2012 presidential race with lenny curry and delicate u.s. efforts to encourage foreign- based businesses to open in united states with nancy mclernon, president of the national law the organization for business investment. w j" is next. -- "washington journal" is next. host: good morning parade joe lieberman at connecticut and susan colin of maine say that congress should freeze the pay of federal employees for the third year, saying that it would save about $32 billion. also in the papers this morning, citing cost is a concern, the white house has dropped a vision of health care

law that would provide a lifetime benefit in the event of illness or disability. it is known as the class act being dropped by the administration. and its role in the larger health-care law. we want your thoughts on this decision by the white house. if you want to give us a call, the numbers are on the screen. if you want to send us an e- mail, make your thoughts on -- thoughts known by that. journal@cspan.org, and if you are familiar with twitter and can keep your comments to 140 characters are less, twitter .com, @cspanwj.

the long term health programs scrapped. it says -- joining us to talk about this program and a bit of an expulsion, macon mccarthy who talks about the subjects -- made egan mccarthy from the " national journal." guest: it was a lesser-known piece of the health-care law. it was a voluntary program that would cover people for long-term care. it was something that medicare does not pick up. advocates consider it an important piece of the law.

host: who would be eligible for this type of program and what kind of benefit would they have received? guest: the way the law was written, it was very specific about who would qualify. one of the big issues was that if he made enough money to qualify for social security, only $1,200 a year, then you were able to qualify for this program. there were concerns that that would bring in way too many people and end up costing the government a lot of money. an example of one of the benefits that would be collected, with having a nurse come to your home and help you live day to day if you are disabled or needed assistance. host: as part of the letter that secretary sebelius road, she says this. despite our best analytical efforts, i do not see away for

implementation at this time. what were concerns about how to fund this? what mechanism would have been used? guest: it was very important to congress and hhs that it be self funded. the people who pay premiums into the program would cover the entire cost of all the benefits that they claimed. people are supposed to pay in for five years before there were able to make any claims. what secretary sebelius is saying is that they could not get a mix of the premiums and the eligibility income levels and benefits claim, they could not get that makes to work out. so that it would be self funded and not become another government entitlement program. host: in the "washington post," sums are saying that they could

receive as much as $50 a day. guest: right, and part of the problem was because the health care law was so since it began outlining numbers like the eligibility level. the report issued yesterday concludes that they are not sure she would have the legal authority to make the changes needed to ensure that it was a self funded program. host: some of the headlines say that the program is scrapped or dropped. but will it come back in another form? guest: i would say that it is not operating anymore. they have no money. they did not get any money from the senate appropriators last month. all the staff working to set up a program have been reassigned as of last month. now with secretary sebelius saying there is no viable path ford, -- full word, and not

saying what they're doing anything to continue the program, it would need legislation from congress to get the program to work. that is not something expected. host: one of the political ramifications for this by republicans and democrats? guest: republicans seized on this announcement yesterday. that theme was that this was an example of how the entire health care law is going to fail eventually. senator orrin hatch of utah called it a canary in the coal mine. whenever anything goes wrong with the health care law, that is something the republicans want to bring up in statements and releases. host: megan mccarthy of the "national journal." thank you.

for the rest of you waiting, and thanks for waiting, if you weigh in on this, give us a call about this portion of the health care law being dropped. the numbers are on the screen. you can e-mail us at journal@cspan.org and send us the tweet at @cspanwj. cliff from brentwood, california, good morning. go ahead. caller: obama is not very smart. why did he do this? republicans told him a thousand times that the bonn robles will not be opting in. he has to coerce them. more than 1000 entities have now been exempted from obamacare.

why did some anyone out? why did they keep letting them go? what would she say to the next 1000 applicants? this is the number-one reason employers are not hiring. it is called uncertainty, as you know. in our economy like times that is, is incompetence at the top and lack of leadership and it is happening with solyndra, with fast and furious. this is a very corrupt white house. host: next up is mervyn on the democrats' line. caller every time a shadow comes up, he is scared of his own shadow. he believes in something, he needs to stand his ground and not be a chump. execute and continue. he is trying to run the white house by polling and backtracking polling. that is just wrong. he needs to stand up for our

democratic ally accuse. that is what i'm all about. host: before you leave, the decision to drop this program was about cost and contain ability. caller: no, no, no. i totally disagree. he has scoured into the republicans. he is being a coward. he would have greater respect from the public by saying it may cause something but it is important for our seniors, it is born for our citizens, and i will find enough people to put them back to work to get our balance budget. host: what is important to hold on with this program? caller: you cannot make a promise and then say that you could not make that promise. you cannot make a public policy commitment and then, we changed our mind because we did not do our research work. no, once you make a commitment,

you take a public stance, you have to stand your ground and make it happen. and the only thing obama can do now is cut and run or he can actually try to win reelection by standing with his principles. host: john from north carolina weighing in on twitter. we will hear next from jonesboro, georgia on the democrats' line. caller: this american hero guy, that two comments and a question. good morning. host: weigh in on what we are talking about first. caller: that is fine. let's talk about this. they said that this was a key [inaudible]

a key part of the law. this is not a key part of the law. my problem is that c-span uses the conservative media all the time to introduce topics. host: was it not a key part of the law? caller: it was not a key part of the law. nobody even knew about it. instead, the "washington post" labels that as a key part of the law. this is c-span being the right wing, and anything that goes along with obamacare, c-span immediately jumps on it and read from the "washington post." host: that is our show. caller: this is over control of the media, brainwashing the

people. host: we will move on to washington to ayman dc on our independent line. caller: this is exactly why independents will not come out for obama and the next election. it is so disappointing. he does not stand his ground. he does not fight. every single time there is something that we progressives in this country feel is important, he backs off. he gives in. he does not demonstrate an ability to get in there and politically get what he wants. and he does not seem to have the heart to back up his own principles. this is the reason we are not going to vote for him. this man is a smart and. -- man. but in a politician, this is

deadly. host: you may have heard our last caller is saying that he did not think this was a key part as far as the overall health care law. what are your thoughts as to this component? caller: i am not familiar so maybe he is right in that sense. but to me, it speaks to something larger. it speaks to something -- some of the politicians are saying this. it smells of weakness. demonstrates an unwillingness and inability to stand up to republicans. they see this, they know this, and now it will encourage more of this down the line. host: the lead story on their front page, and the "new york times" has this on page 10 are 11. but because the insurance program has been reducing the

federal deficit by $86 billion -- it was intended to be purely voluntary and opened all working americans and what it pervaded -- provided a basic lifetime benefit of $50 a day for making a wheelchair accessible or hiring a home care giver to assist with basic tasks. it has been dropped by the administration. give us your thoughts for the next half-hour. alabama, danny, good morning. caller: it is just typical of these people calling in to c-

span this morning, "washington journal." another stop to wait to see what is really going on. this was not a key part of this health-care bill. as far as the progressive guy, if they had voted in 2010, he would be talking about a public option now probably. host: why you not think it is a key part? caller: because it is not mark -- it is not. he made i decision to -- he made a decision held. congress did not find it so what was he to do? thank you. host: maryland. caller: i always call upon the republican line. i called on the independent because i am a republican no more. i always call up and say the same thing. we need a military-style core

medical system in this country. it is irrelevant what he is doing because he is working within the madison for-profit system and that is not going to work. these doctors and hospitals, the medical suppliers, the pharmaceuticals, they are there only for profit. if we die, they could care less. we need something just like our military defense our country. we need a core that will protect our country for medical needs. if you look at the pie chart that shows you how much is being spent each year in this country for what we produce in this country coming to see that this part of the pie is medical and defense. putting defense aside for a second, as long as we keep spending this money for medicine, there is no money for education or the poor or anything. we cannot have if medicine for profit in this country.

it will not work. you do not have military for profit for you cannot have medicine for profit. these are necessities for americans. host: we will continue on with calls on this topic. but we want to tell you about our newsmakers program. pete sessions is that chief recruiter fourth the national republican congressional committee. he talks about the impact of redistricting and one of the topics he talked about was what is happening on the presidential front between rick perry and mitt romney. >> if has been an interesting ride. gov. perry came in with high accolades and attributes. in the scheme of things, including a group of people that was there, he is learning to get his footing and having to enunciate himself and the midst

of a people. it is hard. it is hard when there is a group 8 to present yourself. i think he will do more campaigning himself in large crowds, but none of us -- that it is difficult. it is one thing where mitt romney has been able to do it got -- a good job. he has been able to master the questions wealth and master their responses even better. so in that, we are seeing a leader to begin emerging. host: that was representative sessions. he is part of a larger conversation that you can see tomorrow. tomorrow it 6:00 in the evening, right here on c-span. more about the program from the pages of the york times. the same store -- of the new york times. it was intended for people with severe disabilities who wanted

to live in the community. getting your thoughts on this this morning. west virginia, good morning, timothy on the republican line. caller: i'd just want to call because i have made my money in nasa and my money. i've got a lot of money. i've got my yacht. i do believe that mr. obama has

tried to do a big thing. i want to tell you from west virginia that the cold mill is a big deal. host: going to modesto, california. caller: i am going to take up for president barack. ayman of the end, a truck driver, and i was a real estate agent. the thing that bothers me on the protesters they have done there. everyone needs to pitch in. it should not be about democrats, republicans, or independent, we are in the mess and people need to work together. that is what they taught me.

we need to work together to solve this problem. if the tea party were working for the people like those people protesting, they would be out there with the people. we do not need all of these different things. america is in trouble. host: so the decision by the administration? caller: he is doing the best job that he can but he cannot do it alone. as i recall, i watch a lot of television, and i have seen the republicans won the congress got voted in, they've promised the people that we will get here and take care of that and we will work on the jobs. all i heard those people doing since they got reelected by the independents, which i'm an independent, and it was a big mistake, is the other. host: from twitter.

manchester, new hampshire, pauline, hello on our independent line. caller i am a disabled vet and i have worked in the health-care system my entire life. in regard to president obama and his health care plan, he lost the fight on the first round. in the universal coverage. you need single payer -- you need universal coverage in the single payer option. there is no way that the government could exert enough pressure on our health care system. the system for health care is broken. it is run by the large corporations for profit. health care should be like food, clothing, and shelter.

it is a vital part. host: one of the reasons this was dropped was because of viability and as a bit -- and that the -- and the abilities is sustained itself -- the ability to sustain itself. caller: the whole thing should of been scrapped right out of the first round. he needs to be engaged right from the beginning. he was out of the picture until it was already dead and buried. in terms of the republicans, i do not know what you call subversion and enemies of the state, but as far as i'm concerned, mitch mcconnell should have been impeached. from the get go, he has organized this weather% obstruction campaign -- 100% of

stretching campaign and it is not about voting for his constituents. host: some more stories we're going to show you. united states has sent 100 troops to africa to help african rebels there. u.s. officials emphasize that they would serve with a limited scope and duration as part of a training mission. the first contingent of the special forces arrived early this week in new going to. -- in view gone up. -- uganda.

the baltimore sun talked about the friendly fire drone killing. a marine and a navy medic were killed in the first known case of friendly fire from a drum strike. -- from a drone strikes. back to our story and our question this morning, when it comes to the white house dropping a component of

president obama healthcare law, vocalic, florida, you are next on the democrats' line. leonard. caller: first, let me say that what president obama is doing is realistic and right on target. no one would have been able to have handled a storm of trouble he was handed. you do not have the time to enumerate the positive things that he has done. he assumed that republicans would be reasonable and put america first. however the republicans put business first. and america somewhere down the line. they're very disingenuous in trying to subvert all of his positive things, and their total attitude is that america beat dan, health care or whatever.

-- american be damned, healthcare whatever. he has to be realistic and southwest of parts that are going to work. i think my insurance and going down next year. i've already had an indication. the republicans, if they find a flaw, they lie and lie and lie in continued go along with that. host: columbus, ohio, misty on our republicans line. caller: thank you for picking up my call. maybe they ought to start working together and -- it is not really obama asphalt or any republicans or bush's fault, they are politicians. maybe they have to do good thing to please everybody, but not everybody is pleased. maybe if they drop the whole

republican, independent, and democratic parties, and let the people be voted in as a person, maybe then everyone will agree with them because they will not point fingers. host: the "new york times" has a story that the and that is states is sending contractors to libya to is secure weapons stockpiles there. -- that the united states is sending contractors to libya to secure weapons stockpiles there. he said it is no two dozen contractors would join the effort. -- an additional two dozen contractors would join the effort.

riverdale, ga., good morning. i have punched a long line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i think this is a strategy that the president and his health care plan, he got this out there. he is going to cut the disability, people in nursing homes, and rehabilitation places. who is going to get out there? what is the answer? we're going to leave these people out to dry? something is going to get done. when dennis kucinich said that,

we can work with that as we go. there is something going on in america. the republican should think about that. i'm a vietnam veteran, and things work well, they have blueprints in things that they can do to make this work. host: taking away this part, is this good strategy or not? caller: if they cannot pay for it, think about this. but president bush, after 9/11, he said that we should cannot pay for this, so be pragmatic. he is being realistic.

[unintelligible] i am an independent. ah likes some of the things that the president is doing. host: we're going to leave it there. tomorrow we are planning coverage of the dedication ceremony of the statue put up by the national memorial project for the dr. martin luther king jr.. this was rescheduled because of weather. not a clock to mark, you have the ability to see that on c- span -- 9:00 tomorrow, you have the ability to see that on c- span. congressman john lewis, and others. when i told -- gwen ifil. if you cannot be by the

television, go to your radio, 90.1 fm local, as well as xm. that starts at 9:00 tomorrow on c-span. about 15 minutes of our topic looking at the decision to drop the class act, a portion of the health care law. decisions made by secretary kathleen sebelius of health and human services concerning the sustainability. nevada, dawn on the republican line, you're next. > caller: i think your guests were not understanding when the "national journal" lady was speaking in so that kathleen

sebelius could not put the program together. that is because the government is not an insurance company. the senate did not approve it, and the majority of the senate are democrats. so the blame game of blaming the republicans for everything does not like. -- does not apply. this government is supposed to represent republicans, democrats, and independence. i think a lot of your followers missed the whole picture from the beginning. host: what you think of the decision overall? caller they did not have that choice because our country is broke. how can we fund the program if our government is broken in debt? our big crisis right now is our debt crisis. all of these additions into the health care plan, which is to be adjudicated whether it is even

legal. host: ill., randy on the democrats' line. caller: this program was not essential to the health care program. this is a noble gesture that the government tried to do to make sure that young people can pay into this program voluntarily. you notice that it is voluntary, not part of the mandate. this was strictly voluntary. even now, most employers do not even offer this long-term care. if they do, that as something separate you have to pay through companies like john hancock and the like. most people will not pay in the something like that until they reached the age of 45 or 60. so this program was set up for the younger workers to pay into

and that the incumbent that would be guaranteed a certain amount of dollars for care if they needed it. that gentleman that just said that they did not understand it, he did not. the program was not supposed to be funded by the government. the funding was supposed to be self funding. he did not understand it. and the last thing i've got to say, "washington journal" has a natural proclivity to push this right wing agenda. not all that, but for the most part you do. this is not a major part of the program. it never was. you did not even know existed. one of the reasons that put it in there, ted kennedy came up with that. he wanted to do that for younger people. host: moving on to missouri, sharon on the republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i was calling to talk about president obama. i do not believe he is a republican or democrat or an

independent. he has made promises from when he was on the campaign trail, and he has not kept all one of them. he is ruining the united states of america. host: what about this health care program? caller: i think they ought to just throw it out. host: cnn has a story about alabama, saying that the court blocked enforcement of a controversial immigration enforcement law in alabama.

a few more calls. franklin, massachusetts, steve and the democrats line. are you there? caller: how're you doing? thank you were taking my call. it will be interesting to find out how this is categorizing certain people. the individuality of the united states and the impact of equal justice was probably going to jail a lot of these opposition's year. it is going to be quite the circuit, i think, as far as working.

it seems to something that will probably generate jobs. people do need to work and they stand around wondering what the heck is going on anyway. as far as where they stand and what position and how their education is one that fit into this whole program. host: the number of the weakest 2.2 million, those who lose their unemployment benefits by the middle of february 2012. congress approved 73 weeks in additional to the 26 weeks offered by states. this jobs plan would keep that going through 2012. it failed in the senate this week. hartford county has backstepped, md., janet on the independent line.

caller: i am a little nervous. i think it was really good -- it is a key part the plan, even though most people did not know about it. the costs for long-term care are skyrocketing in this country. even if younger people pay yen, $50 a day right now in maryland is $100 a day, a four-hour block of time for someone to help you if you need help at home. so $50 a day to day doesn't even cover that minimal amount of care for someone at home. where will that cost be in five years? if they did the math and young people were hardly paying anything but someone over 50 would have to pay about $100 in premiums a month right now to

get a benefit like that in maryland, so i think they were very smart to stop when the numbers did not work. someone should have thought this through beforehand. our country's bank account is a way overdrawn. taxpayers had to pay into that, it would not work. so they have to go back and do their homework before putting something like that in the law. host: you're one of the minorities to say that this was not a key component of the plan. caller: the people who wrote this know that our country is in terrible trouble. it cannot pay the long-term care bills we are already accruing. the states are going broke trying to pay for long-term care. even though the press did not cover it, it didn't get talked about, it did not get highlighted, but there are so

many parts of this bill did not got -- that did not get thought through. it is frightening. and this is one of them. host: of durham, north carolina, good morning. caller: i have been trying to get through all morning. i used to be a republican. i think the president recognizes that there are a lot of people -- he is trying to diffuse some of the criticism. one thing that amazes me about the health care system in the united states is that it is tremendously expensive on a per capita basis. if you compare this to western europe, many of those countries have universal health care in this far more expensive.

-- and ours is far more expensive. their number of surveys were the people in europe praise their health care systems up some, down, and sidewise and cannot understand why the united states has such an expensive healthcare system, where tens of millions of people are still not insured. host: dead on the democrats' line. -- ed on the democrats' line. caller: all this controversy over the affordable care at, not obamacare, just achieving this is monumental and itself. tweaking it is something that should be expected. the president has so that himself. this bill is going to be tweaked in one way or another here there.

that will make it work. i know that the republicans will play politics with it, but the truth of the matter is that this is not a final witness. it is common sense that you have to tweak this bill. host: the lead story on the "washington post." the administration is setting its sights on the haqqani network out of iraq. -- out of afghanistan.

bethesda, md., good morning to james on the independent line. caller: i think it is unfortunate that they drop this. long-term care means nursing home insurance and care in the house when you are disabled. this would have been a great thing for the american population, because we do not have this type of coverage when we needed. you have to now get medicaid by having only having $3,000 less in your net worth in order to qualify for nursing home care. they should have required everyone to pay it. people could pay a pittance into it and hopefully very few of us would ever have to draw on it. only those who got older terribly disabled would have the

kind of care that they needed under an insurance system. i'm sure the reason this did not get mandated was because the republicans were opposed to this. it draws on their constituency, which are large insurance companies. you can buy your insurance but you have to buy it from private insurers and the cost is high. the only people who can afford it are those who are wealthy. this will help the average individual. host: florida, you our last caller on the independent line. caller: the fact that the white house is willing to drop this should indicate their willingness to move and cooperate. president obama has sat back and listen to what people have to say. this is the kind of man that he

is. he wants input and wants to know, ok, what can we do to get this working? the fact that the republicans are unwilling to talk to him on any issue, they are only answer is no, it is simply unreasonable. host: we have a segment coming up later in the program starting at 8:30 a.m., florida politics. we will talk to lenny curry, chairman of the florida republican party and the decision to move the primary to january 31. scheduledy's program in the earlier than normal. we're going to go live to a forum held at hunter college, and the hill, 20 years later. a set -- anita hill, 20 years later.

a keynote by her is scheduled at 2:45 p.m.. you can also listen on c-span radio. we invite you to go to our c- span video library for context. it will start at 9:45 a.m., so we will in the bid earlier today. coming up, we will talk about the occupied protests that you're heard about not only in new york, but in other places. matthew segal will talk about the youth perspective and get his take on what he sees out there. before that conversation, we want to highlight a hearing that you can see on our video library. this took place yesterday about solyndra, the government-backed loans there, and several heated moments during that hearing between republicans and democrats. >> the committee has received a six-page document from the department of energy that explains the department's legal

rationale. we ask last week of the majority would object if we released this document so that the public could understand the rationale. the majority objected. they did not want the public to see doe's explanation and they will not have a witness to talk about their explanation. on wednesday, the democratic staff as the republican staff if there would be any objection if we included a discussion of these doe legal memorandum and the background memorandum we provided to democratic members. again the republicans objected. they asked us to with " this critical information, their legal rationale for their actions, from our own members. and yesterday the republican said they do not believe this memo should be made public at this time. this investigation is beginning

to resemble a kangaroo court. at our last hearing, witnesses who asserted their lawful constitutional right for publicly humiliated. and now the republican majority is withholding exculpatory information from the public what they pass innuendo. >> will the journal in yield? >> no, i will not yield. regular order, mr. chairman. >> that gentleman is entitled to be heard. >> and now the republican majority is withholding exculpatory information from the public. >> i am the first one to admit every day i have to get up in the morning and tell myself i can do this, no one better to do this and i'm self. >> come blogging medical school, uc san francisco, associate prof. of neurosurgeons and oncology, john hopkins, homeless

illegal migrant farm worker. >> i have to believe that every time i go into the arena, i have someone's life in my hands and i am fully capable of getting this patient in and out of the operating room. that is the trust that patients have been me and i walk that fine line between confidence and arrogance. >> he shares his life story sunday night on q&a." >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us for discussion, matthew segal, president of our time, a of the website ourtime.org. guest: wheat promote a generation that is economically strapped. they're looking for representation. host: several pictures of the

areas occup -- of the various occupy protests. most would be identified as young people. why are they there? guest: you are absolutely right, most of the protesters, over 100 campuses, they are comprised of young people because there is a great deal of frustration about our future. we have been taught since an early age that if we go to school, get good grades, we make it to college and even take out loans for college and keep our long noses clean, that we will emerge with a job. those expectations have not only been broken, but on top of that, you find a generation graduatiing with the highest det since world war ii, and we're living with their parents since our mid-'20s, and no one feels

in toddle for job. a lot of people are saying these are a bunch of lazy student's and rush limbaugh said trust fund kiddies. we are asking things of our government in protest. i have been down to the park for the last few weeks. i've talked to hundreds of people my age about these protests. they are all saying the same thing. this is a mandate on the fact that the middle class has been dealt the short end of the stick and that our government has essentially been bought off by special interests to only represent a small percentage of americans as opposed to the vast majority of us. host: is that why the protest are run the financial district in new york? guest: yes, but you've also seen colleges in front of a bank of america location or in other places.

the financial-services industry in general has too much disproportionate clout in government. the other thing we're saying is that we want to work. we want to serve and give back and contribute to the economy. but we're not given the opportunity to do so. not every young person, even though we are promoting entrepreneurship, we cannot do that when they are starting 80 pheasant dollars in debt. host: connect the dots between the financial services industry and the concern about jobs. guest: there have been all kinds of the regulation to allow risky loans and securities to essentially cause the housing crisis that we all know about. when people lose their homes, i

joblessness crisis. they declare bankruptcy and that leads to the crisis we're in right now. through no fault of our own, we have been dealt this corporate debt is not to say that we are only playing the role of a victim and now we feel we are entitled to special treatment. what we're trying to say is that if we're going to resolve this problem long term, we need to fix the political and economic issues as well as the special interest issues that have essentially allow this to happen in the first place. that of course is poor oversight from the sec, the repeal of glass steagal, and the fact that many of these are driven by people concerned about their own enrichment and the well-being of the constituents and middle- class citizens they are supposed to serve.

host: how you do that? guest: the first step is showing up. our generation has been accused of a lot of things. one is not showing up and up. from a civic engagement perspective, we're applauding the fact is some of the people across the country are exercising their first amendment rights and are petitioning their government and having their grievances. but this has been a decentralized, organic uprising. it has not been cooperative -- coopted by a labor union or a political party head. i think that that is an encouragement because it is citizens. how ultimately there is a broad message here that we are the 99%. that is what everyone is saying. we have not seen the people's bailout, we've only seen the

banking bailout. i think we will have of series of proposals that come out of this, but not even the tea party does not have a central piece of legislation that they back. i think occupied and wall street -- occupy wall street in the tea party could come together because there is a lot in common. but the tea party was saying that we need to lower taxes. decrease the size of government. those were those major messages. they're not saying h.r. 1736 our whatever the bill might be. host: we have included a line for those of you under 30. matthew segal of the group our time. president clinton was on david letterman talking about not only

the movement but overall the need for focus. listen to what he has to say. >> essentially what they are saying is that america has become to unequal and that some of the people that cause the problem are in good shape today and a lot of them are not, a lot of them have lost jobs and have not been able to find new jobs. country is now working for ordinary folks. -- is not working for ordinary folks. balance can be a positive thing but they have to transfer their energies at some point to making some specific suggestions or bringing in people who know more to put the country back to work. host: could you respond to the last point? were those suggestions? guest: like any moment, there are a series of people who believe a certain thing and

people believe other things. there is no one general principle -- there are general principles. but no one per -- one piece of legislation that everyone is talking about. some are saying that we need to reinstate glass steagal, others are saying we should impose that ffett rule, some are saying to renew infrastructure, some say that we need to pass the american jobs act immediately. those are all things that we can do. certainly expand americorps and other programs that allow community rebuilding but also ensures that we have class integration so that people from welfare backgrounds who want to serve or immersed into different

communities. i think that will be good for our social inequality problem. by and large, there are a lot of great ideas coming from the protest. it is a matter of congress in paralysis actually doing anything. the president has a good point, but ultimately this goes to congress. i think we have a do nothing congress right now, and that is infuriating the american people and certainly my generation even more. also, during the august recess, my organization called on congress to come back from vacation and start dealing with the jobs crisis. host: calls for our guest, matthew segal. the republican line is up first. caller: matthew, you do not speak for me. and you never will. do not say everyone is a 99%.

you do not speak for me. here is the situation. i went to school, i got an education, work hard, and and make $250,000 a year. and you do not like it. you'd think i am the bad guy when i use you don't get this right away. it takes years to become successful. guest: i applaud your success -- caller: but you -- host: hold on. guest: i applaud your success, and no one is attacking success and people who have used the american system. the american system that we've all paid into that's educated and you given the ability to succeed. no one is questioning that or frowning upon your good accomplishments. instead, all we're saying is, have we left a generation, my

generation, those same opportunities? caller: at this point in time, yes. this is the way history works. if you need a job, here, all your crummy bums that they look like, why don't they join the military? guest: a lot of them actually are signing up. in fact, the vast majority of people in the military right now and the vast amount of casualties in the military are all in their mid 20's. so we do have a military comprised of our generation, and actually public service and military service is a great way of affording college, and that's why we see so many people enlist in it. host: colorado springs, good morning. pat, democrats line. caller: good morning. good morning, matthew, and you are speaking for me. guest: good. caller: and i believe in y'all move, and i'm very proud of y'all. i'm a grandmother. i'm very proud of what y'all are doing out there on wall street, and y'all keep up the good work. but there's only one thing i reject of, doing all this that you're doing, i haven't seen

one poster that says pass this bill, because all of those things that you talking about is under that bill. until they put that bill on the floor and get it going and get republicans to understand that they work for us, they're not going to do nothing. so put some time out there and pass this bill, because this is a good bill, and it includes all of y'all. and i'm very proud of you. guest: thank you. that's a great point, and we saw obviously the senate certainly reject the legislation this week, and i know that the president will be going back on the road and taking it directly to the people. and i think if we can build a large enough constituency of people behind the immediate jobs act-oriented bill, that the direct job creation, not indirect job creation, certainly will be creating policies that does benefit the middle class, and certainly will help restore many opportunities for our

generation. i think there are a few people with signs out there, but right now, i think the main theme being put forth is what president clinton said, that so many -- a few of us have done incredibly well the last several years, while the vast majority have suffered, and that general inequality problem is something that americans like and want to transcend. host: to president clinton's point about some type of theme or at least going forward, do you sthee group becoming more centralized as far as the ability to articulate a central message? guest: i do. i also think that this is one of the most encouraging things i've seen. i'm only 25 years old. but in the last several years, i've been very involved politically. this is one of the most encouraging things i've seen, because you're seeing these organic assemblies of young people coming together, saying we're frustrated, we're upset, we want tiningts, we've been dealt -- we want opportunities

we've been dealt a difficult deck of cards, and we're going to solve it together. they're not saying they can't solve it, they're asking for some help, but they're trying to do their part, get involved, be active citizens, this is what we've been taught to do. i think the populist protest will certainly ultimately result in people going to the polls. i've been saying we need to occupy the polls and occupy the voting booths, because that's -- ultimately, at the end of the day, where one exercises his or her voice in a democracy. as many dollars and dollars corporations want to put into the system to trump citizens' voices, at the end of the day it comes down to one person, one vote. and that's why ourtime.org is promoting that every young person vote in 2012 and in every election. host: we'll take a page from the tea party playbook and organize as far as direct campaigns and direct elections and influence that. guest: first of all, my

organization is not focused on lobbying the small concentration of power here in washington, d.c. i think, in fact, that's part of the aspect of politics that many young people detest, the lobbying that goes on, and certainly a lot of the of the back room deals that are being made in washington all the time. but i also think that when people vote, politicians are more conscientious of them when they make public policy decisions. so, when seniors outvote young people 2-1, there's no -- there's certainly no ambiguity as to why we spend four or five dollars of federal money on seniors to every dollar we spend on young people. because young people aren't an organized constituency who are voting in as high numbers. certainly we're working on it, and the last few elections have gotten much, much better, but we still have a way to go in front of us. host: from our line that we set aside for those under 30, matt from ann arbor, go ahead. caller: hello.

i'd like to start off with you do speak for me as well. i'd like to hear your thoughts on the model of protests that have sprung out. it's decentralized, which is really not something i'm aware of in protests, and the model of how protests have worked and organized without there actually being a central place where it all happens. guest: good question. from what i've seen, a lot of these protests are actually about people communicating their needs to each other. certainly in ducati park in new york, we've seen certainly protesters who've been camping out saying, look, we need bottled water, medical equipment here, and then people make runs to different places to bring in those different equipment or materials or necessities that the protesters

need. but, like i said, i think the fact that no one organization is behind this demonstrates that there is certainly room for the movement to grow enormously because it's not just confined for one organization's list serve or membership. and i think many organizations have gotten involved and been supportive. ourtime.org is certainly supportive of many of the principles involved and the reasons why the young people are assembling. but we're certainly not the forest -- force who can take credit for the protesting. i think decentralized protests have occurred many times in our history, but generally when people need things or need to communicate, we have also the most powerful tool and resource ever, the internet, which my parents' generation certainly did not, so we can transmit

needs and correspondences a lot faster through mobile phones. host: there's a map in "the washington post" this morning that highlights what's been shown from four square, the social media service that you can check in. we have most checking in when it comes to protesters or visitors at occupied events, most in new york, followed by philadelphia, boston, los angeles, chicago, and it goes down the list. guest: foursquare is an amazing example of people demonstrating where they are, how they can interact, and how they can get together for not only purposes of social meetups, but also now for civic engagement meetups. i think that's one way that our generation is changing the face of civic activism. host: fredericksburg, virginia, good morning to kip, republican line. guest: yes, hi. matthew, matthew, matthew. my goodness. gosh, i don't know where to start.

i guess what i'd like to say is , i'd like to ask you, do you see what's going on in greece and in europe? guest: yes. caller: ok. that's where you all are trying to take us. america is what it is because we're not like that. and what you all are fighting for are socialist policies, and they don't work in a capital stick society. i'm 47. and it took me seven years -- i started my career job at minimum wage, and it took me seven years to make office manager. it took me seven years. it takes a long time. i think you all are spoiled. i don't understand what you mean by, you know, about the student loans. i just think you all are

expecting way more than the way our country was set up to be run. and, unfortunately, i think a lot of that goes back to a lot of teachers not teaching history the correct way. host: mr. segal? guest: well, we certainly have a spending problem in this country. and a lot of that has to do with the fact that we've spent so many dollars on wars and so many dollars on bailing out certain too big to fail institutions. and i think the tea party and occupy wall street both agree that the bailout of the too big to fail institutions were, in many cases, outrageous. so let's not try to divide the two different movements to that extent. but as far as my generation being spoiled, i couldn't

disagree more. i have never seen a more service-oriented generation certainly that i've read about and been taught by the very history professors that you accuse of being poor professors or poor teachers who work very hard and who also contribute to this country in valuable ways. but as i've learned it, this generation, certainly the research shows, we're one of the most volunteer-oriented generations in history. we are also a generation that is overwhelmingly looking at ways to aid charity and be more philanthropic and work in a global economy and globalized world to help other countries as well. so, i mean, in terms of being spoiled, i think we're quite selfless in that regard. but also, no one feels entitled to anything. we're not asking for socialist policies. previous generations had the

g.i. bill. the president, in his jobs speech, said that his grandfather had the g.i. bill. if it wasn't for that g.i. bill, he wouldn't be where he is today, and there wouldn't be a president barack obama, which you might think is a good thing, but we can all acknowledge that certain legislation and certain american policies have enabled the middle class to be strong and thriving. workforce protections in mines, in warehouses have enabled middle-class people not to die on the job. i mean, those aren't socialist policies. workers' rights and protections have led to this country's economic growth and prosperity. so, i mean, just asking for opportunities to level the playing field or to get this generation off on a sound footing is hardly trying to turn us into a socialist country. i couldn't disagree more, but i very much respect your opinion. host: rich lowrie talks about

the 99% in his column this new york in "the new york post." here's part of what he had to say -- guest: i'm really glad you brought up that article. we recently have gotten so much feedback from our membership saying, why is it that goldman sachs, j.p. morgan, and other financial services institutions are paying off career centers, college career centers, with gold sponsorships, which are essentially donating more money to have prefered access to the

top five, 10, 15, 20% of graduates? whereas that is creating a brain drain to send our best and brightist scientists and engineers to act as financial instruments to calculate derivatives and other things for the financial services and banking industry as opposed to certainly finding cures for diseases or solving our nation's energy crisis or certainly reinvigorating our dilapidated infrastructure. those are very serious concerns , and i think to some extent some colleges have been bought off or certainly have been feeding entities to the financial services industry. now, we all can agree that we need a thriving financial services industry, and we need banks and credit institutions to make this economy run, so no one is saying that, a, those companies don't have a right to give money, and b, that those

companies shouldn't get talents either. but i think we have disproportionate skewing of talent into the fact that we're losing teachers, we're losing scientists and we're losing engineers to industries that might not need them the most. and actually, i recently spoke to a professor at the university of berkeley who said that if he graduated today -- and instead, he graduated college about 40 years ago -- he would have gone into and certainly been recruited to go into the banking industry as opposed to being a physicist at berkeley, where he is now and has created all kinds of fantastic research that has enabled science progress. host: tuscaloosa, alabama, democrats line. john, good morning. caller: yes. host: john, you're on the air, go ahead. caller: yes, i support you, mr.

matthew, 100%. and i wish that i were able to do more and to stand with you. guest: get involved. ourtime.org, sign up. caller: thanks. host: birmingham, alabama, republican line, kay. caller: i was looking at unemployment was only at 4.2% for college graduates. can i ask you what you got your college degree in. guest: sure. i got my college degree in sociology, but the 4.2% statistic that you're citing i believe is for all recent graduates in the american -- or all deprad waits in the american economy, not recent graduates. recent graduates has roughly a 9%, and some outlets have cited 11% unemployment rate. and although that is akin to or better than youth unemployment in general, it's certainly the worst we've seen for college

graduates as well. but youth unemployment in this country is at over 16% for 18 to 24-year-olds. and for teens, certainly in cities like where i'm from in chicago and in detroit and in other places, it well exceeds 25%, and it's been as high as 47% of teens missing summer jobs, which is bad and terrible for our communities, because it doesn't allow young people to contribute, to were a paycheck, and idle young people can get involved in crime and in drugs, and so we all can agree that a productive and working labor market and young population is good not only for the economy, but for our public safety. that's something that we certainly would actually see improve slightly through the american jobs act because there

are emergency funding mechanisms to give money to states for immediate employment and teen mentorship programs in the bill. host: sarasota, florida, our line for those under 30. charles, go ahead. caller: matt, let my say i appreciate what you do. i'm glad you're giving young people a voice, because god knows we need it. but at the end of the day, i think our generation needs to stop being enamored with the to witters and the facebooks and all the gadgets that are out there that really take away from what we really need to concentrate our time on. you know, those at the top who are benefiting the most are benefiting from a strategy, the old military strategy called divide and conquer. the more you separate people, the more you divide individuals, the easier it is to control them. you know, i think we are too -- we are letting the individuals on the extremes on both sides frame the argument for the rest

of us, and that's got to stop. you know, everybody's so enamored with bill clinton, but i don't get that anymore, because guess what, under bill clinton, the reason why we had that big economic boom was because they deregulated the market and allowed for some of these credit default swaps that were started at j.p. morgan chase. you got jamie die moan running around the country saying that president barack obama doesn't know what the heck he's doing, but guess what, credit default swaps were created by traders in his company, ok? and nobody's paying attention to that. there's no evidence that anybody's putting out there to present to the american public that says any of that. host: charles, can i ask a question? how would you advise this group to go forward? caller: the young people, our time? host: yeah, or actually those participating in the protests, not only in new york, but elsewhere. caller: they got to vote. matt said it earlier, they got to vote. people don't understand that the biggest way we can get big

business out of congress and out of politics is to realize how important it is for your state and local government. you have to vote individuals in there who are not going to get bought out. you have to realize that, you know, just because the president's being elected, that's the only election that you should go vote for. guest: charles, amen. many good points in there. for one, his first point on social media, you know, our generation does spend a lot of time on social media. there's a lot of untapped potential there, because -- and unharnessed energy there, because if all the minutes we spend on social media were directed toward petitioning the political process, i certainly think our political process would be more improved significantly. so, we're working on that. but also, it's important to note that social media is just the means for communication to assemble activism. it's not the activism itself.

many people think that just by posting something on facebook, that is essentially a copout of activism. but people are posting something on facebook to communicate. they're not necessarily saying that's the full extent of their toughism. with the point on divided and conquer or us -- we being a divided country, i couldn't agree more, which is why our generation -- actually, charles, four out of 10 identify as independents politically. we don't identify with political parties, because we've seen political parties essentially be the agent of the hyper partisanship and acrimony and animosity in congress that's dividing this country and that is creating fear and disrespect among the american people, and i think the stronger we are united as a country and the more that we

start to listen to ideas and less to just strict party platform ties and con formity, the better we end up. host: next call is clyde, north carolina. joan, independent line. caller: hello. host: i think we've lost joan. apologies for that. let's go to sterling, virginia. joanne, democrats line. caller: yes, good morning. i agree a lot with what charles and matthew are having so said, but i do want to point something out. my husband and i are in our 50's, and we both have student loans because we returned back to college for advanced degrees . and actually, i returned back to college and went from a bachelor eight right into a master's degree after being in the workforce as one of the earlier callers talked about, starting out at minimum wage and pulling up at the bootstraps. so, i would hope that this movement would be inclusive not just of young people, but of

all of us that are part of the 99% that feel like we've been co-opted out of the system. i think that there are some learnings from the tea party that i do not believe that this is something that is even related to the tea party and the way that it's evolved. about the only thing i feel in common with them is the disagreement with being -- you know, having the banks bailed out. but i have different economic pressures in my 50's. i'm looking at a retirement income that has shrunk considerably, and i'm looking at a smaller amount of time to make that up and looking in the future for me, realizing at some point in time i'm going to be one of those on a fixed income. it's pretty scary. so, you know, part of the -- the hope that i have with this movement is that now that you

do have people that are voicing and futurely correct that it needs to be done at the polls, it needs to be done at a local level and at a state level, as well as at the federal level, we have republicans that are engineery mannedering the system, rigging the elections because they're limiting voting rights, they're limiting the voter registration, limiting the amount of time, they're restricting documentation, all of that is to limit that pool of voters that are not going to be those that are in the republican and the conservative -- host: we'll leave it there. mr. segal? guest: a lot of good points there. this is an interdependence country. i was recent well people who were joking they wanted to write a declaration of interdependence because we want to see our parents and grandparents retire with he can i am inity, and we know that if they don't, the bill falls on

us. this is not a situation of only asking for one generation and not worrying about another, but instead, how do we all restore and preserve opportunities for each other. so, in that regard, there are organizations out there that advocate for over 50-somethings. there's a huge deficit or shortage of organizations that advocate for under 30-somethings, which is part of the reason my peers and i founded ourtime.org, because there needs to be a strength in numbers of young people to certainly create a more powerful and leveraged voice for us, not just in the political process, but in all facets of society. with regard to the voting rights points you made up, i couldn't agree more with how devastating the tactics of certain state legislatures have been, make it needlessly difficult on certain people to vote. if you look at the fact that there are so few instances of voter fraud the last decade, i

think under the entire bush administration, there were less than 30 cases even tried at the d.o.j., and i don't even know if a quarter of them resulted in convictions. but, you know, many people have said that voter fraud or voter -- election reform in the voter fraud exonement is a problem. there's a solution in search of a problem in the sense that the problem doesn't exist, and so why are we banning college i.d.'s as a means of identification at the polls? why are we banning -- why are we stopping african-american churches from being able to drive people to the polls in florida? i mean, these are needless attacks on voting rights, completely driven toward encumbering and reducing the size of the electorate and the predictable electorate is certainly healthy for incumbents, but it's not necessarily healthy for america. and i agree with you. host: republican line next,

mark from houston, texas. caller: hey, matthew, i'd like to make three quick points to try to help you on your way. the first is i'm very glad that you -- and i am a republican, by the way, and i am extremely conservative. but i want to commend you for trying to work within the system rather than tearing it down. the second point i would make is i don't have a lot of sympathy for your job situation, because i grew up in the 1960e's and 1970's, and i was faced with the same thing. it took me five to six years to find my first real job. i was working, you know, the trash dumps for that long, living out of my parents' garage for most of that time. you eventually will. i never had or even used any college loans and whatnot, because they weren't available. the interest rates at the time were 12% to 18%, so it wasn't even practical. third point that i would like

to make is is that you will be successful long term. you're intelligent. i can tell that. you will eventually get there. be careful what you organized and vote for, because in the long run, when you're down the road, you've solved all these problems, overcome it, be careful that you haven't set in motion something that will confiscate everything that you worked your entire life to obtain. i had nothing, never had a job my entire life that was more than five figures, and i have a lifetime's investment that's well into the seven figures. so all i'm going to tell you is, keep working at it positively like you are and keep using your intellect. guest: what a nice comment. i appreciate that. you know, the only thing i'll say is, on the sympathy point, i don't think anyone who's out

there protesting is asking for sympathy. i think they're asking for solutions. the other thing i think is important to say for the viewers is that our generation, my generation is also one comprised of many entrepreneurs. my organization has an initiative, byyoung.com, which brought together this summer 150 young c.e.o.'s who built companies all under the age of 35 to washington, d.c. we brought them to the white house for a meeting, to the chail per of commerce for the meeting, and on capitol hill for a meeting to discuss ways that we can foster and create more entrepreneurship opportunities and business growth opportunities for our generation. the people involved in this movement have created over 7,000 jobs, and we're profiling their businesses and products on our website for a discounted price to drive consumers there. but more importantly, what these young people and business owners were saying is that regulations are not the primary

burden on their business. attracting talent is. being able to get computer scientists and c.e.o.'s to build their web companies and engineers to help them were the difficulty. and that's because they couldn't necessarily entice those people with the highest salaries against wall street and other places. so, we need to do a better job of skills and workforce training for areas where there's projected growth, like computer science, like engineering, and so forth. host: last call is from st. louis, missouri. john on our under 30 line. john, we have about a minute left, a minute and a half, so go ahead. caller: hello? host: john, go ahead. we got about a minute left. caller: i want to commend the young man and let him know what he's doing is what really make america great, and don't let anybody make him feel guilty about what he's doing. what he's doing is what truly makes america what it is, and

if we don't have people like him, we're going to become a third-world country real quick. we need a lot more people like him. do not feel guilty and don't let the republicans -- it's not about a republican tea party. what you standing for is about human life, don't allow anybody to make you -- allow to you feel guilty about what you doing. what you doing truly make america what it is. guest: what a positive way to end. thank you, john. host: the more people will see the video that we've been seeing and other networks have been showing, how long do you think before a public, i guess, sat rates themselves with that, and what's next? and how long before you have to move on to some other aspects behalf you're trying to do? guest: well, i think the next logical progression of this is turning this into inside the system activism, turning this into showing up in support of legislation, like the american jobs act and also turning this into voter turnout. host: matthew segal, with our

time, he serves as their president. ourtime.org is the website if you want to learn more. matthew segal, thank you. guest: thanks for having me. host: coming up -- in our last significant am at 9:15, we're going to learn about foreign corporations who want to set up shop and business within the united states and what faces them. but we'll talk about florida politics next with the head of the florida republican party, especially as they have a primary date coming up in january. that conversation will take place right after this. >> now, i don't object to an investigation into solyndra, and based on the record to date, i don't see evidence of wrongdoing by government officials, just a bad investment decision. i don't want to minimize it. but this was a bad decision as far as we know made on the merits. >> the gentleman's time is expired. >> on friday, a house oversight and investigations subcommittee

continued i said probe of the energy department's $535 million loan guarantee to solyndra, a solar panel manufacturer that recently laid off 1,100 workers and filed for bankruptcy. watch the entire event, as well as testimony last month from solyndra officials and a 2010 presidential visit to solyndra online at the c-span video library, archive and had searchable. it's washington your way. >> it's been almost 30 years suspects a small group from a fraternity proposed building a memorial to honor dr. king, and this sunday, watch the official dedication of the martin luther king jr. national memorial in washington, d.c. live coverage begins at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> c-span radio is another way to keep up with politics and public affairs, offering a mix of the most relevant events from the three c-span television networks and some exclusives, like the re-air of the sunday news programs from the major networks.

if you're in washington, d.c., listen to us at 90.1 f.m., across the country on x.m. satellite 119, and on our iphone and blackberry apps. c-span radio, another public service created by the nation's cable television industry. and now, in our 15th year. >> "washington journal" continues. host: right now we're going to talk about florida politics. the chairman of the florida republican party joins us. mr. curry, what has been the outcome of florida's decision to move its primary to january 31? guest: the legislature and the governor appointed a nine-member committee that had the legal authority to set the date of on you primary. they set it for january 31 to ensure that we would be right behind south carolina, so we would be by ourselves and have a loud voice, which is important based on the size and diversity of florida.

host: you're going to lose delegates in the process, are you not? guest: we're going to lose half of our delegates. that being said, the good news is, if you look at many of the other states, their delegates, they are proportional based on the percentage the candidate gets in the state. we found out we're going to have 50 delegates, and it's going to be a winner take all, which makes florida even that much more important. host: because of the decision that florida made, everybody is shipping theirs, and we could see a condensed season with some activity even by the end of the year. does that lessen the political process, especially as folks are used to having these consider within the actual year of an election? guest: yeah, i think we will have a nominee fairly early and fair 8 quickly, and florida is going to play a major role in that, this is what we, the republican party of florida and our legislators, think is important. we are a big, diverse state. if you look, if you poll the registered republicans in the state of florida, they are

fairly representative of what the rest of the country looks like, which means if you can win a republican primary in florida, you're likely very competitive in a general election nationwide. host: but then talk about a little bit of the decision, though, because even in switching your date to january 31, you're still fifth apparently in the contest that could take place. is that correct? guest: that's correct. and that was always the intent. florida never wanted to jump the early states. we just wanted to ensure that we were behind south carolina and that we were by ourselves so our voice could be heard singularly and loud. and that was the intent. it looks like we're going to accomplish that objective. host: the republican party of florida chairman is our guest, lenny curry, talking about florida politics and other things. if you want to ask him questions, you can do so on one of many ways. for democrats, it's

202-737-0001. for independents, it's 202-628-0205. and if you live in the state of florida and specifically want to weigh in on your state's politics, florida residents, you have a special line that you can call, 202-628-0184. journal@c-span.org is how you reach us by email. a tweet is @cspanwj. currently the republican national convention next year, talk about that. guest: the convention is a big deal. it's important for florida. i think it's important for the rest of the country as well because of how diverse we are. this will be the 40th republican national convention. all 50 states and six territories will participate. 45,000 people will attend the

convention beginning the week of august 27 of next year. it is the equivalent in terms of an economic impasse of two to three super bowls of over $170 million. there will be 15,000 media in attendance for that, which is the only -- the olympics is the only thing that's larger in terms of media presence. it's a big deal. it's important, and we're excited to host the convention here. host: there has been talk -- and you probably heard this -- that there should be some punishment because of the convention, because of the decision made because of the primary. guest: i understand that other republican party chairmen around the country and other states are upset. i get it. we're going to work this out, though. the republican party, we're all family. we're going to work this out through diplomacy, and we're going to work together and make sure that we have a successful convention in tampa and that we put the next president of the

united states in the -- the next republican in the white house. florida is particularly important, too. if you look at how our governing body now, our governor and our legislature are, i believe, a model of what we should be doing around the country. this last cycle, they cut over $200 million in property taxes. we're gaining over 10,000 jobs per month. the only state that cut taxes and balanced the budget without incurring any new debt. that's the model, contrast that to what the obama administration is doing, two million more unemployed folks since they took office, the stimulus project is nowhere. it's a very, very stark contrast. host: in your own words, you said you're going to work this out. does that mean you're already talking with folks within the r.n.c. about this decision and when it comes to the convention, what do you mean by we're going to work this out? guest: the convention is going to be in florida. there have been some that

suggested they move the convention. that's not going to happen. i'm in regular communication with the r.n.c. chairmen. look, again, we have a great relationship. we all have the same goal in mind. at the end of the day, it's about taking back the white house, and we will come together and work together to achieve that goal. host: and that great relationship, even because of the january 31 decision by your officials there in florida. guest: yeah, i mean, look, the legal -- i'm going to go back to the legal authority does not rest with the party. the legal authority rested with a committee appointed by the governor, the speaker of the house, and the senate president. we're a sovereign state. we have republican majorities in the house and senate. we have a republican governor. and they exercised their legal authority, and they did it based on what they thought was best for florida and the country in terms of selecting the next president of the united states. the republican party of florida's position has always been, even before a date was set, that we should go early and that we should, very

important, be by ourselves. host: mr. curry, there is research done by the american research group that took place from october 7 to 12, specifically looking at florida voters. when asked about their choice for a presidential candidate, herman cain came in at 34%. mitt romney at 28%. newt gingrich at 11%. what does that say to you? guest: well, we still have a ways to go. herman cain has performed well in recent debates. he won our straw poll right here in florida through a lot of good, old-fashioned retail politics. he was on the floor shaking hands, talking to people, looking them in the eye. that being said, the presidential process, running for president is a long, hard process, as it should be. we want to know that the next president of the united states, how is she or she going to operate under pressure, when they're tired, and this is you need to be. these men and women are up early in the morning.

they're to bed laid at night. i'm sure they're probably not eating as regularly as most of us. in a given debate, or in a given interview, you have good days and you have bad days. what you're looking for is someone that performs well over the long haul that can handle a crisis when they're tired and when the heat is on. so, a good day or bad day doesn't break a candidacy. it's about the long haul. host: are you saying that mr. cain needs nor vetting then? guest: i'm saying that all the candidates are working hard. i'm proud of them. and there's some differences we're seeing in the debates in how to reform entitlements, the tax code. these are healthy debates, and the republican voters will ultimately make the right decision in the primary. host: first call is bradenton, florida, for our guest, lenny curry, of the republican party of florida. it's on our democrats line. ron, good morning. go ahead. caller: good morning, sir.

a couple of points and then a question. why is rick scott being sued over his implements of voting rights, for drug testing, for half a dozen different things, and a couple of points, i am a democrat, and i live in a republican area, and all my republican friends cannot take and basically stomach rick scott. all they say is that he was a thief and he pulled the fifth amendment 75 times. his polls are down, and i don't think you're going to take and get as many republicans as you think to vote for any presidential candidate. host: mr. curry? guest: well, the name calling of our governor is just the

nastiness of politics that is, frankly, disgusting, but it's free speech, so people have the right to say and do that. let's talk specifically about his lawsuit. anybody can file a lawsuit. our governor is making some difficult decisions that need to be made, a lot of folks don't like that when you change things. let's talk about drug testing of welfare resip yets. that money is for children. by drug testing, that ensures that money, in fact, is getting to the children and taking care of children and not somebody's drug habit. . some folks are upset about it, and republicans and democrats and independents that i talked to, you're average working americans, floridians agree with that, and with many of the policies that is on our governor's agenda. as i said before, our house and

senate leadership have done some great things of this last session that other states haven't done in terms of cutting taxes and balancing the budget without incurring any new debt. host: sarasota, florida, is next, doug, republican line. caller: hi. i have seen that the public is not treated well in florida, that number one in the past 10 years, the senate is not viewed by the general public, and my big question is, what if ron paul is elected in florida, what happens then? guest: whomever. if he wins the primary -- look, whomever wins the republican primary, whoever ends up as our eventual nominee, republicans are going to unify and come together and ensure that we elect that nominee as the next president of the united states. the current president and the

current administration has to go. right now, if you look at our debt under this president, it breaks down -- it's over $14 trillion, it's over $48,000 for every man, woman, and child in the united states. think about that. what parent in their right mind that loves and cares for their children would go out and continue to charge money on a credit card that would ultimately be left to their children? that's what this government is doing right now. now, i know that folks will rebutt that and say, well, the republicans started this. we certainly made some mistakes in the past, nowhere near the kind of spending you're seeing right now. this president has run the three highest deficits, three highest deficit spending three years in a row, first, second, and third in terms of deficit spending in american history. host: next call is rockville,

indiana. tim, democrats line. caller: yeah, my question is should americans be worried about the alignment of the republican party with power, which is wealth, the military and the war machine that the people who are building the things for war, is the republican party trying to become the republican empire, or are they -- host: mr. curry, do you want to respond? guest: well, the democrats are currently in power. they control the house. the republican party is not trying to become an empire. we are for working americans. look, the republican party believes that every man, woman, and child should have hope and an opportunity to achieve their

dreams. and regardless of age, if you're a college graduate, you should know that in the united states of america, you can find your way and be whatever you want to be. and if you are 50 or 60 years old and you're unemployed, you should know that the united states, you can retrain and you can still pursue your dreams. the republican party believes that, at its core, that's what the republican party is about, that's what most americans are about. the democrats believe that government should take care of everyone from cradle to crave, and it doesn't work. there's not enough money to do it, a, and b, it doesn't leave any room for creativity for people to pursue their own dreams. host: we have a tweet on twitter, and this viewer asks you, what do you think about florida's redistricting and the new rules preventing gerrymandering? guest: that will be worked out, the redistricting with our legislature in the upcoming

session, and we don't know what that's going to look like, so we're going to have to wait and see. host: when it comes to polling, mr. curry, nbc news and "wall street journal" did a poll, with we areman cain coming on top with 27%, followed by mitt romney with 23%, and rick perry at 16%. ron paul came in at 11%, followed by newt gingrich at 8% and mi shell bachmann at 5%. when it comes to the state itself, could you give a synopsis of kind of beyond the ground machines that are in place when it comes to the various candidates and who has the best one? guest: all. candidates have been visiting florida regularly for months now. they've been in and out. just recently, i've seen activity in terms of the ground game that's in place for romney and perry and herman cain. but at the same time, every

candidate has been here, every candidate recognizes the porns of it, and we're seeing a lot of activity in florida, and we expect to see obviously as we near the january 31 primary a lot more activity in a very compact time frame. host: who has the largest ground game there? guest: the number of the candidates have a solid ground game -- as i've seen, i've seen a lot of activity out of romney, perry, and recently cain. all candidates are active, and i've recently seen a war chart for those three teams. host: dayton beach, florida. james, i understand pen line. caller: hi. this is james harper. i'm actually calling from daytona beach, florida. and i'm actually a reporter. i work for a paper called "the florida courier" and "the daytona times." i have two questions, and i'm really surprised what i've been hearing this gentleman say on the tv. frankly, i thought the previous

governor did a better job. but having said that, this current -- the republican administration is showing how racist and homophobic they are. we're doing an occupy daytona in daytona beach today, so the fever has hit us as well. but my question to this gentleman, he didn't answer the question about the fair district amendment. are the republican parties challenging the laws that they have moid that point, and also, why are they doing things to suppress the vote? host: mr. curry? guest: the republican party of florida is not challenging any law. and i'm not sure -- i didn't understand the question on suppressing the vote. the republican party is about everybody having access to vote . so, i'm not sure -- i didn't

quite understand that question about suppressing the vote. and the statement about racism and homophobia. that's the nasty side of politics, and people are free to express themselves that way, but i'm not going to get in the mud. host: orlando is next. republican line. caller: yes, good morning. host: you're on, sir. go ahead. caller: this is just a comment for the chairman. i'm a republican. and from what i can see, at least in my locale, and most young people that i work with is that the outreach of the republican party to this generation, you know, the generation coming up has either been nonexistent or just so tiny that it makes no difference, and we're losing a generation of potential republicans. and all i want to do is urge the party to start doing a heck after lot more outreach. and that's my comment. and i'll take it off the air.

host: what is your organization's outreach to young people, mr. curry? guest: yeah, i appreciate the comment, and there's some truth to that. we are currently internally ramping up and working on an aggressive ground game to reach out to young people, universities and even high schools. we have some very strong young republican clubs. that being said, as the caller just mentioned, he's not seeing it, so we must do a better job. we're working on that and communicating with young people that we are the party of hope. we are the party that believes that government should get out of your life and allow to you pursue your hopes and dreams. and point is well taken, and we're working on an aggressive campaign that hopefully the caller will see that in the near term. host: it was here in washington that senator rubio addressed what is known as the washington ideas forum that took place on october 5. and during his exchange with

the audience, he talked about speculation that he become the vice-presidential nominee. here's what he had to say. >> i'm not going to be the vice-presidential nominee. i'm not going to be the vice-presidential nominee. i'm not focused on that. i'm focused on my job right now. and the answer is probably going to be no. >> the answer is no. he left the door open. host: so him saying no, or probably going to be no, how was your reaction when you heard that? guest: i think that senator rubio would be a great vice president. if asked. the pressure will be very intense if he's asked. and i know senator rubio. he's a thoughtful man. he's a good family man, and he also wants to do what's right for the country. so, if asked, he'll sit down and speak with his advisers and most importantly with his family, and he'll ultimately make the decision that he believes is right for his family but is also in the best interest of the united states of america.

host: so you still see an option of him becoming a nominee? guest: if asked, again, if asked, the pressure will be intense. and i understand he's said no, and i respect that. but if our nominee ultimately asks him, i would expect he's going -- again, i know nor rubio. he will speak with his family and make a decision based on that conversation and what he thinks is best for the united states. i think the key point here is he's not seeking it. he doesn't want it. he's representing floridians as the united states senator, and that's what he wants to continue to do. host: and can i ask if he's had any conversations with you specifically about this? guest: he and i have had no conversations about him being vice president of the united states. host: cincinnati, ohio, good morning. jane on our democrats line, go ahead. caller: good morning to both of you. how are you doing? well, fine, i guess. anyways, i'm calling about people, middle-class people

that's not highly educated, but has been doing just great until about -- well, until the clinton age, when clinton was in office, the middle class did good. when even bush was in office, the middle class did good. but now all they're talking about is well educated people, and i'm also wanting to ask about all these 45 million people that's on welfare. if you could give them whatever kind of job they could use out there, then look at the money that our country could save on down. and as far as republican or democrat, i wouldn't care as long as they were doing for our country and not trying to act like they're better than me and people that's not well educated, you know, which i think the republicans this year especially has been acting

like, you know? and it's not nice. as far as other republicans are concerned, i have been from a republican party all my life. host: we'll let our guest respond. mr. curry? guest: yeah, the republican party, regardless of education or background, as i said before, we believe that everybody should have an opportunity to pursue their dreams, and those dreams are based on where you went to high school or where you went to college or whether you work behind a desk or whether you work out in the sun. and under this administration, middle class, lower middle class has suffered, and the republicans plan on turning that around if we can take back the white house and the united states senate. host: jim of twitter asks you, mr. curry, if you support any litmus test. guest: no. host: why not?

guest: republican party is a big tent. it's our job, it's the party's job to ensure that we elect republicans in races. and it's up to the republican electorate and the primary to pick our nominee. i've had folks ask me in the past, why does the republican party give us a candidate? the republican party doesn't give anybody a candidate. the voters ultimately make up their minds, and they go and they vote in a primary. and it's our job as a party to include -- there's many caucuses and many interests in our party. we're diverse. we have good, solid debate. and it's the party's job to rally everybody around the issue of the day, apply conservative principles to the issue of the day, which, in this cycle, in jobs and spending and debt, and they're all related, so we'll work to

bring all those competing interests together in the party and focus on that goal, turn this economy around, republicans turn this economy around, and then we can have other debates in the future. host: our guest is lenny curry, chairman of the republican party of florida. phil, go ahead. caller: yes, hi, pedro, and hello, mr. curry. i'd like to ask mr. curry -- and you, too, pedro -- please explain the difference between the delegates' winner take all and the proportional, and i also had a very quick question which would require a very quick answer to follow up to that, if you'd let me ask. host: we'll let mr. curry address the first part. go ahead. guest: yes, if the delegates are allocated proportionally, it would be based on the percentage that, a, republican candidate won in that state's primary, so where the winner take all, all delegates go to

the candidate to get the majority of the vote. in florida we just found out florida will, in fact, be a winner take all, so all 50 of our delegates will go to the winner of the florida primary. that's not the case in some other states. caller: that doesn't seem representative, but i don't know a whole lot about it, and i appreciate you answering that question. the second question is, the first poll that you put up, not the nbc one, but you listed three people up there, newt gingrich was listed third. can you please tell me who came in third? was -- where did ron paul sit in that first poll you showed? host: this was the survey of florida voters, october 7 through 12. all i have are the top three candidates. we can try to find out, though. caller: i wonder where ron paul came in in that.

i think he may have come in third ahead of newt gingrich, but it looks like could someone at your c-span station please clarify that? host: howie on the republican line. are you there? caller: yes. good morning. i am a republican. florida politics, the national convention is in florida. the governor, he is an unconstitutional governor. everything that's going on with that man is unconstitutional he doesn't like these kind of people. he's a -- these people want to cater to the pharmaceutical companies and prison rail states and continue this homeless stuff. host: caller, do you have a question? caller: yes. why do you and the republican party continue to believe the 1986 reagan drug testing is

constitutional? host: what's the really inventories cri, sir? caller? we'll leave it there. tulsa, oklahoma, phillip on our independent line. caller: my question is how come the republican party is dictating to florida when they can hold their primaries? i thought they believed in the 10th amendment, the right to choose when they hold their primaries? and all the republican candidates go to nevada where their debate is next week. host: we'll let you get that one. go ahead. guest: we do believe in it. the republican party did not choose the date. we have a republican majority and governor and they appointed a committee that set the date, and let's remember, the governor and house and senate were elected by floridain's.

they have the authority to set the date and they did. the republicans nor did r.n.c. pick the date. host: orlando is next on the line we set aside for florida viewers. good morning. caller: good morning, america. a quick comment here. recently governor scott turned down the high-speed rail system here in central florida. if anybody's ever drove the i. 4 quarter daytona to tampa. it's a mess. and for this governor to turn down that money, so we could try straighten this out, it makes absolutely no sense. this was a bipartisan committee. republicans, democrats alike that pushed for this noun fix the system. and as far as i'm concerned, this governor gets a c-minus. so that's my comment. host: where does the rail story

-- the light rail system stand? the governor did turn down the money, is that correct? guest: he did, and he looked at it, allocation of assets on return of investment and based on the study and assessment his team looked at, it didn't look like that it would cover the future operating costs and that the state of florida would be on the hook. and he just wasn't willing to go down that road. again, it was a decision based on return of investment. government can't be all things to all people, and sometimes you have to make some hard decisions. >> host: when it specifically comes to tampa, what's being built in the infrastructure to be for next year? >> there will be 45,000 people coming through the week of august 27 of next summer. obviously hotels are going to be important, and transporting people to and from.

one of the neat things about the convention is currently working on mobile apps. mobile technology so people who are not physically there can interact and be a part of the convention. host: eric, democrat line. caller: hi. i believe that the republican party is excluding a primary in florida and across the country so that way it gives their winner of the nomination a good shot beat obama, and i say that because you have more chances to raise money from your corporate donors. also, i believe that well, when you talk about obama spendinging, i know three republican presidents who hit record deficits. bush, bush, and reagan, and that's all. host: yes?

guest: george w. bush incurred 4.9 trillion in debt over eight years and president obama has hit over $2 trillion in debt in two years. this administration, the obama administration is spending and it's expo innocence shall compared to the bush administration. the bush administration, every problem, the solution wasn't spending. the obama administration, if there's a problem, let's print money and throw money at it. and it's not working. host: so the first part of the caller's question when it comes to the condensed or moving the date and condensing the primary season so it will benefit a candidate, how will you answer that? >> the intent of moving the primary up was again to make sure florida that we were by ourselves and that we have a singler loud voice based on the size of our state, our

population and the diversity of our population, we, in florida, our population, our electorate is a representative cross section of the entire united states. so it's important that we have allowed it an early voice. it hasnology to do with fundraising and -- host: florida, eric, good morning. caller: i had a comment and a question. my comment is i think that the constant call for this big tent in the republican party i think can have a deteriorating effect and take away from the true mission of what the republican party should stand for. for the reduced government. more liberty. and you look at who they are pushing right now, and i'm rather disappointed in the republican party, with cane and

his federal reserve background and i mean, look at his first solution. his first solution for us so tax us, and it's not to give us more liberty or more freedom or reduce government spoke. here's a question for you. how would you say someone like me who is rather disappointed. i feel like i've been given a choice of lotion and spozz toris with the political party and they seem to have same effect. >> the republican party is for getting government out of people's lives. if you look at the poll nationwide, just over 40% identified themselves as conservative and it's in the twheants identify themselves as liberals. so with just over 40% self-identifying is conservative, you don't want elections with 41%-42% of the vote. so you have to take

conservative principals and apply them to the principles of the day and issues affecting people every day, independents and frustrated democrats applied their principles to the issues of the day and you get to over 50%. a big tent is not about abandoneding your principles and ideology. it's about, again, appealing to people based on what's impacting their lives with conservative principles in action. >> one of the plans is a national sales tax. florida has no sales tax currently. how would those two meet together? >> mr. herman cain has had an economist's team put together his plan, and he'll pitch it to the electorate, and the republican vortse in the primary will make their choice and their decision. look, there has to be some level of taxation. government has to perform certain core duties.

the debate is how much of our hard-earned money should the government be taking? and clearly right now it's too much. and this president talking about tax increases doesn't make any sense. host: a caller previous asked about the research done from the american research group when it came to mr. paul. ron paul came in at 4%. ms. bochman came in at 3%. gary johnson with no registered percentage. mr. perri at 5%. mr. roamer at 1%. mr. romney at 28%. and then the other category is no rangester per century tile. go ahead joe on our republican line. caller: good morning. off question. mr. curry, you made a statement

earlier about the republicans party and he's stole at any white house. you're taking this way off of what we should be as a party. and i want to know when the occurred that this is a game? and number two, the white house is not a trophy. you're talking about the rest of us. come on. get onboard. i'm 60 years old. you're sithing there with such a smug attitude and making us look like isolation insists. remember the republican party only represents an idea. you're supposed to work together. tough white house ahead of the rest of the country when you should have been saying these are our ideas. president, work with us. but you bring nothing forward except a smug attitude that doesn't represent the recess of us that are above our age.

you're a self-aassumed spoiled brat that says i'm taking my ball and bat and going home. host: mr. curry, go ahead. guest: thank you for the compliment. the republican party believes in smaller government. the white house is not about a trophy. the current occupant of the white house believes that government should take care of americans from cradle to grave, and frankly there's just not enough money to do it. it doesn't exist. people have to work. they have to be oncreators and earners. so we believe in small government, and it's not a trophy. and we're going to work hard to take back the white house, again, to implement the ideology of smaller government and getting government out of people's lives. host: tell us little bit about how you became the chairman of the republican party and your role going forward. guest: yes. my predecessor was elected

chairman of the republican party in january of this year. and shortly after he was elected, he was diagnosised with allison also known as -- with a.l.s., also known as lou gehrig's disease. my role coming into this is bitter-sweet, because we lost a courageous warrior, but now i get to carry on his vision of florida and execute the plan he put in place. host: so that specifically deals with not only the convention but other political activities going before the elections? guest: yes. the republican party of florida is our basic mission in this election cycle so execute a ground game turns out republican voters, and communicates a message of

independents. voter contact via phone banking, new media, direct mail , all forms of contacting voters. and in order to do that, you have to raise a significant amount of money. so fundraising is critical so we can execute that ground game, and then obviously the convention highlights florida and will highlight our candidate, our nominee, nationwide. so we're going to have a busy year. host: one more call. from florida. rafeek, independent line. caller: hey, good morning. am i on host: yes. caller: i would like to ask mr. curry a simple question that will really and truly we need a grass root answer not just a fancy answer he keep giving. i would like to know why is it in every state considered red, the republican majority state,

why is there a disparity between rich and poor is so large and why is it in the same state that the public education is the worst in the nation? please answer that correctly in grassroots terms so we can understand it. thank you. host: go ahead, mr. curry. >> the despairty between the rich and poor and red states -- i -- i said this before, the republican party believes everyone should have an opportunity and that it shouldn't be based on your background or race. it should be based on an individual trying to pursue their own dreams. and what was the second part of the question? host: honestly i lost track, and i apologize, but before we finish, one more question about the primary system as it's set up --

finish, one more question about the primary system as it's set up -- before the officials made the decision for january 31? >> they made the best decision they could with the best information head to give florida a voice. and you couldn't make everybody happy so, as i said before we're going to come together >> and because of it do you think there might be any changes as far as how it works? >> i would expect this to begin early after the election cycle. >> thank you lenny curry to talk to us about republican politics. thank you. guest: always a pleasure. host: in our final segment we take a look at what is the process for foreign companies wanting to set up shop in the

united states. the president's job council talking about their ideas. joining us, we'll have that discussion when we return. >> it's been almost 30 years since a small group proposed building a memorial to honor dr. king. and watch the dedication of the memorial in washington, d.c. live coverage begins at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> it's a fact-based story on a topic of your choosing. every good story has a -- the student cam competition.

>> today cell phones and web cams do a great job of capturing video. if you don't have access to better video equipment, don't threat stop you. if you need more help, go to student cam.org. >> the process may be difficult at first but you can get help. don't worry. the process becomes clear once you get started. >> another great thing about the c-span documentary is you can work alone or in a team. for example, if you're a good writer but not very handy with a camera, get a friend to help out. not only will you both learn something but you'll increase your chances of winning. >> you don't need to be an expert at video production or anything else you can use your parents, students and teachers as resources along the way.

this process is both fun and extremely rewarding. with a little bit of effort, anyone can do this. >> i am the first one to admit every day i have to get up in the morning and tell myself i can do this. there's no one better to do this. >> harvard medical school. resident as i in neuro surgery. associate professor of neuro surgery and oncology. homeless, illegal migrant farm worker. >> i have to believe that every time i go into the arena, into the operating room i have someone's life in my hand and i am fully capable of getting this patient in and out of the operating room, because that's a trust these patients have on

me, and i want the fine line between patience and arrogance. >> on c-span's "q&a." >> "washington journal" continues. host: it was earlier this week the president's job council released a series of ideas for job creation. among them was an initiative to help bring more foreign companies and help them set up shop in the united states. here's the president talking about it this week. >> with respect to the national investment initiative, i know that if i'm not mistaken, some of the job council already have a chance to meet with the secretary of stite figure out how we can deal with visas and travel promotions. there are other areas where we think bringing in an inner agency approach and making sure that we are knocking down any barriers that are out there for

direct investment here in the united states in job creation that we're going to prioritize those. and i welcome the ideas that have already been nut place. >> and theory help us understand more about it and expand on it, the organization for international investment. she serves as president and c.e.o. nancy mclernon. >> thank you. host: what do we mean by that? guest: a company abroad like a seamens, a bayer, invest in the jithes, works here, runs a factory here and employs americans here. so it's a simple mass equation to understand it. some of these economics, global trade, so forth can require a more complex understanding, but this is when foreign-based companies invest here. >> how many companies currently do that? >> it's a couple thousand

companies, but more significantly, they employ about 5% of the workforce, which is about 5 million people. so they are pretty prevalent. host: so when they come to set up shop here, what typically has to happen? guest: they have to have go through the same things that a u.s. company would have to do when they invest here. but unlike their homegrown companies, these companies may not understand some of our regulations and rules, and especially thinking of the complexities of a little bit different. but in general they have to follow the same types of rules as american companies. these companies represent about 1% of u.s. business and the extent to which they understand the impact on our economy is much more than that. so it's about 5% of the business and workforce and 21%

of the u.s. exports. so these companies are making things in the united states not only to serve the u.s. marketplace but also to serve the world. so 21% of u.s. exports are kind of, like, big deal. of the 5 million americans that work for these companies, about 2 million of them are in manufacturing. host: we made a short list of some of the companies representatives. anheiser-busch, brother international. mccain foods, michelin north america. and phipps electronics. these are probably names that people would recognize but not understand that they went down to sit. many people may not know these companies are head quartered abroad. but that's the point. i mean, you cannot put a flag

on a company and say one company is more important to the u.s. economy than another company. and the idea of a company's nationality is really going by the wayside as more companies set up different types of operations all over the world. host: so where are they based? >> nestle's is based in swits irland. seamens is based in germany. michelin is based in france. tada is an indian-based company. we're having more indian investment in the united states. some people often think of u.s. companies investing like in india and taking jobs away. well, the reverse is happening. we have foreign companies investing here. so it's really all over the world. right now most of the our foreign investment comes from europe and canada. host: our guest with us for about 20 points in talk about

the u.s. niche give to quote more business. if you want to call her, -- if you want to call us -- you can send email to journal@c-span.gov. the president's spending calls for $1 trillion in investment over the next five years. what are the chances that that can happen? >> well, the goal is a reach. guest: the u.s. has been losing ground both in the share of investment worldwide and in absolute terms, over the last year, so it definitely is a reach, but i think that if the u.s. government at the national level sets its mind to it, it's something we can work to try to achieve. for so long this job fell to

the states. and it still does. so governments -- governors go overseas to attract business in particular states, but it's getting harder for ohio to compete against singapore and harder for these individual states so it's an effort at the national level to focus oning? that hasn't been focused on at and in 2009 it was $135 billion but in 2008 it was $328 billion coming in. why the despairty in numbers coming in? guest: well, it can be cyclical for sure. but from "20/20" to 2011, it --

but from 2010 to 2011, it went down. when there's a contraction worldwide the u.s. will certainly feel that in terms of global investment as well. but this year global investment actually started increasing. but into the u.s. it fell. there's something there that i think requires sort of looking into a little bit more to figure out how we can change the direction of our company. host: your organization represents -- host: 10-15 minutes before we head to that conference with aanytimea hill. you're on. caller: i think companies are

going to sell to americans and 25% aught ought to be made the america. i don't understand why they can't do that. guest: actually, you raise pretty good point. companies that come here to the u.s. from abroad actually have a significant amount of domestic con tent. for every -- the top two companies for foreign vehicles, they come here to be able to act as our -- access our workforce. quality of workforce is important. but they are buying things here as well. host: fort worth, texas. are you there? caller: yes. host: you're on. go ahead. caller: i have a question.

there was a company in germany. it's a manufacturer of fruits and stuff. and i know people that work there. and they have been trying to come here, but all the new restrictions and regulations, it's hard to present to the and that country causes all these regulations. so what's your opinion on all these regulations? guest: i think it can make the u.s. less competitive. multinational companies have a variety of different places in which to locate. and the u.s. definitely has some challenges when compared to other countries. however, an effort, i believe, that the president talked about regarding the national investment initiative to help companies understand how best

to set up here make a real difference, because they can get their help in understanding rules in one state versus another state where as without it, they may be a little more confused to do so. so the effort at the single point of entry for some, global economies -- host: you spoke of challenges. is it that understanding of the patch work of rules or are there others? guest: well, the patch work of rules plays a role. because of the 50 states but in the last couple of years we've had sometimes complying with it can be a challenge. but a large company like seamen's or rolls-royce, typically they can find right

advisor to help them. but it's the mid-sized companies that i think we can help move and change the dynamic investing in the u.s. by better -- by better unsing the levels of government to help tell how important it is. this is a change for people to talk about the benefits of global investment in the u.s. at the highest levels of government is a change. that in and of itself helps so having this national investment initiative, even, some other countries have the ability to do that. host: the discussion about this topic, is it only with this administration or have previous

presidents had this? >> other administrations have. the bush administration, folks might remember the dubai port situation where there was a lot of outcry about a certain type of foreign investment in the united states. and it was that far deal sort of blue up -- blew up a little bit. so they started to do some things at the time that were -- this administration issued an open investment statement. say they recognized the benefits of foreign investment and seek to be treat these companies no differently than that of a domestic company. coupled together -- >> select u.s.a. is also something they did in june as

well. what they have done is -- not that government can create jobs, but again it's having something at the national level to have companies have a single point of entry rather than thinking ok. if i want to go to the northeast do i have to attack figure out the best ways for those who want to navigate. host: john, you're on the independent line. caller: i just wanted to say, i'm an american worker. and i am very concerned. because just now i was getting up and on my phone i discovered i drunk a whole cup of bleach. host: warren, road island. mary on our republican line. caller: good morning. i was very interested to hear

the automaker, tata -- in a lot of different -- including outsourcing american jobs. the most business they do in the united states where they import foreign workers into the united states to set up shop and to outsource jobs to india and elsewhere. tata is not a company that has a good reputation in india. they are natchingt they treat their workers abysmally, they are only here looking for what they can get to drain more jobs and work out of the united states. i just have a real strong feeling that we're not being told the complete truth on this subject. guest: i appreciate that. actually that's not the story on tata. actually right now they have

auto and steel and other consultn't as i businesses and actually employ thousands of americans in the united states. this is not about coming here to outstores india. and right now tata consultn't as i has about 1,000 jobs to fill. some of the issues for these companies are getting the high skilled workforce to manufacture and do r. & d. here. historically these companies have been good which is why so many businesses have been attracted over time but the fact that other countries are stepping up their game, we're going to have to work harder to get these global companies to zom invest here, currently if 5 million companies is ate way

to push us out of the economic hole we're in now? >> one asks how many of these bring a whole workforce that get pension from their home land? >> no. company a company first comes to the u.s., they'll bring in some management to help get things set up but predominantly, they are employing locally. so that's not true, they need bring them in here to help set up the company, put in sort of management-styles that the company wants to see through in other countries, and then for the most part they are hiring locally. host: where is training usually done? >> it can be all over the place. and it depends on the company itself and the position. so some very senior level positions, they may want to actually have them not just

over at the parent company but have them experience different operations around the world to really educate them. but a lot of it's being done here in -- and they are actually partnering with a university to help them get globally trained. host: what they train on and their ability to handle the task they are at, compared to lots of other places around the world. it's high. so we have some of our companies who have moved back call centers. elektrolux moved because quality of the call center was important, so they moved it back here. so quality is still pretty good. i think what's most concerning is high-skilled manufacturing,.

and then the executive management where i think the u.s. excels pretty well. but then that high-scale manufacturing to keep companies like rolls-royce who has been building a big campus right now in prince george's, virginia to, build jet engines. being able to get people so actually make things that are very advanced, i think that's where these companies are looking to partner with the universities and train americans. host: up next, cindy, democrats line from fort myers, florida. caller: yes. my question is how much tax credit orest? are they getting and for how long? guest: these companies are treated just like any other american company when they go into a new location, some states may offer some tax credits.

so they pay a lot of taxes. host: as far as what they make in profit, how much is left in the u.s.? guest: reinvestment in learning is pretty strong. they reinvest. and another way they are sort of adding to our bottom line is that surprisingly, americans oye ooh fair amount of stocks, so you -- there's a variety of ways that what they earn benefits guest: any he was? ? i know this tax incentives the viewer talked about. guest: that's all at the local level, and the government level has no intent as far as i know to get into any of that. host: baltimore, mother's day

snd independent line? caller: yes. what is the effect of the many small businesses we see scattered throughout baltimore? it's like we -- the expression, we're dying from a death. everywhere i go, the stephanie leavens, the gas stations, the restaurants. the garden centers, and all and in the baltimore area, they are owned by people who obviously are foreign, and then when this one foreign person leaves, they seem to hire and tpwhring another relative, so there must be millions of jobs lost on the mobile level, and then ask you to go to the western union office in the stores, and their people are remitting their earnings but

the jobs are being drained out, and they are of they are hiring their cousins and everything and then they go start another business and hire more. so you need to look at the local effect that it ought to be mandated. you ought to have a percentage of local people you must hire or you lose that special advantage. host: thank you very much. guest: i think he might be inflating issues. these companies are investing here and employing americans directly. i think in order for the of i will tell him -- we need to be open for global vents. we need to have our doors wide-open and welcome global investment here. especially from emerging markets. those are only now ramping up their activity and having a

mindset that welcomes these companies here. again, it passes pro log that these ethat offs small businesses, because suppliers so overall it's a net-net. host: on our republican line, you're next. caller: play along with me, here, if you will. the c.e.o. of a foreign company based say in france and the u.k. and i come to you and say nancy, i'm thinking of setting up shop in the united states, but i've been reading the press, and i see that the u.s. tax rate is the highest in the why would i do that if i can manufacture in france or the u.k. for say 20-25%. what do you tell me to try to get me over that hurdle?

guest: yes. it's a big hurdle, and right now my organization has a pretty strong push right now to encourage the lowering of that rate to at least 25%. because you're absolutely right. it does act as a disincentive. and because other countries are stepping up their game to bring in local business of all sorts, the u.s. has to promote and the 35% when looking at here compared to other countries, it's a disincentive so we're pleased congress is working on overall corporate tax presm and hopefully that rate will come down to something that is more within the average of other somente c.d. companies. host: off of twitter. can you capitalize on fiat? is it considered a fortune

company in the u.s.? guest: that begs the question what is a foreign company and what's an american company? fiat is head quartered in italy and they are helping that company reinvent itself so it's a company that is global. but right now their work here in the u.s. is benefiting us directly. host: welsh, west virginia. democrat. you're on the line. caller: the united states -- what happens when we lose so many jobs that we cannot buy from these companies, and how do we pay our taxes? and -- in order to keep the united states going with such a small people working

guest: yes. again, having the u.s. open to all of the different ways that we can benefit from a global scommi absolutely the way to sort of grow us out of this current recession that we're currently in. and they add to the tax base. these companies pay 17% of taxes and they actually write over 400 billion a year in pay checks. so americans are -- and the more of which we can attract, the more of which we can give the economy a boost, which it certainly currently needs right now. check out the work of the organization for international investment. our guest, nancy mclernon, president and c.e.o. sham plain, illinois. bobby from the republican line. go ahead. caller: first, if we're -- this

organization to make it streamland for overseas companies to come here and start business, what is that costing and the second thing was to give the overseas organization an unfair advantage, because local people are trying to start companies and they face the same problems. guest: actually select u.s.a., their goal so increase domestic and foreign companies. so domestic companies will be able to go there as well because companies outside the u.s. might require different a sort of win-point portal there. and i would say it's not really

costing the taxpayers anythingal they have rheal located current resources. before this the u.s. had about 11 different agencies, whose soul purpose was to -- they have realigned certain responsibilities, so everything is not going to promoting exports and some of it is going to promote the u.s. as the prime destination for local business to set up shop relocate to the united states with high labor costs and political uncertainty guest: again, when i mentioned earlier that it's a selling point and that's one reason these companies are coming here for sure. and certainly we also still have the largest market in the world, and that is absolutely a

selling point as well. so historically the u.s. has been the largest host of global investment, so we must have been doing something right, and so right now since and for so long it's -- by having a national investment initiative, it really works to right that sthip and put it back on track >> is it -- guest: absolutely. i think that some companies can very easily talk about how setting up in singapore has gotten easier and easier. the government sort of holds your hand and makes sure that you are set up from a-z and then they don't let go of your hand. we're in a very different economy and market, so i don't

think companies are looking for quite that level of handholding. but sort of even working against sometimes the negative rhetoric that comes against foreign companies can be a difficult message for some of these firms to swallow. they want to feel like they are going to come here and they will be welcomed here and not be disadvantaged. >> are these international corporations allowed to donate money to the political processes here? guest: well only american citizens are allowed to contribute to any sort of political campaign. so the 5 million americans that directly work for these companies, absolutely they have the ability to do so. but our laws are very clear on this. there has to be a very high and thick wall between anything

that the american citizens working for these companies do in the campaign, contribution area and any. guest: sometimes people get very confused as to how this is done. host: what's the pay between a foreign company and a u.s. company? guest: well because these companies gravitate to the u.s. for the high-end, high-skilled jobs, the average pay is over $70,000, 30% more than domestic companies. so these are jobs that you can support a family. these are jobs that can take you where you need go. and again, these are the very types of jobs that can help us get ourselves out of this recession. host: anise on our independent

line. caller: hello. i am a foreign national here and my company here, the difficulty is foreign people being investment and open companies here which is a good thing for our economy. but look at manufacturers like us would and we cannot get enough investment it's internationally a competing product. in fact all over the world -- the product that we are manufacturing here locally in pennsylvania. so -- lending us money, and that is almost -- who have

confidence on fourth-generation americans like us. so -- guest: you raise a great point. and similar to a national investment initiative that we're trying to push forward, actually last year the president announced a national export initiative trying to address the very issues you're talking about how do we help? so an export initiative was put in place to try double exports over the next five years, so hopefully that can help small companies like what you're talking about. host: in just a few minutes we're going live to hunter college where there's a symposium all day looking for anita -- looking at anita hill. we will go to that as soon as the program starts. until that, what about national security? are there issues when certain companies come here? >> well, the u.s. actually has

a very row bust it's called committee on foreign investment in the u.s. and head quartered out of the treasury department, and its purpose is to look at acquisitions for any sort of national security concern, and it's -- to mitigate them, and if they can't mitigate them, to block them. that has happened a couple of times. the u.s. overall is a pretty open market for acquisitions and such, but this are left ungarthed. >> you mentioned the dubai port deal was an example of politics getting ahead of fact. because everyone who was in the process who reviewed the dubai

port acquisition agreed that there were no national security concerns. and that's why they moved it forward. but what that experience taught us was that people needed to know more about the process and to know that these agencies within our government were giving these acquisitions a thorough scrub, and because people didn't know too much about the process, they reacted, because they didn't think that we had given they had gone through the process. it was an example. politics got ahead of the facts. host: and how has it changed? guest: there are more sort of guidelines in sort of how a transaction makes its way through the process of the

organization for international investment. and they have beefed up some of the ways in which to make sure they know everybody has reviewed it that needs to review it. host: good morning. jack, democrats line. caller: good morning ped and nancy, good morning to you both. you know, this is a very simple thing. we don't own most of our resources anymore. bank of america, foreign owned, oil companies. we lease them our oil. they drill it, buy it, put it in their cartel, sell it back to us. jobs -- during the 2000's. then six months later a company would add another 300,000 which

makes a million jobs, and my daughter works with some of these foreign workers that i am not allowed to talk about their salaries and benefits. we really don't own anything anymore. and so many fast food things that we think are american companies are now foreign owned which means all the profits that these companies make -- guest: well actually u.s. investment abroad is much greater than foreign investment in the u.s. so you've got u.s. companies that are here, u.s. investors that are investing in other countries, and other countries may feel that way as well. and if we don't deep our doors to global investment, we won't be able to reap the benefits of the so sometimes it seems where

we have foreign investment coming in, we don't realize the whole part of that and the u.s. investing abroad, on the profits point, that's not so. we talked about how these companies are reinvesting billions of dollars back into the u.s., and the fact that they pay 17% of corporate taxes, a lot of what they are earning, the u.s. economy is benefiting -- guest: in terms of trade agreements, treaties and so forth, the more we'll attract globally engaged companies, because if companies can come from around the tworled make things here but sell things to other countries that we have

trade agreements with, the u.s. worker will benefit directly. so these global companies, both u.s.-owned and foreign-owned want to go to a location that is globally engaged so they can get imports in to make their proukt. so a globally engaged country will attract globally engaged companies. host: what about intellectual property, especially if it's developed in the united states and a foreign company owns it? >> these companies when here have to comply with all the same rules as any u.s. -- it's being developed here, the protections are here. host: at the presidential level, what does congress -- do they have a role in this at all?

guest: congress can have a role by lowering the corporate tax rate and not by overreacting to a dubai ports acquisition and understanding that that people can understand on how it benefits us. so they can do some things by making the u.s. generally more competitive. host: as far as stopping a country from relocateling here, does congress have a role in that? guest: well again the same things that might stop a u.s. company from growing here would discourage a foreign-based company from growing here. but foreign-based companies have an additional hurdle because sometimes anti- political rhetoric could be thought to stop their investment here. >>