standard. some of that is just stupid. you've got to break some of these rules if you're going to respond in a disaster. host: we've got about another six minutes left in this segment. our next call comes from carterville, illinois. ken on our line for republicans. go ahead. caller: good morning. rob, you stole my thunder about the jones act. there are 13 countries that want to come in and help and obama won't suspend the jones act. to me that won't make any sense. he should have been on this day one. the dutch and some other ones wanted to come day one but he was too busy campaigning, playing golf and doing this and that and being at the show of the beatles. that's how i feel. i think the oil should never have got to shore. if he would have been on the ball. thank you. host: thanks for your call. general, we're going to move on to louisiana on our line for

democrats. go ahead. caller: hello. i'm from louisiana. we're so thankful that you have answered the call to come here when we know that you believe mobilize the troops and people on the ground. and all the residents will be behind you. we thank you for that. now my question is this. do you think there's a possibility or any possibility that this oil could come up to lake poven train or lake importantly paul? thank you, sir, for your answer. guest: that's a good question. and you know what? it's one of the worst case scenarios. i think there is a possibility. if we were to have another katrina, i remind you that katrina surge from katrina, that water that continues to push as it churns and the hurricanes do, i think that put almost a 17-foot rise in the water and moved it into the

lake. so there is a possibility that we could get a black wave, meaning the oil coming in through the lake and making the whole situation even worse. and i remind folks that katrina put a wall of water 30 foot high into biloxi, which again will speak to the fear of the black wave. that's why we have to get that oil out of the water. that's why i e keep talking to the point of let's get that command and control structure. we've got to move federal workers into each parish. we need to enforce our naurds there and do it before hurricane season comes. we can't afford to pull this team together and start an exchange of business cards after the hurricane comes. you think it's bad now, wait

until the hurricane comes. and they will come and they will have an impact. so we have to work every hour, every minute as we said during katrina, they're looking at a calendar and we are looking at a watch. we have got to get this thing moving, organize government, place federal workers in there that will be in the pairishes for years. unlike what we did in katrina where federal workers came in, spent a month and they went back home. no. we need to move those teams in. everybody from health and human service to labor to fema. they need to come and start moving into these parishes and these counties and create a central integrated place, a one stop center to take care of these people, because this is going to go on for years. but we need to do it before hurricane season. the idea of a hricane with a surge could really make a difference.

host: general, we need to get this last call in from georgia on our line for republicans. steve, go ahead. caller: president obama or the admiral and giving them your ideas. and would you consider being theiaison for bp? guest: i will help in any way i can and right now i'm helping by trying to give some analysis by what i'm seeing and hearing on the ground as well a to give ideas. i'm not much about looking back and parsing blame. at this point i think people looking for solutions, and every good idea needs to be considered and enacted upon, and meet with the governors and give them what they need to protect e shoreline. but we need the military mobilized and get them to provide the command and control and the spotlight overhead systems so we can see where that oil is so we can go out and get it.

but i will help in any w way i >> tomorrow, another chance to see thursday's hearing with the pc o tony hebert. he was questioned by the house subcommittee on oversight and investigations. that is at 10:45 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> in his weekly online address this week, president obama criticizes congressional republicans for blocking legislation on a variety of issues, including the extension of unemployment benefits, tax credits for first-time homebuyers, and over 100 nominations for federal positions. he is followed by the mississippi center with about bridgette with the republican address -- followed by the mississippi senator.

>> at this moment, our nation is facing a host of different challenges. we are required to meet those challenges right now. what we need is a willingness in washington to but the public's interest first, a willingness to score fewer political points so we can start solving more problems. that is why i was disappointed this week to see a dreary and familiar politics get in our wake of moving forward. in the united states senate, we have legislation that would boost our economic recovery in help americans who have been affected by the worst recession in generations. we have surly made progress since we were losing 750,000 jobs per month are on the time i took office. our economy is growing again and we have added jobs for five straight months. there are still millions of americans out of work and millions more who are struggling to pay the bills. the legislation in the senate right now would extend

unemployment benefits to those workers who lost their jobs through no fault of their own and would provide relief to struggling state and save the jobs of thousands of teachers and cops and firefighters. there are also provisions in this legislation that would extend the tax credit for first- time home buyers, as well as tax cuts, and keep research and development jobs here in the united states. unfortunately, the republican leadership in the senate will not even allow this legislation to come up for a vote. if this obstruction continues, and employed americans will see their benefits stop. teachers in our borders will lose their jobs. families will pay more for their first home. -- teachers and firefighters will lose their jobs. they deserve a boat that is being blocked by the republican leadership in the senate. right now, the law places a 7 $5 million cap on the amount that

oil companies must pay to families and small businesses who suffer economic losses as a result of a spill like the one we are witnessing in the gulf coast. we should remove that cap, but the republican leadership will not allow debate or a vote. as we speak today, 136 men and women who i have nominated for key positions in the federal government are still awaiting a vote on the floor of the senate. all are highly qualified. very few are controversial. the vast majority already have support from both parties, but most of them are seeing their nominations intentionally delayed by republican leaders or even blocked altogether. they cannot get a vote. what this means is that at a moment when our country is facing some each challenges, time will we need all hands on deck, we cannot get the qualified people we need to start the jobs that were appointed to do. look, the nature of our democracy is that we will always have disagreements and debates,

even he did once. that is healthy and important. but let's argue over genuine differences, over ideas and policies, and going to those debates with an open mind, a willingness to find common ground, and a conviction that in the end, one way or another, we will have a vote to decide them. next week i will be meeting with a bipartisan group of senators to discuss how we can transition away from our dependence on fossil fuels and embrace a clean energy future. i don't expect we will agree on a solution right away. in fact, i know there'll be plenty of disagreement and different ideas, but at least it shows the republican the democrats can still sit down together an attempt to tackle the big challenges facing our nation. the political season is upon us in washington. gridlock as a political strategy is destructive to the country. whether we are democrats or republicans, we have an obligation that goes beyond caring about the next election. we have an obligation to care for the next generation. i hope that when congress

returns next week, they will do so with a greater spirit of compromise and cooperation. america will be watching. thanks. >> hello, i am center roger wicker from mississippi. as we enter the third month of the deepwater horizon disaster, we continue to learn more disturbing liberation about gross negligence on the part of the p at about proposal from the obama administration that will do more harm than good. from the oval office tuesday night, president obama attempted to recover from a widespread perception that he has not made this a priority. the public outcry about the president's inattention has been loud and has been bipartisan. i am glad president obama is finally putting this catastrophe at the top of his agenda, but his response has been too slow. he was slow in listening to state and local leaders, slow in getting skimmers to the gulf, slow and understanding the seriousness of this crisis, and

slow in taking ownership and responsibility for the recovery. manyyof his actions have actually taken us in the wrong direction. earlier this week, the president came to the gulf coast. after visiting with him in mississippi, i was optimistic that he was removing politics from this disaster and focusing solely on fixing the problem. republicans in congress and at the state level look forward to participating in a bipartisan, political solution to the many challenges this disaster has brought. unfortunately, we were disappointed. in less than a day, we were reminded of rahm emanuel's. of never letting of a crisis cutaways. in his speech tuesday night, president obama made it clear that he intends to exploit this crisis to push his liberal agenda for tappan tax scheme. this is a disturbance not only to the victims and their families but also to the millions of gulf coast residents who are struggling in the wake

of this bill. americans increasingly reject the cap and tax proposal because it would drive up the cost of energy and force american jobs overseas. the president spent more than one-third of his address advocating this national energy tax. revealing his true priorities. now is not the time to push controversiil, job killing, partisan agendas through congress. in addition to devastating our economy, this proposal will do nothing to fix the disastrous bleak for clean up our beaches, marshes, and waters. another idea that texas in the wrong direction is the democratic plan to increase oil cleanup fees and raise those funds to pay for unrelated programs. these funds are needed to clean up the spill, not to satisfy speaker blows his desire to raise federal spending. in addition, the administration's moratorium on deepwater drilling has the potential to become the third

wave of this disaster. if left in place, the moratorium will permanently eliminate thousands of jobs and drive up the cost of energy for all americans. you don't have to take my word for it. earlier this week, democratic strategist james carville said the moratorium was "wrecking the economy of the gulf coast." one of the greatest threats to the economy of the gulf coast is the loss of tourism. our hotels and restaurants have seen business decreased by as much as 70%. every press conference on monday, president obama pointed out that there were a lot of beaches that are not affected and will not be affected. i was hoping the president would make this important point to the larger audience tuesday night, but since he did not, i will say it again. the vast majority of gulf coast beaches are clear, beautiful,

and safe. tony heyward recently said he wanted his life back, and later apologized. bp but dollars before say, and we are all paying the price. we are told that bp would be held accountable and pale damages, but we in the gulf states need to have our way of life back. we won our jobs back, our economy back, and we need our tourists back. so please come and visit us. you deserve a vacation, and we could use the business. thank you. >> this week on "the communicators," reaction on reclassifying certain broadband services. our guest is robert mcdowell. >> this week, the federal communications co