to their engine, more than 10, 15%. if you want to expand court at the mall dramatically, then flex vehicles would be the way to go. at this point, we are not yet ready for cellulosic ethanol, which would prove the food for fuel competition, and expanding court ethanol by that magnitude is not something i would recommend. host: gm cars seem to be the only ones that have flex fuel. guest: i agree. those are the only ones i have seen. there was a general mandate to manufacture those types of cars. host: would you recommend expanding court at the mall, at this point? guest: quickly, summarize why not. guest: it is a bad bargain,

from the perspective of the environment. it makes a competition between food and fuel. there is no escaping the fact that bad bargain exists. host: robert means, thank you for being on "washington journal." every four years, and sometime during the off-years, we cover jan mickelson's radio show. in a few minutes, michele bachmann will be joining him, followed by ron paul, followed by your calls. we are covering that live, so you will be able to call an and react to the show. you can see, it is just about to get under way. michele bachmann will be there

in a minute. live coverage from now until tuesday night when we will be covering live two different caucuses from iowa. 8:00clock eastern time -- eastern time. we will be covering one caucus on c-span, another on c-span2. 1774 caucuses will be taking place that night. republican caucuses. party business to be head and the presidential preferential poll. that is what everyone is chasing in iowa. no delegates will be awarded. there is the producer. we will now go to who radio in des moines.

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> good morning. it is sunny and 83 degrees. the newest candidate continues to quietly go about his campaign. rick santorum, now listed as third -- >> good morning, everybody. we are watching the candidates. this is radio. we just went through a shift change. and take out the ash trays and beer cans, getting everything

started. we usually operate on a five- minute turn over. who radio is in des moines, iowa. we do this every year with presidential candidates. whether we want them to or not, they descend on us. we will be chatting with michele bachmann, who is fashionably on time, maybe. later, ron paul will be joining us. the reason i know ron paul will be joining us is because i am getting deluged with people sending the e-mail. you guys in the ron paul camp are so organized, it is amazing. this is now the second election cycle we have experienced you people. we admire that, actually. we are not complaining, but my goodness, you are organized.

in this election cycle, that is why they are sort of predicting that ron paul will be doing extremely well this time. according to the public opinion surveys, the latest one says romney and ron paul are within a statistical dead heat. i think rick santorum is now running at no. 3. we are in the process of helping the entire known universe to candidates. sometimes people wonder, why i what? sometimes we wonder that, too. we have an interesting demographic mix. we are ok at selecting candidates. the democrats selected the last candidate, mr. obama. republicans selected the last successful republican nomination, gw.

it could be said, we are ok at this. depending on your point of view, we might owe somebody an apology. it depends on your politics. as best we can, we are going to fill some time until michele bachmann gets here. i know ron paul will be on time. he always is. michele bachmann's campaign is going through a transition because she has lost some of her staff, and they have gone to the ron paul campaign. so i will ask her about that, in addition to other questions. we are also getting you involved. we are always happy to hear from the known universe participating in this process. you want me to move it this way? i carefully put it this way so that people could not see my face.

this is why you have to make sure you have good help. you just saw my producer. he is johnny on the spot. sounds like we have some activity in the hallway. let me tell you what is going on. i am also keeping track of the sound from our radio station, which we will be joined shortly. i will be happy to get you involved in the conversation as well. the way you do that, 1-800-469- 4295. this is a talk show, but it is a two-way talk show. i asked some introductory questions to get the candidate

ready. i am not a gotcha interview work. i like to deal with the personalities -- [inaudible] i really enjoy that participation. [inaudible] let's go live. good morning, friends. welcome aboard. this is our thursday get together. this is a two-way conversation. we are in the last stages of picking presidential candidates and interviewing them. we are expecting michele bachmann to join us shortly. ron paul will be joining us

shortly. we are going to spend the entire morning chatting with listeners from all over the country. let me describe what is at stake here and how this process works. because we have an incumbent democratic president, democrats do have a caucus, and they deal with internal political issues within their party. obviously, they will not be picking presidential candidates. last i heard, i do not think the incumbent president is being ied.ar the republicans are desperately trying to figure out who to support. let me be frank with you on this. we are having a tough time. not because we do not like the

current crop of candidates. there are just so many choices, part of the political process here, having trouble deciding. you have the mitt romney people that have a steady 25%, here in iowa. that has not changed. he had 25% in the last election cycle, again here in iowa. what has changed this time around is ron paul's numbers are up and steady, within the margin of error at the top. depending on the poll, you have ron paul ahead, a couple of weeks ago, newt gingrich was way ahead of the polls. everybody said, this is inevitable. the race is over. you may as well pack it up and go home. now, he is running a distant fourth. that is to demonstrate how

volatile this has become, and the prediction is, right up until the last possible second, iowans are still undecided. there are many reasons for that. partly, the evangelical community is split between five different candidates. in the beginning we had herman cain, rick perry, tim pawlenty, the former governor from minnesota. he came in with lots of money and expectations but he did not take off. the tea party got behind michele bachmann. she won the iowa straw poll in august. there was a certain inevitability about that. and then rick perry, almost one day after her victory, got in the race, and that changed.

michele is with us now. did you bring me some coffee? >> i can if you want me to. >> it was already on the table. i poured it. >> i do not drink coffee anyway. >> you are used to being served, it looks like. >> are you shocked? >> you are, too. we both are. >> i am used to the serving. >> thank you for joining us this morning. as i was telling listeners, we have ron paul coming in later. we have a chance to talk with you this morning. did you park out front? >> yes, it is a duty. >> in michele bachmann's

biography of "core of conviction" she admits and is proud that her family owned an edsall station wagon when you were a kid. >> it was huge. break hp, my dad loved it. it was two-toned. i do not think there was another one like it across the country. we would drive out to my uncle's farm in minnesota. we would say, faster, faster. we would get up to about 90, and it was fantastic. i spoke to freely, didn't i? >> you have been busy, have been all over the place. >> yes, we are on our 99-county tour. last night, we were on our 93rd

in boone county. we did a 11 counties yesterday. >> nobody could keep this schedule straight. you are all amazing. >> we will finish our final four counties today. it is one of the best decision we have made. it is taxing to do 10 counties a day, but we started the day after the sioux city debate. the next morning, we started our tour. we have been all over iowa. it has been the electric. it has been the best way to campaign, going from every place to the dinky cafe, and all over. >> i have not heard of that one. >> it is not a chain, but it was packed to the gills. >> i have to get to the internal

political stuff. your campaign is experiencing some turmoil. you lost one of your supporters , abandon ship to the ron paul campaign. what is going on with that? >> the ron paul campaign had contacted one of the people on our campaigned, alford -- offered them money to go to their campaign. he went, pure and simple. >> kind of unusual, this late into the game? >> i would think so. it was a financial decision. >> three days left? goodness. >> he said it was a great deal of money, had to provide for his family. that was the decision that was made. >> you are referring to senator sorensen. the downside, he left it with

brad zong. >> [laughter] you remember the sioux city debate. that is where i went after ron paul on the issue of iran having a nuclear weapon. no question, there is a desperate difference between every candidate and ron paul. he is unwilling to stand up for the united states when it comes to dealing with a nuclear iran. >> you guys were arguing over questions of fact, whether or not there was -- >> there was an iaea report issued in november that said iran was perilously close to having the technology for a nuclear weapon. i sit on the intelligence committee, we deal with the nation's classified secrets. i cannot talk about a lot of that. >> we have ways to make you

talk. >> no, you don't. there is a clear report that iran is perilously close to having a nuclear weapon. ron paul was essentially denying that the report exists. then he said the report was not worth anything later. the whole point is, ron paul would be a dangerous precedent for the united states. he has frightening views on foreign policy. after that debate, it was like an electric lights which went on across iowa. we began our tour in that area. the next day, that was all people wanted to talk about. we had more people come out to our meetings than ever before. huge momentum. people were saying, i am switching to you to support for president, not ron paul.

we have seen this for the last week and a half. people have been coming my way. the momentum shifted dramatically away from ron paul to my campaign. i think that is what led to this disruption in my campaign, where the calls were made and they hired somebody away. >> this is not just an academic question. even as we speak, iran is threatening to close the strait of hormuz. >> they are doing military training exercises. >> they have threatened to shut it down and blockade. >> this is why this is so serious, for all of the listeners at who. when iran gains a nuclear weapon, if it happens, they will have the capacity to decide who the customers for oil will be, and what the price will be, and they will hold the world hostage. this is something that cannot happen. >> what do you think needs to be

done? what are the action steps that michelle -- michele bachmann would take? >> we need to equip israel, sell them the refueling tankers they require, the jet fighter they require. >> feeling tankers for what? >> for the aircraft that is needed, to be able to go to war, if they need to, with iran. israel is very vulnerable right now. iran has stated, unequivocally, once they obtain a nuclear weapon, they will use it to wipe israel off the face of the earth. just pause for a moment and think about what that would mean for the world, if we will cut and found out that a nation was the lager here, that it had been taken down by a nuclear weapon, our ally israel.

imagine if they have that capacity and using that against the united states of america. this is not an academic question. the president in iran has stated, as recently as august of this year, and september, when he came to the un general assembly, that they would use a nuclear weapon against israel, that they needed to be eradicated from the face of the earth. if i was commander in chief, i would not be willing to wait for an american city to be obliterated by a nuclear weapon, killing millions of americans, to respond to iran. that is what ron paul would do. he would wait until after we are attacked before responding. i would not. as commander in chief, i would do everything in my power to make sure that never happens. >> michele bachmann is here in the studio.

we will continue the conversation during the break for our local callers. we have people joining us from all over the country. 800-469-4295 is our toll-free line. you are welcome to join us in a moment. >> my screens went down. >> we are still able to communicate here. you cannot be the way you normally are, because of these people here with cameras and microphones. you have to guard your language. >> my screen went down. got it. >> i do not like to waste time.

the c-span audience is participating as well. ross, can we take calls from listeners from c-span? we will do that. let's go to dallas. jonathan, good morning. what is on your mind? >> thank you for having me on, first of all. i want to congratulate michele bachmann for being the strongest female in the republican race, by far. i think she is fantastic. ron paul is unelectable, with comments like we cannot build a fence on the border, because that would not keep people -- keep people from coming in, it would keep us from leaving. michele bachmann is up against not only the other candidates, but up against president obama, who has facebook, twitter, google, and youtube in its back

pocket. i believe that helped him win the last election. no president should have the monopoly of those companies in their back pocket. not republican or democrat. i wanted to know what you think about that. >> i absolutely agree, jonathan. we have seen, whether it is the head of facebook or google, it is clear there is an alliance with the obama administration, as well as with nbc. i think that is very concerning. we do want to have a separation between the media and an administration, whether republican or democrat. we know there is no such thing as a complete lack of bias in the media, but we would like to think there is some level of objectivity. this is a crucial race. in my opinion, this is america's last chance to regain our constitutional underpinnings and

get us back on the right road. the reason i say that, this is the only chance we will have to get rid of obamacare. it is the law of the land today. socialized medicine is the law of the land. only a 34% approval rating. >> let me ask you about that. this is what propelled your first few months in the candidacy. this is why the tea party initially latched on to you. you came out and said, obamacare was the number-one issue. 80% of the american public, when this was debated, said that we do not want this. ok. hang on. our listeners are joining us again in a moment. ♪

i was just asking michele bachmann about the fact that the initial part of her candidacy was propelled very much by the issue of obamacare, the potential for repeal. but the party adopted year earlier. the political class had thrust it on the american people, despite an 80% disapproval rating back then. other candidates came into the race after that, and to some degree, your support has softened. we have been playing musical chairs in iowa with presidential candidates. to what degree does that issue -- when you go talk to people, you are still hiding in this morning. >> always. in our 99-county tour, finishing our last four today, in every single town hall meeting, people

resonate with the issue of getting rid of obamacare. it is wildly unpopular. it is not just republicans. they do not want the united states to be the land of socialism. the crown jewel of socialism in any country is socialized medicine. government controls you when they control health care. we have got to get rid of this. we are dead broke. obamacare will cost us trillions of dollars that we do not have we already know what will happen. 15-political appointee board that will be making all our decisions for us. president obama appoints 15 people to a board, and they will make the major health-care decisions. health care will never be the same again in the united states. i am not willing to see the united states, which has always been the premier nation in the world for health care, lose that. >> you are familiar with the

lean 6 sigma stuff. candidates have invited people to sign onto those pledges. a texas consultant. newt gingrich has been highlighting this. did you sign the pledge as well? >> yes, it is called a strong america now. >> i think the only person that has not is mitt romney. yesterday, on this station, we were talking with mitt romney. he said he did not know what it was. is that even remotely possible, as far as you are concerned? >> i do not know. i cannot go into his thoughts. >> he has been asked over and over to sign this. >> i know that our campaign was asked and we were happy to do it. i signed it in cedar rapids. i am a private businesswoman.

i know, in my own company, if we did not continually change, continually improve, we would be out of business. that is the essence of this pledge. >> can that be applied to the federal government? >> as president of the united states, i intend to. without exception, we all recognize the federal government is bloated beyond any possible recognition. it has got to come down in size. when you have a government that spends $3.70 trillion a year but only has $2.20 trillion in revenue, with a deficit of $1.50 trillion, that means you are broke. no business could act like that, no family could act like that. we have to pay this off. this is not monopoly money. the sad reality is, our kids in their 20's, and younger, are

going to have to hold two, three jobs in the future just to keep this ship going. this will mean a reduced standard of living for the next generation. i am unwilling to do that. >> i know you are a tax attorney, expertise in tax policy. you have talked about this. you also have expertise on the immigration issue. one of your strong campaign points. i do not like to do this normally, but i have been playing this sound bite to candidates to get their instant analysis. i will probably play this for ron paul has well. alan greenspan, a former fed chair, has written a book called "age of turbulence." he was talking about a policy on immigration. we usually talk about immigration, out of control stop on the southern border,

illegals, low-skilled workers. in this case, he is talking about skilled workers, encouraging skilled labor to come into the country. i want you to hear why he wants this to occur. >> one of the most controversial things in the book is to augment of skilled labor. we paid the highest skilled way she's -- paper which is in the world. we would attack very substantial quantity of skilled labor, which would suppress the wage levels of the skill. they're being subsidized by government, meaning our competition is being kept outside the country. if we bring in the number of workers to suppress the level of wages relative to the lesser

skilled, we will reduce the degree of inequality. >> that is the guy who used to run the printing press. >> it is so typical of government interventionist thinking. i am an austrian school economist, the school i follow. they reject government intervention as i do. what you've just heard is mr. greenspan, the same idea of having more government intervention. the geniuses, so to speak in the elite circles who think they know best what wage levels should be? think of that. we want to bring in more to bring the wages down, to benefit who? >> he says it will reduce the wage inequality. he says where over pan the educated class. >> so we want to bring more people down? my thinking is the opposite.

i want to bring wages up for everyone at every level. in order to do that, my plan is one that will work. i will abolish the tax code. i will reduce the rates for businesses and individuals so we are among the lowest industrialized world. i will have a field day getting rid of government regulation, and what i'm going to do, i think is probably further than what any other candidate is willing to do, i want to dismantle the modern welfare state and and it. if we do that, we can get our budgets to balance. we cannot do it as it is today. that is what will grow the economy. >> let me give you a softball before the break. >> i have the best score on any of the candidates on immigration because i will address the problem and make english the official language of the federal government. i will go further than other candidates. a will and the practice of anchor babies', which is

granting automatic citizens-to babies born here illegally. >> you have to change the constitution to do that. >> no, you do not. >> why not? >> the authority lapsed -- lies with the congress and the president. >> the 14th amendment is being used to say grants automatic citizenship. why is that argument bogus? >> the courts are inventing that and saying that is what a man's, but the congress makes the laws. that is the separation of powers doctrine. the people have their representation to the congress and the president. the courts are not the people's representatives, but the congress and the president. they need to pass the law. >> the guy who wrote the chunk of the 14th amendment, jacob howard, says this does not apply to the children of foreigners. >> very good. very good, thank you. >> would you fire ben bernanke?

>> yes, i would fire him. >> you sound at this level, you and ron paul r. allen the same page. >> on economics, we are. ron paul would legalize heroin and cocaine. i would not. i would not legalize drugs. i believe strongly in marriage between one man and one woman. ron paul would not have a federal protection for marriages of one man and one woman. i believe in the sanctity of human life from conception until natural death. ron paul would not overturn roe v. wade. there's the issue of foreign policy. in my estimation, the senate intelligence committee, while the economy is the number-one issue, and probably more worried right now about our the vulnerability to foreign aggressors than any time in the last 40 years. we cannot have someone as our commander-in-chief someone unwilling to take on the foreign

aggressors. >> the lit a you just mentioned could easily be made. -- the litany you just mentioned, could easily be made. he spends a whole chapter saying roe v. wade not only is not a lot the land, but we do not have to go through a constitutional amendment to overturn a bad law and even suggests ways it can be overturned. >> i would agree with that. i have not read that chapter. i agree we should have legislation on protecting the personhood of the individual. the congress and the president needs to take this area and reflect the people's values and uphold the sanctity of human life. >> we will break away on a local basis for mr. cooper. we will continue this conversation and go to our phone lines during the break. i am done with some of my questions to michele bachmann and the rest of the segment to get there will be confined to

phone calls from all of the country. we're simulcasting with and c- span. >> we are back live with our c- span audience. michele bachmann is in the studio. let's talk with james. >> thank you for taking my call. i appreciate it. pleasure to be on the air with michelle bachmann. i want to address things she said. i was a friend of cindy mccain this past year. i suggest michele bachmann to a google search for cindy mccain and uss. israel is not an ally of america. michele bachmann is willing to overlook. spewing lies about ron paul.

he is not going to put our country at risk militarily. michele bachmann is a neocon, willing to get us into world war ii. ahmadinejad never threatened to wipe israel off the map. you can go to my blog for more on this. >> he is on a bond paul rand. address it any way you wish. >> i do believe israel is our ally and i believe we need to stand for israel. i think that is been part of the problem with president obama. he is the first president since israel declared her sovereignty and a 1948 to not stand with israel. that led to the heightened aggression of the 22 hostile neighbors surrounding israel. that is why see the rise of radical islam in egypt, tunisia, libya and now the imposition of sharia law in egypt and tunisia and libya. this is changing the course of history.

we need a president who understands the international dynamics and will stand up for the united states because these aggressors are not content to stay in their own back yard. they will be -- they see the u.s. as a foe. some commentators have said it may be the united states will one day find out what it is to be in israel's shoes in the middle east. i don't want to see that >> part of the conversation about the attack on the uss liberty. i remember that story. it was in the 1967 war. it was an intelligence gathering ship that israel took out. whether by mistake or on purpose as an act of war, is still a question. they later paid reparations for that. they said, we screwed up. >> i stand by my claim. i believe ron paul would be a very dangerous precedent for the united states because clearly,

the no. 1 threat today to international security is iran gaining a nuclear weapon. it is simply untrue. all you have to do is to a google search and there's ample evidence of the president of iran stating unequivocally he seeks to eradicate israel off the face of the map and will use a nuclear weapon against the united states of america. if history has taught us anything and 100 years, when a masked man speaks, listen. pay attention. be smart. i will. >> let's go to texas. >> good morning. my question is, not long ago there was a question about rebuilding the electrical infrastructure of america. what i was wondering, there were some stuff cemented about a year-and-a-half ago that would replace all the existing electrical infrastructure in america, replacing it with

updated stuff underground. natural gas critic at the same time and internet at the same time. putting in place the infrastructure needed for an electric and natural gas grid at the same time. we pay for it as we go. $5 per individual over 18. the utilities would match it. it puts everybody to work. what i'm wondering, is this something she was aware of and whether or not it is still on the table somewhere in the pipeline? >> we will rejoin who radio listening audience. ♪ >> welcome back. there in the studio with michelle bachmann, running for president. we're simulcasting with c-span. later, ron paul will join us.

we will have some open time. the fellow was asking from texas about the possibility of developing many more infrastructure issues including natural gas and electricity in the internet. >> i am and all of the above energy person. i want more energy in the u.s., less dependence on foreign sources of oil and energy. opec has a stranglehold over us. that is the gift god has given us in the u.s., we're the no. 1 energy resource rich nation and the world. the problem has been the federal government has put our resources under lock and key. we have more oil in three western states that all of saudi arabia. 25% of the world's coal. i am glad the caller brought up natural gas. one of the largest gas finds is in pennsylvania. the epa is trying to crack down

on us not even being able to access natural gas. >> i have to drop the f bomb. >> fracking? [laughter] >> yes. >> we of trillions and trillions of cubic square feet, why not access it? i believe in all of the energy as well as biofuel, wind, every bit of it. let's use it all. all we have to do is legalize it and it can be paid for through the private sector. the subsidy levels required by the federal government for some of these grids are something that have to be looked at. after all, we are broke. we are terribly broke. >> wouldn't it be nice upon hearing iran plans, the strait of hormuz -- >> to say, too bad, we're

independent it by president obama would not have an all-out effort of grand mobilization of energy in the united states in the face of that is beyond me. we should be laughing at them. >> this is john. calling us from the people's republic of windsor heights. [laughter] >> thank you for taking my call. i want ask congressman bachmann about the sorenson affair. i'm reading a statement on the internet about her political director saying, i want some much about the situation are conflicting statements beyond this -- i can say unequivocably that can sorenson's decision was not in no way financially motivated. then he goes on to say, i cannot in good conscience watch a good man like ken sorenson be attacked as a sellout. can you reconcile the statements

between you saying ken sorenson took money in your political director saying, no, he did not take money? >> i continue the conversation i had directly with ken sorenson -- [unintelligible] slipping away from ron paul. they're deciding to vote for michele bachmann. that is when the ron paul campaign offered money from ken sorenson to my ears telling me he was offered a great deal of money, and that is why he left. >> thank you for your call, sir. taking what you previously said about the fed, you would get rid of the current?

>> yes. >> what about the fed itself? ron paul says he would get rid of it. he has called for it to be audited. you share his similar economics point of view. is it time to get rid of the federal reserve as a system? >> i think that is a concept that should be evaluated. i am on the legislation for auditing the fed. if you look at the act that created the federal reserve, the scope of power that congress give to the federal reserve is breathtaking. it was never before utilize until 2008. then we started to see the fed utilize that power that was always sitting there. it was dormant. when they used it, it is of a scope we've never seen before. therefore, i believe because of

those circumstances, the case very clearly could be made. >> the president wants another trillion dollars or 2. are you going to give it to him? >> not me. i was the voice that said do not let congress borrow any more money. we are in hock up to our ears in china. that makes us a servant to china when we are the debt to her and their the lender. what president obama is doing is putting us and our children into indentured servitude to china economically. i am unwilling to do that. we have to sober up in this country. we have to stop spending money we don't have. i absolutely would refuse to do that. i have called on members of congress together, saying, look, we're not spending one more time that we take in. when i grew up here in iowa, i parents would never have considered spending more than one dime of what my father made.

what we need to do is get our house in order and say, look, we cannot afford these programs. we have to stop them. i will end the department of education, the department of the epa, the interior department. i have many departments i will close down because those functions into simply go back to the state. >> let's talk to jeff. you're talking to michele bachmann. >> i understand the philosophy some people have wanting to be the world's policeman and preventing iran from getting a nuclear weapon. i think it is a dangerous game because russia has won as if we attack iran, there could be serious consequences -- warned us if we attack iran, decoster is consequences. i'm having trouble reconciling our policy with north korea compared to iran. north korea, you have an unstable government, they have a

nuclear weapon, have launched test missiles toward japan and hawaii, attacked south korea twice and killed a bunch of people. yet many people in the government seems unwilling to do anything about it. would you attack north korea for what they have done if you are willing to attack iran? >> this is not about attacking iran, but preventing them from obtaining a nuclear weapon because of the very clear intentional statements that iran is making about what they will do with that nuclear weapon. what would you have us do? we seriously have to consider this very real possibility that if iran has a nuclear weapon, they will use its to kill millions of people. think the rest of the government is on board with that. >> let's understand who runs iran. it is a very radical believe that they hold it and

figureheads -- ahmadinejad is in sync with radicals. >> you're not talking about military action, then what are you suggesting? >> i am talking about potential military action. i am talking about putting everything on the table. >> then what about against north korea? >> they have not said they would use a nuclear weapon to wipe israel off the face of the map nor have they said they would use it against an american city to wipe us out and kill millions of people. that is a big difference. north korea is not a good actor. they are effectively the walmart of missile delivery systems. they are for sale. that is with their manufacturing business is. evile is a new access of t that has emerged.

russia has applied nuclear scientists to help iran game that nuclear weapon. the united states has on the evidence weakness under president obama. what is amazing is ron paul is to the left of president obama on this issue. that is why i say, ron paul would be a very dangerous president to the united states when it comes to foreign policy. >> thank you for your call, sir. that was a sweeping statement you just made. to declare all of those countries as the new access of the evil. ronald reagan said that about the cold war communist states. would that be reflective of michele bachmann foreign-policy? the new taxes of evil is all of those countries including russia? >> yes, i think we need to understand or these aggressors

are coming from. we need to take off our politically correct glasses. we need to look at that and recognize where our vulnerabilities are in the united states. only a fool wishes for war. i do not wish for war. i would not put our troops in harm's way without clear, and then a 50, vital national interest. that is what the problem was with obama. that is why i opposed the effort in libya. >> you left off china. china has fingerprints. >> i thought i said china could >> i apologize if i did not hear it. >> time is part of it did a brief timeout. michele bachmann is in the studio with us. we're simulcasting with c-span. we will go to the phone lines during the last time out. later, ron paul will be joining us. you are welcome to join us as

well. >> this is dan from grand rapids. >> good morning. i have a question for michele bachmann. she mentioned the obama care, only 34% of the people agree with it. i think she needs to do some research on that. secondly, she talks about socialized medicine. we don't want to go there. in essence, that is where we are. when he turned 55, medicare is socially run. the reason it is costing so much is because some americans do not have any insurance at age 55,

56, and even younger. by the time they get to 65, they have so many problems that it costs taxpayers so much money that i really believe we need to do something similar to obamacare, but they do not send have anything to replace it. 80 million americans without insurance and we paid for that with insurance. >> today, and looks like the medicare system, like the collapse under president obama it is running out of money. it is broke. it will be broke effectively by 2017 according to the congressional budget office. the point of this is, president obama's intention is all americans from cradle to grave, which includes senior citizens, would fold into obamacare. that is the federal government deciding what our health care will be for all americans.

i want to see americans have choice in their health care, to have the best health care they can. the real problem is the cost. president obama only made health care more expensive under obamacare. >> we are back with who radio listeners. one last segment. what do you want the lister's here, how would you like to be defined if you had your own dictionary? >> i am the most pro-growth candidate running for political office. i am a real person, not a politician. i have no interest in being a politician. i went to washington as a proven conservatives, living in a row world. i went there as a factor. i fought against the out of control spending, obamacare. that is when nancy pelosi president obama were in charge.

i stood up and fought when i had a chance against the establishment. i am not a part of the establishment. i get with growth is because i have run a real business as a private businesswoman. i anders down the tax code. i know what has to be done to -- i understand the tax code. i know what has to be done. i am the one with the resolve of the backbone to do it of all the candidates. plus, i am the most electable. i have won four elections in the last five in a state where no republican women had won before. i have one in tough races. we needed the most conservative candidate and ronald reagan to defeat jimmy carter. march market that, became what britain needed as the iron lady. -- just like margaret thatcher, became what britain needed as the iron lady. i will stand on the stage with barack obama and hold him accountable, to feed him just like i held on paul accountable.

i will do that to president obama. i will be the candidate who wins in 2012. >> did you just say you were the most electable? >> yes, i did. i won four races in the most difficult states to can be elected in. i won the iowa straw poll. who else can say that? >> good morning, drew. >> i have three questions. first, who put saddam hussein into power in the first place? asking for a history lesson. >> yes. i figure history is most important. we should look back at past mistakes and toward the future. who put saddam hussein's into power? >> it to your therefore question. >> in order to counter iran's

threat back in 1980's because of the iranian revolution. >> let me borrow your question. michelle, we frankly suck at international relationships and foreign policy. >> that is why i should be the next president of united states. of all the candidates, no one has more current national security experience than i have. our next president will be tested almost immediately on foreign policy. our next president has to understand this issue. clearly, barack obama did not. >> would you agree we are not very good at this? >> we can be a lot better. that is why i'm running for president as well. i believe i'm the best of all the candidates to be able to conduct foreign policy. >> what would you like us to know more than anything else? >> i'm the candidate that can be barack obama in this election. i will stand up. when i go to the white house, i

will do exactly what i say i'm going to do. we need someone who is not one to cave, but stan. i need your vote on january 3. i will be the cannon shot that will change the course of history for the better. >> we just heard from the nra spokesman. >> i am great on that issue as well. >> i did not know you used cannons now critical of what is wrong with that? >> lock and load. pheasant hunting on friday. >> he has done that with rick perry. >> and tim pawlenty. >> rick santorum admitted he had to steal an orange sweater from the department of transportation. did you bring your own? >> i will be bringing my own. i am a pretty good shot. i am a permit holder.

i've learned how to hunt in iowa from my dad. i went through gun safety when i was 12. my favorite is an ar15. i scored the best of my class of any of the men, too. >> that is -- >> a rifle. >> it is a semiautomatic 222? >> i like being accurate. >> an apparently, lights of -- lots of firepower. how big is your magazine? [laughter] is it legal? >> of course it is. time.re just about out of thank you for joining us. >> it was a thrill. >> what do you predict? how well do have to do here? >> we think we will do really well.

you have all the candidates on the air spending millions of dollars right now attacking each other. what we chose to do was go to the iowans. we are clarifying who we are in this race. iowans it has been a delight. then we'll be going to marshalltown. >> pe-rou, not "perot." >> i am from waterloo and cedar falls. >> thank you so much. now we will have to play musical chairs for the c-span viewers. that was really cool. we did not tell you that c-span was going to be here. we do not know until late

yesterday afternoon. welcome back. good to see you. >> thank you. >> he is what appear anytime he wants. how are you doing? >> happy new year. >> i plan on coming back. >> come over here anytime you want. that is the iowa state senator and we have a comment affinity -- or lack of affinity to the new traffic cameras that have been installed in iowa. there is a new source of revenue by putting these cameras all over the place. we will try to create a hunting season for them.

we're in the process of the transition between now and when a congressman ron paul come here. plus known ron paul for 20- years. i followed his career as he was a libertarian. i think i even got his newsletter, his controversial newsletters. those newsletters were pretty much like what contemporary blogs are. he had an e-mail list that included radio talk shows. i was on the air in cincinnati during the pre-internet newsletter days. i have known him for a long time and have followed his career for a long time. we have discussed libertarian politics, economics. i've known him for a long time.

i don't know if the word "friend" would apply. it has been intriguing to watch his transition as an obscure texas congressman who was known as dr. no, always voting no on almost everything that had to do with money issues. "it is unconstitutional." he was almost the only one in congress that was thinking in these terms. others would compromise. "i know we are not supposed to be doing this stuff." "if you want to be effective, you have to go along with the status quo. if you want the good committee

assignments and not the marginalize, you cannot vote like dr. paul does." he has stuck with it and stuck with that and finally after the multi wars and a whole generation in debt, almost like the next -- [unintelligible] the other candidates would look down their nose and create -- " kook."ust a events have caught up with dr.

paul. it seems like it is common- sense. most of the candidates except on farm policy issues have adopted ron paul's talking points. he is either one or two in the polls in the state of iowa. it looks like he could win this thing. his organization is state of the art. he is organized down to the grassroots level, precinct by precinct. the organization that he put in place or that was put in place for him remains. the ron paul supporters are zealots. they are truly passionate.

they have an emotional bond to this candidate. it is almost spooky. very similar to the bond that obama supporters had to obama in the last election. it is amazing. he can fill a college campus room with kids who think he is the newest thing, the latest thing. his message has not changed -- he is not changed his message in 25 years. we're waiting for him to join us in the studio. i hope he did not get into a contest with michele bachmann in the hall. i don't know who would win that fight. my name is jan mickelson and i'm the morning show host.

you're watching us here on c- span. where simulcasting this morning. this is a very informal relationship. we understand we're honored as i onowans. i saw governor huntsman said, "iowans picked corn, new hampshire people pick candidates." but we do. we try to ask all the right questions. we do the pre-interview process so we get the strongest of the candidates sent off to the next states. good morning, doc. your seat is already warmed up. thank you for coming. make yourself comfortable.

ok. you time that exactly right. >> guess which book you got me to read? "currency wars." puts it into context. >> ok. welcome back to the conversation. i am jan mickelson and we're simulcasting with c-span this morning. congressman ron paul has just joined us in the studio. you're used to the cameras. people are following you around and scribbling down every single morsel that you say, as if you will say something new out after 25 years. >> every single morsel i eat. >> you are the perceived

frontrunner and they are coming after you big time. you are the guy at the top. >> they have been looking for the flip-flops and searching and searching. >> if you could provide them some flip-flop this morning to give them something to work with. >> i was in the size of today -- i was indecisive today -- should not exercise indoors or outdoors -- should i exercise indoors or outdoors? >> we will be in the 50's here today. that will give an advantage to mitt romney, according to the talking heads. if there was a blizzard, your people -- you guys would take it

away. >> people in the media must be desperate if the temperature will determine the future of the world. maybe there's a little bit of truth to that. i hope people are more serious about how they make their decisions. >> i would like to think that, too. you said that you read a book. >> "currency wars." >> he is a good economist and that is a good book. do you agree with the assessment? >> this is probably a more significant issue them world war ii-type fighting.

the battles are economic. i have complained about us spending ourselves into such great debt. the chinese are buying up resources. but then the competition starts. there is a great potential for a trade war and the currency war. it has offended the chinese. it would all be solved with an international standard of money. you could not have currency wars. you would need the integrity of countries are obeying the rules of something of real value and you would not have this going on. this looks like for the real wars are going to go. the likelihood of someone militarily attacking us -- we

are so powerful. our military is so strong. i fear the financial timebomb that we're sitting on. the dollar is holding up right now. if push comes to shove, which could be brought down for financial reasons. we were able to contain the soviets. they were brought down by economic reasons. >> you have some of these protesters banging on the windows. >> i did not hear that. >> they did this to mitt romney's office. they are vowing to make a ruckus and disrupt the caucasus. it would be sad if they did.

there are only about 25 of them. they are trying to occupy your office. >> last week we had a rally and/or occupiers -- and there were occupiers there. uckus and no raucou afterwards i shook their hands. an open view point about the constitution and attacking some of the things that they do not like. they do not like the bailout, and i do not like the bailout. there are some things we can agree on. they don't trust government anymore. >> it looks like if we were in

the currency wars, you would have won. people have evaluated your portfolio. you are one of the few members of congress that refused to take a congressional retirement. the reason why you did that? >> i consider it unfair. i was complaining about the problems on wall street and they offered me the pension fund and it seemed like to big of a boondoggle. so i turned it down. >> your op 5147% -- you are up 547%. that is better than warren buffett. 547% over last 10 years.

>> i don't know if i want my wife to know that. >> you put your money where your mouth is. you invested in gold and hard- currency. >> every once in awhile, gold will not go anywhere and stocks will go opt. up. "just think of what you missed out on." the stock market boomed for a while and then it went down. i decided that the dollar would be devalued after it was the gold.linked from >> gold is about $6,000 an ounce -- $1,600 an ounce.

the president wants another $1 trillion. >> there is no resistance. all he has to do is make a request. they have to act and turn him down. he asked for it during a recess. if they do not respond -- that is something. i believe he will get it. that was part of the grand compromise to have this super committee. it looks like a super sneak attack on the american people. >> we have lots of folks who want to get in on this conversation. your organization, they are legion and they are active.

they are not casual observers. sometimes you have to calm them down. a lot of folks would like in on this conversation. you have detractors. they used to ignore you and hope you would go away. now they are digging into your history and wondering -- "what did he say back in those old times?" we have lots of people that want to get in on the conversation and we're simulcasting with c- span and will continue in a moment. hat we do -- ok. i'm sorry. we're on c-span and so we'll

continue talking to the commercial breaks and we can take listener calls from all over the country. we do not want to waste anybody's time. tried to control your language. we're broadcasting live on c- span and thank you for your patience. c-span has been gracious in allowing us to do this. we can communicate with our audience and take calls. dead air. -good morning. dr. paul is listening. >> i love you. >> are you talking to me? >> everyone. >> do you have a question?

>> i just wanted to say i love you. >> this is sam. a lot of americans going for job interviews are often asked to answer this question. i like to have to answer it. what is your greatest weakness? >> i think my greatest weakness is my ability to deliver a message smoothly. i am so convinced about the message of liberty. i think i can always improve on my delivery. that is what i work on. i get by. i think it is the strength of the message and what the constitution says and what america is all about. that is where my strength is but

i could always do better. >> you talk about that message. you are filling a college campus auditoriums with the next generation. some of the most ardent supporters are college kids. >> i have not quite figured that out. the answer is not always the same. you like the constitution and we like people to stand on principle. we like the issue on the money. so many students are issued -- or ingested on the money. -- are interested on money politics. that strikes their fancy. they realize what terrible shape we're in.

they could end up paying a lot of money into social security. i offer a different solution to that. how we can take care of that and allow people to get out of that. they are attracted to free- market economics. i try to connect economic liberties with a personal liberties. to keep the fruits of your labor is attractive, especially to young people. they are seeing the failure of the government. >> michele bachmann said you energy are on the same page when it comes to economics. you park on foreign policy issues and some of the social issues -- you part on foreign policy issues, legalizing erewhheroin.

i had a lady called me -- let's rejoin the audience. ♪ write back to the conversation, ron paul is here in the studio -- right back to the conversation. about legalization of drugs and you would be pro- abortion as a president. a lady has called me. these are perceptions that exist. you're a physician and you were an abortionist. that is what a lady told me yesterday. i pointed out in reading the first chapter of one of your

books, you are one of the most pro-life candidates that i've come across. how did those perceptions, come across? this lady was convinced it was true. >> she doesn't know me. i wrote a whole book on the abortion issue. i have one bill that would repeal roe versus wade with a majority vote. remove the jurisdiction of the abortion issue from the federal government, and i do not get a lot of support for that. if iowa has a pro-life state, it could not be appealed to the supreme court. when we have the majority in the congress, they could've done it by majority vote and this could

have been done 10 years ago. think how many millions and millions of abortions could have been prevented. >> their two levels -- there are two levels to what one called just said. you were writing 20 years ago there were fixes and jurors that didn't require a constitutional amendment. you are way ahead of the curve on that. people are still saying that roe versus wade is the law of the land. >> it can be reversed. it is now part of the constitution. >> and courts do not make laws. >> it should never have gone to the supreme court. you can do this, this, and this -- it does not meet muster as

far as the constitution is concerned. >> have you expressed a willingness to sign on to the person that amendments? -- personhood amendments? >> i did with qualifications. i wrote some of the exceptions. i do not want the 14th amendment to repeal the ninth amendment. i'm still much in favor -- i support the definition of personhood. i think the states should deal with this like a deal with all acts of violence. >> your critique is that it is an act of violence. does the preborn have a moral

status? should it have legal status? >> it does. there shouldn't be any question about that. if a woman becomes pregnant and the father dies, is still has inheritance rights. if it weren't comes to see me in the first month or two or 3, and i'm taking care of her and i give for a medication that is detrimental, i can get sued for this. it is legal. they want to turn it around and they will throw to me as a libertarian. i am libertarian on personal behavior. they say, "why would you get involved with a woman in her rights to abort a fetus?"

the fetus has a right to choice, too. there are two lives in a vault that are interconnected -- their two lives in vaults. volved. our homes were our castles. what bill we just kill the baby -- why don't we just kill the baby? i say life is precious to take a human being and deserves protection. there are some difficulties and this is why i think the founders were right in making this a state issue. >> i did not mean to go on to

this particular issue and park it here. , a're still an intern resident. the book says you were a resident. >> i was a resident at that time. >> you're visiting a surgical suite and a fetus was placed in a bucket and was struggling to soon the baby stop crying. that mullen helped to define your world -- that moment helped to define your world. >> abortion never came up in medical school. that occurred in -- after 1965. >> the hypercritical nature of this has become how can ron paul columns of pro-life -- if he did

not rescue that two-pound child from that bucket, he is not pro- life. >> it probably was like a fleeting two-minute thing. we visited different operating rooms. i did not have the facilities. >> that's how vitriolic this is. >> people who still have a misperception -- all i ask is people to be open-minded about what i've said and written about. >> this is david. good morning. >> thank you for taking my call. i have a question and a brief follow-up.

how confident were you at the time that the newsletters that bore your name represented your views on taxes, on monetary policy, and the second amendment, all the things that you hold dear -- a coffin were you at the newsletter portrayed your views -- how confident were you? >> the newsletters were written a long time ago. i would write the economics. this was an investment letter. this would be material that i would tournament and it would become part of the letter. there were many times i did not edit the entire letter and other things were put in. i was not aware of the details until many years later.

these were sentences that were put it, eight or 10 sentences. it wasn't a reflection of my views at all. it got in the letter and i thought it was terrible. i had some responsibility because it was not under my name. i was like a publisher. junky stuffere's in newspapers. the type of newsletter -- every month since 1976. this is probably tend sentences out of 10,000 pages, for all i know -- this is probably 10 sentences. i disavow all these views.

people who know me best have heard these stories for years and years, and they knew they were not reflection of anything i believe in and it never hurt me politically. people are desperate to find something. >> many of your newsletters are filled with conspiracy. fearing the fifth doorbell -- $50 bill, and that we should be afraid that maybe tomorrow they will require us to turn our old money -- >> the paper money is pink. we have not had a runaway inflation. the consequences of the inflation was my concern and i

am still -- we talked about the currency wars. we do not have runaway inflation but we have the runaway debt. the collapse of the whole world economy that we're facing today. i was very concerned then and more concerned now. i continue to deal with these economic issues. >> your people knew that you were going to be on this morning. i got dozens and dozens of links to a video that your people have produced dealing with the time that you were a physician. i am assuming you are aware of this. a black fellow from texas whose wife was in distress giving birth in a hospital and she was having trouble, and there were having trouble finding a doctor who was willing to give them

service by implication because she was black and she was a white woman and she was having trouble finding an emergency physician. here is the sound of some of that. >> there was prejudice around this area. my wife was sick and i was trying to get some attention to her. nobody came to check. they just left her there. maybe me being black in her being white -- every time i said something to the head nurse, she would get upset. the follicle the three. police department and said i was harassing her -- they finally called the freeport police department.

ron paul came to rescue. he stepped in and went to work on my wife. after 10 minutes, she had a stillborn boy child. he said as far as the bill, he would take care of everything, which he did. i never got a bill. he was a doctor of medicine and that is what he was doing, practicing medicine. >> that is an amazing story. that is a long time ago. >> i just saw this alert while ago -- i just saw this a little while ago. i am amazed about how they found that. to me, i do not remember it because that was just when we practiced medicine, or at least

what i practice medicine. it was a non-event. myt's what i thiought response to brokers were -- my responsibilities were. >> we will continue with congressman ron paul in the middle of iowa. radio listening to w.h.o. and we are simulcasted on c- span this morning. ok, now we're back with our c- span viewers. i could see that have an emotional effect on you. >> it did. >> you are not given to oprah

moments. >> it was touching. sometimes you get banged over the head and thinking that they are making a sound like a terrible person. first off, you invited this problem by being in politics. there have been times i would vote by myself in trying to make these points. i say that truth wins out in th e end. if i'm telling the truth, eventually truth comes around rather it is foreign policy or whenever. if you believe it it is the truth, i think you'll eventually win. i think we're starting to win some of these fights and people are starting to listen.

>> because of youtube and video and modern technology has so changed the way politics is done. there is no place for anybody to hide anymore. you cannot deliver a message to one group of people and go across town and deliver the opposite message anymore and get away with it. you have to be consistent. there is no place to hide. i was doing some research and came across some old video. i was stunned to watch him getting your face. he called you every name in the book. it goes into what michele bachmann said during the last hour. >> that is what we had before

1914. there were no restrictions. there were put on by the state' s. alcohol is a dangerous drug. they tried prohibition. they still drank. the status quo said we like alcohol but we do not like marijuana, so habit imprisoned people -- so we have to imprisoned people on marijuana. they decided that everything except alcohol would be a crime rather than a disease. today we treat alcoholism as a disease.

we spend trillions of dollars on this. we have these breakdowns doors in the wrong apartments and people get killed over these things. the tragedy in our southern borders has what to do with drugs. so many people have died on our borders in recent years. >> some people misunderstand part of the libertarian message. you have freedom to be stupid. the rest of us should not have to pay your bills. you take away the safety net. should i grabbed one here? we're coming down in the countdown. we're simulcasting on c-span this morning. ♪ we're talking with congressman ron paul in the studio and lots

of us are eager to ask him a bunch of questions. i will get to you on the line in just a second. proxies for other candidates are all over the place. i consider this a personal attack against you. i'd like to give you the opportunity to respond. it was an attack on your integrity. a former congressman is proxy for newt gingrich today. here is what he said. >> ron is accusing the speaker of being a hypocrite. i was in congress with ron. he would put in hundreds of millions of dollars of earmarks and then he would sit on the floor and he would wait until the vote was certain that his

remarks would be funded. then he would put his card in the slot and vote no so we could then say, "i did not vote for earmarks." there are hundreds of millions of requests that were honored. but then he does not complete the deal. >> he would vote against the budget. >> he would vote against his own earmarks of knowing they would pass. >> it is amazing when people change when they become a spokesman for other people. we were good friends in the congress. he is in attack mode. he is completely wrong. >> which is say they are fall

off -- here in iowa, we just say they are full of shinola. >> it is important. he is completely wrong. everybody knows i vote no on every appropriations bill since i've been there. i have never voted for an earmark. >> that is your position. gobblede-gook.lic gro i think every penny it should be designated. these guys that are harping on me about your marks -- if you let earmark for an embassy, that

is not considered an earmark. they take money from our district and for how we funds and you have a request for highway. you market down and send it in -- you mark it down and send it in. if congress votes doubt and a that money goes to the executive branch. "i will do that if you vote for this weapons system that we do not need." then it is a big trade-off. every penny should be designated by the congress. money flows to the executive branch. obama did not ask for money to get involved with libya. plans are being made to go into

syria. they did not ask for designation there. congress should act on their own responsibilities. >> this is julio. >> i am here in chicago. always great to speak with you. i studied broadcasting in college, just to see the lack of a journalistic integrity from small-time logbloggers. chris wallace of fox news saying if ron paul were to win the iowa caucus -- i hope people truly do their own research. turn off the tv and do their own research on candidates. it is clear by the way they have

been attacking you, congressman paul, there's no journalistic integrity through the media. in terms of the economic war -- i'm 22 years old and investing in silver. i did research on john f. kennedy's executive order and when you talk about going back to the gold standard -- but the price of gold per ounce. silver, $30 an ounce. how can we get our currency back to where was? >> you cannot too quickly and less people change their minds about what the role of government should be. you can use gold and silver as legal tender. you cannot police the world.

we cannot tax the people to pay for it. we have to print money. people's minds and attitudes have to change. if we did these things -- people are joining me and recognizing that the government will be limited. we could restore a gold standard. we did it after the civil war. there was a three-year transition period, and it worked. but were not running up deficits. they had greenback's back them. it can be done. i want to legalize the constitution and compete with the paper currency and i think that would take care of itself

because people would give up on the paper. >> this is not a new position for dr. paul. you're involved with the gold commissioned wrote a fine history of gold and gold currency in this country. it is still a good primer. i recommend it highly. it is called "a case for gold." this is sharon. >> good morning. >> we have some feedback. there were go. thank you for taking my call. i just wanted to say it as an african american woman who has been voting with the democrats that i'm so happy to hear a candidate address the issues that are important to the majority of the country.

we should not be policing the world when we are going broke. the federal reserve banks should be reined in. i'm so happy to of a candidate who is speaking to these particular issues in addition to other ones. i want to say that i love you, ron paul. if ron paul is the candidate for the republicans, i am switching my vote. >> she brings up the subject of the spending and the wars. sometimes in our debates there will say, will discuss on foreign policy but not economics. they have to be connected. even the great austrian economist said war is a detriment and always drains and hurts the economy.

people who say they agree with me on economic issues but not foreign policy to not understand economics and they don't understand foreign policy. they are connected. if we could bring back our troops, just think of them spending all that money here instead of germany, japan, and korea. but the policies do have to be changed. we have accumulated over $4 trillion in debt in these wars that i think have not served our interest in one way. >> we have to take a break. i am jan mickelson. you're watching congressman ron paul who was been a frequent guest in this election cycle. we allow similar conversations because we share a common affinity for honest currency and

a limited government philosophy. the use to define what the iowa republican party or the conservatives or tea party, the folks in this election cycle. he is trying to woo people on that side of the aisle. we will continue in a moment. ok. i'm getting e-mails from c-span viewers. one was adamant in boldest letters possible. "ask ron paul if he will anend the ethanol mandates." >> i do not like mandates. yes, i think that that would be a good idea. i think ethanol quite possibly

has a role to play. it has not been proven yet. i'm not against tax credits. but they should be given to everybody equally. mandates mean that you have to have a certain percentage and the protection that if you could import ethanol at a cheaper rate, why pushed a gasoline price up five or 10 cents if you can get at the oil cheaper? the marker always takes care of the consumer -- the market always takes care of the consumer. >> people used to ask a question about getting rid of the subsidies. it is going away anyway. the epa had to replace the

with's with something a oxygen in it. that is why -- it was an epa mandate. >> price would determine what we use. brazil makes ethanol from sugar cane. >> they have a shortage right now in brazil. >> they use a lot of other countries. >> that is inside baseball for ohioiowans. this is -- i'm sorry. this is roy. good morning. >> it is and honor to talk with you, dr. paul.

voters give us the right to safe access to cannabis, and yet the obama administration considers me a criminal when i have no record, they have taken away my second amendment rights and give automatic weapons to the mexican drug cartels. the injection of cannabis has never killed anyone. dispensary owners are being needlessly prosecuted. >> he is still in with people who enforce laws and they call themselves compassionate conservatives. make them feel much better. it helps people who are on chemotherapy and other diseases. it should be freedom of choice.

we should not have the federal government over ruling state law. >> time to declare a truce or surrender in the drug war? >> we should surrender. it has totally failed. it doesn't work. we should allow people to make their own choices. people do what they're intellectual life -- >> we're rejoining the w.h.o. listening audience with our c- span audience. welcome and u.s. some feedback on what you've heard so far. just a few moments remaining with dr. ron paul. joelle.joell

good morning. >> i want to say a quick comment on how the social security and medicaid situation is going on right now. dr. paul said he would take care of the situation. there's a lot of people that are depending on the programs that do not understand what he is referring to. i would like to clarify that. will he do -- what would you do when it gets too far or south carolina when the state's down south voted for obama/ ? >> you are likely to do well on tuesday night. some say you're likely to win it.

kenny duplicate its success in iowa in other parts of the country? >> i would have to assume that is the possibility. i was able to convince people over the years in my district and we're doing very well here and the next tour would be in new hampshire, and the message is a powerful message. i think we can do exactly that. >> what was his question about florida specifically? help me understand what your position -- a question of florida was. are you still there? >> there has been -- there is a lot of blacks in florida. >> how can you go after the obama --

>> i don't think we should have penalties -- whether they are hispanics or blacks or whites, everybody should love freedom. you can keep the fruits of your labor. you can have equal justice in the courts. these drug laws are so biased against the minorities. if you look at the numbers, the minorities are overwhelmingly punished by the drug laws and punished with the death penalty. for minorities are more likely to receive the death penalty than whites. >> just a few moments left. >> liberty is the answer. we need to look to our past and we can find the answers to many of our problems. believe in the constitution and

the rule of law. >> thank you, sir. we are off with our local audience but we of a couple more seconds to chat. how do predict you're going to do on tuesday? >> i'm not going to say that i know i'm going to win. everything we've done it seems to love been building with momentum. most people give us credit -- if you become a supporter of the philosophy i talk about, they usually stick with us. these numbers are clear the top now. we do not suspect that there will change their mind. i think they will stick with us. >> last time around you had a very organized and passionate base, too. do you have more volunteers,

more money, even better organization? or is it a different cycle? >> we have the same candidate and the same message. fundraising is much easier. many more volunteers. the country has changed. 70% of people say they are done with afghanistan.i would say the around to looking at another option and that's why they are giving me some time. >> dick morris says a vote for you is a vote for obama. literally at some of your policies are identical. >> i think obama follows some of

the republican view points, but i want to follow the constitution and it buys of the founders and have a non- interventionist foreign policy. neither party will talk about the federal reserve in a serious manner or bringing troops home or looking at a change in the tax code or cutting anything. there is no serious effort to cut anything other than the one we have proposed. >> we talked about the federal reserve and fort knox and where our gold actually is. have you talked about another walk through -- they have not done this since the '50s. can you as a congressman say i want to see the gold? >> i'm not sure. maybe i should tested and maybe after next tuesday i won't have to be coming in to iowa quite as often and i can go to fort knox. >> thank you for coming by and

spending some extra time with us. you can file and these guys will probably follow you. we are in the middle of a network news break at the top of the hour and we usually rejoin our local people at about 7:00 -- at about seven minutes after. thank you, dr. paul. i'm not sure if we have a guest downstairs waiting for us. i have not got confirmation. if not, there's no reason why we can't just sit here and state -- and stair into space for the next several minutes. this is a very informal process. w.h.o. is a radio station that gets all over the midwest. if you are a regular c-span viewer, you have probably seen as do this in the past. you have listened to the last two hours and we're coming up next tuesday and caucuses are just around the corner.

after tuesday, i will will go back to being the flyovers own. you won't think of us a call again for several years and we fully understand that. our role is limited but we do take it seriously. in case you are wondering what my personal biases are, i consider myself to be a christian libertarian and that is not an oxymoron. i think the second verse of america the beautiful describes my personal philosophy very well -- "confirmed by seoul and self control, that liberty in a law." you've been listening for the last few minutes and formed some opinions. i'm just going to ask you to blatantly politick for your guy or your woman. thee just going to open earphones off from all over the country treaty have heard from

iowa and i'll like to hear from you. we just like the action. here is one of my personal invitations -- and like personal statement, like conversation. i will not yell at you, but what i do like is conversational talk radio. we are polite in iowa and we don't play gotcha. we enjoy the interchange. that is how i know what does it and you can adopt our style for the next few minutes, we will be on until the bottom of the hour. fore going to borrow you the next few minutes. let's just begin and go to new jersey. i know that you wanted to talk to dr. paul and you're going to make a statement about his foreign policy. >> i love your show.

i was hoping to get on when ron was on. but -- michele bachmann -- it just made my ears bleed listen to her. she's a smart woman and i'm not going to knocker but these people call themselves conservative and yet they have these policies when it comes to the economy and fixing things and creating jobs and yet they want to go to war all the time with everybody. i can't understand it. like dr. paul just spoke on, they are tied together. it makes sense to me that they can't see this. >> rick santorum, michele bachmann, and now newt gingrich

on the issue of the middle east and terrorism and -- however you want to label it, for them it is a genuine issue and they are genuinely concerned. it is one of their biggest issues, dealing with an islamist terrorist attack. understand ron paul's philosophy. they think he is not even on the issue. they think ron paul's policy is to based on rational discourse rather than the emotion-driven religious zealotry they perceive we are at war against. ron paul is a libertarian and really does believe if you put two people together in the same room, you can find middle ground was just about anybody and find a negotiated settlement. i was trying to hide behind the

microphone. those are totally different philosophies. ron paul thinks he can turn our enemies and released into neutral people. >> the example he gave up about khrushchev and kennedy and how we were in worse situation there with all the missiles they had pointed at us. kennedy took to the phone and talk to chris jones and it was solved. >> the communists were materialist. they did not believe in the hereafter and they said we are in it for the now and we can sacrifice a few years for the future. we have to get back to the listeners and brief fire.

the air, doingn a simulcast with our c-span viewers and our w.h.o. viewers. i was looking at twitter -- five protesters were arrested just the few minutes ago beating on the doors and windows at ron paul's headquarters. yesterday it was romney's headquarters and today it is at the wrong ball headquarters.

people. the occupiey iowa is not exempt. we were talking just a few moments ago, when dreamlike conservatives seem to be more interested in war and don't understand ron paul's philosophy. they were making the point that the communists were materialists and they think you get one life and you are done. the islamic fascists' think if they are murdered in a war against the infidel, that is their only secure access to paradise in the hereafter. you die as a martyr, you go directly to paradise. their motivations are totally different.

>> i truly believe this is a fear mongering, propaganda approach. on the things i have looked into the history on, the thing michele bachmann said were not true. the iranian president said he was never -- never said he was going to launch nukes. he never said he would specifically do that. the interview he gave on the lebanese radio station -- they don't speak arabic. there was no farcy term -- no farsi terms for that. >> if iran tries to block the straits of hormuz with the idea of hurting the american economy, if they decide to block

the streets and drive up oil prices, what should be our response to that form of aggression? >> as dr. paul stated, if he believed there was a big threat to our national security, he would do something about it. he has stated that hundreds of times. there was a threat to us and there were threatening our naval bases, the american people and our military, our security, he would do something about. they don't seem to want to look at things first. without looking at the situation and assessing the situation. >> this is one of the biggest sticking point here in iowa. amongst conservatives -- the foreign-policy issue is the one

issue ron paul has yet to close the sale on. keep in mind the evangelical community in iowa makes up 40% and 60% of caucus might voters. the evangelicals have a high degree of affection for the nation state of israel for both political and ecological reasons. -- esther ecological reasons. you heard george w. bush and people in texas say don't mess with texas. the evangelical right here has the same attitude -- don't mess with israel. that has a huge foreign policy effects in the political marketplace. we might disagree whether it should, but in fact is and does. thank you for your call. this is michael. good morning.

what's on your mind? >> i was listening to ron paul earlier when he said he did not accept the retirement package. i wanted to ask him if he ever thought of asking the senators to make three times the average salary if they should be paying for their own health care, their own insurance for their cars, their own gas like the average person does instead of what their $175,000 a year. we have to pay for all of these things for them. when you save pennies, it runs into dollars. >> i will leave that as a rhetorical question well stated. thank you. this is taught. good morning. >> our you doing? >> i'm great. thank you for calling. >> that like to say to everyone in iowa, if you're not thinking of voting for ron paul, you get a second thought about it. every other politician out there

is going for the same agenda in my opinion. >> let me ask you, you are confirming what i told my listeners earlier that ron paul supporters, and i have a whole phone bank full of you guys, you guys are so passionate about your candidate and other candidates are not. for instance, i have yet to have a single call from a rick perry supporter. i'm not complaining, i'm just saying the governor of texas has been here and spent millions of dollars and he is a very decent fellow, yet i have never had an unsolicited rick perry supporter. i open the phone lines and the phone lines instantly fell up with ron paul supporters. how do you account for that? why are you so passionate?

>> my perspective on it is that i believe ron paul has the true passion about bettering the lives of american people. rick perry, rick santorum -- >> why are you convinced of that. everybody would say that is wrong and would give you their let me of issues and why your premise is wrong. why are you supporting ron paul and what is there about him that causes this emotional and philosophical connection? >> he has been consistently right about the same issues i have problems with. our foreign policy -- i don't want to set way off from what you asked, but as far as israel goes, we are friends with israel. his opinion is if we're going to give money to israel, it would be better off in american hands because our economy is hurting. everybody knows that. his drug policy -- i could list

a number of issues that i agree on, but since the 1980's, you can watch videos of him saying the same exact thing. he has always been on the same agenda. >> he is consistent. >> exactly. >> my final question -- do you think ron paul's appeal -- it is possible he could win the caucuses on tuesday night in iowa, followed likely closely behind romney and maybe rick santorum coming in third. that is what the current polls say. i will not believe the polls until wednesday. >> there are so many undecided. >> can ron paul duplicate what he is likely to do in iowa elsewhere? you live in florida, how to use that the -- how do you assess his appeal there? >> in the orlando area, there is a great appeal for him. i live in a smaller area, and if

in iowa, of people take their own opinion and own thoughts of what he says compared to the other politicians, people will take away a lot more from what ron paul says than the media or other propaganda is going into their heads. >> thank you. i am going to take a short time out here. earlier what i was saying about rick perry, i was not trash talking rick perry. all i am suggesting is for the last several months, sitting here observing this process and talking with candidates several times a week, i had yet to have -- can you remember a single one? usually other candidates are always calling -- my producer is sitting in the other room. >> doing all the real work. >> all the heavy lifting. >> we have not. especially since the day of the

iowa straw poll. no calls. we have had him on the air and it's rare to get a phone call it says i'm calling and because i'm a proud supporter. >> and he would get significant support on caucus night but i resist comparing the level of emotional commitment between that particular candidate and ron paul. a short time out and we'll come right back with more conversation. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> this is kind of cool, talking through commercials. it kind of destroys the whole concept of commercial radio. >> we will be sending refunds to our advertisers. >> i hope this doesn't catch on. let's go to some more folks here. let's go to louisiana.

hello. >> i wanted to hear the message from ron paul which is the message of walk softly but carry a big stick. some of my fellow republicans in the news media constantly take we're going to completely dismantle our military rather than minding our own business and respecting other nation's sovereignty. do you know his stance on the idea of what softly but carry a big stick? >> he was in the military and served in the military when he was a young man. he served in the air force, i think he was a flight surgeon. he is not anti-military or anti- defense. he would call himself a non- intervention west -- non- interventionist constitutionalist. he is not given to rhetorical bluster. he speaks like most libertarians

do, using one chunk of the brain that's very rational. it is always premise, promise, a promise, conclusion. it is not i feel, i feel, i feel. >> in this sound bite media, i have much respect for the way he speaks directly, but i think it is crucial that he gets out a message that is not -- is that he will carry a big stick if needed. we are not going to have a need wars like vietnam and afghanistan. just go and there and get the job hour. you go to war to build things and break stuff, it does make sense to do it halfway. >> he has a very large

percentage of support that comes from current members of that military. they do not perceive him as being anti-military. just as an aside here, before we rejoin the radio with our c-span audience, when i played the sound bite of the fellow from texas was thanking him in the early '70s for intervening in the birth of his child -- it was a biracial couple, that is as close -- hang on a second. we have to rejoin our w.h.o. radio listeners. >> i was just telling some of the c-span folks that when i was playing the sound bite from one of the commercials ron paul is running for the intervention

ron paul did helping a female in distress in the hospital who was being ignored by the medical staff and ron paul intervened. that is as close to an emotional response i have ever seen from dr. paul. he was right at the edge of tearing up. he's not and emotions-driven guy. that was a powerful moment. that was just amazing. now. talk with you this is rick from california. >> good morning. how are you today? >> i'm doing great. >> i was watching your show today and there were talking about the straits of hormuz been closed by iran. >> they're threatening to do so. >> why don't we just open up our own [inaudible]

and we would not need their oil. >> that was what michele bachmann was coming up -- talking about earlier. the pipeline should be approved and we should thumb our nose at these garments over there and make them relevant. >> definitely. i worked in the oilfield for close to 25 years and we drill so many wells that we have just capped off that they said we will use for later. why don't we use those wells now? >> works for me, buddy. mary from texas. you live in texas but don't like your congressman? >> no. >> why not? >> is not that i don't like my congressman, had a problem with my governor. >> [laughter] >> i don't mean that ugly but i would not vote for him. i would not report -- i would not vote for ron paul either. i would vote for michele

bachmann and it's not just because i'm a woman. i don't want newt gingrich because of his past. >> can i ask you a question? i have heard from several texans now that they don't recognize the rick perry that we have. >> yes, sir. >> he is campaigning especially in big debates and debate performances, they are absolutely stunned at rick perry is performance here in iowa and they say that is not the rick perry we know. is there anything to that observation? >> you are talking money. >> eat i am talking about performance. i'm talking about persona. >> he is a very good governor and has done a lot for the state of texas but i do not think he to the next president. we do not need someone up there that's going to be another stupid politician. >> who are you backing? >> michele bachmann.

>> good morning, sam. >> my question is i never, ever heard any politician in any party, either party or any president for that matter ever talk about submitting a bill for freedom. freedom is not free. iraq, kuwait, afghanistan, even a little grenada. if grenada can't pay s in cash, i'm very serious. freedom is not free. we are broke and we need to get reimbursed for our men and women sacrificing their lives and their families. >> it is a wonderful point and i agree with your central point because this is philosophical. but it is more practical than you talk about.

under the just war theory, if we had a valid moral basis to go to war against another, we are entitled to reparations. at least a couple of the people in the bush administration who took us to war in iraq promised we would be or stored, the taxpayers would be restored out of oil money. they did not do that. they did not follow up on that and i think that was a big mistake. if, starting with the premise, that we had a just war, a valid reason to intervene in iraq in the first place, the taxpayers have an obligation -- the political class rather have an obligation to restore to the taxpayers the money we spent in order to do that. since they did not do that, are we to assume the political class now does not think it was a just war to begin with?

if you asked them to pay the taxpayers back with oil money from iraq, they say it is their oil. it is iraqi oil. that also and validates promised number one in my opinion. this is rick. thank you for joining us. what's on your mind? >> onto talk to the evangelical crowd out there. i don't get the understanding be evangelical crowd has that the united states needs to support israel militarily or financially. did david go out to fight a goliath with the united states behind him? this is the nation of israel and they should be able to stand on their own. if they are taking a religious -- or this is god's calling for the united states -- there taking got out of the picture and putting the united states in the picture.

i don't see that and i'm disappointed in michele bachmann and how she was coming across in her whole attack their. >> thank you very much. this is a call from california. >> ron paul. i am 50 years old. i knew about ron paul back in the 1970's. if you want perspective, ron paul has always voted the constitution of the united states. i regular reader of "new american." >> i am out of time. you are on the record. this is what we experience here in iowa, the most passionate group of political supporters on the planet are all wrong paul people and that will probably give him an advantage on tuesday night. -- all ron paul people. and thank you to the folks on c-

span for sharing your audience with us. it has been an honor and privilege and i hope we have both benefited from this process. see you next time. >> good job. that was perfect. >> you guys have to go now. it's like after they run the trailers on the movies. and they say are you people still sitting here? [laughter] >> a farm programming is about to start. you guys will want to go now. what my listening to? >> is it messing up your signal? >> live coverage this morning -- will have more live coverage coming up with rick perry, coming up at 1:30.

it is a meet and greet and a coffee shop in cedar rapids, iowa. will have live coverage here on c-span and c-span radio. at 6:45, mitt romney at a campaign rally in ames, iowa. those events will be live here on c-span and c-span arabia. the iowa caucuses are coming up tuesday night and our live coverage will begin at 7:00 eastern with a preview of how the caucus process works and a look at the state republican race. them live coverage of a caucus from central iowa on c-span. on c-span2, we will have a caucus from the western parts of the state. we will have results and can't it speeches here on c-span and you can participate with your phone calls and on our facebook page on tuesday night. lots of endorsement news out of the state today -- north carolina senator announcing his

endorsement of the mitt romney campaign and the gingrich campaign getting an endorsement from ronald reagan's son, michael reagan. also report from the associated press this morning -- police arresting five occupy protesters outside the campaign headquarters of ron paul. there were gathered there to protest ron paul's proposal to dismantle but epa. >> michele bachmann, when she first appeared on the scene. >> i like her stand on immigration. >> she's a christian and i feel like that is important because those values will be carried into the white house. >> she stands for what she believes in and listens to what american people say. >> i like her financial

background. i hope she has a positive campaign from here on out. >> it washington has a problem, why trust a congressman to fix it? they spent 63 years in congress. we need a solution. >> that is the reason i have called for a part-time congress, cut their pay in half, cut their staff in half. send them home and let them get a job like everyone else. i am rick perry and i approve this message. >> he is rick santorum, loving husband, devoting -- devoted husband and man of deep faith. he wrote the law that banned partial birth abortion, overhaul america's welfare system and no one has done more to protect america from iran's growing threat than it rick santorum. it no wonder people are singing

his praises. now it is your turn to join the fight. >> i am rick santorum and i approve this message. >> a couple of the campaign ads running in iowa had of tuesday's caucuses. here on "washington journal" tomorrow -- we will hear from senator chuck grassley. he has not yet endorsed a candidate. also roundtable with the vice chairman of the democratic national committee and mayor of minneapolis and apolitical combat -- political columnist. also, we will talk about the demographics of the caucus goers. our guest is an iowa state university economist. again, we are going to take you live at 1:32 year from rick perry. at that, part of our conversation from this morning's "washington journal."

host: what is the role of the republican party in the caucus system? >> good morning from of hawkeye state. an unseasonably warm morning here. for your viewers may not know how to process works, it was not a state-run election. the state has no official role. we are charged with organizing 1774 precincts. that includes running it precincts and the presidential preference poll that takes place. we oversee the balloting, of

voting and tabulation and reporting. everything that is done through the staff of the republican party with aments volunteer network around the state. >> you call it a preferential preference poll. no delegates are chosen, are they? >> not at the iowa caucuses. we do this every two years whether or not there is a presidential election. we choose our committee people and have discussions about the various platforms. going back to 1972 was the first year at one of the caucuses they decided to add a preference poll to get more attention and it has grown into what you see today. >> how many republicans do you

expect to turn out? >> they should know we had just under 120,000 turnout. there are couple of things i 0.2 right now of how 2008 is different. there are a lot more republicans in iowa than ever in 2008. we have had 32 straight months of republican registration gains in iowa. i look at our straw poll we had in august where we had nearly 20,000 people show up to cast votes, the second-largest in history of the republican party straw poll. that included the fact that mitt romney and newt gingrich were not participating. i look at the first opportunity

any american has to cast a ballot and start the process to replace barack obama as president. some of those points to what could be a robust turnout on january 3rd. we have set aside our fourth line this morning for iowa residents. you can always send an e-mail. no facebook comments for this segment. here is a question you have probably been asked a hundred thousand times. i'm basing it on the column this morning in the "washington post ."

-- no way to pick a president. -- >> why i what? >> i encourage people to actually get out here and see the process up close. look them in the eye and ask a tough question look at public polling right now. the face americans have in their leaders in washington is at all- time low. we still have places and i was that once the president of the

guided states to be here and let the everyday average american ask tough questions about what it wants to lead our country is good for the process. if we don't have a small states that require retail politicking starting the process, all we are going to have is a move toward a national primary. if we have that, it's just going to be a national fund-raising contest on which candidates can raise the most money and the further disconnect from the people wish to serve. that is a broad view of why they should continue to play this role. but when you are on the ground here, you see how seriously the people take this process. they are not starstruck by a congressman or governor. they expect and honest answer and that is good for the process. the caucuses require some degree of dedication. is not a primary where you pull your car outside the polling

place and then go on with your daily life. you are required to sit there and talk about the issues of the day, listen to candidate speeches. hopefully you have had an opportunity to meet the candidates and study where they are and get a personal feel. i don't think you get that if you move to the larger states were the only way people see candidates is through television ads. host: why are your republican? >> i believe in the individual and all power emanates from that individual. that is the republican philosophy, that we need to empower individuals to make those decisions for themselves and proper role of government is to have a society where i'm free to make those decisions with my money. all decisionse should emanate from the

government. i believe the republican party empowers those. caller: my name is douglas. i have just one question. actually two questions. one, the republicans seem to be bent on getting rid of barack obama. they say they want him to be a one-term president. i know that is probably the norm -- just come out ok, we will get rid of this republican or we will get rid of this democrat. but i have never seen them bend so hard on this one at present. i think there is something involved. i even venture to say there might be some racism involved.

and secondly, the republicans support big business, these huge companies that make all of this money. and they make money, yes. they create these jobs. but they would not have any money if they did not have anybody to work. host: matthew strawn? guest: thank you for the call. we talk about how republicans talk about making barack obama a one-term president. i think america needs to make barack obama a one-term president because when we go into the general election, it will be a referendum on his failed leadership. here in iowa, one thing we are seeing in the caucus process is the prosecution of the failed record. $15 trillion debt and the president wants another $1.50 trillion added on top of that. we see a private sector economy not creating jobs because of

the uncertainty. i know you mentioned big business -- but when you look at a place like iowa, two-thirds of the jobs here are created by small businesses and right now on our main streets and there is tremendous uncertainty with a small businesses that are not hiring, not investing, not buying equipment manufactured by american workers. that uncertainty comes from financial regulations where we've got tightening lending requirements with our community bankers. it comes from the regulations used to implement obamacare. i talked to one business owner on the eastern part of iowa a couple of months ago, he said he is doing well but he is not expanding the business because its accountants cannot tell and how much obamacare will cost the company. as long as we have uncertainties as well as the uncertainties about the tax structure, as long as we still have the uncertainties, the small businesses that really drive the economy in places like iowa, and i am sure in places like pennsylvania, doug, we will continue to see a economy that is struggling to get i am hopeful when we have a robust

debate with a strong republican candidates standing up for republican principles -- because it is not enough to just talk about the failure to barack obama -- but the nominee has to make americans understand why conservative republican principles are the right ones to address the challenges facing america. host: does it cost to face a caucus? guest: there is no cost to attend a caucus. and just so your viewers understand, any iowa resident who is eligible to vote to participate in the caucus as long as they are registered republican. there are two ways to participate. if you are already registered republican, your name will be on the roles that will be provided to the precinct leaders. the show what, see your name, you have a seat and wait for things to begin. if you show up and you are not already registered as a republican and consistent with state law, you have to show either an iowa driver's license or a photo i.d. with accompanying proof of residency

such as a utility bill, and then you can register as a republican, so long as you are a resident from the precinct. we do allow outside observers. most precincts allow outside observers. mostly they are given an observer or visitor badge. they cannot stand or speaker to dissipate, but it is really one of the most transparent process is in politics -- american politics. and even the way the votes are counted. in each precinct, once the presidential preference vote is taken, which usually you just write the surname of your preferred candidate won a slip of paper and drop in the ballot box -- they are usually counted in full view of the entire caucus. each presidential campaign has an opportunity to have one observer to observe accounting. they have the ability to have an observer to over here the phone call: the results. even when my staff calculates and aggregate's the seventh --

1774 results, there is someone in the room to observe that process as well. it is an incredible process that is open and transparent, not just to iowans but someone who has an opportunity to visit. host: from page of "the richmond times-dispatch." do you require such a thing. guest: we do not give you disney to be a registered republican and an eligible voter in the state of iowa. host: michigan. john is a republican. caller: i just had two quick comments about american imperialism and hegemony in the middle east. we conducted a coup d'etat in 1953 in iran, killed thousands -- host: i am sorry.

that caller just got through in the last segment. we will move on to jackson, tennessee. independent line. caller: i have two points. one is about ron hall. the first one -- there is really a global and lead people to keep us divided so they can keep us under control -- global elite of people. both parties are pretty much the same, so people have the illusion that is what they are, when they are not. the second one is ron paul. he has been misquoted constantly so he had less of a chance. overwhelmingly the people really follow what he believes in -- which is the constitution. he never said he wanted to legalize drugs, but they said he wanted to give the states the authority to legalize it or not. but people have this fear that people will do drugs. but you have all these thousands of people dying from

alcohol because the government gets taxes on alcohol, which is legal. host: matthew strawn? guest: thank you for the call. since you this is dr. paul, one thing where his message is resonating is more limited government, reducing spending, talking about cutting $1 trillion from the federal budget. i think that is a message that has resonated with the electorate who believes washington is spending way too much of our money, and the fact we are borrowing money from nations who certainly did not have america's best and just that hard. you talked about a divided america. it is quite disappointing when we look at our current president. if you look at the electoral strategy he seems to be developing, he wants to put americans against each other with rhetoric that involves class warfare, that certain classes of america -- pitting certain classes of americans attend each other. if we are going to get through our challenges, it has to be done together. it is something americans have

always done through the years, which is pulled together when the time demanded. i hope as we go to the general election next year, that the president puts the class warfare rhetoric aside, stopped hitting americans into each other and really show leadership. unfortunately his actions have not matched his words, which is why i'm confident we will see at the end of this republican nomination process, that we will have a candidate who can start talking but the solutions and provide the bold leadership to get americans working together to resolve the challenges facing the country. host: jesse is a democrat from chicago. caller: good morning, a gentleman. i have a question. how do you feel about a lot of the right wing media saying if ron paul won the iowa caucus, the iowa caucus itself is irrelevant? how do you feel about that? if he did win, would you stand by the people of iowa's voices and stand behind him yourself?

host: as -- guest: of course as the chairman i will support the gop nominee, and especially a state that is a swing state. iowa will likely determine the care of the perot vote to the next president is. maybe for the viewers, you should know the chairman of the party has to be neutral. i am neutral throughout the entire process. on caucus night, i will attend my local caucus but i will not cast a vote since my office has to oversee the election. i will not speculate on what may or may not happen. but i talked earlier about the message that ron paul has that is resonating in iowa, and it is on a limited government, reducing spending, shrinking the influence of washington in the lives of americans. but also he has been on the ground building an organization behalf to get your volunteers and supporters out to 1774 precincts' on a cold winter's

night -- that is no easy task. a lot of the support you see is not just driven by the message he has in iowa but the fact he has built some organizational machinery behind it as well. host: matthew strawn -- from politico this morning, moving vote tabulation away from headquarters. i am sure you have seen the story. are you worried about security with the occupy group? and why are you moving the vote tabulation away? guest: the first is more generally and broadly, of the occupy movement. there has been a small group of occupy des moines protesters involve the past couple of months in iowa, but more broadly they issued a call to arms for occupy people from all over the country to come to iowa to disrupt their is activities, including upsetting campaign events, protesting at campaign headquarters. i believe 10 protesters were

arrested yesterday outside of mitt romney's headquarters here in des moines. so, we need to take safeguards and we need to prepare for disruptions. we have done two things. first, we are working with state and local law enforcement officials to know exactly what our rights are. these are private meetings that we hold that are open to the public to attend. so, if an outside agitator ones to come in and try to disrupt one of the meetings, we have legal rights to have them removed from the premises. and why heavy duty while the occupy folks do have a first amendment right to have their voices heard, it only extends so far it does not infringe on the right of way iowan to peacefully assemble. one, we are prepared for those types of disruptions. but more specifically, to the question you asked, we also want to make sure the results are recorded accurately and

timely to not just the candidate's campaigns, but to the nation. we do have an aggregation center where we verify the results from 17774 areas, and traditionally it has done at republican headquarters but given the headquarters building has been kind of under siege, it seems, with the occupy movement, we will be doing it from a different location. but what everybody should know is that each campaign has an opportunity to have an observer, a senior staff member, and the building with republican officials, so there is transparency and there is no question about the tabulation. it is just something we will do of sight for security purposes. host: the next call comes from daryl, a republican from new jersey. caller: good morning. how are you? yes, i am a republican, and i have to say -- i can appreciate coming on this program and

espousing republican constables, but it is important that you tell the truth when you do so. for example, you said something about no job growth under this president, and the private sector has been creating jobs for 20-straight month or meant something like that and the loss of jobs has been primarily in the public sector, which sort of brings into my second point. you say the president is pitting americans against other americans, but every time it republican comes on c-span and talks about union workers and government employees as if they are some sort of a drain on society -- my sisters are both teachers, they are public sector employees, and they are dedicated, they train our young people. and so, for republicans to come on c-span and-public-sector employees, that is pitting americans of the americans and that sort of makes the party sound like a bunch of hypocrites.

host: we got the point, daryl. guest: thank you for the call, daryl. as the son of a school teacher, i certainly salute your family members. i know it is no easy job, especially these days. when it comes to winning elections, we were very successful in iowa in 2010 winning the governor's office back and a legislative majority for the first time in a number of years, and we did it talking about solutions. i do hope from candidates, that is the key to how we win presidential elections. we will aggressively prosecute the failures of the obama administration, but i still cannot think it is enough to win -- and convince americans our principles are the ones to face the challenges. i do hope you continue to demand solutions from candidate, whether republican or ring democrats, because just pointing out the problems is not going to solve them. host: akron, ohio. carry on in the independent line.

caller: iowa republicans, it is almost laughable. when you think that ron pollack is surging ahead with his racist views -- ron paul is surging ahead, with his racist views, and it seems like republicans are tolerating him. they need to listen to newt gingrich when he said the man was anti-semitic and racist. iowa, i do not think you have any credibility if you go through a process. i hope that the republicans electron paul as their candidate. guest: well, we have five days and the candidates are crisscrossing the state right now. i think iowans have the opportunity to ask candidates all of those hard questions and that is how i will play the role as vetting. people talking about why does iowa have this when they do not

necessarily predict the nominee or bring the president, but there is the winnowing process. as the candidates make their final case, we will see what happens. host: jody tweets in -- guest: the current calendar right now was passed by both the republican and democrat national committee. they carved out four states to be early, so to speak. iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, and nevada. what they tried to do is inject some sanity by having just four states go early, and then having the process with the delegate selection -- the delegates though proportionately during the march window, and then from april on, and state -- any state can be winner-take-

all. we are operating by the rules passed by the rnc and dnc. there are a few states to decided to upset that, with florida moving up early, going to january 31, which forced iowa to go to january 3. we are operating under the rules passed by the rnc and dnc. host: texas. lawrence, a democrat. caller: i have two statements that i would like to address and some of the previous callers did not get to. i cannot understand why republicans continue to do is blame barack obama for all of the downfall. when you come on and make a statement that we are here to remove barack obama, what do you think american people think? is it the only reason you want to get a republican in there, to remove barack obama?

and you have to look at the candidates you have. for america to come back strong, we need the best candidates -- no matter independent, republican, whatever and they are. that is we need in office. not just put anybody in there because they are republican. i will shut up and listen to what you have to say. guest: sure, thank you for the call. it is not just about replacing a person in the white house but about replacing the principles and policies we have seen from the president. what we have seen from the president is unsustainable spending. we've got a $15 trillion debt. i've got three children -- 6, 4, and 15 months old -- and the fact that when the 15-month-old came into the world, she entered with her own personal share of $40,000 of the national debt. that is one reason. the other is the economic rt