senate into approving keystone language in the payroll tax extension. that was just a concession. >> where is the administration on the keystone pipeline? what is the most >> they tried to delay it until 2013. once we saw that payroll tax compromise, the president used that 60-day deadline to say, i am not rejecting this pipeline on the merits, but because republicans forced my hands. they're going to have to start from scratch. that is what they are angry about. >> it was a good decision politically. it allowed him to satisfy his environmental base.

by pushing keystone back a little bit, and at least now they will be able to work for him, support for him, vote for him. >> he suggested that a yes -- this happens a lot for incumbents. they can make a decision. that is a little bit of an open secret on capitol hill. >> you both asked the chairman, he is retiring, what are the chances of energy legislation, agenda over the next year? >> and not much. there is such a difference between the house energy committee and what john boehner has been pushing. investigating solyndra, not a proactive energy agenda. it is difficult to get 60 votes on anything.

the process is so clunky, once something comes up on the floor, other things get attracted to it. >> even smaller legislation? >> the degree to which he was pessimistic -- they have a bill that would make major changes to the efficiency in buildings. it is a little nerdy, but it is effective. >> we will leave it there. thank you very much. >> here is that wonderful moment when a senator revealed his nostalgia for the state's right

segregationist south. take a look. >> we're proud of him. >> talking points memo publisher josh marshall and the internet on his -- and is website. >> the immediate ecosystem is such a different world today than it was 10 years ago. things like that happen all the time now. i know there are many big stories that we have had over the last decade. now we have an editorial staff of 20 people. we are breaking stories right and left. it is almost commonplace, not nearly as surprising today as it was back then. >> tonight at 8:00.

>> this week, british prime minister david cameron discusses changes to the national health service. the prime minister and other members also paid tribute to queen elizabeth the second on the 60th anniversary. tonight at 9:00 eastern and pacific on c-span. >> the results of the week want maine caucuses were announced yesterday. mitt romney finished first with 39% of the vote. and second, ron paul received 36% of the vote. santorum was third with 18%. gingrich was fourth with 6%. delegates will be awarded based on a separate vote. >> ron put addressed the

supporters in portland, maine -- ron paul addressed the supporters in portland, maine. this is about 20 minutes. >> thank you. thank you. [cheers and applause] thank you. is just beginning. we have a ways to go. i do want to recognize the staff and all of you. thank you very much. it encourages me because it is an important issue. thank you. but, you know, i have won announcement.

i wish all of the caucus had met today. i was disappointed there was one caucus that i think we would have done very well. we lost by almost 200 votes. it is almost like we could call it a tie. but anyway, the votes will be counted. all of the caucuses will meet. if i were a betting man, and i do not have $10,000 to bet. i would bet that we will control the maine caucus. [cheers and applause] it would have been great to win out right to the straw vote, but it will be even greater to win the delegate votes.

and that is going to happen. momentum will continue. we are not going away. we will be in all these places where we will continue to pick up delegates. that is for one good reason, we have the message that americans need at this particular time. [applause] the wonderful thing is, the message is not complex. everybody understands it. the message is liberty. that is the message. that means we want our freedom. we want each and every individual to have freedom not because they belong to a group or one state or the other, it is because we are individuals. we are born with our freedoms. we have a natural right to our liberties. if you have a right to your life, if you have a right to your liberty to run your life as

you choose. if that is the case, the goal that we have is for all of us to be able to keep the fruits of our labor. [applause] this is not a brand new concept. it was an american concept that was working very well. decades ago we started slipping away. we forgot about what brought about prosperity and production. there are only three things that can do that. one important issue for prosperity to thrive, you have to have an honest monetary system.

[cheers and applause] [chanting "end the fed"] if we do not do it, they will do it to themselves. it is nonviable. the fiat money system makes no sense whatsoever. it is coming to an end. [applause] we always believed in liberty, but we never did a good job of selling it, especially when we were prosperous and consuming our wealth. it is now we have to grab the moral high ground. for too long those who wanted to take your wealth and give it to

somebody else or get involved into your social life and tell you how to live and to get involved in other countries, that is coming to an end. the country is bankrupt. the most important thing americans can do right now is admit the truth. we cannot deny the truth. we cannot continue this way. we have to go in either a desperately wrong position, or we have to stop the nonsense and not go backwards and act as we did 200 years ago but picked up on that. freedom was never perfect. freedom it was developed over centuries. it is sad to me when i see some of the fundamentals that were recognized at the time of the magna carta and all of a sudden we are undermining some of these principles. we have gotten careless and strip it away.

now the country is waking up for financial reasons. everybody knows we are bankrupt. it is a dollar fee on system that engulfs the world. do you think we are in this by ourselves? nope. they are rioting in greece because they have to cut a little bit. what is the plan? bernanke is planning on the bailing them out with our dollars. we have been liquidating debt the past three or four years. it needs to stop. [cheers and applause] what should the role of government be? the founders did not like the

role that the king had. the revolution was one of the rare times that a overthrow of government delivered more freedom to the people that they had before the revolution. look around the world today, unfortunately they are ending up with even less. we had a more liberty, not less liberty. we need to understand how important it is. the role of government should be no more complicated than guaranteeing the right to your life and liberty. what does that mean? it means the government should be out of the economy. you have regulations a property rights and the market. you have the regulations of sound money. the regulations that do not bail out anybody that comes to the

government for bail out. those are truly market oriented. it means the government should be out of our social lives. for too long we have taken liberty and chop it into two pieces. it is one in the same, because it is individual liberties with the right to our life and liberty. [cheers and applause] we have to have the property rights. we have to have sound money. we have to have limited government and restraint. we also have to have a different foreign policy. we have a foreign policy that is deeply flawed. it is a foreign policy that always brings great nations down.

even in our recent history, what brought the soviets down? i was drafted in the 1960's. they had a 30,000 nuclear missiles. we did not have to fight them. they collapsed because of their flaw that foreign policy of over extending themselves. we are doing the same thing. people too often will say to that we are going to talk about foreign policy. the other that we will talk about economic policy. how could you talk about economic policy without talking about all of the spending overseas? that is why we need all of the troops to come home. [cheers and applause] we need a policy that is constitutional. the founders gave us good

guidelines. we have a responsibility to a strong national defense. but today the president does not come to the congress and the people. they just go to war. sometimes they do not even consult with congress. but they are always ready to go to nato and take their marching orders from the u. n. a foreign policy of minding our own business and staying out of nation-building -- that is the road to peace and prosperity. that is what we have to go for. under the circumstances we live in today where we allow our government as big as it can be, the governments cannot grow without undermining personal liberty. no matter how a new regulation comes about, it undermines our personal liberty. people get frightened and you hear about foreign-policy issues or you hear about economic issues, they think i am frightened.

the government is supposed to take care of me. i have a right to this. they are so willing to give up freedoms. you cannot be safer by giving up your liberty. we never should have to give up our liberty in order to pretend that we might be a little safer. [cheers and applause] [chanting "ron paul"] when we get our freedom back again, things will look differently. we will not have a patriot act that repeals the fourth amendment. [applause] if we have our freedoms back, we will not have a president that assumes the right to assassinate american citizens. that is wrong.

[applause] also, we would look at the national defense authorization act and make sure that the army has no ability and no power to arrest american citizens not charged with any crime, not convicted, hauled off into prisons, the nine attorneys, and jailed indefinitely. that is not the american we will live in. we have to protect the civil liberties of all american citizens. [cheers and applause]

the great thing about a free society, there is no reason why we cannot sell this and let the other side have a moral high ground. he wanted freedom because there will be more freedom for everyone. we have to realize that if we do not do this, it is going to get a lot worse. that is what our big concerns are. freedom brings people together. this is why our crowds are so diverse. people come together not because we agree on how to use our freedom, but we want our freedom to use it as we choose. [cheers and applause] this is where we are making the great progress. the numbers are growing by leaps and bounds. there is a whole new generation that is excited about what we

are doing. they could see that no matter who was elected, it is coming together with this young girl generation. there is a secret weapon out there. [applause] everybody could be optimistic when we see what is happening in this country. the movement is in our direction, but the excitement is in our direction. more government is not the answer. the answer comes with more

liberty. thank you very much. [applause] hanting "president paul"] [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [applause] ♪ [applause]

>> we talked with a reporter about the results of the caucuses in maine. straw poll. this is from today's "washington journal." santorum getting just under 1000 votes. mitt romney getting 2100 votes.

a very small percentage of those participating, but it is a win for mitt romney. good morning, thank you for being with us. best out thank you for having me. host: this comes on the heels for -- of the cpac straw poll. what does this tell you about the race this sunday morning? guest: it is good for mitt romney. he has had a rough week. things seem to go back and forth like nothing i have ever seen before. between cpac and maine, he needed maine, but cpac was a good boost. host: this is a photograph from this morning's new york times. we should point out a very small

percent of the votes, with mitt romney getting 2100 votes. 1900 votes for ron paul. we heard from the mitt romney campaign that the votes in missouri do not really count, but they were quick to jump on this last night. guest: it is interesting. ron paul says these votes in maine -- he projected that he might come out with more delegates. i think it is what you want to make of it for each of these campaigns. host: this is what many have called the february intermission. there is nothing until the next debate. that is scheduled on february 22 on cnn. arizona and michigan, the buildup to super tuesday.

guest: into thousand eight, -- 2008, it was a devastating time for hillary clinton. everybody thought it was going to be bad for gingrich. nobody anticipated how good it would be for the santorum. it has proven to show some volatility. host: as we look at the campaign, the santorum campaign indicating they are going to put a lot of effort into the michigan primary. this is the home states of mitt romney. his father served as governor. is this going to be the next test in the republican primary? just so i think so. -- guest: i think so. it is one of the most heavily hit states with the of economy.

i did not supposed santorum is going to come out in support of bailout.to if he cannot win michigan, that is going to be very bad. i would not rule him out. a senior aide downplayed the significance of the maine caucus. but then pointed to arizona and said we have to win both. host: herbert is available on- line. -- kirk work is available on- line. thank you very much for being with us. >> a discussion on presidential politics and the opposition to president obama. this is about 45 minutes.

guest: since my research, at any other president since abraham lincoln. he was reviled. undie go to the white house every day. -- you and i go to the white house every day. i believe in our democracy. when it gets to be personal, ugly, the vicious personal

attacks, that is what i think is wrong. that is what we have seen against president obama. no president in our lifetime has been the subject of such personal attacks. host: john boehner has had zero interest in bipartisanship, you point out. republican operatives are not content with upsetting the apple cart from the beginning. it was larger personal, political, and meanspirited. guest: i am critical of president obama. i think he spent too much time trying to make deals with mitch mcconnell and john boehner. from the get go, they indicated they were not interested. mitch mcconnell, our number one goal in the next four years, he said that the first day. was to deny him a second term.

you will not get any compromise on anything. robert gibbs told us in the white house briefing room, president obama, when he laid out his first economic program, he called john boehner and he said this is a new post part -- bipartisan age. i want to explain my plan and maybe we can get the support. john boehner said, that would be great. john boehner when in front of the caucus and said we're going to unanimously oppose this plan. they had not even heard it yet. host: one of the issues, they can deal with john boehner, the problem is republicans cannot rein in their own caucus. is that part of the problem? guest: they can deal with john boehner. i do not think they can deal with eric cantor. he is the problem.

he represents the tea party freshman who do not want any compromise on any issue. they have been a problem for john boehner. the political machine for the sole purpose of taking down barack obama. they have done it with the think tanks, political organizations, the tea party, research centers. they are everywhere. they just had another summit in palm springs where they got their corporate bodies together and raised $100 million host: let me read one quotation. it is striking how unqualified obama is and how this whole thing came about within the

democratic party. nobody had the guts to stand up and say no to a black guy. host: -- guest: we thought would be difficult for a black man or woman to be elected president. rush says just the opposite. it is total trash. rush also called president obama -- at any rate. he is one of the biggest name callers against president obama. he called in a jack ass on the radio. he has been called a communist, socialist, liar, a terrorist.

every kind personal attack. nothing to do with his politics. if you do not like the way he wants to fix the economy, fine. put another approach on the table. whatever. that is what we ought to be doing. not calling him a. host: if you look at what has been written by president washington, is there any difference between what they said about our first president and what people say on radio today about our current president? guest: i never said anything like that about george w. bush. let me tell you, george bush loves this country. i know he was trying to do what he thought was best for the country. i think he went in the wrong

direction. i talked about this last night. in the early days of this country, if there had been talk shows, politics was not pretty in the days of the founding fathers. the ugliest presidential election was 1800 between thomas jefferson and john adams. after lincoln's assassination, things got to the point where we disagree with their policies, but we do not attack them personally. we have come full circle. i do not think it is good for our democracy.

good morning. caller: good morning. i am so angry because you democrats, i do not what you call yourselves progressives. guest: i call myself a liberal. progressives are a liberal who is afraid of being truthful about who they really are. caller: look what is going on in this country. ok? host: thank you. guest: the president has gone out of his way with this republican members of congress to try to work together.

he has been shot down at every attempt. on the debt ceiling, on the jobs still -- a jobs bill, on immigration. sean had even said last week that if president obama had his way, osama bin laden would still be alive. where does that come from? he gave the orders. though approved the plan? -- approved the plan? it was not george w. bush. give the man credited for something. host: we had a caller in the last segment who was critical of this network. guest: in the book, i talk about the fact that part of the

problem with the violent rhetoric that we see today is violent rhetoric can lead to violent actions. we have seen that in many cases certainly the political atmosphere in tucson was very poisonous. the guy that killed the nine people and shocked gabrielle giffords was caught up in that. -- and shot gabrielle giffords was caught up in bad. words have consequences. host: barney frank -- guest: you are walking into the house of representatives by tea party rally years outside. totally unacceptable. john lewis is an icon.

i believe. he should get the respect of all americans. it does not mean you have to worship the ground you walk son. you do not have to agree with everything he says, but you have to treat him with respect. i am friends with a lot of these republicans on the hill. john boehner, john mccain, all of them. i am on good terms with all of them. they know that i disagree with their policies, but i treat them with respect, and they treat me with respect. that is the way it ought to be. host: good morning, republican line. caller: this guy was to sell these books to obama lovers.

everybody is always after me. you watch fox news. ipod up with the one-sided left media -- i put up with a one- sided love to be a 450 years. fox comes along and everybody winds and cries about fox all the time. everything that obama does, if it were a republican, they would be all over him. they give him a pass on everything. you tell me where the heat machine is. host: thank you for the call. guest: if you are watching fox, you are watching the tape machine. take your blinders off. i'm a talk show host, right? when george bush was in the white house, there were many times i agreed with him on

policies. there were times i disagree with barack obama and i say so. george bush was right on immigration. i defy you to tell me one good thing ever that rush limbaugh has says about president obama. rush limbaugh has said that if he were not black, he would be a tour guide in hawaii today. that is despicable. that is disgusting. he said, i have the tape to prove it. he did not show any tape.

hannity talked about michelle obama. the tape does not exist. it was a total fabrication and fox news spent hours on it. host: is rush limbaugh a hateful person? casco he says hateful things. he is a -- guest: he says hateful things. he is a successful broadcaster. he says a lot of hateful things. host: why? guest: i think it is because it is his schtick. it brings people to this radio show and they buy products. he is a very successful. i take my hat off to him as a radio talk-show host. nobody is as good as he is.

caller: yes, rush limbaugh is a bad guy. what i want to talk about is the energy commission the other day passed a bill and eric cantor put a bill and that said that he was going to give line item veto power to the president. democrats were jumping all over it because they had been wanting it. they send the bills to him and the added the pipeline, for example, and they knocked down the pipeline. once they decided, we still want the pipeline, it never went back to him. they changed the whole bill. it does not go back to the president. just because you are getting a

bidault, they are not reading the bells. -- getting a veto, they are not reading the bills. shell's oil from canada, instead of using water from california and alaska. host: thank you for the call. guest: i do not know the details of this particular line item veto. it has been an issue that has been a round a long time. i do not know if it is a republic -- a liberal or conservative issue. i support a line-item veto. i remember when ronald reagan was governor, it seems to me the chief executive should be able to take a big budget, whether it is president or governor, and go through it before he or she

signs it these are things i disagree with. i think it makes sense from a governing point of view. i do not know if that makes me a liberal or conservative. it is just good government. host: it does not allow the president to take the item out of the budget that was overturned by the supreme court decision. it allows the president to highlight those areas he wants cuts from the budget. guest: it is another way of achieving the same goal. if it works that way, it works. guest: we need some new people. in washington, the governor of hawaii, i heard him speak about a month ago and los angeles. he said, this whole thing turned

around and that personal, attack mode, it started in 1994 when newt gingrich became speaker. he is the one that really turned. we talked about this on the show. he came out with a list of words. trustworthy, loyal, patriotic. here is the list of words you use if you're talking about democrats. lazy, all sorts of things. you have to get back to the weight it used to be when i first got involved in politics. -- the way it used to be when i first got involved in politics. what are the problems we have in front of us? how will we fix them?

right now, it is full-time 24- hour campaign. that is why you do not see the congress getting anything done. to a certain extent, that is true of both sides. host: you are heard on how many radio stations around the country? dust fell 60 stations -- guest: 60 stations around the country. host: you are up early in the morning. how do you prepare for the program? guest: i do not. it is three hours of radio. three hours is a lot to fill. host: tell me about it.

guest: right after each show, we sit down and talk about things we probably want to talk about the next day. producers start lining them up. we have a conference call at 5:00 that afternoon. we decide on those topics. and then we go in the next morning about 5:00, an hour before showtime, and sit down and pulled the show together. in the meantime, i am on line all the time, it checking all the important news websites. i get -- i read whatever papers i can get my hands on. we tried to go through the most important issues of the day, what people are talking about. if people up-to-date information.

my spin on it, and then take calls. it is a 24-hour cycle. host: this week, you'll be talking about the new budget plan the white house will unveil tomorrow. more money and spending on infrastructure, raising taxes on corporations. the republicans of offering an alternative vision. we have seen this before. will anything change? guest: i do not think so. until after november 2012, there will not be -- i do not see how there is any resolution. i do not understand it. the temporary tax that george bush put in place, a temporary relief for the wealthiest americans, they believe that to be a permanent relief for

people, millionaires and billionaires, while there are lots of people who are paying a higher rate of taxes than warren buffet or bill gates. host: if the president is reelected, will anything be different in january 2013? " republican leaders negotiate with this president on some of the issues barack obama is talking about in 2012? guest: first of all, i do not accept your premise. i think the economy is getting better. president obama is getting stronger. the republican candidate will be a weak candidate. mitt romney, santorum, gingrich, not as and handbeat president obama -- none of them can beat president obama.

host: even in 1984, a landslide year for ronald reagan, even when he won a huge mandate, he only brought in 15 house seats. guest: i think obama is a better campaigner than ronald reagan. if the republicans do have the house and senate, i think they will double down. they will not say, we tried to defeat him, but he got reelected. what work together. that is not going to happen. it is going to be ugly. caller: i am an independent. it does not matter who we

elect, and both parties have gotten us to where we are today. i used to consider myself a republican. the democratic party is not what it used to be. i'm sorry, it's democrat. guest: democratic is the word. look it up in the dictionary. let's talk the english language. caller: excuse me. but, first off, you're not partisan. i know that. secondly, if there's a republican president, it's not the prime directive of the democratic party or democratic party to unseat him. perhaps those on the right are being more honest. it's all partisan. the real problem we have is the office of the presidency has become monarchial. i used to be, like i said, i'm

not a neoconservative, i'm a conservative. 30 years ago, when there were primaries in the republican party, they used to demonize candidates who were "neoconservative" but today we have the neodemocratic party. guest: you touched on so many things. number one, i hear that all the time, it doesn't matter whom we elect. oh, yes it does. oh, yes it does. think of the supreme court. that's the number one reason is makes a big difference who gets elected president of the united states. do you want more ruth bader ginsburg's or more steve breyers? i wrote a book called "train wreck," and the presidency --

the office of the president has gotten stronger and stronger. dick cheney, that was his driving goal, to bring back what he thought they had given away under jerry ford and richard nixon and he started that with george w. bush and in many ways the obama presidency has continued some of those almost super powers of the presidency in terms of when we go to war, the use of drones without getting approval from congress. i think they are very, very troubling questions about super powers of the presidency under this president and the last president that all americans ought to be concerned about. host: and it is the democratic party, not the democratic party. guest: that's such a silly thing to hang on to but republicans think they're being so cute, following rush

limbaugh's lead by saying, democratic party. it's childish. host: did you see the cpac conference over the weekend? guest: i didn't go down there. i saw a lot of clips of it. what surprised me is that mitt romney won the straw poll. the last two years, ron paul won the straw poll at cpac. this is the 38th year they've come to washington and the fact that santorum went in, i thought he would get it. the fact that mitt romney won the straw poll, i find that impressive. host: ron paul didn't speak this year at cpac. guest: he spent time in maine and came in second in maine. it was a good day for romney. host: highlights from our weekend coverage of the cpac coverage which started thursday, wrapping up yesterday. ann coulter speaking at the gathering.

>> even with all this, obama will be very difficult to beat this year. number one, he's an incumbent. number two, americans keep telling pollsters, they like him personally. he's our first black president and the n.f.m., the nonfox media is gaga about him. obama is not mockish like carter, not sleazy like clinton. he'd probably make a lovely next door neighbor as long as you're not chinese then he'd be constantly borrowing stuff. [applause] voters with 40 years of politically correct education are ecstatic to have the first black president. they love the idea of it, even if we did get flavo flav instead of thomas soul.

when is it going to be ok in this country to admit we elected a man based on the color of his skin? host: some reaction, ann coulter? guest: she's a friend. she's probably the most colorful person still out there not running for office in politics today and her whole schtick is making outrageous statements in front of crowds like that. she had her moment but no impact on the political process. she picks up that line that the only reason he got elected is because he's black. that, to me, is so low. host: in the book, you say barack obama is the first black president of the harvard law review, the fifth black man elected to the u.s. senate and the first black u.s. president but many critics question his ethnicity. guest: people say he's not black enough because his mother is white, they can't accept him

for who he is. he's a man who has made remarkable achievements under very difficult circumstances -- raised by his grandparents, grew up in indonesia, split family, saw his father twice in his lifetime, didn't have a dime, got to occidental, able to get to harvard. why? based on his academic skills and his drive and his push. in chicago as a community organizer and then gets elected to the state senate and then gets elected to the u.s. senate, then president of the united states. he didn't do that just because he's a black guy from the streets, you know. you know what this is. i noticed that david bossy in the last hour referred to david horwitz. david horwitz calls this the obama derangement syndrome.

that's what you hear from ann coulter, that's what you hear from rush limbaugh. they hate the man so much, they can't help themselves. i know i'm rampling on here. at cpac, wayne lapier, head of the national rifle association, said at cpac that it's true, president obama in four years hasn't done anything at all to take our rights away under the second amendment but if he gets re-elected, he's going to come after every one of our guns. where did that start? stoking fear in the part of the united states. the president, as a liberal, i wish he had done something about gun control. he gave a speech in tucson after gabby giffords was shot, saying he would do something, he's done squat. wayne lapier saying that's his secret intention.

host: ask the guest why the liberals could not find someone better than barack obama. guest: we found the best candidate we could and that's why he's the president of the united states. i supported hillary clinton, i think she would have made a great president and she's made a phenomenal secretary of state but i think barack obama will make a better president. host: do you think she'll run in 2016? guest: no. her career's not over, i would hope she'd be president of the world bank or secretary general of the united nations but running a national campaign, again, i think she's had it. after her husband's two campaigns and her campaign and running for senate twice, give the woman a break.

host: republican on the phone from california. good morning. guest: mr. press, i've heard you for years. you're a good proponent on your side but you're totally wrong today. you say everybody's against obama in a fashion different from anything else in your lifetime. i remember how the press went after ronald reagan and look at how they treated him, a fine man. look how they treated first george bush, who was a flier in world war ii. you look at obama and you want to know why we're against him? we're scared by obama. he's the one raised by a socialist mother. read his book. he stated in his autobiography that he wished he'd done better in high school and other schools but he partied too much, he drank and did drugs. he followed saul ulinski.

this is insane. everything he wants to do is radical and everybody he says he hung out with in college was a radical. guest: you just heard the obama hate machine. that's total nonsense. we're supposed to love pappy bush because he was on the baseball team. whoop-dee-do, that's how we baseball team. whoop-dee-do, that's how we choose our presidents? i liked daddy bush. i thought he was a reasonable guy. i knew ronald reagan and respected ronald reagan. this is the obama derangement syndrome you just heard word for word. the idea that president obama admits he experimented with drugs, the only difference between him and george w. bush is he admits it and bush denied it. look where he is today, look what he's accomplished in his

lifetime, look at his policies as president and tell me where you disagree with him, rather than, which this guy just did, that's the book, go after him personally. they cannot help themselves. host: michael savage, radio talk show host, you quote him saying "president obama is more of a terrorist than hugo chavez." guest: what can i say? how can you stoop to that level? i think they lose all credibility at that point. when you say something so outrageous. tom cradle also said he thought barack obama was more dangerous than al qaeda. now, sure, there are crazies like our last caller who are going to believe that but i think most of the american people know that's just nonsense. host: there is a narrative. guest: i come back to, sure, sure, that's legitimate

criticism of any president which i think is healthy and i welcome it and i've been part of it, right. but i don't know that anybody ever said, ronald reagan was a terrorist or george w. bush was a terrorist, right? that's where this is not just a slight difference, it's a huge difference, the level of attacks we've seen against president obama. host: but part of that criticism is that he is isolated and many call him and his administration arrogant. address those concerns, because it is out there. guest: i don't see -- "isolated" i've heard and i guess i've heard arrogant. i don't see an arrogance around the white house and i'm there almost every day but i do think they're more isolated than we reporters would like. the access is not always easy with the president, certainly, or his top officials. and i hear that complaint a lot

in the white house press corps. and i think the president himself is not -- he's not a glad hander. he's not out around washington going to all the parties and he is a very tight circle of friends. a lot of them chicago-based and i think that has -- i think that has hurt him in a way that he hasn't built as many friends as he could here in washington who could help him further his agenda. i think that's a legitimate criticism of the obama white house. host: to your earlier point, the last caller was nuts. she just proved bill press' point. let's go to monica, columbus, ohio. good morning, democrat's line. monica, good morning. caller: i would like to say that i believe a lot of theat -- attitudes towards our president is because of racism. i remember when george bush was in office, he said if we weren't for him, we were against him and when the country singers, the girl country

singers made comments against the war, everybody was out tearing up their c.d.'s and the music that they put out but with this president, you're allowed to go to places and brandish a gun. it's so obvious that the attitudes towards this president is because of his race and i wish that the media would stop trying to deny it and not recognize it and make statements about it. guest: the dixie chicks, yeah, certainly, if they were out there criticizing president obama today they would be hailed as heroes and i bet you they would have been invited to play at the c-pac conference but monica makes a very important point. my book is not about racism, "the obama hate machine." i do not say it's all because

he's black, but -- because i don't think it is. i don't think everybody who disagrees with president obama is a racist. i do not make that -- i want to be clear, i do not make that accusation in the book, but you cannot deny that part of what motivates people, some people, not to like this president is the color of his skin. there is still latent racism out there and i think that's particularly true among some of the tea party party and you can't deny it, you can't sweep it under the rug. it's a fact, some people are not comfortable with the fact that there's a black man in the white house. host: you write "the greatest challenge of the obama presidency would be dealing with the unprecedented barrage of hate level against him. we have a long way to go to get from the politics of personal destruction." sarah palin delivering these remarks.

>> his washington regulatory wizards, they didn't prevent the financial meltdown, these folks have helped cause it and you had to bail them out. the president says "small town americans." we bitterly cling to our religion and our guns because we're just gaga and frustrated. you say, i say, we say, keep your change, we'll keep our god, our guns, our constitution. [applause]

the professor obama may have forgotten the bill of rights but we shall not forsake it, including those rights that our founders risked their lives for, freedom of religion, our right to bear arms. we will rise up, we will defend them. the president believes that your tax dollars should subsidize planned parenthood. we believe that every child is created equal with that right to life. host: comments of sarah palin yesterday. let me have you respond to her comments and this morning's story on "the washington post," what in the matter with the republican party, this is an election year where everything should be going the g.o.p.'s way and it's not so far. guest: i'm amused by the fact that c-pac brought back all the losers and gave them the

spotlight -- herman cain, rick perry, sarah palin. sarah palin has zero impact on the political process today. and i also have to say, you know, if i were in that audience, i would be inas a resulted by her -- insulted by her comments. she says the obama is responsible for the financial meltdown. anybody with any brain knows it happened in october 2008 when george w. bush was in the white house and if you recall, they suspended the campaign and george w. bush called a meeting at the white house and brought john mccain and barack obama, candidates in, to say, what can we do about this? so whatever else you say about barack obama, he did not cause the financial meltdown. he wasn't in office at all. he's still trying to dig us out of it. just a sample of where they don't care about the facts anymore. they just throw this out there and you saw the people and they love it and stand up, they

don't even think. i find it amusing. back to your question. look, i was really worried about president obama's re-election because the economy not coming back as fast, unemployment up, 10%. president obama i didn't think really had the right -- he wasn't forceful enough, spending too much time dealing with these republicans, he wasn't putting his message out there, he lost the fight over the debt ceiling, i thought, had to give up and extend the bush tax cuts for the wealthiest people so i thought this guy is really vulnerable. i still think he is vulnerable but the republicans, i think, have blown -- i don't want to count my chickens before they hatch -- but i think the republicans have blown a great opportunity by number one, not coming up with the strongest possible candidate. i think there are people out there. haley barbour, chris christie, mitch daniels, jeb bush would have been a stronger candidate, any one of them, than mitt romney, newt gingrich, ron paul or rick santorum.

so i think they're putting up their weaker candidates and getting off message. they're talking about contraception, home schooling, same-sex marriage and they ought to be talking about jobs. i think they are in the process of blowing an opportunity. host: we're talking with bill press, the author of "the obama hate machine." anthony joining us from morris cove, connecticut. good morning to you, sir. caller: this is anthony and i approve this message. first thing i want to say is, when president obama came to office, the fourth quarter unemployment rate was 8.1. february was 8.3, march was 8.6 and on and on. and i can't let it get away, either. the lady from florida, she got to read cray crawford's book, "attack the messenger" because they blame the media, they have

no other answers. i was a republican in 2003, i got so tired because i have two small businesses, hockey shops. one is hockey equipment and i made a boot that makes custom skates and i make over $1 million, you know. president obama gave 16 tax cuts to the middle class, gave tax credits to the middle class, gave tax credits to small business like mine and on and on and any republican that is all for, like bill said, nothing compares to haley barbour or anybody else and. host: we only have a few minutes left. we appreciate your call and your comment. thanks for approving your

message. guest: most people don't realize this, 95% of americans got a tax cut under the stimulus package and i said that on talk shows and talk radio hosts have said, no, no, that's not right. yes, it is right. but it came out as a lower payroll tax cut at the time so people didn't get a check, they didn't realize it. and so if you believe in tax cuts, obama's your guy. host: michelle has this question, "does bill press think there is any chance of a brokered convention?" guest: i do. att romney says, i'm businessman, i know how to make deals. he hasn't been able to close this deal with the members of

his own party and i can see rick santorum and newt gingrich are not going to give up and the republicans could limp into tampa without romney having enough delegates, in which case, katie bar the door, it could be wide open and i think you might see a jeb bush, for example, despite his last name, come out of the convention. host: is that why jeb bush has not endorsed mitt romney even though his father has? guest: could be. i don't think we've seen the end of this story. host: as you put together this book, "the obama hate machine, the lies, distortions and personal attacks on the president and who is behind him," what one thing did you learn? >> how even more widespread i thought, the personal attacks against the president, is the incredible reach of the coke brothers, the third and fourth wealthiest people in this country, combined wealth of $50 billion.

david koch is the richest man in new york city. they have put more money into politics than anyone else in this country. george soros is a penny pincher compared to these guys. here in washington, heritage foundation, koch brothers, scott walker, koch brothers, proposition 23 in california, koch brothers. and i think i mentioned two days before this book came out, they had another conference in palm springs and they put together $100 million to defeat president obama. so far, all the super pacs in the republican primaries have spent a total of $56 million. so these guys are much more money than anybody else and most people have never heard of them. charles and david koch, the koch brothers are the most powerful political force in this country today. host: bill press, the author of his latest book. "the obama hate machine, the lies, distortions and personal attacks on the president and

who is behind him." thanks for being with us. we're going to take a short tomorrow on washington journal, the congressional budget office. and kathleen kennedy townsend talks about the obama administration's or control policy. and michael jacobson discusses a new state corrections department and the cost of incarceration. "newsmakers -- ""washington journal," live on c-span.

john cornyn's remarks are about 15 minutes. >> thank you very much. i am glad to see so many texans and other great americans here today. it is great to be with you. i want to start by thanking my friend and our friends at the american conservative union for hosting us. i want to thank all of you who are involved with cpac for what you do all year round. i will be brief. i am one of the last speakers standing between you and sarah palin. i want to talk about someone who enjoys his complete confidence.

i am talking about attorney general eric holder. three years ago when i was on the senate judiciary committee, i was one of the two republicans who voted against his nomination. [applause] i have to confess. looking back on that vote today, it has to be one of the best votes i have cast in the united states senate. under eric holder, the justice department has been led by an arrogant, incompetent, dangerously ideological and transparently political attorney general who seized it to twist the law to suit president obama's -- sees fit to twist the

law to suit president obama's wishes. the truth is, fast and furious is the tip of the out -- the iceberg. that stand here this was a program in which holder's justice department allow the sale -- that was a program in which holder's justice department allow the sale of illegal guns. they were found at the scene of the murder of a u.s. border control agent. eric holder and president obama had held no one accountable for the murder. it worse, attorney general holder has refused to give the

family and the american people the answers they deserve. holder has created an investigation -- treated an investigation with content and admits to misleading congress. his sworn testimony is routine the contradicted by justice department memos. is this the kind of behavior that said in still complete confidence in president obama? if i could choose one word to describe his conduct it would be outrageous. unfortunately, holder's leadership failures go well beyond operation passed and furious. let me recite a few more items in holder's litany of shame. let's talk about his objections to common sense requirements like voter i.d. laws.

you and i both know you need a photo id to buy beer, over the counter cold medication or to get on an airplane. did you know that if you went to the department of justice where eric holder works, before you could gain admittance to the office that you would need a photo id? eric holder has the gall to compare boater id laws to literacy tests and poll taxes -- voter id lost to literacy tests and poll taxes. i find it a little unsettling when the chief law-enforcement officer of united states is not aware of controlling supreme court authority. maybe we should give him a

little more time in his retirement after november to get up to speed. i believe voter identification laws are necessary to safeguard the integrity of the ballot. [applause] for all of his hyperbole over voter id loss, older has ignored a gentleman -- genuine cases of voter intimidation and he has failed to enforce the rights of our men and women in uniform to be able to cast their ballots. is this the kind of behavior that should instill complete confidence in the president of the united states? in addition to being a hyper partisan, holder has shown himself to be dangerously

ideological. shortly after taking office, he released classified memos on terrorist interrogation techniques over the vigorous objections of seven former cia directors who served under democrat and republican administrations. simply because he did not agree with the bush administration anti-terrorism policies. he decided to provide sensitive information to our nation's enemies and to get our allies fresh cause to worry about our trust for the nest. even worse, that our trust worthiness. he undercut the task of keeping us say. he did not stop there. after releasing these memos, holder launched a politically motivated investigation into several cia interrogators despite the fact that career justice department officials had

previously recommended against prosecuting them. in addition to having to come back the terrorists, these americans are being subjected to ideological attacks and lawsuits. is this the kind of behavior that should instill confidence in the president of the united states? i agree with you. it is wrong. playing politics with the war on terror is absolutely unacceptable. [applause] in november, 2009, older announced the united states would try 9/11 mastermind khalid sheikh mohammed in civilian court in lower manhattan. even senator chuck schumer called it a wrongheaded idea.

it is hard to imagine having complete confidence in your attorney general when chuck schumer says you are wrong. [laughter] trying collies shake mahomet in manhattan was a recipe for disaster -- khalid sheikh mohammed in manhattan was a recipe for disaster. older reversed his decision and said he should receive a military trial. i cannot say it any plainer to you today. we cannot afford a pre-9/11 mentality in our attorney- general or president of the united states. [applause] ironically, holder and the president have no hesitation at using drone strikes to kill

terrorists without a hint of due process. they wring their hands to detain these terrorists to stop future attacks. then there is older's determination to close guantanamo bay. -- holder's determination to close guantanamo bay even though congress has been these terrorists from american soil. they were going to detain them in this again, in what they call great lakes gitmo. is this the kind of conduct that should instill confidence in the president of the united states? thank goodness he did not get his way.

holder's record on gizmo, the cia interrogators and the justice department -- gitmo, the cia interrogators and the justice department memo shows that he is more concerned about satisfying president obama's radical political base been doing his job. holder's political antennas are always up. how healthy explained -- and today -- antennae are always up. and what about the defense of marriage at? refused to be thin the constitutionality of the defense of marriage act. president clinton signed it into law. it enjoys broad support from the american people.

even though holder -- even while older refuses to defend doma, his justice department is busy defending unconstitutional overreaches like obamacare and president obama's appointments to the consumer protections bureau and the national labor relations board. [applause] that does not seem to bother attorney general holder won bids. as we all know, he serves at the pleasure -- one bit. as the all know, he serves at the pleasure of the president and enjoys his complete confidence. president obama says elections have consequences. we all know it is true. eric holder is a perfect example of one of the bad consequences from the election of 2008 and why the 2012 election is so

important. [applause] when you elect a liberal president, when you elect a liberal super majority in the united states senate, you get a liberal attorney general like eric holder. the best way to get a new attorney general is to get a new president and to get a new senate majority, which we well with your help in 2012. [applause] thank you and god bless all of you. [applause] your president have the highest moral and ethical standards and be an example to

our children and young people in this country? ask yourself that question. shouldn't his life make him a role model for your future children? shouldn't anyone you elect to this office always keep his promises? >> we looked back at 14 in who ran for president and lost. go to our website to see video of the contenders who had a lasting impact on american politics. >> do they have the right to protest and revolt against a government that they feel did not serve their interests. ? who appointed us to sacrifice the lives of young americans? and represent 15% of the people of lebanon and have no apparent support from the >>