♪ host: president obama will be doing a summit forebear mccaskill. bill clinton and bill gates will testify on global health. on the senate floor, more about jobs and afghanistan. john roberts of the supreme court gave a speech in alabama

last night where he described the state of the union as a pep rally and the question of why judges go into it. you want to ask this question in the first 45 minutes. are we the problem? that is what they wrote in "newsweek." we will read a lot from the peace, talking a lot about sacrifice. -- piece, talking a lot about sacrifice. for democrats, 202-737-0002. for republicans, 202-737-0001. for independents, 202-628-0205. we start things out this morning with david jackson from "usa today." he is a white house correspondent. give us a preview of the president's speech. what is the mission? >> campaigning for more democratic votes for his health- care plan.

basically he is going out in campaign style rally is to explain to folks why he thinks the health care bill is necessary. this is a different kind of a lecture and, the electorate he hopes will put out a health care plan. host: in the meantime, kathleen sebelius is speaking at the health care rally today. what kind of reception will she be getting from the industry? caller: it will be cool, the insurance industry is stumping against her. she met last week with executives and more or less chewed them out for their higher rates and i expect she will continue to discuss that situation this afternoon. host: where do you see things

headed? of caller: we will get some kind of vote in the house this month. the timing is an issue. robert gibbs of wants a vote before the president departs on his asia trip on march 18. steny hoyer is talking more like towards the end of the month, assuming they can get something done before the easter break. right now they are trying to figure out what kind of bill they might be able to vote for. host: in addition to the health care speech today, there will be a fund-raiser for claire mccaskill. how important is the vote to her? caller: she needs the money, many democrats are worried about the situation. public polls seem very much against the president's plan, he is trying to urge his fellow democrats to take a risk.

host: rohm emmanuel and david axelrod had been making a lot of news, what is happening with joe -- with these gentlemen? caller: their gentleman from chicago that are hard chargers. a lot of strong-willed people, and you know that there will be clashes. i am sure that there are things that they do not agree on and things that they do agree on. frankly much of this has been motivated by blogs, stories last month suggesting that rohm emmanuel was the real problem with the health care plan, and that if he had managed it more effectively meet with -- more effectively be would have a health care bill. there is no evidence at all that his job is in danger, it is just

one of those washington things that people chatter about. in some of the story is what you see are his supporters defending his performance, saying that the problem is that president obama has not been listening to his advice. people wondering if he is firing back through the newspapers. i do not think that that is going on, but it is creating a rather tense situation in the white house all the stories about one person stabbing another person in the back. we had a story from david axelrod, who was also taking heat, people saying he has not been tough enough on the president, that he is too much of a friend to him. but this is discussed amongst

washington insiders, i do not think either gentleman is in danger of losing his job. host: thank you for the preview and the update on health care. caller: thank you. host: in the current edition of "newsweek" talking about the condition of the country, it says "we the problem." "washington is working just fine, we are broken. our leaders are paralyzed at the very thought of asking their constituents to make short-term sacrifices for long-term rewards." we will read a couple of paragraphs and get your comments. "washington -- watching washington work has become an appalling spectacle.

pundits are wondering if the system is broken in a fundamental way and are casting about for a big fix. little fixes might help. reforming the senate filibuster might be a start. but the nation is not about to have a constitutional convention and we do not need one. the founders got it right, more or less, when they created a system of checks and balances that permits the exercise of power while protecting the rights of individuals and political minorities. the problem is not the system. it is us, our got mine culture of entitlement. politicians never known for their bravery precisely represent the people. our leaders are paralyzed by the very thought of asking their constituents to make short-term sacrifices for long-term rewards. they cannot bring themselves to raise taxes on the middle class or cut social security and medical benefits for the elderly. they would get clobbered at the polls. any day of reckoning gets put

off again, the debts piled up." matt, your up first. are we the problem? caller: i was really going to say that the bureaucrats in washington are the problem. they are dysfunctional, childish, stubborn, probably ignorant. but it is also up to the taxpayer, the citizenry, to contact their alleged the officials and let them know what we think and feel. i do not do enough. i am calling c-span, for example. listening to health care, my personal feeling at this point is we are hearing the best of the best discussing this issue, and medicare for all, the

republicans argue that the government takeover of health care, a look at the older people i know on medicare, they love it, they do not want to give it up for anything. there should be a bye in program for people, 25 and up, charging premiums. i am scared to death that one analysts' and i will be bankrupt. host: david, market heights, illinois. caller: we are all part of the problem, but when the government and politicians will not take any pay cuts, that is why we are marching in springfield today for the illinois campaign for liberty, trying to get the

concealed handgun law for the people and our rights restored in. host: rockville, maryland. republican line. are we the problem? caller: i think that the problem is strictly the politicians. i am going to be selfish and talk about myself. i am so worried, paying $780 per month for the last 10 years for my insurance. i am told that my rates will be $1,410 on april 4. can anyone in the country, the world, this earth, tell me how i will be insured after that?

host: let me ask you about one of the points he makes in the peace, that these senators precisely represent the people and what they're hearing they want. the article pushes the towards the people. caller: it is really when a big company like the good insurance i have sent me a letter saying that your rates will be $1,400 on april 14. how do i do that? i cannot even think about it. host: thank you for your thoughts. more from the peace. "americans have been spending more than they say and borrowing heavily. americans have become fatter. the average adult male put on 25 pounds between 1960 and 2002. the percentage of obese

americans increased by 37% from 1998 to 2006. who can deny that self restraint and self denial are antiquated values? not just in lake woebegone are all children above average. 23% of college-bound seniors have a averages even though s.a.t. scores have drifted downwards for years. it is hard to know how or when we got this self indulgent. the triumph of civil rights, the wonder of the to fill one of the true meaning of a conversation -- constitution, is too often perverted into "i got my rights" sense of victimhood." are we the problem, caller? caller: i think we are. we do not demand answers from our politicians.

healthcare is a classic example. what i mean by that is that most of the people i know all over the country, they want a single payer, medicare for all, but we have never heard inarticulate statement from the president as to why it does not work in america. he spent a lot of time explaining everything else, but never that. host: james, detroit, independent line. caller: i would say that we are the problem. i have a couple of reasons why we are the problem. we worship wealth and by doing that we have been divided into a kind of form of feudalism where we let the corporations basically dictates our values. we went for the federal tax cuts and the state and cities

are suffering for them. it's like what eisenhower said, the congressional and industrial complex has come to haunt us. we work for credit we did not deserve. we got greedy and was buying houses we could not afford. it was mostly the middle class. anytime you have a lottery, financial education, even racism has not been dealt with in this country for so long. these are all problems that we as americans have accepted. host: thank you. wanda, florida. do you think that we are the problem? or is this someone or something

else? caller: it is not us, it is the politicians that want to take money from everyone, all of the special interests they get involved. this country was set up for the politicians to go to washington. host: here it says "our leaders are paralyzed at the thoughts of asking our constituents to make short-term sacrifices for long- term rewards." caller: they will mud do what we ask. we would not have a health care problem in this country if we didn't have all of the legal immigrants in here getting free health care at our hospitals that they do not pay for. we, the taxpayer have to pay. now they want to give everyone free health care.

they are already giving it to them. host: let's dig into these papers a bit more. a lot on health care, including this photograph in "of the baltimore sun." -- in "the baltimore sun." "the group is called america's health insurance plan, protests outside." we are covering the second day of that meeting today, including kathleen sebelius, who will make a speech there today. it starts at 8:00 eastern on c- span 3 this morning. it will be live. more on health care from "the new york times." "of the white house and democratic congressional leaders are bracing for a key procedural ruling that could complicate

their effort to approve major health-care legislation by requiring the president to sign the bill into law before congress can revise it through an expedited budget process. a determination could come within days from the house and senate parliamentarians and could present yet another hurdle for mr. obama and the democratic leaders as they tried to lock in support from skittish lawmakers in the house." maria, are we the problem? caller: both, us and the government. if we stopped cheating on our income taxes, giving our parents 5 on the dollar, you would get your tax credit. it is a government and less. yes, we are a problem, we need to stop speaking -- stealing from the government. host: texas, independent line.

your thoughts this morning? caller: liberal journalists are the problem. kevin connelly was an apologist for obama that compared the president to god. is so typical of the left in this country to either attacked the middle-class and the elderly -- a tack -- attack the middle class and the elderly for not giving the obama the administration what they want. they want to take over the private sector and the american public gets that. evan thomas and all of these liberal journalists are attacking the middle class, so predictable from the left. host: page free from " the washington post -- from "the

washington post -- page 3 from "the washington post," "mitch mcconnell said to reporters and house democrats that they would be taking a colossal risk if they approve the senate version of health-care legislation before the senate had removed some of the bill's most contentious provisions. now that democrats have lost their supermajority in the senate, some variation of this delicate process is the only way health care bill can become law. house democrats will have to decide whether they want to trust the senate to fix them political problems -- to fix their political problems. florida and labor unions. they will be voting when they passed the senate bill to endorse the cornhuskers

kickback, the louisiana purchase, the gator-aid, the closed-door deal, the special deal for the unions, which mayor may not bother the democrats, i do now know," mcconnell said." who is the problem, is it us? caller: not to get partisan, but i agree with the last caller. host: what you mean? caller: they of the party in power. there has got to be some sort of compromise. looking at republicans, taking a look at the difference in ideology, give a little bit. there was a tax rate to stimulate this economy -- i have a new business and i have never seen it before. people do not have money. host: what kind of business have

you started? caller: a production company, and there are lots of small businesses here that are really suffering. a reality that has to be faced. host: new haven, connecticut. are we the problem? caller: we are large part of the problem. the tea party people keep talking about their rights being taken away from them and their freedoms, but they seem to forget that we have responsibilities as citizens. i have never met a tax i do not enjoy paying. i understand it is my responsibility. yet we fought two wars with tax rebates? how can we do this? we have to take responsibility. the last caller talked about the

obama administration taking responsibility. how about we take responsibility? they talked about having term limits. how about voting against the person that you do not believe organized? do something to remove them from power with the tools that we have. the tools of voting. host: you can reach us through twitter as well, there is one message there now. "we have to raise spending and tackle the deficits -- cut spending and raise taxes to tackle our deficits. does anyone think congress will do that"? "seeking to reclaim the reform mantle, democratic leaders are advocating a move that would shake out the traffic of awarding no bid contracts.

democrats are pushing a new rule that would most likely forbid earmarked expediters to private for-profit contractors for least one year. such businesses -- billions annually in federal grants directed their way. one way to rebut charges they have been soft on ethics issues." julia, south carolina. what is the name of your town? caller: bakersfield. host: good morning, ma'am. caller: please give me sufficient time to explain why i believe that both of the people and the government are the problem. we are a constitutional republic, not a democracy. in a democracy the majority of the people, no matter how wrong the bill is, a majority can get it passed. in a constitutional republic,

what our founding fathers gave us was a limited government guided by a set of laws where they have to go through the process of a constitutional amendment. what we have been doing for years, since the institution of the federal reserve started practicing keynesian economics, where you spend and spend and never pay the bill, the health care is totally unconstitutional. under the bill of rights, socialist programs have never been authorized. health care, housing and urban development, education programs, all of these socialist programs are changing our form of government from a constitutional republic to a socialist democracy. if that is what the people of this country wants, it is

destroying us economically and cannot be sustained. under keynesian economics there must be a collapse. if this is what the people want, a socialist democracy, they must go through a constitutional amendment process to get their. these people -- the people think that the government's is there to do what they want. they are not. we elect senators and congressmen to go to the congress -- they took an oath before god to uphold and defend the constitution. we send representatives to washington to uphold and defend the constitution. tell me how many of them are doing. how many of the people are sending them there for that purpose? the people want to feed at the federal trough.

we cannot do it. there is no money. we are borrowing money, printing money illegally through the federal reserve. the country will have to collapse. if you want to go into a third world country, going back into conditions of slavery, keep voting for the welfare, the health care, the medicare, the housing and urban development, all of the socialist programs. host: we have got the point. you had plenty of time. we want to get to bob, massachusetts, democratic line. caller: good morning, how are you? host: good, who is the problem? caller: we are. that lady that just spoke makes a lot of sense until she starts throwing out all of that communist, leftist -- right now she had better take out a dictionary and start looking up the meaning of the word fascist.

we are the problem. we have no memory. history is last week. people, if they would just listen to what they're being told. what is told to a lot of people, it is kind of on american. these tea party people are not for every -- not for anything, they are just against everything. two people side-by-side -- we do not want health care, leave my medicare alone. it is getting to the point where rush limbaugh said that he wanted this government to fail. even the politicians, a lot of them, when they blame government who do you trust more? government cannot handle health

care, that is one example. we are supposed to trust and insurance company more than government? come on, they are government. host: independent line, nebraska. good morning. who is the problem? caller: we are the problem. and thougyou know? we are the ones that determine what the government does. host: i am fixing the problem the peace in "newsweek" talks a lot about sacrifice and that our leaders are paralyzed at the thought of asking constituents to make short-term sacrifices for long-term rewards. what kind of sacrifices should you and others be making out there? caller: taking into consideration that we need to raise taxes and that by doing so

we can maybe take the burden off of the next generation. put everything on the table and have a serious discussion about what we can do to save our country. it is like sitting on the outside and watching a train wreck. everyone knows that they will collide. host: here is the front cover of "roll call." "more negotiations after three years of avoiding conference committee. house democrats want to get back in the room to start a campaign to convince their senate counterparts to start holding a cross-dome sessions again. "i like conference committees, i hope that we can do more of them, but