. diane swonk, chief economist at mesirow financial will take questions about the economy. our series on the military continues with the rear admiral karl schultz, governmental and public affairs director of the coast guard. "washington journal" is next. >> the penn state board of trustees tonight decided it is in the best interest of the university that a change in leadership to deal with the difficult issues we are facing. the board of trustees decided effective immediately that -- in addition, joe paterno is no longer the head football coach effective immediately.

host: the federal department of education announced it will investigate whether penn state covered up child sexual abuse. what is your reaction to a federal investigation of penn state? that is our topic this morning. we have set aside our fourth line for penn state alum -- this is from "the new york daily news" this morning.

in the article, from state college, pennsylvania --

the board of trustees, the vice- chairman of the board of trustees, is to use saw in the opening, he is also chairman and ceo of u.s. steel corp. and vice chairman of the board of trustees at penn state, and he is the one who did the speaking to the press. this is from patrick meehan's office, the congressman and representing the state colleges area.

this is from penn state's own website. you can see they announced in a very short paragraph the firing of the president, graham spanier, and joe paterno. we want to get your reaction to

the federal investigation of penn state, the football program, and the charges against jerry sandusky, the former linebacker coach at penn state. we will begin with a democrat from woodbridge. caller: thank you for taking my call. i just want to say i agree with the department of education investigating the sexual abuse of children there at penn state. i think it is a really big tragedy that of anybody turned a blind eye, they should be fired. i have to agree with the president and head coach -- and hopefully the perpetrator sandusky would present time for this. it is a tragedy. people trust their children. penn state should be fined, or whatever. but this is just a tragedy. i feel so sorry for the

children. there are probably now grown but it is just a tragedy. host: we want to remind you if you are a penn state alum and you want to comment -- the number for you to dial. caller: where is the ncaa? my comments -- only god can repair the children. this should be about the children, not about penn state. and with -- when that animal gets to prison he will not be bothering no children no more. host: spartanburg, south carolina. caller: just looking at this, once again the department of education coming in a day late and a dollar short. a grand jury has been held. people have been arrested. people have been fired. it is a local issue.

basically with the department of education -- all things would be handled, education and everything else -- if it were handled by the local authorities and not the federal government. host: thank you for calling in. this tweet from a viewer -- linda tweets in -- said antonio, texas. you are on c-span. caller: they investigated this case for four years before the situation when the assistant coach brought it to paterno's attention. they investigated it years

before and told him not to take -- to avoid an berson. -- avoid children. they should have taken a hit in the first place when he was abusing kids and they first found out. host: the front page of "the washington post." lead column. normally a sports columnist, but this is on the front page. the picture, you can see. south bend, indiana. what do you think about a federal domestication of penn state? caller: i don't know a lot about the federal investigation. i think it should be investigated. but i want to say i have been a fan of joe paterno and have also been a victim of child sex abuse and something like this really brings it back.

people need to be held accountable to the full extent of the law, anybody involved, regardless of what their position is at a university. that is my comment. host: that was joe in south bend. here is a little bit of tom boswell's column on the front page.

this is in "the washington post" this morning. durable, north carolina. michael, go ahead with your comments. we're listening, michael.

caller: i think coach joe paterno is being used as the fall guy. if this was reported back in 2004 and nothing was done about it, i think a higher authority, people should be held -- accountable. it to kick him out without a full investigation is ridiculous. and i think they got a lot of pressure from the governor of pennsylvania that got involved. i think it is a shame for the university. that is just my comment. but i just think he is a fall guy. you always have to have a fall guy in a situation like this. host: a viewer tweets in -- from "usa today's" cover story this morning --

>> mr. curley has also been fired from his job as an athletics director. caller: my thoughts on this -- number one, i believe that every coach, teacher, athletic

director, social worker, anyone dealing with children are mandated reporting. at least that is what they are here in california. and whether you have seen it or not, the fact that you heard an alleged child sexual abuse and do not report -- not even going to curley or the other people. you are mandated. and i think everyone involved, even going back to child protective services who seen it in 1998 with the showering and swat that under the rug, everyone of them need to be charged with failure to report. and i believe that they all should be going to jail. joe paterno and everybody else. how could you live with yourself to see a child -- not a grown man -- but a child in the shower being raped and you don't

come to that baby's defense? every last one of them needs to be put under the jail. host: some facebook comments. sonny puts -- larry says -- steve says -- of cairns says -- --en says

if you want to make a comment on our facebook page, facebook.com/c-span is the address. susan in mclean, virginia. caller: i love what you have been reading the last few minutes and i think everybody is on the money. but another thing to point out is what the young students are doing at penn state. have they become so blind to what's has been going on, that children have been molested? and when the coach was interview he could not come out and say

the word. i just say hat's off to everyone else, what they were seeing -- saying, and i hope they investigate every single person involved in this -- not just the two or three names -- but every single trustee and university hire route that new about this or should have known about this. -- higher up that knew about this. host: this is the top of the fold at "usa today." you can see it there. sharon on the independent line. we have opened our fourth line for penn state alum -- sharon, please, go ahead. caller: this has stirred up something in me because i was a sexually abused child as well and nobody reported it and it

was covered up. i am very angry because they have made a got out of paterno and penn state and the obligation was to protect these children at all costs. but they chose to protect a school program, a football program, because of a name that they had and the status that they had. and they are going to be accountable. god is going to hold them accountable. of the word of god says what is done in the dark will come out in the light. i am so thankful these trustie'' stood their ground and terminated the people. i agree with one of the callers, that it should go further back then -- when they have the first investigation. those who investigated, they need to be terminated from their jobs as well. because children is more important. nothing is more important than the safety and protection of a child. thank you. host: the sports section of "usa today" this morning. a picture of joe paterno at practice wednesday and with him

is mike mcqueary, who had allegedly witnessed the assault in of the shower and told paterno. caller: he was rolled into the lion's by the trustees. when he reported this to campus authorities, they dropped the ball. so, they saw to terminate patrol know -- paterno, the ousted him. they call themselves cleaning house but they are not going for it enough. because he himself reported it to the athletic director, and the athletic director was held responsible for that. the athletic director did not do anything about it. that is my comment. you have a good day, sir.

host: thank you for calling in this morning. shane from henderson, texas. what are your thoughts? caller: as far as the internal investigation -- maybe we ought to think on the side of an internal investigation. in that case i did nothing was out to lunch to reported to superiors. however, any case when there is a child involved, it needs to be handled very special. i also agree that the feds don't need to be involved. any time you see them and what you see a whole lot of red tape. i think a local or state investigation would be a good way to do that. just keep the feds from taking away from local lands. a lot of times we get mixed up that way.

with joe paterno just reporting to his superior, if he thought an internal investigation warranted or maybe in the process -- not going to the outside source, there was an internal a investigation. you cannot speculate. however, in that situation i would have reported to my superior if i thought there was an internal investigation going on. i would lose my job if i handled it incorrectly. when it comes to children, you need to be very careful. when it comes to getting the feds involved. the bible also says in the mouth of the two or three witnesses things are established. we have to make sure we have witnesses to establish these things. host: this is from deadspin.com,

a blog post. shifting legal talking points and perhaps changing state code. if all the nastiness about sandusky is true, but timespan of abuse, penn state's ability to hide behind toothless open records law. the university's 2011 end of the 2012 budget includes $279 million in state appropriations. yet the only information about penn state available to the taxpayer is some salary data and an irs 990 reports. for lack of a better word, bull. yesterday, this person writes,

i submitted a lengthy list of public records requests to penn state. >> that is a blogger this

morning at deadspin.com. the personal announced the firing is the chairman and ceo of u.s. steel corp. in his day- to-day life. the chairman of the board of . ustees is steve garbin some of the other people on the board include -- you got people appointed by the governor and people appointed as well by the agriculture will board because penn state began as a land grant. the governor is a member of the board. and then some other members duty the past chairman of the

province. mark danley of penn larose properties. peter corey, a student at penn state. there is also a gentleman, david jones, assistant managing editor for "the new york times." he is retired now. he is on the board of trustees as well. joel meyers, president of accu- weather. this is from erie, pennsylvania. caller: i am from erie, and i do believe mr. sandusky should be prosecuted to the highest point possible. though i do believe that coach paterno is not as responsive role as the media say he is. i think he did go to his superiors which was, in his

mind, the necessary action. that is my stance on this. i have met joe paterno. he is a very humble man. and i really think he did what he thought was right. host: are you a penn state alumnus? caller: no, i am not. host: comments from our facebook page.

you, too, can make a comment, if you would like. newcastle. sally, go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. you know, the problem we have here is passing the buck. not just there, but in and lots of these schools. we have a problem right here in new castle with a township school. they pass the buck. people get sick and tired of this. the problem is never addressed. and nothing is ever done about it. we had a problem here with all of the fighting and arguing between the students. when the lady went to the , who was a music director, as i understand, she said to him, why didn't you do something about this, why didn't you have the parents and the

students come in and set them down and find out of the problem is? why did this child have to leave school and the whole school of -- homeschooled? it's a answer was, they would not come in. is this what we need running amerischools and universities? pass the buck. mr. paterno, i am sure he thought he did his job and in the military there is a chain of command. but when you know there is something that serious, you need to say either you are going to do something about it, or i am. freelancer tweets in -- christine brennan is a sports columnist for "u.s. a today." she writes this morning --

she goes on at the bottom of her column --

that is christine brennan this morning in her column in "usa today." "the wall street journal," the eternal question -- paterno question.

that is "the wall street journal" editorial on joe paterno and penn state. it milwaukee. lee is a democrat. caller: i just wonder what people expect when we glorify these kids -- mostly the males in these sports programs. it begins in grade school.

they act like these kids can do no wrong and that they are just wonderful and they could never do any of these types of things. and i wonder, too, is this coach paterno, if there is a generation thing. he is 84. i'm wondering if he really understood the magnitude of what was going on. most of us, maybe 65 or a number -- i think we would have understood -- 65 or under, i think maybe we would have understood how awful this is. i am upset watching these kids, these students. it is remarkable to see these kids rioting in support of paterno when they should not be doing anything. they should just accept it.

don't they get it? i saw a sign on the program, a picture of a girl holding up a sign saying we are penn state, we are not ashamed. come on? you have to be ashamed somewhat of what happens here. thank you. host: thank you for calling in this morning. it is 7:30 a.m. on the east coast and we have a two and half hour "washington journal" and head. -- ahead. i want to give you other news as well.

pat buchanan will be on "book tv" next week on our "

afterwards" program interviewed by ralph nader -- "after words" program.

that was in "the washington post" this morning. in "politico" --

again, that is in "politico" this morning. this is also in "politico." tsa is 10 years old this year. back to your calls. vancouver, washington. thank you for holding. caller: how are you? bear with me a second. i walk into a locker room and i see a child being abused, i am going to snatch that child up

and do of right thing. what is with these people that see these things and they don't immediately intervene? i don't understand it. you know, he goes and he says something because he is trying to help the school-it. this is wrong. people need, when they see a child being abused, and use nacke to the child away from the abuser. period. host: immigration hawk ousted.

in "the new york times" this morning.

the next call comes from ephrata, pennsylvania. whyer: i don't know everyone is so surprised. people in america vote for same- sex marriage, even let them adopt their behavior is in the military. it just keeps spreading. the morals are shot in this country. so, why should any of this surprises us? we have to take these liberals and the democrats out of office. even allowing congressmen -- homosexuals in congress and everywhere else. it just keeps going on and on and on. host: carolyn post on our facebook page --

manhattan. good morning to you. sherman, turn down the volume of your tv or we've got to move on. ok, we are going to have to move on. we will go to pennsylvania. caller: we are in the age of total incompetence. i thought we had a country of laws. this seems to be meaqt for the media -- meat for the media. i heard a woman speak as though -- as though joe paterno witnessed the act. i wish our leaders would be --

sending troops into a country at the age of 18 and yet we are all mixed up. i am not a defendant of joe paterno, but i think we should pause and look it and let our system work. host: thank you for calling in this morning. from the pages of "the new york times" as well. alabama. brenda, you are on the air. caller: thank you for taking my call. this is not about anything

except these children who were molested by sandusky. i feel joe paterno as famous as the is and probably a good person, he knew about it and probably should have done more. people get so involved in football, that i believe they tried to cover this up to save up famous book called at the school -- football at the school. the stars never leave. i am a christian. god has given me peace, but the scars have never left me, and it changes your life forever and ever. host: thank you, brenda, for calling in. from "the washington times" --

cheryl from rogers, arkansas. you are on c-span. caller: thank you so much. i was glad to hear the woman from california talk about the federal mandate of many people to report sexual abuse. this includes everybody on the staff at a teaching facility, or anybody teaching -- social workers, ministers, and people in the medical profession. we are required by several

mandate to report directly to either the child abuse hot line or to the federal child abuse hot line. i think all of this indicates a moral decay with our values and our integrity as human beings. and we have good old boy networks that allow this kind of thing to go one. >> thank you for -- host: thank you for calling in. one work call on this topic. from delaware. caller: good morning, peter. i feel sorry what is going on with joe paterno. we are a nation of laws, and we are holding him liable for something probably second or third party. every day i read the news people -- is bigger and hear about illegals raping or killing somebody and the officials swear to uphold a laws.

we are told that to our politicians. it is a shame. just taking on him and singling him out -- even what is going on with the gun thing. holder didn't apologize to the family. if we are going to hold perturb no to that level we need to hold our politicians to the same level -- if we are going to hold joe paterno to that level. host: coming up, we will look at the "washington post" investigation into not hud, look at the economy and also look at the coast guard today. but the national archives is releasing some papers today and david painter, who is and are convinced -- archivist at the archives is on the line. what is being released? guest: good morning. we are releasing the transcripts

of grand jury testimony by president nixon taking in june of 1975 by members of the grand jury. host: why are they being released now and what is contained in these papers? caller: in the normal course of things, grand jury testimony is forever held secret under the rules of federal criminal procedure. and the vehicle for getting access to them is through a petition to the court and through a court order. a professor in wisconsin and various historical associations and other interested parties made a petition awhile ago to district court here in the district of columbia to open up the testimony and made various

arguments as to the historical nature of it and the need for people to know, and the judge agreed with that, so after reviewing the materials and the privacy of the people who may still be living, we are releasing them today. host: have you listened to the tapes or have you read through the papers? guest: they are just papers. transcripts over a two-day period. i read one of them and my colleague read another one. about 300 pages of transcript and about 3000 pages of what are called accompanying materials, which is correspondence from nixon's attorney, drafts of questions they wished to ask him, areas that they thought of asking questions. so, yes. no tapes, but papers,

transcripts. host: what is the background on this federal grand jury testimony? guest: mr. nixon was pardons by president ford in september of 1974, so there was no effort at prosecuting mr. nixon. what the grand jury was a interested in was his meetings and interactions with other people on other subjects. some of the subjects that were talked to mr. nixon about is the circumstances around the 18.5- minute gap in one of the white house tapes that was certainly referring to watergate. cash received by friends of mr. nixon and his secretary, rose mary woods. national security wiretap program against newsmen and a

security council -- security council employees. sale of ambassadorships for campaign contributions and harassment of democratic national committee chairman lawrence o'brien by the internal revenue service. nixon could not be prosecuted in those areas, but he had meetings on these subjects and his testimony could illuminate other people's conduct. host: if people want to read these for themselves, when and where will they be available? guest: nunda eastern standard time, they will be available on our website -- noon eastern standard time. they are available on our website. host: paynter from the national archives. coming up in just a minute, "the washington post" investigation of hud and we will have one of the investigative reporters on.

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> every weekend on the american history tv, the people and events that document the american story. this weekend -- collaborator, conspirator, or innocent boarding home owner. retrying mary surratt overtly and process assassination. and jeb magruder. and boston university professor on the presidency and cold war policy. look for the complete schedule last c-span.org/history.

or for the schedule in your in box, click the c-span alert button. this weekend on book tv on c- span2, on "after words" and author and columnist talk about the history of conservatism. "no higher honor" -- condoleezza rice recants her time as secretary of state. and president bill clinton's thoughts on the current state of the american economy and his plan for recovery. or the complete schedule at book tv.org, and sign up for alerts in your in box. >> extremism in the defense of liberty is no overt -- vice. let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

>> he lost the 1964 presidential election to lyndon johnson but barry goldwater's ideas and candor and galvanized the conservative movement. the five-time senator from arizona is featured this week on "the contenders." from the goldwater institute in phoenix, live friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. "washington journal" continues. now on your screen is debbie cenziper, investigator reporter with "the washington post clause -- "the washington post" recently did a series on the department of housing and urban development. first of all, what is hud's home program, the acronym. guest: it is really not an acronym -- it stands for home investment partnership program. it is a two-decade program to build and renovate homes for the poor. they had about $32 billion in funding to provide housing for

the poor all over the country. it is a block grant program. is to provide annual grants to local governments all over the country and they in turn hired developers to build and renovate housing. host: first of all, why did you go in to investigate the program? what caught your attention? guest: housing is a fundamental need and a huge issue given what is going on with foreclosures and the economy and everything else. this is the federal government's largest block grant program for construction for the poor. we wanted to see where the money was going, what was being built, how quickly homes were being built, who was benefiting. we decided to take a national look at this well-intentioned program. host: how long did you spend looking at it and how many reporters involved? guest: for over a year. it was a massive program, a huge

investigation. pretty much myself and a couple of researchers and a great photographer. and i think i called 165 local housing agencies over the course of the year. we visit a construction sites in a dozen cities. really what we were trying to do was to look at a snapshot in time and figure out how quickly houses were going up. what we found was a pattern of delays and defunct projects in cities all over the country. host: overall when you look at the $32 billion program over the last 20 years, has it been a success, from what you have found out? guest: that is a hard question to answer because we did not look at the history of the program over two decades. clearly this program is well intentioned. clearly it is an important program. i think there are success stories all over the country. housing officials say it has produced a million units of

affordable housing over the life of the program. i do not know if it is true or not, but those are clearly successes. but we looked at points in time and found a pattern of troubled projects and then we looked at government to see what was being done, and we found that hud does not routinely tracked the project. it tracks how much money is spent by local housing agencies but not what is actually coming out of the ground. that was the focus of the first round of stories. host: the first round of stories came out in may, and just to follow up this week, photos of unfinished projects. what are some of these photos we are seeing on the screen? guest: those are older projects where all of hud's money has been drawn and spend and nothing has been built. what you see is an old building that was supposed to be torn down. that is correct. a shuddered church in california

that was supposed be torn down and renovated with new homes. i think that project is at least five years old. host: how much money has been spent? 1.3 million. guest: right. an empty lot. and you see another and the lot next to that. what we found over the country is delays. hud has pointed out. private financing hard to come by, sometimes permiting delays. but there is a pattern all over, and it is delaying the production of badly-needed homes. host: in your follow-up article that was it on the front page, you talked about finding more flaws in hud possible accounting. guest: since may, congress has been investigating this program.

the senate has also been investigating. they have been asking hud lots of questions about the status of the projects. the problem is, hud is now really track the status of its products. it really does not know in many cases what has come out of the ground and what is being built. sometimes projects are stalled, dead. so, congress asks hud for an accounting. hud did a mad scramble to figure out what was going on all over the country, and in some cases, the reports to congress were pretty inconsistent. guest: did hud cooperate and were you able to get information from the secretary at all? guest: we talked to hud in advance of our first story at length. we did not speak to the secretary but we saw a book to the assistant secretary in advance of the publication.

we have been having conversations with hud all along. in this particular story you are talking about, we could not get secretary donovan to comment specifically. we did get a written response from hud, which we quoted for about the story. host: has been congressional action because of your series? guest: there has been significant congressional action. in the house financial-services committee, they are calling for unannounced inspections and site visits and third-party independent monitoring. in the senate, they are calling for something that really does not exist now, which is construction deadlines to make sure these houses are built in a certain amount of time. host: if you were to put a figure on it, how much money has been wasted? guest: we have been asked the question before but it is hard to do. our original series found as much as $400 million tied up in

a potentially delayed or defunct projects. this new round of stories that ran monday, we documented another 40 or so million dollars drawn and spent on projects that have not yet been built. host: our guest on the screen is debbie cenziper, investigative reporter from "the washington post." talking about hud post a $32 million affordable housing program. we want to get your calls. 202 is the area code -- congress woman do biggert, republican from illinois, had this to say -- judy biggert. >> in some cases individuals and organizations readily took taxpayer dollars but never actually build a unit of housing

or they only build a few units where many were pledged. for example, my staff recently took a picture of a chicago property funded by those dollars. if the database report its 65 units of housing were built with the funds. the pictures clearly indicate that there are not even close to 65 units of housing at this location. in fact, they look more like four units. so, it begs it begs the question, who has the money, and has hired demanded -- hud demanded the money be repaid? guest: congress did their own investigation after we published and they found what we found and reported in monday pulled the paper that hud has reported completed projects and when you look for them you can

not find them. sometimes the address is wrong. they will have a street corner. finding the completed project was very difficult, even for congress. host: trenton, new jersey. crag, you are first up. caller: is it not any responsibility on the part of the states to look out for the money? why would anyone in the federal government has to track the money after a block grant to the state? guest: that is an excellent question this program was set up by congress by law to give maximum flexibility to local units of government. that is the idea of this program and it is the key argument that hud has made. a lot expects local units of

governments that receive this money to police their own project hud has a responsibility to oversee the program. how much oversight should they be providing? should they be cutting checks than leaving it up to local agencies, or monitoring the projects as best they can? the inspector general has pointed out that they are not monitoring the projects and developers. what is the government's will if that is the case -- role if that is the case? host: david, l.i.. caller: i wondered if you looked at the story on -- story on log island. -- long island. he was flipping houses.

coincidently, and 9/11, all of these files were supposedly lost in building 7, and george bush granted him a pardon, and that was such an ironic story and pointed to government complicity with the political role in class's were using the hud program to father their nests. -- feather their nests. guest: there was clearly fraud in the program like there would be in any large government program. the inspector general at a hearing held by the house talked about fraud in this program, kickback fraud, much of what you are talking about. the inspector general has launched 55 investigations in recent years. unfortunately, without oversight, and without strong monitoring, that kind of stuff happens. host: debbie cenziper, have you

found incidents -- maybe you were not looking for this, but what about the political aspects? this going to favored developers by the administration? guest: we had a very difficult time just figuring out the status of projects because it is not tracked. just figuring out whether projects were completed took us months. in prince george's county we found a non-profit developer with little or no experience that had received $400,000 or $500,000 to build houses. the developer did not own land have little construction experience, no money to start construction. five years later nothing is built and the money is gone. we found cases like that throughout the report. host: is there any hope of getting that money back?

guest: unfortunately when money goes out to non-profit the public purse that do not have the track record to do this work, how you get the money back? they are bankrupt. they no longer exist. what happens is the housing agencies in the local units of government, if hud finds out are forced to pay money from their own general funds. host: so, the money goes to the fit digit housing agencies, and housing agencies -- housing agencies, and housing agencies bowl it out. guest: that is right. sometimes there are for-profit developers and nonprofit developers. the money goes to local units that i call housing agencies. they will figure out what the priorities are and hire

developers to build. it is up to them to monitor and 2 hud to oversee the program. host: next call on the affordable housing program. somerville, georgia, go ahead, brad. caller: i find your article interesting. i think it makes the best case for the conservative cabinets that want to eliminate such large bureaucracy. my opinion is this shows us there is not a single law written in washington, d.c., that is not a direct assault against middle-class americans. guest: ok. well, clearly, both in the house and the senate there are some pretty steep cuts proposed to this program. i think even the republicans that are critical of hud still

talk about the fact that this is a very well-intentioned -- especially now. people need housing. they need safe, decent housing. when this program works right it does provide the funding for that. is it tough question to answer. host: debbie cenziper, can people still read your series from the month of may? guest: on the post website. you can find the investigation at the top. host: have there been any criminal charges filed? guest: not yet. we have had oversight hearings in the house, but what has also happened is hot on friday released a massive overhaul of the regulations. they say it has been in the

works for a while. it is the first overhaul since its inception and it would do two -- many of the things we talked about in the story. basic safeguards to protect the money. hud came out with that on friday. that is a discussion. host: where has congress been investigating this? the committee had the first hearing in june after we published. that is a good question. i do not know of another time there was this kind of a probe of the the home program. we looked and could not find anything. since we published there has been a lot of reaction. host: north dakota. mark.

caller: good morning. i listened to the former secretary under the bush 41 administration. i listened to the interview and she said that jack kemp would bring up horrible corruption, tell them to stop it, but then would tell subordinates to say that she fails. she went on to say that hud is being run as a criminal enterprise and can not be run that way unless intentionally run that way. she says that a spokesman from the justice department said $500 billion to $1 trillion a year of drug money is laundered through the new york stock exchange.

host: we will have to leave it there and see if our guest has a response for you. guest: wow. i can only speak to this program. i think the program was set up the best of intentions. i think there are good people that have been involved for years at the local housing agencies. people really want this program to work. most of the people i have talked to are in it because they want to build housing. i just think there has been chronically a lack of oversight both at the federal level and the local level and that has the lot -- allowed fraud. host: did you do any comparison between who get the grants and political contributions? guest: we did not. that is a good idea. host: theodore, compton, massachusetts.

caller: can i ask a question on oversight? these programs have been produced with great intentions in mind but they will not work if they are not funded. did you ever traced the money trail of who stop the funding for these programs, and what is being done to put them in working conditions? with deregulation of programs, how are they supposed to work with no oversight? guest: well, i think a house committee has proposed a 25% cut to the program. the senate has passed something around 30%. those are pretty steep cuts. we will be looking into the impact that might have on the ground in distressed communities that need housing, as well as

the impact the lack of oversight at hud has had in committees with a series of failed projects. we of looked at that now in places like newark, california, texas. when the program does not work it definitely has an impact. host: debbie cenziper worked at 0: the miami herald" for five years, got her education at the university of florida is already a pulitzer winner. also a goldsmith water, for what? guest: that was my first series at "the washington post." that was about landlords in the district who are forcing tenants out of rent-controlled buildings

so they could convert to condominiums, sell, and make lots of money. we documented very bad conditions. we documented when lords that turned off the heat, and stop providing -- landlords that turned off the heat and stopped providing basic maintenance. there was a nice response in the district. 20-some landlords were sued. there was a lot of response to that project. host: what did you win your pulitzer prize for? guest: that was on affordable housing in miami. it was my first taste of housing. i have been hooked ever since. i have been doing it for a long time. we documented delayed project in miami and politically-connected developers who received local housing money and had walked away not having built a thing.

there was a huge response having advocates marching through the streets. it really made me want to write about it again. host: you have been writing about housing for several years. is there a general lack of oversight or accountability? guest: i said this before. sometimes as an investigative reporter i write about this. people cut checks, but it does not feel like real money sometimes. if you are cutting a check out of your bank account to build a house, would you not want to know that it is being built or the status? that is not just a hud thing. that was in miami as well. the city and county pulled together to build homes. habitat for humanity stepped in

and what had been a wasteland of empty lots -- suddenly houses were coming up. people were moving in. one woman i wrote about got a house and i was there the day she got the keys. she was leaving the keys up in the air -- "this is my home, this is my home." you really feel it. when you do not see houses going up and developers walking away with money, you get angry. host: debbie cenziper is an investigative reporter at "the washington post." go ahead, david. caller: thank you for taking my call. with the housing industry as bad as it is, and they're spending billions of dollars on hud, why don't they take the money and buy the foreclosed homes and put people in those?

that way so many people are not involved to dip into the money. the least they are getting their capital back. would that not help the community instead of letting people steal? guest: i have heard other people say that. i do not know if it is as simple as that but i've heard people say bypass the middleman, and go right to the source i think a lot of communities do things like that. -- source. i think a lot of committees do things like that. i spoke to a housing agency in dayton, ohio, which bought a distressed property for $10 with the goal of putting people in the complex. he needed to be renovated. -- it needed to be renovated. they used home money, and never got the work done.

host: are there any states or localities but that were worse than others? guest: yes. clearly. those few exceptions. new works, new jersey. a new housing agency chief was quoted in both stories, tried to come in, clean it up, but he inherited this mess of a program where we reported $5 million was gone. nothing was built. we took pictures. in the district there is a history of bad developers and no oversight from the local housing agency. that seems to be changing. host: where would you say is a success story? guest: arlington, virginia -- i

looked at all of their records, looking for something, and i could not find it. i think they have a good handle on their program. they just opened up a new building that i am dying to see. affordable housing has been built. it seems like it is run well. host: is that the jordan? guest: i think it is, a macedonian. caller: thank you for looking out for the poor. i think that is what your intentions are. i'm thinking maybe these block grants should go to states that are willing to put in tracking systems. also, the developers and contractors they are a victoriously dishonest. they should be forced to put up bonds. i am always concerned when things go to the state and local governments because those systems can be so corrupt. anytime you get friends of

friends and relatives getting put into place and money is passed around -- we see that all the time, everywhere. i think the block grant should only go to a state that is willing to put in a tracking system and if they do not, they do not get the grant. guest: that is a feeling that a lot of people share. it is interesting. when you compare the home program to the tax credit program run out of the irs, there are very strict construction deadlines. that is money that goes to states for tax credit and that funds affordable housing construction. that is a lot of money. there are tight deadlines and oversight monitoring requirements before you can tap into that program. now with the regulations that hud is proposing and the house and senate are pushing perhaps there will be more underwriting

developments for developers. before now, they could tap home money without experience building housing or any financing in place to actually start or complete construction. it was a very hands-off process and almost anyone could tap into it. host: next call for debbie cenziper of "the washington post," judy. good morning. caller: i am very concerned. this is a deception dead grass roots people have been conscious of and lost hope for so long because they know nothing is going to be done. take the state of texas as far as they're hot situation is concerned. if i did some research with hud to get some legitimate assistance done. everything was blocked from the top down.

but as far as their regional administrator, on the down, up to the federal level -- everything was disregarded and tried to be brushed off. is there any possible way -- let's say a state like the state of texas could be looked at as far as their systemic obstruction of all to process, and just remold federal funding until -- remote federal funding until their practices coincide with their espoused practices? they are not matching at all. the deception is so blatant that it.ryone is aware of th it is something like the coach.

why go and tell? you are the only one that is pointed did not out. host: we got the point, i think. any response, debbie cenziper? guest: that is a hard question to answer. we were in texas and we interviewed homeowners. in a situation like you are describing where they wanted to get renovation money, this program does fund renovation money for people that cannot afford to fix the roof or the kind of thing. i met this wonderful family that lives for generations in a house that have suffered hurricane damage and the walls were falling down. they were trying desperately to get funding. i've heard this frustration before. unfortunately, that is all over the country. host: tony tweets

host: the next call comes from pennsylvania. leonard on our republican line. caller: if there is that much fraud going on, why don't we just pull the plug on this whole thing? it is a simple comment. just pull it. guest: i hear you, and a lot of people feel that way, i think. we have heard that kind of comment before. i can not really address it except to say it was a well- intentioned program and it has produced homes. so, -- host: he used the word "fraud." would you? guest: we did find cases of the fog projects -- default project.

we looked in the district where some longtime hud felons got more money from this program. the inspector general has talked repeatedly about fraud in the program. clearly, money has disappeared, but i do not know how widespread it is. host: since your series has hud changed any procedures? guest: hud says they have been working for this long before we published they tried to fix their tracking system. -- published. they tried to fix their tracking system. they try to close cases that have been on the books for years. we have a story coming out on the district. a called the post" has been writing about the district since -- "the post" has been

writing about the district since i joined in 2007. common sense things -- credit checks, background checks, making them sign contracts -- we have a story coming out of bed in the next few days. host: the next call comes from akron, ohio, jack. a democrat. we're talking about the 30 two billion dollars hud a form of a -- $32 billion affordable home program. caller: why do they not go after the fraud and hold these people accountable and send a message and it will stop? my comment is are you going to investigate hud affordable housing for rental properties?

guest: you are talking about more section 8 housing or public housing? caller: yes. guest: hodge is a major agency and there are lots of areas i would like to look at. there have been investigations on section 8 housing, public housing, and maintenance and safety violations. it is something we are interested in. in terms of fraud, i think that hud headquarters, when they find out about something, they generally seemed to go after it. i think the problem is they often do not know what is out there because they have not tracked their project. the acting deputy inspector general testified just last week that what worries him is what we do not know about. host: you have a couple of more suggestions coming in from our twitter followers.

but guest: interesting question. we have plans to look at something like that in the coming months. host: she follows up with what is the follow-up for people that benefit from fund fought -- hud funding? guest: that is a good suggestion. we are working on it. host: just a few minutes left with debbie sent it did not -- debbie cenziper of ocala washington post." you can read all of the investigative reports. florida. malcolm, good morning to you. caller: good morning and thank you for c-span. i was listening to debbie and i

have to wonder -- all taxes ultimately fall on the individual. i do not care how you want to diffuse the thing but ultimately it comes down to the individual. we send this money to washington. we build a big bureaucracy. it cannot function per debbie's comments today why take the money in the first place? shut it down -- today. why take the money in the first place? shut it down. guest: we have heard comments like that. i cannot speak to whether the program should be shut down. when you look at places like arlington, virginia, agencies in california -- they are trying to get the housing built. there was an agency in turlock, california with 184 units planned on a seven-acre lot that

has been sitting empty for years. i think that aggressive housing agency directors are trying to work these projects around when they can. i hear you, and others have made comments like that. host: the last call comes from smith station alabama. hi, charles. caller: i used to participate in this program in 1985 in new rochelle, n.y., and there were blocked grants. they gave homeowners a block grant determining whether it was a low-interest wrote -- alone or an outright grant or whatever. it worked very successfully. things got done. since then, i moved south and recently, a few months ago, i called columbus, ga., and they

not only denied that they knew anything such as the block grant existed, and two days later it came out that someone had lied about it. when this money is going into cities, it has been awarded to certain non-profits. that lemonades the contractors that do the work. the misappropriation -- this goes back to len andrew cuomo was in charge of hud. there was a $4 million loss then. now he went up the letter to governor of new york. i would think this money is coming in and is being misappropriated into buildings is not authorized for. host: the hud's inspector general has pointed out that there is a small group of nonprofits that keep getting the

money, and perhaps there are favored non-profit groups that get the money. overall housing agencies are supposed to award this money to developers that have the capacity to build. that does not always happened. hopefully that will change. host: did you talk with the developers? guest: i did. i talked to some nonprofit developers, good ones that seem to know what they're doing, right. the district. they have done this before. it is a challenge -- right here in the district. they have done this before. it is a challenge. they're trying to get financing at a time when most banks are not issuing loans. in some cases, the word does get done. host: debbie cenziper is an investigative reporter with "the washington post." she has been our guest for the last 45 minutes on "the

washington journal." thank you. coming up, this is military week, and today our focus will be the coast guard, but up next the discussion on the economy after this news update from nancy calo add c-span radio. >> greece has named a new prime minister. lucas papademos will lead a coalition government. they will approve a new financial aid deal. in remarks of short while ago the new prime minister says the greek economy faces new -- huge problems despite huge efforts already made. he replaces george papandreou midway through the socialist's fourth term. the european commission says the 17-country eurozone could slip into a deep and prolonged recession next year as the debt crisis shows signs of spinning out of control. the commission says the eurozone will grow by only 0.5% in 2012,

down from the 1.8% prediction made last spring. turning to the u.s. economy, first lady michelle obama is set to announce an increased commitment to her joining forces initiative. it includes plans to hire at least 5000 wounded veterans. since april when the program began, 16,000 veterans and spouses have been hired with pledges to hire another 25,000. mrs. obama says this is to show veterans that in her words "america has your back." >> are we still purchasing to my doing business with these people? >> the parts we have been purchasing are rare, hard-to- find, and obsolete parts that

are still being utilized in major weapons systems. the internet purchasing of platforms demonstrate that contractors were subcontractors that are in need of these hard- to-find, rare, obsolete parts have an outlet through these purchasing platforms to acquire these parts. the concern is that the intent to deceive certainly exists. host: are we still purchasing? i ask this simple question. it is the debt is states government purchasing from counterfeiters putting out inferior -- are the united states government purchasing from inferior counterfeiters? >> yes, sir, senator. >> watch more of this. online of the c-span video library with every program we

have aired since 1987 archived and searchable. it is washington your way. ", washington journal" continues. host: on your screen diane swonk, senior adviser for mesirow financial. she is in washington and is our guest for the next 45 minutes to talk about the economy. let's start with congress says that is in our backyard here. [laughter] host: as the chief economist for a financial advisory firm have you been following what the deficit reduction committee is doing, and is it important? guest: it is extremely important. i was called in during the bank of six meetings -- gang of six

meetings. i was one of the few business people willing to stand up. the president, because politics have gotten so poisoning, i have colleagues that said i cannot go up here. i said they are trying to come together. we want them to agree. if you are -- we need to bring our fiscal house in order but need to do it thoughtfully. there are ways to do it without a blunt instrument. we need more than $4 trillion not just in cuts, changes in tax revenues. both sides. there needs to be a change in our tax code that only for corporate america. many manufacturers are willing to pay more net in taxes with a lower tax rate. they did not want to spend money figuring all loopholes.

they want to set a judge of how to build a better future and bring more -- they want to strategize on how to build a better future and bring more manufacturing back to the united states medicaid funding. 80% goes to children. 20% of the dollars goes to children. if we went to older people and gave them the choice of hospice or more chemotherapy, most would choose the dignity. we are not looking at those options. in chicago if you walk into children's memorial we do not turn you away, but we are not getting covered on those costs anymore. these are things we need to think about with the deficit. and i spent two terms at the congressional budget office and most people did not understand

the deficit. in this country we have some time, but if we do not have a package that lays out the road map we cannot plan tech think that is really important -- plan. i think that is really important. host: if the deficit committee does not come together, $1.20 trillion or so in the cuts will happen. what is the reaction of the business community? guest: what is scary it is they will rewrite those rules. what it is doing is adding insult to injury. we saw in august with the debt ceiling debate that the uncertainty froze our economy and validated why we have over $2 trillion still courted on corporate balance sheets recorded on corporate balance sheets. host: just to get a few topics

on the board, the front page of "the financial times" -- it talks about the italian bond market. about right hand side, "eurozone concerns spark u.s. equity selloffs." could you explain what this means? guest: we are not an island. two thousand eight taught us that you cannot do anything when place in the world and not have ripple effects elsewhere. one of the problems europe had is they're coming from the fact that europe did things wrong in 2008. that said, if europe goes down, it is a banking crisis in europe. many market funds are exposed to short-term thinking dead in europe. that is contagion. in august, when we sought a

scare, it hit our banks. we cannot escape it. we do not need another financial crisis that puts into jeopardy all on financial system. i understand that occupy wall street did the like the bailouts, but if we have no financial system we have no liquidity. it is not working right now, but it could be worse. you did not want to go down that road. host: there was a republican debate last night. mitt romney talking about the crisis in europe. >> europe is able to take care of their own problems. we do not want to bail out their banks and governments. they have the capacity to deal with that themselves. there will be cries if italy does default, and banks that hold the italian debt will face a crisis, and there will need to be an effort to uphold their

financial system. there'll be some who say that banks in the u.s. with the italian dead -- debt, we should help them as well. my view is no. we do not need to step in in europe or hear. guest: the reality is we are not an island. i agree that europe needs to shore up funds, but i will tell you where they're going to get their money from. they are working with the g-20, and china, and they're willing to give away concessions that we were not willing to do. and that will fundamentally shift political balance of power in the world. we have to be cognizant of all of these things that will come back to us in some way. the chinese are starting to say we do not care where you guys do tend we're not going to change our currency. that will have ripple effects on

the u.s. market as well. china is going to get everything they can get out of europe. i think we need to think more globally. you cannot say we're not going to bail out the blanks -- their banks, of course not, but are we involved? absolutely. if defense our economy. we have to deal with it. host: diane swonk is a graduate of the university of michigan where she also got her master's degree, and she got her mba at the university of chicago. she is the chief economist at mesirow financial. what is the they do for a living, and what is mesirow financial? guest: i am many economists, and most of my job has been sitting

down with clients. mesirow financial manages about $57 million in different funds. we manage a lot of union pension funds in the u.s.. we trade debt. we do so many things. we give the insurance for small businesses that cannot afford to get it. a family-run company, and it is not publicly traded. we do not get any debt. we spirit ourselves. it is an amazing thing. i lost my chairman to stomach cancer last year unfortunately. norm mesirow from the company in 1937. jim was only 53 years old.

i made midwest and a parent i was told by someone -- midwesterner. host: where are you from? guest: i grew up in detroit. host: hard to get interested in economics? guest: growing up in detroit is a crash course in economics. my best friend, her father was a union president and my father was an executive ed gm -- at gm. she went into poverty. i have to bring her extra money to help her pay for lunch. i would always wanted to our house and small bread because that was the house state -- the brad pitt could afford -- the

bread they could afford, the bread baked. i was the only child. we talked about it at the dinner table. we were having adult conversation about the world. i went to the university of michigan and by pure serendipity -- i have a terrible professor parrot he was a marxist -- professor. he was a marxist. i took economics and it was the easiest thing i have ever done. it turns out -- [unintelligible] i make foot numbers a little bit. what is the difference between 0.09, but i cannot dial a phone number. it really was the easiest thing i could do. calculus i to do in my head. adding, subtracting, multiplying, not so good at it. host: diane swonk is our guest.

bethlehem, pennsylvania. bill, your first up. we have an glad executive that the leaves in the balance. perhaps we should be taxing multi-millionaire republicans like joe paternal -- joe paterno. thank you for your positive attitude. host: let's address one of those turned one of the political issues is taxation for high income people. what are your thoughts? guest: there is no reason to subsidize million-dollar homes and all secretion lower the tax rate and broaden the base. we sound like michele bachmann. i did not like her at all. i hope you do not know my personal politics.

i am in economics. i really think that the tax code is dysfunctional. the only thing -- the only reason the rich are paying more is because they make more. incoming qualities are pretty clear. we know what has happened. educational attainment reached a peak in the 1970's. wages started to stagnate for the bulk of america, the bottom 50%, in the 1980's, and topped 90th percentile accelerated. i was in college in the 1980's, which balances my political and economic thoughts. the reality is this is 40 years in the making, and one of the biggest changes happened in 1996 -- 1986 when they tried to clean up the tax code under ronald

reagan you have to stop with these behavior-distorting interruptions. most americans, if you want to deduct your mortgage, i have some issues with that. why should we subsidize that when we are not selling those homes anyway right now? if you want to buy a multi- million dollar home, my guess is you should have a lot of money to -- by it. host: michele bachmann was also talking about economics and the tax code. >> president obama is the one that is wrong because his plan for job creation has an absolutely nothing to do with the two people that know how to create jobs. he should be going to job creators. instead, he continues to go to david axelrod in chicago to look for his orders and how to deal with the economy. that will not work. we know what needs to be done. we have a real problem. if we have 53% of americans

paying federal income taxes. you have 47% of americans came notes federal income taxes. you have a real problem. that is why in my tax plan i have everyone paying something because everyone benefits by this magnificent country. even if it means paying the price of two happy meals a year, $10, everyone can afford to pay at least that and it creates a mentality that freedom is free, but freedom is not free. we all benefit. we all need to sacrifice. everyone is to be a part of the tax code. host: diane swonk? guest: adam smith believed in a graduated tax cuts. i do not agree with michele bachmann and many things, but i think it is important to understand some people need to

pay more taxes, and i am probably one of them. medicis life for me. i survived in the 1990's. -- that is life for me. i survived it in the 1990's. poor people pay taxes every day on anything that is sales taxes. to say they do not pay taxes is a little bit of a long renditions. we have the federal tax system and the state and local tax system. the state and local governments are raising taxes because they need the money, and they're making draconian cuts in some of their budgets. you have to think of a holistic of what is really going on. one of the issues is we always call wealthy people job creators. job creators are innovators. small businesses.

natchez existing small businesses. -- not just existing small businesses. the story of facebook. they started out in a house and ended up in a big building. that is where the job creation came from. they got rich, but did not start rich. they got rich with innovative ideas. that is how this economy works. it is not just about taxing the rich or the rich being rich, it is about to innovation. that is a different issue. host: next call for diane swonk comes from tulsa, okla., brenda, and the republican line. caller: this is america. why don't we pay our bills first, and then what is left over we find our programs, then we send money overseas? it seems like we send money overseas first, then do our

programs, then pay our bills. if i did that i would have no electricity, no place to live. there is a pair of boots that i want better $70, but guess what? bills, christmas coming up with my children -- i pay my bills. what is going on with our government is not paying our bills. guest: i agree that we should, but we have not been doing it for a long time. the minute we moved into a surplus we did not use it to pay off the debt. i agree with you. another component of this is that as another spin doctor. it is < 0.03% of the budget. the foreign aid situation is not at the top of anyone's list. the top of the list is intended spending.

-- entitlement spending. you did not say whether you are retired or have social security. that is where the bills are the largest. that is not to say you do not deserve some of those benefits, but maybe some of us do not need all of them. if i make enough money i think i should support my own retirement. i do not think i should get social security. that is my feeling on it. i'm fine doing that. i think we need to rein in the spending and deal with our revenue and expense situation. revenue is only 14% of gdp. spending is over 25%. however we felt, we are having the same conversation because we agree there has been a shift to understanding we need to put our fiscal house in order. that i commend. main street needs to get that this is where we need to move in

this country. host: bob is an independent. fort payne, alabama. caller: good morning. i have quick questions i usually see diane swonk on "top box." the issues -- medicaid, social security -- do we not need to have an immigration policy first? every child coming into the united states who was born in the united states is immediately entitled to medicaid. number two, should we not put a lock box on social security because over the past 20 years they have spent the excess social security funds for what ever trivia they want to do. that is one reason both of those programs are in some difficulty.

guest: the medicaid situation is not the children's situation. i understand your feeling. children are 80% of the recipients, but only account for 20% of the dollars. the real problem is in the last year of life. there is a little bit of a problem with the spin on that. and the other side we have a pay-as-you-go system with social security. i think there was a president that ran on a lock box. you are right. it was not saved. it was spent. your social security is being paid for by the people working today, and the only group in the united states because of social security and medicare that did not increase their poverty rate during the recession are the over 65 year olds because they have social security, medicare,

medicaid. if the problem is the people paying for it are getting a little angry. we're not talking about class war. we're talking about youth and adult warfare. fixing social security is not hard to do. raise the retirement age of little bit. grandfather people in that are currently close to it and you means test it. take people that are -- that have a lot of money and do not give it to them. you could fix it relatively easily even with our current system which i would argue is not ideal. it would be nice to start out that way. one surge. was started date basted off a sixth -- when the social security started they based it off a 65 year retirement age. alan greenspan used to joke. he said we could fix social

security for 99% of americans in 10 minutes and the first five minutes we would be first -- we would just be saying hello to each other in their room. host: said vernon gill, california. -- san bernadine know, california. tina, a democrat. caller: i want america to know that when they want to expand the base, we are the base. most people would be picking up that tax and pay more in their taxes to cover the deduction for the corporations that are not paying. second, we know there was a problem with the mortgages, and we know on wall street there are winners and there are losers. we know who the losers are, but

america never found out who the winners are, and that is why people are in the street and we have a problem. we do not know who the winners are. it was like the money totally evaporated. i'm 48 years old. i have been working since i was 15 years old. i cannot see increasing my age two more years. it is not fair to ask me based on 30 years of work to work an extra couple of years. i know you guys keep talking about 55 and older. i think it is really unfair. thank you for taking my call. guest: i understand your feelings. i want to clarify that the corporate tax rate at its current level, some companies pay no taxes because of loopholes and almost all companies pay significantly less than the actual corporate tax rate. when we talk about decreasing

the tax rate and eliminating deductions that is a raise in taxes for corporations. that is what i am proposing. it is cleaner. it means companies that operate offshore will bring their stuff back on shore because we will have a competitive tax rate. they will not be sitting around looking for loopholes. i am not advocating that we lower taxes in general on corporations. i'm talking about cleaning up the tax code so it is more economically and fundamentally a clean tax code. we're not talking about lowering the tax burden, it is just making it cleaner. on the mortgage issue, winners and losers -- there are a lot of winners and losers. some winners lived beyond their means. when i worked in banking i used to warn our credit card people

that the best way to die is to live beyond your means. they are giving credit to people that could not pay their bills. a lot of people lost. countrywide is no longer around. i wonder why some of them did not go to jail. they did not. some of the winners -- once cris -- wall street made a lot of money off of these things. i wish they did not. that said, they walked away. they did get away with it. sorry about that. i do not like it either. i am an economist. i have friends from alice rivlin, alan greenspan -- they never stopped working. they are in their 80's. i am not going to stop. i work 24/7. i work hard. and i will work longer. i am sorry that you do not want to. i understand you are tired.

we are all tired. that is part of the economy. if that is the way we can save it, i am all for saving the economy. host: diane swonk is a born-and- bred midwesterners. -- midwesterner. guest: when your means testing multimillionaires -- you are yous testing millionairess, may not have extra money to pay for your country club. i do not think people should be using social security to subsidize things like that. i believe in social security. my grandmother died at 99. she walked 2 miles a day she died. she had social security for very long time. she had her husband's social security as well. she had two me surgery's -- knee

surgeries. should not have paid more for that? as her granddaughter, i think so -- should i have paid more for that? as her granddaughter, if i could afford it, i think so. we're talking about saving social security for most people. having social security and thinking that is your only safety net is one of the biggest discouragements. most young people believe that the original social security -- you have 40 years, not just this woman, 28-year-olds, we're giving you 40 years to save. if you cannot work for years and save, something is wrong. do not get any lessons from your parents on how to save money -- and did you not get any lessons

from your parents on how to save money? host: a comment on dodd-frank? guest: it is big, huge legislation. they did not eliminate some number of regulators to consolidate power. they are still deciding how to implement dodd-ranked -- dodd- frank. we do need regulations followed in this country. it did not address of the issues that it needed to. the time that it is taking to implement it now is adding insult to injury, because it is creating uncertainty in the economy, which is causing people to hesitate, particularly in the financial-services sector, which i find unproductive, at the very least.

host: we have about 50 minutes left with our guest, diane swonk -- 15 minutes left with our guest, diane swonk. caller: i have a comment/question. the believe obama is sharing the wealth on a global -- do you believe obama is sharing the wealth on a global level? joe the plumber scoping out obama -- all the rhetoric in his campaign. we should recognize who our enemies are and stop giving money to them. talking about greece right now, bringing down europe -- guess what? we are #1, so the whole fricking world is bringing us down. guest: i understand your

feelings. the reality is, if they goes down, we go down, too. we're in a global both. i am not going to get into a debate about obama or republicans. for the last 40 years, the world economy has become more global. that has been a hard process. at many times, it has been very difficult for the u.s. we have been lifting more people out of complete and utter poverty worldwide then you ever imagined possible. that is not about compassion. that is about creating markets for good. exports are particularly important to the midwest, and to the u.s. economy. creating markets abroad is not bad for us. creating stability around the world is important for stability in our own economy. when it threatens our own economy, it does not mean we bailout greece. it means we have to pay attention to it and be part of the discussion.

we have to help make solutions because we do not want them taking us down. there is no islands. we are all in the same boat. in 2008, the only way to stop the hemorrhaging was to have all the wars in the water globally, rowing in the same direction -- oars in the water globally, rowing in the same direction. host: the99percenters -- guest: , waitress. my first paying job, legally, with my social security number, i helped someone with cancer. i turned down an internship that my dad had prided at general motors. i did not realize the

unemployment rate in flint, mich., was 25%. i turned in 30 applications to 30 places and got my first job. i worked the drive-thru. i used to cut tomatoes. that did not work well. i do not cut very well. i had to show up at 4:00 in the morning. am i a paper-pusher? i do not push much paper. i do a lot of talking, thinking from our research. if my ideas are not good, i do not get paid as well. in fact, that has happened when i have been wrong. yeah, i now live and have made a lot of money in my life -- i am really lucky. i work 24/7.

i am trying to teach my kids -- i made my daughter take an unpaid internships, show up for work every single day this summer. i do not want her taking a job from a 55-year-old who might need it. host: the cost driver is not with 65-year-olds. why not lift the cap of social security for those making less than $106,000 a year? apologies, i thought i knew where she was going with that. guest: i think that is one of the things that is going to be done. again, that is part of means testing. i think one of the things we also have to acknowledge in this country -- the top 1% make a lot of money. then there is the next 19% and they make a lot of money. at the bottom, many of those people are in mortgages that

their underwater -- they are underwater on. we have taken on too much debt, their house is under water, they feel like people have lost ground in the 80% from a 79% of the economy. 79%t is also -- 80%, 90 of the economy. i was wall street had a better message. i understand the sense of injustice. i have seen injustice. i understand this is a hard economy. it could have been worse. that does not make you feel good. who cares? i understand. i do not understand why there is not more of a message there. if there is no message, there will not be any action.

i think we're coming to terms with what viewers have said. get our fiscal house in order. it will take both sides. the best deal is when everybody walks away angry because nobody has won. that is what compromise is about. that is where i think it has to go. there are a lot of places where the message is not getting through. the population needs to figure out what the message is, beyond anger. what do you feel you can live with as the solution? host: please go ahead for diane swonk. caller: thank you. i really like her. she is very good. i like the way you are thinking. i appreciate that. i barely even make $18,000, $19,000 per year. when i file my taxes, how much you expect me to pay?

i look forward to retiring. i cannot retire at 62. i want to say thank you. i really like her way of thinking. she needs to run for president in the future. guest: there would not be a party for me. host: cleveland, a democrat. caller: good morning. i am on social security disability. i am 52. i am under the magic age of 55 years old. i have been a diabetic for 35 years. the mp to give my right leg below the knee -- they amputated my right leg below the knee. i have one thumb. i am legally blind in one night -- eye. i do not know what to believe or what to think.

i am glued to c-span. i am waiting to see what the committee is going to do. guest: they are not going to throw you into the street. they have to grandfathered people like you. i have a dear friend on disability. she is 49. she cannot live without it. i understand that. at 53 -- bossdied died at 53 from complications of diabetes. he had it his whole life. i understand what a devastating disease it is. it is one that i am very familiar with. if you are already in the system, i think they are going to grandfather you in. one of my biggest issues -- veterans date is tomorrow. it is my son's birthday. the number of homeless women, veterans -- people do not think

about the veterans. i am a survivor of 9/11. i was in the world trade center on 9/11. i got out with 20 people. i do not live in new york, but i was there. i had disagreements about a lot of force and a lot of what we're doing. that said, to not treat these people with more dignity -- and the wounded warrior program is great. i have worked with programs for healing the souls. the suicide rate is very high. there are much more productive ways to deal with some of these people, especially the disabled, in this country. that is something that is a personal issue for mine -- of mine. veterans, women veterans. 39.5% of african-american children are in poverty. this should not happen in this country.

i am not trying to get on my soapbox. for veterans day, it is a personal issue for me. my son was going on it -- born on it. they are in bad shape. we need to help them. host: new numbers. from the ap -- the number of people who attempt -- applied for unemployment benefits fell. weekly applications dropped to a seasonally-adjusted 390,000. it was the third decline in four weeks. the four week average, a less volatile measure, also fell to the lowest level since april. guest: the benchmark is about 385,000 to generate enough jobs to affect the unemployment rate. we are still too high. we are trending in the right direction.

what i constantly find myself saying to audiences is, it is growth, but it is not enough. i like the trend, but it is like being stuck in a traffic jam you are moving forward -- a jam. you are moving forward inch by inch and getting more and more angry. host: diane swonk is an economist. caller: we all -- i am talking about a 50% at work to make this country great -- they can have a dozen children out-of-wedlock, and we have to pay for them. guest: those rates have gone down quite significantly since the recession started because people cannot afford to have kids. you're getting your wish.

caller: i do not think it is therefore i have beaten the system -- fair how i have beaten the system. i have drawn $160,000 on my social security disability already in 10 years. i can see the -- listen, peter -- i can see how the republicans. this is one person talking. the republicans say this is not maintained of all -- maintainable. we are broke. guest: i agree with you. we have to make tough decisions. i think we can make more strategic decisions without cutting across the board. spending cuts have to be dominant, absolutely. ipad two terms of the congressional budget office -- i had two terms at the

congressional budget office. i think -- i hope your disability is for good reasons. i hope that you're not just taking the money. the reality is that we need to think very carefully about how we make these decisions. i agree with you on that. you may have to have a hard time with me because i agree with you. host: diane swonk, when you hear some of the political debate, when you're back home in chicago -- guest: i try to turn it down. host: but you have to pay attention? guest: i do. it is for my job. change in washington does not come from washington. it comes from voters. that is your chance to make changes. i think washington is starting to listen. it is not acceptable for us not to pay our bills. it is not acceptable for us to be a collective economy. we ran into debt. you have to pay your bills.

you have to be on the fiscally-a sustainable path on the longer haul -- fiscally-sustainable path on the longer haul. host: we will finish with this. it was the burger chef drive thru. where are my fries? guest: it was 1980. host: diane swonk has been our guest for the last 45 minutes. thank you. we will continue military week in just a minute with the coast guard, after this news update from c-span radio. >> in addition to the unemployment numbers, the commerce department says the trade deficit fell to the lowest blow this year. foreign sales of american-made vehicles and machinery saw a

third-straight decline since last december. news international chairman james murdoch has told lawmakers in britain that it was "appalling close look at his own company had used a private detective to tail the victims -- "appalling" that his own company had used a private detective to tell the victims of crimes. an employee had commissioned a spying -- the spying,. spying. he said, "that is something i would never condone." rick perry tells the associated press that the "stepped in it" during last night across the bay. in that debate, the governor said he would -- during last night's debate. in that debate, the governor said -- he said his forget list

was not a shining moment -- or get bonus was not a shining moment -- his or get full -- his forgetfulness was not a shining moment. >> are we still doing business with these people? >> the parts we have been purchasing as part of this ongoing and the gas station are -- ongoing investigation are rare and obsolete parts that are still being utilized in major weapons systems. the internet purchasing of platforms demonstrate the contractors or subcontractors that are in need of these rare, hard define, obsolete parts, have an outlet through these purchasing platforms -- hard-to- find, obsolete parts, have an outlet through these burgeoning -- purchasing platforms to obtain these parts.

>> i asked a very simple question. are we so purchasing from those who are putting out inferior products? >> the internet-trading platforms have 40 million to 60 million line items and parts that are purchased on a regular basis. yes, sir, senator. >> what more on this hearing on line -- watched more on this hearing -- watch more of this hearing online. it is washington, your way. "washington journal" continues. host: we're back live. this is military week. we begin our series on monday. tuesday, we look at the role and mission of the air force and its strong program. yesterday, we were live from arlington cemetery. tomorrow, our america by the

numbers segment will focus on the demographics of who serves in the hour nation's armed armeds -- in our nation's forces. today, a look at the coast guard with rear admiral karl scholz -- karl schultz. how many members are in the coast guard? what is your annual budget? guest: we have about 42,000 active members, a reserve force of about 8000, 7000 civilian employees, then a unique voluntary force of about 30,000- plus books -- folks. auxiliary folks to a wide range of defense -- do a wide range of events. they help us out with our waterways maintenance. they can do a ton of different things. our challenge is to keep them gainfully employed. they bring a tremendous amount

of unique talents. we have some of them in our small-boat stations did they bring a lot of continuity, expertise, and passion -- stations. they bring a lot of continuity, expertise, and passion. host: what is your budget? guest: the total amount is about $10.4 million -- $10.4 billion. host: what is your mission, domestically? do you have an international mission? guest: we are locally deployed throughout locations in the united states. we are nationally deployed. we have an international mission, local mission, and we are globally connected. we're doing search and rescue in the coastal waters along the united states. we're doing security in all of the seaports, the nation's 355 seaports. maritime transportation security

added a new responsibility to the so scarred -- to the coast guard. we have about 500 coast guard men and women deployed in support of the combat and demand in bahrain -- command in bahrain. we are an international and domestic organization with a broad range of statutory commissions. host: drug interdiction -- is that one of your authorities? do you share that with the eyeghe -- with dea? guest: we have been involved in that for decades. we work with other agencies, the day, fbi, state and local -- dea, fbi, state and local

agencies. it is very collaborative. we like to think we are the lead maritime agency in the drug war. host: recreational boater off the coast of florida. you guys help. who pays? guest: there is a system where, if the coast guard gets alerted, we are concerned with that recreational boater getting home safely. if that boulder is in a non- perilous situation -- boater is in a non-perilous situation, we put out a broadcast for commercial sister to come out and help, if they are available. we will track the case until they are brought home. that is the situation between the provider and the recreational boater. if there is not a situation where a commercial provider can assist, the coast guard will go. we are funded by taxpayers. host: it is kind of like a tow

truck on the highway, in a sense. somebody has to pay for it. guest: we try to work with commercial interests who are trying to make a living providing the same type of services. the safety of mariners is a foremost priority. host: how many ships and boats? guest: we decommissioned two high-security ships. we have about 11 high-end ships. 27 mnedium -- medium-endurance cutters. we have 87-ffot patrol -- 87- foot patrol boats. we have a 45-foot boat replac

boat. old 40-foot we have smaller response boats in all our seaports. cutters, probably a range of 90. host: ok. there is -- we're going to put the phone numbers on the screen. if you would like to dial in and talk with admiral schultz about the coast guard here on the military week of "washington journal," we have reserved our fourth line for the coast guard active and retired duty. you can also reach admiral schultz via twitter or e-mail. the newest ship, the

stratton, is it stationed in washington? guest: it was in fells point this psat week. -- past week. she will be based at alameda, california. we anticipate commissioning that ship in a march time frame of the new calendar year. host: what is special about the stratton? guest: it is the most formidable in our class of ships, replacing a ship that is about 43-years- old on average. those were matriculated into the missions, supporting the operations in vietnam. there were there for the startup of the drug war, a mass migration events -- they were there for the start of the drug

war, the mass migration the ben-- events. this ship can operate in a camel coat, biological, radioactive and garment -- chemical, biological, radioactive environment for an extended period of time. we are part of the national intelligence community. this ship is a collector and contribute beyond the lifelines of the coast guard mission -- and will contribute beyond the lifelines of the coast guard mission. it is going to do a lot of great things for the nation. host: she will go through the panama canal? guest: she will. dorothy was the first director of the women's reserve, stood up in 1942, the war effort. we had 1,000 female officers.

spars is for -- semper paratis -- always ready. she has passed on, but her legacy remains.t aht -- remains. that ship is named after her. host: where is the coast guard academy? guest: it is in connecticut. we had about 291 cadets entering in the last class. host: how long have you been in the coast guard? guest: i am a 1983 graduate. active duty, going into my 29th year. to be frank, i was pointed to the academy by a high school basketball coach.

i did not know a lot about it. i got involved in sports and academics, the summer programs, caught the bug. at 33 years or so, i will call it a career and keep going. host: william in delaware, ohio, go ahead. caller: i was in the coast guard back in 1942, until the end of the war. normandy invasion of omaha beach. i stood on a platform and i saw the whole thing a wind. -- unwind. they called me up to the bridge. the navy captain asked me if i would stand on the platform with a back pack radio to talk to

folks on the beach as we went in. i have a lot of time involved. i was only involved for about three years, seven months. the coast guard did get involved, like in overseas, as well as along the coast. there -- it was a real exciting time, the normandy invasion, back to england, the panama canal, out to the pacific. we sat off saipan for a few weeks. there.9's were bombing one of our duties was to try to

save the fellows. host: thank you for sharing that story. guest: let me thank you for your service. it is great to hear from a shipmate. you served in a remarkably dynamic time for the country. thank you for your service. the work that you did -- it was probably some of the most treacherous, challenging work at the coast guard has done in the history of the organization. thank you for that. it sounds like a remarkable experience. you mention the international rolls and rolls back here -- roles and roles back here. we are highly adaptable still today. we are based locally throughout the united states and nationally deployed probably connected -- nationally deployed, globally connected. thank you for your service. happy veterans day. host: dirty_water tweets --

guest: our coastguard jurisdiction extends to federally navigable waterways. places like that. host: lake tahoe? guest: there is jurisdiction there. where there is clear jurisdiction of the state, you will not see the coast guard. where it borders two states, we will be there. there is more demand for services than there is capability. we tried to position assets were we get the best return for the taxpayer -- we try to position assets where we get the best return for the taxpayer. it all depends on the geography.

host: another tweet -- the mission to guard our coastlines -- commissioned to guard our coastlines, isn't international work detracting from that? guest: the coast guard is now a member -- an agency within part of homeland security. one of the key components of protecting the homeland -- you have to push the borders out. we think we are across the spectrum. coastal, short-based -- shore- based assets. we have pushed the boundaries out. if you are applying the goal line defense, you are sort of set up for failure at the onset. on the crushed -- question of

the drug war, we get drugs with their hundreds of thousands of miles from the shore in large, bulk quantities. if they get through and get distributed, it is a lot more of a challenge to stop that problem. we have stopped 60,000 pounds of cocaine from coming into the country. i believe that is just in this short first month of the fiscal year. i think that sort of speaks to the effectiveness of pushing the borders out, and the relevance in the drug war. host: secretary panetta hinted that there might be some cuts in military expenditures. has the coast guard towed it -- targeted where it would make its cuts? guest: we are always looking at priorities. we're waiting for the budget to be legislated.

it may be cobbled together with the minibus next week. we're sort of steering away from that. we are optimistic that our 2012 numbers will be solid. we will focus on our priorities. host: fgood -- good morning. caller: i am an old army boy. i think the commander is a very confident and competent individual. that individual who handled the oil spill from the coast guard was unbelievable. i think you could have asked that guy what phase the moon would be in 10 months from now and he could give the answer. i think they should double your budget and want to thank you for doing a good job. you help me sleep at night. guest: thank you for the call. happy veterans day.

i'm not sure if you were speaking about thad allen, who did remarkable work. we had many great leaders with the coast guard. we're pretty proud of our leaders. we have a great model. we put responsibility in young early.uardsmaen's laps the situation was very tragic. we had about 7000 coastguardsmen involved. there are still challenges in the area. we are still fully committed to getting things right in the gulf and getting things on a healthy trajectory for the way forward. i appreciate your call enter service in vietnam -- and your service in vietnam. host: what is the status of the coast guard and the bp oil spill? guest: we are still involved. the shoreline cleanup completion

plan was put out earlier by our federal on-scene coordinator, in cooperation with the state on- scene coordinators. obviously, any news bills will be dealt with -- new spills will be dealt with. we will examine any oil and send it for four -- for forensics. it is from the macondo well, we will go back to bp and have them make it -- if it is from the macondo well, we will go back to bp and have them make it right. transitioning to the state allows us to go to the next step. we are working for word. this is the next step. we're committed and very empathetic to the situation in the gulf. the coast guard is going to stay involved.

host: what cost has the bp oil spill been to the coast guard? has it been net no-cost? guest: we have passed through bills to bp that for righteous -- were righteous bp costs. we can redirect assets. we pulled some of our ocean going -- ocean-going buoy tenders into the area for capabilities they developed during the exxon bought says -- exxon valdez spill. host: next call for admiral karl schultz, from melbourn, florida -- melbourne, florida. caller: i am reading on

military.com about the decommissioning of two cutters. it says the white house and congress do not want to lose the icebreaking services of these ships. are we doing anything to keep the ice breaking going on? guest: thank you for coast guard -- extensive coastguard service, both active duty and reserve. i sailed on the great lakes. that is a neat place to be a coastguardsman. the polar-class ice-breakers -- an interesting situation. i am not at liberty to talk about pending legislation. to talk about the polar-class ice-breakers, those ships were built in the 1970's. they are 30-years old -- 30

years old. service.ne out of we have had some significant engineering casualties on her. there is a limited number of funding as we use those ice breakers. we have a medium ice breaker, a science ship. within the budget framework, we could not afford to keep both of those large polars in service. there is some debate going on. we are focused on bringing the polar star back to service in 2013. i think it is going to be a bridging gap. this is a broader discussion than just the coast guard. what are our needs as a

sovereign nation? we believe this is a national- level discussion. the polar star will provide a bridging gap. it is about an eight-year to 10- year venture to bring a new polar-class ship onboard. that is a big number. we do not have a trade space to take that on, given other things that we're doing. i appreciate the question. is an interesting topic. host: do you have your own shipyard? the contract out? out?o you contract a guest: actually, both. the mission-effect of this program is taking a medium- endurance cutters -- mission- effectiveness program is taking the medium-endurance cutters to upgrade them and keep them in

service. we have had a good run. just awarded a production contract on the fifth national security cover. -- cutter. we're trying to get three ships done and then go into the replacements for the medium- endurance cutters. to get there, we had to spend some money on the existing class. it is going to take us awhile. you try to get a national security cutter in the budget. we are hoping there is but it trades based. when you're trying to replace 25 -- there is a budget trade space. those chips that are being replaced are 40-years-old, 50 -- those ships that are being replaced are 40-years-old, 50-

years-old. i mentioned awarding a production award. the average cost of the first five ships, the same class, is about $30 million. host: per? guest: per contract. host: the coast guard has about 500 service members in iraq and afghanistan. guest: we have about 500 folks in centcom. i mentioned that earlier there are six island-class patrol boats, 22-man krews. they are protecting the i iraqi oil platforms, a critical source of revenue for the -- protecting the iraqi oil platforms, a critical source of revenue for the iraqi government. doing interception

operations or piracy -- for piracy. we have a maritime security adviser team working with the baghdad.in we have a 30-member redeployment and inspection detachment, a raid team, working in support of transportation command, helping to move hazardous materials back stateside. we have port security of about 120 people, mostly reserve, providing security for high- value u.s. and allied assets in the ports. that gets you pretty close to the 500 mark. we also have some quick the logical specialists -- crytological specialists. host: you have been very patient. you are on with the coast guard admiral.

guest: thank you. i am in the coast guard. i'm calling about the stratton. it looks phenomenal. it was good to hear they are planning more of them. do you see the use of it primarily necessary on the west coast? guest: well, first, good morning to you and thanks for your service with the auxiliary. i know how hard you are working down there and we really appreciate the efforts of our volunteer arm of the coast guard. distraught and is a tremendous ship. -- the stratton is a tremendous ship. the final home porting decisions on the entire class of ship are not done yet. the chairman, chief of staff, admiral commandant -- we have

talked about hopefully being able to position a couple of those ships on the east coast as well. when you talk about the functionality of the national security cut their -- cutter -- the infrastructure can crumble, communications down, you can sail the cutter into that area and it has the ability to operate in the contaminated space for a period of time, with the ability to interact with those at the highest levels of command. it could be very, very capable. there are plans to get the stratton out there in alameda. we're building the fourth and fifth. host: admiral schultz is the -- has served as chief of congressional affairs for the

coast guard, sector commander in miami for a couple of years, congressional liaison, several different positions within the coast guard, where he graduated from the economy -- academy. he has a national security fellowship at harvard university's kennedy school of government. he has won several awards, including the legion of merit. guest: any personal awards are usually a function of the team around you. one of those was to recognize my time in miami. we had a good opportunity, the honor to lead a large contingent of reservists. it is a great opportunity with a lot of challenges. south florida touches almost all of our areas. good missions. i have been blessed to work

around tremendous men and women in the organization. host: do you arrest drunken boaters? guest: we pull them off the water. we partner with local authorities. the arrest action is usually turned over to the local sheriff or police. boating while intoxicated is a problem. it creates a risk for other recreational and a motor -- and commercial boaters. our auxiliaries do some great outreach and education. we take it very seriously. we want folks who are operating intoxicated to be off the water. host: it is military week uran "washington journal." today, we're focusing on the coast guard.

here's some numbers that we went over that we want to repeat. the budget is about $10.3 billion. $0.7 billion of that is for discretionary -- $8.7 billion is for discretionary funding. $289 million for air assets. those are some of the figures that we have on the coast guard's budget. about 42,000 active duty, at this point. dayton, nevada. please, go ahead. caller: thank you. i want ask the admiral -- i have been involved in the coast guard auxiliary for a number of years. i am retired military, army side of the house.

for the last three years on the island of guam -- i have noticed when talks go on like this, there is very little mention about the coast guard auxiliary as itself. i wondered if you could enlighten the public a bit. host: were you out on lake tahoe? caller: yeah, i have been on the tahoe with the local coast guard -- on lake tahoe with the local coast guard. examiner.vestigative host: thank you. guest: good morning and thanks for your volunteer service with the coast guard. it is a tremendous group of folks, 30,000 strong. they do a broad range of things. the arrests -- swe have

auxiliarists who are in the air, on the waterways, spanning communications. recreational boaters are really excited about working with those folks. sometimes, they get more continuity than with the people who come in and advance. the auxiliarists are experts. we have had them in our command centers. we had the hawkeye system. they were used to run that. outside of legal limitations, they are not empowered with law enforcement authority, but they are a great force

multiplier. they are out on campaigns every year. national safe boating week. they talk about the criticality of wearing life jackets. they do voluntary examinations out on the water. we could not do a lot of the things that we do without their support. thank you for your support. i am sure that is fun. host: linda tweets in -- guest: no. just to reiterate -- if we rescue them, they don't get a bill. if it is a non-urgent

situation and there are commercial assets available, we give them the first rights to respond to that situation. if we make a rescue, we do not bill the taxpayer for that service. host: oakland, california. patrick, good morning to you. caller: i would like to thank you for keeping us safe along the coast. also, i registered for selective service, but then became disabled. i support the troops. i wanted to let you know i feel good about the ones that will be coming back from afghanistan. the other part -- when i was looking into the military about which one i should join, i thought the military of the marines all the way down to the military of the coast guard.

is the coast guard the easiest one on the soldier? can you guess? guest: good morning. thank you for your support of the men and women who wear the uniform of this country. i think that all of the services are pretty selective about who they take. recruiting is down a little bit. retention is very high. attrition is very low. we have men and women who want to stay and continue beyond 20 years. we have remarkable young men and women entering the service. it is very competitive to get into the service. i think the other services for themselves in a similar situation. i do not have an informed opinion on which is easiest, but i can tell you about the quality of our recruits. just first-rate -- first-rate. the problem we have is

pretension, but it is not such a bad problem. the last couple of years we have had a career retention selection panel where we have had to weed out the ranks a little bit so that the young people have a board mobility opportunities. -- upward mobility opportunities. host: on your uniform, what identifies you as an admiral? guest: the striping on the sleeve. caller: good morning. semper paratus. we are a familly -- family of coasties. my son went down this summer. i had him take two languages -- three linguistics. he is fluent in three languages. and band, at the same time he

did some sports -- the band was much more time consuming than anything else. did i direct him incorrectly? guest: thank you for the broad coast guard family you come from. the academy-introductory program is a great program for him to get acclimated to what our service academy is all about. i think you have steered him very well. as you look at the folks that we bring into our service academies -- it is a merit-based application. we look for individuals with leadership potential. the fact that he's interested in music -- you mentioned a sports. he is a well-rounded individual. that serves your son very well. you probably gave him very good advice. the aim program is a great way to get visibility about what life is like at the coast guard

academy. host: diane in savannah. caller: first, i want to thank you for our service -- your service to our country. i appreciate you and your organization. my daughter has been in the coast guard for 16 years. she and her husband, who is also in the coast guard, are stationed in juneau, alaska. i cannot express enough the confidence and pride that i have seen this young woman grow into by her association with the coast guard. i just finished reading "deadly at sea." sometimes we do not realize the lives that go behind rescues. i will never take for granted a work in the service that are military does -- the work and the service that our military does. i grew up with a woman who was a i grew up with a woman who was a