, let's

say, marriage and the defense of marriage act, how would that appear on his republican platform? his logic is not the same logic all the way across the board. that is my only problem. i feel there is probably a lot better way to tackle health reform. i am happy that the democrats' bill is going to fail. i see it as something that is completely just addressing what they call the health-care industry a complex. i am not hearing any thoughts in response to anybody. host: thank you for making your call. a call next from boston, marlene on the independent line. go ahead. caller: i wish i had gotten through when ryan was on. host: marlene, would you hit your mute button? that is causing feedback.

caller: is that better? host: that is better. caller: ok. first of all, scott brown got elected in massachusetts. he is a republican, so what? we elected governors bill wells , mitt romney. his lieutenant governor, a woman. an mitt romney, the republicans send him in. it is stupid. americans should wake up. ryan said that we are endowed with -- you need to read the constitution and the bill of rights. host: philip, you are on, open phones. caller: i want to make a point

because i have been listening and you have a lot of people on. it seems like when people do not get their way or they do not like the selection from massachusetts, everybody is upset because now all of a sudden they do not get what they want and how they perceive things to change with every day government. we have to learn to accept it and try to make the changes as we see it. congress has got to keep working the way they are and there is not much we can do about it unless we do make the changes in we do get people in light brown to make those changes for us. that is the only way we can change government. but to complain about him and get all upset does not accomplish anything for us. host: two things to tell you about -- c-span3, the senate armed services committee will look into the fort hood massacre. the committee will hear reports from togo west and vern clark, who are the review board co-

chairs. that starts at 9:30 a.m. on c- span3. at 3:00 p.m. today, the senate foreign relations committee will have a hearing called civilian strategy for afghanistan. international groups are meeting next week in london to coordinate activity -- rebuilding activities for afghanistan. the british foreign minister, david miliband, and senator richard holbrooke will be identifying at the hearing today. you can watch it on c-span3 or on our website at c-span.org. dorothy, democrats line. caller: i want to point out that when congressman ryan was saying our health care decisions should be made between the patient and the doctor -- mainly, they are made by the insurance companies now. the doctors are completely beholden to the insurance companies, and i do not see how the government or insurance, either one, is not made by the patient. thank you.

host: next up is kalamazoo, michigan. independent line. caller: yes, i would like to say that it is funny how people forget who is responsible on either party. we are all responsible as a country for the health care of everyone. somewhere inadvertently as a taxpayer, we end up paying for each other's care. i think we need to band together and try to come out with a peaceful solution. we also need to remember, obama has only been in the office for one year. i believe it was yesterday he was inaugurated. one year. everything that he has tried to place has been opposed, fought against. it is just ridiculous. i wish that as a nation we could get it together. host: queens, new york. peter, republican line. caller: yes, i was curious if you were going to have anybody on your show that will investigate democrats in

desmans during the reign economy. i know that nancy pelosi has invested in wind turbines and is also on the board of ethanol plants. but when i look up disinformation, i cannot look it up on the computer. host: then how are you learning about it? caller: originally it was newspaper articles, and originally was on the computer. but now it is no longer there. host: what are you saying jesting -- what are you suggesting might happen to it? caller: i cannot say, but i know the democratic party does have some associations with separate host: we will take one more as we close out this thursday. democrats line, washington. robert. caller: one of the points was already made about how you do not get to make your decisions on