national energy director association. washington journal is next. >> we're looking at a memorial for dr. martin luther king jr. on the national maul in washington, d.c. good morning and welcome to washington journal on monday, january 16, 2012. this is martin luther king jr. day, a federal holiday commemorating the civil rights leader's birthday, which was yesterday. this is a national day of service. we'll talk more about that later on in the program. first this morning, the latest in the race for the white house. presidential candidate jon huntsman is expected to drop out

of the republican field today. the former utah governor has been polling poorly in south carolina, the next primary state. his team told news agencies, huntsman will back romney.

to mitt romney and four others who are trying to steak their claim to be conservative alternative for the massachusetts governor. mr. huntsman's decision comes on the heels of his third place show nothing the new hampshire showing last week. the associated press, which first reported mr. huntsman's decision on sunday night cited compain staff as saying the former utah governor will endorse mitt romney. mr. huntsman had not been receiving much support in the polls, but his move does clear out room on mr. romney's left flank, which could matter in upcoming states, such as florida, which will hold the primary january 31 and nevada, whose cabbinguss are in early february. let's go to the phones and hear from patricia in bakersfield, california. good morning, patricia. >> caller: hi, i want to say i

watched it today and i thought huntsman done really good and i thought he was one of the most decent candidates that they have running. but one of my other questions is that i never heard him talk about what they have done lately. all the candidates always talk about what they did in the past, but they haven't said what they've done lately to help the economy improve. >> what do you think huntsman leaving the race means for the rest of the field? >> caller: well, i think he may get -- ron paul my get his supporters. >> okay. let's hear from serab, a republican in santa cruz, california. good morning. >> caller: hi. >> go ahead. >> caller: oh, well i was going to say that looking at jon

huntsman huntsman's -- >> we'll get a new caller. independent caller in princeton junction, new jersey. good morning. >> good morning. >> hi, what do you think about the news jon huntsman plans to bow out of the race? >> caller: a lot of folks here, especially new jersey, i can say within my own family and our own district with the new jersey, there is a lot of conservative moderates out there who supported huntsman and with him leaving the race, we see that in the field it is diverted now with mitt romney being the only legible or clear indicator of anyone in the g.o.p., which has moderate concerns and moderate policies within the conservative base. and stratification of the political parties is so eminent that we are disappointed to see him actually leave. i am concerned that with the

candidates left over whether the g.o.p. at all could face barack obama in the general elections and what it will do to such cases as the hispanic vote or votes, as well. >> what do you think hupt hunt brought to the race? >> caller: huntsman was for foreign policy. one of the things i was worried about, particularly from my generation was what to do on certain containments, whether rises from the middle east policy to economics. huntsman was influential in these realms and i don't know what true conservative hard liners which are left over, such as rick perry or any of the other g.o.p. contenders, save maybe mitt romney, will have to show for the american public on foreign and international stage. >> we have a tweet coming from constitution who says huntsman never had a chance, he's too much like mitt romney in

demographics, but did not have the name recognition. let's hear from ellen, democratic caller in indiana. good morning. >> caller: is this -- i'm from indiana. >> welcome to the show g. ahead >> caller: yes, i'm calling about huntsman getting out of the race. i thought he was a great gentlemen and the debate he was saying about mitt romney. you know, he couldn't get along with democrats, they were separating the party and he wouldn't be, you know, putting down democrats, but would be willing to work with democrats. that is why i liked jon huntsman. maybe i would have changed my vote. >> ellen, really? >> caller: i would now. >> thanks for your call. let's hear from ken, independent line in roseland, virginia. good morning, ken. >> caller: yes, the fact is that

huntsman's dropping out will help ron paul's campaign because it will -- it is a diversion. the only anti-war candidate and most americans are against these unwinnable wars in pakistan and afghanistan and the terrible mistake we made in going into iraq and ron paul is the only candidate, republican candidate who can attract independents and democrats and that's what is needed. they will not vote for romney and ron paul has the best chance of defeating obama because he can attract many blacks, as well as other independents that will vote for ron paul. >> well, we had someone who agreed with you, fishon sam on twitter said this is just more votes going to ron paul. let's look at "new york times" coverage of jon huntsman's decision to get out of the

republican presidential race. it says it was a disappointing finale to the aspirations of mr. huntsman. third place financial in the new hampshire primary last week failed to jump start his candidacy. he had little money. mr. huntsman spent days pondering his future in the race. an aide said he told them on sunday, he was unable to topple mr. romney or his rivals in the southern primary. mr. huntsman and mr. romney have been competing for moderate republican voters and an aide said he come to the realizization he had little chance to win and the votes he would receive would come from mr. romney's potential voter pool. huntsman had the support of moderates. mr. romney has breathing room to focus more on persuading evangelical voters who have been cooler to his candidacy that he is more electable candidate in

november. in michigan, a democratic caller. good morning. >> caller: how you doing? >> good, thanks. >> caller: i just want to say, i don't think huntsman had a chance from the start. i mean, he didn't have the -- his name wasn't really out there big and i just want to say something about mitt romney. you know, he's coming into the race here and pushing people around and starting, you know, words with different people. i think we really need to look at for rick santorum because i really think that he's got a good point on certain things. i think he's going to be a big one in this race. >> all right. let's take a look at a story about rick santorum and the battle that is going on to get the evangelical support in south carolina. this is a story from the "new york times" today. santorum capitalizes on

evangelical endorsement. rick santorum was quick over the weekend to try to leverage vote of support by evangelical leaders and vote for the eelectricitiorate in the primary on saturday. his first step was to use the endorsement to try and raise money mrchlt santorum wrote a fundraising appeal after learning religious leaders decided to coalesce around him. some value the endorse sxment his campaign faces many challenges, mr. santorum said the evangelical support would allow them to crank up their efforts in several ways. cincinatti, ohio, ken republican. good morning. >> caller: good morning. yes, i host a radio show here in cincinatti and we've been watching the races. i don't think that with huntsman getting out of the race, it will have that big of an effect. he didn't have that big a following. what i am concerned about is the policy of newt gingrich.

i think people will across america realize newt gingrich backstabbed him in the back with contract of america when he refused to check out or change the way we look at our tax policy. and the congressional term limits. newt gingrich lied to the american people back then and i think people see that now and a lot of people aren't going to the newt gingrich policy. i hope people see through newt gingrich and what is going on in south carolina. >> bill rice on twitter, mr. huntsman worked for president obama. how he thought that would translate into g.o.p. love is beyond me. chicago, illinois, bill is up next on the independent line. hi there. any ahead. >> caller: well, huntsman dropped out, although i think that other compadre has moved so far to the right, i really do

not have -- anymore, but to vote democratic all the way. >> bill, would you have voted for jon huntsman? >> caller: i doubt it because i'm a fan of the republican party and what they are doing. i haven't heard anybody in the republican condemn. >> let's hear from fernley, nevada. catherine on the democratic line. good morning. >> good morning. >> go ahead. >> caller: i've been devout democrat my whole life. i could have thought of huntsman, paul ticket because i'm so against the wars. the other thing is, the one thing i have against paul is i like a lot of the things he stands for, a whole lot of the

things he stands for, especially bringing all the troops home, but the part that upsets me is when he's pushing that right to work state. i'm in a right to work state. when you have a right to work state, along with oxy-sarbanes, it takes away the person's right to face their accusers. you couldn't find a lawyer to stand for you on that one because those two laws cancel your ability to stand up for yourself when people come up against you and that's one thing that is wrong with ron paul. other than that, he's the only candidate in the whole group that i really have any respect for. >> we have a comment from facebook. you can join the conversation on facebook by looking for c-span. votes will go to romney and the ones who want the war to end will go to ron paul because of his anti-war beliefs. next up, michael, democratic

caller. welcome to washington journal. go right ahead. >> caller: yes, ma'am, i was going to say, huntsman is the only one qualified to be -- the rest is ronald reagan, [audio difficulty] -- that's all i've got to say. >> let's hear from another michael, a republican in stewarttown, pennacchio. good morning. >> caller: yes, good morning. i wanted to say that i believe that most of huntsman's votes will go to ron paul because jon huntsman was the only other one in the race who was pretty much anti-war. i believe the peace candidate is going to win eventually. and the other thing, if you look at it, ron paul is the only one who gets consistent independent and democratic votes. if we think mitt romney, who half of the republican party doesn't even like, is going to be able to win, we're fooling ourselves f. we don't vote for

ron paul, there's no way to get the cross-over vote. no way we'll win against barack obama. >> kansas city, kansas. nate , independent line. nate, what do you think of jon huntsman? >> caller: well, i do not think he has the name recognition that mitt romney has and also if you remember, mitt romney also pulled out of the last campaign. so i don't know if he made a deal with members of the party or with john mccain himself, but mitt pulled out gracefully and now he has the opportunity to be the front runner and also i see the person going to win the nomination inside the republican party. >> do you support mitt romney? >> caller: i would support him if he was running against obama. i mean, it's just for me as african american, historical

thing is my concern. other than that, yeah, i'm pretty crazy about mitt romney as far as that is concerned. >> okay. elise on twitter, since the g.o.p. doesn't believe in supporting president in conservative, i can't see how that would be a liability. she's talking about what she thinks about jon huntsman's dropping out of the race, responding to another tweet we read earlier on the show. couple other callers mentioned ron paul. take a look at the "new york times" reporting on on congressman paul. this from lake jackson, texas, focusing on namination, paul has a backup plan. ron paul says he has by no means given up the nomination, but acknowledges he might not make it. the odds are romney may pull it off. mr. paul, a texas congressman said in an interview here, he doesn't have a guarantee in a week. the whole thing can shift quickly. even if his aides plot a strategy to pick up del the gats, they will try to force the

party to take his and his supporters' view into account, signalling what mr. paul would want to party officials eager for the backing of his following, but notice he might undertake a third party bid. joe in the bronx on the democratic line. good morning. >> caller: good morning. how are you? listen, this morning -- >> joe, focus on us. >> caller: good. thank you. listen. what i want to say in reference to hearing that mr. huntsman is going to resign from the race, first of all, what i want to say is that this man is the person that works for the president. the president is the person that put bread and butter on -- help him put bread and butter on the

table for him and his family. i think to meet a person like that to turn back and want to run against this man and talk so bad about him, he's a traitor. i don't think no black person would ever do something like that, so therefore he should have wait until -- okay, should have wait until 2016 to run. so i don't think he was going to get vote anyway because what i just said there is going -- is or is still going or was going to be a conversation that people would talk about. he waubt going anywhere anyway. >> all right. let's look at an e-mail from carle in minnesota. jon huntsman is very intelligent and should have had more support than he did. his record was excellent and he would have had great ideas for the country f. he supports

romney after all the comments he made, which were true, he shows allegiance for the republican party and not the american people. carle says that is very disappointing. >> richard in florida, independent line, welcome. >> caller: yes, good morning. >> good morning. >> caller: yeah. huntsman -- he's a disstrakter. he was too far to the left. i didn't know much about his message, only that he was an ambassador for china. however, ron paul has a real chance of winning the election if the republican party will start to back him and start giving time. he has been labeled by the media as republican party. of course the democrats, ron paul, his policy will actually give the power back to the people where it belongs. both parties are very much afraid of this and especially the media.

and in order for the republicans to win, they need to start supporting ron paul in the lime light. >> we have an e-mail from seattle, washington. i think it was fair to say huntsman was always running for vice president. i admit i didn't expect him to leave this soon. i expect perry to drop out next. i'm curious about huntsman's deeper motivation given how sudden this is. >> take a look at stories in the news being reported about the presidential campaign. the republican field, the "new york times," john harwood writes, as effective as mitt romney's campaign has been, it benefited from the absence so far of fully competitive rival for the republican nomination. mr. romney still faces many challenges, not the least of which is the histillity of evangelical leaders. the early stages of the nominating contest, no recent republican has had such diffuse

and shifting field of opponents. giving perspective there, looking back at history of presidential races in the field, as we talked about this morning, the next stage is south carolina primary, which is in just a few days, that's on saturday and we move on to a couple other states. let's look at "u.s.a. today's" breakout box here. florida weighs in on january 31. arizona on february 28. this story right here is looking at states that allow early voting, advance voting ahead of time. richard wolfe reports, in the primary saturday, they will have company. that same day, florida republicans can begin in-person voting for the state's january 31 primary. joining more than 10,000 state residents who already have cast absentee ballots. focusing on "u.s.a. today" in jon huntsman's announcement he's

dropping out of the race and looks back at history of jon huntsman. he entered the race back in june, well after many republican rivals, such as romney, who already formed campaign organization and fundraising network. huntsman was president obama's first embassy in china. huntsman defends his service to his country. from the beginning, huntsman vowed to be a different kind of candidate from early videos, highlighting his love of motorcycle riding to his demeanor as the adult in the room. as campaign developed, huntsman began drawing sharper contrast with his rivals, especially mitt romney. the news today reported by associate press and others. huntsman plans to drop out of the race today and he's anticipated to endorse mitt romney. isaac, caller in youngstown, ohio. good morning. >> caller: good morning. >> hi, there, go ahead.

>> caller: with me saying huntsman is dropping out of the race and now endorsing mitt romney, reminds me of the newt gingrich hurricane about the vice president. to me it was all abrupt to me. >> why do you say that isaac? >> caller: no offense, i admit mitt romney being mormon, to me it normalizes mitt romney from my point of view. >> arizona, michael is on the independent line. we lost michael. let's move to florida, james republican. where you calling from, jame? >> california. >> go ahead. >> caller: i question why a husband endorses romney after going after romney and what it looks like to me now is that romney is funded by goldman sachs, j.p. morgan and obama is funded by them, so to me, it's ron paul funded by people,

versus goldman sachs, j.p. morgan. that is what i see in the future and i hope ron paul points this out in the debates. >> all right. going on to dallas, texas. greg, independent line. good morning, greg, welcome to washington journal g. ahead. >> caller: the way things have been swinging, first you have the peach drink out there first and you have gingrich and perry and romney. you know, you never know how things are going to swing. huntsman is -- i wouldn't call him moderate republican, he's easier to put up against obama in the election. >> what do you think him dropping out means for the rest of the field? >> caller: i don't know, i think rick perry ought to drop out. i've been here for a long time and he's been our governor.

you know, he can tout all the jobs he's made, but unemployment has doubled. i think it's because more people moving into the state, though. >> okay, let's look at a couple other stories in the news mentioned earlier. this is the day to celebrate martin luther king jr. federal holiday. here is an image in the "washington post" of president obama and one of his daughters. he's there with melia, at the martin luther king jr. memorial. here is what the piece says. it says, for the first time in our country's history, the mall is more diversified. to have dr. king, a preacher from alabama, situated bien jefferson and lincoln memorial tells a compelling story how great the country is. to be situated between a slave owner and a man who freed slaves is defendant of the slaves.

this story in "u.s.a. today," a project is putting martin luther king's papers online. the public can access 200,000 items. there is a handwritten draft, complete with cross-out ons of martin luther king's acceptance speech for the nobel peace prize. there is notes from the "i have a dream" speech. these and other king papers, 200,000 documents in all, will be available online for the first time today as the nation marks martin luther king day. the king center imaging project, finance overseen by j.p. morgan offers free public access. the project came about after martin luther king iii contacted chase about preserving the documents. for the past nine months, staff,

college students and veterans hired and 100 volunteers have sorted through boxes of personal papers, documents and handwritten notes. >> we're talking this morning about the celebration for martin luther king jr. we'll be talking about the national day of service, tied to martin luther king's day. the president and first lady are participating in that today. they are with their daughters doing a volunteer project. the president and first lady will attend the "let freedom ring," tonight. there is the annual king day prek fast over on c-span 3 starting at 8:00. we'll have other events throughout the day. find out more at c-span.org. in connection with the national day of service, we'll talk with director of the program on washington journal. let's hear from travis right now, independent caller, weighing in about the news that jon huntsman is getting out of

the presidential race. where are you calling from? >> caller: i'm calling from michigan. >> go ahead. >> caller: i'm an independent voter, i've always registered as independent or undeclared, but never really had an opportunity to really have my say at the ballot. i lived in arizona, born in arizona, and moved to michigan. something that i just wanted to point out after watching c-span and listening to how the race is progressing, it reminds me of 200 years ago, the same thing going on in our -- amongst our congressmen and our president, the war of 1812. where you had candidates as the war hawks that promoted the wars. you had those in support of the federalist under george washington and then you had somebody who actually spoke up for the people, the actual father of the bill of rights and the declaration of independence,

i mean. i'm sorry, i'm really nervous. >> caller: it's okay. take your time. >> about but i would just like for more people to look back at history and to see how history does repeat itself and i see similar correlation going on today. >> okay. boston, massachusetts, steven joins us on the independent line. good morning. >> caller: good morning. how are you today? >> good, thanks, go ahead. >> caller: i'm calling about mr. huntsman and being mormon and mitt romney being a mormon. right now mr. romney is doing well in the polls, but i think once the press gets ahold of the mormon mormonreligion and expose its to the nation for what it is, they're going to see a different light. the american people really represent as far as being on top of the issues. we have a lot of people out

there forwarding and don't know any of the issues. the dumbs down of america, as you might call it. the haves keeping the have nots in line where they want them. one time we were second and third in math and science in 1957. now 47th and 52nd in the world math and science. i find that to be just a little bit of truth. once that happens, i don't believe america, which was based on all the religions kicked out of england, mostly christian religions, are going to be able to accept him. >> steven, do you think mormonism is a cult? you use that word which jon huntsman said is not appropriate. >> caller: well, just like the jehovah witnesses. >> you were advocating other religious freedom? >> caller: no, i think church and state should be separated, to be honest with you.

hundreds mant has now dropped out of the plle race. we're still looking at the other candidates. wondering what you think about what this means for other people. will there be a bump? or mitt romney, others think it will help ron paul. what do you think it means? let's hear from todd. he's an independent caller in michigan. good morning, todd.

caller: good morning. host: go right ahead. caller: thank you very much for having me. host: go right ahead. caller: ok, i have something to say that is not going to be well accepted. may i say it also? it's very important. host: you can give us a try, go ahead. caller: ok, we've got all these republicans, democrats, independents, tea party rising up and all this. you know they got all these great ideals, what they're going to do to, you know, save the country so to speak. well, i got news for you, the only person that can save this country is jesus christ. and the only way that he can do it is if the christians repent and quit sinning! fall on their knees and call out

to him. he can save it today! host: are you still with us? ok, let's move onto huntsman to exit and back mitt romney he will drop out of the g.o.p. debate and endorse mitt romney. the story was filed last night. he will endorse him in a speech 11:00 a.m. at the myrtle beach convention center. his exit comes less than a week after he claimed victory in his third place finish. he staked a lot of his efforts there. he had been there for months trying to close the deal and get support in new hampshire. and now it looks like huntsman is dropping out. let's hear what you think.

good morning. caller: good morning, my name is middleton. you know, all the contestants that run, hundredsman is the only one that makes any sense. i can't believe that everybody cuts him out, and you know, won't let him do any of the -- get their build up. because he could get voters on both sides to vote for him. where romney and santorum, the things that they say is, you know, there's no way that i could vote for him. i voted for reagan. i didn't vote for clinton. matter of fact i didn't even vote for barack obama. but you know, it's awful that he

has to go out of the race and we have to listen to these others, you know. 34 guest: stella writes if we can get -- fred, republican, good morning. caller: good morning libby. host: hi. caller: i think that the classical party labels need to be abolished. i don't think huntsman represents america. i don't think a lot of presidential candidates are representing america. i mean they're running as republicans and democrats, but really i think they're more running as part of an anti-american party. if there should be a party it

should be called the american party. we need americans to run and represent america. i just don't think these classical party names are representing america. they're really just representing the 1%, and you know ruining america. so really we need some fresh faces, some fresh parties. possibly called the american party. we have americans running that represent the majority of the class. host: hundredsman was only pulling at about 5% in south carolina. his voters are most likely to wind up with mitt romney. if either gingritch or santorum makes a run, those handful of votes would prove pivotal. hundredsman officials are very much ah wear of this. in an effort to be seeing his

team players suggested it played into the candidates decision to get out now instead of after the primary saturday. a source close to the campaign says some of huntsman advisors attempted to talk him out of the decision urging the former ambassador to wait until after south carolina. it was just yesterday he got the endorsement of the state, south carolina's largest newspaper. melinda is in texas, good morning. caller: hello. i just wanted to agree with the caller that talked earlier. he was talking about jesus christ and that's the only way we're going to be able to save america. host: linda, what do you think

about the evangelical vote? putting support behind santorum, others coming out for gingritch, others for perry. what do you think? caller: i think we need to look at overwhelm christian leaders, not mormon. and i'm not for mitt romney or -- i'm not even for newt gingrich. he's flip-flopped. and he's just going against mitt romney. whoever's in the lead, just for political gain. and i just believe that the caller earlier that said if we don't repent as a nation, we're doomed. and i believe that. host: let's here from tom in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. next up on our independent line. caller: hi, good morning.

i think he lost popularity when he was in china. i don't know, if i'm not mistaken, he didn't really go after iran. maybe he's just shooting to be vice president since romney's so popular. you know? that's all about i got to say. i hope you guys have a great day. god bless. host: jackson, mississippi. good morning. caller: thank you for having me on the line. i like the way the calls have been turned here. when we talk about jon huntsman, i think you're going to add very little to whether he drops out as he decides to drop out the race. the comments about jesus christ i think this is so important. because if the nation is divided against itself, a nation divided against itself will not stand. and we must understand that is

the way of the lord. many great nations have been destroyed because leaders failed to fear god and failed to harken to his word. you made comments earlier about the christians getting together in texas earlier and making the decision as to who they're going to cast their vote towards, i believe this is so important for them to understand the way of the lord and learn to fear god. we must be concerned, yes, about people when they sip, make a personal stand. but we also must be mindful of the sin of the nation. host: ok. let's talk about huntsman today. we're looking at the fact that jon huntsman is expected to announce at 11:00 this morning he will be dropping out of the presidential field. you can find out more about that at cspan.org. he plans to endorse mitt rom illinois, one of his biggest

competitors. taking a moment to look at more stories, about martin luther king which is today. eugene robinson has a piece in "the washington post." he would be an elder statesman now, a lion in winter. at 83, he would likely still have his wit and his voice. surely if he were able he would continue to preach, to pray and to dream. he goes onto write in --

host: we'll talk more about martin luther king day and the volunteer spirit that many take on this day. can see here in "the new york times" office page, i have a dream, our hope, let freedom ring. encournings you to put in your cause, fill in the blank blapings of what your dream is and how you would like to proceed. sten tuck writes about the king of all nations, remembering martin luther king and how he was remembered throughout the world on this day today. dave, republican from new york joins us to talk about jon huntsman. we're expected to hear him drop out of the presidential race. caller: hi, good morning. i don't think it will make that much of a difference. some people will be talking for a few days about his support for romney, whether it's right or wrong. but i really don't think it will make a big difference. i think we had some good calls this morning here on c-span.

one of the ways it won't make a difference, we're not going to see any elder republican can'ts, we're essentially seeing politicians now who are just speech makers. and part of the problem is the candidates, because of the way the media, we basically have a media run politics, the candidates aren't able to enter into a really robust discussion of topics. so, i thought00sman was a good candidate. but it's not going to change. i think what the republican party needs, the republican party needs a leader. it needs a hero. and it needs someone who who's not afraid to enter into the debates in a more robust way. host: do you think that jon huntsman inclusion in the race changed the conversation at all? brought anything to the table? caller: i actually -- the only thing it seems to have brought

to the table is the fact that if he goes out to support romney, how there would be some kind of a contradiction there. host: ok. let's hear from omar on facebook. he writes -- memphis, tennessee, on our democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go right ahead. caller: like to comment on this huntsman deal. you know, it seems like to me that the game of politics really has gone totally two party. the american people are told anything to get what they wanted. once they get in the office it's a whole different story. huntsman and the rest of them, a lot more, ron paul and the rest, you got to accept the fact they're not going to be nominated. so why are you taking up votes

of people that's really legitimate candidates? i just think that it's getting to the point where they're nothing but a bunch of clowns. i don't really blame them for doing it. i blame the american people because the american people are the ones who put it in there. they care about what they're going to do and they get up in there and do something totally different. i just think, like the keystone cops or something, you know? i think the american public needs to go back to -- they get rich, they go up in there just to make money. ok? host: ok, we'll leave the discussion there. coming up next, we'll talk about the 2012 agenda. congress comes back to washington this week. we'll be right back.

>> i believe it is important to emphasize that while it's great to add this memorial to his memory, great to have a national holiday and great to have streets and schools and hospitals named in his honor all over the nation and the world. it is also important not to place too much emphasis on martin luther king, the idol, but not enough emphasis on the ideals of martin luther king jr. >> take a look at the life and legacy of dr. martin luther king jr., the civil rights movement and race relations in america today. online at the c-span video

library. it's what you want, when you want. a quick reminder, the deadline soon for the staunt cam video conference. get your documentary to c-span by friday, january 20. for last minute details go online. the south carolina primary is saturday january 21, and since 19 0 the winner has gone onto be the republican presidential nominee. c-span's road to the white house coverage tablings you to the event. >> i think you have to say this has been a failed presidency. i don't think he's tried to make it bad, i think he didn't know what to do. >> we have a message that can appeal not just in south carolina but across this nation and in particular in the states

that are necessary for us to win this election. >> as candidates get their message out and meet roters. >> we don't need yet another war where we're not accomplishing -- and we leave and it's a bigger mess. >> if we're going to use our national security assets, we need to make sure that it is in our interest and we're not spread so thin that we can't do it right. >> i hear that you love dogs ? >> i do. >> do you want to hold her? >> no, no, take a picture. if you want to put this -- >> ok, perfect. >> find more resources at c-spans campaign website. with more video from the campaign trail and read the candidates from the candidates, political reporters, and people like you from social media sites . "washington journal" continues. host: bob cusack is here.

wanted to talk to you about what's happening in congress. they come back quite soon. bob, let's start with you. what's on the to do list? guest: the house is in this week, the senate is not. only going to be in a couple of days that this week. one of the things on the agenda is raising the debt ceiling. this is a vote that happened, was going to be several votes on these raising the debt limit. basically congress has agreed to raise the debt limit reached last summer. this is kind of a political vote of disapproving of the president's authority. the last time a partisan vote, mostly democrats voted, republicans voted against it. not really, there will always be a vote in the senate on this. but it's kind of academic, it's not going to lead to anything because the president has the power to veto it. so this is not going anywhere. but that's the main thing that will be happening on the house this week.

host: jake sherman, we'll see him make his speech next week. what kind of a milestone or marker is that. what do you think the big debates will be as congress looks at the president's agenda? >> this is going to be a light year for congress. the big thing they're going to deal with is payroll tax cut. obama loves drawing distinctions with house republicans. that's what his whole campaign is based upon. that's what we expect him to do again in his state of the union. but this payroll tax holiday is almost short to be brought up because they want it very badly and republicans obviously stumbled a little bit. host: yesterday in the sunday talk shows we heard from a fair number of candidates running for president in the g.o.p. also some mens of congress but the to suss is largely on the presidential race. bob cusack, what does attention turn back to congress? it's expected to be a light year because of so many campaigns

going on what do you expect as we look at 2012? guest: i think they'll be fascinating because they will be maneuvering. but the house will be run by republicans, highlighting issues that they want the president to discuss, whether it be drilling, whether it be talking about keystone and certainly the common denominator will be senate. i think we'll be pushing for things that will try to get the ultimate republican nominee. whether it's what mitt romney has vowed to veto. or raising taxes on millionaires. a lot of maneuvering with a campaign theme. host: what are the big battles coming up? we have the bush tax cuts expiring at the end of the year. jake, is that something we'll be hearing a lot about? guest: a ton about. we don't expect it to happen until the lame duck session. republicans do feel they need to do some stuff to get political

points on the board. they had a bruising beginning at the 112th congress. they stumbled on the payroll tax cut. so they need to get somethings on the board. they're looking for items to pass that will make a statement. the president might not sign them but at least get them on the record trying to do something that puts them in favor with the voters of the 2012 election. congress is also up for election and that will play a big role. guest: i agree with jake, that a lot of activity will not happen until after the election. the house, the senate and the white house are basically all up for grabs. the house being the one that's most likely to stay with the majority party. but certainly a lot of things in play. whatever happens in the election will certainly change the dynamic in the lame duck of the bush era tax cuts. host: let's get to the phones.

caller: good morning, yes, good morning. these politicians, the republicans have been pointed out by president obama because they're involved with a lot of people that have money. the rich, those are the people that are controlling the politicians. and in turn, they have been set aside to be put on the books where little by little, until up until now, have been figured out, it's too late now. they're too far out of reach. those are the people keeping politicians in place. and when they get in office, they're going to not do nothing for the poor people. it's been going on. it will continue to go on until they put some of these laws into effect when it's time to vote. now voters start coming up and you put those on the ballot that's what i would like to see. see the rich people pay their share.

host: so, bob cusack, any prospect there for some more democratic agenda and what the president wants to see? guest: democrats know that republicans won't go for parading taxes, but they see an advantage there in polls, and certainly polls suggest that a fair amount of republicans support raising taxes on millionaires. so that's where they're going to try to divide the republican party. but the republicans at least on that issue have been fairly united with the exception on tax policy. democrats are going to try to continue that advantage they got at the end of the year on taxes. we're going to hair a lot about tax policy in 2012. guest: the important thing to note, with the bush tax cuts coming up, john boehner the speaker of the house has been working on a big deficit plan. he's been trying to work on a

big deficit plan all year. likely he'll try to do it all year because the bush tax cuts are a very thorny issue for republicans. the way to get out of them is to completely overhaul them. there's new race and new everything. something to keep an eye on going forward. host: makes me feel like a bit of a "groundhog day" moment. talking about the unemployment insurance benefits, things that we talked about before that congress has extended will once again be expiring. will we see anything new come up in this debate? guest: i think the biggest thing that will happen is republicans will want to get this out of the way. a half a dozen to a dozen republicans say they don't want to have that payroll tax fight. it's not good for them, not policy they agree with but they can't really some i think it to reject it. that's a big thing. they want to get it out of the way. guest: yeah, i think so. it will be rough and tumble

because you have so many house republicans that are upset with the policy. but they do want to get it out of the way. they do want to agree that they wanted to extend it. i think there will be some talk about unemployment and insurance reforms, but this will happen. host: let's hear from steve in richmond, virginia, republican, good morning. caller: good morning, how are you today? i'm a gay republican for many years. i'm 55 years old. and last year i voted for the last election i voted for obama because i'm tired of republicans, the top 1% is what they're concerned with. the people that make the money. c.e.o.'s making $20 million bonus a year, but they don't want to give the workers, you know, a decent wage. to live on. to me right now the republicans are more interested in the top

1%. of course the top 1% has the money to donate to the republican party. host: any comments, gentlemen? guest: i think that will be a huge issue going forward. i think they are aware they're seen as a party that only waiters to the wealthiest. cantor has made a position to push himself to somebody he says wants to raise everybody up. getting that message across is not easy. guest: yeah, i think that's what democrats will try to portray, especially the republicans. we've seen them with the d.n.c. and mitt romney. trying to display mitt romney and republics out of touch. where as republicans want to talk about his controversial efforts health care reform and stimulus. host: let's look at key dates. january 24, that's next week --

host: let's hear from joey in massachusetts, independent line. good morning. hi joey. caller: i like to know how many days congress worked last year. every time i turn around they're on vacation, or they go on air and are doing this. what we really need, we got to have -- when they vote on things they always wait until the last minute. it's just a scare tactic and people have to wake up. i call my congressman all the time and i tell them -- i don't get to speak to him. but you go back to work, don't

wait until the last minute to get things passed. host: joey, what's most important in your mind that you would like to see congress do here caller: i would like them to do? host: yeah, what you would like to see them do? caller: i would like to see them straighten out social security. it would have to be straightened out. you've got to get into the well fair programs. we're dealing too much away and it's hurting us. i know people talk about the rich, but you got to talk about the other side of the coin too. host: all right, let's hear from bob cusack. guest: certainly, congress doesn't wait until the last second to do anything. there's been a lot of rhetoric on both sides about how much congress should be in, democrats when they took over the house they said we're going to have five day work weeks in washington. cantor has proposed a new

schedule. when republicans took the house over, one week in, one week out. they say we're working all the time but we want to get back to districts. especially with all the freshmen. host: has there been a reaction publicly to the congressional schedule, not just talking about what they established last year but the number of days there in guest: i remember being on this show and during this when democrats were in control as well. it is a constant complaint. these guys have to get back to their districts and it does not look good. they have had a lot more anger about the schedule. and democrats have tried to score political points by going to the floor and setting house republicans were not in session. although democrats did the same when they were in the majority. something that makes constituents angry around the

country. host: let's look if this story. guest: i think it's fascinating, with those kinds of statistics, nancy pelosi called this a do nothing congress, not noting the the democrats control the senate. but that will be the flavor of the year. the white house running against this congress.

those kind of statistics have to make john boehner a little nervous. >> let's listen to senate majority leader harry reid on meet the press yesterday talking about placing blame in congress. >> understand we have had obstructionism on steroids. the republican leader said his number one goal at the beginning of this congress was to defeat president obama, not have him reelected. we have spent months on things that used happened just a matter of factly. raising the debt ceiling, we did that for president reagan 18 times. we spent two and a half months doing that. the number one goal -- and i hope the republicans have learned their lesson -- extending the payroll tax. a disaster. imagine people being opposed to lowering taxes.

i hope that they understand everything does not have to be a fight. legislation, building consensus, compromise. i hope that the tea party does not have insolence in the next year that they had in the previous year. it has been really bad for this country. host: that was majority leader harry reid on meet the press. in response a spokesman for mitch mcconnell said -- dick sherman, respond to what you heard from senator harry reid and then this moment, as far as the blame game and also talk about the tea party element. guest: i think what harry reid has said is that they need to do something, they need to rally around something, something but they support. they are seen in the eyes of a lot of people of being against a

lot of things, against raising the debt ceiling, having a tough time finding the government, and as not compromising. that is not what john boehner and others want going into an election year. so they are going to baltimore this week thursday to, friday, saturday, and they need to rally around some sort of way forward in this election year or else they could be in trouble. host: bob cusack, harry reid also mentioned the tea party elements and how influential barthey have been and that they have some of the blame. >> that did not play in 2010. the democrats in the fall of 2010 declared war on the tea party. the poll showed the tea party is not the force that it used been. we have seen that with mitt romney's rise in the republican party. tea party has never been fond of romney. the tea party is weaker than it was before and it will be a

question of how strong they will be in 2012. host: let's hear from ron in new hampshire. democratic caller. caller: i believe obama has done all he has been allowed to do by the republican congress. if after november we still have mixed political houses, the congress, the senate, we will be in for another four years of nothingness. i just don't believe -- i think obama has a pretty squeaky clean record before becoming president, but every one of these republican candidates have a lot of skeletons in their closets. they seemed to be very self- serving. mitt romney, a corporate raider before he became senator. newt gingrich, a lot of skeletons.

i just don't see anybody taking obama down. i don't care who the republican nominee is in november. host: did you vote in the primary last week? caller: i did not. i voted for obama last time and will vote for him again this year in the general election. i think i got cut off. host: you are fine. thanks. let's hear from our guests and get a response. guest: republicans would counter an far as the squeaky cumecle as far as president obama, there was jeremiah right. whether romney brings up those associations in 2012, we will see. john mccain did not do that. regardless, if president obama calls himself the underdog last year. if you talk to democrats now,

they don't think they are the underdogs now. they have a lot of money and we have seen a very contested primary with a fair amount of gaffs-- gaffs. the white house has to be fairly confident of where they are right now especially with unemployment down. host: donna is asking on twitter -- you have been on the campaign trail couple days ago in south carolina. do you see the year ahead in congress coming up as a topic on the campaign trail? is that being talked about among the candidates? guest: i think they are talking about congress. if congress tries to do things, they will be put in the position of having to answer for them. if mitt romney looks like he's headed toward the nomination. he will be put in the position where he must answer for things like if john boehner tries to do

a big deficit deal, every piece of that deal will be picked apart on the campaign trail in the general election later this year. if there are any stumbles a payroll tax cuts, they will ask if he agrees with house republicans and how they are handling thus. if anything of substance happens, probably not, but that's what seems like right now. john boehner alwants to do a highway bill. he wants to pay for that with oil. things like that will get done. they will need to do something. they cannot have an entire 2012 and they are all up for reelection. host: massachusetts, good morning. caller: how are ya? the question i have, understand that everybody's talking about president obama and how good he did and how bad is doing, but the president is just a

spokesman for the united states. you have to have a congress, the senate, and everybody else to actually pass the bills before he can even do anything. the main thing i think most people are overlooking is we pay more for aliens to live in the united states, giving them public aid, housing, food stamps, medical, they are allowed to take american jobs. there's a gentleman that used to work for a company that's not a legal citizen of the united states but he also sued the company because he got fired for not having a green card or anything else to say that he is supposed to be here. host: concerned about illegal immigration, let's talk about that. is that on congress' radar? guest: i have heard that especially from democrats. when democrats took over and they controlled both chambers and at the white house, they

probably could a past the "dream act. this is a scaled-down version of immigration reform, with enough support from its republicans. but they went after health-care and that's a long time. obama has repeatedly it's about to tackle comprehensive immigration reform. if he has not gotten that done. he will need the latino vote in order to win. immigration divides the republican party. democrats will try to talk about that issue of fairmount. guest: whatever newt gingrich said that he wants to give people that have been here 20 years and have been good citizens and their communities, he wants to help them and let them become legal. rick perry and rick santorum and a lot of those folks have been completely against him on that. so this topic will be hot in the general and probably in the primary, a comprehensive or even a scaled-down immigration appeal would probably not been

taken up in the senate or house this year. host: what is on the agenda and what is expected to get done, the topic of your book. sequestration was something we have heard in last couple months. as they are figuring out how to deal with the debt limit, nothing came out of the super committee. sequestration is looming. talk about what that is about and what is the looming deadline going to been to a congress this year? >> the super committee, it wanted to have incentives for democrats and republicans to broker a big deal. for democrats that was cuts to domestic spending and for republicans they did not want to put taxes on the table, so they put defense spending. the super committee flops. now the defense industry and defense stocks including senator john mccain are saying that it

is no way the defense industry can take these cuts. barney frank says they are not cuts. they are cuts to the rate of growth. they're not that significant. the fascinating thing is with defense secretary leon panetta, is not like the cuts that are looming. president obama has said that he vows to veto anything that would head off the cuts regarding entitlement spending. the defense cuts that are looming in 2013, i think, will be talked about a lot. that will be talked about a lot on the campaign trail. host: what strategies will bc within congress on the democrat side and republican side on facing sequestration and how to avoid it or let it go true? guest: democrats have come to the opinion the sequestration is not that bad. the super committee was considering a lot more drastic cuts in entitlement programs than the sequestration. democrats are ok with letting it

stand. republican leadership has tried to devise a plan and has many different pieces moving on sequestration. eric cantor has looked at it as well. he has tried to do is on plants and folded into unemployment insurance and that did not go anywhere. john boehner would be most likely to do a sequestration and fix it the end of the year with the bush tax cuts. the tax cuts don't come into play until 2013. hopefully the head winds from house republicans wanted to get it done before that, there's an uncertainty that the military can handle this. host: on our independent line, ky. go right ahead. >> good morning. in this country today when the congress gets itself in line, when they have to live like everybody else does and do away with the perks and their salaries, gdp, employment rate

and such as that, that is when this country will come back. until then, as long as congress blows the money that they blow, big salaries eight years to 10 years, they are way over /staffed -- overstaffed. guest: perks for members of congress has been long talked about. they're moving forward on a bill that would ban congressional insider trading during that got a lot of attention. it is picked up over 200 co- sponsors. eric cantor wants to make changes to the bill. if i am not sure. he wants to make it broader than a bill that has introduced.

that is something that will be moving because there is anger outside the beltway. host: senator rand paul cut a check to the treasury department. talks about how he returned a half million dollars from his office budget to the treasury department on thursday, a small tent of cash to help pay off the massive federal debt. he is not the only member of congress to give money back from his office to the treasury. what does that say politically? is that the kind of message that will resonate with people like our last caller? guest: absolutely. it's a good political move. $500,000 does not do anything in controlling the national debt and deficit of $15 trillion, but there are members that give tens of thousands of dollars back. paul has given back tens of thousands of dollars. it is great publicly. it looks like you are cutting corners and tightening the belt in the office.

his home state would be happy with that. but it does very little in practical terms, but is very good political. host: on twitter -- congress has had quite a low approval rating. what are they going to do to boost baskets the way the american people examine the work they get done? guest: they will blame the other party with this divided government. the senate being in democratic hands and house in republican hands, we see a lot of fingers pointed. people are tired of fighting. i think both parties will try to sum would decrease the fighting at least in the early part of the year, because temperatures will get hot in the fall. if host: another comment on twitter, chris jones writes -- jake sherman, is that a

sentiment you hear from many members of congress right now? guest: yes. the bigger problem is the two sides don't agree on what is good for the country. that was the idea in trying to do large-scale deficit plan, lock arms with the president and jump out of the boat, as john boehner said. they tried to do that. the pressure even at his own leadership table, john boehner had other leaders that did not agree with him. they have taken on medicare and medicaid and social security and they got very criticized for that. that is the sentiment be here. there are very few areas of agreement on large issues like medicare and medicaid, social security, and tax policy. eric cantor said election may be the only thing to solve that. host: michele, democratic caller in dallas, tx. caller: the thing that bothers me in the process is the people

making the decisions of forgotten about the people. we are talking about balancing the budget and doing tax cuts, but we are not looking at what is good for the 1%. you cannot cut expenses without bringing money in. that's why people go to work every day. we can cut expenses, but we have to bring money in. my question to the guests here today, when we talk about tax cuts, balancing the budget, can you personally say that you can recommend of where you would like to cut taxes and would you be willing to go to those people and say we are cutting your budget? if you are going to cut pell grants, would you go to a group of college teenagers and say we're not giving you any more money? or if you are going to homeless shelters, would you go to the shelters and say you're not getting more food? that bothers me when people making decisions are so far

removed from actual life that they can make the cuts with no feeling or face to the problem. guest: certainly, the members, when they have to make the decisions, whether it is cuts, and republicans say there is not a tax problem, it is a spending problem if, democrats come back with that we need more revenue and it's only fair to tax millionaires and billionaires. but i do think that over the last several years if politics has gotten very volatile. the temperature has gone up recently. we have seen that in the town hall meetings. some members because of that and because of youtube have decided to cut down on their public appearances. inst: let's hear from im oklahoma, republican caller -- jim. caller: i called me mr. support ron paul, because he is a clear contrast to obama.

since you are not showing him much for your network or none of the media, he has been endorsed by senator davis and jim demint. host: we are trying to give all the candidates equal air time on c-span. what do you think about his legislative record? caller: what do i think of his record in congress? compared to obama? host: just wanted you think about his record in general? he's been a congressman a long time. caller: what he is trying to do has been no pointble -- been noble. and he did also give money back to the government that the gods. and obama's excuses for its failure being congress' fault. for two years he had a

democratic senate and congress and did nothing but destroy the country. host: you were on the campaign trail couple days ago in south carolina. what are you hearing about the discussion about congressman ron paul's political record of, what he has done while in washington? guest: is a popular figure on the campaign trail. he has run for president several times and has an organization in a lot of these states and has people on the ground. we saw that in new hampshire and iowa and we're seeing that in south carolina. there's a story this morning in the "new york times dedicated he is trying to lock up more delegates who have more leverage down the road. mitt romney is the likely nominee. there's not much talk about people's legislative record, because the public does not like congress and is not really attuned to what is going on in washington. ron paul has been in congress since the 1970's on and off and has done a lot. but that is not what is really

being talked about on the campaign trail. host: david on the democrat line from las vegas, nevada. >caller: hello. i want to comment on the fight over the payroll tax-cuts and how i think that if the general population would familiarize themselves fenwick street and economics versus kennedy in economics, they would understand republicans stance on the tax cuts. -- kensian economics. when you looked at the state of affairs in general with the economy, i don't know how you can sit here and sit with these economic ideas guys about benefiting the rich and trickle- down. taking labor into consideration is very important. lincoln was very famous crossing that labor is very important to

capital -- very famous for saying labor is important to capital. that needs to be considered much more. the republicans are trampling over the middle class. it is just the whole economic freedoms are complete failure. host: let's get your comments. guest: the payroll tax holiday, the right does not like it. the left does not like it. a fair amount of liberals in congress are not fond of taking money out of social security's, because they think eventually it will be used as an effort to reform and cut back on social security. when they first implemented this fall, they said it would only be a one-year thing. then now it has been renewed again. the question is, will it be renewed at the end of 2012? there are people in congress who are nervous this is taking money out of an entitlement program

and once again it is we have to make painful decisions. they think one. they think this is one of the things congress is giving more money to people but we cannot afford it. host: we were going through economic philosophies and ideas. will that debate played out this year? guest: i'm not sure if members of congress are familiar with complex economic debates. important to note is the politics are uncomplicated. -- complicated. members of congress say the only way out of this, we will have to keep extending this. they say publicly on capitol hill the only way to get out of this is a comprehensive rewriting of the tax code. they are resigned to the fact they are extending a policy but unli -- policy they don't like, because of politics. host: there's a store looking at the shake-up in the white house. we are seeing jack lew.

he will be by the president's side now. tell us about what this means for the white house relationship with congress. guest: it has been incredibly rocky in past. jack lew has been one good thing. he has a good relationship with democrats and republicans although he has had some rocky interactions with nancy pelosi over the last couple years with republicans in charge. if eric cantor has said that he gets along with jack lew and john boehner gets along with him. he could be a good thing for the president's relationship with congress. but the president has an important political calculus to make with his budget that he will submit to congress and that will set the tone for an election year and for the battle with house republicans. jack lew, his relationship might help if the president and republicans cannot agree on a list of issues. host: talk us through what kind

of liaison role they surf? guest: it depends on the chief of staff. jack lew and is more of a policy person. rahm emanuel is more of a political operator. they can be involved in the dealmaking. we saw rahm emanuel on the stimulus and health care. he was in those meetings with harry reid on the phone constantly. bill daley, the outgoing chief of staff, not as much. jack blum was taking the lead on that. if now is going to be the chief of staff and has other responsibilities, managing the staff of the white house,who gets to see the president. -- jack lew. he worked as a budget chief in the clinton administration as well as the obama administration. host: republican in the bronx, nick. caller: good morning. most of the time a lot of people to think about newt gingrich as

the most experienced, to be the president of america. technically experienced in washington and knows how to solve problems better, knows the shortcuts. but he married a couple times. if you get married and it's not going well, you have to change it. host: what is the relationship to washington me on the campaign trail? we have for a lot of candidates say i am not a washington insider, the other guy is. when we looked at the records of some of the folks running for president, they have had washington ties and connections. guest: newt gingrich has been in the washington area decades, but has run an anti-washington campaign, but while touting the fact that the past health care reform, but not mentioning bill

clinton had a big part in that. newt gingrich's experience in washington was mixed because many house republicans don't like him. tom coburn, who has worked with him and was involved in the 1990's, said he found his leadership lacking. and another senator has also been very critical of gingrich. gingrich does have support in congress and some congressional endorsements, but not a lot. host: let's talk about steps the president made over the winter holiday, the christmas holiday, to move people into place. richard cordray it to become the head of the consumer financial protection bureau. that happened while congress was away. how will that play out? guest: that has kind of passed a little. senate democrats and republicans in both houses have already battle over that. there might be some challenges to it. there might be some talk about it. but it will not be the

overarching narrative of this congress of this session. host: the uc bad as having fallout as congress comes packed? guest: the chamber of commerce is thinking about pursuing on the recess appointments. the consumer agency is something that is going to be talked about a lot. president obama likes talking about the consumer agency. it is one of the differences that you see in the presidential campaign, republican side and leaders in congress. there's a lot of talk about repealing dodd-frank on the campaign trail, but we have not seen that done yet in the house. host: thank you so much. bob cusack is managing editor for the bhill. jake sherman is a staff writer at "politico." we will talk about the national day of service and martin luther king next. also, the heating assistance program for low-income americans.

first, a news update from c-span radio. >> 29 past 8:00 a.m. eastern. acted as leaders are calling for demonstrations outside all 13th federal reserve banks across the country today to mark martin luther king day. the occupy the dream coalition says it is a way to grab the torch of dr. king and spotlight poverty. jesse jackson says he wants to hear the candidates at tonight's presidential debate in south carolina about racial issues on this martin luther king day. he adds that the gop hopefuls have avoided the topic throughout the campaign so far. the civil rights activist who was born in south carolina and was with dr. king when he was assassinated in 1968 made unsuccessful bids for the democratic nomination for president in 1984 and 1988. also, a breakfast event taking place honoring those who carry on the tradition of dr. king including motown records founder berry gordy, alexis herman, the

first african american secretary of labor, and rev. al sharpton, president of the national action network, which is hosting the gathering. that is airing on c-span3 television right now. if and you can hear it later today on c-span radio factory clock p.m. eastern. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> it is important to emphasize spat while it is great to a campus memorial to his memory and it is great to have a national holiday and great to have streets and schools and hospitals named in his honor all over the nation and the world, it is also important not to place too much emphasis on martin luther king the idol but not enough emphasis on the ideals. >> look at the life and legacy of dr. martin luther king jr., a civil rights movement, and relations in america today, online at the c-span video

library. it is what you want, when you want. quick reminder, the deadline for a c-span's student video competition. middle school and high-school competition, which part of the constitution has meaning to you and why? a grand prize of $5,000.50 cows and dollars in total prize money. get that to us by friday, january 20. for last-minute details, go online. "washington journal" continues. host: it's martin luther king day and a day of service. we are looking at the monument dedicated to dr. king on the national mall. we will be going to events throughout the day on c-span commemorating dr. king and looking at a variety of events happening today. the president and first lady will attend led freedom ring celebration at the kennedy center tonight.

together with their daughters they will participate in a volunteer projects as part of the national day of service. to talk with us about the national day of service and americorps is its director, john gomperts. guest: thanks for having me. host: let's talk about the connection between king and community service. guest: thanks for having me. one of the things that dr. king believed most ardently is each of us have a role to play in the life of the community and the like of the country. his whole life was really about that. so back in the mid-1980s congress passed a law that created the first martin luther king day holiday, which was a fantastic event. about 10 years later, two members of congress in 1994 who

had worked directly with dr. king, one from pennsylvania, and john lewis from georgia, one of the great lieutenants and a hero of the civil rights movement, got together to reauthorize the legislation that created the king holiday. as they were both really close to dr. king, there was something at the pedicle about the notion that you would celebrate dr. king's birthday by taking the day off, by a day of rest. the holiday cassrecast along with his family as a day of service. today on and not a day off. now more and more people recognize this is the best way to honor dr. king's legacy of engagement, of justice, of community, was all of us to

participate through service. host: it is being marked as a national day of service by the corporation for national community service, which includes americorps, which our guest is the director of. tell us about the corporation for national community service. guest: a small federal agency that is charged with advancing service and volunteer action and social innovation. it is a product of several pieces of legislation, most recently the serve america act in 2009. we operate a variety of programs, all of which really work with local organizations, state organizations, community- based groups. we have senior corp which engages in nearly half a million people 55 and older in service. those programs include the senior companions and foster grandparents. we run americorps, which is the

domestic national service program for incense service. we will talk more about that. we also operates a new program called the social innovation fund, which was created in 2009 legislation that is designed to invest in and help put forth innovative ways to solve crises. host: you can call the numbers on your screen -- our guest john gomperts is the director of americorps. take us through the mission? and who is serving in americorps? guest: it is most associated with young people, but it is an age-neutral program. ranging from 17 or 18 and all the way up to 90 years old, are members.

there's one program specifically for people and have finished their midlife careers and have dedicated themselves to community service. most members are between 18 and 30 years old. they serve in a wide range of community organizations. a lot of people have a misconception about americorps that it is one national corps. it's exactly the opposite. they serve in all 50 states, in over 3000 communities. and through 15,000 different local institutions. there are americorps members that work with big brand-name national organizations that we all recognize, whether it is big brothers big sisters or habitat for humanity, teach for america, the american red cross. but americorps members also work with the smallest community- based organizations as well. host: what might volunteer be

doing? guest: an americorps member, let me give you an example from habitat, if habitat for humanity has more than 1000 affiliate's, local affiliates, run the country. most of those affiliate's -- they all do the same thing, they build and rehabilitate houses. they do it with volunteer label, people like you and me and lots of people watching television by now who might give two hours or four hours on saturday. but what the americorps members do is they are there all the time preparing so that when you and i show up on saturday or when a group of people from a company show on thursday for a volunteer and civic, everything is ready for us to do something. i think all of us have been to volunteer projects where we've got ourselves excited and say we are born to go and do something and you get there and there's nothing to do it or the things to do our pointless.

and it is frustrating. it is more frustrating than not doing anything, because you got here i am ready to do something great. habitat has captured -- and many other organizations in the same way -- have captured the notion that if you have just a few people working full time who can make opportunities for people like us that march more powerful and satisfying and have that much more impact. so that's just one more example. at the other end of the spectrum, americorps members are deeply involved in education. whether it is preschool, helping kids it ready to go to school, ready to learn, whether it is helping struggling kids -- kids struggling to learn to read from kindergarten through third grade, or helping kids in middle school and high-school to stay in school and graduate, all those activities, tutoring and mentoring activities, are things americorps members do.

also, there's a big disaster response role that americorps members and other national service participants play. for instance, in joplin, missouri, there were hundreds of americorps members who responded to the tornado. host: a member of the americorps is not exactly a volunteer. let's talk about that. the website looks at what benefits they receive. it goes into an exchange for a full time year of service, tell us what they get. guest: you are right. i did not use the word volunteer. people volunteer to be in americorps just like they volunteered to be in the peace corps or in the military, but i don't call them volunteers, because americorps members to receive a small stipend, a full- time americorps members. if you serve full time you will get a stipend of $12,100. and when you complete 1 year of

full-time service, which is defined as 1700 hours of service, you also receive an educational scholarship, what we call the americorps educational board. it's about $5,500 right now, which is a significant amount, for which you can use either to pay back esteban if you have loans outstanding or you can use this to further your education. it is a bargain. it is a big bargain. we give enough money so that you can have shelter and eat, although many americorps members eat rice and beans for year. and we make an investment in people's futures and our collective future by helping people either pay off student loans or get more schooling. host: let's hear from charles n street court, louisiana, on the republican line. -- in shreveport. caller: what was wrong with the

that they wrote something wrong? and you need to have jesse jackson or al sharpton down to orleans because this is not being reported at all. host: what is not being reported? caller: it is not being reported. there is black on black crime. they are killing one another like animals down there. it is terrible. they are braced to have to call the national guard. this is not being reported on the news media. they are killing one another in new orleans fall-like we have never seen here in louisiana. it is out of line. host: we can also talk about the memorial. guest: the stock about the memorial for a second. it is gorgeous. i encourage people -- there was

a picture on your screen a little while ago -- i encourage people to come and see them appear the controversy that charles referred to about one of the quotes that turned out to be a paraphrase of what dr. king had said. many people close to him felt that it really did not represent dr. king. it was taken out of context, paraphrases in an unfortunate way. on friday secretary ken salazar, as part of the national park service and department of the interior, asked that it be changed. so now the architect and creators of the memorial have a month to come up with a proposed change to expand. host: i'm looking at a story on cnn related to this. here's more details about what that quote is and what people have concerns about it.

so now secretary salazar will take action to have that changed. and our caller mentioned

violence that he sees happening in new orleans and louisiana. do americorps members rise to any kind of enforcement or policing? guest: they do not. there are some programs are run the country which americorps members are engaged in public safety activities, anti-gang violence and so forth, but it is not really a at the core of what we do right now. although the programs that we support, the organization that we support, so many of them are engaged in education and a broader view of education, really helping kids to survive and thrive in this life. a lot of that is probably the most effective anti-violence action we can take. host: oscar on twitter thought it was racist of our callers to use the word "like animals" in connection with people at all.

let's hear from a democratic caller in wichita, kansas. caller: morning. guest: thanks for calling. caller: my name is darryl and i am in the middle of the country. i am an alumnus of americorps. host: what did you do for them? caller: i served right here in the wichita area in the fairmount neighborhood. our the order was a defined neighborhood that includes about 750 homes. fortunately, we are adjacent to the university of wichita. so we were able to direct and develop a program that always included the accord bound program on the campus spirit is an ideal peter in terms of the needs of the community and the

resource that is a stostone's throw away. -- an ideal theater in terms of the needs of the community. the fairmount church of christ is where i entered into the americorps program. they were offering building space for the program. i mean, it was the most ideal experience. i myself am now a student of the university. so is my wife. my son, age 13, is a member of the up or down the program, a very comprehensive program. my four-year-old daughter is part of childhood development on the campus. it's worked out so wonderfully. the scholarship benefit at the end -- i served two years, so at end i had developed a maximum in terms of my service and my scholarship opportunity.

it has been the most marvelous experience of my life. guest: thank you so much for calling this morning. and thank you mostly for your service. that is terrific. i hope a lot of people heard what you just said. it represents the experience that many people have had both in connecting to the community and in getting the opportunity to go forward and get more education. the other thing i want to mention based on what darrell said is that many americorps members serve through a face organizations. many faith based groups -- habitat is one example, but there are church groups that are deeply involved with americorps, because they are deeply involved in the social mission. americorps members who are being partly supported by the government cannot proselytized. there are many rules about what americorps members can and cannot do. if many faith based organizations play a key role in

meeting some of the toughest needs of our communities. what darrell described is a great example of service. host: john gomperts is the director of the americorps program. this was from the other day looking at a controversy -- one of our people on twitter is asking you to elaborate on what

happened with gerald watson. go into more detail. guest: let's talk about what happened with the inspector general. let me back up even before that. the inspector general plays an absolutely critical role in helping us to get our jobs done well. as inspector general's do in every federal agency. we are very supportive of inspector general. they help us root out any cases of fraud and abuse, abuse,our us vet ourhtlp grantees and to train them.

the inspector general was cut from just over $7 million in to just under the $3 million or rather under $4 million. it was a huge cuts and it came as a complete surprise to the corporation for national community service and a complete surprise to the administration. we don't know why congress took that action. we are working with our inspector general to make sure that he has the resources necessary to do the work that he should be doing on behalf of the agency. and we will work with congress in the coming year to make sure the inspector general's office is adequately funded. it really was a big surprise for us and to the inspector general. host: tell us about what happened with gerald walton, who according to this report, he was

fired after conducting an investigation. guest: the whole matter of gerald walton is still in the courts. i think that the political part of it has subsided by now. there was a question recently about why he was removed from this role. senator chuck grassley, who we have worked with extensively, and who is an ardent advocate for inspector generals, had raised questions about walton and why he was removed and how. just at the end of the year last year senator grassley and the administration agreed that episode is over, it did not go down as anybody would have liked

for to go down, but we have moved on. we are extremely supportive of the role of the inspector general. we would have worked closely with the inspector general in making sure our programs armpit run well and are run efficiently and look for to working with congress to make sure the inspector general has adequate resources to do his job. host: john gomperts is director of the americorps program. americorps participants in a national day of community service that honors martin luther king jr. let's look at a live image of the monument dedicated to dr. martin luther king. i'm reading now from wikipedia some information about the memorial. it is located on the mall and northwest corner of the tidal basin near the franklin roosevelt memorial on a line that's links the lincoln memorial to the texas and more. it opens to the public in august of last year after more than two decades of planning,

fundraising, and construction. you can see people there visiting the memorial today on martin luther king day. let's go to william in louisville, kentucky, to hear what he has to say on our independent line. caller: good morning. i was in berkeley in the early 1960's where i did my undergraduate work. i was a huge fan of dr. king. i read all of his books and read all the books of how he spoke about his children and his family and the importance of god in everybody's life. i really supported him at that time and supported the kennedys at that time. i went into the peace corps and a lot of work in oakland with impoverished families and got them signed up and registered to vote. we got them affordable housing and things like that. but as time went on and more disclosures were being made public relating to women, i will be perfectly frank with you, i changed my mind about a lot of

things. i changed my mind about bobby kennedy and jack kennedy and i also changed my mind, much to my chagrin, about dr. king. these stories involve women. i was always told by people who supported them saying to disregard that, that all powerful men have involvements like this. it's not really just about women. it is about the trail, dishonesty, hypocrisy, and weakness. you tonight right about god, your children, and your family, and do the things these men did and just dismiss this as being just about women. it's not just about women. host: let's talk about that with our guest john gomperts. has that changed the legacy of dr. king? guest: i did not know dr. king, but i know some people who did.

i think he would have been the first person to say that he was not a perfect person and was not about being a perfect person. he was very much about striving to be better and striving to make a contribution to the community. i don't think that anybody is especially trying to look away from the issues that the caller raises but rather try to put them in a broader context. host: we have a question on twitter. do you see an increase in volunteers of people signing up for americorps due to the economy? guest: yes, i think we do. the last year for which we -- let me go back. in the year 2009 we had about 360,000 applications to serve in americorps programs. in 2010 we had 536,000 applications to serve in

americorps. it looks like we have preliminary figures and not the final figures, but looks like that went up again in 2011. i think that there are a variety of things going on that are making applications to americorps increase. one of them, there's no question that the economy is a factor. i have a daughter who just graduated college a couple years ago and has many friends. it is really not easy to get a job as a young person. we have seen all the research that suggests starting out in a recession is a big hit on a person's career and their earning power. so americorps provides an outlet for lots of people. it is not a job exactly, but it is an experienced and helps you get a job. it is a pathway to opportunity for many people. and so, i think the economy did have an effect. i think the excitement generated by all the bipartisan support for the service america

act really had a lot of effect. in 2008 we had two guys running for president who were both extremely vocal and to gather on supporting service as something that people ought to do. john mccain is famous for his talk about something bigger than yourself, get engaged with something bigger than yourself. president obama embraced that language and extended that language. so we had the economy, we had a lot of talk about service and volunteering. now americorps is about 17 years old. a lot of people like daryl have been in it and to have told other people it's a great experience, so i believe our reputation is building. all those things together have driven a lot of demand for americorps opportunities. host: john gomperts is director of the americorps program, participating as many other government-affiliated and independent groups in the national day for community

service dedicated to dr. martin luther king. let's go to a live shot. c-span is at the national mall for the dr. king more. there's the controversial " that the secretary of the interior will have changed. it says "i was a drum major for justice, peace, and righteousness." the national park service has 30 days to consult with the project foundation. members of the king family, and others -- the national park service has 30 days to consult with the project foundation along with members of the king family and others. poet maya also said that it made king seemed arrogant. now, a caller from georgia, a democrat. caller: how are you?

i would like to find out what is the best way for community organizations to get involved in americorps? we have an organization developed in 2006 called youth careersteaching them how to staa career and how to select a career and how to get involved in community, activities, and things of that nature, teach them values of that sort we would like to know the best way to connect with and get involved in americorps? do you think martin luther king -- he made a statement and one of his speeches about the status holding, the state of education system, if it was active for failing its purpose. guest: thank you for calling but

let me start with the question about americorps. to suggestions, which anybody can follow, it sounds like the kind of program you are involved with is exactly the kind of program where americorps members can be extremely helpful. you can always go to americorps gotgov, which is -- americorps.gov. how you would engage if you're an individual to serve in americorps but how you also apply for a grant if your organization, as you're describing, interested in getting a grant. for organizations that operate in only one state, areas in each state a commission, a governor appointed state commission that is designated by the governor to distribute americorps resources within that state. in georgia, what you'd go to is

the georgia commission on service and volunteering. john turner is the head of the commission. they would be happy to help you and guide you through the process and help figure out whether an americorps event is the right thing for you. that is the recommendation on how to pursue learning more about americorps. on dr. king and education, in the later part of his life, he was really focused on opportunity, all forms of opportunity. opportunity to get a good education, opportunity to get a good job. on this martin luther king day of service today, we're trying to focus on service and volunteer action as a pathway to opportunity, as a doorway to opportunity. that can be either by the service being provided to individuals who are struggling.

we know people are struggling in today's economy. there are job fairs, resume writing workshops, americorps members across the country today are helping people apply for the earned income tax credit, which is government's largest anti- poverty program. there are also all kinds of projects around the country today focused on veterans and military families. we all know veterans have served on our behalf, protected our safety, our freedom, our country. and now are coming back to a very difficult economy. struggling -- many families are struggling with multiple deployments. really, it reciprocal kind of way, it seems clear pripet the first lady and the president have been clear as have many others in congress, there's a reciprocal relationship. we owe everything to help them integrate into society and

succeed. there are more and more veterans who are serving in americorps who have seen americorps as a pathway opportunity, but there are service projects designed to help veterans and military families find opportunities. host: looking at your website for americorps, the mentioned americorps.gov, we concede national service for our nation's heroes. looking how veterans can be incorporated into americorps, how they can be recruited. you are making a significant effort. guest: absolutely. i was in seattle in the fall, isometry remarkable veteran program in seattle, a program -- i saw a remarkable letter program in seattle. going to and struggling and local colleges and trinity colleges. and who found, having an

overseas in service, they come back and go to college and be in such a different environment and be so different from so many people in that college environment, that many of their colleagues were dropping out. so they started this veterans corps program to help veterans get into college and then help them stay in college and succeed by providing all kinds of support. it is a veterans helping veterans program with americorps being the driver. it was spectacular. to sit with those guys, both those who had served and those who were serving, was a remarkable and powerful experience in a window into the way people who have served in the military, they want to come back to the u.s. and continue their service and a different way, and use that service as a pathway to opportunity. host: cleveland, independent line. caller: do you think frederick douglass was a more important

historical figure than king? host: what do you think? caller: i definitely think he was much more important, but i know we're talking about volunteering. maybe we should have a second memorial to frederick douglass on the mall. guest: interesting. i was a history major, but not good enough in my history to rank who is more important or not. host: democrat, michigan. good morning. caller: good morning. my name is lucas. and when to get your remarks or comments on this. i have had too much about individual of the, freedom, how

our founders said it was life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. i think that is not enough. the currency says, in god we trust. justice for all of it i want you to look in the eye and be honest, is that a true picture of what america was and what america is today? because we see the level of inequality, disparity, the way the black people treat -- [unintelligible] i think that is not enough. people do not recognize the fact that after white people, like hypocrites say, and justice for all, and god we trust, in pursuit of happiness, protection of property, that is all lies. lies. look at the way they're treating

people. host: lucas has says the u.s. has not reached its goal of dr. martin luther king. guest: i have a couple of responses. thank you for calling, lucas. first, i would say americorps is about individuals and community. that is the beauty of america. it is not clear to me why anyone would have to choose between individual freedom and community support and support for those who are in tough times. so i think that is the story of america. i think everybody in the country would agree we are aware -- not where we are supposed to be. america itself is a long journey. the president talks about the arc of history bending toward freedom, toward justice.

but it is a long arc. it is clear not everybody is enjoying all the fruits of america. host: on twitter -- let's talk about the federal funding of americorps, how much it changed in the past couple of years and if you get money elsewhere this is the budget for 2012. 1.0 $4 billion. >> we are a small federal agency. after the agreement between senator mccain and then presidential candidate obama, senator obama, and the passage of the serve america act, which was a hugely bipartisan -- it is funny to say in this congress that something was so bipartisan. there was enormous bipartisan

support from both the house and senate to pass the serve america act, really to call people to service. it is plain we do not have all the money that we need to solve all the problems in the country, and probably equally plain all the money in the world would not solve those problems. in many instances, we are the solution to those problems. the idealism, the spirit, the energy, the can-do spirit of americans and the american people is a key thing to do. that is why congress came together, past the surf america act, and increased the budget of the corporation. -- past the service america act, and increase the budget of the corporation. to create this new social innovation fund, to scale programs that work and to invest in volunteer generation. it is all about one thing at the

corporation for national and service, community service, which is, by and large in many instances, in gauging the american people and community based solutions -- engaging the american people in community- based situations. >> the budget is down a little bit from fiscal year 2011. some of the places that were cut is the vista program, also a couple of other sections of the program. tell us what some of these cuts mean. guest: americorps is self has three wings. the americorps grant program, which gives grants to both national organizations and through the state commissions, a governor appointed state commissions i mentioned. vista is a program that came about in the 1960's and later became part of americorps and the 1990's. this is very focused on poverty

alleviation and on capacity building, building the capacity of local nonprofits to pursue their missions more powerfully. then we have something called the national civilian community court which is really modeled on the old ccc during fdr's prime. that is a residential, old-time program with five campuses around the country, very focused on physical labor and spending a lot of time on disaster response. those are the three wings of americorps. the cuts are understandable, obviously, and the current budget environment. at the same time, they are painful. there are more than half a million applications to serve in americorps this year, and there are about 80,000 americorps slots. the demand is far outpacing this, similarly, we give grants last year of just over $200

million. we had $400 million of requests. we had over 600 organizations apply for americorps grants. there are lots of upward pressure. people in communities have learned it is a viable experience for individuals and a tremendous resource for community organizations that are really on the front lines trying to meet the challenges that exist today. host: sharon, democrat line. caller: i am a first-time caller, so i am little nervous. i work for volunteers of america under americorps as a tutor for four years now. the benefits -- is just tremendous. i have been at the same school for the entire four years. i work three days a week, 15 hours.

every day i feel like i reach one of my students. it is a wonderful program. i am so glad i got involved with helping students, because they really need us. host: somebody wrote in on twitter and asked if americorps is just another feel-good organization or doesn't have like changing impact? has it changed your life in addition to the students' lives? caller: yes, it hasn't changed my life tremendously in the sense that -- it has changed my life tremendously in the sense that i am not at home watching tv. i feel like i'm doing something. i am retired. i am a senior. i feel like i am reaching some of the students that are in disarray. some of my students -- yes, it

makes me feel good. footsteps toet my this particular school. -- god led my footsteps to this particular school. if i reach one student per day and teaching them how to read, it is a very beneficial thing to myself as well as to that student. host: thank you for sharing your story. let's get a response from john gomperts. guest: sharon, thank you for calling an thank you for your story and for your service. a couple things somewhat tomentum based on her story. americorps is mostly young people, but it is not all of them people. in the service america act, it calls for us try to reach a

target of 10% of people in what we call encore service. sharon is an example of that. she is also an example of the fact minnesota is one of the leading places in the country -- there is a program called the minnesota reading corps, one of the most outstanding americorps programs in the country. the last thing i want to say, what sharon described in her work with students describes so much of what happens with americorps members. we know there are so many kids who are struggling to learn. for instance, everybody agrees burning well and independently by grade 3 is absolutely crucial to staying in school. if you do not read well and independently by grade three, you are not likely to make it through high school. all the statistics say that. if all kids need was a teacher at the front of the class, they would already be learning. some students need something

extra. what they really need is a human intervention, they need a sharon who sit next to them, keep them on task, challenge them, hold them accountable. one program after another, we have seen the success. there is independent research that demonstrates that this kind of work provides enormous educational benefit in terms of keeping kids and reading level. host: what would sharon get for her service? she talked about how young students can get loans, have their education. if she's just doing this part time, what did she get? guest: i don't know whether she gets a stipend or not but she might get a pro rated stipend. you also get a. educational -- if you get in educational award at 55 or older, lots of people of that age group are interested in

going back to school. there are others who are not. if you couldn't educational award at 55 and older, you can transfer that educational award to a child or grandchild. host: john gomperts, director of americorps, thank you for talking to us today. coming up, we will do our weekly "your money" segment. looking at heating assistance for low-income households. first, this news update. >> israeli defense officials say they and the united states military are holding off on large-scale war games that have been scheduled for april because of mounting tension between the international community and iran over that country's disputed nuclear program. the country has threat to close the strait of hormuz to stop the flow of oil shipments. the organization of petroleum exporting countries says the world demand for crude oil is expected to grow this year.

the latest monthly report from opec says the 1.1 million barrels a day growth estimate is on track despite the eurozone crisis and other economic problems. as for the economic situation in the states, congress is expected to take up the payroll tax cut extension when it returns this week from its three-week holiday break. lawmakers have approved extending a tax cut for two months. they will look at extending the for the rest of the year. congress returns tomorrow. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> the south carolina primary saturday, january 21. since 1980, the winner has gone on to be the republican presidential nominee. c-span's wrote to the right house coverage takes you to the events. -- road to the white house coverage takes you to the events. >> he is over his head.

>> we have a message that can appeal across this nation and in particular, in the state's that are necessary for us to win this election. >> as candidates get their message out and meet the voters -- >> yet another war or we do not know why we are there. >> if we're going to use our national security act, we need to make sure it is in our national security interest and that we're not spread so thin we cannot do it right. >> want to hold her? >> take a picture. >> perfect. >> find more resources on c-span. >> i believe it is important to

emphasize that one is great to have this memorial to his memory and is great to have a national holiday and it is great to have streets and schools and hospitals named in his honor, for our nation and world, it is also important to not place too much emphasis on martin luther king, the idol, but not enough emphasis on the ideals martin luther king, jr.. >> take a look at the life and legacy of dr. martin luther king, jr., the civil-rights movement, and race relations online on c-span video. ""washington journal" continues. host: we put the spotlight on the federal program with the special focus on its mission, participants, and how much it costs. today, we look at cuts to a

program to provide heating assistance to low-income families. our guest is mark wolfe of the national energy assistance director association. your organization represents the state directors of this program, this low income home energy assistance program, also known as liheap. guest: basically, liheap helps low-income families pay their energy bills, especially in the winter when prices are higher as well as in the summer for cooling programs. the it is primarily a federal refunded, although we're also a partnership program. there are about 40 states. the supplement federal funding. >> who qualifies for liheap? your web site has a section where it profiles families.

guest: by and large, every state has a slightly different eligibility standard. on average, it is about 150% of the federal poverty level or about the 2000, $33,000 for a family of four. -- about $32,000 or $33,000 for a family of four. most of the programs do not require as it tests, like, food stamps. we're concerned about what your income is as opposed to what your savings are. that is a little different. part of the purpose of our program is to move people quickly. during the winter, there's a short application period. we tried to get people into the program as quickly as possible. host: the spending in fiscal year 2011 was $4.7 billion. proposed spending for fiscal 2012 is just $2.5 billion, a

drop there. guest: congress just finished the appropriations process last month. luckily, they rejected the president's budget. they did cut the program to $3.5 billion, about a 25% cut. that is a difficult number for us to work with, but not nearly as bad as the president's number, which would have been devastating. we would have had to cut close to 2 million households out of the program. under the budget passed by congress, there will be cuts in the number of households served, but primarily, it will be the state's cutting back the average grant size. summer between 8,000,009 million households will be able to be served. what we're concerned about, last year we are able to cover about 40% of the cost of home heating. that is the major cost for most households. for many families, is a large

part of their after-tax income. we're most concerned about families with heating oil. it is almost at record prices right now. the average cost is projected to be about $2,500. on sociala family security, that could be your entire check for that month. the average cost of home heating oil in the coldest months can be $600. we're concerned about those families. there is an increase in electric prices. the only family slightly better from last year are those who use natural gas. those prices have come down slightly. host: if you'd like to join the conversation, give us a call -- you can speak with mark wolfe

from the liheap program. ginger, republican. good morning. caller: i am a recipient of heating assistance. host: how long have you been a recipient? caller: probably about three years now. host: what made to turn to the liheap program? caller: i had to. in 2003, i transition from male to female. as a result, i lost my job. i never thought i would find myself in that position. in the end, i ended up in social services for assistance. no matter who i spoke to, they were extremely professional

whether there were federal people -- they were federal people. and many cases, i felt it went above and beyond to assist me. this year, we had a 25% cut back. as it is, i have only turn my heat on twice. today, it is extremely cold. i just turned it off. i have the drapes open. i bundle up. i try to keep expenses down as much as possible. in order to try to survive. i'm living on around $8,000 a year. host: how much assistance to you get through the program? caller: it was $400, then come back to $300. typically, it was costing me around $81 a month.

that was with additional credit of $9 a month. as a result of me just turning the heat off and using other condominium units above, and alongside me, and keeping my drapes open during the day to let the sun, and and keep the area where i am, this has greatly assisted me. i am trying to drop my usage down as much as possible. host: it's good response from our guest mark wolfe. guest: thank you for your comments. this is typical of what we see in the liheap program. our budget covers only about half the cost of heating. with the cutbacks, we will be covering the event of a smaller percentage. it is a real concern to us.

on our website, we have been interviewing families. what we have found is forming of the families, they're in a transitional stage. one of the families, the mother was going to college at night. she got divorced and could not afford the energy bill. liheap basically helped give her a leg up a bit of other families who are going through health issues. there was a new world war ii veteran and was named. he cannot cover the cost any more. when there is not an adequate amount of energy assistance available, 1, people fall behind. some give in to shut off positions. the other thing is of great concern, when people cut back in the winter, the health implications. the elderly or you have a health issue in your cold apartment, it

can make things worse. in connecticut, if a mother has just given birth, they will not let her go home from the hospital because it is not safe. not just for the baby, but for the mother. liheap has republic health implications. when not funded adequately, we see these things the of a thing of concern, when liheap was funded at less than $2.5 billion, that is when you see people not having enough to pay their energy bill and use space heaters. you see more house fires could be for liheap became a program, it was much more common. host: people turning on the oven to generate heat. caller: yes. the good news, when liheap was funded at last year's level, we see better outcomes. success is not something people

notice as much in the current environment. people tend to look for bad stories. we can have good success. the program has been working well. we're reaching close to 9 million households. host: this is the estimated home heating in 2012. heating oil will have a 4% increase in cost for americans. natural gas, expected to decline by 7%. electricity expected to seek a decline of 2%. propane, 1% decline. it is holding a rather steady. caller: it depends --guest: it depends on where you live. you think, over the course of the, $2,400 a year, but it is over the cost of the budget is over the course of four months. -- but that is over the course of four minds but it could be

the large portion of your budget for that month. gas, ash the average family will spend about $700 to heat their family's household with gas. if you're in cold weather part of the country, it to be closer to $1,400. in the south, close to the $400. it depends on where you are. if your family's is heating oil, he may also have a car. you get hit with higher gasoline prices as well as higher cost to heat your home. what's liheap pays a part of the cost, basically helps families get through and get by during the winter. >> mark wolfe is our guest. we're talking about liheap, low income energy assistance program that helps low-income families heat their homes. sally is a democrat in tampa.

guestcaller: liheap is a very gd program. it really helps when you don't have money to cover your utilities. the only thing about the program is the way it is administered and the deep, most southern parts of florida. you have to drive -- try to comment on the telephone line against 200 or 300 people. if there's some more people could go and get certified in a dignified way, where they could actually receive the services -- you can be calling all morning and never get through. you cannot walk in and make an appointment. when i had my heart condition, i had to have oxygen. i could not get any help because i could not get through on the

telephone line. i think a lot of people's lives would be more miserable. i've seen so many kids come home from school and did not have lights to study. we really need this program to continue. and where the people who need it can get through to receive the help. i hope you all can fix this and redefine liheap some people like myself and the single parents with children, when their budget overruns and they need help that we can get it. please, please, six this program. host: and response? caller: liheap, is not like food stamps. it is what is called a discretionary program. what that means, once the money

is gone, we have no more money to give out. yet the part about liheap that sets us apart, their administrative costs are set by statute. to any sign of time, especially, the agencies from behind, long lines, because the panel is set aside 10% of their total allocation for the -- because they can only set aside 10% of their total allocation. we just completed a survey of liheap recipients and we were quite surprised to find one out of five families now has a veteran in the program. four years ago, only one in 10. i think what they're reflects to a large extent is the changing situation of people leaving the military. before if you left the military, the hiring manager could have been a world war ii from himself. there's a lot of support for

jobs. now the unemployment for veterans is much higher. what we found, to our surprise, the number of veterans has grown considerably. i think that tracks the story the media is covering about veterans at food banks, applying for welfare. i think one of the things liheap is doing this helps remove veterans during the transition from military to finding jobs. another important aspect of our program. host: on twitter -- let's go over some of these numbers. break it down demographically. guest: about 8.9 million households currently getting assistance. a big increase from a couple of years ago, 5.4 million families received assistance.

primarily, we serve families who are elderly, families with young children, and disabled. only enough money to serve about one out of five households. we really serve a subset of the low-income population. host: mark wolfe, runs the association that works with the state directors of liheap, which is federally funded and helps low-income households with their home energy bills. the federal government does not give energy assistance directly to the public. instead, liheap operates in 50 states, d.c., works with tribal organizations and the u.s. territories. guest: it is primarily administered at the local level. if you need assistance, the best that agee is to call the local community action agency. sometimes you can call the utilities and they will refer you how to sign up. we also have a national call-in number.

there is also a website that has the application form for about 20 states you can download. the application period for most states will run through next month, sometimes later. we want to encourage people, even though the money has been cut, we still have federal funds. a number of states have provided supplemental appropriations because of the concern about high heating oil prices. there is concern about the public health crisis. one thing different this year that is troubling, in the past, during the recession, when prices were high, there really was not a problem going back to congress and say, we're looking

at the lines, looking at the need, and finding supplemental funding. that was almost a no brainer. in the current congress, is a different climate. in the coming year, even though i believe we have a strong case for supplemental funding this winter, it is going to be very difficult to get. i think that is one thing that has changed. even two or three years ago, we would of expected the final funding, especially when he low prices were so high. the less heating oil prices were so high. host: the independent line. caller: i am a single woman, 48 years old, i had a stroke. i did not use my heat. host: how does it work for you with your local agencies in pennsylvania? caller: it is great.

i filled out the paperwork, and got a notification saying i'm getting liheap. guest: are using heating oil? caller: i could not hear you. host: are you using heating oil? caller: no, my apartment is all electric. host: thank you for your call. let's talk about this notion the mention of heating oil been so expensive here in the winter and how people really spend money on it for a few months and then the expense steps away so they may not necessarily account for when winter comes. how quick is the response for emergency services? the summit its halfway through winter and spend far more than expected because of the extreme cold or lack of budgeting, what do they do? guest: this year we are really worried.

previously, states would set aside for emergency assistance. so a family plans for the cost of home heating, they received a grant of $8,400 or $500 from the state liheap program, and then if something happened, a health issue or car broke down or just did not have the money, they could ask for supplemental grants. many states set aside money for that purpose. this year we are more concerned because the budget has been cut by 25% and there'll be less money available. some places are cutting the emergency assistance program. even though this is a tough congress to work with in terms of the appropriation, we're hoping we can go back and ask for supplemental funding for this winter. at the end of the day, families can budget for natural gas, to some extent. those prices are pretty stable. the beginning of the winter, give a pretty good idea of what it will cost the. similar for electricity.

heating oil is different. you go through a local dealer. we have global pricing issues right now. amazing instability in the middle east can drive the price of oil during the course of the winter that a family has no way to plan for. for those families, they could be facing a crisis. right now we're looking at $2,500 to heat a home on average. what if you lived in new england? it could be $3,000. with prices spike? for those families, we're very worried. the continuing unemployment across the country that even though it might sound like $700 or $800 is not a lot to your home, many families do not have that. we're into winter heating system season with no idea if it will go down. and on top of that, a 25% cut.

host: and twitter -- guest: if you think you're going to have trouble paying the energy bill, do not wait until you fall behind and get in a shut off position. call the utilities and tried to -- try to work out a payment plan or see if you qualify for grants there's a program, one more supplemental way to help families through the liheap program. host: republican, detroit. caller: i would like to see the directors thought, case in point, we have seen a disability person with an income of roughly -- from $200

[unintelligible] down to $142. i had a friend, a disabled person, filed with a call the home heating credit for september 30, received anonymous letter indicating from treasury that the audit would be conducted until december. normally it takes two to four weeks. at this time, nothing has been received. the contacted the government the department that oversees the constituent service. we called department of treasury and asked the but-the indicated to send back to treasure. treasury said they did not receive it. host: do you feel like you're getting the runaround?

caller: first of all, the bill was paid normally when this in the voucher, they have a check off. if you away go, they take it and apply to the service that is due. there was not outstanding bill. the flip-flop back and forth. they need to correct this. a lot of the residents not only in michigan, but throughout the u.s., i'm sure, have been overcharged with miss readings. host: mark wolfe let's mark wolfe has to say. guest: i think because we have to sign of close to 9 million families and a short time, sometimes applications can get lost in the track. i suggest calling our 1-800

number. they can refer you to the state director's office. i think they can sometimes cut through the red tape. again, 866-874-6327. another thing that has slowed down applications in some states, we're still waiting for the final preparation allocation by state and federal government. congress did not finish the appropriation this year and tell the end of december. there has been a lag and letting states know how much money they have. that is supposed to be resolved in the next week or two. they have told me this. then has held up some of the allocation levels. for some families, they're not sure how much money they're going to receive because the state is not sure how much money they were on the receipt. it is kind of a waterfall effect. it can be difficult for the

families waiting for assistance. host: on email -- let me just say, that was a number that came to us from the energy information administration. we're looking at the estimated cost of home heating nationwide. certainly, that rises and falls depending on where you live in the country. $3.61, a reality check. guest: propane prices can vary. the average on the website, the energy information administration website, are just averages. depending on where you live, those prices can vary sometimes by 20%. there is some advantage to shopping around. people actually rent or lease tanks from dealers. heating oil also is a delivered fuel. when we have done surveys, those

prices can vary sometimes by 50 cents a gallon. there's some argument to shop around the other thing to mention, there is a companion program to liheap. you can apply for that through liheap using the first stop in terms of the application process. many states still have resources that can help you weatherize your home, put in insulation, fix a broken furnace. it all seems to make a difference in the price you pay for energy during the winter heating season. there is plenty of evidence a home that has been weatherized can be 20% last -- less. that is another program to ask about. host: another on twitter -- check that you a trac

do to help people make sure their home is more energy efficient? guest: we try to do that. a home that is energy-efficient will be less to heat or cool. the program is fully funded sufficiently to reach a small percentage of the families that get energy assistance. the program varies in size by state. during the stimulus legislation, the obama administration and congress provided $5 billion for with the recession with a goal of weatherizing close to 1 million homes. i think pretty much have seen most of that money. it is really worth asking about. it can make a big difference. a leaky average, using $1,000 to

heat their homes this winter, it could be 15% more. even if all the homes are weatherized, that would not eliminate the need for liheap. many families we're helping have very little money available. if we to get the cost down by $200, that is great, but there is still one to be a large need for liheap. host: mark wolfe is with the national energy assistance directors association. let's hear from roger in detroit on the independent line. caller: how are you doing today? i think it is still a bunch of smoke and mirrors with you guys. you offer assistance when you guys could really have -- i am from detroit. but the seven mile current that could generate electricity, but

nobody wants to spend the money to make the cost cheaper to offer to the customers. i don't think -- concentration on changing from where we're at now to step in this up in the future. with a that is relevant to today's conversation are not, i just felt like i needed to make that call. guest: solar, renewable energies and other technologies all offer promise to help get energy bills down, but our program relief focuses on the e media. the immediate winter heating season and summer cooling season. we're also working with homeowners, low-income homeowners who make the kind of investment in their homes to look at geothermal systems. they do not have those kinds of resources. the focus on getting the bill paid as well as as much as possible, weatherizing the home. host: david, michigan, a

democrat line. we're having a lot of michigan callers. how is the weather there? caller: it is like 20 degrees right now. i do believe the wind chill is below that. host: we're talking about home heating bills. how is yours? caller: the wife takes care of that, to be honest. host: go ahead with your question. caller: the funding comes from tax revenue, correct? guest: yes. caller: i heard to make sort of a derogatory comment about obama and his finding of this program or whatever. don't you think republicans would find this less, if not completely eliminate it? guest: liheap has had strong bipartisan support since the program was initially enacted more than 20 years ago.

i think that still continues. the house appropriations committee, which is led by -- it is a republican-led house, they provided $3.5 billion for the program -- the senate, which is democratic-led, $3.6 billion. the thing is, both house and senate, democrats and republicans, support this. the administration proposed a deeper cut based on the declining oil prices of over a year ago. the administration starts its planning months and months ahead of time. liheap is based on current energy prices. there was an assumption the number of families would decline because there was an expectation the economy might be improving faster. the $2.5 billion to recommend it would have been devastating for the program. i think the other question is,

where does liheap fit into the social safety net? there are other programs equally important. i work for state energy directors. many of them also run other programs to help families as well. from our perspective, a cut in head start, which could creek sold in an increase in liheap, is not a good solution. -- which could result in an increase in liheap, is not a good solution. we want to help stabilize families. host: looking at senator snowe and her advocacy for boosting liheap's funding. can you tell us about who some of the other advocates of the liheap program are? are we talking about senators

and representatives from cold weather states? guest: the strongest representatives are from the cold weather states. winter hits strongly. the coldest states that deliver fuel, especially. 75% of heating oil in the u.s. is used in the northeast. senator snow has been one of our strongest, along with senator reid. host: a democrat. guest: and the ranking minority. also a strong supporter. much credit for larger house numbers than we expected. what we find is members of congress from the northeast who have the highest, energy bills tend to be the strongest supporters of this program. the south and west, not as much political support. i think it is because they tend not to see the program as essential. i think what has changed, and some goes back to the history of

liheap, grew out of concern in the cold weather states. over the last 25 years, we have a lot about the impact of heat. it is 90 degrees or 100 degrees in your elderly, the chance of having a stroke is much higher. there is been a change in southern and western states and how people think about liheap. it used to be viewed that warm weather was not as big a problem, but i think people are realizing for many families to be a very hot house in august or july to be just as dangerous as being in a very cold apartment in the winter. we're seeing a change in attitude. l is going from a problem -- liheap is going to more of a national program. host: last call, independent line. caller: and lot of folks in our state, myself included, family

of seven with five children 10 and under, have been turned down for liheap because the heating is included in the rent. i did not think you could be turned down when you're eligible for other programs simply because you pay your landlord directly for your heat rather than the utility company directly. that is happening. guest: states treats that very differently. some to provide benefits and others do not. i think the concern among states is if you have a heating included in rent, there's a good chance it is a stable price as opposed to one that would vary based on pricing in the winter. it is a real concern because in fact, heat is part of your rent. again, it reflects the fact that liheap is just not well funded. let's find enough to provide minimal benefits, but not enough to reach everyone needs help.

host: mark wolfe, neada.org representing the state's director of the liheap program drop the country. thank you for being here this morning. that is all for the program today. join us again tomorrow morning at 7:00 eastern time. have a good day. c-span2 [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> president obama and his

family would be those around the country honoring the legacy of slain civil rights leader dr. martin luther king, jr. today. they're planning to participate in a community service project in washington to honor dr. king's memory. today marks the first time visitors to the nation's capital can celebrate the holiday at the martin luther king, jr. memorial which was dedicated last year. jon huntsman is expected to withdraw today from the race for president. his campaign manager tells the associated press he will announce his withdrawal at any event in myrtle beach, south carolina today and endorsed mitt romney. we will have live coverage beginning at 11:00 eastern on c- span. the withdrawal camels and a south carolina's largest newspaper in the state endorsed temperate -- the withdrawal came on the same day south carolina's largest newspaper in the state endorsed his candidacy. rick santorum and his wi