would end collective bargaining rights for public employee unions in the buckeye state. then, assistant labor secretary jane oates on jobs and the economy. after that, dr. gary wiltz of the national association of community health centers on the new health-care law and the current budget debate. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] host: as the protests continued in the state capitol in wisconsin, but they may also spread to other states, including colorado and iowa and also indiana and ohio. we will talk this morning about one aspect, which is the charges that this is less about the state budget and more about breaking the state employee union. a new poll in "usa today" suggests the majority of

americans support public-sector unions and that is what we will talk to you about this morning. public-sector unions and collective bargaining power. here are the phone lines -- the front page of "the wall street journal" -- crunch time for organized labor. here is what he writes. that is "the wall street journal" this morning. i reference the "usa today" all

that suggests 61% of americans in a new gallup poll favor the right to public-sector unions to collectively bargain. we will learn more about that in a couple of minutes as we open up the phone lines for your thoughts. first, mary spicuzza is on the phone with us, a reporter for " the wisconsin state journal" who has been covering all of the event in the state capital since this first began mary spicuzza, is this now officially a stalemate? guest: it is a stalemate. the assembly has been in all night. i think they are on an amendment numbered 28 at this point. but democrats have told us they are prepared to offer more than 100 amendments to this bill. and many of them say we are not trying to stall the bill, not try to delay the bill, we are trying to kill the bill, stop it from passing. host: this is the governor's budget bill. guest: the same, the one that

would effectively end of public -- collective bargaining for most public employees, only open to negotiation over salaries. host: democrats returned to the chamber? guest: the assembly democrats where there are 99 members total. but the republicans have majority of that house. back in the senate -- no, the senate democrats are still on the lam. still and that the illinois, the last we heard, hold up in a chicago hotel -- still in the illinois, the last we heard. but they have also been on the move. they have not returned. they say they are prepared to stay away as long as necessary. they were not moved by but the governor's fireside chat last night and they are saying that he needs to compromise, not threaten workers with layoffs if he does not get his way. host: what tools does each side have at this point to advance their cause? guest: you know, the senate

democrats see their tool as the bill cannot pass without at least one of them coming to the chamber because it is a fiscal bill and they need 20 members present. guest: theoretically could they be -- back -- host: steer radically could they stay away forever? guest: they could potentially stay away a long time but in their absence, republican senators passed a measure yesterday they will now need to pick up their paychecks on the senate floor during session. so, we will see how long they want to stay away without getting any paychecks or reimbursement for per diem check. but republicans the not seem like they are wanted to compromise on this, at least not the leadership i have spoken to. host: does the governor have additional tools? guest: the governor, he has asked the mobile times to come back. he said the bill is going to pass and i am not going to back down on collective bargaining.

he has majorities in both the house and senate. so it is hard to imagine how, if they do have the 20 members for a vote, how it wouldn't pass unless there have been other proposals by republican senators who said it -- who have introduced, for example, sunsetting the collective bargaining provision, where it would be removed for two years for the budget to be balanced but then collective bargaining would be fully intact. we would see if possibly some republican senators would step forward and try to compromise with some democrats in an attempt to lure them back to wisconsin. host: thank you. if this continues we hope you will come back to the program and keep us up-to-date on your bird's eye view. guest: thank you for having me. host: mary spicuzza who writes about all of this with the " wisconsin state journal." let's begin with a call from

pasadena, maryland. this is garlanded. democrat. caller: number 1 -- caller: number 1. the gop is using this economic downturn that they created to enact the same policy they argued for when the economy was good. kind of opportunistic. number one, the employees agreed to all of the governor's demands and then some of the governor still saying, sure, if you agree with 99% that the only one he is holding out for is to get rid of the unions. public sector people are overwhelmingly middle-class and if you look here a week ago, the ceo of j.p. morgan got a $17 million bonus, and yet our economy is going to be better off if we take money from the middle class? that think it is a war on the middle-class right now. host: robert. independent from atlanta. what are your thoughts?

the question of the debate. caller: i think the democrats -- the pendulum has to swing both ways. americans will sit around and really complain but not do anything until their rights are totally gone. these union things have provided some new things people taken for granted. five-day work week, 40-hour work week. child labor. these are vital to the middle- class and for people who want to reach middle-class status. the american public will not realize how important it is until is gone. the only unions left are basically public sector unions. private sector has pretty much done away with. i live in a right to work state in georgia and you can see it every day with people getting laid off with very little consequences. i am afraid that up writing -- uprising you will -- you see across the globe will happen in america of the rich -- if they

continue to amass wealth and power in both parties. there is no party representing the american people money more. the tea party is brought in paid for by the -- brothers and the democrat party is seven -- center right. it there is no liberal party representing the will of the masses. even the unions have failed to really take care of the average middle-class. look at the people shoving the caribbean free-trade. host: gotta go. got a lot of people on the line. from the "usa today" story -- american strongly oppose laws taking away collective bargaining power of public employee unions, according to a new gallup poll. in "the atlanta" magazine online -- the business and economic editor for that publication rights --

writes that americans don't know what they want.

you heard that gov. walker last night made a fireside chat. let's listen to a little bit of what he had to say. >> the bill i put forward isn't aimed at state workers and it certainly is not a battle with unions. if it was, we would have eliminated collective bargaining entirely or we would have gone after the private sector unions. but we did not. because they are our partners in economic development. we need them to out was put to hundred 50,000 people to work in the private sector -- $250,000 to work. it is about one bank, balancing our budget, now and in the future. wisconsin faces a $137 million deficit for the remainder of this fiscal year.

and a $3.6 billion deficit for the upcoming budget. our bill is about protecting the hard-working taxpayer. it is about wisconsin families trying to make ends meet and help their children. host: gov. scott walker last night. back to your messages. here is one by twitter. this is c-spanjunkie -- government union's campaign to elect those people who they negotiate with. isn't this a conflict of interest? our next call -- caller: i am a retired substitute teacher and my husband is a teacher and we vow never to be a member of the new jersey education unions but they still took $900 out of our pay every year because it was a closed shop. let me tell you, the unions were needed at one time but they are

not needed anymore. it was needed when people were working too many hours and children were being used for labor. but i actually sat behind the desk of these teachers and i see the incompetence that is protected by the union, the deadwood that sits there and gives kids a papers to work on and they sit there and read their newspapers. and i can see that because i am in their -- and they're looking at their paperwork, looking at the lesson plans. so for unions to be actually be able to donate money to campaign to put people in an election is absolutely wrong. and if the unions are going to survive, they are going to have to be more reasonable because the rest of the public out here like myself, now retired -- and i don't get a pension because, of course, i was a substitute teacher. but i bought a little cafe and i am working 90 hours a week to make it survive. a union person would never

understand that. host: how is business? caller: it is slow because it takes three-six years before a cafe does pick up so we are in there about 18 months. we would be fine because we bought our building with all of our savings. it is next to a recycled old bank. but having the township charge us $80,000 and engineering and planning fees gave as a mortgage that we did not expect to have. and that is the tough part -- getting business open here in new jersey and going through the regulations and all of the cracp. i put my house up for mortgage in order to be able to afford to pay the engineer, architects, planners. and i did nothing to the bank other than moving in and put a kitchen it. host: good luck in your new business. this is sascha2000tweets --

this from cnn. republican governor john kasich said the proposals are meant to restore some balance to the system and not destroy unions. it is right for them to be able to negotiate on salary, he said in an interview, but we need to let managers be able to determine things like keeping the pension system's health, making sure the costs related to health care is consistent with private sector workers. philadelphia. you are on the air. jake. democrat. caller: i have to disagree with the madam who spoke earlier. unions are still needed. who is going to protect the workers? the problem is each is trying to go about the problem the wrong way. they passed a tax cut back in the summer -- facing a $137

million deficit and the tax cuts add to the deficit and ask the unions and return to pay for that. everybody has to -- firefighters, police officers, everyone. unions are here and i think they do a wonderful service to the people of this country and to suggest they are no longer needed i think is completely wrong. but thank you for your call from philadelphia. -- host: thank you for your call from philadelphia. how many people belong to a union? it 2010, 7.6 million public sector employees belong to a union. compared to 7.1 million union workers in the private sector. more public-sector union workers and private sector. union membership rate for public-sector workers is 36%. a substantially higher than the rate for private, 6.9%. back to phone calls. indiana. james is a republican.

good morning. caller: good morning. did i miss the big union meeting this weekend? host: what are you saying here, james? ong for if it's wr employers to dictate the terms of their pension and benefits, why is it ok when the union leadership strips away their right to vote on and ratified a proposal and say it is a done deal that they are going to take concessions on their pensions and benefits without a vote? host: does that happen in indiana? caller: no, wisconsin. friday -- they were not going to cave in but by monday everybody was reporting a done deal. host: we are here and protest are spreading to your own state. indiana. caller: i was a state employee

when collective bargaining was issued as an edict from gov. evan bayh, by executive order, and that was a shady deal because there were a lot of kickback jobs to uaw members, family members and there was a "hiring freeze" that's 276 additional employees were added during the hiring freeze even though people retired and they did not replace them. and i personally worked with some of those kickback jobs to the uaw leadership that that evan bayh elected -- i could name names, but i choose not to. but the -- that was a shady deal. and they promised they would never force us to pay union dues unless they got collective bargaining passed in the legislature, but it was not within a year that they were trying to force us to pay union

dues. host: james from evansville, indiana. "the washington times" this morning -- union backers rally for wisconsin. winston-salem is next. johnny, independent. caller: i am in favor of what the union the doing of their and wisconsin. i have two sisters who live in wisconsin -- one was a union worker and one was not. unions are vital. big business will not give you

anything. you would still have a 10-year- olds working if it not been for unions. the banks and big business for wind -- ruined the pensions. putting them in the funds and a lost dog of the money. -- and they lost all the money. now because the banks lost the money these people have to pay. but the government went right in there and gave the banks a $1.30 trillion -- and burning -- than $8 trillion to keep them afloat. but we have to pay for the mistakes of the big businesses. then they tried to take the little bit that you have and make you pay for their mistakes. it is insane. this country has gone completely insane. host: bonnie from winston salem,

north carolina. a viewer tweets this -- also at a peace called "the battle ahead" it should be about productivity and parity and not spending cuts.

this was "the economist" this morning. in national, tennessee. atomic, democrat. caller: good morning, susan, good morning, america. i agree with the lady from north carolina but mr. walker has a history with him also here. it has a county executive for -- as a county executive for milwaukee county he dismissed the security and replace them with a private company. in arbitration recently -- i think you might find something in the paper -- the arbitrator said that was illegal and now this is how much mr. walker is going to cost his state. those replacements with private industry, they need to get their

public job back with back pay. this man -- he has taken over a public domain and trying to set up for private individuals. it is a disgrace. you gotta remember, governor of everybody in the state. not just special interests. the police, fire, and that other unions he did not want anything from also should be put in the same category as the rest of the workers. no special interest year. they all play in the same field. thank you. host: arkansas. charles, republican guard caller: good morning. that young lady from new jersey was exactly right. i am proud of her to do what she is doing. i don't understand -- you've got cabdrivers, truckdrivers, small- business owners in wisconsin paying state taxes.

they don't get free retirement. they don't get their medical jake -- charges paid for. in no, and you look at the right to work states. b. they are halfway decent. but the union states, the states with public employee unions are in trouble. there is small -- no money left. there is nothing you can do about it. and you've got to tell these people, know. how can a teacher sitting there making 80 grand a year as a cabdriver or a small business owner to pay for their retirement? it is just incredulous -- incredulous for anybody to think that is necessary. and the young lady from new jersey is an example of what this country used to be. and the teachers of wisconsin

are what russia is going to be -- or russia was and what we are going to be if we did not turn this money around. host: you have a good day, too. from "the des moines register" of story related to this. public kids -- sector workers' pay less than private workers. berkeley springs, west virginia. russell, independent. you are on a parity, called i was reading -- you are on. caller: i was reading what ralph nader called the two-party dictatorship. right here in west virginia,

tonight in berkeley springs, more than one of the people will be gathering to protest the corporate dictatorship and we are having market flowers from physicians for national health program and they will be talked about all that we are spending $700 million a day on iraq and afghanistan. those are two wars the majority of the american people are against. we could use that money here so we are not fighting each other over the crumbs. and dr. flowers is going to be talking about getting rid of the private health insurance industry so that we can actually cover our people and save money. we can save money by two simple things. bringing the troops home and getting rid of the private health insurance industry. the rebellion -- it is not just these big rallies in wisconsin. we have a small town in the middle of the week the day after a snowstorm and there will be more than 100 people protesting the corporate dictatorship. the rebellion against the

corporate dictatorship is spreading and it is all over the country -- not just in these big areas that you are seeing. host: russell from berkeley springs, west virginia. from our e-mail -- stephen, a democrat in kentucky writes -- pennsylvania. good morning. dave is a democrat. you are on. good day to you. caller: good morning.

a couple of questions. rs wanting to goi into the labor laws -- saying labor laws for children should not be there anymore. these are people that are running for positions. you have another lady up there in massachusetts winning to go back to sitting there telling people they don't have a minimum wage. this is unreal in this country. big business takes over everything. i worked in three different places and walked out within days, pointed people and say you are laid off. why am i laid off? we just want to. what do you mean? we got five other people here making a dollar less than you. you are costing us so we want to get rid of you right now. maybe we will call you back later. maybe not.

host: fullerton, california. helen, republican. caller: good morning. i am a teacher and i belong to a union -- los angeles unified and member of ucla. i have been hearing a lot of union bashing and i also hear a lot of the slippery slope if we don't have unions we will have child labor laws and the world will just become a terrible place to work. one of the good things about unions i am not hearing anyone mention is that unions exert influence on the product that they make for the services they provide. i look at my own personal experience with the union as a teacher and. if it wasn't for the union is demanding certain standards of service from the school district, you would have a very lopsided approach to educating our children. it is unions that maintain this

standards. teachers' unions are kind of unusual because they consist of professionals -- college educated. the profession that we answer to, before anything else. we exert influence on the district to make sure that there is good quality within the classrooms. but i agree with the caller from west virginia about all of the money being spent on wars and private health insurance. what is happening is our economy is so bad as people are scrambling for whatever crumbs they can get, using that man's expression. part of the problem isn't so much unions and their influence on the workplace and destroying our economy, it is that our government is destroying our economy with these ridiculous war is that just never seem to

end and health care that is just counting people because win -- becoming filthy rich off of human misery which is going on. one of the reasons the union says it costs so much is it is providing benefits to union workers. the cost the district a lot of money to provide health care. that is one of the big things taking down our union, really making it not fiscally possible for us to have salaries and so forth a -- it is because of the cost of health care. host: we have to jump in. thank you for your call from california. this is from texas -- "the financial times" sees this -- a longer struggle.

it reflects uncomfortable choices facing states across the western world and u.s. government -- the policy implications of post-recession aid of austerity. states are washin -- watching wisconsin as a litmus test -- virginia. robert. independent barrett -- independent. caller: this is a class war starting and the rich are trying to put the pressure, republicans trying to put pressure and forced people in the country to get out of this economic thing. my advice to everybody that is listening is to get together and

march and bring your weapons because i tempore and will back you up as far as you can. host: this is what the coverage of the of that looks like in the "the new york post." dems are indy-sposed. runaways' showing off true colors -- all yellow. and new jersey, gov. chris christie announces his budget. he takes ax to new jersey spending. next in chicago. dora. democrat. how do you feel about your new mayor? caller: i did not vote for him. i don't like him. i did not like him when obama made in chief of staff and i still don't. i need people to understand -- unions and collective bargaining had nothing to do with the bankrupting of this country. just like social security has nothing to do with this deficit

we are running. it was the crux on wall street -- the republicans just will be sent it to the end all of those wall street cronies and corporate buddies like the -- koch brothers and is governor walker, they say the koch brothers, he gave a million dollars to his campaign. it is also a war on women and the middle-class. you notice the unions that he target were primarily made up of women. what you have? -- do you have? teachers, public health workers, crossing guards, office workers? who works in those? low-paid profession is primarily composed of women. the professions that he said, okay, we will examine a few -- police, fire, state patrol, they are primarily made up of men. but i did see a letter from the

state patrol saying he was sorry that his union had backed governor walker. i mean, i thought that was a very good. and they are marching with their union brothers and sisters and i want to thank them. host: open secrets looks at spending in 2008 -- federal and state contributions to politics. national education association is number one with combined total of $56 million. 53 state contributions -- american federation of teachers, 25 on the list. 11 million in combined federal and state contributions. looking at campaign spending. pacs -- national association of realtors came in at number one. firefighters are in 10th place,

total amount of $2.3 million. american federation of state and county miscible the employees. 99% going to democrats and firefighters from 82% going to democrats. afp, 99% of our contributions go to democrats. taking a look at money and politics and unions. next is wisconsin. dan, republican. caller: good morning. i have a unique perspective. i live in a lacrosse now but i used to live in milwaukee county. the city of milwaukee. i was living in milwaukee when scott walker was county executive. and now he is governor. and the misconception is he is against unions. no, he is against public unions which is the giant ponzi scheme to get democrats elected to do the bidding of the public unions.

that is what it seems to me. we are not against the union's part is -- and certainly not against private unions. that is a great thing to have. but public unions is just ridiculous and the benefits that they are paying here in this state right now is a luxury we can't afford anymore. host: data from across, wisconsin. later on in the program we will discuss different aspects of this. in a few minutes you will need the ohio state director of a group called americans for prosperity supporting governor kasich, so we will learn about the protests happening in ohio and how they are mobilizing for the governor. later on, jane oates, assistant secretary of labor for employment and training. that will be on the topic of

jobs creation did then our final guest is dr. gary wiltz, executive member of the national association of community health care centers. and he will be talking about health care centers and how they faired in the new health-care law and what republicans in congress are proposing to do with them in the budget. next up is tampa. tampa, florida. grace is a democrat. caller: good morning. i love c-span. you guys are really excellent. human-rights is a right to work -- what the chinese say. sending our jobs to china. unions -- i work for the teachers' union in new york and i work for the airline union. it is the only way to get their pay, their health care, fair benefits -- fair pay, fair

health care and benefits. we need to protect the unions to bargain for fair wages. we are not the problem. for example, tampa, florida, our governor still $50 million from medicare. he was convicted and now he is governor. i also have lived in california and our bay bridge is being built by bechtel to become earthquake proved -- 10 years and billions of dollars. another thing -- thing draining our country is energy prices. they are sky high. we are being shanghaied by opec. this is hurting our governments, hurting our institutions. it is not a union and collective bargaining thing. necessary in the 19th century and still necessary even more so today. our friends in the private sector are getting laid off left and right. i happen to be furloughed and my

union job is protected -- called back when my company gets better. i work for the largest airline in the world. we traveled to the middle east. the middle east has said off right to work and jobs and bread and butter issues that has touched off in the united states. the republican party needs to understand we need to protect unions, we need to protect labor and we need to protect social security. these issues are not the problem. we are borrowing from social security to pay for these two horrible trillion dollar wars in iraq and afghanistan and of course pakistan is a mess, etc., so unions are a very necessary part of large democracy in america to protect the middle- class sliding slowly into poverty. host: let us take a break from this in just a second to learn more about house -- chicago. a front-page story with a big headline in "the chicago tribune

-- who turned out to vote? guest: one of the things everybody was looking at was the low voter turnouts in the city. originally was projected to be somewhere around 51% to 52% when in fact it was more like 42% and given the nature of the election and the fact that you needed to get 50% plus one vote to avoid a runoff, it seemed that rahm emanuel was going to need a big turnout. instead it just showed that he was much better at organizing the ground troops and get-out- the-vote effort. host: when does he take office? guest: may 16. he has a couple of months. in the meantime, we have more than a dozen seats that have gone on to a runoff election and now by avoiding his own runoff election he has a campaign war chest where he can use some of

that money to help influence who gets elected into city council. host: in the case of being mayor of chicago in 2011, as the story like the easiest thing is to get elected and the hardest thing is running this city? the guest: exactly right. it is a case or any number of people have said that given that rahm emanuel's forceful personality -- maybe the city needs a bit of tough love. you are looking at a city budget deficit of $650 million. you have a horribly underfunded pension system for city employees. you've got a very controversial deal in which the city basically least it parking meters to a private firm for 75 years in exchange for more than a billion dollars. that was supposed to last at a rainy day fund and almost all of the billion dollars are gone right now. it is not going to be an easy, easy term for rahm emanuel.

host: a story headlined -- amid a sea of uncertainty, a raft of promises. what did rahm emanuel campaign on and what did he -- the guest: three things. the mayor of chicago is in charge of city schools, so he worked to get improvements back into the schools. two, to alleviate the city's crime problem. even though crime is down in the city, there is still a perception that violent crime is up. 3, to get the economy and jobs going again, the unemployment rate in chicago, double-digit spirit -- double digits. and still reeling from recession. host: 51-year-old, first jewish mayor of this city? guest: correct. host: rahm emanuel taking office --

guest: may 16. host: thank you for your information. two things on the presidential front. senator john thune, who had been reportedly thinking about a bid for the white house -- let me get my story -- announced on his face the page he will not seek the presidency and other person said to be considering it, jon huntsman, still u.s. ambassador, republican, to china, until the spring, has launched a new web site. if we can show it on the screen, that would be great. it is described as something hard to understand at this point -- a big h and does not mention by name but talks about conservative leadership. jon huntsman, former governor of utah. as we talk to you about government unions and collective

bargaining, are less of call is from mount vernon, new york. richard, go ahead. caller: one thing it seems like no one is even talking about is the -- teachers talking about the test scores not really good. what it means to me and i assume to everybody that these teachers are really doing their job and you can't get rid of them like in the private sector. if you don't do your job, you are gone. it takes them about three four years to get rid of those teachers. the union, they don't care -- that is all they care about, is having somebody there contributing, paying their dues, and keeping them in power but nobody gives a rack to rear end about the children. -- nobody gives a rat's rear end about the children. host: we will focus on ohio and

rick pearson, ohio state director fort -- rebecca rebecca heimlich is ohio state director for americans for prosperity. >> c-span possible "abraham lincoln" is a unit contemporary perspective on mr. lincoln from $56, journalists, and writers, from his earlier years as a springfield lawyer to his presidency during one of our nation's most troubled times and is relevance today. while supplies last, public -- publishers are offering a hardcover edition for a special price of $5 plus shipping and handling. go to c-span.org/books and a client -- click on the abraham lincoln book and use the promo code lincoln at checkout. >> it is critically important that the house moved this cr to avoid a government shutdown. >> we all have a responsibility to make sure there is no

government shutdown. >> with concerns about a possible government shutdowns see what was said when the federal government did shut down in 1995 online at the c-span video library, with every program since 1987 -- search, watch, click, share -- any time. it is washington your way. >> "washington journal" continues. host: on your screen is rebecca rebecca heimlich, ohio state director for americans for prosperity. on the front page of "the columbus dispatch" this morning, this big story. hints of progress and it the protest. 5200 oppose senate bill 5. you are in the middle of this. bring our national viewers up- to-date on what is happening in ohio. >> two weeks ago senator shannon jones introduced a bill to significantly reformed the collective bargaining laws in ohio. it would and collective

bargaining for state employees and teachers and significantly change collective bargaining for firefighters and police. and the day it was introduced two weeks ago i happened to be at the statehouse testifying on another important reform, ending the death tax, and i noticed there were several people with yellow t-shirts are around the state house and there were about 800 union members of that day protesting the bill. and every day there has been hearings on the bill, there have been large protests at the statehouse. last tuesday and thursday -- last thursday, americans for prosperity worked with the ohio liberty counsel and tea party and other liberal organizations across the state to bring activists who are in support of senate bill 52 the state house. so we had a rally at 9:00 a.m. before the hearing last thursday and show our support for senate bill 5. unfortunately, we have not been able to keep up with the numbers of people. there is a vast number of people who do support senate bill 5 and

i want to commend senator jones for introducing it. we, unfortunately, our members are not able to take the time to come to the state house like often the union members are allowed to. and i respect their ability to do that and want to come out and make their voices heard -- and they are making their voices heard loudly. i have been at the state house each time they had a protest. i was there yesterday, and it was loud. they have a lot to say. host: would you explain why it is you support this bill? what is it you support doing with the correct power of state unions and their collective bargaining power -- what the current power? guest: americans for prosperity, we are a nationwide grassroots organization. across the country we have 1.6 million members and an ohio we have 58,000 and we educate and we mobilize sinicize who advocate for fiscal responsibility in government, for free market and limited government. this is all about free-market and it is about the situation we

had in oil. in 1960 ohioans were more prosperous than almost three- fourths of the rest of the country. today they are less prosperous than two-thirds of the rest of the country. what happened? our government got too big and taxes were forced to high and in 2011 we have the opportunity turnaround with challenges. $8 billion budget deficit. there are several tough reforms that need to be done to turn ohio around and get a back on track to prosperity and reforming collective bargaining laws is one of the things we need to do. the collective bargaining laws have tied the hands of all i hope that the government, at the state and local level. they have not been able to react to the reality of the economy, to the economic ups and downs, like a private employer. because of that we see a situation in ohio where in 85 out of 88 counties, our state government employees are paid much more than private-sector counterparts. you can find that in the study done by the buckeye institute on their website. i am not saying that public

employees are making tons of money. i understand that even though in general they are making more than their private-sector counterparts, i recognize that most of them are probably struggling to make ends meet just like we are in the private sector, but this is just an adjustment that needs to be made so that ohio can use free-market principles like the private economy in order to be able to react to economic ups and downs. host: what do you make of the gallup poll, the front-page story that 61% of americans approve of preserving public- sector unions right to collectively bargain. guest: i actually had not seen that poll yet. thank you for giving me that information. i haven't seen the poll and i have not seen the question -- the know what the question was exactly that was asked? host: simply a question of do you support the rights of public sector unions to bargain collectively -- 61% yes,

affirmative. guest: not having looked at the poll, that response actually surprises me. some of the polling that i know have been done in ohio would show the opposite of that. i would say that possibly my organization needs to do some more educating in ohio about free-market and how the free market system works and why it would be beneficial for ohio. host: what is the role of the governor? guest: the role of the governor, he has come out in support of collective bargaining reform, is my understanding. it senator shannon jones to introduce the bill -- but my understanding that he is supportive of collective bargaining and indicated that if it is not strong enough, the bill that has been passed, that he will propose his own reforms when he introduces his budget which he has to by law. host: this is a senate bill and it is in the hearing stage right now.

can you tell us about the state of the ohio legislature, how many republicans and democrats in both houses? guest: in the ohio senate there are 22 republicans and there are 10 democrats. an ohio's house of representatives, a major art -- also majority of republicans but i cannot tell you off the top of my head -- host: comfortable majority? guest: yes, a comfortable majority. host: is it likely to pass? guest: i believe it is likely to pass at this point. it is not a certainty. i do also think that would there will be changes likely to the bill. i think that once it gets through the senate it is possible that when it gets to the house it may become a stronger bill. but as i said, if it is not strong and i think governor case it will weigh in. host: do you suggest that there are some republican senators who are not sure they are going to support it? guest: that is true.

there are republican senators who have come out and said that they oppose it. there are some that i understand i still on the fence. at this point, i believe we will end up having a majority to pass the senate bill 5 -- it that people understand to get ohio back to prosperity it has it affected -- effectively manage the workforce and unease the possibility to do that. i was going to say, i was in a hearing last tuesday -- i am actually from cincinnati. one of our cincinnati city council members gave a very compelling testimony about how the city of cincinnati's hands are tied under collective bargaining laws that were negotiated with other officials and the city in the past and better economic times. there was an article recently that talked about when 900 of cincinnati employees retire, cincinnati what of them over $93 million, which adds up to about

$100,000 and employ -- that is not just pensions, but unused holiday, vacation, and six days. host: in terms of the budget gap -- if the legislation passes, how will it affect the budget? guest: it is a long-term solution. as i indicated -- back in 1960 people used to come to ohio for jobs and prosperity and now people unfortunately often leave ohio for jobs and prosperity. this is not necessarily a solution that will solve this budget crisis because the current collective bargaining contracts that are in place now would continue until they are done. however, it is something that has to be done in order to get ohio back on track in the long term. host: i wanted to give you more detail on the pole. here is what "usa today" looks like. lead story -- public favors union rights. the gallup/usa today poll -- specifically the question is this way.

would you favor or oppose a lot in this state taking away some collective bargaining rights of most public unions. 61% oppose, 33 percent favor. the delaware of the question and who it was -- by gallup poll. 1000 adults conducted on monday with 4% plus a--- plus or minus. we have rebecca rebecca heimlich, organizing and ohio in support of a senate law and the governor's position regarding ohio's public unions and she would like to limit their collective bargaining power, concerned about the state budget deficit there pearson questions or comments. new york city. a sample is a democrat. caller: hello? i am calling into c-span? host: you are on the air. caller: my name is elizabeth.

i would ask the this woman, american for whose prosperity? how could you possibly keep a straight face? host: talk about more about your organization and in addition to state chapter you getting national help? guest: americans for prosperity is a nationwide organization. we have chapters or affiliate's in 32 states. the question as to whether i am getting help from my national office is difficult to answer because i always get help from a national office. i am the ohio state director -- however, i work closely with my national office on virtually everything i do. that would be true about everything i were on board with respect to which americans we are working for? we are working for all americans. the americans who stood out with me on thursday are hard-working

middle-class americans just like the state employees are. that is one of the frustrations that i have had in this fight is that some of the union's -- and i saw an e-mail from the democratic party yesterday, trying to make this an issue that we -- and i am not sure who they are defining we as -- but they are trying us to trying us versus them, and they are the middle-class and we are trying to somehow hurt of the middle- class. the fact is that in ohio, the state employees are a very small percentage of the population. most of our middle class are private sector employees. this is not an issue of the middle class. the people i stood out with on thursday in favor of senate bill 5 are the middle-class. host: the question to you about how your organization is funded. guest: we have over 70,000 people -- very blessed to have

over 70,000 people across the country who believe and americans for prosperity and what we are doing and have contributed to our organization. host: fully funded by the grass roots members who belong to it? guest: we do not charge our members anything. we do get both individual and corporate donations. however, we have over 70,000 individuals across the country who have donated to us. host: question about whether there is a relationship between your organization and the koch brothers. guest: david koch is on our board that is public knowledge -- he believes and fiscal responsibility and government is like our organization. host: how long have you been involved? guest: house a director since december of 2009. host: why did you take the job? guest: i believe that our country is at the point where we are either going to move -- we are at a critical point.

obviously we have the economic challenges both in the private sector and the public sector. many of the states are facing economic crises, a pro- government is facing economic crises. i am a strong believer in the free market and limited government. i think program has grown far too big and acting government -- government is becoming smaller and more efficient and effective and i appreciate the fact that i am given the opportunity to help in fighting to make that happen. host: we are talking about the protests in ohio as a microcosm of what is happening in other states across the country. just for a snapshot of ohio's employees who are simply use -- 68,000 ohio state employees right now according to the state department of administrative services and 70% are union members. next is a call from wisconsin, gene, an idp.

caller: sounds like she did a good job -- but i and calling about the protests in wisconsin here. and it seems like the republicans cannot get it through their head that these protesters and teachers are saying that we will give the state what they want -- just don't monkey with our collective bargaining. that is everything i have heard or read on tv or the radio, and the bursting they will do is say they are getting paid too much, they are -- the pension is too much, or whatever. the teachers have already said they are willing to give that up. they just do not want scott walker to monkey with their

collective bargaining. thank you and keep up the good work. budget process. in the free-market, people seem to think that because we want to reform collective bargaining, that we somehow are attacking their jobs. that is not murder trying to do. we are saying let's level the playing field so that everyone is under the free-market system. for example, a teacher at public school, just like a teacher at a private school will then be

promoted and hired and compensated based on merit, as opposed to raises and how long they have been there. host: there is a related story in "the washington post" today -- here are two interesting paragraphs about -- historical comparisons with now.

host: that is what the discussion is about the federal and state level. we are speaking to rebecca heimlich. palmdale, new jersey. ivan is a republican. caller: i lived in ohio for five years but i had to leave the state because i could not get a job. everyone is union. they are talking about collective bargaining. nobody ever opens up the amount. collective bargaining is another word for extortion. those unions can export as much money as they can from the

taxpayers, or from their employer. otherwise, they are not going to produce nothing. they should think about it. host: rebecca heimlich, do you agree with him on his view of collective bargaining? guest: i the great collective bargaining for its challenges in budgeting for local entities and state government. i would not necessarily call it coercion. i understand both sides are trying to get the best deal. frankly, if i were in that position, i would probably try to do that also, convince my employer to let me carry over 106 days a year. i understand economic realities that we live in, that does not exist anymore. -- 100 sick days.

i understand in the public sector they have made cuts, too, but if you look at the amount of cuts they have made, government entities have not had the opportunity to react to the downturn in the economy, as private employers have. that is why we have the situation we have in ohio. i believe and that collective bargaining, the reason we need to get rid of collective bargaining, the best way for government to have the flexibility to efficiently and effectively manage its workforce is to introduce free-market into that system. to do that, we have to get rid of collective bargaining, or significantly reform it. >host: respond to this piece --

guest: i agree state employees are facing tough times, just like private-sector employees are. they have the same difficulty trying to make ends meet the same difficulty with respect to the economy and prices. i understand that. but when you look at the fact that government entity to not have the flexibility to manage their work force, and they, like any employer, needs to be able to hire and promote and pay based on merit. in ohio, arbitrators can tell local government how much they have to pay their employees, whether they can afford it or not. this is not a system ohio can afford. it is not a system that is efficient or effective host.

host: this tweet coming in -- that is heard you. appleton, wisconsin. terry, an independent. caller: good job, ms. heimlich. i think you are doing a good job representing the opposite side of what you see in most of the media. actually, she has taken most of my thunder. as far as the koch's donating to walker, it was $47,000, the second largest contributor. also, looking at the professionalism of these teachers. i have heard so many people calling in, faking pink slips to

get paid. they are going to turn them in so that they can collect sick leave. the public sector actually has more collective bargaining and and private-sector union. it is -- and a private-sector union. it is not proper. a large percentage of wisconsin people are behind walker. thank you, ms. heimlich. guest: thank you commentary. host: we are getting lots of tweets from viewers -- let me take a call and show you

one other. north lauterbach, florida. ken, a democrat. caller: the first thing i want to say, this lady, maybe she is getting her money from the tea party, but this is nothing more than union busting. the tea party wants everything. the unions are willing to negotiate, but republicans want to break down these people so that they have nothing to bargain with. the second thing i want to say is they give the rich people 2%, $89 billion, and she is not talking about that. the republicans want to balance the budget on the backs of the

poor people. they are not paying taxes or anything. why doesn't she talk about that? host: rebecca heimlich? guest: we are not trying to balance the budget on the backs of poor people. in ohio, we have private-sector employees who are paying their hard earned tax dollars to the states that their public sector counterparts can make more money than them. i am not try to attack the workers. state employees to important jobs. again, i think the free-market should be introduced into the system and to the public market. the reason for that -- i am not try to take away rights from workers. i am just tried to introduce a free-market system, so that like a free market system, if there is a job that needs to be done, the price of that job, the salary, wage of that job will be at a point at which an employee

is willing to work for that wage and an employer is willing to pay for that. if you are not willing to work for that, you can go somewhere else. no one is willing to work for that wage, the employer needs to increase that wage. that is how it is decided. host: a tweet from willliejones -- guest: if he will go to the buckeye institute website, that is the free market think tank, here in ohio. the president of the organization testified on behalf of senate bill 5. i know that there is a study on the reports page that talks about why that report is not accurate. i have read the report. i understand and respect the statistics. in fact, he was challenged on

them and said that there was a calculation that they had done incorrectly. there was another report were the conclusions were slightly different. in 85 of 88 counties, state employees have made more than their private-sector counterparts. host: "wall street journal" has this had line -- headline --

host: i know that is about private-sector unions. do you have any comments about the statistics? guest: i believe right to work would be good for ohio. i do not believe it will happen this year. americans for tax reform also did a study recently that talked about population movement. it was specifically talking about states gaining congressional states, states that a losing congressional seat. we are losing two congressional seats because our population has been leaving. the reason it is stagnant and

not declining is essentially because babies cannot decide where to be born, but in the last 100 years, many people have left ohio. what the tax study found was, in states where government is smaller, government spending is smaller, taxes are lower, and where there is right to work, populations are moving there. the reason people move states often is because of better economic opportunity. host: rebecca heimlich will be with us for 15 more minutes. ann is a republican in florida. make sure the mute button is it on your tv. caller: first of all, susan, i want to thank you for the good job you are doing with the articles and questions. i am just so impressed. ms. heimlich, i am in support of your cause, i am a republican.

i work for the school system. i understand how the people in ohio field. my husband and i have also had a business. florida is very similar to ohio in many ways, although we are a right to work state. we are in a sea of a housing crisis. according to the information that i get, and gas prices are going to start increasing dramatically. i do not think it is sustainable for other states who are having similar problems, so explain to me how collective bargaining is this blanket thing in your state, and maybe you can explain it that we do not want to take away wages from hard workers, just perhaps state bargaining in their pension. it is not affordable. we do not have the money to pay

for all the things that blanket in a collective bargaining agreement. maybe they could renegotiate salaries every year -- i do not know. i just know we cannot afford private sector people -- my husband works for a multinational company in the state. he is a plumber. he has been a plumber for 30 years. he does not expect not to be part of the american system, he works hard. he puts in a lot of hours. i have a daughter who is a teacher. she saw us but three of our kids through college. one is a psychologist, one works for an international company. states cannot afford to keep this up. thank you. i appreciate your work. host: ms. heimlich, response?

guest: americans for prosperity does have a chapter in florida. they have a new project called "keep them honest." go to our website and look of florida and please get involved down there. it sounds like you would be a great activist for limited government, fiscal responsibility, free-market. as for collective bargaining, we need to make a change so that our government can react to economic realities. there are collective bargaining agreement never agreed to back in boom times, when we had a surplus, the opportunity to make those types of agreements. ann is right. they are not sustainable, at this point. i acknowledge, i understand state employees and unions have made changes in the past few years. it is just not enough.

so i believe using the framework of the system in the public labor force is something that would be good, both for employees and states. host: "the financial times" editorial page -- host: do you have a reaction to that? guest: as i just talked about

the years of surplus, the years the economy was better than it is now, that there were collective bargaining agreements that are probably overly generous. again, i do not want any state employee to thing that they are rolling in the dough. i understand they are struggling, like others, but essentially, at this point, they have a monopoly over the public- sector labor force here in ohio. we need to be able to have the flexibility to manage them. host: milton, west virginia. laurie, good morning. you are on the air. guest: i have a different perspective. i am for the unions. i believe we need strong unions. instead of attacking the people, we need to do something about the corporation's that have -- corporations that have

caused economic tareproblems inr country. people have a living wage. they need to pay their bills. health care that each person pays a% of their way into the health-care system but have our health care providers to be able to have their colleagues paid for by the government. they are working for the public good. originally, most people say the mandate is it illegal. if you go back to the 1800's -- i used to be a nurse. in the 1800's, there was a tax implemented on sea men. they were proportionally using more health care. they paid the tax, and they went

in for a hospital for them. that is how our public health started. then it went the other way, rather than going to where people could have a true public health, it went to -- you know -- communicable diseases. host: where are you going with this? caller: the system is set up for the corporations and people at the top. people at the bottom -- my husband was laid off after 30 years. he was the first one to go. he had no right to dispute it because a company can let you go. it does not matter their economic viability.

host: her point is the system is set up for corporations and people at the top. guest: the corporation's she is talking about employ a lot of people. i am sorry that your husband had the experience that he had and i'm sorry you had to experience that. a lot of people across the country unfortunately have had to experience that. hopefully, the economy will improve soon. it is always discouraging to hear those types of stories. i believe the caller and i have a fundamental difference in how we believe the american economy should be run. i believe, as our country was founded on free-market principles, the ability to sort of work your way up, i believe that is a good system, a system that we should continue to employ it. host: another boys who believe this is about political power more so than state budgets. this is a piece in "the

washington post" --

host: ms. heimlich, any thoughts of what is happening nationally? guest: first of all, we do not see this -- americans for prosperity -- do not see this as a democrat/republican thing. we support anybody, whether they are a democrat or republican. we support the policies of free market, limited government. we are facing a giant deficit, giant debt at the national level, and some drastic measures will need to be taken to address that. i will not argue against any attempt to impose more of a free-market system in the united states. host: asheville, north carolina. carey is an independent. caller: good morning, and thank

you, ms. heimlich. i had the privilege of working in the private sector over my 50 years of work. probably 16 years self-employed , even work for a union one year, and for the federal government. the private sector and self- employed requires high performance. when i worked in the union for one year, within a year, i was taken aside and i was told to slow down. this is why companies are leaving the country. you do not produce, contrary to private sectors, you must produce in order to get a increases. whereas, when you're in the union, the standard is set by the lowest performer, not the highest performer, and this is what worries me.

federal and state employees are paid for, they have better packages, but their performance level is not as high. i also work with the federal government. very disappointing. host: ms. heimlich? guest: i do think the merit system is better. it poses competition. people work better when there is competition. they are going to make more money. i find it unfortunate that the union encourage you not to work as hard. i would not say that is a prevalent problem. there are always situations that are disappointing, though i believe the vast majority of state employees, teachers, fire and police do an excellent job, and they work hard. but i do think that unions, the way that are set up, do tend to protect those who view employees who do not do a good job also. host: tammy is a republican.

good morning. caller: good morning. a lot of it have to do with -- in the private sector, we are worrying about our health care. a lot of the private sector has lost their pensions. a lot of the unions, they have guaranteed health care, guaranteed pensions that pay for 100%. they have the government in their pocket. obama has humanized the airlines, given them more jobs. everything is guaranteed for them. it is so uncertain in the private sector where the next job is coming from, if there is going to be a job, if we are going to have health care. about collective bargaining, chris christie said he tried to bargain with the unions in his

state, and they would not give 1 inch, even when threatened he had to lay off employees. i think collective bargaining is only for the unions because they do not want to lose the option of guaranteed units in dues paid. if they lose if the collective bargaining, they lose those guaranteed do spirit that is what it is all about, and the money. i would like to have your response to that. thank you. guest: i agree public pensions are an issue. there are several states that have had liabilities that are unfounded, -- unfunded. people pay into the system but it does not cover the amount coming out.

moving from our current plan to a new system is something that needs to be done. even though i say that i would propose that for a new employee, -- i am actually in the pension system and a high of myself. also my husband. we are growth -- we were both prosecutors, at one point. for people in the system, i would not try to change their contribution system, but for new employees, that is something we are eventually going to have to do. i believe the unions are out for unions, and that is the problem, and that is why there has been misinformation getting out to union members. for instance, making the union members believe that this is about ohio attacking the middle class, which is not.

host: at the outset, you suggested people opposed to the senate bill in committee in ohio are doing a better job mobilizing than people supporting your side. how do you see this playing out over the next few weeks? guest: i think our senators understand the labor unions have a structural advantage. they do have the money from union dues. they have more money than we do. they can pay to bus people to columbus. i saw buses parked outside of the state house with west virginia and michigan license plates. they have money to organize phone banks. they can give their employees pay to take days off to go to the state house. they are obviously well- organized. i think our state senators understand that structural advantage. we do have thousands of people

who are calling and the mailing their senators to know that we support senate bill 5. host: thank you for being on c- span this morning. rebecca heimlich, joining us today, representing americans for prosperity ohio chapter. we have two more guests on this wednesday morning. at 9:15, dr. gary wiltz will be with us, a community health director clinician in indiana. we will learn about their role in health care and how they fare under the republican's budish proposals. jane oates is joining us in a couple of minutes. we will be talking about job creation. first, let's get an update on what else is happening in the world with c-span radio. >> as protests continued today in bahrain's capital, state

media says the state's king is holding cap -- talks with the saudi monarch. there are concerned that the uprising, now in its second week, could spread to the saudi kingdom. meanwhile, saudi arabia has announced increases in domestic spending, and an apparent attempt to avoid the unrest sweeping the mideast. according to state the become the king of bella has ordered over $10 billion to be injected into the development fund helping saudis buy homes, get married, and start businesses. more on the situation in libya. defense secretary robert gates, in an interview yesterday with journalist from "the weekly standard" and "wall street journal" that there were signs that the libyan military was fragmenting. some commanders have refused orders to fire on protesters and others have joined protesters. in response to a question about whether or not the administration should be showing a greater sense of urgency in stopping the bloodshed,

secretary gates said he is involved with libya-related meetings two, three times a day. he reiterated it was a very fast-moving situation. those are some of the latest headlines. >> the c-span networks. we provide coverage of nonfiction books, public affairs, and history. it is all available to you online and on social media networking sites. we take c-span on the road with our digital boss and local content vehicle. it is wash. your way, the c- span that works. now available in more than 100 million homes. jane oates has had responsibility of helping to stimulate job growth and prepare

american workers for the new economy. we saw the unemployment numbers takedown just a little. there is so much analysis at what is behind them. there is too much unemployment right now. what does the administration see as the prospect for sectors for parts of the country, and begin to turn those numbers around? guest: certainly, we have seen positive signs already, with the gdp and unemployment numbers going down. however, job creation numbers to not seem to be going up. we are not getting positive trends month to month, although clearly we have had private sector job gains. the administration sees certain signs of real promise. the manufacturing sector. everybody in the country believes manufacturing is dead. manufacturing is alive and well. the problem is, and the president spoke about this in cleveland, places that used to

employ thousands of people, because of technology, now just need a few hundred. those few hundred cannot just be those people from the last century that worked hard and made money. they now need to be able to have technology skills and communication skills that are different so that is one of our biggest challenges. clearly, one of the sectors that remains hardest pressed is construction. host: the numbers for real- estate this week were really don think about housing prices continue to fall. prospects for construction workers do not seem to be good in the months ahead. guest: the construction industry is one industry, even when they are underemployed, unemployed, they really take advantage of that time to upgrade their skills. we have seen a number of apprenticeship programs really using this time to bring their members back and teaching them

about new technology. i think when a construction comes back, these workers will be able to hit the ground running with state-of-the-art building technology. host: two demographic sector that are particularly challenged, young workers, 25% unemployment rate, and under 25. will you talk about the challenges for those groups in the workforce? guest: for young workers, the numbers are disturbing. these are young people who are trying to set their life in the workforce. they are not getting the chance. the jobs that they normally dependent on are being taken by dislocated workers who are overqualified for them, but employers are taking in vantage, as they should come up of getting people with better qualifications. that number is worse if you aggregate by race. young people of color have

really been slammed during this recession. it is a good time for employers to think about bringing on young workers, but at the same time, you bring up the other group that has been hit hard, those older workers. many folks are saying that an older worker -- they are describing it as 50, which scares me. they need to upgrade their skills, particularly, around technology. we hope many of them are taking a advantage of what i described with the construction industry. they are taking computer classes, making sure they are more facile when some of the new technology, taking advantage of this time to upgrade their skills. when they walk into an employer, they are not seen as an old worker. they are seen instead as a proven worker with new, 21st century skills. host: we have added a new phone line to those of you in the discussion, those of you in the

job market. if you want to call us and tell us about your experience looking for a job. with regard to the programs the administration has put forward, some came from the stimulus act, and others are programs to the labor department, working hand in hand with states. there has been criticisms about the complexity and oversight of such programs. there is so much bureaucracy involved, aid does not get involved to the prospective workers. what is your own view of the need to simplify the programs available to people looking for jobs? guest: we are sensitive to that criticism and trying all the time to think about ways where we could work across the avenues, here in washington, to simplify things coming out of our cabinet offices for workers and businesses alike. in the last two years, we have

made a big effort making sure a dislocated workers who are eligible for pell grants know about that. we have made significant progress in making sure that children are aware they have a johnson city -- job subsidy help available to them. so i think we are trying to simplify. it is difficult to get money directly to people and be accountable, and make sure all the checks and balances are in place. it is not as easy at this -- as it seems and say, go get good training. the need to have good training, have it be allied with job opportunities in their area, make sure the trainer they are

choosing has a track record of giving high-quality training that will get them that job with the employer. none of those things come easy. so it does require some kind of system that may look complicated from the outside, but it is there to protect taxpayers' money. host: to illustrate the secretary's point about greater productivity, companies do more with less, "usa today" has that -- it talks about one bank branch in orlando. they write - -

guest: i think we are going to see more of that. when we went to get money from the bank, all we saw was the teller. i have not seen a teller in years. i go to the atm. those deficiencies to take away jobs. you apply that with every industry and you see we have fewer jobs in the older sectors, but we also have to keep watching the sector that are on the growth spiral. while some people make fun of things like clean jobs, quite frankly, those are sectors producing bring new jobs in areas where we never had workers before. not as many as we let, but we need to keep our finger on that polls as well. host: you brought along a chart looking at employment changes in major industry since 2009. to the right are the jobs in thousands that are produced.

construction, the hardest hit, losing 192,000. on the right side our job creation. business and professional services and education and health services are two of the highest increases. what is behind that? guest: health care has been the most resilient sector during the recession and recovery. they have created jobs every month. i think that is directly aligned with the aging of our population. those of us who are 50-plus code to more than one doctor usually. and we are living longer, so therefore, jobs and health care sector, especially assisted living facilities, are continuing to boom the professional and business services is interesting to watch. again, at the cleveland summit as today on jobs, we have the opportunity to hear from a number of businesses who were taking back jobs that had been

outsourced overseas before. it was interesting to hear those backroom i.t. functions. in the 1990's and early 2000's, it always went to foreign countries. data storage, data management, call centers, those kinds of jobs are coming back. with the right i.t. skills, it can pay a family-support and salary. host: the president takes a hit this morning in --

guest: i had two reactions. the president does not get enough credit for using his cabinet. clearly, secretaries of leases on the road a lot. every time she speaks to people, she talks about jobs. -- secretary solis is on the road a lot. she understands workers getting their skills improves the that they can get a better job next time. those who are highly skilled, especially in the financial sector, who never thought they would be employed. you're starting to see it in government numbers. permit employees never thought they would lose their job. and this is not talking about federal bureaucrats. we are talking about firemen, policemen, teachers. the second thing is, the president has a multi-pronged attack here. before we talk to people who are

unemployed and try to fit into jobs in the local area, he has to understand, businesses create jobs. the federal government does not. we tried to do everything we can to work with people. but in other cases, we work so that the big misses are not completely tied up in red tape. making it simpler for them to grow and do business in the country. i was not at the first seven stops the article referenced. i was there yesterday i think all the capt. people and staff understood clearly -- cabinet people and staff understood clearly what was our job in terms of job placement and job training. those things will be helpful for people were -- looking for jobs. host: next phone call for jane oates is mount pleasant, texas. craig is a democrat. caller: thank you for the work

you do. when i realize in this economic climate, the department of labor is probably getting more flak than they deserve, as is customary. thank you for the work you do. guest: thank you very much. caller: my pleasure. i am a college senior here. i am going to graduate and i look to join the teaching ranks in texas. i am noticing, not only in texas, but throughout the state, the legislature is a severe threat to the budget, in the education field, primarily, teachers. i wonder if you have any information from the department of labor, your thoughts on this development, what it means for teachers in the future? guest: susan will think this is a set up. i started my career as a teacher. i thought i'd grade in philadelphia and boston.

i do not think you could have made a better choice. we are going to see some bumps in the road and school districts have to deal with reduced budgets from the state and local revenue, but especially new teachers have tremendous opportunities to do things, like to during. many people go to large public school districts, many people work at private schools, but there are lots of opportunities. if you are not able to get a job right out of school, please do not go into publishing or anything else. do not leave the teaching ranks. we need you. it is so nice to hear young men going into teaching. it is important that we show our young people a balance. those of you thinking about teaching, one thing i can tell you, the more you study math and science, the better your opportunities will be. across the nation, we are seeing mckenzie's for teachers

in the hard sciences, from middle school to high school, also english as discussed -- second language, and special education. we still see many districts with openings in those areas. if you have a chance, maybe in summer school, you can take a couple of courses in those areas if you have not already, to help your chances to get hired. host: anaheim. steve. good morning. caller: the problem i have noticed with education or retraining programs is they are cutting back so much out here, but you cannot get to a place to get retraining. what is your department doing to solve that problem? guest: thank you, steve. we are to actually try to do more with less. we are trying to put more money out into the field in competitive grants to supplement some of the training dollars

that come to the formula funding. clearly, we do not have a say over how much money we get in our annual appropriation. that is a congressional decision. and a congressional matter that is being heavily debated now. we are trying to do more with lower price, higher quality training providers so that we can get a bigger bang for our buck. certainly, we share your concern with 4.5 and the plymouth seekers with every employer out there, we feel the opportunity to give every one of those seekers the best tools they can have to move forward. i wish i had a printing press. host: michigan. martin. republican line. caller: i have a question. there are a couple of interesting issues that i have

number one, -- that i have. number one, with what is happening in the manufacturing industry, you just said one out of five people are applying for teachers' jobs. this is the same thing happening to our manufacturing industry. is anybody doing any investigation to find out why they are doing that? number two, what do they do with the people that are out of the unemployment 99 weeks? especially the older folks that are headed towards retirement. we have two, three years that we can really work. people will not work at us because there are so many 20, 30, 40-year-old heating up those one out of five jobs. -- eating up those one out of

five jobs. if you could respond and perhaps do something about it, thank you. guest: first of all, the best thing to do -- and i keep repeating the same thing. make sure that you, as a older worker, have modern skills that you can bring up to an employer as you move to that interview and application phase. i think there are lots of ways to do that. some people across the country have gone back into training. some people tell me when they are an older worker, they are not going to back to community college or training, but there is plenty of short-term training that can show to a prospective employer that you are motivated, relevant, and you have skills that are state-of- the-art. other people are telling me that they are taking the time to volunteer. they are proving by volunteering that they have the kind of people skills that are important, and every employer tells us that. there are few jobs where you do not need to have good people

skills. in terms of the lean manufacturing peace, you in michigan have seen the rebirth of a lean and mean auto manufacturing community, but you have also seen the rebirth of industries like lithium batteries. i think those are new areas where we will have new jobs, but it points to another issue. some of you, probably like you, martin, have skills that could translate into you started your own business. i think that these are lessons that we will find after the recession, that that really builds the american ingenuity into business. think about services that you could provide to the existing businesses in your community, or to citizens in your community, that you might be able to start a business on your own. if you go to your local one stop -- we can connect you with the people at the small business administration who are the

experts in that. i think a lot of older workers are realizing the skills and talents they have could put themselves into and on to the north's role, just the way as a reed-employed workers. host: you talk about the complexity of the jobs. this story talks about the cost. little is known about the effectiveness of the program because have vowed not have a performance review since 2004 and only five that had a study to determine whether job-seekers in the program do better than those who do not to dissipate. how do you measure effectiveness? guest: it is my teaching background who will give away what i am here today, but

actually the employment and training administration has begun a gold standard evaluation of the workforce investment system. that is a random assignment system where threat the country we have a number of people who get services of the one stop, we tried them for three years, and the number of people who did not. we will be able to tell congress in three years -- and we will have preliminary information in between -- of the belly of that -- of the belly of that investment in the workforce system. i have a world-class about which team outside, and not employed by the federal government. we knew early on with the discussions on the hill, this is a vulnerability point for us. we are prepared for it. i wish somebody had thought of it before so we had something to show you today, but i am sure if you invite me back in 2012, we will have something. host: we have been spending most

of the morning talking about the budget protests in ohio and in other places. a tweet -- guest: you know, i do not know that the secretary has a role in that. i think the secretary has not been shy about other things that have happened. i think what we would like to do is make sure all of us feel the same way. we do not have inside details. but from the external details we are getting from the press, from the anecdotal, all the unions kind of offered to pay their health insurance and their pensions. they agreed to the reductions. now it looks like it is just about the right to collective bargaining. it would not be a surprise to anybody in your audience that we believe wholeheartedly in the department of labor about the right of collective bargaining.

i have not talked to the secretary about this, so i cannot speak on her behalf, but the rest of us are watching this to see if there is a role. for eta, at least, there is not able today. host: joe on the independent line. caller: there was one thing that i wanted to ask but then i came up with 15 others. the main reason i called is the unemployment numbers. anecdotally, my friends and i in the construction industry, who are now out of work -- i am in the residential construction. i do not have to tell you what happened to that business. i am over 50. it is the only trade i really know. i have been out of work for two years. i transplanted from illinois. my network of employers willing to hire me -- i have to start

all over to build that that park. the numbers you see on television is always hovering just under 10%. what are the real numbers? if you are going to say there is no real measure of the real numbers, i would like to know, once people's unemployment benefits run out, which mine did, are you still counted? if you are on welfare and have not had a job in years, are you counted? and another thing is small businesses. you are saying to this other dumb and that was over 50 that he could take his skills and start a small business. well, in this economy, to start a small business -- first of all, you would be competing with another small business, and everyone agrees competition is great for business, but two

small businesses in the same niche to prosper is doubly hard in this economy. it is so anti-logical. host: let me ask you a question. with your prospects not being so good in construction, what are your plans to find gainful employment? guest: luckily, my fiancee has an excellent job and i have been sponging off of her. i live in a rural area. with fuel prices going up, my runs into madison to fill out applications -- i have started developing that skill, routing myself to save fuel and hit as many businesses as possible. like a lot of people in my position, it is daunting and it is discouraging when an ad goes in the paper advertising a

position, you sit down in the office to fill out the application, and in the 15 minutes it takes to fill out the application, there are 10, 15 people coming in, grabbing applications and walking out the door. the fact that i am over 50, i am sure, discourages employers because -- especially in physical labor -- i am a cement person by trade -- it is guest: well, it would be irresponsible for me to not say how sorry i am. i hear the frustration in your voice, and i hear from people all the time. the fact that you have been unemployed for two years is really unfair.

in terms of the real unemployment numbers, there are several things we do. we do model on those collecting unemployment insurance. clearly, they are the population that we capture most effectively. we also do household survey data that asked people in survey- style whether they are employed, seeking employment, part-time employed and looking for a full- time or whether they are unemployed. i never think the model is 100% accurate, so clearly there are people we are missing. we are always looking to make sure the number we're representing to the american people is as accurate as possible. i am sorry that you did not , wasthe entrepreneur worshishp

worthy, but i think it is import we talk about all of the options that are out there. i was in misery a few months ago, and a man has started a business changing the bottom of the pain can when you paint your house. it is always a nightmare. he started a recycling company that changes the leftover paint into soil additives. and a year into the business he has 10 employees. and while they are small stories, and a total kind of ideas, i hope it is enough to give some people another option, because i think it really is depressing when you're in filling out applications watching 15 other people come in that will be your competition. host: this is a pessimistic view dwindle on twitter --

guest: i disagree without wholeheartedly. even in the manufacturing area where we have seen the socks and underwear move to foreign countries, we have replaced it with high-level manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, and there are clearly some industries that are going to go away and never come back. i do not see the south rebuilding on textile manufacturing any time in the near future, but i do see them building on some of the things i have seen in manufacturing in the area of solar panels and small wind turbines, lithium battery, which is so complicated was seven or eight different parts that have to be put in. i think the manufacturing story that people are not telling accurately and not actually talking about is the new manufacturing jobs that are clean and good paying and high-

tech. i think all the jobs that we have in the mining industries, those are not going anywhere else. some of the jobs, as i said, of the ones we are bringing back, are really wants to watch. even though you hear people breaking their arms over the weekend and x-ray being read in india, i am sure that will continue to happen, but clearly no one will give you your flu shot in any work your backyard. host: next call is a democrat from texas. caller: forgive my voice, i am a little under the weather right now. i am 60-years-old and have been employed for 20 years. my son works for me. we have at least 20 independent contractors that work for us. right now my business is down

20%, and has been that low for three years. being self-employed, we do not qualify for unemployment and we have never gotten it, so we just arrived the best we can. the problem i have here in texas is we have to have insurance. we have to be insured. we have to go by the dot regulations, and we have people standing on corners for home depot and stuff that will work for $4.50 dollars per hour. no one is doing nothing about them. -- that will work for $4 or $5. also, i have a daughter that is 16-years-old. i remember when i got out of school, you could always go to mcdonald's or one of these

places and find a job. these jobs here in texas are now being filled by illegal immigrants that are down here working, and no one is doing anything about it. host: illegal immigration is the same there. there. theme guest: i think it is hard to illegalout the socia immigrants because to get the job they had to supply a social security card. it is very hard to tell who is an illegal immigrant, just as our parents work or who is not my first question would be do not jump to conclusions. i think lots of folks who did not plan on working who were working only in their homes are now coming out and taking a lot of those jobs at mcdonald's, and it did not to have the same kind of english skills as a woman who

went to work. a lot of times you see immigrants who have been here for a long time but the homemaker was their primary job and now they have to go out to augment that. second of all, over regulation is a point that states and governments are grappling with right now. i know that we as part of this administration are looking all of our laws that are out of date and unnecessary, just there because it has always been there. i do not know enough about what governor perry is doing in texas. i work very closely with his work force people, and i know how bad you they are to us as a partner. i am sure he is doing the same thing, looking at texas regulation to see if there's anything that can be done to remove any unnecessary burdens. host: of you were earlier asking

about the real unemployment numbers. -- a viewer earlier asking about the real unemployment numbers. here they are -- here is a voice from the other side of this issue, marco rubio. the senator from florida. let's listen. >> the stimulus bill because government does not create private sector jobs. u.s. senators do not create jobs. regulatory agencies do not create jobs. jobs are created by everyday people to expand a business or start a business. host: do you disagree with him? guest: i think we say the same things. we do not create jobs, but the federal government needs to be on all look for what is coming. they cannot just worry about today, but they have to look into the future to look at the

industries that are promising. host: we have this tweet -- unemployment for older workers is an issue. in terms of tools, this is something that your office offers. it is called "my skills, my future." guest: this is a great tool we developed based on o net. it is the gold standard of information sectors about jobs, but it is really hard to navigate. it is mostly by resources, and very well-educated people. we saw people wanted something that was quick and could get them information. literally put in your zip code and your last job, and you will get real time links to jobs in your area. for instance, if you were

working in an industry that no longer exists, the software would match your skills to other industries that have job vacancies in your area. we hope people will take a look at it. we think it is user friendly, relatively easy to use, and we think it is pretty effective. we launched it on labor day at 2010. we have had over 1 million hits, and people saying about 15 minutes. this is pills -- these are people actually using it. we do not have a service or can i give you the outcome data, but i can say that people get in touch with me saying it is easy and feel like it is a benefit, because we of a partnership with the library and they know how to use it. you could use it from any computer. clearly they have made

outrageous to community colleges and libraries so that people who do not have a home computer would know where they can have access at a greater our point. host: it is my skillsmyfuture.org. they also have a number that is on your screen -- next telephone call is from dallas. this is rick who is an independent. good morning, you are on the air. caller: yes, ma'am. i am in the construction trade. i am 32-years-old. might illegal laborers get up and go to work every morning while i stay home and look for a job. -- my illegal neighbors get up and go to work every morning while i stay home and look for a

job. i broke my neck in 2000 and had surgery and was treated terrible from the state on workman's comp. guest: can you afford to work at the price they are charging? caller: no, i cannot. they work for pennies on the dollar. with that. t compet compete with that. my son tried to get a job at mcdonald's and it would not hire him because he did not speak spanish. we have to do something about these eagles taking our jobs. i cannot even support my family. i am lucky my wife has been supporting me. enough is enough. how much are we supposed to take of these illegals coming over here in taking our jobs and trashing our neighborhoods? host: i'm going to stop you at

that point. another question about illegal immigration. guest: this is the second call from texas on this issue. i have a regional office in dallas, something we will talk about with them. again, i can agree with the calller -- i cannot agree with the calller. i think it is hard to find and documented. you probably know more about them than i do, so i will not question that, but remember, it an undocumented worker is working, they're paying into social security they will never get. it is not like they are taking advantage of the system. i would like to focus on your job. i think it is very hard for independent contractors. i hope that you will really look at something -- subbing for the contractors that are there.

there are no two ways around this. we to put on the screen the number of job losses in the construction trade since 2009, 192,000. it is pretty much frightening to see that. we have lost almost 2 million jobs during the course of this recession and recovery in construction, so it is an industry that is really hurting. whether you are employed by an employer or self-employed, you are still welcome to come to the public workforce system. and dallas has a great one stop where there might be opportunities for you to go there and translate not only your construction skills, but your business skills into another opportunity that at least could be short-term while you are waiting. i do not want to ask you to leave your first love of construction, but sometimes we have to take an intermediary job just to keep the lights on.

they can be a big help in getting you something that will really capitalize on your business skills. we would be happy to see you in any of those dallas one stops. host: i do not know if you can help this person named dirty water on twitter. guest: i think -- personally, i do not know where you live. the first thing i would suggest if you are applying for jobs is you get another e-mail account. employers often ask for an e- mail, and people have less than professional names on their e- mails. employer sing dirty water may not think -- seeing dirty water may not think highly. and i think they're high-paying three jobs. -- green jobs.

if you do not want to go into the physical job of manufacturing where there are several solar turbines and lithium batteries, all of those have backed off this work attached to them, whether it is customer service, whether it is a constituent relations, selling to people, or dealing with people on repairs of things. i think someone who was a history major has incredible skills, because you know how to think and enough about the past to predict something that could be problems in the future. i think you have lots of areas. if you had given me where you live, i might be able to get you know more specifics. host: another tweet. guest: it would be hard for me to predict that question. it would be better directed to my partner at e.d.a.

i can tell you that venture capitalists are alive and well. they have done a lot of spinoffs in biotech companies. one of the things we just heard about in a hot meal was a company that is using new material. that was all launched on venture-capital. there are a couple entities like nortech and jumpstart if that helps get people aligned with that. getting in touch with them, and did you do not know where to get in touch with them, go to one spot and we will connect you. they are the people that know about venture-capital list much better than we do. host: last calller is pat on the democrat line. caller: i have a comment and question. right now we are creating class warfare in this country.

public versus private sector, employed persons unemployed, when that is not the reason all of this is happening. my question is what it a tariff system help to level the playing field between people who work for $10 per day and people that work for $10 an hour? guest: an interesting concept. again, outside my area of expertise, but happy to send my colleagues at the treasury who could look at this further. they know more about that. at this point, everything is on the table in terms of suggestions. i appreciate your input. host: the administration's point of view is yes. guest: clearly we are country of 300 million people, and a matter what will you look at it there is a limit to what those 300 million can consume.

opening our markets to the world market will help us. the reason there are trade agreements is to establish some sort of balance. there are plenty of people on both sides of that issue that think we have lost in the past and want a better place going into the future, and there are others that think the market should decide. we will leave that up to politicians to debate, and hopefully your callers to inform the politicians of their ideas. host: there is a help line. we have that on screen. we will also have that on our website. you can also go to mynextmove.org and myskils myfuture.org for suggestions. thank you for visiting c-span. come back again. we're going to take a break. we will go to c-span radio for other news happening in

washington and around the country, and our final guest will introduce us to community health centers and what the prospect is for them in the future. >> 18 past the hour. the senate finance committee is set to hold hearings throughout the year aimed at overhauling the tax code. in prepared remarks, the committee chairmen focuses on special tax breaks that are a drag on the economy. he went on to say that we need to figure out how to get rid of loopholes and simplify the system so we can lower tax rates and keep our economy growing. from politico, at barbara boxer is commenting on the short-term spending bill passed last week and a republican-controlled house. the continuing resolution calls for $61 billion in spending cuts to programs like the epa's clean air act, planned

parenthood, and the corporation for public broadcasting. the chairwoman said this is no time for political vendettas. the cost is just too highs. she went on to say they have up as a reduction as an excuse to carry out vendettas. seating livingston reports that texas congressman ron paul is distributing free books by his son. the book's publisher confirms that volunteers from the campaign for liberty organization plan to give all 535 members a copy of his book, "the tea party goes to washington." those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> if you are watching c-span, a preview politics and public affairs. -- you are watching c-span, a

preview of politics and public affairs. also, supreme court oral arguments. on the weekends, you can see the signature interview programs. on saturday, "the communicators." on sunday the prime minister's questions from the british house of commons. it is all searchable at our c- span video library. c-span, washington your way. a public service created by america's cable companies. host [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> "washington journal" continues. host: let me introduce you to our final test, dr. gary wiltz. -- final guest. thank you for being here.

what our community health centers and how long have they been around? guest: community health centers are non-profit community board that are serving areas of their country that are medically underserved. that is the first criteria that the areas we're located have to be medically underserved. the key element is that we are controlled by a board of directors that have to be 51% consumers, which is unique, but a very good way the consumers control the product that we put out there. host: that is a national standard? guest: that is a national standard that dates back to 1965. we provide primary preventive health care, comprehensive in nature, and we are open to all, which is a unique feature also. everyone that comes in, we break their ability to pay by means testing and proof of income.

so when someone presents themselves, they provide proof of income, and we adjust their pay according to a sliding fee scale. host: how many health-care officials are there? guest: we have 8000 locations. millionerving over 21 billio right now. we take care of the uninsured population that we serve. the current statistics regarding the breakdown right now are 38% of the people we're treating are uninsured. 37% have medicaid. 37% have medicare. 13% private insurance. 3% have other means. the grant we receive, that is not counting care, because we have income, but helps subsidize

the care for the uninsured we treat. host: all but 15% comes from the public sector? guest: that is correct. host: what about the future of the new health-care law? guest: community health care centers were created in 1965 in an attempt -- under lbj in the war against poverty. we recognize way back then that there was a tremendous need in this country, particularly in rural areas of underserved populations. it started with humble and meager funding, and we have grown. we have enjoyed bipartisan support historically. before i get to with the obama administration has done, i want to make sure that the bush administration invested heavily in community health centers and we doubled the number of people we serve from 8 million to 16 million. in the president's budget he is made community health care centers when a key component of

health care reform. we have the largest network of primary care providers in the country. under his plan we were set to go from over 19 million to over 40 million in the next five years. by every means you can test us, we have been proven to be cost efficient, deliver primary comprehensive preventable care in the course of competent, very fast pace setting. guest: we are serving right now over 21 million folks. host: from federal and public other sources are about what? guest: about 25% of the total operating budget, but more recently ended a stimulus package we will create an additional 127 centers and serve an additional 3 million people. that is why today's cuts are so critical, because of the do

occur, the gains we have just made are at risk. we have now added that many more people to serve, 3.3 million people. one of the first things i learned in medical school was [inaudible] 70% of the new people we are treating are uninsured. host: what is the total federal contribution to health centers on an annual basis? guest: right now over $2 billion. host: 4 viewers if you would like to ask questions about community health centers. -- for viewers, if you would like to ask questions about community health centers. we would like to hear your questions or comments about that. in the continuing resolution, how to community health centers

there? guest: it would be devastating to us. the gains we have been able to make, the 127 new sites -- in particular, we opened a new center and hired an additional 10 staff folks. if this cut is enacted, we will have to close the doors, and this is that the worst possible time. if you are looking for a model care that has been proven to be cost effective, we have saved the system a tremendous amount of money over time, particularly in the medicaid csector. when you look at any entity in all the studies that have been done, we save the system money. host: how to save the system money? -- how do you say that the system money? guest: people go to us instead

of the emergency system. the emergency system is the most expensive you can get. we can save them because they do not present later with a disease that is a dance. advanced.t is host: specifically what are republicans suggesting? guest: there is a trust fund. the billion dollars is set aside, and we have the continuing resolution, the yearly fiscal funding that they are looking to cut $1 billion from. the gains we have made with that billion dollars, it did take that away, that will undercut what we have already put into place, so it will affect all of the new access points and the increase of demand for services that we have been able to enact. host: i have a chart that you brought with you that shows how

health care center patients are estimated to grow under the health-care law, but if the republicans are successful, what would happen to the 40 million people number? guest: there is no way we can reach it. as a matter of fact, we would probably slide back, because the 3.3 million that we have increased over the last few years would be at risk. host: really impressive growth when you look at it. 2003 just serving 12.4 million patients, all the way up to current data with 40 million. really and about 12 years. -- all the way up to the current year with 19.4. guest: we have a proven track record. this was during the bush years that we will ever to double the number of people search. we have been the safety net. there is a lot of talk about

patient centers, but we have been that historically center for 25 years. we stand ready. we are very confident we can meet these numbers. this is something we developed, the national association. we did a strategic plan that showed we can accomplish the plan given the funding. we can actually accomplish what we have said. host: of you were -- a viewer on twitter rights to know how much you are saving the country? guest: on the medicaid system alone we're saving over $6 billion. the cost that is put in their that is the primary preventive care that we talked about, early detection, and the number of people we have prevented -- say diabetics for instance that did not go blind because the diabetes was under control.

they did not have strokes and heart attacks because it was under control. all of those things factored into that. there have been many studies that showed everywhere where community health care centers are located, there has been a decrease in mortality for the population we serve. host: republican on the line. go ahead, please. caller: i believe our health- care system is broke and out of control. host: any more about that, leonard? caller: yes, my father-in-law went in for a gall bladder surgery one month ago, and it was a 40 minute surgery and cost $41,000. the government needs to regulate the hospital's pay and pharmaceutical's pay. host: do you agree that the system is out of control?

guest: i believe the system is in need of continued reform. he just mentioned the hospital stay, and our goal is to keep people out of the hospital system. that is what community health centers are so vital and important as a cornerstone. we are a large part of the solution. i say this because if you can get in for primary preventive care early on, you can prevent a lot of diseases that prevent later on. if you have a cost-effective quality model that is competent and shown the savings that we have had, why would you not want to invest in a program that has been successful? that is really the main point i want to make today. we're not making this up. we have proven statistics to bear what we say. tell you about our guest. he is a native new orleanean.

your clinic is something that you join or started in 1982. 100 miles west of new orleans. tell me your story. guest: i grew up in orleans. i was born in the charity hospital system. i attended tulane medical school. i attended the court and get in return i had to pay back my service obligation in an underserved community. that is how i wound up in franklin, louisiana. july will be 29 years i have been there. i have been the medical director for 20 years and ceo for the last nine years. host: you clearly been involved at the state level. you have also been very

involved in the national association. being a doctor to that many people is a consuming job. why are you going for the larger and national level? guest: if my brother and i had the opportunity to listen to john f. kennedy speak live in new orleans. and that brought the call of service to me. as i progress in my medical career, i realize when you can change policy, you could affect millions of people. i have had a very gratifying career with the patients i have treated over the past 30 years, and you get immediate gratification, but when you can change programs that affect millions and millions of people. lbj never treated a person in his life, but the policies that he enacted, when you think about it, they have affected the lives of millions and millions of people. i think policy is critical in addition to the primary hands on

a carrot that we get. host: we are learning more about the community health care centers and how they are making proposed cuts. $1.3 billion for the community health care centers. you can decide whether you think that is a good thing based on what you are hearing this morning. chester, conn. bill. caller: thank you for taking my call. i wonder how beneficial it would be if the federal government and the people of the federal government took your malpractice insurance for the doctors that serve your association and the facilities themselves and covered it under a self-insured program. what that benefit you at all? guest: cut is a great question,

and that is already happening. 15 years ago, in an effort to achieve the cost savings you just mentioned, that moneys would not go into legal fees for malpractice and operational costs, the federal government created a federal tort claims act. all of the providers that work for us are covered under that, so we do not pay malpractice insurance. that is another key component to what we're able to do. host: c-span junkie writes this on twitter -- guest: another great question. as i mentioned earlier, we are locally owned and operated and controlled. i like to say that local people, solving local problems with local solutions with some of the room money. -- with some of federfederal mo.

i do not know if you subscribe to this philosophy, but i believe the best care you can get is what is most local to you. that is what we do, and that is what we do best. host: east arms, new jersey. david independent. go ahead. caller: i want to ask what is so wrong about a single payer system? to cover all costs. it is just like if you have car insurance. you have car insurance, and you pay $49 per month. i can afford $149 per month, but cannot afford $1,000 per month. guest: that is a very, very valid point. on a personal level, i do believe that concept has a lot of merit, because it does level

playing field. just this past week, i saw two patients. one is $160,000 in debt and debating whether or not to declare bankruptcy. that is something we see as the number one cause of bankruptcy in this country. a single payer system spreads the cost, but we have to live with of the con fines -- within the confines of what the current administration is. maybe in the future that may be something to solve, but if you look at the models we have in place right now, i think we are achieving some success in what we're doing. that is probably a topic for another day. host: we have been talking about the big budget problems and the states. the protests in ohio and wisconsin. the governor from florida, rick scott, has a piece this morning. he writes --

can you decode that for us? what is he doing there? guest: i did not read that piece. i do not know how that would achieve the savings he is referring to. host: medicaid reimbursement rates are set by an agency here in washington. guest: that is correct, but they vary from state to state what is it will cover and will not. i know florida and louisiana is going to a managed-care system. when you look at the bang for the buck you are getting come if you're not getting the results that you are attending, there may be some cost savings that he is trying to achieve that way. i do not know if you speaking to

managed care or not. that is what we have been doing all along and community health centers, is having patients navigate the system in the clinical outcomes have proven we have been more successful than a lot of settings. if you look at our cost compared to other costs, we're 25% l ess. i know i sound like a big proponent of community health care centers, because i am. we did not have the same proponents that we have. you are receiving wraparound services. in a private sector when someone presents -- a lot of times if you are at a diabetic you need all these things and cannot get other things you need to treat or disease. that is one of the big values that we bring to the table. host: the nation's governors are

meeting this weekend in washington, d.c. there are many panel discussions. medicare is going to be one of those topics discussed this weekend, as are job creations. you are hearing from dr. gary wiltz, talking about community health care centers. our next calller is from rhode island. dale, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. my question is i am wondering if there is a verification to make sure when people walk into the clinic that they are u.s. citizens? and you take that under consideration at all? -- do you take that under consideration at all? guest: we are not in the business of documenting folks. we certainly emphasize -- we want to make a conducive

environment so that people will come in. if someone is carrying an infectious disease, the last thing you want to do is create a barrier. we asked for their ethnicity and language so we have interpreters and folks that can help us to provide the care we're trying to provide. host: they would be covered under the uninsured segment? guest: that is correct. in the plan we're talking about, if you are fully funded, you will create over 200,000 additional jobs in the country. there is a tremendous need for all the books we're trying to cover. the economic impact of community health care centers is over $20 billion. not only is it a boom for the health-care populations in the communities we serve, it is an

economic engine. host: another writer writes -- guest: i would agree with that. host: what is the nursing a employment situation like these days? guest: there has been a tremendous shortage. those that do internal medicine, family practice, and then the support staff, and medical assistance. the whole health-care team has this shortage. the good news is the national service corps, the one that brought me to franklin, received increase funding. right now we have 10 providers that are getting a loan repayment. it is not unusual for people to come out of school with the debt over $160,000. if you work in a community health center, your loan will be forgiven if you commit to three

to four years. it is a very good program. i agree there is a shortage of nursing personnel. our next call is from nelson. let me say thank you for your service. i am originally from northern louisiana. i understand exactly what you are saying, and we appreciate all that you do. let me ask you a question, how lks?you find dr. wil all we hear about is people with theories. here he has with a successful program. it would be beneficial to the listeners if we get more people like him talking about successful stories and not a political angle, but he is talking about how this program

is working and how what will even be better under the new health-care law. host: thank you for the call. it this is what a viewer writes on twitter -- do you know the current proposal put forth by the white house suggested cutting in that area? guest: it did not. it will increase funding so the numbers we could reach that we talked about earlier. host: virginia beach, virginia. george on the air. good morning. caller: with everything going on in the country, i would like to propose an idea that goes along with what has been happening. there seems to be a rift in the country. one of the things we are hardest hit with is the health-care dilemma. i propose that we build a

society of medicine. transition ourselves into reinventing our national product. our national product could be medicine. i believe we could be providing training, construction, maintenance, logistics', everything. just about anything you can think of that goes along with it. make it so it is based on service, just liked the military and along the same lines. military has to transport people and provide a certain amount of service in order to repay for the training. medical licenses could be prohibited from doctors who practice mcmahon -- medical licenses in the future unless they do a certain amount in the future, otherwise there would not receive tax deductions or

malpractice limits. i do not think it is right that we make a profit from madison, so pharmaceutical companies and everything -- i do not think it is right that we make profit from medicine. that is all i have to say. guest: in a lot of other countries there is obligated service that have gone through the system where they have to spend time in an underserved area. that is why the national service corps can be such a great venue, because those that want to give back, it allows them to do that. even though they may not choose a career in the way that i have, it is extremely gratifying. when you look back at your career in religious or serving those that are most in need, i can tell you from the people in franklin, it has been extremely gratifying to me as a position. they appreciate what your doing, and they do not mind telling you. host: this viewer is obviously a

testa emotional your linnaean. -- new orleanean. guest: it is near and dear to all of our hearts. i was born there. as one of the viewers alluded to earlier, the best care is what you can get in the rural communities. it was great if you live in new orleans, but if you are 50 miles away, i would have patients that would take a bus and travel three hours to come to charity for primary care. it was not until i got to the community health center that i realize you can really serve people and serve them well if you have the tools in the rural community. host: buffalo, new york. cathy, a democrat.

good morning. caller: i have a question. it the recipients that rely on government programs work to earn $95 or more per hour, could they then pay their own medical expenses? host: i am not sure about question period and i guess whether or not people can pay their own medical expenses at the clinic if they choose to? guest: yes, it is based on income. it is means tested. it is the ronald reagan doctrine up trust and verify. you cannot come in and say i am poor and have no money. you have to bring means to support that. if you're single, there is a certain amount. if you're married or have children, it depends on the defendants and the rate changes year to year. and hoshost: a tweet from a vie-

guest: if we are generally not unionized, but the administrative cost is less than 15% and our center, and less than 20%. we're very cost effective. host: can you compare that to a hospital? guest: i do not know. we watched the bottom line very closely. host: bombay, florida. chip, go ahead, please. caller: it is a real honor to talk to a doctor, especially one that knows how to cook a red fish. i am a christian, and i feel like i have a word of the church. instead of supporting, self- serving television ministries

and building cathedrals, we should be putting our money into efforts like this. it is to our shame that we do not. thank you very much. host: related to that, at this your rights -- this viewer writes -- to take donations? guest: yes, we do. we cannot do the things we do without the strong support of community. we work in collaboration. the local hospitals, the home help agencies, all of the other providers that are involved in patient care, we work with them. we are heavily involved in this legislation that is called teaching help centers we're actually having students and residents train in our centers so that they get the experience of being in the community health center earlier in their training and hopefully

influences them to remain in primary care and work in the settings that we are currently looking to expand. host: rick, republican. caller: i served in the military and got hurt during training missions. i had two tbi's and twice mentally ill, and i go to the va hospital now and then recovering. i was severely hurt. i am recover. i do not feel sick anymore. -- i am recovered. host: 3 going to leave your comments and experience to stand as it does. you talk to me about the difficulty in that recruiting doctors how does that square with the visa program? guest: it was set up for folks to come over in the country and

train and return back to their country with the knowledge base. it has gone under reorganization in the past few years. we have had some success with some of them staying and being retained. the most success we have had is with the national service corps. at one point there were so many people applying, we were only awarded one in seven applications. host: for a medical degree? guest: this is for the scholarship. there is a tremendous interest and desire on the part of students to want to serve, but we never have the funding to fully fund it. under this new health care reform we have gone increased moneys, and it has been tremendous the way that we have implemented the program and got the money is to the folks who want to serve. they have helped us out tremendously. host: 7 minutes left.

democrat. in morning to you. morning to you. caller: we have a community health care center and we have a lady to write scripts for the hiv program. guest: our senior management team rights are owned grants. i want to make the point, we treat special populations, portugal early hiv patients and homeless patients, a migrant workers, seasonal reform workers. that is another part of what community health centers do. we have a really great career writing team, and we have been successful in securing quite a few of those. host: business administration has been a proponent of electronic medical records. this question relates to that.

guest: i am happy to report we are 70% implemented in our center. nationwide health centers are in the process of using the technology. host: did you get a grant for that? guest: we did. that came from the stimulus package. the key is to marry high touch too high-tech. when you can manage having become -- compassionate, competent care we deliver connected to high-tech were you have an electronic system that is connected in the little system connected to the hospital. we are in the process of trying to create a statewide health information exchange where we can exchange the records right now. that is going to have a

tremendous cost savings to the system as we move forward with that. host: next calller is from texas. peter, republican. caller: what you do if you get a cancer patients -- what do you do if you get a cancer patient or broken leg? guest: the emphasis is on primary and preventive care. people seek care where they know they can get it. anyone who presents with that -- when i hire providers, they almost have to be a social worker in a sense, because when we look at someone with not only the medical condition but the resources they have, we can address any problem they come in with. we help them navigate the system. those wraparound services are extremely valuable, because if you look at most medicare

recipients, if you get the medicare book and have an opportunity to do some late- night reading, try to read the regulations on how to navigate the system. we help the patients to get through the system and get what they need. host: this is an interesting chart. it looks of the population served nationally by the community health centers. it looks at the help center population compared to the u.s. population. -- health center compared to the u.s. population. the percent under 200% of poverty, 93, 99 in the united states. percent uninsured is 38% in the whole center population and 17%

u.s. population. rural population is 48% compared to 16% of all americans. just a little bit of time left. long island, new york. margaret, independent. go ahead. caller: i name is margaret. i am calling from long island, new york. -- my name is margaret. doctor should have their licenses tied in not be allowed to make money unless they serve as all people. host: how would you react to that? guest: we of taken an oath and that is the whole basis of going into medicine. unfortunately, and i have said this to some of my private

sector colleagues, you may be as altruistic as you want to become a but if someone can put together enough money to come and see you and present themselves and you diagnose them as being a diabetic, how do you provide them that tester at some of the medication, and all the things they need? this is the beauty of what we can do. we have all of those resources available to us, and it is because of the critical funding that we get from the federal government that allows us to do that. and to serve the uninsured. the statistics you quoted earlier, the people that do not -- the thing people do not realize is most of the people are working people that cannot afford health insurance. they are not lazy. they work, but they cannot pay $500 per month premiums. if they have pre-existing conditions, it is even higher. that is what we see on a daily basis. i think the programs that have i think the programs that have been