and government funding is set to expire next friday as republicans and democrats try to reach a spending agreement for the rest of the fiscal year. coming up this hour, we will talk with the house budget committee member rob woodall and later detroit mayor joins us. he will discuss some of the challenges his city faces including high unemployment and a decrease in population. >> you have heard a lot of talk over the last 24 hours. there is no agreement on numbers. nothing will be agreed to until everything is agreed to. ♪ host: it is friday, april 1. that was house speaker john bennett yesterday in a press conference with a much quoted phrase, as saying the devil is in the details as the house and senate try to find their way toward compromise as the continuing resolution nears its

termination. we are one week away from the deadline when the current continuing resolution funding the government for this year expires. we would like to talk about the game of statesmanship behind this and the principles behind this. should lawmakers risk a government shutdown to stand for their budget principles? linesopen up our phone and get your comments about whether or not a government shutdown is worth the rest behind the principles. good friday morning and a good newmont to you, april 1 in

washington, d.c. these are some of the headlines related to the budget negotiations. coming out of the meeting yesterday, john boehner says the spending bill is not final as negotiations continue. usa today has a different take -- "our goal is to cut spending, not set down the government here, that is from john boehner. this is a very big deal.

host: what about the tea party supporters? guest: yesterday in the capital, there was a rally and they were saying to cut its or shut it. there is not a lot of wiggle room here. it is unlikely that john boehner will be able to get them to support a package of there is only three -- if there is only $33 billion in cuts. host: there is a meeting behind closed doors between the speaker

and the freshman members yesterday. guest: when talking to freshmen coming out of that meeting, they feel like leadership is listening to them. john boehner did not give them any more details about where the final number was or what the negotiation tactics were. however, they feel like the gop leadership team has been open, they're giving him the benefit of the doubt so far. host: book and the pressure is on the speaker right now? guest: he is in a tough position. you are seeing a looming deadline, april 8 for a government shutdown. it does not look like that will happen. the sentiment that we keep getting toward is that there is a deal that will come out it is probably close to the deadline.

john boehner has to be able to appease the conservatives and find a number that is good for the democrats and that president obama will sign into law. host: that number seems to be $33 billion? guest: so far that is the number everyone is talking about. host: let's get to your telephone calls. william is a democrat in washington, d.c., good morning. caller: your thought on the risk of a government shut down? the democrats and republicans need to make the compromise and they need to work and the jobs bill. once people get back to work in more revenue is coming into the treasury, i think the budget will go down. as far as cutting these programs, they need to reach a

compromise. there are programs that need to be cut. host: what does compromise look like to you? would you be comfortable with $33 billion ta? caller: i think the republican party is given the democrats too much. i am looking at a wide range. i am not an accountant. i'm looking at these programs that they want to cut. $23 billion would be adequate. host: do you work for the federal government? caller: i used to. host: thank you for your call. scott, republican from manassas, virginia, good morning. what you think about the risk of a government shutdown? caller: i feel the government has done a poor job of coming up

with a budget six months into the year. i feel they really need to get organized, roll up their sleeves, and really get to work. they are so busy entering back- and-forth, nothing is getting done. i feel that the government does shut down, we might get used to the concept and fire them. host: how important is the number in this first round? caller: i believe we are in financial trouble. we need to cut across the board and study the programs. however, some called needs to be made and start off. we are six months into the year. whether budget they come up with, we will see how works for six months. host: thank you. let's show two tweets.

host: houston, pat, independent, what do you think? caller: i thank their work -- -- i read -- i believe the democrats should not compromise with republicans. they are the ones that spend the money. democrats hold 2/3 of the government and the need to put their foot down and not give man to the to a hundred tea party years. host: if that means the government shuts down, are you comfortable with that? caller: i am not. i do not have a job. the elderly cannot get a job. i do not think the government should be shut down.

host: help me out, if you were here and at a strategy, you say put your foot down and on a compromise but you don't compromise, how'd you get to a point where there is not a government shutdown? caller: the democrats hold two branches of the government. they should be dictating not the republicans. the republicans were not elected to the presidency. they do not hold the majority in the senate. why are the democrats getting into them? host: let's listen to the tea party patriots rally yesterday? >> the republicans now control

both houses of congress but they own the house. they can shut the government down. they can stop raising the debt limit again. that is their leverage. those of the bargaining tools they have and they should be using them. if they're not willing to do everything in their power and make meaningful spending cuts, nothing will change. the train to a financial meltdown will continue barreling forward.

host: augusta, georgia, good morning. caller: i feel like it is a shame that these republicans want to shut the country down. if i hated my government like bait this government and this country, i would go to another country. host: next up is north carolina, republican. caller: oh, gosh, it sounds

like they're all up this morning. the government is ready to crumble to is not about shutting down the government. people like chuck schumer are telling us that they gleefully invite a government shut down some republicans can be blamed. that is preset. we have a $1.70 trillion deficit projected for this year. you cannot find 50 or $60 billion? that is so said. that is less than 1/3 of 1%. we need to take 10% across the board. let's take 10% from the defense department real-estate 10% from everything. that would not begin to skim the waste and fraud, the craft, the

greed that the people in this country advocate. we need to take this by the horns and do the right thing. mr. president, barack hussain obama, you have increased the deficit 100%, 1000%. this is absurd. in 2007, the entire deficit was $160 billion. in the month of february, 2011, the deficit for one month was $233 billion. host: he is arguing for targeted cuts. caller: i feel that the

democrats are pushing the democrats too hard on this. when we look at 2010 discretionary domestic spending, it grew from $485 billion in 2008 to six hundred $82 billion in 2010. that is 41%. i am sure we can save $61 billion at a $3.20 trillion deficit. $3.20 trillion we spend every year. we needed to save money. i feel the republicans are doing their job that most of the districts have stuff up there to do -- i believe they should do their job and pressure boehner because he needs to stay with the republican party. if he leans event -- to the

left, he could in fact make the republican party look weak. host: a couple of interesting details and their story.

let's listen to their leader, harry reid, on the senate floor. >> i appreciate speaker boehner and the rest of the bubp -- republican leadership in the house. a tremendous and difficult job. i am sure it is not easy to negotiate with the tea party screening in their ears. we have a lot more work to do this country it is at a crossroads in a lot of different ways, mr. president. the economy is recovering. not as much and as rapidly as we'd like. we cannot have what is going on here with the tea party demonstrating, all of these harsh cuts with unrealistic writers, punishing innocent folks just for political ideology. so, we have a lot more to do. i hope this latest development

is the beginning of the end of this crisis. host: harry reid yesterday. pleasant hills, california. lois, a democrat. you are on the air. caller: i am calling to complain about the republicans. state governors and the republican representatives in america. this is a very incompetent group of people who cannot manage money. they don't have a history of ever managing money. why in this country -- outrageous -- outrageously upset about these poor people being taken out their frustration and blame on the poor working people in this country. we need firemen. we need doctors and policeman. people need to make some noise and get a backbone. these people are out of control. they will never manage any

money ended u.s. of america. they have no respect for their own country. they mismanaged their own wealth and exploited people, keep blaming people. -- america needs to grow up and become out rates. thank you, i am sorry, please do not take it personally but this country needs to stop allowing these rich ignorant people keep mismanaging this countries money. thank you. have a good day. host: lowest from pleasant hills, california. later on the program, bob woodall, republican of georgia, member of of a budget committee. he is a member of the freshman class, one of 87. interestingly, he also broke ranks and did not approve the resolution to defund public radio that was so controversial the is our next guest in the morning. then add 8:20, you will meet

dave bing, mayor of detroit. he will take telephone calls about his plans to revitalize the city of detroit. you probably saw the numbers from the census bureau last week, detroit faced a population departure that and now puts it on par with where it was 100 years ago. many people left the city because of the economy. how he hopes to turn that around in the city of detroit. let's take our next phone call. norman, oklahoma. karen is the republican there. the caller: good morning, america. it is funny about harry reid, the way he stands up there and talks about how the tea party is screening in their ears. i did not hear him say anything about how the union workers are screaming in anybody's year. but we all know the democrats are for their unions.

keep calling about how the republicans don't love their country. that is what we are trying to do is save our country. we can't keep letting people -- like draw social security because they are depressed when they are 30 years old, yet they can go ahead and have nine kids, and which one of them or two will draw social security. people who are on social security ought to one its revamped. like the guy yesterday who had the brain injury at 61 -- so he can keep getting it when he truly deserves it, and not people because they are depressed and they get a check, and they say they have nine kids, and we pay for everything and one of them has a learning disability and in get social security check. ge, if they are going to have their businesses overseas and not pay taxes, they need to sell all of their products over there. and nobody keeps talking about

how about the guy who was head of ge, obama appointed him as our job czar guy. that is crazy. everybody wondering about libya. let us asked katie couric about what the obama doctrine is. host: jeffrey immelt spoke at the economic club. here is the headline. next, as we ask the question should government lawmakers risk

a shutdown as they get closer to the deadline to the expiration of the continuing federal spending resolution. dallas, texas. roger is an independent. you are on the air. caller: yes, good morning. i would like to ask the democratic callers calling into the show -- if they don't want to cut the budget now, when do they want to cut it? next year's budget, the one after that? when? we have a $1.50 trillion deficit. that cannot be sustained. we have to go out and borrow that money on the world market. sunday the world is going to say that they -- someday the world is going to say they do not want to loan us the money anymore and the kind of changes that will happen to this country in a situation like that is far worse than a managed reduction of the debt we are trying to do right now. my suggestion is to cut the

budget across the board. a cut everest -- federal spending program by an equal amount. that is the only way -- the process is not going to be stopped by the special interests of one side or the other that the don't want -- that would rather borrower money than to see their program cut. host: thanks, from dallas. the jazz chick -- the next caller is from tennessee. this is joe, a democrat. caller: my only question -- why do they keep finding all of these awards and tell us we do not have spending money on? why don't we just stop the wars and bring the money back home? host: on the issue of compromise, here is this quote.

rhode island. harold, republican. good morning. caller: how could we not cut $100 billion out of date -- that we got? i notice every democrat that calls into c-span, there is never enough. it is a give me for them. we need, i need. i am retired, 68 years old, i get $900 a month. i would be willing to give up $25 a month from social security. these democrats, you have to feed them, close them, house

them, teach them, send them to school -- our prisons are full of them. it is never enough. they want everyone to keep paying for them. it doesn't work. this government hasn't worked for a long time and i wish it would shut down and shut down for a long time. thank you. host: held from front -- long island. "the washington post" --

national, tennessee. sean, independent. -- nashville. caller: i find it amazing what republicans say they want to shut down and feeding of clothing -- why doesn't he just go on and say poor people are black people? once they wake up and really smell the coffee -- one of the biggest bang -- say, for example, where i work, there is a thing going on where we have a conflict of interest. our management owns of the supplies and they make the money. it is the same thing the republicans did to their family, where they subsidize businesses and take the government money and it is ridiculous. why don't they wake up and

realize what is going on is that people, they are trying to drain the poor people so they can go into the army's and they cannot have the draft and invade -- what you call it over there? overseas, where they are fighting now. and the poor people, they just want to send the poor people over there and jobs and killed. because the rich do not care. all they care about is money, agreed, and power. and that is the way the world works. and if blacks, if they would let us have loans and we could have our own business, our own car lots -- so we can just function, we would not -- host: you would not need white people as customers question of caller: no, no. those places that we go into -- i know it is a new day and a new age. there are ways of doing things.

we would survive. host: let me ask you a question. how much money would you want as a loan, and if you had a loan, what business would you start? caller: to be honest, i would start a car dealership. that is what i would do. i would start a car dealership. thank you. host: thank you for your call. gary duncan tweets -- michigan. tin is a democrat. good morning, tim. let me find your button on the phone line. you are on the air. caller: susan. look, i just want to say that the point is watching c-span all day, every day, it is not the amount of the cut, it is what they are cutting. they are not cutting anything out of the $1.70 trillion defense budget or anything like that. they are taking it all from

things they don't need, have never had and have no use for. what is really a joke is the last guy to call in making 900 a month on social security and he is voting republican. what is wrong with his head? he is not paying attention. he is not getting the facts. that is all i have to say. host: compromise posture is getting support -- lead editorial in "of the wall street journal." here is what the editorial pages says.

host: columbia, maryland. craig, republican. caller: god bless america. i would first like to express my sentiments, but objectively so, understanding that all callers that collin, god bless their opinions, but at times there are such things as eloquent ignorance. we have to first understand as chairman baucus said, where we have been to understand where we are going. there has always been throughout history this perception, assumption, red herring -- what we are experiencing is the result of those dynamics. i'd really has nothing to do with racism, how much a taxpayer makes, what entitlements are cut, it is a matter of what we value. value, like true, is what we all proceeded to be.

host: we are here until 9:00 this morning. the house is in the early. they will continue working on the faa reauthorization and one of the other measures is a resolution concerning the budget. it suggests that if the senate cannot find a compromise, the house version should become law. that will be debated today. we have a link on our website if you would like to read what that resolution is about. we will talk to rob woodall about that when he joins us at 7:45 a.m. richard, you are on c-span. caller: the answer to the question, should we risk a government shutdown is, absolutely. it is really not a risk. it would probably be a blessing. most people would not even know -- a good shot down 25% or 35% and most people would not know

the government is shut down. non-essentials. i worked for the government and i was employed in 1995 when they had the shot down. these people actually were brought back in and paid for the times that they missed work. however, i have an analogy real quick. what we need to do is something like we did in the 1990's with the military. they had the brac committee, military base realignment and closure committee. they went through the military and its of non-essentials and combined bases and close down what was not needed. host: let me interrupt you. the president just had a deficit commission that went through and made recommendations. caller: that was really a joke. recommendations. i know they identified 100 agencies that were either do this it or redundant and what

their objectives were. we could probably cut out 75% of those agencies tomorrow and most people would not even know that. working with the government, what i did learn was bureaucracy has two things in common. their main objective is to stay working in power. and when they lose their reason for being established, then they create another one. in other words, they never go away, they just get larger. i would like to see the republicans and democrats get together and get serious about cutting government. because this is just -- we are not really serious. host: richard from sebring, florida. i wanted to go through the papers and show you the budget debates in the states and show you how it is playing out. this is "of the wall street journal."

arizona proposes $50 obesity feet. -- fee. from "the financial times." woodley options after failing to agree to cut deals with republicans. and state lawmakers poised to ease class size requirements. the voters have rejected the idea. from "the atlanta journal." health politics squeeze gop in georgia. supporters even split on how state should work against overall. "the denver post" -- house panel -- actually, this is not budget politics but let us show -- house panel kills bill on civil unions.

we will go back to calls. milwaukee, wisconsin. democrat. good morning to you, robert. you are on the air. caller: good morning. i have one question. how did we get to this place? host: how did you think? answer your question. caller: i think we got there when the bush administration gave all of that money to the banks and they also were spilling what -- spending like drunken sailors and marines and army guys, whatever, when they were in charge of congress in 2003, 2004, to thousand five, 2006. that is how we got to this place. they blow all of our money and now they are blaming everything on of the present the administration who is trying to correct what the bush

administration gave us, and the tea party came in, and those are the people probably making between 150,000 to $500,000 a year, and they can afford to tinker and tanker and billy and ballet around those glenn beck- type situations. that is how we got here. maybe the government showed shutdown for about two years. host: thank you from the walking. we have about 10 more minutes for the question. i wanted to mix and some other stories from the newspapers. "the guardian" in great britain -- colonel gaddafi's regime cent interest adviser to london with -- for talks with officials. a senior aide to gaddafi's son visited in recent days. later on, this quote --

increasing evidence recently that the suns want a way out, say a western diplomatic source. back to calls. greenwood, arkansas, as we talk about our own budget debates and whether lawmakers should risk government shut down. paul, who is an independent in arkansas. caller: all you guys out there who think you know who to blame for the national debt, i want to clarify. i am and independent. and i did in the research on this. i went back to 1945 with truman -- by the way, he was a democrat who brought us out of the great depression. at the end of his term -- he had a lot of wpa and cpa programs, government programs. at the end of his term, the unemployment rate was 3.0%. i did the research myself with

all the administrations. i did not count which congress was in, i went by the president. they have the veto pen. i went back and i found out out of the $10.70 trillion that obama inherited, at $8.60 trillion was the republican administrations. how much was the democrats? $2.06 trillion. and don't forget, that is $10.70 trillion that obama inherited. he also inherited a $1.30 trillion deficit from of a october 2008 when the fiscal year began before 2009. that is $12 trillion. so, actually, if you go and look at it, 80% of the debt when obama took office belonged to the republicans. and the other ones want to shut it down because they are the deficit hawks. forget it.

go look up the facts yourself. do the research back to 1945 and you will find out what i found out. unemployment rate, the republicans average was 6.52% over that 36-years and democrats was 4.92% over those periods of time. i guess we can say you can blame it on the republicans, huh, and the biggest debtor inquiry -- increase was ronald reagan, the great president, the greatest president we ever had according to republicans. host: paul, who has gone back and crunched the numbers and reporting in for us. this on twitter -- from a world news in "the wall street journal" japan. radiation found in ground water complex and along side of that, tokyo considers fund aid for

tepco. japanese government considering financial aid to the power company through injection of public funds or debt guarantees. "the washington times" nation page, new survey, half say public schools worsen, united way six more tutors and reporting half of all americans and the nation's public schools getting worse, according to a study released by united way world night -- worldwide. cincinnati is up next. ken, republican. caller: i am a radio talk show host in cincinnati. what it is -- i hear people. i am african-american as well. i hear people blame this on racism. i heard one of the callers earlier. racism have nothing to do with

this. matter of fact, nancy pelosi, when she was running congress, they did not even have a budget for the last two years. this is a high stake game of gotcha. not based on race at all. america is still a land of opportunity. we do not have a caste system somewhere where if you are poor you are destined to stay poor. in this whole class -- class warfare issue, the rich republicans trying to drive poor black people off the land, is just false. i think we really need to look at the whole deal. as a matter of fact, out of the $10 trillion that president obama inherited, $4 trillion was added to bedecked over the last three years -- to the debt over the last three years, 40% increase. this is all mathematics. you hear people politicize this. they tried to race debate this issue. i really think it is pathetic. i really think we are one america. when people say i fight for the middle-class america -- i want

people to fight for one america. that is part of the problem. when we talk about the rich are not paying their fair share -- i find that falls as well. finally, i will say this. i heard one suggestion. the republicans -- they don't want health care, they did not want the obamacare, $100 billion in the budget for the obamacare bill, therefore fund everything else, take that out and put it back into the democrats let and see what they say. but this is nothing more than a high-stakes game of gotcha and the american people need to wake up and realize we are one america, and if we are not happy where we are financially we need to do what we can do to increase our income. host: i know -- i know you appreciate the value than the 20 seconds. what you think is happening in your own state with the governor? caller: i think the governor is basically saying what he did -- doing what he said he is going to do. and the ohioans, we will have it either deal with it -- or at the

polls. host: a radio talk show host and cincinnati. "the new york times" business section. and report faults mortgage giants on leaders pay. leaders --

last call -- showed lawmakers risk a government shut down? this is betty. you've got the last word on this. what is your opinion? caller: yes, i guess, i believe so. thank you to the last caller -- not the last caller, but the caller before with a boatload of facts. republicans call in and they constantly misconstrue the facts with opinion. fact, the koch brothers fund the tea party, which is a laughable distraction. fact, obama came in with a ton

of deficit -- and, yes, he incurred more because he put these so-called wars on the books which for years previously were run off the books. fact, the bush administration bailed out wall street and the fat cats are still walking around making multimillion dollars. and who are they trying to blame for all of this? the poor working man and unions. this is an absolute last fast. we are run by a plutocracy run by corporations. we need to get out of the mess and get true representation. also, our media needs to serve us better. the tea party gets a far too much coverage, and i am wondering where was the media when a year ago 30,000 people in the state of indiana marched on their capital demanding their taxes be raised in order to

prevent budget cuts for education? host: betty, got ago. thank you, from the mexico. a quick break and we will meet congressman rob woodall from georgia, a freshman, budget committee. and then the mayor of detroit. >> this weekend on american history tv on c-span 3 -- last wednesday marks the 30th anniversary of the assassination attempt on president ronald reagan by john hinckley, jr., and we will talk about that by an author. jane pauley and tom brokaw on the 1960's and the legacy of the kennedy family as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of jfk's inauguration. the pulitzer prize-winning photographer recalls covering presidents nixon and ford. the complete weekend schedule on c-span.org/history and you can press the c-span alert button and have the schedule e- mail to you. >> the difference between deputy

mayor and mayor -- i could say pretty much what i wanted as mayor and the only person got in trouble was me. >> current new york city deputy mayor stephen goldsmith spent eight years as mayor of indianapolis and today he has a boss, michael bloomberg, a different job description. >> i am here to make the streets a little bit cleaner, a little bit safer, the tax dollars go a little bit farther, and prove that large cities, particularly great large cities, have a vibrant future. >> q&a, sunday night at 8:00 on c-span. >> this weekend on book tv on c- span2, "the new york times" up and columnist david brooks on how our unconscious mind -- character, intelligence, and biases. on "afterwards" white house correspondent on the long history of african americans serving in the white house residence. live on "in depth" calls and

suites for writer ishmael reed. sign up for the book tv alerts. >> for more than four decades, the libyan people have been ruled by a tyrant. muammar gaddafi. he denied his people's freedom, exploited their wealth, murdered opponents at home and abroad, and terrorize innocent people around the world. >> follow what key leaders are saying about libya and how the process has unfolded, from the president and other administration officials, from the house and senate floor and other leaders around the world, all long line at the c-span video library. a search, watch, click, and share, and the time. "washington journal" continues. >> on your screen, congressman rob woodall, republican of

georgia, member of the 87-strong republican class but not a newcomer to capitol hill. tell people about your experience. the guest: i was chief of staff for the member that served before, he was my mentor. and he decided, as folks should, he had done all he could do and it was time for him to spend more time with his grandchildren. when he announced his retirement we had a lot of folks put their name in the ring. no shortage of good conservatives and the great state of georgia. but they're not focused on issues passionate to me -- the fair tax and constituent service. about a year ago i announced i was going to toss my hat in the ring. i had a fantastic campaign. had a great debate among the eight of us, republicans, and the primary, and onto the general. and lo and behold, the folks picked me to serve them and i have been grateful and enjoyed every day since. host: mr. woodall is a member of the budget committee, and the

budget committee is set to bring out the budget blueprint next week. maybe we will squeak out a few details. before we leave the buyer fee -- let me ask you, yet such a long time to observe what it is like to be a member. is it any different? guest: it is easier to give free advice than to as sunlight free advice. something folks cannot always appreciate. more importantly, it is an obligation now to observe. staff has an important job to serve, but i really feel the weight of succeeding for folks at home. a lot of people put their trust in me. they did not have to, but they did. and the wonderful burden to succeed for them is felt every day. host: tell us about your district. how many people and what is the unemployment rate? guest: one of the largest in the country, 920,000 people -- the district will have to lose about 250,000 in the next

redistricting. our economy is doing better than most. though two of the counties in georgia with the largest foreclosure rates are in my district. the northern suburbs of a glance at heading off and out toward athens. -- northern suburbs of atlanta heading off toward athens. what we get to hear during the discussions is how tough it is to grow a job in america these days. i was sitting down with a ceo last week saying i am trying to move my company out of the country because it just does not pay to hire americans any longer. that is unfortunate. host: we will get to call in a few minutes. we will continue this discussion about priorities for federal spending and what but budget will look like coming out of these big debate on capitol hill. let's start with the current negotiations over the continuing resolution. the funding for this year. seeds of a compromise. when you are reading behind the

headlines, where are you on what number you are comfortable with? guest: for me it is not about numbers, but commitments i made back home. i made a commitment to cut as much as possibly can. 100 billion was my number. not because i chose it but because the leadership chose it for us in the pledged to america. i want to come through for folks. but i understand we control one- half of one third of the government. it is not just about dollars. there are important policy riders. we talk about creating jobs, certainly. cutting federal spending and getting us out of the borrowing business will free up capital to create jobs. so, too, is revealing some of the regulatory burden that is out there. that is an important part of h.r. 1 for me. what is so frustrating, susan, i am in newcomer -- sitting in this chair, i was so proud to be part be parth.r. 1 experience

for the truly congress at work in the way i believe the founding fathers wanted to work. democrat amendments were winning and losing, republican amendments will winning and losing. we were on the floor around the clock talking with each other on where to go next. you talk about seeds of negotiation. i still have not seen a senate proposal, and i have not seen a senate proposal because there is no senate proposal. i do not know a lot about negotiating in this town, but i do know if i knew where other folks were, i know exactly where we are, it would be easier for me to make decisions on how we come together. host: a couple of fridays ago we were here talking about a resolution on public radio. i am wondering -- you ended up breaking ranks and decided not to support the leadership plan to be funded public radio. two things i wanted to show you. first of all, this morning in the newspaper, bill moyers may come back from retirement for a new show on pbs.

the timing on that given this debate is not settled. and explain your vote. guest: to everything is going on -- whether talk about and be our and corporation for public broadcasting but these are not decisions about whether they are important or even good programs, but the question is we are borrowing every dollar to pay for the programs from our children and grandchildren, so is it so important we need to burden our children with those expenses? in my opinion, it is not. h.r. 1 defunded all -- i was proud to cast a vote. it was a little different last week. the burden of responsibility, when you control the house, is a big one. and john boehner has done a wonderful job letting the housework as well. on the rules committee as well. we have had more of an open process in the first 90 days of this congress than we had in the previous four years combined. that is an amazing thing to think about.

john vana has the power to shut the whole process down -- john boehner has the power to shut the whole process down and forced the conservative agenda through, but he does not use it. he lets the house work its will, under the sincere belief that he has we would get a better product if we all participate. that and be our vote last week was an exception -- npr vote was an exception. it came and moved to the floor very quickly and i think that we can do better. it just because we can move something quickly does not mean we should move something quickly. and that the vote against it was certainly not a vote in favor of funding national public radio, it was a vote in favor of allowing the house to work its will and have an open process. and i think that is one of our jobs as freshmen is to say, you know what, all of these wonderful aspirations that this new congress has about how to lead, we want to make sure we stick to those even when it is

easy to move away. host: i would like to have any comments you have about the idea of bill moyers coming back. one thing from elizabeth jensen's article -- guest: you make exactly my point as someone who would defund the corporation for public broadcasting, susan. bill has a wonderful product to bring to the table. and there are folks who want to finance that product. is there a role for federal seed money? sure, there is. but in today's fiscal climate, when we already have $14 trillion in debt and looks like we will have another seven under

the president's proposal over the next 10 years, there is no way to justify that to the young people in my life. host: last question before we get to calls. today congress is set to debate h.r. 1255 to prevent a shutdown of the government of the united states. this suggest that if the deadline is not reached, h.r. 1 would become law. what is the point of this resolution today, which would have little chance of that to the succeeding? host: i am sorry to hear you describe it -- host: not on the floor of job -- but it would have to pass the senate. guest: you say that, and you could be right. you have studied the senate a lot more than i have. if you look back of the front page, there are two freshmen who sponsored it and i am one of them. it is something i believe very passionately about. i don't know why the senate has not been able to act. we went through a marathon session of the process that, again, i thought was the very

best of what america had to offer. the senate defeated the senate has not -- if the senate, for whatever reason, cannot pass anything, we are going to let them off the hook during these negotiations and put into effect as the baseline as we continue our business because we do not want the government to shut down. we do not want that to happen. this bill says if you cannot agree on something, let's use this as a baseline until we can hammer out a different agreement. number two, if you cannot get your job done, -- you have one job. you are still not doing it this year. if you cannot get your work done, you do not get paid. i am not going to get paid in the house either. for pete's sake, we have a

constitutional responsibility to fund this government. if we cannot perform that very basic responsibility, we do not deserve a nickel of our salary. i hope the folks agree with me about that. again, i'm trying everything i can to insure the process forward. i do not know what it takes to get the senate back. we as a freshman class are doing everything we can to be a part of the solution instead of part of the problem. it is at least an alternative and i think a step in the right direction. host: let's see what our viewers have to say. what time are you expecting the debate to get underway? guest: we are going to go into the rules at 9:00 a.m., and then

we will come back to this debate at the end. my best guess is about at 2:30 this afternoon for a vote. host: now you have the inside skinny of how this will play out. but go to your calls. karen, good morning. caller: i just wanted to mention a little bit that everybody knows the real money -- we are not going to even go with medicaid and medicare and social security. the real money that goes out is to corporations, subsidies, tax breaks, the way they are taking jobs overseas, and they are allowed to bring the product back here and saw them here. a we all know it. nobody is brave enough to touch on that. we are talking about billions

and billions of dollars the group to corporations and tax subsidies. a we know this has been mishandled for 30 years or 40 years. for anyone to be picking on school children, lunch programs, and all this other stuff, isn't it is silly. this is what -- if it is silly. the real money that we could get is in corporations and nobody is willing to touch it because it funds your campaigns. host: thank you. guest: i actually agree with you. i ran one of the least expensive campaigns in the country because i believe it is folks like you on the ground in a grass-roots way that makes a campaign. i entered proud of that. more importantly, i agree with you about those corporate

loopholes. not only is there someone other brave enough to take that on, but that someone is me. i have introduced a proposal to eliminate every single corporate loopholes, tax break, special provision, and that bill is called the fair tax. i encourage you to look at it. it is the single most widely co- sponsored tax reform bill in the house and in the senate. will a special interest be too powerful for us to move that bill forward? i do not know. if you so poor that back in cleveland, it is going to be a grass-roots effort. there is no appetite in washington for doing away with these tax breaks because if we get to offer those, we get to manipulate behavior. in the fair tax, what i say is the government should not be manipulating behavior. we are driving those companies'

overseas, those jobs overseas, and turning this into an import nation. i agree with you 100%. host: ballston, ark., a republican, good morning. caller: at such a time when you can convince the american people, we do not understand that we are broke. we do not have any money. you all need to rent some time and explain to people on tv that we do not have any money left. you need to get that one idea across. that is what you raise your right hand up to -- guest: that is just so

important. when we talk about cutting a program in washington, d.c., it does not have anything to do with whether or not npr is it worth the thing to find. is it the responsibility of the federal government to fund it? if it is not the constitutional responsibility of the federal government to fund it, we need to get out of that business. even if it is constitutionally right to fund a program, you have to ask the question. is it worth borrowing from our children and grandchildren to make that purchase? sometimes the answer is going to be yes. $14 trillion debt. that is the entire federal budget for more than three years. we could shut down everything 434 years and we still would not be able to pay back -- we could shut down everything for three

years to four years and we still would not be able to pay it back. you need to speak more about it at home. we are so accustomed as a country to kicking the can down the road. to many people think that is where we are right now. host: boston, jim is a democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. it is what is proposed in the tax increases it is the bad thing. why not increase military taxes or reduce the military? and bring our old world war two basis from europe, bring these people home and save that money. in the great state of georgia, it is going to start taxing girl scout cookies and taxing the blind. there has to be some people with wealth in georgia that you can

get some money from instead of taking it from the port. thank you. guest: these are exactly the challenges that we are facing. you called in on the democrat line but you sound like a freshman republican. we are taking on defense spending. h.r. 1 went right after defense spending. it made defense spending a part of those reductions. nothing gets off the hook. everybody has to participate. it is not anti-american to suggest those defense cuts. i have men and women every day, up to me and say, for pete's sake, i have my life on the line for this country. if you think i do not want to participate from saving it from economic collapse, you are mistaken. you better believe i am willing to put my livelihood on the line back home.

the biggest national security threat to our country is our increasing debt. as it goes to taxes, i will say to you that we all ought to be in the game. why is it that we might tax -- we are not going to tax girl scout cookies. we all have a responsibility to be involved in funding the government. all right now, 50% of americans are paying 100% of income taxes. is that dangerous because we do not have everybody with skin in the game? yes, it is. the fair tax complete exams everybody up to the poverty level on taxation. once you move beyond the poverty level, we all begin to participate in the game. we are a family in this country. we all need to play a role in getting us out of the challenges

that we face. host: can you give us a preview of the budget plans that your committee will unveil? newspapers reporting this morning, one suggestion is initial target will be medicaid reform, and there will be a proposal for blocking grants for state medicaid. guest: that is on the we have been talking about because we have been hearing it from governors back home. i was at a press conference in georgia just last week and we're talking about the challenges that georgia faces. we all want to play a positive role in the american safety net, the right now, our government has too many requirements. what would happen if we let these governors craft the programs that are best suited to georgia, new york, or california? when we hear those kinds of things from the state, when we

get that feed back, give us control and we can make better solutions. it resonates. that is a bipartisan idea coming from the state. it is absolutely something we are considering. host: chris van hollen went after the budget resolution, saying it will target seniors. guest: it is interesting coming from a fellow that supported nancy pelosi and president obama's health care plan which did nothing to reduce costs. i would be interested in talking with mr. van holland further about what his views are.

we know this. it is the difference is that we have between republicans and democrats in congress. it is really conservatives in congress and liberals in congress. communities of interest are communities of interest. i know we can do a better job in georgia with health care than washington, d.c., can. i know my governors in georgia have a better understanding and care more about our health care needs of our most vulnerable populations then the department of health and human services and the white house in washington, d.c. it is not a knock on what those in washington, d.c., aspire to do. we can make everyone in this country poor, but we cannot make everyone in this country rich. you have to provide

opportunities for people to succeed. if the congress gives the opportunity to the georgia legislature and governor, you will be wowed by the results. host: good morning. caller: i want to ask him about this unfair tax and how it relates to equity of taxation, particularly low income people and how they would be able to pay this tax and not be hurt by it. guest: i appreciate that. bill comes from one of the most beautiful parts in my district. i am picturing the town green as i am talking to you, bill. we have a tremendous work ethic in this country and a tremendous sense of community. we do not have jealousy until we seek inequities. if you have enough money to go

out and buy a mercedes, i want you pay in taxes on that mercedes. if you think you can afford to drive a mercedes, you can't afford to participate in the support of the federal treasury. if you are driving a used ford fiesta, you are making decisions that are more fiscally conservative and you might not be able to participate as much in the economy. i want bill gates participating in the economy. wealthy people can only do two things with their money. they can save it and they can spend it. if they spend it, i want to tax every nickel of it. if they save it, we need in their and our capital markets for us to be able to borrow and build businesses. the more you consume, the more you participate funding the government.

host: at this week -- this week -- guest: i appreciate that. i am a laser-focused on jobs. think about where we are in this country. we have the most productive work force in the world. no one works harder than americans. we have the best education system in the world. why don't we have jobs here? because your representatives in washington, d.c., the apparatus in washington, d.c., is taking them from you. have you seen the quotes in the newspaper? my friend from new hampshire asked the question if you knew when you started your business what you know today, would you still have started your business? every single one of them said no. they said know that they would not take a risk today. there was an article in the wall

street journal this morning, saying that more college graduates are conspiring to be employed by the government and the private sector. that is frightening. we have to encourage risk takers because they are the ones who create the jobs. home depot's founder had an article, saying if the founders got together today, they would fail. we do these things to ourselves. what happens here in washington, d.c., with this new class in congress, that is why it is so important. we need to get rid of job- killing programs, and then the american entrepreneurial spirit will do the rest. jobs do not come from government. they come from small entrepreneurs and small businesses. we will get those folks back on track. host: rob woodall is referring

to an opinion piece. we have just a couple of minutes left. the next call is from dayton, ohio. tom is an independent. caller: this guy is talking about cutting and p r. -- cutting n p r. he talks about obamacare. john boehner wants to take the government and force states to except on qualified health-care companies to do business in their states. that is their program. they are saying that obamacare

violates rights. guest: i happen to agree with you about that. federal state regulators do not know best when it comes to their own markets. i will tell you this. couple on elderly medicare that adopted a young 4- year-old girl, then they went to go by the crew health insurance, and it turns out every insurer in georgia dropped out of the market because of burdensome regulations and obamacare. when we try to do something at the federal level, our hearts might be in the right place, but the results are perverted by the time they reach back home. here is a family that wants to purchase health care but cannot do it because those policies have been abolished because they were not able to comply with obamacare. i am and medical savings

account per cent. the obamacare proposal says you are not as smart as you think you are and not is not the best policy for you. your policy does not cover enough. i chose the cheapest policy that is out there because you and i pay for a part of my policy. the president's bill says everybody needs to pay more. we are going after every nickel. i would say to you because you have identified the decisions we are trying to make. do you want to fund npr? or do you want to try to rescue a generation of schoolchildren in washington, d.c., who have been filled by an education system for decades? those are tough choices. they've are the tough financial choices. nothing is for free. we have $14 trillion in debt.

it is time for us to balance those decisions. if i had to choose between funding public radio versus funding d.c. schoolchildren, i would choose schoolchildren every time. host: we have 30 seconds left with our time with you. the next big vote is going to be on the decision of raising the debt limit. guest: i have been talking to a lot of folks back home. it is very tough for us because the answer from my district is no do not raise that debt limit. this is all about paying the credit card that previous republicans and democrats have run up. there is nothing more important and america's credit rating. i will try to make the best decision that my district want me to. host: rob woodall of georgia, making his first visit to the c- span "washington journal."

i hope you come back. thanks again for being here. new unemployment numbers are out in 10 minutes, so we will tell you how the job situation is very this month. let's introduce you to our second and final guest this morning. joining us from his home -- from his home city of detroit, mayor dave bing. we saw you when you first came into office about 10 months ago with your plans to revitalize and restructured detroit's government and the city as a whole. how are you doing 10 months into it? guest: it is a journey, no doubt about it, but i think we are making progress. we are trying to get the

citizens understanding, number one, that change is imminent. we cannot keep doing the things we have done for the last 30 years and think we can get a different result. we are working hard to communicate our situation. host: detroit was in the national news about some revealing numbers from the senses that the city has lost 25% of the population in the last 10 years. what do those numbers mean to you? guest: it is a major negative impact from a funding standpoint. i think it is an indication that people are not satisfied with the services that they are getting in detroit, with the education that is provided in detroit, the job situation here in detroit, the housing situation. we have issues, no doubt about it, but i think we are taking those issues head-on. we are admitting that we do have

problems, and we are coming up with solutions. host: on those numbers, you are taking some heat for your suggestion that there need to be a recount. would you explain your reasoning? guest: quite frankly, there were a lot of people with a lot of apathy that thought it was not important and did not fill out the applications. historically, there has always been an under-count. i have to focus on the number that was reported, 713,000. we have to make sure that if that is the right number, we have to do what is right for the 713 people who are still here. host: when you are just reading all of these numbers about your city, it looks as though there is a huge debate going on about

the right size of the city. some are urging you to do their recount and build a bigger detroit, and others are vocalizing detroit to be a mid- sized city. what is your path forward? guest: right now, my path is to be the best 713,000 person city that weakened the. -- that we can be. making sure from a financial standpoint that we start to stabilize our cells, trying to be sure that we have the right kind of education system inner city, those are the things that i think we can have control over. i am not going to get overly concerned. i am focused about doing what is necessary for the people who are here. host: your challenges are

cleared and interconnected. what is the most important thing to do first? guest: i think like most urban cities where crime is high, i think people want to feel safe. they want to feel safe in their houses and their communities without going around and having to look over their shoulders. public safety is on the top of the list for me. we are making improvements. host: one of those is a new police facility downtown. where are you finding the funds for that? guest: we had that funded already with about $64 million. we did a bond request, and it was approved. we will start construction in the summer of this year. host: how will that change the crime situation? guest: what it does is it it

puts all of our decision makers in one location. communication, i think, is very important. from a technology standpoint, we are way behind the eightball in my mind. getting all of our decision makers in the same place, making sure they are communicating appropriately, not only at headquarters, but throughout the rest of the city, i think, will help us to make the decisions to improve response time and things of that nature. host: the last question, the job front. clearly, there is a need to bring jobs back to the city which would increase the tax base. what is your message to employers, potential employers, for detroit? what can you tell them at this point to entice them to come to the city? guest: i think, number one, we are now a business-friendly

city. we are doing things now, like knocking down barriers from a traditional standpoint that did not make sense. also, people probably do not realize but we already have 8000 new jobs in downtown detroit. those are some of our larger businesses. what we have to concentrate on is looking at the small and mid- sized businesses that want to invest money, the one to grow, that want to expand here. so we are working with a lot of people. i think things are moving in the right direction from a job creation standpoint. host: let's get to some calls for you. let's begin with daytona beach, florida. lauren, you are on. caller: i had the chance to look at the mayors' conferences on tv a little bit back.

it is hard now because the states are putting pressure on makers. arthur grant gone now? guest: they are not gone. we are in line for a community block development grant. " we have to do -- when i first came to the office last year, i had over three fungible plus recommendations -- 300 plus recommendations. we were giving people small amounts of money that really did not do anything for those organizations. i think my position is to roll back how many applications that we are going to support and make sure they get the maximum money that we can give them so they can make a difference in the communities where they are. host: the next call is from houston, chris on our independent line. caller: mayor bing and c-span,

thank you for taking my call. i noticed a couple of things. i believe that detroit is somewhat of a microcosm of the overall problems in the united states. first of all, the government employs 2.5 million people, while manufacturing employed 11.5 million. the same in michigan -- or detroit, which used to be the although capital of the world, there are more bureaucrats than people actually making things. my point is what exactly -- what are the symptoms of this problem? you are stating that you wanted to increase or at least get a recount to prove their is more than 750,000 people currently still in detroit so you can receive more federal and state

funding. i believe that is part of the problem, that there is too much federal and state funding. detroit is repelling people out of the state, out of your city. another example, when hurricane katrina hit new orleans, there was 140,000 people that left. detroit, rather, has lost 238,000 people. this is not a natural disaster. it is a man-made disaster. guest: your question is what? caller: my question is how are you going to structure the government and increase manufacturing and increase employment if you are going to continue to make the same mistakes? guest: the mistake in your mind is what? host: accepting more federal

money. guest: i think anybody would be crazy to not accept federal money, number one. money needs to come back to the state into the city. we have to do things -- we are no longer the manufacturing hub of michigan. i think we have accepted that, so we are looking at other industries and making investments, and we are trying to educate people outside of manufacturing. manufacturing will still be a staple in our community. but it will not be a bellwether. we have to change the way we look at government. there is absolutely no doubt about that in my mind. the coming from the private sector with a business background, i would agree that you do not create jobs in the government. we have to look at the private sector and the small and medium- sized businesses where the entrepreneurs have great ideas and just need help.

host: there is a lot about detroit in the national media. entrepreneurs find silver lining -- we are talking to detroit's morning.ave bing, this it is the public saying to you? -- what is the public saying to you? how are you building consensus? guest: we have been out in our community for the last six months getting feedback relative to what is our citizens think we ought to do, and i think that will help us put our plan together. which are coming out sometime in late april, early may, -- we are coming out sometime in late april, early may, with a plan of

what we will be doing in the city. it has been 50 years of a drain of people leaving the city and going out into the suburbs or even mich. altogether. we have not made any changes. we still have a bloated system here and we have to make the changes that are necessary. we have an infrastructure that supported 1.8 million people. now we have the same infrastructure with a 700,000 people, so there are some things that we can no longer afford to do. we think we know what those things are. we have people all over our city that we cannot afford to give them the kinds of services that we are supposed to, so there are things that we have done in the past that we can no longer afford to do. host: i understand you have won some concessions from the unions. what is your overall reaction to

the unions representing the city workers and their cooperative miss? guest: i think is very difficult any time you are trying to take something away from someone that has earned and negotiated over a period of time, but times of change. they negotiated a lot of those things over the years. people have to come to the table if in fact they want this city to come back. everybody is going to have to share in the paint in the short term. i think we are starting to get that message out. who would've thought that general motors and chrysler would have failed and went to bankruptcy? but they came out of bankruptcy. i think our public unions have to do the same thing. i think they are more receptive

today than they have been in the past. host: jim is a republican. it could morning. caller: good morning. can you hear me? good morning, mayor bing. i wish all of the best and lock and whatever else is going to take to fix detroit problems. as you said earlier, it has been a long time coming. it is not take place last week. the people who had means, the people who had money fled the city to the suburbs. you need to get those people back. i guess you know that. here is the purpose of my call. the reason why this happened is outlined, not politically correctly, in a piece that someone broke back in 2009. i will tell you the title of it. it is called "detroit socialist

nightmare is america's future." what it says is if you look at what happened to detroit, it is happening to other cities. if you can turn it around, you could probably show other people how to do it. it is all about government- backed corruption, etc., etc., and model cities. i wish you the best of luck, mayor. guest: thank you so very much. host: do you have an analysis of the root causes of your problems? guest: it is not one- dimensional. i think you can go back over the last 30 years or 40 years from eight leadership standpoint, and i do not think leadership at the intermission to make the changes that were necessary. we have no choice at this point. we do not have the financial capability to do things we have

done traditionally. some of the things we have done we can no longer do. we have to look at the core services that our residents have to have. those are the things that we have to prove that we can do effectively and efficiently and within a cost structure that makes sense. once again, i would suggest to you that the police department is doing their job. our fire department is doing their job. we have to make corrections over on the ems side. we know what has to be done over there. we are way behind the curve on technology. i think we know what the problems are. you have to have the guts and the heart to do what is necessary. host: next is a call from detroit, and independen indepen.

called a " good morning. i have a comment -- caller: good morning. i have a comment. this corruption, all of them. recently, we had elections in detroit. they have been shaky. the mayor is being sued by his former opponent. guest: that is done. color " -- he claimed that he had 500 employees -- caller: -- he claimed that he had 500 employees. he still owes millions of dollars. let me finish my comment. if you google his business, you will see that it has been in bankruptcy for a long time.

this man was a fraud. he was told to run by the white business community in the state. black detroit has been under attack. they are the tools to make that happen. host: we are going to let you go so the mayor can respond to those charges. guest: there is nothing to respond to. i do not think he knows what he is talking about so i will let it alone. host: abraham, go ahead, you are on the air. i pushed the wrong button. caller: good morning, mr. bing. my concerns are in detroit as well as in the rest of this country. child support. it puts some much strain on fathers.

garnishment of wages and stuff like that. how do you think this man is going to get a job as far as child-support is concerned? it all goes to people in the white house, congress, and washington, d.c. isn't child support on constitutional and illegal? -- unconstitutional and illegal? host: i am going to jump in at that point because you clearly have a specific issue. does the child support affect the citizens of detroit? guest: there is a responsibility for any demand that fathers a child. they are supposed to support that child. i do not think you can leave it up to the woman. in a lot of cases, men walk away from their responsibilities.

there is no guarantee you'll get a job. you have to make sure you prepare yourself academically, educationally, and take on the responsibility. host: speaking of jobs, the new national unemployment numbers are out. the unemployment rate fell to a two-year low in march. what could you tell us about the job numbers in your city? guest: the unemployment is still

way too high. we are trying to figure out what we need to do once again because we were so dependent upon manufacturing and the automotive industry. even though i have come back strong, they are much, much smaller part of our industry at this point. we are looking at other industries where there is job creation in the health-care sector, in the transportation, and even in the construction. we are not growing as fast as we would like to. unemployment is not going north anymore. host: it looks like your state of michigan is set to become one of several, including florida, that will put a limit on the number of weeks that unemployment benefits might be collected. what the implications of that for you as a big city mayor? guest: i think that is a mistake. that is not something i support. we have legislation that will

take down unemployment to 20 weeks. i am hoping that will change and we will go back to 26 weeks like most of the rest of the country. caller: thank you for taking my call. mayor bing, you were talking earlier about the citizens who have left the city and have moved out to the suburbs. what do you think has caused that? your city has a certain amount of people. the state built the infrastructure to build those suburban areas around the city. they took away those higher earners. that is a big problem with the city. do you not think? guest: part of that i think is true but i think we have not done what we have had to do in

the city. if you are not getting the services that you need, if the job opportunities are not in your city, if the taxes are too high, will people leave? will they go to a better situation? that is what has happened here. we have lost not only a huge part of our population, but we lost a big part of our middleclass. the tax benefits that we were receiving from those families have gone, you know, out into the suburbs, and it leaves us with a population that is under- educated and poor. we have to figure out once again how we can do a better job of providing services, job opportunities, the security that is necessary, and make this a better city. once again, it is not something that will happen overnight.

migration did not happen overnight. we have to make sure that we do the things that are necessary to keep the people who are still here here and make things better so we can get the folks to come back into the city. host: it is reported on the front page of usa today -- what do these numbers mean to you? guest: i think that is a ray of hope, quite frankly, and something that we have tried to

market. as an urban center in the state of michigan, we have a lot of cultural institutions downtown. we have a lot of sporting activities that are downtown. our restaurants are downtown. you people want to be in an urban environment -- young people want to be in an urban environment. historically, we were using -- we were losing a lot of our educated young people. now with real-estate being where it is, i think it is at the lowest rate we have seen in the last 30 years or 40 years. young people can start to afford to live downtown. we will continue that marketing impact. host: the 15 by 15 campaign, which is formed by three anchor

institutions in detroit. campaigning to bring 15,000 young educated people to downtown by 2020. there are tax incentives for real estate. can you tell us about that? disco those institutions are already in the downtown area and the city -- guest: those institutions are already in the downtown area of the city of detroit. we are very supportive of that. a lot of our plans -- that particular area of our city is an area of concentration. when you look at the education piece, it is an inner-city school with over 40,000 students. a lot of those students, historically, have gotten an education here and then have gone somewhere else. we want to let them know there are opportunities and other businesses downtown there really need the kind of job applicants

to make us what we want to be and grow our economy back. host: cold water, mich., dave is a republican. caller: good morning. my question is -- i have looked at michigan as a younger person, i left, and then i came back to the state. i think the problem is that unions and uaw and that kind of thing, they would make the wages -- i have some relatives of there. they are making $80 an hour. companies that i had worked for because of this kind of thing, they have moved to china where they pay no tax. i want to ask the mayor if he is

thinking about maybe we ought to change our laws and de-unionize michigan and the united states and get these wages back where they should be. the young people who are making money, that is not coming from the unions. it is coming from their skills, not their ability to join a union and pull the rest of their population -- host: we get your question. mayor bing guest: i am not anti-union. we were unionized. but there was a relationship with them that i think was positive. as a supplier to the industry, we could not pay the same wage rate that the big guys were paying, so we had a different pay scales, a different benefit

package, and i think we were in line with other private industries and the private marketplace. the unions have done a good job over the years. i think they are taking steps back at this point to make sure in order to stay competitive and maintain the jobs that they have in this country, they have to do some different things. i think that is happening. if you look at chrysler and general motors, the unions came to the table and gave a major concessions. that helped gm and chrysler come out of bankruptcy. i just think that we have to be open-minded in terms of competition and what is going to be necessary. nobody is going to give us anything. we have to compete on a global basis. host: dawn is an independent. caller: good morning, mayor bing. i really want to say something

about some of the distortions that we are hearing from these right-wing types. nobody ever made $80 an hour. top wages much the been around $25 an hour plus benefits. our government spends a huge amount of money on the military, and that money goes to the south. the south thinks they are some great entrepreneurs, but they are at the government trough much more so than detroit ever was. guest: it is hard for me to comment on that quite frankly, but i think there are a lot of distortions in terms of the information that comes out about how people feel. it marked -- it might not be the right data or information, and people just run with it. we are not in a great shape. we understand where we are at

this point, and we know what we need to do to make the changes that are necessary. we know we have to be competitive. there are changes that absolutely have to happen. we have a process. i think we will surprise people over the next two years. host: a new york times big story -- here is the paragraph i pointed to because is suggest the circular challenges that you have.

mayor bing, what are you going to do for the schools and the city? guest: the schools are not under the purview of the mayor. i have my hands full. i have a full plate when i came into this office with a $330 million accumulated deficit over time. robert bobb cannot cut his way out of this problem. as you continue to lose kids out of the school system for whatever the reason, he cannot cut quick enough. i think he is doing the best job that he can at this point, but i think it is a combination of all of us coming back together. it has been happening over the last 30 years or 40 years, and now we have come to a point where there is no return. there are some things that, once

again, whether it is robert or whoever is going to take his place, our school system will continue to lose students over the next year or two until things start to turn around. we have to educate our kids. to many people are looking to protect their jobs. host: the last call from you is tyrone, a republican. caller: how are you today? in my estimation -- my comment is about the federal reserve. i called my congressman and asked him about it. he knows very little about it. you think we should educate the congress exactly what the federal reserve is, and then have them reassert their authority to print and regulate our currency so we can be better represented about how the money is issued.

guest: i think that is a far reaching question for me to answer right now. there are some things that i think we have to change in our entire system. if you have people making decisions on what is going to happen in the state, in the city, yes, they make bad decisions. it is hard for me to answer the question. i guess that is where i believe in it. host: mayor bing, we are out of time but we hope from time to time that you will check in with us about the state of detroit and how your plans are moving along. that is it for the "washington journal." sings to look for on our "q &a"

program. stephen goldsmith used to be the mayor of indianapolis. please look for that on sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern time. the congressional correspondents dinner is rhee airing on saturday. if you heard about it this week, members from congress including four that did a bit of a comedy routine, an interesting side of washington. thanks for being with us. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] theme askis year's students to do a topic that helps them better understand the role of the federal government. today, we go to knock so, tenn. -- today, we go to knoxville,

tenn. >> the documentary contest was bout how the community iwas affecting us in our daily lives. since it directly affected us in the city, the epa went with that because they drove the whole cleanup process. >> how many people were affected? >> in the 2008, a dyke spilled coal ash which went into three rivers and consumed about 12 homes. we know that the total amount of people in the city that was affected was about 750 family's total. it reached out to the whole united states because epa had regulatory hearings on it.

>> what were the outcomes of the hearings? >> the truth of come was to hear the opinion of the people. but whether it will pick either city, they have not chosen it yet. subtitle c means that coal ash will be treated as a hazardous waste and the federal government will regulate it. subtitle d means that it will be treated as a non-hazardous waste and the state will regulate it. about 2 million cubic yards of coal ash has been taken away from the site. basically, every day -- >> you showed some hearing from the bp oil spill. >> i think the bp oil spill was a bigger representation of the

coal ash spilled. they both affected our whole country and caused billions of dollars of damages and ruined countless homes in society, but i think the government treated same.two disasters the >> how would you grade the government? how did they do? >> i think the government did a pretty good job. regarding the kingston coal ash, they came in and helped us immediately. >> what is next? >> the next step is to keep cleaning up the coal ash spilled. they have not chosen whether they are going to do subtitle c or d yet but the main goal is to help the people right now. >> what did you learn in the process of making your documentary? >> not only the statistics

about the spill, but there worked out to work on a team for the documentary. i've learned that the federal government really does help us every single day. i could not of work as hard as i did without my teammates because i would not be here if it were not for them. >> thanks a lot and congratulations. >> thank you so >> are sick, a poisonous substance, and other heavy metals. right now it has no regulations, so it can be thrown out with trash. >> i promised to propose regulations by the end of the calendar year and we are on track -- >> the federal government is nothing without its citizens. so naturally, the environmental production agency listened to the opinions of the people. one of our senators, lamar

alexander, even requested the epa extended the comment period, which is the reason we were able to put is a bit and national hearing in knoxville. hundreds of people came in to argue for their cause. they argued from their heart because they knew they were taking part in the federal government, just like we did. >> you can see this entire video and all the winning documentary's at studentcam.org and continue the conversation on our facebook and twitter pages. >> the u.s. house is coming in next for their final legislative day of the week. they will finish up work on the four-year extension of the faa and votes on five remaining minutes, and they will take up a role on what is being called the government shutdown prevention act. we will likely hear more, too, about the unemployment rate the

labor department says that the economy added 216,000 new jobs gue the labor departm reporting that the unemployment rate drops to 8.8%. we go live to the house on c- span. >> mr. speaker, the work ethics of the people of my district give me great optimism despite the daily reminders that our nation teeters on the edge of bankruptcy. individual americans are rich in spirit, tradition and innovation, but as a country we're broke. all because the federal government has maxed out its credit card. this house is listening to the american people and we have passed legislation representing significant spending cuts by historic proportions. mr. johnson: but harry reid and the president are trying to shut down the government. they are trying to shift the blame and saying the economic problems are the result of

their failed policies. i believe america is ready for some tough spending decisions. we must give americans the tools to grow the economy instead of growing government. i hope my fellow he colleagues will join me in asking two questions when any spending bill comes before this house -- how much is it going to cost and who's going to pay for it? and if we can't afford it and if the american taxpayers are going to foot the bill, we should be voting a resounding no. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new mexico rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> madam speaker, i rise today in celebration of women's history month and to honor a very special hero stationed at kirkland air force base in albuquerque. considerian is our nation's first female pilot of the cv-22, also known as the offspray.

it's an elite honor for a pilot to fly the cv-22 and it's particularly unique to be the first woman in history to do so. mr. heinrich: unfortunately, the contributions that women make to our military and our nation don't always get their due recognition, so it's a very special honor to me to recognize first lieutenant killian as part of women's history month. i tp to be inspired by the great sacrifices made by leaders like first lieutenant killian in service to our nation. congratulations to first lieutenant killian and her distinguished service and sacrifice. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> madam speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 1281, the restoring economic certainty act of 2011.

this bill places a 24-month moratorium on the majority of new regulations promulgated by agencies giving small businesses the certainty required to create jobs. the goal of this bill is to provide confidence to small businesses which create the overwhelming majority of jobs in america. mr. ribble: i'm calling on congress to enact a regulatory cooling off period. let's give america's small businesses a chance to catch their breath from the over 23,000 rules and regulations that have been enacted since 2004. as a business owner myself, i've seen firsthand the harmful impact that government regulations and uncertainty can have on job creation. job creators have to know that they can -- that they won't be punished by unelected federal bureaucrats with additional rules, regulations and red tape. i urge my colleagues to join me in support of h.r. 1281 today. let's send job creators a clear signal that we're not going to allow government -- the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman's time has expired. mr. ribble: and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. connolly: madam speaker, how soon we forget. then minority leader boehner called deem and pass bills a scheme and a plot. one that has employed immediately upon ensuing the speakership. it's doubly ironic because this particular deem and pass bill is blatantly unconstitutional. as it eliminates the senate and president from the legislative process. article 1, section 7, clause 2 of the constitution reads, every bill which shall pass the house of representatives and senate shall before becomes law be presented to the president of the united states. if he approves he signs it. if not he shall return it. this deem and pass spending bill will eliminate the inconvenience of the united states senate, passing or the president signing h.r. 1, the radical republican proposal to eliminate 700,000 to 900,000

jobs. whether or not republicans ram it down our throats today is probably irrelevant since it is clearly unconstitutional, but we should vote it down as a matter of constitutional principle. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? mr. wilson: madam speaker, i ask permission to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: madam speaker, democrats in the senate should work with republicans to act on the continuing resolution. house republicans successfully passed a bill over 40 days ago. and senate democrats have still not acted. liberals in the senate claim to have a plan of their own. rather than voting on this plan, senate democrats have resorted to petty political gamesmanship. conservatives won the election in november. the american people spoke clearly. they want to put a halt to reckless spending. this is the conservative position in congress. any compromise should incorporate views of the american people. the tea party has made a difference. while liberals are encouraging

the government shutdown, conservatives in congress have passed a bill to avoid this event. continuing one-line gimmicks to cover political favor is another political ploy in washington that liberals are just out of touch with america. the american people know that reckless borrowing is a threat to american families. young people know debts are being passed to them. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina rise? >> i rise to address the house for one minute. i ask permission. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. butterfield: thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, i rise this morning in objection to the republican leadership's blatant disregard for the constitution. republicans' part san extremism reached a new -- partisan extremism reached a new low this week ignoring the basic fundamentals of the

constitution. they have come up with a scheme called deem and pass. i am outraged that the republicans could believe that their budget, their job-killing budget could become law with just the approval of the house of representatives. every american should be offended by such an extreme, reckless and clearly unconstitutional scheme. madam speaker, americans want congress to move, move beyond the partisan extremism and political theater. it is time to negotiate a budget in good faith that invests in our future. protect our families and help move america toward greater economic recovery and prosperity. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, madam speaker. this past friday i had the privilege to attend a ceremony before 4,000 mid shipmen at annapolis honoring four distinguished graduates of the

naval academy for their life leong achievements to the united states marine corps. dr. bradford parkinson, the class of 1957, dedicated his life in effort to develop the global positioning system. matthew cooper served two tours in vietnam as a commander in the marine corps, ground reserve in operation desert shield and desert storm and turned around the toys for tots foundation. mr. dold: lieutenant mcneil became the chairman and c.e.o. of exelon corporation. and the fourth honoree holds a places something in my heart, uncle bob. my uncle began his flight school and his career in the united states navy. in 1965 flying his crusador he

was taken prisoner by the north vietnamese. for over eight years he was held prisoner and many of those years in the hasway hilton, a name he doubled in that prison camp. he served as an inspiration to me and to others. i was grade to see this award bestowed upon him this past week. i want to thank him and his fellow recipients for their service. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. barrow: madam speaker, i rise today to encourage the president and leaders of the house and senate to craft a long-term spending plan to prevent a government shutdown and get our nation's finances back on track. no business can thrive without a stable, long-term financial plan. the federal government can't either. the uncertainty we're operating

under is costly to taxpayers and threatens the health of both the public and private sectors. as i traveled around my district i hear time and again from constituents who are tired of the heated political rhetoric. we can cater to political extremes or we can work together to resolve pressing issues. let's move beyond the weekly battles on discretional spending. thank you, madam speaker. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from illinois rise? mrs. biggert: i ask permission to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mrs. biggert: mr. speaker, i rise today to honor the life of one of america's great military heroes, lieutenant general solomon wells, or jim, as he was known to his family. general wells passed away in december at the age of 94 after a lifetime of distinguished service to his country. today, his friends, family and loved ones will gather to celebrate his amazing life at a

special service near his home in california. among those will be his children, three grandchildren and six great grandchildren. mr. speaker, there's no way i could do it justice to all the achievements of this amazing man in the time i have here. jim first earned his wings in 1941 and went on to log over 12,000 hours of flying time as a command pilot with over 700 hours of combat time. he flew hundreds of missions during three wars. world war ii, korea and vietnam, and has been honored with almost every medal imaginable. after commanding all over the world, he culminated his career as inspector general of the air force here in washington. today, i'd like to join with my colleagues here in the u.s. house of representatives to express to jim's family and loved ones our heart felt sympathy on his loss and our sincere gratitude for his service to the nation he loved. mr. speaker, during his service, it was the hope of

many that general wells would be honored by a military flyover. i am disappointed to say that the air force was unable to accommodate this wish, but i know there's no military airman in america who does not join us in honoring the memory of this hero. and if anyone would understand the logistical challenges of command it would be jim, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. tonko: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. speaker. well, here we go again. we're one week away from a government shutdown. i for one wish we could focus on creating jobs and growing the economy, but instead the majority can't even agree on how to keep the doors open. in fact, unwilling to compromise and unable to break free of the clutches of the tea party, they have tried to stunt that is beyond belief. it's altogether fitting that we are debating this absurd

measure today on april fools day. why? because reading the constitution on the floor of this body just weeks ago they're ignoring our founding document, mocking its principles and attempting to circumvent 222 years of history. what do they want to do? say that any bill, any bill that passes this house is good enough, no need for the senate or president, it should just become law like magic. this country was founded on checks and balances and limited government. instead of desperate attempts to ram through job-destroying legislation to appease the extreme wing of their party, perhaps the majority in this house could try negotiating in good faith with the senate and our president to keep the lights on. after all, the american public expects that of their public officials. madam speaker, i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise?

mr. woodall: die direction of the committee on rules, i call up house resolution 194 and ask for its meet consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number 24, house resolution 194. resolved, that upon the adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house the bill, h.r. 1255, to prevent the shutdown of the government of the united states, and for other purposes. all points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. the bill shall be considered as read. all points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill to final passage without intervening motion except one, one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the majority leader and minority leader or their respective designees. and two, one motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise?

mr. ellison: i raise a point of order because the resolution violates section 406-2-a of the resolution budget act. it contains -- which includes a waiver of section 425 of the congressional budget act which violates -- which cause as violation of section 426-a. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota has made a point of order that the resolution violates section 426-a of the congressional budget act of 1974. the gentleman has met the threshold under the rule and the gentleman from minnesota and a member opposed each will control 10 minutes of debate on the question of consideration. following debate, the chair will put the question of consideration as a statutory means of disposing of the point of order. the chair recognizes the gentleman from minnesota. mr. ellison: i thank the chair.

madam speaker, i raise this point of order not necessarily out of concern for unfunded mandates, although there are likely many in this bill, i raise a point of order because it's the overwhelm vehicle we've got to actually talk about this rule and this bill and how we are being denied the ability to actually alter the -- offer the amendments we would like to, to illuminate what's actually in this bill. republicans are playing partisan political games with america's future, america's seniors, and america's veterans with the following. with america's government. since taking control of congress over 13 weeks ago, republicans have failed to introduce a single bill, not one single bill, to create one sungle job. instead, the republicans majority attached a unconstitutional scheme to fire nearly a million americans and foreclose on the middle class. mr. speaker -- madam speaker, i think it's ironic that today is april pool's day because the

republican paragraph -- april fool's day because the republican majority is playing an april fool's joke on the american people. this unconstitutional washington trickeration reflected in the underlying bill will destroy at least 700,000 jobs, according to the economic policy institute, mark zandi, chief economist at moody's economics, and goldman sachs. the underlying bill which mr. woodall is a co-sponsor says -- implies that the senate has passed a bill which already failed there, it assumes or deems the president has signed the bill, which he threatened to veto. april fool's america, there is no senate or office of presidency today under the republican majority bill. the republican spending bill badly damages our fragile economic recovery according to 300 economists of all political stripes and threatens to send us spiraling into another

republican recession. and as we have heard early this week, the republican answer to 14 million americans who lost their jobs and can't find new ones is, stop talking about jobs. so at this time i'd like to yield to the gentleman, mr. woodall, for 15 seconds, to ask him just a simple question. mr. woodall: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i'd be happy to answer that question. mr. ellison: i would like to ask the gentleman, how many jobs does this bill create? mr. woodall: by eliminating the crushing federal deficit that we have today, by taking the first steps we have seen in a generation -- mr. ellison: reclaiming my time, madam speaker. i do appreciate the gentleman's decision not to answer my question. because -- mr. woodall: i'd be happy to try

again, mr. ellison: . mr. ellison: i do appreciate him not answering the question how many jobs this bill will create. it creates john. it destroys jobs. i think if the gentleman wanted to give us a number, even an estimate, just some sort of estimate as to how many jobs this bill is going to create, we certainly could have a good dialogue about how america goes forward. but unfortunately, madam speaker , the gentleman cannot answer that question because the republican majority has been exposed, they have a no jobs agenda, and this bill they propose to deem and pass today would cut upwards of a million jobs and as little as 700,000. this is a no-jobs agenda. at this time the gentleman from new york, mr. paul tonko, i believe, would like to -- i yield two minutes to the

gentleman from new york. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes. mr. tonko: thank you, madam speaker. this republican april fool's resolution on the house floor today seems to look for a waiver of all points of order against consideration of the bill. which includes the waiver of section 425 of the congressional budget act which causes a violation we believe of 426-a, section 426-a. i'm not sure if the rules of the house are declared null and void on any april fool's day, but i have a feeling that we are about to see that happen today on the floor. apparently the new republican leadership and their majority believe that they can take control of a parliamentary system. unfortunately for them we still have a bicameral legislature,

including the united states senate and a constitution that requires the president of the united states to sign legislation. so the rules seem to be changing every day around here. i thought we were going to see bills 72 hours in advance. the bills would have to be paid for, paid for under the republican cut-go measure, and that all bills, again all bills, would have to meet a constitutional test before the floor considers it. in the last two weeks, we have violated every, every one of these principles. there are likely some unfunded mandates in this measure. i raise a point of order because this is the only way that we have to debate this bill and we are being denied the ability to actually offer the amendments that we would like to to eliminate what's actually in this legislation and how this is a break, again, from the hallmark and tradition of this great house which is to allow

open debate on appropriations bills. so in conclusion we simply cannot trash the rules of the house like we are doing here today and ironically on april fool's day. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. ellison: may i inquire to the time? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota has four minutes remaining. mr. ellison: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? mr. woodall: i rise to claim time in opposition on the point of order and in favor of consideration of the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 10 minutes. mr. woodall: it appears, madam speaker, that this is going to be an april fool's day theme day, i suppose i should have known that when i woke up this morning. i'm a little surprised that it begins with folks claimling a -- claiming a point of order against unfunded mandates they are not sure exist in the bill. that they claim a point of order against unfunded mandates in a rule that waives those points of order if they did exist.

i want to say, madam speaker, i'm a big proponent of regular order. big proponent of order. and the prophylactic waiver in the rule is designed just in case there is something we missed, but what's important is that we had the largest and most open debate we had in this house in a decade on h.r. 1. the only provision that could possibly have an unfunded mandate in it and does not. there's two things, the underlying legislation does two things, it both gives the senate an opportunity to come out from under its paralyzing inaction and pass h.r. 1, and it says that if the senate does not, if the senate fails to act, we are not asking them to do what we want them to do, if they fail to act, then congress will not get paid. congress will not get paid. my colleagues on the left won't

go paid. my colleagues on the right won't get paid. and my colleagues in the senate won't get paid. and i yield 15 seconds to my good friend, mr. ellison, to ask, do you believe that this provision that will prevent us from getting paid, from getting paid, for not doing our job, is the unmunded mandate in that provision -- unfunded mandate in that provision? mr. ellison: i believe that the republican no-jobs agenda is a serious affront to the american people. million woodall: let me reclaim my time. i appreciate the gentleman's support for making sure we don't get paid if we are not doing our work. there is a divide in this town, madam speaker, there is a crowd that believes government creates jobs. and the more government activity that takes place the more jobs there are. there is another crowd in this town that believes that only the private sector can create jobs. and this bill will put more capital into the private

markets, it will create jobs. as this bill will provide much needed certainty that we cannot have under these continuing resolutions, this bill will create jobs. as this bill goes to complete the work that should have happened last congress but did not, this bill will create jobs. it is a cruel april fool's day joke on the american people, madam speaker, that instead of debating the underlying resolution, and i have a rule i'm prepared to bring to the floor that will allow time to debate the underlying resolution, we are instead focused on points of order that even my colleagues on the left don't believe exist. they ause us of perverting the process, madam speaker, and we have had the most open process in the first 90 days of this congress this congress has seen in a decade, and in doing so they pervert the process, raising points of order that they do not believe exist and know in their hearts do not exist. with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. ellison: two minutes for the

gentlelady from maryland, miss done -- congresswoman donna edwards. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from maryland is recognized for two minutes. ms. edwards: thank you, madam speaker. i'd like to thank the gentleman from minnesota for raising this point of order. i join in support of the point of order. first of all it's time for us to create jobs, we haven't created jobs for 13 weeks into this congress and we are not debating jobs today. second, as to the underlying resolution, i'll speak to that later, madam speaker, but today we are sitting here with a bill that violates the rules of this house, that congress said when they took on this new leadership that they were going to come into the congress open and transparent and without hypocrisy and not following the kind of rules that they railed against during the previous congress, and yet here we are today with a rule that doesn't allow us to really consider appropriations in the way that this congress not the last congress but this republican congress established.

we are neither open, we are not transparent in this point of order -- and this point of order raises a question as to whether the republican majority is going to operate according to the rules that it set, not the rules the democrat set, but the republicans that republicans set. so, madam speaker, i'm really troubled today both by the underlying resolution and by the fact that we have here perhaps a bill that has unknown, unfunded mandates that we aren't able to look at and for which there won't be any amendments. i think the gentleman from minnesota for raising the point of order and i urge strong consideration by my colleagues to make this process as the leadership has committed to make it open, to make it transparent, and to make it without hypocrisy. with that i yield. mr. elie sop: 15 seconds for a question. mr. woodall: you control the time. mr. ellison: i'm willing to yield. would you be amenable to strip out all but the member paid

issue that's contained in the bill. would you be willing to do that? mr. woodall: you want to remove the most debated provision we have had in this entire congress that hasn't been debated enough? mr. ellison: we'll deal with the pay issue. are you willing to do that? mr. woodall: the member pay issue is critically tied to the inaction of the folks -- mr. ellison: reclaiming my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. ellison: thank you for getting around to that no. i think that makes the point here, madam speaker. the fact is that this particular republican action, yet another opportunity to degrade and take away the basic social safety net of america while doing nothing to do -- to get americans back to work. americans deserve to work. americans thought that they were going to get a majority that would help them get back to work last november. but they were sorely surprised when the republican majority got there and decided to do nothing to help americans get back to

work. that all they do is strip away programs and things that will help americans do better. to take programs and money from police officers, to fire public employees, this has been their agenda. this is too bad. . this is certainly a shame and a abandonment of what they were trying to get in november. this point of order addresses the critical issues we need to address. at the bottom we are still looking at 13 weeks with no jobs and republicans offered legislation that literally would put nearly a million people out of work. and so i ask -- i ask my colleagues to vote -- so i ask -- yeah, in a moment. so i ask my colleagues to stand with the american people. let's move america forward. let's reject the underlying

rule, this washington trickery, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from georgia. >> madam speaker, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to make sure that -- mr. woodall: madam speaker, i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. lungren. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. lungren: a provision dealing with the pay of members of congress and the president of the united states. the senate has sent over a bill which proported to pay the president of the united states and the congress for any time that lapsed during which there was not authorization for appropriations for the government activity. it is on its face blatantly unconstitutional, violating the section of the constitution that deals with presidential

pay and specifically the 27th amendment of the constitution which does not allow us to do that. the author of the bill before us in the statement of the constitutional authority makes it clear that we recognize the limits of the action we can take and instead we would in this way command those payments nod to be made during the period of time in -- not to be made during the period of time thereby making a very serious and good faith attempt to put that pressure on members of congress and the president of the united states but in a constitutional way. and so members should be aware of the difference between the language contained in this provision before us and that which was sent over here by the senate which on its face both constitutional scholars have

looked at it here on the house side and senate side and the white house has suggested that bill that came over from the senate would not stand up to constitutional examination. this is an attempt on our side to try and provide that action if demanded by members of congress in a way that would be rendered constitutional. and so at least i wanted to make sure that as we debate this point of order the rule and the bill that it is clear what the intention of the author -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. lungren: is in this case and where we are attempting to follow constitutional procedures. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia. mr. woodall: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. to thank the chairman for that explanation because constitutional principles are paramount, are absolutely paramount on this side of the aisle and so is accountability, so is accountability for our actions here in this body and our actions across the way and i cannot be more pleased to be the co-sponsor of the underlying resolution because

it says no work, no pay, no work, no pay. typical here in the house of representatives and across the country, we're talking about jobs every day, every day in this body we're talking about jobs and yet the debate this morning is focused on are we doing enough debating about a bill that has been the most aggressively debated bill that congress has seen in over a decade. i want to invite my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in the united states senate to join me as a co-sponsor of h.r. 25. h.r. 25 is the fair tax bill. it's the only bill in congress that eliminates every single corporate loophole, exception, lobbyist-inserted provision, not a one survives the fair tax. it's the only bill in congress that eliminates the payroll tax, that largest tax that 80% of americans pay. you want to talk about american families and their pain, let's talk about the largest tax that

american families pay. it's the payroll tax and h.r. 25 is the only bill in the united states house of representatives that eliminates the payroll tax in favor of a flat rate personal consumption tax that ceases to punish productivity and begins to reward those activities that build jobs in this country. it's the only bill in congress that puts american manufacturing on a level playing field with the rest of the world. do you want to talk about jobs or do you not? do you want to get america gack on track or do you not, because this is a point of order that we know doesn't exist? it's a point of order that fills the airwaves first thing in the morning. if you want to fill the airwaves fill it with promises of jobs, fill it with promises of ending the tax code that drives jobs out of this country and bringing in that capital that we so desperately need. again, madam speaker, there are no unfunded mandates in this bill.

this has been the most aggressively debated bill that this congress has seen in a generation, i would argue, and the only two things the underlying legislation does, it forces the government to stay open with funding levels, those funding levels provided in h.r. 1, if the senate pass this is bill, and it insists that no work in congress receives no pay. 40 days we waited on the senate to act. they defeated two bills but they passed nothing, madam speaker. they passed nothing. if you want to talk about jobs, if you want to talk about certainty, you have to bring a proposal to the table. this is a freshman proposal that reaches out to try to do something to make things happen. i don't know how you break logjams in this city. clearly it's not easy. last year with a democratic house, democratic senate and democratic white house you still couldn't pass a budget, you couldn't get an

appropriations passed. i am here to solve logjams. you see over and over again people trying to come up with solutions. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. all time for debate has expired. the question is now will the house consider the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the question of consideration -- mr. ellison: i demand the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays have been requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes