look at today's headlines, we will take your calls on the congressional agenda. our guests are a republican from texas and the connecticut democratic representative, chairman of the democratic caucus. ♪ ♪ host: good morning. it is friday, december 16, 2011. last night, bipartisan leaders in both houses of congress announced they had reached a deal, a $1 trillion deal to fund the remaining government branches and agencies and averting the possibility of a government shutdown tonight at midnight. we are going to open up our phone lines to talk about what you have been watching in congress and what you think about their efforts to reach a

deal on government funding. a deal has not been reached on the other big issue of the week. that is the possible extension of the payroll tax holiday. leaders in both parties are suggesting a temporary retention of that, so that discussions over funding can continue. our phone lines are open. we would like to know what you think about these last minute negotiations. these are our phone lines. a good friday morning to you. we will be here for just two hours. the house is in early today, 9:00 a.m. eastern time. the spending bill is likely to be on their agenda. later on, two members of congress, one democrat and one republican, to tell you what they think about the

negotiations and how they will cast their votes. they are louie gohmert and john larson of connecticut. manu raju is the politico congressional reporter. this is the politico story this morning. manu raju has been covering this all week. good morning to you and what can you tell the c-span audience about this deal? guest: it will probably pass. the spending bill was agreed to. some of the controversial riders republicans had placed in the bill -- that had generated a lot of democratic opposition earlier in the week. some of those were dropped. some of those were modified, most notably involving cuba and

targeting the administration's policy. those things were changed enough to win enough democratic support, so there will most likely be bipartisan support in the house to pass the bill today and you'll also see that later today in the senate, as well. host: what does it do for overall spending levels? there has been concern over the last year about the size of the debt and deficit and federal spending. how does it all turned out? guest: when you compare it to last year's level, it is below last year's level. a lot of this was agreed to during the budget control act. that was the law that was enacted in august to increase the national debt ceiling.

they said an overall cap for federal spending, $1.034 trillion, which represents a decrease from last year's level. that complies with the law. that is less than last year. it is not as low as some conservatives would like. you will probably see a lot of conservative members vote against this tomorrow or today. the proponents will say -- this represents a cut from last year's levels. this is a significant thing. host: a comment or two from you on the other contentious debate. that is the extension of the so- called payroll tax holiday. guest: that is still unresolved. there are marathon negotiations that are happening all day

yesterday over extending the payroll tax holiday, in addition to dealing with jobless benefits, and averting a scheduled pay decrease for medicare physicians. the fight right now is how to pay for those measures. they are still trying to deal with a yearlong extension of those, but it appears right now that they will probably have to resort to a two-month extension. the two sides cannot agree to how to cover the cost of that proposal. right now, we are looking at potentially a $40 billion two- month extension that would be fully paid for by a number of different cuts, and essentially back early next year in the spring, in the late winter. they will be fighting over this again. host: thank you very much. after the heat of the week, it looks like these bills will be

voted on in congress and sent to the president. manu raju has been covering this for politico. thank you for your time to really want to hear your reactions to the compromise that was forged and what you sell of the politics of the debate over the week. you can send us a tweet or an e- mail. we will put the addresses on the bottom of the screen. birmingham, alabama. go ahead. caller: we are still under the george bush tax structure. the two tax cuts that still have not been paid for blew a hole in the tax revenue that we were receiving. they are squabbling over minor tax cuts. they said that these tax cuts were supposed to create jobs, but these great tax cuts should have stem the tide of all the

job losses that we had in 2008, 2009, and until now. they did not. where is the reasoning or the math that supports what they are trying to do or what they are trying to continue? i do not see the reason behind any of this. host: next, dorothy in baltimore. caller: hello. i'm calling because i want to make a comment. i do not understand why the republicans fight so hard to for anything to be given to the american citizen, the middle class. they fight hard. these are our tax dollars. these are our tax dollars that they are talking about. people get out of work -- paid taxes and they get in trouble. they cannot get anything. the rich say they need more money to make jobs. they already have trillions of

dollars. how much more money? and then a 47% that do not pay taxes -- you have to include the 1%, as well, that do not pay taxes. you are supposed to help the poor. that's in the bible. the bible said that. those are our tax dollars, american tax dollars. fight for the middle class. the one thing. host: thank you for your call. deborah is a republican watching us in houston. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. you are right. these are our tax dollars. as a republican, as far as the rich people, i am not a rich person. anybody in this country has

the opportunity to pull yourself up and make that happen. as far as reaching a deal -- right now, we are broke. it's like a marriage. a man and a wife, they are arguing over money. folks have to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. that's the bottom line. young 20's living on their own, trying to go to school, they do not get any help. working two jobs, trying to put yourself in school. here's a little bit of money to help with the rent so you can focus on school. they will give it to someone with two, three, four kids. they keep having all these kids and here they are getting free rent, free food stamps. what is that all about? i know the republicans want to cut $2.9 trillion of of all the

entitlement program. that should not be called an entitlement program. that should be called suck and dry program. what about the grandmother who has taken in her grandchildren because her son got two baby mamas pregnant, and she is trying to help her family. that is what the system is for. everyone talks about the food stamp challenge. the food stamp challenge is for the single moms. host: thank you. other people need a chance. on twitter -- look at a couple of headlines. "the wall street journal" this morning.

they lead this way -- and "the washington post" this morning has as its lead -- "congressional negotiators signed off thursday evening."

hello cats "republicans did not give in. with the holiday season upon them, some suggested lawmakers exhaustion and eagerness to leave the embattled capital led them to reach a deal." good morning to vivian, democrats. you are on the air.

caller: good morning. republicans and democrats always wait until the last minute to decide to go ahead and get the cuts that they want. it's time for them to step up to the post. but there are people with families who need that. they do not want the rich to pay. also, some of my fellow democrats should be called out. it is time for them to stand up. the republicans stand up to each other no matter what, but will they stand behind the president? no. it is time to let democrats know that we will vote you out. thank you. have a good day. host: you can also post a comment to facebook. here's a glimpse of some of our facebook comments this morning. here is one of our facebook comments this morning.

below that, edwin kristen. seeking your comments on the compromise announced last night on spending bills for the government that will take us through this fiscal year. the debate continues over of the so-called payroll tax holiday. next is a call from new york city. this is michael, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: very good. you have been watching congress. caller: i teach in a graduate school of business. i would like to give you a formula from canada, our neighbors. the banks are very strong. they are highly profitable. their real estate has had no downtime. unemployment is half of what the

u.s. is. what they did 10 years ago is they offered citizenship to the best and brightest worldwide, hong kong, singapore, and so one to come to canada of today gave citizenshipis provided they purchased a home with cash and that it would start businesses and higher anywhere between 5 to 10 canadians. i think the united states, colleges and universities, can offer the best and brightest worldwide, to come to the united states. if they come, charge them double the amount for medicare and social security. that will solve the medicare problem. thank you very much. you have a great program. host: thank you for making the

call this morning. this is a republican by the name of daniel. you are on. good morning. caller: this is a question about the payroll tax cuts. i understand they were trying to put in a policy with the keystone pipeline. did that get approved, as well? host: all of that is still under negotiation. we'll ask two members of congress. what do you think? do you think it should be approved? caller: i think it was pretty slick the way they put it into something the united states really, really needed. i think it is a good thing, but i also think it is a huge opportunity primarily for the private industry, people that really have money to invest in this. it's going to be so rare, especially for people in new york and stuff like that to get jobs.

i just feel they should handle one thing at a time. they're going to go for the tax cuts, go for the tax cuts. i understand how they have one thing to do with another. the tax cuts have got to be paid for some help. it would be such an easy agenda. host: thank you for your call this morning. last night, we received word that christopher hichens, the british expert at who has lived in the city for 25 plus years, who has been very much a fixture on the intellectual and commentary scene, passed away of cancer. he has been in a mighty struggle against cancer for much of the last year. christopher hitchens has been a friend of this network in that he has given us very much of his time at this table and at different forms. you are seen him writright ther.

one of the many people writing an obituary and memoir of his friend, here it is on the screen. he tells the story of how he first met him. he explains that his wife sparked their friendship and when they were both booked as commentators on election night, insisted that the two of them should meet. let me just read to you what he writes. "i objected to his attacks on people i greatly admired. a few weeks later, i had my own face to face encounter with him. he rolled in looking absolutely like hell. wow. his eyes were bloodshot.

his clothing was crumpled. and then he started to talk. then he made me laugh, and laugh, and laugh. the show ended at 8:00. even for christopher, that was not drinking time. when i finally did get home, i had to admit to my wife, ok, you were right." christopher hitchens gave this network his final tv interview before his passing. we want to show you a clip from that. guest: the inability to travel. i got to toronto for thanksgiving. that was not that hard. i have been to california -- with a private plane, that was sent for me very kindly. in montana, i finally got to see little bighorn and the wonderful national parks. now you have three american states i have visited.

the dakotas and nebraska up. and a plan -- >> and a plan to go to your home country. >> it is sensible, i know. someone asked me if i was afraid of not seeing it again. i was. i could not do it now. i am what they call a chemo holiday. the >> the best way to end it, i will see you in a couple of years. thank you very much. >> my pleasure. host: christopher hitchens, who died at the age of 62 from cancer. many hours of christopher hitchens available on c-span's video library. let's get back to our discussion with you about congress and the deal that they reached last

night $1 trillion over spending reached last night over spending. $1 trillion plus. we have been telling you the extension of the payroll tax cut extends in this town. next call is from ohio, a democrat. go ahead. caller: there are so many different areas i would like to touch on. if you want to screw up any given situation, put a republican in charge. they have proven time and time again what morons are running the government. i do not know what they're doing with their week off. they are probably out playing golf or sipping cocktails of the local bar. either that, or they are a bunch of crackheads. host: the senate, which is under democratic control, do they look better? caller: what does it take?

60 votes. since when does it take 60 votes to get anything through congress. it is supposed to be a simple majority, is it not host: -- is it not? host: thank you for your call. jim himes tweets this -- next is a call from san antonio. martha, an independent. good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i'm going to be 80 years old in two months. i have been working and then i stopped working because i got married. my husband was laid off. we never went on government assistance or anything. we started planting a garden. i learned to bake and everything that needed to be to put food on

the table. after 18 years, i started working again for minimum wage. i retired at 72. the company went bankrupt. for seven years, i did not use medicare b. my husband did not have any insurance. he passed away four years ago. until 2010, i have health insurance. nevertheless, they charge me for not leeching on the government, not abusing the system, and saving the government money. i think that's wrong. that is the [inaudible] it is not right. i think it is wrong. i have met a lot of people. i paid $70. my check went up to $492.

i paid $169.80. i had to cancel my health insurance and go on medicare. the government does not give us credit for saving the government money. they just turn around and look at all the abuse, not just the medicare, but food stamps, on all the housing. a lot of young ladies are getting pregnant just to get out of the house. they cannot stand the responsibilities and the rules of their parents. the government makes it easy for them. host: i want to jump up once again because of time. thank you for calling. best wishes for your 80th year ahead of you. from "the wall street journal" this morning, here is this and the story. "mr. boehner said he would call the house back into session next week, if necessary, to approve the payroll tax cut compromise."

next is a comment from virginia beach, virginia. terry, good morning to you, independent. caller: good morning. i would like to question the myth that congress can't come together. for me, it depends on what they're coming together for. if they are taking away americans rights, they can come together. a good example -- the national defence act, which they passed in secrecy 93-7. congress comes together in helping israel. they give israel just about anything they want to. it is usually unanimous. they come together on that. they also come together when it comes time to start a war and

sending our children to fight their wars. would it comes to unemployment, jobs, this and that -- this is deliberate. they represent the corporations. they do not represent the american people. they take our tax money and they spent in our faces. host: from the editorial pages of "the wall street journal" -- this paragraph --

host: that is "the wall street journal" editorial outlook this morning. janelle e-mails this. this is waco, texas. allen is a republican there. good morning. caller: trying to determine who should be taxed -- it's very interesting that they approve budgets and spending when they do not know where it's coming from. we see them talking about a balanced budget here. thank you for your time. host: thank you so much. most of our front pages are dominated by photographs of the end of the war in iraq, the

ceremonies in the country yesterday morning. "the washington post" gives it a large photograph and the headline -- "u.s. war in iraq draws to a quiet close." "only a profound sense that the war's real reckoning is about to come. no senior iraqi officials showed up to the event." next is a call from tennessee good morning good -- from tennessee. good morning to arnold.

caller: the first time i called in to c-span was march 19, 2003. it was the day that the war started. it was my first time. i was extremely nervous. the only thing i said was that i believe that god wants us all to read ezekiel 33. i have a website where you can read and download a book that i wrote. there is no charge. it is free. the web site is lovegodislove.org. what congress needs and what we all need is is an ebenezer scrooge moment. you know, that is from charles "a christmasy, carol." there is a god and we are all going to be held accountable for our thoughts, and deeds, and

actions. i would like to invite you and everyone to go to my web site and try to read my book. what would and could it do to everyone's attitude to see evidence of proof of god in the structure of the text of my book? host: thank you for your call. david is a republican in biloxi, mississippi. you are good morning next good to you -- you are next. good morning to you. caller: i recommend that everyone get on their internet and look up gordon khal. just looked up gordon khal, the other branches story. host: thank you for your call. here is bob, watching us in venice, california. he e-mails us this.

a little pun there. women's work usa tweets this. next is south carolina. good morning to pat. caller: i do not know if anyone watched the program yesterday on the hill, but these congress people always talking about the future kids. the future kids is right now. it was sad to watch those kids

say that they did not have roofs over their heads. i believe that. i pray that obama, the president, does not fall for this temporary stuff. you cannot hurt anybody more than they heard those kids yesterday. president, do not fall for this. if they are not going to do it, do not let them do nothing. if we have been through this, we can go through some more. thank you. host: thank you for your call. last night was the final gop debate before the iowa caucus. clip of a you a couple of the people involved in that. let's look. >> the first tax cut in 16 years, the largest capital gains tax cut in american history, unemployment came down to 4.2%, a pretty conservative. on the conservative thing, it's sort of laughable.

someone who has had a 30-year record of conservatism is somehow not a conservative? >> i have lead four different organizations. each of those was highly successful, part because of hard work and the part because of good luck. world in the , some things do not make it. >> if you do not wind up winning this nomination, will you pledge here tonight that you will support the ultimate nominee? >> fortunately for the republican party this year, probably anybody up here could probably be obama. [laughter] the challenge is not all that great on how we are going to be obama. i think he is beating himself. the question is, what do we have to offer? host: here is how craig crawford rated the candidates. he said --

you get to make your own assessments. that's what he had to say this morning. gov. romney pick up an important endorsement for south carolina from the governor of that state. here is a politico story about it. haley has just endorsed romney on fox news this morning. the next telephone call as we talk about congress and the compromise it has reached on a $1 trillion spending deal, averting the possibility of a shutdown of some government agencies tonight. oklahoma, jerry, an independent. good morning. caller: good morning. with the of those, whe congress, when it comes to the house, i think they're doing an

ok job. i wish they would do a better job. i'm not talking about cutting costs of the rising expenditure of government. i am talking about cutting government. that is the only way we will get this economic situation in place. this thing has been going on since the liberals took control of this country in 1964 with the election of johnson. we have been on a spending spree. congress has passed all kinds of legislation that has resorted in regulatory nazism and terrorism pushed upon us by government people. the total cell phone ban is another example. susan, if i may real quickly -- there was an article that scared the living crap out of me. talk about people who dared to

stand out and speak out at what i call the legal and unconstitutional drug war are being fired, shut up, disciplined, and denigrated by people in our left-wing government that is now run by the left-wingers. this is totally unacceptable. look at college campus. shutting down free-speech. left wing thugs. we have reached a scary situation where people who even stand up and speak out are being targeted by government people. when you get to the point where regular, everyday citizens or criminalize by people in government because they stand up at political issues, then we're in a very curious state in this country. when you factor and economic press this that we are at right now, it is ridiculous.

host: thank you very much. d.w. from seattle sends us this e-mail. doug tweets this -- next is milwaukee. ron, republican, go ahead. caller: i have a question about the unemployment, the real 99 the people who would be considered tier 5. i'm a college student two

semesters away from graduated. i was a dislocated worker. i cannot go back to that job because it is shutdown. literally, the building has been demolished. i am also trying to get ready to register for the next school semester, but i do not know if i will graduate or graduate on time. i don't know if i will have enough time to pay for the courses. for the long-term unemployed who are in a retraining program, i do not hear anything about that at all. i barely hear anything about the poor. last night on msnbc, i heard one out of every two people is dumped into the port and they do not even know it. realistically speaking, i am hoping that there is some relief

for the people whose benefits have expired. host: thank you. we have two members of congress coming up and we'll ask them what they believe is the policy for the long-term unemployed. "the financial times" covers the deal making in washington and here are two headlines to share with you. that number is different from what you heard. right beside that, another article to show you. this is james politi's story.

that is in "financial times" this morning. good morning to pat, democrat. caller: good morning. thank you for receiving my call. in terms of the last-minute decisions that congress' handed down -- good morning. good morning. good morning. host: hit the mute button on your tv. we're getting feedback. ok. i am so sorry. i'm going to have to put you on hold. please put the television volume down. thank you for your call.

i hope we can get back to you. next is for water dell, florida. debbie is a republican. caller: every single u.s. house -- a free election in 2012. my party has become a gang of thieves and hypocrites. they do not care about the middle class. we need to get rid of boehner and mcconnell. the worst leaders this country has ever seen. they are dictators. we need to get rid of them. we need to get them out. i am sick of them. they do not care. all they care about is the top 1%. we need revenue in this country. we need infrastructure. they are blocking it every time. thank you. host: thank you for your call. here are some e-mails.

host: here is another e-mail. this one is from jim, who describes himself as an independent voter from indiana. host: next is a telephone call from atlanta. kay is an independent. good morning.

what are your thoughts? caller: the basis of capitalism in this country is supply and demand. that is what capitalism is all about. the republicans keep talking about not raising taxes on the job creators and that is why they are holding this $2 trillion of money still sitting in their coffers. nothing could be further from the truth. the problem in this country is, an abundance of supply with no demand. you can bring back all this money from overseas. you can give them all the incentives they want. they are not going to spend their money on additional products when there is no demand for them. thank you very much. host: thank you. here is "the new york times." they did not put this story on the front page. this is on page a-20.

here is part of what they write this morning. that meeting is at 9:00 a.m.

eastern time. next is a phone call from atlanta. good morning, kay. caller: good morning. i'm not sure if congress can be in recess next week. they can give us a christmas present, if they are. what about depression, a mental illness, and homelessness? we do not need the predictability of one democrat congressperson and another democratic republican coming up one after another talking the party line. we need to talk about issues that are facing people during this holiday season. i'm hoping you will talk about depression, mental illness, and homelessness. thank you. host: thank you for the ideas. next call is pat, democrat. caller: good morning. thank you for receiving my call. i have listened to all the

comments this morning. i also go along with most of the comments this morning. this last-minute thing with congress is deja vu. we have been here before. i think it's about time -- instead of democrats, republicans -- we can really come back together and see government in our country the way it was meant to be. government by the people and for the people. right now, everything we're going through, last-minute decisions, those things only e to a certain degree. those of us on the have-not end see the back-and-forth bickering. can we come together in america? host: thank you for your calls.

tonight at 8:00, "the contenders" wraps up. 14 weeks, 14 failed presidential candidates who nonetheless had an outside impact on history. tonight, we do a wrap up program. it is three historians around a round table with clips from the 14 programs and bringing it all together about the observations they learned by looking at these people who did not make it to the white house, but nonetheless very involved in the policy debates of their era. that, of course, always depending on the house schedule. we will take a break. two members of congress. louie gohmert and after him, john larson. we will be taking your phone calls and continuing the conversation. we will be right back. ♪

>> for the past few months on c- span, we have examined the political lives of "the contenders," 14 men who lost. we will talk with history professor gene baker, carl cannon, and richard norton smith. to watch additional video and review all the episodes, visit c-span.org/thecontenders. >> this weekend on booktv, " throw them all out." also this weekend, walter isaac son on his best-selling

biography of steve jobs. "borderless economics" on "after words"saturday evening at 10:00 eastern and sunday at 9:00 p.m. eastern and pacific. >> every weekend on american history tv, the people and events that document the american story, from oral histories -- william ruckelshaus. saturday at 8:00 and sunday at 3:00 p.m. eastern. and from lectures in history, virginia tech professor beverly bunch lyons.

the american story, this weekend on american history tv. >> "washington journal" continues. host: congressman louie gohmert is a republican of texas. he has been on the floor quite a bit this week. leaders announced last night a compromise. guest: surprise, surprise. that's the way it has gone for the last year. we get down to the very last minute and then all the sudden, there's a deal worked out. >host: you probably only know the broad contours. guest: at 4:00 a.m. this morning, i did decide i would lie down a little bit before i came to see you. host: thank you for doing that. what can you tell us? we know is $1 trillion plus in

spending? guest: when you add with the bill that was passed in september and at the end of november that carried us until now, until now, if you add that that we spent up until now and then the $915 billion in this, you get $1.043 trillion, which was the amount of the agreement. some of us were troubled because a year ago, before the election, we promised voters we would cut $100 billion at a minimum. we would return to pre-bailout, pre stimulus levels. we got to january with the

majority. we said, you know what? we do not have a full year period that ends september 30. do not hold us to $100 billion. it would just need to be $61 billion. wonderfully, surprisingly, the american public generally said, okay, we get that. you do not have a full year. give us $61 billion. they were told at the end of march, april, it would be more like $27 billion in cuts. do not worry. next year, there will be a lot more cuts. i am anxious to go to conference today at 9:00, because it appears that our cuts last year from this year will be $60 billion, not quite the $100 billion that we were promised last year, and certainly not to 2007-2008 levels. there were some great things in there. there were a number of programs that wasted a lot of money.

it is still no where close to the 2007 or 2008 spending levels, which was done by speaker pelosi with the pretty liberal house and senate in those days. we cannot even get back to 2008 levels. that's why i'm a little discouraged this morning. host: will you vote for it? guest: i'm going to have to find out what things are in it that i have not seen yet. i like to live up to promises that were made. i did not like the republican pledge, but i took it after i read it. this still does not get us to what we pledged -- not even close. host: what do you think the mood will be like in your conference at 9:00? guest: i'm not sure. i know there's a lot of good feeling after the agreements

were reached on the national this week. there were some good things done in that. also, we have had two votes this week that most of the members felt pretty good about. it would have been great if we could have finished with a little more in cuts, but i am pleased with the negotiations boehner was able to do. for example, we got extending the payroll tax 2%. the president usurped the name that i had for my program three years ago that i told him about. that was called a payroll tax holiday. he loved the idea. larry summers was standing right there when we were talking. he said that we should work on this. he took the name, but the 2% cut

off of the payroll tax for workers is not exactly a holiday. can you imagine back in school if someone said you get a holiday tomorrow, you get to skip two% of school tomorrow -- skip 2% of school tomorrow. my proposal was two months, you do not pay a dime. i also did not want to see the social security trust fund hurt. we need to at least have social security paying its own way with the money coming in. two full months of not a dime taken out of workers' checks would have been completely paid for by taking $300 billion from funds ander's tarp

put that in the pockets of those who were earning it, instead of tim geithner paying off those on wall street. that would have been a holiday. moody's said a tax holiday would have stimulated the gdp more than any other proposal out there. we did not do that. this has not stimulated the economy. i have voted for it because people are counting on it. we have got to find a way to take care of paying for social security. calledesident's so- payroll tax holiday is pitting people working today against our seniors. it is taking money that needs to go in the social security trust fund, even though they put in iou's, it is real money coming in and it is not coming in right now. one of the social security trusties has said, we are going to have to make up the shortfall for social security payments

this year with 5% of the general revenue. that is not good news and it is supposed to grow bigger next year. we have to address that. host: louie gohmert is here for about 25 more minutes. we would like to bring your questions and comments. you can send them by our various means. e-mail us, call us, or send them on twitter or facebook. americans have signal through the polls that right now their priority is job creation over deficit reduction. do you have a sense about whether or not this compromise will help to create jobs? guest: by continuing the 2% reduction in the payroll tax for workers, it gives $30, $60 a month to folks, but it has not stimulated the economy. i agree with the people. the great thing would be if we reduced the government spending so we are not still sucking out

all the capital for government overspending. it would create jobs. if we were pursuing all of our energy, it would create jobs and bring down the cost of energy. it is a double win for the workers and for those looking for jobs. unfortunately, we are not doing either one of those right now. host: what about the keystone pipeline debates? guest: obviously, we passed it. it looks like that will be signed into law. it means there will be a lot of people working in the next few months. i will find out. i have not seen the yet, but i understood it was there. it was not taken out. if it is not there, there will be a lot of ups that folks. we were told it would be there

and we would stay through christmas, through new year's. we have even stayed until the president comes back from vacation. we stated that the long, if we have to. i am being a little sarcastic. sorry. host: joseph ramirez tweets this. guest: that is a good question because it is not fair to blame the president for not discretionary spending. that is really outside his control, except that he pushed through obamacare against the will of the public and certainly against the republican will. we all voted against it. we stood with the majority of americans. that has created additional spending -- just to implement it.

if we had rescinded obama care -- rescinded obamacare, that would provided the $1.2 trillion that was required to get us a better rating from s&p. then on discretionary spending for obamacare that is going on, it would just increase. i am not for cutting medicare, but when you run the numbers, it is between $20,000 when you see we are paying that much money, we are far better off -- to say to seniors, do you like buying supplemental medical

insurance? do you like the government and interest companies telling you what you can and cannot do? you have a choice. if you would like, it will be cheaper for the government to buy you a high deductible private insurance and give you the cash to cover the high deductible and give you a debit card to pay for health care, and you are back in charge as a senior of your own health care. and will reduce the cost and give more control to seniors and patience. i am for medicare by giving seniors a choice and complete control again. host: the next call is from a democrat in nevada. caller: good morning. i have been glued to the tv for the last three hours watching

the nucleolar regulatory commission. all i can say is that the chairman is way above and beyond the call of duty. he is an honest and fair man. ok, as far as the other things are concerned -- guest: she is taking the side of the chairman. wow. caller: all right. as far as what we are talking about here, i really see the death of the middle-class and not from terrorists is the biggest threat of america. it is been a tale of two republics. when i look back, and you are old enough to remember the 1950's, in the 1950's, corporate

taxes accounted for a third of revenues. today, they make up less than 7%. that is because all the loopholes and derivatives. i would like for you to take that into consideration. there is no reason why no one has been taken to account on wall street. while we were giving them tarp, the federal reserve was giving them trillions of dollars under the table. guest: she is exactly right. i was so opposed to tarp. it was under a president that i liked very much. it was a terrible decision. he believed in a policy. she is exactly right. she probably does not realize because of the rhetoric out

there is that the execs that got all of those trillions of dollars, hundreds of billions from tarp and other sources, the federal reserve, they voted four to one for obama over mccain. so, i do not think most people realize that. the problem is it should not matter whether they all read it right -- they are a republican or democrat. when they go broke, they should not expect the rest of america to bail them out. that is why i wanted to use $300 billion to stay in the hands who earned it. we did a survey of folks in our district. what would you do if you got to

keep all of your withholdings? for two months. people said we have a car worth less than what we owe. if we owned all that money for two months, we would buy a car that is more fuel-efficient. if you let us keep all of that money, we do not need a government program to get us out of the problems. in stead, this money went to the people that it should not have gone to instead of being with the people who earned a. i think this is a great opportunity to say the president is saying everybody needs to pay their fair share. people ought to pay their fair share, corporations are not paying enough. this is a great chance to move forward with a flat tax.

cut out the loopholes. everybody will pay their fair share. the corporate tax has made americans think that these greedy, evil corporations -- if a corporation does not pay, they go out of business. people are paying it and the cost it takes to live -- without realizing they are paying it. host: when your staff calculated how much money from your version of the holiday -- guest: it was going to be on average more like $5,000. host: $5,000 for the average family. compared with the average 2% payroll tax holiday. guest: around $70 to $80 a month.

you let people keep $5,000 on average for a household, they are going to use it far more wisely than the people on wall street. host: a question on twitter -- guest: people need to understand that we would be changing social security from a retirement account where people pay into it and deserve paid out. it is really a maverick notion. we need to be honest about it. we are saying people are not going to have to pay for their own retirement or into social security. it is going to become another welfare program.

instead of social security that he or she paid into, if that is where the majority of americans want to go, that is where we will go. if it gets us that much closer to seeing lights in the street when the wealthy cannot afford to pay any more. that is where we are heading. knowing they have written their own death warrant. i do not want to get there. it just moves us down the road to being closer to greece. host: this viewer aks -- -- asks -- guest: that is one of the games

that has been played over reducing spending. obviously, if we are not in iraq, we will not be spending money on a war in iraq. but with the president having involved us in libya and africa and some other places, there is apparently going to be more spending comment with regard to defense. we have used up so much of our military surplices. the navy is smaller than it is been in decades. we need to restore some of what we have used up. we are not going to be in iraq any more so we ought to be saving some money. host: louie gohmert was a captain in the u.s. army and appointed by gov. rick perry to complete a term as the chief justice in texas before coming

to congress. in the house, he serves as the chair of the judiciary committee and he is also on the natural resources committee. is this ticket -- his district is the first. fromis a call from texas a republican there. caller: good morning. i say no more money to these jealous democrbigot democrats. out ofave a democrat tax the house, and all of these democrats can vote for or against it on 50% of their income. thank you.

guest: thank you. i think it is a great opportunity to finally do what people have been promising on both sides of the aisle for a number of terms, and that is an overhaul to the tax system. like when warren buffett pays a lower rate, not because there is not a 39% rate of taxation on somebody making his money, but because since he is so wealthy, if you are extremely wealthy, you can move to where taxes are cheaper, you can move in, and take it in a different way. you can do those things. if you are not wealthy, you cannot move in come and take it as another type of income.

you are stuck. it is unfair the way it is set up. we ought to use this as a chance to say we will keep our word and make a massive tax reform with a flat tax across the board. how is the president going to deny saying everybody is going to pay their fair share. let's do it. let's not make 53% of americans pay for 100% of americans' income tax. they are not paying income tax. until everybody pays at least something, even if it is a dollar, they do not have scanned in the game with regard to the federal government -- when one more than half of the voters are giving more back than they pay in, you do not come back from that.

host: tom e-mails this -- guest: well, if there is an environmental consequence, that is something the oil companies will have to pay. there are some small companies ever since the east texas oil well was discovered, the largest known oil field in the world. we are quite familiar with that. sometimes you have shady companies that do not want to pay for their damage to the environment.

but these companies can pay that. that is one of the problems when the u.s. government becomes a player instead of a referee. when the government is a referee, they can say you made a mistake so cleaned it up. when the government is a player, it is more difficult to get things cleaned up and fixed. keystone will create instant jobs and bring in more oil. i do not think most people are aware. north dakota is the biggest oil shell. the cost a little more money to pull out -- it costs a little more money to pull up. is the biggest mine -- it could potentially be bigger. this administration keeps attacking the company's.

they will not go -- they will not go after the people who put up the windmills'. they are killing thousands of migratory species. this administration went after oil companies for five ducks that may have been killed by the operation. it's nuts. it is instant jobs once we start producing our own energy. the royalty from offshore drilling -- if we want to spend money on developing alternative energy, it is insane to borrow 42 cents on every dollar and give it to companies like solyndra. take a percentage from the royalties that we get from offshore drilling and the

drilling that we do on federal land. this administration has stopped. use that to do the alternative research. it is good for everybody. host: next is birmingham, alabama. caller: you are a big liar and you are standing up for the oil companies. started, medl icare part d. you defend the rich. every time i see you on tv, you want to be a jokester or something. guest: are you so completely [unintelligible] that you would not benefit from my payroll tax holiday than this president payroll tax holiday? if you are on completely on

welfare, you are right. i was not talking about helping you as much as i was talking about the people who have jobs that are middle-class that would help create more jobs. i am not talking about the super rich. i am talking about making them pay their fair share. the way to do that is with a flat tax. had you not heard anything? had you not heard me talk about going after wall street? let them think of their own free will. this president, the secretary of the treasury, they bailed out those four to one democrats on wall street. i am not for it. i am for working americans getting more of their own money. i am so sorry if you are not a working american. i would like you to end it some more of your own money.

host: this is roy, a republican. caller: good morning and thank you for your service. as a fellow army veteran, i would like to say i do not represent that last caller who attacked you and blame you for standing up to accompanies. i would love to have the fuel prices go down and america and have less class warfare, limited government, and economic freedom is what we need. we need to pay our fair share but we also need to do our fair share which means we need to get back to work. we do not need people just come planning and criticizing, and we do not need a president who distributes just the year in criticism which has divided this country. let's all admit that this country is supposed to be -- our government is supposed to be a

government for the people bought limited government. right now we have a government that says no to any kind of economic growth and it is killing us. god bless you and have a merry christmas. guest: in response to the oil companies, the president said in his so-called jobs bill, he went after them. i read every page of the. in four pages, they dealt with oil companies and devastated the small, independent producers in the united states. it would drive them out of business. the deduction, the legitimate business deductions that are wiped out would wipe out the independent producers that produce up to 95% of the oil- gas produced on the continent of the u.s. what would happen if the president's bill would have been enacted would have been the

major companies alike bp would have made profits because all of those smaller companies would have been driven out of business. i was not taking up for big oil. i was taking up for small oil that helps competition. host: the last question comes from ernie in toronto, ohio. caller: good morning. our problem is we do not have the proper people in office to take tax cuts. if you want to make a cut, cut your pension. chris dodd is getting $192,000 a year. you guys deserve $1,000 a month in retirement. then you would fix social security because then you would have to live on 8. the average man does not make

$5,000 in two months. you ought to check out what people are making in this country. guest: the average american does not make it the $30,000 a year? you really want to live with that statement? your statement is people do not make $5,000 over a two-month period. you need to rethink what you are saying. the truth is it would have been better for americans and better for the working folks in america. we could do so much more if we actually had a flat tax. everybody paid their fair share. i am not sure which toronto, but if it is -- host: ohio. guest: great. ohio has been losing people. they have been losing factories because of a number of factors,

but i want to see ohio vibrant again like it used to be. the jobs that have left their to go overseas because of the massive amount of government regulation. i want to see those good jobs coming back to ohio and could jobs coming back. we can do that if we quit having government as a player and get them in as a referee and made sure everybody pay their same percentage of the federal work load. host: let's and where we started to have you decide whether or not he will vote for this. guest: i have to finish seeing what is in it. i am very discouraged with what i have seen so far. americans are not getting a fair deal unless there are adequate cuts in government spending.

that e-mail keeps going around, that we have to pay into social security. we have been paying into social security. you do not get that good a pension. it is the same pension, every federal worker in america gets. i do not care if we cut our pension. i cashed out of every asset and every retirement that i had in order to run for congress to fix things. i am here to try to make things work. host: thank you for being here. we are going to take a quick break, and then john larson will be at the table. we will be right back.

>> next month, the u.s. supreme court will hear oral arguments on the case dealing with the constitutionality of the standards for indecency, citing a 1978 supreme court case. in new york radio station aired a comedian's "filthy words" monologue. this saturday at 6:00 p.m. eastern. >> the listener pointed out that the words for broadcast at the time of the afternoon when a child could have been turning the dial and would have come across those words -- >> c-span radio will air that historic argument. 90.1 fm and online at c- spanradio.org. for the past few months, we have

examined the political lives of "the contenders." they had a lasting impact on american politics. tonight, we will talk to a professor, and the story in to see what they have learned from this series. tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. visit c-span.org/thecontenders. >> which part of the u.s. constitution is important to you? that is our question in this year's student cam competition. tell us the part of the constitution that is important to you and why. be sure to include more than one point of view. there is $50,000 in total prizes and a grand prize of $5,000. for all the details, go to

studentcam.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: meet john larson, the chairman of the democratic caucus, here with us to talk about the compromise on the government spending bill. are you going to recommend and why will you recommend to your members to vote for this? guest: as soon as we learn more about it. we are having a meeting at 11:00. host: that is pretty late in the day. guest: we do expect a vote on the appropriations cited it. the good news is we are finally through with this holding the government hostage. i realize this is nomenclature that perhaps a lot of listeners do not understand but unfortunately that is how government has been operating. this will approve the

appropriations through the year which is good for congress and the american people. the devil remains in the details. our chairman has indicated that he feels at the compromises were reached. we will be reviewing them at 11:00. if the chairman is satisfied, then i think it bodes well for a democratic vote on that issue. and our deep concern is about jobs. we still have not addressed jobs in this congress. secondly, it appears they have kicked the can down the road. the extension of a payroll tax, an extension of unemployment. especially for those in need of medicare and the doctors that provide it for them. there is always a concern that we would like to see some compromise being reached to

prevent the government, shutting down. host: the white house website has at the top of its page right here -- it is counting down to 15 days and 15 hours, 30 minutes, referring to the payroll tax holiday. what are your concerns? guest: our concerns is it is paid for in a just and fair manner. i was disappointed to see taken off the table was the so-called surcharge on the nation's wealthiest people. let's be real about this. what we need to do is go back to a tax rate that we had under the clinton administration where we enjoyed 16 consecutive quarters of economic growth and prosperity. we are on their way to eliminating the national debt

by 2009 until the following series of events. an enormous tax cut, two major wars, and a medicare re-fall that prompted us to go into this enormous debt, coupled with the economic collapse of 2008. host: let me understand your thinking. often the clinton years are pointed to with the tax rate. it was always the time for the internet bubble. is it the point that the tax rate did not stand in the way of economic growth? guest: in 1994, because they're needed to be balanced within the system, the democrats voted for a tax increase. they voted for a tax increase to be able to bring in revenues.

yes, there was a bubble and a burst there as well. yet, we continued to see growth in the economy because the balanced approach and that was taken. the democrats have been arguing all along that we need a balanced approach in terms of creating revenues that are required to balance the budget the growth in the economy. i think the most disappointing thing threw out the failure of the super committee was not to recognize what i think is fundamental. deficit reduction is achieved through job creation by lowering our unemployment rate from 9.1% to below 7%, we work toward cutting the deficit by a third. no other single action can help reduce the deficit as much. we really believe putting people back to work -- the president's

jobs bill should have been taken up. how did the president bill not pass in the senate? the vote was 51-49. a rule they have in the senate -- is that in the constitution? it is a senate rule. how is it that the rule of the majority is not able to go forward? that is a great question. host: i want to get to some calls, but let me go to medicare. "the washington post" has an article about it today. in this story, they say that the cost of congressional intervention has ballooned

formidably. guest: well, as a majority in the house of representatives, we voted in the health care bill for a 10-year fix. this has been another one of those issues kicked down the road. my understanding is a part of these ongoing negotiations, there is a two-year fix. by not providing a permanent fix, it only ends up costing the american taxpayers more bang bang certainly in the short term what we want to make sure is the doctors have the ability to treat antheir patients. host: it says in the financial

times this morning that paul ryan is coming back at it with a new proposal. from the brief reporting on this, beginning in 2022, seniors will be allowed to choose between medicare and subsidize private plans. guest: i think they are two very bright and capable people that are earnest about solving problems. secondly, is there any information or details? to my knowledge, there is not. the third and most important -- let's begin with the premise of putting the patient first. all of these proposals i have witnessed start with the idea that entitlements are the problem, that it is the recipients themselves that are the problem. i believe when you look at the growth of the system that is

exceeding 17% of our gdp, when our closest competitor in the world is at 10% and provides universal service to all of their citizens in terms of health care provisions, that it is time that we look at all of the areas where we need to reduce and that includes pharmaceuticals, insurance, hospitals, docs, medical devices. those are the areas. reuters came out with a steady more than two years ago that talk about $700 billion in annual savings. the whole cost of health care bill that we put through is about $954 billion over 10 years. when we look at these costs and at winding them down, we have to start there and not with the beneficiaries.

let's win out the ineffectiveness in the system currently that we know exists. then i think you can have a reasonable discussion. to start by blaming the patient first and then demonize this thing in a way where we talk about death panels -- give me a break. c'mon. i have a mother, 87 years old. when i walk up and down that familieswhenand i see facing those same decisions -- we need to understand what happens with end of life decisions and understand why those are the most costly decisions that we face. we need to provide solutions in an intelligent manner and allow families to come together and make those decisions and not demonize these things for political gain. host: mr. larson is a graduate of connecticut state university.

history teacher and athletic coach and then also an owner of an insurance company. he is in his seventh term in the house of representatives. in congress, he founded a coalition. do you want to talk about the energy debate? we have about 25 minutes for calls. let's begin with maryland. larry, you are on. caller: hello. good morning. host: what is your question? caller: am i on? ok. guest: good morning, larry. caller: there are two things that i see that are bringing our country to a halt. first of all, we need to get a president which we do not have. secondly, we need to get a

congress that will vote down things like solyndra, that will take care of people getting killed down on the border on account of not getting fast and furious. you are not addressing this. as far as i am concerned, george soros is running our country. he said several years ago "i will own at the democratic party, which he does as we speak. guest: the most important thing we need to do what america back to work. the most fundamental thing we can do is to make sure every single family that sits down at the dinner table that they note that there is security they're coming from the dignity that comes with a job in providing for your family. that is what i think congress needs to work them in providing them a financial security and making sure we have the

appropriate safety nets within social security and medicare and health care for them. lastly, national security. on all three levels, the president of the united states has done a remarkable job. let me start by saying ending the war in iraq, capturing and eliminating osama bin laden, ending the conflict in libya without the use of one american troops on the ground, an incredible foreign policy achievement that he continues to build on. as far as getting the nation moving and attempting to reach across the aisle and work with the other side only to find political memo after political memo that states rather bluntly from the senate leader that their only goal is to prevent barack obama from being a

second-term president. so, we need to work together as a nation and focus on jobs. that is the most critical thing we can do for this country. host: "usa today" has this story -- could president obama -- do you think he was involved at the right level? guest: i think that president obama has been incredibly engaged. i would also add that i think the criticism of obama is, depending upon who you listen to, he spent too much time within the beltway and not taking his case to the american people. the criticism comes obama is spending too much time on the road campaigning.

the campaign against president barack obama began in february 2009 when a 30-page memorandum was issued to republicans on how to deal with this president by denying him any kind of success and not cooperating with him down the line. give the republicans credit for their political tenacity. they have not cooperated with him down the line or worked with him. oftentimes to the chagrin of democrats, the president continued to reach out to republicans until finally last summer when he struck a deal that would help the nation with john boehner only to have john boehner's caucus pulled out the rug beneath him. we ended up with a super committee that also fell apart. and the nation still goes without the jobs that it needs.

republicans continue to play with politics. 14 million americans are out of work. the president is now making his case to the american people. yes, based on a do-nothing congress, a congress in the house that has not worked with denies thesenate that use president even a vote on his bills, his jobs bill, and other economic policies that will put the nation back to work. host: carl, a republican, good morning. caller: hello. first-time caller. hi. how are you? i am a 65-year-old retiree. i am part of the problem now, i guess. i always hear, especially the

democratic representative, talk about how great it was during the clinton years. as i remember, in the clinton years, you had guys like me on the top of my game. i am a middle-class guy, but i was at the top of my career. our parents were unfortunately dying off and leaving their inheritance. the housing market was going crazy. you had a pent-up demand for goods and services stemming back to the 1970's. people finally felt confident in buying goods and services. the beautiful thing about it at that time all of those things were still made in this country. i believe that congress was just as inadequate then as it is now but we had a lot of money going in there.

now you are focused on -- you can see the inadequacies in your behavior. democrats and republicans, i am ashamed at both of you guys. let me set the record straight on the clinton era. anyone could have been president in that era because it was a perfect storm. guest: carl, thank you for your view. on a couple of friends, one, i think the american people are frustrated with the congress in terms of its inability to get the country back working. i would disagree with you with respect to president clinton and what he was able to demonstrate to do and put the country on a path to have us totally out of debt by 2009. that took tough decisions including a courageous congress

have voted for a tax increase that was demonized by the republicans but of course provide the revenue to bring balance that allow for us to have the opportunity for the income for the government to balance and then flourish. it is just a matter of fact. that took the leadership of bill clinton to do so. newt gingrich said that last night in the debate. he said he reached down and worked with the president. i would have to say that he did. but he did not go, nor did any republican, for those tax increases. i think people have to come to an understanding that neither the democrats or the republicans have it right, but what is needed is a sense of balance to move the nation forward. what the american people want and expect -- there has to be

shared sacrifice and fairness. what we see today is that there is no longer balance, that there is this enormous gap that exists between the very wealthy and the working middle-class. in fact, the middle-class has seen its incomes decline and its cost of living rise on three major fronts. on education in order to pay for their kids' tuition and college. on energy, not only including the gasoline that they used to power their vehicles, but to heat and cool their homes. and their cost of living overall rise and escalate over time as it relates to housing and mortgage payments. we need to address those three levels by focusing on putting the country back to work, creating the kind of prosperity by making things here again in this country.

you made that point. long before the clinton administration, you can go back to the early 1970's to see the decline in manufacturing and us getting away from making things here in america. we need to reinvest in the country, in the infrastructure that made us great, and put the country back to work in a way that will allow us to grow and the circular flow of goods and services that comes from people being back to work to spur on economic growth. by just reducing our unemployment from 9.1% to under 7% can reduce more than a third of our deficit according to the cbo. that is the areas we should be working on. i share this frustration because i think congress should be fundamentally looking at putting america back to work, reinvesting in our people and

infrastructure, and innovation in manufacturing. during the clinton administration, a lot of the problems will take care of themselves. host: when you look at europe, what do you see? guest: we can see that having an austerity program is not necessarily -- is going to lead to having your economy turned around. when i look at europe and the position of the united states, i am saddened that we did not take the great opportunities that we had for an up or down vote to make sure that a nation that can claim the mightiest military in the world and the greatest patten security could not demonstrate that we could deal with our deficit and most importantly by putting americans back to work. that would have led to not only europe but the asian markets

saying this is the place where we want to invest and put our money. china, europe, and brazil, as they struggle, the u.s. should be a port for economic investment and growth. we should do everything we can to spur on our own manufacturing and one of the ways is by putting people back to work and drawing the kind of investment in this country that i believe would result from that. host: a democrat from florida. caller: good morning. i want to say several things. republicans said the same thing to clinton when he came to office. when obama came in, they said they were not going to do anything to help him. the democrats did not do that to torch bush.

secondly, 15% of the people have 80% of the money. the percentage of the tax burden should be [unintelligible] two people buy eight pieces of the pie, they should be paying 80%. lastly, about oil. we can drill for oil all we want. we do not make any additional money other than the money that we get for the land that they pay for or whatever they do for the plots of land. we do not get oil any cheaper by drilling oil in the united states. i wish you would address those issues. guest: we will take them in reverse order.

we have an enormous opportunity here in this country. i happen to be one of the co authors for the natural gas act as susan indicated at the top of the show. i am also the chairman of the hydrogen caucus. we have an abundance of natural gas that the president i think is taking care and assigning a secretary to make sure we go after this in a safe way. but in doing so, we know that we have the resources of natural gas that is greater than saudi arabia's researcheresources of . this is a great opportunity in terms of supplying us with affordable energy and it also deals with our debt imablaance. it has us in a position where we

are no longer dependent on foreign oil or shipping more than $300 billion abroad. arming the very terrorist that are plotting against our men and women in the field. i think all of those things become obvious to the american people that we can have a cleaner environment and an abundant energy resources that is available, accessible, and it is ours that will help put america back to work and foster the kind of economic growth and manufacturing rebirth that we need. with respect to taxes -- listen. we want all americans to aspire to be wealthy. we want all of our children to learn about the accumulation of wealth. we want them to understand this and grow and prosper. what american citizens also want

is fairness in the tax code. it is long overdue to be overhauled. we need to focus on looking at consumption. i just think that within the context of shared sacrifice, recognizing what our men and women in the field are sacrificing, recognizing the inequities that exist within the middle class and what people are enduring, that to pay for two wars, the only time in our history that wars have not been allowing or funded, and withou people to prosper without sacrifice is just wrong. if that means the wealthiest amongst us paying about the same amount that they did during the clinton administration when we prospered, that is pretty fair. i think most americans can buy

into that argument. investing in energy resources, having a tax system that is fair, lowering those great, and encouraging further investment here at home by making things here in america, providing the incentives to manufacturers and the incentives for innovation. that is what america needs to do. host: we have about seven minutes left. the next call is from california. good morning. caller: good morning and happy holidays. if congress -- straight across the board, it is wrong. it is an onion. it is the biggest onion in the world. it is an upside-down pyramid. the problem is there are too many layers of bureaucracy. the thing is, my opinion also is

why is congress above the law? everybody should go to opensecrets.org and look up every congressman in the government. guest: i do not know what you mean by a blind side trust. it is funny that you mentioned that. we need to talk to the american public who do not believe members of congress pay income socialdon't pay into security, that members of congress only work here for a year and get a full pension. none of which is true. they do have to have full disclosure. that is available to you. there are bills in front of congress currently including stock options. many people were not aware of these opportunities. i was not.

those are things a member of congress should be treated no different than any other federal employee or citizen of this country. it is that simple. host: orlando, anthony, a democrat. caller: good morning. republicans will now support the social security fund. my question is do you support removing the cap on social security taxes? they want to get rid of obama's affordable care act. what they do with the 2.5 million young adults thrown off their parents' insurance now that they have that option? guest: they have not answer that. they have not said what they would do their children and extended benefits.

i am grateful of my 22-year-old daughter who can remain on our policy. i have thousands of anecdotal letters from people, not only children but from parent and college students that are grateful especially in this day and age when health care is such a necessity that they have that opportunity. by the number of seniors that have benefited from the changes in the affordable health care act that get the kind of screenings that they need, where we are closing the loophole that existed under the pharmaceutical bill that was passed. it has resulted in savings to the medicare program as well. all of these are positive steps along those lines in a bill that has yet to really entirely go into effect that we really do need to have a discussion with

the american people on what they feel and understand is in their best interest. these and of life decisions that we were talking about really account for some of the greatest cost that we incur in health care which are the serious conversations that need to take place at dinner tables and in board rooms about the best interest of our citizens. what we have to do is have laws and bills that place patients first and citizens first. a big focus and we have not gotten to it this morning and i think is coupled hand and glove in what we see i think has so many americans upset is the need to reform our system to have a debit finance system that works to get the money out of politics and to provide an opportunity for the citizens to

reclaim their democracy. host: this tweet -- guest: i would argue that having had a family with three children and knowing their insurance needs and medical needs, i would beg to differ. the constituent calls that i received in connecticut, and i am sure this is true across the nation, that people obviously need insurance and they need health care. they also need healthy lifestyles and an education that allows them to compete in a global economy. these are the kinds of things that as they relate to security, financial security, and their personal security by having appropriate safety net whether social security, medicare, or a

health care bill that in fact helps all of us as it relates to a global problem as it relates to the spread of disease and making sure that we are having a healthier nation here as a whole. host: indianapolis, good morning to lincoln who is a republican. good morning. how did you get that name? caller: i was named after a 16th president actually. host: were your parents big history of fans? caller: my brother is named after -- i know we are al civil war - named kids. host: what is your question? caller: pretty much for me, i work currently through a school program. i have been having