russell chadic, and a staff writer look at the members of the deficit committee, what experience they bring to the process, and what work they will be doing. and later, in discussion with reid wilson. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: 9 republican candidates compete in the straw poll in ames, iowa. the poll tax place in years without an incumbent republican president running for reelection and our coverage of the pole starts at noon today eastern time on c-span. you will hear the speeches that are made as well as the voting process this is being overshadowed by governor rick perry announcing his intentions

for running for president. if you want to hear that live, you can hear that at 1:00 this afternoon via our web site, c- span.org. for our first 45 minutes this morning, we will devoted to the topic of today's struggle very want to hear from you if it is relevant in your decision making process on home to vote for president. if you want to weigh in on the relevancy of the iowa straw poll coming here is your chance today. the numbers are on your screen we have also set aside a special line for those of you who live in iowa. 737-2579, 202. is the iowa straw poll relevant

and your decision making process for president? here is the headline for you this morning -- senator john mccain skipped the straw poll but became the most significant challenger to george w. bush. troyer years ago, he again

skipped the straw poll and the cause acute -- caucuses and still won the nomination. . that is at 1:00 today when he is expected to speak and you could hear that live on c-span. to give you a sense of perspective -- there is a map provided by " the new york times." these two buildings are where the voting will take place this morning. it also talks about the various locations of tents and how they pay for that.

all these folks will be going will be participating in speeches and the process which is in ames, iowa for residents only. the relevancy of this roll call this morning -- the straw poll this morning. the teller lines are on your screen. -- the telephone lines are on your screen. make sure you call the best represents you. if you want to reach out on e- mail, journal @c-span.org. we go to pennsylvania first, on

a republican line we're talking about the straw poll. what do you think? caller: good morning. i think it is absolutely irrelevant. as a republican, i feel it is a silly tradition. . don't see the point it turns candidates who should be hawking their ideas and being involved in civil and political governmental discourse, it turns them into a carnival barkers and commodities. it has always rub me the wrong way. i think it goes to show that it really has no binding of fact

-- a finding of fact and the candidates who might do well, it does not -- it is not a predictor. on the straw poll -- is another example of our unfair primary and caucus system that one state or two states early on in the process get this under media attention and influence in the presidential election selection process. host: democrats line, good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for cspan. i will agree with the republican who just spoke. the straw poll is just inside baseball. it turns candidates into a carnival barkers. host: does that influence your

decision one way or another? caller: michelle bachmann is a carnival barker and she is mouthing these empty slogans. she is getting all but passion. i don't agree with tim pawlenti but he is a gifted and accomplished public servant. newt gingrich is a man of great intellect and yet michelle bachmann with her carnival barking empty slogans is getting all the passion from the crowd. host: did you have a chance to watch our coverage yesterday? caller: i have been watching for the last half-hour. the most empty person up there is getting all the attention. i don't understand what the matter is with republicans. host: republican line, talking about the straw poll -- caller: thank you for cspan.

alito said it was a silly tradition -- the lady who said it was a silly tradition sounds like a right in only part o. last two calls indicated the same thing. calling michelle bachmann a kearney bar -- host: what do you think about it? caller: i have been to county fairs in bloomington, ill. when i was young several times. host: what do you think about the straw poll? caller: i disagree with the last three callers. it should not be put out to pasture. that is a put down of the conservative version of republicans that inhabit a good part of ohio, a spec -- especially rural and western

iowa. this demonstrates that we still have states which are fly over country to some people and i what is not the only one. where we have conservative republicans. host: on twitter -- you can talk to us or respond to this awful lot twitter this morning. san louis, missouri, good morning, independent line. caller: i'm a first-time caller. i am grateful for cspan to give us information but in learning of the process, it is irrelevant. it does not do any thing. it is just a political fund- raiser and the media has made it

such a big to do about nothing. i agree with what you read in the paper. there was a republican and a democrat that stated it is beyond that. when people realize this is just a fund raiser, you go ahead on. educate yourself, america. that is all i will said. host: some could make the argument that giving the candidates a forum to speak at the state fair in giving them a chance is a means of education. caller: if you have the time and the social media, all sides of media out there, are getting their messages out as to what they are standing for. until they address the economy and what will happen to america as a whole, they are all just talking. they have they're talking points and want to be president.

and they are not putting a plan out there as to what they will do. none of them are saying that. just like anyone else, until we get into that job and no the responsibility to all of america, america will fail. host: you can reach out to was on twitter. you can go to our website where we have archive all the candidates. that is your one-stop source for all information when i come to the iowa state fair and the straw poll and the caucus process, c-span.org. our coverage starts at noon

today eastern standard time. you can go to c-span.org and learn about what the candidates said. harrisburg, pennsylvania is next, on our republican line. the relevancy of the straw poll? are you there? caller: hello, yes, good morning. host: what is the relevancy of the straw poll to you? caller: i live in west virginia and have a death in the family. the relevance to me is it is not relevant since i left west virginia, that is. my question, sir, is what is the relevance of our president's actions economically in the last six months? host: leave that one aside but can you speak to why it is not

relevant, the straw poll? caller: i would say that the voters have already made up their minds. the poll may reveal the interest of the voters but it is hard for me to get excited about something like the iowa straw poll because to me it is not relevant because i don't live out there. i live in west virginia and we have our own political situation and system and the great state of west virginia. host: we will spend more time on the topic of the straw poll later on in the program starting at 8:45 this morning. you can join us for one hour and 15 minutes with our guest, reid wilson. we will also hear from several people from iowa and other places on the straw poll and its relevancy as it sets the stage for public political contests as we go on to november, 2012.

that will be at 8:45. in about half an hour, we'll talk about the super committee to deal with deficit issues. the straw poll is our topic now. this is a couple of other bits of news -- florida, democrats line --

caller: good morning. i think the straw poll is just another way to drag out the political process and running for reelection. i believe this kind of radical but i think we should limit the congress and presidents to one term. that way they spend most of their time working on the problems that are going on in america today and not spending half of their term running for reelection. if we could run it more like jury duty then an election process, maybe we could get some of the problems solved. if you look at obama, and i am a democrat, he spent the last six months running for reelection instead of being in washington and working on the difficulties that we have.

if we let everybody in congress including the president to one term, maybe they would spend more time and do it more like a jury duty. host: chicago, illinois, republican line. caller: as a transplanted new englanders, i have been living in illinois for most of my life. there is some relevancy to the straw poll because it gives an indication of what people are thinking. i happen to have voted for obama the last time because i did not like the choice john mccain made for the vice-presidential candidate. i think it gives us a tendency of where people are thinking. in answer to the last caller, if we should go to one term, and i think there is some relevancy to that, i think it should be like a six-year term so that the

president can do what he feels he needs to do with congress. host: do you get more from the straw poll events as far as what the candidates are thinking separate from the debate we saw on thursday night? caller: i get a little from each. i am very anxious to see how this develops, particularly since we have another candidate which will be -- will be announced today. host: rick perry. caller: yes, i have been intrigued by the candidacy of mid romney and i hear good things about governor perry. it will be an interesting race. host: do you have a favorite out of all of those that are competing today? caller: right now, i would lean

toward mitt romney. i do not like michelle bachmann. i just feel that she is kind of a blow in the wind. tim pawlenti looks good to me. host: gloucester county, new jersey, independent line is next. caller: good morning. i think all of the activities are great fun and represent america at its best, a small towns, people getting involved, it is a great way to become familiar with candidates that you might not be familiar with. host: what you think about the political relevance? caller: it does not have to be relevant. the straw poll does not matter. the events leading up to it are a great introduction. host: how much of it do you

watch when it comes around? caller: i watch as much as i can when i am home. i want to know these people. i want to know their opinions. i don't really care about the outcome of the straw poll. i do want to hear what they have to said. host: from what you have seen and what people have said, have you learned anything new over the last couple of days? caller: i have learned who can handle themselves with hecklers. i have learned who can field questions that are intended to maybe disorient them or get them off track. i have learned who really knows what is going on and translate that into something that people watching can relate to. host: that is margaret, from gloucester county. this is from twitter --

you can reach out to was on email, journal@c-span.org. democrats' line, james, good morning. caller: i think the straw poll is nothing but a hoax. it has no relevancy whatsoever. we need jobs in this country. we need to have people working. we need to solve our biggest problem if we can get people back to work. host: you don't think there is any educational process? caller:no, you have the electronic media out there lying about these candidates. they are shaking hands and blowing hot air. they are influencing people in the wrong way. you cannot solve anything by

hate. we need things that will solve problems in america and we can only do that by working together. host: the previous caller mentioned that the straw poll gives a chance to see candidates especially when they have to take questions that are difficult and intense. such an exchange took place yesterday with tim pawlenti speaking at the straw poll when a participant asked him about gay marriage. >> as a member of the gop community, you have not stood for us and that is hard for me as someone who supports the national organization for marriage and stands with the definition of marriage with one man and one woman per hour -- i thought our country was about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, with no exceptions. when will you stand up for me? that is what i want to know today because you are discriminating against me and it hurts. it really does. >> the gentleman is asking a

question about gay marriage and traditional marriage. i understand we have a difference of opinion on this issue. i will give you my perspective and i'm sure you'll give me yours. from my perspective, i am not at the port or will ever be at the point where i say that every domestic relationship is the same as traditional marriage. the relationship between a man and woman in a traditional marriage is important to our country, our society, our culture. i think it should remain elevated not just in our words but under our laws. that is why i have supported laws and offered laws to maintain marriage as between a man and woman. [applause] >> i understand you have your moral values that that is something that is hurting my future and how i get to live my life. someone that talks about a government that gets out of your lives, why does the government get involved in our marriages?

> host: that is the exchange between governor pawlenty and a participant at the straw poll. many issues were being brought out. some of the more confrontational and you can see all that in line 51 at our website, c-span.org. you may have seen some of that exchange before. c-span.org if you want to see all the candidates who participated at the soap box event yesterday at the iowa state fair. c-span.org is where you can find that. the other story in the paper this morning deals with president obama's health-care law. a court yesterday rejected part of the health care mandate and to join us to talk more about that, a reporter from reuters. what happened with this court

when it comes to president obama's healthcare lot? guest: thank you for having me. the 11th circuit court of appeals issued a rather lengthy ruling, that is the second one done at the appellate level, reviewing the obama signature health care law that was enacted last year. this appeals court took a different tack than the first one which was the sixth circuit out of cincinnati. they said the individual mandate which would go into effect in 2014 and requires every american to buy health insurance or have health insurance or face a penalty. the 11th circuit said that was unconstitutional. congress exceeded its authority granted in the constitution and that was not allowed.

therefore, it was invalidated. the 11th circuit did take exception with one lower court ruling which brought the case to them. this case was a challenge brought by 26 states. this was probably the biggest ruling with parties so far in the challenges to the president's health care law. host: as far as the health care law as a whole, did the appellate court weigh in on that? guest: they did in the district court judge in florida invalidated the entire law saying it would not stand if the individual mandate was gone. the appeals court at the 11th circuit in atlanta disagreed and said it could be severed and the rest of block which is far reaching and wide -- and the rest of law which is far reaching and allows kids to stay on their parents' health care law into their mid 20's and pre-

existing conditions, those provisions can remain. host: what has been the reaction from the legal community, especially when the follow this case? guest: their reaction has largely been that this decision pretty much guarantees the supreme court will take this up. , probably in the term that begins later this fall in october with the potential for ruling by the end of the term which is mid-2012 right when the presidential election will be hitting its stride host: how much influence does this case there at the supreme court level? guest: this is a pretty big one since there are 26 states. it really will have -- it pushes the court to do something about it because it conflicts with the sixth circuit decision that upheld the individual mandate as constitutional. host: are there other cases yet

to be heard on this issue? guest: there are a bunch of cases. there is one at the appeals court level that has a lot of people watching which is at the fourth circuit not far from washington in richmond. a federal judge in virginia, this is a state that went its own route in challenging it, not joining the 26 states, led by florida. we thought that case would be before the 11th circuit ruling but they are taking their time with it. we are expecting that at some point very soon. that was a three-judge panel made up of obama nominees which drew our interest as well. we will see what happens down there. the judge to invalidate the individual mandate, as well. host: what was the makeup of the appeals court politically?

guest: it was pretty divided. it is interesting because one of the judges who ruled against the mandate was appointed i believe by president clinton and the other judge joining in that decision against the mandate was appointed by bush. the third judge was also with a clinton appointee. host: is there anything that our viewers should know about this case that we have not talked about that you find interesting? guest: there is one line in the dissent that drew my attention. late yesterday. by judge stanley marcus who opposed striking down the mandate. in his dissent, he made a reference to justice kennedy on the supreme court who is widely seen as the swing vote on the

court right now. the court is pretty deeply divided. he cited an opinion which basically suggests that there must be -- bill laws that are examined by the court should be examined with the heavy presumption of constitutionality and it must be approached with caution and restraint and he points that out he cites a previous opinion by justice kennedy. i don't know if he is trying to send a little message there. that sometimes can backfire. host: we will say. thank you for spending time with us today. we're back to calls looking at the iowa straw poll and talking about its political relevance. if you're just joining us, you have about 10 or 15 more minutes to weigh in on what you think

about it. there are four lines to choose from this morning. for those of you living in iowa, we have not heard from anybody at this morning's2,02- 737-2579. pennsylvania is next, republican line, thanks for waiting. caller: good morning. this trouble is very relevant in the scheme of things. it is interesting though. it raises money for the republican party which is not a bad thing. one guy who i have eliminated for president would be ron paul barrett ion 70 years old and i think he is too old. i would also love to see him as secretary of the treasury and turn him loose on the federal reserve system. and its legality and ability to print money.

it is informational and you guys have been interesting to listen to host: did anybody or anything stand out to you? caller: the only thing i can see is that any of these guys would be better than what we have right now. the idea of smaller government, less government intrusion, the 10th amendment, things like that have been brought to my attention. overall, i want to change. host: in iowa, this is the front page --

leesburg, alabama, democrats lied. caller: thank you very much for cspan. i don't think these polls are worth anything. no politician watches this. the last two politician -- presidents we had said they do not care about the struggle. one thing the polls do actually do is take your eye off the ball. what we should be looking at is oil is $80 per barrel at we are

still paying $4 per gallon for gas. not one channel, not one new station has said anything about it in the last three weeks. nothing. host: a couple of e-mails --

those are three e-mails this morning. iron town, missouri, are independent line, go ahead caller: power you doing? -- how are you doing? i have been waiting so i almost forgot what i wanted to say. i think the straw poll is a good thing. anything that shows the potential of any candidate is a good thing. it shows who can be a poser and who can't. anytime you get to watch any political member is a good thing. i don't see how it could be wrong. that is basically something i wanted to say. host: tempe, ariz., democrats online, go ahead. caller: being an arizona

democrat, the straw poll is basically good publicity. and a free media that you can get as anyone in the straw poll is good media. you are getting your name out there and talking about your issues and you are gaining attention and you are gaining motivation from any type of this wave of her. it is happening right now. especially in arizona where i am a democrat and i am working for a democratic senator. anything that you can do right now is good for you. that is the beauty of this trouble is that you're getting your name out there. host: are you working for? caller: greg stanton. host: what office? caller: phoenix mayor. host: have you been watching the straw poll?

caller: absolutely . host: what have you learned? caller: nothing i have already known. every candidate stands what they stand for and i heard the previous gentleman talking about prop 10 and i witnessed the gentleman talking lead gay marriage. everyone is to get their attention out. host: that is andrew from tempe, arizona. let me tell you about our "newsmakers program" . bernie sanders will join us and he is a member of the budget committee talking about economic issues. one thing he talks about politically, he talked about a warning to president obama not to ignore the anger and disillusionment in the grass roots and working-class america and what they feel toward wall street. >> i am not here to be that the president. these are tough times.

when he came into office, we were losing 700,000 jobs per month so i am not here to beat up on the president. the president and his people are making a big mistake if they think that the grass-roots level there are not a lot of working- class people, the bulk of people in this country, who are not angry and frustrated and disillusioned, i think they're making a mistake. the president has done a good job on gay-rights. he might have done more. he's done a good job on women's rights. he appointed two women to the supreme court. if you ask people on economic issues, as he stood up to wall street, in my view, there are crooks on wall street and i use that word advisedly, whose illegal behavior and great and recklessness put us into this terrible recession. now they are doing just great. do you think the average american thinks the president has stood up to wall street in the way that he should have? host: bernie sanders and you can

hear more of that discussion tomorrow on our "newsmakers" programs at 10:00 in the morning and 6:00 on in the evening on c-span. this is often twitter this morning -- orlando, fla., independent line. caller: good morning. i want to thank party centers for all the work he has done. i and independent and i really feel that corporate fascism has taken over our country. you can send out politicians with tape recorders and it is all the same political rhetoric. they take the eye off of our real issues like the influx of illegals, unfair trade

practices, the list goes on. i want to thank birdie sanders. i wish he would throw his hat in the ring. there would be a lot of people behind him. host: what your thoughts and the iowa straw poll tax caller: i think it is great we interject money from the corporations back into our system. that is how i feel very host: california, republican line. caller: good morning. the straw poll is very relevant. it gives america a chance to ourthe hypocrite's republican party has. when you look at 5the tea- baggers and how they obstructed our government and trying to bring the president down, i am a republican and i am for america. i am not for this obstruction,

trying to destroy our grandchildren's future. host: how does this drop will demonstrate that? -- how does the straw poll demonstrates that? caller: he watched the debate the other night, no one had any answers. they just bashed our country. michelle bachmann, my god, what was that about? i can choose my own light bulb. she was irrelevant. the straw poll - these people are not. host: some shots from the soap box portion of the iowa state fair. you could see our covers lot of the straw poll at noon today

with nine candidates up for the running. speeches will be made and the vote will be about 6:00 tonight and you can see that starting at 12:00 noon eastern standard time right here on c-span. lynchburg, va., democrats line. you are on. caller: good morning, cspan. host: go ahead. caller: good morning, cspan. i think the straw poll is relevant because you know what the candidates stand for. everyone that is running for office had the same signature, no taxes. how could you have no revenues and have the country back on course with no taxes? everybody should look at this carefully and see what these people stand for.

they're not standing for the country. they are standing for their own interests. host: did you learn anything new about the straw poll tax caller: ? caller: not really. they have the same ideas and same thoughts. they don't distinguish themselves at all. i think it shows american people what they are voting for, people who do not have the country's interest at heart. they have their own special interests at heart and corporations. host: haymarket, virginia, thank you for waiting. caller: the question i cannot figure out that nobody answered is where is all this money going? bill clinton spent half a billion dollars. george bush spent a billion and a half a day and barack obama is

spending $4 billion per day. if you subtract the $1.5 billion that bush spent and kept the government and the military going, all of the low income people should be receiving a check of $400 per day from the government in order to make this call socialism thing work. host: how is this relevant to this trouble? caller: nobody seemed to understand that the massive amount of money is disappearing down a rat hole somewhere and nothing is coming up in the country. nobody is getting checks. there is no corporations getting a check. host: claremont, calif., you are the last call on this subject, republican line. caller: when someone calls in and uses the term tea-bagger that as derogatory.

that is like referring to the president as the n-word. the guy has ruined the country. we have a $5.70 trillion deficit and the relevancy of the polls is a goes over the head of the media. if you talk with chris wallace and those guys, they are catering to martini republicans. we need to stop the spending. i just got back from erie, pennsylvania. when i look at my home town, all places degenerating. the look of these people moving into neighborhoods where we were poor and we made the place is better. go back to places like detroit and cleveland and any place democrats are running, they say don't make it better. host: its relevancy to our topic

of the straw poll? caller: the straw poll will let us know -- if you cannot figure out herman cain, michelle bachmann, all good candidates and people are trying to hear these terms that sarah palin is a relic. she has 10 times more attention than obama did. when obama came through in 2007, the media can try to attain things -- can try to change things that the tea party is i thank you for your time. host: at 8:45, we will again return to this topic. we'll talk about the straw poll and break it down for you at home and you will have a chance to weigh in on the process. we'll have a guest on said bus several guests joining us on the phone. i would direct you to our

website, c-span.org, to give you all the information you need. coming up next, we will look and change topics. you probably saw in the news today, the release of selection of candidates for the super committee on debt and deficit reductions. we will break down those candidates for you and talk about what happens next. our guest will be from the christian science monitor. ♪ we will be right -- we will be right back. ♪ ♪ >> watch more video of the candidates and see what political reporters are saying and track the latest campaign contributions with the cspan website for campaign 2012.

it helps you navigate the political landscape with a twitter feeds and facebook updates from the campaigns, candidate bias, and the latest polling data and links to cspan partners, all at c-span.org/ campaign in 2012. >> as an aspiring journalist, i'm already preparing myself for the very small salary i will be starting out with them not to be a good journalist, you have to be disciplined enough to put aside your bias and report the facts, the true. >> the people -- the reason why people like fox news in movies because it is an emotional experience. it is love and hate >> aspiring high school journalists on ethics, the role of opinion and commentary, and where they get their news and information in today's multimedia environment, sunday on cspan's "q &a."

every weekend, american history tv on cspan 3 highlights the civil war. this week, the new york city draft riots of 1863. >> this was fodder for the democratic lincoln opponents who confused the two things and said you will go to war, you can't afford the $300, you'll go to the battlefront and died. the emancipated blacks label commentator job for -- the emancipated black slave will take your job. >> will talk about how the conscription of black and led to rioting and effects that had and the city. the civil war, every weekend on american history tv on c-span 3. this weekend on a book-tv on c- span 2, we remember the design of the u.s. capitol grounds and new york's central park.

justin martin looks at the life of the abolitionist. book-tv will have a large party for juan williams' latest. pirating in the 21st century, we will take you inside the world of the pirates of somalia. sign up for book-tv alert id your in box. >> "washington journal" continues. host: our discussion for the next hour will be the super committee. they will look at deficit- reduction issues. reduction issues. now that we have these various candidates, what are your first

impressions? guest: experience, trust, these are people who are attracted by their leadership and have been at the business of legislating a long time. guest: i would say there is not a whole lot cause for optimism. that they will reach a deal. they are committed partisans by and large and the ones who have served on previous boards and commissions tend to vote against them. there were four members who were on the previous commission last year that killed with a bipartisan plan for it and all four voted against the compromise. these are people who are generally party stalwarts but there are some folks on these panels who have been reaching across party aisles and have a history of getting some things done very there is nothing off the bat that says this is a

panel that is built for success. that is my initial take on it. there is not necessarily some folks on there who would be against everything and anything. host: who are the ones to watch on the ideas of those who can go across aisles and those who might throw up roadblocks? guest: i think senator rob portman has experience on the house side. this is a very wonky subject matter. he is respected by both sides guest: that is absolutely true. he has been working quietly behind the scenes. if you are in the hallways of the senate, you see him in groups of democrats and republicans talking over these issues and talking about tax reform, trying to find ways to

bring people together. portman is interesting because he has been talked about as a potential vice presidential pick four republicans. he comes in a battleground state and it will be interesting to see his role of the republican side. host: from what history tells you as far as how these meetings were, will they play nice? will there be words exchanged? what you think will happen? guest: this committee is unprecedented. there has never been a committee with his broad ranging power. they can do almost anything they want. if you look at the statements that people have been making, they have been pre conciliatory care in the beginning. they are not starting off with partisan broadsides. they are trying to do something real and serious. that is proper the best sign i have seen in a while considering

how nasty it got going up to the debt ceiling debate. i think there will be at least an initial effort to bring out the best ideas. there might even be more of an open process than we have seen in some of these past deals where they generally go into a back room. there have been calls from both party leaders to say that this is a debate that should be for the whole american public. let's put them on c-span. let's have this debate out in the open. in the end, the deal will be cut in large part by staffers and some back rooms that you will never see. with some help from the leadership. having this debate out in the open, i think will -- if they are sitting next to each other, it is hard to scream at each other. most of the last six months, one side the whole that press conference and says that the things about the other. then they go into a room and you

don't see it. having a more public could foster some common ground. host: the numbers are on your screen. let's go through the list -- talk about senator murray who let's go through the list -- will serve as a co-chairman. what does she bring? guest: she is close to senator reid. she brings trust. she brings experience in appropriations and she brings a serious qualifier. she is in charge of electing senators in the next campaign cycle which means she is in charge of raising a ton of money which means she is very

sensitive to what members need in their districts. on the one hand, that is a plus because they don't just have to cut a deal among themselves. they have to sell it to the senate. if you have someone on board who is very aware of what 23 open contested seats will mean, is likely to win more votes. every dollar she collects in the context of this powerful committee will look like it is tainted. that is something that public interest groups are going crazy about. they want to appoint someone whose job is to raise money when there is so much at stake. host: we're looking at pictures from senator mitch mcconnell. he chose senator john kyl, senator pat twomey of portman, ia and parob who we talked about >> opat

twomey is one of the really conservative fresh republicans. there is something interesting he talked about this week. he said he talked about the vote on at the mall. this was a big vote in the senate few months ago, 73 senators said this tax break does not make any sense when we have a trillion dollar deficit. the ethanol industry is profitable so let's get rid of it. pat twomey faugh said that is an infant defensible tax break. he said it should be called spending by another name. he said we should get rid of it ever goes to deficit reduction, he is ok with it. that is not necessarily the grover norquist position. the other position is if you get rid of one tax break, you have

to give somebody else a tax break. there is some daylight here for a potential compromise if you can cobble together some of these things and maybe have a broader tax reform package that raises some revenue for deficit reduction alongside big spending cuts. that is the only way you will get some kind of big bipartisan deal that addresses long-term situation. guest: there is some quirky things there. on social policy, abortion rights, gays in the military, he voted for that. he is seen as a kind of enforcer. republicans who were not republican enough, in name only, are known for that. if he could be brought on board, it would be like nixon going to china. that is what you need on this

panel. any surprises. many people look and go back after the deal is done and credibly say to their constituencies it is important we do this. host: let's go to the health side. speaker john boehner chose three jeb hensarling. those other members as we see them. you can call in to ask questions about specific members or the process. you can ask questions about the end result of what the committee has been tasked to do. let's go to gainesville, florida, republican line. caller: we talk about the

deficit and i want to know why everybody has not really got into a fair tax law where taxes are 17% across the board for everybody. everybody should pay their fair share, corporations, pork, ridge, doesn't matter. host: let's talk about tax policy overall as part of this process guest: that is the dream. tax reform is the one point that you can see republicans and democrats getting together. the idea that you can take $1 trillion in tax expenditures and get rid of the ones like ethanol that are dysfunctional and use that money to do something else such as lower the tax rates altogether. the enterprise of going after this tax code where tax breaks go and never die, they are

immortal, the tax code just sits there. so monumental by washington standards. you are opening up potentially every tax break in the code. the lobbyist community -- this is super bowl 12 times over. they are going to have to defend every break in echoed. the possibility of something very good coming out of it that would be attractive to both sides i think is sitting in that code. host: what is the mission of this team put together? the guest: at least $1.50 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years. the real goal is $1.20 trillion. now, there are ways to do that without doing the big deal.

you can cobble together some gimmicky kind of things and get there. they are going to have to make a decision early on. , a they going to go for a grand bargain that includes big pieces of medicaid, social security, and reform? if they cannot figure that out, i think there are going to say we have this other track. we have things like subsidies, things like federal retirement benefits that we can cut and agree on. but those are relatively small potatoes and even if you get to the $1.20 trillion you are not dealing with the next two or three decades. so, you know, they are going to have to make this decision. small ball or big ball.

and there may be no ball. the trigger does not take effect until january 2013. not january 2012. that means -- congress it tends to not do anything until they actually have the gun right at their head. is a gun is going to be at your head in the year. that is not necessarily the best way to have a trigger. host: marilyn, the independent line. -- maryland, the independent line. caller: john kerry is so detached from us in massachusetts. the last time he was in the primary, 31% -- i was one of the people who voted against john

kerry. i voted against him. he does not listen to anyone else. else. he is so removed from washington. the only time he is here when he is running for re-election. i listened to him when he gives speeches and press conferences. i watched him when he was on "meet the press." he has no problem compromising on the social security and medicare. i was listening to the details because i watched the other cable stations and satellite. the details of that is without any kind of tax hikes on corporations to help pay for it, that is going to come out of the poorest in the country and the most disabled in the country. host: gail russell chaddock, the idea of a compromise when it comes to senator kerry. guest: he is one of the most interesting picks who really

wanted to be on this panel. a lot of his background is foreign policyb. smallhe also chaired business. he is one of these people -- yes, it may look like to very strong liberals that he is a fudging on some of their principles, but i think the reasons he is doing it are credible. the 10-year window is relatively promising. it is the 10 years after that that looks like a disaster. he is thinking about it 10 years after. from that perspective, a compromise at this point, adjusting entitlements at this point, may in fact save them in that 10-year window. i would not be so harsh to see

any change in social security meaning he is selling out. guest: this committee, unlike other committees, they only need to reach a simple majority. i think too many people are reading into this idea that there are going to be six democrats and one rogue republic and. none of these people are going to be rogue. the reality is you are going to need a consensus of some point. you cannot pass a bill with a whole bunch of pain in it with democrats in the senate or through the house without john boehner's support. the idea that you are going to have democrats getting the goods on the republicans and luring one republican to signing it into law is a fantasy.

it is just not going to happen. ultimately, the leaders are going to have a huge say because these things have to go through their chambers. if they do, with a deal, this is one time where it is going to be very hard for obama. host: you have folks, very hard liners, but then you have those like fred upton as a compro miser. guest: to get his chairmanship, he sharpened his tone a lot to make sure that tea party freshmen were going to be okay with him. there was a challenge to his chairmanship. the idea that he is going to trip up and say let's cut a deal on a big tax hike is not going to happen. it is ultimately going to come down to whether or not they can

be creative enough on tax reform to sell it to republicans as not a tax increase because you can bring rates down dramatically and say this is going to juice the economy and be good for jobs even if there is a trillion dollars left over. it sounds a lot of money to folks listening to this, but we are going to have a $200 trillion economy over the next 10 years. $1 trillion out of the $10 trillion deficit we are going to have is really not as big of potatoes as you think. host: someone waiting in on twitter this morning -- guest: i think that is a great question. in my mind, it is a lot more

constitutional then a commission that says congress is incapable of making a tough decision so we will move an issue outside of congress and then the recommendation will come in. these are all members of congress. they can constitute themselves in a committee however they want. one of the encouraging things is we have gone from the simpson- bowles commission to an independent gang of six in the senate that looks authentically congressional. all the congressional leaders have made a chance to make three appointees. what to think would be very interesting, and i love the point about it is not going to be 7-5 -- it would really be interesting if this committee started out like the 9/11 commission did with governor came, the former congressman,

who said this will not have any credibility in the public fif it isn't. everything they did was premised on that. maybe this will not be unanimous. what a great weight to start. guest: i think it is possible to get unanimous. if you look at this group, there is one person who is most likely to oppose any revenue increased. he is not known for ever really working with democrats on in the major issues and he has not shared a big committee or something. if patty murray and -- if they can get some kind of reports and they can cobble together something, i think there is a chance that the rest of the folks will fall in line.

that is a very odd couple to be stuck in a room. a lot of times in committees like this, -- dave camp has other things to do. max baucus has other things to do. a lot of times, the chair and the codeshare set the tone. hopefully some of them will be on c-span so we will get a sense of their body language to see if they will work together or not. there is a chance that this will become a unanimous product. they have to crack that tax they have to crack that tax reform not in a way that both sides of the boat with it. host: frank is on our democrat'' line. caller: good morning. i respect both of you very much, but what i am hearing is beltway wisdom happy talk. i do not buy it at all.

i agree with the last caller. i actually think max baucus is the weak link. i have no reason to believe that -- it seems to me that you have 11 fairly rigid partisanlys ans max baucus who is basically a republican. i see no reason at all to buy into this idea that there has to be a consensus. the republicans have showed no interest in reflecting what of the country once with respect to a consensus. i hear you say it and i know everyone in washington is repeating there will be a consensus, but i never hear any reasons why. guest: i think steve should definitely -- [laughter] i do not know how much beltway wisdom there is at this point. the downgrade in the last few

weeks and the reason for its -- when it standard and poor's announced that the u.s. was dropping to a aa+ rating, that was a very big deal. our system does not work. is dysfunctional. two sides hunkered down in a country that is very deeply divided. is a are trying to hunker down and do not agree -- they are trying to hunker down and do not agree. this was shameful. i really do not think that is it too strong of a term for these members. what impact it will have, we will have to wait and see. every plunge is a reminder that

politics matters. you have to figure out a way to make the deeply divided congress in a deeply divided country work for the country. i actually think there is a seriousness about that since the downgrade that i have seen in years of writing the same story every month about how there is gridlock and deeply divided and polarizing. something is changing here. i think it is the gravitas of the moment. host: we have a question about the makeup in the senate. she says -- guest: yeah, i noted that on twitter actually. there is one woman, patty

murray, and 11 men. the reality is most of what they are going to be talking about our entitlement programs that disproportionately go to women. on down the line. that is, you know, i've seen some harsh criticism of that. nancy pelosi did not choose a woman. she went with xavier becerra. the reality is nancy pelosi is still going to be a player behind the scenes. the three people she picked are very close to her. it is not like women are not going to have a role in this. the co-chair is patty murray. host: when you talk about entitlements cannot talk about the roles of xavier becerra and

jim cliburn in these discussions. guest: both of them have strong ties to the democratic base. clyburn, very eloquent. i heard him give a talk during the campaign that was breathtaking. there are not that many eloquent people left in congress. speaking for poor communities, investing in poor communities, xavier becerra also a rising voice for the liberal wing of voice for the liberal wing of the party, did not vote for the final deal pending in an pat toomey with the only two on this panel that could not get on board with raising the debt limit. i think in terms of making the argument for the people bearing the brunt of the entitlement cost, you have two very strong spokesman. winston-salem, n.c..

caller: of the people we have voted in, they are completely out of touch with america. they live in a whole different world. they are in their own little world. this thing with this committee ought to be outlawed. as far as america being in such disarray, the only people that are in disarray is washington. social security is not an entitlement spending and entitlement is something that you just get. social security is what people pay into. i am a taxpaying american citizen, 65 years, a disabled veteran, and i can tell you what we have in washington now is a joke. we have a clown in the white house. host: so the perception played out as far as --

guest: i have seen a lot of folks talking about the anger over why are they having this committee that can cut my benefits? to some degree, this is about the dysfunction in congress. you would not have this committee -- the senate would not have agreed to a committee with this kind of power to get rid of a filibuster if things were working. to some degree, the reason why this committee can about is because they all looked at each other and said this is not working. this is the reason why the a forefather of this committee was created because you could not close a single base. it could be the most useless base, completely non-strategic, but you cannot close that base because the senator from that stake could block that bill so

you needed to have a different process. even things like the ethanol issue, there is a bipartisan consensus now the public has 90 votes in the senate to get rid of the tax breaks. it is still there. next month, there is going to be another hundred million dollars and checks are going to go to the oil refiners for a tax break they said they do not want. it is amazingly dysfunctional that you cannot get rid of something that 90% of the people agree to a bank let alone the bigger issues where there is a realpain involved. washington is absolutely broken. there is no question about that. that is why people are hoping. if there is no super committee with vested powers that no one has ever had, who is going to save us from this impending

crisis? you can be a democrat or republican or a fitch, you start looking at those long term numbers, something is going to have to happen. i think that is what s&p was trying to get across, not that we are in a default, not even close. but there is this long term, unsustainable problem in washington and they have not dealt with it. when they started talking about partisan bickering, we are not confident that these two sides can do anything meaningful, that rang true. that, as you said, may just bring these sides a little closer together.

guest: i want to say one thing about being disconnected. that is a very interesting and important issue right now. we have the 2012 elections hanging over this whole process. one of the things that i hear members talk about is we are going to go this far and then the collection will -- and then the election will settle in. there is no talk about investing, spending for much of anything. it is all about cuts. it is not a time, and there have been many times, everyone could account on getting reelected pretty easily. this is not one of those times. people are very concerned about the next election and the senate flipping. why? because it is people like the

caller. they sense that anger out there. people's lives are hard. people's lives are hard. there are a lot of times -- host: long beach, calif., on our republican line. caller: i am really an independent. i do not understand why we have a congress, all of these people, and then we get to this point where we have to have a super committee basically of the same people. to me -- guest: fewer of them. caller: they just keep carrying on and on. originally, -- let's face it. when people showed up in congress, people went to washington as representatives from the states, but each state has its own representative. they have their states' concerns. most of the people that go to

washington become celebrities. like the one caller said before, they are not in step with average americans. i wish there was some way that they could understand that people like myself, 25-year veteran, we have become fearful. i talked to older people because they are not transparent and they do not know what they are talking about. people are afraid they might lose their social security or medicare. i am very active bank people are really fearful out here. it hurts us when we hear people talk about our president, calling him a clown. it is the way some people say his name. host: we have one more twitter from maverick --

guest: that is a very useful point of. with a body of 12 people, picked mainly for their notes worthiness in their committees, people who are speaking not just for themselves but for the work of their committee and that expertise, it is hard to work out a geographic distribution with that skill set with 12 people and also deal with women, hispanic, color, african- american. there are a lot of ways to cut eight. this panel basically said we go for experience and expertise and do what we can on the side to make it look balanced, but it does not look balanced, not geographically, not -- guest: there is some

geographical balance. the michigan ones are going to be interesting. michigan is going through one of the toughest times as a state. people are looking at the deficit, but they are more worried about jobs. there is probably going to have to be some other things in there is that they can say we are doing something about jobs. things like extending unemployment benefits. the extension run out at the end of this year. bam, you are cut off. in michigan, are the michigan republicans on this committee going to let that happen? i do not know. the president wants to expand it through the election. of the republicans have been

resistant to that. is that something that can end up in this package as a sweetener for democrats who do not want to vote for all of these benefit cuts? maybe raising the retirement age, real pain -- they are probably going to have to have some real sweetener's in this package to set it. it is going to be interesting. you have two michigan republican conservatives, but they have to go back to michigan and answer what did you do for the people of michigan? guest: you have ohio, too, with massive job loss. guest: some of these states are very interesting that there being represented. i think there is some geographical mix. i do not think it is just small stakes are big states. from the co-ear

chairman in previous statements they have made on our network. jeff talks about spending and regulation. then, senator patty murray from july 6 talking about the plan that would balance revenue and cut its. >> what we need to do is get government out of the way so our economy can get back to creating jobs. that is what makes this debate we are having about the future so important. our government has gotten so big it is keeping our economy from recovering as it should. job creators are fearful that our $14 trillion debt is going to lead to higher taxes which could harm your businesses and destroyed more jobs. just this week, the co-founder of home depot, when he was asked

the single biggest impediment to drop growth, he answered the u.s. government. he went on to say if we do not lower spending and deal with paying down the debt, which are going to have to raise taxes. when you raise taxes, you cost jobs. this sentiment is echoed by small business people and entrepreneur. >> we can have a plan that invests in our nation's future, a plan that balances necessary spending cuts with new revenues that insure those corporations and wealthy americans are paying their fair share, that restores fairness to this process by making sure that we are not balancing our budget solely on the backs of seniors and students and middle-class families. most importantly, a plan that recognizes that, yes, we have a budget deficit and we need to address that.

mr. president, we also have an infrastructure in deficit. we have an education and the skills deficit spending and importantly, we have a jobs deficit. the only way is to invest in education, energy, and infrastructure that will produce jobs, both now and into the future. host: steven dennis, you said that the committee is going to be looking at those two to set the tone. guest: they really are the odd couple. they speak on different planets. i have talked to both of them and have been at many of their press conferences. it is hard for me to imagine coming up with two more different people, but you never know what happens in something like this. when you have the spotlight on you -- the one thing i would say is they are both extremely

hardworking and they're very bright into serious. yes, she is the partisan head of the democratic political operation, and he is a former chairman and a committed conservative. but these are not people who take cheap shots. they are not rabid attack dogs or saying crazy things on cable- tv. they are serious people. to the extent that there is hope that they can do something for the country at the end of the day, i would put it that way, that these are not people who are out to get to somebody personally. they are both people who have a serious way of doing business. guest: again, the holy grail of tax reform unites those two positions.

you get rid of a lot of the things in the tax code, to democrats, that looks like forcing businesses to sacrifice. but use in part of it to lower tax rates looks to republicans that is giving impetus to the economy. guest: it is very hard, from the perspective of how to write 30,000 pages of tax code in a couple of months, that is very hard from a practical standpoint. the crux of the issue is the democrats need a net positive increase with that. eric cantor who was the negotiator and up until now has said no. he has been taking the norquist positioned. if you cut somebody's taxes, you have to provide a tax break to somebody else. democrats are saying if we are

going to go to a senior citizen and tell them they have to pay a higher premium on their medicare, someone who is 50 now and say you cannot get medicare for another two years, we cannot do that if we have not said to the guy who owns a the corporate jet engines got a bonus on wall street, you are not going to get hi. th-- going to get hit. nobody really knows how to score this sang. there is the potential for real economic growth. anyone who has anything, but it with their taxes at all knows there is a lot of sand in the gears in the tax code. there is a tax break for equipment in maryland. who lobbied for that? maryland has a big chicken

manure industry. seriously? is that something -- the federal government has tens of thousands of pages of tax code and every single one of them as a lobbyist in town. it is going to be the superbowl of lobbying. there are all these tax interests that will be a lobbying for tax breaks. on the other side, you are going to have every defense lobbyist in town to lobby for a deal that does not cut defense spending and bank every medicare provider is going to be invested in having a deal with something else. that is big money. prescription drug providers. all these lobbyists are either: to be lobbying for or against a deal. it is almost like they planned it that way so they will not have every lobbyist in town

saying no. one of the big difference is is basically every lobbyist in town did not want the pain. now there is a trigger. there is going to be pain one way or the other. by putting some pain on the table, then you end up with some lobbyists on your team if you are fighting to get something done. host: this is the cast iron straw breaker. guest: he is a very interesting figure on this panel. he has been the indispensable senator and a lot of these negotiations. you will find him in the heart of trade disputes and tax issues. i am afraid the honor of being

responsible for secret holds can spread fairly widely in the senate. the interesting thing about senator kyl is he is retiring. you always wonder what someone says with a very important assignment in the last time they're up to bat. this is a chance for him to continue along the same in the logical course or to break out of some ground. he is respected for his intelligence and his ability to take a very complicated subject and make comprehensible to people. it is a skill set that will be very voluble on this committee. guest: he is somebody who counts votes. he is the whip.

ultimately, you are going to need the votes for this sang. i think there are some people on this committee who are there primarily -- they are the chairman of a committee with the staff to run the numbers on this sang, then there are people who are there to make sure that the are there to make sure that the votes are there. kyl is both. he has the policy chops to do it, but he knows the temperature of his a conference. you are going to need that. there have been times in the past where he has worked across the aisle on things like immigration reform. he tried to come up with a deal that did not work out. for a long time, he was the guy in the room trying to negotiate across the aisle to get something done. he is not somebody going into this saying i do not want a

deal. he was not the one who walked out of negotiations. john boehner walked out a couple of times. that was not really his style. he is certainly a very tough partisan, but there are very tough partisans on both sides. at some point -- you talk about him being a retiring senator. a lot of these people are not retiring. do they start looking at the polls? the poles have been changing. people out there think they are not paying attention to the people. i kind of disagree with. if you look at congress, they are reflecting their constituencies. the republicans do not want any tax increases, and republican

voters do not want any tax increases. they are reflecting their constituencies. they do not want compromise. if you start looking at some polls a that say republicans in the house are in real trouble next year, and it is starting to look like that, everybody's poll numbers are down. obama, john boehner look terrible. everybody's poll numbers are down. that is the one thing you can say. maybe they did not like this not compromising thing for six months. maybe we can come to a deal on tax breaks that people have been talking about. i am not sure. ultimately, if you are looking at the time line for this committee, november-december, a

few months after that a lot of house republicans have primaries. if they sign onto a deal that grover norquist says it is a tax increase, it could get real messy for a lot of these folks. you know, if you actually have a deal they get bipartisan support on this panel, you are probably going to have something that looks like a lot of the votes on the debt ceiling and the c.r. which is a mixture of both parties coming together on a compromise. compromise. i think the votes could be there if they did craft a plan with tax reform and entire reform. there may be 80 senators who want to vote for something like the gang of six plan, or maybe something more towards one side or the other side, but there are an awful lot of senators that want to get something like that done.

host: dennis, the independent line. caller: washington needs to caller: washington needs to understand that ordinary middle- class americans understand that what we see is that every decision that washington makes is for the rich. look at the treaty that was signed that allows the rich and corporations to outsource all of our jobs. things are not going to get better until washington brings our jobs back home. they pay less taxes, they get cheaper labor. job creation does happen here in america wants a gets off the ground and they realize they can make more money by sending the jobs out of the countries and the job creation goes anyways. gains.innce again, the rich guest: the idea of lowering

corporate tax rates, you do not think that democrats want to lower corporate tax rates, but the ways that corporations make money now -- they make huge profits overseas and they keep the money overseas because it is only taxed when you bring the money back. they invest in overseas. if you do big tax reform, you can have a new system that basically taxes the profits wherever they are at a lower rate so you do not get this benefit for keeping your money overseas. guest: it is what republicans mean by broadening the base. mean by broadening the base. the more people pay taxes, you can lower rates than bank i think it is the secret formula for getting through this if there is one. guest: some republicans when they go to town halls, they are being asked about stories in the

paper like ge not paying corporate income tax. that is a bipartisan issue. why should somebody making $20,000 a year or $40,000 a year pay more than zero when gei is paying nothing? ge can afford more than zero. there is bipartisan anger over that. the wall street bailout, there is bipartisan anger about that, too. there is at least some wiggle room to maybe find some answers. host: another senator gets called out on twitter.

guest: he did. he was involved with president bush's efforts to privatize social security and medicare. that was then, this is now. this is someone who is very plugged into tax budget issues, has experienced both on the executive and legislative side. i would not try to predict his positions on anything. he works well with people in different contexts. there is a core of conviction there, but how much it will yield to events is very hard to predict. host: sharon is on our democrats' line. caller: i wanted to respond to a comment about the super

committee and the reason for its formation because of two deeply divided sides. to me, it appears we have a fringe group, the tea party, and mr. norquist who seems to be running the republican party and deciding where their alliaces should be. be. it is those folks who do not seem to want to compromise. is really a shame that journalism today does not call these folks out for this kind of behavior. that is really unfortunate, and i would appreciate listening to your comment. guest: both important points. the teap party -- when you actually analyze how the tea actually analyze how the tea party, the class of house freshmen, only about a third

of them to vote in a consistent way. something like two-thirds voted to raise the debt limit after a lot of them campaigned to not do it. i think it is a mistake to read monolithi.rty as a mondale lis grover norquist is a very interesting case. i have written a lot about him. and what his tax pledge has meant to republicans. most republicans have taken 8. it is not a pledge to him. it is a pledge to the concept going back to the disappointment over the president reagan tax hikes. he agreed to raise taxes on the condition that there would be funding cuts that never materialized. president bush agreed to raise

taxes on the condition that there would be spending cuts that never materialized. the republicans come into another discussion about taxes with fool me once, shame one me. we will not be fooled with raising taxes again. we are not going to raise taxes. period. the trick ypart is the second part of the pledge which says no cutting tax breaks unless there is a net cut in taxes somewhere else. you cannot ever use these tax deductions for deficit reductions because it has to net to zero in the pledge. here in the senate, you see a significant breaks in the. i am not convinced that part of

the pledge is going to be sustained. there are a lot of republicans who feel there are some tax breaks that are so of egregious and the economy would be benefited so much that they are worth doing them on their own. the second part is under siege by republicans. guest: i think that is definitely the most interesting thing. there are ways around the grover norquist pledge. the bush tax cuts expire. he would one day after they expire, there is a $4 trillion tax cut that you can sell. you are technically in compliance with the pledge. guest: grover himself told the post."gton

guest: there are ways around that pledge to still, with significant revenue over the next 10 years. the reason why they couldn't reach a deal was not the entitlements. democrats do not want to cut the entitlements, but i have talked to lots and lots of democrats who acknowledged the need to do something there. but they cannot politically do it unless they tell their constituents, hey, it's not jsut uts onst on you. i am not just taxing granma or the poor mother trying to get medicaid. i also got a hit on the guy who is the fund manager or has the corporate jet. politically, they cannot do it.

if the poll ratings stay as bad for them in the next six months, the democrats i've talked to do not know how they can stand up against not raising anybody's taxes ever for any reason, especially when there is this huge deal on the table. the one thing that we all saw thursday night -- the republicans have their presidential debate and they were asked, ok, 10-1, would you take a deal? they all raised their hands and said they would not take that deal. the democrats i have talked to say if that is the case, we are not going to have a deal. the guys on this committee are going to have to be willing to do something. host: eric is on our republican blind. caller: i think this super

committee -- republican line. -- i think this super committee is a bad idea. patty murray is responsible for getting democrats elected to the senate. she will come out of the meeting every day and you folks will let her talk about how hard-headed the republicans are in there and are against the poor folks, but here's the deal. if you raise taxes on small businesses and corporations, all the ongoing to do is pass them down to the middle-class and the port as the cost of doing business. that is common sense. host: this is another reaction from the public at large -- gail russell chaddock, final

thoughts on the super committee, its work, and what they have yet to do. guest: the super committee is a part of congress. it is a very positive thing that congress is not punting this. it is taking it on itself which is the only way you can hope to get a vote that will sustain it. congresses of liability is on a line here. members are acutely aware of 8. guest: i think this thing could go either way. there is this cynical side that i hear from a lot of folks out there, and it is like a lot of callers today. "they are not going to do anything new." the cynical side is both sides are going to come out to just positioned themselves for the

election. the republicans could not compromise at all, and corporate tax breaks come oil companies or jets, and that is what we were not willing to do anything. the republicans could come out and say we have a terrible economy and the reason why this trigger is going to take effect is because democrats care more about big government spending than they do about keeping our troops save the. that kind of demagoguing of both sides, you know, they could both do that in the next year and a half. they normally do not get anything done and take it to the next election. there is a constellation of things that is prodding them together a little bit at a time, saying, ok, maybe this time. we have given this committee unprecedented power. they can do anything they want if they all agree on it.

they could legalize and tax marijuana. they are not going to. there is no limit and -- there has never been a broom -- a committee with this much power. guest: in the short of time. guest: they have enough time. host: we do not have enough time to keep us going talking about this. gail russell chaddock and steven dennis, thank you for your input. our next segment, will turn to the iowa straw poll taken place. you can see that live coverage taking place at noon today on c- span. we will pick up that discussion until the end of the show. we will be right back. >> watch more video of the candidates and track the latest campaign contributions with c- span's web site for campaign

2012. it helps you navigate the political landscape with twitter and updates from the campaign's. plus, links to c-span media partners. all at c-span.org/campaign2012. >> i am already preparing myself for a very small salary i will be starting out with. >> you have to be disciplined enough to put aside your biases and report the facts. >> the reason why people love fox news and movies so much is because it is an experience. >> at george mason university, aspiring high school journalists on ethics, commentary, and with a get their news and information. q &a." on c-span's "

>> on c-span3, we will visit the office of the archivist. richard nixon, his eventual resignation from the post. and an author gives a critical look at u.s.-cuban relations in the 1950's and 1960's the. this weekend on c-span2, frederick homestead is remembered for designing the u.s. capitol grounds and central park. justin martin looks at his life as a journalist and abolitionist. and a launch party for a fox news analyst's "muzzled."

pirating in the 21st century. inside the world of the pirates of somalia. >> "washington journal" continues. host: reid wilson talked a little bit about the iowa straw poll. guest: it is not entirely good predictor of who is going to be the president -- the republican nominee. saying this may be the time for the iowa straw poll to end. i would like to take some exception with him, but the straw poll is an early test.

it is a monday night usually in early january, freezing cold. the last time i left i what last time, it was seven degrees outside. everybody has other things to do. you have to have an organized campaign to get supporters out there to support you. at the end of the day, this is the first test of that bank these people have been on the trail. somebody like michele bachmann does not necessarily have those relationships, but he is she is building a great campaign in iowa. the real key today is not who wins. the winner is not necessarily the winner is not necessarily going to determine who is going to win the caucus but who is going to do better than they are supposed to do. one important person to watch

is michele bachmann. she is a new person that does not have a lot of name recognition, but she has done so well in the first two debates. if you talk to republicans in iowa, they will start to tell you things like she has 23 foster children. i think it speaks to how much she is percolating and how much her name is out there in a very crucial state bank i think she is probably going to finish in the top three and made even win. i think we are going to see another michele bachmann bump. she needs a that. at the moment, her biggest threat to the campaign is texas gov. rick perry. perry is going to be a big threat to michele bachmann. another thing i am going to watch is for the first time ever

they will have the opportunity to write in the candidate. if rick perry gets a higher percentage than some of the better known candidate and his name is not even on the ballot, i think there is a big hole for him to drive through. rick perry represents the most clearly anti-mitt romney that is still out there. there are a lot of republican donors, folks in the activist community, who are unsatisfied with the field. they do not think the john huntsman is going to go anywhere. they are looking for this other candidate, this other person to stand against mitt romney. rick perry represents the perfect opportunity bank he is from texas and has great relationships with that deep- pocketed donor's bank he is the only republican who has won a

statewide primary really running on the tea party mold. if the tea party is going to have a big influence on the republican field, rick perry is the person who is best able to appeal to them. he has already done its. back in the early part of his reelection race in 2009-2010, he was running against a senator for another term for governor bank he was trailing in the polls by 25 points. in the middle of april, he started hinting that maybe texas might think about seceding and maybe there needs to be another solution. all this sudden, he goes to 20 points ahead. he struck a nerve. it really resonates with the republican base in texas. if that electorate in texas looks similar to the electorate in other states, rick perry is

going to go really far, really going to go really far, really fast. host: of the numbers are on the screen. governor romney is not spending gov.t of time in iowa, but others are. guest: he has spent the better part of a heated years campaigning for president trying to build his name and he is but a blip in the polls. he has a few prominent supporters but is not letting anyone on fire. that is a big problem for a presidential campaign that relies so much on enthusiasm. if he is not able to demonstrate today that his campaign has

built a foundation and gotten supporters behind him, people will start reevaluating whether he will be candidate in the long term. the iowa straw poll has a long history of winnowing the field. sam brownback dropped out of the race a few days later because he disappointed. the history is replete with people who have not survived past the iowa straw poll. tim pawlenty seems to have the most at stake. questions about his viability will come up if he does not finish in the top three. his biggest challenge for second place is probably ron paul. ron paul, four years ago, a lot of people thought he was out of

the mainstream and a sideshow. now the tea party movement has adopted a lot of what he has talked about for the last 20 or 30 years. he is not doing terribly well in the polls, but he never does. his strength is in these straw poll moments when his fans will flock to ames and then leave. he has done that at the voters values conference, the republican leader conference. he knows how to win a straw poll. he could do very well this year. the difference between four years ago and today is that today he is running a real campaign. he has built the pieces. he has brought in real consultants who know how to make it look professional.

he is running a serious campaign. he is not somebody to he is not somebody to underestimate, especially with the passion that a lot of his fans bring to the table. the iowa straw poll matters. it is a huge fund-raiser for the iowa republican party. ron paul spent $31,000 to secure his great spot out front. every other candidate there is spent at least $15,000 to get a spent at least $15,000 to get a spot at the pavilion. tickets are $30 each. there will be about 8000 people who buy tickets. the campaigns are buying blocks of tickets. the campaigns will buy the tickets and spend money on buses. it is good for iowa with people

spending so much money. it is good for the iowa republican party. they will probably pull in $1 million. host: mary is on the line for democrats. go ahead. caller: michele bachmann is not being herself. they keep saying how the guy who is coaching her is doing such a good job. she is not really being herself. we know how radical she can be. what makes herman cain think he can be president when they are already trying to get one african-american and out of the white house? guest: michele bachmann is very much and none on the national level. she has a long career in minnesota we saw a flash of this in the debate when tim

pawlenty talked about the votes she had taken. we just saw a great profile in the "new yorker." there will be many more to come. host: someone on twitter thinks newt gingrich will do well. guest: he is widely known around the republican circles, but he has not let the world on fire. his campaign team is a disaster. the iowa straw poll is a preview of the iowa caucuses. newt gingrich has proven he is not good at organizing. he may have great ideas and fans, but if you cannot get them

to the polling place, you will not do well. host: here is michele bachmann from yesterday. >> this is where barack obama got his start. this is where he will come to his end -- in iowa. it is time for a real change. we will repeal obamacare. [applause] today the 11th circuit court of appeals already made their decision that the unconstitutional individual mandate is unconstitutional. [applause] as a nominee of the republican party, i will not rest until we finally repealed obamacare comic

turn around the economy, create jobs -- i will not rest until we finally repealed obamacare, turn the economy around, and create jobs. guest: she spent about three minutes on stage after being about 30 minutes late. iowa is filled with great political traditions. she was at the iowa state fair. every candidate gets a chance to stand there and make their case. i was their four years ago. i remember seeing tommy thompson and realizing his campaign was about to collapse. mitt romney's appearance generated such huge headlines that it is an advertisement that

the dnc is running today. the appearance at the state fair is always a big deal. host: let's learn about the mechanics of the straw poll. mike glover joins us from the associated press. walk us through what they will experience. guest: there will be a lot of tents with candidates putting at barbecues, live music. there will be people wandering around the campus on a beautiful summer day. they can go inside the coliseum and listen to speeches starting around noon today.

they are hoping to announce results of the straw poll around 6:00 this evening. it will be a day-long event. host: what does this tell us about the strength of the campaigns? guest: this day will show the ability of the various campaigns to organize and deliver backers to a particular event on a particular day. that is what the caucuses are all about. it is about organizing and luring backers to come on a cold day in february. it is a test run to get in shape for the real gain. host: when they go to vote, how does that work? guest: they have a voting place at the coliseum.

everyone who was willing to pay $30 to buy a ticket will coincide the coliseum and cast a vote. the republicans are being shy about telling us how many people will vote. the numbers in the past of ranged from 14,000 up to 23,000. it is a good sample. host: talk about the kind of expenses. i have heard in some cases, entertainment will be a big deal. deal. guest: michele bachmann is erecting a giant tent and bringing in a randy travis -- in randy travis. it is a full entertainment day. everyone is bringing in some entertainment. host: when it comes to fund-

raising, what does the iowa republican committee's stand to gain -- iowa republican committee stand to gain? guest: they will raise a fair amount of money. host: what happens after you get the top candidates? guest: every candidate will set up a spin room. when they announce the results, there will be 10 rooms with the candidates tried to make the case to have exceeded expectations. the straw poll is an expectations game. host: give us your predictions.

guest: i think the top three candidates will be michele bachmann, ron paul, and mitt romney. ron paul is driving to -- driving to ames this morning, there are ron paul signs everywhere. i think he will surprise people. host: thank you for talking about the mechanics of the day. guest: i want to talk more about the entertainment. you were showing a diagram of the campus of iowa state university. the michele bachmann tent will be air-conditioned. that is pretty important. it will be less important today, but it will be a big deal.

she will have randy travis, a petting zoo. famous dave served as an undersecretary in the bush administration. he will be able to attract a lot of folks. herman cain has godfather's pizza. someone else is bringing in buddy holly's backup band. this is a big deal. they spend a lot of money on this. tim pawlenty is rumored to have spent more than $1 million. four years ago, mitt romney spent north of $2.5 million. they had to bid on this basis -- spaces.

ron paul spent the most and got the best space. host: the next call is on the republican line. caller: mr. perry is running for president. he was in favor of sanctuary cities for the illegal aliens. host: we are talking about the straw poll. guest: i have not heard he was in favor of century cities. one interesting thing about rick perry is how much he will focus on jobs. he has a great story to tell. texas has been responsible for creating more jobs than any other state over the last decade. they have relatively low unemployment. there are all of these factors he will drop off -- rattle off.

that will be important to watch in terms of how he frames his campaign. the story is more complicated than that. along with the private sector job growth, there is also the governmental job growth. it matters what kinds of jobs were created, whether they were lower paying jobs or better paying jobs. in his case, they skewed towards the lower paying jobs. we will see the debate over the texas economy versus the national economy if he is the nominee. he has a great contrast against other governors who have their own economic records. this is probably the primary in

which people can actually contrast real, solid records as opposed to votes people have taken. host: sheila is on the independent line. caller: i have so many notes here. bear with me. i am already turned off by the talk about who is going to run in 2012. to me, it is too early. we just need a couple months before. i am so bored. i am constantly changing channels to avoid the talk and the polls. i am never swayed by them. forget about ron paul. i heard him speak a few months back. he wants to do away with social security. that took him right off of my radar screen. i have my mind made up already. it is dennis kucinich all the

way. he is the only one who can get this out of these wars we should never have been in in the first place. he needs to turn independent and get everyone revved up about his intentions of winning. it behind him. do not be swayed by the talk of no one voted for him. hogwash to that. i am a country singer. holmeke to jennifer gran hom about 2016. i said that it was for 2012. guest: you may have to move to my own state to vote for him. it is very likely the cleveland seat he represents now will be drawn out of existence. washington state is gaining

another seat. he is actually thinking about moving to washington state to run for office there. he will either run for district north of seattle or for wherever they put the new seat. this is fascinating. he has been out to seattle several times this year talking to the labour council and democratic groups. he is going to try to stay in the house of representatives, but he may try to do it from another state. it has been a long time since a member of congress has been elected from two different states. in a lot of people will go on

someone's bus and then vote for someone else. mitt romney brought more people owathe i was state -- isla straw poll and then actually voted for him. that shows people are not selling their souls. he did not do it this time because the downside is so great for him. this is the same thing rudy giuliani faced four years ago in a different kind of way. mitt romney is the front runner. the moment he appears to be really trying to win something and does not, his front-runner status evaporates. his strength goes away and his campaign becomes a house of cards. he does not have to compete. he is not trying to win iowa. mitt romney does not have to.

he spent something like $40 million to come in second in the iowa caucuses last time. this time, he can focus on places like new hampshire and south carolina instead of iowa with a much more conservative electorate. we have not heard a lot of contrast coming out of the romney campaign yet in terms of rick barry. i do not know if he wants to engage at the moment. we will hear about the transcorridor and the hpv vaccine the government mandated, things that are not necessarily consistent with his record.

host: west virginia, democrats patrick? go ahead. caller: are you there? the number one thing i keep hearing from the tea party and republicans in general is that we should not raise taxes on the rich or big business. they say those are the people that create the jobs. i have not seen any of those jobs being created. they end up taking their tax breaks and maximize their plants and put people out of work. we need to find someone who can actually put people to work and not give tax breaks and incentives to businesses and

rich people who are not putting people to work. guest: jobs is what we're going to hear nonstop during the presidential campaign. that is understandable when the unemployment rate has been so high for so long. the economy is not getting back to where it needs to be for president obama to win an easy reelection. if everything were on the right track today, i do not think any of these republicans would have a chance to beat a guy who would be popular. things are not getting back on the right track. that is putting president obama at risk in a number of key states. look at the polls. we have seen polls recently in those states that showed president obama underwater in doing poorly in his approval ratings.

in a lot of cases, he comes close to losing to republican candidates. those are not necessarily swing states. they are states that have voted democratic for the last five elections. if president obama is having trouble in pennsylvania or minnesota, that speaks poorly about his chances nationally. look at where his bus tour is going this week -- pennsylvania and illinois. host: this year says that mitt romney has peaked. guest: there is a fascinating disconnect between the donor and activist bases. the donor base is mostly concentrated between d.c. and new york. mitt romney has a significant amount of support from the donor

base. it is not necessarily translate into the activist based. you cannot find another republican primary in the last century that has had the front runner being under 25% of the vote. even when john mccain was down in the dumps, he was in the 20's. when he kicked off his campaign, he was in the 30's. rudy giuliani it was also in the 30's. people are not coalescing around anybody. that is why somebody like rick perry can wait until august 13 to get into the race. president -- senator obama announced he would create an exploratory body in september of 2006. we are now nine months after that point. one of the front runners in the republican field is just now

declaring today they will run for president. pawlenty. is governor: ta >> we have got to get the business tax rates more competitive so our companies can compete. they are currently taxed at 35%. we need to bring that down to 15%. in exchange for that, we need to clean out the loopholes, credits, and deductions as much as possible so the ability to compete depends on your ability to connect to customers and not your ability to influence congress. have a flat, simple tax rate. [applause] most of our small businesses in this country and job providers pay their taxes on their own individual returns.

they do not pay the business or corporate tax rates. they pay it on their individual returns as small businesses. that is why it is important we do individual taxpayer relief as well. i am proposing to take the six tax rates down to two and eliminate taxation on interest, dividends, capital gains, and the estate tax. guest: tim pawlenty is trying very hard. he has staked all of his chips and iowa -- in iowa. he needs a good showing today. if he does not finish well, questions will come about whether he belongs in the race. we have seen his campaign backing off of their claims. at first, they were really confident about how they would do in the struggle. then they were talking about a top three finish. then they were talking about

fishing better than six or seven. it is startling how fast they have backed off of these claims. tim pawlenty did not expect michele bachmann to get in the race, be so popular, and take along of the support he was counting on. they do not like each other a lot. i think we saw that in the thursday debate. they had three or four back and forths. it reminded me a little bit of the 2004 democratic race when did get part -- dick gephart spent so much time trying to take down howard dean. maybe that is what tim pawlenty is trying to do today. host: someone says what stood out for them is the grace that mitt romney used to handle the

hecklers. guest: that is what people do these days. i am not sure it is great for the process, but people can go to the soap box. that is one great thing about the state fair and the process in iowa. the iowa and new hampshire voters expect to meet the candidates and ask tough questions. the other side can take advantage of that and heckle. it is the great part of accessibility and the drawback. the debates are becoming candid moments -- canned moments.

i thought fox did a great job with the debate. they got like 5 million viewers. it was the highest reading debate of the year and higher rated the most of the primary debates last year. they get a lot of credit for running a good debate. debates can devolve into canned moments. one time you get to see those that are not canned is with hecklers at the state fair. that is when you get to see who recanted it is and how he handles questions on the stump. this is the soap box. you just saw tim pawlenty in his

blue jeans and shirt unbuttoned trying to look the part. he was in the town where "field of dreams" was filmed. they all go and throw a couple of pitches from the mound. by what is replete with great photo opportunity is -- iowa is replete with great photo opportunities and the canada take advantage of that. caller: i appreciate the opportunity to be on with you this morning. i am on the way to ames to the straw poll. it is a great opportunity for real people to get involved and

make a difference. iowans take it seriously. the debate went really well the other night. we have a lot of candidates. these town hall meetings are a great opportunity for people to ask tough questions and find out about the candidates. iowans are concerned about massive debt and high unemployment and feel we need new leadership. host: talk about your expectations and who you think will come on top. guest: it is a wide open field. last year, mitt romney won the straw poll. huckabee came in second. as a result of the momentum, he parlayed that into winning the iowa caucuses. it is not necessarily who wins the straw poll but who beats

expectations. romney has not been actively campaigning in iowa but did participate in the debate. it is a wide open situation. huckabee is not a candidate. he will be playing the guitar. it is a great opportunity for iowans to express their preference. it is a straw poll. it is not a scientific survey. it is not the caucuses of next year. what do you make of the fact he is stopping in your state? guest: i think he knows he is in trouble here. a lot of iowans are and how it

with the fact he has not brought the nation together. the situation has gotten much worse. he has not been able to deliver in terms of his promises on jobs. i think he knows this state is up for grabs. he will have to fight to win iowa. a lot of republicans are excited and feel there is a great opportunity for this to be the beginning of the end of the obama administration. guest: earlier this week, todd vander platt said he did not value the straw poll. there is talk of retiring it. is this anything more than a fund-raiser for the state republican party? guest: it is a great fundraiser.

it is an opportunity for the candidates to pitch their message and meet with real people. i think there is some value in it. you have to look at it in context. the caucuses are what really counts. beating expectations of the straw poll could help the canada to build momentum to go on to the new hampshire primary. host: do you still expect the iowa caucuses will be first? guest: absolutely. we're committed to being first. if others move up, we will move the hours of. both parties are committed to keeping iowa first. we will do everything we can to see that happen. host: you have said he would even be willing to go into 2011 to see it happen. guest: quarter years ago, they

were like january 3. anything is possible. it would be nice if it were to stay in 2012. we're committed to keeping the iowa caucuses first in the nation. host: thank you for your time. orida.p is tampa, fla caller: i agree the three things we need to discuss is unemployment, the national debt, and medicare. we as americans have nothing to gain by spending trillions of dollars in afghanistan and iraq anymore. military leaders will always beg us to stay in the war forever. put our militaries on the borders.

put the unemployed americans to work rebuilding our infrastructure. the billionaire manufacturers of world will lobby hard to keep us that were forever. host: i do not recall the war being a big topic on these fronts. guest: we have not heard a lot of conversations about iraq and afghanistan. i was scrolling through my twitter before coming on the air. there was something about asking them if they would raise taxes for war. i hope someone will ask that in a future debate. it would be interesting to see if there is a contrast between the candidates there. foreign policy has not played a big role. that is probably good for the republican field.

host: maverick asks if the democrats have any boosths. guest: they do. debbie is that i was state university. they're trying to get their message out. the democratic national committee started airing an advertisement yesterday or late us night -- late last night. it is an interesting moment to get in there and take a shot. the interesting part of it is taking a shot at mitt romney. i think they are most worried that mitt romney would be the nominee. host: bill is on the republican line from iowa. caller: i am going to the straw poll today.

right now, i like herman cain. i think he is the most adult and accomplished of all the candidates. he is a mathematician. when he talks about his business experience, he mentioned he actually worked in the lower ranks of that business. he does not just sit in an ivory tower and make decisions. he has been making the pieces -- pizzas and has made the burgers at burger king. i want to know what your take is on a person such as cain versus everyone else. guest: herman cain is a good example of how dependent we are on sound bites these days.

he did well early on. he wowed them at republican congress's. he knows how to give a good speech. in his first debate, he was very much about shown -- outshone by michele bachmann. she is the one who has taken over the role of the prominent debater. he faces serious headwind because he has not taken the first couple of opportunities to present well. i want you to go to the straw poll. try the godfather's pizza. listen to buddy holly's old band. have a great time. host: how much will you spend to be part of the process? tell us about your plans for the day. caller: i have a side of the --

hobby as well as watching c- span. i like to listen to everybody. i am attracted to the overall package that cain has. i hope other people will see that contrast with the other candidates and with obama. if you look at the ancillary items cain has, if cain becomes our republican nominee in this election, race will not be an issue. if the other candidates become the nominee, race will be the issue because they will let the

media and the democrats make it an issue. they will lose. if cain becomes the nominee, republicans remove that arrow from the democratic quiver. guest: one thing i think will be an issue is just how much people like barack obama as a person. there is a difference between asking if you approve of somebody's job performance and if you have a favorable view of them. a lot of you out there disapprove of my performance but may have a favorable review of me. president obama's approval rating is mired in the 40's. that is a terrible sign for an incumbent. but people want him to succeed and do well. they want to like him.

he has failed in a lot of their minds. the majority of americans disapprove of his job performance. if a significant portion of those who view him favorably give up on the prospect he can do well in this job, that is when his reelection campaign gets into serious trouble. host: this is from twitter. it says foreign policy should be a major issue for the republicans. the next call is james on the independent line. caller: i like obama. that is regardless of his political views. i was watching rick santorum this morning. he made a comment that the poorest person today is probably

better off than the richest person 50 years ago. that signifies to me the big disconnect there is between the different people in this country. it is to the point where we can see things that are wrong. can this country do anything about it? you ask a politician in question and he still talks around it. we know we have to fix the tax thing so that companies will come back, and hire more people. can we do anything about this? it seems pitiful and out of hand. guest: an interesting thing an earlier guest brought up is that in the republican debate on thursday, the candidates were asked about whether they would take to deal of $10 in cuts for $1 of new taxes. not a single one said they would take that deal. we will see a real contrast

between two visions of government, between the options the republicans are offering up and president obama. how do we cut? how do we raise taxes? every now and then, you get a moment when there is a real referendum on the real question. i think that is what we will see in 2012. host: the coverage of the straw poll takes place at noon today. governor. will be making a speech at 1:00 today. -- governor perry will be making a speech at 1:00 today. next up, talk about social conservatives in iowa. guest: by what is one of the most important states -- iowa is

one of the states where conservatives played a large role. it has the highest number of self-identified evangelicals. they have a big homeschooling community plays a big role in the republican caucuses. mike huckabee won the caucus because he had the base with the home schoolers. this year, michele bachmann is appealing to those same people. they know she has had these foster children. they know her record and background. social conservatives play a huge role in iowa. the economy has turned a lot of discussions these days, but all the candor its -- candidates still have to oppose same-sex marriage. it is not a negotiable issue. host: for those who do not know,

what is the family leader? guest: it is a christian advocacy group. we believe there is truth in terms of god and the constitution. we try to have a voice in the public arena and let our voice be heard. host: tell us how your voice has been heard when it comes to the straw poll. guest: all of the candidates we have visited with have spent a lot of time with us. we are conservative as it relates to a core value issues like the sanctity of human life and marriage but also as it relates to the economy, and the balanced budget, defense spending, and energy policy. anything that affects the

family, we will stand for. host: you said all the candidates have met with you? guest: yes. i was the state chair for the huckabee campaign in 2008 when he won the caucuses. i would call these other candidates authentic conservative. we trust them on the core value issues. they have a pro-family vision for the country. the main thing we're trying to determine after core values and pro-family is whether they can beat barack obama. we're going through a vetting process. today will be a great display of who is developing the organization to do well in the iowa caucuses and who we want for the rest of the country to be our nominee. we have made it clear we will not endorse anybody until after our november 19 thanksgiving

family forum where we will have the candidates in attendance in front of about 4000 influential caucus goers. that will be the last step in the vetting process. then we will determine who to endorse or recommend. i may or may not endorse as well. we're going to wait until after the november 19 date. guest: you mentioned authentic conservatives and named a few candidate. it seemed like some were conspicuously absent from that list. are there any folks who would not vote for? guest: i will not be in ames today. i think it is divine intervention that i have to be a family wedding out of state.

in hour lecture series, we've had tim pawlenty, michele bachmann, herman cain, newt gingrich, ron paul. they have all made their case to our space. our goal is to create a fair and level playing field and let the voice of our base be heard today. guest: are you concerned the issues you care about the most are not being heard? guest: we are concerned about a host of issues. i think you are starting to see people connecting the dots. you cannot erode the family and expect limited government or a thriving economy. people are starting to understand that disconnect. if you are going to the fiscal

conservative, you had better be very concerned about the families in this country. that is the only way you will get limited government and a thriving economy. i think people are starting to tire that together. that is healthy for this country. guest: is mitt romney a social conservative? guest: i was thrilled to hear in the debate that he said he would stand for the federal marriage amendment of one man and one woman. he talked about how marriage place from state to state. i thought rick santorum communicated a great world view as it relates to marriage and the family as well. mitt romney has not participated in our presidential lecture series. we're not sure how much emphasis he will give to ireland. his poll numbers continue to be strong in iowa. i think we will see mitt romney more and more in iowa.

he knows if he wins the iowa caucuses, there may be no stopping him to get the nomination. host: do you ask the candidates you talk to to sign a pledge? guest: we do. we have a declaration of marriage and family pledge. it is a world view on the importance of marriage and family. we had two candidate scott, michele bachmann and rick santorum, who signed the pledge. two other candidates, herman cain in tim pawlenty, affirmed it wanted to use their own words. with still in conversation others. it is a work in progress. we made it known before the state fair and straw poll. we will see what happens before the caucuses. host: thank you.

lawrence, kan., you are up next on the democrats' line. caller: i wanted to see if you thought it was possible his candidacy might fall flat. guest: there were guys who were highly touted coming into the race and in up not going anywhere. there is a good possibility rick perry could be this guy. the thing that will determine it is how much money he is able to raise. he has raised a lot of money for his previous gubernatorial bids. texas does not have contribution limits. he has gotten a lot of six- figure contributions from big names around the state. if he is able to collect those

big dollar donors from around the country, i think he will do very well. the good news for him is that there are plenty of those people who have not committed to a candidate. it is something like four out of five donors who were bush supporters have not contributed to a candidate this year. it will be interesting to see how many of those he is able to scoop up. the donor community has yet to solidify behind a candidate. host: we were talking about the donor numbers. as far as money raised would comes to the 2012 field, mitt romney has $18.3 million.

when it comes to cash on hand for the candidates, mitt romney is at the top. how important those that become? guest: it is huge. huntsman did not have to file his report. he just came out and said what he had raised. he did not say what he had on hand. cash in hand is a huge amount -- it is the biggest thing that matters going into iowa. you cannot buy advertisements

without money in the bank. one thing that everybody watches early on is how much you spend versus how much you raise. onlyromney's burn rate was 33%. he spent $6 million. that is more than anybody else raised. tim pawlenty and other folks spent $2 million or something like that. they do not have that money going forward. the early spending does not always pay off in the end. host: john is on the democrats' line from iowa. caller: i am going to the republican iowa caucus today. a lot of us are writing up there. we're all going to be up there. i think about 45 of us are going

up to the latke and riding down. host: what are you hoping to get out of it? caller: entertainment, basically. those on the republican side are crazy. guest: one interesting thing about rick. is that not only does he sort of sound like george bush, but he has a lot of the same mannerisms and twitches. the perry and bush team do not like each other. there is significant bad blood over the last decade or so. this goes back to karl rove and ys disagreeing over arboriculture rates. there is a new super pac being

run by stephen colbert. he was trying to promote it as a way to shed light on how ridiculous the campaign finance laws are. in the end, he is breaking new ground in terms of who can contribute money and how media organizations can fund that money. because of his efforts, c-span could start its own super pac. you could contribute money to run advertisers on your own network. that is what stephen colbert is doing. he has gotten permission from the federal election commission to allow viacom to spend money through his show to create these ads. he has run a bunch of these on comedy central and in iowa. it is a fascinating look into

how much new ground we are breaking after the citizens united case and just a much money is flowing into politics. host: mitt romney said that corporations are people. that brings in this aspect. guest: the supreme court has said that mitt romney is right. whether he should have said it and if it is smart politically, that is another question entirely. we're already seeing advertisements featuring that because it seemed like a goofy thing to stay -- say that the island state fair with so many cameras around. today, corporations are able to give to independent expenditure groups run advertisements. in some states, corporations are able to give directly to candidates. that is the next frontier of litigation, whether or not those corporations can give to

individual candidates on the federal level. we will see this conversation continued as corporations are given more of the rights of you and me. host: the next call is on the republican line. caller: washington is a good state. rick. -- rick perry and marco rubio is the only way to go. nobody could beat them. infrastructure jobs are union jobs. it is costing the government three times as much to do a job. s bidan't the union