primary voting. we will then be joined by representative paul brown, a republican from georgia, to discuss the campaign, his bill to repeal the president's health-care plan and gas prices. you can call in with your questions about foreign policy to democratic senator ben cardin of maryland. >> tonight we have taken one more step toward treatment -- restoring the promise of tomorrow. tomorrow we wake up and start again, and the next day we will do the same. >> we of one in the west, midwest, and the south, and we are ready to win across this country. ♪ host: the victories were split last night with mitt romney taking his home state, squeezing out a victory in ohio and

winning in alaska in virginia. rick santorum wins and north dakota, oklahoma, and tennessee. all candidates vowed to fight on. political observers say none of them will lock up the nomination until possibly may. good morning. it is wednesday, march 7. we will go through the results this morning with all of you and get your thoughts. let's divide the lines by supporters. those in support for newt gingrich -- ron paul -- you can also send us your e- mails, or send us a tweet. you could post your comments on

our facebook page. and newt gingrich was able to score a victory in georgia last night, his home state. the biggest delegate prize from super tuesday. the state doles out the delegates proportionately. his win in his home state is the first victory for him since south carolina in june you worry. the former speaker about to bite on lost tight with the southern strategy. >> i want you to know in the morning we're going on to alabama o. [applause] we're going on to mississippi when, we are going on to kansas, and that is just this week. >> that was newt gingrich from last night. ron paul talking to his supporters yesterday, and he was able to have a showing in some of the super primary states.

he did not win a state, but he is in the delegate count. here is what he had to say. >> so many young people are realizing you're getting about rap for what you are inheriting. the better deal can be found in less government and only sending people to washington who have read the constitution and it will obey the constitution. host: we turn to all of you to get your take on super tuesday yesterday. to help us come through the results is the executive editor of hot line joining us from their offices in washington. what is the take away from yesterday? in the game changers'? >> it really was not a game changer, and a decent night for mitt romney, but not a very good one. he is like the football team on the 1 yard line and kicked a field goal. he won ohio.

it was a close race, closer than a lot of folks anticipated. he got big wins in alaska and vermont. virginia was a win, but closer than people expected. so and mitt romney gets the lion's share of the delegates. he was well on his way to getting the number of delegates he needs for the nomination, but when you look at the momentum and look at the exit poll, there are still a lot of nagging questions about mitt romney and how strong of a nominee he will be. host: let's talk about the last purithe math. ap has gingrich 105 and ron pual with 47. mathematically, can anyone of the candidates make the argument that i can get to the magic

number? guest: first off, mitt romney got two times as many delegates last night as ricks a warrant -- rick santorum and newt gingrich. it was a significant tallying up of the delegates for mitt romney. camp is making the argument it is mathematically impossible for rick santorum and newt gingrich to get to the magic number. it is just the numbers are not there for them. when you look at the big picture, when you look of the process, this year the rules have changed within the republican party nomination process were a lot of the states are delegating delegates proportionately. even if there was a candidate who had won every state, he would still be very well short of the necessary delegates.

it would have been a long process to get to the budget number. the mitt romney campaign argues as far as the delegate mouth goes there are in very good shape. when it comes to momentum and looking at the weaknesses, it is a different story. host: so the fight goes on, and newt gingrich has said he will have a southern strategy. this is "the wall street journal" --

what do you think? guest: anyone who saw newt gingrich's speech i do not think believes he is about to drop out anytime soon. that is the argument for mitt romney, because they're splitting the vote between rick santorum and newt gingrich. gingrich winds the home state of georgia. he does relatively well and some of the southern states. rick santorum wins oklahoma and tennessee, but newt gingrich had a strong showing there. he is positioned to do very well in the southern states coming up, including alabama up here that there is a split in the conservative movement for rick santorum. we've southern states tend to lead towards newt gingrich. as long as the split is there, there is no path for either of them. you have the mitt romney machine chugging along getting 40

and ant of the boatvotes, split electorate with significant flaws. if newt gingrich dropped out of the race ended doors rick santorum, that would be huge. knowing at newt gingrich and his super pac, it is very unlikely you will drop out of the race anytime soon. host: "the wall street journal" goes on to say -- your reaction. guest: look at newt gingrich's numbers in states like ohio and michigan last week. he is not tallied more than 10 percent of the votes. these of the key demographic groups that the presidential nominee needs to do well with. he is only winning states like

georgia, alabama, and mississippi. even in his home state of georgia, he did very well in the suburbs and the more swinging areas of the state. newt gingrich is only doing well in the deep south and rural types of state spirites. it does not even suggest he could be very competitive and have another wave and the primary process. host: stand by. i want to get a phone call in. was a newtom rober gingrich supporter in new york. caller: yes, i think the american people -- guest: you have to turn the television down. caller: i think the american people need to vote for newt

gingrich. i of listen to all of the candidates. in -- i have listened to all of the candidates. i personally think he is a very smart man compared to the others. i think the american people are by theisled by the higype other candidates. north relied on the air. go ahead. -- host: north carolina on the air. caller: in 1968 i supported mitt romney, and even though i want to vietnam and was not brainwashed by the generals, but did you know the comparison of the mitt romney and energizer bonnunny? if you do not put the batteries in that, it quits. if you put the batteries and backwards, he keeps coming and

coming and coming. host: sean supporting rick santorum. caller: i think newt gingrich needs to get out, because he could only win in georgia and surrounding states. he is taking votes from rick santorum. the only candidate that can be mitt romney. i think mitt romney is winning states only by 35%. there are very few states he wins with 50 or 40%. i really hope newt gingrich does the right thing for the conservative movement and drop out. host: "the wall street journal" saying --

william kristol weighing in on "the weekly standard" website -- it will not be over for a while ago. >> it is interesting because the same elite and the same establishment were the ones to change the rules in many cases to go from a winner-take-all system which allows the nominee to a merger earlier in the process, to this proportional system where it does take a longer time for the party to a point of nominee. what is interesting is when you

of 2012, mittasth romney has done better than john mccain. mitt romney won michigan, john mccain did not. mike huckabee swept the entire south when he was running against john mccain in 2008. there are a lot of similarities. the biggest difference is the amount of delegates being delegated are not win or take all. in my john mccain was able to build speed by winning states like new hechinger and amass a pretty early delegate advantage. mayor ronnie has not been able to build up the same advantage. well you have really rallying around john mccain and did not hear that much talk of john mccain being a weak nominee at the same point, mitt romney is having to deal with the hand wringing, and it is because of

it being card in taking a long time to wind the delegates host:. tes.: host: do you think there will be of the washington establishment people that start saying the same thing, that this needs to be a two-man race? guest: the establishment is that particularly thrilled with rick santorum either. i think one of the biggest developments from last night is rick santorum did very well. no one anticipated him winning the north dakota caucuses. he certainly demonstrated he should be based on results the leading challenger to mitt romney. it is really up to newt gingrich whether he wants to reach the same conclusion.

it was not always clear. he could have won tennessee. he could have won oklahoma in the south and really laid claim to the position, but rick santorum solidified his standing as the main challenger. but all goes for nought if newt gingrich decides to stay in the race and so has money to run the campaign. host: a tweet -- what is your reaction to that? guest: the national parties are a lot different than the republican officials and the state. they have different interests and different ideas of how they want the process run. look of virginia for example. i think the biggest kick away from virginia was not how mitt romney did, but the very low turnout among all voters in virginia and what is a crucial battleground state for the general election. the state party is responsible in virginia for helping getting

the organization going. i have talked to a lot of republicans that have serious concerns that the nominee will not be able to take full advantage of the turnout operation, and obama will have a significant organizational advantage on that front. that is where the state bird and responsibility lies and there is questions about that. let me focus on virginia with you. face-off with ron paul not overwhelming. the texan gets 31 percent of the texas vote. there are some speculator is talking about the general election impact. here is the washington post. mitt romney winds come up a solid showing by ron paul may be signs of trouble in virginia. the state has swung wildly over the past four years republicans

have prevailed in three consecutive elections picking up the governor's mansions. in a minute -- in a memo tuesday, rick wiley said in recent virginia polls showing obama as job approval numbers and a share of approval saying he deserves reelection of under 50%. the same surveys include a warning signs for mitt romney. 50 percent of likely gop voters said they were unsatisfied with the field and wished another candid it would run. guest: virginia is going to be one of the biggest battlegrounds of the general election. i think it could be the florida of 2000 if we are talking about a very close presidential race. you have a lot of republican inc's river primary process were to of the leaders did not

qualify for the ballot. low turnout in very little organization to get a republican voters to the polls. that is how you identify who can be reached out to and to you can get to come to the polls in november. there was a big missed opportunity when you talk to a lot of republican strategists in the state of virginia. some of that could be the fact you have rick santorum and newt gingrich supporters casting voters for ron paul because they're trying to express anti- romney sentiment. i do think the turnaround -- turnout number, 5 percent turnout, the lowest ever for presidential primary in virginia, has to be worrying a lot of the virginia republicans after last night. host: robert in clinton, md. supports rick santorum. caller: i was originally a

michelle laughlin supporter -- michelle bachmann supporter. newt gingrich does not want the massachusetts moderator -- moderate. and he will pull his support behind rick santorum, but he is just in it for himself. newt gingrich supporters need to wake up and say if we want a alternative, rick santorum is the only alternative. larry supports the former speaker. robert just said if you want a conservative candidate, then newt gingrich needs to drop out. caller: i think ron paul is a joke. i think he should not even run newt gingrich has been there

since 1994 with reagan and others. he has helped with everything else. i think he is the only one that has sense enough to know what to do, because these people are looking at everything -- these people have the money to back him. newt gingrich has been there, he has done it. he was speaker of the house and everything. i think they should back off and look at him, because he knows what he is doing, and i believe he can beat obama in the election. host: after newt gingrich, who is your second choice? caller: i would have to say mitt romney. i would have to say mitt romney because rick santorum does not

show me anything. he gets off on different schedules and does not come up with the right plan for me. host: so it is about electability? caller: yes. host: those phone calls it was treated exit polls coming out of ohio last night. the economy was a big issue for a lot of people that voted there. if it was, then they voted for mitt romney. also talking about conservative principles. if you said you support the two- party or evangelical in voted for rick santorum. guest: there is a big divide between the working class, more religious voters and the more secular, more white-collar voters who overwhelmingly supported mitt romney. that pattern has been on display throughout the presidential primary process. in many ways it is reminiscent of 2008 when hillary clinton was

getting more downfield democrats and michelle obama was doing well with upscale democrats. book of the field and ohio. it is similar to the 2008 film out when it will repeat obama. obama did well in cleveland and columbus and cincinnati, the biggest urban areas. there is a big dichotomy that you could almost say the primary process has been very predictable. mitt romney has done well with his face come to the establishment of upper class voters. rick santorum has done well with the downscale. the republican party is increasing share in fraction of the working class, the bigger part of the party. mitt romney has not been able to win them over. he has improved in that demographic, but still faces

some fundamental problems with that group. host: let me get your reaction to this exit poll. which candidate best understands the problems of average americans? rick santorum coming in with 83 percent. what you make of that number? guest: that is remarkable. that is a remarkable statistic that shows the empathy that a lot of working-class voters have towards mitt romney. looking at the slew of polling data, and it is not just conservative voters dislike mitt romney. i think they respect him, they do not dislike him, and i think they would rally around him if he was the nominee, but there is not the connection and comfort level. he does not have the natural campaign skills that many nominees have. mike huckabee when he ran in 2008, voters immediately react positively when you can relate to their pain, feel their pain.

mitt romney does not have the characteristic. he is not charismatic, empathetic candidate. that is what causes a lot of problems when it faces rick santorum in the primaries. host: surely supporting rick santorum on the air. caller: 4 good morning. thank you for taking my call. i believe an newt gingrich and ron paul the to get out of the race. the writing is on the wall, those two are pretty much done that. now the race is between rick santorum and mitt romney. and mitt romney has health care in his state that he put into place. now i am hearing he has dealt with the obama care. then he goes on to say, well, when i am president i am going

to repeal -- we're court to get rid of obama care. he lies. why would people vote for this man. he does not connect with the working class of people. he does not know what it is all about to go out and earn a real paycheck and have to balance the budget. we need to start thinking, who is really for us? we need to use our heads when we vote. host: let me ask you something. we lost her. we will go to paul was a mitt romney supporter. go ahead. caller: good morning. i am very happy with the results last evening. i understand it romney. i have met him. i've looked through his eyes. he does connect with people. he connects with my family.

he connects with everybody that we talked to that has met him. i think maybe he gets our raw deal, especially because of all the bashing. mitt romney has some really good point, and i think if people stop and analyze the good things this man has done, instead of the bad things. we look at the records of the other folks. ron paul is a sweet little men -- mantegn. i look at their records. i see what they have done in washington. mitt romney is an accomplished business person. he has done very well. he started with no money from his dad. he did not. i have talked to him about my business. i employ 13 people here, but he was a great deal of help to us. i know if mitt romney would just have a chance to explain how he

came up through the ranks and the people he has helped along the way, i think massachusetts health-care was right for his state. we had samuel adams who was for a mandate. they were at one time considered conservative. host: would you say mitt romney is very conservative? caller: i would not say he is very, very conservative, but having dealt with a very liberal state and come out the way he did, i think if he has the right people to work with in washington, this man will be the greatest president we ever have. that is my guy. host: 4 you it is the economy? caller: not just the economy. i watched him walk the walk. i know what he has done for people that have nothing. i remember the story of the lady who come up to him and had

nothing. he gave her money out of his pocket. people can afford to do that sometimes keep their money it did not share. host: i want to show you what mitt romney had to say when he addressed supporters last night. "washington jou[video clip] >> for 38 straight months of a point has been above 8%. he also said he would cut the that is in half, and he has doubled it. the debts today are too high and opportunities are too few. we've seen an up of this president to know we do not need another five of this president. that is for sure. [applause] [chanting "we need mitt"] >> this president has run out of ideas. he has read out of excuses, and

in 2012 we will get him out of the white house. -- he has run out of excuses, and in 2012 we will get him out of the white house. president obama seems to believe he is unchecked by the constitution. he operates by command instead of by consensus. in a second term he would be unrestrained by the demands of reelection. if there is one thing we cannot afford, for years of barack obama with no one to the answer to. host: "boston globe" it's morning-- -- this morning -- a couple of e-mails for you. steven says i think congress will have to move this nation forward. president obama has carried out many of the bush policies. he is really a moderate in his own right. it will take a whole congress. another email for you this

morning from our ron paul supporter. ron paul is only candidate who realizes we need to get serious about the national debt. we need to pay it down by a trillion a year for 15 years to get out of it. the government must be downsized and the entitlement reform. back to the phone calls. jeff in indiana. caller: i a rick santorum supporter. i have been for the entire race. i was listening to your previous callers, and they are right. i think the other two guys are hindering the race. i think one could get behind one or the other, it would be a lot more competitive. there are votes out there that are being cast for newt gingrich and ron paul, and bless them for doing it, but i think it would be a much better sets, more

fair. host: what about the money spent by mitt romney? he has outspent your candid it? if more state in, does he have to bend at a spread his resources a little bit more thin? it is just rick santorum, he can spend all this money going after rick santorum? caller: nobody knows it. it is a big secret thing, but i do not know how long his money will last. he has spent a lot of money in iowa when he started out. there is no telling. i think he might have extended his wares. about some oflk the issue and a minute. more from rick santorum last night. [video clip] host: sorry, we will get to that

in just a minute. but may go to josh on the hot line executive editor and as you about the money race. where do things stand? guest: more of a question whether the two big donors to the f rick santorum and mitt romney super pak, they are corn to be major players in the next couple of weeks. they've got to decide whether they still want to commit millions of more dollars to help candidates that are looking like their odds are quite long at winning the republican nomination. they will have to decide whether it is a good investment to keep backing them. rick santorum have a surge in fundraising after he won at some of the caucuses last month. his fund raising has not been very impressive. he relies heavily on the super packs, the good will and generosity of some of the single individual donors.

if they stop giving come at it they do not give as much, it will be very hard to get the message out and compete. there romney has been outspending him, but he has been able to a least get his message out and stay in the ball game because of the super pak. if he does not get the support, it is clear to be even harder for them to stick around in the race. host: money chases momentum. after super tuesday, who has it? guest: rick santorum could make that case. he can make a case he was outspent in ohio and almost won the state. he has the support of the working class and the guy that can take on mitt romney. that could be a message that allows him to stay in the money game. the question is, how much longer will this last? some of the deep south states

coming up. rick santorum has not won that many states. he has won the caucus states and played very competitively in michigan and ohio, but he needs to rack up winds and big states to get the momentum to continue flowing. host: the calller mentioned there could be some of the problems for mitt romney. guest: is spending is remarkable and understandable over the past months. they have been overwhelming the airwaves in most of the big super tuesday states in michigan and ohio. there is not an unlimited cash flow, even though they have more money than the rest of the competition. there is a real question whether the big donors are going to continue writing checks in this primary process, whether he may have to write his own check. he is the only candidate that is independently wealthy and write

his own check and give money to finish up the primary process if he chose. mitt romney has a better cash flow than everyone else, but there's a real question of how much money if this process keeps going on and on until april, may come in june. you what to spend almost all the money he has raised. -- he might have to spend almost all the money he has raised. host: what happens next? guest: this is one of the dozen reasons were redistricting.

there was more of toledo in cleveland. she attacked dennis be more interested in national fame and celebrity rather than focusing on the needs of the district. that was a very successful message. she won fairly comfortably last night. host: any other house or senate races? guest: another big upset in the cincinnati area. jeanette schmidt lost in what was pretty big upset. she lost to a two-party-backed republican underdog who won fairly comfortably. -- tea party- back republicans. lostso saw mary kill mormore her election against another canada. three members of the ohio delegation in 2010 all losing it last night. when we talk about the anti-

washington environment, the anti-congress public sentiment, you really saw it in ohio where you have three candidates with lots of washington experience going down. host: a sarcastic tweet from one of our viewers. he notes joe the plumber one yesterday. remind us what this means. guest: shall the plumber, what of obama's biggest critics -- on of obama's biggest critics. he is running for congress. he will be the nominee for the republicans. he will be running against mercy captarcy captor. it would take an upset of historic proportions for him to get elected to congress. one of the papers notes this

morning that sarah palin did vote and the alaska primary and did vote for newt gingrich. we will continue our discussion, getting the take on super tuesday. we want to hear from all of you as well. keep taking your phone calls and tweeds until 8:00 eastern time calls. here is rick santorum from last night. [video clip] >> this is a big night tonight. lots of states. we will win at a few in lose a few, but as of -- but as it looks right now, we will get at andt a couple gold modeedals, the whole basket full of silver medals. [applause] we can add that to iowa, missouri, minnesota, colorado, now oklahoma and tennessee. [applause]

we of one in the west, midwest, and the south, and we are ready to win across this country. we went up against enormous odds, not just here in the state of ohio, but in every state. there was not a single state in the list that i just gave you where i spend more money than the people i was able to defeat. in every case we overcame of spirited hostthe odds. host: yesterday oklahoma endorsement romney. the headline today "santorum wins in the state." courtesy of the museum. there are the results for you.

also, this morning we're learning of the no. 2 house republican, eric kanter, he endorsed mitt romney over the weekend. he said this morning that mitt romney will emerge as the gop presidential nominee. here is an e-mail from one of the viewers who says winner takes all, as is the case in is the same states come i, as your vote does not count. when will we ever learn? caller: ron paul is the only candidate that will bring about real change. just so people know, the patriot act took away the fourth a member right. the recent authorization act took away the right to due process of law, and the president can order anyone to be

arrested and held indefinitely. he is the only one that has come out against that. also, he would legalize marijuana. it would bring in thousands of jobs. the hemp version can be made to make diesel fuel and plastic, which would take 20% of the oil right there. that would take away the dependency on foreign oil right there. the hemp version would deteriorate in a few years, instead of 20 years like the oil version. let me say a little bit about newt gingrich. he has mentioned that the oil companies would not support him

anymore. helium 3 on the moon is the solution for clean energy. why did he not do that? i suppose he was afraid to. he knew he could get locked out. he got locked out anyway. he should have said that. there is also a bold and titanium away. did we can survive on the moon actually. -- we can survive on the man actually. oon actually. host: dispersants as i think it will be a brokered convention, and jeb bush will get the nomination. caller: where to begin? mitt romney by the simple fact he was able to get a elected here in the social commonwealth of massachusetts should indicate he is able to work across all. my biggest problem with rick

santorum is based on some of his comments, he wants to go towards the theocratic role in this country. there is supposed to be a separation of church and state, and he wants to bring the church into the government. if he was asked if he wants the government involved in church, he would say absolutely not, so i do not understand why he wants to bring his brand of religion into government. caller: i am reluctantly supporting mitt romney. i did like the reasoning from the future a marijuana farmer. when you have it may wrongly and he is spending so much money -- if it was the same money across the board, i think mitt romney would probably finish third. when he goes up against obama,

obama will get more money than him. however, i have to vote for mitt romney and he will apparently be the winter, but it is really looking grim here for us. i think the best thing we can hope for is to contest the convention. host: you think it looks grim in a hypothetical matchup of mitt romney vs. obama? caller: yes. nobody has had the money to go after mitt romney, and obama will have plenty of money for research. what do going to do with obama? -- what are you going to do with obama? they know everything since his birth. host: what about the economy?

for the past couple of springs people seemed optimistic, but then the numbers fell again in the springtime. gas prices are going up. it is eight months away. caller: i am fearful about what they will find out about bain. i have looked into that, and i think they can probably cherry pick that. the fact is they did produce jobs, they did all sorts of jobs here and there, but they will make that look like it is a common thing, and they will have the money to tell people about it. host: president obama did weigh in on presidential politics at his first news conference of the year. here is the headline from "the washington times" --

to see onat he had the gop presidential candidates on the issue of war. [video clip] >> now, what is set on the campaign trail, those folks do not have a lot of responsibilities. they are not commander in chief. when i see it the casualness with which some of these folks talk about war, i am reminded of the costs involved in war. i am reminded of the decision that i have to make in terms of sending our young men and women into battle, and the impact that has on their lives, the impact on national security, the impact it has on our economy. this is not a game. there is nothing casual about it. when i see some of these folks

who have a lot of bluster and a lot of big talk, but when you ask them specifically what they would do, it turns out they repeat the things we have been doing over the past three years. it indicates to me that is more about politics than try you to solve a difficult problem. host: josh, let me come to you on the general election and the political takeaways from the president's news conference yesterday. guest: it is easy to look at the developments in a week and ignore the general state of play in the election. looking at every the gnomic rica -- economic statistics, it is easy to see it not being a down to the wire election. it seems like we have a very divided country. the republican base is still very energized.

mitt romney's favorability ratings have taken a serious hit, but once he is the nominee and republicans are rallying around their canada, i think the numbers are very volatile. -- their candidate. i think he is someone who does not connect particular well with the working class, but could have appealed for managerial, white-collar, some of the managerial boat voters. i think when push comes to shove, obama will run for reelection in a tough economy that has been improving, but the data suggests it will not be an easy campaign. mitt romney has the economic background that he is going to be campaigning on. i think this election will come down to the same handful of states, the same time or six background states -- battlegrounds states we have seen in the past elections.

it is good to be very close. obama, the fund-raising and the concern with super packs, becaue the fund-raising has not been with the expected. they have not been able to take advantage with these new rules governing the super paks. every indicator to me indicates this will be a close election. it is easy to look at the day in and day out up and downs of the primary and is currently on the republican primary process, but once we have a match up, it will be a lot different. it will be a different environment. everything suggestible be a close race. host: give us the battleground states. guest: virginia, florida, ohio, colorado, and nevada as five of the closest. at pennsylvania to the list,

because i think that will be very much in play. these are states, especially states in the southwest for the unemployment rate is particularly high. with the rate of foreclosure is project early high. -- particularly high. these are states that republicans are positioned to take over. there are other positive trends for the president. the hispanic group and some of the southwestern states. the minority vote in the states like virginia. you really have of battle between the economy, which plays in the republican, and the democratic favor, which plays to the president here yen it will come down to the five or six states. host: we will come back to you

before we wrap up. i want to give the viewer some other news. national advertisers polled rush limbaugh advertisements. the commercials were not supposed to run on his show in the first place according to see years. that continues. a p speculating about whether or not this is the end for rush limbaugh. -- a piece yesterday's speculating about whether or not this this the end for rush limbaugh. the ceo of the parent company of the man bob pittman, who gave the world and tv. there are signs of erosion for rush limbaugh because the demographic that many radio shows are going after is young women come and he had offended that demographic, so that advertisers are pulling from his station. this is also what they say.

his career took off when he was hired as a replacement for morton downey jr.. a quote from the former program director saying he was hired because to his passionate but polite. that is "the daily beast" this morning. we will see if the debate continues over who is the host of the annual radio and television correspondent division dinner. it was announced lewis c kay will host. it says what you will read below was some of the things that's he said about sarah palin and her son when he -- when she was a

guest a couple of years ago. i will not read what he had to say, but you could read that long. -- read that blog. caller: i think when the media reports it is misleading, because a lot of the delegates, especially in maine and iowa, minnesota, and nevada, you do not know who they're voting for. they get to vote for who they want. it is an attempt to probably discourage inmost leave a lot of voters into thinking ron paul was not have a chance. in actuality, i think he has the bulk of the delegates. i am a delicate myself. i think he is doing a lot better position-wise with in the certain states that have representation.

one other thing, they talk romney.eir romnemitt i would be an economic genius if i only paid 13 percent income tax. host: ronald in texas. caller: good morning. i see that you are coming up under the very able tutelage of susan coming year doing very well. u're doing very well. he is in love with the sound of his voice. of the issue of the tea party member having success and ohio, i am not a fan, but i am pleased to see a flight from elective

politics removed by the name of jean m. schmidt. everybody please boycott [inaudible] bryan lambs still ives. -- still ives. host: mitt romney supporter. go ahead. caller: i would like to remind everybody that conservative liberal terms are relative to each other, and even a moderate like john mccain is a conservative compared to obama. i think mitt romney will look very conservative compared to obama. believe me, all of the newt gingrich and rick santorum will get on board with mitt romney for fear of the second obama term. host: when and why did you

switch from newt gingrich to mitt romney? caller: the trouble. being too conservative on social issues. i consider myself fiscally conservative. i live in a big city. host: here is an e-mail from a viewer -- josh, let me get your reaction to the e-mail. guest: covering politics, it is

easy to think this has gone on for ever. there are eight months until the general election. that is a lifetime in politics. in past times the primary has taken place later in the year. so historically this is not project really significant that the nomination has not been wrapped up by march. i think there will be a lot of -- the biggest question is once the nomination is settled there will be a significant vacuum would you have the republican nominee and president obama. the question is what mitt romney -- how he can capitalize and how he can handle the vacuum in time after handling the past year campaigning and really it rigorously going on the campaign trail nonstop. host: 12 get your reaction from -- want to give you reaction from the national review.

beyond the zero-numbers, rick santorum had a pretty good night. he won three contests and sharpened his feet. he avoided extra that is "the national review." that brings us to the question, where do we go from here? guest: the next big primaries are in the deep south. alabama, hawaii, mississippi. these are not favorable states for mitt romney. why you might be the one that he has a chance of doing well in. mitt romney needs to prove he can at least run competitively in the deep south, or at the show he has some appeal to the very conservative elements of the party. that may not happen. he does not need that to win the nomination, but it will be nice if the base at some point starts

to rally around it wrongly. that is showing no sign of happening anytime soon. the other big states, the more important states coming down the road next month are states like wisconsin who is very politically significant and the grand scheme of things. if mitt romney can win ohio, michigan, and other states like wisconsin to his tally, i think that would send a pretty powerful message that not only has he won in the northeast in states like new hampshire, one in the southwest with wins in nevada and arizona, but he is also one on rick santorum's geographic based in states like wisconsin, michigan, and even ohio. i think that would really finally coming if he won in wisconsin, could really start to put this race the way and really start putting away the questions of whether he is electable, or whether he has enough support

within the republican party. host: thank you for spending the first hour here on "the washington journal." appreciate it. if you want to dig a little bit deeper into the results, go to our web site c-span.org, and go to campaign 2012 hub,who won wos it down. if you are interested in knowing. rick santorum, 33.8% in that state. that does it for our first hour of the "washington journal." coming up in 45 minutes, we will be talking with senator ben cardin, democrat of maryland about foreign policy issues.

first, paul broun, republican of georgia, joins us to talk about campaign 2012 and the gop agenda. we will be right back. ♪ >> this weekend, there are two ways to watch the tucson festival of books. on c-span2, saturday, starting at 1:30 eastern, jeffrey rosen. politics at 4:30 and mexico's drug wars at 6:00. sunday, the environment, the

great depression, and diana henriques and bernie madoff. the tucson festival of books, live this week and on c-span2 and booktv.org. >> is a real anxiety within a substantial part of black america in confronting black americans who are successful in the wider society. there is this anxiety that to be successful, especially in a predominantly white setting, to get the backing of white people, what do you have to do to get that backing? what did you have to do to get that trust? what did you have to do to get that recognition? there was this fear that one of the things you had to do was

betray, in some form, your community. >> the first sunday of each month, the works of one of their. this month, harvard law professor randall kennedy's book about race, politics, and the obama administration. wash it online at the c-span video library. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are back with congressman paul broun, republican of in georgia. let me start with georgia's results. newt gingrich wins. mitt romney, 26%. did you vote? guest: i voted about a week and a half ago. host: can you tell us who you voted for? guest: i have not gotten involved in these races. i'm focusing on my own reelection bid. the congressional district has

changed a lot. i'm developing a lot of new friends and new supporters threw out the new congressional district. i'm focused on that more so. host: you have not endorsed anyone. why not? do you plan to jump in at any point? guest: i know three of these candidates very well. mitt romney, met him and had brief conversations along the way. the other three, i know extremely well. all four of them have attributes that i really like. i think any of the four of them would be a great president. only one perfect person who ever lived. it is none of them. it is not mean. we have to look across the board, as republicans, about who will best represent the interests of this country to turn back these failed policies

in this current administration. it's critical we have a republican in august starting in january 20 of next year. the policies of this president have failed. the economy is sputtering along. it has been the slowest recovery ever. that's because of the failed policies. the recovery we have thus far has been the cause of the resiliency of our economy. it does not have anything to do with what this president has done at all. obamacare in itself is enough to destroy america. it will destroy our freedom. i am a medical doctor, as you know. it's going to destroy the doctor-patient relationship. it is going to destroy the quality of health care. it will destroy budgets, businesses budgets, state budgets. we have got to have somebody in office who will sign a bill to repeal obamacare and something

that lowers the cost. host: you have a bill to do that. let me ask you about mitt romney's stance on this. here is "the atlantic journal constitution." back in july of 2009, at the crucial point in the debate over obamacare when the public option is still in play, romney put out an op-ed in usa today. here is andrew mccarthy writing for "the national review" on that.

if mitt romney gets the nomination, the address that he can make an effective argument against president obama? do you trust that he would overturn it? guest: he said he would sign a repeal and replace the bill. i believe the man. let me bring you another quote. this is mitt romney. "it is wise for states to come up with their own solutions. the wrong course is to have the federal government impose its will on the entire nation." back in 2009, that was before we started seeing what these individual mandates are all about. i think it is really before he really got engaged in this process of thinking about the consequences. we already see the cost of health care insurance going up. i just talked to a businessman just this last week.

his insurance cost went up 43% over the last year to this year. he told me that the year before last, it was 43% raised from the year before. in the last two years, it has gone up 43% in both years over what it was the year before. this is because of obamacare, because of the affordable care act. it's going to be a destroyer. the administration already sets itself that it will not be in the cost curve down, what the president kept promising. the administration itself is admitting that the cost is going to go up and has gone up already. we see the dictates from this health and human services dictator, really, is what she is -- and i use that word -- she has already dictated this attack

on religious freedom and religious conscious. that pronouncement by kathleen not about was birth control. it is about government control. it's about government dictating what everybody should buy in this country. the affordable care act is a mechanism for the federal government to basically control our life. are ouin if the affordable care act goes into full force, kathleen sebelius can be a tyrant in a skirt, dictating to us, every american across this country, how we can live our lives and u.s. healthcare as the auspices of their government control. it must be ripped out by the roots and replaced with something like my patient option act, which would truly give patients the option.

it will literally lower the cost of health insurance to everybody. it will take care of people uninsured today. it will make a lot of people who cannot afford insurance be able to buy at a price said they cannot afford. that's the kind of policy we need to go to. i believe firmly that any one of the four would sign a bill like my patient option act. host: rose is a republican in california. go ahead. caller: yes, i wanted to comment on the article you first read. you know, the firestorm about rush limbaugh -- ed schultz called laura ingram a lut and there was not a firestorm -- a slut and there was not a firestorm. let's get some fairness here. bill maher ran elizabeth from

"the view" -- was terrible to her. i think we need some balance here. rush did not say anything that ed schultz did not say. guest: there is a dual standard. there's no question with the media on these issues. we see people on the left making outrageous claims and nobody ever takes them to task. just like you said. anyone on the right to make a statement is rep over the coals for their statement. you are absolutely right. in fact, the media has been very out front about how unfair the media is on these issues. host: what was your reaction to the rush limbaugh guest:: -- a rush limbaugh comments? guest: i thought it was

unfortunate that he made those comments. she obviously wants the government to take care of her. that does not make her a slut. there are opportunities for her to buy birth control pills for $5 per package or maybe get them for free. evidently, she does not want that. she wants the federal government to give her free birth control pills. she wants everybody in this country to pay for them. as i said earlier, this is not about birth control. this is about government control. that's exactly what this president told us just before the affordable care act was passed. he went on a national news -- i'm not sure what the word is. he made a statement over the national news where he said that he wanted everybody in this country in one pool. that means he wants the federal government to control all of

healthcare. that's what the affordable care act is designed to do. it is designed to force everybody into a socialized health-care system where the federal government mandates everything to everybody. what kathleen sebelius gave us is just the first attack on freedom. it's an attack on religious freedom. they do not care about that. when the affordable care act was passed, three of four americans did not want it passed. it was forced down the throats of american people. it's going to destroy us economically across the board. host: you said you are focused on your reelection. "the washington times" front- page headline had this yesterday.

host: you do not sound like you are running away from the issue. guest: it is not about birth control. it is about government control. it is about the federal government controlling everything. affordable care act is going to give the federal government the opportunity to control every aspect of our lives. i can tell us what to eat. they can tell us what kind of close to where -- of clothes to wear. they can dictate everything to us. it is opening the door to the proverbial pandora's box of government control. this is the greatest attack upon our freedom. this was an attack upon

religious freedom and religious conscious. it's not about birth control. it is about the federal government running our lives. that's exactly what this administration wants to do. they want to control every aspect of our lives. this has nothing to do with birth control. it really has to do with government control. int: let me get a stweet here. guest: well, obamacare, the independent payment advisory board is going to make decisions for doctors like me. cms, the federal agency that controls medicare and medicaid already makes those decisions. doctors all over this country today have to get permission from the federal government just to put a patient in a hospital. the independent payment advisory board is going to be a rationing board. they are going to make decisions

for doctors and patients about whether a person can have a treatment or not, whether they can be put in the hospital or not. they are going to use doctors as the determining factor. it is all going to be economically based. the answer is lowering the cost for everybody so that doctor visits are less expensive. my patient option act would just the affordable care act do that care -- would do just that. the affordable care act is raising the cost of all health- care goods and services today and will continue to do so. host: brian, democratic caller. caller: hello, c-span. first-time caller. thank you for taking my call. a quick question for the republican from georgia. how are we supposed to believe your 2012 campaign slogans and morals when in 2010, you ran on jobs, jobs, jobs. the house of representatives has

yet to even put up a jobs bill for vote. guest: you just listened to the president and you're listening to people like harry reid. the house has passed over 30 bills that would create over 1 million jobs. i am on the natural resources committee. we passed three bills out of natural resources that would create a tremendous number of jobs all across this country a lower the cost of gasoline, lower the cost of all energy by allowing us to be able to develop our god-given energy resources in this country. the president has blocked us. the president and harry reid have obstructed a very aggressive jobs agenda that the republicans in the u.s. house have already passed. we have passed it. when it goes over to senate, harry reid throws it in the trash can. harry reid is the obstructionist on these jobs host: agendas you

said majority leader harry reid has agreed to some jobs bills in the floor today. here is the headline in "the ."shington po"the new york times "they are making common cause with the of the people who have control over official washington guest." guest: the house has approved a lot of jobs bill. harry reid has been an obstructionist and so has the president. they have absolutely stopped -- host: the president signed off on those bills, as well. guest: finally, but it is election season. he has got to.

he knows that if they continue to block the jobs bills that we passed in the house, that it will hurt him in the re-election bid in november. they are actually capitulating on this because of the pressures of the election. host: jim hall tweets in this. guest: any job that is created. they talk about jobs that are created or saved. there's no way to measure jobs saved. that's why they talked about that. the figures are not factual. we will promise that if we pass the president's stimulus bill, which will cost us over $1 trillion, that unemployment will never go above 8%. sky rocketed above that. it stayed at that. the 8.3% recently is cooking the

books. it's not counting people who are unemployed or underemployed, or people who have fallen out of the job-looking workforce. they have given up. the facts are that there are a lot of americans looking for jobs today. i think it's over 15 million people who are jobless or underemployed. the president's policies have failed. they have not done what they have promised to do. let me tell you about two businesses in my district. one businessman has $30 million cash and he wants to expand his business, but he's not going to. he would hire over 100 new people. he will not do it because of two reasons. one, uncertainty about his taxes going up on january 1, because the president wants them to go up. not only that, but he wants to tack on additional tax burdens on top of that, plus the threats

of the tax increase because of the affordable care act. i have another lady -- host: i am going to ask you to stop there. i want our viewers to join in, as well. ritchie, an independent in massachusetts. go ahead. caller: i am from massachusetts, and the mitt romney insurance that he put in here. if you do not work and you do not have insurance, you are fined every month. i know people i work with to cannot afford the insurance. when they file their taxes, they paid $3,000 fines for not having insurance. host: let me contrast what you just said with this tweet. two different opinions there

about the massachusetts health care bill. guest: my patient option act would take care of people who cannot afford insurance. as a medical doctor, i've given away hundreds of thousands of dollars of my services over four decades of practicing medicine. my option act would give physicians a tax break so that when they see a patient and they do not get paid, because the patient cannot pay them, it would give them a tax break. right now, there's none. if a doctor takes medicare, if he is a preferred provider for medicare, he or she absolutely cannot see a patient and not charge them. that is the posture is. that's what the federal law requires. we need to free up the doctors to give away care, hospitals to do likewise, and give them some incentive to do so. plus, i've given away a lot of

time and effort where i have gone into a free clinic where people in my community of athens, georgia can get free care or get reduced price care. these kinds of solutions to take care people who have problems. having a one size fits all government programs like the affordable care act will raise the cost for everybody and will destroy our economy. we need to pull it out by the roots and replace iit with something like my patient option act. host: good morning. caller: i was a democrat until president truman tried to nationalize the steel industry and then i switched to the republicans. i have been one ever since. i am very, very disappointed in the whole republican plethora of people running for the presidency. what i would like to know is,

why can't these people get together and draft of the one man who could put obama down hands down, and that is tom coburn. i know that he is seldom terminated, his senate bid, but that does not mean he would not run for president. >guest: i know him very well. he's not only a good friend, but a solid conservative. i'm sure he would be very honored by your comment. -- i do not know -- maybe the convention would draft senator coburn. they could look at other candidates that have thrown their hats in the ring or have played with the idea of running but have pulled away from it. people like chris christie or mitch daniels. it becomes a broken convention, they could pick anybody in the country.

we could see. dr. coburn is not in the race today. maybe he would get involved. who knows. host: we will go to his state. christian is a democrat there. oklahoma city? caller: two questions. first one to the gentlemen, who came up with the individual mandate? who came up with it? it was the heritage foundation. the heritage foundation came up with the individual mandate. is that true or not true? guest: i do not know. i've heard people claim that. i know it has been bantered about for a long period of time. there were a lot of public figures to talk about the individual mandate. i am not sure where it originally started. actually, we had been talking about the single-payer system and that's what the individual mandate is all about. is the government forcing

everybody into a health insurance program? it really started a long time ago. the term, "individual mandate," i'm not sure who started that process. host: i do not know that. michael, a republican in fairfax, virginia. go ahead. caller: i have two issues. the first one is to do with the natural resources committee. what is the cost benefit analysis to actually building refineries close to the source of the raw material in canada, as opposed to building a pipeline to louisiana or the gulf coast? please do not only accosted lot of money to build refineries. building a pipeline is not cheap either. with the estimates the jobs it would create, it would be a huge amount of money. can i quickly finish? i think you are a raving lunatic. a raving lunatic. c-span is giving you air time. host: michael, i'm going to there. . its you get to fire shots at the

congressmen without us knowing who you are and that's a little unfair. let me have you respond. put your natural resources have on about refineries. guest: i would like to build more refineries all over this country. a lot of our oil comes from canada today. the president has blocked the keystone pipeline. we would actually have three terminals in georgia, my home state. they would receive the gas from the oil that is brought down by the keystone pipeline. the president says one thing and does another. we need to develop our god-given natural resources, our energy resources in this country. it is absolutely critical for us to do so. oilher we checship gas down or down -- we want to ship one or the other, or both. it's critical for our own

national interest, for our own economy, to develop those resources and to build the keystone pipeline. the president has blocked it. he talks about one thing and he does another. the keystone pipeline is one example of how he has blocked our energy production in this country. host: another item is this highway bill. the speaker of the house, john boehner, wanted to do a five- year bill. now it looks like there may be other options on the table. your colleague from tennessee in the senate writing today in "the washington post" -- "the senate has the opportunity with the highway bill to stop a costly pattern of denial and the vision." -- and evasion."

host: are you in support of the highway bills? guest: i believe in limited government, as our founding fathers meant for it to be. i think we need to break the chains of government dependents in this country here. one of the constitutional things the federal government does is transportation. in the constitution -- in fact, a carry a copy with me all the time. one of the things in the constitution that the federal government is authorized to do is to have a federal highway program. it's called coastal roads. i'd like to vote for a transportation bill, if we can get one. i agree with bob corker, my good

friend. we have got to build our infrastructure. it's critical for our economic development. the bridge falling in st. paul is a good example of how our bridge and highway infrastructure has been degraded. host: do you support the two- year bill and the senate? guest: we need a bill longer than two years. we would like to see a five-year bill. i think most department of transportation's in the states would like to see a five-year bill. it's very difficult to work off of a two-year bill. host: you are a leader in the house -- or later in the house calls it an option. if that's brought to the floor, are you a no vote? guest: we will see where it is at that time. we've got to do it in a way that is sustainable economically. creating more debt for your babies is not the answer.

i agree with mr. corker. host: let's go to tom in dayton, ohio. an independent there. go ahead. caller: what i want from all of our representatives is truthfulness. the 25 million gallons of gas that are sent out of america every day. there's nothing that can be done about these gas prices? that's one point. my insurance plan to be 10% for every year until last decade. talking about slavery, i want you to look up what's happening at the apple plant with the suicide nets. $2 for our. host: r-utah keen about the apple products -- are you talking about the apple products in china? let's begin with gas prices.

that's what the president said yesterday at the news conference. there's no silver bullet to gas prices. guest: gasoline is like any other commodity. it is about supply and demand and potential future supply and demand. what we've got to do is have a greater supply. he is right. we do ship gasoline out of this country. china is buying oil and gasoline from all over world -- a resource that they have of buying gas and oil, because they need a lot of it. the more we develop in this country, the more the cost will be. natural gas prices are a good example of that. we've seen the cost of natural gas go down. we need to develop an all of the above energy policy. republicans have been fighting for that. since 2008 -- i came in in 2007.

since 2008, we were focusing on an all of the above energy policy. one of the staffers said the wascrats' energy policy drive a small cart away from the wind. that seems to be the same policy today. green energy will produce jobs. we saw in spain, more jobs were lost by trying to go to a green energy program than were gained through developing those green energy jobs. we need an all of the above policy. this administration has blocked every effort that republicans have put forward, particularly since we have been in control of the house. this administration has blocked every effort that we've made to develop our energy resources in this country. we need to do it all. clean coal technology, oil, natural gas, alternatives -- any kind of energy sources that we can in this country.

host: albert, a democrat, pittsburgh. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have a comment and a question for both of you. a lot of things have been said here that i think are not clear. i think americans are tired of this type of discourse. you used the term "socialism." people do not understand that socialism is government our collective ownership or control of the distribution of goods and services. that's not what the current administration has proposed. this woman did not ask for government payment of birth control or any reproductive care. it has nothing to do with that. everyone knows that. people are trying to say this to confuse things. get host: let me -- host: let me add to his comments. joan has this e-mail.

guest: no, but they are mandating that everybody pay for it. it is not an option anymore for a business to agree or not. who does pay? it does not come free. there is no free lunch anywhere, to use a trite phrase. in fact, what kathleen sebelius is doing is trying to mandate that we all pay for it. it is government control over what is covered in health insurance. people need to make that decision, not some government bureaucrats, whether it's on the state or federal level. giving the people the option to buy health insurance across state lines, and giving people the option to join an association where they can have multiple insurance products that they can choose just to have a

smorgasbord of products with whatever type of coverage that their family needs. that's what my patient option act will do. government wants to control what people buy. it is being dictated to everyone to pay who pays for it. under the proposal that the administration has given to us. certainly, they are going to force everybody to pay. it there. -- everybody to pay. it is still forcing everybody to do so. host: anne, independent caller. good morning. caller: good morning to c-span. to turn a trite phrase back to you, congressman, [inaudible] i live in texas.

we are terribly over burdened. our medicaid and medicare is burdening. skin in the game to me with the people that are healthy or unhealthy have an ownership. people get in to the medical system when they get sick. i am a cancer patient. i am on medicaid. if there had been an affordable insurance company for me -- i went tw10 years with no benefit. i get cancer and now i'm on disability and medicaid. if i had been able to afford a small policy, something like a $5,000 deductible --

host: let's have the congressman respond. guest: my patient option act would take care of a lady like this. i've already given away hundreds of thousands of dollars of my own services over decades of practice -- practicing medicine. the key to this is lowering the cost for everybody, taking away the government mandates, taking away the government controls. it is government intrusion. a couple examples. the clinical improvement act -- if you came to me and i wanted to know if you had a bacterial infection or a viral infection, i would charge $10 for that. the act would stop me and every doctor and the country for doing that. i would have to send the patient to the hospital and it would pay $75.

that one bill increases the cost to everybody. hippa has cost the health-care system billions of dollars. it has been totally -- it is not needed. we do not need all this government control. we need to put a patients and doctors in charge of making decisions. not some bureaucrat in washington, d.c. we need to change everything in the way health care decisions are made. actuallyand medicaid dictates, even in the private sector -- they control all health-care decisions. that's what my patient option act would do. host: let's go to northwest indiana. independent calller. caller: hi. i have two questions for the gentleman from georgia of to

what you say to poverty-stricken women with illnesses that birth control helps? my second question is, for the poverty stricken women who want to prolong birth, the gop's response is to keep your legs closed or have better morals. it is not not telling you how to live? guest: people in poverty have access to birth control services today through many sources. in fact, my local health department -- patients who cannot afford birth control pills can get them for free. i have given away a lot of birth control pills to my own patients when i was in active medical practice. poverty stricken women can get birth control. this is not about birth control. this is about government control. it is about government dictating

what your health insurance has to give, with its hair transplants, a sex change operations, birth control pills, or anything else. it's about government control, government dictates, which raises the cost of insurance for everybody. that means that everybody has to pay more because of these dictates from washington, d.c. we've got to stop those so the previous caller can afford health insurance. host: you are not morally opposed to birth control? guest: no. i think that the decision a woman and her doctor have to make. not at all. the catholics have that moral belief that their people shouldn't take birth control. that's not the government's decision to take. who is going to control that process? who's going to pay for it? nothing is free.

they do not just drop out of the sky. somebody has to pay for them. what the government is mandating is that we all pay for them. they really want everybody, as the president's already told us, everybody in one health care system and the government controlling everything. that is the whole purpose. the affordable care act was designed to fail. it was designed to force everybody out the private insurance into public insurance and the federal government controls everything. that's where we're headed, unless we replace it with something like my patient option act, which would allow people to make their own decisions about their own health care, so doctors and patients can make their own decisions. host: one last phone call. ruth is a republican. caller: i am a republican this

time. i vote for the best man. we were just talking about the birth control. i am 67 years old. i will be 68 this year. i know that you can go to the health department and you can get this stuff for free, especially if you are a single person. we have way too many single- parent in this country. i get social security. that's my entitlement for working all them years. people who are 40 years younger than me -- i know that if i can work at my age, they can work at their age. you cannot have a houseful of children and expect to work. the government is now paying for their babysitting. guest: the thing is, she is absolutely right. there are sources of medical

services today. everybody actually has access to medical services in this country. they can go to the emergency room. the question is, where did they go, who pays for it, and at what cost? the solution is lowering the cost for patients in charge of making their own health care decisions. lower the cost for all the services. again, its about government control. we need to put patients in control. host: a tweet here. how would you pay for it? guest: my bill, the only part of it is for the premium assistance and the medicare savings account. they would control the decision

making process. they would control how things are paid. it would be our own purchase or our own contribution into the medicare system through our current tax system. it will lower the cost of all goods and services. it would help to fix medicare. we hear our colleagues on the left talk about the republicans not wanting to continue medicare and social security as we know it. both of them are going broke. there are four d's that describe their position. they deny there's a problem with social security and medicare. there's a definite problem. both systems are going broke if we do not do something to change them. republicans are trying to fix it so that people can continue to get it. my patient option act does that

from the medicare side. secondly, they deny there is a problem. they want to delay fixing it, which will make it go broke even quicker. they will destroy the current system and demagogue all of us. they're not going to have it. we cannot continue the program as it is today. we've got to change it. we've got to fix it. host: congressman paul broun, thank you very much for being here. we're going to turn our attention to the other headlines in the papers this morning related to foreign affairs. senator ben cardin, a democrat of maryland, join us next. first, a news update from c-span radio. >> for more reaction on super tuesday results from the house majority leader, speaking earlier on cbs. he says mitt romney will ultimately be chosen as the

party's nominee because "he's the only candidate in this race with a chance to turn this economy around." he went on to say that the former massachusetts governor is the man who has "outperformed all the other candidates." along with the gop presidential candidates, there were congressional candidates. dennis kucinich says his colleague who beat him in yesterday's democratic primary ran a campaign "lacking in integrity and filled with false truths." the election was made necessary by a newly drawn congressional map. she now faces the republican primary winner, who became known as joe the plummer during the 2008 presidential campaign. turning to foreign policy, robert king says talks between

the united states and north korean diplomats are making progress on arrangements for the first u.s. government to date shipment to the country in three years. the ambassador says negotiators will meet again tomorrow. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> i believe it is yet possible that we will come to admire this country not simply because we were born here, but because of the kind of great and good land that you and i want it to be and that together we have made it. that is my hope. that's my reason for seeking the presidency of the united states. >> as candidates campaign for president this year, we look back at 14 men who ran for the office and lost. go to our website, c- span.org/thecontenders. >> the leadership of this nation has a clear and immediate challenge, to go to work

effectively and to go to work immediately to restore proper respect for law and order in this land. >> c-span.org/thecontenders. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we want to welcome back to the table senator ben cardin, member of the foreign relations committee. that's our topic for the next 45 minutes. let me again with iran. here is the headline in "the washington times." he was quoted as saying, "the best we can do is to delay them ." guest: i think we can stop them the president. the president is right. we are putting pressure, real pressure, by the economic sanctions, which are having a

major impact on iran. there's more and more international support for to use whatever we can to prevent iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state. i think we can do this. obviously, it needs to come from the people. it needs to come from the country. we hoped they would do this voluntarily. that's our objective. host: do you think sanctions are the way? guest: i think you need to start with sanctions. military needs to be the last resort. continuing to make these sanctions really work, to tighten it, to do the banking system, which congress approved -- those types of sanctions will have a major impact on iran. we believe it can work. whether it will work or not, we will see. there are other options the president has indicated will be on the table. we have to take steps, along with our international partners. host: here is "the washington times" editorial section this morning. they point to the situation in north korea and lessons learned

from that. they say, "a lesson that should have been learned, even in a destitute country where people have been reduced to eating grass, if the leaders of the votes sufficient resources to weapons development, it can achieve nuclear capability." guest: i would disagree with that. their economy is in shambles right now as a result of these sanctions. you need to know what is happening on the ground. the people are recognizing what is happening to their country. there's an opposition developing within iran. i do not accept that they have a functioning economy. and their oil wealth is not being utilized because of the embargoes, etc.. they are being cut off from

their capacity in their country. i think the people are starting to understand that. we believe there are effective ways to bring about change in iran. sanctions are a major part of that. if that does not work, there are other options on the table. host: what are crippling sanctions? what does that mean? guest: preventing them from receiving certain types of commerce that can be used for their nuclear ambitions. we have prevented them from getting refined oil products. we have prevented them from the banking institutions -- the most recent -- to prevent the iranian bank to be recognized internationally. all that puts a real weight on their economy. it affects the people of iran. the one area that we still maintain trade is with humanitarian issues. host: this is another tweet.

implying we just do not have the weight that we wanted to pressure iran. guest: it needs to be international. i agree with that. you mentioned the russians and chinese. obviously, we are extremely disappointed about their votes in the security council, but they are participating with us on the sanctions. do we need more cooperation from those two countries? absolutely. russia has a direct interest to make sure iraq does not become a nuclear weapons state. -- sure iran does not become a nuclear weapons state. bottom line, if iran became a nuclear weapons state, it would be a game changer in the region. it would cause problems, not just for israel, but would cause problems for the arab states around iran. this is something that the international community understands that the stakes are very high. we have got to do everything we can to make sure this does not happen. host: another tweet for you. guest: sanctions are actions

taken against other countries. i would not agree that they are acts of war. there clearly hostile actions taken against countries. there's no question about that. we will be celebrating the bicentennial of the war of 1812. we consider that to be hostile acts. we declared war against great britain to wonder years ago -- great britain 200 years ago. because the united nations has supported these actions, they do have the legitimacy of the international community. it can end tomorrow, if iran would comply with the international commitments. host: want to show mitt romney you what had to say. he addressed the aipac conference in washington. he went after the obama administration. [video clip] >> there are some in the administration who argue that we can do business with iran's leaders. the president speaks of common interest. let me be clear about this.

we do not have common interest with a terrorist regime. [applause] their interest is in the destruction of israel and the domination of the middle east. it is profoundly irrational to suggest that the ayatollahs things the way we do our share our values. they do not. i will bring the current policy of procrastination towards iran to an end. host: senator ben cardin, your reaction? guest: i agree with mitt romney that iran and the united states have little in common. our objective is to prevent them from becoming a nuclear weapons state. we think the best way to do that is to get as much international support as we possibly can to isolate iran. i think that working. whether it will be enough, time will tell. we cannot permit iran to become a nuclear weapons state. we have no misgivings that they share our values. they do not share our values. we know they're financing

terrorist activities. we know they are a threat to almost every one of their neighbors. their only friend in the region is syria and we see what's happening in syria today. we want to engage in the international community so that we can put as much pressure on iran as possible to prevent them from becoming a nuclear weapon state and to preserve all options to make sure that doesn't happen. host: 1 last headline on the situation in iran. this is from "the wall street journal." when will those sanctions go into effect? guest: i think the next round will be to tighten the financial ability of iran to participate internationally, going after the bank of iran. we are in agreement on that. there's strong support in the congress. we passed resolutions to that effect. i think you will find that not only the united states but our partners around the world will tell iran that they do not have

legitimacy, unless they live up to their commitment to stop their nuclear weapons programs. host: let's move on to syria. here is "the washington times." your colleagues in the senate, john mccain, joe lieberman, have said the u.s. should lead airstrikes into that country. guest: the president said unilateral action by the united states would not be the right course and i think he is right about that. once again, we need the help of the international community. the assad regime in syria has lost legitimacy. it's not just the united states saying that. the arab league has indicated that they are coming to help the resistance in syria. the assad regime needs to end. president assad needs to step down to it if he does not do that in a peaceful way, the

opposition will get stronger and more militant. the united states needs to be in the leadership in facilitating that, working with our international partners. that's why we were -- that's why we are seeking the help of the international community. we are seeking the support of our friends. we were disappointed in china and russia with their vote in the security council. there are different issues that we need to do. we need to do it through the work of the international community. host: the general said assad forces have momentum. he said the situation will get worse before it gets better. how are diplomatic options enough in this situation? guest: we are talking about the help of the resistance to make sure that they have what they need. we are talking about garnering more technical help to protect the people.

our first objective is to make sure that the civilian population is protected. secondly, there are different groups of the opposition that have been mishandled. we want to make sure they have the capacity, but also that they have the expertise to know how to protect the civilian population and how to effectively stand up to this repressive regime. host: also on syria, it was a noted yesterday on the drudge websites that the state department said it would offer more aid to the syrian people and that the administration would not stand in the way of other countries that want to aid the syrian rebels militarily. they call that a major shift in policy. do you agree? guest: the president has made it clear that the united states does not support the assad

regime. that has been the calling europe and the call in the middle east by the arab league. it's clear that we do support a new regime in syria. syria. there are several groups and opposition providing some stability for those who seek refuge from the actions of president assad, and supporting those groups make sense. and i think it is consistent with you of this policy. host: live on c-span 3 starting momentarily is a hearing up in the senate with defense secretary leon panetta and general dempsey. that is live coverage starting momentarily about the situation in series. you can bet there will be back and forth between those two gentlemen and senator john mccain. mike is a democrat from ohio. caller: i can't see how we can keep going over and fighting all of these wars. the iraq war has not been paid

for, the afghanistan war has not been paid for. we were promised by george bush that the iraq war would be paid for through freed iraq will bang. where is the oil? -- paid for by free iraq oil. where is it? we have people coming back, their legs and arms are gone. we need to focus on the people in this country. i feel for these people. i really do. guest: i agree with your point. i opposed the war in iraq. i thought we should not have put our soldiers of the bear. and i think it is time for us to have a more rapid redeployment of our troops in afghanistan. but as it relates particularly to syria, nobody is talking about u.s. boots on the ground. if any model would be close it would be both libya model. not that that would be exactly the same. but libya and the united states working with the international

community was able to provide a safe haven for the civilian population so the new regime could take over from a repressive regime. it was done with u.s. for dissipation but not under u.s. control. -- it was done with u.s. participation. that is what we are looking at, providing assistance for those resisting the regime. host: to what extent the you support the model? you say, go ahead, let's do what we did in libya? guest: we need to have a game plan that can work. we need to have the support of the international community. we need to have an effective organization within syria that can effectively take on the regina. we are not there yet. so, i think our first objective is to protect the civilian population and to provide assistance to the resistance. and to work with technical help to bring about transition as

quickly as possible. host: ocean city, maryland. i believe. caller: good morning, senator. pleasure to talk to you. guest: how is the ocean city? caller: find. i think we are very fortunate to have two of the best senators in the whole country. you and senator mikulski. something has been bugging me a long time. how come so many medical doctors either go away from their practice long enough to become members of the house and senators -- sometimes they go back for a short time and then they return? is it k street drawing them or are they not good enough doctors or aren't they making enough money? guest: i want to see the congress of the united states representative of the people of this country, so the medical profession being present i think is healthy for the diversity in

congress. quite frankly, most doctors who come to the congress are going to take a cut in their income to serve in the congress of the united states. normally after they have completed their congressional careers, they go back to the medical profession. not all, but most. i look at it as a good-faith effort to try to move this country forward, even though at times we will disagree on issues. host: independent from new jersey. good morning, rose. caller: good morning. two questions. the first one is, how come routinely we give our most of iran's weaponry to israel when they ship arms to china? they have the third largest arms dealers in the world. i think all of this is to give israel hegemony in the least because it is a double standard -- now it is called a jewish state of israel, they do not want to include palestinians in

the population. it guest: first of all, israel is our closest ally in the middle east. they are a close friend. they supply intelligence. we do a lot of joint military operations. they are a reliable partner and they share our values. it is not right to say they are shipping arms to any of our concern countries. it is just not correct. it is correct that israel is a jewish state. there are many christian states. there are many -- many muslim states. what makes this robe unique as they protect their rights of all of their citizens, whether jewish or non-jewish -- what makes israel unique. they share our values. let the united states, we give full rights of all of our citizens regardless of their ethnic and religious background. that is how it should be. that is why i think there is that special village of that is so strong. host: what about the first part of the comment, that we give

israel some of our best weapon rate? guest: we share technology with israel, we share it with a lot of our nato partners and key allies. israel is a key ally of the united states and we do share information. frankly, they share information with us. some of their technology has helped advance the america of's securities. they have been cutting edge on many of the technology advancements that has helped our defense. host: florida. harry, republican. you are on the air with senator ben cardin. you have to turn down the television. i will put you on hold. we will move on to pasadena, maryland. laura, democratic callers. caller: thank you for taking my call. i and a constituent of senator cardin. very proud of him. i just have -- i will try to make a brief story in question. i was arrested for taking custody of my mom's dog after she died, i was arrested as

being a fugitive of justice from virginia. i was denied my medications. your office directed me to the local center saying disabled people do not have the right to take their meds -- or wheelchair's, what have you come in jail. isn't that against -- is maryland not in compliance with the 1991 civil rights for americans with disabilities act? i am really terrified of being arrested again. i have a panic disorder. guest: obviously we will do everything we can to protect every citizen of maryland and the nation on their civil rights and their ability to get what they need. the americans with disabilities act and powerful people in our community. i am glad you have been in touch with office and i hope we can be in -- we will be able to answer your questions.

host: clearwater, florida. geraldine, good morning. you are on the air with the senator. caller: i would like to see more common people as representatives. never mind dr. -- how about having nurses and patients -- never mind doctors. the elite de not understand what it feels like. if 20% of the people have medical debt, there is something wrong. why is it all these other countries can have a national health care plan? are they smarter? we need healthy competition in health care. including acupuncture. these have been around for thousands of years. guest: there is going to be a great debate on health care. i and a proud supporter of the affordable care act, the health care reform bill -- i am a proud

supporter of the affordable care back. at long last we say health care is a right and not a privilege. it has done good things as far as expanded coverage for prevention and wellness and giving us a glidepath to reduce health-care costs. but i want to develop an american system. i know a lot of people talk about other countries. we can certainly learn from them. but we should have an american system. we have the best help quality in the world. i represent maryland, which at the university of maryland medical center, a johns hopkins. people from all over the world come to maryland to get their health care needs and training. i want to make sure we preserve that ainge and to make sure that care is available to everyone at an affordable rate -- i want to preserve that edge. host: let me go back to syria and read this tweet -- guest: i agree with that.

he has got to go. host: you agree with the other part that because -- this person is claiming that they have nothing to offer us, and therefore we are not stepping in light in libya. guest: i do not know what you mean they have nothing to offer us. we want to protect the people in that country, we want a new regime. we want a regime that respect the rights of the citizens and will participate with the international community to stop terrorism. the current syrian regime has sponsored terrorist activities and turned on their people. this regime needs to go. the sooner the better. we hope it will be in a peaceful well -- peaceful way. if not, the resistance will continue and hopefully isi will leave. -- assad will leave. host: a tweet that disagrees with you about israel. guest: the residents are gaza

are not is really citizens -- israeli citizens. everyone wants peace with the two states living side by side. everyone living within the boundaries of this state -- state that has full citizenship and her dissipation regardless of their religion or race or ethnic background. the people who live in gaza, the people in west bank, we are very hopeful we can get the peac negotiationse started and we can have to state side by side -- hopefully we can get the peace negotiations started. host: george, you are on the air. caller: my name is george. i am an american citizen. originally from syria. christian background. i do feel that u.s. involvement in syria would eventually lead to the onslaught of hundreds of

thousands of christians in syria. they have to be very careful. the u.s. needs to be very careful and not just support israel. syria going down will help israel and we have no problem with that. but the u.s. needs to be very careful about the syrian population of christian background. i was willing to help the u.s. effort in iraq as a linguist. i wish the united states would listen to the christian community in syria, the only community that has got along with a muslims all over the muslim world. guest: the syrian population is interesting in regards to the minority populations. assad is from a minority ethnic background. the best point the caller made

is we have to be careful. and i agree. the ultimate action in syria needs to be by syrians, and i think it is happening. again, use and libya as an example -- the success of that mission was because the libyans wanted a new government. gaddafi had lost credibility. the same thing is true with syria. assad has lost credibility. people in syria whether of different muslim background a christian, they all agree that al-assad needs to go. what we need to do is assist it and to do it in the most orderly way possible. sometimes we have stronger opportunities than others. a lot will depend on how resistant al-assad will be when the inevitable happens, when his government falls. caller: good morning.

silvan lake. i really have a hard time going along with that. first of all, the united nations has already made up its mind -- two roads, china and russia -- not to get involved. we ought to be out of the united nations. the israel -- if we cannot do better to help them out then we should get out of the way and let them handle it on their own. guest: i think we have to gauge the international community. i am disappointed with what china and russia did in regards to syria. it is outrageous they would not support the security council resolution. so that we were on record against the massacres taking place in it cerium. russia and china are on the wrong side of history, and i think that will show. we saw in the arab spring, what happened.

it is interesting when you look at the arab community, president assad was one of the most popular leaders a few years ago. that has turned dramatically. so, adding russia and china will pay a price in the eyes of the world -- i think russia and china will pay a price in the eyes of the world regarding their vote. we hope will change. we hope we will be able to get their support. the circumstances on the ground is continuing to change, and it is not good for the people of syria. but i think it is important to engage in the international community. i don't think we can walk away. it gives us the type of legitimacy we need to have effective foreign policy -- whether it is voluntary action or have to use the military. host: the russian election -- here is "the washington post" with their editorial. they say that vladimir putin has

talked about reforms, but they write this -- its coat is the obama administration taking the right path in terms of russia -- host: is the obama administration taking the right path in terms of russia? guest: they have a great deal of influence and they can cause a lot of harm. as you can see with their support of what is happening in countries like syria and iran. we need to engage russia. mr. putin is leading the country

in the wrong direction. as the rest of the world is going in the transition of respecting human rights and democratic institutions, since the breakup of the soviet union and the fall of the eye and curtain, russia is moving now in the wrong direction. they made some progress and now they are moving backwards. there are a lot of examples. this election is just one of them. it was not free, fair, and opened. the legitimacy of the election is certainly in question. what russia has done on the safety of journalists is outrageous. and the mininsky the way whistleblower was put in prison and killed just -- that case, where the whistle blower was put in prison and killed. russia entered into the organization for security and cooperation in europe and agreed to basic human rights standards they are violating. we have a right to raise these issues, and we are.

we can be clear that we will stand before russia's accountability on violating basic human rights. host: next to new york -- joe, democratic caller. caller: how are you doing, greta? senator cardin, however you do? guest: very good. caller: very good. i am a counselor, i have a license from the state of new york, to help people who have been -- and i bring them back to being productive citizens. i can speak on what we call people that need help in this country. since you are on foreign policy, let me just tell you. when i hear the republicans talking so loosely about going to war -- i work with these

people who come from the war, the soldiers, that is the people the democrats are for. you should debate that with the republicans. the republicans are out for the military industrial machine and the democrats are for the soldiers. that is a big difference. you need to debate that. guest: i like that line. i will be using it in the campaign. we do support our soldiers. we not only support our soldiers -- i think all americans do -- when they are in, then -- when they are in combat to make sure they have everything they need, but we need to support our veterans to make sure we have -- they have a health care we promised them and their transition back to civilian life is as smooth as possible. we have had many of our military soldiers practice of faith in multiple deployments, away from their families.

-- placed in multiple deployments, away from families. we need to make sure they have what they need in civilian life. host: independent from oakland, california. caller: good morning. i am wondering, what is the difference if iran was to have a nuclear weapon? what would be the difference between pakistan having one, india, and north korea? furthermore, under the mtt law it is their right, iran, to develop nuclear capability. and furthermore -- host: let me take those points for the senate. guest: first of all, a nuclear iran is the stabilizing for the entire region. the problem is there is a strong indication that iran would use that nuclear capacity against its enemy. not just israel, but would use it until other moderate states

in the region in order to get more support for the terrorist and extremist activities. so, the real field -- fear here is they would use this nuclear weapon in a way that would be extremely destructive to life and cause a huge problem of stability in the middle east. it would cause other states that are not nuclear state today to say we have to have nuclear weapons. it would reverse what we have been trying to do, and that is to reduce the nuclear stockpiles. we would see a huge increase in nuclear stockpiles, making this world a less safe place. that is the main problem. and they are in violation of their agreements on non- proliferation and they signed agreements as saying they would not develop nuclear capacity. there are certain benefits to signing those agreements. they have taken the benefits and now they are violating them. host: republican line. san antonio, texas. caller: good morning, senator. daniel meade? i am sorry.

-- can you hear me? yes. i am in my 70's and i have not seen my country in such a mess. i cannot believe we have so many people who are hungry, walking the streets, and homeless. we send our money to help other countries, and this country right here has had a lot of disasters this year. we need to help our own people and quit trying to save the world. the countries we are trying to help not only do not want this over there -- much of it -- the majority of them -- but they have been fighting since bible times. it is time you people up there -- some of you have been here 20 or 30 years -- i think it is too long because nothing has changed. you are not taking care of us in this country. i think you should look at that. and it is not just democrat and republican. that is a name. you are people up there to represent us, this country. not other countries. thank you. guest: i understand your

frustration and your point. our national security budget is a very large budget and i would like to see it more efficient, and i would like to see a smaller percentage of our total spending. i agree with you on the overawes -- overall size of the national security budget. almost all of it is used in defense. the area i would like to concentrate on at least in the next 30 seconds in the money we spend it international development assistance, which i happen to share of the subcommittee. known as foreign-aid. most people think it is a large part of the budget. it is less than 1% of our foreign budget. it helps develop stability internationally. it helps empower countries to be able to grow economically, developing markets for u.s. products, helping our economy, making it less likely we would have to use our military to protect our national interests. it provides a stable source of minerals we need for the u.s. economy. so, as we talk about america's

engagement internationally, yes we have a humanitarian responsibility, along with the international community when a humanitarian disaster occurs, but we also need to engage the community to avoid wars, the use of our military, and to develop more stable regimes that can become markets for u.s. products. host: kalamazoo, michigan. barbara, democratic caller. caller: we seem to be more quickly to jump in for a foreign country than we do our own backyard. it is like -- we don't count. we are just little peons and there is no effort that i can see from the federal government or the state government to help the people -- we have babies walking the streets with their mothers and we are more concerned about jumping into another war? guest: again, i want to point

out, you are not going to get any argument from me that we have to do a better job taking care of the people in this country. i have been fighting for budget -- the democratic party, under president obama, has been fighting for budgets that invest in our own country and jobs training and health care and preventing mortgage foreclosures. and we need to do more and all of those areas. you will have my strong support. i think the democrats will do everything we can to make sure it in fact does happen. we do have a national security issues we have to pay attention to. what we are trying to do is prevent the use of our military by developing stable regimes we can work with. iran with a nuclear weapon could be devastating to u.s. security interests. we do have a concern about what is happening to the people in syria, because of the people we are. we concern ourselves with humanitarian disasters that occur around the world. what is happening in syria today is outrageous and i would hope

no civilized country would want to stand by and watch this and people be killed. we have to do something to try to help. but our first priority is to take care of the people in america. i cannot agree with you more. and we are not doing the job we should be doing. we need good schools, quality health care, safe communities. that should be our top cleric -- priority. host: if we are not doing enough in this country, what is your great for president obama domestically? guest: i think he has turned this country around. look what he inherited. losing 750,000 jobs a month and now we have had 23 consecutive months of private sector job growth. health care. we will see millions of people who did not have insurance will now have -- have helped. look what he did it to restore confidence in our financial markets? i think the president has moved in the right direction. i give him high marks. it fell last on call. andrew, democratic caller. madison, wisconsin. caller: hi.

i really appreciate what you guys are doing in washington but i did have a question regarding iran and the strait of viewers -- strait of hormuz. what would you before if, for example, the innate -- romanians were to close it? -- if the iranians were to close a? guest: we have to make sure it does not happen. i can assure you if they tried to close the straits, there would be international support for action taken against iran to make sure it does not take place. host: senator ben cardin, democrat from maryland. thank you for coming back and talking to our viewers. guest: my pleasure. host: is that time of year again where we announce our studentcam winners for 2012. over the past few months, students from across the country have been working on their documentaries for this year's contest. 75 winning videos have been chosen, and here is a clip of

our grand prize -- grand prize winner. >> neither the army nor were location of r&d well as the idea of taking men, women, and children from their homes, shops, and farms. so the military and civilian agencies alike are determined to do the job of the democracies should come with real consideration for the people. >> they did not call us citizens, because it is illegal to present citizens without due process. >> but they did in prison u.s. citizens without due process. over 110,000 of them will happen to be of japanese ancestry. these american citizens were uprooted from their home, taken away from their businesses, and sent to places like this. one of these citizens was my great uncle john shimokawa. although john was a dental

student in california at beginning of world war ii. host: pam mcgorry, our education program specialist called the grand prize winner on monday, matthew shimura, and here is him receiving the news. in all the judges were impressed by your documentary. your vintage videos and photographs help but the story in context. your interview added perspective. and the way you related your topic to the story of one of your family members was really compelling. and overall quality of your documentary was excellent. so, for all of these reasons you has been -- have been selected to be one of our winters. would you like to know where you place? >> sure. >> you have been selected to be c-span's studentcam 2012 grand prize winner. >> wow. thank you very much. >> you are welcome. can you share with us one thing you learn while you went through this process?

>> i really learned a lot about the process that the japanese americans went through and the struggle for social equality and justice. >> what was in the faber part of making the documentary? >> my favorite part was going to the place myself and seeing the conditions they live in, as well as the editing and putting the whole movie to the. >> would you like to know what you have one? >> sure. >> you have won $5,000. >> thank you very much. >> you are welcome. and your teacher has earned your school $1,000 to use toward video equipment. >> cool. >> pam mcgorry is joining us to tell a little bit more about this year's studentcam competition and won a spirited -- competition. what was the theme? >> it was the constitution and you. we asked students to select any provision of the constitution

and creates a video illustrating why it was important to them. we received a record number of entries this year, over 1200, from 43 states, washington, d.c., and puerto rico. they were judged in middle school and high-school categories. we awarded 75 student prizes and 11 teacher prizes, totaling $50,000. matthew, our grand prize winner, will receive $5,000 for his entry. host: let's talk about the first prize winners in high school and middle school. guest: first prize high-school winner was cole lazzeroni -- carl colglazier a whole school student, and he talked about intellectual property. he talks about patent and copyright and whether or not our current system supports innovation. carl is the question, can congress change the system? he effectively will c-span's

footage throughout his documentary, which is one of the requirements. and he interviewed the director of the u.s. patent and trademark office to get information on this topic. he did an excellent job of explaining a timely and complex topic. in our middle school division, our first prize winner is leo pfeifer. he is an eighth grade student at salmon bay middle school in seattle, washington. in his documentary, "who owns free-speech?" he discusses the first amendment and focuses on the freedom of perth -- of the press. he interviewed a variety of people to get multiple perspectives and investigated the role of the media in our country and how the public gets its information and how we make decisions. he had a very effective use of a variety of c-span programs and leo did a thorough job researching this topic and preventing it very well. host: pam mcgorry, where can

people what to these documentaries and learn more about studentcam if they want to get about next year? guest: you can go to studentcam.org where you can find all this information, but we posted are 75 video so they are there for you to you. in addition, each morning from april 1 through april 27, at 6:50 a.m. eastern time, we will be airing one of the top 27 winning documentary's. along with that, at 9:15 a.m. eastern, you will be able to see interviews with the students who created those documentaries. it be so sure to tune in. host: studentcam.org is the website. pam mcgorry, thank you. we now turn to open phones for the remainder of today's "washington journal." you can start dialing and now about anything you have seen on the show, on the news, our public policy related.

we mentioned this earlier, but i want to let you know what is happening up on the house side today in congress. republicans to push a bill and an effort to add jobs. it says here from the national section of "the new york times" --

however, the story does no to today that president obama and senate democratic leader harry reid had expressed support for these measures. also, the highway bill, both chambers working on that. the senate has a two-year bill. and "cq" today has this headline. john boehner calls of the senate bill an option. that is something the rank and file republicans will be talking to their leadership about today when they need to talk about the highway bill. bob corker, the senator from tennessee weighs in on the highway bill today in the op-ed pages in "the washington post."

and then on housing issues, and other domestic issues, president obama weighed in on that yesterday when he held his first news conference of the year. it says here -- so, that was the present waiting on housing. he also talked about 2012 politics. you can call in with your comments about super tuesday. but go to william, independent

from greensboro, north carolina. caller: hello, greta. i would like to continue with the first lady said. i just think we need a new generation of congressman. just like what the fed -- the guy who went to harvard and study the depression and he is not able to solve this problem but i think he needs to leave. the congressman -- they were there when the taliban started. i would like to ask any senator on the foreign relations committees, why haven't they stopped the afghanistan drugs hitting our shores? how are they kidding our nation? he said about drugs and mexico -- we need a whole generation of congressman, period. make it look like a public high school. what we have in america is

hustlers -- knowing how to get cash, we would not be in deficit right now. host: oklahoma city, republican line. go ahead. caller: i am also interested -- item working on getting a company started. if we get successful, i would like to, for the record, tried to put in thousands of dollars on behalf of the students and teachers. it so all right. and remember to turn the television down or rlc to get the feedback. john from spring valley, california. caller: always a pleasure to talk to you. this is the first time i have never called anybody. i just want to call an thank you for doing such a beautiful job. i am a 23-year navy vet and work for the government. when people are saying they cannot find work -- i have been

overloaded. thank you for doing such a beautiful job. host: west virginia. republican caller. caller: i am just concerned that when the president had his news conference the other day, i did not hear him mention anything about all the damage and devastation and death from these tornadoes. host: why is that important to you? what do you think the government response should be? caller: i do not think we have a lot of money, look into what they say. why couldn't they used the $700,000 they were going to build that track down their -- for guantanamo, to help some of those folks? host: you and others -- if you want to watch the entire news conference, go to c-span.org. on foreign affairs issues, the headlines in the papers about syria are this.

that is the topic before the senate armed services committee. defense secretary leon panetta and general dempsey testifying night -- right now, live coverage on c-span 3. many of you know senator john mccain, the ranking republican on the panel, on monday called for u.s.-led airstrikes in syria. so, if you are interested in that, c-span 3 right now. sam, democratic >> . kentucky. we are in open phones for the rest of "washington journal." calling about a bomb. they should listen to him. he has done a great job the last three years. republicans, they are just --

they don't help, they don't try to do nothing, and it is a group of people i think trying to bring down the ninth stage. they ought to be charged for that axed they are doing and not and getting up there and putting down. if they have helped obama through the last three years like he has tried to do, the united states would be in a whole lot better shape. i think. i think he has done a tremendous job. i think he had done a fine job. people want to get behind him and help them. he is doing things by himself. he has his heart, soul, mind and strength trying to help end if he made a mistake is their job to tell him but not just turn against him. host: michael, independent from connecticut. caller: how are you doing?

i am interested -- all of these republicans, do any of them really believe what they are saying? all they have are talking points that they go on over and over again and they never seem to say anything. just the same old stuff. and this pipeline coming down through the ninth of states, they want to sell the oil bank -- through the united states, they want to sell the oil overseas and the other guy was saying it costs money to ship will abroad -- isn't that where we get our oil from? how is it possible? how does any republican really believe anything they are really saying? as far as these guys running for president, come on, they are a joke. host: on the republican primary, super tuesday yesterday. we dug into the results of the first hour of "washington journal" but if you are interested in more, if you go to c-span.org and campaign 2012, you will find the interactive map that will show you where the

delicate counts stand. 4154 mitt romney, 1764 rick santorum -- 415 for mitt romney, 176 for rick santorum. and continue to view our website, c-span.org, and our campaign 2012 hub as the coverage continues. we will keep the cameras on the candidates as they move on. all four bowling to fight on. now follow, north carolina. george, independent. caller: about the four republicans. it is more than obvious the majority and -- of the people of this country do not want them for president, none of them. instead of being patriotic and be man enough to step down so the republican party can replace them, they refuse to do that. it tells me they do not really care what the american people

want. they want what they want. that is what kind of politician they will be. they need to step down and find someone else. host: who should be the replacement? caller: whatever it is i will vote for obama. the only person i would be considering would-be jeb bush. i think his brother was a terrible precedent but jeb bush would be different. host: what do you like? caller: is politics. -- his politics. bush did it for a pension every year. that might be a little bit crude. i don't know. i did not like him. i think he lied. jeb bush, i like his politics. host: can another bush win? could there be a third one? caller: i hate seeing this country do that but jeb bush is a good guy and i think he would be good. i think a lot of people would back jeb bush. he would be the only one i would consider better than obama.

host: massachusetts. ralph, a democrat. caller: mitt romney did a lot of bad things in massachusetts and everybody believes this guy would be a good president. he took all the hard drives and every computer in massachusetts when he was governor? [coughing] host:amy, republican. caller: i am a little sleepy. maybe i should just hang up. just, you know, i am a republican but i think it is kind of sad that barack obama has put his heart and soul supporting -- what you call it -- the medical system -- together -- that we are just

going to trash that. i think we would be just spinning our wheels for another two years getting rid of it. i think the republicans, even though i like mitt romney, i think they should give that man a little more respect -- in retrospect, some of his ideas. host: we will stay in michigan did in detroit. tom, democratic yemen. caller: good morning, c-span. thank you for c-span and everything. item one of those people -- the last segment i believe was on the middle east, syria, and iran, or somewhere -- maybe it was second to last but i just wanted to say a couple of things about that whole issue. there are so many other countries in that region that have so much more at stake than the u.s. does. why does it have to be our responsibility every time something goes wrong in the middle east and their

governments to start killing people? why can't europe get involved? where are the french, english, the germans, the standards -- where the hell are all of those people? why do we have to be the instigators in all of these wars? why do we have to be the ones who stepped up for the little people -- the third world countries. iran is not exactly third world. they have a lot of resources. but the way they treat their people, we should be up in arms about that, but the e ary time m in some middle eastern country. even a nuclear problem in r&d people in america -- they just want to make it easy by controlling their monetary system, shipping the bank business in all parts of the world. they cannot do business anywhere. and i think the russian and

chinese are right -- just leave them alone, let them play their cards, and if they get too many cards in their hands, well then the russian and the chinese and the europeans can step in. have a great day. h., here is don ritchie from camping 2012 what this tweet -- beyond that, "usa today" says this about the exit polls.

as far as former speaker newt gingrich, this is what "usa today" had to say. patricia, independent, illinois. go ahead. caller: i want to echo the frustrations i am hearing being expressed by many of your callers. i believe, as do other callers that america needs to practice isolationism to a great degree because in fact we can no longer afford to intervene as we have been doing. as an aside, i am a

professional veteran advocate and i conducted a desert storm think tank, and with that said, i would say to you is it is time for america to consider the true cost of war -- when in fact there are booths on the ground in any place in this world. our veterans today are suffering silently. many of them are dying. the suicide rate amongst returning veterans is higher than the rate of suicide among civilians. one out of six of our returning veterans are homeless. 50% of our veterans -- more than 50% actually are suffering from some form of illness which is not being addressed by the va, despite the dog and pony shows that you hear ongoing, financed

by the va, and i am utterly appalled. i deal with sick and dying veterans, veterans who have not received appropriate care, veterans who are prone to commit suicide, become homeless, lose their families, and in fact, if we did not factor in the cost of our health care to our returning veterans, then indeed we are losing the war is that we are fighting across this nation. host: what do you do for a living? caller: i may professional veteran advocate. i conduct a desert storm think tank and veterans advocate -- by a grant from the john d and catherine macarthur foundation. caller: there was this article that a economist wrote that said if rick santorum could not win

50% of every state last night, then mathematically he cannot get the number of delegates to win the nomination. why would he still be in there? host: that is something in it romney, his staff was arguing last night, something he will continue to r&d. here is "the baltimore sun" this morning with their super tuesday story. california. david, independent caller. caller: we have been talking about jobs and the economy for

three years. i contend that with automation technology, that the traditional thinking is never going to get it done. be as manyply won't -- the same old jobs. in education, we keep hearing there is no magic bullet. i contend there is. i sent you guys and email trying to have a conversation with you to present some of these ideas. go to "there is a magic bullet -- thereisamagicbullet.com. it is being done in germany right now, which shows the smarter solution is to redistribute work. what that means is rather than

trying to redistribute wealth, which means one person has to work for another, the smart solution is to short do the work today a little bit. productivity gains. host: technology is the key? caller: technology is happening regardless. you had a gentleman on yesterday, and he asked can you pinpoint the time when all of this happened. i did not know if you remember the question. but it has happened and accelerated with the invention of the microprocessor. it has made us infinitely more productive. so, repetitive tasks, things that we use our bodies as a machine for, are no longer going to produce the number of jobs they once did. host: what about new technology? bill beatty talk about the new

ipad -- faster chips, sharper screens. they will unveil in california are around 1:00 p.m. that time, and a lot of headlines in the papal this morning about that replacing the pc. caller: yes. well, tablet -- pc's have been part of the technology for 20 years and you are now seeing it vance. productivity is a double-edged sword. productivity create jobs, it increases our standard of living, on the way up of a new technology. but once a market peaks, what happens is that of the technology also reduces the number of jobs. if you go to thereisamagicbullet.com, with allen and the video what happens. what happens with technology, with production and

manufacturing, it will eventually get to the point where the market peaks and the number of jobs needed in at that given field or technology or ag e, we might call the, it will assets, clique approach 0. host: that was david in california. we told you this news yesterday. this is the "new york times" obituaries section. congressman from new jersey guys 77. at former chairman of the congressional black caucus who achieved the long-held goal to become the first black congressman from the jersey, he died in livingston, jersey, from complications of colon cancer. fort worth, texas. tom, a republican. caller: thank you for taking my call. i know we are in the presidential race and everything and people -- i believe that whatever we do, we have to have somebody in there

besides president obama. i am a disabled veteran. i have been overseas multiple times. i find that everybody is always talking about the president, the president, the president. people, i think, need to realize that he is not the only one who makes decisions in this country. we have the house of representatives and the congress. unless those people start acting in america's best interest and not their own best interest, i think we are going to have a problem. host: i hear your point. can i have you weigh in on what president obama said yesterday at his news conference? here is the headline in "the washington times." he blasts candidates big talk on the situation in iran and overseas and says in his news conference -- if they are advocating for work, they should say so and explain to the american people.

caller: i agree, if they are advocating more they should say so. i agree with that. he talks a lot, they talk a lot. everybody is -- i don't believe that they are speaking the truth. and i also don't believe we need to send our kids -- i spent 22 years and i just came back. i do not think we need to keep sending our kids over there to get killed when back in the 1800's and stop, before we could get back and forth overseas, our country did just fine. we do not need to keep sending our people there to places where they do not want us. because they do not want this over there. everybody says, they are happy we are there. no, they cannot one does. they would just as soon see us leave. we keep sending our people over there to get killed for them, and they are the ones -- they are the ones who are killing us. we need to take care of our country before we take care of

theirs. host: turning domestically, here is a tweet from gary duncan. republicans will be taking up what they have dubbed their jobs act today on the floor. it is a package of smaller bills addressing -- for small businesses, to help them write off costs and hopefully create jobs. the debate begins momentarily. the house will come in at 10:00 a.m., and we will, of course, have live coverage of that on the house floor. as we told you earlier, c-span 3 is covering the leon panetta /dempsey hearing before the armed services committee about the conflict in syria. we will try to get in one last phone call. the house is about to come in. in illinois -- don, independent caller. caller: i would like