tuesday. corina: good morning, the president's comments in a video sent over the weekend. before a joint session of congress. live coverage here on the c-span networks marking a series of events

host: we want to ask you, is it about the jobs.

host: a couple of other headlines we want to share with you. news week is out with what they call ten of the dying cities, a number of them in michigan.

getting to your phone calls on the independent line. good morning. caller: i'd like to weigh in on the sacrifice and the cut backs. i'm not going to sacrifice anymore than the poll tish ans or degreedy rich. i don't need to cut back on my driving or live in a cold house to safe oil so they can fly airlines. we were on ships that went around the world. it's gut wrenching that these congress people can do the nation's business over the holidays. where is the sacrifice there? >> on tuesday. will you watch the president's

state of the union address? >> i will. if as a country we go to hell. we'll all go to hell together host: the jobs bill 1, republicans stress business. the president's key legislative achievement. a doctor pressing to bring a repeal billups

>> i've gun unployed five years. i think i had a job maybe in six months. i still can't wait host: thanks for the call. todd linberg has the story called "free at last, life after pelosi." bill clinton seemed to spend months knocked back on his heals barack obama has not exactly been reeling --

caller: we the bay we need to be working together. who was it that said united we stand, divided we fall. this constant bickering is getting under everybody's skin. when is c-span going to get somebody from the university of maryland on which has exposed fox cable network viewers as

being the most ill informed or miss informed viewers host: saw it last week, absolutely. caller: have a great day, steve host: dan from plano, texas on the republican line. caller: i think an equal thrust should be paid on spending cuts. the previous caller mentioned ben franklin. another famous saying is "a penny saved is a penny earned." i have thought for some time is one of the things we need to do is quit subsidizing gestation. it has become a cottage industry

where people become pregnant to embellish their welfare payments. >> on twitter, the following comment. the daily news has this. former senior adviceor from hillary clinton

host: next on the democrat line, joe an from fort worth, texas. caller: we need to stop blaming our government and blaming ourselv

ourselves host: i think the state of the union should be about the position i don't think they did a very good job of it when they saw the results of the election, the tone changes or action changes was the concern for me. how long have you been practicing medicine? caller: 17 years host: thank you.

we'll have live coverage of the president's state of the union address. we'll focus on reaction speech. a congressional mixer. there's been a mad skram bell to the partner. the senator in new york and others are doing it by delegation. the four house republicans will assemble as a group.

in illinois, joined at the seat host: on the democrat line from maryland. caller: good morning. it is about jobs but also about giving the private sector. people are not going to be making the type of high salaries

thinking jobs would come to this area. it has been empty for five years i don't understand why those jobs can't be here in this country the government has to get out of the way making it cost effective. we don't have jobs. for young people to go to they are leaving the community. another tweet, a feel good

moment. we'll walk away seeing jobs g g going the cover story writing the economic team three days before christmas, reviewing things for his state of the union address.

>> more from the president discussing the speech. >> i'm not finished yet, still working on it but because you guys have been there from the start. it was your passion and vision that helped get me to the white house, i wanted to give you a little bit of a preview of what i'll be saying. when we look back. we lost millions of jobs, businesses were shutered, a lot of people were worried about the future. two years later, we were in a different place. we've created more than a million jobs last year, stock markets are backed up.

we've made progress, as all of you know talking to friends and neighbors, we have a lot more work to do. paychecks are shrinking. my number one focus is going to be making sure we are competitive, growing and seeing competitive jobs i'm focussed on making sure we see growth for everybody. how do we make sure somebody

with a good job can start a business. how do we make sure our kids are able to compete with workers anywhere in the world to do that, we'll have to out inovate, build and defeat other countries. that's our challenge. we have to reform government so it is leaner for the 21 of the century. we need to keep america safe. our job is to make sure the american dream is attainable for everybody who works for it and strives for it.

number one is new orleans, number three vayeo, california. cleveland is five, pitsz is listed of number six of america's ten top dying companies. flint, michigan is nine and grand rapids, michigan is number ten. the u.s. population increased the greatest any time in the population. several cities, the population declined significantly

host: good morning. caller: just listening to the president's video. i don't see how he can stand to say he's credible with any of these things he's talking about. from new orleans all the way down to the florida coast. he's eliminated more jobs for americans than i've seen you try to create. he's just about shut down the

whole coastline, everything he's done so for has eliminated the president wasted $940 billion in tax cuts when it could have been used for future projects. joib the conference on line. next is brenda from atlanta. good morning. caller: good morning. not only about jobs.

>> we are joining on the phone by dr. james kimball. let's begin with some of the news in state party politics. you are quoted by saying for years, two families dominated politics. that changed over the weekend. guest: judge greg retired from the u.s. senate. he is argue nlly the most

success fum judge in new hampshire. beginning in 1996. went went to the senate in 1992. for a number of years, these two families dominated the politics. now we are finishing with a new person.

>> he was really outraged by some of the spending done in the first few months in office. he began to put his first political act putting anti-obama messages on his business's sign

saying something about bail outs. started some tea party groups and ran for governor. he received about 30% of the vote in a republican primary. we had a con tenuous u.s. senate race. he is solidly conservative. sometimes, he puts his foot in his mouth. he compared paying taxes to rape for example. he has brought a lot of energy to the table. there were over 400 people out

of 500 state committee members. the national story came out of the meeting. 400 committee members in this none binding straw poll. now getting 35% of the vote. coming in second, congressman ron paul.

sarah palin four and backman safeth. let me remind you mit romney did announce he will run for president later in the spring. the primary is a year away. a number of these candidates, we knew everybody running for president. now we have a situation where maybe a handful of candidates have staffers on the ground. romney is not a new hampshire residence. he is technically a resident of

massachusetts. he had the expectations he had to do fairly well. i think he met those with a clear victory. we covered michelle friday evening let's listen to what she

said about the question of whether she'll run next year. >> i know it is shocking that when a girl goes to iowa but i'm here to be a part of that conversation for 2012. there's been no decision but i want to be a part of the conversation. michelle bachmann on friday in iowa.

we've seen so much energy. activists are ready to go. we had a house party and former u.s. senatoror's house. almost 200 p.m. attended this house party. people are ready to get this process going. >> previewing the straw poll in

new hampshire. we'll turn back to the president's state of the union address. by all accounts, the focus will be on jobs and the community. joining us from phil, good morning, republican line. caller: the state of the union address is nothing more than an manifesto. i need to explain something about a president in my childhood. march 29, 1969, president johnson caused a political civil war.

that next year, police johnson with the federal legalization of marijuana host: where are you taking all of this? caller: this is nothing more than johnson humanifesto host: we'll go to lorenzo next is tuesday's speech all about jobs? caller: yes. all about jobs and the lack thereof host: is that your comment? caller: the reality is if we want to talk about jobs, we have to talk about the lobby and the

flow. the forefathers had predicted. if people want to read about the constitution, you got to go back to the root. if you want to deal with jobs. >> james in independent. good morning to you. >> i've heard a lot about baby boomers retiring. they should be hiring 10,000 a day. 300,000 a month. why aren't these people being replaced?

the second goal is to advance their record defining as extremists learn from the past, live in the present and shape the future. here is a preview. >> does it give you flexibility to negotiate a little bit.

we are going to end up in the process on it. for us to do what we said we are going to do, which is pursue a level of spending that ispre bail out,pre stim luis, where will we be? we will have made it clear where we stand.

caller: some 4.2% is the figure we normally call for employment if we take the 15 million unemployed, we create 7 million jobs instantly leaving about 8 million unemployed. that's another problem.

create a minimum wage of about 40,000 a year. if we do that, we are able to take all of the social well fare programs and basically cut them. people have a living wage. they are able to take their healthcare. there are many, many issues. you have the start by reporting what is the truth. if we were at 9.4%, people would be rioting in the streets. >> thank you for the call. the front page of the "washington post."

host: from seattle, washington. caller: good morning. i live in washington state. trying to get a job around here is like climbing an icy hill. you have so many illegals getting driver's licenses and welfare. back at the ranch, they are cutting programs for our seniors, our children and schools. why not enforce federal laws.

and make it hard for them to get a job. thank you very much former 82nd air born division host: a profile of those unemployed. all featured in the story this morning from the sunday magazine. karl is joining us from cleyberg, texas. caller: thank you for taking my call. we are talking about jobs. anybody as old as i am knows that after a recession, money comes and then the job. we are not in as bad a shape as

it was but we were about half a hair from the great depression when the election came. i think there should be a lot of attention on jobs. of course the illegals are a problem. i don't know what they'll do about it host: writing on tuesday, a

joint session in congress in which joe wilson yelled out "you lie." robert is joining us from illinois on the republican line. good morning. caller: i was self employed for

years and didn't buildup my social security. these people that get percentage raises. 2% of $437. you cut it up or so. >> driving back to my place. the only thing i say about this, you hear all that time about the way things are. now we are cried so long, go out and look for a job. flint in detroit, cleveland, pittsburgh and new york also on the list.

number one is grand rapid, michigan. in the "new york times," is saying the president's willingness to comprimise in a new period of divided government. host: to the phone line. caller: i'm afraid i have some bad news for america. there won't be any jobs.

no way to stop 2 billion people from wanting to eat steak instead of scraps. this is only the beginning that's why everyone is avoiding this because they don't want to create a panic.

we've been eating from the same pie. it has the same number of slices but now more people are coming to eat host: thank you for the call. china got a lot of attention this week when the chieb he's president made his first state visit. he did come in 2006 in a meeting with president bush for a lunch, not a dinner. the events including the state dinner and a number of state policy discussions are available at our website at c-span.org. a couple more phone calls and tweets. coming up in a couple of minutes.

later, we'll learn more been tunesia and what kind of country is it. >> yes, it is all about jobs. 42,000 manufacturing plants closed while bush was in offer during that eight years. we need to start making things again in order to bring back the

economy. the gentleman that called in a little while ago that said jobs isn't the problem. of course it is those immigrants have taken a substantial number of jobs americans would not care about. i speak as someone who has been in the hospitality for 35 years host: how is business today? caller: i had to switch and go into another line of work. i work in a line of customer service but not in a line of work that is reliant on tips. people cannot afford to go out to eat like they used to. it is difficult times. we need to bring back manufacturing jobs. make things. i might add one more thing. congress could consider not

mandating but making it optional for a person 58 or there about to take an early retirement. that too would free up the job market substantially to give young people a chance to go back to work again. thank you. another comment. he described himself as big guns. they want us to work for those scraps. one other point. a meeting that took place just before christmas in which the president said he wanted to be sdieted about some of the debt. you can read more from the sunday "new york times" magazines. a look ahead at the state of the union address. our round table reporter from

the waus. and later our look at tunesia. a change of power on a number of different fronts. what it means for the u.s. and that region of the world. a look at other topics and guests all heard on c-span radio. with that, in the radio studio. >> replays of all five tv network talk shows. topics include the president's upcoming state of the union address, healthcare and jobs. nbc's meet the press begins at noon. a round table discussion with assistant democratic leader. former adviceor to former president bush. at 1:00, abc's "this week." announcing plans to retire.

finally at 4 p.m., face the nation from cbs. talking with senator john mccain from arizona and senator chuck schumer from new york. the five network tv talk shows are brought to you as a public service by the networks of

c-span. the listen to them all on c-span radio. down loadable as an i phone app or go on line to c-span radio.org. >> tonight, our guest is author, vanity fair chorer author. >> it's a really tantalizing time to have cancer, someone of my age. there are treatments i can see just out of my reach, which is encouraging and a joying. >> this weekend on american history tv on c-span 3, historians discuss the first age

of terror. washington journal continues. >> our focus, the week that was and the week ahead. thank you for being with us. >> a lot of preparation for the president's speech. what are you looking for?

saying we are from different parties and we are going to stay that way. i think it is all about jobs the question on american's minds right now is what happens with this economy is growth. how do we get more jobs?

he told his staff he wasn't excited about some of the ideas of job growth he's looking for the next sputnik movement is the way he put it. he knows americans want to feel better about the economy. they can't continue to hover above 9%. the idea that most ee con midsts

are going into 2012, how do you get reelected with those numbers the president traveling to new york on friday. more from the president as he talked about jobs. i talked about the goal of downhilling job growth. we are going to keep ongoing and sell more and more stuff all over the world.

he's going to find some reception from the democrats. the spending of the infau structure. i think when he talks about growth and exporters, he's going to get some applause, it is the specifics that may be a problem for many of the republicans. >> i agree. i think mitch mcconnell has recently said we can't say no to everything the president is saying just to say no. the point of agreement they have is that deficit spending, they have to get ahold of it.

there will be problems with specifics one of the news was the announcement of joe lieberman. a picture of the u.s. capitol and a joe leeberman retirement party that's the sentiment from a lot of democrats. he had sided with republicans on the iraq war and opposed the public option in healthcare reform. he was also seen in the end as not being totally trustworthy. there's a lot of bitter negropontes over his roll in the healthcare debate.

the activists definitely are pleask pleased he's going. >> the writing was on the wall. >> the c-span news makers program. one of the questions is opening up the process and how you strike the balance between what the republicans want and what democrats say they want. here is an excerp of that interview. >> how do you get done what needs to get done? readers have come to the realization of the blooeb belief of shutting down the process in terms of helping them get their job done. the easiest thing to do is not

proceed with debate. it is not to say ta the job of the rules committee and structured debate. we all have our own ideas of what we'd like to do. everyone should have a chance to be heard. it is possible for people to engage the amendment. there's a lot of duplication. in light of that having some kind of structure is important. our goal is a more open process. the process that will allow our agenda at the same time. >> the chair of the house rules committee. posted on our website. your reaction. >> this has been an area where democrats has been hammering republicans in the early going. john bainer pledged an open congress from the floor.

. . . . first was not unexpected.

what was interesting was governor pawlenty. he was the first person to call the party chairman. it was a big deal. host: we will get to your phone calls. our line for republicans is 202- 737-0001. we have a line for people in the independent -- people who are independent, it is 202-737-0205. on the democratic line, good

morning to you. caller: i want to ask your guest their opinion about history. it can show us the way about where we need to go. roosevelt tackled the panama canal. eisenhower bill to the roadways. kennedy went to the moon. i propose the desalination plants and a giant pipeline along the border. maybe a special i.d. where mexicans can cost up -- come up and work. it could bring in high-speed rail. it is protecting the pipeline.

just start thinking about all the stuff and make it a duty free area. we could sell bonds to the public. why aren't our millionaires getting together and doing the giant projects? real infrastructure can provide jobs and address many problems. host: we will get a response. guest: that is a great question. we are going to hear a big idea. the president has already referred to the sputnik moment he is looking for. we need to move forward. this is a global market. that is a theme he wanted to get out last week. he is looking for a big idea. the caller pointed out the task.

are president's aides looking back at the biography of reagan. there is a question of how you spur this mechanism. russell can speak to this better. how do we get this $2 trillion dollars on the books in corporate america and compel corporate america to start spending the money and getting americans back to work. how do we incentivize americans to spend this money? we will hear broad outlines on tuesday about investing in energy and investing in technology. we need to rethink how we are free -- how we are investing in education.

host: there were some ideas put in "the new york daily news." it said, the president needs to be the man in the middle. >> last year, the president was superman. this year, he will strive to be a superstates man. this tops every poll. he has to convey that the economic strategy for america is succeeding. he has to be optimistic about america and portray investment in brazil and russia as vast opportunities and not a threat. after world war ii, it took the marshall plan to get things going. guest: this is going to be a big thing with his address. he is going to try to say we should not fight democrats

versus republicans. we should not be competing between each other. we have a competition with other emerging powers like china, russia, and india. that is the battle we need to focus on. we cannot win the battle if we are focused on fights at home. he is going to connect it to the stability thing he brought up in his speech in tucson. i think that will be a big debate and an opportunity for him to emerge as a states man and above the petty partisanship that he has been tried been -- decried on numerous equations -- on numerous occasions. he wants to be seen as the adults in the room. host: "the baltimore sun" talks

about the health care law. subsequent votes on the health care bill are coming up in the next few months. guest: the white house has stated that they do not see this as serious legislation. the republicans are taking this on at their own peril. host: they are calling it a job- killing health care bill. guest: they are focusing on the peeling a health care bill they have no chance of repealing while the rest -- focusing on real appealing -- on repealing a health-care bill that they have no chance of repealing. host: don is joining us from florida on the independent line . caller: does one of those

fellows there represent the conservative party? host: they represent two different parties. caller: i heard that mitch mcconnell has been in the senate for 28 years. he has never written one line of legislation in 28 years. i would like to know if there is any thing that the republican party -- any legislation they have written that benefits the working people or anyone but a special interest? i do not know. i would just like to know if there is some legislation that the republican party has done for the people? guest: the republicans would

certainly. to expanding the -- the republicans would certainly point to expanding the medicare prescription program. that is not popular with democrats, but it has benefited some people. the republicans would beg to differ with the idea that they have not been focused on jobs and working americans. host: we will go to brian in salt lake city on the republican line. caller: the whole thing about this is the overspending. you have government programs that get $1 million. if they do not spend all that, they have to hurry up and waste it and buy $100 hammers or however they do it. it just goes on and on.

some government place lost $8 million. who is responsible for that? the head of that place should be held responsible. enron, those guys cheap and they go to prison. why is the government different? you have the president surrounding himself with george soros, a.k.a. george schwartz. most of us people are just homer simpsons. i am not a homer simpson. i know about government waste.

we make about $30,000 per year. you guys make $180,000. and you have full benefits paid it is ridiculous. host: do you want to respond? guest: the main point the caller made was that there is a spending issue. it is something that will be addressed and will be a main theme of the state of the union address. it reflects the debate going on. does the government have a spending problem? at that level, the government has a point. host: a viewer tweets that tax cuts are a great help. guest: that is an area where there is some agreement between republicans and democrats. small businesses are the

constituency of every representative in congress. both democrats and republicans loved doing anything they can that will be seen as helping small businesses. host: allistair is joining us from london. welcome to the compensation. caller: good afternoon. we were watching just now on bbc the interview with hu jintao and barack obama. they made a comment that the republican leadership and harry reid were not going to attend the state dinner. it seems that your system of government depends on congress taking the lead, house of

representatives taking the lead. i want you to comment on why it is that the republicans want to abdicate responsibility for driving the agenda. harry reid's position mystifies me. but at least there are some democrats in the room. what about republicans? when are they going to step up? host: for you in the east room for the press conference? guest: i was. i am not sure if i understood the question. nancy pelosi was there. she also made a strong statement about taking president hu jintao's stance on human rights issues. senator -- john boehner also met

with hu jintao, as did the leadership, ahead of the state dinner last week. there were also some strong statements about human-rights. the point on human rights and the relationship with china that president obama has made is backed, in private -- that president obama has made is that they need to do better. president hu jintao said as much at the news conference. i think the washington is taking -- i think the white house is taking the stance that they need to work with china on any of the big issues that will be hitting the united states over the next 30 years, from climate change to the economy. china is too importance of a player.

casting them in public is not going to help the situation. host:aamer madhani is with "the national journey." here is more from john boehner, the ohio republican. >> if you look at the policies that have been enacted over the last two years, it has led to uncertainty for small businesses. what is the health care law or what some of these agencies are doing, this has a tremendous impact on jobs in our country. we will deal with these one at a time. host: you are up on the hill. you have been seeing speaker don banner. your response? guest: that -- you have been seeing speaker john boehner.

guest: the republicans chose as one of the first bills introduced as an abortion measure. the democrats immediately hammered them by saying, how is this a jobs bill? this is a divisive social issue. the republicans have introduced many bills to reduce spending. they have yet to introduce a piece of legislation that is directly related to job creation. they are facing some early pressure on that. host: this does not involve any legislation or keith olbermann on msnbc. he announced his departure on friday. this was weeks in negotiation. he wanted to increase his $7 million per year salary. some say the deal was being hammered out for a while.

lawrence o'donnell's show will move into his spots. is this significant? guest: i think so. this is a big boys from the debate. he is an icon from the left. this also comes with the backdrop of the comcast-nbc merger. host: comcast says that had nothing to do with it. host: that was their first statement out of the gate. would you agree with keith olbermann, he is an interesting voice in the national conversation. he will be all of the air for a while. he can come back to radio or on

the internet. guest: i would be surprised if it went more than a few days or a few weeks -- a few weeks without hearing his side. he tweets a lot. tammy is joining us on our line for democrats. go ahead, please. caller: i would like to talk about our unemployment rate here in florida. all of our things bill today are built overseas. if you bring these jobs back to america where we are from, the land of the free -- we are not free any more. we are over here stock -- stuck under minimum wage.

you go to the unemployment office and there is nothing there. people are out stealing trying to feed their own families. overseas, they take care of everybody else. what about here in america? this is our money. we worked for it and we should be able to keep it. and now you have a health care law that is 1000 pages long. how can you read that many pages and make a decision on that in two days? what about people who are dying in america? instead, we are worrying about everybody else. host: thank you for the call. russell? guest: that expresses the

frustration of lot of -- of a lot of people in america. the president can champion the progress that has been made and the unemployment rate going down and job growth starting to accelerate, but for millions of americans out of work, it is not hitting it. that is exactly the sentiment that the lawmakers in washington have to address. host: let me put on the table a story from "the washington post." there is a filibuster rebellion. senate mcgrath are upset. there are no -- senate democrats are upset. party leaders want to protect the rights of the senate's minority parties. rank and file lawmakers will

receive pitches from senators who have been negotiating more limited changes, such as ending the "secret holds." some modifications could be made to the way confirmations are handled or agency nominees that do not have a direct hand in policy making. guest: this battle is coming a couple months later than they would have liked. the momentum for changing the filibuster has dwindled a little bit because democrats have lost control of the house. they are not going to want to push legislation that is coming from the republican-led majority in the house. we are going to make some smaller changes. they might get rid of the secret hold that allows one senator to hold up legislation anonymously. it is a lot of support for

getting rid of that. i would be surprised if you saw major changes to the filibuster rules. the democrats know that they only have 53 seats. they have a slimmer majority in the senate. looking toward 2012, the odds are stacked against them toward the number of the seats that they have to defend. they are looking at a republican controlled house and senate and maybe a republican white house. host: good morning, steve. caller: bush lost his job because of one line. but there is a persistent about is people-killing lied about global warming. in 2009, a document of a hundred pages was released by

heartland.org. it contained 32,000 scientists signatures. not before scientists wrote the whole global warming nonsense. they are down to 75 now. i cannot understand why, without a scintilla of evidence, we insist on pursuing this idiotic agenda without scientific evidence. host: do either of you follow the scientific evidence of global warming? guest: with the republicans covering the house, are going to see a lot of movement on this. a lot of the congress people elected would agree with this column. talking about momentum, that has

totally got out for climate change legislation. you will see the obama administration tried to move with regulations. that is the power -- try to move with regulations. the republicans are going to do everything they can to stop that. host: you spent how many years in baghdad? guest: about three years "usa today." host: let me ask you about afghanistan. is has been viewed as a volatile week. the legislature was supposed to meet on wednesday. this is a country we have a huge investment in. we are seeing our troops will be out of iraq, but increasing in

afghanistan. president karzai has said he wants to see u.s. troops out of afghanistan by 2014. guest: putting it in the frame of what we will see next week, i do not think we will hear more than superficial talk in the presidential speech. the state of the union usually stays focused on the state of the union. troops will move out of iraq tand the draw-down will start in afghanistan. we are supposed to start handing more response ability over to the afghan government. it is a tough situation. i have spent a lot less time in afghanistan that i have in iraq.

afghanistan is a far more difficult pickled and iraq could ever be. it is is -- difficult pickle that iraq could ever be. it is really at war has been as long as there has been and afghanistan. the issue that the president and general petraeus and general mcchrystal dealt with over and over again was corruption. there is a power dispute in afghanistan. was the parliamentary vote valid? i do not know if there is a sweeping answer that the president has pushing forward in afghanistan. particularly when corruption is so pervasive. host: aamer madhani is with "the

national journal." go ahead, caller. caller: the issue with jobs is that many of these corporations that have enjoyed years of corporate welfare or socialism thanks to the republican party have chosen to leave this country behind and go to china for huge profits. in the short term, that is beneficial to them -- the huge profits in china. they do not want to pay labor. they would prefer the 30 cents an hour in labor. china will eat their lunch as

well. why would china wants to buy products from the u.s. when they already make those products there in that country? ultimately, a corporation will move to asia and probably africa where they can continue exploiting the cheap labor. i would like to know your comments. thank you. host: thank you for the call. this is from another fewer. -- another viewer. excessive regulation from the democrats is what we do not need. guest: the president has issued an executive order. he was to look at excessive regulation. republicans welcome this. they say they have been talking about excessive regulation for years. the president is all of the

sudden joining us after passing legislation that they say increases the burden. one thing that you might hear and one thing the house democrats in the minority have been talking about is the "make it in america"agenda, which brings back american manufacturing. the president might give a man into that. they like the slogan "make it in america." they say it has a double meaning. you can make things in america and allow people to make it in america. host: from tucson, arizona on the republican line, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i would like to have three issues discussed. the first issue would be people in government who are in over

$100,000 per year. my plan would be to have them reduced -- their salary and compensation down to $100,000 in increments of 70% per year. that would be one plan. when jfk came in, the corporate tax was 93%. i think it should be increased 57%. maybe not right away. 57% would be a good value.

tax all corporations. that should be discussed. the last thing that should be discussed is anything to do with labor. they never discuss it, but it should be discussed. the reason i want to bring it up is that we already had it good in this country. we had a good middle-class in the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's. host: thank you for the call. you can take any of those issues. you might want to begin with the tax code issue. the president has said that is a debate for the 2012 election. the tax agreement was put in place for all income leper0- -- all income levels last month.

guest: on the corporate tax, the republican party is on the other side from the corner -- from the caller. corporations do not have insurance is all what the tax rates will be in 12 months. they are putting off investment. there is going to be a bitter debate. we might get a taste of it in the state of the union. host: it presents a's social secretary -- the president's social secretary had a story in

"the daily news." any insight into who would replace her. this would be the third social secretary in two years? guest: i have no idea. the other shake-up would be the shake-up in the political offense. one person is moving back to chicago. one person will be moving on to the dnc. the president and the white house are trying to send a message to the big donors saying, let's get started. the campaign is starting in lethal. host: one historical note i want to bring to your attention.

it was 1955 that the white house press secretary allow cameras into the weekly press conference from the president. initially, with the news conferences, the white house would give the film and decide which parts would be used. john kennedy change that with his life news conferences. in 1950, the president and the white house calling it a new experiment. guest: there was a youth conference with -- a news conference with hu jintao this week. there was one question from the western media and it was from him and rights -- it was on human rights. hu jintao ignored it saying it was a technical gaff the the

translation process. in china, there is still believe you. it was heavily reported this week about president hu jintao saying some right -- saying some work needs to be done on human rights. that was not reported in china at all. host: russell berman, walk us through this week. the house and the senate are both back. guest: they are going to do aimed at laying-- down a budget resolution that does not have a number attached to it. it will instruct -- it wants the budget to go back to fiscal year 2008 levels. that will be distributed hours before the president speaks to

the nation at 9:00 p.m. on tuesday. the rest of the week will be about reacting to what he said. host: thank you for being with us. you can read their stories on " and ll.com nationjournal.com. later, the issue of mental health in light of what happened in tucson, arizona. that is all coming up on "washington journal." first, a look at the week's defense from editorial cartoons around the country. eventsok at the week's from editorial cartoons are around the country.

>> this weekend on "after words ," 52 women look back on the civil rights movement and former british -- and british prime minister gordon brown. >> tuesday, president obama delivers the state of the union address to a joint session of congress. c-span's live coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern. then the republican response from paul ryan of wisconsin. and your phone calls and reaction live on c-span, c-span radio and .

c-span.org. "washington journal" continues. host: we want to focus on to nietzsche so much in the news this past week. the-focused on tunisia. it was so much in the news -- focus on tunisia. what role does it play on that -- in that part of the world's? guest: many people go back and forth from tunisia and europe. it is an american ally. it has been an important ally in the war on terror. the president was a friend to america. there were reports that he helped with renditions and

interrogations' in that part of the world. tunisia has been important to u.s. interests. it is not as important as egypt or jordan. they have always taken a step back. the president being removed from power certainly is not necessarily being welcomed among the intelligence community. from a u.s. standpoint, who replaces him will be interesting to see. whether it remains authoritarian or turns democrat, it will be interesting to see how the process plays out. host: one of the changes is more religious freedom. what do the people of tunisia have and why did it change? guest: tunisia is hysterically a secular country.

in 1956, a policy of states secularism was put in place. they were hostile to islam. they tried to do away with ramadan, which did not go over to ban well. secularism has been the state doctrine. when they president -- when the current president took over -- there is a small christian and jewish committee. the society, while secular, there are religious muslims in tunisia. religious freedom, while respected to an extent, it was

not a respected to the extent that people would have liked. there has been state discrimination against men with beards who are -- men with beers that are too long and women who wear head scarves in public. religious freedom has not been protected to the same extent it has been in other places. islam is a factor there. people have been able to worship freely. it is not -- they do not display their religion in public to the extent you see in other countries. host: a newspaper report says arabs are meeting for the first time. an arab insider warns that the soul is broken by poverty and general recession. the story points out that the

arab league is told that a recent revolt is not far. guest: the predictions of the boat across other ab countries are getting ahead of themselvest across the arab countries are getting ahead of themselves. the military is connected to the state. if you look at places like algeria, the military at this is a mental in setting up the political system. they have asrted themselves into politics from time to time. the military in europe is not -- in egypt is not apolitical. in tunisia, the military did not have a role in founding the state. the state was founded by a lawyer and politician.

the political party is the one that founded the state. they have purposely kept the military out of it. the military was kept strong and apolitical. military spending in tunisia went from 2.3% in 1987 to 1.4% in 2009. military spending is 2% of gdp. the military did not have the resources. when it came time for the military to back the regime or side with the protesters, the military decided to side with the protesters. something like that is tough to imagine happening in a place like egypt or jordan where the king it is the commander in chief. the second factor that makes to needed different is

[unintelligible] the main opposition in other countries is [unintelligible] there is very little islamist presence in tunisia. they were either exiled or put in prison. when the decision came to crack down on protesters or let them have their demands, the threat perception on the part of the regime was reduced because the were notsla there. i think that impacts the decisions that the regime and the military make when they are faced with protesters. host: michael koplow writes

about this. he is a graduate of harvard and nyu. we have a caller on the republican line from nashville, tennessee. caller: good morning. doesn't it seem rather oxymoron to refer to a country -- seem like an oxymoron to refer to a country as our friend when the leader is our friend but the people are not our friends? guest: when we are referring to countries as our friends or allies, we are generally talking about the government. we cannot say the tunisian people are not our friends. tunisia is a starkly a secular society and a western-oriented society, as i mentioned up front.

while there are segments in the tunisian society that cannot like u.s. policy, it is a little hasty to refer to the tunisian people as not our friends. as in any other state in the world, there are people who are pro-american and some who are not. you cannot make a blanket statement about the tunisian people about what did they are friends of america or not. the fact of u.s. in dress is -- interests is whether to ease the is going to be willing to work with the united states. host: the country gained its independence from france in 1956. prior to march 1956, what control different tack on to me? guest: to need it was a french colony. -- prior to march 1956, what

control did france have on tunisia? guest: there was a guerrilla movement. you did not have a large scale independence movement. host: its population is just under 11 million residents. 98% of the country is muslim. 1% is christian or jewish or other religion. what impact does that have on the makeup of the country? guest: the country is almost entirely sunni muslim. there has been talk about three bolts -- revolts in egypt. parties and civil society groups are wary of things taking

place in egypt. tunisia is a relatively homogenous society in terms of its religion, in terms of class, in terms of ethnic background. tunisia has some advantages that other states in the region do not have when it comes to the chances for the market. host: why was it called to the tweet revolts? guest: twitter was used to get organized. analysts were able to follow what was going on in real time. regions being secular and well off and well educated are familiar with this type of technology. a prominent tunisian logger --

blogger is the new -- is a new minister. you can see the impact twitter had on the revolution. host: you can look at these pictures. there has been some criticism that the u.s. government, particularly hillary clinton, was not quick to get a response to this. why? guest: the u.s. government has to walk a fine line. they have to protect israel. they do not want to be put in a situation where they back a revolt that does not go anywhere or be put in a situation where they are throwing an important ally under the bus. the u.s. does stand with democracy.

it is tough to support a popular protest and not appear to throw and i live -- throw and ally under the bus. host: next is herb from buffalo, new york. caller: the politicians have their hands in their own pockets. my question and a quick comment is that, as mr. koplow says, we try to instill democracy to countries when we give an act to aid to non-the space democracies and then walked hand in hand with hugo -- with feudal non-

democracies like saudi arabia. now that the people of tunisia have revolted, will that create other arabs in the streets throughout the middle east in saudi arabia, kuwait, egypt and jordan to start attempting to bring down their governments as well? guest: sure. there have already been copycat protests of what has occurred in tunisia. there are disturbing trends taking place across the region of young arabs setting themselves on fire. that is what started the events in tunisia several months ago. someone who was selling fruits and vegetables in the town square set himself on fire to protest the state's taking away this vegetable cart. we have seen copycats of that

protest. what happened in tunisia is having an impact across the world. we also seen demonstrations in egypt. there have been demonstrations in jordan and algeria were taking place simultaneously with the demonstrations in tunisia. it has emboldened arab publics. arab publics are not the only ones learning the lessons in tunisia. arab autocrats are also learning the lessons of polynesia -- the lessons of tunisia. arab governments have a long history of putting down pro- democracy protests. they're looking at what happened and learning lessons. whether that means cracking down more on protesting or opening up the political system a little more and a little quicker than

the condition -- then the tunisian president did, arab governments are looking at these events and try to adapt in the same way the arab public is looking at the events. host: daniel is joining us frim the fiji islands. caller: to need is a tiny, poor country. it is not in the middle east pay it is in north africa. we have to be careful -- it is not in the middle east. it is in north africa. i am not sure what you mean by saying your way is the right way. the other thing is i did not think this will have any affect on neighboring countries.

my concern is about human rights. tunisia is a tiny country. it is not even 10 million people. host: thank you. guest: i am not sure i quite understand it, plus a question. just to speak to some of his points, to need is a small country of only 10 million people. i am not sure what impact the caller is trying to say it has. in terms of using the term middle east. generally, when people speak of the middle east, they are referring to the region from north africa stretching across the [unintelligible] host: it is a broader issue of what this story is for the

region. guest: like i said earlier, these factors of the military and the lack of [unintelligible] make tunisian and unique in the region. i do not think a domino affect of the james falling is likely to occur. -- of regimes all and is likely to occur. it has been covered by arab media nonstop for one month. host: where do the new leaders in tunisia come from and what do they believe in? guest: the new government in tunisia is a mixture of the former rtd officials. there have been protests in the last a days against the unity government because they include

members of the rtd. it is an open question as to whether these former ruling party officials will keep their jobs or if they will have to step down. the officials have been taking great pains to distance themselves from the regime. first by touting their tec hnocrat credentials and dissolving the rtd committee. there was a protest this morning in tunisia. they are calling for the prime minister to step down because they were affiliated with the former regime. it remains to be seen whether

these protests are point to accomplish their mission. host: we are talking about to nietzsche and the impact it has had over the last -- talking about tunisia and the impact it has had over the past few weeks. caller: i have a comment and a question. religious freedom is an example of chaos. freedom of religion is freedom from religion. that is what that means. isn't the revolt secular? guest: the early rallies and the early process were deployed -- devoid of islam nature and

characteristics. the protests were secular in nature. they originated in economic protests. they called for the president to loosen up his oppressive measures and to step down. host: the regime demonstrated a willingness to stand down and protect protesters from police and internal security services. what impact did that have? guest: it is unclear whether the regime decided first to announce he would step down by 2014 and then announced there would be elections in six months. it is unclear if that was a result of a push by the military or someone else.

the general of the military is the one who refused orders to fire on the protesters. he is also the one who pushed the president out. as i mentioned earlier, that is something you want to see in other arab states where the military is bound up with the state itself. in the absence of the military stepping in, you would not see what was going on in tunisia today.

>> issued a statement after the revolution congratulating the

people and issuing support of what occurred. communicating islam from public life. that said, i don't think any violent group had a role of what was taking place in tunisia host: from alabama, good morning. caller: good morning. i would

the arabs in north africa and northeast africa, why are they so ashame of being africans? >> i think that the arabs in north africa, i wouldn't say that they are ashamed of being africans but they certainly have a different cultural heritage and history. originating in the middle east and migrating to north africa. traditionally, there's a split between subsa har an african and africa. i wouldn't say they are ashamed of being africans they embrace a lot of heritages. >>

>> how many times have you been to tunisia? guest: i lived in the middle east and travelled across africa but i haven't been there in the last three years host: ok. going to the phone virginia caller: i'm wandering is that going on in tunisia. if they walked down the street with a bible, would they be killed? guest: no. walking down the street with a bible in tunisia would not get you killed. there was some violence in 1992

that was seen as the work of al kieda. generally in tunisia, minority religion is accepted. the main ruler party leader has for decades said he would not use any kind of religious test as a publication of office that women and jews and christians, he would have no problem with them serving. which is pretty remarkable. they really are more moderate and more accepting of the society than you see in other

arab states. irrespective of which party comes to power, freedom of religion will come to power in tunisia host: going to twitter for a question. does tunisia have a history of influencing affairs? guest: the u.s. does have interest in tunisia but we have also had disagreements most notably during the persian gulf war of 1991. it was restored in 1994.

we have had disagreements with tunisia before. to the extend that there is one, it would be france. pointing out i dizzying week of changes. the story is available on line. our guest is michael from georgetown university. cal he'd the last call from minnesota. caller: thank you for a great show. i have a question and comment for the guest. how impacting is the cause. if you notice, it is completely higher than any other part of the region. the comment, i agree with the guest that it is unlikely to be

other countries in the region. hopefully it will happen again. it is the whole region is emboiled. no one knows exactly what might happen tomorrow. >> there is certainly no way to predict with certainty what is going to happen in the region.

i think people's expectations certainly out paced the capacity of the government to provide what they expected. certainly the level of education has pushed things along. >> is there more peace and stability within the government. they are working hard to provide as much peace and stability as they can. as long as members of the rcb are in government, tunisia is looking more optimistic than they have before. when they come back, they are going to turn our attention to the issue of mental health.

we'll look at issues and guests making up the sunday morning show. >> beginning at noon eastern time, hear replays of five network talk shows at 1:00, it's abc's this week talking with three senators who announced they will require. also, three new republican members will be on the program. fox news sunday will reair at 2

p.m. the assistant majority leader. at 3 p.m., a reair of cnn's state of the union. former secretary of state colin powell and former bush speech writer. finally at 4 p.m., talking with the republican john mccain and senator chuck shuler of new york. those begin at noon with nbc's meet the press. 1:00, nbc's this week. state of the union at 2 and face the nation on cbs. listen to them all. on xm satellite radio 132 and on line at c-span radio.org.

today on c-span's road to the white house. michelle bachmann is in illinois and rick san for um on his eighth visit to south carolina with the first votes of the 20 is it president den hall race a year away. tune in to c-span's road to the white house today 6:30 and 9:30 eastern and pacific. tuesday, a joint session of congress. dpining at 8 p.m. eastern. followed by the president's speech at 9. the republican response from house chairman plus your phone calls and reaction. live on c-span. on line at c-span.org. you can watch the president's

address followed by reaction of congress. >> washington journal continues. >> in light of the shooting in arizona two weeks ago, a renewed debate on the issue of mental health. the president elect of the american college council association. let me begin with one figure i want to put on the table. according to "new york times" found that 44% of college students in counseling have severe psychological disorders up from 16% in 2000. and 21% are on medication, up from ten years ago. guest: we now have better treatment and better medication than we had 10 or 15 years ago. students are receiving treatment and therapy earlier.

parents are more aware of issues and bringing teens in to receive help rather than waiting until they seek help on their own. we are able to receive college students that are better able to receive that therapy host: i understand that's 44% of college students overall. caller: it is simply self disclosure host: what leads to mental disorders, depression and anxiety? guest: there are environmental issues, triggers and traumas. we commonly deal with depression

and anxiety. those are the things we probably spend most of our time on host: is it easier to treat somebody with medical than it is a medical condition? guest: i think the stigma is

slowing fading. it does make it more difficult to treat, there is that stigma. at the same time, medical doctors are some of our greatest referrals. they are understanding and being able to say that needs to be sent to a therapist or pyschologist. what are some of the signs parents should look for that could lead to potential need for therapy? guest: radical behavioral change. that same thing with parents. if you know the child one way and suddenly you see these changes of isolating, anger, depression, no ability to sooth

or cope when something happens. those are all indications to pay attention and sit down and talk to your child host: 202-737-0001. 202-737-0002. also 202-628-0205. one of the reasons we wanted to invite you on was a r asry result of the shooting that took plays in arizona. the defense lawyers will be using his mental health what's your assessment of who he is and what he was like? guest: that's difficult to say, i don't have my hands on any of

the clinical information to know what his state was. i would say clearly he was struggling. it was a tragedy for everyone involved including him. it's hearted to nail down quickly. the insanity defense is tough to prove and also difficult in a sense that if they send him off to treatment, once he is deemed stable, he will then be tried for those crimes host: what are the levels of disorders? guest: it has to do with each individual case. there's no global way to deal with it. for that individual, that

depression is par liesing level is functioning is that decision morning the adult population, 25-26% claim to have some mental disorder. that's a huge number. that could be something that par lieses them in groups. individuals that are violent are a small percentage of of that group, even a smaller percentage would ever act on those violent thoughts. that's an important thing to

remember that mental health doesn't equate to violence. how we see the world. disordered individuals, their ability to operate is very impaired. linda joining us from novmville, tennessee. good morning. caller: my qualification to speak on these is that i live with a relative that suffers.

one aspect i have not heard is the extremely hi cost of the drugs. i calculated it out, the anti-pschotic drugs for my relative cost $24,000 a year. this creates a huge issue. a lot of people are familiar with the problem of an old folk home but they can't afford it. if you don't have private insurance that will cover the cost of the psychologist and psychist and drug, the only

thing do is get the kid on medicaid. if you have a psychotic kid, you have to drop them on the side walk to make them indigent, poor to qualify for medicare. i don't know what happened with the fellow in arizona but i bet that's the dill ema that the family faced. the parents haven't spoken yet. i bet they tried get help. they found out they didn't have insurance, made too much for the public health system to take him. they kept him in the house and he got out and it blew up in their face.

it is a struggle all the way around. >> our guest studied at suni and stone brook and university of colorado. steve is joining us from colorado. caller: good morning. in light of the shootings there in arizona i guess this loughner

guy was kicked out of school and not going to be let back in until he had a mental evaluation. i wonder if it is a good idea maybe the college could have notified any of those entities that would have stopped him from buying the gun. fur kicked out of school awaiting a mental evaluation whether high school or college, your name should go on a list so you can't buy a gun host: as the caller pointed out,

he was kicked out of a community college but had committed no crimes. guest: right. i commend the community college for taking the time to document that. they requested that he leave and could not return to the community until he had an outside psychiatric evaluation. they took the extra step of calling the parents. he's over 18. in truth, they didn't even need to do that. we don't know if he refused that evaluation. we don't know what the results were. it's difficult but i think the community college went as far as they could within their authority to make sure their community was safe and make sure

to offer him treatment. being able to say, i don't think it is a good idea for you to be here now. look at the status of the stu department at that time. they didn't have the ground to send police in or to get involved with the fbi list or any of those kinds of pieces. i'm not sure if it was a good part of the question. i'm not sure what part of names get moved to that list.

if you have a record in public hospital, i don't know a whole lot of details about that host: do you believe laws enacts are in jeopardy because of the tucson incident? guest: that's a tough one for me to answer. i am concerned about that. i would pay attention to that. confidentiality and retekting those individuals is a foundation of therapy and treatment. it is hard for me to stand by and watch that get eroded in terms of this particular incident, other incidents that we've seen. the media is spending time on the very rare cases and enacting

that violence. very small number that looks big in the media host: our guest is mary jane reilgh. next from maryland. caller: if i could add anything to thes first lady's conference about the parents double standard. you got a 22-year-old normal son, he moves away from the home and ends up with a bill of $50,000. no one comes back and says, you are liable for this bill because he's your son. when it comes to the mentally ill, they turn to the parents to be responsibly for their behavior. society can't make the connection. i'm upset about the media and

how these people are talking about politics and guns. the manifestation there is of his mental sickness. he was around a college so it is pointed at the school situation. it's incredible, nobody has this conference. in the prison, wearing a deliver

color uniform so guys don't get on them if they act ee rad yik. one of the issues is often we don't have a solid diagnosis of that until 18-25. we may see signs or concerns there wasn't a very good idea. some of his friends in high school indicate they were shocked. when we are talking about this, it is not until the late

adolescents, early 20's we start to see a clear sense of this come together. >> why not have people. interpreting to be a part of the reporting process. where would you story that data? how would you determine the cutoff. it becomes a bigger question there isn't a simple assessment. how do you deal with a system set up in place where we are a free country how do you protect

someone. maybe severely depressed for a period of time. most mental illnesses have an ebb and a flow. are there any programs that help

facilitating programs community of two-year colleges. they have to develop those kind of referral bases. it really depends on which university you are talking about and which college you are talk about. caller: i find siekology to be an fluke and a deef way of controlling somebody for job

security. psychology is a bunch of intelligent people taking advantage of lesser intelligent or slower people. justice department and shrinks go hand in hand. psychologists have been popping up all over the country by putting fear into the public. district attorneys do the same thing. the mention of oversite is important.

we are required to have continuation and credit we have close issues and oversite host: pete from texas. good morning. caller: thank you for c-span. there's not enough money spent on this issue as a whole.

encourages help and hope in difficult situations it needs to be in the community thank you for approaching and adopting caller: that's one of the issues as a provider i try to let people know

host: nooez had an article describes jennifer, not a real name. felt the pressure of school, it overwhelmed her, she thought about suicide and was able to work through the system. the story is about how universities are training everyone to try to pinpoint some of the red flags suicide more than anything. who to refer to and who are the networks and resources if a

friend talks about killing themselves take it seriously. i often say when they might be kidding around about killing themselves and they are surprised when they end up in my office for evaluation. it's kind of like saying bomb in an airport. maybe it's just one visit to say all right, don't do that again or maybe it's a more serious opening to talk about bigger issues. the more people we have aware of that sensitivity, the better out reach we have host: let me bring it back to the issue of stigma. has that changed ten years later? caller: it's hard to change

determine. people are out there talking about it. a lot more students picking up information for friends. i've seen an increase of that type of foot traffic. kind of wanting to check in because they have a difficult decision to make host: a couple more of your phone calls.

sg morning. caller: i'm calling about grade schools. they take young children. if they have any kind of a disturbance in a class or they don't function exactly how the teacher thinks then they start pill pushing. my one grandson, they said he needed to be on some kind of a medicine because he is hyperactive. they call him into the office to give the pills and all the kids want to know what's going on.

they are looking at the use of psychiatric drugs. parents being as well informed as possible about the education and the style. you have to balance that out with quality of life of the child host: many callers have said many children need to be on ritilin. guest: that's something you have toway out. if the child is not doing well social

socially it's a tough decision. is this the right thing to do. do it carefully host: janet. you are next. caller: i have this turned down. i have an unusual perspective. i was born in the time state hospital for the insane back in 1937. i lived there for the first 9.5 months of my life. at the age of 22, i was addressed with schzitfrenia.

i also went to school in the meantime and got two masters degrees. it's very difficult for anyone to get mental help anymore. i started out in the community placement program where patients were just dumped out. most hospitals have been closed and turned over for less crimina criminals. others are going to jail and prisons where they don't have treatment for them. there's places where you could go. the doctor can evaluate and slap

medicine on them. they need a relationship with a therapist host: and how are you doing today? caller: right now, i'm fine. i lost my husband and got diagnosed with hung cancer. i'm 73. but mentally, i'm doing fine host: thank you for sharing your story with us. guest: there were problems in some of the hospital systems. there were pros and cons. it was kind of a broken syste host: let me conclude with this question, what's your advice?

guest: for me, it's that idea of be kind, understand people are struggling and doing the best they can. each individual has their own struggles. talk to people, it is not an isolated experience. if there's a struggle or concern, reach out to others. don't allow someone to be struggling or be in pain host: jeff, with the last question. caller: thank you for taking my call. pardon my voice.

i had a mental break down as a result of being in desert storm. i had so many issues of what i did and issues that i have to deal with the war now. i can't figure out where my life is going i was fortunate enough to know several people of higher ranks and made it out of the mental ward and i was so paranoid going back. i was like a warrior his whole

life that never had any issues and nobody could believe i could do something like that. i was so afraid of how people thought of me and how i was weak. it was so hard going back. in the end, it cost me my marriage of 17 years. i turned to alcohol after my wife left me. i was drowning in sorrow. i had a potential six-figure job running a hospital but i gave it up because i needed the support

of my family host: what do you think about his story? guest: a lot of veterans are coming back to school now. the veteran's administration are understanding treatments more for ptsd. >> the director of counseling services at university of maryland. thank you for your time host: this weeks' focus on the president's state of the union

address. shortly after 10:00 eastern time. the video sent yesterday to many supporters on the national committee. >> some of you know on tuesday i'll be delivering the state of the union. i'm not finished yet, still working on it but because you guys have been there from the start, it was your passion and vision that helped get me to the white house. i wanted to give you a little bit of a preview of what i'm going to be saying. when you look back on the last two years as tough as anything we've gone through since the great depression. the economy was contracting rapidly, we lost millions of jobs. businesses were shutered. a lot of people were worried about the future. two years later, we are in a different place. we've created more than 1 million jobs. the stock market is back up.

corporate profits are healthy again. we've made progress. as all of you know from talking to friends and neighbors. seeing what's happening in the communities. the fact of the matter is we have millions of our fellow americans out there struggling everyday. don't have a job or haven't seen a raise in a long time. paychecks are slinking as costs are going up. my principle, number one focus is making sure we are competitive, growing and creating jobs not just now but well into the future. that's going to be the topic of the state of the union. our focus is making sure the economy works for everybody. how do we make sure people have good jobs with good benefits. how do we make sure somebody

with a good idea can start a business. how do we make sure that our kids are able to compete with workers anywhere in the world? do to do that, we'll have to out inovate, out build, out compete, out he had u kate. that's you are challenge. we'll have to deal with our deficits and debt in a responsibly way. we have a reformed government so that it is leaner and smarter. finally, we have to make sure we continue to make america safe and we are advancing our interests around the world. our job is to make sure that the american dream is attainable for everybody willing to work and strief for it host: the president's state of the union address in a message he sent to the democratic union.

watch this live on c-span and c-span radio. on c-span 2 interviews from the house as they leave the chambers. all of this tuesday night, 8:00 eastern. we want to hear from you. the president saying job also be a dominant issue. is it all about jobs?

likely to call on congress to ratify it quickly. faring it will result in the rising middle class resolve. charls joining us from texas. good morning. is it about jobs? caller: to me, it doesn't matter. they are just politicians, either side. they are just going to say what they want to say. the worker man is going to get it put to them. i would like to make a comment on something that happened earlier. i've seen this several times. you have a caller that will call in and ask a question and after they ask the question, you'll

say we got an email or someone, that person's question never gets answered. i don't know if you are aware of that but it has happened a lot host: we try our best. i pressure call and something we'll be aware of. including a meeting in which he told his senior staff he wanted ideas regarding the jobs idea that's would, quote, excite him. sheila on the democrat line. caller: hi, thank you i have been a registered nurse 20 years. we paid for my college we had

two children that we put through college. my husband's business had to be dissolved. we had some deaths and boevenlg us had heart attacks. at that time, i lost my job. my husband will never work again. i opted for cobra, they found a way to terminate our coverage. i talked to all congressmen,

senators and white house. that cobra company got away with scan selling our health insurance over $13.67. we still have a mortgage. we have had our children helping us. after 20 years in nursing, of course i'm applying for jobs. i'm still rehab ill tating. it's very difficult to get a job the jobs are at a stand-still i

really think they are waiting to see what will happen with healthcare. . . .

mixed color there. there is one set of people getting to work. why it is, i do not know. host: thank you for the call. senator kirsten gillibrand will be seeded will -- seated with john thune. john thune.