to do. >> you have to know where you are going if you are going to get there. that is what the bill was about. you do not want to take strong action on climate change. most canadians know that. you prefer to subsidize your friends in the big oil companies. >> the original question was about your vision of canada in the world. you have failed to get a seat on the security council. you achieved nothing at the g-8 and g-20. you shut down every independent organization trying to do good in africa or asia. you shut it down if it disagrees with your ideologist. we have to have a foreign policy based on democratic values, respect for canadians overseas, respect for what they're trying to do. let some flowers bloom. and live.acy breeathe if you are going to promote and abroad, you have to respect it at home. you shut down everything you cannot control. that is the core of your vision of government.

it is hostile to the values of democracy upon which this country is based. >> this is simply not true. canada is one of the most forceful promoters of freedom and democracy abroad. when it comes to foreign aid, it is delivered largely through private organizations and international partners. that is largely how we do it. we work with other people. the idea we're shutting them down is not based on any fact. the most important initiative we have on child and maternal health, we have attracted billions of dollars to deal with the health problems of the most vulnerable people on the planet. other countries and international organizations are working with us. that is what canada is doing in the world. in parliament, all we have is this mudslinging accusations back and forth. we're out there making a difference in the world. that is what canadians expect of us. >> next, donald trump is at a

tea party rally in florida. then, republican and democratic strategists discuss the coming 2012 campaign. at 11:00, andrew ferguson from "the weekly standard." >> former speechwriters for president richard nixon reflect on their careers and how they helped to shape the public perception of his policies. our live coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. eastern tomorrow on c-span. >> real estate developer and potential presidential candidate donald trump spoke saturday at a tax day rally organized by the florida tea party. he criticized the obama administration on issues including the u.s. policy in libya, the economy, and foreign debt, health care and energy

policies. he says he will decide by june whether or not to seek the gop nomination. donald trump is introduced by congressman alan west. this is about 50 minutes. >> this is about having servant leaders in the country. after me comes a fellow with a pretty big hairdo. [laughter] i am sure you will enjoy your him speaking. following knee will be mr. donald j. trump. ♪

transcontinental somewhere along the way you find out who you are living in america across the nation living in america ♪ [applause]

>> this is really amazing. i want to thank congressman alan west. he is an amazing guy. i have been a supporter of his. he is tough, smart, and a real patriot. also, rick scott. he is doing a good job. it is not easy. he is doing a helluva job. my second home is right down the road in your competitive community known as palm beach. i love florida. i would like to thank the south florida tea party for the opportunity to address this group of hard-working,

incredible people. it is my great honor, believe me. [applause] over the last six months since i started thinking about this, i have been asked so much about the tea party by reporters and a lot of different folks. i have come up with a truthful but standard answer. they are great because they made washington start thinking, both democrats and republicans. they made washington start thinking. i want to thank you all. it is fantastic. when i was asked to do this speech today by a friend of mine, he said it would be in an auditorium with 250 people. what happened? [cheers and applause] with all of the wind, at least

you know it is my real hair. the united states has become the laughing stock and a whipping post for the rest of the world whether we like it or not. we do not like it. the world is laughing at us. they're laughing at our leaders taking the advantage of us. it is a disgrace. i have said on numerous occasions that countries like china, india, south korea, mexico, the opec nations, and many os see our leaders as weak and ineffective. we have been taken advantage of to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars a year.

we have to take our country back. [applause] i know a lot of people in other countries. before this whole thing started, they would sit with me and dinners and say they could not believe what they are getting away with. i cannot believe what we're getting away with. one said he could not believe i was running for president after what he said. he said they're doing great. the negotiators are fantastic. [laughter]

they meant that. they ask who these leaders are and where they came from. over the years, i have participated with people like this in many battles and have come out almost always as the victim. i have to say that. you need that kind of a person whether it is me or somebody else. [applause] when i read that line to my wife this morning, she said that it was too conceited. but we need people that win. we do not need people that lose all the time. [applause] i took a chance. i took a chance when i said that. that is what we need. i be in many people and companies. i have won many wars. -- i have beaten many people and

companies. i have made billions of dollars. i look forward to disclosing my financials. i have built a great, great company. [applause] the reason i like that as a scorecard and acknowledgement of my abilities is because this is what we need. during my lifetime i have always been told that a person of great accomplishment and achievement cannot become a politician or run for political office because there are too many enemies strewn all along the highway of success. i have heard this for years. even the most successful leave themselves open to great criticism from the many that they have beaten and those who

have watched the battles. the fact is this theory of a very successful person running for office is rarely tested because most very successful people, the kind of people we need leading our country, do not want to be scrutinized and abused. that is what happens. unfortunately, this is the kind of person that this country must have right now. [applause] our current president -- [booing] they all want me to say, "you are fired!"

we have a long way to go before i start using that. it is too early. i have it in the back of my mind. [applause] our current president came out of nowhere with no track record. there was absolutely nothing to criticize. he did not do anything. i cannot look in his 75 deals and say his secretary did not dot the i and he did something wrong. he did not do anything. i have never lived my life with a view towards running for office. when bad things are said about me, and i am sure they will be said, you have to remember that i am a successful businessman and not a politician. thank goodness. [applause]

"business week" magazine which is now "bloomberg business week" -- where is the reporter from "business week"? stand up. that is not her. that is a beautiful woman. [laughter] "business week" magazine said in a vote of its readers that donald trump was the world's most competitive business person with bill gates being no. two and warren buffett being no. 3. steve forbes stated i was one of the greatest entrepreneurs in the history of free trade. [applause] that is something this country is not doing well in. considering the shape the united states is in now, we need a

competitive and highly competent person to deal with what is going on. by the way, instead of china making $300 billion projected this year, instead of all these other companies and countries absolutely draining our money, we would not be having the kind of fight we're having in washington between the democrats and republicans. we would be having a much more thriving country. we would be doing great. you cannot have china taking our jobs and money, making our products. they do all of this and then they lomas money and we pay them interest. they manipulate our currency. i know how to stop this.

they have a problem. they have loaned us money. i am doing very well. it does not matter. we hold the cards. they are manipulating their currencies. it is almost impossible for our companies to compete. we have all the cards. if we ever do anything to stop the tremendous inflow of cash, they are rebuilding their airports and bridges region when was the last time in this country that you saw a big bridge getting built? 50 years ago? when was the last time we saw an airport being built? we do not even fix them up. i landed at la guardia. i leave china or saudi arabia and it is like coming into a

third world country when i land at la guardia. it is old, dirty, falling apart, disgusting. it is made out of rotted 2x4's. i go to qatar and is great. if these other countries can outsmart us, i am not angry at them. i am angry at our leaders for letting it happen. so i am in catarrh -- qatar and see the most beautiful airport i have ever seen. the manager is showing me around. you can get a massage before a flight.

you can get anything. i say to the man the this is the most beautiful airport i have ever seen. he says it is just temporary. there is the airport where building. you have to be kidding. we're living like in a third- world country. it is all being done because of our leadership. it is so bad. [applause] i said on numerous occasions that we should watch china and opec and what they're doing. i bring this up because it is so sad. this could be taken care of. we have somali pirates taking over the largest tankers in the

world. now we have germany wants to buy the new york stock exchange. i am all for free enterprise. i do not want germany owning the new york stock exchange. [applause] as a businessman, i of seen what china and opec have been doing while our politicians have chosen to cast a blind eye and have state dinners in their honor. we give him a state dinner and all he does is rip us off. we should have gone to mcdonald's. if i run and win, our country will be respected again. china, opec, and all the many nations ripping off this great country of ours will be dealt with very differently. [cheers and applause]

obama used to go change and even he is embarrassed by the word. i want you to know where i stand on different issues. i am pro-life. [applause] i am against gun-control. it is interesting, gun-control. the bad guys are going to have the guns. people that are good and wonderful will hear that they did not make enough income -- the bad guys are going to walk into your house with a gun. the bad guys are not going to get rid of the guns.

it has never happened and never will. i am against gun-control. [applause] i will fight and get rid of obamacare. [cheers and applause] by the way, a quick side note, i always say i was really smart. if you believe obama should be giving his birth certificate, they make it like you have an i.q. of 13. i went to the best schools. the level of animosity even within our own party -- i heard carl rove on television.

it was terrible. what he said was amazing. he was so against me because i am questioning. all i want to do is see this skies birth certificate -- is see this guy's birth certificate. [applause] republicans have to be careful about that. karl rove did not do well the last few years of bush administration. whether you like him or not, george bush gave us obama. i am not happy about it. we have a disaster on our hands. we have a man that will almost certainly go down and in history as the worst president. the other thing is that i will create jobs. i will bring jobs back home.

when you want to find out if somebody used your credit card, do you know who answers the phone most likely? somebody from a foreign country, usually india. what is that all about? then they have incentives for doing business, outsourcing they call it, overseas. i was watching the other day ben bernanke. he was saying that job growth is slow. how can it be fast when china is making all of our products? how can be fast when kids are going to college. and then they want to move to china because that is the only place they can get a job? it is pretty sad. ok, a couple of words on foreign policy. i am watching things go on. we cannot afford education. we cannot afford to build a

road, yet we are in iraq, afghanistan, and now libya. we do not want to change in regime. we want nothing to do with the regime, but we want them out. i can just imagine our soldiers and pilots asking what they mean. he says we're not going to be involved in regime change and then we want him out. nobody knows what the hell they're doing. gaddafi is winning. i see him writing through the streets waving at his people. it is amazing. really listen to this one. this is the thing i do not understand. in the old days, i would say bring them home. somebody said to bring them home. that is cool. listen for a second. this is somebody that has common sense and business sense. ready? in the old days when we won a

war, we won a war. for thousands of years, you won. you keep the oil. you keep it. to the victor belong the spoils. now we go in and fight wars, hand over the keys after we are finished after years and years and trillions of dollars, we hand over the keys to people we do not know, do not trust, and in most cases do not like us. we're spending billions of dollars a week in iraq, afghanistan, and libya, and nobody even knows what our endgame is. i want this money to be spent rebuilding the united states. [cheers and applause]

by the way, i am the strongest person on military spending and military strength. going over there is ridiculous. i gave an example in afghanistan. we build the roads and schools. they blow up the road and school. we then go back and rebuild the road and school. meanwhile, in alabama, florida, and new york, and everywhere else -- we cannot get any money. it is crazy. i am ok with globalization but not with countries making so much money that they are destroying us. we will change that. in new york, i know all the

great business people. they are vicious and ruthless and horrible human beings in many cases. i want them negotiating for me. i do not want a diplomat. a diplomat is a person that studies hard. they learn how to be nice to people. i do not want nice people. [cheers and applause] what china does, they have a system that is different and tougher. what china does is from the time they are born, they send over their toughest, meanest, smartest people. they do not laugh or cry. they are tough and nasty. we have people that are just as tough and even smarter -- and i know them. why are we not using them to negotiate? i have a lot of japanese friends. i will say again even with all

the press here. in japan, we have all this trouble. i was called by news outlet. they asked what i thought. for 30 years they have been ripping us off and taking advantage of us, but i still think we should help. have a great heart? it is unbelievable what they got away with. that is okay. we should still help. ready? when we first entered iraq, many people said -- the smart people -- that we were going in because of the oil. remember? iraq has the second-largest oil wells in the world after saudi arabia. i do not know if you know that. iraq's great wealth. the second-largest oil wells in

the world after saudi arabia. what turned out badly was that was not the case. after many years, like tenor 12, we have spent $1.5 trillion. if you want to have $1 million for governor's got to rebuild schools, you cannot get it. we spent $1.5 trillion. i never even heard the word trillion until two years ago. we do not hear billions anymore. if you need a million dollars to fix up a school, you cannot get it. we spent $1.5 trillion and more importantly, we lost thousands of brave soldiers and military

personnel, not to mention the soldiers with one arm and no legs and problems. they're not even treated well with everything they did. that sounded scary. i am not surprised. that was obama. we spend all this money and lives, all of these wounded. we have decapitated the military power. for years, iraq and iran were back and forth. thousands of years, one goes this way, one goes that way. they start doing all sorts of things with the gases. it is a disaster.

" one would have a victory. in the other. we decapitated the armies in iraq. after we leave iraq, iran will take over iraq. they probably will not have the pirates shot. they are so close to the leaders of iraq who cannot stand us and we cannot stand them. as soon as we leave, and they do not want to mess with us. it has been 10 to 12 years. i am saying very simply, and ensure as you are sitting there, that iraq within minutes after we leave will be taken over by iran. and if that happens, all of those brave soldiers and

military personnel is that had died for our country will have died in vain. not to mention the vast amounts of money that has been wasted in could have been used to rebuild the united states, ok? so, ready? sometimes they say, why is this controversy all? at the you agree with me that iran will take it over as soon as they leave? [applause] if iran is going to take over the oil, we take the oil. we get it. [cheers and applause] by the way, it's estimated that they have $15 trillion of oil in iraq. they do not realize how rich they are in terms of the oil fields. we give it to iraq, the we pay back ourselves, plus, plus,

plus, of course. and then we pay back great britain and the other nations that how does, they should be paid back, too -- plus, plus, plus. [applause] in addition to paying ourselves back, we should pay back the families of the soldiers who died. [cheers and applause] and you know what? if you give them a couple of million of dollars apiece, and that is peanuts compared to what we're talking about here, nothing. nothing can ever replace their sons and daughters but at least it could help a little bit. and you're talking about literally peanuts. we do not fight a war, and the keys over to people that hate s, and we go into afghanistan, we

fight, our kids get blown up, and then we leave. we win the we do not win. when not soldiers and more, we are policemen. they are all saying very strongly, very, very strongly -- [inaudible] there is no public government. it was supposed to be our government but it is not working out. and that is the problem that we have in this country. people like this. that is the problem that we have in this country, a big problem. [cheers and applause] now as far as libya is concerned, we do not have any policy in libya. we do not know what we are doing in libya. we have no idea who the rebels are. i hear the rebels are from iran. i hear they are al qaeda.

hi. there are lots of problems with the rebels. i am only interested in libya if we get the oil. if we do not get the oil, no interest whatsoever. [cheers and applause] very interesting. the arab league -- this is one of the great moments of the history of the united states from an embarrassment standpoint. france led the charge. can you believe this? france sent the first planes in. obama could not even give us that. the arab league composed of saudi arabia and the richest nations in the world ask us to go in and read them of gaddafi who they do not like. why are they paying us to do this? why did we not ask them for payment? they would have paid whatever we wanted. if i would have said, listen, we want $5 million.

do you know what that is? that is nothing for these people. i just told to the airport story. that is nothing for these people. they should pay us. so we are already into libya for hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars, we are in there for so much, hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars, unbelievable. we are breaking the sacred barrier very soon and what are we going to do, why are we doing this, with all of the problems, why are we doing this? so if we do it, we want the oil. it was recently reported that china's economy grew at a far higher rates, 9.8% in the fourth quarter. we are stagnant and we're like nothing. 9.8%, what were we? 1.4%?

and those numbers were tainted, believe me. the fact is, this happened again because of all of the business that they are getting from the world but mostly from the united states. because of the manipulation. we are fast becoming a country of broken dreams, sadly, and i hear you all the time, and it is a serious matter. i am very strong on this. we ever have a country are we do not. -- we either have a country or we do not. [cheers and applause] all one thing i have never heard, and that as people of achievement, i know many incredible people from south america, from europe, from asia -- they went to the best colleges, they went to our colleges, they want to be here and work. we do not let them in. and yet, and yet, i've had so many people begging me if i can

help them, they'd think i know all the senators, and it is impossible to get the man. you come from europe or latin america or different places, you graduate with master's degrees, if you put people to work, you cannot come into this country. but if you are a criminal, a sex offender, a rapist, a murderer, quite frankly someone who has never done anything in you were able across the border to stay in our country, in some cases with benefits, and never leave, what is going on? [cheers and applause] now -- despite what you hear from washington, and this will be the big problem because they have so weakened the dollar, but despite what you here in washington, inflation is rampant. the food crisis -- food prices had their biggest increases since 1974. that will be nothing compared to

what is going to happen to you at the gasoline pump. gasoline prices have gone up 57% since obama took office two years ago, and rising gas prices will absolutely kill any movement in the economy. that is the blood of the economy. since then, you know what has happened, it is gone much higher. between our pathetically weak dollar and our president's inability to rein in the opec nations, fuel prices will be hitting levels never even dreamt up before. good luck, folks, when you want to take a nice ride with your wife or your husband. you will be buying lifelines -- cotton is probably the worst thing happening anywhere. cotton is unbelievable what has happened a cotton prices.

and yet you speak to president obama, and he will tell you that inflation is under control. where is he living? the truth is, he lives in the world of the make believe, in my opinion. and even the fact that he became president is the world of make- believe. how did this happen? [cheers and applause] obama and is on willing or unable to show his birth certificate. he has lousy marks in school. he got into harvard on a scholarship. by the way, i have friends that have kids that have all a's and had the highest aptitude tests, they can i get into harvard. -- they cannot get into harvard. he gets into harvard. oh, israel. she said, how about is real.

i have so many jewish friends that are supporting obama and i say, are you crazy? there is been there -- there never has been anyone worse for israel than obama. [cheers and applause] thank you. stand up, take about. [cheers and applause] there has never been any president worse for israel. and yet i have friends, oh, you have to come to a fund raiser, or my park avenue apartment. i say, obama? no thanks. what would you have fund-raisers for obama? it is hard to believe. anyway, now listen to this, he did one year in his life and that was a real estate deal for an expansion of this house at below fair market value from a monster, a campaign contributor, and what is best friends who

ended up going to jail, and obama was hardly even looked at. ok? his name is tony rescko. if anyone in this audience and did what he did, you would not be here today. how he is getting away with this, and this whole birth certificates and, if the whole thing is incredible. all right. a couple of little things. [inaudible] you give me some good ideas. you people are worse than i am. [laughter] bill errors. should i do it? i am -- i love you. ok. she is shouting out what about bill ayers? he was a terrorist, a bad guy, but he was obama best friend. he dropped tony, a jobs bill,

and he bought a house, we all know about housing. he buys resco -- rescko buys a house next to it. obama was to build on to his house. sells them part of his life at part of the market value. that ruins a lot for him. he buys this time. not only was it under market, but he rendered the rest of the piece of land useless. now when i heard that, i said, that is the end of his campaign. that is the end of him. i did not know him. i did not care. but i heard it and i said that

was the end of his campaign. nothing. he is president of the united states. can you believe this? bill ayers, i did not want to get into because i would get wordy, as obama would say it. he was a terrorist, but he is a genius. he is a genius. there has been a long controversy about obama's first book, who wrote it. bill ayers came out and said he does not like obama because obama has not treated him well because he dropped him and like he did the lebanon very rev. right. we will talk about reverend wright. bill ayers in my opinion -- i've wrote part of the biggest selling business book of all time.

someone number one bestsellers, so i know a lot about books. the man that wrote the second vote, he made a big mistake when he wrote the sec that book, he only did it for a couple of books. the man who wrote the second book did not write the first book. the first book was written by ernest hemingway. the cycle was written by a high school graduate. -- the second was written by a high school graduate. and yet, and yet, and yet if you think about it, without that first book, which he did not write, there is no way, because i read both votes, there is no way that he wrote that first book. there is no way. bill ayers was not involved. there is no way that the man who wrote the second pope wrote the first vote. here's the story. here's the story. if he does not write the first

book, and the first book is book, he is not president. this was the genius of the first book, ridden by bill ayers. ok, so it is very sad. [inaudible] he has got enough problems. ready? [inaudible] ok, ok. i want to finish by stating the following. it is hard to believe what has happened. it is hard to believe that obama became the president of the united states, not because of race, not because of color, not because of anything, but because of all the things that we now

know about. why did he spend millions of dollars trying to get out of the birth certificate issued grissom why is it that his grandmother said that he was born in kenya and then 51 seconds later, it was like, uh, uh? how did this all happen? he get the nobel peace prize. think about it. he got the nobel peace prize. just think about it. no, al gore was a big step above. our country has so many bad issues, three wars, an economy that is absolutely terrible, rapid inflation that our leaders refused to it knowledge, and infrastructure crumbling, and many more problems. in places like china, india, saudi arabia, and many others, they are building, as i said,

airports, bridges -- it is the most unbelievable sight, there is a crane on every corner. we are the saudi arabia of natural gas. we are a country that actually despite what everyone things, we have a lot of oil and we do not let people drill. we have coal, we have oil, we have lots of different things. we do not let our people use it. it all has to do with what is going on. it all has to do with your leadership. it all has to do with the person on top. a little story -- the womanize getting in central park, it is a good as -- a good example of what can be done in the free market. the city of new york spent eight years and $21 million, you probably remember because the

taxes are so high in new york and new left and the weather is not as nice, $21 million they were unable to get the rank company. it was a great embarrassment to the city. i ask to take over the project before my kids got too old. i could not take them ice skating. i asked to take over the project. after four months and $1.8 million and a big portion of that was in demolishing all of the incompetent work that was done, and today it is a case study in many of the great businesses. i did it in four months. it took them eight years. i did it for $1.8 million. just tell little focus. very recently right down the road in palm beach, i bought a house in bankruptcy court for $41 million. what can i say?

they bought a house in bankruptcy court for $41 million and sold it up fairly short time later for almost $100 million. isn't that the kind of thinking that this country needs? [cheers and applause] making good deals is how a country thrives. that is why you'll see all of these countries taking advantage. they have so much money, they can build their airports in schools and hospitals and all the things that we need. so you need that kind of thinking. and by the way, whether it is me or somebody else, you must have that kind of thinking. it is imperative. we cannot continue to go on like this. [inaudible] if i decide to run, and if they win -- [cheers and applause]

-- if i win, thank you. i will not be raising taxes. but i will be taking in billions of dollars from other countries and will be creating vast numbers of productive jobs, productive, productive. and i will rebuild our country very the united states will be great again. thank you all very much. [cheers and applause] ♪ "living inwn's america" playing]

♪ >> now political roundtable on the issues of the week and strategist for the 2012 campaign. this is from today's ww j." want to welcome jamal simmons democratic strategist and leslie sanchez republican strategist. thanks for being with us. how serious is the president in reducing the deficit? guest: that is a good question for jamal. i think republicans are open minded and you saw two-thirds of the cuts were proposed by the republicans and the president after this election cycle is talking the right game but i think there is a lot of concern about the president's speech this week and his long-term impact. it sounds more like politics

than it does good governance. i think they would argue that they are looking at all the different pieces of the component of a deal. you can't just balance the budget and deal with the deficit on one end of the ledger which is spending cuts. you have to look at revenues and reduce spending cuts is not just domestic. you have to look at entitlements and defense cuts. and then you have to pay attention to the places where you can make up some of the money on the domestic side. the thing about the ryan budget, it is the only budget, whether it is any of the other plans or president's plan, it is the only one that doesn't deal with revenues. that makes it not credible. it is like the congressional black caucus budget that is all tax increase. so on the ryan side you have all spending cuts and black caucus side all tax increases.

it will be between those two the. host: paul ryan is the cover story of the national review. this story gets to the essence of where the country is, the role ogovernment. this is called "ryan's new deal." are we at the press piece business -- precipice of where these programs are, mecare, medicaid, social security? guest: those of us who think the new de deal feels a good idea a ready to have that discussi discussionmediscussion. only 18% of americans think medicare should be having a major fix and 13% think it should have a total overall. that 31%. that leaves 69% of americans that think it should be left alone or have minor fixes. host: but two-thirds of the budget is medicare, medicaid, cial security and defense. sof you look at a$15 trillion

deficit the cuts have to come somewhere. guest: the president talked about dealing with it on the prescription drug side and there are things you can do that don't require you to turn it into a block grant that you hand out stipends to seniors and negotiate their own rates. that will raise costs as much as $6,000 per senior. host: leslie, two wars. medicare part d that was not adequately fund and bush tax cuts that will cost the government $4.2 trillion in revenue. guest: i think there are two different parts i want to talk about. i don't think republicans and many conservatives feel the president is serious about reduction. there is a fundamental debate about that. he is not -- i think it was just this cursory illusion to --

to entitlements. that is the most significant aspect, a system that will not be solvent within nine years and as the ryan plan is taking a serious look at that based on recommendations that did come from conservative democrats. is a nonarter. you talk about surveys. i have 64% to 29% realize the air. caller: hey. can you hear me? host: sure can. you are seeing movement with this very difficult budget process to look at the ways they can cut this for long-term solvency. host: the president talked about it this week on the campus of geor washington university in a speech in which he outlined his budget agenda. then yesterday in his weekly address. >> it is a vision that ss at a time when other nations are hustling to outcompete us for jobs and businesses we have to make drastic cuts in education, infrastructure and clean

insurance. the very investments we need to win that competition and get good jobs. it is a vision that says to reduce the deficit we have to end medicare as we know it and make cuts to medicaid that would left millions of seniors, poor children and americans with disabilities without the care they need. even as it proposes cuts it would give tax breaks to the wealthiest 2% of americans. an extra $200,000 for every millionaire and billionaire in the country. i don't think it is right to ask seniors to pay thousands more for health care and students to postpone college so we don't have to ask those who have prospered so much to give back a little more. host: your response to his comments yesterday which carried out what he said last week and he will talk more about them this week. guest: i think they are trying

to paint this as more like a political speech than a realistic one in terms of leadership. we talked about one of the things is price controls. we know 50% of doctors who won't take medicine kaid or medicare because of the reimbursement policy. it is a system that that is not going to work. i think the ryan plan is correct, it won't work as it is now and the president needs to be serious about it with respect to spending and transforming these pricing options. host: senator coburn delering the republican response on the medicare and medicaid here is what he had to say. >> his planncludes a debt plan that fails toarget the debt. entitle spending is more than 80% of the long-term debt burden exempts them from

reform by saying they are sound when they are not. he is jeopardize being the benefits for the americans he says he wants to protect. host: jamal simmons, your response. guest: i think the president and democrats take into account entitlement spending has to be dealt with. in all of the plans out of the house plan, the budgetommittee lead put out and president's plan they deal with spending and they deal with medicare and those issues. they also deal with the revenue side. the issue is the republicans are being given credit for taking this on but there is not a lot of courage to say let's cut domestic spending which the republicans have been against. let's reform entitlements which trying to have been take out. the question is because the currently is for the republicans who will say we have to deal with revenue raisers. i wrote a column in t"new york

times" about saxby clam chambliss but i give him credit because he and co-burn and the gang of six in the senate are willing to use the word taxes in talking about the deficit. we have to have a way that includes taxes and spending cuts some the problem. host: we will get to phone calls in a moment and you can send us an e-mail. or join the conversation online at twitter.com/cspanwj. i want to go back to something that is on the website at politico called d.c. is angry at the budget deal and president obama. there is a related story below the fold in the "washington post" c. right opponents to obama what gives? president obama's arrival two years ago inconspired un-abashed optimism in the district who yearned for their quest for

statehood. it says they are disappointed. . they are. as aesident of washington, d.c. i'm disappointed. what you don't want to have happen is 600,000 or 700,000 be us as bargaining chip on capitol hill. the people who live in washington ought it be able it decide their fate and apparently that is not the case the way things work in washington. people in the district are upset. we saw it the mayor and other officials were arrested protesting. host: mayor gray was with us yesterday. leslie, what does this tell you about the president and his base? guest: i think he has a big problem not only with the base but with independents. if you look at polls he ist a low but he continues to slip. a pattern we saw with republicans in april of 2009 and continues to fall in support of fiscal and spending issues with independents. we are still 18onths from the

you have a lot of concern about the direction of the country. host: this morning monday can davy has this. madison, wisconsin, sarah palin at rally yesterday her appearance offered an early hint at wisconsin's rising significance in the presidential race ahead. the place has long been a battle ground but what seems clear is ters are energized and that offers prospects on both sides. guest: if you look at wisconsin we have to be serious. wisconsin has gone for the democrats in the presidential election i think in every election since ronald reagan's re-election in anyone -- since 1984. it is a state democrats ultimately do well in. what we saw last year is not the same democratic turnout in previous elections during the midterm and it is always a little dicier because you don't get the young performance,

minorities who show up, all the women who support democrats that show up. that makes it more conservative. host: yet the president has been there more often than any other state. guest: else looking at the electoral map. it is always part of the calculation in the white house. regardless if you are republican or democrat. what you are seeing is a catalyst for movement of how both the public sector and private sector are going to be dealg with an economic crisis. i think you are seek that spread across the country in terms of having a debate about collective bargaining, what should be on the table. host: we'll go to barbara. good morning. caller: good morning, steve. you didn't hear me last time. i tried to get in. host: yeah, i apologize. we're glad you're with us. you get the first call of the round table segment.

the forum is yours. caller: that gentleman said that, too, to me, the receptionist. fit of all, may i just make a comment on donald trump running for office? number one, he is a citizen. number two, he knows that there's only 50 states, not 57. now, to this issue, i like both of them. by the way, you are so tall. you tower over these other two. but as far as -- >> it's a high chair here. [laughing] caller: as far as entitlements, i'm tired of the foreign entitlements except for israel. if we stop all of these trillions and billions -- whatever we pay to these foreign countries who turn around and stab us in our backs, then i think we could use that to help the entitlements in the united states. with that i'll leave you alone.

thanks for taking my call. host: thanks for trying a second time. we apologize. i'm glad that bill was polite on the phone to get you through. was very polite. and would you write him up for being a professional, knowledgeable, conscious, polite. he's an asset to "washington journal." host: you're not his mother, are you? caller: no. and he didn't even pay me. [laughing] host: thank you, barbara. bill is smiling right now. guest: yes. guest: that's a great recommdation. youear this a lot, this question about foreign spending being way we can make up the budget deficit. it's just really not that much money. it's not trillions of dollars, it's billions. and it's a small billions. the president talked about that in his speech, that you just can't get to where we're supposed to go. host: we have our own facebook

page. and leslie sanchez, in this era of bipartisanship, you just posted >> yes. host: where was this taken? >> in your lobby, in your greenroom. guest: i have to catch up with leslie. host: back to your calls. frank, new jersey. good morning. caller: how are you doing? host: fine. you. caller: i think the that issue here on the budt is pretty simple in most cases. there is cuts that have to be made. but on the revenue side, i would bring the taxes up to 42% at the highest rate, for one. and on the other side, as far as medicare and social security is concerned, i would lift the cap completely off. ju take the cap right off. and everyby pays the 8.2% or whatever it comes out to. and that will solve your

problems with social security for the next century. the idea that you can make cuts in the arm service -- can't make cuts in the armed services is ridilous. the boots on the ground in afghanistan, iraq, in the middle east, is also ridiculous. i was in the service myself. i know a little bit about intelligence. that's where all the efforts should have been put. we are wasng money in so many areas. but the one area that you don't want to rely cut off is the safety net for the old. i mean, here you're killing -- there's all types of ways of killing people. you can murder them. you can send them to war. you can, you know, plague them with diseases. but now you're saying you want to plague them with apathy. caller: we'lget a response what about that issue which the president outlined this week? >> i think there's a lot of

common ground on the safety net issue. i was telling jamal about this. i had experience with medicare and my family. and mother had to have an emergency bypass operation. and we've been dealingith l of these procedures. i tell you, it is a core tenant of what the fabric is of many of our seniors and many of these families whether they're caregivers or parents. and i think fundamentally we need to agree as republicans and democrats, we want to make medicare stronger and solvent. to do it in a responsible way because there are many families across the country, much so like mine that need it. but it needs to be attainable. hostthis past week we covered a mber of events in new hampshire. including an appearance before the manchester public federation of women. haley barber talking about the president, politics, and 2012. here's a portion of that event. >> this is an administration

that has a habit of politicizing every subject. and we saw that in spades yesterday. when the president valued paul ryan to sit on the front row for his speech and said that the republican budget was unmore un-american, un-american, because in his mind not havin taxes $1 trillion in new on the american people was un-american. well, we could have honest disagreements about issues. easterand we do. an if we'll make the campaign about those, we'll win. because the american people know we're right. >> mississippi governor haley barber. do it, steve. host: tommy is joining from us long island. good morning. go ahead, tommy, you're on the air. caller: hey. can you hear me?

host: sure can. caller: leslie, i got to tell you, the republican party is being held hostage by the tea party. how can anyone rational cutting, one make the case to cut pell grants? that case was made 25 years ago during the reagan administration. you just can't do that. and then don't tackle any cuts in terms of military and, more over, don't raise any type of revenue from those at the top. you just can't. and, leslie, you talked about the issues you were going through in your personal family with medicaid, i believe -- guest: medicare. caller: you're absolutely right. people look at those issues, they personalize it and say this doesn't make sense to my family if it doesn't make sense in that regard, from a national standpoint it doesn't make sense. you just can't cut certain things. do you have to raise revenue, but there has to be some cuts. i agree with that. the complexity of the republican party is trying to distance

themselves from the tea party that is too conservative. and i think, jamar, you're right when you talk about the congressional black caucus. they have to be a little more balanced. they have to. but what's going win this election is those who are in the middle. and i think obama is doing the best he can. he was dealt a very unfavorable hand. i think he has come in true to form. he's moving towards that center, trying to find common ground. so i do like his response as it relates to the budget. host: tommy, thanks for the call. while he was phoning in we had this from dennis lane. you can respond to these points of view. republicans want to privatize responsibility to the very corporations which proved each and every day how irresponsible they are. so to both of these points? guest: the privatization, i think competition is what republican are arguing for. that that is one thing that can enhance and equalize the system. i think with the other part, i

a fair point to that, to look at with this the size. people have looked at insurance company that way. there's a high degree of skepticism, both about the government efficacy in the space. but also, you know, corporations. i don't think anybody h escapes that. i think that's a fair debate. part of this is to bring this out through transparency and have a real dialogue about it. this kind of campaign jockeying and these sound bites which we engage in all the time, but theslatively just down street is not taking us seriously. host: rach frel texas. good morning, independent line. caller: yes. the republicans are talking cutting the debt by 38%. and the bush tax cuts to the rich has cost us $417 billion a year. you get a tax break if you own a business. and why should the rich people worry about opening a business

when they're already getting a tax break. they spend most of their money on vacation homes in brazil. they don't invest -- like in jobs. most of the jobs are created by small people making less money than $250,000. host: we'll get a response. jamal? as i: well, as much think -- what i think is everyone in the country actually wants to be in the same pot together. and you talkound to people about this. what you hear the most oen is people understand the fix that we're in as a country. and they necessarily want to participate or are willing to participate. i was with the union leader, a leader of one of the major unions last week who said to me their union members are willing to take pay freezes, benefit cuts. but they just want to make sure that they're not the only ones paying the burden. they want to make sure that the wealthy are also going to be in the pot together. look at what's happened over the last few years where the united states bailed out the banks, and the banks

went ahead and gave bonuses to their executives it it gives a lot of people in the country pause to say, wait a minute. we've got to cut spending and we've got to lower pensions and trench a little bit. where dot wealthy get in the pot with us and have to pay a little something extra themselves. so i think business people do create job. i think we have a tax policy that encourages growth and helps people to do more business. but we also have to make sure that everybody's paying their fair share as we deal with this big, huge mountain of debt. host: i want to follow up on your piece of the "new york times" website. the group is looking at budget cuts. "political co-" this morning writing about the biden deficit pam which is already starting slowly. points that the president calls for a working group, but so far it's off to a shaky start. lawmakers in both parties expressing skepticism about another round of talks and the house already agreeing to reduce the number of participants after complaints

from congressional leaders. guest: and we saw the democratic side, the senate proposed, nancy pelosi proposed chris van hollen and congressman clyburn to be the delegates on the democratic side. to hear theg republican names that will come out to be a part of this commission. and the president's going to have to -- i tnk the vice president is the one who's charged with dealing with this. and he's going to go up to the hill to be a part of it. we've all got to get serious. we'll see what happens if they can come together. host: another round of talks. another series. guest: we've been down that road. i think, again, there's aot of healthy skepticism about this. we saw the health care proposal, deficit initiatives. some of them never even got out of the starting gates. it's not always the best sotion. i think there have been many plans on the table. people want to see get to the process legislati a lot faster difficult to want to take issue with one ofhe points about i think it's a false argument about raising taxes on the rich because we know

perfectlwell many of the people based on the way they file their taxes, these small business owners file to proprietiers. they don't consider themselves rich. they have inventory, families, health insurance. have to provide for their employees. takes big burden. but it's also the catalyst for economic growth in this country. that is the type of red tape and deregulation that we're looking for, i think, overa to spur the economy again. so i don't think it's necessarily this big, false, rich wall street versus main street argument all the time i think many cases it's small businesses that are penalized the most. host: the question sufficient the paul ryan plan who give people tax cuts. can you at least go to the position of a chuck schumer who says let's do something for people who make or $1 million a year. but at some point there's got to be a place where the wealthy are asked to do something to help resolve this problem and not leave it all on the elderly and the working people. guest: i think that's the same argument you see walter monday dale making even today.

the idea of increasing taxes. the campaign argument i ran on 1984 didn't work then, i don't see how it's going to work now, you know, revenue raisers, tax decreases you saw them in the obama health care plan. you see that republicans and conservatives are trying to do something to migate that, increase in taxes, and the lack of economic growth businesses are concerned about the full effect of obama's health caver law. the is, i don't think, a strong appetite -- it's going to be part of what the gang of six is going take an. but there's not a strong appetite when you talk about tax hikes. host: how to raise taxes without losing votes. it's pointed out that in 1994, i told the american people that i'd have t raise taxes. and, in fact i lost the election but won the argument because reagan ended up increasing taxes in 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1987 to mend the budget and also to tax systems. in the essence of what walter mondale is saying today is that

barack obama is saying i'll raise taxes in targeted areas if the american people would support something like that. guest: i think it's still mixed. let's not forget that rage rage also reduced the mancheinal tax rates. you saw the 20-year period of economic growth because of his policies, more private enterprise, more growth in the small business sector. when you're talking about those taxings, again, back to the gang of six, i think there's going to be probably the biggest part of the debate on the senate side is whether or not to close these loopholes. you're already seeing some of the conservatives pusng back on that. it's going to be a vy difficult fight. guest: we do have to give the republicans credit. they want cuts for everybody, and state budgets, cut pensions for firefighters and cops they want poo cut medicare for social security. social security recipients are seniors. then they want to cut taxes for

the wealthy. but that's not the kind of shared sacrifice people want. if we're going to cut things for people who are working and seniors, people on the lifeline of america, we ought to at least cut some of the loopholesnd get the healthy and the people who have more assets to be able to participate mor where i thinkce you lose people in this conversation. host: let's get roger onhe phone. he's been waiting from georgia, republican line with leslie sanchez and jamal simmons. good morning, roger. caller: good morning i just have a couple of things i wanted to touch base on. first off, i paid social security taxes in when i was working for other businesses most all my life. ok. and now there's a possibility that they may not be there enever i get ready to retire. i'm 60 now. have just started a business of my own because the --

[indiscernible] a smart move -- [indiscernible] in that event, we lost a lot of small memberships which involved a lot of people that are ground floor, just like me. i'm educated automobile mechanic. in the event that we get up there, why can't we determine a way -- and i feel like you and coress, republican and democrat, are working on it. but why can't we develop a way to keep from taking from them? if you took the interest from what i paid all my life and gave it to me as my retirement, me being conservative, and living on my means and not above them? host: thanks for the call, roger. leslie? guest: to some extente's talking about the argument in the 1990's, private savings accounts, people invest their own money. after financial crisis people were skeptical, still, about

that plan. but part of the reason is people are living longer, thank goodness, life expectancies. the amount of revenues that are going in are different. but the costs overall are a lot higher that we're paying back. it's not means tested. there's a lot of -- reasonable solutions we tend to have quick fixes for social security. but i think medicare and medicaid are much higher on the list of outgoing outlays, the government, the responsibilities that we have that are going to bankrupt us a lot sooner. host: and this twitter four, jamal simmons. which is worse, cutting social security by letting the dollar decline in buying power and give no cost of living increases? guest: which is worse? i don't know that that's the choice we face. when we talk about social security, one of the callers who called in a second ago had a good idea, which is let's raise the capn taxing social security. so right now i think we stopped taking social security taxes

from people after a certain dollar amount. people want to raise that cap so that you go a little bit higher so the wealthier pay more into the social security system, which seems to make some sense. maybe you raise the retirement age a little bit. but you've got to be careful. because there are some people who work with their bodies, arms and legs not with minds mostly like us all day. there are some pple out there in textile mills, auto factories, they can't work as long. so if we raise the retirement age, we have to deal the folks who can't workonger. we have to find a way to deal with the entitlements that is fair and equitable. but we can't do it all on the cutting side. that makes people nervous. we have to look at closing some of the loopholes, getting rid of some of the bush tax cuts from a couple of years ago. certainly not cutting taxes more for people who make over $300,000. host: both of our guests have experience on the capitol hill and white house with respect to their political parties. jamal is a democrat, an analyst

for cbs news and cbsnews.com. and leslie sanchez, i have to ask you about resurgent republic. what is that? >> it's a 501c4. it's a transparent organization. we do focus groups and research to talk about what the government is discussing. and we try to provide insight on what a lot of independent voters, voters 55 and over, small business leaders what america is really thinking. host: and your website lesliesanchez.com. the link available at c-span.org. ron, independent line from wisconsin. good morning. caller: yes. i'd ju like to make a few comments. and then i have a question for you. i think we need to take a hard look at who we run for president next time. the current tax and spend policies despised as investments that we're currently seeing here from our president just don't

well with people in america here. currently in wisconsin, we're fighting a hard fight to separate our government unions from our politics. as you see with our last judicial election, that's still up in arms. we're trying to break that hole there -- hold there. host: jamal simmons, your response? guest: wisconsin is the hotbed of what's been going on in terms of state budget cuts around the country. but what's interesting about happened in wisconsin is it's actually brought a lot of people who maybe were sit on the fence over to the side of more progressive policies. one thing that you've seen in that usually firefighters and police officers are among the most conservives union members. and although they're members of unions, they don't tend to get out in the frontlines and join arms. but what we've seen in wisconsin is it brought firefighters and police officers into the same picket lines with teachers and with construction workers and

all the other people in that movement. so in some ways, moving people who ought to be allies of the republican governor, moving them away. and if you look at scott walker and the governor 6 of wisconsin, look at his pole ratings, they are under 50%. he's losing more support the longer this goes on. so in some ways this may have been the best thing to happen from union movement, to give people focus. what they don't want to have happen is take collective bargaining and give working people no organized way tone gauge. host: and yet the gallup poll had the president's rating down to 41%. guest: i know. it's bad. guest: we agree on something today. guest: it's bad. i think the president's got to -- i think they're focused on trying to deal with that. one of the reasons that's the case is the approval rating among democrats is going down 77%. that'she number, though, that i think he can make up in the end. but the independent reigning i think troubles the white house. you have to move the republicans. they still don't like them as the independents and democrats moved away. they've got to fix that.

guest last week on spoil' "newsmakers" the chair of the republican national committee. the essence of the story is that he's brought down the r.n.c. debt to below $20 million. he's also made inroads with major donors, party leaders on capitol hill and k. street chipping away at the debt he inherited from michael steele. he had a payroll of $400,000 and only $350,000 in the bank. guest: very true. he hit the ground running. he came with a specific plan to restore kind of fiscal respsibility, come up with a vision for the future. and he gave a lot of encouragement back to the donors whom are concerned about where the direction of the r.n.y. was going. they came back in a strong way. i think they're very excited out the opportunities for 2012. this comment from twitter, twitter.com/c-spanwj.

shared sacrifice includes all, rich and pr, young and old, sick and healthy, public and private, union and nonunion. no more class warfare. i read that tweet because the president last week in his speech in chicago, a series of three fundraisers in which he helped collect $2 million for the democratic national committee as he makes inroads in what is expected to be up to $1 billion. at least $750 million that he will raise for his re-election effort. and here's how president obama frames the debate for 2012. >> that's why i'm going need your help now more than ever. this campaign is still in its early stages. but now is the time when you can help shape it to make sure it gets out of the gate. strong. let me tell you. you know, i'm a little dinged up.

[inaudible] [cheers and applause] >> i know there are times when some of you have felt frustrated because we've had to compromise with the replicans on some issu. there have been times people are frustrated because we didn't get the first twoe in years. there have been times where i felt the same way you do. but you i know what? we knew this would not leave. we knew that on a journey like this, there are going to be setbarks -- setbacks, detours. there are going to be times where you stumble. but we also knew tt each and every juncture in our history when our future was on the line, when we were at a cross roads like we are now, the country came together. we were able to make the changes we needed. host: michael len posted this piece -- michael len posted this speech shortly after the

president's speech. the first job is to reconnect. guest: reconnect. revision history. i'm kidding. he's onef the most unique communicators. it's astounding, his ability to do that. the problem are the facts kind of have to come into the debate. there's a few different things. you talked about the lack of supported, the decrease in support, among the democrats. ly 35% of independents support -- believe in the president's job performance so far. he has some significant challenges. it's all resting on the economy, fiscal responsibility, where the onomy is in november of next year. it's really going to dictate a lot of where this election glows. we've talked about the class warfare. i thought that tweet was very interesting. no class warfare. nobody should be left out. right i think this whole idea of pitting a working class is not part of the conservative movement of the republican party, this and that. those are old debates. they're tired.

people want fiscal restraint, responsible leadership. even safety net programs continue to grow under the current budget that we just passed. they want to see the type of welfare reform that we saw in the 1990's when you had president clinton and republicans come together. it was very painful, having been there, but came together to have responsible government that powered back with the governors and allowed those governors to make >> tomorrow douglas holtz-eakin compares the president and the republicans a budget proposal. a discussion of the impact of the 2011 budget cuts on epa. and john spratt talks about the commission's proposals for capping discretion -- discretionary spending through 2020 and cutting security and 2020 and cutting security and