we will talk with humberto sanchez from "roll call." and david walgren's thoughts on the debt. and after that, melanie sloane from citizens for responsibility and ethics. >> my message to them is simple -- no. i will veto any effort to get rid of those automatic spending cuts, domestic and defense spending. there will be no easy off ramps on this one. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] host: the question being asked on capitol hill, in washington, and a rum country, what next? one day after the joint deficit reduction committee known as the so-called super committee admitted failure, the president

of awarding convert the automatic budget cuts, the so- called triggers, are on the way. the present will be in new hampshire later today. and the leading republican candidates are here in washington, d.c., for a debate on national security. it will air on cnn and it will repair c-span radio at 10:00 eastern. it is tuesday, november 22. we will deal with your calls and comments on the deficit super committee, it's admitted failure. others calling it a collapse. the question is, what is next? some of the headlines this tuesday morning. beginning with "usa today" --

the story points out that social security payroll tax cuts expire at the end of the year, meaning taxes could go up by nearly -- all -- by nearly $1,000 annually for certain people. unemployed workers could also lose their jobless benefits beginning in january when the benefits of our expected to expire. it will be a busy post- thanksgiving. the house and senate out for the thanksgiving holiday. of the headlines from the two capitol hill newspapers.

we want to jump right into the editorial pages. first, from "usa today." a reprint of the statements by congressional leaders, beginning with speaker of the house john boehner who wrote in his statement, reprinted in "usa today." this -- a slightly sharper tone from democratic senate leader harry reid.

online, this comment from robert. congressman jeb hensarling, a republican from texas -- why the super committee failed. it rather lengthy piece.

refused to offer meaningful reforms for health care. and this conclusion -- on to your phone calls. from tennessee, good morning. welcome to the conversation. caller: i am calling about the deficit reduction committee. host: you are on the air. caller: i am calling about it. i think congress needs to get off of their rear and did

something done. plenty of time. the democrats are not playing fair. they started as a couple of years ago when they had the majority. and the republicans just need to demand from the president that the democrats start negotiating and we need to start saving some money. this president and the congress has got in our country in a really bad mess. host: thank you for the call. from inside "the financial times" -- the reporting by richard mcgregor and james politi.

the president had around 5:45 eastern time expressing what happens next. he did this just a day before leaving for manchester, new hampshire. he is in that state today to talk about the support of his jobs bill, it bill that part of it was passed yesterday with his signature, on the veterans believe effort. today taking aim at social security and other areas of the budget to agree more jobs. here is more from the president. >> we need to keep the pressure up to compromise. nocturn off the pressure. -- not turn off the present. if congress gets back to work to agree by a balanced plan to reduce the deficit by at least one point $2 trillion. that is exactly what they need to do. that is the job they promised to do. they still have about a year to figure it out. although congress has not come to an agreement yet, nothing prevents them from coming up with an agreement in the days ahead.

they can still come together around a balanced plan. i believe democrats are prepared to do so. my expectation is there will be some republicans who are still interested in preventing the automatic cuts from taking place. and as i have from the beginning, i stand ready and willing to work with anybody who is ready to engage in that effort to create a balanced plan for deficit reduction. host: the president yesterday at the white house. one of our regular callers, writes -- a former speech writer to president george w. bush who now writes for "the washington post" has "its president obama's thought." -- "it is president obama's fau

lt." bob is joining us from booker raton, florida. caller: the greatest voice of reason i heard so far was on cable news -- cable news yesterday. i believe it was a republican talking with gergen, you probably know better than me, was some old time -- i think reagan -- whatever. host: david gergen worked for president ford, reagan, nixon, and clinton. caller: well, there you go. and the idea was that half revenue -- and i wish they would call it tax increases -- and

have spending cuts, half and half. and i return to the 39.5% clinton era tax rates, to the 35% -- when people hear tax increase and don't realize we are only talking about 4.5% increase, the actual small number, i think, takes a lot of the wind out of the sales of the idea that the tax increases are so horrendous. lastly, if you allow one more quick point. it is health care, it is all about health care increases. you know, we won world war ii, we built the hoover dam, but we cannot open up the medicare and cannot figure out a way to open up the system to people like me

who, i would gladly pay -- i pay $6,000 a year out of pocket to buy health insurance and i am healthy. 87% of americans without insurance are healthy and don't use it. put it into the medicare system. we would raise a fortune of money. there are no actuaries' discussing this. it had not heard any hard-core mathematical discussions on c- span about it. it is all pushed under the rug and i wish we would talk more about -- we have done great things in this country. we cannot be impossible -- it cannot be impossible to open up the medicare system for buyers. host: we have talked about it at length. yesterday with alice rivlin wheat covered a panel at the brookings institution where health care and social security were two of the topics, both short and long term. but thank you for the call. from the front page of "the washington post." oftograph of the co-chaire the committee.

patty murray. she says i will keep working every day until we get there. the washington democrat went on to say -- she returned to office after issuing a statement. some on the panel, including senator pat toomey from pennsylvania, tweetec this message. "usa today" has this editorial.

from inside "usa today." joe is joining us from des moines, iowa. good morning. caller: it is a terrible shame. in 2011, going into the election of 2012, that we have a situation going on. we are a lot smarter than this. i can't even believe this stuff is going on. as far as grid lock. the republicans are locked into grover norquist and the tea party.

they are on the side of the money because they are always talking about taxes, which is money. and the democrats which is on the side of the people, which is also security and medicare and medicaid. host: democratic leader in the house of representatives tweet ed this message. the caller refering to grover norquist was featured on "60 minutes." we will talk about -- student today on c-span radio. this is "the wall street journal" editorial-page.

one other point is this -- vernon is joining us from alexandria, virginia. republican line. caller: good morning. the kids that are up there -- why bill thank you we appoint 12 people to make a decision that we already elected senators and

congress people to sit and debate? the only thing the super committee had to do is put the republican plan in writing and put it out for the people and democrats but their plan out there so everybody can read exactly who is doing what instead of just getting the other side's view of these things. the president has to do some leading at some point and tell people what he expects and let the people do their jobs. that is about all i have to say this morning. host: next is larry joining us from michigan. democrats' line. guest: good morning to you. host: go ahead, please. caller: i am a democrat and a veteran. it's seems to me the only thing that these congress can agree upon, and under the cover of darkness, is to give themselves raises. it is ridiculous.

it seems to me they appoint themselves to get reelected. it talking about the preventive and reelected -- this congress just passed by we the people. we the people are getting mad as hell. host: is similar point -- a number of points in this piece --

that is this morning inside the "wall street journal." below that is a chart, and it is also available online. some of the automatic cuts that would begin to take place in 2013. and congress needs to act on a number of tax issues this year

or else they would also keep in in 2012. rick from homestead, florida. but when it to the program. caller: the republicans know how to make a plan that is realistic, achievable, measurable, accountable, credible, and reliable. and they also know how to problem solve -- brainstorming, idea checklist, frame of reference. i do not see the democrats doing this. i hope they get to this message and they start problem solving. host: thank you for the call. steven is joining us from oklahoma city. independent line. good morning. caller: yes, sir. i never heard this mentioned -- then taking a 5% or 3% pay cut as an example for all of us, even the president who makes 400,000 yen. 5% side would only be $20,000 --

5% would only be $20,000. there should be some tax increases. the republicans need to quit worshiping the wealthy and make them pay a little bit more. also on top of that, there does need to be spending cuts come up probably 3 to 1. you cannot attack -- you cannot cut taxes and then go spend it. i think they are both wrong. i do sympathize with president obama. he inherited one heck of a mess. healthcare is adding to much to the deficit. we cannot afford the health care plan. we cannot afford, as romney says, to rebuild the navy because we do not have the money there. we need to get totally focused on getting the deficit down. i am an independent and i think tom coburn, our senator in oklahoma, is probably one of the best senator we have and has the most balanced approach to all of it. i appreciate congress -- even

the president, bringing up a plan that they take a pay cut just to show that they mean business, too. host: we've featured tom coburn last week on c-span's newsmakers program and it is posted on our website c-span.org belinda -- c- span.org. belinda sends us this e-mail. from one of our viewers -- and of the debate taking place in this evening, and this is inside "the new york daily

news." 1 paul al from cnn giving newt gingrich the need in the granite state and others showed mitt romney in the league. jon huntsman weighing in with a tweet -- a new ad from the romney campaign. but randy joins us next from tuscaloosa, alabama. caller: actually run from michigan. i want to thank the democrats personally for finally breaking loose from the hostage takers. this started with the republicans taking them hostage over the bush tax cuts. i am finally glad they stood up and threw a backbone. the democrats fight for the people. you had approximately 1500 millionaire's last year who pay

no tax. ge got how much of a refund? the problem we have -- we need to get rid of the republicans in there that are so short-sighted. it is nice to have a talking point to say, you take a 10% cut and you take a 10% cut. we got into the problem because everybody wants to race to the bottom. but one thing with a race to the bottom as everybody gets there. i have not heard anybody in this show in the last three years talking about trying to lift everett -- anybody. you have a tax rate now running in the 1950's. you have over 100,000 people born every month. that means you have over 100,000 people turning 18 every month. how in the world do you have a

balanced budget? but you have that leeway. so this super committee, i and glad they stepped away from their hostage takers. host: the call from michigan. courtesy of the newseum, headlined outside the beltway. the picture featuring senator john kerry. from "the atlanta journal- constitution." talks now shift to cut. from "richmond times-dispatch" -- the headline this morning. this other headline from "are in county register judyorange -- "orange county register"--

caller: the problem with our country is if we could bring our troops home from around the world and clean our country up and get our children out of prison and get them back to work, we would save $1 trillion within one year or less. i don't make policy but i know there is a way out of this. until the politicians claim that act up, they should not get nno pay. host: bob from florida says --

tonight, the republican presidential candidates will participate in another debate. this one taking place here in washington, the first time, by the way, a presidential debate has been held in the nation's capital, since 1960 when kennedy and nixon squared off. cnn is hosting it, along with the heritage foundation. the focus is national security. the president is in new hampshire today. with that in mind, the romney campaign issued first ad in the new hampshire primary race. [applause] >> i am confident we can steer ourselves out of this crisis. we need a rescue plan for the middle-class. we need to provide people homes. if we keep talking about the economy, we are going to lose. >> i am going to do something to government.

i call it a smaller, simpler, smarter approach to government. getting rid of programs, turning out some programs back to states, and finally making government more efficient. i will get rid of obamacare. it is killing jobs and keeping our kids from having the prospects they deserve. we have a moral responsibility not to spend more than we take in a bid i will make sure america is a jobs-creating machine like it has been in the past. it is high time to bring those principles of fiscal responsibility to washington, d.c. i am mitt romney and i approve this message. host: the first ad issued by the mitt romney campaign officially on the air in new hampshire, a state he says he needs to win to get the nominations. meanwhile, "usa today" has a preview of the debate would herman cain and mitt romney featured. the candidates facing a tough challenge. inside "the washington times," a foreign policy story -- new

sanctions on iran. petrochemical sector and firms aiding any individuals within the iranian regime suspected nuclear work. back to your calls. monica joining us on the independent line from sunnyside, washington. your reaction to the super committee's failure to work out an agreement. some are calling it a collapse. what do you think? caller: i would just like to point out, first of all, is i have been disappointed how the government has betrayed the community and u.s. nation. i know the government has taken a big role in our debt.

we have children being brought into the system, avoiding adoption agencies and going through cps agencies and given to other families. and when we ask the question why the government is in debt, we don't understand that the government spending much more money on clothes and a simple case, using it as a tax write- off, but then later on in the coming years they are going to spend trillions of dollars on all of these children that they have to correct again through services and systems. and a lot of parents are suffering without their children or bring the children suffering without their parents don't have a chance for the 21st century. and when a mother like myself, the mother of seven, turned to our attorney general who has recently been arrested on a dui, making a decision to terminate my parental rights, where do i

turn? i get no answers, i get no closure, i get no justice for my children. who got a three-year-old has been a victim of molestation and rape and the system did not do anything about that, but yet they are still making a good dollar profit on tax write-offs. what do we do? we have got to put a stop to this. it is cheaper for the government's to make a proper decision on fixing the household through the services that were intended for our needs. host: thank you for sharing your story. you brought up the issue of molestation. we also want to bring you the story that that came from philadelphia. at the request of 10 state university, the former fbi director from the clinton in this -- clinton administration,

adding up an investigation -- heading up an investigation. and barbara mikulski will lead a committee looking at the penn state situation. we will cover that hearing on c- span. but the back to your calls and some of your comments on the failure of the super committee to reach an agreement. from inside "the washington post," this editorial --

john joining us from north carolina. republican view. caller: i have to tell you. i have listened to so much absolute, just ignored statements coming out of people today. the last caller you had talking about her seven children and all the problems she is having, and never addressing the issue of what in the world were you doing bringing seven children into the world that you could not take care of yourself? and i heard another person talking about the 1500 millionaires that did not pay any taxes. not mentioning at all the nearly 150 million of people in this country that pay no taxes at all because they have learned how to game the system and take money from the government, which means they are taking money from average, ordinary working americans just like them will happen to make a little bit more money. the fact is, the government

takes in nearly $3 trillion every year in taxes -- revenue, as everybody likes to call it -- and they are saying it is not enough. this is ridiculous. the fact of the matter is, we as americans have come to expect that our neighbors, the person next door to us, the person living down the street from us, the person working at a local grocery store, somehow all of us a living. i want some of these people to actually walk up to somebody who owns a business and tell them you all made money because that is what we are all saying. -- to tell them that you owe me money, because that is what we are all sitting. host: support committee -- super committee success.

ms. gingrich sitting down with all but -- newt gingrich, sitting down with "union leader ." >> as a pretty early on it was the dumbest idea i heard of. we take 535 people to represent us, shrink them to 12, and have the 12 handpicked by the political leaders, and think they are going to accomplish something?

this was an act of desperation by people who could not fix anything. and i said up front, if i were in john boehner's shoes, i may not be able to do any better because the real difference is obama. bill clinton tried to build a moderate wing of the democratic party through the democratic leadership council, he spent 12 years as governor negotiating with a conservative legislature. we fought, but we could talk. we understood we had to get something done. which meant i had to schedule it and he had to sign it. host: former house speaker newt gingrich yesterday in new hampshire. available online anytime at c- span.org. "roll call" as this roll call. we will check in with humberto sanchez later.

caller: i think nothing is really going to change until we have -- we vote most of these republicans out who are anti-tax increase and all of that. you've got to remember, when george bush took office, we had a budget surplus. we were in the process of paying off our debt by the year 2009. what happened? think about it. thank you. host: thank you for the call. michele from auburn, pennsylvania. what do you think about this? go ahead. caller: i have been on disability for years. i have gone to work at times, even though i am disabled and even though it darned there killed me. and i believe we need entitlement reform but we need oversight. we need to look at fraud and we need to stop spending money like it is monopoly money.

that is the problem. they are spending money like it is water out there in washington. and it is hurting -- when they are looking things like inflation, they are not looking at the price of bread, eggs, milk, gasoline. they are looking at laptop computers and things like that. it doesn't make sense. and the democrats -- i am sorry, but they are just -- you listen to them talk anymore and it just makes me sad because nothing they say makes sense. they are talking out of their necks -- i do not think it reaches their heads anymore. host: from inside "the washington post" -- nasdaq also drop yesterday although the futures are up this morning.

two editorials we wanted to bring to your attention. first, from "the wall street journal." and jeb hensarling also has a piece inside "the wall street journal." key outlines from his standpoint what happened with the committee and why the 12 members failed to reach an agreement. dennis lane has this point of duty any impasse is by design and not by accident. shirley joins us from new orleans. democrats' line. caller: i have been listening to c-span for the last 15 years. you read today from "the wall

street journal," "the washington times," "politico," all of these right-wing publications. host: and "the new york times" -- but let me. ok. caller: this is a balanced country it so -- these right wing -- it is a case of their opinions. but i notice all the time, if a guy is gone, i cannot know if they are democrat or republican but i can tell now every one of you which political persuasion because this is what you do. really and truly -- i have been trying to get on with you -- you have been on their long. i have been looking at you ever

since i started. the democrats have their faults, yes, they do. but the democrats, they were ready to give in -- social security, medicare, all of these. the republicans came in and said no taxes. how can you go into the debate when you say no new taxes'? no new revenue? you already said what you are not going to do. these people calling in did -- and like i said, democrats have their faults. they have no backbones. the republicans, all of those people you red light grover norquist -- read, like grover norquist. we need people who are going to stand up -- cut by the entitlement programs? yes. but you can't just cut and cut

and don't get any taxes? host: shirley, thank you for the call. we appreciate it, as always. this in your program at your chance to weigh in did i would point out that we began with "the new york times" en "the washington post." this morning everyone is talking about the value of the super committee. including this headline from inside "the new york times." >> in the meantime, we've got a lot of work left to do this year. before congress leaves next month we have to work together to cut taxes for workers and

small business owners all across america. if we don't act, taxes will go up for every single american starting next year. i am not about to let that happen. middle-class americans can't afford to lose $1,000 next year because congress won't act. i can only hope that members of congress to a been fighting so hard to protect tax breaks for the wealthy will fight just as hard to protect tax breaks for small-business owners and a class families. host: inside "the hill" newspaper. republican line. welcome to the conversation. caller: i have two things to say -- one is about the peace corps. i had an encounter in 1966 with them and they ask me where is the worst place in panama to go

and work. i thought they were naive, so i send them down to the write -- right back to a little town light -- called real. at i cannot believe it. within two years they had a water well, a market established, day care for children, and the whole timbre of the place -- i thought all of these kids were not in and did not understand how bad it was, but they really changed the place. you know, they had that principle usually owner -- only encounter with people who are in combat. a real sensitivity to what was going on. but the thing i wanted to say about the budget was, i think my party is risking marginalizing

themselves with this risk- taking they are doing with the economy instead of coming to terms with the taxation issue because it is way out of whack. thank you for your time. host: thank you for the call. another story we want to bring to your attention -- let me bring you up some of the headlines. first from "the new york times." at a photograph from tahrir square, would have looks like in cairo -- what it looks like jeanne cairo. swelling numbers of protesters in the streets dismissed a resignation offer from egypt cabinet -- a guest is joining us live from cairo.

what are you seeing and hearing? guest: well, there are still some clashes on the side streets but it is much quieter today. people are beginning to stream into the square. a million man march has been called for for today to begin at 4:00. it is still pretty sparse. the most organized political force in the country, muslim brother heard -- muslim brotherhood said they were not part of the bay so it will be interesting to see what kind of participation. protesters are extremely angry over the harsh crackdown on them. a dramatic video has gone viral of people being dragged by their hair, beaten to apparent death in the streets, and many people saying that the resignation of the cabinet is not enough and they want a transfer of power, that the military leadership will hand over power.

host: your washington post or has some of the demonstrations, and the tear gas techniques used by protesters. my question is, who is organizing this, who is behind this latest round? guest: like january, a lot of this is organic. about 300 people who spent the night on friday after an islamist-dominated protest against the broadening powers of the readership -- leadership. once the police came to try to forcibly remove them, the violence prompted more people to join them and sort of spiralled from there and snowballed into something much bigger that seems to be gaining momentum. at this point, i do not know what will satisfy and the protesters off the streets. host: who is running the country? what role does the military play and who else is involved in treating the traditional

recreating the transitional government? duke of the generals are running the country. guest: the generals are running the country. a lot see the cabinet as a week. they blame the military leadership for things that have gone wrong in the last few months. the law failing economy, lack of security, the slobber transitional period. rajiv the failing economy, lack of security, this long the transitional period. but military panels have extremely high approval ratings among the masses in it egypt, so this is a much bigger and more difficult fight for protesters to take on. and it is not clear whether they will be able to get their demands from leadership.

no indication they plan to change their time table right now. there is a timetable to hand over power to a new president after an election that they expect in 2013. host: in related headlines from "the wall street journal" -- raising the heat on the military. what are you looking for today? guest: looking at what kind of political developments. elections have been on monday. thousands of people must wear right now. a cabinet that just resign. you have political parties and political figures -- the former head of the iaea, speaking about what kind of national unity government they could form and how they can transfer some of

the powers. it is not clear whether it is enough for protesters. it is not clear if it can come together and it is not clear whether the military rulers are ok with this plan. there really have been no answers. waiting to see a military rulers can respond and if there is a solution to end the unrest until the elections or if it is postponed. host: video from cairo, courtesy aljazeera. how many days of protesters -- protests have you been witnessing? guest: fourth day of unrest and fifth day of protest. friday's protest was dominated -- the vineland's -- violence began saturday morning. host: what role does the muslim brotherhood play in this? guest: the muslim brotherhood, a lot are accusing them of playing both sides. they suspended their campaign activity yesterday briefly to see how things go, if the dust

settles. but they also said they will not possess a date in any marches or protest going forward. this election is something they have been waiting for four years and they believe they could be a front runner when it comes to the parliamentary elections on monday. they don't want anything to undercut those elections. at the same time, they don't want to be seen as in the pocket of the military. they are kind of walking the line and there has been a lot of anger from protesters and activists who ousted a prominent member of the muslim brotherhood party yesterday when he tried to go into the square. host: be headline from "the washington post." my final question -- that location in the center of cairo has become a de facto ground zero for protests. we have seen it with hosni mubarak. looking at scenes from aljazeera, the front page of

"the new york times" as well. what is it about this location that it has become a place demonstrators moved to. guest: it is a central part of cairo and it was the place people gathered in january to oust hosni mubarak. they thought they could not do it. they did not realize maybe the power of themselves. but it is also this -- the place they said they will come back to if things did not go their way. and in these 10 months a lot people feel things have not gone well. but also there is exhaustion in egypt when it comes to protests. so we will see if they have this momentum that they did back in january to get the demands that they want. it is a truly iconic place. host: a reporter covering this for "the washington post" and her story is online. thank you for spending a couple of minutes with us on c-span.

we will continue our conversation on what is next now that the deficits of the committee has failed to determine the spending cuts, but $1.20 trillion required, and the so-called sequesters will kick in in 13 months. humberto sanchez will join us from "roll call" and a few minutes. and david walker, former comptroller general. and we will learn how much ranking members and committee chairs are getting from various groups. all ahead this tuesday, november 22. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> it was a flood in fort wayne. people were down there filling sandbags, desperately trying to keep the river -- so, airforce one-stop, i think motorcade to the flooded area, took off his

jacket. my memory is he filled three sandbags, said hello to everyone, got back in a car, went back and the airplane that night. but on the air waves it was reagan filling sandbags with the shared off. >> thanksgiving day, abc sam donaldson, andrea mitchell, -- they talk about the legacy of ronald reagan. michael bloomberg and ariana huffington talked about the american dream. john glenn, neil armstrong, buzz aldrin, awarded the congressional medal of honor. go to c-span.org. >> the newly designed c- span.org website has 11 video choices, make it easier for you to watch today's events and also easier to get our schedule, with new features so you can quickly scroll through all of the

programs and even receive an e- mail alert when your program is scheduled to air. there is a section to access our most popular series of programs like "washington journal," "book tv," and "the contenders." find out where to what -- you could find out where to watch the networks and cable and satellite providers of all across the country. >> "washington journal" continues. host: humberto sanchez from "roll call." what happened? guest: the age-old problems of republicans supporting tax increases and democrat supporting cuts and entitlement programs could not be overcome and it decided against doing any kind of deal because even though there was a universe of things they could agree on the decided openly it would be best not to deal at all.

host: let's take a step back -- we will get a lot of reactions from our viewers in a couple of minutes. but the creation of this committee, fingers pointing to harry reid, who knew he could not get 60 votes in any package, so this is super committee would have and up or down majority vote only with no amendments and no filibusters. was it a good idea or a bad idea? guest: whenever found out because we never got a stage, to the point of where the access to the floor -- whenever got to the point of where we would see if that was available or if that was worth putting in the deal. ultimately, ideologists cannot be overcome in terms of the taxes and spending issues. including the part about the access to the floor was an effort to try to motivate congress to act, but ultimately

they could not work around their positions. host: on the republican side, put forth a proposal that estimated about $300 billion in additional revenues -- not a tax increase, but changes in the tax code. why did the democrats rejected that? the good democrats thought of was too little. it seems to be an opening in the discussion over taxes for republicans because before they were against any new revenue or increases in the cold, but the democrats rejected it essentially because they wanted to negotiate up to a higher level and they decided that they could not get any more movement on republicans from that offer so they turned it down. host: the democrats were asking

for a tax increase on wealthier americans as a way to offset spending cuts in entitlement programs. why couldn't republicans meet half way? guest: republicans feel that it is not good to raise taxes in a recession, and they believe the upper income earners in the united states our job creators and to put a tax on them would to be to hamper the economy, and they don't think it is a good thing to do right now. host: the other story -- b sequester become silver lining. you know where the word comes from? guest: i think it is of french origin. host: automatic cuts -- it has gone from being a soared to a silver lining, rewarding them for inaction. what happens next, and when? guest: the sequester, $1.20 trillion in automatic cuts evenly between defense and non-

defense programs. that will go into effect in 2013. now you will see an effort by people in congress to either change it, modify it, roll it back. senator john mccain, for example, is very concerned about what will happen to the defense department under this sequestered and made no secret of his effort to try to roll back the sequester. host: a related story -- "no end for the k street deficit lobbying." guest: it has given them a lot of business. there are issues that need to be protected and are issues that need to be lobbied on. so, yes, i think they definitely win. they will be responsible for trying to influence congress for what gets cut in the sequester

and what does not. host: take a different editorial -- and these are essentially the statements. speaker boehner sang i did everything possible. he said alan not give up on the country and neither will my republican colleagues. we will continue to try to find common ground with the democrats to address what president obama called the single biggest into the to our deficit -- are costs, including medicare and medicaid -- without job killing tax cuts -- hikes. guest: we will find out and the next 13 months. there still could be a deal. there is still in bids for fixing this issue. -- impetus for fixing this issue. and then you have the added impetus of the bush tax cuts expire repaired host: senator harry reid's statement published in "usa today -- democrats were prepared to

strike -- strike a grand bargain asking millionaires to pay their fair share. the republicans never came close to meeting us half way. guest: i think democrats will go to their base and say to them that we protected these entitlement programs that you rely on, and we will willing to put them on the table but ultimately we decided not to do a bad deal for the democratic base and i think they will try to make that case to their constituencies. host: our guest is humberto sanchez. janet o joins us, charleston, west virginia, republican line. caller: am i on? host: you sure are. caller: i think this administration has ruined this

country with borrowing too much money kept i cannot understand why they did not let the pipeline come from canada. also, the in-house trading. all they think about is making money for themselves. obama has made the dollar worthless. to go overseas and give people money that we do not have, like brazil, to drill, yet he does not want us to drill. i cannot understand why people are so blind and listen to the allies from this administration. thank you. guest: i think the reaper present we will -- i think the president will continue to push for a jobs agenda. he will have trouble running

against the economy as he did in the past. the objective here now is to paint congress as transition, and not able to negotiate a deal. i think the president will try to say "i am going to appeal to the american people to try to help them help make push the economy forward, and there are -- forward." republicans will try to paint him with this economy. host: stories say the white house made an effort not to get overly involved in the super committee. you see this as a wedge issue into 2012. is that a fair assessment? guest: he was told by certain democrats that if he became too involved in might be over-

politicized. there was communication between the white house and committee members regularly. host: a lot of e-mail is coming in. john has this point. guest: i think there will be a lot of frustration from the elector. rightly so, this entire committee was set up to find a way around something congress could not. it failed, and now they are throwing it back to congress. optimism is a very low for how this gets solved. host: our next call is from new hampshire, where the president will be later today.

democrats line. caller: i would like to start out by saying bless c-span. you give america the opportunity to voice opinions. instead of all this finger pointing, we are very smart people. we are americans. i think we can come up with a solution. this might sound stupid, but what do you think about a global reset date? it appears all the countries around the world are heavy in debt. if everyone on january 1, 2012, all countries claim bankruptcy. everybody would be downgraded, so nobody would be any different from their neighbors, as well as everyone's debt would be set

back to zero. it is just numbers. why would that do for the economy if we all started fresh, brand new? host: thank you for the call. guest: i think that could have a detrimental effect on growth. you would have trouble convincing banks to take a downgrade, and it that debt. jobs would be lost. host: we have the answer. sequester, it is a latin word to place in the hands of a trustee. another definition is to place in seclusion or isolation. ron joins us from new york city. good morning. been dependent line. caller: a couple of things that

make it impossible to solve any problems -- first, the degree of dogma that underlies the principles of both parties. the one thing that i really question is the idea that by lowering taxes you pay increase employment, or by raising taxes you increase employment. i do not think there is any basis for any of it. i think this is all dogma on the part of the parties. whether employment happens to increase or decrease depends more upon what kind of industry there is, and of course at this point there is no industry in this country. so, i do not know if there is any hope for that. the other question that comes to my mind is i remember president george w. bush talking about how

the iraq war would be paid for as a result of the oil revenues obtained from that war, which would have diminished our debts by several trillion dollars had that been true. what ever happened to those ideas? i would appreciate your opinion on this subject. host: thank you for the call from new york guest: that was one way they wanted to pay for the iraq war. the iraqi government is still trying to get to a place where it can collect those revenues. they have a lot of infrastructure and institutions to build to have a viable government. as far as ideologies go, america has been debating these issues since its founding. i think these upcoming

elections, not the others are not important, but these will be very important because americans will weigh in on the size of government and the kind of government they want to read ultimately these are big issues that were debated which it wants. ultimately these are big issues that were debated -- they want. altman is a big issues that were debated. host: this from "the wall street journal." host: next to that is this chart -- the real driver in the deficit. for our radio audience are will explain you're looking at a health-care spending curve that

is going uphill, and then the discretionary spending, defense and nondefense, is holding flat. clearly health care is driving the deficit. guest: healthcare has been a major driver of the deficit for a while. so has social security, but health care in particular. the idea behind the health care law that was enacted a couple of years ago, was to try to drive down the cost of health care. many of the provisions have not yet kicked in. the hope is that once they do the line will decurved downward. host: "the washington post" -- the debt reduction can has been kicked down the road turned from one of our viewers -- road.

from one of our viewers -- de gop state agenda has been to remove obama from office. caller: i am a retired military pilot, 28 years in the air force. my retirement along with all the other of millions of retirees comes from the department of defense budget. unlike any other federal retiree, that money is part of the dod budget. when it comes down to sara forden readiness or retirees, it does not take long to figure out -- to support readiness or retirees, it does not like to take long to figure out what is going to happen. i paid into social security for all the years i worked. i've paid in essence for my

military retirement by the fact that i was a pilot, making less money i could have for an airline. all of my partners put up with getting shot at. i was in vietnam and the gulf war. i feel personally that the commander in chief has painted a target on the back of every military person and military retirees because they will cut what we have fought for. i would like to have your comments. thank you for c-span. host: john, thank you. from louisiana. guest: i think is right. retired veterans have a reason to be concerned. if the sequester takes effect and the decision is between military readiness and retired veterans, they will get the short end of the stick.

host: sue from new jersey says -- guest: republicans took the mantle by saying this was a lack of leadership, the failure of the super committee was a failure of the administration and the president. democrats do not agree, obviously. i think there was something to their narrative where they said over-involvement by the white house would have made it more difficult. host: the world -- the words that have been used include failure. in "the new york times" --

host: to the caller's point about the military -- this from "the new york times" -- guest: i have heard that there could be an effort in the house next month to try to undo the sequester. host: the next call is richard from massachusetts. democrats line. caller: everyone is blaming obama for everything that is

going on, but when he became president he came into two wars that really hurt our deficit. they want to knock him out of the presidency. the republicans want to knock him out so they will not pass anything or go along with anything he says. how can you hold that against him? if i do not health-care who will pay the bill when i am sick? they are knocking all of this stuff out. if they cut social security, whether my supposed to live on? who will take care of me, the government? they cannot make decisions on their own. and this grover norquist, who is he? they are saying he has more say than anybody in the united states. he should not be there. he is not an elected official.

here is nothing to do with anything. he makes these deals to lobby congress and puts them in a bind when they sign things, and then holds it to the committee. how can they make any decisions to benefit the country? they knocked down president obama," package for getting people back to work. i was a construction worker. i have friends that are willing to go back to work but cannot. host: to life for the call. this headline from "the atlanta journal constitution." .owdy respond to richard's -- how you respond to richard? guest: effected there is no deal to curb the deficit is a reason -- the fact that there is no

deal to curb the deficit is the reason for concern. even if they did get a deal, the deficit is such that even more painful cuts will be made down the road. this is the beginning of a difficult path host: the market was down significantly yesterday. from the front page of "the boston globe" -- there were some last minute negotiations led by senator john kerry. what was it over? guest: they were trying to do a last-minute deal that included tax revenue but it was quickly dismissed by republicans. host: and from "the chicago tribune" -- one of our viewers has set this in --

, goodnorth carolina coupl morning. caller: 20 millionaire's went to washington last week, and all of them said -- put the bush tax cuts where they were. the tax cuts that bush gave him made no impact whatsoever. the line about raising taxes and job creators sounds good but does not make sense at all. we hear callers saying put congress on social security and medicare. i agree with that.

that would fix problems, but congress would never do that. how do we make that happen? congress should not get such rich entitlements and then tell us there is not enough money for you. how'd we put congress on medicare and social security? host: george, thank you. guest: that was part of the rationale with this sequester, the idea was to make cuts so congress would not have any other choice but to make these decisions that would ramp down the deficit. it has not worked this time, and i do not think we've seen the last of the sequester. host: another newspaper outside of the beltway -- matt has this point from our twitter page.

host: the next call is joan joining us from knoxville, tennessee. caller: good morning. i have a question that nobody has been answering did we ever see what democrats promised to -- answering. did we ever see what democrats promised to cut? i would like to see what programs they were thinking about cutting. also, the whole thing was only supposed to save 1.-some trillion dollars. he wanted a stimulus. they do everything 10 years down the road. they want to tax your money because they have already spent all of this money, and they want to be able to spend some more and reduce debt.

it is a no-win thing. if you give them more money, they will spend it. they will not cut out programs or pay down the debt. host: thank you for the call. guest: one thing that was on the table was farm subsidies, an agreement to roll back farm subsidies that would have caught something in the 30 billion's. a lot of things were done behind closed doors. it is hard to say who was on board with cutting what, but both sides were on board with farm subsidies. host: both sides agree the pentagon budget needs to be caught, correct? guest: yes. host: based on that, james has this point --

host: how much are we looking in budget cuts if the sequester does not take effect, but normal process ensues? guest: i think the budget for the pentagon will be in the $600 billion area, which was an increase over last year. i think the pentagon fares well under normal budget process is. the sequester is a big problem. for the pentagon alone, they are looking at $500 billion in cuts. host: from an e-mail -- guest: is entirely possible to read i think there was a political -- possible.

i think there was a political estimation, looking at a lame duck, and the republicans made a calculation that they feel they have a chance to win the presidency and possibly the senate, and then put forth their own agenda. host: if lower taxes for the wealthy is so great that increase in on him -- employment, why did unemployment increase at the rate it did after the bush tax cuts? guest: i think the economy was in a worse place than people thought. host: she says you were in the mix. tell us what the mood was like on each side of the aisle? guest: there was a be grudging acceptance that nothing was going to happen. [laughter]

they did not want to announce it until after markets closed. they were slowly winding down to the point they decided this is it. host: the market opened lower and fell 249 points yesterday. our next call from bowie, maryland. democrats line, connie. caller: the people in polls -- 68% said taxes should be raised on the rich, and millionaires and billionaires said they wanted their taxes raised, and some people do not understand how government works when they call in, talking about obama ran it up $1 trillion. it was over $1 trillion when he

came into office. obama did not start the wars. he did not start the drug deals republicans put out for seniors. the republicans just refuse to raise taxes, and they do not care what the people want. the tea party and the republicans do not want to raise taxes, so they stuck to it, and they think as long as they do that, the tea party will reelect them, but they forget it is more than tea party of there. other people do not agree with that. we will get rid of the tea party and the republicans this time. there is a grass roots movement. -- grass-roots movement. i believe we will win it back.

watch the democrats. they will cut the deficit. they did it before. they will do it again. host: thank you for the call. as we look at the u.s. debt clock website, our debt is now in excess of $15 trillion, and we reached that last tuesday. guest: it is interesting that she brought the millionaires' tax. i think democrats in the senate could use that as an offset for extending the payroll tax cut. host: let me show this photograph from "the new york times." there are some scathing editorials that this committee could not get anything done, they could not reach any agreement. guest: again, i think they could have come to a smaller agreement, but they decided for negotiating purposes, why make a

deal now for things that will probably be negotiated later on? the calculation was it was not in any one's best interest. host: when you talk to friends outside of washington, d.c., what do they ask you? guest: it looks really bad. congress has never looked more unable to do its job. they wonder what does the future hold? will they be able to make these decisions, and they are right to ask. congress has really shown no ability or a signal that they have the ability to do what needs to be done. host: our next caller is eric from georgia. we're talking to humberto sanchez. good morning, republican line. caller: the main thing that i'm

calling about is there have been some good comments made this morning, but when do you stop do you stop when spending? what is the purpose in continuing to spend and tax? why can they not draw a balance? why can they not just get all of the stuff out of the way that does not really makes sense for this country, and just do something in a logical way? it is so idiotic the way you have your special interests, your democrats, you're republicans -- everybody needs to come to an agreement, just like the man from north carolina said. the government does not all anybody anything. we do not 0 people anything.

-- owe people anything. we have a right to make money and pay taxes, but at the same time everyone needs to understand this is not a government of entitlements. this is a government of the people. until we justify the means in this country, we are lost. we have put everything that should be put on the table under the table. host: thank you for the call. guest: it sounds easier than it is. everyone has a different set of priorities. the goal is coming up with this set of priorities that a majority of people can agree on, and congress does not unable to do that. host: one of our viewers says -- host: let me go back to one.

from -- to the editorial from "to usa today." to talk about a minimal goal, and it sounds like a lot of money, but it is less than 3% of the $46 trillion debt is estimated will be spent by the congressional budget office. what financially strapped household or business can not figure out a way to save 3 cents of every dollar they spend? guest: it is harder than it sounds. it is a huge number, and it should be a small percentage of that, but it is very difficult to come to an agreement on what , or how to do it. every program has a constituency, and it is very

hard to convince people to give it up for the better of the nation. host: one your response to the earlier tweet same taxes went down under many democratic presidents, including jfk. david, you have the last word. caller: congress has lost touch with the pulse of the people. i think we need to have our interests that hand instead of special interests. this super committee has failed. they do not have all or nation's -- have our nation's interests at hand. maybe it is time to replace converse with people who do have the pulse of us in hand. both people in that could do

it, that are not part of these great big political parties. it is time to think outside of the parties. congress is doing loss for us, and we are doing more for less. that is not the way it should be years ago i was impressed with the tea party -- should be. years ago, i was impressed with the tea party, and now i see the tea party talking the talk, and occupy wall street walks the walk. there is confusion about what they are trying to say. i've seen interviews and listened to radio where they are right on. there are segments in any group that are not desirable, but i think their statements are real. they make a really good point. host: i will stop you there because we are short on time. we will get a response. guest: i think this failure

feeds into the possibility this could be an anti-incumbent election. david said something important, the failure of the parties allow this to happen, and a lot of politicians might be sent packing. host: the headline from "roll call." the quick headline? guest: how do you pay for it? do you pay for the doc fix for medicare providers? do you pay for the peril text? i think you will see efforts by democrats to turn to this millionaires' tax to offset these things.

the appropriations bill, there is about $900 billion left. congress has done three bills today. that will parolee be taken up the end of the -- that will be taken up at the end of the year. republicans will have a problem voting for it. next month will be very busy. host: we will be covering it all, including defining what sequester is all about. humberto sanchez, he writes for roll call, available online at rollcall.com. coming up, how much key members of congress are getting from industries and donors. melanie sloan will be with us. and, david walker, the former u.s. comptroller general and now the founder of comeback america

initiative. nancy tell is in the c-span radio studios. >> more reaction from republican presidential candidate michele bachmann. the minnesota congressman said it is tragic the super committee failed to reach an agreement and she blames president obama saying that he was a wall when crunch time came. she went on to say we look at greece, and it is obvious what needs to be done. we cannot afford a welfare state, so do not do it anymore. european stocks are rising from a six-week low, and asian shares are little changed as the s&p and moody's have maintained credit ratings even as the deficit reduction committee failed to reach an agreement. dahl futures are up about one point ahead of the opening bell. three astronauts have returned to earth after spending three

have 65 days in space. they touched down safely this morning. three astronauts are due to return to earth in march. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> from the miami book fair international last weekend -- >> miami was center stage in the bay of pigs. it is where the cia came to -- recruits to the exiles. after castro became in the came into power, many of the people that did not like him very much fled cuba, and where they fled to was mainly in miami. >> the election of the first black president was a landmark that shows there has been tremendous change in american racial attitudes.

had there not been that change there would have been no hope of prevailing. >> in a presidential debate is critical -- it is hard to relax, but you need to make a split second decision with no help -- thank you move on, the wife follow up, what do i do now? -- do i move on, do i follow up, what do i do now? >> watch what you want, when you want. "washington journal" continues. host: we want to welcome back david walker the former comptroller general, who is now the founder and ceo of the comeback america initiative. thank you for being with us. guest: great to be back with you. host: let me share with you a headline from "usa today" --

host: your reaction to what happened? guest: i think it was the greatest political failure in modern history, and the latest and greatest example of fraud, waste, and abuse in washington. the committee was a fraud, set up to go big, secondly it wasted time and resources, and thirdly it abused the public trust. everyone associated with this should be ashamed and earnings to be a degree of accountability brought to bear. it is another example of how politics have been taken over by extremes, dominated by career politicians and special interests. it is time for the first three words of the constitution to come alive -- "we the people." host: how do deal with a debt

that needs to come down? guest: i think what the president did last night is a positive thing -- to threaten a veto if there is an attempt to under-cut the sequester. congress might want to repackage that, but it is an imperative that we achieve at least the 1.2 trillion dollars. if they did not want the sequester to happen, they could have agreed to half the sequester and come up with more than $600 billion of mandatory spending and revenues that could've gotten bipartisan support. they also could have and should have recognized this extraordinary process that gave them the ability to bring things to the floor for an up or down vote should have been extended with a different group of people because these 12 or not there right 12. after the 2012 election if -- the right 12th.

after the 2012 election we could've reached tax reform that could generate more revenue. they absolutely failed. that is what they should have done. host: we have a number of viewers and listeners making a similar point. disinformation from the internal revenue service. -- this information from the internal revenue service. guest: is not acceptable. the simple fact of the matter is our current tax system needs to be more simple, more fair, more competitive, more equitable, and to generate more revenue.

about 50% of americans pay no income taxes. they paid payroll taxes, but a lot are eligible for earned income tax credit. the get a rebate -- they get a we get -- rebate. 51% are on the wagon. some 49% are pulling the wagon. our top tax rate is 35%. that is because of some of the factors you mentioned. most of the wealthiest people make money in capital gains which is taxed at 50% and there is no payroll tax. -- 15%, and there is no payroll tax. we need to engage in tax reform because the current system is an abomination. host: "the washington times" has this editorial this morning --

guest: democrats are right that we will need more revenue, but they are wrong that we want to tack on higher marginal tax rates. we need comprehensive tax reform that will eliminate a lot of the exemptions and exclusions, lower the marginal tax rate, tax capital gains the same as ordinary income. that could be accomplished and should be accomplished after the 2012 election. on the other hand, the republicans are wrong to say we do not need more revenue, democrats are wrong to saying we do not need to renegotiate the social security contract. healthcare is eating our lunch and the affordable care act will make our lives more difficult, not easier if it survives the

supreme court challenge. host: from arthur herman -- host: how real is this threat? guest: there is absolutely no question that if you end up having to implement the $600 billion in cuts as quickly as they are talking about it will have adverse consequences. we spend as much money on defense as the next 14 nations combined. the defense department is a bloated bureaucracy. we're spending too much money on overhead, and not enough on tooth. health-care costs are eating the

pentagon's lunch. the all volunteer force might not be economically sustainable. we need to reduce defense spending without compromising national security and there is an intelligent way to do that. host: we talked to senator tom coburn last week, the republican from oklahoma who was critical of the super committee and put on the table one example of defense spending, saying it was run by two different organizations, and his suggestion was you streamline the organization, combine the two, and save money. that was one small example. your thoughts? guest: absolutely. it is one small example. we still have military personnel delivering mail. we are providing the credit benefits to members of the guard and reserves that are not on active duty. congress did that.

there is tremendous waste in the pentagon. we need to have a very disciplined approach to go through the current operations and practices so we can separate the we from the chaff, maximize the ability for readiness, eliminate the overhead. that should be a top priority. host: david walker joins us. you can send us an e-mail, or join the conversation online at twitter. if you have been mentioned as a potential candidate for the senate in connecticut. you declined. why? guest: several reasons. one, family considerations. i gave 15 years to my country and was hesitant to give many more. the senate has become a dysfunctional place. the result of the super committee reinforces that. there are ways i can contribute

and make a difference other than serving in an elected office. i've done a lot of things with the comeback america initiative. i will continue to. if we get a president that is serious about putting finances in order and wants to transform government as we did at the gao, i would be willing to do more time in public service. host: "the editorial read the editorial from "the watch -- wall street journal" -- and from twitter, please talk about the pledge. guest: there should not be any special interest pledges. anybody that is taking those kinds of pledges should rescind those pledges and reject them. in many cases they were taken in

1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 -- when we had surpluses. we are in a different situation. it is not just the right. the left is in denial about the need to reform the social insurance programs to make them affordable and sustainable. we will have to do things on both sides of the ledger. host: a democrat from montgomery county in maryland with david walker. good morning. caller: this is my first time calling, so i am a little nervous, but what i wanted to say is the problem with everything is we cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach. you have one side saying you have to raise taxes. the other side says we have to

spend. the problem is we are not punishing the guys for the failure. that is the biggest problem. when you have this committee set up, and they say this person is not doing this, that person is not doing that, that is silly. we have to take the leadership as the voters, like with the 99% mentioned earlier. if they could use something like the concept of the flesh of -- , but thethe flesh mob concept, that everyone can pull together. congress is run by the special interests and money. host: thank you for the call. as a first-time caller, do not be a stranger. david walker?

guest: he is right that the first three words of the constitution need to come alive. we the people need to be responsible for what happens. washington has been irresponsible. the super committee underscores that. we need to have more people that are looking out for the public interests rather than special interests, people that want to do temporary public service, rather than career politicians. you will not did different results sending the same people back over and over again. 2012 will be an interesting election. hopefully, the people will hold both parties accountable because both parties are responsible for where we are today, and both sides are being unreasonable. it will take more bipartisanship and more constructive and principal-based compromise.

it is about three parts spending reductions, and one part revenue increases. we will need reforms in a range of areas including social insurance programs, defense, and texas. we had better do it in the next two-to-three years. host: our next call is john, fort lauderdale, florida. republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. sir, i hope you do not cut me off. i am a republican. i'm thinking very seriously about changing. i get sick and tired about -- with my party talking about kicking the can down the road. it takes both sides. we definitely can see where the blame lies. what is wrong with american people when we know we did not

have this deficit problem when the democrats, bill clinton was the president, and as soon as our president, george w. bush came into office, he rolled back the taxes and cause the problems we are having. don't we know how to fix it? but the taxes back to where bill clinton had them and you will not have any problems. host: thank you for the call. guest: let me provide some perspective. the united states was in tough shape in 1992 and ross perot ran for president. he did not win, but how to set the agenda during the clinton administration. -- but helps to set the agenda during the clinton administration. we made great progress from the early-1990's, to the year 2000. the last 11 years have been the

most fiscally irresponsible in the history of the united states. we've had a white house controlled by both parties, and they're both to blame. government has grown too big, promised to much, and waited too long to restructure. we need to recapture the revenues but we need to do it through dramatic tax reform, not going back to the old system. we need to broaden the base, reduce the top marginal tax rate, eliminate the difference between capital gains and ordinary income, and do a number of things that will help to promote growth and create more equity within the tax system at the same time, while keeping us competitive in a global economy that is increasingly competitive, and we are losing our competitive posture. host: if you brought the name ross perot. he is one of 14 contenders we're

featuring every friday evening. this week we will turn our attention to george wallace. next week, and george mcgovern, and the series will wrap up with our look at ross perot. we hope you tune in every evening -- every friday evening, or check it out online at c- span.org. this twitter comment -- guest: we are currently benefiting from the instability in europe. we are a temporary safe haven, and that is the reason interest on our debt is so low. people are trying to preserve principal. as we have seen in greece, italy, portugal, and elsewhere, once you lose confidence of investors, things could change

quickly. once you lose that, interest rates go up dramatically. it forces you to do dramatic and draconian things on both the spending and tax side. when you recognize the united states is 28 out of 34 countries in fiscal responsibility and responsibility -- italy is 27, mexico is 18 -- if we do not take steps to demonstrate to the markets and the american people will put our finances in order, we could see a debt crisis and if that happens it will be a global depression. we must not lot -- allow that to happen. it does not need to happen, but we need more leadership. host: from "the wall street journal called this headline -- let me ask you about medicare

and medicaid. what is its fiscal future? guest: we need some level of universal health care in the united states. we are a wealthy country. healthcare is something every american needs. at the same time, we need to recognize the needs to be affordable, corporate, and sustainable. we have over-promise. we need to do more with regard to preventive, wellness, and catastrophic. we need to pay more for results rather than activities. we need to reform our malpractice system. we need to get out of the business of providing large subsidies to wealthy people who sign up for medicare's voluntary programs. we need to not reward lucrative cadillac plans and wealthy individuals while not providing enough to the poor, and we need

to also recognize the government will always have a greater role with regard to the poor, disabled, and those that were the american uniform. we need dramatic and fundamental change in the health-care area, and frankly the latest health- care bill was more of the same from washington -- let's make more promises one we have already promised more than we can afford to keep. host: this photograph of president obama yesterday afternoon. gary, go ahead. caller: i served my country for 15 years. i was in the army. i worked most of my life through farm work and stuff like that. i earned my social security and

veterans' benefits, stuff like that. i do not see where why they have to cut all back, why don't they cut welfare checks and stuff like that? guest: two things are guaranteed under the 14th amendment. first is bond holders of u.s. debt. the second is military pensions. nothing else is protected by the constitution. secondly, let's understand that in the case of social security we can reform the program to make it solvent, secure, and more savings-oriented, phasing in changes were every generation will get more than they think they're going to get. people are not talking about cutting people that are in pay status now, or close. they are talking about restructuring benefits to deliver on the promises that are made, if you will. we need to do that. with regard to other aspects of

benefits, there is no question that health-care benefits in the military are going to have to be restructured. there is no way we can afford those benefits over time, and we need to get on with it sooner rather than later to figure out an equitable way to do that. host: what is the message of the comeback america initiative? guest: it is a non-profit based in bridgeport, connecticut, focus on educating and engage in the public on the facts regarding our fiscal conditions. it talks about non-partisan solutions to restore fiscal sanity at the federal, state, and local levels because all three face serious problems and all three have grown too big, promised to much, waited too long to restructure, and they need to get off on with it.

host: let me get back to the peace i refer to in the last hour. here in california alone, over the last four election cycles, only one seat changed hands between the parties, essentially 99.5 of the democrats and republicans, all 53 were reelected or maintained power. what does that tell you about american politics in your call for bipartisanship? guest: we have a republic that is not representative of the public, and not responsive to the republic. a vast majority of house seats are gerrymandered by state legislatures in order to protect their party and entrenched incumbents. we need a number of times of political reforms. first, we need redistricting reform, the objective of which is to maximize the number of competitive districts,

consistent with the voters' rights act. we need it to credit primaries. one primary, the two top vote getters run off in an election. we need campaign finance reform. we need 12-to-18-year term limits. the founding fathers never intended for a public career out of politics. it is fueled a disconnect that has to be changed. the good news for california, in 2010 they passed changes in the law that will deal with redistricting and will bring integrated primaries, and hopefully they will have a positive impact and other states will follow their lead. host: a great part of this program is when viewers are able to follow what on earlier points, and one viewer says if i heard you correctly he said the affordable care effort will add

to our problems -- guest: thank you for the question. the joint committee on taxation is required by their rules and by their protocols to make certain assumptions, including the congress will do things that it says it will do it despite evidence that it has not in the past and is unlikely to in the future. i look to what the chief

actuary of medicare says. he is an independent professional. he has a responsibility as an actuary. he gave an adverse opinion on the medicare report saying the assumptions were unreasonable and unsustainable. the cost of the affordable care act to medicare alone would be $12 trillion higher. i go with the professionals rather than the politicians. i spent 15 years in this town. i've been a presidential appointee. i know how they keep score and how they keep score does not pass the straight face test. host: we have a tweet. that is an issue of the first

amendment as well. guest: there is no question that we need campaign finance reform and that it will take a constitutional amendment given the recent supreme court decisions. some ideas might be things like there should be a limit as to how much money people can raise . how about the idea that say people can contribute campaigns are those who vote. corporations and unions cannot vote. what about a limit to how much individuals can finance of their own campaign. there has to be a market test to make sure they are just not buying office. some sort of public financing could make sense if it is properly implemented. we to limit the duration of

campaigns. -- we need to limit the duration of campaigns. why can we use -- learn from other countries who are also democracies? they limit the duration of political campaigns. host: we're talking with david walker, the former comptroller general and he is talking about the inability of the super committee to reach agreement yesterday. caller: good morning, mr. walker. i thank you for your service. you are right when you talk about "we the people." this country is more about politics than a governing. the people seem to have forgotten how the system of government works. president cannot go in and make

demands on the congress. the congress cannot make demands on the president. there's too much ideology in this. i'm a recipient of government help. i receive medicare and medicaid. i am a disabled. i am 57 years old. i can see the waste in medicare and medicaid for may 1 hand knowledge. something as simple as diabetic shoes. if you buy them in this store, they are $50 and you pay $15 for inserts. the government is being billed $400 and $500 for one pair of shoes. i can receive one pair of shoes per year. it is a waste. as far as its debt committee, it

was never going to work because of both sides went in entrenched in their own ideology. host: we have this from carly from minnesota, along the same lines. david walker. guest: i think there was a leadership failure on multiple levels. the cochairs of this super committee share a lot of the responsibility. there was a total failure of leadership. the leaders of congress who appointed these members share part of the responsibility. they fail to pick the right kinds of people. the president is the chief executive officer of the united states. the president is the only person that has the so-called bully

pulpit that can go directly to the american people and make the case. he has yet to do that. our financial situation is deteriorating rapidly. we define the position of the united states in the world declining. our standard of living declining. and the domestic tranquillity in our streets could be a real problem. it is how we're going to prepare for a better tomorrow. : the president can do that. i think there is a leadership failure on both sides. that's probably the biggest deficit is the leadership deficit. host: about your decision not to run for the senate in connecticut. jim has this point. guest: that is part of the

problem. we need more people who want to go into office for temper public service in order to get things done rather than -- for temporary public service. we have too many people today that are more concerned about keeping their job been doing their job. if congress was paid for performance, they would owe us money. host: shreveport, louisiana, on the republican line. caller: this is the first time i was able to get on c-span. about these super committees -- they were set up to fail from the beginning. there would have implemented with the bowles-simpson commission wanted to do. this group in washington does

not want to do that. only paul ryan wanted to do that and i think he came up with a pretty good plan. they're run worse than the third world countries. they have the dictator in there that says what they are going to debate and not. even in the third world countries, the parliament has something to say about that. there is a republican congress and senate and a balance the budget, not bill clinton. he cut every branch of the military 30%. there was every to-treat you could think of -- there was every disaster you could think of.

i'm sick of hearing about john f. kennedy cutting taxes. in the general fund, they started spending. host: thank you for your call. what was different with a democratic president in the 91990's? guest: let me address two points. the super committee was set up to fail. look at the composition. you had a quadruple that voted against simpson-bowles -- you that four republicans that voted against simpson-bowles. let's analyze the facts. this is not a partisan issue.

with that four presidents -- george herbert walker bush, william clinton, george walker,43, and barack obama. the first two presidents did three things in common. they kept congress from making more promises. they did not expand into, programs. -- they did not expand entitlement programs. batting 1.000. they did the right thing for the country. that took us from deficits to surpluses and projected surpluses. fast forward to forward43 and barack obama. a strike out -- fast forward to

bush 43 and barack obama. both political parties have acted irresponsibly. we don't have enough people who are fiscally responsible and we don't have a political party that is at the present time. host: let's move this a year from now. let's assume that the republicans keep the house and pick up the u.s. senate and a republican wins the white house. what will we talk about a year from now? guest: no matter who wins the house, the senate and white house, one thing is critically important. we have to engage the public with the facts, the truth, and the tough choices. we need a ross perot's style

public education effort, without necessarily having a third party president. the american people are head of the politicians. they are a lot smarter. they understand you cannot spend at the rate we are. you cannot run this level of deficits. there'll be a day of reckoning. they see what is happening in europe. they know it could happen here. that has to happen so the first three words of the constitution will come alive. so the political price associated with continuing to do nothing, which washington is very good at, will be greater than making tough choices on defense and taxes. it will be more politically risky to do nothing in order to

help create a better tomorrow. host: let me follow-up on the point of a divided government one party having control of the white house. is that a recipe for getting something done? what could change? guest: the last time to we had a republican in the white house and we had a republican congress, one of the years was 2003. that was the first year that the statutory budget control that was put into place expired. we got three things in 2003, with one party control. a second round of tax cuts. we could afford the first but not the second. we invaded a sovereign nation

without declaring war and without paying for it. medicare was expanded. it was already underfunded $19 trillion. move past these party labels. these party labels are part of the problem. we need people who are trying to do the right thing. we need progress over partisanship. we need to mobilize the 70% of americans. 20% of americans consider themselves to be strong conservatives. 70% are in the sensible center. that is for the solutions are. host: pat is on the phone from iowa. caller: the only to change the government is to have term limits.

there is a term limit for the president and there should be term limits for the congress. one term and you were gone. each state should set their limit. big military machines are outdated. keep the troops and guerrillas of the military hard word ju nk. thanks. guest: i do believe we need term limits. states have imposed term limits that are too short. when the 12 -- we need 12- to 18-year term limits. we should not have a system where people are staying in the same job for decades. that is not conducive for tough transformational change. that is not conducive for making tough choices. it is something that the pros of

term limits outweighed the cons. but they need to be longer, 12 to 18 years. they are dialing for dollars the day after they are reelected. host: 1 study says a member of the house needs to raise $10,000 per week for their re-election. we have a tweet. our last call is tied from sarasota, florida -- todd. caller: i have a comment and question. the comment was taken over by the last caller about bill clinton and his tax laws and how we were able to resolve our issues. i was there. i've been watching c-span and you guys have been playing a lot

of the good history from 1995, which pretty much showed us that the republicans were the ones that were standing strong and stopping the spending and not putting up with this anymore. the democrats were having a hard time. i'm pretty much over the democrat-republican issue. i was a republican all my life. i never would vote for a democrat, at least one that wants to raise taxes on everyone. in the last couple of years, i've come to a conclusion that both parties are corrupt. both parties are into a perpetual spending and taxing. the republicans are saying they don't want taxes but they are not cutting taxes. they are making it better for the rich. host: we will get a response. guest: both parties have been acting fiscally irresponsible.

with that republicans control the house and the senate and democrats control for part of the time over the past 11 years. it has been the most fiscally irresponsible period in the history of the united states. the so-called super committee was supposed to help us make congress. they did nothing. it was a total waste of time. what are people talking about now? they want to resend be sequestered. the want to extend the tax cuts. the one to extend unemployment. they want to extend the payroll tax cuts -- they want to extend unemployment. all of those things make the deficit worse, not better. host: david walker is the founder and ceo of the comeback america initiative and former contra -- and former comptroller general. please come back again.

you're watching "washington journal" for this tuesday morning. the house and senate in recess for the thanksgiving holiday. coming up, will turn our attention to the issue that david walker was talking about, money and politics and just how much members of congress are getting as they serve as a ranking members or committee chairs. melanie sloan with citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington will be joining us. the first nancy calo -- but first nancy calo is keeping track of other news on this tuesday morning. >> more on the economy. the report shows the u.s. economy grew slower over the summer than previous estimates. the growth in july was just 2%, lower than the initial 2.5%

assessment. after-tax income fell by the largest amount in two years, reflecting the high unemployment. economists do believe growth will strengthen modestly to about 3%. the unrest in egypt is affecting their stock exchange. trading has been suspended. television shows there is a crisis meeting with leaders of the political parties. the report coming as tens of thousands of protesters are filling tahrir square demanding the military set a date for presidential elections soon. three american students have been arrested outside the university's campus. the university sits on the square at the center of the protest. the three were on the roof of a university building throwing firebombs at security forces.

the school says it is in touch with their families and the u.s. embassy. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> i draw the line in the dust and i say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever. >> george wallace was an ardent supporter of segregation, outspoken against the civil- rights moment. he ran for president four times and lost. one of those efforts cut short by an assassination attempt. this week, george wallace, a live on friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> there was a flood in fort

wayne. people were filling sandbags. air force one stopped. he filled three sandbags, said hello to everyone, got back in the car, and went back on the plane. on the airwaves it was "reagan filling sandbags with his shirt off." >> sam donaldson and chris not talk about the legacy of ronald reagan. michael bloomberg discusses the american dream and the opportunities in the united states. john glenn and michael collins are awarded the congressional gold medal. for the entire things giving day schedule, go to c-span.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we welcome back melanie

sloan, she is the executive director for citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington, otherwise known as crew. i want to read the first sentence. what did you find? guest: committee memberships jacked up contributions considerably. the higher you go on the committee, the more money you'll get. the percentages are quite surprising. you get so much more money from the industry you regulate them from your contributions overall. host: let's look at some examples. we can show this. he brought in about $40,000

from industry contributions and in total about half a million dollars. as he was about to become a share of the committee, he brought in more than $460,000 and a total of about $2 million for his campaign. guest: his overall contributions increase by about 300%. the contributions are so much more dramatic from the industries these members regulate them from their contributions overall. host: fred upton, in 1998, he brought in about $200,000. 2010, $1.2 million. guest: a huge difference.

you do see some people from that does not hold true. on the energy committee, henry waxman, his contributions have remained about constant. the one up 1055%. there was one member of congress whose contributions have gone down and that is ron paul. he took an 11% drop. you have to wonder if he is considering retiring. host: let's look as some of the ranking democratic members. the ranking democrat on the house committee on agriculture. 1998, about $80,000 a2. . -- these are rough estimates. guest: this is consistent for

both parties. higher in leadership influences your contributions. when you're in the majority, your contributions are higher than when you're in the minority. that has held true in a matter which party is in power. host: our guest is melanie sloan for the citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington. you can give us a call. 202-737-0001 for democrats. 202-737-0002 for democrats. twitter.com/cspanwj. send us an e-mail at journal@c- span.org. guest: there is something wrong with our entire system. they need a lot of money to be reelected each year. their most likely to get that money from those who have needs before them.

i think there is something wrong with them. i don't think it is a crime. it is a troubling part of our system. our members of congress are more indebted to the special interest than they are to the public interest. host: i want to put another figure on the table looking at how much money members of congress need to raise. if you're seeking reelection, on average, that number needs to raise about $10,000 a week. that puts them in a difficult situation if they are facing an opponent who has a lot of money or if they are self funded. guest: it is a big problem. the bigger the market urine, the more expenses the races -- the bigger the market you are in, the more expenses the races. members of congress are worried

about the kinds of ads. host: another figure on the table. 30% of of donation to the committee leaders came from the industries that they are responsible for overseeing. guest: right. a lot of these members are voting more favorably toward the industries they are regulating. not every single time. but significant number of them vote for other members of the party. host: they may say they're serving on the committee because they are passionate about an issue. they're on a defense committee or in tier committee because that is what brought them to congress -- or interior committee. guest: it is remarkable the number of members of congress that seem to vote with the industry's keep them in

congress. host: steve from michigan. caller: good morning. these politicians raise a lot of money. what happens if they do not spend the money that they were given and they decide to retire or quit politics -- what happens to the excess money in their account? host: thank you, caller. guest: they do not give back. they keep it in a campaign fund and dole it out. some of these accounts exist passed the time that members have died. host: charlie from new york on the republican line. caller: i am concerned about the citizens united past by the

supreme court. i understand the amendment in congress possibly by senator sanders among others that would possibly change that decision of the supreme court. is that the only to get lobbyists out of politics? whether it is democrats or republicans, it seems that the only way we can get back our country is if lobbyists or eliminated in america. guest: it would be hard to eliminate lobbyists. it is included in the constitution that people have the right to lobby the government. they have that constitutional right. the real problem isn't so much the lobbyists but the money that those lobbyists, with. the influence on members of

congress. i do think that is a significant issue. the legislation you are talking about -- there was something called the disclose act that would have required more disclosure on people who are behind the ads will be seen during the coming election cycle. often those ads are put up by groups with patriotic-sounding names and you do not know who is behind it. there is legislation requiring that information to be disclosed. it doesn't have any hope right now. there is talk of a constitutional amendment to change citizens united, but i think that is a long shot now. host: according to your study, he has seen his contributions increase 620% in that short time period. guest: there has been

legislation. it is also true that mr. baucus is one member that voted more favorably with the industry than other members of his party. i think that is notable because so many republicans were critical of any legislation following the financial crisis. mr. baucus voted even more than members of his party in favor of the interest of those he regulated. host: what about the ranking democrat, barney frank? guest: he had a huge uptick in its contribution. his overall increase was about 1300%. mr. frank didn't vote more frequently than the average democrat with the industry. host: independent line, good

morning. caller: it goes to show this country is in bad shape. with all the politicians and some of them walk in with little money and walk out being millionaires. then we find out they are allowed to do inside trading. it is time for this country to get away from these people and reelect good people. get rid of all them. put new people in. we're not supposed not professional politician. it is time to look at everything. host: thank you for the call. austin, texas. caller: the previous caller still a little of my thunder. it is against the law for insider trader at anywhere else. the politician can find themselves.

it is ridiculous. how can they be able to do this when the rest of the public cannot do this? aren't they supposed to be representing us? guest: i would agree with you. there was a report recently on "60 minutes" about this. it has never had any movement in congress. this legislation has been there for many years and it is not done any traction. the story has led to people being more interested in it, so perhaps we'll see some future gains. this is a significant problem.

host: next is joe on the republican line from new york. caller: thank you for taking my call. i think the speaker you had on earlier who talked about term limits was hitting on something that might help the situation, getting rid of the career politicians. i think we go a long way -- it would go a long way to getting some of these abuses taken care of. maybe somehow getting these kinds of reforms put out as referendums for people to vote on would go a long way, too. i did not see the fox in the henhouse making the changes that need to be made to strain the situation and out. that is tit. guest: i know there is talk about term limits. the real solution is campaign finance reform. david walker talk about that.

i think if we want our politicians to represent our interests, they cannot be costly dialing for dollars and trying to get more money for their re- election campaign. they need to be indebted for us and not to special interests. the only to do that is to take the money out of politics. host: next call on the independent line. caller: c-span is the best reality programming on television. what role does educating the american citizens out there playing in raising awareness and the ability to appreciate what is going on? if we took the case of the super committee and show that on television, would that not show the inaction -? do you reach out to people to

teach them more about what is going on? guest: we try to do our best to get the message out. that is why i'm here on c-span, so we can tell a large number of problems that we're seeing in washington. we're not alone in now. there are other groups who are doing the same thing. it is important to educate the american public so that people know what is going on here. that is a big part of the problem. people do not know what is going on in washington. there would rather watch tim kerr-and then c-span. -- kim span.shian thtaan c- guest: yeah. that would be harder than you think. there are many, many doors in the house and senate. having the video feed, they

don't have to sign an like you do at the white house. there has been an effort to have members of congress but their calendars out in public. one group has been advocating for that for a while. so if members of congress would list that, that would be helpful. host: it is called citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington. who funds crew? guest: regular members of the public. we have some foundation donors as well as on wealthier americans who share her view that politics has a lot of problem in politics these days and that honesty and integrity are virus that we want to instill in our political system. host: your report is available online. in a study illustrates just how deeply the pay to play culture has penetrated the house of representatives. guest: that is true.

some reporters look to a report and said come we'll know this. when you see it on paper and you see the percentages, i think that makes more of it marked an people can understand more clearly. host: the republican line from kansas, phil. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you today? i like the idea of reform. i think what is getting neglected -- i am part of more than one lobby. i'm a veteran and i am a senior. i get inundated by the aarp just all the time. they have my interests in mind. i think until we are reformed,

it will be difficult. i know what i'm going to do. maybe other callers will not be as honest as i am. when it comes to interest, i'll see to mine. guest: members of congress are worried about more parochial interests. host: george from south carolina. caller: good morning. i want to make a quotation that one of our presidents said about our congress. if i could, a sculptor from proverbs that goes with it. this is from james garfield. "now more than ever, the people are responsible for the character of their congress. if that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and

corruption." i think that is what the occupy wall street is all about. we are not going to tolerate it anymore, with the things that are going on. guest: i agree that this is a significant problem. representative charlie rangel from new york just had a big fund-raiser. he was reelected to congress despite the fact of the was censured. now the top democrats have been a big fund-raiser for him, including nancy pelosi. host: jim has this point on our twitter page. a lot of people are writing in. guest: well, it is in fact hard

to refer this situation. members of congress often do need the assistance of lobbyists to help them with these issues. members of congress need to remember that the people there representing us of the greater american public, and not the special interests. host: we are talking with malice loan with the -- we are talking with melanie sloan with the citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington. caller: the only point i wanted to make -- we talk about citizens united, that is a relatively new enactment -- with a voice had the george soroses

out there. we have had the big unions pretty much bashing republicans as far as, you know, the october surprise and all that. that comes from the unions. basically the democrats are in bed with the unions. go back to the old days where there is one game in town. that is the ability of the democrats to do with the republicans are hamstring to not do. - guest: i do not think that this an entirely accurate depiction. advocating the defeat or election of a specific candidate -- they could not do that.

that applied equally to unions and corporations. host: next up on the republican line, matt. caller: talking about what incentivizes members of congress. they kind of have a cushy deal. locking in options in leadership. people need to become part of that precipitous -- recidivist culture and benefiting it in different ways. occupy wall street movement has a point in being fed up. they have no answers. guest: i think that is because the answers are so tough. many people are fed up with congress. the inability of the super committee will further enrage people. congress can seem to get

anything done. the problem seems to be the special interests. host: the report they cannot last week focusing on money and politics. we have two e-mails i want to share. guest: right now we have a big problem. the supreme court's decision -- they are equating money would speech. very hard to regulate it. we will need some changes in the supreme court. i think it will go down as one of the worst decisions in our nation's history and i think it will not stand up over time.

i think americans are going to be frustrated with the kind of ads will will will be seeing that will be filled with lies and half truths. i think the other part is that we will not know who is behind a a those ads. putting now an ad behind global warming? host: we are talking about money and politics. new questions are raised about how beholden ranking members are to the committees they oversee and whether they can put public interest ahead of special interests. tim is joining us from minnesota on the independent line. caller: i do not believe the

unions or the corporations should be involved in our election process. no way, no how. i saw an expose the other night where these congressmen go to office and, richer than when they went in because they have insider information on how to play their stocks. ok? there is something wrong with that. in the end, you get democrats and republicans pointing their fingers at each other. they are busy making money in office. guest: that is indeed a significant problem. it is a racist that members of congress can commit to serving the public and, in here and use that position in order to make moneys for themselves, their friends, and their families. we saw that were at the speaker, dennis hastert, was involved in

a land deal that he got a good deal on land and his part of the scheme was to put in an earmarked for a road which increased the value of that land. we have seen some efforts because of stories like that to take back the earmarked situation. we have seen is significant decrease in earmarked. we're having something called letter marks and fall marks, which is where members of congress call up the head of an agency in say, i needed to put in money for this or make a request for this and to fund a specific project. members of congress are always finding new ways to help special interests. host: vivian on the phone from tennessee. caller: good morning. i have not heard anyone say anything about the supreme court -- a few minutes ago they did.

we need to change the supreme court. they have a job for a lifetime. why should they have a job for lifetime. they're taking kickbacks up their, too? we need to look at the supreme court. the rulers who are making these rules. something needs to be done about the supreme court. they need a term-limit. guest: i think governor rick perry even suggested term limits for the supreme court. that would require a constitutional amendment. i don't think there's a lot of effort to make that happen right now. host: president obama raising over 700 million dollars for its campaign -- $700 million.

expected to raise close $1 billion. guest: not just president obama it expected to raise all kinds of money. all the republican candidates are raising money. they have these super pacs which are ways to have more anonymous unning a runningd in their -- running ads in their favor. this race, the presidential system is completely broken. nobody who is running for president would take the money because there is too little money overall. host: you can read the report from crew. caller: hello.

how does the pensions of congressmen and senators impact their stay in office prove it is it something that they aren't immediately upon winning election? is its duration for a lifetime? what is the impact of these pensions on our debt, the underlying debt of the country? host: a good point, because it did change a couple of years ago. guest: pensions are dependent based on how long they are there. it is a generous pension but not a significant factor to our national debt. host: jack says this -- guest: well, the jury is out on that. there are other cases going to the courts that will help us

understand the parameters of what the supreme court will allow to be regulated. it is true that to change citizens united, the case will have to be struck down or the will have to be a constitutional amendment. i do not think we can expect to see either of those things happen in the near future. host: brian, good morning. caller: i like to ask a question about term limits. i thought we stopped all this. that way there would not figure of how to work the scene. guest: i know callers have been advocating for term limits. i don't think if you were there for just a couple of terms, you would need to be raising money for your reelection effort. there would still be special interest money coming in. i think issues are more

complicated than all of americans give them credit for. politicians gained a certain level of expertise. we do want our politicians to have some experience. what them -- we want them to know what they're doing and to work together. caller: good morning. what we think we know about this country and it is a big matrix. the media is helping to perpetrate that. we've lost control of our country when the federal reserve bank was created and when taxation was created. american citizens are being forced to pay taxes on labor. the 16th amendment was never ratified for that purpose. americans need to educate themselves and with up to what is going on in this country. host: did you want to respond?

guest: i think americans do need to pay taxes. having roads and electricity and telephone service and all those kinds of things -- we can thank in part our tax dollars for. caller: good morning. let's keep going to the real thing. the constitution says my representatives are supposed to represent me and the people that live in my district. my senators represent the state that i live. host: who is your representative in the house? caller: the point is, if we go back to the constitution, i can vote in my school district, but i can vote in the city because i live in the county. all money and voters should come from our district or our state, depending on the center. no union, no corporation, noel

should beath allowed to bring money in from new york because they want to make a profit off of my district and they do not live here. my representative is supposed to represent me and live in the district. we have this legalized bribery now. one person the called about the supreme court is correct. host: thank you for the call. guest: i think our campaign finance system is legalized bribery. that under our current what is legal -- that under our currentla law is legal. guest: staffers do have some sway. one went to jail over a large

scandal in 2006. there was a recent "60 minutes" piece. a stepping stone to their next job as a highly paid lobbyists. they are often very anxious to do lobbyist biddings because they are open to get jobs with those same lobbyists. de on thee on republican line. caller: we have a bunch of corrupt politicians in washington, i think. they think about more about getting reelected than anything else. what would need to do this last go around on the deal, the national debt has increased in the last 10 or 12 years. what we need to do is vote those

guys out if they have been a 12 in for years. vote them out. host: there seems to be a common theme. we have debated this in the past. guest: will have the ability to get rid of a politician's we do not like. we can vote them and of office. if we did not like how our politicians are acting, it is up to us to vote against them. host: ted from oregon. caller: good morning. good job. i appreciate your fight. i would probably think that every politician from a local dogcatcher to president obama should have a statement written by thomas jefferson so many years ago. he stated in the last days of

his presidency that, "when i leave, my hands will be as clean and empty as the day i arrived." i believe that statement should be in every politician's office in the country, to keep them on track and to let them remember where we all came from and where they are hired to do a job. host: thank you. guest: it is not a job for people who want to get rich. people who want to get rich should go work for a hedge fund. host: mike up early from hawaii. caller: thank you for your hard work in hollywood -- in washington, dc. i ran for political office in honolulu to couple of times.

i was discouraged because the pension systems for the elected officials are proliferating their jobs. we can go back to a lot of corporate politicians. people that are coming up on tv lately, including mrs. pelosi and whatever else. i think all elected officers in our country should get into public service and no more pensions. host: to life for the call in hawaii -- thank you for the call. guest: i don't think that is why people get into service. i think they like the power and they like the media position they gain. it is a popular job. they do need to realize t