main street partnership. and former democratic texas republican, martin frost. and also, howard dean on the healthcare bill. after that, the future of the tea party vote. "washington journal" is next. host: good morning. in iraq this morning, the-top votegetter says that she wants to negotiate with all parties. it is after winning 91 seats in the iraqi parliament. former first lady barbara bush is in hospital in houston this

morning. they seven issues simply undergoing some routine tests. president obama is at a retreat this weekend. -- and they say that barbara bush is simply undergoing some routine test. the president has made 15 appointments to this administration, a story that you may have seen yesterday. we want your reaction. here is how the story is playing out this morning on the front page of "the new york times." the reporter writes that the president is making a muscular show of his executive authority only one day after the congress left for spring recess.

a statement from the white house yesterday, "the u.s. senate has the responsibility to approve or disapprove my nominees, but if, in the interest of scoring political points, republicans in the senate refused to exercise that responsibility, i must act and the interest of the american people." he went on to say that most of the men and women whose appointments he announced today were approved by the senate committee's months ago, but still await a vote. he concluded by saying that he cannot allow partisan politics to stand in a way of the basic functioning of government. also, republican reaction -- we will show you what mitch mcconnell says it in a few seconds. going to the jump page of this paper, republicans going after a number of the appointees. mr. becker is a pro-lifer, pro-

labor radical. let's get your reaction to these 15 recess appointments. we will show you more background from yesterday, more statements. james is joining us from the independent line in texas. caller: what gets me is nancy pelosi and harry reid, and president obama, not through the normal democratic process, championed the healthcare bill. now they're not all in the

process on these recess appointments. it seems to me like they are wanting to dictate to the american people, not have opinions, not represent us but to dictate against us. i think that joseph stalin is a proud man with nancy pelosi and president obama. host: mitch mcconnell yesterday issued a statement said that the president's decision to override a bipartisan opposition to an appointee is just another episode of choosing a partisan path despite bipartisan opposition. additionally stunning as the administration's decision concerning the recess appointment of two democrats appointees while leaving republicans behind.

there is also a story this morning from "the new republic" where the reporter wrote earlier this month the president obama will have the chance to do something he has not done particularly well during his first year, successfully defied opponents, and reassure his most loyal supporters. the nlrb was created back in 1935 to protect the right of workers to form unions.

you can read more online at "the new republic." next, the democrats line from desoto taxes, anna. caller: thank you, president obama, for finally stepping up to defy some of these people. all they have on their agenda is no, no, no. i'm 62 years old. these are my new people when i was growing up -- these dixiecrats who ran over to the republican party and wondered why the minority ran to the democratic party. president obama should have done this a long time ago, trying to reach out and be a friend -- you do not have any friends. you need to do well we elected you to do, appoint people and do the job that americans want you to.

all of these people need to stop whining all the time -- let the man do his job. host: edward joins us from alabama on the independent line. caller: good morning, steve. yes, i want to echo what the last caller said -- obama spent about one year really trying desperately to reach across party lines and build coalitions, but there was obviously active obstructionism over there. there are a lot of appointments sitting there for months. plus, at 270 some bills that the house has passed the largest sitting in the senate. while i was speaking to person, the mitch mcconnell statement -- i am curious to hear that. these guys have nothing to

complain about. president bush made a lot of recess appointments. it is about time that obama -- i am an independent and can go either way, kind of in that bubble in the middle. i am proud of obama for showing, taking his third of the separation powers and executing them. host: the statement from senator harry reid is said that nominees under president obama had feared worse than others in recent memory. on the republican line, brenda, from minneapolis.

caller: well, i think the recess appointments are fairly common in every administration, but the way it is being portrayed now is that you're giving obama too much credit. he is doing something rather common. a recess a bomb and is not someone running the commission or agency he is appointed to -- and he is not given the powers either directly or indirectly. it is the senate's role to advise and consent. host: thanks for the call. here is the store, obama uses the recess to fill the posts.

business groups had said that the nomination of bekcer who is to support a vote organized labor to serve on the five- member board, and republican senators had warned obama not to use the congressional recess to appoint him. the next call is to reset from bowling brook, ill. -- -- teresa. caller: the republican party from day one of obama administration had no intention of cooperating.

in his to do what he needs to do. there are so many issues facing this country. the republicans, they have been in office the last 20 odd of the last 28 years. half of the things obama has done they have not done in the 20 years they have been in office. because his entire party is not on board with him, nor the republicans, that lets me know he has this country's best interests at heart, and of these political parties. if that is what he needs to do to get the ball rolling, that is what he needs to do. because all this bickering -- the republicans saying no to everything -- that is not good for this country. host: next up is cynthia from orange beach, alabama, on the independent line. caller: i just wanted to agree with the last caller that i think that obama has been forced to take extraordinary

actions. it is good for the country. we need this government to work. host: next, anna joining us from new york. what do you think? caller: i think obama is doing exactly what he has done the last year in office -- he seems to be bullying people. he does what he wants despite what the people who voted for him want to. all of my democrat friends are against this. i am in my third battle of cancer and do not want my insurance touched. i worry about things because he does not listen to what his congressional people say, especially in my district. host: what is on your screen -- back to the earlier page -- the

president currently has a total of 217 nominees pending before the senate. finally, the president has made 15 recess appointments at this time in his presidency, all of which are coming just yesterday. 58 of the nominees have been waiting for more than two weeks, 44 have been waiting for more than one month. you can read more online on

whitehouse.gov. caller: i'm an independent, and there's nothing to be critical over regards in the president. he basically has been nothing more than a corporate president. he has been accommodating big business, banking. this health-care reform is a joke. most people when they signed on board voted for him. this does not do anything. all these people who are saying it is great and comparing him to fdr, they are out of touch. we know for sure he is not a communist or socialist, because he has been pandering to corporate interests. host: seattle, washington, good

morning. caller: thank you, c-span. this is the first, have gotten through after watching you for years. i just want to say that i fully support president obama. he has implemented powers given to him, has worked for well over a year now. he has tried to coax republicans to work through bipartisanship. it is crystal clear that they're not interested at all in doing that. he is right to do what he did as far as the appointments. i am 100% behind him, and the democrats as well. bravo, president obama, and bravo, democrats.

host: you can join the conversation at twitter.com. another story getting some attention, the nomination of general robert harding. the story broke late friday. the tsa could be without a leader four months after the withdrawal of the second nominee. the agency that guards the airline security domestically is likely to remain without a senate-confirmed bidder for months after the president's nominee abruptly withdrew late friday night amid questions from congress about his work as a defense contractor.

the agency is facing a range of policy questions about potential changes, a including the deployment of a full-body scanners at security checkpoints. the. fema -- the director --fema -- here's an excerpt from a program that was taped on friday. >> the administration put ford of $5 billion supplement for the disaster relief fund and it is pending now. the house approved yesterday. what is that funding needed for? why is the $5 billion necessary? >> in our disasters we have had

going back to hurricane katrina, you have various bodies coming on line for the rebuilding process. we do reimbursements, not necessarily putting money up front. two big issues -- one was arbitration findings for charity, another was an agreement we reached on the recovery school district which we consider a model way to approach larger issues. instead of going school by school they do one project for all schools impactive. that is coming true. that includes new disasters occurring. the austin requirement is about $5 billion for existing disasters and finance. what we expect to be paid out between now and the end of

the year, that includes floods. >> the additional supplemental is something that recurs every year. it is sent to the hill for the disaster relief fund. members of congress ask isn't there a more rational way to approach this, to incorporate the additional funding needed into the base budget for homeland security? congressman david obey has the proposal to come up with an idea where the states pay into a fund and then drop out of it to cover expenses for disasters. is there a more rational way to approach, rather than always doing it through supplemental the? >> becomes back to have you want to develop your baseline budget? with the huge bubble moving through the system?

because as those come out you'll see a rapid dropoff in the amount you need each year. part of the challenge is, the fun for the bubble, or looked at what is your average mean for responses you are carrying out, and look at those catastrophic, huge bubbles in a different format? our experience from hurricane andrew is one which carried a huge balances to let it created big distortions in the budget. the reflected signal events, not the baseline. -- reflected for single events, not the baseline. how can you account for that with this one-time surge. host: mr. fugate is our guest on

"newsmakers." more on the announcement friday that harding would pull his nomination to the tsa. the firm owned by the decorated general who withdrew his nomination to leave the transportation security administration has received a cona consulting contract worth almost $100 million.

ruth is joining us on the republican line. caller: morning. i was calling you on -- nancy pelosi in 1968 -- then she turned around and there are two cameras. there was a man in the chair -- he turned around to nancy pelosi and said, now what we do? we have lost money in the stock market, have nothing. she says do not worry, they will pay as. they did give them their purse for that year, she and amanda. then she turned around later and

asked if she bought her the news over in santa rosa, and turned over theire. [unintelligible] they said to go ahead and get hold of nancy pelosi and ask her about her vineyard. host: what are you talking about? what year is this? caller: [unintelligible] she just keeps going with that. i have tried to get through and can never find anyone to talk with me. host: ok, ray, ariz.. caller: well, good for mr. obama. i like to remind everybody that

the independents are 40% of voters. it is easy to see who is trying to help the country and who was tried to heard it. host: the conversation online through twitter, this person saying, count the numbers of people he has appointed or hired and see how many had to resign due to backgrounds. this paper says "repeal the standard of obamacare."

next is built, joining us on the democrats' line from cape cod, mass. caller: good morning, i want to congratulate obama with the appointment of becker to nlrb. he did what he is supposed to do. the attack on workers' rights has resulted and the decline of the middle class. host: next is michael on the republican line from michigan. good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call. obviously, president obama is more concerned about unions the american people. i live just south of detroit, and if you come to detroit, you can see where unions have done.

they have decimated and destroy the worker in detroit. there is no work. everyone has left town. look at general motors, chrysler, ford. ford is barely hanging on. he is making it worse. host: there is a story yesterday from "the washington post" concerning the larger issue of the senate and the arcane rules of it. the newer members and to fix the broken senate -- this is the headline.

going to the jump page of the article, pointing out some procedures being put forth -- and there is a condition at the end. the father passed away and had served as an interior secretary. this is the most ambitious of freshmen, proposing a resolution that would change the way rules are changed.

the democratic control of the senate, two of the democrats are independents that caucus with the democratic party. good morning, caller. caller: steve, could you go back in your archives to win president bush did the same thing? i want to know if you asked the question to the ants, what do you feel about the bush nominations? about his recess appointment nominations. you do this all the time -- everything president obama has done. host: vivian, how this asking a

simple statement that the president makes 15 recess appointments create the anger? caller: i want to know that you did the same thing. host: absolutely, we did. caller: of greg and i wanted to go back to the archives and show were you asked the question to the audience. host: you can do that. good to c-span.org and click on the video library. it is all there. caller: ok, but you need to show the audience that you are being fair. remember back in november when you had that little program for you had the haters on there? news showeyou show the program d

again, where the guest talked about the president being a communist. you'll love that man to go on and kept repeating it. you do a lot of things that are not fair. host: when the president served in office eight years we have many republicans to post the same sentiment. i appreciate the call, ask that you go back -- i would disagree with you that just simply asking -- that there is any negative tone in my question. caller: no, it is not unusual to do that. there is an opening. democrats want to put in as many people as they can you will agree with them. i am an independent and agreed -- in the mind to think like the

people over in the massachusetts. i like the idea of someone coming in like scott brown, or someone like that. as an independent ilex sarah palin. i think she is a force to look out for. -- as an independent i like sarah palin. when this country gets right, when we have a less people who sympathize with the communists, i think the country will be better off. host: the story this morning, more on becker to serve on the nlrb. he had received a law degree from yale law school. he argued before many appellate courts and the u.s. supreme court. it points out that bush also use the recess authority to appoint

controversial nominees. crystal is joining us from raleigh, n.c., on the democrat'' line. caller: yes, i think the president has every right to exercise his authority when it comes to the recess appointments. someone who called earlier regarding the unions and how they destroy detroit -- he really needs to rethink that. those jobs were big, corporate begin sending those to other countries. he needs to do his research. host: thanks.

here is the story from "the hill." he says mitch mcconnell is rebuking the obama administration for its controversial recess appointments. he said in a statement, "the president's decision to override the bipartisan senate rejection of becker's nomination is another episode of choosing a partisan path despite bipartisan opposition. he concluded by saying that this is a purely partisan move that will make traditional bipartisan letter board and unbalanced, purely agenda-driven panel. caller: good morning. i just wanted to call to say

that i do agree with president obama. the reason is because i watch c- span, read the newspapers, read the blog. the republicans are not being helpful, not only to this president, but not to the people of this country. just last week they closed the center at 2:00 p.m. if i left my job at 2:00 p.m. and said i would not work any more i would be fired. now the tea baggers get angry about all these things are about obama and spending money. these centers are are getting paid for leaving work at 2:00 p.m. and shutting down the people's business. host: here is another, by twitter -- caller: good morning.

first of all, as far as the recess appointments, both sides to it. when the one does it the other complaints. it is really amazing that the public is just figuring this out. i wish that they would educate themselves. speaking of education, to ron night, i believe on c-span2, there will be a tavis smiley program. host: yes, we taped last week. caller: yes, so people, take some time to watch the program to ron night. it should scare the living daylights out of you. have a good it did. tomorrow night, 7:00 p.m., c- span2. host: the cover story here, the

meaning of stupak. another comment from our twitter conversation -- the obama has not done any severe mistakes yet, considering that the policies on afghanistan, iraq, israel are done behind the scene. caller: good morning, steve. i spoke with you before and you are always kind and polite. i am a union member, and a 11- year veteran of the marine corps. i do not understand the republicans do not understand that when the economy was strong the country was 40% [inaudible] today we are no where near that. we are about 10% organize. i would remind listeners that we

have had unions, companies that pay per diem would not if unions did not have double-time sunda ys. i would also remind viewers that the eight-hour workday was created by unions. you can see on the other side of the river that the canadian economy is doing well. the american worker drove out the american automobile industry because of the lack of quality. all of the major european cars and korean cars are made by union workers, as well as those in japan. so, it is not the workers' fault. it also takes some courage to be union. host: from "the washington

examiner" this story -- obama's embrace of partisanship suits republicans fine. we are asking you a belt the news yesterday that the president will make 15 recess appointments, including becker, one of two new members for the national labor relations board. rhonda joins us from arkansas on

the independent line. caller: good morning. first of all, i like the show. secondly, the worst thing the country has done was to vote obama in. host: why? caller: first of all, he had no real experience as far as running the government. secondly, his politics suck. his passing bills that will leave the low-income people behind. doing the bailout did not solve anything. they still closed the plant. host: let me return to this story. the headline in "the new york

times" -- obama bypasses the senate process, filling 15 posts. some of the attention focused on john bolton, a recent appointment from the bush administration, as ambassador to the u.n., this one. cell would you please point out that bolton could not even get recommended by a committee? caller: good morning. obama's non-senate approvals are similar to those of bush, but only superficially. history has the facts that make these appointments different from those of bush.

bush did his appointments the second year the senate was in control, was controlled by the democrats. during the first year the democrats that controlled the senate would not even allow bush nominees to be considered. in the second year after bush made his appointments during a recess time, the senate simply did not recess for the balance of the year. it is not the same thing that obama is suffering. obama also had senate democrats vote against this union clown who will be in a position to change the law without being elected or having consideration of the senate and congress. host: joseph, you are right, but let me follow up on two points. the democrats controlled the senate and made sure that the senate was in the session even procedurally during some of the brakes to prevent bush from making recess of women's.

but conversely, one member of the senate can hold up the nomination under senate rules. caller: well, then let's follow the rules. host: the white house is issuing some background on the recess appointments. sarah joins us from tucson, ariz., on the democrats' line. caller: when i voted for barack obama i did so expecting him to use discretion, to make important decisions, once we do not even have to think about ourselves. i trust him, believe he is a great man, very noble, kind, generous. he has characteristics we have not seen in a president for a very long time.

of course, sarah palin going back -- it will not stop this anchor in the tea party, saying things that could be taken out of context. -- it will not stop this anger in the tea party. that is the way to give a mob, to get the angry and riled up. you fight this with peace, understanding legal i love america. we have done a lot of great things. i'm proud to have obama as president. host: john, on the republican line, from canton, ohio. caller: hi. oh, i did not even get a lead up. i just called in.

it is hilarious to hear the obama voters, especially the black voters who do not want anyone to treat obama like he is a real president, real man, or real american. c-span, how dare you do that? it is so hilarious to hear them do that. i always wondered what would happen if we have a black president, or partially black president. you cannot treat obama like a man. host: kansas city, democrats line. caller: it is well past time he made appointments. 40% are being held up by one senator who want to kick back. also, i think people should

recall that during the clinton administration the healthcare plan put forward was put forward by the republicans. also, they talk about freedom -- what about personal responsibility? i understand that they also believe in that. it could be hit by a car and not have health insurance and i will have to pay for you. host: later in the program that will join us from the two-party organization. the former dnc chair howard dean will also be here to take alsocalls. our guests both headed up their respective campaign committees for the house reelection. we will talk about the upcoming midterm elections and a mood in congress.

it is all coming up. first a news update, a look at some other topics of discussion on the sunday morning programs. >> healthcare continues to dominate the sunday shows. also, party politics and the economy. the guests on "week the press" will include south carolina republican senator graham and charles schumer. on "this week" but house senior adviser valerie juror. mississippi republican, and pennsylvania and democratic gov. as well. the guest on a "fox news sunday" will be a debate between republican candidates for the u.s. senate seat from florida, and former florida house speaker rubio. on "face the nation" you'll hear bob schieffer with tim kane.

south carolina republican demint and michelle bachmann. candy will speak with david axelrod. senate republican conference chair lamar alexander, and maryland democratic senator. you can listen to all five of the talk shows beginning at noon at eastern right here on c- span radio. follow us on facebook and twitter. >> the renovation of the pentagon has made it much harder for a reporter to just walk around because more spaces are now behind doors where i cannot go unless escorted. >> tonight, national correspondent on covering the military here domestically and

in iraq and afghanistan. >> when i hear president obama said that he is president of all-america i say obsolete, and i'm glad that we are one. >> monday night come smiley's black agenda forum with his guests. it is that a 30 p.m. eastern on c-span2. this weekend, on "book tv" from new york -- former education secretary examines america at the end of the 20th-century in beginning of the 21st. he is interviewed by the former editor at "time" magazine. "washington journal" continues. >> our dunf sunday roundtable,

thanks, gentlemen for being with us. the president's recent supplements are gaining some attention. your reaction? >> is legal. both sides have done this through time. most of the appointments are not controversial, but have not gone through the political gristmill in the senate. the labor of women of mr. becker is very controversial. he will serve 10 months, then be out. >> this follows a letter saying that on this particular nomination -- do not do this on becker. >> a president of the the border should be able to fill out its administration. the exceptions would be judicial appointments. but for people to hold up the administrative positions -- i

took this position when there was a republican president. " this -- martin and i i think fundamentally agree. there are many appointments. presidents ought to be able to put their team in place. when you get not only to the judiciary, but to the nlrb and some others, it's a little bit more serious. >> believes the board without republican representation. >> i'm sure that is fine with the administration ester there will be a republican on the board. >> there is a key excerpt -- looking at some changes that needed to take place in the senate to fix what some say is a dysfunctional system, including senator tom udall who has been looking at some old books from

the former senate and a son who made it a 60-vote filibuster rather than 67-minute. >> i was a page back in the 1960's and 1970's. filibusters were rarely used. it was not used every day like it is now. you have dozens of filibusters over everything from nominations to routine bills. >> you do not even have filibusters. they ought to make the republicans filibuster, make them stand there and fill the time, make the public see what is involved.

>> or a least make them stay, don't let them go home and play golf. and martin is right, let the public see what is going on. now it is all done on paper. >> sarah palin [inaudible] in nevada with several thousands and attendance, depending on which estimates you are looking at. what did she need from the republican party? >> many of the new people coming into the party, she is kind of then icon in that. even after she had been nominated for vice president, she electrified the republican base which been kif i remember n

fairfax in my district. we asked the congressman if he was going to the rally. she is the energy source for a strong base and the republican party close she will eventually decide whether she would just be in this for the money and have guns, or whether she was to be considered a substantive person. i do not know. so far all she is doing is being sort of an oddity. i don't think she is being taken seriously as a potential national candidate. host: this person wants [unintelligible] and says the thetea partiers could give a crippling defeat in the november.

here is one of the two events that sarah palin participated in with senator mccain. >> what is going on is a beautiful grass roots movement putting government back on the side of the people. some are referring to this as the two-party movement. it is a beautiful thing. -- some are referring to this as the tea party movement. i have had the privilege traveling across the u.s. meeting these everyday americans part of this movement. everywhere i go folks ask me about my friend john mccain. first and tell them, think about it, what is the root of the tea party movement? back in 1773 the freedom

fighters fighting against tyranny. they were saying no more. that is what we are all doing here today. host: martin frost, again, mccain's once understudied sarah palin is now a star. >> yes, she is a stark, but is she a substantive person? evidently she will make a lot of money in a short period of time. we will see if it goes beyond that. >> we're talking about the senate. several are all in trouble. >> you have the kentucky senate race too. there's no question right now that the grass roots not only of the republican party, but in america, are unhappy with what

is going on in washington. in november most of this banks will be directed at the party that controls the levers of power, the democratic party. in the meantime, you have republican primaries. that also jeopardize as many republicans. cloaks the real question is whether the tea party activists will be successful in knocking out some more established republican figures. if so, it may give us the chance at some races we otherwise would not have a chance and they. >> the conversation is with martin frost and tom davis. two former members of the house. you both ran your congressional campaign committees. >> we were both successful. >> we will get to your phone calls in a moment.

you can join us on line with twitter. in a piece you wrote two weeks ago you say that the gop is now surging, but storm clouds could fit. you point out that if this is a choice election, that could be more, more difficult for republicans. explain that. >> this is a referendum on the obama administration. you will see huge republican gains. look at the polls. people are not happy. democrats control the senate, house, and presidency. if this is a referendum, republicans benefit. in a two-party system it is the only way to capture votes. however, if the democrats can make this a choice between democrats and republicans, it is more difficult. polling shows that republicans are not as well-loved even as

democrats. republicans are just a means to protest the vote. we were fired both in 2006 and 2008. so, you make this a choice, then it becomes a much different election. republicans want to make this a referendum. they can fight internally after the election about the agenda, by you to focus on what is wrong with what democrats are doing. democrats want to say before you decide to put them in charge, remember why you did not like them before. >> you also warned republicans to be careful of some traps that the democrats are now setting. was one of those what the president said this past week where he said if the republicans want to run against health care, bring it on? >> i think so. i think that the republicans have miscalculated.

if they run on the idiot to just undo everything done on health care, that will not be popular. the will be something still go into effect soon that people will like, specifically being able to cover your children who have pre-existing conditions. beginning this fall being able to cover your college-aged, or post-college-aged youngsters. there will be pieces of this that people will like. republicans had better be careful. democrats will have the opportunity during the next six or seven months to explain good things in the bill. i still think the election will turn on the economy. host: good morning. caller: good morning, thanks for c-span. congressman frost, as a republican, a want to say that i wish we had more principled democrats today by yourself.

i think we will swamp you guys in the november this year. guest: we will see. it is a long way off. caller: i think the joe from new jersey -- he nailed it. if you remember bush, even had his judicial appointments held up in the committee. once the democrats took over in 2006, they never even went on recess to dis-allow him to get anybody in there. i think for democrats these days the ends justify the means. it is sad to see. . .

in many of these other cases, it was just obstinate. in both parties, doing their part, it is legitimate, both parties to switch sides in terms of criticizing and doing what

they criticize. one point about health care, the democrats politically had to pass health care. if they had not done that, they would be in front of a firing squad right now, going after each other. it has helped the democrats in terms of keeping their base together. it does not help them with independent voters and it does fire rocked the republicans. i agree with martin, it will be more about where the economy is going in terms of voters. health care is not a side show, it is a symbol. but i think that democrats have overpromise. many of the benefits kick in down the road, later. guest: it is more than just a question of a circular firing squad. it was the idea that the democrats had been incapable of

accomplishing something. had they failed on this, they would have been viewed as a fail party and the president would have been seen as a failed president. host: democratic line, virginia. joyce. caller: i have a question regarding the different committees. these committee hearings that have nothing to do with health care have been shut down by one republican voice. they have people coming from all over the world to testify in these hearings. >> they had to cancel the ninth circuit judiciary committee circuit last week. caller: kudos to them in the

committee hearing in spite of the committee hearing -- in spite of the objection. the american people have been hurt by this childish behavior of republicans. i would also like to comment on eric cantor's political headquarters in someone shooting at it. host: they called at random gunfire in the neighborhood. guest: it was a bullet hole. guest: i wanted to comment on that, but go ahead. guest: if the senate is meeting on the floor, committees can only meet with unanimous consent of the body. that is generally allowed. committees can meet when the

senate is not in session, they do have that option. when you get into difficult situations, both sides will use the rules and it will not work very efficiently. that is what happened in this case. it is unfortunate, but it is not about individual members having these kinds of objections >> i would like to talk about the threats against members. i do not know what happened in the situation of eric cantor. if there was a bullet hole, there must have been one. this is serious business. some of the republicans took the position last week that democrats were whining. i had a threat made against me in 1991, 1992, when we took the

first boat of sending troops against saddam hussein. there were threats made against a number of members at the time. we took them very seriously. i had the protection of my district and the capitol police for about 10 days. we should not be doing anything that encourages people to not worry about it. this is serious business. there are crazy people in this country. i do not think that anyone should minimize it. >> i agree, you do not want members to be intimidated by the mob. you cannot tolerate that in any way. host: one day after we heard from chris van pollan? guest: he was wrong to make the statement, criticizing democrats saying they should not talk about this, this is serious

business and unfortunately there are unstable people in this country that will be encouraged. guest: i think the democrats were trying to use as a political issue according to some. guest: i disagree with that. as someone who had a very specific threat made against me, any member -- you were told, reporting to the fbi and the sergeant arms at the house, all it takes is one unstable person. guest: trying to wrap the republican party around these threats, there is a genuine anger out there amongst the populace at large. guest: for the republican members to stand out on the capitol balcony and hold up signs while debate is going on,

holding up signs saying kill the bill, encouraging people on the grounds to and tolerance. there is a sense of decorum and i do not think that was right, quite frankly. guest: how many times have you sat on the steps of the capital and whip up the clout -- the crowds? guest: not while a debate was going on. host: 1979, retiring in 2005, martin frost. tom davis, retiring just a couple of years ago. john, houston, an independent line. caller: how're you gentleman doing? thank you for having more of a civil debate with each other on these matters.

i want to speak to the entire overall nature of what we are going through these days. as far as the commentary that connects the public sector with democrats and republicans, i think that the work ethic is the common thread. the nature of the country has changed, the work ethic has changed. you filibuster, but you do it on paper. you go to work, but you want to call in sick. you want health care, but you do not want to pay for it. where are we going? thank you, c-span. i will get out your way. guest: [laughter] i have nothing to say that except it is a good comment. one of the difficulties we have as elected officials is balancing everything. often the rhetoric on either

side does not match the reality. guest: i am impressed that people are up this early, calling in. [laughter] host: and sending critter messages. here is one about the gop. guest: a lot of people voted for obama for change because they did not like what was happening with the bush administration and the congress before that. now they are seeing the change. translating campaign rhetoric and the policy, as can -- as kennedy said, poetry into prose, is difficult. guest: there have been some studies, polls showing largely that the tea party movement is identified with the republican party. guest: there are a lot of independents. guest: if you look at the numbers, it is overwhelmingly

republican -- which is ok, that is their right. but these are not democrats, they are primarily republicans. guest: they were not there in 2006. >> they were quiet republicans then. >> that have battered energy to the base. what the problems is keeping it under one-tenth -- one of the problems is keeping it under one tent. guest: take a state like kentucky. if they win the republican nomination for the senate in kentucky, ky is suddenly in play. host: would you say the same in florida? guest: is a more difficult state for democrats right now. , follows these things closely as well -- tom follows these

things closely as well. whoever gets the republican nomination will be the contender. guest: this is unplayed, true, and paul does have his background. we will have to see where it goes. right now he is running stronger than any other republican. as is rubio in florida. once you get into the campaigns and start going back, martin is looking over the hill a bit. the answer is that nobody knows at this point. my feeling is that kentucky is a fairly red state where people are upset with the administration. guest: we have a good candidate on the democratic side. guest: you have a tough time.

guest: a real contest. host: you won the contest? guest: i want to give credit to senator casey and senator brown. host: what is one obscure political fact that you like to tell people? guest: we are up against charles todd, al hunt, the print media and electronic media. there was the question of the cycle's holding the presidency picking up the congress. i presided over 1. guest: martin did as well. and >> -- guest: my sweet spot.

host: bill, michigan, republican line. caller: i am pretty much independent, i have voted for ross perot before. we vote the man out here, not the party. we have seen what the democrats did. you two have really made me mad. politicians like barack obama just keep lying. i tell you what, here in detroit, michigan, everything is vegas. guest: there were a lot of ross perot's supporters that previously identified with my

party, some of them previously with the republican party. there is a current out there in the country of independent voters who, if given a viable choice, which they are not always, of a third-party candidate, they will go in that direction. harder to show off in a non- presidential year like this. i do not know where people go in a conventional election. but there is an element of the electorate that will not align itself with specific parties, but they do not always have the opportunity. guest: de part of this is the fact that financing, you have national parties with infrastructure. ross perot could finance himself. michael bloomberg it could finance himself. detroit has been an economic disaster area for a long time.

martin and i would have differing views as the rationale for that. the democratic legislature has not done much. guest: they have had republicans in there. guest: it has been a fairly republican-free zone. guest: you did have a republican governor at one point. guest: not in the last eight years. host: "the free-market resolution lasted until 2007, is this true"? guest: martin has been around longer than me. guest: with that is the way you want to -- you were there longer. guest: that is the way you want to leave the place. but my observation, when power

is at stake, when parties get close, they asked differently than of one party simply ask a poll. when you start looking at political power in the balance of the party and leadership, they act differently. guest: there is a second part to this, in the last 20 years congressional districts have driven the parties to extremes. you still have a number of swing districts, but you have quite a few safe republican districts in quite a few safe democratic district. people elected from those districts tend to move to the extremes of their own party because they do not want to be challenged in their own party. republicans in my state, many of which are very reasonable people, are always worried that someone from the far, far right

will run against them in the primary. same thing in the democratic party. they worry about people coming from the left. guest: it is an unintended consequence of the voting rights act, for the vast majority of members, their race is in the primary. guest: potential race. guest: if they're looking at opposition, it is from the primary party. let me add, if you go back 50 years, you have the same ran out -- ramifications, but it is not ideological. for republicans to have taken congress in 1946, 1952, they had to get outside of the south.

guest: the only held it for two years. guest: it was not ideological in the south. guest: without naming the people, as there is no point in pointing to specific members, we both know members of our own party that would be more towards the center if they were not concerned about a challenge in their own primary. host: would be think about this upcoming race? guest: a hell of a race. bill white has been able to raise a lot of money that many have not been able to. the current governor only got 39% in it for wakefield. republicans are still in the advantage in texas, it is still a republican state, but bill white has the chance to make it competitive. host: are you interested in

governor? guest: furthest thing from my mind. host: no statement like sherman? guest: he is too young for that. [laughter] host: good morning, democratic line, florida. charlotte, go ahead. guest: -- caller: this has been very interesting, some of the points brought up will back up what i am going to say. there is a new silent majority of their that every one, pollsters and republicans, seemed to underestimate. we know what is going on. we see the tea party radicals, the republicans who have turned to this radical right groups.

we know what is going on. we may not be making the noise that the rest of them are making, but we are out here and we are going to vote. do not underestimate us. we are here, all over the country. we see what is happening with senators blocking everything. we just want to be ruled by a small group of 13 states or 14 states. we know what is going on. host: you wrote in this political peace, "despite the current wind being at the back of the gop, republicans should not count their chickens. guest: i agree. i am a political attorney at this point. guest: is interesting to see the turn out in an off- presidential year.

maybe it will be different this time. guest: what we have seen in the three elections that have given us a window, va., republicans picked up governor's in the senate race, the republicans were much more enthusiastic and democrats showed up in greater numbers. massachusetts is an interesting case study. the turnout for the special luncheon was higher in the off- year. but when you look at the group of people that turned out, it was a different route. in virginia, he carried with 53%, mccain share -- john mccain carried those that showed up in 2009. guest: they have done well in the special elections. guest: and in some state house races.

guest: you cannot tell where people are going. >> without that, as martin made note, it would have been tougher rally your base. guest: not just the base, it is the perception of the party and of congress. to have failed, it would not just have distressed the base, it would have given bad press across the country. guest: independent voters are still trending republican -- which is not strange at all, in an off year. guest: we will lose seats this time, the question is really how many. you cannot tell at this point. guest: more and more democratic seats are coming on-line as democratic seats go offline. things do change as you have

national security crises bringing the country together. republican leaders keep making these gaffes. a lot of things can happen. guest: you have a couple of low profile races in the senate where democrats have the chance to go against the trend and pickup seats, like new hampshire, missouri, and kentucky. new hampshire is a cheap date, no one understands. you will need 600,000 votes. we have a good candidate and a tough race, no question. but it only takes a little bit over 300,000 to win the race. missouri, i would not assume anything, but they are a very competitive state with an open seat. just like new hampshire, ky. guest: ohio as well.

guest: we have a real shot at it. in the ballgame, at least. missouri is a state that goes back and forth, always a very close race. there are things that could be helpful to democrats that might not be totally obvious the national press right now. host: you can be part of the twitter conversation online at twitter.com/c-spanwj. "i think that the real the trail began between parties after the 2000 election when the supreme court decided the women in favor of bush." guest: it was amazingly mild considering how contentious the race was when it went to the supreme court. this was the political system, we recognize what the rules work, people felt cheated, walking away at the elected level.

guest: it really started in the 1994 election. it was a very harsh race. host: the vote to impeach bill clinton? guest: ultimately a mistake for the republicans, one of the reasons i believe we pick up seats in 1998. almost always the president's party in the sixth and eighth year loses seats, an impossible situation generally, but we picked up seats. at the end of the campaign we rejected impeachment, the republican side did not want to do that, and he was overruled. guest: there is no question that that is the reason that we lost seats. the historic we we had picked up a bit going into that, republicans overplay their hand. -- overplayed their hand.

that said, i do think it is one of the reasons that out or lost in 2000. the people that felt strongest about impeachment -- it failed, ultimately, but you look at these issues than in states like tennessee and west virginia, he gets a black guy for lying under oath. guest: is very difficult to have a 12 year residency at this point. the exception was bush after reagan. after that it was clinton, then bush, that obama. it is difficult for one party to stay in for 12 years. coast of florida, good morning.

caller: i have a question for the republican and democrat, as i am an independent. they used to be 67 votes? if you recite the pledge of allegiance that says we are a republic, not a democracy. to the democrat, i heard something very interesting. my parents used to be democrats, they have actually turned republican. something very interesting on c- span, the jfk said asked not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. now democrats say that you have a right to education, and house, and a job. from what i heard on c-span, that was the constitution of ussr. the democrats not understand what this country is about? guest: i do not want to get into

a philosophical debate, but there is a difference between the parties. democrats generally believed in a more activist role and republicans. -- activist role than republicans. that is what elections are about. there is a feeling amongst democrats that we need to do something to make sure that everyone has access to health care, making sure the public education is better than it has been. republicans do not always agree, sometimes they prevail, sometimes we prevail. guest: let me just say, the senate, by its rules, are a more deliberative body. the saucer that cools the hot tea. moving it from 67 to 60 was never to make it -- look, the filibuster is not being utilized the way it was envisioned by the

founders. host: what was the quote from benjamin franklin? guest: it was attributed to him. guest: talking about history and the filibuster, in terms of being bipartisan, it was not a 67 vote requirement when civil rights came out. lyndon johnson went to a republican to break the filibuster because he needed republican votes because you had southern democrats that would not vote for civil rights. it was broken on a bipartisan basis. host: a heated debate, when all this began. "rush limbaugh has much to do with the vitriol. now there are thousands of those voices on the right." guest: i get so much stuff across my desk from the internet.

so much of it is not true, just sent out across the way. look, there are no filters anymore. 30 years ago, there were filters. you may not have liked walter cronkite or the news media, but there were filters or a certain responsibility level, but there is none today. the internet and the news media have no shame. guest: we both right for various political periodicals. i will get calls after writing something about disinformation, they want me to send them the article because they have all of these people that tell me they are absolutely right and they want information on the other side. guest: john, republican mind -- host: john, republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. it is not that early to be

calling, i have been out since 5:00. guest: more power to you, you are in the minority i am afraid. [laughter] caller: my wife and i are republicans, but we have almost never voted straight republican. we always vote on the person. we both agree that no one should be threatened for a vote. we called our congresswoman and notify her that we would not support her anymore. guest: which is your right. caller: of course. but these crazies in the public -- i have watched the town hall meetings, barney frank, what planet are you from? at no point should they rep. talk to a person that pays their salary like that? just because they wear a suit does not mean they are not crazy. for the person in charge of our

financial situation in this country to say that everything is ok and get us where we are today -- one other point, he made a comment about representatives on the balcony. i have watched nancy pelosi and the democrats' march -- marched through the crowd with a giant gavel. we need to look at both sides and within their own ranks as well. guest: let me comment about barney. he tends to be a bit sarcastic. that does not mean he is a bad guy. i watched that. obviously, if things had gotten hot, he had had enough and made a sarcastic comment. he had to answer to his constituents. they may like having a congressman like that. guest: i like barney,

personally. but rarely do you get anywhere by getting angry at a town hall meeting. do not try to lose your cool. it does not work. but we are human beings like everyone else, and happens. guest: i have to say, when you do not lose your cool, it really agitates the people on the other side. i have been the town hall meetings i am very republican parts of my district where i would remain cool and it was clear that they would be very unhappy with me. host: "the beginning of it all was the snake and the tree, a cain and abel." de [laughter] we selected these questions as

we move ahead -- we selected these advertisements moving forward to. guests -- >> with the help of tim bishop, we have laws prohibiting insurance company denials if you get sick or have a pre-existing condition. affordable health care options to individuals and small- business owners. closing the medicare prescription-. -- prescriptions. >> the insurance companies hired 2049 lobbyists to try to get their way. $86 million was spent on misleading advertisements to kill reform. because they want to keep denying health coverage and jacking up premiums. insurance companies and did not

win. barren hill said yes to standing up for us, he is on our side. host: reaction? guest: the biggest beneficiaries of the health care bill has been the insurance companies. they fought the public option, that is what they did not want. they got a ton of new people to pay for their mandates to buy health insurance. i wanted to blunt this myth that somehow the insurance companies are the big losers in this. guest: the second biggest beneficiary might be the televisions. you have all of these different issue advertisements. making it easier for members to get reelected with an equal number of third-party members coming in. host: john, democratic line. ohio, good morning.

caller: thank you both for all of the service and great conversation this morning. if i could ask a quick c-span process question -- i have been calling for 20 years -- i apologize, i am still nervous. i am the beneficiary of you selecting a lot of my twitter messages, but i would like to point out that it is not the same as a minute long phone call, it is your discretion to include it if you think that it adds to the conversation, i would hope the would never do a one to one in terms of twitter or 30 days. host: do either of you use twitter? guest: different generation. adhesive [laughter] -- different generation.

[laughter] caller: i have a couple of questions. the first is on process. i have been paying attention for my entire life. thi have learned a lot about reconciliation during this discussion. i am sure the democrats complain when it was used under the bush ministration, but i do not remember cnn and msnbc doing in tire discussions about it with panels. -- doing entire panel discussions about it. guest: i am familiar with procedures and was on a couple of shows when this was going on down. i was surprised, almost appalled, about how much the

national media understood about procedures. it became a story because the national media had no idea. maybe that was just how things were, but these were somewhat obscure procedures, but they had been around for quite a while. there was almost a total lack of information amongst the people covering the story. guest: most members do not even understand the rules. guest: but people covering congress should have some understanding. caller: we heard a lot about this time, that is what i do not understand. guest: because the press was clueless and it was as if they were educating themselves in addition to educating the

public. it was because these procedures were used on such a major piece of legislation. they have been used routinely on votes of less consequence in the past. some democrats were using procedures that republicans had used, and democrats had used previously, but it suddenly became an issue because of the piece of legislation. guest: democrats complain about it, but republicans complained about it too. host: any follow-up? caller: the bush tax cuts were very important policy as well that were passed under reconciliation and the media did not focus on a ban. that is where my confusion comes in. we have had members standing on the courthouse with pictures of nancy pelosi slapping her face. what i would like to know, does

someone have to say that they advocate violence against the government? do they have to say the words? or is there some point short of it? guest: there was a statute passed a few years ago regarding press against the president. i am not sure that it -- it applies to members of congress. but we should not be doing anything that encourages on stable people to take action. guest: this is important to note. democrats demonized new gingrich -- newt gingrich. if you can demonize the leader of the party in the house, linking those members with an unpopular ", that is politics. jim wright was the first. that is the new way politics is

being played at this point. martin and i have never been personal about this, we do like to talk about issues, going toe to toe on the issues. it does not help you, personally, because you may need to boat on something else. but unfortunately that is how the game is being played. host: what is your knowledge of british politics? guest: i am looking forward to the may 6 election. host: "the british leader and its party shows signs of life. one of the country's most widely respected pols shows that labor had drawn within two percentage points of the conservatives." guest: they could stay in power with a governing coalition, but

what generally happens -- towards the end the votes against the incumbent party should be a wider. my gut on this is that they might be up now, but once the campaign kicks in that direction, if labor stays within a few points, there will be a coalition. guest: 3 presidential-style debates that we will be carrying on this network. guest: you always cover election night, which is exciting. guest: tom pointed out that they have a much shorter campaign. it would be nice if we had that in this country. guest: lies for the politicians. guest: em to the public -- guest: nice for the politicians. guest: and the public. [laughter]

host: next caller. caller: foreign-policy, we are falling apart. the jewish folks in congress are ready to have a fit with the president. the president has not said anything in terms of a press briefing were taking questions. what do you folks think about that? guest to we could spend the whole day on foreign policy. in terms of the israeli situation, their economy is going well. they do not look at peace the way they did a few years ago, where it became an issue of necessity. they are doing fine right now does. they would like to get to solve because it solves problems for them in the middle east. guest: an interesting piece in politico last week about

netanyahu, he thought that he could outlast the administration, that obama will be a one-term president. now that he is successful health-care he has to rethink his relationship. caller: you have to be joking, right? the country is against this health care policy. there is no way in heck that they sell this thing. you cannot even tell us what kind of policies the government is set up for. guest: there was great opposition initially to the prescription drug plan that the republicans passed in the early part of this decade. after it went into effect, it became more popular. public opinion does change. you do not just on the basis of a pole at the moment, that is not how congress operates. public opinion has been split on this, slightly against, but

again, there was a prescription drug plan that was not popular when it was passed but it became very popular over time. guest: the mood of the electorate in late october, early november? caller -- guest: it really depends on the economy. if it gets worse, my carb -- my party will have problems. guest: six months is a long time for foreign policy issues to interject themselves. if we went out to an angry electorate right now, you cannot know for sure. guest: things may of cooled down by then. host: our conversation with tom davis and martin frost, both of whom have shared their congressional campaign committees. thank you for coming, gentlemen.

speaking of politics, we will have a conversation with howard dean, former governor of vermont and chair of the democratic national committee. we are back in a moment on this march 28. ♪ >> the renovation of the pentagon has made it much harder for reporters to walk around. more spaces are behind doors where i cannot go unless i am escorted. >> tonight, david martin, uncovering a military in the u.s. and iraq and afghanistan.

>> what i hear president obama said that he is president of all-america, i say absolutely. first, black people have made you president of all of america. >> monday night, the black agenda forum with it tavis smiley. 8:30 eastern, c-span 2. >> this weekend on "book tv," the national book critics circle awards ceremony. bill bennett examines america at the end of the 20th-century, interviewed by walter isaacson, the former managing editor at time magazine. the entire schedule is online. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us from new york, former vermont gov., howard

dean. thank you for joining us. guest: thank you for having me on. host: what did you what -- what do you think of the new health care bill legislation? guest: essentially it is an extension of the existing system. after what mitt romney and the democrats did in massachusetts five years ago. there are certainly good things in it. i would have voted for it after some examination and soul- searching, it does move the ball down the road to where we need to be, but also an enormous missed opportunity. certainly, i wish it had been much more comprehensive. i wish that it was health care reform, which is not, i would like an extension to more people. guest: you wrote a couple of

months ago that america already has socialized medicine, -- host: you wrote a couple of months ago that america already has socialized medicine called medicare. would that have been the way to go, some expansion? guest: we came around to believing that we had to allow people to buy in if they wished. but people that like private insurance in this country should be able to have it if they wanted. but the medicare system is a very good program. you can take it anywhere that you want. losing your job does not mean you lose your insurance. it insures all comers regardless of pre-existing conditions. why not allow people of a certain age to purchase? that would have been a much preferable version of what we have, which is in the province of the private insurance industry, which is a mistake.

host: 54% of americans oppose legislation, only 41% in favor of it, where they call it a miracle in cuba. your reaction? guest: i often do not react to the far right, i will pass on that one. host: we both did to your phone calls. for republicans, 202-737-0001. for democrats, 202-737-0002. for independents, 202-628-0205. we spoke earlier with martin frost and tom davis about the politics of health care and how it will play out in the voting booth. guest: politics are good that we won this one. had i been in congress, i would have pushed for it.

first of all, the president really look like the president in getting this done. he barnstormed the country for a few weeks, standing up in a courteous way at the summit. that is what people want, strength in the president. more than anything else, george bush did a good job conveying strength. people like that. it was not an accident that it went from against to favor within four days. i think that this is a big political boon to the democrats. will we lose some seats? yes, but i do not think we will lose the majority -- of course, anything can happen, like martin said. but the president showed strength and that he was a real leader, which makes a difference. those go the other side of the argument is the growing deficit and the $12 trillion debt.

the feeling of many people is that the government is getting too big. is that a larger issue to be touched on? guest: the truth is that people say that the government is getting too big but they never want to give up medicare or social security. every time republicans have undermined social security or medicare, it resulted in republicans running away. the roof falls in on them. people say they do not want big government, on the other hand people really like these kinds of services and health care is essential. host: this is a twitter comment, "what you think of passing the comment through reconciliation"? guest: there were a couple of big mistakes that were made early on, and one of them was not using the process from the

beginning. to think that you would get all 60 people that caucus with the democrats, two who were not democrats and one who was essentially a republican, was a huge error. it cost six months and a lot of strength. we had enough votes for a medicare buy and in the senate. why you would derail what they wanted, even republicans, it was a major error and it is too bad that we do not have that. host: is it time to change the rules in the senate? guest: you want to be careful of changing the rules. i think it is certainly time to get rid of the structure -- the obstruction by individual senators. getting rid of filibuster? i do not know.

cutting it down? a double-edged sword. we hated because we are in the majority, but back in the minority we would probably use it as well. host: what is your personal relationship like with president obama? guest: i do not see him much. host: if you give him a call, will he return a phone call? guest: i usually talk to staff. host: what about rohm emmanuel? guest: we have a cordial relationship. despite the mets. host: would you like to debunk them? guest: is he doesn't -- is he an irascible person with a high energy management style? sure. the last several times i have had conversations with them, a perfectly cordial. one thing that i concur with was

the view of the press in washington, it has decayed badly in the last 30 years in terms of what it understands. host: looking ahead to the midterm elections, how would you apply would you tried to do looking forward? guest: they are doing it. the president had 20 operatives in texas over the last three years. fighting the bill white will be the next governor of texas. we have got people in many states on the ground. i think that the 50 states strategy has been changed, having do it -- having done it the way the the president

wanted, but i am delighted that it is still intact. we have got to reach out to everyone, including the people mad at the democratic party. is respectful to ask for their boats, even if we know we will not get them. host: peter, florida, your honor howard dean. good morning. caller: privilege and to talk to both of you today. three things quickly. t dagen -- tea baggers are the best advantage for the democrats. we are pumped by obama and democratic senators, we have got to reevaluate where we give the money. blanche lincoln helped to kill the public option. mr. obama did nothing to fight for the public option. i feel, to.

the other things, really quick, if the republicans did people that run on anti-nafta, anti- china trade, they will wipe out the democrats. we have not seen any bankers going to jail over lehman brothers. timothy geithner is involved where he was supposed to have oversight. i feel pumped up in this. like i said, the democratic national committee, i stopped writing checks. >> he represents a significant part of the base, who is incredibly demoralized by what happened to health care. currethey did rally in the pastw

weeks, partially because they know who's team they were on. it is right, if you go too far, you will energize the base of the other party. it is a new game now. everyone likes a winner, including democrats. i would also agree about the financial scandal. there probably are people that should go to jail. when you have major companies selling financial instruments and then shorting them, one of the things that i hope i will see in the financial bill is a requirement for every one that sells financial instruments to the public to have a responsibility to the public. that does not happen right now. you get something from merrill lynch or wall street, the broker can do a whole lot of things. they have the responsibility to sell you an appropriate investment.

so, if they do something that is not proper, you can get them, but it is a big problem. the financial industry is too big and the country has not been able or willing to do the things that make it necessary -- 90% of what has been done in finance has nothing to do with job creation except on wall street. a huge problem for the country. credit default swaps do almost nothing to improve the economy. host: this comment, "when the gop complaints about job creation, remind them that the bush administration spent $12 trillion and lost 8 million jobs." guest: obviously that is a part of the position that you can take against the bush administration. rather than get into all of that, i agree with president obama, backwards is not the best

way to run the country, but putting on my less partisan hat, i would say look, we are where we are and we have to fix it. . .

everybody wants to say look at what i care about but we're going to look at evident to cut this deficit. >> you have vermont or nationally? host: i have no idea. the one thing about runing for president, you're a lot more careful before you say you'll do it again. it's easy to say it a first time but it's an awesome, daunting task so i don't have any idea if i have a political run in me. caller: i'd like to ska question in regard to imcongratulations if you would dance, please. the do you support immigration reform? host: did you have a go stow lup? caller: yes, also on cnn in the health care bill we've taken over student loans hat even the cnn students report to exceed 43

percent this was a mistake so. we kind of - you know slipped that in there. past the american penaled i think that was unfair because new we couldn't get it set aside by itself. where in the bill, can i find where the president and his executive staff are covered or have to be governd to use the same type of health care we have or are they excluded? guest: there are a few congressional staff that don't have to do this. but mostly ever body in the federal government is in the plan the president signed. everybody gets what we call now an exchange between six or ten plans to choose what they want and those are screened by the federal government. that's now in place for the whole country as it's been in place for massachusettss for the past five years.

so i can't tell you who exactly is covered in there. i know there's a few congressional folks that didn't get covered but there's a few including the congressman himself. if there's immigration reform in terms of student loans we saved 60 million dollars. that's taxpayer money saved to reduce the deficit or fund health care or combination of both. finally, immigration reform. we have a lot of people living here for a long time including talented people. i do think we have a big problem at the borders and need to control them and that's continuing to happen, but i also think people who have lived here for a long time with kids that are citizens, some valedictorians in their schools. we value them being here. a lot of people against the 1800's were against the italians

and irish and juice and now hispanics. immigrants are great for this country and all of us are almost descendants and it's good to get hard works blood in this country to keep the economy going. host: howard dean trained auzion a medical doctor. 2004 democratic presidential candidate. joe from springfield, illinois. independent line. good morning.. >> good morning.. my question would be one, where - we're spending money like drunken sailors where. are we going to get the money for all these entitlements we're going to put out since our jobs are shrinking. where we going to get the taxes from? guest: actually the health care bill saves money. we cut $5 million out of money

in the health care program that was going to insurance companies and insurance makers and that's used to pay for health care and the cb o is saving about 130 billion over the next 10-years but the following tenniers after that, saved over a trillion dollars. when you make a system work better, which this health care bill is designed to do, you save money and that's going to help us alot. i agree with you. you can't create wealth without private sector jobs and we've lost a lot of them. hits getting better but i support the government spending going on even though they think you have to have balanced spending much, much sooner because you have to float the economy through the worst of this. that's why i supported some of the bank bail-outs. i think some of those people should be in jail for what they

did, but if you let those banks go down you have a whole lifetime of investments for an awful lot of americans go down. you have to make tough choices and even though the bank bail-out was done under bush, i supported that. you have to maintain and stabilize the economy and i think it's going to get better. that's an opinion shared by the majority of ceo's in this country now. host: clarion the twittering. she said she's interesting in your views on the uk press reporting there's no longer what's describeds as quote a special relationship between the u.s. and uk. >> that's silly. of course there is. i'm fascinating. one thing i disagree with john davis. i don't think there will ever be a coalition between the liberals and labor government. i know the liberals very well

and rick tends to win thansd i think they could. you may have a hung parliament but i don't think you will have a coalition, at least not that one going forward. but i don't know why anyone would say there's no special relationship between uk and united states. even israel has had a special relationship and those don't get undone over one diplomatic flap or onesiely press article. i can't imagine why anybody would write such a thing. host: and the story this morning by john burns. let me follow up you said nick claying could be the next prime minister? host: think he could. i think the debates will be enormously helpful to everybody. he's young, dynamic leader and the brits really would like a change. the labor and conservatories are

showing it's not what they want either. they're mad at lay boornd have a young, dynamic leader, leading a power that in fact has been in power running governments although not for the last many decades and think the debates be putting them in equal footing. host: we'll carry those debates here in their entirety. they have not announced the election but by all accounts it'll take place on may sixth. guest: that i'm not an expert about. host: jay from missouri. thanks for waiting. caller: yes. good morning. i want to comment on a caller that called in previously. and she said there's a silent majority out here that's saying that they see everything that's going on and she's completely right and the republicans, i

don't know - they just don't believe that there is a silent majority, but there is. - and i'm so tired of hearing the word wpt bipartisan ship. the reason obama did this is because republicans are doing the same thing they did on health care. it's just, no, no, no, no, m no. he has to be allowed to run the country and do the best for the american people he can and that's what he's doing. people that cry for public option. i supported it too but all the good things that are in this bill that will start right away and for the republicans to run on the fact that they want to be rid of being able to have your child on their insurance until their 26 and getting rid of pre-existing conditions of which

i got one. host: governor dean? guest: i agree. by election time they won't be so anxious to run against the bill. the tea party people have gotten out of and. i like the idea of a the tea party and any time americans get involved in the legal system and split political system it's a good thing. you don't cut gas lines or throw bricks. they have to reign in extremists to be successful. i encourage people to get involved in politics and take personal responsibility and take power in their own hands. i did this with democrats and the other side, most of them are. but extremism and violence is not good for the country. they have to figure that out or they'll be a huge liability to

the republican party. the tea party and republicans are working and in glove. sarah palin did crank them up. when you say don't retreat. reload that's pretty inflammatory. >> one of many tea party rallies around the country can be found here. ta taxed enough already and governor dean, john has this question. is a value added tax evidence l inevitable? guest: um... i would be against it right now. actually because i am somewhat conservative about money but i'm a big supporter of health care reform, but i don't want the federal budget to get a whole lot bigger. i'm not one for cut all theing services we have. the services we have are very good. i would prefer services be

run through the states with federal minimums so you don't get a texas and mississippi that cuts things out or arizona that shockingly cut 3,000 people off medicaid including children. but i am in favor of people cutting and doing this. i prefer to have more money in state hands if you're going to run those kinds of taxes and of course, where then would the states be with the revenue they need in the sales tax? host: republican line with governor dean, good morning. dean? caller: good morning.. i normally don't respond to people so far to the left, nevertheless i had to ask you a question. of the health care bills, if i change jobs and go to a new company that offer as very lied health care plan i must go under the government option man that

was a sham, even this plan is geared towards ruining the private health care system so the government business could take over. one question, without the private system, medicare would not function well because you're not paying doctors enough to make money and the private plan wasn't subsidizing it. my point is, why can't you let us who pay tax dollars above and beyond what we have to use our own private plan and pay for our own blue cross or whatever plan? why do you folks so adamant we all go under this government plan that will ration health care and put illegal aliens in front of lines. you say it won't and now your willing to give them amnesty and your party wants to team up with certain coalitions to ruin most of the people in this country and break our pocketbook giving

people that haven't paid into the system and people in 50 or 60 years old have paid in all their lines and you're going to put illegal immigrants in front. host: thanks jim. guest: with all due respect, nothing you said was true. i'm not trying to be mean about it. illegal immigrants are for be bid energy to get health insurance from text change system. they can't get health insurance through the exchange. secondly, i'm not in favor of amnesty. i'm in favor of earned legalization. people that have been here for a while ought to be able to earn their citizenship. it's happened my ancestors and perhaps your as well. the thirdly, there's nothing the bill that doesn't law people to make choices to get into the

private sector and i'm not advocating differently. but don't characterize my view if you have no clue what they are. host: arlington, or austin, texas. caller: good morning. my insurance is from et in the medicare through ohio state university insurance plan. i called because i'm concerned with what i hear about medicare advantage and they said they're now negotiating to see what they can get for the et in the advantage plan for people. and if they can't they'll switch to the regular medicare plus private, secondary insurance. i'm pretty concerned because at this point it's almost impossible to get a doctor to take that plan at this point. doctors are ducking out of medicare. what's going to happen when the

medicare advantage plans are terrible and they're lugs stuff and they all want to go back to regular medicare and have to pay huge prices for secondaries and all the baby boomers are retireing? what's going to happen to a system with few doctors and too many people in it and prices going up? guest: when i was governor, we created universal health care for kids. everybody under 18 in my state has health insurance. in order to do that we used medicaid and made it a middle class entitle meant so people could put their kids on it to make sure they had insurance. to make that work we had to raise rates for pediatricians. if medicare works they have to raise it for primary care physicians. it's not that you can't see it but you can't get into see a

primary care physician because the reimburse meant rates are so low. it's not very expensive to do that. we don't have time to go over the system we should have, but if you look at a good system it's caser. tertiary care facility and all in one system. if you would give caser a certain amount of money doctors could make decisions about how to do that and save a fortune. those are the kinds of private that work well. medicare doesn't work like it should. they have a private sector that doesn't give sick people insurance. host: mario from harlem in new york. independent line with governor dean. good morning. caller: good morning. governors, you're a good guy. i'm an independent. i used to be a democrat but they

broke my heart too many times so i had to move on. recently, with the i'm a moderate and i'm an arch conservative. so i know - i'm used to people like if they disagree with you, you gets strogh sized. my question to you is like this cultural war. what's going to happen like in next 3-5 years if we get past this point in the culture, is it going to take some very bad violence like assassinations or people that go to a picnic table and say hey let's put an end to this? it's like what's going to happen? how do you see change? guest: i see it change. young people under 35 are totally different than air generation. they really do want to work together. we did a lot of work among

evangelical christians and found none evangelical issues are top priorities for poverty, darfur and so on. they believe gay rights are an automatic civil rights issue for everybody but the under 35 which is essentially the people that elected president barack obama. but for the first time the young people, that generation is sick of this. everybody is but that generation doesn't practice this in their every day lives and washing to be is the last place to figure out what's going on in the rest of the world. the older generation you see going and having this huge eruption of partisan battles that's been terrible for at least two decades and i think now things will get better.

people outside jokingly say we should have term limits for the senate. just don't allow anybody in there over 50 and the climate of the country would change dramatically. i do think it'll get better because the younger generation doesn't operate the way we do. >> the front page of the "new york times," looking at the problems if most if not all of the states are facing. michigan is down to it's budget levels of the 1960's. essentially what the piece is looking at is ways for states to make-up the difference. pennsylvania proposing a tax for health care and funeral services. kentucky lawmaker wants to tax hot air balloon rise. maine may propose a tax for entertainment. and nebraska looking for a tax

to tax dating services. guest: well that's the newspaper article so they pull out the most ridiculous examples putting them up. the real debate is taxing services or not that for the most part have not been taxed. we switch for a manufacture-ing economy and we rely mostly on manufacture-ing taxes. there's some i hope hey don't do. i hope they don't do value added taxes incremently because that's awful for manufacturing services. they have to tax something. they have cut the hell out of most of what they can. everybody is going to be driving on pothole roads. i think people will see their services drop correspondingly. you can make any proposal look ridiculous by pulling out ridiculous examples.

the debate is do we go to service taxes and i probably makes some sense to do that but what level do you want your tax asian and services at? if you don't want the tax asian then you better be able to give up the services. >> howard dean joining us from new york. governor, thanks for being here with us on c-span. we appreciate your time. we'll take a short break and fill you in on the other guests and topics on sunday morning programs. and next. matt kibbe the president and ceo of freedomworks. >> steve, sunday talk shows continue to work on health care and party politics. meet the press hosted by david gregory includes new york senator and south carolina republican lindsay graham. jack tapper talks with white house senior advisor and hayley

barber and pennsylvania, ed win dale. chris wallace moderates debate for u.s. senate seat from florida. governor charlie chris and marco rubio. on face the nation from cbs, bob sheafer with committee chair tim cane. republican senator jim de met and mitchell balkman. and on cnn state of the union, white house senior advisor david axelrod and lamar often see and barbara mackalsky. that's 90 point 1 fm here in d.c. channel 132 and on the web at c-span radio dot org and

follow us on facebook and twitter. >> the renovation of the pentagon has made it much harder for a report er to just walk around. more and more spaces are now behind ciphered doors whether i can't go unless i'mest skorlted. >> tonight. cbs news correspondent on covering the military here in the u.s. and iraq and afghanistan. that's tonight on q & a. >> when i hear president barack obama say he's president of all america and i'm glad you r one, black people help make you president of all of america. >> monday night, the vice smiley's black agenda forum with the reverends lewis faracon. at 8 profit margins eastern on c-span two and on book t.v. from

new york, this years critics award ceremony and bill bennett examines america at the end of the 20's century. energy interviewed guy editor former of book t.v. dot org. "washington journal" returns. >> howard dean. let me ask you first. freedomworks organizing rallies that took place last april 15th. what's the relationship like now? guest: it's stronger but it's more complicated in the sense that the tea party and fiscal conservatives all over the country. that movement is bigger than it was last april 15th.

i think what you'll see this april 15th is twice as m.d. vents and on average, i think the events will be twice as big as- last year. host: the news of last week, first of all, some attention to tea party activist or those that align to the organization or activities and some of the name calling and brick throwing that took mace with certain members of congress and some of the phone calls to democratic members of the house? guest: all that kind of behavior is unfortunate. we denounce it. when we got together with tea party leaders in i think early february. one thing we distributed was a chapter called force more powerful. the book itself, is about peaceful public protests that change countries and public

policy for the best. the chapter we used, is the chapter on the civil rights movement and the key to successful grass roots protesting is always that it's peaceful. now i will say, i suspect that some of this is - sort of vicious smears and hyperbole from the left wanting to change the topic from where we're at. make no mistakes we denounce violence, racism and we want no part of that. i, for one, have not seen it in the tea party movement and i've spent time with thousands of people across the country and it's so contrary to my personal experience. these are good people worried about their country and they're showing up to debate bad public policy. host: it's said there's some resentment toward freedomworks and specifically dick army and

his-other roll as a lobbyist. you want to respond to that? guest: he hasn't been a lobbyist for quite some time so that's not accurate. i think what your seeing in the tea party movement is growing pains. it's like a 16-year-old boy wakes up and discovers he's 6'4" and he's trying figure out how to walk with that new, big, powerful body he grew into. that's where we're at. these going pains are not going to be easy because there's so many people involved today and we're a leader less movement. dick army is not in charge. freedomworks isn't in charge. there's thousands of people across the country organizing these tea parties and it's quite natural and human to have an on-going debate about priorities and should we hold a protest in

washingtondc or our-hometown. my attitude is, and i don't usually quote chairman now, but i will here. let a thousand flowers bloom and the ideas from throw call communities will be proven effective and tea partys will gravitate to those and the bad ideas are simply going to be left on the cutting room floor because people don't want to do it. >> what role does sarah palin play in all of this? guest: she's popular with some tea party activist and some american people because she represents sort of anti-establishment nonpartisan approach to what policy is all about. i think that she is one of many people that have shown up on the tea party stage, that have gotten a positive response. i don't find her - she's not the

leader either and i think she would deny that as well. we welcome everybody that shares our values of lower taxes and constitutional restrained government. >> the rally that took search in nevada the hometown of senator harry reid the crowd estimated to upwards of 30,000. have you seen any firm numbers of how many people were in attendance? >> i saw pictures this morning and it looks a lot closer to 30,000 than up 7,000 and that's completely consistent with the parts that i've seen. lot of people are showing up because they're anxious about what the government is up to. they feel the process by which the health care bill was passeds was completely undemocratic and completely untransparent.

people don't like it. it's bad public policy and they're doing what our constitutional government depends on them to do. show up, express their opinions and let legislators know where they stand. host: but senator mcconnell said he'll do everything he can to mock the president at every turn so it's not partisanship at every turn. guest: when you use reconciliation for passing a massive new government program. this is something that hasn't been done before. now that it has been done, the rules frankly have been permanently corrupted and i don't know how you can go back to where we were. there was an agreement in the senate rules and robert bird was - well he used to strictly confirm these. the only thing bipartisan that

happened during the health care debate was the fight in the house. than c nancy below s pelosi los of votes. so if there's anything in the house today it's in opposition of what nancy pelosi wants to do. host: a graduate of george mason and president and ceo of freedomworks. caller: good morning. matt, i'm glad you mentioned about the smears of the name calling at thedc rally. bright bard has put up $10,000 reward for video. if someone with all the cameras that were there can put up the video, it's a $10,000 reward so

it's time for everyone to put up the video or stop smearing the tea party. thank you. guest: i was on msnbc the day after the big rally in washington. it was sunday morning and i very aggressively searched for any video that demonstrating racial slurs that were named that day and i happen to be in the crowd that day and i didn't see it and couldn't find a single video that showed that happened and everybody has a flip camera phone and there were dozens of reporters there in the scene. i worry that both sides are using race as a political issue, and we're really doing damage to the goal office a color blind society when we use race as a political issue. it shouldn't be that way and idea nouns it on all sides.

host: matt there's a conversation. one variety said reconciliation is used for fixs to the already used health care law not used to pass health care reform, he says. guest: well, that's not quite accurate because the house would not have passed the senate bill unless there was a pre-existing agreement to pass the fixes. by the way, the fixes were not small potatoes. there's all sorts of new expansion of entitlements and it's important to understand that, budget reconciliation was established to force congress to coit's constitutional job and pass a budget every year and by the way, it doesn't work for that, they're constantly passing short-term fixs to the budget instead of doing what their supposed to be doing. now reconciliation that doesn't

work for the process it's created for is being used to create new programs. i think it's bad public policy and what democrats need to say today is republicans of the tomorrow will now use the same process in a way equally offensive for the minority party when it's the democrats. host: we're talking with the ceo and president of freedomworks joining us from dmrachlts your interesting in the tea party rally that took place in nevada yesterday you can see it tonight here on c-span. mark from silver spring, maryland on the democrats line. welcome. caller: good morning. i have two statements and a question. for one, to the one caller who said about the $10,000 reward as far as like smear campaigns for i guess, race. not really, i guess specifically to race, but you know, we all

seen the video where the person with parkinson's was like, i guess uninvite edly treated. we all seen that. this is not a grass roots organization in my opinion. it's sponsored by yours and other conservative organizations so to say, well, you know this is built for the ground up and that and the other it's really not genuine. host: thanks. matt kibbe? guest: we are a grass roots organization. our job has always been to put people together that share our views of less government and more freedom and less taxes. that's the ultimate goal of a democracy society. in terms of relationships to tea partys a lot of our members

would be self described tea party leaders and members. i could point to early grass roots programs against big government spending both in the ending days of bush and obama administration. i would say today the grass roots operation in terms of growing government and the process by which their doing sit not just about the tea party movement or freedomworks members. this is the very center of public opinion today. american people don't like what's going on and they appose this health care bill and a post spending money we don't have. they're showing up and i think that's good thing. host: the on-line conversation that's continued six the alex of president barack obama has surfaced is the subject of the next question. for freedomworks and it's this. is the president a citizen of

the united states? guest: i think he is and i think it's a nonissue. host: jack? caller: what's happening to the tea party participants is another example of the blatant double standard that now exists in the country. the million man march that took place in washingtondc was never called bunch of black racist or ma something nisic since they wouldn't let women take place. as far as angry whites if you play the first segment of this morning's show you would see very angry blacks callinging in and mr. scully had to raise his voice to respond to anything they say. the tea party is one of the best things that happened to this country. i'm glad some white people are

getting off their butt and exercising they're cobs constitutional right of assembly and freedom of speech and if they don't get out and speak about it. their grandchildren will be condemned to a life of oppression and lowest social economic group in this country, so they better wake the heck up. host: okay. guest: i happen to think the tea party movement is not about being black or white from any region of the country, man or woman, it doesn't matter that much. i see people of all colors and shapes and sizes. geographic origin. we have one of everything in our crowds and i would just argue to those that say this is a bunch of angry white people. watch the c span coverage of freedomworks the 9 the march on

washington. the most popular speeches of that day and i just love this speech for inspiration. the reverend,cl bryant from louisiana gave what's become a defining speech of that day. there's a movie called tea party the documentary and i suspect c-span gets a lot of traffic with people going back and hearing the speakers that day. we had african-americans. we had a rapper. we had white people. asians. hispanics. this is america. this is not about race. i got to say this again and again. anybody that makes this a fight about race is doing real damage to a color blind society in america, and i don't think we should be doing that. >> matt kibbe you've given us a good opportunity to remind our audience about the c-span

library including that rally from 912. some from the very early days of this network. we went on the air in 1979. 160 thousand plus hours totally for free. click on video library and find the search engine and get your information from there. good morning.. caller: good morning. i'm glad you have something like this in c-span. i've been watching c-span for years and some of the people that are on should never be on. i pay for this program too. the best thing you can do is have the tea parties. i watched it last week and all the politicians trying start trouble like nancy pelosi. that's one person that should be out of the white house and senate as far as i'm concerned. keep it up. it's good work. thank you. host: thanks for the call. go ahead.

guest: go ahead. host: wyoming. democrat line? caller: thanks for taking my call. i want to talk about the poles. you keep saying american people are against the health care bill. yeah, i'm against the health care bill but i'm for public option and single payer. okay we can't get the public option but at least you got something to cover people without insurance. the pole was done that because the questions were not asked properly. where were you people when president bush fought two wars without paying for them with taxes and then asked the people to sacrifice anything. we didn't raise taxes or ask us to volunteer. he since said, go out and shop. you people never said a word about the money that was spent. and president barack obama had to put all the same debt that

bush didn't put on budget, on to budget. guest: well, two responses. first on health care, it's interesting that those that supported a single payer system in the public option, they got left outside of this process because what president barack obama did, and you need to understand this, is he very early on, brought in big insurance and big pharmaceutical companies and had meetings in the white house and they wrote this bill, the senate staffer on senate finance came from - i believe the pharmaceutical industry and the bill was written specifically to force every american to buy that industry's product, and pay the price that the government mandated whether or not they wanted it or not. imagine what a great deal that was. if i was mcdonalds and got the federal government and forced everybody to eat lunch at

mcdonalds every day. so i kind of view what passed out of congress as ultimate special interest bill where big insurance and big pharmaceuticals can force a whole new base of customers to buy products they didn't necessarily want or need. number two, we've been apposing overspending and we were very aggressive in apposing in the bush administration the big bank bail-out. but for those left wing activist that appose president bush on iraq and afghanistan, it's telling that president barack obama has now not only hired president bush's foreign policy team but he's doubled down in afghanistan and hasn't gotten out of iraq. that has to be disappointing to the left. host: a- link is available on our website or go to

freedomworks dot org. independent line. good morning. caller: i'm going to have to disagree with mr. matt kibbe. i see-saw thern poverty law center poll that says there's been a 5.25% percent in militia patriot groups rise from 10-yearsing a. and then there's a national poll that quoted 88 percent of the tea party movement are white and 5.25% percent are women. most of the tea party movement didn't go to college. they're like high schools and then there's a hair risk pole from march 24th called wing nuts and it's says - what is it? 45 percent of the so-called, wing nuts are, don't believe that president barack obama was born in the united states.

- and there's a "new york times" article that says, you know, this roll from health care went at these guys sideways. barney frank and nancy pelosi rolled it out. jew and a black man, the president of the united states signed the health care. i'm very concerned that this is leading to these threats on congress. guest: well, i'm not sure which question to answer. i'll go back to your first point. the southern policy law center is the name of the group that put out that study and frankly, i thought was pretty slanderist. they put out what we thought was inappropriate and dangerous among militia leaders. it's there and always has been and it's dangerous and we need to deal with it and then they mention tea party movement as if

there's any affiliation. i thought it was pretty slanderish. and i don't understand the analysis. if 88% of the tea party movement is white, i'm not sure what that demonstrates. i don't judge people based on the color of their skin and the tea party mument is open to everybody if your worried about the future of our country, we're going to welcome you with open arms and not judge you based on anything but the content of your character. host: michael from republican line in los angeles. good morning. caller: good morning. this morning i heard you say a few comments and the caller said, i believe will give a good example of why the tea party has a bad image and why so many people are considered racist. now, you have one who asks is

the president of the united states a citizen. host: michael we've addressed that issue. do you have another one? caller: just an issue with - understanding it's not a direct race issue, it's just that things said that can be take then a racist manner. host: matt kibbe? guest: i think that the attacks on the good people that are showing up, that their racist. they're trying change the subject. i think this is race baiting in reverse and it needs to stop. i think that you've seen this from day one when people started protesting the president's stimulus plan and when they started protesting health care. they showed up at the august

townhall meetings. the democratic machines said first these people aren't real and then they - nancy pelosi suggested maybe they were affiliated the nazi party and then my barack obama.com called these people racist and i don't see the facts happening on this. i think that all of these tactics are really damage together the fabric that holds us altogether as a country. host: wanda on the democrats line from colombia, south carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. matt how are you? guest: good. how are you? caller: good. if you're saying president barack obama is pushing for these - you know, massive government take over, why does freedom work and the conservatives and the tea party feel he would purposely sabotage

his own presidency if you say the american people don't want this? what's your thought process there? guest: i think that the president and certainly nancy pelosi attend authors of the house bill probably believe that a government take over of health care is a good thing. and i think they're just confused about this point. i can't find any evidence that more government spending, that more government control, more government mandates on health care, will do anything but drive up costs and make it more difficult for people to get the health care they need. i think there's a philosophical divide here and i take them at their word that they believe they're doing the right thing but i happen to disagree with them and i happen to think that health care is too important to give over to the federal government. it doesn't work. i mean, medicare and medicaid

only work to the extent that you can shift costs on to the private sector. and that's the real cost driver on private insurance and it's astro no, ma'am call for those that have to walk in and buy health care without insurance. we're expanding those programs dramatically in this - bill and i think the inevitable result of that will be, no amount of money will be enough to fund this program. there will be no cost controls and that in effect, people will not get the health care they need and that's what's worry some. host: another question from viewers on-line at twitter.com/cspanwj. how is freedomworks funded? guest: we have - we raised 8 million dollars last year and we're almost all funded by individuals anywhere from one dollar to large donations from

across the country. we have about 20,000 individual donors. we do raise some corporate money. i think it'll be about ten percent of our total budget this year. as i said a thousand times, we've not received a single dime from the farm suit kl industry or the insurance industry. that should be pretty obvious given the fact they like this bill, helped write this bill and see a boom to the bottom lines under this legislation. host: ann from colorado. independent line. good morning. caller: hi. my concern is - my thought is - truth verses ideology, and i think it's fine for people to have their own ideas with what a government should be. but i think we're devoid of a base of truths between the two events i.s just like the whole thing about the tea parties here

and the gop saying that this is a - massive government and the majority of people are disgusted but the truth of the matter is that i am disgusted with the health care because i didn't get single payer, public option. i know that about half the people were disgusted - they are actual liberal, like he said. that's the truth, but you don't hear that from the tea partyers. they lumm everything in the same group. as far as government. ronald reagan had the largest peace time tax increase budget in the history of the united states, and george bush had the largest wartime deficit in the history of the united states. host: thanks, ann. guest: well, let me talk about the deficit first.

i think that you are seeing historically high deficits, you're talking about 1 point 2 trillion dollars. as far as eye can see. that frankly doesn't take into account the health care bill they just passed. i think things going to get worst before they get better. i'm shocked frankly, any president was able to do a worse job managing our fiscal house than george w. bush but even president barack obama has made him look like a fiscal conservative. i don't think it's about ideology. there's a question about how much the government is able to do, maybe you call this ideology but i believe it should be about individuals and note a collective. i don't think the government has a good track record managing programs and they can't even manage programs that we don't need very well. they certainly won't be able to mj our health care very well.

i think the right way to do health care is to let individuals control those decisions and there's a lot of difficult decisions that come was persons health care and the idea of some nameless, face- less bureaucrat in some agency you'll never talk to and know, the idea that person will make a life and death decision for you, it's just offensive to me. host: another twitter question for you. your biography say use went to college in growth city, west virginia. how did you pick that school? guest: interestingly, i went there's an biology major and discovered the economics program while i was there. there was a professor there that studied underous try an great teacher. host: mary from palm springs.

good morning.. caller: good morning. afraid we're going to have free health care for everybody and very few doctors, a lot of the doctors don't want it. we have to unfortunately tom hanks and michael moore and all these anti-american, maybe march towards socialism. we better get out there and vote republican if we want to keep this free country. guest: i do think the november elections for better or worse, the november elections are going to be a referendum on obama care. i think your also seeing that because of the state attorney general's challengeing the constitutionalty your now to the point, where every elected official. govern nor.

congressman, senator. everyone is asked where they stand on this. i think american people will reject the massive stend spending and the taxes that will destroy the small businesses. and they're going to reject the idea that somebody other than themselves gets to decide what their health care will be. host: thursday saying to tea parties and republicans, go for it. guest: yeah, it struck me as a surprisingly partisan comment for a president that says he wants to move beyond that but i'll take his invitation and we will go forth. i think you are going to see at the poles a referendum that rejects this government take over. host: good morning. caller: how are you? guest: morning.

caller: my point is, i need to really make this point. first of all, nancy pelosi, the first woman speaker never the united states of america, house of representatives i'm so sick and tired of you men and some woman demonizing this first woman speaker. we had to fight so hard for somethings in american to get what we want. civil rights. it makes me so sad in america, steve coming from all of them. a state that's so prevalent this type of stuff is going on in america. i'm proud as an african-american and woman to see the first black president and i am sorry. you can sit there and deny all you want to. but when you keep saying things sometimes.