handled in the meetings or discussions. >> live coverage will continue from london at 8:30 eastern time. we will be back on c-span 3 with the second half of today's british war -- british-iraq war inquiry. there will be a lunch break shortly in london. then prime minister gordon brown will be back at 8:30. time for "washington journal." h[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] . .

we will begin taking those calls in just a minute. here are a few articles in the papers this morning. front page of " the washington

post" leads with a sandy-local story about the shooting at the pentagon last night. to the man who accosted the officers did died from wounds. he did shoot two officers last night. you can see the picture. there is a big subway station at the pentagon and that was closed off for the evening. right below that is a story about military tribunals. obama aids in near reversal on 9/11 trial.

that is on the front page of "the washington post." another article, this is in the money section of "usa today" this morning. senate rains in finance reform. the senate is scaling back president obama's plan to reform the financial system --

that is and the money section of "usa today" in case you are interested in reading more about that. a couple of political notes. reid predict passage of employment bill.

that is an open "roll call." deal postpones resignation to deal with health care. president barack obama on wednesday asked congress to give him and a health reform bill. there are reports that could come before march 18, when the president leaves the country. first-time callers only this

morning. have you talked to your doctor about health care reform? your provider? and what has he or see shed -- he or she said? caller: i have talked to my doctor. he said he is totally for the single payer system and was very disappointed with president obama. he said it is the most efficient way to have the health care system resolve the -- or the problem resolved. and he said tort reform has not helped in florida. that was his opinion. host: what did you think of his remarks? caller: i totally agree with him. listening to mr. kucinich yesterday or whenever you have him on recently, i totally agree. unless you get help the people involved with contributing, the

price is never going to be -- it is always going to be out of hand when all the profits are going to just the insurance companies. host: lilly in pensacola, florida. democrat. good morning. caller: first-time caller a long time -- i talked to my doctor about it and he was disappointed -- but he is all for the health care reform. host: why? caller: he says there are a lot of people who don't have insurance -- and he said he likes the but the patients first. host: don and glenn bernie, maryland, on your republican line. caller: i talked to my primary care physician and he said obviously we need health care insurance reform, but to have the government is set up the programs and have not been able to run them effectively, they are not the people who should be

doing this. he mentioned the defense of medicine in particular and he gave me two examples. -- defensive medicine. he said cataract surgery and colonoscopy is which are done very regularly, and i believe there are 6 million colonoscopy spend 1 million cataract surgeries done in this country. he says before those procedures are done for his patients, he has to do a $300 hole medical examination, where there may be one in a thousand or one in 1500 potentially some complication from some underlying thing. he said it is totally unnecessary. he said you have 99.9 or better percentage of success rate with colonoscopy with no complications and with cataracts surgeries and in multiplied those numbers out, 300 times just 7 million those procedures, over $2 billion just

for those two procedures. host: why does he say he has to do those $300 exams first? caller: to cover the but some of the surgeons in case something goes wrong -- to cover the butts of the surgeons in case something goes wrong due to an underlying condition in a minuscule number of people. that if something goes wrong, the attorneys are going to blame them for not having done a full physical. just on those two procedures that is over $2 billion and multiplied it out there are probably hundreds of billions of dollars of unnecessary things like that. he said that we definitely need reform but that is not the way to do it. host: carl and fort myers, florida. first-time caller only friday morning. what has your doctor said about health care reform?

caller: i have not talked to my doctor recently, but the point i would like to make is i have the same health insurance as my senator and congressman have. and i think it is disingenuous for them to go in there -- especially the republicans -- and talk about how health care is going to kill this country because they have the best health care that the united states has to offer. i do not know -- it is ridiculous for them to go on the air to say health care will kill this country. host: if you talk to your doctor or provider recently about health care reform, we want to hear about what he or she has to say about it. first-time callers -- let us put the numbers up. here is a tweet --

james in durango, colorado, you are on the air. caller: i have not really had a chance to talk to my doctor because i cannot afford to go to the doctor. to make public option is the only option basically. host: andy in the republican line. i'm a general practitioner. unfortunately something that it's brought up is we are actually overwhelmed now. forget about the 30 million new people that are going to come on. it will take approximately 10 years to train new family physicians. annie's -- everything i've read about the bill looks terrible,

except that there is no public option, that is a good thing. host: why is that a good thing? caller: it is not going to work and it will cost us a fortune, $2.50 trillion and we are not going to make up money. abuse and fraud -- it will still go on and probably increase with the public option. i have blown the whistle now on two medical firms where they set things up, they have an older dr. like myself -- a physician assistant works and buy up anything like an mri or cat scan. nobody can afford cat scans or mri is -- not people, not doctors, not private insurers and not the government. host: what is your biggest frustration as a general practitioner?

caller: that we are overwhelmed. there are not enough doctors. i wish there were. host: what about reimbursement rates from insurance companies and medicare? caller: i also have medicare. medicare is a good plan, a very good plan. it is one of the only good plans i have seen. i do not -- we have medi-cal out here and i did not think it is a terrific plan. host: have you dropped any insurance companies? caller: no, not really. my type of practice -- we do not see a lot of insurance. host: why not? caller: primarily i get paid by the patient, by the clinic, and by the government. host: thank you for calling in and sharing your experience with us. seattle, jerry, independent line.

what did your doctor say? caller: my doctor is for single parent -- single payer. diggings he points out, malpractice lawsuits and paperwork -- two things he points out, malpractice lawsuits and paperwork. the previous caller, he does like expanded medicare and medicaid, that is the way we should be doing. that would reduce a lot of the fraud. host: what kind of insurance do you have in seattle? caller: i am on medicare- medicaid. i'm on disability. i'm up for an operation and i have no problem getting the thing to interrupt. host: are you happy with medicare-medicate? caller: i am. medicare is only 80% so you need

medicaid to cover the rest of the cost of rules it will be out of pocket. doctors, they don't like taking medicare-medicaid because of the reimbursements being too low. that kind of causes a problem. my doctor works for a public hospital. host: when you say a public hospital, the great big system in seattle, the big hmo? caller: yes. host: what is that called? caller: i can't -- host: we had it the cfo of that system on that program several months ago. i'm blanking on the name. as for calling in did from david "usa today." it pays for it -- to work for uncle sam. federal employers' earn higher average salaries in more than eight out of 10 occupations.

sandy hook, connecticut, democrat. yarmulkes -- caller: it has been interesting for me. i have several doctors including -- with the exception of the neurosurgeon they all would like to have a single payer system, one that minimizes the paper work, that streamlines testing and data so that the amount of time in record-keeping is minimal. they all -- and i have the same

feeling -- which is that the very basic idea of of medicine driven by profit incentives for profit motives, it cannot go right. it has to kind of abuse the opportunities. it has to prey on the opportunities rather than put the maximum amount of money into the system into the actual care. but i have yet to hear one good reason why medicare could not be available to whoever wants a -- once it? as an anti country, the wealthy people who want elective surgeries, or kind of a narrow surgical specialty that would not be covered by medicare, the people what that will be able to afford it or they will be billed to afford a private plan like a high end of blue cross plan that will cover something like that.

but just because most of the country might choose medicare does not mean there cannot be private insurers that are more expensive and cover more things. but i have been so happy with the medicare because without medicare and then the state of connecticut picking up almost all of the rest of the copays and all of that, i would be in terrible trouble. host: willie in tuscaloosa, alabama, democrat. what has your doctor said about health care reform. caller: well, down here -- i have seen the doctors down here charge a whole lot for minor things. for example -- dr. who runs a blood thing on me.

it cost me to london and $50 to take a blood test. host: as your doctor said anything about health care reform? caller: no, we don't talk about that. host: thank you for calling in. we have a tweet -- we would love to hear from doctors, as we heard from a doctor in san diego and we would love to hear from some more if you want to buy land. queens, new york, ken, independent line. you are on the air. caller: i just got diagnosed recently with adult onset diabetes. i am 51 years old. my doctor basically, when i asked if he knew any good insurance policies, he said they were all really bad. he feels sort of like the caller before the last caller, that it should be more of a single he

feels that canada and england and other countries have done well providing basic health care for the entire population without people going bankrupt in this country. basically he suggests i did not get on a medical plan right now because my medication is fairly cheap. host: omaha, nebraska, soviet, republican. caller: i talked to my doctor. i was in his office the other week and i was talking about this health care and he told me it is really a shame how the republicans will not have any pity for american people that don't have insurance. he said, well, it is not that it is a big problem with the deficit, it is that the republicans don't want to pay. they've got good health care, the best in the country, but for the rest of us week fall by the wayside. the republicans did not care if we have health care are not scared me myself, i would love

to see the public option appeared to me that would be the best way to go. but without the public option, that is fine, too, but we do need health care and the republicans don't care. caller: -- host: barbara from boulder city, nevada, democratic line. first-time callers only. caller: i talked to my cardiologists and what he told me was that he only can take a patient that has insurance because the fact is that if he takes a patient without the insurance they cannot afford the care. they can't afford the medicine, they can't afford the treatment. so it is a waste of his time and their time and he has to take care of people that he can actually treat. and we really desperately need to have better -- health-care reform and have coverage for everybody. and just not do with the way we are doing it now.

he says it is tragic he cannot take care of people that he needs to take care of because they can't get coverage. host: what kind of coverage you have? caller: i am fortunate because my husband works for the government and i'm his widow and i have government and i also have a medicare. so i am really fortunate. but i have three sons. one has no insurance. one only has it because his wife is still working. he lost his job. and the other one is a self- employed so he pays one of these plans where he pays a high deductible. so basically he pays for his care out of pocket. just for catastrophic. so, i want to see my kids be able to have coverage. and the public option would have been the best. expanding medicare would be the next thing. it would make sense. but you know how it goes, we do not want to make sense. host: in "the washington post."

amy gardner writes --

billy and houston, independent line. have you talked to your doctor about health care reform? caller: two concerns. one concern was administrative cost and then he spoke of the hidden cost of the emergency room services. he made a couple of comments. he talked about how he purchases materials. he does it through group purchasing. the more people in this group, below what it costs. he sort of used that analogy. i would like to make one other comment concerning the politics of this. he made a comment that when you speak of the american people don't want this, well, you have the national minorities combined and non-minorities who support

this plan, that would be a majority over all the people. i think we should all just come together and get this issue solved once and for all. host: on our democrats line, william, west point, mississippi. what has your doctor said about health care reform? caller: they are really not talking for it, but as a democrat i'm all for it. host: why is a doctor not for it? close up one of the things he was trying to tell me, and is it -- caller: one of the things he was tried to tell me, and this would be out of the blow, that they would be cutting a lot of tests and it would destroy what we have. and i just don't believe in it. i just hope the democrats push it forward for everybody. host: what kind of insurance do you have, if any? caller: i am on medicare. i'm disabled. at one point in my life i had to struggle to pay a private insurance company and i was

paying like $700 a month, almost went bankrupt. host: @ thank you for calling in did on our republican mine the rich, minneapolis, good morning. caller: thank you for c-span. it ends up that i'm a disabled veteran and i get my services through the minneapolis v.a., which is ranked one of the best ones in the country. i mentioned it to my doctor, how is this all going to affect my services. on top of what the issues i ran into in the past couple of years, i needed some test done, they did the test and a comeback after the fact and i got a letter saying, by the way, we did not sterilize the equipment properly and you may have been exposed to hepatitis, aids, all of this and you have to come in for a blood test. after that, i went into the test and i was fine. but then it was like, ", we made mistakes -- whoops, we made a

mistake. host: what has your doctor said? caller: i asked him, how is this going to affect my services in the future? are they going to move me over to whatever the new system might be or what? host: and no response? caller: no, because he is a federal worker. he would be crossing the line, i would assume. host: gin in salisbury, maryland, independent line -- jim. caller: i talked to my doctor a lot about it. basically he migrated from china and came to america and one of the reasons he did migrate is he had really no ability to make any decisions about his people or his patients' health care. it was all really determined by the government. and it became a political issue. so, you go back and forth, and

you really don't know what to do, how to do it, went to do it, and he felt that in america things are not perfect, but the reality is, what is the use of having freed insurance and health care when you have limited access of long lines and it becomes a political football? we are europeans and came over in 1945 and we experienced -- not so much myself, but my father and grandfather, experienced national health care. it is actually horrible. michael came back to america and lived another 10 years -- might all go came back to america and he lived another 10 years. he had cancer at 71 in italy and they told him there was little or nothing they could do for

him. host: final tweet -- we are going to turn our attention to new york politics. a lot going on in that state. we will have a special new york residents lines set up. first-time callers only. >> the next journalism must be open to blogs an e-mails hammering like it's on the door to get into the conversation -- like fists on the door to get into the conversation, to raise

new questions and suggest the context. >> winners of the national press foundation awards talk about the role of journalism in a changing society, saturday night at 8:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> we are in the business of trying to help our students, predominantly young women and some of the older women and men who come to us understand that you should focus on achievement in your own life and not be looking to grab headlines. >> sunday, made the woman credited for turning around the trinity washington university, president for over 20 years, patricia mcguire on "q&a." >> as "the washington post" international correspondents t.r. reid has traveled the world -- travel the world. join our three-hour conversation with t.r. reid and your phone

calls live sunday at noon eastern on "book tv's" in depth. >> "washington journal" continues. host: the resignation for governor paterson to sign. inside "the wall street journal" is this article. governor paterson convenes a meeting for friday. a 2:30 p.m. eastern meeting for his top aides. guest: i think it would be what you call a "come to jesus" moment. there is pressure from his staff that now is the time for him to step down. three members of his staff have quit already. is called by the chief -- it is called by the chief of staff. it is not known if the purpose is to force him to go but they will talk about serious issues. host: what is defacing, water the issues?

guest: multiple investigations of his conduct. he has been found by a state ethics panel that he was not truthful on an investigation of whether he pressured the yankees to give him tikrit -- tickets to the world series. he is under investigation for a host of matters and it has come to a head. host: on the front page of your competitor, "the new york daily news" is a picture of a woman. who is she? guest: here it is a little more here and there are serious allegations. but a top aide to the governor has a history of some domestic issues. it was alleged he hit his girlfriend and she called the police and saw a temporary restraining order. it is a legend but the governor

and his dad intervened using state police -- it is alleged that the governor and his -- intervened using state police. she tried to get a permanent restraining order and the governor called her the day before the hearing and the next day she did not show up to get this restraining order and therefore the case was dropped it is also convoluted, but what is suggested that the governor and his staff might have been trying to keep her quiet because this could have affected him and his political standing. host: what is charlie rangel's future? guest: i think charlie rangel's future is certainly less glorious than his past. i think his days as a washington power broker are probably over. he was one of the most powerful men in congress. he chaired the ways and means committee, the tax-writing committee that deals with all trade and taxes in the u.s. he gave up his gavel because of

a multitude of investigations into his conduct. he stated that he gave up temporarily but it will be awfully hard for him to get it back because there has been one of the ethics panel investigation that has come down and another one forthcoming. host: out we are talking about new york politics. -- we are talking about new york politics. a first-time callers this morning. if you are a new york resident, we want to hear from you and get your take. 202-628-0184 is the number for you to call. is it just unrelated events or does it seem to be some sort of a systemic problem in new york right now? guest: it is definitely systemic. the democratic party in new york

is just wheeling. you got the governor, the head of the party, under siege, being called on by members of his own party to step down. the previous governor also stepped down in a prostitution scandal. mr. rangel is not just a member of congress, but has been there for more than 30 years. he is the dean of the delegation. a loss of power for new york democrats and there is really turmoil. host: and you have the eric master situation -- massar situation? guest: and that may be the least of this or raise -- there were raised because he is not as prominent. he is someone -- the democrats had a much better chance of keeping the seat with him as a candidate but he said he is retiring for health reasons. there are also allegations that he sexually harassed a male thmember of the staff. what is known as the ethics

committee is taking a look at that as well. host: has this affected the work in albany on state budget and other issues? guest: albany is already in chaos and, yes, it is in even more chaos. the governor has to put a budget together in the spring. he is politically weakens, members are quitting. there is a issue how he will govern and run this state in this situation. host: senator gillibrand is up for reelection for a full term? guest: she was appointed by governor paterson, who himself emerged from being lieutenant governor. she has not stood before the voters yet. and she had a problem in that she was potentially facing a primary challenge, and a lot of observers thought she could potentially be weak. but she caught a break. harold ford, former tennessee congressman, he thought about it and he dropped out. so she might get a pass.

host: is new york a one-party state? guest: was looking like it for the last couple of years. democrats had the state senate, the governorship, and the number of house democrats jumped way up from a majority to a super strong majority. but there are plenty of republicans in new york, including upstate, where republicans traditionally have been strong. mayor bloomberg from new york city, he used to be a republican but now he -- host: and he used to be a democrat. guest: sure did. the republican party is also reeling in new york as nationally. host: what about governor pataki? guest: he could jump in the mix. he has not declared he wants to challenge gillibrand but he could potentially be a strong challenger. right now the only guy around is rick/0 -- lazio, former

congressman, who ran not such a great race begins hillary clinton. host: what about rudy guiliani? guest: he is someone who also had a steep fall in new york politics. he ran for president, and his campaign did not go -- he raised a lot of money and had good people on board, but he did not pan out. he still is a big ticket on the republican speaking circuit and he has a lot of credentials to talk about security but he is no longer the force in the party that he was spirited host: -- that he was. host: what is unique about right now in new york? guest: i think one thing, when you have something approximating one-party rule -- and we have seen that here,

maybe in the u.s. congress in the 1990's and 1980's -- you tend to have people who have been all around the long time, sometimes they get comfortable and positions and cut corners and sometimes it they get burned. the culture in albany is not just a democratic problem. it is a political culture that has been identified as quick to corrupt and awfully messy. one of the issues there have been fights over in albany, talking about earmarks and d.c., nothing -- something called member items. millions and millions of dollars the parties divide up to lawmakers to pass out as they want. there are high stakes, a lot of money and power, but people are fighting over spoils as well. host: who is the most powerful politician in new york right now? guest: i'm going to have to say senator chuck schumer. he is a force of both within his party and the state.

he is a force in washington. he is in the senate leadership. he is somebody who could make a play to be the majority leader in the senate, where there might be a job opening fairly soon. he has the president's ear. he was supposed to go to the white house yesterday. he is a player. host: if he called for governor paterson's resignation, would that have an effect? guest: at it would have an effect, but he is not so central to the governor's base. so often with something like this, and with winkle, too, it is when your base of supporters start questioning you that you really get scared. with rangle, it is when a member of his own committee, member of the congressional black caucus, that was important, and house lawmakers. i think what governor paterson,

may be one of the harlem power brokers, people he has no for 20 years, members of the staff, when they say it is time to hang it up, then he will hang it up. he is not so tight with chuck schumer. host: to reset in new york city, democrat. -- to resell -- theresa caller: i am thankful to be on the air. i guess i am concerned because all of this is coming so suddenly. like it is one thing after the other. it seems like it is more about politics than actually what he has done wrong. especially me as a voter, i don't know everything about what has gone on. "the post" has a headline saying he should resign when we don't know exactly what happened. as a new york resident, and considering how he got into office, i think we need to at

least give him an opportunity to explain to us the voters of what happened. i think that is only fair. host: are you a supporter right now of governor paterson? caller: i would not necessarily say i'm a supporter. but i believe right now he is the governor. right now new york has serious problems. and i'm not sure that i want the governor to be focused on defending himself at a time when we really need him to be focused on defending new york. guest: it is certainly understandable all of the varying probes and investigations -- there is a handy pull out in "the new york post" where we explain them. i think you make a good point about waiting for investigation to run their course. not all allegations are necessarily proven true. but certainly in one of them, in

the case of the governor, there has already been report on this issue of yankees tickets. what those investigators found is the governor was not truthful in talking to the investigators about whether he asked for the tickets, we are talking about several thousand dollars' worth. not truthful about whether his signature was on a check to pay for them. if it is found his conduct is improper, and it could be felonious. the charges are serious. if you are deploying the state police force as your political henchman, that is a problem. but you are absolutely right, it has not been proven and sometimes he said/she said, goes the other way. host: what is the role of andrew cuomo and all of this. that is the wrong word -- but where is he sitting? guest: at an awfully unusual position.

he is the state attorney general, so he is the chief law enforcement officer. he is also the presumed successor to the governor because, although he has not announced, it is widely thought that he will run for governor and he would have most certainly run -- won a primary against the sitting governor. now he will probably get the nomination and is favored to be the governor. he has to be careful. he has to make sure his inquiries are not tainted but he has to position himself and do what he needs to do. host: are there benefits to the republicans and who is the strongest republican in the state? guest: there are certainly benefits to republicans. they are going to run statewide and nationally against the alleged democratic corruption and certainly state corruption in albany.

power is a little more divided. the problem is the republicans and albany are also tarnished. there was a botched coup over the summer, and that did not work out. so they need to get their own act together. janet, republican, fredericksburg. caller: shame on new york. new york really did a wrong thing. i think it is a coup. i think there are a group of people who pushed charlie rangel out for levin and the same thing for governor paterson. he seems like a nice person and a spot person. so shame on new york. guest: you are not the only person who feels that way. there are plenty of new yorkers who feel that there is sort of a

campaign against their top power brokers. and it should not go without being noticed that they are prominent members of the black community so there is a racial component as well. i should add -- it is subjective but both of these lawmakers are personally well liked. charlie rangel is one of the most gregarious figures in the capital and the governor was well liked by the lieutenant governor -- as a lieutenant governor as a legislature. -- as a legislator. both of these cases have and long file of allegations and the charges are not just been brought by political opponents by -- but what is generally considered nonpartisan and not biased entities like investigators. host: charlie rangel, does the ethics committee currently have an investigation ongoing? guest: they do.

what has come out and cause them to hand over the gavel is a report of one incident, a trip that charlie rangel and a bunch of lawmakers took to the caribbean. it was proven that it was paid for and funded by businesses and lobbyists. in any event, there is another much more wide-ranging investigation and it relates to several charges against charlie rangel, that he did not disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars of an income -- and this is on his financial disclosure form being a member of the house. he has a been a glut in the dominican republic and did not disclose a bunch of rental income -- he has a villa in the dominican republic. he had a car, classic mercedes in the house garage for years as sort of a freebie. he's got problems in this

investigation as well. host: here is a tweet -- guest: it ought to be a wake-up call if they were to lose even a single senate seats because senator gillibrand, although she is not considered to have any ethical issues or problems in her background, she is tied to this mess because she was appointed by governor paterson and she is also pressuring him to end it. but it would not reflect well on the party. host: a question by jessica by tweet -- guest: there is some talk about that, how it would affect the budget process. there is a strong argument that if he were to step down, the lieutenant governor might be

able to get a handle on things better because governor paterson's power is so in question right now. he is certainly trying to demonstrate he can still governed. but it is awfully tough for someone who is so hobbled to get anyone to make deals. host: knox gold, tennessee, billy on the independent line. -- not seville. caller: greed and corruption is endemic in this country, and it is sad. i wish the people would come together. greed destroys democracy. guest: you are one of many angry voters out there, and all signs are that the republicans this year are going to campaign on an anti-corruption campaign and democrats, who after all, got power in 2006 in congress and 2008 under obama, had also run on corruption so --

caller: i'm just calling to protest you using "the new york post" instead of "the wall street journal -- or "the new york times." everyone knows that "the post" is a racist paper. remember cartoons of obama as a monkey and you have this guy to represent new york? "the new york post" is a real rat. no disrespect to you, but you talking about -- we are talking about the paper. guest: the caller has an opinion and he is entitled to it. i would just add, with readings of the paper, a bunch of these investigations -- what ever you think of the paper, a bunch of these investigations were brought on by stories "the new york post" broke. the new york post broke the story about the trip to the

caribbean. and the world series tickets. the caller is entitled to his opinion but without "the post" having -- haven't broken the stories. host: this story, the three horsemen of dave's apocalypse -- there is a picture of al sharpton and david dinkins. they held a meeting. guest: this relates to whether people he had known for decades will call on him to hang it appeared he had lunch with former mayor david dinkins yesterday in new york and the rev. al sharpton is a real powerbroker in city politics. so far, as of yesterday, the word out of that is that the governor's base did not want him to step down yet. but if they were to convene a meeting, say, in a week or a few

days and issue some think and write a letter -- he would be devastated. host: who takes over if he steps down? guest: of the lieutenant governor -- and the lieutenant governor, who was not elected. we have a domino effect. gov. elliott spitzer leeson scandal, and there was a vacancy was no lieutenant governor. after a mess in albany, mr. ravich was appointed essentially to the seat. now if the governor were to go, he would take over. host: here is the front page of "the new york times" this morning. two stories about the new york politics situation. another aide quit -- citing integrity. now it is democrats who feel the sting of scandal. mary elizabeth in new york city on the democrats' line. you are on with goeff earle from "the new york post."

caller: longtime washington journalism appeared interesting i got through dealing with my home city. you miss an interesting point about the governor being elected. he was elected on the ticket with former gov. eliot spitzer. for that reason, he has a right to be in the position he is in. i don't think he should resign. i have fought for a long, long time that the governor is an honest person, he is a public servant and he has a very much with his constituents services. he should not resign. he should just stay there and do his job. there are a lot of problems in this city and the state. there are special interests, and it is my feeling that the powers that be want him to make a decision that is self-serving for their interest and he is

refusing to do it and they called out all of this to get him to leave. guest: well, the caller makes a good public about what is the role of a public official once he is elected to remain accountable to the people. there are other mechanisms to remove somebody. of an elected official have an obligation to leave -- does an elected official have an obligation to leave because of alleged wrongdoing? the other thing that comes into play, though, is whether a politician can effectively govern. if you are in about governor's position, there is a tendency to think you can beat it and you want to tell your side of the story. but if he can't do the job because he does not have the powers of persuasion anymore -- the communications staff is quitting, and the other key staffers are quitting.

how do you talk other politicians to do what they want to do if he is not respected? host: she also mentioned special interests. a lot of special interest in new york? guest: there are. new york is still the financial capital of the country, and some say the world. there are all kinds of companies and corporations, lobbyists that have influence in albany. and so, it is swimming in conflict. host: of this tweet -- guest: certainly if you are a consumer of news from afar, that is what you get out of albany. there has not been any important story out of albany other than the budget crisis and the clash of political power. this has been going on for more than a year. host: georgia, independent. caller: i am wondering whether

tom swaze is in the mix at all. he campaigned against the late spencer and impressed me and i'm wondering if he is still planning -- he campaigned against eliot spitzer. guest: he is from long island, and a key republican lawmakers. my understanding is he gave it a go and was not successful and backed off. he is not thinking about getting into a race. but he is still around. host: anthony in harlem. caller: good morning to everybody, in america. three quick points. first of all, talking about "the new york post" owned by rupert murdoch. my second point, when it comes to governor paterson, i support the governor and all of his intentions. when it comes down to investigation of whether someone went to a yankee game and got tickets, that is about corruption playing against the

sky. meanwhile rudy guiliani sat in the front row of yankee stadium every game. i never once read in the paper whether that was an issue with "the new york post." my second point, where is the real story in the new york legislature -- bruno has been convicted of corruption. where is the story? he was the head of the senate in new york for years. there was nothing said but the man is a convicted felon. where is that headline? guest: jow bruno jigingjoe bruno. host: former republican leader? guest: i certainly read stories in "the new york post" on corruption allegations against mr. bruno and conflict of interest and certainly plenty of stories about mayor giuliani and his troubles, both ethical and

some of his former top staffers, some of whom are now in jail and his personal life. so, "the post" has run a lot of probing stories on those issues. host: was last friday that both "the post" and "the new york daily news" had editorials on their front pages calling for governor paterson's resignation. was that plant? in any way? guest: no, not at all. but the timing -- that was a sort of a critical day when things came to a head and it relates to this ticket matter which this caller does not think is important, but i think what got the governor in trouble here and often gets political officials in trouble when they are being investigated. it is not just the so-called crime, but the conduct of the official when it is being

investigated. investigators -- and this is under oath. the governor took an oath and he was found by the commission that he did not tell the truth. that is when he got in trouble and that is when sort of this critical mass was achieved. host: goeff earle from "the new york post," thanks for the update. up next, the director for the agency for international development. . 08

>> as correspondent t.r. reid has traveled the world. his books are not only about travels but about his global views on contemporary issues including the united states of europe, healing of america and confucius lives next door.

that is live sunday noon eastern on book tv on pap -- c-span 2. host: we have the administrator for the u.s. agency for international development, usaid. he is here to talk to us about foreign aid and different aspects of the foreign aid budget. doctor, if we could start with current issues, do you know how much has the u.s. government spent so far in haiti and chile? guest: between the two more than $600 million with the vast majority of that being focused on the relief effort in haiti. when this incredible earthquake happened, it was the worst natural disaster to hit haiti in centuries and destroyed critical infrastructure in and around port-au-prince.

the main city. the president immediately asked for a swift and aggressive and coordinated response, so we put together a broad range of assets and capabilities and started to provide water, shelter, food and sent more than 500 search and rescue experts to go that you buildings, remove rubble and identify people. it is a massive effort and continues and we will continue to stand with haiti going forward. host: what about chile? guest: in chile they have been hit by an 8.8-magnitude earthquake that has affected more than two million people. the city most directly hit has been concepcion where most of the damage and loss of life where more than 800 have lost their lives much the president and secretary of state was just there earlier this week, had asked us for specific resources

and specific help in areas like water, medical and field hospital support, communications equipment to help their own relief system operate more effectively. chile has had an effective national response system like our federal emergency management system so they are providing a great deal of their own support for what is a tremendous tragedy. host: where does that money come from, disaster aid in is it budgeted for? guest: it is budgeted for. and we just sent the president's 2011 budget request to congress so that is a great question and very timely. the american people invest in in our ability to provide services and meet the needs of humanitarian emergencies around the world, primarily by funding the office of foreign disaster assistance, which is part of the u.s. agency for international development. it critically important we continue to provide resources and capabilities so we can act quickly and aggressively and often the united states offers

the first humanitarian assistan assistance. in haiti it was the u.s. capability that kept the airport open and made it accessible to people around the world so that we could bring in and coordinate assistance not just from the united states but more than 40 countries. host: let's put the numbers on the screen. we have dr. shah for 20 minutes. he is the administrator for the u.s. agency tpfor international development. you can see the numbers on the screen. first-time callers only. in your view is there a secondary purpose to foreign aid besides humanitarian aid? guest: absolutely. the president said we cannot be secure and setting can't be secure unless they have access to meet basic needs. secretary clinton and secretary gates have both spoken about our

ability to provide resources and cooperation to other countries to help solve critical problems, whether extreme poverty, poor health, vulnerability to climate, these are the challenges of our future in an interconnected world and if we can help countries resolve those problems and put themselves on a path of sustainability and growth we will have more trading partners, we will be more safe and secure and kids that have access to education and young adults that have access to employment are far less likely to be vulnerable to threats of extremist ideology or other things that could take them in a different direction. this is a critical part of foreign policy and sraoelt to national -- vital to national security interests an aside from the humanitarian efforts this i security. host: does u.s. get political good will out of aid, or is it

-- guest: we do. i will tell you when i was in haiti i visited a town outside of port-au-prince. that town had a u.s. a.i. tkfd. built school near where you enter the opportunity and it was built to earthquake standards and it was one of the few buildings left standing. they were using it for jackson and distribution of relief supplies. there is a little plaque that it was the generosity of the american people that enabled that to happen. that is recognized around the world. i have visited those types of sites, whether schools, hospitals, health clinics or any other facilities, all over the world. in india, parts of africa, latin america. so, this is how we express our abili ability. this is really the expression of what is best about our country. it is a hopefulness that all people no matter where they are born should have the opportunity to lead a healthy and productive life and that we care about the

well-being of people who may be born into extreme poverty and misery in some other part of the world. this is really an expression of american values. we recognize we have to be accountable for how we spend and be focused on results. but people do recognize the value of this generosity from the american people. host: the chairman of the joint chiefs just said that the military is doing too much when it comes to foreign aid. do you agree? guest: well, i agree with the admiral's speech. i thought it was a very important speech and echoed many sentiments expressed by secretary gates an secretary clinton where he basically said as part of our foreign policy we have to have a multi-facetted foreign policy that includes a strong and capable and very effective military presence. but also it includes a strong diplomatic capability with

active and effective diplomacy. and alongside that a strong development capacity. so, if countries are experiencing an actual increase in the number of people who go hungry or starve or kids who are m malnourished or extreme poverty going up in places where it has been going down the past several decades, those trends work against our national interests. so, if we can do things that are effective and efficient to help kids go to school and have access to healthcare, make mature mothers with give birth without the risk of death themselves, then we should do something about that to create a just and more peaceful world for our own safety and security. host: how gdo you go from beinga medical doctor to being director of usaid? guest: before i went to medical

school i worked in a tuberculosis program in india and saw the value of u.s. assistance and targeted and effective medical care in a way that could save lives an improve living standards for people who live in circumstances that frankly i had a hard time understanding being born and raised in michigan. when you see that type of extreme poverty and suffering it is almost unbelievable. and it touches you very deeply. so, i had the opportunity to serve in this capacity and it is tremendous. i was at the bill and melinda gates foundation before that and i had a chance to participate in that and i hope to bring some of that focused on results and accountability. and we will make mistakes but we hope to learn and be more efficient and effective in the execution of or work. host: first call for dr. shah is from stone mountain, georgia.

cayen cayenne. on the democrat line. caller: good morning. and good morning, dr. shah. thanks for addressing such a complex matter. that said, i would like to shift back to haiti because you made the comment about the u.s. being the first presence on the ground shortly after the earthquake. however, isn't it true that cuba had already and a has pretty much always had a presence in haiti? and i wonder why is it that for the most part the corporate run media -- and i had also include c-span to a large degree -- ignores the efforts that are made by the island nation who are not occupying haiti with a military presence but actually are engaged in humanitarian work? and if you can address that. and -- host: caller, why do you care so

much about cuba? caller: because i do think there is an unfair policy that has been in place for years now that has unfairly targeted cuba for its politics. host: all right. dr. shah? guest: thanks for that question. i do think in a humanitarian crisis and emergency our goal both on behalf of the united states and our president but the buyer international community is to work with everybody as effectively and rapidly as we can. so, our initial effort was to open the airport, get the seaport working, make sure assistance could flow in. the united states, of course, has had a presence in haiti for many years making significant investments in building schools and providing health services to low income children and doing a range of other things. so, we did have a presence and we had many of our own staff and

organizations and partners who had been working on the ground before the earthquake, lived through the earthquake and continue to provide results and humanitarian solutions after that. one point of note is that we actually do work with cuba in haiti through the medical care system and in support of cuban doctors in particular. we were really in a position where we wanted to provide as many medical services as we could to the people who were affected. more than 200,000 people almost immediately needed some immediate medical attention, more than four million were affected overall by the earthquake. so away worked with everybody. and i think that it is great the cuban doctors were there and able to provide services in some of the hospitals. we september our own medical assistance teams that saw more than 30,000 patients and performed hundreds of surgeries. it continues to be an international effort and in a time of crisis like that it is wonderful to see people and professionals and assistants

come together against that common service mission. host: our us aid people still in haiti? >> absolutely. we have a full team there. we have expanded it significantly to include people who can work directly with the military and go up for guidance in support of the ability to the military to provide support to the humanitarian mission. and we will continue to thereby for some time. we have had a longstanding special relationship and commitment to haiti and we will absolutely see that through going forward. host: easton, maryland. phillip, republican line. caller: good morning, dr. shah and thank to you c-span. you helped my drive time go quicker. my question is this. i will take the answer off the air. during the vietnam war us aid was using or was employing military officers to work in an advisory capacity in helping the

populace. i was wondering if that is still used in any areas where we have had recent conflicts, whether it be in bosnia or, say, in afghanistan and/or iraq? guest: i would say in all of those places we work very closely with the military. we have a strong connection with the military through a variety of different personnel relationships and offices of civilian and military affairs. and it really is important to be very coordinated as we do this work. afghanistan is a great example where this is our largest u.s. aid mission in the world. we have had some successes going from 900,000 kids in afghanistan had access to school and now we have more than 6.2 million children six or seven years into that effort that are going to school and 40% of them are girls. so, there are some big improvements and there is a real opportunity to create improvement in meeting human

needs and laying the basis for a stable and sustainable society. in places where there is a military operation we of course work very closely and in tight concert with our colleagues from the department of defense. host: a tweet, early after earthquake i heard relief planes brazil and france were turned away while our dignitaries and press landed. is that true? guest: well, the airport was very challenging. right after the earthquake the control tower had collapsed and the airport was actually not functional. so, the united states military went in and within 24 hours had the airport up and running. that is an airport that had about 20 flights a day before the earthquake. with effective military operation of the airport they had it up to 160 flights a day at peak. so we had more than eight times the stashed capacity. -- standard capacity. even at that increased capacity we had to make some decisions with the haitian government and with the united nations about prioritizing flights. the priorities were always

heal health, food, water, medical supplies and relief personnel. we didn't have any situations where certainly on behalf of the united states where u.s. dignitaries took flight slots that could have been used for foreign assistance. we were very specific about t that. the haitian government set a number of other priorities so we did have dignitaries from other parts of the world coming in at their request to help coordinate and lead the relief effort and do other things. but this was a real success story of getting that airport up so quickly to high capacity. now it is down far below that because the seaport is working at a capacity that is 400-plus containers a day which is more than twice the capacity prior to the earthquake. but when it kind of earthquake happens and we lost access to the seaport and airport, it just became a challenge at the beginning and it was a great thing we were able to get so

much more through-put into the country to provide relief. host: on our independent line robert from rosemont, pennsylvania. caller: doctor, thank you for your service. it outstanding. given yesterday's one million homeless and the rain and hurricane system how do i get involved in building homes, orphanages. we have built hurricane proof homes in two to four weeks. guest: that is wonderful. i would appreciate learning more about that and you could connect with us through our website at w wfrw www .usaid.gov. you can collect to the clinton bush haiti fund which is the primary vehicle for getting private and donor khreuplts. it is clintonbush haiti fund.org. that would be a way to do that.

it true right now we are in an absolute race against the clock. there are efforts to get emergency shelter materials to 1.3 million in part principals in -- in port-au-prince in advance of the rainy season in april. we are working with partners and encouraging as many creativity and innovation in the process. i just got a briefing yesterday about how our teams on the ground and i applaud their incrennel work, are -- incredible work are clearing rubble, working with haitians and often in haitian job programs, making sites safe, surveying which settlements are in and which people are in very flood vulnerable plains and areas and moving them to safe are places in advance of the rain. so it is a big effort and requires a tremendous amount of logistics and i applaud the interest of the caller and look forward to learn more. host: could you speak about the

coordination between federal and private funds in because we talk about usaid funds. how much in private funds and what kind of control is there over the private funds in guest: first in has been a tremendous private response and shows the common humanity and commitment of the american people. we believe more than half of all american families have given in some way to haiti and if you think about that, that is a tremendous achievement and something that all americans should take great pride in. the clinton/bush haiti fund is the primary vehicle for acknowledging that if money comes in we can account for its effectiveness and allowing it against the top priorities coming out of the relief effort. host: is that a fund controlled by usaid? guest: no, it is a private fund. presidents clinton and bush were asked to come together as they had around the tsunami effort

and do that in order to facilitate getting private resources into haiti and doing it in a coordinated way. so, that is deeply and tightly coordinated with the process on the ground. for example, i think they just took delivery in haiti of some 70 trucks that are being used to move rubble and move people and do all of that. but, knowing where to get those types of contributions and knowing which organizations need them, getting them to them quickly and picking the things that are most important is a significant coordination challenge and that is why we encourage people to use that fund. host: last call for dr. shah administrator of usaid from akron, ohio. caller: i'm independent. host: go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. dr. shah, it is wonderful to talk to you. you sound like a very knowledgeable, caring person. one of the things i don't

understand is why not, if it is ever talked about that we have a vital interest in haiti. we took out an elected official and flew him to another country and hand picked who we wanted to lead their country, who now is off site. host: could you expand that a little bit? the political aftereffects or political importance of usaid? guest: thank you. we have such a strong vital interest as juanita indicated to making sure that societies have the ability to protect their vulnerable populations grow and have an opportunity to connect to a more interconnected global economy. doing that in a way that is effective and sustainable so that we can all benefit from the fruits of a global economy that is peaceful and just. and that is a critical part of our security.

in so many countries that is more acute than other places and haiti is one of those places we just have a longstanding commitment and relationship to the people of haiti and its leaders. and we have been working very closely with president preval in coordinating our effort and working in support of what the needs of the haitian people are. so, that is the spirit that continues to guide our work in haiti. but in countries all around the world we want to be respectful of governments and work in deep partnerships so we are tphnot exercising our work at patronage but real partners and we want to listen ultimately to the most vulnerable people that we serve so we can meet their needs and help them pull themselves out of poverty and lead better lives. and when we are successful, i have had the chance to visit schools or hospitals or entire societies that have graduated from usaid commitments and

programs and gone on in many cases to be donors of the activities and you. the gratefulness and connection of that work when we find scholars that performing a curl kinds in africa or medical doctors in asia. they value the fact they had the opportunities because of usaid programs and commitments of the american people and i believe this country will benefit from that good will. host: what is your response to people who say we are spending $8.5 billion on global health, $7.7 billion for afghanistan, pakistans iraq, $4.2 billion for humanitarian assistance and our budget is 40% of our current budget is deficit spending? guest: well, a few things. i come back to admiral mullens' article and speech. these are investments we are making in our own security and

well-being. these are also investments we are making because they are the right thing to do and when we have the opportunity to save lives as at $11 it $14 we can do in vaccination or have the opportunity to treat h.i.v. patients and keep societies from losing the core productive workforce and falling into disarray and conflict we are saving money in the long run and creating a more stable and just world to participate in. and that is as president obama has said the responsibility of a superpower that has the capability to do this. we need to hold partners accountable and i think the united states agency for international development and american people should make sure every dollar we spend is worth it and be focused on that. but when we know we are generating results, these are some of the best investments we can make to protect ourselves and build a better future. host: dr. rajiv shah thank you for coming on "washington journal."

up next is the dean of the house of representatives john dingell. talking about healthcare and other administrative issues but first a news update. >> it is 8:24 eastern. president obama talks about green jobs today when he visit as small business in arlington, virginia. c-span radio will bring you the remarks later on. update on the shooting at the pentagon yesterday. authorities speaking at a news conference earlier say the gunman who shot two pentagon police officers was heavily armed and spent weeks driving to the capital area from the west coast. resentment of the u.s. government and suspicions over the 9/11 attacks have surfaced in writings about the man. he reportedly had previous run-ins with the law. he was fatally wounded in the return fire. on capitol hill there is word massachusetts democratic congressman bill delahunt will announce his retirement today.

he tells "the boston globe" he wants to spend more time with family and young granddaughter. he oversaw a shooting case in 1986 when he was the norfolk county district attorney and declined to prosecute amy bishop in that case. last month amy bishop killed three people and wounded three others at the youth of alabama. scott brown is making his first campaign trip as a senator to support arizona senator john mccain in his re-election bid. nor brown will campaign with mccain today at a campaign rally in phoenix and tomorrow in tuscon. general stanley mcchrystal issued new directions saying they are to avoid night raids when possible. bring afghanistan troops if they enter homes after dark and alert government representatives beforehand. this was issued in january. portions of the directives were

just made public. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> the next journalism must be one open to blogs and e-mails that are hammering like fists on the door to be let into the conversation. to add new information, to raise new questions and to suggest new context. >> winners of it year's national press foundation awards talk about the role of journalism in a changing society. >> we are in the business of trying to help our students, predominantly young women and some older men and women that you should focus on achievement in your own life and not be looking to grab headlines. >> meet the woman credited with turning around trinity washington university patricia mcguire on c-span's "q&a."

>> t.r. reid has traveled the world. his books are not only about travels but about his global views on contemporary issues including the united states of europe, the healing of america, and confucius lives next door. join our conversation with t.r. reid and your phone calls live sunday at noon eastern on book tv's "in depth" on c-span 2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are pleased to have with us the dean of the house of representatives and chairman emeritus of the energy and commerce committee john dingell democrat of m. mr. -- michigan. some news reports this morning said that the house of representatives wants to have healthcare done by march 18 when the president leaves the country. is that going to happen? guest: i can't tell you that. we have run in nothing but

trouble as we have progressed on this matter. if you will recall i have been trying to get it enacted for 54 years. i'm hopeful we are going to be able to do it and i believe we will. but there is almost total partisan opposition from my republican colleagues on this legislation including tremendous amounts of effort to at all almost everything in the senate. host: you wrote an op-ed recently for the "detroit free press" i believe it was where you said that the bill is bipartisan but the vote will not be bipartisan. guest: i think that is a fair statement. there are a lot of things in that bill which were ideas which the republicans had. it is far different than the bill which i would have had. i would go for single payer. host: that is what h.r. 1 is each year that you introduce it? guest: actually h.r. 15. but i'm a little bit like former

prime minister deng of kline who said he didn't care whether the cat was white or black, i want to catch miles. host: what do you like about what you think going to be the reconciliation bill? and do we know what it is going to be yet? guest: we have a pretty good idea fpltd it will be somewhere between the house and senate bill and president's first and more recent suggestions. to the congress. frankly, i care less about the precise language of the bill than we do -- we have a calamity coming at us. in 2020 about one dollar in every five will go to that purpose. that is healthcare. by the 2080 every nickel spent and earned in this country will be health care. and in 2020 you are going to

find that health care is going to cost -- it is doubled the last 10 years. it will double the next 10 years. it is $12,000 a year for a family now. it 2020 it will be $25,000. families won't be able to afford it and businesses are not going to be able to afford it, especially small businesses. we can't afford what we are doing now because if you look at one of those nice american cars you see running by, they have $1,600 worth of health care, $750 worth of steel. foreigners don't have to put any of that in. the result. s united states is uncompetitive and health care cost is one of the main reasons for both the autos and steel companies going in bankruptcy. host: john ding he will is your guest -- john dingell is our guess. we are talking about healthcare and the healthcare debate.

first-time callers only. reserve dingell can talk about just about anything legislative legislatively. so, if it is going from $12,000 per family to $25,000 per family, how do we bridge that gap without -- is it deficit spending, tax increases, cost controls? all of the above? what is your preference? guest: first of all, we can't undergo that without hideous consequences. but understand if we pass the legislation we will be able to get that cost curve down. if we had taken what richard nixon wanted us to tdo do durins year, the total percentage of healthcare in the gross domestic product would be about 10%. if we'd taken what clinton wanted it would be 14%. it has gone to 18 and it will go to 20 shortly.

so, if we get something done to control the cost expansion, which the bill does, we can head that off. host: why, prior to you, why have you always introduced healthcare and why did your father always introduce national health care? guest: that is an interesting story. dad was a poor polish boy aged 20 from the west side of detroit. he got tuberculosis and he was sent west to die of tuberculo s tuberculosis. he survived because he got the healthcare that that particular union got. the doctor gave him six months to live when he got his first examination. he always had a tremendous interest in this. that was very important. that formed his thinking. and it formed the thinking of a lot of people. remember, otto von bismarck did this in germany in the 1980's. edward vii did it in britain in

1907. teddy roosevelt started it out. franklin delano roosevelt took it up in 1935. harry truman tried it in 1943 when dad introduced his first legislation. host: tom from levittown, pennsylvania, democrat. you are first up. caller: congressman, i would like to ask you a question. i saw the guest that was on befo before. and he said that it showed the money being spent overseas. how can you justify spending that money overseas when we have thousands of people dying here without healthcare insurance? i don't understand that. host: we were talking about the director of usaid. guest: i saw the program. your question is a good one and it is hard to defend but remember the united states has many concerns in it world. not the least of which is, quite

frankly, very important questions involving foreign policy. and our foreign policy is supported largely by expenditures but those expenditures are necessary, quite frankly, to maintain a position of leadership in the world. when we help people, or we we give palmeiro the means to work with us on matters of importance in our policy, it helps us. as you have noted, my friend, tom, we have a tremendous demand for money, far in excess of what it is this country can produce to carry out all of the difference policies and concerns. but foreign policy is extremely important because with wise foreign policy we avoid wars, we help friends, we see to it that our position of leadership in the world and our security and world peace are protected. host: congressman dingell, you have been in congress since about 1955.

who has been your best friend over the 54 years? guest: well, my closest friend was a little guy named john moss from california. but i have had many wonderful friends. rayburn was one of my mentors and teachers. john mccormick was good. tip o'neill. jim wright. a great chairman i served with was warren harris from arkansas. i have had great friends in the senate. hube hubert humphrey and senator douglas. host: after 54 years maybe you have perspective on congress. what would you recommend to somebody who wants to run? guest: i would say work like the very devil to get yourself educated and ready. learn the issues. and learn a couple of things. first of all, my dad taught me that you have to tell the truth

because you can't remember the lie you told yesterday. second of all, be careful to do what is right because there is luge danger for those that don't. host: we have a tweet here from twitter.com. i wonder if people understand they will get a fine for not having healthcare if this passes the pure socialism. guest: well, here is the problem. we have a huge number of difficulties. you have preexisting conditions. they will bar you if you don't do that. they now can cancel your policy while you are being rolled into the operating room on a gurney. and there are lots of reforms. but if we are going to carry out the reforms we have to cover everybody. the fine is very modest. i am willing to take another course. we have to get everybody covered so that we can control the costs.

they are going to destitute the country and have a crushing effect upon our economy and our people. so the mechanism chosen to handle it is to say somebody who doesn't get himself a policy has to pay a part of that cost. that is to encourage people to have a policy. it is in their interest. now, there are a lot of young people who don't want to have policies. but away find that most of them don't want to have policies because of cost of current policies. this legislation will bring the cost down very startlingly and eliminate all the abuses. but to do those things we have to see that we cover everybody. that is one of the mechanismmec. host: call from dothan, alabama. caller: [inaudible] healthcare

bill. if it is done right. thank you. guest: thank you. could you repeat the question? host: it is not -- i could barely hear it, too. she wanted to know that if you would be the first to sign up for this health care bill if it passes if it is so great. guest: absolutely. if you look at the bill, it does -- it gives everybody exactly the same healthcare opportunity that member of congress and federal employees have because members of congress are treated as federal employees. so, emphatically so. this not to give somebody less than i have but it is to give everybody the same thing that i have, the same opportunities, the same securities and same protections and same opportunities for coverage. host: you have always called for a single payer plan. . yes.

host: the u.s. is unique in its employer based system? pretty much so. guest: well, yes. host: so chances are we are not going to move away from that? guest: well, this is an evolutionary thing. our system of government and our people and the way things are going in this country has made us always be evolutionary in our approach to government as opposed to revolutionary and we say thank god for that. but, having said that, i would much rather see a single payer plan. but i don't believe that is to happen at this time. while i would very much like to see that, the hard fact of the matter is it is not possible. so, politics being the art of the possible and having to do what is best for the country at the time, we are going to have to go for something different, less than i would have chosen to have. host: just to change the subject a little, your colleague from

michigan sandra levin is taking off the ways and means committee. guest: he will do a fine job. 's very decent, balanced guy and he has the kind of temperment that will be necessary and needed to run the committee on ways and means, which is an enormously complex and difficult operation. host: is charlie rangel a friend of yours? guest: he is a good friend. i have very few enemies in the congress. i have a lot of friend. charlie is a very good friend and i'm sad about his problems. host: have the democrats in your view made mistakes in the way healthcare has been crafted over the last year or year and a half? guest: not really. there are things they have done in this legislation that substantively i don't agree with. but i have to tell you that i think, given the problems we have had, they have done a good

job. the big problem that we confront on these matters is that it is enormously complex. you are talking about a piece of legislation for 300 million people and programs that will cost enormous sums of money and you are going to talk about a free society of people who all have their own ideas and thoughts. that is reflected both in the house and in the senate over there. and it is the making of legislation is a very complex business and bismarck said if you like sausage and you like legislation, don't watch either one of them made. host: waldorf, maryland, robert on the independent line. caller: how are you today, congressman? guest: fine and i hope you are. caller: i'm good. a couple of questions. with all of the media hype that this process was so bad, isn't

this the closest we have come to changing of the healthcare syst system? and why is that? and, also, isn't there a provision in the bill that says the insurance companies will have to invest 90% of their earnings back into the system? guest: there is a provision which requires that the insurance companies pay a certain amount out in its -- to its clients of the earnings and revenues that it gets. that is to stop opl of abuses that we have seen in the insurance industry by paying too much in, frankly, benefits to their officers and shareholders and too little to their

policyholders. it is one of the many rorls we are trying to get into the insurance industry for the protection of the rate payers. having said this, you are right. this is about as close as we have ever been and i'm hopeful that we can finish the issue because the urgent need of addressing the problem before in bankruptcy the country. host: houston, pennsylvania, eleanor. democrat. caller: good morning. it is a pleasure to talk to you. i felt like your last question was right on for the fell will that is running the -- fella that is running the show. i feel like one of the things that happened in healthcare is in the 1950's my brother had to go to school in italy to become a doctor and i never could understand that. that the american medical association did that to people in america, that they couldn't be a doctor if they wanted to be because it is such a hard

profession. i think that the majority of those have done a wonderful job but i feel they have helped create part of this mess by limit the number of men that could be doctors. guest: well, there is much in what you say. and thank you. there is now and will shortly be an eupb kraoincreasing shortage docto doctors. that is coming about in good part because of costs, because of the fact that in many instances the payments to the doctors are not adequate. and one thing in the legislation and in other legislation that i'm addressing is to try to see to it we get those payments up. one of the other problems we have is with regard to doctors which is a severe one, if you look you will find that foreign countries pay their doctors' cost of education. we do not. our young people, when they come out of school will have a debt

of $200,000, $400,000. a huge debt they are carrying to get through medical school. other countries don't do that. so, as a result, a lot of foreign doctors come over here and they can outcompete our people in this matter. we do have some very difficult proble problems. family physicians, general practice physicians are all in short supply. and they are in good part because they can't make as much money in that area as they could in others. most doctors don't go in to make money. they go in because they believe in public service. but you have to -- a fella has to look at what he is going to be able to earn and pay off his debts from education and whether he can provide a decent life for his family. host: lieutenant dingell was in the army at age 18, due to take part in the first invasion of japan in november, 1945.

where were we the bombs were dropped? guest: he was just graduating frommen fan industry o.c.s. at fort better thanking, georgia in class 517. and we got news that the one bomb had been dropped and a few days later came the story that the war was over. i had my orders to report to the port of embark indication where i was -- embarkation where i was going to be a small unit leader. i called the army later saying what were you going to do with me. he said you were going to be in the first wave. i said what is my life expect is he. he said we are glad you asked because it was 10 seconds. that told me that you did the right thing and harry truman did

the right thing. host: who is your favorite president of all time? guest: oh, can i say two? host: sure. guest: roosevelt, who was a hero. host: f.d.r. guest: f.d.r. the other roosevelt was great, too. but f.d.r. was very special. then harry truman. i remember we were talking about my time in the army. when i was -- the guys in my platoon came over to me one time and after roosevelt died and said, dingell, your dad is in congress. i said yes. they said what does he say about this guy truman. they didn't noah kind of president he was going to be. they said will you write your dad and ask him? so i wrote dad. and the next mail call they called my name and pitched me my letter are dad. i wouldn't let him write on his

congressional station neri. because i wanted to make my way on my own. and when i was sitting there on my bunk reading the letter all of a sudden the whole company is there. i said dingell what kind of guy is this truman going to be. you said you are going to write. i said well i will read the letter. dad said son, he is going to be a great president and he was right. host: battle creek, michigan. reginald. republican. caller: good morning, sir. guest: good morning. caller: i want to know how you can justify voting for a bill that the majority of the american public is not for. guest: well, let's address that. i have looked at polls that say 76% of americans are in favor of

this. and if you look at the essential parts of the legislation you will find almost all the americans are in favor of it. you will find also that there are a tremendous number of falsehoods told about what is in the bill either by reason of deliberate intent to deceive or because people don't understand. one of the problems we have had has been that we have been writing this bill in public instead of having the bill presented which could then be discussed and dissected in the orderly congressional process. that has led to a huge number of misunderstandings. you will recall we had last y r year, when we were traveling around, people were saying there is a death panel. they are going to kill people. that is hooey. it is not in the bill. then they were saying they are going to pull the plug on grand phafrplt they are not going to pull the plug on grandma. both of those proposals existed

in other republican sponsored legislation. the same folks that sponsored those proposals as republican bills are now denouncing them with the democratic package. host: somehow nancy pelosi doing? guest: nancy and i have a somewhat rocky relationship at advertisements. but i think on this she has done a superb job. it has been one of the most difficult pieces of legislation. i handled legislation that took me 18 months to get through and i'm hopeful that we can better that but i'm not able to tell you so. we passed a bill in the house by a good decent majority and then we passed a bill in the senate by 60% of the norse voting for it and everybody is saying we were ramming the bill through. that is hooey. host: columbia city, indiana. jerry is on with congressman

john dingell. caller: how are you doing today? guest: fine. and i hope you are. caller: i'm fine. why are we the only nation that allows for profit insurance companies? every other country or industrialized country has outlawed it. guest: well, they really haven't outlawed it. but offensive other major industrial country in the world, all of our competitors, has this done through government sponsored and government parameters and the end result is they are able to outcompete pus the most unbelievable fashion. it is one thing that drives our people under. in businesses it was a major cause of the bankruptcy of the steel industry, a major cause of the bankruptcy of the automobile industry. and one of the curses of this is our people are having the devil of a time competing.

having said that, it is just the way it evolved. if you will observe our government tend to be a rather slow-moving enterprise around other countries, with the parliamentary system, are able to move faster on these kinds of things and have a rather different system of government. they tend to be more social democracies where away tend to concentrate on the rights and privileges and responsibilities of the ordinary citizen. host: quite heated toyota hearings last week. you were quite active in them. what is the status of toyota and the u.s. congress? guest: well, toyota is a business that manufactures automobiles, and they, like every other business that we have in it country, is entitled to be fairly treated. but they are also entitled to be regulated in the public interest the way their competitors are.

and, very frankly, there are new substantial questions about the safety of their automobiles, about their cooperation with the national highway transportation safety administration, and there are questions of whether or not they know what was the cause of the brake problems and the sudden acceleration problems. all i want to do is see that toyota does what they need to do to comply with the laws and keep american citizens safe as they drive down the road. now, having said that, one of the problems we had before our committee was you will remember that i asked a lot of questions of the c.e.o. of toyota. one of the distressing things is he couldn't answer the questions. he pointed out that the answers to the questions were known in tokyo. and also he pointed out that he

could not answer them for that reason and that the responsibility for those questions was not his. now, this is the c.e.o. of the company. and i think one thing we will have to do is assure not only that toyota cars are safe and treated fairly, they comply with our laws, they are not -- they don't use the fact that they are a foreign ownership to get better treatment and to escape federal regulation for the safety of people. i think that those questions, plus the safety questions, still have much to be answered. host: boston, carol, democrat. please go ahead. caller: hi. guest: good morning. tkpwhrao i just want to make a comment. i live in massachusetts and you know we are mandated to have health insurance. i don't have a problem with that but i want to say a lot of people i believe that is

opposing this bill just really don't understand. i do know that the cost gets more people and everybody has to have insurance and the cost will go down as a whole but right now i'm paying almost half of my paycheck in health insurance and i would love to see this pass so we can all share the cost and the cost can go down. guest: that is a very wise observation. thank you. first of all, unless we cover everybody we cannot control the costs and we can not prevent the calamity that he see coming where one dollar in give of every person's will be spent on healthcare. i will point out something interesting. the united states is now approaching the point where 50% or more of the costs of healthcare are paid for by the federal government under various

federal programs. i think that is unacceptable. so, to get control of the costs so that when you go to bed at night you are not going to have to worry, is my employer going to cover me when i get up, or when you retire you will not are to say is my employer going to continue taking care of my healthcare now that i'm retired because you are finding retirees all over the country are losing healthcare and employees are going to bed with health care and waking up the next morning and finding they don't have it. host: employment statistics just came out about 20 minutes ago. 9.7% unemployment rate nationwide. what about the 15th congressional district? guest: the 15th congressional district, we know the meaning of economic downturn. when the nation gets a cold it is the 15th district that

sneezes. michigan is dependent on manufacturing and when the auto industry and manufacturing hurts as it is doing now we really do hurt. our unemployment levels are above national because of the terrible things that have happened to manufacturing in this country. that is true not only for michigan but all across the midwest because all of those economies in states like michigan, ohio, indiana, illinois, wisconsin, pennsylvania, they are dependent on manufacturing. host: what scares you the most looking ahead, healthcare, manufacturing? what worries you the most? guest: well, i'm not scared. i worry. i'm worried about the -- i'm worried about, frankly, world peace, terrorism. i'm worried terribly about the economy and getting it going. by the way, the economy is

interesting. george w. bush got taken to the woodshed by mr. bernanke, head of the fed, and by his secretary of the treasury and they both told him if he didn't do something very drastic like passing tarp that we were going to see an economic collapse because the banks were going to die. and so we had to do that. but george w. bush, a very conservative guy, reviewed that he couldn't make hoover's mistake and fail to see to it that the banks remained viable. so, the economy worries me. i'm, of course, concerned about world peace and the terrorists. i have environmental concerns, global warming, pollution, danger to the great lakes from invasive species and pollution.

these are all concerns. but they are concerns that every american shares. we have some differences on what ought to be done, but there is no difference if something has to be done. host: our guest the last 40 minutes john dingell the dean of the house representatives and congressman since 1955 from the 15th district of michigan. thank you, sir. the house is coming into session in a pro forma session and which means we won't do much business but what is the purpose of a pro forma session? guest: the rules of the house should require that the house has to not, without the consent of the senate and president be out of session more than so long. but a pro forma session, remember, everybody looks and says nothing is happening on the house floor but if you look you will find one of the things that is happening while the house is having pro forma sessions is committees and investigations or

in executive sessions to create legislation. so, things are happening. host: we will go to that now and be back when this is over. .

guest: food stamps we need is

proportional to, because they are disproportionately for i-- disproportionately poor. more women are raising children on their own than men are. so that is thought of as a women's issue. we have specific issues in the federal government. violence against women. there is a lot of issues like that that are either very targeted at women or largely targeted. host: when the president announced his discretionary budget freeze in january or february, did it include women's programs? guest: yes, of course. some of the women's programs, programs of interest to women, have been frozen, but many of them of interest to the president have been increased.

just like with the aara, the stimulus act passed last year, there were specific things on the budget that were excellent for women. host: what is your -- of all the programs, the ones that have gotten caught, what are you most worried about? -- gotten cut, what are you most worried about? guest: well, i think there are things were more money would be important. since i am at a labor economist, the unemployment benefits -- we have not seen a big enough extension of the unemployment benefits. the stopgap extension -- we need more than that. we needed the increased length of unemployment so that people all across the country can get more benefits. in the stimulus bill, there was an increase and benefits of $25 a week. i believe it is only in there for six months.

we really want the money for that for all of 2010. there is a lot of areas -- that may be the biggest dollar amount. we have heard that women are a lot less unemployed in this recession. it is about unemployment -- the rate for women is 1% or 2% below that for men. host: is that constant, even in a good economy? guest: it has tended to be the case that unemployment for women has been a little bit better than for men. the reason men are getting hurt more right now with layoffs is that manufacturing, construction, very heavily hit by this recession. women are more in health care and education, which tend to be more steady. but we will start to see women's unemployment possibly catch up

with men's. the unemployment rate for a single mothers is called%, much higher -- is 12%, much higher. host: i know we are talking about president obama's proposed budget for women's programs, but he mentioned that state legislatures -- as a member of congress, do you see that stick and hit hard right now? -- that states are getting hit hard right now? guest: whenever the economy tanks, we are paying less sales tax, and that is what keeps state and local government going. yes, their revenues are way down. there will have to of layoffs in the areas where they don't like to do layoffs -- police, fire, schools. we are seeing at around this area, which is a strong economy. the washington, d.c. area is quite strong economy, all things

considered. they are very much hurt. one of the things with aara at the president is proposing be continued to some extent is more state aid. there is more money for medicaid assistance to the states, the state share of medicaid money. and that goes disproportionately to women. medicaid is huge. host: really? guest: yes, again, because women are more likely to be poor than men. especially women with children. if you are poor adults with children, you can get medicaid. if you or an older person and you have run for all your assets, you are on medicaid three-quarters of the boat people in nursing homes are women. -- three-quarters of the people in nursing homes are women. we live longer. and we tend to marry men who are a little older than us. host: heidi hoffman. we are learning some new things

today. the numbers are on the screen. first-time callers all lead. we are talking about the budget for women's programs. she will be our guest for the next 20 minutes or so. i want to show you some facts of -- fax and figures so you have an idea of what we're talking about. the proposed fy11 funding programs -- what is titled 10? guest: that is the family planning money that goes to places like planned parenthood clinics that provide free health care on issues like reproductive elf. most of these areas up for increase -- of course, the increases are great news, because as we all know, the president has proposed a three- year freeze in domestic spending.

that means he is free to move the money around but he has targeted some programs for expansion, others for cuts or stability this is an area he is targeting for expansion. host: $7.6 million for wic, which is? guest: money for women and infant children. it is important to get the baby off to a good start. host: $1.6 billion for the child care development fund. $989 million for head start in the early headstart. and that paid race for the military -- is that considered a women's program? guest: we all benefit from the military. women are about 15% of our armed forces.

the housing is going to be very important to the families. host: does it help that michelle obama has taken that on as one of four issues? guest: -- as one of her issues? guest: it might very well. she is a very strong woman and she has taken on a number of women's issues. we saw the administration come out for the healthy families act up to seven days paid every year for every worker not just for your own illness, but to take care of a family member. that is disproportionately women, because they are usually the ones taking off to take care of family members. host: $1.3 billion for military child care programs, at $84 billion for enhanced career and education services -- $84 million for enhanced career and

education services, and $1.9 billion for counseling and assistance to military families dealing with separation. north carolina, republican line. helps if i push the button. sorry. caller: hi. hope you are having a good morning. i wanted to raise a couple of questions about medicaid. my granddaughter is on medicaid, and her mother is disabled and single and not very good health at all. this past month, when we went to help them get their medications, we had to drive down, had to take the baby to the emergency room and then get medications, which he had

afforded the last time we got the medications, they were like $9, and this time they were $45. when i went to my doctor's office, he had a sign up saying that he could not take any more medicaid patients. what is going to happen with the medicaid program, with it being cut, the weight is going to be cut? welcome guest: we're certainly hoping that this -- guest: well, we're certainly hoping not to seek cuts in the medicaid program. federal money in, but the states have to -- the program has a lot of the federal money in, but the states have to match the money. they are having to cut their medicaid benefits. that would explain the prescription drug benefits cost going up for you, that might explain doctors being unwilling to take more medicaid patients. the state match might have been

lower, and other reimbursement rates for the doctors are going to go down to one of the good things that president obama said on wednesday, when he announced that he wants to go ahead with pushing national health care reform, is that he agrees with the idea of increasing the medicaid reimbursement rates for doctors. it is going to make doctors more willing to take medicaid patients. there are many grandparents like you taking care of their children, a disabled mother. it is obvious is so important that you are there for your family. host: what is the institute for women's policy research? guest: the institute for women's policy research is a think tank. we have a lot of a kids running around the place -- a lot of eggheads around the place, trying to make the case for public policies that would help women in particular -- families

also, men also. we look at a cost benefits of how much it would cost businesses and the country to provide it, and we found that it would reduce turnover and it would save more money than it would cost. this is what we're trying to do, make the case for a proposed law and sometimes analyzing a bill that is already in existence and the impact on women and children. we work on a wide variety of issues, but many of them have to do with families and women. host: id hoffman is also the author of several books dealing with at -- heidi hoffman is also the author of several books dealing with economics and labor, and is a professor at george washington university, and received a macarthur fellowship award in 1994. what does that mean? guest: that is locally known as the genius award. it is awarded for your

independence of thought and creativity, something you have dedicated your life to or are about to dedicate your life to. it is a reward of every welcome 1. -- it is a rare award, but a very welcome 1. besides donating some of the money to my on think tank and other good causes and education for children, we did renovate our kitchen. host: how else is the institute funded? guest: largely through private foundations like the ford foundation, rockefeller foundation, individuals, corporations, labor unions, women's organizations, and many people and organizations will send us $100 a year, several thousand dollars a year. altogether we have about $2 million budget. host: columbus, ohio, a

democrat. caller: good morning, c-span, and welcome, a despe -- welcome, at best. i think you answered my question a moment ago, but when you listen to all the pundits in this particular situation with health care, they mention a number -- $500 million cut -- is that million or billion -- cut in medicaid, due to reduced money might states matching, and the federal government is going to make the cuts. what is going to be done to close the gap, if anything? am i correct in my thinking? guest: not absolutely certain, but what we're hearing -- it is usually a reference to medicare, health care for the

aging. we could do things more efficiently and there would be cost savings and hopefully it that would not impact negatively on people using the services. the cuts happening in medicaid have to do with that state's meeting to rein in their costs and renegotiate the benefit levels in their own estates. what would help would be providing -- the president and congress to provide more federal money to the states in order to prevent those cuts, and that is one of the proposals in president obama's budget. host: first-time callers only on this first friday in march. michigan, independent line. caller: good morning. i have -- hello? host: we are listening. caller: with regard to clinics that offer reproductive service, are you referring to clinics that offer abortion?

host: and what is your second question? caller: my second question is you also mentioned unemployment. and from the guest they had on the other day, unemployment has been on the ascent for 35 years. after 35 years, why is it so hard to put things together? guest: let me start with a the unemployment question. it is a great and venerable program that is older than 35 years, as far as the social security act of 1935, it is a state federal program, and the way unemployment insurance works is that when you are working, and your employer is sending a bit of the tax premium to the federal government and it state government. most of the time when people are unemployed, it is the state money that is being used to cover unemployment. when the recession is very bad and long, like the current one,

that is when the federal money comes into the program. when the -- the federal money to be released it to go into the program, it requires a vote of congress. the money is there in a trust fund for the unemployment insurance program, but it cannot be released until congress votes for it. that is why we had a bit of a stalemate this week as we were waiting for the senate to make another extension of the benefits. and we're up to something like the 79 weeks now, and the average period of unemployment who is unemployed today is over six months. there have been many people unemployed for a very long time. to get the extension of benefits, the extra dollar value of the benefits, requires legislation. that is why ia few people did nt collect benefits this week because of the delay in the senate.

the family planning services with government funds are strictly for help examinations, birth control -- health examinations, birth control, those kinds of things. does not fund abortion services. host: texas, democrat. please go ahead. are you with us? caller: by pay child support -- i pay child support, and one i went to the courts, i put my daughter on insurance, and how can they allow that when my daughter is 5 years old? medicate insurance is still allowing her to do that -- the lady from the medicaid office -- they don't have anything to do with what medicate do, but shouldn't they take my child off

medicaid -- it is only $25 -- $15 for medication when she goes to the doctor -- guest: well, there could be a reason for it. it is great that you have her on your insurance. medicaid -- i do not know how that would work with private and public, but sometimes it would be the secondary payer if your insurance covers that money and the child is still eligible, i don't know, but i think that would be ok. certainly that type of thing happens with medicare, if you have a secondary payer -- like if i am still employed and over age 55, which i am not yet, but i am getting there, my health insurance at work would be the primary payer, but medicaid would be the secondary payer. host: how did you get interested

in the issues you are interested in? guest: i have to say, i think i was born interested, almost. my mother was an immigrant from germany. she divorced my father when i was very young, because unfortunately, he was a gambler, and that left her a single mom with a high-school education to raise children. my brother got a master's degree, i got a ph.d. in economics from yale, and i studied economics because of the situation growing up. host: was it tough growing up? guest: 0, yes. minimum-wage salary. my mother was laid off on christmas eve. host: what kind of work did she do? guest: she was a sales clerk. she did not have a language skills -- a very high marks in

high school, but she never learned typing, and that was a better job for women and then sells court or waitress. she was a sales clerk most of her life. fortunately, she got a good job with a private employer. the man and his wife put in health insurance and pension plan and she started making more than minimum wage, and she has a nice retirement today thanks to social security and her own frugality and good investment skills. she is doing quite well now. it was hard. at one time she was sick and lost her job and there was no one to pay for the operation. we apply for welfare, but before the whole thing went through, she was back -- we live in a resort area, so it was hard to get a job in the winter. and found work, so we ended up not going -- but she was back on

her feet and found work, so we ended up not going on welfare. but i knew that it would be better if we did not have to go on welfare. at that time, the welfare case officers like to interview the children, too, if they were a reasonable age. my brother and i were supposed to leave school during lunch hour to be interviewed, and every day we would get home, my mother was at home and not working -- "did you go today? did you go today?" "oh, not yet. i will go tomorrow." i would go to this upstairs office in this building in new jersey, and i see a man that i think to be middle-aged, wearing a sweater, and he starts talking to me -- "hi, how are you? how do you do in school?" i mumbled, "pretty good, i

guess." "pretty good? what is pretty good mean?" "that means like '95, '96, 99, up 100." it taught me a lesson, that he kind of assumed a child and a family that might need welfare might not be doing that well in school. the next genius like albert einstein might be of latino living in the ghetto today. i am glad i had the experience. it was excruciating at the time. but, you know, i have to credit my mom. she is a survivor. host: maryland, sue, republican line. caller: i want to know about this whole thing, this health bill, the mountain you have on

your desk. how can you read? -- how can you read it? host: if you can take and put it in the scope of your issues. guest: i think the health care reform bill -- it is very long. there are two versions, one passed by the senate, one by the house, and the president is making other proposals. we have a new bill that will " fully incorporate some of his proposals and some of the best from the house version and the best from the senate version. there is a great thing for women -- i will mention one thing right off the bat -- there were no longer be discrimination by gender allowed. private insurance companies will no longer be able to charge women more for health care, which they do now. if you go to be why health care, and you are a woman, you will pay more to women pay more out

of pocket for things like drugs and doctor visits. women use health care more than men. therefore, health care is disproportionately a women's issue. also, we live longer and need more health care at the end of our lives, and are more dependent on medicare and medicaid, because more women who raise children on their own are poor and need medicaid. all of the things are going to strengthen those programs and give people better and fairer access to health care. those things are going to help women. there's a lot of complicated stuff and i don't know all the details. but if you had a specific question, i will try to answer it for you our web site is ww w.iwpr.org. we have new data with public

polling about how people feel about health care. host: new jersey, heather, independent line. caller: i had a question about the domestic violence issue. given the obama administration's increase in funding for domestic violence, and his commitment to the issue, do you feel the laws that specifically affect victims of domestic violence, that there might be hope in changes -- immigrants who came to the country after 1996, who currently have to wait five years before they are eligible for medicaid and food stamps -- host: heather, why do you ask that question? caller: i am doing a research project on that. i am currently in law school. there was a bill that was proposed in 2001 called the women immigrants say harbor act, and it failed in the house.

i was wondering, given the new administration, whether there was any hope that something like this could be revisited under the obama administration. guest: well, i hope so. new jersey is my home state. i hope so. certainly, the president has said that immigration is on his schedule. there are few things ahead of it -- health care reform, a few environmental bills coming up, jobs, jobs, jobs. but there will be at a rally in washington on march 21, rallies for immigration reform. i think the situations are unfortunate. there are many women immigrants who are physically assaulted, and not only perhaps by their partners, which is usually the way we think about domestic violence, but possibly on at the job.

they may actually be physically assaulted or even break on the job. -- even raped on the job. most of these women simply do not want to come forward. that really threatens all of us, because we really cannot have the kind of level of violence. we have to find a way to protect these women. host: last call, kansas city, missouri, democrat. caller: good morning, and that you for what you are doing for the women of america. how come over half a million americans go outside the country to get health care? end of the -- and the uninsured americans will die before health reform takes effect. i hope you understand all this.

thank you. guest: yes, there is a statistical estimate out there that given that we have 35 million uninsured, or more than that now -- about 130,000 people die each year because of the lack of health insurance in america. one of the reasons people are going out of the country for health care is to save money. people are going to india for major surgery. i think we do have our problem containing health care. everybody says we have a wonderful, wonderful system, in tons of the quality of our care and the technological advances. but is costly and it is leaving a lot of people out. if we can fix those two things, we would have the best system in the world. but right now i would agree with you that we do not have the best system in the world. host: we have been talking about president obama's budget for women's programs. for being on "washington journal -- thanks for being on

"washington journal." we will go to open phones. and any public policy issue you want to discuss this on the table. remember, first-time callers only for this first friday of march ri. a half hour left of first-time callers. we have a news update with c- span radio and nancy calo. >> as peter mentioned earlier, the unemployment rate held at 97% in february, as employers cut fewer jobs than expected economists predict that the snowstorms could inflate job losses by 100,000 or more. some data that show that the storms did not have as much impact as previously thought. a house committee passed a resolution labeling the world war i-era killings of armenians as genocide. turkey is warning the obama administration that the measure, now working its way through congress, will have negative

diplomatic consequences if it passes the house. turkey's foreign minister says that the administration has not done enough to stop it, and they have recalled their ambassador over the vote. a protest at the greek parliament in athens has turned a violin. lawmakers will vote on a series of austerity measures to deal with the countries debt crisis. there will be tax hikes of 19 to 21%. and toyota president akio toyoda but is urging thousands of his employees to work for a new start to win back customer trust following safety issues and recalls of over 8 million vehicles. choking up and wearing a gray workmans' it jacket, speaking to 2000 workers at the company headquarters, said "we are making a start to date." those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> "washington journal"

continues. host: back live. first-time callers today, it is your turn to dial in. we will begin taking those calls in just a few minutes. as soon as the lines start letting up. i want to let you know about a few things coming up this weekend. but tv, 48 hours of nonfiction books, we have our life "in debt" program the first sunday of every month. -- "in depth"program, the first sunday of every month. this sunday, t.r. reid. he has written several books on all sorts of topics. he will be our guest for a call-in program from noon to 3:00 on sunday. also, on our "communicators"

program, and then on monday -- it deals with a lot of telecommunications issues that are sometimes a little esoteric and detailed, a little targeted towards specialized audience. this weekend we have an interview with marty cooper. well, i had not heard of them either, but it is worth watching. it is on saturday at 6:30 p.m., and it will be on our website as well. you can meet marty cooper, the inventor of the cell phone. very interesting background and story. there is marty cooper with the original cell phone, from 1973, in that picture. jessica, north carolina, you are first up on open phones. caller: hope you guys are having a good morning. just calling about the health

care bill. i've heard a couple of callers call in about it as well. i heard some of the responses as well. i am one of the true believers that our health-care system really is one of the best in the world, through our abilities for technology and everything else. i kind of feel, however, that universal health care idea has been done before on several occasions, canada, great britain, and it has shown tried and true, time and again, how it failed. and it is a concern to me. host: what is your -- caller: prior service, sir. host: you do have a government sponsored health care. caller: and it worries me.

if everybody is thrown on to the system, it will grow up the lines. government will have control the costs, but that could be a very good thing or very bad thing. i would like to hope that the government having their hand in this would do the right thing, by controlling costs, and not be possibly throwing cost through the roof as well. if this does pass through, i hope it does work out, and not get the early ironed out before it passes -- host: are you happy with your health care as it is? caller: there are a few things i would like to see change. long lines, difficulty -- there are certain things that are not to read that i feel should be -- are not covered that i feel should be.

with time and enough people making a large fight about it, it will eventually change for the better. host: are you a former marine? caller: former air force. host: is there an air force base down there? caller: hope. host: i knew that. patricia in fort worth, texas, republican line. caller: what has not been set on the program -- i am 62 and i've had $10,000 a year for health insurance. it is a high deductible plan. according to obamas tax plan, i may be taxed on this even though i don't have a cadillac plan. i have at several points i would like to make that i have not heard. what i would like to say is that we need a national sales tax to get everybody on, everybody pays something, and you can exclude groceries and things like that.

but everybody has got to put something into the pot. something else they could do without changing of the thing is to add parents to schip, according to income, that would put people like to meet on medicare. we need tort reform, we need -- we could put kids on until they're 30, which could take -- we could take away the bias for women, and then you could have some sort of national plan. as far as what is happening in this country, the country is going to go bankrupt with this health-care plan. children and grandchildren will be covered, and the situation is -- i might have to move to canada to get health care. host: st. joseph, michigan, a democrat. caller: i want to know why income levels are so low for medicaid. i just became disabled, and i

don't qualify for medicare yet, unless i've been on it for two years. i make of hundred dollars a month. -- i make $1,200 a month. they say my income is too high. host: that is our reform you would like to see? caller: yes, i would like to see the income level go up if it appeared -- go up a little. host: "conservatives rallied behind seals accused of at mistreating iraqi. three navy seals are facing a court-martial on charges that they mistreated and iraqi prisoners suspected in the deaths of four blackwater security guards whose charred bodies were dragged through the city of fallujah in 2004.

the case has prompted an outcry from conservative members of congress and members of the military's secretive special operations forces, who say the navy commanders are innocent. more than 40 members of congress, nearly all of them republicans, have signed letters calling upon the pentagon to exonerate the seals, while accusing military leaders of bending over backward to protect a prisoner believed responsible for one of the most brutal slayings in the war in iraq." good morning, kerri. caller: i would like to know, being a victim of poverty since the day i was born -- i don't see any way out of this, because all these policies that are put in place -- the only thing i see that could get me

out of this situation would be a micro enterprise alone -- micro- enterprise loan, which would make me independent. is there anything in the table to change it, for women especially, but for people in poverty? host: we will leave that comment to stand. ohio, independent. caller: i hear everybody talking about the cost of medicare, worried about the unfunded social security liability. i would like to address the unfunded public pension liability. i the to the state of ohio, and it seems like four of the five pension funds are having trouble with their funding. it seems like a nationwide thing. i read an article in one of the papers that said 43 of the 50 states were having similar problems. but nobody ever seems to talk

about that. i would kind of like to throw that out there for everybody. host: massachusetts democratic representative bill delahunt announces his retirement today. he told "the boston globe" in an exclusive interview published thursday evening. he denied that any political calculations figured into his decision. he had been publicly mulling it leaving congress for some time, and he recently came under fire for a 1986 shooting case he oversaw while he was the norfolk county district attorney. he declined to prosecute any bishop -- amy bishop that case, a decision that has come under it scrutiny after bishop killed three people and wounded three others at the university of alabama last month." let me point that out. caller: hello.

i would like to ask a question about the reform bill, the health reform bill. i understand there will be cuts in medicare. i don't really know what that consists of. i certainly have not read the bill. i have read pros and cons on it. i am very disturbed our congress. the republicans are fighting obama, and obama seems to be having trouble with his own party. i just wonder when congress intends to think about the american people. host: we appreciate your comment, evelyn. we don't have the guest out here, so we will not get an answer to that, but we will leave it on the table. as you as a democrat -- are you as a democrat happy with president obama? caller: yes and no. i think he is doing well in some areas, and on others i disagree.

i am not really a democrat per se. i am sometimes independent. host: who did you vote for in 2008? caller: i voted for him. however, if things don't change, i can change my mind. host: manchester, tennessee. first-time callers only. but your issues on the table. caller: well, it is very frightening to be a first-time caller. i have always wanted to get through. host: what is your experience like? caller: i don't know, i am shaking. my input is that people live way beyond their means, and the rest of us have to pick up. through the grace of god, i have never had an operation except on my eye, and i'm 75 years old.

i am going as fast as i can come doing my business the best i can. the saddest thing i've seen are people are not really thinking about what they are doing. i cannot believe the weight they vote -- the way they vote -- they want an arena, a another arena in nashville, and they cannot take care of the school's, they cannot find good teachers. i am really at a point where the only thing i want to say, if they don't start thinking about taking better care of themselves, they are really going givto be able to give ther soul to the lord and give themselves the mirror -- host: jane, what do you think

you are in such good health? caller: i honestly don't know. i have never had the money for a lot of things. host: when did you quit smoking? caller: 1997. host: just 10 years ago, in your 60s. caller: yes. host: do you feel better now? do you miss it? caller: i quit cold turkey. i did a lot of walking, and found out that i had sleep problems. i had to work two jobs. if people don't start finding out who they are voting for and why they are voting, we really have enough problems and we should be stopping all these wars. host: how do you think

president obama is doing? caller: i am very proud of that young man. he has to think of all the things he has to do and not the names people call him. there is a lot of evil in this country. there is predators everywhere. i feel terrible about the young woman not being able to walk anywhere. there is a news story in tennessee where a woman was shopping in wal-mart and a young man came over and stole her purse. they brought him down, that was the good news. i want to thank you for letting me say my piece. host: thank you for calling in. i hope you try to get back in. new york city, republican line. what is on your mind? caller: the health insurance plan. i have a health insurance plan, and it is what is assigned to

me. i don't understand why republicans is having a hard time having democrats and president obama passing health care, for everybody in the united states. my plan i've been having for over 50 years -- i am 81 years old -- i hope the plan passes for everybody who needs it. host: thank you. this is from "politico." "republicans are feeling pretty good about midterms. prognosticators don't laugh anymore when a talk about kicking back congress. but while when it once back is a good thing, cash would be better, and on that score republicans are lagging behind.

the candidates have raised less than half the 8 $4 million it will take seriously threatened the democratic majority in the house. the democratic party committees have brought in for order $42 million since last january." caller: good morning. originally i was born in wales, the united kingdom. i came to this country in 1956. i became a citizen in 1965. i just want it to say that a lot of this propaganda about national health insurance -- it is not called socialized medicine over there -- that is something put out by republicans

to give it a communistic to inge. in 1991, we went to wales to retire, and she was accepted on the national insurance program there, and she had service on her jaw, which would have cost ordered thousand dollars to have it done in this country, but -- cost $100,000 to have it done in this country, but it did not cost a nickel their -- host: do you like that system better? caller: definitely. it was a much fairer system. after the second world war, they went through all the same problems with a greedy people who did not want to lose their money-making schemes.

once we got rid of the self- interest people, it became a good system. host: thank you, jeffry. snowflake, arizona. where is snowflake, arizona? caller: northeast of phoenix. i am glad you have an open line an open mind. i think obama is one of the greatest presidents since lincoln. he has the right idea. i hurt myself on the job and i cannot work anymore. my wife got unemployed. i cannot put her on insurance because my insurance goes up, general payments, $300 or $4. -- or $400. i think the guy who stopped the unemployment -- i think the

republicans should sit back and rethink themselves and not try to filibuster or stop obama from everything he is trying to do. we elected him and i think we should give him a chance. host: as you have probably seen in the papers, the vote in iraq is taking place, a parliamentary election is taking place. here is a different take on it -- spoils of victory away winners of iraqi vote. you can see here that per month, members of congress earned $14,500, basic salary, and in iraq, that basic salary would be $9,400, less than what the u.s. congressman makes per month. ohio, jack on the republican line. what is on your mind?

caller: thanks for taking my call. it has been kind of hard to get in there. we have a problem with republicans and democrats both in washington. if they had to work in the corporate world, and none of them would survive. they can even put in -- if they can sit down and work together, this is the only way we can survive. we are going to far left. if we keep on at this way, we are in trouble. host: what kind of work did you or do you do? caller: i work in utilities, and now i'm retired. we had a budget in utilities and we stayed within it. we had jobs to do, and if we did not do them, we could possibly lose them. in washington, it does not happen. host: okay, thanks for calling in. "wall street journal" -- "china

moderates defense spending growth. it is the smallest increase in to devote decades. china will spend nearly $78 billion on its armed forces in 2010. since 2000, china's annual defense outlay has grown fourfold, a military spending of the u.k., -- and it now exceeds the military spending of the u.k., france, and russia." indiana -- hi, sandra. caller: hi there. host: what is on your mind? caller: what is on my mind is what personally happened to me in 2008. at the time i was on welfare.

and living in a two-bedroom apartment with my daughter. because i was honest about my disability, i was awaiting social security disability, and the man did not want my kind there, and that is exactly what it boils down to. that is -- i had a legal aid on the case for a whole year and nothing came of it. i got my social security, 1380 a month, but i want to go back on the welfare system -- host: what to do? are you able to work at all? caller: no, sir. i have a mental disability, and i have a child in my home.

so i was under the impression when you are homeless, you spend a lot of time at the library, looking at the declaration of independence, and i was under the impression i could file a lawsuit, a civil suit, which i did, in the state of indiana. i pluned down for $350 -- plunked down three or $50 for my back pay -- host: we are going to have to wrap this up. what is your final thought? caller: i need help and i don't know where to go. host: sandra, looking for legal help. lee, new york city. caller: i have a medical billing service -- host: you deal with those 30,000

medicare cuts? calle -- codes? caller: exactly, and the real problem is with the standardization. each insurance -- we have to adhere to each insurance's specific rules, and they can change the rules any time. some of them will accept some of the codes, not all them, although we have these books we should adhere to. it is a big problem. host: united health and blue cross do not have the same coding system? caller: they may not. they may have the same system, but they do not pay for the same codes. each insurance does not have to accept all of the codes in those s.