obama as well. he did not just take on hillary, he took on hillary, bill, and the entire clinton machine. he could have never won the general by the margin he did without first earning his spurs beating them. and on this issue, scott, which is the religious liberty issue and this administration's edict that every catholic hospital in america -- and by the way, one off ever six patients in the united states is in a bed in a catholic 90% of all the homeless shelters are operated by the church and synagogue. one out of every 10 americans below the poverty level, which is about 57 million americans is a client of catholic charity. that is thought to include the other done nominations. for them to be told that they have to choose between violating their conscience of providing health care to their employers, shows not just this

but and outright hostility by this president to religion into the religious values. [applause] >> beyond that, the president of united states has done something that jesus himself could not do. he has united muslims, jews and other baptists all together in opposition. he really is the nightmare. in 2008, barack obama 154% of the catholic vote. this morning he gets a 39% 1. he is down 15 points. [applause] >> is that your dad said? that is your data.

add to that the research data. it shows that in 2008, 49% of catholics said they or democrats. today it is 39% republicans and 15 point swing. those voters are going to be the swing votes. it is just about every battleground state. there has been a shift. what about the intensity tax what about feeling that they have the votes oral something bad happens? >> begins the light that he has no deeply held moral beliefs of religious america. it also gives the lie to the

abortion one. it is not going to be enough to be anti obama, whether it is romney or santorum or whoever. we have to have a forward leaning agenda that will excite and energize. [applause] >> we're talking about some of the issues. they showed the economy is the top issues driving a elections. before lehman brothers collapse, 43% said there finances were in good shape. when president obama took office, it had already fallen 35%. last summer it was down to 27%. right now 35% say their finances are in good shape. if that number keeps moving up,

people feel better about the economy. >> is a lot harder. i do not think that will be the case. he still have almost a billion more people out of work. historically, no one has been reelected as president in the year in which real personal income declined. right now that number is down. it is whether or not people feel like they have money in their park it. >> you think it is more than the economy? >> i think it should mean more than the economy. i think republicans have decided that they're going with electability instead of issues. if electability is your case and it is based on i can fix the economy, then why do we want that the obamacare payments and millions of dollars.

we need to have more of an agenda. they always thought that they could use the economy. there is a story to be told about barack obama. he is the man if you want to succeed in his america, we have to be on board his campaign. it resonates with people in the country. i think the republicans are dropping. it seems like we're setting ourselves up to lose if the economy improves. we should be able to beat a man. [applause]

>> all of these figures are interesting. we will go back and forth. we do not know which ones will be the ones that make a difference. this much i believe is true. unless the nominee has a message, a simple message that they need to get out, i do not think we have a chance. i do not know that every conservative thinks of himself as a republican. did you think of the republican party, the only available repository of your beliefs, the problem is you do not have any candidates. they demonstrate the ability to get a message. why are any of these candidates right? what is it they're going to do to change america? the agenda of the leading candidates, the presumed nominee -- this is not how you do it.

the problem is unless you have a core belief, you recall that conservatism. it is hard to come up with to our theme -- two or three things the way reagan did. i think the playing field right now belongs to obama. he will have more money. he will have the incumbency. >> let's go beyond the white house. what about the house and the senate now could 2012. is that looking as bleak? >> i do not want to belabor the point. i think the gallup poll last week or the week before, the top 12 battlegrounds, romney

was beating obama by a point. that is before the nomination has been resolved. keep in mind romney is acting as is sarah gets. no democrat has been elected president -- acting as a surrogate. no democrat has elected president in the history of the united states without carrying at least three southern states. obamacare in virginia, north carolina and florida. i do not think we will carry one of the states. [applause] in terms of the house and senate, no incumbent president has game more than 15 states in a reelection since world war ii

with one exception. that was lyndon johnson in 1964. it doesn't really count. it was not johnson treelike. usually you're going to have -- it was not johnson's re-elect. use a year going to have it. even reagan -- you are usually going to have it. even reagan only picked up 15 house seats in 1984. he turned to the senate, i think the picture is better. nine months out, a lot of things can change. this seat is gone. now you are at 48, assuming north dakota good republican. it should. at that point we get to 51. you have to win to.

then scott brown has to be elected in massachusetts. i like our chances. [applause] i have said the scary as possible outcome would be for the republicans to win the white house and not bring about any significant change. is that the scenario? >> i am afraid there may be an inability to affect change. forget registered voters. look at people who are likely to vote. people who are likely to vote are expecting real change. congress has an 11% approval rating. do you know why they have a bad approval rate among republicans

tax is because the tea party sees them re the -- republicans? it is because the tea party sees them raise the debt ceiling. it is fitting 2010 in perspective. he had to go back to the 1800's to find an election of that scale. you take state, county and municipal races. there are cities in north carolina and south carolina and georgia were they used to be all democrats. you cannot find them anymore. the of became a republican. -- they all became a republican. suddenly the top of the ticket moves its. you have them running away from the ticket. we cannot just focus on the

white house. we have to focus on the house and senate governors. we would be nowhere else with the obamacare without conservative efforts by the attorneys general. >> are there super pacs that addressed the funding? what would a bad turn out mean for them? >> i think a bad turnout would actually hurt us. this is the first redistricting that they have ever controlled. the republicans have controlled the department of justice for every sentence redistricting. it is the first time the democrats have ever done it. they tried to pull back possible republican gains in

the legislative races. they tried to put republicans in tighter districts. >> is a possible for the republican presidential nominee to not be the leader of the conservative movement? >> of course. >> what happens if that happens? >> nobody knows the future. it means suicide for the republican president as long as i have been on the planet. >> it is not the best scenario. i guess what i would say is, speaking as someone who has been involved in the conservative movement, we have spent most of the time on this panel doing what a lot of this did during breaks. the sort of sit around and saying john boehner ought to do

this. i also want to put the monkey on our back. [applause] i like what newt says when he says i'm not asking you to be for me, i am asking you to be with me. when you look at what we're going to face, and those flying around and the meanest, toughest political team we've ever faced. when you look at what that is going to look light, it is on our back. it is our responsibility.

[applause] how many people in this room have attended a tea party events in the last few years tax what republican politician make that happen -- few years? what republican politician made that happen? we made it from the bottom up. let's not think of them being the one that has to take the case. let's go out there and turn of the biggest conservative vote in a presidential election in modern political history. let's send barack obama n/a u haul back to chicago where he belongs. -- in a u haul back to chicago where he belongs. [applause] >> other than the desire to beat barack obama and the message about the economy, what is the key for conservatives and republicans?

>> i think whoever the nominee is, i buy for santorum pose a message. [applause] if you get any job and you get married any stay married and did not have children until you are married, you have internet chance of being in poverty.

our chance for a resurgent america is not just americans back at work. that is important. it is not just in america with a balanced budget. it is an america with charitable institutions and strong marriages and families. >> why is that different from mitt romney or from ron paul's message? >> i think romney starting to get there. i think he has that. it is in his wheel house. i think i was glad to see him in colorado last week start to talk about his religious liberty issue. he needs to do more of it. >> the very first republican presidential campaign was not abraham lincoln. it was 1856. lincoln said the tone for that one. he said the nation was 8 years old.

we were the enemy of the world. lincoln said he had thought about it and the reason we were the envy of the world is because every man can make himself on like any other country in the world. and barack obama pose a america, that is no longer true. we did in -- in barack obama's america, that is no longer true. >> i think the one thing we need to keep in mind is every bit of polling data and policy data suggests that america's best days are still to come. things may get worse before they get better. the policy discussions may not go the way you want. in the elections mean that go every time the way you want. this nation still has an incredibly bright future because the american people still believe, 81%, that we have

a creator was certain inalienable rights. >> i would like to thank them. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] "washington journal [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> rick perry told the conference that the federal government is too close to wall street. he did not mention the other presidential candidates but warned of the audience about using a lukewarm replacement for president obama. this is a little over 20 minutes. >> many people in this room helped me unseat a 20 year incumbent budget chairmen to be the first republican since 1880 to represent my district in south carolina. during that campaign, i had the opportunity to get to know every

single republican candidates to president of united states. i came to like and admire each and every one of them. i told them i regard. there is one candidate who stood out. in my mind he passed the most important test that a politician can make appear to have a proven track record of backing conservative words with conservative actions. that is one that is all too lacking in politics today. it is easy to talk about being conservative. it is much harder to act, to vote, and to lead as conservatives. it is important to me be its individual freedom, every single one the man that i'm getting ready to introduce has proven himself to me.

the country is going to wake up and realize that we need conservative leadership. we will realize that what we have been doing for generations is leading us down the wrong path. we will realize that if we do not go back to the things that served as so well for centuries, that we may well be doomed to failure. when that happens, when we finally realized that, what it means to be a conservative will be called into question. what it means may not be the same thing. there is a small group of us in the house of representatives and senate and a large group of you in the room here today who have been working and will continue to work to preserve the definition of conservatism.

the message will not be lost. there is a man can do it. that man is rick perry. [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> thank you. a big thank you to make small laney, an absolute true conservative. i am grateful for his support and strong words this afternoon. i am honored to be here. i am honored to be here with men and women your foot soldiers in the revolution sparked several years ago by the election of a president whose birth we celebrated this week. of course, i am talking about ronald reagan.

[applause] absolutely. president reagan, he must be staring down from heaven and thinking that reincarnation may indeed be possible. [laughter] when jimmy carter's failed presidency could reappear in the form of barack obama, he must be thinking that. as many of you know, i have certain ideas about putting an end to this president's failed administration until the people of iowa and new hampshire had a different idea. [laughter] back at texas a&m, my alma maters, we had a very unique way of addressing defeat. aggies never lose. we just run out of time. [laughter] so you can say that my presidential campaign just ran out of time.

but i have not run out on the ideas or my belief in our shared conservative ideas. a candid but i am no more, but a committed 10th amendment conservative i will be. [applause] uc, this election is not about nearly ending economic misery, record debts, runaway spending, failed washington policies represented in the form of the obama administration. the question has never been whether obama must go, but what kind of leadership is needed to replace him to get this country back on track. we do the american people know great service if we replace the current the embodiment of government with a lukewarm version of the same.

we need to stop attending -- [applause] we need to stop pretending that the main goal of the republican government is to do the same thing as democrats but not spend as much money. quit believing that. quit doing that. we did not lose the house in 2006 because of an unpopular war, but because the republican party had traded in its calling card of fiscal conservatism on the road to those corrupting earmarks, excessive spending, and bigger government. that is why we lost. [applause] what 2012 offers us is to offer a starkly different vision for america. we cannot tinker the way to victory. we have to be bold. we have to be clear. we must embrace constitutional conservatism. the argument is not just about

how much we spend on various programs. we can never outspend or outpander, for that matter, the liberal democrats. the argument must be about whether we continue to centralize power in washington or we return it to the people and the states. we do not need washington meddling in our local schools. we do not need washington -- [applause] and their epa discarding the epa rules established by the state. we do not need the justice department decided whether states have the right to have a voter i.d. to vote. we do not need that. [applause] we do not need a washington that requires governors to come into washington, d.c. and grovel for health care waivers so they can

take care of their poorest citizens in a cost-effective manner. i have been fighting this type of washington over reach for 10 + years. last year, i proudly cited budget that ended all state funding for planned parenthood in my state. [applause] since then, there has been about a dozen of those clinics that have shut down in my state. [applause] but you see, because left wing pro-abortion radicals do not like what we did, president obama has invalidated a waiver that provides health care for more than 100,000 women in my home state. they literally set aside funding for preventative health care because we refused to

subsidize abortions. but why are we even subject to this decision to begin with? nowhere in the constitution doesn't say that health care should be run by the federal -- does it say that health care should be run by the federal government. [applause] washington has no right to dictate how and from whom receive health care, what your children learn in school, or how you clean your air or protecting our environment. that is not their role. if we elect leaders from the republican party who preserve the current state of the bureaucracy, that command and control policy from washington, d.c., we get the government we deserve. [applause] we ought to either be true 10th amendment patriots or strip it out of the constitution. one of the two. [applause]

the separation of power is -- the separation of powers doctrine is not just about checks and balances between congress, the executive branch, and the federal judiciary. it is also about divided sovereignty between federal government and the states. our founding fathers, from madison to washington, knew that, if we centralized power in an all-encompassing federal bureaucracy, one day the central government could become as intrusive and as powerful as that distant crown for which they fought for liberty. [applause] our founders also protected and defended religious freedoms in our constitution and our young nation. today, even our religious freedoms are under attack from the obama administration in washington.

this justice department tried to insert themselves in the hiring decisions of religious organizations by challenging the ministerial exception. fortunately, they failed. even the left wing justices of the supreme court thought that was too far a step. now though, this administration is assaulting the catholic church and people of faith across our nation by forcing their pro-abortion agenda on religious hospitals, charities, and employees. the obama administration's war on faith must be defeated. we must win this war. [applause] we must protect this basic tenet of american freedoms, protect catholic hospitals and people of faith regardless of their domination, to stop president obama's policies in its tracks.

we know that freedom does not come from government. it is not even granted by the constitution. it is a gift of a loving god. and it is the government's role to protect it. [applause] that is government's role. the federal role in safeguarding freedom is preeminently about defending our nation from foreign powers by securing the border and building a strong military. [applause] if washington would simply provide for the common defense, secure our borders, and deliver our mail on time, preferably on saturdays -- [laughter] i would be happy. i guess one out of three is not too bad. but they are too busy regulating. they are too busy regulating our freedoms and to fulfil

their basic responsibilities and obligations. they are spending our country into a sea of debt their children may never be able to come up for air. let me say something else. if it is that time in america, i am fearful about the final score will be if we let this president start the second half as the quarterback. [applause] much has been said lately about who supports free enterprise and who does not. it makes something abundantly clear. we have the greatest catalyst

system in the world. but it will not continue to be if we use government to remove risk. success on wall street should not come at the expense of main street. wall street and washington, that, all must be broken up. [applause] you take the housing crisis as a great example. the washington politicians pressured fannie, freddie, and the banks to provide easy lending to put more americans in homes that they could not afford. the federal reserve pushed interest rates artificially low. the subprime market exploded with these risky loans. some americans thought, if you could get the house for 0% down and they could figure out how to pay the balloon payment later been nobody was watching the ratings agencies that were giving aaa ratings to complex securities that were filled with high risk loans.

when the market crashed, those on wall street who saw it coming, they made millions. and those who did not see it coming, they got bailed out. now we learned that that $700 billion tarp payment was catapulted compared to the secret loan guarantee of $7.70 trillion. you ought to be outraged. you ought to be incensed. those paying the price are not the large banks who were over leveraged, not the insurance companies who took on too much risk, not even the executives to continue to read these large bonuses even after the walls came tumbling down. no, it was people like you and me. [applause] it was those of you in this

audience and the rest of the country who are paying the price, average americans, main street businesses, our children who stand to inherit the worst financial mess that this country has ever seen. and it is wrong. it is unfair. and it is weakening america. we need to clean up the corruption from k street to wall street so they cannot gamble with their children's future ever again. [applause] america remains the most noble experiment in governing ever offered in the history of mankind. for the first time ever, the founders of a nation recognized our rights are endowed by our creator. and after winning our freedom, they did not centralized power

amongst themselves. they gave it back to the people. this election is about a smaller, humbler federal government. it is about restoring power to the american people. if we're to have a nation that lived up to constitutional ideals, then it is not merely about spending less on washington programs, but about returning that power to the people and the state's. you do not have to settle. you do not have to settle this election. you do not have to resign yourself to the faith that this country will be less in the future than it was in the past. you have an opportunity. i say you have an obligation. you have the power and more importantly you have the

constitution on your side to make conservative change. go forth. build a better nation based on those founding principles. take this country back and let the grand experiment of freedom the world has ever seen go forward. [applause] go forward powerfully pyrrhic it is in your hands and through your hands. god will bless you and you in turn will -- and he in turn will continue to bless this great country of america. god bless you and thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> the conservative political action conference also from former presidential candidate herman cain.

this is about 20 minutes. i doubt there is anybody in this room not aware of his dynamic and unclenching leadership on behalf of conservatism or his economic proposal that does more to promote the number 9 than sudoku. america is still a place that offers the highest flight path for the dreams and ambitions of the individual spirit. the son of a cleaning woman, mother and father worked three jobs so he could buy a home for his family, armond can learn from his parents that their family may not have had much

money but they were rich because of their spirit and optimism. he earned degrees in mathematics and science and his talents and lead into careers working in the u.s. navy and kills barry. we all know about his incredible success in the business world. he was responsible for reviving godfather pizza and boosting burger king. these are achievements which are uncertain earned him the scorn of michelle obama but his path to success was paid with years of hard work. he led a branch of the federal reserve and served as the ceo of the national restaurant association where he famously and effectively confronted bill clinton at a town hall meeting, helping to derail hillary clinton + health care plan in 1993. herman cain made a berth in the political scene with a vengeance but he has been fighting in the trenches of conservatism for years, promoting and upholding the principles of our constitution far and wide pufrom the board room to the

inner city and everywhere in between great he was one of the founding fathers of the tea party movement and last month, gave a national response to the state of the union address. herman cain understands what is like to fight and win tough battles with long odds. five years ago, he was diagnosed with advancing cancer. for a man who built his success and being able to do the math, the 30% odds of survival the doctors gave them was just another number and thankfully he is here today with us, a cancer- free. he is a man who truly understands what matters most in life and with his trademark smile, always available to show others optimism, fellowship, hard work, family, industry, consistency. he is no longer running for president but he is far from standing on the sidelines because his solutions revolution is carrying the mantle of his platform for it and keeping the torch of liberty and limited

government alive. without further ado, it is my pleasure to introduce to to a man remains a shining light for our movement, our nation, and teleprompter-free for 30 plus years, herman cain. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. just so that there is new confusion, these teleprompter are not for me. i do not do teleprompters.

in 1773, the colonists were fed up with old king george and the abuse and the arrogance imposed upon citizens and patriots who all they wanted to do was to create a free nation. in 1785, two years later, the american revolution started. eight years after that, we won. -- we won the american revolution. [applause] our nation today has become a nation of crises. we have an economic crisis.

we have an energy crisis. we have an illegal immigration crisis. we have a foggy foreign policy crisis. we have a moral crisis. and the biggest crisis we have is a severe deficiency of leadership crisis. [applause] and here is what this administration and what many of people of washington, d.c. do not understand. the american people are fed up again with the abuse and the arrogance. we need another revolution in this country! [applause] it will not be bombs and bullets. not this time.

it will be brains and balance at the ballot box. we must outsmart the liberals. we must outsmart the stupid people that are trying to ruin america! [applause] we outnumber the stupid people! trust me! i counted them! [laughter] my good friend was a radio talk-show host out of atlanta. many of you know neil. i was a guest on his show wednesday. he said, herrmann, i beg to differ with you. i said, what is that, neal. he said, there is a difference between people being stupid and ignorant. i said, yes, you are right. you say stupid people are running america, but they do not have the ability to learn.

ignorant people have the ability to learn that they will not learn. they do not know any better. i said, neil, you are technically correct. [laughter] but what you're saying, neil, is stupid people and ignorant people are ruining america, both of them i do not -- both of them. i do not care what the technical distinction is, they're both ruining america. i challenge each of you last year at this very conference to do three things. i challenged you to stay informed, stay involved, and to stay inspired. and those three strategies are still applicable today because, since we met here a year ago, those three strategies have

become even more important. and i know that many of you were big supporters of mine when i was a candidate for president. [applause] thank you. thank you. i want you to know that that is not something that i do not appreciate. just so i will say to you directly because of your support and enthusiasm, there were two reasons i dropped out of the race. gutter politics and, number two, i chose to put family first. [applause] and in making that decision, i knew that we, together, could change washington, d.c. from

the outside and from the bottom up even if your david did not make it to the white house. [applause] so what i decided to do is create an army of davids and you will be a part of that army. stay informed. this administration is deceiving the american people. they say that we are in the recovery. but how can 1.7% growth to gdp be a recovery? it is not. this is the only president where gdp has not gotten above 4% in the three years that he has been there and it is not anticipated that it will happen in this year and he says on tv "i deserve another term." for what?

[applause] 1.7% gdp growth is not a recovery. the other thing that this administration is deceiving the american people on -- unemployment rates. some of you on the recall that i was a mathematics major in college. i can count. [laughter] and i also know when they have manipulated the numbers to present whatever result they want. it is called -- if you change the assumptions, you can get a different result. that is what they did. they stopped counting the people that dropped out of the workforce. they stopped counting the people there or underemployed. that is how they came up with 8.3%.

but if you add those people back in, the real unemployment rate exceeds 15%. that is the real number. stay informed. know the facts. and i am not the only one who uncovered their little scammed. former labor secretary elaine chao did her analysis and came up with the same results. stay informed, folks. because, unfortunately, the mainstream lapdog media, they cannot do those calculations. so most of the american people will be buffaloed by false facts. stay informed. know the facts. go to my website, caineconnections.com.

stay involved. i know that you are all involved in different organizations. that is great. you are here because you are involved and you want to learn. but stay involved. one of the ways that you can stay more involved is to adopt the most bold economic growth and jobs plan on the planet. 9-9-9, adopt it. [applause] make it yours! make it your plan. here is have the adoption plan works. go to your representatives or your senatorial candidate before they get elected and ask them to adopt 9-9-9. and if they say they do not know anything about it, that is

a cop out. if you go to caineconnections.com, we have 9-9-9 the movie. they will understand what it is. get your representative to adopt nine-9-9 before they get elected. because the nine-9-9 adoption plan is leading this revolution. we will get congress and the president to basically embrace this solution that the american people want. we are tired of kicking the can down the road. the american people will not -- the american people what stuff fixed. let's fix something for a change. [applause]

we have already gotten many representatives running for congress, many senators running for congress who have adopted the 9-9-9 plan. when legislation is completely drafted, we will ask them to do something that many of them normally do not do. read it. [laughter] [applause] after they read it, we will ask for a firm commitment. but i need your help to get them to adopt the nine-nine-nine plan. one of the people that is running for the united states congress in the state of ohio, in a very challenging district, has adopted 9-9-9 and i am endorsing his candidacy. that is mine friend joe the plumber. stand up, joe. [applause]

you see, some of us choose to get off of the sidelines and i admire joe for doing that. yes, he will get attacked. yes, they will try to do the same things to him that they did to me. but, folks, more of us have to take that challenge. i do not regret making the move that i made because that is more than one way to skin a cat. stay informed. stay involved. and thirdly, state inspired. you see, the liberals want you to believe that we cannot do this. they want you to believe that obama's billion dollars, if he gets that much campaign money, will make it issue in.

no, it is not. that is what they want you to believe. state inspired. remember those founding fathers that i talked about? when they started the american revolution, there were a lot of people that told them they could not win the american revolution. but they did. because they believed that they could. a lot of people thought that comes after the character assassination that was launched against me, that herrmann would shut up and sit down and go away. ain't gonna happen. [applause] well, let me tell you what inspires me. my inspiration -- everybody is inspired by different things and by different reasons -- i have a long list of things that

inspired me to run for president, that inspired me to be a voice for the conservative movement, that inspired me to change the direction of this country because we are on the wrong track and we have to take back and we have more than one way to take it back. let me tell you what has inspired me. you heard me talk about my granddaughter. when i first saw that little face, she was born in 1999. and when i looked in her little face, the first thought that occurred to me was what do i do to make this a better nation and a better world? she was born long before i ever thought about getting involved and changing the direction of this country. in the year 1999, that is 1-9- 9-9. [applause]

you see, i think god was in it that you then, but i did not see it then. she was born one-9-9-9. and on january 1, 2012, this year, my fourth grandchild was born on new year's day! [applause] #4. and before the doctor spanked his little but and made him cry, he already owed $48,000 and he had not done anything yet! [applause] we cannot leave that to our children and our grandchildren. there is a real clear message, folks.

you and i are sending it to washington, d.c. we, the people, are coming. we want our power back. we, the people, are coming and we want our power back. [applause] it was the irish philosopher edmund burke who once wrote that the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing. i will not die doing nothing. and i do not believe you will die doing nothing to give our children and our grandchildren

the kind of nation that we were able to enjoy. because the preamble to the constitution says "we, the people, of the united states, in order to form and more perfect union." the union is in trouble and it is up to you and me to get it back on track. we hold these truths to be self- evident. we still hold these truths to be self-evident. and we, the people, are still in charge of this nation! let's take our country back. [applause] ♪ [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> c-span 2, a brookings institution forum on a new strategic arms reduction treaty. in a few moments, today's headlines and your calls live on "washington journal." our coverage of the annual conservative political action conference continues today. rex santorum is scheduled at 10:25 eastern and mitt romney is before 1:00 p.m. and newt gingrich will be there a little after 4:00. in about 45 tons, james lewis, former director of the president's commission on cyber security will talk with republican senator john grasso at 8:30 and he is a member of the conference committee trying to work at an agreement on extending the payroll tax cut for the rest of the year. we look at how the government measures price increases and how inflation index -- affects programs like social security. programs like social security.