later, and look at congressional redistricting. thomas leighton -- tim story from the national council of legislatures is our guest. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] host: washington monument closed indefinitely because of damage from the earthquake. 800 military trainers had to afghanistan by march. "the washington post" reports the program costs about $6 billion a year. later tonight gov. chris christie from the jersey will address an audience at the reagan library. the lecture will be titled "perspectives on leadership." you can see it live tonight on c-span at 9:00. he is being wooed by several to

enter the 2012 me -- campaign. you may have thoughts about him and drew the raised or any of the gop candidates running for president for the first 45 minutes. specifically, we are interested in hearing from republicans on your thoughts. you can focus on them as a whole, you the focus on them specific. but we are interested in your thoughts on the current crop running for the presidency on the gop side. here is how you can call us this morning. a story stemming from herman cain's winning of the straw poll.

this is rachel weiner talking about mr. cain. another perspective on the gop field as a whole. from the op-ed pages of "the washington post." eugene robinson start by talking about mr. cain.

with those thoughts in mind, you can add yours as well as far as the current crop of the gop presidential field. if you want to call us -- again,

republicans only -- yes, you got also e-mail us and contact us by twitter. croft and, maryland. we will speak to ronald first. caller: i am very disappointed in the republican party. i have been voting republican -- i have voted for some democrats -- for quite a period of time. the tea party people who really hate the government, they hate people. at a time when the government really should be helping people, funding jobs and funding construction and funding america, sending $12 billion a month over to iraq and iran -- in afghanistan, while our country is crumbling.

host: would you look at the current field, who is most in line with your philosophy? caller: the republican field? i don't like any of them. i don't like any of them dared all of them are kowtowing to the t ba'ath party. host: who did you vote for last time? caller: who did you vote for last time? -- i vote for less time? i voted for president obama. host: alabama. caller: i disagree with the german who just spoke before. we do both for what we believe in. as far as the candidate -- gov. mitt romney, i don't care for him at all. i hope mr. christie does not get in. i like mr. cain. and mr. perry -- except for his standard immigration. host: you did not care for mitt

romney. caller: i could not put my finger on it -- the same thing about john mccain. i had my -- to hold my nose and vote for john mccain. host: you hope that gov. christie did not enter. caller: the same thing about him. it seems like the big people in the republican party trying to get the ones they want to be in but people like me see the ones that we want. it is like there is a disconnect. host: mr. cain best reflects your personal philosophy? caller: yes, he does. a lot of his views reflect my personal philosophy. host: what do you make of what happened in florida with a straw poll and his viability? caller: i think it gave him the big boost he needed. i really do. host: shreveport, louisiana. good morning to you.

randy, go ahead. caller: as far as i am concerned, the whole bunch -- not a whole bunch, but 99 percent of them are the same old political machine. ron paul has the answer. getting the troops back home and getting everybody killed, spending a bunch of money for nothing. it is all big corporations. he is the only one -- he was telling everybody what was going to happen in the last election and everybody laughed at him. and the man is right on the money. here is a couple of things i disagree with -- but he is a man i would vote for. it would not bother me to see herman cain on his ticket. host: how you think mr. paul -- how you think he is conducting this campaign rather -- caller: he is doing a lot better. you got all of these yale and harvard people trying to get into office. it is the same political machine.

they are going to end up throwing perry and mitt romney under the bus and try to hustle in kristi and get everybody to look at him -- chris christie and get everybody to look at him. these people are bought and paid for by corporations and the global deletes. that is all this is. ron paul, he is a man of the constitution. he's got good morals. the rest of these people, they adjust the same old political machine as obama, bush, clinton, bush, and the rest of them. host: we will leave it there. ron paul coming up again on twitter this morning. indiana. tom, good morning de caller: good morning. host: what do you think about the field? caller: i like herman cain.

because i watched him on tv last week and he mentioned something i don't think a lot of people know -- the government is raiding social security to pay for a lot of other programs. and if they stayed out of that, social security would never go broke. and i would like to see a republican -- herman cain, ron paul, are anybody say, let's get out of the wars within one month or two months and stop wasting our money over there because it is not appreciated. i don't like ron paul's -- watching the debate, the last one, where he says get rid of minimum-wage. it would not create more jobs for poor people. what does he want them working for? $2 an hour? is that how we are going to compete with china? another thing, i don't see anybody in my party going after china on how they are cheating

us all the time. they are stealing everything. host: mr. cain getting a lot of activity on twitter bang --- cain made comments about his win of the florida straw poll. >> when the people are sending two distinct messages from this florida straw poll. number one, the voice of the people is stronger than the voice of the media. you know that the mainstream media has been trying to make the republican nomination into a two-person race, or, if not that, like last august it wanted to basically turn it into the flavor of the week. the second is the message is more powerful than money. my opponents, they spent a considerable amount of money trying to influence the outcome of the straw poll. i rented a bus, traveled around the state, talked to people,

held rallies, and shared my common-sense simple message about what we need to do to fix things, especially the economy. and the whole 999 solution is resonating with people. host: there is gop presidential kamen it -- candidate herman cain. in case you are joining us, we are asking republicans to weigh in for the next 35 minutes on the gop presidential field. if you want to weigh in yourself -- woodbridge, virginia. charles, good morning. caller: i basically am with those who are not excited about the field. i don't know what it is about the republicans, why we cannot bring up a good field of smart people who have not been in politics before it and want to shake things up. having said that, herman cain is pretty impressive up there. but the one that i never thought

that i would ever consider has really caught my eye, and my year, rather, and that is gingrich. his past, mainly his personal issues, i had wrote him off but he is more and more stepping up to be the most -- the one that is most delectable on stage. i think he is the guy now. being rich and cain would be the ticket -- newt gingrich and herman cain. host: what appeals to you? caller: when you listen to him, i was saying 80% are hard core conservative concepts but about 20% -- he is one willing to negotiate. that is our problem right now but i am a hard-core conservative. i am really tired of obama. and harry reid and all of these people. but if we do not find somebody

who is willing to give an inch we will not get anything finished. i think newt gingrich's the one to do that. his contract of america -- the 21st century contract with america he is coming out with the next week or so, i think everybody should pay attention to it. i don't have any idea what it's going to say but i will and to listen. host: what about who the people call the front runners? caller: i am not interested in them at all. mitt romney, just as the other fellows, he is an absolute cookie cutter politicians. i don't care what he says, having been is -- in business. he has not brought up china. he has not brought any issues that are important to business in china. as far as rick perry goes, i don't know if this guy knows where he is. i don't know how it got elected in texas so many times. i am not interested in either one of those guys. i don't care who is running. i would not vote for either one. host: new jersey.

good morning, pat. caller: for this presidential election, i am looking at herman cain and ron paul. it is tight between which one i will vote for. i like the idea of small government but in this bill in time i like somebody who is financially savvy running the country. host: what is mr. herman cain fit that belt -- bill? caller: i was reading a buy on him, and -- bio on him, he went from being a ceo to buy a subsidiary out and making it a successful business. host: does he appeal more to you personally, and so, what specifically? caller: his federal income tax going down to 9%, it really appeals to me. i don't make a lot of money with my job but the idea of actually not having the federal government take most of my

paycheck away from me every single week really appeals to me. it is more money for me to spend the money to put back into the economy. host: your thoughts on the gop presidential field. republicans only. until 7:45 a.m. or so. let's look at some of the stories of the paper. this is "the wall street journal." a review of freddie mac in their practices when it comes to mortgages.

kansas. good morning. caller: good morning. i have been aware of newt gingrich for many, many years. he is older and he has an experience of deeper thought and understanding of our governments and what has not worked. he has been there and he has seen it.

and i have heard -- i can't quote him verbatim. i would like to have a copy of all of his speeches. host: let me make a suggestion. if you have a computer and you can go to the internet, i would invite you to go to our c-span website. if you do, we have a video library. caller: i will do that. but i want to call everybody attention to the fact that we don't really need a new young man who doesn't really understand what government is all about. we should never privatize war. if we are going to war we should conscripts our own people and paying for it ourselves. host: that is money in the kansas. she gives me an opportunity to make a plug for the video library, part of our services.

a 2012 campaign coverage. you can go to our website and on the front page you can see a link in the far right corner that says video library. we invite you to type in any of the candidates' names and you can see a listing of the video appearances they made not only on this program but other forms as well. it gives you a good chance to see their thinking, thoughts, and how they developed over the years. again, that is c-span.org. high point, north carolina. caller: from the people i heard talking, i prefer herman cain myself for president. host: why is that? caller: he seems to know what he is talking about and he seems to me he is for the people. obama said he was going to fix

everything up and he ain't done nothing -- obama is like what the indians used to say about the white man win they came -- when they came, false promises. "the new york times" this morning out of london. scotland that a chief prosecutor has asked the libya's new government to assist in tracking down documentary evidence and witnesses for a possible mistrial for those responsible for the lockerbie airliner bombing.

delaware. philip, good morning. caller: i am a republican and i would like to send a message to all the republicans that have been calling in. you must unite whoever -- behind whoever the nominee and maybe in order to defeat barack obama. if not, you are going to have barack obama for another four years. you have to stop finding fault with the republican nominees -- nobody is perfect. they did it with mccain and ended up with barack obama. he is loving it right now. republicans, unite, whether the nominee may be. herman cain, mitt romney, rick perry. any one of them is better them what we have now. host: who is your favorite? caller: my favorite is mitt

romney and he will be the man. i think because the appeals to everybody. not just two republicans -- but he appeals to independents nd even appeals to democrats but he is a much better candidate and experienced man than what we have now. host: by your own statement, why do you think he will be able to unite all of these forces especially within the republican party went? >> , i think his experience, his know-how, he is charismatic and is a good man basically, a man of values. i think he will take a good vice presidential candidates and that the republicans don't find fault with him and beat him, we will have him as president. not barack obama. host: does any of the current field provider good vice president of canada? caller: ne one of them. it could be michele bachmann, it could be herman cain. host: indianapolis, indiana. you are up next. caller: i like herman cain. i have ever since he started.

i would like to see newt gingrich be in a good cabinet position. my comment about the first caller who called this morning. he was pretending to be a republican. i listened to him and could also tell that he was not a republican. he was a democrat trying to dissuade some people. anyway, herman cain. host: before you go -- newt gingrich in a cabinet position. which position? caller: anyone of them in high of authority. he has good ideas. treasury. host: tennessee. go ahead. caller: thank you for c-span and thank you for the students cam.

today it is herman cain and newt gingrich. i am a tea party member -- i want a line on c-span just for tea party members. we won herman cain, a staunch conservative, in the white house, taking our country back for our children. he said of 10% is good enough for god, 9% of a good enough for us. he will stand with israel. that is the man we need. america better wake up and look what is going on. do something for our children this time and not for politicians. host: tennessee. indiana, i am sorry. caller: i would vote for herman cain. he and ron paul are the only one speaking to the truth. host: aside from florida, what does mr. cain have to do to gain

a better stronghold? caller: continue speaking to the truth. host: does it have the ability to do that? caller: yes, i do. host: he has been in the ditch with the rest of us. in knows how to work and to get the job done. this is twitter -- "the new york post" has a feature looking at gov. chris christie who is set to speak in simi valley, california. you can see it tonight at 9:00 on c-span. the governor, besieged by republican insiders to enter the presidential field after rick perry's gop debate meltdown takes a national stage tonight. this trip takes him to california, missouri, and

louisiana. aides say it was scheduled well in advance. the latest push to get in to run for the white house. former first lady barbara bush reached out to chris christie's wife to convince her their children and family would be able to thrive in the white house despite the fishbowl-like attention. las vegas, nevada. caller: i would vote for none of the above at this point because they keep calling the health care law obamacare, and i think it is very derogatory. i just could not think it is right. host: that is the only thing that would keep you from voting? caller: yes. host: who did you vote for last time? caller: obama.

host: and you are republican? caller: yes, i am. i don't like the way the republicans are doing the middle-class and they are not raising taxes on a higher class. host: why do you think that falls into republican principles? caller: i just do not think it is right to take medicare and everything and make us pay -- make the lower class pay more. host: plymouth, minnesota. good morning. caller: there you go. another democrat per cent -- pretended to be a republican. was it out of his mind? he does not believe one thing that a republican does. he must think we are all stupid or c-span is to become a to. anyway, herman cain, he gets my vote absolutely. i thought all of these tea party people and republicans were racist? and we are all calling in for herman cain. there you go, democrats. put that in your pipe and smoke it.

host: facebook is also available to you if you want to weigh in. we put a question for the morning. you can see on the front page. you can weigh in as well. michael binder says -- new hampshire. tony, good morning. caller: i am primarily looking at ron paul with a strong second of newt's gingrich. host: tell me what went into your decision making process. caller: i think the primary motivator for this election is going to be the economy and acting ron paul's supply-side

views are most spot on with what we have seen, with what is happening in the economy. no matter how many times they try quantitative easing and of the demand-side policies and always fails and always end up costing more. ron paul has a less expensive solution that will work. host: mr. gingrich? caller: i like newt gingrich. he has a lot of experience and the only republican the field who can claim under his belt that he has balanced a budget, which i think in the last 50 years or longer. he worked with the democrats, yet he still at the same time got conservative policies passed. i think a lot of republicans don't like to admit that. clinton was not as bad as some of these more leftist democrats that we are seeing today. host: there is a story in "the new york times" about those pushing gov. chris christie to run. you can see him tonight at 9:00 on c-span.

it says -- manchester, new hampshire. hello to bob. go ahead. caller: how are you? calling from manchester. i don't know if there is a particular title -- newt gingrich, i think i would go for.

there is similar to what the other gentleman had said. i wish that there was a presidential candidate out there that i could vote on that would bring all of the troops home, shot our borders down, get the economy rolling back. host: here is a story in "the washington post" out of russia. but mayor putin set to reassume the presidency -- block near putin is set to reassume the presidency -- vladmir putin.

ohio. jessica, good morning bid caller: yes. i was just thinking, to may, michele bachmann and herman cain are looking very good -- to me. but i have a novel idea, which is the candidates should have to get a credit report rating. to show they can manage their finances before we give them over to the government. thank you for c-span. and for letting me -- host: without saying the numbers, leaving best defines that in the current crop? caller: i really liked cain. he seems to be very articulate and resonates with my beliefs. host: did you hold these beliefs before the florida straw poll?

you are breaking up. apologies. let's go next to springfield, missouri. you are on. springfield, missouri. caller: i want to say that ron paul is the only one to vote for. host: because? caller: he will bring the troops home, and the federal reserve. get our economy rolling again. host: can i ask why you trust him? caller: because he had an outstanding voting record. he has been saying the same thing for over 25 years and he has never changed his position. if nostra bombers were alive today he would have a hard time keeping up with ron paul -- if nostradamus were alive today.

pensacola, florida. sean. caller: good morning, pedro. good to get through to you. you are always the top drawer -- i have been watching you for 20 years. i am not overly impressed but i would say herman cain is good. i do like ron paul. i kind of lost interest in michele bachmann, though. i am a 67-year-old goldwater republicans, where i am coming from. but i saw somebody on c-span at the beginning of the month will item -- found it interesting. his name as buddy roemer. he said he was going to be throwing his hat in. there is a seasoned man. i want somebody season. not a chris christie. host: if you care about celebrities to support political candidates, "the washington post" is the place to turn in the reliable source section.

ron paul supported by barry manilow and herman cain supported by dennis miller. south carolina. charles. caller: i am a republican did have been one long time up until this year. i am changing my mind in regards to the fact that we don't have anybody who is running who really has any experience except mitt romney, that knows anything about the government, about the operations and dealing with world problems. the thing is we as republicans seem not to realize that the republicans are holding the economy back. we are saying no to everything and not giving everything -- and giving a try and not putting anything on the table. with that being said, it is unfortunate that my position is

changing to become a democrat because it seems like there are the only ones really try to do anything for the people. host: did you vote for mr. mccain last time? caller: no, i did not perry -- i did not. actually i was overseas and was not able to vote. i was incarcerated in a prisoner of war camp. at this time i am going to vote. unfortunately i did not have anybody to pick in the republican party except possibly mitt romney. i might end up voting for obama because he seems to be the only one presenting anything. host: petersburg, alaska. caller: there you go. another democrat posing as a republican. i just want to throw in my hat and say i support herman cain and mitt romney for president and vice president. host: have you always supported herman cain? caller: yes. host: what made you come to that decision? caller: the fact that his

business experience is pretty adequate and him and mitt romney i believe and turn the economy around. mitt romney that experience in the political wing could be a big plus. host: what have they said that makes a difference this time around than four years ago, especially with mitt romney's case? caller: herman cain is the only one who has really come out with a plan that i actually agree with or understand. host: ed o'keefe will join us in a few minutes to talk about other issues. but he has a story taking a look at the post office.

the morning, iowa -- des moines, iowa. caller: i want to chime in the response that herman cain is getting here on the show this morning is evidence that the media is not listening to the people, which is what he is always talking bubp. he says his mission to is more powerful than the media, and that is what i think is most impressive about him. i like him since the beginning. i got a chance to see him at the steve king events, and there was another tea party event and i got a chance to meet him and i got a chance to give him my own point of view. i said that i really wish him well. i think he is the most adult of

all of the candidates, including the current occupant of the white house. and i think he is running against a lot of forces, including our apathy and cynicism. a lot of us have just given up. but i really think he is the real deal. he is the guy so many of us have lamented before, why doesn't somebody with a real business sense ever run? this is the guy. here is. here is the chance to vote for somebody who actually has the conservative background and the business sense and the adult mentality to actually run a successful organization. no organization is every run successfully by a child. host: "the wall street journal" has a story about president obama's health care law heading to the supreme court.

the justice department is due to respond wednesday to those challenges -- ofking at the world technology and politics. talking about the political activities of facebook starting a political action committee. i

fort wayne, indiana. vincent. caller: i am for herman cain and ron paul. i did herman cain is right on the money when he was talking about closing the border and taxing the foreign wars and doing real good for the poor. host: what other areas does he differ from the candidates, in your mind? caller: none are the other ones are talking about the border.

none are talking about taxing the foreigners. i have not heard them and not yet, from what i have heard, that part right there, coming from me. host: looking at gov. rick perry's immigration views. this is michael flanagan -- fin egan.

worthington, minnesota. paul. caller: i am not too big on the gop field actually. i don't think that will actually take out our incumbent president -- not too impressed with the field. but i do have a question about the postal service on the article you mention. just a question. the postal service being billions of dollars in debt. how much does it cost to change the stance? the graphics, the work to put the fancy pictures on the stamps. is that the really the right way to go for the postal service since they are already in that? host: granger, illinois.

you are the last call. bob. caller: i am for herman cain and i can tell you the difference between herman cain and our present heard -- president. herman cain would not sit in a racist anti-american church for 20 years and claim nothing about it. and we have a media that has not yet answer the question why was he in that place for that long. the other thing is herman cain will never say that for the first time in his life he is proud of his country. and we have a man who is successful in business compared to a marxist professor. host: what is about -- is about his economic policy that interest you the most? caller: he has shown us he can do things. he built himself up from nothing in business. 30 years ago i had a chance to

go work for him and they made a damn mistake and i really regret it. host: with the pizza company? caller: yes. host: that will be the last call. taking a look of the deficit committee. areas of compromise, finding ways to cut deficit spending and cut spending overall. coming up, we will look at spending on another issue, disaster relief. congressman approving a deal to supply disaster funding. ed o'keefe will give details on that when we return. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> this is a confession in front of a large and very important influential audience. i have never embarked on a book

on a subject i knew all about. >> for the 11th year, more than 100 authors and c-span2's book tv return to the national mall for the national book festival. hear about the latest releases from the history and biography pavilion from the authors themselves, on line at the c- span video library. all archived and searchable. it is washington your way. >> you should always start with the assumption that when a politician or a ceo is saying something, they are not telling you the truth. now, they may be telling you the truth but the burden should be on them to prove it. >> was briefly editor for mother jones, produced documentaries, and also a best- selling author, his latest is "here comes trouble." sunday on "in depth," your chance to call, email, or tweet michael moore.

>> he found several labor unions and found that the socialist party of america as candidates for president. running five times. the last time from prison. eugene debs lost the changed political history. one of 14 men featured in c- span's new weekly series "the contenders." live from his home in indiana. friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. get a preview and watch other videos about him on our special website, c-span.org/the contenders. bromwich part of the u.s. constitution is important to you? this is both a question for the studentcam competition, open to middle and high school students. be sure to include more than one point of view and video of c- span progress. entries are due by january 20, 2012. there is $50,000 of total prizes

and a grand prize of $5,000. for all the details, go to studentscam.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: ed o'keefe joins us from "the washington post." federal reporter and blogger. welcome. powhat was decided? guest: dropping funding for federal emergency management agency for the rest of fiscal 2011 which runs through friday and picked up with about $2.65 billion funding for fiscal 2012, basically starting over the weekend. this was the big disagreement that helped -- kept the house and senate passing the short- term spending bill for the first few weeks of fiscal 2012. congressional republicans wanted to offset new disaster spending -- consistent with their call to cut spending, if you are going to create new spending.

a house senate and democrats said, no, disaster spending has always been done no matter the cost, to get money quickly to disaster survivors and they generally of course take issue with the idea of cutting in order to spend. essentially over the weekend the federal emergency management agency discovered they had about $114 million left in what is called the disaster relief fund, the pot of money for presidentially declared disasters. individual assistance, public assistance, all of that is covered by this fund, as are some operational costs. the teams that go out on the field, some are paid for through this fund. part of the reason we now believe we are able to stay solvent through friday and continue providing relief is over the weekend they were able to recoup about $40 million in unused disaster spending. you ask yourself how they were able to get money back. states and cities don't actually spend it all when they get it. they do return it. this happens pretty frequently. we just don't notice it because

we are not sitting here all the time monitoring fema spending. that was part of the reason why they were able to say to congress, look, we were able -- enough to get as thursday, maybe friday. it depends whether there were major disasters this week and how many apply for assistance. there is no way of knowing but conceivably it looks like they will be able to get through the we just fine and picked up for fiscal 2012. host: what does this say specifically about the way fema funds the program? caller: it says they probably need more money. find me a government program that does not in this town. but the argument is a year where we already spend $7 billion in disaster is in the -- there has to be a serious discussion about providing more money to an agency designed to get really fat faster. you can take whatever position you do on the way the weather is changing in this country, but there is no doubt this has been

a severe weather year. a historic tornadoes and flooding and ice storms. you now have hurricane irene which caused a lot of destruction on the east coast. and every weather expert you talk to come every disaster expert says things are getting worse, and therefore more money will need to be spent. at a time states and cities do not have the money to spend themselves, the federal government will be needed. this is one of the basic areas where states and cities say we need federal assistance. it is when it comes to sound like this. host: ed o'keefe here to talk about disaster funding, as congress came up with a deal. you can ask him questions and do so -- but to get a perspective on how states and specifically cities deal with the issue of disaster

funding. joining us on the phone is thomas leighton, the president of -- pennsylvania -- mayor of wilkes-barre, pennsylvania. >> cities like wilkes-barre who have been affected by the hurricanes, we need to rely on our federal and state governments to assist us to help us get our revenues back into the homes and businesses reopened in a timely manner. any delay in the federal and state government really affects the lives of our people. it affects their ways of getting back to work in their real jobs. , have had devastation in the surrounding communities and aid is needed from washington. host:, as your city received investments as far as disaster funds? >> the city itself with the

infrastructure we have about $3 million in damage, some of the walls along the creeks collapsed and other infrastructure problems. we had to evacuate 20,000 people. and the surrounding communities got hit harder, when there was no levy system. so, we need to assist our neighbors up here. it is a matter of helping each other get back to a normal way of life. host: how many residents themselves had asked for assistance? >> we had about 100,000 people evacuated and 20,000 people in the city of wilkes-barre. 50,000 people had been affected in a severe weight. they will need the funding, from washington. guest: i just wanted to clarify, you had disasters essentially tied to of hurricane irene with the river flooding and then the remnants of what was tropical storm lee, right? >> that is correct.

we got hit in a two-week period with irene and lee, just getting back to a normal way of life and then being hit with lee. guest: have you had been a disaster assessment teams on the ground after the first hurricane irene? >> yes. guest: how many roughly? give us a sense of how many fema personnel you know were there? >> we have about 10 people here just yesterday in the city in evaluating the storm damage. i have nothing but positive to say about the officials who have been here, both fema and officials. now it is just what is being done at the federal government level in washington. host: how does seem to work with when you ask for the funds? >> they have been cordial. this is our seventh flood incident. we have been dealing with fema and fema officials in my past

seven and a half years as mayor -- this is the seventh natural disaster in my administration. we had a down to a science about what needs to be done and documented. what do you went fema officials, into the city we know exactly what they are looking for and have the paperwork. host: what is the turnaround? >> we are hoping 60-90 days, if not sooner. host: practically what does it mean for you as a city watching the damage being done? >> we have to bring out private contractors because we do not have the personnel. these contractors expect to get paid. and we need to stay on our elected officials to make sure the funding is received in a timely manner. host: how does your city stand right now if you do get more rain and flooding? >> the city is fine right now with the exception of the areas that got flooded. 15 states that sustained serious flood damage. they are getting back to normal

ways of life. a lecture city has been turned back on. they are getting their heating and plumbing checked. most of the residents had returned to their homes but they are still affected because of the lack of funding that has not been received from them yet. host: talk about the political process, especially the going back and forth in congress, over the issue of funding. from your perspective as a major not in washington, d.c.? caller: they need to put their political differences aside for the residents of the united states. people are out of their homes and a lot have not been able to return to work it because they have been focused on getting their homes and families back together. elected officials in washington have to realize these people are devastated we are affected by a flood, and they need to realize that these are the voters. i did a walking tour with senator bob casey hear back on that saturday when the floodwaters were receding, and

he was very receptive. very receptive of the concerns of the people he spoke to. he knows the situation and knows these people need to get back to their homes. guest: of washington were having a serious conversation about disaster help, what could they do to get things faster and easier to you as a mayor who needs money quickly? >> again, no the concerns of the residence and get the funding in a timely manner. again, they need to come and see the faces of the people. i walked the streets of the flood damaged areas and will vary and i have had senior citizens crying because they did not have $1,000 to repair the hot water heater, they did not have the $15,000 to repair the electrical services. these senior citizens of the water heater would cost $200 or $300 and the workshop to get a bill for $800 to $1,200.

these people do not have the money and they need to have the money in a timely manner so they can get back to normal way of living. especially senior citizens. when you see them on the front porch just crying as the personal property is being taken out of their homes that as flood damage, it is a very touching experience. host: thank you for your time. guest: spend some time talking to folks like the mayor who are being held up by this process -- the work force of $47 million worth of projects -- their work force of $47 million worth of projects the have to be suspended. you had all sorts of projects and all sorts of states dating back to hurricane katrina and the florida hurricanes.

big road projects in north dakota. rebel the of electrical power lines in iowa -- rebuilding electrical power lines in iowa. people affected by irene and delee. it becomes a very tricky situation for these cities who have to put contractors on hold and maybe divert payments for road projects. it becomes a real headache for these cities. host: we have a comment from twitter. guest: they do budget money. the white house said they will need $4 million. -- $4 billion.

we'll see if democrats push for more money. they will increase in fema's spending. host: another comment from twitter. guest: i believe they would. it would not look good if you're keeping money for no good reason. fema does a good job of making sure the money is spent properly. they had $40 million come back to them. they said this happens all the time. host: a phone call is available to you. the alliance will be on your screen -- the lines will be on your screen. caller: i want to say hello. in response to what the

republicans are doing, they made sure there is no job created by money funded toward any city suffering from a disaster. this is a example of what a stimulus package would do. it jobs would be created. they do not want anybody to see how jobs are stimulated or how congress gets started. these are corporate republicans. they're trying to make the economy standstill. if there is any money that is going to be spent, they want to make sure it is spent on stopping obama and making sure that unemployment stays high. guest: it is obviously an emotional debate between

democrats and republicans appear on the hill, discussing these differences. both sides have valid arguments. i think there was a real sense that they did not want a third fight in just six months the might have held up government operations. >host: brooklyn, new york. caller: my eyes were glued to the screen watching the people suffer. we did not get hit that hard in brooklyn. i am appalled at the republican party. this should have been reached two weeks ago. i hope the american people wake up and realize that it is mean- spirited. i will be voting for president obama in november. i'm fed up with republicans. host: we have seen other -- have we seen other times when funding

for fema has been a political issue? guest: you have interesting timing with the hurricane in august just as funding was running out. use it runs out in august and september when the fiscal year runs out. perhaps there will be -- i am also happy that irene the not cost too much damage in brooklyn. host: hurricane katrina comes in with $7.2 billion in 2005. guest: right. overall this year they've spent over $7 billion combined with these tornadoes and floods and

hurricanes. erector-setting year -- a record-setting year. this shows you the expense with which fema is dealing with, not just the 50 states but re puerto rico. their resources are stretched. lawmakers called to talk to constituents. they say fema has turned itself around from the disaster that was hurricane could trade up. there was much better response time. much better than what the mayors and governors need. fema can put people and resources in the field ahead of the storm, which is what you saw with hurricane irene. they went to the immediate needs

funding in order to anticipate the costs of irene and lee. host: any sense it will lead to a consensus? guest: we have seen democrats over the past few days and other senators and members of the house whose states and districts have been affected by the weather in recent years. the white house is saying give them at least $4 billion, which is double what congress wants to do. they have relied on the if you give them some now, we will get more later argument. host: sue on our independent line. caller: i wonder if all these home owners in these disasters have the foresight to of homeowners insurance, which is

supposed to take care of their personal home. and if the states and local governments have taxes where they do here in columbus to take care of the roads that are damaged. this to me is not a federal problem. it's a local problem. i had a fire. i had homeowner's insurance. it took care of my home. you watch what happens to the personal responsibility. guest: this is an argument that people make. individual assistance to those homeowners who need a federal aid. they are only, to fema after they have exhausted their own personal insurance accounts. fema is not necessarily used in place of that. they have exhausted all other options.

a fire insurance policy will cover all this. i believe that fema only gives it up to about $25,000 in individual assistance. it's not like somebody will get a few million dollars to reconstruct a home. this argument is one that ron paul is arguing about, saying states and cities should be responsible for. in the 1970 cost the states and cities came to the federal government and said we cannot do this on our own. this happened after katrina. more needs to be done. you have a good point, sue. just because your house is damage, it does not mean the government will pay for ait.

host: there was a study from george mason university. what differences are there between how much the administration request and how much they get? guest: i think it depends on the year. some republicans have ordered for thatd of last have asked for fiscal 2012. that is a good point. the white house went out and assumed that the money would come as necessary and there will not be an argument that you would have to cut somewhere else if you spend on fema. we have to find other ways to cut. you have seen them pulled back

and say, we will pay for this. we may not put up as big a fight on cutting elsewhere. host: republican line, cheryl. caller: when i heard about this arguing over fema, it occurred to me that i have paid my fema flood insurance that was due in august 27. on friday, i e-mailed my congressman and my state u.s. senator, mark rubio, and ask them who i can get my refund from. if they were going bankrupt, it seemed fraudulent they have taken my money that i needed to pay my comcast bill so i could continue to communicate with them, since that is the only way you can get messages through.

i wanted to know who should i sue? we pay for fema. we pay premiums. i pay three and seven $9 every august for flood insurance -- i $379 every august. i wanted to know who to get my money back from. guest: i think you called the right people. keep calling. host: raleigh, north carolina, democrat's line. caller: spending cuts -- george bush -- george bush was

present -- [unintelligible] nobody was talking about spending cuts than. people were hurting. you cannot control. try to block funds. maybe they should not get a paycheck. host: has funding from work changed drastically since katrina? guest: yes if only from the emergence of the tea party republicans who are pushing for this. it has refrained the spending overall, not just for fema. host: houston, texas. caller: please let me make my point.

my reality in houston -- we were 15 days without electricity in our neighborhood after katrina. we pay our fema and flood deal policy and we don't have to cash in on that. you fast forward -- from katrina until ike wasn't happen when somebody in the neighborhood on the committee to the homeowners' association, we had somebody the next block over that fema had paid all this time for these people to stay in a house, a rental house. people were not even there. the lady that was supposed to be there was not even there.

with a living boyfriend elsewhere and nobody ever reported that. i was beyond appalled. to me is not any of the fraud and abuse. our federal government not doing their due diligence and taking care of the monies that are being dispersed to them. guest: i think you're talking about katrina, rita, and id survivek vske survivors. fema is trying to get some of that money back. they did not realize there were not supposed to apply for multiple rounds of pay. let's say the house was hit by

both katrina and rita. they may have accidently applied twice thinking that because there were displaced by both storms there were eligible both times. in fact, there were only eligible once. fema has come back to them and said, you need to give us back that money. there was a disagreement about whether or not they were told that. they had to return the money. we don't hear about those things unless it has affected your neighbors. people taking relocation grants and not necessarily state more they were supposed to. those are the types of people that fema is trying to get money back from. judges have said the need a better job explaining to disaster survivors. if you get hit by multiple storms, you only get paid once.

host: there is a story this morning talking about tropical storm irene. could they apply for fema loans? guest: i don't think so. that decision was made by the mayor. he was criticized for this. but it made sense. it would be worth following up on. i think there may have to swallow hard. host: phil on our republican line. caller: i am appalled that the leaders have skipped over the budget process for years. they get caught up into this bickering. i think they should all lose

their jobs. i say reelect no one. a reasonrformance is why government should stay out of some services. thank you. guest: they have kept out of it. we appeared to have enough money to stay alive through thursday and friday was a big sigh of relief for lawmakers. host: why do not know that? guest: that is a good question. the agency said they would be able to get back $40 million. this was money that was it needed. they don't mind giving up more than necessary. better to be over prepared then

to of a katrina-style response to a storm. it behooves reporters to keep tabs on them and make sure they do go back and get the money. host: how much will they get? guest: 2.6 $5 billion -- $2.65 billion. host: is to talk about staggering the money -- is there talk about staggering money? guest: there will be snowstorms and ice storms of some kind in the fall and winter. then it starts to pick up with hurricane season in june. they start spending a lot of that money over the summer. host: jacksonville, good

morning. caller: where can citizens get information from fema about who is not eligible for fema assistance? if you owe any taxes, for instance, you're not eligible for fema assistance, no matter how great or else mall is. there are other areas that you would not qualify for food assistance -- no matter how great or small it is. they have your money, but you never are able to take a vantage of assistance in a disaster. but you still pay off your taxes -- you're not able to take advantage of assistance.

that means they discriminated against you because you overtaxes but there will not wash those taxes from you. they say, you still owe the taxes. you paid into the system but you don't get anything out. guest: you can go to fema.gov to find links for assistance. they have a pretty good life out of the different types of assistance that you might be eligible for. and it was homeowner a flood or not a flood. they have links to all the types of assistance you may be available for. the small businesses administration gives out money. money is given to the states for road reconstruction. money is given to farmers that are affected.

when you see these disaster sites, you see the fema people and the other people because there are three primary agencies they give out money after big disasters. host: what about people that are not eligible? guest: i'm not as familiar with the issue of taxes. and how laid out there to do it. host: lancaster, pennsylvania, nicholas. caller: republicans are trying to stop money from going to fema -- that's the wrong idea. towns nearby were hit hard by the storms. we have to figure how we are born to pay for it. we can't keep giving different groups money.

i don't think republicans want to stop giving them money. they want to know how we're going to pay for it. guest: that is true. caller: i think they want to know how we're going to pay for it. the government has to do the same thing. guest: you make a good point. most years you'll see republican lawmakers and some democrats stand up when fema funding has to get appropriated. they will say, i'm not voting for this because we're adding to the deficit. nobody -- that argument did not fly in previous years before you read several lawmakers with the backing of fiscal conservatives that consisted you have to have a serious conversation about the way government pays for things.

republicans have said that we need to talk about where we cut and how we responsibly spend the money. trichet was's affected by hurricane irene and also the earthquake. he said we will talk about how we balance the books in the process. he said, let me be clear, we will pay for disaster relief funding, but we should have a conversation about how the government will pay for this. you saw this delight of forger $47 million -- you saw this delay of $447 million. money needed to be spent on rescues an opening shelters. they go to the most recent and worth the way back. -- and work

their way back. how quickly the white house signs off on that and how quickly fema gets into the field to start doing assessments with the management officials. that is what you are seeing fema put people in offices and of a storm so that they can be there right away as soon as the situation is safe and getting a sense of what is needed. they will sit here in washington and say, we have all these projects in north dakota, for example, where they want to raise the grade of a bunch of rose because they have been washed out in the past. we want to spend x amount of money to raise these roads. that is not immediate need. they will look at a list and

spend money on the immediate stuff. host: panama city, florida. caller: i was flooded in 1995 and we have flood insurance and our regular insurance. we had everything taking care of. fema came around and asked if we needed anything. we did not. i am not in a flood zone now. does that money go to fema or is that another pot? guest: that is a good question. i believe it is another pot. don't necessarily quote me on that. you are wise to of flood insurance even if you're not in a flood plain. you should be thinking about stuff especially if you live in

a state like florida which is prone to all sorts of natural disasters and bad weather. gger. our guest is a bloc guest: everything from the postal service to fema this week and to federal retirees. this is like covering the auto industry in detroit. this is what we cover. we have hundreds of thousands of residents who collect a government paycheck. host: you have a story in the paper today that deals with stamps. guest: if it is not fema, is the postal service. they will start honoring living legends. using the rules you have to be dead five years to apply to have a stamp in your honor.

it is like being a catholic st aint. they are trying to gin up interest. people can submit their suggestions. they are asking people to mellon their suggestions or to use facebook and twitter -- they're asking people to mail in their suggestions. it could be bruce springsteen or president obama or president bush. host: jacksonville, florida. go ahead, please. thaner: fema is more likely union run.

i do not understand how the democrats are crying the republicans are the party of no and all they want to do is hold the government responsible for the money they are spending and to know where it is going. it is our money. they are giving it out. they should be able to hold the government responsible. it is ridiculous to think that they can say everytime that the republicans are a sayingno no, they want to know where the money is going. host: we will take one more call. barbara. caller: i feel fema should be included in the budget. if the republicans do not feel

that you should pay for everything on the front andend, then maybe they should consider closing loopholes in taxes. anybody who lives in florida cannot risk being considered -- we have hurricanes all the time. maybe they should look at some other sources of income. for example, tax lobbyists and not allowing businesses to consider contributions and business expenses. host: other sources of income. guest: to fund fema? there are other ways to draw money to help pay for disasters. they emphasize homeowners and

small businesses, if they have to have their plans -- they have to have their plans in place. if you can afford insurance, by ut it. of the "theeefe washington post." how often do you blog? guest: as much as half a dozen times a day. host: we will take up a discussion of redistricting. are there areas of compromise to cut spending? stephen bell of bipartisan policy center will be our guest. >> an update on the 2012 presidential election. ane says the chris

christie is seriously considering running for president. he is giving it a lot of thought. he thinks the odds are better now than there were a few weeks ago. turning to the global economy, greece's finance minister said his country will receive the next batch of bailout loans in time to avoid a default. the parliament will vote by the end of this month on the latest austerity reform they have promised their creditors. world stocks are rebounding. wall street is set for a higher opening. del futures rose over18 180 points. those are thsome of the headlins

on c-span radio. >> hit follow. the latest information of what to watch on c-span, sees2 ban, c-span3, ond twitter. >> more than 100 authors return to the national mall for the national book festival. hear about the latest releases from the authors themselves, online at the c-span video library. all archived and searchable. it is washington your way. >> "washington journal"

continues. host: joining us is stephen bell from the bipartisan policy center. where are we, too deficit- reduction? guest: they have made a big effort to socialize with each other. that may sound funny to you. patty murray and japan's soaring -- jeb hensarling had never met each other. there is a close relationship in every case between the leadership in the house and senate and those three members that were sent there. host: how does baltics enter to cut spending -- how does politics enter? guest: it is hard to keep a deal if you do not know who they are.

back in 1985, 1987, all the good deals between republicans and democrats, we got to know each other at would got to learn to trust each other. that may be the most important thing the select committee has to do. host: how much of the work will be affected by president obama need to see revenue? guest: they are talking about what they have insisted on for some time now. views have hardened a little bbit. what do with the jobs program? does the joint committee have to offset it or address that? i don't know those answers. we're running at a time. it tried to take the low-hanging fruit. there are not a lot of options.

host: what is the time frame? guest: before the last week in october if they expect to get a score that they can count on. host: how does december factor into this discussion? guest: the come to the floor of the house and senate and we see whether the house and senate will approve whatever product comes out of the subcommittee. host: were they looking as far as the cuts -- where are they looking as far as the cuts? guest: they are looking at minor cuts that my lead to $1.2 trillion. i have a list of 50 things. this includes things from the president and the biden commission and from other people

that they could take a look at. if you look really hard and do all this, you get to about $1.3 trillion. if you're not going to raise taxes and not do with medicare and medicaid in structural terms, a another $1.5 trillion is difficult to do without cleaning up the closet. host: that low-hanging fruit. guest: means testing. change the consumer price index from the we calculated out to a more accurate way. that also raises revenue. that is one reason both sides do not like it. host: stephen bell is our guest. you could ask questions by

calling 202-737-0001 for democrats. 202-737-0002 for democrats. 202-628-0205 four independents -- for independents. what works best for you? guest: that they make real changes to entitlements and they take on real tax reforms, closing most of the loopholes and lower the rates for individuals and corporations, and, with a tax code that is at least moderately understandable for the average educated citizen. when tim geithner could not do his taxes in the right way, that tells you how complicated the code is. we recommend premiums support for medicare, and separate state

and federal responsibilities, and simplify the tax code. you can get the deficit pretty close to balance eventually. you can get our national debt down to around 60% or less. that's a pretty sustainable level. host: d.c. anything different coming from this one -- do you see anything different, from this one? guest: you find out that the mortgage interest deduction and the charitable deductions and the high end cadillac health care plans -- look at state and local tax exemptions.

all sorts of organizations to save the idea. host: so the committee looks at these? at these.t look of thes all kinds of complicated things have been thrown on their plate. they will be hard-pressed to find the $1.2 million to $1.5 trillion. caller: it seems amazing that in talking about grown men that need to get to know one another before they are able to come to some kind of agreement. these are supposedly educated people. they are not teenagers. they shouldn't have to get to know each other before they have to decide important business

like this. we all know will happen in the end. there will cut everything by a percentage of like you did it over in england. these people cannot -- they're so concerned with the way they appear to the world that is impossible for them to come in to consensus. that is my comment. guest: the last point is an important point that you made. yes, they are concerned about how they look to the world. there is a competing interests here. if they wished to keep faith with the caucus, which has great power over these men and women, i think you'll be pessimistic in your outlook. but if they want to really look good, the ratings agencies, to

market participants, to citizens of the united states, the people look to america for leadership around the globe, that may be taking a larger view of their responsibilities and can do more. our hope is that media pressure and public pressure would increase the possibility that the joint committee would do more than we expected them to do. i believe that. i really believe that this will have some impact. if you're one of 12 who failed the country and we have a market reaction that is negative, i think that will have some influence. but without public pressure, i think the gentleman is right. host: what is the transparency of the work of the committee? guest: so far not much. they have held a couple of meetings.

so far no public hearings. host: arlington, virginia, richard on the independent line. caller: i like to quote an author in 1993. "the time is approaching when the government can no longer fund its overspending without destroying its business base of america. when that time comes, there will be few options available other than the printing of more money. every nation that has gone this route has sparked hyper inflation that eventually wiped out the middle class." i think that we're at that point right now. it seems our elected officials don't understand economics at all.

hopefully we'll get somebody up there that has some common sense and business mind. that is possibly the only thing that can save us. guest: there is growing uncertainty about the ability of the west to govern its affairs. we know what is happening in europe. we know that that is far from solved. it was believed that america would leave the way. if the greeks had no plant or if italy had no plan, the united states would come up with an intelligent plan. we have not done so. i like a we have done bipartisan policy center at the. -- i like what we have done at the bipartisan policy center. -- president's commission

there isn't a lack of ideas or ability. they have special power, more meat than any committee in the history of congress. they may not choose to use it for many of the reasons that were just cited. we're spending an enormous amount of money. we're going through the longest -- the most prolonged period of joblessness since the great depression. i was here in 1982 through 1984. i looked up some numbers. we topped out at 1020% unemployment during that put to a time -- which topped out at 10 points 8-- we topped out at 10.8% unemployment.

we don't have that energy right now in this economy. people are not hiring. business are saving their money. they're putting weight rating funds -- they are putting away rainy day funds. get back to what politicians are doing. they don't believe americans are as down on congress as they are. i'm lucky that i've been in politics long time. pollsters share things with me. it is amazing how much congress severed a black eye over the debt ceiling fiasco. normal people are not talking about the debt ceiling over breakfast. this time they are saying, they do not know what they're doing. host: supporting this work to a

committee -- so putting this work to a committee. guest: this has made members of the house and senate jealous. the power of this committee will be making people nervous that are not on the committee. "when do we get a chance to participate?" so it seems to me that it will be a very difficult unless there is bravery based upon these relationships. if i jump off the top of this cliff, we jump with me? we will hold hands and jump together. host: they cannot do that until they see a document. stephen bell is our guest. kenneth, good morning.

caller: i have a question. he became chairman of the budget committee. each congress cannot bind the future of congress. i have a suggestion. we had a victory bonds in world war ii. that willt money fall of the money market funds to pay off the chinese and the indians. then buy it back and make it tax free for the u.s. investors. guest: that is a good idea. the buy america bonds were not complete tax rate, there were very popular and did a fair

amount of good. the notion that patriotic bonds, buy america bonds is a good idea. it seems it is a difficulty in the time of such gross indebtedness. we were just barely able to continue the federal tax on gasoline that pays for our highway construction. that happen at the last minute. the was going to expire at the end of this month. we now the temporary extension. that shows how wary people are in doing something in congress. host: we have a comment from twitter. guest: i happen to agree with that. i agree that the across-the- board cuts that might occur in

january of 2013, those cuts verge on counterproductive for this country -- there would be counterproductive for this country. defense would take a hit that some members would find it very difficult to accept. it has bipartisan opposition already. there is a problem if the joint committee doesn't act. just like we saw 25 years ago, discipline will be too tough and congress will change. i think the great danger is that the joints like committee does not do something, that then nothing will be done. the matter was president, who runs the congress, we are in fact will go by the wayside and

not be enforced. host: punishes to campaign contributions. senator max baucus chairs the senate finance committee was the biggest recipient of money. senator john kerry was second. how does that shaved their discussion? guest: i have been a doing this for 30 years. i work for a senator who got a lot of money from the energy industry. he did this because when he was elected, he was a very pro- domestic energy. to draw a "they got this money,

therefore they got this way" is a little bit backwards. they drop support or oppose, they wanted to get reelected. it does happen a lot the money makes a difference. if elected default people on the super committee, almost none of them are in it delectable trouble. they come from save districts or states. you cannot make a good case that they are being bought and sold will be influence beyond their natural inclinations. host: our guest is with the bipartisan policy center and nici.with p to managiete domionc caller: thank you for taking my

call. i like to make a comment on exactly what i think is going on and what i see is going on. on that super committee, the gentleman from south carolina, cliburn, he said they don't have to abide by the constitution of the united states. i have called every senator and congressman and governor of that ind i've told him two years, i can have anywhere from one million to five million jobs in the united states of america. nobody will think of returning my call. i could triple the economy and

it is not hard to do. i would love late reply on that -- i would love to a reply on that. guest: i think there is frustration. when you try to get a hold of your senator and congressman and say, which please listen to me -- would you please listen to me? can you do me a favor and listen to me? this has always been a problem. the responsiveness is pretty poor. it is pretty rote. they are swamped with e-mail and twitter and snell mail -- snail mail. the larger point of what is happening to the committee -- the staff is trying to insulate

these members away from outside forces. we do that with it reconciliation in 1981. we did in 1985 with gramm-rudman hollins.and- it's about be attended with outside influence whether it is money or ideology -- it should not be tainted by outside influence. the special committee is in fact down by the constitution in the discussion. host: who is responsible? guest: staff. you have a good staff. he has been with the finance committee for 20 years. he has done a lot of work with both parties and both chambers. so i think the staff is very good.

the staff is under tremendous pressure because of the short amount of time that this group has. to do anything significant you have to take a two-step appraoch. take evanish of a section -- take a two-step approach. take advantage of a section -- you can do that. people seem not to realize is that millions and millions of people around the globe are watching. we've been told by fitch and movies that they will join standard and poor's in downgrading the united states sovereign debt -- fitch and moody's -- we have been told that.

s&p told us in april. we were shocked. they said very bluntly that we're not kidding. "you are on watch with negative implications." ratingeing told by agencies that, "we're watching you." if you think it is just going back to ohio or taxes and getting reelected, you're wrong ohio or texas.-tex host: does that include the bush tax cuts? guest: that is a dispute that is going on right now.

they are going to have their work score by the congressional budget office of of what is called the current law -- if they don't do anything, a sequester will be carried out by the office of management and budget. 50% from the defense. that will be done on the current law baseline. they can play a lot of games inside the committee. they cannot ignore the law. that is the safeguard that most americans can pretty much depend on. host: next call is from new york, gus. caller: i want to follow-up on a previous caller. how does the government functions when trust among each other is by primary decision-

making factor? if that is the case and no one trusts each other, how was money allocated? is it based on the allocation of trust or distrust? i will sit back and listen to your comment. guest: i work for a firm on wall street. no longer exists. if you were a bond trader and picked up the phone and said all take tenderly in dollarson one over and hung up the phone, you just made a deal -- if he set all take. you had a reinforcement of trusts. he knows he has to carry out what he is doing. if he breaks his word, he will lose his job. you don't have that situation in

the united states congress. people run separate from their partyies. the influences has swamped the money that candidates raise. individual trust -- will we jump off together? that is extremely important. clinton ran the white house. president bush showed up with his people every day and we worked out a deal. in 1997 we worked out a balanced budget agreement with clinton. the reason was you knew a guy like dole or earlier, alan

baker, if he said it, but you could trust based on your knowledge of him and his history, but if you never met anywhere from washington state and the other guy is from central texas in europe never even met each other, it is hard to believe your corn to hold hands when you jump off the building together. -- you are going to hold hands when you jump off the building together. if you do something different, you are not part of us, not one of the group, you are a traitor. i do not know. that is the big fight right now psychologically. and it is pain. what is more painful to these members? is the more painful to fail in public and be blamed for something bad happening or more painful to go against the dictates of their caucus? host: it trust is the key focus, relate that to senator murray.

guest: i know them both, and they're both very good people. they are both very different people. one problem that has crept up is patty murray is the chair of the senatorial campaign committee. her job is to defeat chris van lan.n, but his job is to defeat republicans. you have to overcome this serious mutual distrust to begin with. whether it has been done, i do not know. the stakes are very big in 2012. republicans have a call to tax incentive. republicans are pushing granite off the cliff. these guys are terrible people.

they do not want to give up those things, because there is so much at stake in their view in the elections, but one question i have always had, and i have been very fortunate to work with people like baker and people like that is what are you going to govern over? when you win the election in 2012 and the rating has been downgraded, and many people have to divest themselves of holdings because the cannot hold non- triple a rated credit, what are you want to hold over them? you have to hope they think that wait a little bit. host: flint, mich., you are next. tom on the republican line. caller: i want to give you more information. argentina was the 10th wealthiest nation in though world a couple of years ago what the heck? but politicians come up big

well. we're doing the same thing. -- big politicians, big wealth. each recession took a year and a half to clear themselves out. only one went into a depression. about one we threw money at. what are we doing now? we are repeating history everywhere. thank you, sir. guest: he is very historically accurate. this is a very unusual recovery, if you want to call it a recovery. george soros recently opined that we were already back into a double dip recession. i do not think the figures yet show that, but there is no doubt that governments in the west are under tremendous stress right now, and politicians are not meeting the challenge. you have to ask yourself if

there are people -- whether it was bill clinton, and he took challenges with his base and let them head on, or whether it was ronald reagan or bush won, you have to ask yourself, are these a group of people serious enough to understand that it can happen here, or is rinehart and rode in their book -- is this getting through, any of it getting through? a inertia orire the road?docan down it is extremely difficult for censorship to survive, unless the leadership -- the speaker pelosi, reid are willing to stand up.

like cbo says, we are headed for a quick if we do not deal with those of security, medicare and medicaid now, because five years from now, 10 years from now, the changes will be extremely painful and abrupt and extremely expensive. we have to make differences. host: michael johnson on twitter says -- guest: that is true. we have modest -- mike is right. i wish i could say our goal is to balance the budget every year. we find that to be a political pollution. our debt as a percentage of gdp. the last 40 years it has been less than 40%. it is only in recent years we have seen it climbed 60%, 70%, 80 percent. some people say we are about 100% now. there is a big fight among

economists, but the fact of the matter is we are in dangerous territory. we always say at the bipartisan policy center, let's get it down to 60% of gdp. that is not great, but it is a level we think is sustainable. it is a little -- leveled imf and other organizations have said is fairly healthy. -- it is a level the imf and other organizations have said is fairly healthy. the debt cannot be paid for in the future without enormous indebtedness, continue wiling devaluation of the dollar, and eventually not paying people pensions, health care bills, and things like that. in the next 10 years we're getting close to where interest payments plus the entitlements will do all of the spending for the federal government.

host: the love this stuff, arkansas. thank you for waiting. republican line. caller: i believe very few politicians in the past and present output country over their personal wants. i will give you an example. johnson was one that was part of it. he took money out of the social security fund and put it in the general fund. he did not do that for the american people. he did not do that for the country. he did that for one thing, and that was to make his books look better so he could get a vote. the politicians have done that in the past, and that is why we are at it. the gentleman from michigan is right, we are like argentina, we are like greece. there are very few people -- some of the tea party people are

about the only responsible people up there now that i can see. there are a few others, but most of them could care less. they want a vote, and they will do anything for a vote. to me that has been the saddest thing to sit and watch for 78 years. guest: will rogers says there is only one inherently criminal class in america, and that is politicians. the sentiments we hear today are not real new sentiments, but they have taken on the edge and anchor we're not seen in the past 30 or 40 years. americans are afraid there were to lose their jobs and homes. if you are 45-year-old man who has done everything right -- have a couple of kids come to make payments on your house and you lose your job, there is a very good chance you will not be rehired for that job. as someone younger will get the job when and if it becomes available, because the company will save money on that.

we are creating a class of people, long-term unemployed that we have not had since the 1930's in this country. there is this fear and anger in is to have not heard from a lot of people around the country. there are acts of leadership that do occur, and while he was not an elected official, no one could argue that paul volcker did not show tremendous leadership when he battled inflation. he also had the help of ronald reagan and up congress that said we will cut deficits and try to get spending under control. it was not a deal that was made 141. -- 1 for 1. it was both of them saying if we do this, is a rational to expect the federal reserve to do that? the congress did what it was supposed to.

one problem is to we do not have very many veterans or people who understand that kind of sacrifice anymore. to the extent you did not have people who have seen a real sacrifice come a very serious hardship, you do not find a lot of people that will bear relatively painful hardship. that is a larger social comment that probably does not play well on a show devoted to saving money, but the fact is i do find many of the people in congress different than when i started working there. worse than that, i find the antagonism among staff members. he used to be you would say you know how congress is up or senators are, you and i have to make a deal. you talked your boss into and i will talk my boss into it. now you find ideological

antagonisms among staff, and more so among junior staff. it is difficult when you see a poisonous situation go down into the bowels of where people are e supposed to make the ship run. i do see this ideological tension becoming and affecting many staff members. host: memphis, tenn., good morning. caller: where in the world are all of the democratic callers? i heard this man talking about 1982 when ronald reagan was in. the jobs, the jobs they were creating. we were without a raise for 12 years. then here comes george bush and

put us in a 3 percent raise. i want you to this -- you to explain this to me -- how are people ever going to catch up to the middle class? people like you need to pay the way because you when ronald reagan caused this mess. guest: i think you, sir, for your comment. it is difficult to explain to the american people that its government has made promises that the government cannot keep. my brother is a disabled veteran of vietnam, and he is self-described conservative, and he lives in south carolina, and when i said to him, bruce, we will have to come back on social security, medicare and stuff like that, oh my gosh, he wants a balanced budget but he went crazy. no, i earned that. i lost part of my leg in vietnam. i earned that.

well, i know, but we made a promise to you we cannot keep. both parties made it over 40 to 50 years. i am here to tell you you know -- you care about national defense, education. if you care about those things, you need to know if i keep giving you try-care or the same level of medicare and medicaid and things like that, you will not be able to find teachers in research and infrastructure in the things we think about as basic government. -- you will not be able to fund teachers, research, and infrastructure and the things we think about as basic government. you know, the job market is increasing. we now face of global challenge economically that makes growth more difficult to come by. the fact is we have made

promises over 40 to 50 years that we no longer can keep, and that is just the truth. what do you want to do about it? it will all be nasty and painful. host: the final tweet i will read is -- guest: the short-term it does not. what we recommend that the bipartisan policy center, we had very serious people of responsibilities that recommended a payroll tax holiday. most are employees and and lawyers. that will cost to $640 billion. -- will cost you $640 billion. fact ifn undeniable you do not broke, you do not have revenues, and if you do not revenue it is difficult to balance the budget.

start admitting we cannot keep their promises we have made, and make the tax code rational once again. host: stephen bell with a bipartisan policy center. bipartisanpolicy.org is the web site you can find a link to on our website. coming up, we will take a look at redistricting. joining us is tim storey at the national conference of state legislatures. first, an update from c-span radio. >> a senior u.s. official says china plans to cancel or postpone some u.s./china military exchanges after washington said it would upgrade taiwan's fleet of f-16 fighter jets. china regards self-governing tie 1 as part of its territory and cut military ties with the u.s.

for several months after the last major arms sales in early 2010. more on europe's debt troubles. the chancellor speaking earlier at a german industry conference says the country will do what it can to help greece regain market confidence. the conference was attended by the greek prime minister, george papandreou. the meters are meeting later today. back in washington, engineers are planning to propel down the side of the washington monument today to get a better idea of the damage caused by last month's earthquake. numerous cracks and chips were found inside the monument after the 5.8 magnitude tremor. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> you should always start with the assumption that when a politician or ceo is saying something, they are not telling you the truth. they may be telling you the truth, but the burden should be on them to prove it. >> he is an eagle and scout,

directed and produced the three top-producing gross movies of all time. -- documentary's of all time. sunday your chance to call or michael more. >> he founded several labor unions and represented the socialist party of america as candidates for president. he is one of the 14 men featured and see stance new weekly series, "the contenders." friday at 8:00 eastern. >> "washington journal" continues. host: our final segment will

take a look at the topic of redistricting. our guest is tim storey. he is an analyst when it comes to redistricting. welcome. guest: you are welcome. delighted to be on the show again. this is a really good time to check in on the line-drawing redistricting the states are going through. 19 states have completed their map. seven states only have one seat. that is a total of six. we are over half way. the entire conversation this morning will have a giant astra it appended to it, because all of this is pending legal challenges, which are raging in a handful of states, inevitable in other states. have tor of the state's

have their plan approved by the district court in washington, d.c., so we are over half way, depending on how things go with pre-clearance and how litigation turns out. host: as you see it, what are the states causing the most concern and who are filing the legal charges? guest: the most high-profile case on capitol hill and redistricting circles, because the outcome could have ramifications for all states is at texas. it is no surprise. they gave more seats in the u.s. house than any other state. when the census results came out we learned through the process that texas would be gaining four new seats. they have one of the earliest primaries of any of the states. it is scheduled for march of next year, 2012. more than a handful of states

with march primaries. texas has the redistricting done very quickly reelected to the other states. it is also a section 5 states, so the plants have to be drawn and approved or pre-cleared by event the department of justice or district court in washington, d.c., before they can become law. the legislature met and enacted plans. they submitted them not to the department of justice, which is somewhat unusual, they submitted them to the district court in d.c. the state has a choice in which entity gets to review the plan. there were numerous lawsuits filed against the texas congressional map. i think there were about 14. i could be wrong about that. they were all consolidated into one case in san antonio. that trial has already been held, but there is no decision. the judge in that case is waiting to see what the district

court will do. what is really interesting is when the state goes for this pre-clearance and washington, the department of justice essentially becomes the plaintiff and the case. the department of justice has echoed they believe the texas not violate the voting rights in section 5. -- they believe that texas violates the voting rights in section 5. some of the bigger states, there are a handful of states that are still to come. pennsylvania and florida are the two biggest everyone has their eyes on. host: if you have questions about the process of redistricting, tim storey is our guest until 10:00. you can e-mail questions also at

journal@cspan.org. who is gaining when it comes to the redistricting process -- republicans or democrats? guest: i am a little reluctant to say this team is winning or that team is winning. you know, you have to go to a granular announces -- analysis of how the states are turning out. i want to make two quick points. one is that redistricting sort of gives one party or another a head start in a congressional election, because inevitably districts will favor one party or another. because the nature of how people vote and where people live. regardless of who draws the plan, and in some cases the maps are drawn by a commission -- in most cases they are drawn by

state legislatures, but whoever draws the line, often times districts will be one way or the other. that gives the party a head start in the election. of course elections still matter. if you have to run a good can reach a campaign and raise money to get your message out. -- you have to run a good campaign and raise money to get your message out. redistricting is one piece of that. having said that, there is a great deal of of people in this cycle of redistricting, partly because the redistricting in california where the process has changed from 10 years ago. when the map was released by the new commission that dropped the plan in california, the 14- member commission, when the plan was enacted by the commission and now likely to be challenged in california, but it has been released in the plan used in the 2012 election, it pared 19

incumbents and the same district. they will not have to run against each other. many of them will wind up moving or running in other districts. you do not to live in your congressional district to run in it. you do not to be a resident of your district in congress. your opponent will point that out. there will be a handful of incumbent versus incumbent matches in california. i think we will see a record number of incumbent verses incumbent challenges come either in the primary or general election. host: we have a list of some of those incumbent districts. in illinois. n illinod jesse jackson jr. and illinois. -- in illinois.

guest: right. what is interesting is you have to look at who drew the plan and what was the intent of the plan. another myth of redistricting is that it is all about gerrymandering and going after the other party. if you are the democrat from the plan you will annihilate the republicans and vice versa, and that is not entirely the case. i am not naive, and i understand politics as part of this off, but the outcome of the process political. inarily a read a quote the other day that said it is 100 percent political. regardless of how you approach the plan, it will be a political process. you do wind up with interesting

incumbent matches. to me, the most interesting is an ohio. the plan that has not been signed by a governor as of today. it is not a final plan, but it house and senatete and hous and ohio. -- in ohio. the district is connected only by a bridge along the northern shore -- southern shore of the northern part of the state of lake erie. that is definitely want to watch. and i also think there are some of these cases where you will see movement. none of this is final until they have to file their papers declaring their candidacy. some of the incumbent verses incumbent matchups may appear that way today, but could well be resolved because someone will decide i have represented the majority of this district,

even though i do not live here anymore, maybe it is time for me to move. sometimes when your company you, you have to move your family, and members of congress will do that as well. host: first calller from georgia. good morning. go ahead. caller: good morning. please do not cut me off. my comment is this -- it is 100 percent political i have no question it is. i go back to the year when [inaudible] it is a political move. it is to shake up the support that the democratic power took over. basically what i am asking is how is that they are changing -- like before we had early voting, at this redistricting is time to find a way to disenfranchise

voters because the outpour of the population, the people that came out to vote, how was it you are redistricting and changing things the wing it will benefit the republicans? guest: thank you, kimberly. we have to do redistricting. it is the mandate of the u.s. constitution. it is a process that has to be done every 10 years. once we get the new census data. the census is taken in the year that ends in zero, come in different states approach the process differently. note to states do it -- no two states do it exactly the same way. kimberly's point is right that it is it's an extern the early political exercise come in different states have attempted ways to somewhat managed the politics, but it is really important to understand as well that there is a very extensive

body of federal law that governs this process, so whether it is legislature's strong this map, republican or democrat, or a commission, a smaller group of people who do it offline, you always have of these criteria, these federal laws that govern the process. states have to draw districts that are even in population. the reason we do this is because the constitution requires one person, one vote. but everyone is equally represented in the u.s. house of representatives -- that everyone is equally represented in the u.s. house of representatives. the voting rights act of 1985 guarantees whoever draws the line cannot drop plans that intentionally or have the effect of discriminating against minority voters, and of course that is where a lot of the with

of the litigation is taking place. a handful of states in the legislature was gridlocked, partly because of partisan purpose, and now courts are drawing the plans. states have to drop districts that are relatively compact, contiguous, so all of the territory is connected to a district. there is a great deal of legal parameters in which states operate. host: we have a tweet from florida -- guest: well, two really interesting thing about florida. one is they have not enacted plans yet. the legislature is holding meetings as we speak. this week they are expected to release draft maps and florida.

florida is a state, one of 16 states, where the entire county is covered by section 5. florida will have to be reviewed because a handful of counties are covered by section 5 of the voting rights act. the answer is somewhat yes, because florida it gets to decide, just as texas did and other states like north carolina, south carolina, georgia and alabama, who have all enacted their plants and have to submit them to the department of justice or a district court in d.c., so there is a process before it will become law. the other interesting thing about florida is the florida voters acted in two criteria that the legislature must comply with, and that is when the legislature dropped the new congressional maps in florida and the new legislative maps in florida, they have to drop plans that do not favor or disfavor a political party or political candidates. that will be a really

interesting process play out to see if there is a great deal of change in how the map looks now in florida, which is what happened in california when they shifted their process to a different system. a great deal of change in the california maps. host: 4 worth, texas. terry on the democrats' line. -- fort worth, texas. caller: if this was a bunch of people who are from texas legally and people that are not from texas. how can you cast their votes when they're not even allowed to vote? how is that even legal? guest: the senses has very established roles -- the census

has very establish roles. it actually counts everyone residing in the united states, regardless of their immigration status, and people represent -- elected officials representing people and residents, so people of texas, including people who are not eligible to vote, because maybe they're here working on a work visa or they are under 18, they are still represented in the u.s. congress and other elected bodies -- city councils, commissions, and state legislatures. the census actually count everyone in the united states. this senses in particular in texas showed a tremendous surge and the population. -- this census in particular in texas showed a tremendous surge in the population. they added four seats because of

population growth in texas. and another at advocacy group in texas, they are maintaining the new congressional plan in texas does not discriminate against the hispanic population in texas, and that the majority of the growth in texas was because of growth within the hispanic community come and get that is not reflected in the maps. the department of justice agree with them. -- the majority of the growth in texas was because of growth hispanic community, and yet that is not reflected in the maps. host: a tweet this warning about

redistricting -- this morning about redistricting -- guest: that is a bit past the point. really focus on the u.s. house congressional districts in for get when you have the reapportionment -- and a quick clarification because people use reapportionment and redistricting interchangeably, but they are different terms. reapportionment means they take the data and feed it into a formula called a method of equal proportions, and it is a mathematical formula that assigns one seat in u.s. house to every state and distributes the rest of the seats, up 435 u.s. house seats get distributed on population and the districts have to be drawn with the people are. in rural areas -- in fact, the census showed a continuing trend that urban and suburban areas

are growing at a far faster rate than rural areas, so the rural representation in the u.s. house and in state legislatures is going to go down in the next election. there will be fewer districts of legislators from rural areas because the population is growing faster in urban and suburban areas, and that will be reflected. the retro college is a win or take all in all states except for nebraska and the state of maine. maine has to congressional districts. whoever wins congressional district one in maine in the race for white house, the presidency get one of electoral votes. if you win the second congressional district, you get that vote. whoever wins the white in maine, you get the votes that come from the u.s. senators. everyone gets these based on the total number of u.s. house

seats. the states that have gained in population like texas, florida, nevada, their votes will go up in the 2012 presidential elections. the electoral map will be different and 2012 that was in 2008 strictly because you got through a reapportionment cycle. -- we have went through reapportionment cycle. states like nevada, texas, and florida are gaining seats in the electoral college. host: ohio is next. danny on the republican line for tim storey caller: i was going to ask you about texas, but that was answered already, so i want to ask you about ohio where i am from. what is the population in ohio? i know we of lost seats. we were like no. 7. -- i know we have lost seats.

guest: i am sorry, i do not know what the top of my head with a population of ohio is. my recollection is that ohio has lost two seats in the u.s. house. a u.s. house seat will be roughly 740,000 people after this census. all states grew between 2000 and 2010 with the exception of michigan, which actually lost population during that time some states grew much faster than others. what matters is that you are growing at a faster rate than the other states, so i do not know exactly off the top of my head where ohio stands in terms of the overall population, but it is a state where congressional delegation has been steadily declining.

every reapportionment cycle for the past several cycles -- states like ohio, pennsylvania, new york, mich. -- states that once had very large delegations in the u.s. house up and seeing been seen as the drop of their representation in the house. host: tim storey joins us. maryland on the line. caller: i want to say redistricting is a good idea, but i think you should have a commission of citizens that are on the board of elections of those areas where they live, and they should be the ones that should be selecting the redistricting, this way you have no political cronyism that will influence the process. another point, i see there is a lot of u.s. territory like

texas' commonwealth of pr. these citizens have no congressional representation, but meanwhile they have people fighting in afghanistan. anyway, that is all i want to say. aguest: i will take the last point first and come back to the commission question. of course the district of columbia, porter rica reporter do not haverico representation, and there have been various proposals to make them estate. to my knowledge those are not on the agenda right now in washington. to the question of the commissions, there are seven states that do not do redistricting within the legislature. this is how it was originally

established when the constitution was drawn up in 1789, and the framers of the constitution established that legislatures would determine the time, please come and manner of the but collections, u.s. congressional elections. when the congress -- when the constitution was first adopted, the u.s. senate was adopted by the legislatures. that was undone by the 17th amendment to the constitution. a handful of states, seven, including california -- california was the only state in the 2010 cycle of redistricting to change the process from the legislature drawing the maps to the commission drawing the maps. the trick is, i think, that there may not be a perfect system for doing redistricting. there are pros and cons to having legislatures draw the map and pros and cons to having commissioners draw the maps. states are always finding --

struggling to find a way to manage redistricting, because they are intertwined and inseparable, so how could you come up with a system that accomplishes what we need to do, but new maps in place for election because the population shifts, but also manage this extraordinarily political exercise? host: phil on the democrats' line. good morning. caller: good morning, and thank you for c-span's service. i live in debbie wassermann shultz district that is decidedly democratic. at the meeting were they expressed the fear that republicans committee is going through delaying tactics in order to not present maps until the 11th hour.

they launched a series of public inquiry meetings around the state better still taking place, despite the fact that the redistricting guidelines you mentioned earlier were passed by over 70 percent of the voters here. and what about this tactic of delay? will this interfere with the upcoming election of 2012? guest: each state's redistricting timeline is different of course. every state has to have in place for the elections in 2012 and november of 2012. it is not just november 2012, because states have primaries to determine who the parties will nominate to run and the congressional districts, and those primaries are spread throughout the year in 2012. they begin in march and go through late august and maybe early september. there is a new law called the military and overseas boaters

act that actually requires an even earlier time for getting districts in place in the election so that ballot can be mailed out to u.s. service -- people serving in the u.s. military overseas, as well as overseas residents. the time line is different in every state. over half the states have completed the process, but that is in large part because those states have strict time constraints based on their schedule. hedul's florida is moving along in the process. one of 24 states that has not passed plans. there are two states that i think the legislature is meeting today, utah undine beard and a and maine. other state one thing is for certain, if the plan comes out from the florida legislature that is not in

compliance with the law, then courts have a fair amount of leeway to delay primaries if they feel the plan is illegal. plaintiffs in people who want to challenge that -- and people who want to challenge that if they feel they were not successful, have the recourse of the judiciary and states and federal courts have of their amount of jurisdiction will ability to change the election counter if they need to. it is an extraordinary remedy, but it is not unheard of. host: do you believe the use of committees will increase after this career around? guest: the use of committee for outside the legislature. that is a great question. we have only seven states to use some for up rigid form of board or commission for drawing confessional maps. -- we have only seven states who use some form of a board or

commission for drawing congressional maps. in the 2000 round of redistricting arizona shifted to a commission. in fact, they have a five- person commission. it is a complicated process, but there is a pull, and then they choose of that member that is not republican or democrat. in the 2000 round of redistricting did arizona, i think they have 3000 people apply to be on the commission. in 2010 they have fewer than 100 to be on the commission. there is a great deal of controversy right now about the independent commission in arizona, so we will have to wait and see how that plays out. we have kind of been on a cycle where we see one, maybe two

states move in that direction each 10 years. i think there will be a lot of attention to it. one thing is for certain is that people will look at california. the commission in california is 14 members. it has a very involved process for determining commissioners. they operate under very interesting roles about how they enact a plan, not the least of which is the plans in active had to get three republican votes from republican commissioners, three democratic commissioner boats coming in three non- republican or democratic votes. you have to get nine votes to enact a plan, and three from each of the political entities. the commission was set up with five republican commissioners, five democratic commissioners, declined to state

commissioners. frankly, some people are very unhappy with how the process has played out in california. others think it has really been successful. i think that is one we will look at to have academic studies and policy makers will look hard at the california process. host: kentucky, your next. barbara on the democrats' line. caller: all of this redistricting in stuff is just in order to satisfy the tea party and whoever they bought in the district courts or supreme court or whatever. the colts brothers have bought everybody. in another year if the tea party wins, we will be no different

from libya, syria or any other communist country. host: what about the influence of outside groups on the process? guest: most states in terms of redistricting -- it is a constitutional process that states have to go through -- but almost every state has established extensive rules for a process that really invites public input. in fact, i think there is little doubt that there has been more attention to the process of redistricting in this cycle, 2010, morning-line process, than ever before. that is really one of the big changes. part of that is the tools available through the internet and online for drawing plans is submitting them. mostly it's have established a process for people to testify about their communities and why they think they should be put into one district or the other.

almost every state holds extensive public hearings, whether it is through the commission or legislature. this notion of communities of interest is really important, because at the end of the day these are representative districts. these people have to pass a vote after vote -- cast vote after vote, and if there district is made up of very varying economic interests or some states have some natural regions come amount regions and coastal regions and that kind of thing or have a very natural economic situations where part of the state relies heavily on one industry or another industry, so it is important that policy makers or whoever draws the maps thinks about how you put the district together, because someone has to represent that.

it makes sense to have a commonality, shared interest in things that bind people together so they can be represented in a practical way. states go through an extensive hearing process to try to define what these communities are. sometimes of his ethnic communities or racial communities -- african-american community or hispanic community. these are important components of building up the maps. host: william on the republican line. and caller: i was wondering if voter turnout plays into the redistricting of the county or state. veryw some districts ahave low turnout. do others with high turnout compensate during the redistricting process? guest: that is a really terrific

question. and the lines are based strictly on the number of people. turnout in terms of the number of people you put into a district would not be a factor. he would build the district around the total number population. that is all people, adults, children, everyone. of course when you do analysis of the district, which inevitably the parties do and legislatures to, commissioners to, you will look up voter turnout as a factor. that is where the political analytics of it come in. host: ruth on the democrat slide in ohio. caller: the lady from kentucky, she said a mouthful.

i would add to it that i am from ohio and the governor took over, the polk brothers brought him in at the last minute. i would like to talk about a gentleman named will it. he is called the white pride here. -- i would like to talk about a mullet.an named m m host: do you have a question for our guest? caller: i was wondering if there is some way in the justice and whoever is taking care of trying to equalize this out would know about our governors, who they are made up and what they are for? there was not one black person ever put in his cabinet. guest: governors have veto authority over be distracted plants that are drawn by legislatures -- over

redistricting plans that are drawn by legislatures with one exception, north carolina. and so governors are somewhat involved. it is primarily a state legislative exercise. governors where the had of being the head of their party, and of course, will vary from state to state. they will sometimes be involved and agreed there looking over partisan interest. both parties may do this, but really it is a predominantly legislative exercise. in terms of the respect of the redistricting plans, it is an important consideration because of the history of the united states with regard to race, so that is why the voting rights

act was enacted in 1965. then there is a section 5 component, which applies to a small number of states -- 60 states. that was reauthorize in 1982 and again in 2007. the u.s. congress reauthorize section five elements of the voting rights act in 2007. that was approved by president bush in 2007. there are a number of legal safeguards with regards to how african-americans and hispanic and other minority groups are treated, and how their boats are taken into account in the redistricting process. votes are taken into account and the redistricting process. guest: the courts are very much parcel to this process. over 40 states were involved in litigation over redistricting and the 2000 round and the 1990

round of redistricting. the supreme court has held in at least a dozen high-profile redistricting cases in the past 20 years, and many people think the supreme court could be involved again, perhaps in the texas case. in fact, there are some challenges to the section 5 that i mentioned earlier. there are direct challenges to that that could wind up of the u.s. supreme court. i think litigation is inevitable in most cases. there are a number of states, a least a half-dozen or more, that are ready involved in litigation for the plans in this cycle of redistricting. there is an interesting element of litigation. one is that the supreme court ruled that several courts have to be deferential to state courts when it comes to litigating redistricting plans. that is very clear. states have the first shot are

reviewing and ruling on redistricting plans. that is one element. if you go to federal court, there is a unique procedure for redistricting, which is that they are hurt by a three-judge panel of the trial court level. -- are heard by a three-judge panel at the trial court level. that ruling -- sometimes judges have to draw up plans -- those rulings at the federal courts can be appealed directly to the u.s. supreme court. typically in the federal legal system you would have a trial of the district level, and that might be appealed to the u.s. court of appeals and might be hurt eventually by the supreme court. with redistricting, because of the timeliness of elections and

keeping them on track and on schedule, you go from the trial court level directly to the supreme court. host: we have about a minute and a half left with our guest. caller: please keep me on the line for more than five seconds. and the only way you will get about the district count coming your guest keeps talking about one person. you are one body, you get one vote period. whatever your views or at night, it does not mattertwo/ . two, the district should be contiguous. guest: the calller is right, this all comes back to one rs