weeks to get it going." a quote from chuck schumer. senate republicans, throwing up consternation amongst top senators. one democratic aide said the leaders are willing to try to force conference committees as a favor to the hulsey -- favored to the house." tennessee, marion. republican line. caller: i feel that government is a problem, but so is our priority with 18-29 year-old's. the medicare system in each state, the minorities in the jail system, the health problems

in the jail system, that is the real problem. because of all the money in people's health problems within the jail system. that money, the money that republicans and democrats fight over, you know what i am saying? there is so much money the people have for individual health problems. 18-29-year-old's, when they go to jail we do not know what they're going to jail for. we do not know exactly what they have as far as sicknesses and stuff like that. the problem lies with 18-29 year-old's in their health problems. host: this message from twitter -- i am willing to sacrifice welfare and health-care

services." "the democratic campaign committee is facing a tough political environment, of prospectively facing dozens of candidates selected for the red to blue program that targets the gop-held districts pirie aha even though the party is expected to lose seats -- districts. even though the party is expected to lose seats in november." they write about the first round of candidates in this program, maybe the camera can take a look at these names while i take another call from charlotte, north carolina. sean, you are on the line for democrats. are we the problem? caller: democrats and

republicans, they both have to take responsibility for their job. host: keep going. caller: why can they not hold together and try to take care of this health care problem? host: answer your own question, why is that the case? i think we lost that caller, we were having feedback issues. we were looking forward to getting an answer from him. james, independent line. gaithersburg, maryland. are we the problem? caller: we are the problem. we keep electing the same politicians, so they are the problem. the caller that demonstrated amazing ignorance regarding keynesian economics is part of the problem.

for the flip side of the collapse is when demand is high and we are going through an economic boom. government has to run surpluses to cathcart -- counteract the deficit. there is no political will to do that. and you cannot live on your credit card forever. host: this e-mail -- a problem as washington lobbyists who have thoroughly corrupt the process. it is hopeless. jaffa's online from west virginia. republican caller. what do you say? caller: my problem is us, mainly. like he just said, also washington, d.c. influential people roaming the halls of the congress and senate. it is a simple fact, i have

watched this show for several months. i am amazed at the lack of intelligence from my fellow americans. i am 51 years old. i got my hand blown up serving this country. my son is serving in the united states. those people came here to bomb us, so we went to bomb them. everyone says the bush started a war, but that is not the case. the problem is that the american people have not stood up on their hind legs and said to the president that we want jobs, we want our country back. we want our country back. they just do not listen. they pass laws that allow more businesses to give them more money so that they can have

these campaigns that keep them there. i am from west virginia, like congressman is older than the hills. when i see him talk, i think i am watching a lilly. host: john shadegg, republican congressman from arizona, is coming up to talk to us about some of these issues. "a pep rally." talking about the state of the union speech. "supreme court justice roberts said that he found the atmosphere very troubling at january's state of the union address when president obama criticized the high court. he questioned why justices attend the annual event to the extent that it had degenerated into a political pep rally.

his remarks constituents -- constituted the latest salvo in criticism between the branches tracing to the court's january decision which struck down a federal limits on corporate spending elections. -- elections." we have taped the speech from the chief justice, we will be broadcasting pieces of it later. manchester, connecticut. david, democratic line. are we the problem? caller: good morning. you had a caller this said that his group insurance was going from $700 per month to $1,400 per month. he was distraught. that fellow is not at fault. it is not my fault that gasoline prices, oil, and heating costs went up over $5,000 per year for

the average family. we have a congress working minority rule for legislation, what is the other method of getting something through? do you know? host: reconciliation? caller: right. everyone calls and say thank you, you say you are welcome, why not say thank you for being -- paying your cable bill? that is why we are here. most go wrong, independent dollar. are we the problem -- host: ronald, independent caller. are we the problem? caller: a little bit. i was offended that the people

feel entitled, according to that article, from the civil-rights movement. how would people feel about letting their government keep the tax refund? has that been considered? host: the piece is by evan thomas. herndon, virginia. what do you think? caller: the process is faulted. yesterday the president said that he was charging the insurance companies with benefiting themselves more than the people. there is no company in the world that can keep running it does not make more money than it puts out. the thing is, we are attacking the insurance company without

going after the medical industry, which has no competition. where you have a procedure no matter where you go, there is no competition there. if we put competition in their, we would bring down prices in the medical industry. hohost: front-page story today," beijing will not use half u.s. debt for political gain kaf -- beijing will not use u.s. that for political gain. the u.s. treasury market is the world's largest government bond market. however foreigners there -- our

foreign reserves exchange's huge. -- huge." a couple other quick points, " the senate on tuesday cleared a hurdle to extend unemployment benefits and health care subsidies for the jobless. the latest, modest bipartisan success, a 66-34. eight republicans joined the democrats, only one democrat, ben nelson of nebraska, voted against the measure appeared well according to "usa today," "the job picture is getting brighter. the government said that there is further sign that a labor market is turning the corner, the number of jobs in the u.s. rose, the second-largest increase since march of 2007.

louisiana, john, democratic line. are we the problem? caller: good morning. thank you for the opportunity to express my opinions. the authors of that article are creating a false dichotomy, the government and the people of the same thing. politicians that we elect ultimately make bad decisions, they are affecting their own futures as well. on the subject of the economy, the number one subject troubling most americans today, i feel that what we are actually facing is a culmination of our philosophy since the cold war that we should transfer the entire world into a capitalist, democratic world. the capitalist cited is that we have created a monster in the competition from other

countries and the cheap imports coming into this country, manufacturers in this country could not compete with cheap labor and make the same products. ultimately they had to shift the plants down here. when that occurred across the big industry around the country, there is no one left to buy the products that they can make cheaper in other countries. host: joe, ohio. independent caller. what do you think this morning? caller: we are not the problem the way that the writer thinks we are the problem. the problem is that most americans see if they get lucky have to have a job, and afterwards they will kick back with a six pack and not pay attention to what is going on. we are the ones to allow these politicians to get up there, the

corporations and the insurance companies -- we are the problem because we do not really remember what they have voted for and who their real constituents are. they are afraid of their constituents? they are, the constituents of the big insurance companies. host: let's get one last call in. roger, florida. republican line. hello. caller: good morning. what i had to say was that there are 535 elected officials between the congress, the senate, and the president and his cabinet.

if they cannot figure it out, they'll want us to have lower taxes and smaller government. if you ask them, that is what they want. but they do not go that way. well, if they do not go that way, they are talking out of both sides of their mouth. why not all get together? 300 million people, let's get together and put them out of office. let's put people in there that will do something to help the country. host: we have plenty of more time for calls in this program, coming up in a moment congressman john shadegg will be here, republican from arizona, energy and commerce health subcommittee member. so, call in.

we will be right back. -♪♪ >> this weekend, "book tv" is headed west with the tucson festival of books. hear from authors talking about their experiences on the border, the last presidential election, and the legacy of teddy roosevelt. sunday, history, the war in afghanistan, and the military leadership. the tucson festival of vibooks

this weekend on "book tv." >> which four presidents live past 90 years old? -- lived past 90 years old? find this information and more in the new c-span book, "who is buried in grant's tomb"? >> is a tiny biography of each of these presidents. you can tell a lot about people at the end of their lives. >> stories of their final moments and insights about their lives. now available at your favorite book seller. get a 25% discount at the publisher's web site. >> "washington journal" continues. host: member of the u.s. house with us now, representative john shadegg from arizona, appreciate

your time this morning. should there be health care legislation? caller -- guest: absolutely. there are a lot of things wrong with the system. it delivers quality care, but too few people are not getting care. it has some major flaws. my older sister with breast cancer is trapped in a pre- existing situation, where they will not covered her. second, the president is absolutely right. the cost of health care is going up too quickly compared to the rest of the economy. we want to stop that from happening. we need legislation dealing with the health care system. host: your side of the aisle says to start over and do it from square one. what should we do?

guest: i have written a couple of bills from square one, like in 1996 when we were dealing with the patient's bill of rights. the main thing that you have to do is look at how we restrain costs and identify some of the problems. personally i believe that the problem of cost is driven by the fact that the health insurance companies in america do not have to compete for our business. we have a tax code that says your employer purchases your health insurance, not you. the plan is yours, whether you like it or not. it takes a set of doctors, and if it abuses you, too bad. health insurance companies of america sell to our employers, not us. the reason is that if our employer purchases it, it is tax-free. if we purchase it, like all the

other things in our lives, then we have to pay those after-tax dollars. no one is going to do it. frankly, i think if they abuse us, they do not really care what the average individual consumer cares about. host: phone numbers on the bottom of the screen for calling in. john shadegg has been a republican member of the house since 1995. leaving the house after this term. what went into your decision to retire? guest: it is a tremendous job and privilege, but at some point it is someone else's turn, someone needs to bring a new energy in perspective to the job. but there is a point in your life where you need to take on new challenges.

it can be frustrating in the minority. you started out by saying that republicans wanted the president to start from scratch, it feels like plan handed the job over to congressional democrats, who were not interested in listening to congressional republicans at all. i have never been invited to any meetings to try to look at this issue. one of the issues that i find stunning, republicans closed a deal for pre-existing conditions. one week before the house bill passed i was in a meeting with democrats did not understand it. two weeks ago at the summit, kathleen sebelius and president obama revealed they do not understand it. yet it is not that complicated. i think the republicans were left out, becoming frustrating,

contributing to my decision to move on. host: this idea of reconciliation now -- guest: now they are doing a procedural vote in the house where members will not even be loaded -- voting on the substance of the bill? that would enrage americans. host: what do you think of this strategy? guest: a mistake, legislation of this magnitude needs to be worked together on. and i think we can do it. i have two bills right now that would cover every single american. these are serious problems, we agree on that. we agree that they need to be fixed. but we are insisting on it being

done one way. host: kevin, idaho. good morning. caller: a couple of things that are interesting with this health-care thing. 2000 pages in trying to come off with people should have or not have -- come up with what people should have or not have. let's give everyone in the country the same covers that are leaders in government have. then we will decide how to pay for it. belting out the people that cannot pay cover it. to me, the crux of trying to make this worke is putting peope back to work as best we can for

paying taxes and having more money for these programs for the benefit of everyone. if we have to do the ccc whenever we want to college these days for the infrastructure in our country, -let's make sure that we can get as many able-bodied people as we can back to work. host: thank you. guest: you are right in several respects. you could take this apart and to deal with this issue by issue. pre-existing conditions is one of the issues. try asking everyone else in the

nation to pay, to contribute to pay for their costs, that is a good way to deal with it. issues like bringing competition, enabling you and i to purchase health insurance at the same advantage that our employer could. if we do not like that plan, we could fire them and pick another. all of this aside, we couldn't believe that the economy going. rebuilding this economy, health care becomes more affordable. host: "the wall street journal" has this piece about why obama cannot move the numbers. they write "the reason that president obama cannot move the numbers is because the polls are stacked against them. most people believe that the current plan will harm the economy, raise the cost of

care, and raise taxes on middle- class." guest: this is so comprehensive and large, it is difficult to understand. nancy pelosi said that we had to pass the bill to get away from the controversy of it. stunning. so big that the american people cannot understand it? maybe we should take these issues separately. offerings sales across state lines, making insurance companies compete with each other. any given night you will see a stack of commercials for

progressive, state farm, although insurance companies. we never see those kind of advertisement for health insurance. why? they do not have to compete. under the tax code we cannot afford to purchase our own taxes. host: jackson, good morning. caller: howard you? host: good. caller: gosh, this is becoming too complicated. i wonder how many special interest groups are influencing this. i read -- sorry, i got so angry

about it. they need to bring it down to basics. fisthey need to influence competition and take these insurance companies that little bit, expose them. they always tried to deny everyone. but i think that they should investigate them, expose them, see where the money is going. it should not cost as much. host: let's hear from our guest. guest: i think she is exactly right. they do not compete with each other. they wanted no public plan. it looks like too good a deal to me for the health insurance

companies. why should they not be competing for my business? why do i have to fight -- mike kenai not fire them if i do not like them? there are special deals for the drug industry in this bill, health insurance. but the current structure, every single special deal put in by congress members -- for example, the cornhuskers kickback will still be in the bill when house members vote on it. the louisiana purchase. the special deals for new jersey. every single one of them. i have at least 11 sweetheart deals put in by senate members. they will all be in the bill. they say they will fix it later, but