florida, rex got and a connecticut democrat and a member of the financial services committee. at 9:00 eastern, our series on jobs in america concludes with a segment on women in the work force. our guest are the census bureau director >> good morning. you are watching "washington journal/." it has been a big week for republican presidential hopefuls, something the iowa state fair, a two-hour debate last night on fox. the announced entry of texas gov. rick perry which will be official this week and. preparation for saturday's ames straw poll. the opportunity to see and hear

more of the republican field. we want to open up our phone lines for this first half-hour to ask for your opinion of the folks you are seeing are vying for the presidency. here are the lines -- we have a line is more for those from iowa. if we want to hear what to think of the field as it shapes up. we will get to your calls with the morning newspaper and hear your tweets, facebook posts, and emails during the first half- hour of "washington journal." good friday morning. ben smith is the chief political writer for political, watching the republican hopefuls in iowa. looking at the headlines today, ben smith, gop debate hitting hard at each other at obama in

iowa. the atlanta journal, gop hopefuls joust in iowa. gloves come off during the debate. this bird post, they like the gloves analogy -- pittsburgh post, they like the gloves analogy. what was noticeable for you last night? guest: the race sort of changed and solidified certain candidates, starting to drop in contests and asking voters to choose. the most visible and exchange was between former minnesota gov. tim pawlenty and congresswoman michele bachmann. they went at it quite aggressively in terms of michelle bachman basically saying tim pawlenty was to political, and hymns and she has no record. the-and he said she has no

record. suddenly, mitt romney, was not really the target of attack, started to add a case against texas gov. rick perry who will enter the race looks like this week. use of mitt romney say, herman cain and i are the only ones who can only do this job because we a private sector experience. i think that was the beginning of an argument against rick perry. host: in the national polls, is an estimate the difference adding rick perry to the lineup. guest: it seems to draw a certain amount in the national polls, but those are pretty meaningless at this point did rick perry has a long way to go. we will see. host: talk about the straw poll on saturday. c-span will provide live coverage, every minute of it.

what will it mean in the end? guest: well, the straw poll, somewhere around 10,000 people probably who will come and be courted by these various candidates. it is a show of strength. right now, i think the reason you saw michelle bachmann and tim pawlenty attacking each other so fiercely, it is not how many candidates are scarcely surviving, it is a test of strength. host: it is likely some of the second and third tier candidates might decide the voters are speaking to them? guest: yes, but i guess the media may essentially decided for them. tim pawlenty has been working hard to win. he has -- he looks good on paper. there is a sense he has to show voters that someone wants to

vote for him, support him. he and michele bachmann are competing intensively. host: thank you for being with us this morning. we will show our viewers a few clips from the debate last night and hear what they think about the candidates. ben smith, thank you for your time today. let's get your telephone calls with your reaction. yesterday at the iowa state fair, mitt romney made some news. he had an exchange with people in the crowd. we're really interested in what you think. let's begin with a call from ohio. carroll is a democrat there. caller: i have been watching the gop primary race. i think their corn to try to kill each other to see who can get the furthest right, be far,

far right. i am a moderate far, far right is too far for me. i do not a think there will have a chance with moderates like me. there are more moderates like me in the united states than there are far right and far liberal. host: as a moderate democrat, are you romance of all? would you cross party lines? caller: none of them appeal to me. host: but would you consider voting in any case for a republican? caller: yes, if they did not say cut taxes and do away with the apa. the way they talk, i do not want to do away with that. host: thank you. next, pittsburgh. bob is a republican. caller: what i noticed about the debate last night, the thing i shot -- the three i think should

drop out should be temple into, paul, and hunstman. i think is more like a trojan horse. he is more of a democrat i think that a republican. host: and why do you think they should drop out? caller: i did not like the answers. i thought paul was made about iran. pawlenty, i do not think anything about him. huntsman, he stayed mainly on what he was going to do. he did not bring up what i thought was more important, the economy. i am tired of hearing everyone complained about barack obama being on vacation. it is a lot of work trying to destroy a country that is 250 years old, especially when people are catching on to you. host: perhaps this decoster

sentiment, she writes -- it is way too early for this nonsense. we're seeking your reaction to the republicans campaigning for voters attention in advance of the iowa straw poll. you might enjoy this local reporting. for the 100th anniversary of the butter california, celebrations of the agricultural building tuesday morning before an unveiling of sculpture honoring young norma duffy who passed away june 26. look at that sculpture made of butter, one of the attractions each year at the iowa state fair. republican candidates were mixing it up there yesterday. riverside, california, michael, it independent. caller: good morning. host: what did you think of the candidates? caller: i was very impressed with ron paul. i do not see how anyone who saw that in its entirety would not

be. you could see clearly all of those other republicans are all the same. we will get the same old same old if we get them in there. he is talking about drawing the u.s. troops out of the world, minding our own business, concentrating on the u.s. and stop going around the world making enemies everywhere we go. that is a positive. citizens and veterans, people have no money. fighting wars everywhere when we need to grow. we are creating more enemies. i like his approach. being independent, i am definitely going to vote for him. draw trips down the world, that money can be used right here in the u.s. where it is needed. thank you for my time to speak. host: let's take a look at a new poll taken with rick perry in the race. mitt romney leading with 17%.

rick perry, 15%. really guiliani, 2%. on paul at 12%. michelle bachmann, 7%. herman cain, 5%. jon huntsman and tim pawlenty, -- sorry, tim pawlenty at 2%, huntsman at 4%. this is based on four and 49 republicans, a national poll. we will show you in iowa poll to get a difference. this is the minnesota post looking at results from a dumb one poll. -- des moines poll. michelle bachmann, 23%, leading with iowans. next is from albuquerque, new mexico. democrat. caller: good morning. how are you doing?

i want to say quickly, that was the most fun i've seen a long time. in terms of mudslinging. if i absolutely had to vote for someone, i think rick santorum did very well. i was pleasantly surprised. the rest of them, i am glad we do not have to vote for everyone right now. i think people need to understand -- i hope everyone understands, when the star wars in foreign countries, we're going to have problems. we're just seeing a lot more problems. we have to pay for these things. power in the 1 world. the we have to pay for these things as we go. that was the most fun i've seen a long time as far as mudslinging. rick santorum would be my man

and i absolutely had to vote. i am a democrat and i'm still stuck with my president. host: in the column, fears gop debate sets stage for intense campaign battle. thursday's two-hour debate for most the resemblance to a similar pattern in new hampshire two months ago. and that was an example of timid candidates on good behavior, this was the case of nearly ever needing to prove something and having little time to prove it. if this did not change the shape of the race, and underscored all of the candidate's sense that change is coming and they're anxious not to be left behind as the race heads into the fall. lancaster, pennsylvania is next. john is an independent. caller: good morning. how are you? there are some tracks second microwave. in the 1950's, the tax level was 90%.

in the 1960's, 70%. kennedy took it down to 50%. reagan took it to 28%. to have a responsible country, we have to have a higher tax rate. the tax rate just before the great depression was 25%. we cannot run a country without little. as far as this republican bunch, i would rather be waterboarded than vote for any of these guys. i'm not even vote for obama, but i would never vote republican. host: you can see yourself sitting out? caller: i would vote for bernie sanders or elizabeth warren. i would vice -- i would write someone in. obama has failed miserably. the republicans are no solution. host: and i was straw poll is more than it deserves iowa --

gets more than in deserves. that was on the debate. live coverage beginning at noon on saturday on this network. florida, a democrat. caller: good morning. john from pennsylvania, he is right. obama needs to be primary, as he expressed it. there is really no democracy, so to speak, in this electoral process that it has evolved into. back to your question, i enjoyed it quite a bit. i think showed a lot of insight into the various personalities involved. i like ron paul. he has a snowball's chance in hades. he is the most rational on the

national stage. michele bachmann i find fascinating. with regards to the cover shot in the newsweek there was a derogatory, that was photoshopped. anyway, thank you for your time. host: let's listen to one of the exchange's involving gov. pawlenty. >> she says she is fighting for these things. she fought for less government spending, we got a lot more. she led against obamacare, we got obamacare. she said she is a titanium spine, it is not her spine we're worried about but her record of results. if that is your view of the effective leadership, please, stop, because it is telling us. >> i was fighting against the implementation of obamacare and congress. barack obama, harry reid, nancy pelosi ran congress, but i gave

them a run for their money. i was there from the very beginning on cap and trade, giving nancy pelosi a run for her money. i was her number one target to defeat last year because i was effectively taking them on a nearly every argument they put forward. host: last night's two-hour fox debate. here are some emails, in. and another e-mail from massachusetts --

host: that is from a progressive in massachusetts, how he sees the republican field. next up, minnesota, republican with two of your home state politicians, what do you think about this? caller: i like both of the candidates. i like michele bachmann and i like tim pawlenty. i do not think there is as much excitement on tv or coverage as what there is out in public. i think you'll see a big change. i am curious about rick perry pitting i do not think will be as popular as what you think he is. i do not think everyone has come out. i think we will have a big surprise of who will win. it will be a republican. you have four democrats and one independent. now i am calling.

evidently, republicans are not watching you. host: our republican lines are lit and we're trying to work people in. next, twitter message -- host: the next phone call, tennessee, independent. caller: good morning. who would i vote for on the republican side would be ron paul because i like him very much. i want to make a comment. how come nobody ever asks the candidates what they want this job to do for them? they promise you one thing, get into office and could care less what the people want. that is what i see. the other point, they do not ask that question and i am tired of the missing open market, free market, when we have to bring the standard of living down to

what it is in mexico, reduce wages because that is what they're after. i am a former republican, but now i am an independent. it looks like i'm not going to go either way because i cannot vote for obama because i do not like him but i ain't seen nobody in the republican party except ron paul that i would vote for. thank you for your time. host: next, independent, redding, pennsylvania. good morning, frank. caller: these guys lost touch with reality i think. first of all, when you get elected, you have a job to do just like all this, not a democrat or republican. i am sure in every position -- when i go to work, i cannot say i am a democrat or republican. get rid of that. secondly, i do not think they understand where we are at. i am 76 years old and i have to borrow money to live.

nobody looks at inflation. they have to change so many things. i do not know if we have that kind of leadership that would say they must sacrifice. i do not hear them saying it would go on to social security. it is simple. ballplayers, $400 million and exxon, did not pay an extra in social security. there are so many things they can do. term limits. get rid of the irs to begin with. no pay taken out pretty good to sales tax. the worst thing i heard, they lowered the payroll tax. why would you do that when you're in so much trouble? host: thank you. next is a tweet --

host: from the washington post, texas gov. perry is running for president. announced a planned saturday. the spokesman said the governor would make his intentions known on saturday while visiting south carolina, new hampshire, just as most of his presidential rivals compete in a test vote in iowa. next, cleveland, republican. caller: how are you doing today? i enjoyed the debate last night. i thought it was great. the one thing that i really cannot figure out is why the republicans, why we're even talking about governor rick perry as a potential nominee. another governor from taxes. this after george w. bush. if you look at two recent polls and the economy, who do blame more, bush or obama?

they blame george w. bush more giving you the democrats are going to spend millions of dollars turning rick perry into george w. bush 2.0. the last thing we need to do in the 2012 election -- the same reason jeb bush is not running because of george w. bush, and no different than another governor from texas. the last thing needed to in the 2012 election is to drag george w. bush back into the campaign, and that way we will end up putting the senate in jeopardy and we ain't going to have no chance to win the white house. host: the have a candidate? caller: i really agree with herman cain and michelle bachmann, sort of. that is where my heart is that. in my mind, i am a pragmatist.

i think the most delectable ticket the weaken nominate that will win hands down is mitt romney. he will beat obama hands down, landslide. host: about eight minutes left. coming up after this, the governor of florida bricks caught taking your calls for our final segment today will be about women in the workforce, a five day look at the economy and work force. president obama on the campaign trail as well. here is from the new york times about his visit to michigan yesterday. obama urges voters to scold republicans. it is a sign perhaps the white house desperate search for a way for the mr. obama is hoping american voters are deeply discussed with congress but not exactly thrilled with him

either will make or some of rise and match and if the representatives see the error of their ways. for mr. obamacare sister, that perhaps the lowest point in his presidency was a chance to try to regain his footing and present himself as assured leader with proposals i will help the american track. mr. obama spent most of his remarks a selling group republicans who have knocked down most of his proposals. the president is on a bus tour and begins in minnesota. next is a call from iowa. republican. the morning. -- good morning. what you think about the field as they present themselves? debate. i was at the bei have eliminated a couple of people. ron paul, for one of them. he does not believe iran is a

threat to the united states and ahmadinejad is not a threat, either. the political guy was talking about being 10,000 people. four years ago, the coliseum holds 13,000 people and it was full to capacity. the floor was full with chairs. they're looking for a bigger crowd this year. chris wallace and newt gingrich, that was entertaining. the tone of it was little more aggressive than i was anticipating. host: is that a good thing? caller: i like them speaking their mind and going after the truth. it was not as aggressive as it appeared on tv.

i do not know if they showed when michele bachmann was not there, when it came back from a commercial break. but during the other commercials, they announced 60 seconds left for the candidates to get back to the stage. during that break, they were not announcing it over the system like they had prior to that. i think that is probably why she did not show up. host: are you going to the straw poll on saturday? caller: yes, i am. i am undecided. i registered with michelle bachmann. host: thank you, very much. and i won in the debate last night. we appreciate your call. this is florida, a democrat. caller: good morning, susan. how are you? your the first person to ever take my call. nice talking to begin.

the one to say i would not vote for anyone in the gop and i am someone who has voted for republicans. i voted for charlie crist twice. what the republican party needs to do is they need to give back to the roots, the roots of abraham lincoln and theodore roosevelt. he can get a real education by watching c-span. the folks at c-span need to read "the new deal to the new right." they need to read books like your book on alexander hamilton. it will find out the tea party is really don't risk the rebellion -- is really the whisky rebellion. a lot of people say they are not a hate group, but they are pretty lit that herman cain. he is backed by the tea party, attacked the president for his

birth certificate from the floor, but also herman cain is backed by american's for prosperity that cheered when the united states lost the olympics. that meant americans lost jobs. thank you. host: just a couple of minutes left in our discussion with you about the gop primary candidates as we saw them a much more detail this week. the 12 member congressional super committee is set within a point yesterday by minority leader nancy pelosi of her team. california congressman, james cliburn, chris and holland. c-span has a page on its website. you can find a list of all 12 members to this panel and also all of the links to our coverage of them in our video library. our next phone call is from pennsylvania. independent.

caller: thank you for taking my call. like i was saying before, when i used to be in business at the end of the day and i did not have any money,, i had to go home with little money. people in congress just do not understand. there's something missing. they live in a utopia, so to speak. areou're lying, you stealing. we have to tell the truth. we have to change campaign reform. it hurts people whether you're a democrat -- we need business and money to help. you have to have some kind of

regulation. you do not have to over regulate, but you do have to regulate and help people in need. we have to get a lot of people on both sides to work together. host: thank you, frank. caller: i think all of them -- i think is really speaks to the level of discourse of these candidates being considered. it makes me sad from mitt romney and rick perry, i think they're running a beauty contest for here. and michelle bachmann who never found a talking point she did not like. how can we possibly choose from any of these people? bign't know, i am not a obama fan, either, but i could never vote for any of these

people. host: is the economy number one on your list? caller: yes, education, and health care. i do not see eye with impossibly go on asking people to beg for health care in this country anymore. host: thank you for your call. live coverage to more on this network of the straw poll we will get an opportunity to watch iowans as to hear from the candidates, casting their votes for their preferences. this is one so called ritualistic step in the process of seeking the republican nomination. we'll take a quick break and be back with our first guest on this friday morning, joining us from florida, governor rick scott. >> we think good things can t inwos.

nonfiction books on good tv. >> listen to us on your iphone, to order, facebook. washington your way with c-span. critic by cable and provided as a public service. don't-created by cable and provided as a public service. host: track the latest campaign contributions easy-to-use, helps you navigate the political landscape with twitter feed and facebook updates from the campaigns. it links to cease and media partners -- links to the media partners. >> as an aspiring journalist,

i'm preparing myself for the very small salary that i will be starting out with. >> yet to be disciplined enough to put it aside your eyes and report the facts, the truth. >> the reason people of fox news unlike movies so much is because it is the emotional, love, hate. >> george mason university, aspiring high school journalists on ethics, the role of opinion and commentary, and where they get their news and information in today's multimedia and vermin. sunday on c-span. this week and on american history tv, who will visit the office of the darkest of the nine states as he shows historic documents that are personal interest to him. leon panetta recalls his years working the republican administration of richard nixon, eventual resignation, and switch to the democratic party. 50th anniversary of the bay of

pigs invasion, and author gives a critical look at you as to been relation -- u.s.-cuban relations. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us from florida, governor rick scott, republican, freshman republican governor. we're pleased to have you here this morning. i would like to start with national, about the republican debate last night in the upcoming straw poll. florida will be very important in this year. are you being courted regularly by republican hopefuls? how you make your decision about whether or not to endorse someone? guest: i went through the primary last year and i was not the established candidate. i like the primaries.

right now i am not endorsing anyone. i have had phone calls from many and they have asked, but i think we ought to have a healthy debate. i think this should be civil. i watched part of it last night and it seems like we talk about the issues and what people believe the way they do. host: looking at the news stories of your coverage, you've been taking some pummelling in the press. your poll numbers have been in the high twenties to mid '30's. what has this experience been like for you so far? guest: i started out living in public housing i had a sixth grade education. i got an education and joined the navy. i married a wonderful person i

bought businesses and built businesses. this is different and there is a lot more media attention. it is a great experience because if you want to try to have a positive impact on americans, and floridians in my case, you should run for office and tell people what they're going to do and do their best to get it done. host: is there a decision your first year of office to would like to do over? guest: there is no decision i would do differently. it is an interesting process. i think it is hard often to explain yourself. everybody is not going to agree with you. there's no decision i would do differently. changed some of the people who work with me. i had great people working with me in the beginning. it is different being a candidate, in a ceo of a company

as it is the governor. host: let's talk a little bit about your state and its economic situation. would you give us a snapshot of the unemployment level in your state and where it is training? guest: we're going in the opposite direction of the national economy. unemployment was 12% when i got into office. it is down to 10.6%. we generated 85,500 new jobs. i ran on a campaign of seven years, 700,000 jobs i think your second to texas in job creation. in may, we generated over 50% of the jobs created in the entire country. in june, a little over 25%. the negative, we of 10.6% unemployment and 900,000 people out of work. we have had a really good tourist season this year.

if you look at our growth, with a good tourist season. i think our panhandle is at record level of tourism. good growth in health care life sciences. we're heading in the right direction. we're not where we want to be yet. our unemployment rate has gone down. host: let me ask specifically about foreclosures and the whole real-estate market in florida. florida along states like nevada and epicenter of mortgage meltdown in 2008. has this stabilized? if not, what are your plans to get those foreclosed homes back into the market and people in them? guest: it is tied to job growth. the nice thing is, i say this is the state you want to be governor of because people want to move here. people like the weather, we do not have personal income tax,

getting rid of our business tax. the nice thing is, people want to live here. we still have a lot of homes in foreclosure. depending on where you are in the state, we have had a lot of success in getting homes of the markets, selling those. it is still a problem and it will not get a fixed except through an employment. it is all tied to getting more and more jobs. host: does florida require a balanced budget? guest: yes, we have a balanced budget. our fiscal year started july 1 so i walked in january 4 with a projected deficit of about $3.7 billion bridge we are projecting a surplus of $1.2 billion. i went to the budget line by line. over 3000 lines in the budget. we made sure we were spending our money properly. we cut how much we were spending. i stop the growth. we know what happens in a lot of

places, have a balanced budget but would keep borrowing money. i said, we're not going to borrow new money. we're watching how we spend money. i think that is part of the reason why we're seeing job growth. in contrast, with s&p, we had an upgrade and our credit rating. begot a aaa rating, one of the 13 states with a to play rating. -- in contrast with s&p, with an acrid in our credit rating. we have a aaa rating, one of 13 states. host: pension obligations? guest: i have come at meetings every two to four weeks. i tried to highlight what issues we have in the cabinet meetings. at the state level, a little over $23 billion. that will not grow while i am in

office. our pension plan is about 13% underfunded right now. we went and did pension reform this year. our state workers were not paying into their pension plans. we went from 0% to 3%. i have to be fair to taxpayers and state workers and want to make sure anyone relying on the pension plan has a pension plan they can rely on. they say, well, if you're close to 90%, that is stable. you cannot pay mortgage with 87% of the money. we made some changes. we will make sure we continue to make sure with a pension plan and is fully funded. the other issue we're dealing with in the state is property insurance.

we of an insurance plan called citizens. it was supposed to be of last resort. now it is a first resort. i talk about this in my campaign. that is not sustainable. we of hurricanes and our state. we passed a law this year to deal with the fraud involved and property insurance. we have to deal and work with that. host: with a special line set aside for the florida residents. governor, to the quick issues for your explanation and then we will take calls. we heard a lot from congressman micah about the high-speed rail

connection to turn down. would you explain your thinking on that decision? guest: going back on pension, that is our state pension. we have a lot of city pensions that are way more under water than what our state pension is. that is also going to be an issue going forward. host: will the state irresponsible if the cities cannot? guest: no, the state has no responsibility for that. host: the high-speed rail? guest: i walked into it and the project had not been funded at the state level yet. we have existing road project called tri-rail. it took many years to meet the ridership projections i worry about the numbers. a walk in the high-speed rail

and the deal proposed to the state -- this was really a federal project, not a state projects. they would give us $2.4 billion. we had to finish construction of any costs above that. the estimate was probably $1 billion in costs. then it will lose money every year. if we ever wanted to shut it down, we have to give the $2.4 billion back to the federal government agree it i studied it -- back to the government i studied it. the numbers were pretty much the same as far as ridership. it did not make sense to me. i said from our standpoint, i'm not going to raise the taxes in our state. it would have caused us to spend a lot of money we do not have. like every state, we're worried about medicaid costs, pension,

all of the things we want to take care of and have a real project like this. host: one more question in the phone calls, the decision there is a lot of debate and discussion about, your welfare recipient drug-testing rule just signed into law. guest: what i'm trying to do is have an impact on drug abuse in the state. i have two daughters. i was worried with them growing up, they're in their 20s now. with welfare, where drug testing welfare recipients. if you think about that, that money is supposed to be the benefit of children, not for a parent that is using drugs. if you want to receive that money as a parent, any have to have a drug test. if you do not want to or fail,

we can find someone else to give that money for the benefit of the child. it should not go to someone using drugs. we had a big pill mill problem in our state, something like 87% of oxycodone prescribed in the country was prescribed in florida. i set up a strike force to deal with that with sheriffs around the state and florida's department of law enforcement. we passed legislation that stopped physicians that wanted to prescribe it -- we had a dramatic impact on taking pills off the market, stopping physicians doing the wrong thing. the amount of that drug and our state has dropped quite a lot. host: to you think it will survive constitutional challenge? i know it is heading to court. guest: absolutely.

that money is for the benefit of children, not for the benefit of someone using drugs. it is absolutely constitutional. host: first call for gov. scott, republican. caller: of a comment and question. governor, you're doing an excellent job. i am glad you pass the drug test. i think they ought to major -- make sure people are not living in the house that continue to get welfare. on the retirement, i do not think it was high enough. health insurance, i think the state employees to pay part of theirs. my wife is 64 and when obamacare was passed, hers went went from $440 a year ago to $590 a month. the state employees and the county employees are not paying

anything. i think they need to do it. the high-speed rail, i am glad you turn that down i was eight years in the navy and worked for the road for 30 years i'm glad you turn that down. host: do have a question for the governor? caller: 80% of the time, when someone calls about the illegal aliens, you always hang up on them. host: we do not hang up and we talk about illegal aliens. governor, that was all compliments for your policies. unless you have something that ad, i'm going to move on. mary, democrat, ohio. caller: good morning. i see rick scott has been the epitome of what is wrong with everything about american politics right now. he has the audacity to sit there and talk about waste and fraud and everyone knows how he participated in one of the

biggest frauds against medicaid ,period. you seem to trash what people would really like. i know people in ohio in have liked the light rail. your collusion with john kasich, to trash those programs for people is unconscionable. it is something you do not need, so you do not see a value for it. your decision to drug test welfare recipients is unconscionable. one thing has nothing to do with each other. as far as the oxycodone rates i have a mother with ms. it is making it harder for people to get their drugs. you're making life harder for people, not helping. host: let's get a response from governor scott. not helping, but hurting people. guest: i look at my background.

my parents struggled all their lives. being a truck driver back in the 1960's, my father got laid off pretty much by every thanksgiving. i know what it is like with unemployment. the thing that changes people's lives the most is, one, their children can get an education. we did a great job this year with education reform in the state. we made sure we got rid of tenure, which will allow the principles to keep the best teachers, not just someone who has been there the longest. we processed merit pay, expanded charter schools. with regard to the other, people need a job, they do not need bigger government. they need a job and that is what we have done. reducing taxes, killing jobs, making sure we do not have frivolous lawsuits, those are having a positive impact.

we passed landmark medicaid reform in this state. we want to make sure those that end up using medicaid have choices, just like people in the private sector, to make sure they can get the best health care they can get. host: with a lot of people on twitter making comments about your tenure as the columbia healthcare corp. and the resulting settlement with the government over the health care allegations of fraud. i want to talk to the audience little about how you want him to process that part of your biography. guest: i started the company with $125,000. over nine years, i built it into the largest health-care provider in the country. when to 343 hospitals, 150 surgery centers. during that time friend, health care inflation dropped from about 16%.

we had way better patient satisfaction than the other players in the industry. we had great outcomes. we have a measurement system that we measured mortality rates. we did about 8% of bypass in the country. and anything you do in life, there's always something you can do better. in that case, i should have hired more auditors. there many roles with medicare/medicaid. i am very proud of what we did. people want their cost of health care to go down. health care went down while i but that -- built the company. they want quality of care to be better an outcome to be better, and that is what we did. host: this is from twitter -- guest: i think we're having a

real debate today about how big government can be. like in our state, our state workers are extremely hard- working. i want to make sure they're compensated fairly. one thing we have to do in government, we have to do exactly what our expectations as a private sector. we buy the product or service a the best price begin by in the private sector. we should have the same expectations in government, the expectation our government, whether it is federal or state or local, it's better and more efficient all the time. that is what i am trying to do. our state workers are extremely hard working. they have a mission to the right thing, whether you're dealing with children and families or medicaid or law enforcement. i want to make sure they are treated fairly. on the other side, i have to make sure there is no waste in the system.

that is what taxpayers one. they want to make sure their government is efficient. host: the next call, a democrat, florida. caller: 82, c-span, and happy to speak to our government. he is proposing 40,000 unit development. talking about foreclosures. we cannot sell homes in florida. we cannot get out from underneath this debacle created by republicans. he is proposing a huge development where i live. he also talked about us having a triple-a-rated, boasting about that, the fact wears a wonderfully done by the s&p. why is he lying off draconian cuts to state workers? they have had no increase, governor. they have had nothing for their retirement. you are coming all the people

who matter in this state, not your millionaire friends. i think it is about time republicans get a little bit at them to hear that people are hurting, continue to hurt in florida. where are these jobs creating? i am instructor for patient care technician. very low level health care and those jobs are hard to come by. also, i would like to add that he is reducing many important jobs. the legislature is trying to cut standards and if -- in the state and as governor supports that. but this is a good record for a governor, i would like to see a bad one. by far, he is the worst governor of the state of florida. host: the me ask about the development project rid we were talking about the foreclosures earlier. guest: the government does not do development.

we want development to continue to happen in our state and people to come to our state. people live here because of the beaches, the weather, the quality of life we have. we have significant number of homes for sale still. the way it will get fixed is jobs. we have generated 85,500 jobs this year. that is second to texas. my job -- i look at my job this way. one, make sure our children get a great education. two, make sure people have the opportunity for a job and do not allow the cost of living in our state to go up. the way you do that, you make sure you spend the money that taxpayers give us as well as you can. being the governor, you have got to balance the needs of those that pay the taxes against the needs of the people that would

like services. what we're trying to do is say, what should government be? how can we do it better and better? host: the next call, bloomingdale, florida, republican. caller: good morning. i have a suggestion for the housing issues we have in florida. i think what we really need to do is eliminate property-tax completely, out lock it. by doing so, i think people from many states would love to live here. there would not be a foreclosed home anymore, they would be snapped up. if i buy a shirt, i do not have to pay for it every year. i've bought, built, paid for my home. every year i've to pay $5,000 in property-tax. you help businesses. i do not have a mortgage, but i

know my neighbors do. you would lower their mortgage costs by just eliminating the property tax. if your response, i would love to hear it. a really do believe that would help. guest: i do not disagree that reducing property taxes or eliminating them would be a big help. we reduced pre-tax is this year by $210 million. -- property taxes were reduced this year by $210 million. but reducing property taxes, making sure money is not wasting, would have a positive impact. people want to move here. keeping property taxes as low and fair as possible has a big impact. i think we're probably the only state this year that walked on the big deficit, balanced the budget, created a surplus, and

reduced taxes. i agree reducing taxes and fees as much as we can would be a big boon. host: we're talking with florida governor rick scott. there are 60 republican governors in their first term. six freshman democratic government -- governors and one independent, rhode island. another issue yet received criticism, let me read coverage and the board upon reach newspaper. in march, florida, is a board composed of scott, attorney- general and other members of his cabinet, passed a ban on voting rights, forcing nonviolent offenders to apply to have rights restored. the paper writes -- this new role turn back the clock on for this voting laws. during the 2000 election, thousands of voters were wrongfully purged from the rules because are misidentified as balance. that brought to light the painful fact that florida had the largest number of disenfranchised johnson the

nation -- a disproportionate swath of whom were african- american. your explanation, sir? guest: probably the hardest day of had an office was going to clemency cases. you want to try to be as fair as you can and you also have to take care or make sure you take care of the citizens in the state. what we of done with regard to clemency is the right thing. we said it once you get out of prison, you need to apply. depending on the crime, you need to wait a period of time to make sure you do not end up back in prison. we have done the right things for the citizens of this state. host: next call, is from west palm. caller: good morning. i would like to ask about your 3% cut for public workers. in all of my years in education,

i have never heard anyone say i want to be a teacher or firefighter because that is where the big bucks are. secondly, how about the $55 billion going to be accounted for? where have the 85,000 jobs been created? you say you do not want to pay teachers just because they have been around the longest. how come experienced towns in almost any field, except the military, where the young men have to fight and die, but experience counts in any field except education. finally, if we are ever hit by a katrina-level hurricane, would you accept aid from washington. host: would you tell us about yourself before you go? he is off the air.

guest: hopefully, i can remember all of these. host: i wrote them down. the 3% cut? guest: in our pension plan, it is not fully-funded for state workers. his about 87% funded. our state workers were not paying into their pension plan. i think we were the only state that were doing that. very few have a pension plan. if they have a plan, they probably have a 401ks plant. i am trying to be fair to the taxpayers. that is why we came up with 3%. i want to make sure the pension plan is fully-funded. that is what we are working on. host: where the jobs were created? guest: so far, it is 85,500 jobs unemployment has dropped

from 12% to 10.6%. the jobs have been in manufacturing. never enough. hospitality and tourism has been outstanding across the state. it has been in health care, life sciences. we have had a lot of jobs. one of the big opportunities we have in our state is our ports. i have had big investments in our mccourt, and made sure miami court was funded. i think -- ports. i make sure miami port was funded. host: charter schools and teacher experience? guest: we have 400 charter

schools in our state, so they get all of their capital funding through about $55 million. i think it was $390 of student. the non-charter public schools got a little under $1,000 per student. they get theirs through local tax dollars rather than the state. some of that comes from the state. in the last 10 years, our public schools have gotten $36 billion in capital funding from the state. we have put a lot of money into the schools. we would always like to do more. unfortunately, there is not unlimited dollars out there. our teachers are wonderful. they worked very hard. just like in any business, you are not guaranteed your job.

you performed every day, and those are the ones that continue to prosper, and your manager makes that decision. the same thing happens in our schools. we need to hold our principles accountable. by not having tenure any longer, we will allow our principles to pick the best teachers. as a parent, that is exactly what you want, the best teachers, and you also want choices. that is why we have 412 charter schools, and we will be expanding. you have a choice. you can go to a charter school, where a public school. whichever one is best for your child -- having two daughters, they learn differently, and went to two different schools. host: if there were another hurricane, would you expect federal aid? guest: hopefully we do not have

a hurricane. we have a grade division of emergency management. we have had a lot of experience with hurricanes, and brought in an individual from walmart who ran their disaster relief for the world. he is doing a great job. the way it works is depending on how much money it costs, there is a formula where the federal government contributes to any disaster host: would you except emergency aid from the outside if another hurricane struck? guest: absolutely. we have a very good working relationship with fema. we have done a lot of exercises this year getting ready for hurricane season. we have a very good working relationship. host: here is a question by twitter. this is by someone who calls themselves she rises 2011.

guest: this sort of goes to the immigration issue. what i think we need to be doing is the federal government needs to secure borders. we need to have a national immigration policy that everyone understands -- people living in the country, people that want to come to the country. we also need to have a work visa program that works, so people that come and work here for a few months, then go home, they can come back whenever there is a job opportunity. probably the thing that has the biggest impact on those that cannot afford things -- our reform package will help people choose a health care plan just like you and i do. host: spring hill florida,

jimmy, a republican. caller: i wanted to make a few comments. i think you are doing a pretty good job. i am a young republican bill in my 20's. i have a young family. my wife works for the state. i am currently unemployed. i have family members and friends that our teachers. host: jimmy, what business were you in when you lost your job? caller: i was working corrections, and the business was taken over by the sheriff's department. i am currently entering to -- waiting to enter into the army. i am constantly looking for work. unemployment has helped, but it is not what i'm used to as far as finances. host: good luck to you.

what is your question for the governor? caller: just -- how are we -- i am sorry. with the federal government and everything else going on, especially with the monorail, which return down finances for how are we supposed to bring in new -- host: bring in new jobs, i think. guest: jobs are going to be created by the private sector. they want -- they will be created because people want to live in a certain place. why? they look at what the taxes are like. if if there is -- is there regulation that makes it too difficult? what is risk litigation? this is but the state and local levels, our elected officials receptive to any issues that the

business deals with? those of the things i deal with every day. we will eliminate about 1100 regulations this year. maybe they were good 20 years ago, but they're not things we need now. they're just killing jobs. so, all of these things, every day i call on companies in florida and around the world to say what are your needs? i travel around the state. last week i did my first "let's get to work day care, i went in a doughnut shop -- de." i went to a doughnut shop. i paid $7,500 to buy a doughnut shop so my mother could have a job because my father was disabled by the time. what is provided is this is what

floridians are doing. these jobs are important. we sold a lot of doughnuts. they came in with their ideas. a lot of people gave me ideas and proposals for what they think i should be doing so in a variety of areas, whether it is education, job creation, or health care. i think that is what a governor is supposed to do. you're supposed to listen to citizens and try to solve problems. host: would you also add your comments to the story from bloomberg news? florida is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking to declare parts of the health care law unconstitutional. please help us understand the story --

host: what is going on there, sir? jacoby ford we ran for governor i organized a group -- guest: before we ran for governor i organize the group to make sure we have a real health care that helped people. what would you do? you would make sure that as an individual you can choose a healthcare plan that you want, not one the government tells you you have to buy. we need as much competition as possible. in every industry the more competition you have, quality goes up, prices come down, and access gets better. he should own your own policy. -- you should know your own policy. if you change jobs, you do not lose health care. you ought to be rewarded for doing the right thing -- eating

right, exercising, not smoking. that is what this group of organized fought for. i think the affordable health care act, obama-care, will be bad for patience. if you look around the world, a government getting involved in health care, they run out of money and have to ration care. it will kill our state budget. right now, our state is doing well -- better, and not well, medicaid is continuing to grow. we want to take care of those that cannot afford health care, but at a price we can afford. it will also be a big job killer. people are worried about the cost of the affordable care act, obama-care, and that cost is making people sit back and say should i start this company or add more in place? i believe it is not

constitutional. i believe we are going to win. i do not think the federal government should be telling us we have to buy a service, or what we should be doing with medicaid. they take our tax dollars. we give it to the federal government, they give it back to us, and they say here are these strings attached. they should not be able to do that. we should do a better job of taking care of florida in, and if we don't, we have elections. host: was guilty to tampa. christine is an independent. -- let's go to tampa. christine is an independent. caller: i am a teacher. i agree with you when it comes to tenure. when it comes to merit pay, casting the kids multiple times a year -- i teach special

education. i teach kids with cognitive and behavioral disabilities. testing them multiple times a year -- once a year is bad enough. parents tell me their kids pass out after long days of testing. to do it multiple times in order to determine how teachers are doing, i think it -- there is a better way. guest: my daughter teaches special needs kids. she has done it for four years. any ideas that anybody has of a better way to make sure we keep the best teachers -- my goal is my life was changed by grade teachers. i want to make sure we keep the best teachers. i want to make sure they get paid fairly. any ideas anybody has, i sit and talk to teachers often.

i am receptive. host: the last call for you is from jacksonville, gail, a democrat. caller: governor rick scott, i would like to know why you turned down millions for the affordable health care act, rejected programs to expand health care, provide home health care, to prevent teenage pregnancy, and to provide hospice care for sick kids. florida has the highest rate of uninsured residents. why did you turn down the $2.4 billion for the high-speed rail. guest: i will stop you on the health care because we are running out of time -- host: i will stop you on the health care because we are running out of time. guest: one thing we have to do as a governor -- it is different

from the stimulus. they gave us stimulus dollars, they stopped, and expect us to keep those programs going. we have to look at the grant, see how long it is for, and if it fits in with what we are trying to do. we have a specific medicaid reform package. if it helps us, we will go forward. if it does not, we will not do it because it does not make sense for our state. host: governor rick scott, thank you. we appreciate it. g tel have a great day. host: -- guest: have a great day. host: we will see you next here at the convention. next, jim himes, a member of the financial-services committee. we'll talk about jobs and the economy. we will take a quick break right

now, and be right back. >> this weekend on book tv, frederick law olmstead is remembered for designing the u.s. capitol grounds and new york city's central park, but we look at his life as an abolitionist. also, a launch party for juan williams; latest. parting is -- "the pirates of somalia. senator booktv alert. and watch more video of the canada, see what political reporters are staying with his seat -- and video of the candidates, see what political reporters are saying.

it helps you with links to seize and media partners in the early primary and caucus states. it is all ed c-span.org -- at c- span.org/campaign 2012. this week, the new york city draft riots of 1863. >> this was fodder for lincoln's democratic appointments -- opponents. you will go to the battlefront and die, and an immense pitted black slave will come and take your job for less money, and your family will starve while the rich stay home. >> the new york historical society of the panel discussion of of how the possible description of working-class men led to three days of rioting.

the civil war, every weekend and american history tv. >> throughout this month, c-span radio will feature lbj tapes from the final release by the library in austin. hear president johnson talked to the vice-president and nominee hubert humphrey. >> i am a conscientious, earnest fellow tried to do a job. if i get a piece of 4:00 this afternoon, i am going to get it come hell at high water it -- or high water. >> listen online at c-span radio.org. >> "washington journal" continues.

host: our next guest is congressman jim himes. he is in his second term. he is a member of the financial services committee in congress, vice-chair of the coalition for the financial services taskforce, and before coming to congress was with goldman sachs for 12 years. thank you for being with us. guest: good morning, susan. host: let's start with your reaction to the now completed nomination for the deficit reduction committee? guest: overall i was pleased. everyone said this committee was designed to fail. the people that are on, maybe not all 12, but most of the people are in their camps. the republicans are republicans, and the democrats are democrats, but there are knowledgeable, and i am thinking of chris van

hollen and dave camp. these are guys that stand in their camps, but fundamentally want to do the right thing and find a compromise. they are a group of people will love to get something done here. host: the way this is structured it takes a simple majority vote. does is give it a greater chance of success? gee, a lot of my colleagues are uncomfortable with the concept of a super-committee. we were sent to washington to represent constituents, and now we have these 12 people acting as a super-congress. it is impossible to deny that preceptor -- the process of negotiating the deal that was struck at one week ago harm our economy -- the rhetoric, the use of the debt ceiling as a tool reaching that was profoundly irresponsible. this might be one of those instances where crafting of a

deal with people that are less- inclined of going on the cable news shows might be the way of making this decision. i am cautiously optimistic terror host: effect -- optimistic. host: if they're not successful, what will the implications before the economy? guest: this is one of the clever ways the system is designed. the trillion plus cuts that fall automatically are really very severe and have things in there that are really pretty poisonous to both parties. i think that gives an incentive for a deal. one thing that people need to remember, and this gets lost time and time again because the republicans try to make it get lost is yes, we need cuts, but we do too much cutting right now, and we will tip the economy into the recession.

the sequestration, those are cuts that would come into play in january, 2013, hopefully by then our economy is in a much stronger place and able to absorb that downward pressure. host: are you comfortable with your ultimate vote for the debt limit compromise? what kinds of questions are you getting from your constituents? guest: i am not sure " comfortable" is the word. anytime you vote on anything, there is stuff you do not like in the bill. i do not regret it. to have defeated the build on the eve of a possible default would have been a catastrophe. the volatility we saw this week would look like a picnic and comparison to what would be happening right now with the federal government was deciding to pay soldiers or social

security checks. it was the right thing to do. host: let me move on to the s&p up downgrade. i want to use the front page of "the financial times." the u.s. securities and exchange commission has asked standard and poor's to disclose who within its ranks new of the decision to downgrade u.s. debt before it was announced last week. host: i want to use them as a springboard to talk about your overall views of the downgrade decision and what effect it is having on the financial markets. guest: the second part is a tough one. london is in flames. we had decent, not good, but decent job numbers. you have instability and

concerned about greece, ireland and spain. it is hard to pick those apart and say the credit downgrade had this effect. it was not helpful. yes impious taken a lot of heat, and my view is that they're -- the s and p is taking a lot of heat, and my view it is that it was a statement about the political system. when the treasury pointed out $2 trillion mistake. they are paid for their opinion. if their opinion is wrong, they will suffer for it. interestingly enough, the securities that they downgraded, the next day people bought them like hot cakes. they made a political statement. host: the top story in "the wall

street journal." my question is what power the federal government has to influence where the economy might be heading? what levers can the government really pull? guest: first, do no harm. the republicans decided after 80 raises of the debt ceiling to pull the pin on that a grenade and raise the prospect of a default with their presidential candidates say in a default would not be a big deal. talk about doing harm. first, let's stop that, the rhetoric, and the misinformation. secondly, what can we do to help? i'm a member of congress who said he would vote for bowles- simpson.

i understand how important it is to get our checkbook unbalanced. that was not easy, but let's do it right. the notion we to make massive cuts right now and not hurt the recovery is crazy. we tried that in 1937 and paid a huge price. let's make the cuts, and then make a focus on what the american people want us to focus on -- let's find a 15 million americans that are unemployed and do things that give them jobs. rebuilding our highways, our bridges, our airports -- we know we're going to spend that money anyway, so why not do it now one we can put millions of people to work? if i were king, that is what i would suggest. host: let's take some calls. nora is a democrat.

caller: thank you for your service to the state of connecticut. i am very concerned about a certain trend that i am seeing. i have had reports of this from friends. i am well-grown, but they have talked to me about their children, and how they have jobs in say a service industry, maybe in the casino, where suddenly their hours are caught back to the bone, and their jobs are being replaced with people with work visas. i see this as a trend toward more work visas, -- and people that are not there because of qualifications, but perhaps they're making a lower wages,

and can work more hours, or perhaps they work for a subcontractor, so perhaps the owner has no say or knowledge of what they make. that is the only reason i can see. what is being done about this work visa situation? guest:. you see that -- thank you. you see this, and not just referring to lower wage workers, it is also a big deal with the engineers that can come in very highly trained and what not. the principle has to be, and this is reflected in law usually, is if there is a need that cannot be filled with a u.s. citizen, we might open it up with people that can start businesses from abroad, but it has to be all role that an

unemployed american cannot fill. you have an enforcement issue. i hear stories about people taking jobs that could be done by an american. that is something we should focus on. it is inexcusable to think that someone who is a citizen cannot get the job because somebody who has emigrated is taking it. it is something that we need to focus. host: tom is a republican in norwalk, conn. caller: you said it it was difficult for you to support bowles-simpson. i am a republican. we need solutions. we have to create jobs. you do not want calls let the lady who just called. why is it politically difficult for democrats to support bowles-

simpson, when it was a committee formed by the president, and it seems to offer solutions? guest: it was not just politically difficult for democrats. none of the republican congressman who were on the bowles-simpson commission voted for it either. why is it politically difficult? first, everything we do to balance our checkbooks is politically difficult. you can do two things -- you can cut spending, which means we have fewer teachers, policemen on the street, cutting defense, which some people hate, where you can raise taxes, and we know how people feel about that. anything you do, and all of this was in one big package with bowles-simpson, is politically difficult. it is politically difficult to say, and i am one of the very few members of congress that said this, but i would have voted for bowles-simpson, not

because i like everything in it, but it was a good start. on the other side, the republicans said there would be no additional revenue. we will keep in place the tax subsidies -- the $4 billion we send to the oil companies every year. it is difficult for them to say we should not be doing that. host: let me talk to you about a progressive view of the president of the leadership. to do this a look at a column from matt miller from the senator for american progress in "the washington post." something in me, and i suspect millions of others have snapped. it is the sign of confidence in obama's leadership breaking.

host: congressman jim himes, what do you think of this? -- thought you might a imagine that i hav heard similar argument -- guest: you might imagine that i have heard similar arguments. at one level, i agree. i do not know why the president did not realize earlier that he

was negotiating with people who did not want to make a deal with him. people who have said, flat out, as mitch mcconnell or jim demint did, that their objective is to make him a one-term president, yet he said let me meet you halfway. i was not in the room. let me say this as well. i am not a spokesman for the president. my role is to be a check and balance on the president, but i will say this for the progressive wing of the democratic party. the man has been in office for 30 months, look at the rest of the months. i say this to the progressive wing. after decades of attempts to get universal health care, we got health-care reform done. we assured the women will get paid what men did for the same work. we pass reform in student loans,

a tobacco regulation, and i could go on and on. i know there are things that are still anchoring. guantanamo bay festers. many of us feel we should be getting out of afghanistan than we are. you cannot look at the presidency as a progressive and say it has been a failure. host: the next call is from amarillo, texas, jason, an independent. caller: i would like to ask him why they need this super- committee when we are already paying them to do this job? guest: that is a very good question, jason, and thank you for it. at the end of the day, the super-committee will come up with a proposal, and we will do our job. the congress will vote on the proposal. one of the reasons this is a good idea is that when you have

435 members of the house, it is our job, among its other things, to advocate for the interest in our district. so, for example, if there is a defense contractor making equipment that the pentagon no longer wants, the president does not want, but they are in our district, we will advocate for it. if there is a base, a military base that is superfluous, but it is creating jobs in our district, we will advocate for. we have to some degree a localize perspective. we create commission that you vote up or down on. this is what has been done here. in a perfect world, every representative would have a national view and not to worry about their base and district, the fed is not the way we are structured. -- not be worried about their base and their district, but that is not the way we do -- we

are structured. nobody is happy, but to make everyone equally unhappy, that is a tricky business. host: here is a twitter question. guest: it is a big question, and that is very central to preventing what happened in the last three years from ever happening again. we are listening to people say the big problem is epa, environmental regulations. we should never forget what brought down the economy. it was not the epa. it was of major failure in our markets. what can we do?

we can do a lot of the things the were incorporated into the dodd-frank bill, that, for example, created a much more aggressive oversight system for the credit agencies, made them more reliable and accountable for negligence on their part that will require too big to sell tanks to keep -- two failed banks to keep a lot more capital -- to fail banks to keep a lot more capital, and make sure they do not do what got us here. it is very difficult to say we should not have the reforms in dodd-frank. most americans get it. they do not want the system to blow up. what we should not do is the sideways, deterioration attack on regulation by say we're not

going to fund the sec. they are the one top on the beat, and we ought to be helping them. host: the next call, west virginia, carl, a republican. caller: i will tell you why the democrats have not passed a budget for over 800 days is because they do not want their people to go back home and answer questions. it is all about politics. that is the main job for you folks down there -- s a budget. the republicans did pass a budget. harry reid would not even met them vote on it. i will tell you something else, this super-committee, it is just about the dumbest thing i have never seen this congress do. you get 12 people to decide the future of this country?

i am telling you, it is no good. like the guy from texas said, you guys get paid to do this kind of work, and you are turning it over to 12 people. another thing, the democrats, the people they have put on this committee, they only have a background in politics. and please the republicans put people on there that have a background in economics -- at least the republicans put people on there that have a background in economics. this committee is not going to do anything but but heads. the democrats will not do anything the republicans bring up. host: let me add a similar comment from robert in south carolina who emails us. host: on the super committee

again. gee, i do not not all anyone can opined on the strategy of the committee that has never said bouncing me. the members were announced in the last 24 hours. i get the fear that we of created a group of people but have an enormous amount of power. as a guy who was not on the committee, i get the discomfort there. again, something as difficult as cutting spending, and raising taxes, and entitlement reforms, these are all things that are the third-rail of politics for somebody. having of group developed a proposal in a smaller forum, there is at least a logic to it. it was successful with the closing of military bases. i get the concern. to the gentleman who talked about budgets, budgets are about fiscal responsibility,

balancing your checkbook, and he is right that the democrats did not pass a budget, but at the sydney to of the day, you pass a budget because you need to keep your checkbook balance. , the laste 1990's time this country ran a surplus, the last two years of the clinton administration, we're running surpluses then a republican president was elected and we started a process of massive spending with two wars, tax cuts that effected the economy no budget was passed. that is right. -- economy. no budget was passed. that is right. but the outcome of george bush is not something the republicans should be part of the -- proud of. host: if you were in congress,

would you have voted for the drug benefits? guest: i was not in congress. host: would you have supported it if you were in congress? guest: i have one death -- i would have been profoundly uncomfortable with the program that would further contrary to the long-term and solvency of medicare. the average american family in this country -- this is the average -- will put $100,000 into medicare over the family's working lifetime, and withdraw three and a thousand dollars in benefits. there is a $200,000 gap. medicare is a wonderful program it those wonderful things, like social security, but it needs to be viable for the long run host: next call, louisville, ky --

long run. host: next call, louisville, kentucky, jennifer. caller: i agree that the 12 super-pack, is not a point to work, and one of the 12 that should not be on there is senator max baucus. you will have people on the republican side who have -- who will say no tax increases, it will not work out right if they are going to fight. i do not even know why they come up with something like this. another thing, everybody that i have heard on this program has been exactly right -. there was a program for drugs when bullish was in. ok. if they did not have the money to do it, then why would you pass something if you did not

have the money to cover it? host: anything more to say on the super-committee? guest: the callers are right. if you're going to pass something that you love like a drug benefit for seniors, if you have to be honest and either cut the spending that pays for, or raise the taxes. government has not operated that way for a long time. his early to judge the super- committee. they have not met even once. it is early to say here is our strategy or it will be a failure. time will tell. it is interesting. the last caller said we need people to fight, and that is absolutely right. you have to stand up for your values and what you believe and, but when you sit in my seat, it is interesting. i get people saying exactly what the last caller said, fight for then ilues, but

get the same number of people saying why can't you compromise? why is everybody fighting? you want to stand by your values, but you have to say the process of governing is a process of compromise where nobody gets anything -- everything they want. host: the next caller is from georgia. james, a republican. caller: i owned a construction company and obama is talking about funding of the airports and everything. one our companies go ahead and try to get jobs and stuff, and they just told us find out we have to be minority, which switched to government work, and they said you have to have the same thing. we went around these jobs, and

there are a bunch of illegals working on these jobs. it has taken our work from us. where they going to do about this? i have been working my whole life, paying taxes, and doing everything there right away, and we turn around and the government is not living by the laws they put all here for us, and bringing in more laws that hurt our companies. there are companies same and they have to do, and they cannot do. i have not had depth good answer is it heard a good answer yet. -- heard a good answer yet. guest:, we have the problem in connecticut, too. people will take undocumented aliens. the fundamental problem -- it is

with the first question of people taking jobs from americans. the problem is not a lot. the law does not permit an individual to hire a non- citizen. that is illegal. the problem is the enforcement. our immigration situation -- the enforcement has been very poor. to fix that, you give employers better tools. in other words, you have some kind of identification, verification process, where an employer can look afghan id -- .ook at an id . once they are given that tool, employers that hire undocumented throw the book at them hard. that has to be the answer.

the situation the gentleman talks about is true nationally. host: we have 10 more minutes with congressman jim himes joined us from connecticut. the next call's from rockville, maryland. john is an independent. caller: 5 voted for obama, and since i did, -- i voted for obama, and since i did, i was unemployed, and i think congress does not know what the american people are going through. host: and two members of congress have a fundamental understanding of the state of the american public today? guest: i can only speak for myself. we are all from different backgrounds and different parts of the country. i come home every weekend. i did what i did yesterday, and that is stopping by the american legion, to companies in my

district, had a town hall meeting. i hear people's frustration at the congress, and more importantly, with where we are economically. yes, at least i, i can only speak for myself, i hear the suffering and the stories, and i understand the frustration. fundamentally, most americans, and this is not a republican or a democrat thing, understand isuncing a checkbook important, but the crisis is we have 15 million people out of work. we are talking about something that is important, but not doing much about the 15 million americans out of work. there are right to be frustrated by that. i hope when we go back on labor day that becomes the focus of both parties. host: cbs news website is

suggesting that the congressman you unseated is getting closer to a u.s. senate run. are you looking at the senate seat in connecticut? guest: i am not looking at the senate seat. i have been in congress for just 30 months. i am attaching my stride. with a background in financial services, i think i can be useful to regulating the banks. i have two young girls that i'm not going to put through a statewide campaign. we have a bunch of good candidates. my colleague, chris murphy, is running, and i think we will have a good campaign and election care at host: santa fe, california, suzanne, a republican. caller: just to educate our young congressman.

you gave clinton the credit, but newt gingrich took over the congress for the first time in 40 years, held the purse strings in clinton from the last four years. the republicans have the congress, and two times clinton vetoed welfare reform, and newt gingrich pushed it through. it was the republicans that helped the purse strings that forced clinton to the reform that give us the extra money. it is always the same. clinton had nothing to do with it. it was the fact that the republicans, for the first time in 40 years to over the purse strings of congress. -- took over the purse strings of congress. guest: you have a president, you have a congress, and a

judiciary, and they all work together. it is interesting my republican friends in california was to give bill clinton absolutely no credit, and by the way, she is right, there was a republican congress, but giving bill clinton absolutely no credit for the incredible economic growth that happen in the 1990's, and a balanced budget, but i am betting year she would put the blame of this economy squarely on the shoulders of barack obama. we have a divided government. newt gingrich pushing back on the president was part of the process. this is not about democrats and republicans. here it is fundamentally about can we come together and compromise, the way president bill clinton did with newt gingrich, the way ronald reagan did was sit o'neill. that is the key, and that is not what we are seeing. it is not assisted by the kinds of rhetoric we just heard from

the republican in california that is all to the credit of the republicans or democrats. the key is coming together, being willing to compromise, and getting something done. host: on twitter, of your asks how you would vote on the pending trade agreements if you had the opportunity. guest: i have looked very closely at korea. i favor the caribbean free-trade agreement. if it comes before the congress, i will vote for it. i think it is a good thing for u.s. exporters. columbia, i am still looking at. i set down with the afl-cio, a couple of weeks ago and i said explain to me the opposition. they said it is not about jobs, but they're very concerned about the violence against labor leaders in colombia. it is a very violent society. it is getting much less so, but

there has been a lot of violence. i need to look at that before ambling to commit. host: gladstone, mich., you're on for the congressman. caller: i was looking at the national debt, and given that the budget committee is meeting, the current debt with china is about 7%, which is about $1.3 trillion. the democrats made it four-year plan to pay off china's debt, the same surplus that clinton had, the republicans would get on board, you would be able to generate tax revenues, unite the whole country, and probably tell china to mind their own business when they talk about purse strings. i would be grateful if we had a four-year agenda to do that, and

i would be knocking door-to-door campaigning for the democrats if they would do something that magnanimous. guest: sure. there is no question we need to reduce our debt over time. it is in excess of $14 trillion right now. i do not think the plan would be to just take the chinese-held u.s. treasuries and say we would pay those back. i am not sure that would be legal. the larger point is we have to pay that down over time to a much more sustainable level. no disagreement from anyone there. the hard work happens -- unfortunately, we cannot wave a magic wand and decide to pay it. you paid by running surpluses, and use our grain surpluses for one of three reasons -- the economy recovers fully, and then

two other things people do not like to talk about -- big spending cuts. a definite goal of the day, people want spending cuts, but the dmz is not open on saturday or sunday, it will reduce programs that people like, or we will increase taxes, and that is where the fight is. that is where the hard work has to be done to strike a balance in a package it will allow us to begin paying back down. host: julie, an independent in pennsylvania. caller: i am kind of nervous, of course. what i wanted to talk about it is when you said that people contribute $100,000, and they take out about $300,000 -- i heard that the other day, and i was thinking about that. having had some older people in my family died and going through the process of the end of life,

i was thinking there are people that feel they are entitled to inherit their parents'money, where before they would have have to pay for medical care out of their money. could we do something like instituting a flat tax, but lower income people, instead of paying the taxes, would contribute that money to a health-care benefit or a retirement benefit, or an education benefit, and then at the end of the life, if you spent like $300,000 in your nursing home or whatever, half of that would have to be paid back to the government out of these funds, so that it was not such a drain. if there was money left over, that would be inherited, and no taxes. taxes. i think we need to work