bill and at 9:00, our series on international news bureaus in washington, d.c. continues. ♪ host: even though congress is out this week, the debate on how to deal with the impending sequestration continues. today is tuesday, july 3. we are talking about a planned being shopped around the capital that would bypass huge defense budget cuts scheduled to take place next year when sequestration goes into effect. this morning, we would like to know what is your message to congress on sequestration? to get involved in the conversation, here are the numbers --

you can get in touch with us via social media -- we want to begin by showing an article that we got from "the hill"

here to talk to us more about that on the telephone is carlo muniz, a reporter on "the hill." guest: thanks for having me. host: about this proposed work group the senator ayotte is shopping around the capital. does this sound like another super committee to fix what the other super committee could not fix? guest: in a certain sense, you are right. from my understanding, the working group the senator ayotte was gauging support for would really be focused on the one-year proposals that republicans in the house and the

senate or looking at. senator ayotte along with senator mccain and senator kyl and senator rubio and others are looking at a one-year postponement of sequestration which is scheduled to go into effect early in january. rep buck mckean is looking at a similar program. i think the working group she was looking at, i don't think these working groups would tackle the entire sequestration issue the way the super committee did. host: so there would be a working group on the senate and the house side? guest: that is my understanding. this idea end is being shopped around. senator ayotte mentioned the idea last week in a speech.

it is just one of those things on trying to gauge support for lawmakers on the issue. host: you also wrote that adam smith said the idea of the working groups has been informally discussed among democrats in both chambers including carl levin. what is the reality of them actually coming together and making these working group to work? guest: we will have to wait and see. there are some pretty bane issues that we have yet to see republicans and democrats move forward on. with democrats, the major issue for them his revenue increases and addressing the tax code. a one concessions in whatever

potential bipartisan agreement that is reached to include some of those issues. on the republican side, there seems to be a little movement regarding those issues but again, we will have to wait and see if that will be enough to bring everybody together in the same room on the house and senate side to get these working groups together. host: we are talking with carlo muniz about his recent story on working groups to form a plan to keep the sequestration from taking effect at least for one year. even though congress is out this week, on their phone calls being traded back and forth? is any work being done behind closed doors to make these working groups a reality? guest: i thank 7.

-- i think so. not just folks and the armed services committee but i think there are other lawmakers -- i would assume, sort of, again, floating be sort of similar issues and trying to see what kind of support they can gauge from them -- i would not be surprised -- it is fourth of july weekend -- but i would not be surprised if people were trading phone calls and e-mails in preparation for everyone coming back into town. host: are you hearing any plans for next week for any formal meetings or will it continue to be something that is worked on on the back burner? guest: nothing officially, but there has been a lot of work going on from what i am familiar with on the senate

side. there has been a group -- we have written before that there has been a group of about 15-30 senators coming together, throwing around ideas as far as possibly getting a sequestration-type agreement in place. nothing formal, but it will definitely be a busy time come next week when everyone is back. host: thank you for being on " washington journal" this morning. guest: thanks for having me. host: our question for the first 45 minutes of the program -- your message to congress on sequestration -- we will show you the numbers and get too involved in the conversation but first we want to show you a couple of messages we have gotten on our facebook page.

that is some of the input we have been getting regarding our question -- your message to congress on sequestration -- more from the article by carlo

iuniz - to the funds, a hickory, n.c., airline republicans. what is your message to congress

on sequestration? caller: i would like to see some cuts from the budget. i heard a report yesterday that the navy was going to run half of their fleet for $26 per gallon of fuel. i would like some democrats to tell me where they are don't get the money for this 30 million people they will put on medicaid and give a subsidy for the attacks code. thank you. host: we will be talking about the affordable care act and looking at the expansion of medicaid as well. and the exchange is outlined in the affordable care act. that is coming up at 7:45. we want to get folks involved in our conversation for the first 35-of the program -- your message to congress on

sequestration -- we've got a tweet here - back to the phones, washington, our line for independents - caller: good morning, i believe i stand with the majority of america. the solutions are there. this is not necessary that we are going through -- congress will not do its job. they won't use the talents and abilities they have to resolve

the issues and get us back on track in this country. i feel we should start a referendum for the whole congress in contempt of america. i believe that is the only solution right now. they just won't do their job. host: pasadena, maryland is our next caller on our line for republicans. caller:hi, i feel they signed it so they have to do it. they can change their minds at the last minute instead of just being vague -- what do you call it? -- it is an across-the-board sequestration. it is every department. that is my opinion. host: when you go to the polls in november, is sequestration going to be a thing you're

thinking about in terms of reelecting your congressman, senator, or the president? caller: no, that's not the issue. i feel we need to elect people who know the constitution of the united states and know the history of the united states. that is who i want to relax. host: next up is fairfax, va. on our line for democrats. caller: good morning, sir. thank you for the wonderful job you have been doing. this is my first time calling. but congress -- the congress and the senate have to work together. the problem we have in this country is that they are not working together. that have to work together and

we don't need a massive cut. thank you. host: we've got this from lawrence j. korb -

we will get back to more reasons to keep the defense budget sequestration cuts in place. back to the phones, anchorage, alaska, on airline for independents. caller:yeah, i just wanted to say that ultimately, going back to the issue at hand, i cannot help but be reminded of a teacher and my grandma once war that said -- i think we have

completely lost touch with reality in regards to defending our nation when really it is -- are biggest threat is to ourselves trying to figure out the future. and i'm 23 years old trying to refrain from using any foul language because this is public domain but anyways, i want to say that they should be nice to each other and not worry about such nonsense. host: let's move on to our line for democrats. caller: good morning. >host: what is your message on sequestration? caller: congress will not do anything because they are not

going to support president barack obama. they will not act. they are determined to do just what they're doing now, nothing. it is a shame. if i had an idea democrat or republican, to make this country go forward with things that are necessary to make america better, it should not be about politics. it should be about policy. they are so embarked on not supporting the president of united states, they will do nothing. republicans need to be ashamed of themselves. host: that as from savannah, georgia. we've got more from facebook --

those are some messages from facebook. danny briggs up leon panetta, secretary of defense, and he had these comments recently on sequestration. >> sequester will cut another $500 billion across the board from our national security

budget. it will do it in a way that threatens to hollow out our national defense. i have seen extraordinary examples of courage and sacrifice over the past year in the men and women i have met and the war zones, in the wounded warriors that i have met here at home. they are willing to put their lives on the line in order to protect our country. they deserve better than the threat of sequestration. to often today, the nation's problems are held hostage to the unwillingness to find consensus and compromise. in the face of the gridlock, artificial devices like sequestered are resorted to in order to somehow force action.

in the absence of action, sequester could very well threaten the very programs critical to our national security. both defense and domestic. host: 04 comments led by secretary of defense leon panetta last week. here are two more reasons to keep the defense budget sequestration cuts according to lawrence korb at the center for american progress.

back to the phones, your message to congress on sequestration, manhattan, new york, on our line for democrats. caller: yes, if the united states could take creed of this country, we could cover all people. what happens to the doctors who took an oath to save lives? the person has to live whether it is their hearts or anything, they charge ridiculous rates. you go into the hospital now and they give you a band-aid.

that is a couple of hundred dollars. if you need a heart valve, it can cost you a fortune. host: we will keep it focused on your message to congress on sequestration. that is up from our e-mail. dallas, texas, on our line for democrats -- caller: good morning. i am totally upset with congress. why are they on recess again? they will not do their jobs and if they knew sequestration was coming up but they don't want to

act because they don't want tthe defense budget to be cut. host: is your message to them? what should they do? caller: they should do their job. if you pass a law, go through with it. let it go through. don't change your mind at the last minute because of special interests that are being paid. that is the bottom line. that is the problem. congress is being influenced by all the money and the supreme court made that clear. host: the lead story in this morning's "the washington times" -

back to the phones, our discussion on your message to congress on sequestration, for royal, va., on our line for republicans. are you there? to right, let's move on philadelphia -- caller: how are you? what's your message to congress on sequestration? caller: my message is leaded k again. my message is democrats in the senate and house -- why aren't

you working with mitch mcconnell and why are you working with john boehner? senator levin, just say no to mitch mcconnell and no in the house of representatives to mr. boehner. that's all the republicans have done. why in the world with their work with him on this? this as a campaign tool. the republicans want to touch medicare, medicaid and sells security under sequestration but they don't want any cuts to the defense budget. show where the republicans really stand on this side of corporate interests. host: it was senator ayotte, a republican from new hampshire, who was working to put together these workgroups to see if they can avoid sequestration. what do you think about a republican reaching across the

aisle and reaching across the chambers to the house of representatives to see if they can come up with some kind of alternative to sequestration? caller: i think it is strictly to show republicans in the light i just mentioned. republicans can say that the republicans fought against sequestration, so did the democrats. this is all about political coverup. host: from "the wall street journal" --

the factory slump as one of the lead stories in "the financial times." you can read more about that story in both newspapers. rockville, maryland, on our line

for democrats -- republicans -- is your message on sequestration? caller: time to start doing some work out there. i run a small business and all it has done in the last decade is hurt small businesses with their policies. this sequestration will damage even more. i will not accept that. if they don't get off their butts, they will not get voted in. host: the house members and senators will say that the time they're spending away from washington is not "stay-cation but they are back in their districts and doing their jobs. what do you think? caller: may be so and i hope so but i doubt that. congress and john boehner have decided to take many breaks and they're not getting the job done. if i had an employee like that that took that many vacations and that many brace, they would be fired. host: that is from our line for

republicans. we have a tweet -- another headline this morning from "usa today" -

we want to remind our viewers and listeners that we will be covering the vice-president's address this morning to the national association -- the national education association annual meeting taking place in washington, d.c. live on c-span 3 at 10:00 a.m. he will be introduced by his wife, dr. jilkl biden. for more information, go to our website, c-span.org. our line for independents - your message to congress on sequestration? caller: i think the military budget can be cut even more. i think 14% over 10 years. when i was in the military in 1965, i got a small taste of it.

the food they would throw away makes you sick. everything that the military buys is way overpriced. host: give me an example of where you would make defense budget cuts? airplanes, ships, troops? caller: some of the planes, some of the ships -- we have too many support groups and the military. -- m the military. - 0-in the military. i was in the infantry and we had too many support groups. we did not need them. host: that was from massachusetts. more from the list of six

reasons to keep the defense budget sequestration cuts in place. in port royal, va., an airline for republicans, you are on "the washington journal." caller: i find myself amazingly

agreeing with the center for american progress on one thing which is that the national debt is the greatest threat to national security. unfortunately, how to deal with, they are off in left field. the situation here is that the sequestration is nothing more than kicking the can down the road again and again. i am hoping to see, i am wasting my breath, but i am -- i would like to see a republican and democrat who see the freight train coming and are willing to sacrifice their career to try to move america off the tracks so that the train does not run us over. the dollar has been undermined and there is no way to fix it anymore without goring everybody's ox. i mean hurting everybody from

the wealthiest to the porous, federal spending has to be brought down to the level they taken or the dollar will collapse. if these guys are not willing to face up to that, will whole thing is a waste of time. tell people the truth. host: what do you think about the idea being floated in congress of the senate working groups? caller: it is a complete waste of time. -- we here's the problem have our politicians trying to put political solutions onto economic problems. that is a complete waste of time. it is hurting the country. they have to address this strictly in terms of dollars and cents. everybody's ox has to be gored - 40% across the board and sen because if they don't, the dollar will collapse.

the amount of money the government goes directly affects the value of the currency. as long as our currency is being seen around the world as getting near worthless, our entire way of life is in jeopardy. host: we will leave it there. more messages via facebook --

and we've got this tweet - tennessee, on our line for independents - caller: hello, sir, how are you doing? host: is your message to congress on sequestration? caller: in 30 seconds i can sum it up. i believe the caller before the last caller covered a pretty well. our currency really is the status of being a reserve currency which is the most important thing is for his national security especially with the world in the state is in today. i sit here and watch these bankers making billions of dollars collectively, scratching

the backs of congress and other politicians. as a veteran who has served in these wars who has seen the contrast, the contractors are making $200,000 + per year over there. i am wondering why we are actually doing what we're doing. host: that is your 30 seconds.

poplar bluff, missouri, on our line for republicans. caller: i am old man. i was in korea. i lost three brothers in world war ii. i have lived a long time. i lived through roosevelt on of. host: tell us what your messages to congress on sequestration. caller: i will tell you one thing, there is too damned much money given away in foreign countries. we've got a problem here in the united states and we better take care of it. host: in "the washington times this" morning --

you can read more about that in "the washington times." power line for democrats -- caller: good morning. host: is your message to congress on sequestration? caller: the problem here is a

lack of empathetic leadership in congress. we americans who have fought to make this a great country, the work they are doing and congress has a lack of leadership. the biggest problem today is leadership, not money. as long as we continue to go down this road, we're heading for extinction. host:"the atlanta journal constitution"has this as its lead story --

miami, fla., on our line for independences - caller: i thought i heard you say they are trying to cut military peck. host: that's right, through sequestration. i caller: think we should start with the congress, the president, the past presidents and cut out their retirement. they don't need it. clinton has made $59 million just making speeches. i understand they get $400,000

per year in retirement when they leave as the president. we've got a lot of living presidents out there. they should stop giving them all this retirement money. all ofn't deserve -- congress does not deserve it. barney frank just left and he made a mess out of fannie mae and freddie mac. that is why we are in a lot of the problems we are in. they don't have to pay for anything. they wasted five years on the baseball player for one drug. i heard this morning that pfizer was fined $2 billion for killing people. they don't get in a criminal thing with all the vaccines that are killing kids. host: we will leave it there. in "the washington times" --

more on that in "the washington times" this morning. we are talking about your message to congress on sequestration. this is from our line for

republicans. caller: the preamble of the constitution says to provide for national defense of the common good. the war in iraq has nothing to do with the common -- with national defense. we lost 5000 soldiers there. you cut out the programs to help the poor, then you could end up killing more than 5000 americans every year. the iraq war was 10 years. every year, you kill more americans by cutting out services to those people if you go the way they are going to with sequestration. host: that is from airlines for

republicans. a recent article in "the washington post" -- the co author of the article will be joining us in a few minutes. later on the program, congress passed a major transportation bill before the fourth of july recess. will top the to the head of an association representing highway and transportation departments in all 50 states and what it means. you're watching "washington journal." day is tuesday, july 3. sequestration is a 22-point word. in scrabble.

>> the life of a seller include scrubbing the deck, working the sales, climbing a lot, what ever the duties assigned, gun drill practice, but by the end of the day, you are ready for rest but you don't get a full eight hours of sleep it is four hours on, four hours of. >> this weekend, the life of an enlisted man aboard the u.s.s. constitution during the war of 1812. >> the sailor lived in fear and the possibility of being whipped by a cat and nine tales. it was carried by a petty officer in a bag and the thing a seller never wanted to see is a petty officer getting ready for a flogging. we still use the phrase today -- don't let the cat out of the bag. >> that is sunday at 7:00 p.m. eastern. also this weekend, more from

"the contenders," our series on key political figures who ran for the presidency and lost but changed the political landscape. this weekend, governor al smith. host: our guest is the senior correspondent with kaiser health news and is here to understand how states are reacting to the nation's health-care law. the states must start online marketplaces for insurance and expand medicaid coverage. onlinealk about the marketplaces also known as exchanges. tellus how was it written into the affordable care act? how was it supposed to work and how -- and what was the outcome of the supreme court decision last week? guest: in 2014, most people in the country will be expected to buy insurance. some people will get help. they will get subsidies.

these are people between 100% and 400% of the part a level which goes up to $90,000 for a family of four parties marketplace must be up and running so people can purchase this insurance by the beginning of 2014. the supreme court decided that the individual mandate that requires people to purchase insurance is constitutional. this was not expected. a lot of people expected the supreme court was going to kill this portion of the law. this support -- the supreme court did not so this moves forward. the states are moving forward now. they know they have to move forward and create these marketplaces, these exchanges. if they do not, the federal government needs to be ready to step in with the exchange with federal exchanges or some kind of partnership, a hybrid where

the status of the work and the federal government does some of the work. either way, they have to be ready to go in 2014 which means they have to be set up sometime over the next year. the problem is that only 14 states at this point have passed legislation to move forward with this. many states, will they be ready? that is a big question. host: why are the state's delaying this? the court has ruled on this. it is block of land. why not proceed? guest: a lot of states especially with republican governors were hoping beyond all hope that the individual mandate orgel whole lot was going to be struck down by the supreme court. they were waiting. they did not want to move ahead. now that we have the decision, some of those states still are reluctant to move forward. they are saying they just don't want to do it, they don't want to be a part of this, they are very much open that mitt romney

wins the presidency in november and then the republicans could repeal the law. it takes more the mitt romney winning. it would also take -- the republicans would have to control the house and senate with at least 60 votes host: we are talking about the expansion of the marketplace is also known as the exchanges and the expansion of medicaid coverage. our guest is the senior correspond with kaiser health news. throughout the conversation, we will be referring to a map you can find on the kaiser family foundation.org website that shows the status of state action regarding the insurance exchanges. it is quite a rainbow. it goes from the dark orange states like arizona and mexico and nebraska which are studying the options to texas and

oklahoma which are states that have no significant activity. planning for the exchange is the light blue which appears to be arkansas and the medium blue are states that have established a state exchange like washington, oregon, and california and the deep dark blue, those states, their decision is not to create a state extension that includes louisiana, mkaine and new hampshire. we will go over that more as we get into the conversation. if you like to get involved, the numbers are on your screen -- our first call for our guests comes from river falls, wisconsin on our line for republicans. caller: good morning, cspan. thanks for taking my call. did she say that the supreme court ruled that the mandate was

constitutional? i think that is wrong. it is a tax. nancy pelosi tried to say it was . tax through a panel tiber i have to correct you on that guest: you are right about that. the supreme court said technically that the mandate was a tax which made it constitutional. you are technically correct. demanded itself is not constitutional but it ruled it was a tax and that means it can go forward. host: not to get too far into the weeds on that but one of the articles in "the wall street journal" this morning has this headline --

is there a difference between a penalty and a tax? guest: i find that very interesting because immediately after the ruling, the day of the ruling, congressional republicans were coming out and saying it is a tax. they say democrats are taxing. the political discussion, their political message and change to democrats are trying to tax you. it is curious that mitt romney would position himself this way. host: next is our live from democrats from manhattan, new york. caller: good morning. did she say kaiser? that's great because kaiser has a 10-question test to see how much the public knows about the health care bill that was just passed.

it was found constitutional by the supreme court of america. the idea to focus on this being a tax when it is a penalty, to me, is a waste of energy and waste of time. the bottom line is, we're talking about american citizens and health care. nobody thinks about the hospital until i have to go use a hospital ther. i think mitch mcconnell will stand up and say he does not care about the 30 million people that do not have health care. we have a senator who's worth $400 million. showing insensitivity toward the public. host: new york, according to the map on the kaise family foundation website is a state that has established an exchange. explain to us how that would work. guest: basically, the exchange

will work similarly but not exactly the same in every state. what they will share in common is that individuals -- there will be two types of exchanges, one for individuals and one for small businesses in every state. it could be a fully steak-run exchange or it could be a kind of state/federal partnership or it could be the federal government coming in temporarily until a state can get its own exchange up and running or permanently. individuals will be able to go to the exchange, they might have subsidies, but might not have subsidies, and they will be able to see a menu from private insurance options that will be available to them. they cannot be turned away from insurance which is different than it is now even if you have

a pre-existing condition. your health status is not great. you cannot be turned away. you may have to pay more than healthier individuals but there are limits on that. you can only pay so much more than help your folks. host: back to the funds and arlington, va., on airline for republicans. caller: the guest has made an error. that has been brought up before. the court only passed on the constitutionality when they found that the proposed law was unconstitutional under the commerce clause. the commerce clause has been found to be not valid. they founded constitutional under the taxing power, which

was stated, which makes the taxing power of the vehicle through which congress can pass the kinds of laws that may or may not be acceptable to the public. simply because the chief justice said that you can't tax almost anything. what about states that have only two insurers in them and there are some of those? what kind of choice does the citizen now have that he did not have before? thank you for your time. host: that is from arlington, virginia. virginia is a state that is studying the exchange option. guest: there is no guarantee there will be significantly more choices in any state. it depends on what insurers come up with. they are talking about coming up with new products that will be in exchanges. the federal government guarantees that there will be a certain number of choices.

i cannot say exactly what that is but of the federal government decides but there are insufficient choices and the state, it will come in and do what it needs to do to make sure there are choices. it does not appear there will be any problems with a lack of choices in states. it just does not look like that will be a possibility. host: next up is fairfax, va., on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. my question to you is -- why are some many people hating this law? we could go out and spend billions of dollars in other countries and we can't even help our own selves. that is so bad. i don't know how people are so different. people have money and they can afford it and they don't want others who can afford it.

it is affordable for everybody, the health care law. why is republicans so hypocrite? host: this law seems to be a lightning rod. guest: it definitely is. public opinion is split over this law. it is generally split between those who like and don't like it. that has remained relatively the same since the passage of bill law. has not changed much. some of the reasons why people don't like it is they don't want to see big government and their health care. that is their argument. people are also concerned about the cost of the bill. they see the economy and talk about the federal budget. they don't want the government spending so much money. those are two of the reasons given. talk to us about the cost of the

bill guest: host: talk to us of the cost of the bill. the federal government has made some money available to states for planning and to run the states at the beginning. i think the number is $850 million so far. they said there would make additional money available to states that are starting to prepare for exchanges. perhaps they didn't do much work before the supreme court ruling and now they want to get into beit. not every exchange is going to look the same. some will be more involved in the insurance aspect of the industry in their states than

others. some will create a marketplace. there is something with that for awhile in this country which is an online exchange essentially. people already can go on to e- health and they can get bids back from their insurance. some states will keep a fairly simple and other states will do quite a bit to monitor insurance companies and to look at their rates to become more involved. it is impossible to say how much it will cost. host: dennis of massachusetts in dennis. you have a town named after you? caller: if a state does not set

up an exchange, the government can do for the state. if the state does not buy into the medicaid expansion, what is the exchange going to do? 95% of the activity of the exchange is coordinating the subsidized and free medicaid expansion health care insurance. host: how long have you been living in massachusetts? were you there when governor romney was running the show? caller: all 66 years, yes. host: how d.c. the plant running in massachusetts -- how do you see the plan running in massachusetts? caller: you said texas is still

thinking about it. most will be done by perot and eds. our exchange here is run by perot on to an outsourcing basis. it is a website. your guest just mentioned e- health. host: ok, dennis in dennis, massachusetts. we're showing the website right now. massachusetts is light blue on the map of your websites. guest: it has established an exchange thanks to mitt romney which was there when he was governor.

most people know that massachusetts started out when mitt romney was governor. they pass their own law with their own individual mandate to require most people to purchase insurance. they established the first state exchange in essence where people can go to buy insurance. massachusetts to not have a large percentage of uninsured people to begin with. they were able to decrease even more after they passed their law. host: louisiana it is in dark blue, which is a sign that they are not considered an exchange whatsoever. we have some sound from the louisiana governor who over the weekend talk about why his state is not going to be complying with this element of the national health care law. [video clip]

>> what are your not going to do? are you not going to cover people in your states? >> do we set up these exchanges and do we set up medicaid. i do not think it makes sense to do that. think about adding millions of americans -- this is going government health care. listened to the experts of government. health care is going to go up 7% in 2014 as the law begins to be enacted. host: marilyn werber serafini, your thoughts about what bobby jindal has to say. guest: he is not the only republican governor to speak. we're going to wait.

we want to wait and see if governor romney can get elected. can he knocked down the bill if he is elected? host: two other states are the same position, you hampshire and maine. guest: republican governors have been split on this issue. some have said, let's wait and that this will get knocked down edith to the supreme court or through a president and congress after november. some are moving forward. "we do not like this but we don't want the federal government running an exchange in our state. we know we have to start getting ready now."

there is really a split on this now. host: howard dean, former vermont governor, responded to what governor bobby jindal had to say and talked about the expansion of medicaid. we will take a look at that. [video clip] >> and what governor bobby jindal is proposing not to do -- can you explain the impact of that? the exchanges where you can go and buy a program. >> i think that is a no-brainer. in my state with that universal health care for 20 years. louisiana is 48 in the country

in terms of industrial accidents and so forth. by expanding medicaid, the renter 40,000 -- 340,000 people get coverage. >> and the government pays for it. guest: there is differing opinions. most republican governors do not like this, but there's a split. on moving forward -- some are moving forward and others are going to wait. host: the supreme court ruled and part involve the expansion of the mandate. how will they be moving forward with that and where the money

will be coming from? guest: that is the big question and that is why this is so controversial. the supreme court did what most people thought it was not going to do. the medicaid expansion is optional for the states. the health law is estimated to get insurance to about 32 million people, and expand to 32 million people. half of that expansion is supposed to come through medicaid. the medicaid portion of that, states were going to be required to expand their medicaid to everybody under the -- with incomes up to 133% of poverty.

that is about an income of about of18,000 for a single person, $31,000 for a family of four. states will no longer be required to do this. florida has come out the strongest. states and governors have said, i do not think this is a good thing and i probably will not be doing this. we're talking about florida, wisconsin, idaho. his letters in those states have made comments to that affect. where's the money going to come from? democrats are saying this is insane, a half to take this.

-- you have to take this. it will fund slightly less and eventually find 90% of the cost of the expansion population. states are saying it is too much. our budgets are strained and we cannot do wit. host: in "the wall street journal," they talk about florida and some other states. governor rick scott says he is going to opt out. 1.3 residents will not get coverage according to the calculations by a nonpartisan keyser commission.

guest: that is exactly right. a lot of people would not get medicaid if florida opted out of the expansion. the medicaid expansion was supposed to go up to 133% of the federal poverty level. there is a slice of people that qualify for medicaid and the subsidy. they are going to get the medicaid. -- if their state is moving ahead with the medicaid expansion. that slice of people will still qualify for the maximum subsidy and will be able to purchase and will be required to purchase

insurance through the exchanges. host: we're talking with marilyn werber serafini. she is senior correspondent with kaiser health news. we have a tweet from jean i n ohio. guest: well, that is a very specific question. look, a big part of medicaid is covering the cost of uninsured people -- covering the cost of people needing long-term care. this is generally dual eligible. people that are 65 or older and qualify for medicaid because of their lower income.

these are people that are in nursing homes and have used up their money and turnout on medicaid, and medicaid is paying for their nursing home care or their home care. some things are going to change but the arrangement generally is going to remain the same. medicaid will continue to cover for these people in nursing homes. host: joanne is calling us from york, pennsylvania, on a line for republicans. number ofnia's uninsured is 1.3 7 million residents -- 1.37 million residents. caller: the government does not

reinforced the illegal immigration. the definition of americans is changing now and i'm not sure this will fill the gap. i did not think this helps with the gap being filled by the non- insured. guest: there are rules about who can get insurance to the exchanges, who can get subsidies. cannot say exactly what the rules are. there are some restrictions on people who are here illegally. i know that those people can buy insurance through the exchange. the real question is whether they can get subsidies. host: pamela on a line from democrats.

maryland has about 747,000 residents who are uninsured. caller: hello? hi, this is pamela. thank you for taking my call. i noticed a lot of people complaining about the cost -- has to been a steady shown is it cheaper is not to have insurance or to have this insurance? if anybody can donate millions of dollars to vote for president, why can a share a little bit of their money just to help everybody in the united states? guest: there are a lot of questions about the cost of the uninsured. the uninsured use the emergency rooms more than injured people do and that's more expensive than going to your primary care

physician. there's a lot of discussion about this. there are some components of the health law that are intended to reduce the cost of health care while increasing quality. most people would agree with the -- at the law did not go far enough to lower the cost of health care and that that would be the next destep. host: we're talking with marilyn werber serafini, a senior correspondent with kaiser health news. washington state, 927,000 residents' uninsured. our next call comes from seattle, kevin.

caller: ever since the ruling was upheld, you keep hearing romney is going to repeal the health care law. it is asinine to believe that this man who created this atrocity in the first place is going to repeal it. he is in massachusetts liberal. he has flip flop on every key issue, from abortion to immigration to gay marriage. for people to think that this man will repeal it -- it is don e. the bill is going to stay. guest: mitt romney has said that he would grant every state a waiver to opt out of the entire

law. many people think he does not have the authority to do that. if he would sign a repeal, it would take a lot. it would take the republicans having a majority in the house and republicans have an id majority in the senate, a super majority, not just 51 votes to avoid a filibuster. every congressional -- enough republicans in the senate and the president would have to be willing to do that. most political folks at this point, they are not estimating or projecting the republicans are going to win that big. host: michael sullivan sends us this e-mail.

guest: look, the basic elements of the same. there is no denying that. mitt romney does not deny that. there is an individual mandate in massachusetts as there is in the healthcare law. their subsidies -- there are subsidies. i will say that mitt romney has taken a lot of grief because he says i do not want this for the full country. "it was right for my state." there were things about the law in massachusetts that he did not want at the compromise to get that law. he did not want employers to have to provide insurance to their employees or pay a

penalty. he fought that tooth and nail. host: linda on a line for republican from tennessee -- linda is on airlinour line. caller: we have a similar bill that was a prototype of obamacare. the democratic governor saw that it was bankrupting the state and he had to cut people off of that. i had three doctors. it is nothing more than a bit welfare program. they are taking the money, half a trillion dollars out of medicare.

it will be the middle class paying for this just like they pay for everything else. there is people that have their own private doctors. the middle class, you better wake up people. this will be the biggest tax increase america has ever seen and it will get greater and greater every year. host: that was linda in tennessee. we have a tweet from robert. guest: medicaid has never been bankrupt. nobody is expecting it to be bankrupt. the states run their own programs with federal help. the government supplies some of the money to run the programs,

most of the money, but they attach a sprintring. the only thing that a state can do is to opt out one of the expansion and keep its current medicaid program the way it is. it can opt out of medicaid altogether. what happens if medicaid goes bankrupt? you have a lot of people without insurance. host: back to the phones. merna, you're on the "washington journal." caller: i like to ask about putting a documentary on c-span by a man that was on this morning from 5:00 a.m. until 7:30.

i think it is a wonderful thing for people to hear. i wanted to ask about our governor from ohio. he took away a lot of things. the nursing-home staff had some help previously. i wonder if he would help to take medicaid away from us all again. host: that was myrna in ohio. ohio has more than 1.5 million residents that don't have insurance. she mentioned the governor. guest: right.

look, no state has totally withdrawn from medicaid. i believe what the caller is saying is perhaps the governor has cut back at times on medicaid. this does happen. ever since the recession, states have had a huge budget crunch. this is an expensive program for them and there have been cutbacks. the health care law has a maintenance of effort. states are not allowed to cut back at this time. even if they do not do that, they have this maintenance of effort required but still stands in place. at least for the foreseeable future, we are unlikely to see any significant cutbacks in programs for states. host: antoine from the

jersey. caller: we have an example in new jersey of how this is going to work. medicare paid only 80%. for the remaining 20%, we can buy on the open market. so you have a choice. $160 a month, insurance company number one. or insurance company number two. it is roughly the same amount of money. me and my wife pay $320.

we pay all of our co-pays. which is paid the money and go to paris. host: cents like you also need to be an accountant to keep track -- sounds like you also need to be accounted. guest: it is complicated. you can buy different programs. you can go to the medicare advantage where you can buy private insurance through an exchange type mechanism. there is supplemental insurance. look, if you buy insurance to the exchange, i did not think you'll be buying supplemental insurance. host: our last call for marilyn

werber serafini, arlene is on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. i have a question i think most important and a, that might not and aimportant -- and th comment. caller: can we get a list of companies in the exchange to see what kind of experience to have in providing insurance. i called the company that advertises all the time about cancer care. i call to find out what insurance they except. -- i called to find out what insurance they accept. they do not except medicaid.

host: arlene in north carolina. guest: medicaid pays providers, physicians, less and medicare does and less than private insurance. there are some areas of the country, some physicians were people report having problems finding a physician to take them because of the low rates. the health-care law does raise rates for primary health care physicians, but this is an ongoing problem and i expect it'll get worse in 2014 when a lot of uninsured people suddenly have insurance and are looking for services that they cannot afford before. it is expected to be something of a provider shortage.

to get your first question, how you find out about insurance plans that will be on the exchange, it will vary by state. i'm sure there'll be advertising and that people will receive information from their state letting them know where to go to find the exchange. i cannot say how you would find it because every state will be different. individuals will go into their own state. it will be operated in your state and done on a state basis. host: the article, the headline is from sunday's "the washington post." you can find it online. the co-author, marilyn werber guest.i, it's been our

coming up, a look at the two- year transportation bill congress passed late last week. then looking at foreign news bureaus in the united states. days focus is on deutsche welle. that's coming up on "washington journal." >> here are some of the headlines. in london, one of the largest banks said their chief executive has resigned. that bank was fined $450 billion last week for rate fixing. it is facing lawsuits in new york over the scandal. david cameron says a full inquiry will be held into that scandal and standards into the

banking industry. the commerce department releases may factory orders. june sales numbers will be reported by automakers. assad is regretted the shooting down of a turkish jet by his forces but has not apologized. he insisted the plane was inside syrian airspace and finding in a corridor that had been used by israeli planes three-time senate-passed. -- threee times in the past. bowling predict 34,000 new airplanes would be purchased over the next few years -- boeing predicts.

some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> this weekend it had to the state capital named in honor of thomas jefferson. life with book tv on c-span2. gene carnahan on family life inside the mansion. the provisions list from ancient mesopotamia. the stories behind eight miniature clay tablets. >> at one time this was called the bloodiest acres in america. >> walked back through history in the halls of the state capital and governor's mansion. c-span is local content vehicle

explore the literary life of cities across america. this weekend, from jefferson city on c-span2 and 3. "washington journal" continues. host: john horsley is the executive director of the american association of state highway and transportation officials and is here to talk about the transportation bill. welcome to the program. what is the american association of state highway and transportation officials? guest: we represent all 50 state department of transportation's. avoids here in washington -- we are the voice here in washington. host: talk to us about the bill that passed last week.

guest: it is great news for the country. we have been working for three years since the last bill expired. 45% of what is spent nationally on highways comes from the federal level and we have been without authority to spend for the last three years. we are on our ninth extension. they have produced a great bill. host: what deal like the most about this bill? guest: we were threatened with a cut back a year ago. that would have hurt the country and lost a lot of jobs. program continues prague -- funding and extends the authority to collect taxes

until 2016. host: tell me what you think is missing from this bill. guest: a lot more money. five years ago, all the presidential commission's, every study known to man said it would need to increase spending about 50% to 80%. we're still short of what the country needs and we're also spending at about 1/3 above the revenue flowing into the trust fund. with gwe're speaking the executive director of american association of state highway and transportation officials, john horsley. he is here to talk about the transportation bill that was passed last week. we want to show you some of the

numbers associated with the bill. host: there's a lot in this bill and we'll get to most of it. we're talking to john horsley. the numbers are there on your screen. sharron is on our line for independents. caller: i and eight freight broker -- i am a frieght broker.

was told they are raising the breaker bonds. so put a lot of freight brokers added business -- this will put a loss of freight brokers out of business. host: what does a free broker ight broker do? caller: we follow the trucks from pickup to delivery. we bill the shipper. guest: i was not aware and still not aware that that is in the bill. that would have come from the commerce committee. i will go back and study that. i would be surprised if congress got into that. host: democrats, 202-737-0001.

republicans, 202-737-0002. independents, 202-628-0205. john horsley, is two years long enough to plan and spend the money that is just been passed by congress? guest: two years is a lot better than three months. extension.e 10th we're on the final extension. two year an enormous breakthrough -- two years is an enormous breakthrough. we generally passed a six-year bill. it is the time to let long

improvement contracts. we improve transit stations and you need longer-term to plan than two years. but we'll take 27 months it right now. host: you talked about some major operations. if you don't have the period to implement and complete the project, what can you seriously get done in two years? guest: north carolina is an example. they indicated because of the series of short-term delays, they have to put on hold about $1.2 billion in projects. we now think a lot of activity

will proceed that was on hold. two years from now when this bill expires, we hope we can get back on the six-year cycle. host: the projects that we are looking at now we need to be a shovel ready. guest: we hate that term. we do not use shovels any more. we're using lasers and computers. we are as modern and in history as any. whoever came up with that term should be shot. the projects have been on the shelf and are ready to go. we think we will see a sustained point of construction del improve transportation all over the country -- that will

improve transportation. host: alex from new york, new york. caller: good morning. i have a question about high- speed rail. about building a network and does he share my feeling that our lack of a high-speed train network is disgraceful and puts us behind europe and china and those countries. host: you're in new york, new york. how often do use the train, the assault with the amtrak regional to go up the coast to massachusetts or come down to philadelphia or washington? caller: i would say every time i go to boston or washington or baltimore i use the train.

host: with the travel more often if there was a high-speed available -- would you travel more often? caller: i have a friend in st. louis. i would do that. i would be on the train that length of time. it is a great question. the republican congress has been against adding funding to high- speed rail improvements during the last congress. $12 billion made available to invest in high-speed rail. major improvements are taking place on the northeast corridor.

the improvements are under way in the northeast corridor. 31 states are hard at work improving rail lines. this investment has been made available. no new funding this last two years has been made available and we do not see any on the horizon with the current attitude in congress. we think the country needs more high-speed rail but it will take capital to make that possible. host: we have a tweet from jim buck. guest: well, one of the best parts of this bill is the house and senate included a series of measures to speed things up. it takes forever, far too long to build highway and transit

projects. 10 to 15 years before they are completed. congress has opened the door to speed things up. we think this is a breakthrough that will make it possible for states and cities to take a more aggressive approach and build on a timely basis. the environmental organizations will still have an opportunity to express themselves and be at the table, but we don't think it has to take five years to produce an environmental impact statements. if you cut back to 18 months, i think everybody would benefit. host: randy from citrus heights, california.

or on the "washington journal -- you are on the "washington journal." caller: you mentioned a high- speed rail. these politicians out here do want high-speed rail like japan has. bill and up with a bunch of debt -- they will end up with a bunch of debt like greece has. experience tells me that went a big project comes around -- there was one recently in downtown sacramento where they have to close a major part of i- 5, and they hired a private guy who was able to get the job done in a much more expeditious

manner than the state workers would have been able to. i keep hearing you say we need more money. it sounds like the infrastructure - they team up out here. host: we will leave it there. guest: that is an excellent question. right now 95% of what we build in this country is contract it out by states, cities, and counties. that is the standard practice, see who the best bidder is and put them to work building the project. there has been a new approach in the past five years, where major private firms, in an offer to build the project and to provide some of the equity financing. many states are turning to that

as well. we found that contract in projects to the private sector is an excellent way to get results and that is, practice in every part of the country. host: randy was from citrus heights, california. we have some sound from senator boxer exploiting the importance of the transportation bill. [video clip] >> we know that our focus is on boosting this economy. this bill will do that like no other. we're talking about protecting two million jobs that are in place in this country in the construction sector. and the transit sector. these are the jobs that construction workers do on the highways, the freeways, the bridges, making sure that our

roads are in good shape, our bridges are not going to collapse because we have 70,000 bridges that are deficient. we know what happens when there's a failure of the bridge. guest: the leader who should get credit for passing this bill is barbara boxer. she was tenacious throughout the process in partnership with jim inhoff. insisted the house join them. they were able to reach an agreement with the house. host: next call comes from boston, massachusetts. frank is on our line for independents. caller: good morning.

regarding the money that was returned to the state of florida. what happens to the money -- it is included in the budget from the previous year or redistributed? is the airline industry subsidized by the transportation department? guest: when governor scott decided not to except the high- speed rail grand that was received from the government, that was redistributed to about five different states. it has been put to work and will improve transportation in those five other states. the governor was within his rights to say no, thank you. that was a decision that florida made.

the government provide support for airlines, without which you cannot have safe air travel. i don't think you could consider that the government subsidizes the airlines. host: amy from norman, oklahoma . caller: i was wondering how much of this does the public get to see as far as the budget? where the money is going and how it is being spent. how much of this are we using made in america to keep jobs in america? how much are we bringing from america to build these roads and transportation issues and things? host: we have an e-mail

from jean in colorado. guest: there is strong buy- america provisions. the major materials we use -- when you use asphalt, concrete, the raw materials, you use domestic products because the cost to transport weighty materials is too expensive to go outside. we use american steel. there's a strong made in america component. will she know what the budget numbers are? there are many websites in d.c.

www. transportation.org. we have information on the budget that congress just approved for transportation. oh, it will get its share -- oklahoma will get its share. you'll be able to check and follow what oklahoma receives and how it is being spend. cities and counties in oklahoma will decide where to spend it. host: how much is owned or leased by foreign entities? guest: i am not aware of any that are owned or leased by foreign entities. the indiana toll road and several public-private ventures. in texas, we have benefited from

spanish money, australia money, french money. there is an italian money here lles greenway.een wadu it has proven beneficial to have foreign countries invest in u.s. infrastructure. host: our last caller was from oklahoma and you were talking about the partnership between senator barbara boxer and sthe senator from oklahoma. [video clip] >> if we do not pass this bill, we have to do the streamlining, environmental streamlining. they will tell you about the number of miles of roads that

cannot do because of some of these environmental requirements. we have streamlined those requirements. if we do not pass this bill, we'll go back to extensions. the same thing will happen. you will lose all those opportunities. it will cost more and you will market the streamlining. -- and you will not get the streamlining. host: we're talking with john horsley, executive director of the american association of state highway and transportation officials. caller: good morning. k for your leadership -- thank you for your leadership. most of these drivers -- they get on the road and there is not a place for them to park. there are not adequate rest

areas that can hold these commercial motor vehicles. what are we going to do to give these drivers the ability to find safe parking areas and areas where they can go into at 1:00 a.m. that will give them the ability to park their vehicles? thank you very much. guest: you have identified a serious challenge in every part of the country. very few cities and counties make room for parking of major trucks, even around the major interstates. the i-95 corridor coalition has done a study and as identified the acreage and parking slots that are needed on the east coast. this is a serious challenge for safety. we know states have to do a

better job at have to do in partnership with cities and counties. this is something we need to work on. we're working with the american trucking association. host: should those parking areas for large trucks -- those be separate entities from where ma and pa kettle riding with the kids in the station wagon? sometimes it can get a little bit. hairy. guest: you have a good point. most interstate rest areas -- that we

see as a model for how to handle major traffic flow and provide a rest area we provide space for the big rigs to part separate and apart from families. we have been pressing for commercialization of the interstate area where we open the door to private-sector providers to pay for the space for gas station and restroom facilities maybe with restaurants. we have been blocked for years. that is a solution that we think makes sense to have the private sector pay for these things safely and take the burden off of the taxpayer. ris from st. petersburg, florida. caller: i fled new york because of the infrastructure.

the bridge construction -- new york has not built a major bridge since 1964. it was stopped in 1971. there was a bridge in '95 and it was stopped because of argument about 70 blue clam and they stopped it. congestion is out of control. criminal negligence to stop these bridged constructions. we have -- they stopped the bridge. traffic is an egregious. host: chris in florida. very enthusiastic about getting bridges build. t.

is there elements in this package that would satisfy chris? will start building more bridges -- will they start building more bridges? guest: we hope so, chris. the governor is putting together a package. one bridge is on the schedule for construction if they can capitalize the project. another project is a bridge between washington and portland oregon. we think that major interstate i-5 replacement of the 1919

bridge crossing the columbia river will be made possible. there is major funding in the bill for bridge construction but in this day and age, bridges are so expensive -- the tappan zee bridge would be $4 billion minimum to do that improvement. governor cuomo is trying to put together the package that would take to rebuild it. it is a major challenge. host: let's say the replacement of the tappan zee bridge was for milk -- $4 billion, how much with the state kicked in and how much with the fed's been responsible? guest: even with a generous share that new york gets from the federal bill, there is no way using federal cash on the barrel would accommodate the tappan zee bridge. you would have to start the entire rest of the state of their projects in order to focus and exclusively on that project. a component of that bridge replacement will come from the

federal share. it is almost guaranteed that tolls and a broader financing package will be necessary. host: will be necessary to reach out to the private sector? guest: in many cases and in many states, it will be public/private partnership but in many cases, the users in the form of tolls or you are money from wall street -- it is the users who pay the toll that will ultimately pay the debts. host: our next call comes from roy on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. i hear all this talk about roads. i don't hear anything about the utilities under the roads.

i just spent last night -- we don't use shovels anymore -- i just use the shovel all night. you have to lower than 5 inches to pave the road and come back and repaved. you have to bust out the rest of the road with a jackhammer and shovel the debris into the truck. we have a whole system under the roads that as part of the road and nobody seems to be aware of it. if you've got a hole in a water pipe, it will suck the third out from under the road. if you have a hole in the store, you will suck all the dirt out from under the road. host: we will leave it there. guest: i stand corrected, we used shovels from time to time and you're absolutely right that the utility interface is an

important thing we have to coordinate and deal with. we have sewer lines, water lines, gas lines, cable lines and they generally go under our roads pri we've got to know where they are and coordinate what we do in road building with long-term maintenance of the utilities that share the right of way. that is a constant challenge. one of the major causes of delays in road construction is not knowing where those utilities are. that is something we're working on with the engineering community. you're absolutely right, from time to time, jackhammers, shovels is necessary along with the mechanization we try to turn to. host: next is our live from republicans from memphis, tennessee. caller: [inaudible]

where are the jobs in the memphis area? when will that start construction? guest:the i-69 project has been on the books for the state of arkansas has coordinated the design and alignment in a joint venture with tennessee, kentucky, texas, mississippi planning that road. there will be funding available to the eight states along the i- 69 corridor. indiana has construction under way under governor mitch daniels. kentucky and the state's south of there, tennessee, mississippi, on down to texas, have plans in place and they are working to develop financial plans. the component in each state is anywhere from 10-$20 billion

that we are looking at to build that road. that will take some serious financing. the alignments, the plans have been developed by now the challenge ahead for each of those states is to put together the financing package. host: we've got this article from "bucknews.com. " explain to us how this works. the money is sitting in a pot and as a state director and part

of a highway transportation officials, you go to the feds and say you have a project and you need this much money and they write you a check? guest: starting in 1991 when the first of the t-bills - that gave the authority to select projects primarily to states and their metropolitan planning organizations. new york state gets 4.3% of the overall package that perhaps would be $1 billion available to the state of new york to plan and it is a multi-year bill. new york would take that along with their state and regional resources and turn to their metropolitan planning organization and look at all the transit projects that are needed and they come up with a systematic long-range plan and

they come up with a state transportation improvement plan which lays out the specific projects on a schedule. the good news is that we have gotten rid of earmarking which congressman were picking projects on their own. in many cases they do it in partnership with states but in many cases, they -- a measure would come to them and ask about a project and it created a mess. it is far more systematic and the taxpayers will get a better deal to have the state than the metropolitan planning organizations systematically tried to get the dollars where they will do the most good on a systematic, six-year plan and then go to bed and bill them with the private sector. that is how the system should work. it is a great blessing to get rid of earmaks. host: before this, you serve

that the u.s. department of transportation as associate deputy secretary of advocating a parental mobile policies and served as a liaison to state and local governments. spartanburg, south carolina, on our line for independents. caller: good morning, gentlemen. do you know how much suppression we have in our country with solar and wind out being implemented for battery powered cars across the nation? in europe, they are strict on tailgating. there is a lot of car accidents in this country. i believe we have a serious lack of maintenance on our cars like maintenance checks for safety purposes. also, with the modern technology, couldn't we

implement computer testing, like a quick hand-eye coordination test and sobriety test for drugs test alderol and valium? guest: those are all very interesting questions. each state determines the level of testing and the type of testing that they provide when they issue driver's licenses and update drivers licenses. i am not aware of them using those tests that you mentioned. i also don't think the transportation bill addressed of the solar energy production you're talking about. there are poor -- there's probably other federal legislation you return to to address those issues. host: charleston, south carolina, on our line for democrats.

caller: good morning. i would like to talk about decongestant -- but congest in. butythe congestion speculate in the charleston area. is that in this bill? guest: north carolina, south carolina, in their respective plans together with the metropolitan planning organization and some of those you mentioned will study the congest and around those distribution centers and, in the process of setting priorities with how they will spend their federal dollars in concert with state dollars, try to develop plans. the distribution center is a way of life of how we are moving freight in this country.

there is no question they generate a lot of drug activity and the challenge of states working with the private sector is to make sure that you have the interchanges at the right spot to move the traffic cop as efficiently as possible. you would have to ask the north carolina folks and the south carolina folks what plans they have to improve circulation around those distribution centers. host: next is human, ariz., on our line for independents. caller: thank you for listening to me. my question is about the section on the roll your on tobacco stores. you are putting us out of business. host: i don't think that has anything to do with transportation. let's move on to tennessee on our line for democrats. caller: yes! ok - while you are repairing the

highways and you've got those caterpillars out there, did a great big tunnel and put our electrical wires underground. if anyone has ever been without power, you know how miserable it is. i would hate to miss out on my cspan. host: thank you very much. she brings up an interesting point. we are going through that in the washington, d.c. area because we had a huge storm over the weekend and part of the problem of getting the power back up is that the lines above ground were knocked down by trees. guest: i lost power myself friday until sunday. my communications director is sitting in the next room and he still does not have power at his house. some of our staff are not expecting power to be restored until friday. we know where you are going through and what you are talking about.

the transportation agency's work in partnership with the electric utilities and the other utilities that have overhead lines and in some cases underground. underground avoids many of the outages due to trees collapsing but it is very expensive. it is generally not within the purview of state or city and county transportation agencies. it is the electric utilities and the phone companies that have to deal with that. we are sympathetic and we know you're going through and we know you're talking about but it is not generally something that we deal with directly. host: we have been talking with john horsley, the executive director of the american association of state highway and transportation officials. when we come back, we will continue our series this week looking at foreign news bureaus in the united states. coming up after the break is a

focus on the german broadcaster deutsche welle. first another update from cspan radio. >> at 9:15, here are some of the headlines -- president obama's reelection campaign is launching a new attack today on mitt romney's business records in the tv ad, the campaign says mitt romney invested in companies that move jobs overseas and supports tax breaks for the companies that do so. the ad is titled 'believed." .' that ad is running in nine states. the mitt romney campaign confirms that a presumptive gop nominee will travel to israel this summer to meet with prime minister netanyahu. mr. romney will already be overseas in late july to attend the 2012 olympic games in london. the former massachusetts governor last traveled to israel in january, 2011 and he has a long relationship with benjamin

not in the auto dating from their working together at the boston consulting group in the 1970's. key pakistani cabinet members are expected to meet today to discuss whether to reopen made a supply lines. pakistan closed those lines late last year after a deadly american air strike killed 24 pakistani border guards. chrysler says its u.s. sales rose 20% in june on strong demand for the 300 sedan and other vehicles. the automaker's sales increase last month was in line with expectations for overall industry growth of about 20%. one year earlier, sales were weaker because the japanese earthquake had depleted supplies. other automakers will report their sales later today. those are some of the latest headlines on cspan radio. >> the life of a sailor include scrubbing the deck in the morning, working on the

sales, climbing a lot, what ever the duty is assigned, grendell practice but by the end of the day, you are ready for arrest but you don't get a full eight hours sleep aboard a ship like constitution. it is four hours on, four hours off, this weekend, the life of an enlisted man aboard the u.s.s. constitution during the war of 1812. >> they lived in fear of being whipped by cattle nine tales. it was always carry by a petty officer in a bag and the thing is seller never want to say was a petty officer who was getting ready for a flogging. it is a phrase we still used today -- don't let the cat out of the bag. >> that is sunday at 7:00 p.m. eastern. also this week and, more from " the contenders," our program on presidential contenders who lost -- who ran and lost but changed history. this weekend, former new york governor al smith.

>> "washington journal" continues -- host: we spoke with a senior correspondents yesterday at aljazeera. tomorrow, the voice of america is our focus, the official i external broadcast agency of the u.s. government and on thursday we will talk to a representative of chinese tv and friday we will visit bbc america. today we will turn the spotlight on the german broadcaster, deutsche welle. mio soric is the washington bureau chief. >> thank you for having made host: it is a german news service but it is all over the world. tell us about it. guest: we have programs in different languages around the world. about 1500 people are working in bonn, berlin, that is where our

company is based. it is public-funded. we have about 270 million euro per year. that is approximately $340 million per year. host: you have staff and the washington area? guest: we have sex in our office here. it is not too far away from here but it is not to -- we have staff in our office here. it is not too far away from here. host: the big story out of germany is the euro economic crisis. how is that story playing out for you? what is your role as far as giving it context? guest: i think many people are very curious where this crisis

is coming from. the euro is stronger than the dollar. the dollar was stronger when the euro started 10 years ago and now the euro is about $1.26 a this morning. it is a debt crisis because many countries in the europa a zone, especially in the south like greece, spain, and italy, just spent too much money and living beyond their means. germany is doing well economically and their unemployment rate is 5.5%. germany is doing very well as we try to help the rest of europe. host: you in the washington bureau cover all kinds of stories that generate here and send them out to audiences around the world. let's take a look your english- language broadcast covering the supreme court health care ruling last week.

>> outside the high court, the legislation erupted in cheers as the ruling was made public. government-run health care has been a contentious issue for decades, an emotional one for both sides. at the heart of the matter is whether americans can or should be forced to purchase health insurance. there is also the issue of federal vs. state rights. opponents of the legislation also out in force. they expressed profound disappointment. >> i am shocked. i am absolutely shocked to. >> far from resolved, health care will be a major campaign theme of the 2012 presidential race. the republicans vowed to repeal and replies. >> what the court did not do on its last day in session i will do on my first day, if elected president of united states and that is i will act to repeal obama care. host: what sort of stories are

you file it from the united states and what is the interest? guest: we are covering almost everything. the election is a big issue for us. decision making in congress or rather not decision making in congress -- climate change, i traveled to west virginia to do a story about mining, human rights issues from child labor to guantanamo and in immigration law. my friends in germany just asked me if this can be true that you are in washington and the capital of the u.s., the richest country of the world, and you don't have power? tell us more about that. host: how does your focus get tailored because of your german routes and your audience when you do a story about climate change?

is there a different look that would be different from american news? host: yes, guest: yes, the majority of american politicians say there is no climate change. when you talk too german politicians or two germans, they will say there is climate change. when i traveled to west virginia and do a story about mining, people are just astonished that things like that can happen in this country, blowing away mountains just to get coal that is under those mountains cheaper and then trying to rebuild the mountain, as i have seen, and does not work really good. in utah to the guys who live there and they say we don't like doing that but -- then you talk

to the guys who live there and they say we don't like doing that but that is our living. many people in europe do not expect to see that here in the u.s. host: we are talking with the soric the washington bureau chief of deutsche welle here in washington. from an independent scholar in illinois. caller: i thank -- i think it is the way the americans see it that germany has been under a lot of scrutiny for greece and other countries because you guys are doing so well. from the way i see it, i think it's unfair to you because you guys are doing good or it seems like you are. i want to hear what you have to

say about that. guest: thank you for your call. i think germany is always trying to help the others as good as they can. what might be dangerous is that the people overestimate the strength of germany. germany can belt out greece but faded as greece and spain and italy, it is too much for us. those countries have to do their homework and germany is trying to help as good as we can. host: talk more for us about how your network has covered the euro's own crisis -- the euro zone crisis. as we have watch what happens in europe, summon a countries were caught flatfooted. -- so many countries were caught

flatfooted. did the german press build up to this? i was there an understanding that this was going on? guest: germany wants really to help and is doing that. germany is a powerful machine in europe. without germany's strength, i think you're would be much weaker. germany is not strong enough to pay all the bills in europe. it is just too much. very often i read in the american newspapers that they try to put pressure on germany saying that germans should spend more and go deeper into debt. this might be the interest of many countries, and maybe also from the u.s. because of germany is going to spend more, they might also buy more american products and this might be good for the american economy. president obama would be reelected.

this might be the interest of the white house. germany has a demographic problem. if we don't have enough children. if we start to go too deep into debt and our economy gets weaker, this would be bad for germany but also for the rest of the world. host: texas, on our independent line, good morning. caller: how were you doing? the bush administration, they were going to create jobs by letting companies cut power. my husband's pay cut was three hours which we came to 100 $40 per week which at the end of the year, we're making $6,700 less per year and that was supposed to create jobs here. which it didn't. what do you think about the misleading information the

american people get for our news media? people here get mad over raising taxes on the rich people here. they're not thinking about the middle-class people. guest: thank you for your call. i am only guest of this country. i have lived here a couple of years and i don't feel i should be the one to give you a piece of advice on what should be done in the u.s. i just don't know but what i think is important and what is part of the strength of the german economy is that we have a very, very good educational system. universities are for free, the schools are very good. we will never be as cheap as the people in china. or india. we cannot produce that cheaply because their wages are higher but we have to be smarter.

to be successful is very important to have good schools. here inyou can't do it america as well. -- i think you can do it here in america as well. adjusted a story and that is something i really adore in america thecan do approach, the optimism. the americans always have a glass fault but in germany is the opposite. i have done a story about a public school here in anacostia, the marshall academy. the story was interesting because i just went through where the best public schools are in the u.s. and i just saw one of the best public schools

is in anacostia, i don't want to offend anybody, but one of the worst parts were you can live because there are so many poor people. i was very curious why it was one of the best public schools is in anacostia. i went there and law students from the university decided to build a school and they have done it and it is a fantastic school and many people gave the money to do that. this can-do approach that you americans have i think can make everything possible. to go back to your question, america might consider investing more in education. host: let's hear from an independent scholar in, a tulsa, okla. their caller: i had a comment on the previous commentator. there is a dirty little secret

across america that places like texas are used for education. -- that taxes are used for education and to build roads. how important and how many military bases are in germany and how important is that to the german economy? host: you mean american military bases? caller: yes. guest: thank you for the question. there's a huge military base not too far away from frankfurt. it is important for us to have the americans there. we are both members of nato and we are fighting together in afghanistan. we try to help america anyway we can in the balkans as well. we think we are good partners and i think is good that american soldiers are in germany.

nevertheless, many of them are leaving right now. we just have to deal with that. host: what role did the u.s. play in creating deutsche welle after world war two? guest: the americans and the british and to some extent of the french played in a poor role but the most important was was the one from the u.s. after world war two, when american troops were in west germany, they understood how dangerous it is when the government has influence on the media. they built up a system where government has no influence on the media. it is impossible at one of those politicians in berlin, for example, would call me or the editor in chief and tell us what

we should do. i think we are very grateful for this piece of advice that americans gave us after world war two. they had seen what propaganda can do during the time when the nazis ruled in berlin host: cincinnati, ohio, on our democrat line. caller: i have two comments. i wanted to tell the young man -- if i want to get really good foreign news, i use deutsche welle, i use the bbc world service. i like reuters.

i did plug into the russian news service and now that they have their own, i am able to get pretty good information from there. i think what most americans have to do is open their minds a little bit and have no problem about using foreign and new services. usually, especially in the case of the bbc and deutsche welle, they are more complete and much more circumspect. i have to disagree with you on my second point about the american stance or why americans are against angela merkel's not giving money to europe. my mother is in her 80's and

said after the war that the u.s. taxpayer went in and through the marshall plan raise your back up to where it had been before, at least part of the way. when i talked to her and myaunt, they seemed to think they could understand german frugality but by the same token, some of the country's particularly in greece who suffered as late doing the work -- you read "the london time " and other papers that there is an undercurrent. the answer is still there. i think these countries feel that maybe the germans should not be so hard and be more forgiving. i don't think is something that would benefit the white house but i believe that we did it and what is the problem with germany? host: one issue was going back

into history and talking about the marshall plan. and whether or not germany owes the rest of europe at this point. guest: i think the best thing she said it was at the beginning when she called me young man. i have not heard that for a while so thank you for that. i think germany helped and is still helping grease a lot. i went to greece very often in my life. i went about 40 times at least. i love greece. i love their monasteries. i am spending quite a lot of time there. i see what they do with european money. very often, this is not very effective. germany is helping greece and will continue to do that but the greeks themselves have to do their homework.

i think it is necessary that people work until they're 60-65 or 67 like we in germany. it is always difficult for you to explain that we have to help somebody who will retire. you expect from your own able to work until they're 67 even the retirement is at 55. everybody has to do his homework and be sure that your help in the past will continue. we are grateful in germany that america is helpless after world war two. we are grateful that there was the marshall plan. the americas expected us to do our homework and become did grumman cats or reliable partners and much more. we have done that but when we help other countries in the

southern part of europe, it is also in our interest that we have to expect that they will do their homework. as i said, germany will never forget what america has done for it. >> this is from twitter -- guest: if i knew all that, i would be a very rich man. this is the aim of the german policy is that greece will stay in the euro zone. if greece is going to leave, we will nevertheless continue to help greece. we will not let them down. i just don't know whether greece will be in the bureau's own two or three years from now. host: let's take a look of some details about deutsch wrote

well-off as we talk with their washington bureau chief. it is headquartered in bonn and the main americanhub is in washington, d.c.. tells what deutsche welle means. guest: deutsche means germans we andlle means a wave. it was short way programming first in the german language to reach all the germans who left germany for whatever reason. they were here in the u.s. or somewhere in argentina or many other countries. they were interested in was going on in germany and after

world war two, we had to invest in our image. we had to do something to explain that there is a new democratic germinate. for that reason, we started our program. the majority of the world population does not speak german so we thought might be a good idea to do the sampling in german -- in english and russian and many other languages. >> already is it's the icing 50s. you can get it via satellite and became a 24-hour news service in 1996. it is available on-line and you can see the website. we are seeing images of some of the store is being covered and concede the german news as well as international news. >> yes, i must take my ipad because i don't see what you see a i see outside regrets.

financial news is still important and the euro crisis will continue and will report on greece as well. host: our republican line is next. caller: i am disappointed because i heard him make the same tired worn out statement that people are gas climate change. the sec -- a contention is over the impact. now that the german people have been forced to pick up the pieces, are they ready to admit that socialist welfare states don't work? are they mcqueary about how poor they have gone down that road?

germany is doing well only because they are not tied up with the rest of the european problem. that have been of capitalism there that they are surviving. guest: thank you for your question. germany is a welfare state. everybody has insurance. i can say that our health care system works very well. it is half as expensive as the one that you have here in the u.s. i think it is less bureaucratic. i had some experience how works in the u.s. i don't want to tell you the way you should organize your health care system but i can tell you that the one that we have in germany works very well. once again, both can go to deborah, strong government that supports the economy and the free, as well.

if both work together, government and the economy, that would be the perfect world. .ost: our guest mio soric i he also served as the head of the central and eastern european service and head of russian service. a question from michelle -- guest: they don't last so long. i am very curious who will make it. the majority of europeans like obama very much. he seems to be a kind of anti- bush and want to cheer whether bush has always made the right decision.

we just have to a knowledge that president obama has dialogue to improve americans' and the world. we like him very much. nevertheless, we're curious who is mr. romney. we just don't know him. it was just explain to me who he was. i don't know the outcome. i think it will be tight. i will travel to the battleground states. at a bid to ohio and florida, virginia and i'm curious as to who will win the end. host: will you be at the conventions? guest: yes. this is a huge show. we are trying to copy this in germany but we cannot do it. you americans do host: that better from sarasota, fla., on our independent line. caller: the previous caller

referred to the gentleman as young and he definitely is young. i am 76. my father was the principal at hines junior high school for 35 years and i could look at the capital of the united states looking out his window but the call i am making today is to ask -- what do you think the steps would be for us to get the same underground wiring system that they have in germany? i have been to germany eight times and i would be their right this minute set by canada for the $1.26 exchange rate for a euro. i dearly love the country and i think it is fantastic you can speak two languages. i am learning german right now on my on. dr. crowell in sarasota is my instructor. it is a fabulous country and

you're a fabulous reporter, thank you. guest: thank you very much. i apologize for my bad english. i have a piece of paper here with all the things i wanted to say. everything moves so fast i did not get the chance. i suppose it is because my bad english. i am giving interviews from time to time but we have native speakers. if you watch our program, you listen to native speakers give from america, great britain, australia or new zealand. my relationship to the english- language is like to the one of my wife -- i love it but i don't have full control over it. i don't know what you should do in the u.s. to improve your infrastructure. i just know this is a smart

thing and a good thing to do because having a good infrastructure means also you will help your businesses. i learned that president obama at least wants to put more money into improving and rebuilding your infrastructure. when we talk to our german friends in washington, there are several thousand germans that live here in the suburbs, we just say we don't understand why americans are rebuilding, put some -- putting some money into improving eyes. they also said -- should start to invest their own country so you are right. as i said, a guest of this country and i will not give advice to americans. host: a caller asked about the interconnectedness of germany and asked about the

infrastructure, internet, wireless. compare the two, the united states vs. germany and what made it a priority? >> you need a strong government that wants to do that. anybodywant to offend but our infrastructure in germany is better. not only in germany but switzerland or the netherlands, the scandinavian countries are better. we put more money into our infrastructure. i just tried to think what would happen on dry -- happen in germany of someone had power out for more than five minutes and now we have here in the suburbs of washington for several days. i adore your patience. is and that's the way it you cannot do a lot about that. in france, we would have a french revolution. host: the scale is so different

looking at the size of germany and the size of the u.s.. do you feel the country is fairly wired and is internet connected? what is the sense of how accessible that is? guest: i think it is easier to do all that and a smaller country like germany than in the u.s. the task you have is larger but you have shown in the past that you can't do it. it is not the first time that america is building a good infrastructure. america can do it and everybody knows that america can do it. the only thing they need is a political leader. they say is important for the economy and less to do it and i'm sure the americans can do that. it is more difficult to do it right i can compare a little bit

because i live for a little while in russia which is even bigger than the u.s. a large country like russia or india or china or the u.s., you just need a strong state, a strong political elite who say we are going to invest in our interest. host: mio soric is the washington bureau chief of deutsche welle news service. let's hear from west virginia, a democrat. caller: good morning. i would like to make a comment and ask a question and then get a reply. thank you to the gentleman from germany wave from coming to west virginia and doing a story and mountaintop removal. we tried to get cspan to do a story on mountaintop removal on numerous occasions. i personally have vast on

numerous occasions. i am interested as to what his opinion is when he comes on a national news program and the first words that he says is that he goes to west -- jack and visits a mountaintop removal and he is trying to understand why our government would allow something like this to happen. our state is being destroyed. our peoples help was being destroyed. we are being used as a column, like an african nation. i would like to hear what he thinks about that. i would like to ask a follow-up question if i may, thank you. guest: it was interesting for me to see what happened in west virginia. i have to confess that i did not expect that i have spoken to

families. they told me that is how we make our living and we don't like to do that but that is that we make money. then somebody told us that is different to europe. if you own a piece of land here, this is your land and you can do with it whatever you want. this is a little bit different. i like the people in west virginia. they were very nice, great hospitality down there. thank you. i really like the people there. host: do you have something else to follow up with? caller: i would like to ask cspan to do a segment on mount top mining. of like to tell everyone that i

am a retired coal miner. he added that question with the fact that if they owned the land bridges because you owned the land does not give you the right to poison everyone downstream. it does not give you the right to destroy the ecosystem that has been here for 300 million years. i would like to see cspan and the u.s. government do something about mountain top removal mining. host: let's go on to a democratic caller in california caller: good morning. it is hard to follow on the guy that just spoke. the economy and monetary policy - what you think germany would be right now if the euro had never come about?

guest: that's a very good question. many germans have asked this question. they say we want to have our good old deutsche mark back. nevertheless, it was a good decision to have bureau. we had to pay the price for to live in peace of their neighbors. we tried to learn from history. we have to help each other. solidarity is important. i don't forget that germany has nine neighbors and there is no other country in europe that has so many neighbors. we want to live in peace with the them. if they are strong, if poland is strong, if france's strong, all those countries are economically strong, they will buy our products. this again is good for us. it is a win-win situation for

that reason. that's why it is a good reason to have a europe. many germans are concerned as to what germany would look like if we had the deutsche mark. i think we are a nation that makes their living by exporting greg wiest to produce machines and cars and other things. we need people who are going to buy that. about 50% or 60% of our goods, people buy in europe. is it our interest that greece, italy and spain and all those countries where it had problems that they will succeed and solve them -- their financial problems. host: deutsche welle is regulated by a public law and financed by several tax revenues. our guest talks about a fire wall between editorial decisions and the government. the annual budget this year is about to ordered 71 million

euros. let's hear from a republican lawyer -- caller in cleveland, ohio. caller: bank of taking my call. i was curious ithe eu. you started to answer regarding the creation of the eu. perhaps it was ill-conceived putting the cart before the horse. it has so many diverse political systems, banking systems, and market. that problem still has not been resolved. i am curious why the united kingdom is still reluctant to be a full partner with the eu. they don't want central banking system. it seems that is a real dilemma and the problem for a weaker nation. i am all also capitalism is trying to eliminate jobs in certain areas. our urban ghettos are sacrifice

does breed is this the future for europe creating sacrificed zones and so you have countries that are very strong at the expense of countries that become very weak? guest: i think she led a spriggs out -- i think she's a lot of smart things. she is following what is happening in europe. there are lot of problems we have in europe, not only the banking system that is a different culture in the south and in the north. what means were to you? is and work everything? germans like to work hard. work is important but it is not everything. how you bring those things together is a matter of mentality, the different view and perspective on what is life and what is important in life.

they said the europe would not work from the beginning more than 10 years ago. we're solving our problems with the bureau. wi --th the euro. it is better than having a war like we have seen in the past in europe host:. do you have strong lobbying groups in germany? guest: not as strong as you have here in washington, a d.c. we have lobbying groups but they don't have the influence that your group 7 washington. host: mio soric, washington bureau chief of deutsche welle. it is dw.de.

thank you for being here. this is part of our week-long series looking for news operations in the d.c. we have aljazeera yesterday and tomorrow we will continue with voice of america. thanks so much for joining us this morning, "washington journal." we will be back tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> coming up next about an hour, live from london where british prime minister david cameron will field questions of the impact of the european debt impact of the european debt crisis