. kelley field, chief washington reporter for "the chronicle of higher education" will be here at 8:45 a.m. eastern to look at the president's proposed budget for community college. and you can call in with your questions about the pentagon's budget to. >> could morning and welcome to washington journal. congressional dealer -- congressional leaders have reached a tentative deal on the payroll tax cut. what you think about the deal? do you like it or not. in other news, the president traveled today to milwaukee, wisconsin to talk about manufacturing. then he will go to los angeles.

also on the campaign trail, the battle heats up for michigan which holds its primary in two weeks. first, the payroll tax deal. where is your opinion? here are the numbers to call. the number to call for our republican line is 202-737-0002. the number to call for our democrat line is 202-737-0001. the number to call for our independent line is 202-628- 0205. if you're outside the united states -- you can also e-mail us, journal@c-span.org. we're also on facebook. look for c-span and join the conversation there. to get more details about this tentative deal, we go now to take sherman. congressional reporter with political. good morning. guest: good morning. host: tell us where we are at

right now. can we call it a deal? guest: we were wrestling with that last night. we need to sign it and move out of the conference committee. the house leaders say they want to get it on the floor by friday. they do not want this winter out there before the president's recess. everybody sounded hopeful. we are used to these cataclysmic moment in washington. it looks like we may avoid one this time. host: give us the details of what has been hammered out. who has made compromises and what should americans see happen? guest: republicans have moved off of their longstanding position that they should pay for their payroll tax holiday. that was their position last time which kept them busy until christmas in december. they moved off of that. they said they will not pay for

and allow it to be on paid for. they can negotiate out a deal where sustainable growth for medicare positions. the unemployment benefits would be paid for. federal pensions are hit pretty big. spectrum of options are finally in the mix. some broadband spectrum. those are some of the big ticket items. i guess the republicans have moved off of a long standing position there. it is a compromise on their behalf. although, many years before this they never thought tax cuts should be paid for. it is hard to say that is a true compromise. taxes will not go up for more than 150 million americans. that is good for taxpayers. host: tell us why the republicans moved.

guest: i think they sought democrats unwilling to accept spending cuts for the payroll tax measure. they were dealing with this reality that it was not going to happen. from the political angle, this is not a good fight for them. if they do not extend this thing, they look like they are holding it up. the president can go on the campaign trail and say, you know, the republicans in congress are holding up the tax cuts from the middle class while they cut taxes for the wealthy. that is not a great argument. so, i think they wanted to get away from that. it was not an argument they were winning. they wanted to get rid of it and now they moved off on to the transportation bill where they have their own problems. they moved from one at that political battle to another that political battle. host: you mentioned a little bit about what americans can expect if this deal does go forward,

tell us more about what it could mean in terms of paychecks and take home in a tax reduction. guest: the president and his aides have made clear that this is $40 in the pocket of every working american. that is kind of almost white republicans were objecting to this, or -- that is almost why republicans were objecting to this. if it is not extended, the payroll tax cut goes up 2%. people do not get that extra $40 a month in their pocket. that would go to social security. this is a tax to directly fund social security. it is a targeted tax. so security is taking a hit for this. this is not a great thing for social security, republicans would say.

host: you have a story you wrote in politico today. what is next on the horizon? you mentioned the five or the transportation bill. what does this mean for speaker banner and his rank? he has experienced some black when he has -- some blowback when he has tried to compromise. guest: this is a shift for him. he is not worried about his overarching power in the house. he has spent a lot of time over the last couple years try to please everybody. arguably, it brought them to the brink of shutting down government, defaulting on the nation's credit. but the real thing for him is if this transportation bill gets hold up and does not pass, this is john boehner's bill. it is going to be tough for him

to explain away bought -- why his number one legislative priority, one that he pushed and closed in private meetings and publicly, why it did not pass. that would be a huge blow. he says this is a drastic improvement over other transportation bills in the past which he never voted for. they call this their main jobs bill. if it fails, i think it is going to be a bad thing for john boehner. for republicans to go home and face their voters, it would be a bad thing all around. right now, talking to republican leadership aides in the process, this is not going to pass. it will be a very, very heavy lift. host: thank you. guest: thank you for having me. host: what you think about this deal?

dan, democratic slime. caller: first of all, i do not want my taxes race at all, any more. number 2, i do not want the unemployment system turned into another welfare system. that is what is happening right now. i expect these politicians to do something and help the people. i am a democrat for ron paul. the reason is because he will stop at this -- he will do his best to stop this. he will need the help of the republicans and democrats in the senate and the congress. host: what you think of the payroll tax -- if it went up, and expire, which is that as a raise in your taxes? caller: yes, i would. i do not want the government taking my money and giving it to people who will sit down and do nothing. there are jobs out there. if you get these people off of their butts, maybe they will

take their free ride away. we need to even out the trade balance with other countries and start bringing jobs back home. host: we'll be talking about trade with china in our next segment. there will be talking about some of those issues regarding trade with china. in the meantime, let's go to maryland. michael, republican. caller: thank you for the call. this whole thing is a charade. it is robbing peter to pay paul. we're giving people a break on their taxes, but it is just creating a deficit in its social security. it can be explained over and over. obama has continuously filled out these little goodies for people without the people

understanding what the detriment is, what the downside is. it just is to be explained that we need to stop this insanity of spending. hopefully republicans in 2012 can stop obama. host: what you think about the republican deal that has been broker? to support what speaker dinner is willing to do? caller: no. i think we just shut the talks down and have a fight over the fact that it makes no sense. and not do it. explain why it does not make sense to give people $20 a week, which is what they're talking about. $40 every two weeks. at the same time, social security is, you know, becoming insolvent here. we are talking about a lot of money. i am not on social security. it does not affect me right now, but i will be eventually.

we need to put our primary problem in washington, which is way too much spending. we do not have a revenue problem. we have a spending problem. washington, anto independent scholar. caller: i love c-span. i started watching religiously about six months ago. i do not watch any other station now for my political news. i want to thank you. being in washington, we are a little bit behind the times in every way here. we are kind of isolated here in the northwest. but i was almost swinging to the republican side. they had almost pulled me in with some good ideas, i thought, in the beginning of the caucuses and things.

but, you know, i see so much bickering and mudslinging. i see republicans being so petty about some of the issues. i just kind of wanted to say that i am on social security. i paid into that. i just wonder, what really happens some time to the social security trust that was never supposed to be tampered with? i find out that it has generally been the republican side that has dipped into it. now they are blaming the democrats -- or they try, for everything. like a said, so much mudslinging towards the democrats. the democrats really have the interests of the people at heart. things are starting to improve. i think i'm just going to stay on the democrat side. i really want to thank c-span

for helping me make that decision. you are unbiased and show both sides. it helps a lot of people. thank you very much. host: olivia is a democrat in birmingham, alabama. caller: i have heard a couple of callers and doing whatever. i am retired. i am -- i will be 65 this year. i have never sat at home and waited on the government to give me a hand out for anything. but you know what? sometimes people need help. when we need help, we have to look back, step back, and help someone. much is required. it is time right now. president obama does not want to spend. that is not the idea. we are going through a bad time in america right now.

the republicans do not want to acknowledge -- take responsibility for what you do. get up and move on. the republicans do not want to take responsibility. we are trying to get out of this. we want things to go back. president obama is doing a good job. i think we should continue to support him and let's move on. about thee talking tentative deal that has been struck between congressional leaders over extending the payroll tax cuts and employment -- unemployment benefits. let's see what is said on twitter. as jake sherman told us from political, political leaders do hope to lock it down before recess for presidents day.

bidding up on something olivia was talking about, she was talking about the less fortunate. those who have lost their jobs. here is how unemployment benefits paid out in this tentative deal. this is why "the washington post" reports.

on our independence line. good morning. caller: i am glad to see they did something. it just seems to me our government does not have a plan. they're just hoping something works. we have positions from the republicans and positions from the democrats. all the sunday deficits has become the most import issue to the people on the right. -- all of a sudden the deficits have become the most important issue to the people on the right. this deficit has been run up since the reagan years, and now all the sun that we are in recession and they say we need to fix it. -- all of a sudden we are in a recession and they say we need to fix it. both parties better get together and get working, or go home and let somebody else take care of business. the fighting is not fixing a

thing. it is just a bunch of emotions that are not solving our problems. host: what you think about the tentative deal on the payroll tax cut? caller: it is putting something in the pockets of workers. i am more interested in the unemployment benefits. if you have 25 + million people out of work, pretty soon they're going to hit your the head and take mine. they're not going to lay down and start. we have to do something to help the working poor and the people who have nothing. what your earlier caller set up a lazy people, maybe he can give up his job to someone unemployed and see what it is like on the other side of the fence. i have been on both sides. fortunately, i am economically stable. i can sympathize with folks who do not have anything and i think we need to give them a hand. they will find a way if there is an opportunity for them.

i believe in the american people. host: thank you for your call. right here in washington, d.c., democrats line. caller: i really like what he said, especially about sometimes when one person has something and another person does not have something, it is not like you want to take something from somebody. at the same time, it is going to be survival. there'll be people, like the gentleman said, if this guy likes a life of luxury, and you cannot give some crumbs to the people at the bottom, it will make things crazy. host: are you still talking to us? i think we lost him. he had a second conversation going on there. let's look at the latest poll coming out. this is from cnn. they interviewed over 1000 adult americans february 10 through the 13th, looking at what they

think of the payroll tax cut. piquancy change over time here. a poll conducted back in october. the february poll shows that 54% favor the tax cut. 42% oppose it. back in october, a larger site -- a larger percent supported it. 59% compared to 38% opposition. back in september, 2011, even higher, yet. our next caller is on the line from louisville, ky. republican. go right ahead. caller: i just want to say some stuff about with the callers have said. i agree with the one guy that a while back said there are a lot of lazy people.

and there are. i am a very poor person. there are a lot of people around me that will not get a job because they have government help. i also have a nephew that is just like that. if you keep giving these people this money, they're going to keep taking it and not try to work. host: do you have a job? caller: yes. i was very lucky to have a manufacturing job that did not move. host: what you think of the payroll tax deal? do think it is something you'll benefit from? are you concerned with the bigger picture of spending in the nation? caller: i am one of those people that need that. i would say i could give that up. i think more people need to do that. that is what i had to say. thank you. host: new orleans, louisiana. an independent.

caller: let's first talk about this payroll tax cut. it will benefit some help the economy in one way. it may not be that much money to you and i, maybe. to a lot of people, it is in the right direction. the fact that it will use a little bit more money out of the budget, with the trillions of dollars that we oh, i do not think it is that much. we're at the point right now where a little bit of money is not going to hurt in the overall economy. let me speak in generalities. this situation we are in now, from overnight, this is the previous administrations, without mentioning any names, including the congressman who took care of their people. if they took care of their

people, that is how you get reelected. taking things back. in louisiana, my dad was a state legislature. every time they got a big tax break, money from the oil companies, they're the first ones to have a highway bill, the repair. what ever. they would spend all the money that they had to get reelected. that is what happened in the previous administration and these guys have to except that is the way it is. -- to accept that is the way it is. it is not fair to these people to take the blame for -- like a sticker i have on my car.

not all of them are bad. but just some people to get reelected do not think about everybody. host: a common coming to us from twitter. how are democrats and republicans weighing in on a payroll tax cuts? we mentioned a poll a few moments ago by cnn. here is a story from the hill yesterday. looking at a poll, it says democrats are evenly split on the issue with 40% favoring a tax cut and 49% opposing. new york, new york, a democrat. greetings. caller: i want to speak to the people claiming that these benefits are turning the system

into some sort of welfare giveaway. a lot of the unemployment money that people receive goes back into the system. who complains about corporate welfare? when these corporations get money and tax subsidies from the government. unemployment benefits have a clear purpose. at some point -- without any sort of income. i am on both sides of the fence, as the previous caller said. it is very easy to claim that you just have to get off of your. -- off of your butt. these things also stimulate the

economy. thank you. host: on quitter, he writes -- -- on twitter, he writes -- congress neared a deal late tuesday to extend the payroll tax break. that is our topic this morning. what do you think about it? as the to california. republican. caller: good morning. i am a disabled person here in california. they are doing what they called trigger cuts to the social

services for people like myself. i do not accept social services because i had my own disability insurance, luckily. there are 8 million people out here who are highly intelligent, educated, with degrees who are physically disabled. there are not appropriate jobs out here to get them back on the payroll. and get a job. they can exercise common sense and put together a system where they can work for a lower income that will help them fill positions of employment. at the same time, then receive a certain percentage of social services for health care. host: let's go to a comment on twitter. [inaudible]

atlanta, georgia, cedric, a democrat. caller: good morning. in, to speak about the tax cut and the difference between republicans and democrats. they need to make the new tax cuts permanent. we need help out here. i am not on any kind of relief. i am trying my best to take care of my family. going back to john f. kennedy. he had five years in office. he helped the economy. johnson had two. nixon took about four years. carter had four. i will not go down the complete

list. but the democrats have held office for 14 years. the off -- the democrats -- the republicans have had office for 28 years, almost consecutive week. they have destroyed the economy. they made the rich richer. we are not asking for you to give us anything. we need help. host: the you feel like the payroll tax cut will help you in the way you say you need? caller: it is a start. i am thinking it is a start. that is all it is. i am not asking for anything we do not deserve. i pay taxes. we just need help. that is the only thing we are asking. if you know, we cannot want a hand out, we want a hand up. host: this conversation on facebook. you can join that i looking at our profile, c-span.

we can go look at more of the reporting on this here. this is an article from "the wallstreet journal." profiling what happened yesterday on how this a dream is coming together. "the wallstreet journal" says it extends a victory for president obama and democrats. the deal also place and the democrats tend to position themselves with the middle class.

indiana, our independent line. caller: good morning. first of all, i am not republican, democrat, or independent. i am an american. i have been an american all of my life. i have worked all of my life. the money i have made, i have paid taxes on all of my life. if that is more than i can say for these politicians. they are making a big stake about these payroll tax cuts and how to pay for this. the question is, if they would pay tax on this money they had stored overseas, with that going into the budget, how much less of this debt would we have? and this payroll tax cut also, we are asking no more than to give us what you are getting -- you politicians.

americans are working. but then when it comes time for us to receive something for what we have put in, you all want to cry and make a fuss out of it. we deserve it. we're not asking for handouts. these people are talking about sitting on our butts. we are only asking for a part of what we put in. host: are you concerned about the deficit? republicans have said they can talk about cuts like this, but they should be paid for and not add to the debt. what you think about that? caller: these moneys -- again, if they would pay the 30% tax on the money they have oversees that we are paying, i believe that would take care of the situation. that would take care of the debt -- not the complete debt, but it would bring it down a big deal.

host: let's go to california. rob is out democratic collar. caller: good morning. i started my business up again. i paid social security and medicare. [unintelligible] i could do very well. if they cannot get more tax out here, it is an automatic spending cuts to education and what they call entitlements. i disagree that we pay into that. almost all of her heritage. taking care of. i beg to differ were they are coming from. i think they are out of touch with the common people. thank you for listening. [unintelligible]

down here, through it. the under belt. the spending is out of control. one man says it is not a money problem, a spending problem. $4 trillion. we'll be up to almost four -- almost $20 trillion in debt. host: i hear you say two things. your concern about the debt, but also you and your family need help from the federal government. caller: we worked. i worked for 12 years. i could pay into it.

in my opinion, we to stop all the bickering and come together as a country. the country can do it. host: ok. let's get a comment from twitter. elizabeth, long island, new york, republican. what you think about this proposed deal. caller: my god. i listened to these people talk about entitlements. they are not entitlements. there are money that we put in there. and because the people that we elected were dishonest and did whatever they did with the money, we are left holding the bag and we are supposed to be punished for it.

they forget that we had our payroll taxes taken out. i am on medicare. i am on social security. i paid into that. i also paid into my state pension. that doesn't stop my property taxes from going up, my school taxes going up. my income stays the same. people have to start thinking about their retirement and i am not talking about your retirement from employment. i am talking about when you pass on. if you do not help the people that really need it, it is going to come back to you one way or the other. that is what is happening. also, as want to say one other thing. people do not understand. we know that money has to be spent in this country, but it is the way they spend it. they fly around the world.

they live like kings with servants. did you ever see "robin hood?" that is our country. we need king richard to come back. i do not care who he is. i will vote for anybody. thank you. host: "the wallstreet journal" has an editorial today on the payroll tax cuts. it says -- permit a polite dissent.

now, a stand-alone bill will merely add to the deficit. obviously, it would be better to reduce spending over all. or let the holiday expire altog. it goes on to say that it decouples the holiday from other democratic spending demands. that is an editorial " -- peace today in "the wallstreet journal."

we are talking about this tentative deal that relates to the payroll tax holiday. also, jobless benefits and for doctors. there will possibly see a drop in rates paid by medicare. congress is working on that as well. on e-mail. north carolina, our independent line. good morning. caller: am i on? host: you are. caller: actually, in a disgruntled democrats, really.

-- i am a disgruntled democrats, really. my problem is that when the president took office, it was worse than he expected. what i really don't get was, i mean, did they actually orchestrate this? or they totally incompetent of doing their job? the democrats have had power since 2006. 2/3 of washington. on taxes, it is just like that gm bailout. they still have not paid the bondholders back. that is pretty much all i have to say. host: milwaukee, wisconsin. wayne is a republican. you know, the president is coming to your town today.

i am sorry. we have a milwaukee, susan, a democratic column. -- caller. caller: i am all for this payback through your wages. i just have one comment. i cannot believe that a party calls themselves christian and then they can turn around and refuse to help the american people. you know, they are against abortions, but yet they do not care about women rights. they do not care how many people do not have health insurance and how many people died. that is not important. get rid of this health care bill. anything they can do to stop the present is what they do. i do not consider these people christians at all.

gaynor is a catholic. i am a catholic. i called him and told him that it is because the people like you that i do not go to church. host: what you think of what the president going to your account today? -- to your town today? caller: i am glad he is coming and i am glad that master lock came back from china. they have come back. the ceos said they feel they will be hiring over a hundred more people. they have hired about 200, i believe. that makes me very happy. i hope more companies come back. i am glad he is coming. host: let's leave it there. matching the president, "the new york times" reports.

here are some graphics that the new york times has put forth. looking at the president's popularity and how the economy is faring. this, to approve or disapprove how the president is handling his job. you can see the number is starting to switch places now with 52% approving. do you approve of or disapprove of the way president obama is handling job creation. when asked if the economy is getting better, worse, or staying the same, you can see

all the way up to president day, -- up to present day, 66% believe it is getting better. michigan looks to be a tougher battle then mitt romney bought. this is shaping up to be a contest between mitt romney and rick santorum. mitt romney faces a major test in a michigan primary which was once thought to be an easy win. reporting from detroit, the michigan primary has instead turned into a test for the republican presidential front- runner and an unexpected opportunity for the surging campaign of rick santorum. and in michigan, the former

senator from pennsylvania looks like to get the one-on-1 match up he has been craving as newt gingrich and ron paul continued to look past the state. the story in "the baltimore sun." our question for you this morning is what you think of the tentative deal that has been

struck over the payroll tax cut. wayne is on our republicans line, good morning. caller: i got cut off the first time, but i got to now. host: that was my fault. sorry about that. caller: i do not like to pay payroll tax cuts. because of social security. we paid into it and that it is want to cut money out of it. well, if they will not take the money out, taken out of some other fund. the general fund. besides all that, barack obama is playing politics with this money. he wants people to vote for him. he will tell a lie like he has been doing for years to get his vote. anybody that believes what barack obama says ihas got to be smoking something. host: if you're interested in the budget process, we've been

talking about that on c-span. with been talking about it here on "washington journal." you can find out more on our web site. we have a budget hub, that is c- span.org/budget. that is alive today at 10:00 eastern time. you can find out more but that on our web site, c-span.org. there is 4 per $1 billion that has been recovered in a fight against health care fraud. -- $4.1 billion. the federal government has collected $7 spent on every dollar. investigators recovered record money during 2011. the secretary of health and human services will be

testifying on capitol hill today before the senate finance committee. this is regarding the fiscal year 2013 budget for health and human services. homeland security secretary jan net napolitano will be speaking before the senate today. coming up next, we'll talk to the congressional kodak shares of the china working group. we'll be right back.

>> book ontv is live saturday from the savannah book festival. followed at 1045 -- 10:45 by carl. at 1:30 eastern, on the changing is really palestinian conflict. at 5:15, on the rise and fall of the comanche. part of a three-day presidents' day weekend. >> there has been honest contention, spirited

disagreements, and i believe considerable arguments. but do not let anybody be misled by that. you have given here in this call a moving and dramatic proof of how americans who honestly differ move forward for the nation's s&l being shoulder to shoulder. >> as canada's campaign for president this year, we look back at 14 men who ran and lost. go to our web site, c-span.org /thecontenders. >> what about you? are you now out of debt? if you have a comfortable backlog in the bank? are you paying less for the things that you buy or more? you really think that things cannot be better? of course they can. working together, we can and will make them better. c-span.org/thecontenders.

>> now online at that c-span video library, speeches from the conservative political action conference. >> if we must outsmart the liberals. we must outsmart the stupid people who are trying to ruin america. >> it is about one country united under god. we are not read americans. we are not blue americans. if we are on red, white, and blue and president obama, we are through with you. >> they can get along and come at our throat as long as we are foolish enough to raise taxes and throw money at the center of the table. and then they can get along like the scene at the end of the movie with the bank robbery -- one for you, one for you. and they are all happy. >> you can look for videos and share them on c- span.org/videolibrary.

>> "washington journal" continues. host: thank you so much to both of you for being here. code-share -- co-chair of the u.s.-china working group. xi jinping is expected to be the next president of china. who benefits most from this visit. the united states or china? guest: i think that china at benefits the most in that vice president xi is introducing himself to the obama administration and officials and to the united states. i think longer term, most countries will benefit. i think we to see this as an investment in the u.s.-china relationship, as opposed to -- >host: we are seeing meetings

with the president and vice president xi. it is clearly staged. there is not a lot of fireworks going on. this is more of a ceremonial greeting. guest: it is ceremonial, but it is also an opportunity for vice president xi to outline the next page of the u.s.-china relationship, assuming he does become president of china. we will be watching how he addresses some of the ongoing problems that we have, whether it is on the trade side of this, our trade relationship or military relationship. we will be watching the words carefully and understand where he stands at this point in time. recognizing that he is not yet the leader. he has to watch his words carefully. host: you both visited china in may. guest: right.

april and may. host: tell us about your visit. guest: we were the first members of congress, the first u.s. civilians to allow to be on a submarine. these are a higher class of chinese submarines that are now in the pacific waters. we're obviously very concerned about that, but they were willing to let us on to the submarine and take a tour of it. we visited with the head of the people's liberation army. we are trying to push the door open on this military-to- military relationship. not that the u.s. and china will be allies, but it is important if china is growing, it will affect the pacific and that the u.s. and china have a good military-to-military relationship. and we got access to high level

folks, including on the economic side as well. host: he mentioned the militaristic opportunities. the president talked looking more towards asia, more towards the pacific. china had some concerns about that, though. guest: china had some concerns which is why we need a common understanding. the u.s. wants open trade in the region. we understand that most gross domestic product growth in the world will be in asia. we have asian allies that want open trade with the united states. china is pushing back someone -- back somewhat. we need to make it clear we want open trade in this region. we want china to be a part of it, but they have to play by the rules. the rules are the rules of trade set by wto and other

organizations. given that the economic growth in that area is going to be moving forward, if we're going to create u.s. jobs, we need to be looking at asia. china is to understand that. guest: i think it is important to note, too, that our long- time allies want china to be there as well. it is not just a matter of the united states having a long-term presence in asia because china is there. because there are concerns about china. it is because our friends and allies want us there as well. it is important that we develop those relationships. host: sets of the some of the numbers of u.s. trade from last year. the total number, more than $5 billion. -- more than $500 billion. that is a trade deficit of nearly $300 billion. guest: it is a big trade

deficit. this is one of our concerns. we need to get to a point where we see more balanced trade between our two countries. keep in mind, what you are referring to with the trade deficit that the united states has is a trade deficit with goods. commodities. this is not the case with services. we act to have a small trade surplus with services. one of the problems we have a china right now is their continued barriers with access to the chinese market. there are a whole host of chinese policies, whether it is intellectual property theft, or were they set up preferences for their own companies, unfair subsidy practices, and these kinds of things, are still ongoing. these are points of dispute and contention between our two countries that we're trying to work through. guest: in the last two days, you heard rules of the road. there are international rules of

trade that companies agreed to when they joined the wto. china has joined. they need to expect that the international committee will seek to enforce those. that is another reason we are seeing an emphasis on a trade enforcement unit from the current administration. certainly, it is something that should have been done before. we need to enforce these rules because there are rules that we're supposed to play by, including china. host: less the to the phones -- let's go to our phones. caller: good morning. i have been dealing with china for years. i have imported products from china. if i have chinese friends. i have studied "the art of war." you guys need to do a little bit of homework. it astounds me how close you are about china. host: rather than calling folks

names, what you tell us the specifics of what you are concerned about? caller: the art of war is how you position an opponent without -- to defeat him without having to resort to combat. the chinese have us in a position where we cannot dictate anything. they control the global economic situation. they have the manufacturing economic ability to supply the world. they can undercut every country's labor prices. the government has no reliability to them. our people simply cannot compete. our government is pandering to the big corporations and wall street. if you go to wall street to try to get funding for a new company, they insist that we manufacture in china. host: let's get a response.

congressman larsen, let's start with you. guest: i disagree with him. the united states can compete. we need to invest in advanced manufacturing. invest in higher education and research and development. these are the kinds of things that a country like the united states needs to do. we need to invest so we can compete. the number one source of jobs in my district is manufacturing. it is not services. it is manufacturing. they say that manufacturing is leaving and china can undercut on everything. it is actually not right. that may be the experience for some states and i appreciate that. china is dealing with rising inflation and wage disparity. to make a broad case that they can do anything they want without feeling the ramifications is not true because time oppose the economy itself is slowing in terms of

growth. i do not think it is a zero sum game that he has laid out here. it is true that we need to do our own work and united states. we have not been enough, but we can compete. huaxi co-we are the most competitive economy on the planet today, then we will continue to be so. louisiana has seen a 54% growth in exports to china. we have had companies, one of them this marine international, a small manufacturing company in my town that is bringing jobs back from china to louisiana. we are competing and winning. these stories do not get the same press. secondly, the key issue is

leverage. before we were in gauged in moving forward with trade agreements, -- is engaged in moving forward with trade agreements, we were lacking leverage in asia. with the consummation of that deal, we have seen a change in the chinese attitude. we have a long way to go. we will continue to press the case for the wto, and we will move forward with the trans- pacific agreement to other countries want to join. we are dealing -- agreement. other countries want to join. we are gaining leverage. this puts us in a position to grow american jobs. >> congressman larsen, which it host: congressman larsen, china is the growing -- the largest export market for the state of washington.

exports grew over the last decade by 370%. guest: a lot of that has to do with major companies like microsoft, boeing, and others. jobs in washington state are directly tried -- tied to trade. part of what we have to do, not just the investment strategy and the basics of manufacturing, but also make sure we are enforcing trade rules. we've not done that as well in the past. that has to be part of our story. washington state does benefit from trade. host: let's look at the president yesterday. he was meeting with vice president xi in the local office. [video clip] >> we have tried to emphasize that because of china's

extraordinary development over the last two decades that with expanding power and prosperity comes increased responsibilities. we want to work with china to make sure everyone is working by the same rules of the road when it comes to world economic systems, and that includes insuring that there is a balanced trade flow between not only the united states and china, but around the world. it also means that on critical issues like human rights we will continue to emphasize what we believe is the importance of recognizing the aspirations and rights of all people. host: that was president obama yesterday meeting with the vice president of china, xi jingping, expected to be the next leader of china.

the president mentioned human rights. people are concerned about the situation in tibet, worker's right in china, protesters -- here is an image in "the washington post." a crowd gathered at the white house during the meeting. what is your concern about human rights, and what is the best way to work on that issue? guest: it is a big issue, and something where china has a long way to go. when we were in china we spoke to journalists representing various western news media and they said in the aftermath of the arab spring, china was cracking down significantly in a number of areas with regard to freedoms. this is a big problem. china has a long way to go. the united states must continue

to press china on those kinds of reforms. we are not going to back down. while we have seen significant opening of the chinese economy, we know there is a long way to go. on the human-rights side, it is lagging. an