operations at the bbc and also how they plan to cover the upcoming elections. "washington journal" is next. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] host: good morning, friday, july 6, 2012. former first make -- lady nancy reagan is 91 today and former president george w. bush is 66 today. president obama continues his bus tour, in ohio and pennsylvania today. mitt romney continues his family vacation in new hampshire. you are watching c-span's "washington journal." today for our question we will look at your views on the health-care law one week after the court ruling. and what extension, a bridge -- with extension coverage from the

news media about the health care ruling, we would like to see, now that you have had a week to settle in and understand that the law has been affirmed and the supreme court has made its ruling, have your views changed about the law or the candidates for president and they're talking about the law. our phone lines are open. good friday morning to you. an informal search on google news about health-care law, it turned up nearly 30,000 articles so coverage of it, many places to go and read about the pros and cons of what happened that the supreme court, both news reporting an opinion. we will listen to your thoughts on whether and not having a week to do that, your views of the law have changed.

joining us as we start the discussion and asking the question and a much more formal way is frank newport, editor in chief of gallup organization and they did a poll over the last couple of days, several days after the supreme court decision, to find out some of the americans's attitude. guest: my pleasure, good to be with the. host: you write -- average americans are certainly in a better position than economists on how the legislation will affect the economy but their assumptions and perceptions have political repercussions nonetheless. it asked the question, what would it the economy. what did you find out question montego that is one of the key issues because the economy is a top problem in the country so the implications to the economy is important. we've found a tilt to the negative, nine points -- 46% said they thought the health- care law recently ruled

constitutional by the supreme court would hurt the national economy and 37% said it would help. like a lot of the polling which has been done previous to the supreme court decision, there is a general tilt to the negative on the part of the american public. host: party affiliation, what do you find question montego no great shock. this is one of the most parts and pieces of legislation. naturally enough, highly identified with a democratic president's, obamacare, so anything labeled after a president in one part or the other will be political, and the results on this question are highly critical as well. the vast majority of republicans say it will hurt the economy and a significant number -- not totally all but a significant percent of democrats say it will help the economy. ibps told more to say it will hurt the economy -- independent

s tilt more toward setting it will hurt the economy. obviously the average american has no idea from a strict numbers perspective what the impact will be -- in fact, nobody knows. the provisions will be implemented into 2014. even then, economists scratching their head and try to project it will help hospital stocks, hurt small businesses and do this and that -- nobody really knows. so, the fact that 17% bravely told the pollster i'd really don't know is probably the most honest response we got. host: thank you for starting us all on americans' views. clearly president obama talking about it on the campaign trail. frank newport, editor in chief of the gallup poll organization. thank you so much.

guest: my pleasure. host: let's listen to a little bit of the president yesterday as he made his campaign swing through ohio talking about health care, and later on we will listen in to mitt romney and then take telephone calls. [video clip] >> i will work with anybody who wants to work with me to continue to improve our health care system and our health-care laws, but the law i past is here to say. it is going to make the vast majority of americans more secure. we will not go back to the days when insurance companies could discriminate against people just because they were sick. we will not tell 6 million young people who are now on their parents' insurance plans that suddenly they don't have health insurance. we will not allow medicare to be turned into a voucher system. now is not the time spending four more years we fighting --

re-fighting battles on years ago. it is time to move forward to make sure every american has affordable health insurance and insurance companies are treating them fairly. that is what we fought for. we will move forward. host: the president is saying the health-care law is here to stay. we would like to get your reactions. we have the numbers on the screen. and remember the 30-day policy. you can also send messages on twitter and you can post on facebook. let's begin with a phone call from oxnard, california. will is a democrat. caller: good morning. i am supportive of the affordable care act. i still would have supported a single payer universal health care which the government could have operated but people would still have to pay for it, medicare for all. however, i understand the president saying that he

probably had a better understand -- opportunity to get something where people had to buy insurance, just like governor romney did in massachusetts. it is just sad to me that so many people in their right wing don't want to help their fellow citizens. they put up these obstacles to any health care, but this is something they actually supported through the heritage foundation back in 1990's, over universal health care. so, i think they should try to support what the president is doing, make improvements, and i think obama, when he got this law passed, he should have tried to have it implemented much sooner like romney did in massachusetts. host: has any of your opinions been shaped by the discussion and debate over the past week? caller: what is happening with

me is that i am hearing a bunch of lies being told. they are saying it is a tax but it is qualified under the tax code they could charge a penalty for the few people who don't want to get insurance. host: next is a call from kevin from florida, independent. caller: thanks for having me on. i take this very personally. i am an educator. i got laid off in the summer. they do that so they can cut the benefits. the first guy that i was listening to was setting the economists have no idea. every real economist i research, every real independent economists said this is actually going to help the economy, especially people like me. right now i have to be on

cobra, so instead of free insurance by my employer i will spend $625. i have a pre-existing condition. host: are you laid off every summer as a teacher? caller: because i am a little man on the totem pole. where we are at, what they have to do is they have to keep in the the "most experienced" which are the older teachers and it is the last one hired and first fired and then you have to scramble for a new job. they are doing class size reduction, so everybody gets laid off and moved out of their big jobs. given first shot on taking all of the openings. i am the guy who is left hanging. i am a special ed teacher. if there is not an opening for me, i will not have health insurance and it affects our education because you will not

have the most qualified in the classroom. it affects children all over. i walk in a classroom where 90% of my students don't have health insurance. host: let me stop you right there. a lot of folks are in line. next is was late, a republican in maine -- is wesley, a republican in maine. caller: it is taking half a trillion dollars from medicare and medicare is in trouble to begin with and if you take the half a trillion dollars out of the, the senior people will be hurt the most in your planning games with the tricare for those in the army also carry host: has anything changed your opinion? caller: no, totally against it. host: frank from michigan. caller: i think most of the negative feelings about the health-care law is because of the lies that are out there and

poor messaging from the democrats. the gentleman who just called who said he does not like it because of money taken from medicare but my understanding is it was waist taken out of medicare, and you still -- waste taken out of medicare. and you still have people talking about death panels and that the plan will come between you and your doctors. currently only the insurance companies are coming between you and your doctor. what they are calling a tax, even in massachusetts under net romney, the way the penalty is collected is under the tax law -- under mitt romney. because of misinformation and poor messaging from the democrats, the true facts are not getting out. host: a good segue listening to candidate romney. there has been a lot of consternation among conservative groups about the way the romney campaign has reacted to the road last week, whether it is a

mandate or tax. the candidate is on vacation with this family in new hampshire but he did give an interview and we have a clip. [video clip] >> it gives the impression the decision was made not based on constitutional foundation, but instead political consideration about the relationship between the branches of government. but we will not really know the answers until the justice himself speaks out, maybe some time in history. host: raising issues of whether or not there were politics behind the decision. let's take our next telephone call from long beach, new york. joe is an independent. you are on the air. caller: good morning. the caller said the democrats are not getting the message out, that is right. not telling us in this health care bill was not written by doctors and surgeons and practitioners, but it was written by the pharmaceutical companies and the insurance companies. they are not listening -- interested in your health care,

but profits. now the irs will be collecting the profits. you get a huge hospital bill -- you know who was coming at you? the irs. you think i like this bill. does any american like this? i cannot believe it. it is like the worst nightmare coming true. host: joe from long beach. in the commentary pages of "the washington times" this morning, dual opinion pieces by speaker of the house john boehner and the leader of the senate.

in this piece, john boehner writes -- on that note, just some inside baseball on how congress works. the rules committee put out notice they will hold an emergency meeting on monday, an expedited meeting to consider repealing president obama's cigna corp. -- signature health care reform law, according to a statement from the panel spokesperson.

it is considered an emergency meeting because a copy of that introduced the measure must be available for members of the panel at least 24 hours before the meeting. while the text is on line, the bill is not expected to be reintroduced until monday. we are asking whether or not in the flood of coverage after the supreme court decision, has your view of the health-care law changed, has your view of political leaders changed as a result of what you learned about it? tell us what you think after you had time to discuss -- digest the discussions. evan, republican. good morning. are you there? let's move on. the next telephone call is from carol from georgia. caller: i just want to know, when people call in and say untruths, are you responsible to correct it? besides that, one week later the

health care ruling, you want to hear what people have to say. living in georgia -- i get social security, so i get medicare. the thing is that how could someone who is on medicare go against their own will? do that bother you that you have people receiving medicare calling in telling you they don't want the government in their health care? here in georgia they are saying they will not even take what the president is offering people who don't have a medicare or medicaid? you tell me, what person in their right mind would sit around and just nothing? it is almost like, you tell me what you think and i don't have nothing to say. even when you know the truth, you don't say anything, either. the morning shows -- i don't

know whether it is for ratings, but they don't sit and tell the truth. we just need the truth. if it is good, it is good, if it is bad, it is bad. but if you look at everything, you got republicans, they seem like they are on the same thing but they receive medicare. have a good day. host: this is an open forum to listen to your comments and not sit here and be the font of all wisdom about the issues. we are having a town hall discussion. on to that no -- onto that not e, the three papers all have the healthcare reaction on the front pages. "the wall street journal" letters to the editor -- a full page of letters they published in the print version. "usa today," their opinion line section --

they have highlights from across the country. "the new york times" editorial, first of all, letters to the editor -- their lead editorial about this -- they say -- that is "the new york times" opinion this morning. next is baton rouge, louisiana. caller: just listening to the few people here, it is scary that these people -- that these

people vote. the lady who says she is on medicaid, 65 and over, the new bill is for people under 65. they will take money from people who are on medicaid and fund the health care plan. be is going to lose out ton nefits. and the whole medicare bill argument is based on increasing taxes, which someone said they would not absolutely do under any circumstance. lies, like everything else from the administration. les, lies, lies -- lies. host: a viewer has a view about

medicare -- next is a call from alabama. lonnie is a republican. caller: it is going to cost so much to get this done. and what are we going to do with the people -- t's say you have smokers and alcoholics? are they going to be charged more for their health care? you take somebody who is kind of healthy like me, i and not really going to the doctors that much and now it looks like a lot of people who don't see the doctor will be paying to go see their doctor. people just following barack obama are around by the nose, he seems to have them by their noses. i think in a few months we get to vote, and that is how we will change things. host: our facebook community, here is a little bit about what

people have to say. a little bit of the facebook community's comments. cs ward writes on twitter --

next is middletown, new jersey. bonnie. caller: maryland is a great state, too. good morning. when i was a young girl, someone told me there are people who create and contribute and then there are those that destroy and contaminates. -- and contaminate. without this health care bill, where we stood -- i am smart enough to realize i am sitting pretty comfortably financially but i knew one catastrophic illness in my family, i would lose everything -- my home, and i would be bankrupt. as far as this medicare -- and i would like to suggest to many of our callers who really did not

understand because they have been given lies and propaganda, go to healthcare.gov, a very simple synopsis and it would clarify a lot. as far as medicare -- i understand, older people, it is a scary thing but the truth is this bill closes the doughnut hole created by medicare part d, so you did not have to pay out of pocket for very expensive drugs you cannot afford. they did not have to make a decision whether they can eat that day -- they do not have to make a decision whether they can eat that day. and medicare advantage only covers gym membership and glasses and if only costs about 30% more. as far as taxes, and help the people paying more, but if you are happy with your -- health see people paying more, if you are happy with your private

assurance, that what you have -- healthy people paying more, if you are happy with the private insurers, that is what you have in universal health care makes us a healthier nation. there are no death panels. it will help us. women, no longer pre-existing condition for women to get health care because we were putting 40% more if we had to buy our own policies. it helps us -- my daughter who is 25, she can be on my health care policy and i would not have to go out and spend 40% more to get her a private policy. with a larger pool, it brings down the cost because you have a healthy people and if you spread the risk, the cost comes down. the cost of the premiums were growing exponentially and there had to be something done about this. like other callerss, i would have much more preferred --

callers, i would have much support -- preferred single pair or 8 pool to choose from. this was a republican answer, harris is foundation. host: robert on twitter -- bonnie was one of them and so are you, robert parry columbus, ohio. .- robert pi columbus, ohio. turn down your radio. apologies to you, you miss your chance. republican, manhattan. you are on, yvonne. caller: i and a republican and i and an african american, and they keep saying the affordable health care, but -- i am a republican and i'm an african- american and they say affordable health care but what about

quality health care? they need to wake up and do research and find out who these people are and not being led by the nose by anything that will give them something free. i know there are a lot of republican people out there who do not think this way, so, please, do your research and read and stop listening to everything just because you want to hear what they have to say. like when you go to church, if the printer does not say something good, you walked out. -- preacher does not say something good, you walk out. cannot be led by the nose by every turn of the wind. host: kay from twitter -- on the editorial pages, intersecting with politics on this. let me just go through a few of these. this is "the baltimore sun" this morning.

and from "the new york post." it goes on from there. "the washington times" -- that is a view from some of the editorial pages. let me finish with paul krugman.

back to your telephone calls talking about the health care decision a week later. jason, a debit -- democrat. caller: how is everybody doing? this past week my views have been reinforce by the supreme court. it is under congress that the spending powers, so if it is a tax or mandate, congress has the authority to do that. historically, one of the biggest pieces of legislation passed in the new deal era. so it is a monumental piece of legislation for obama. i think it bodes well for him. i think it brings credibility to his presidency because it is something that he promised, he promised the american people and people and his campaign that he would pass that. and it was just recently upheld constitutional under a very simple holding. i have been talking to people for over two weeks and i ecstatic that 40 million

americans will be covered by this and people will not have to have fear going to the hospital and fear of debt and not getting treated. finally americans will have one of the most basic fundamental rights, something i believe that this epochal for americans to have in the richest country in the world, to have this sort of health care. i think it is one of the best things to happen to our country. host: donna from st. louis. caller: good morning. a couple of things. first of all, the republicans fought medicare every step of the way back in 1965. they have not changed at all. how many people want to repeal medicare? now bank, if this new law stays in effect through -- now, if this new law stays in effect through 2014 the working class will see how many good things are for them and republicans are scared to death they will find out if this ever happens they will be blamed for it. everybody having preventive

health care will bring down the debt because of now we are paying for all of them to go to the emergency room and even the bipartisan cbo says it will bring down the debt. and secondly, the insurance companies spent over $200 million to defeat this and obviously a lot of it went into republican pockets. host: more on politics with health care. "the baltimore sun." in "the new york times" this morning --

retting, pennsylvania. -- reading, pennsylvania. republican. you have had a week to digest it. caller: when the supreme court made its decision, i was on a bus to new york city to go to nyu medical center for a post- surgical visit. after my visit there, i was talking to my doctor, and came out with a couple of things on this decision. no. 1 -- i am 71 years old. probably in 2014, i would not have been able to have the procedure that i had done at nyu. none of the doctors in a reading would perform it because of my age and the cost effectiveness of the procedure. the second point, that day when

i came back on the bus to pennsylvania, there was a letter in my mailbox that my employer might contributory insurance -- which, of course, i got as a group rate for people 65 years and older. now, under what obama and said, i should be able to keep my insurance. well, i am not, i am being dropped as a result of this particular decision. we have been shopping for new medical insurance and we will be paying five times greater than what we are paying right now. of course, i would be able to keep my insurance and my rates would go down -- none of those have happened -- in 2014, because of my age, i probably would not be able to have the procedure i had according to the surgeon and nyu and also i probably would not be able to go to nyu, i would have to stay in

the pennsylvania area to have the procedure done, which could not have been done here. that is my basic comment. i am highly disturbed by this. host: you can see the popularity -- a photograph, "the new york times" using this on a health care story and here is "usa today" using it on a story about how late -- politics. here is "the washington post" using it on a camping 2012 page. for our radio audience, it is a picture of romney with the grandchildren on a late in new hampshire on their family book. we are talking with you this morning about the health-care decision and whether or not in a week since you have had a chance to digest the health care ruling from the supreme court, if your opinions have changed.

albany, georgia. caller: calling to say the same thing the lady from new jersey said. i don't understand people who said they have a ph.d. and cannot understand the program. the lady from the jersey explain it -- even for people on social security, she explained how would work. i am on social security and not one thing change for me. i have private blue shield-blue cross in georgia and not one thing change. i have tricare, not wanting change. for people who say they cannot understand this are the very people who don't want to understand this, so nothing is going to change their mind, there are republicans and they will go the way the republican party say, so to keep driving this thing in the ground is a waste of time because the same people are going to be setting the same thing. they understand, they don't want to agree. host: johnny from georgia.

a viewer on twitter rights this -- something interesting in the world of politics. "the new york times" frontpage writing about rupert murdoch, a rival of there's, "the wall street journal," about his criticism of mitt romney and it made a front-page story. jeremy peters has the story. all that made front-page news in

"the new york times." florida, carey is an independent. you are on the air. caller: thank you for taking my call and thank you for c-span. i am a little nervous. the first time i have gotten through in a lot of years. i am extremely happy that the supreme court came down with the ruling that it came down. i have had two pre-existing conditions for ever and have never been able to afford health care, and when we did get supplementary, it was still way over $600 a month just for me alone. my health care has almost bankrupt us, and we are a small business. one of the reasons i think so many people are against the health care is of the negative commentary, and i believe that a

lot of that is coming from special interests. i am really unhappy that a lot of people like some of your callers have already stated have not done their own investigation because you have to consider why some in the entities, i would say, are really pushing for this to change and i really want the american people to get there and vote and understand that we really do have the power of our votes. to have it repealed at this point is a frightening for me and my family. i and just really praying, i am praying that -- i'm just really praying and i am praying we don't end up with this repeal to congress and senate and i think we have the power to keep it from happening with my vote -- our votes.

host: a viewer from twitter writes us -- in about eight minutes we will be joined by our first guest of the morning, david harsanyi, a syndicated columnist and also writes about politics for "human events." the jobs numbers are coming out today and we will be looking at the monthly unemployment statistics. we will start the conversation with him about job creation and which candidates have a better scenario for that. trenton, new jersey. angela is next. a democrat. you are on the air caller: this is how i see it. -- you are on the air. caller: this is how i see it. kohl, wall street, more concerned with quick gains, sure profits but did not care what -- the long term disasters. president obama's affordable care act, it is designed that

you did not see all the benefits for a couple of years but there are so many positive things that will eventually kicked in. that is why i believe the republicans want to destroy it. they do not want it to be successful, as simple as that. kill it before it is successful. host: thank you very much. on twitter, a viewer sends us this tweet about health care and numbers -- next is a caller from sharon watching us -- she is gone. let's go to gregory from north carolina. independent. caller: can you hear me ok? host: yes, we can. welcome. caller: thank you for c-span. i think that the health care plan is over all very, very good for the economy in the long run.

i think resistance to it will hurt the economy, and whenever you are talking about hospitals, schools, you are talking about solutions and talking about the roots of the problem. when you talk about more police cars, more legislation, more expanding criminal code, that is just affecting the those are just the affects of problems and not solutions. host: the lead story in "the new york times" today is on the white house and its approach to "no child left behind." they are granting waivers for 26 states.

next up in jacksonville, florida. caller: i am just astounded by some of the stuff coming out. they are going to take $500 billion out of medicare in this affordable care act. we were just talking about exemptions for the "no child left behind a." if obamacare is so great, why didn't they grant -- why did they grant 1900 exemptions already for unions coming municipal the employees, state employees, etc.? if we are going to pass the law,

it should apply to everyone. we don't pick and choose who we want. the enforcement of the non-tax is turned into the irs, where they hire 16,000 people who enforce the new non-tax. really, it is incomprehensible. but anyway, thank you for listening. host: appreciate your call. bruce from jacksonville, florida. lots of stories about the announcement from the staff of representative jesse jackson, jr., the congressman from illinois, about his health condition. you can see the headline in "usa today." the congress as the congressman bought a health condition is more serious than believed. he went on medical leave june 10 and it is said to be treated for exhaustion.

back to phone calls about health care and your views on it. michael in fort worth, a democrat. go ahead, please. caller: i think it is a very timely topic, thank you, and as always, to me the information coming out about the ruling itself, simply going on line to what chief justice roberts putting in a 59-page discussion of why he upheld it explaining to anyone who is at least a reasonable that it was -- the

commerce clause power of the congress, although explaining why he did not think it covered it, there was no doubt about the taxing congress to cover it. anyone to me who is just trying to use objective reasoning beauty the actual number of people who would pay a penalty for not making a contribution to universal health coverage, it would be unfair, and to get past the disasters, destructive, so- called health care system we have had, which adjust to me been like an octopus squeezing us to death by the health care industry -- the thundering

power given abundant -- number of people rapidly heading to all of already in effect, the number of young people getting on to their parents' health care coverage, the stories of people -- real stories of lives saved by now not being denied coverage when they get disastrous bonuses -- illnesses. i could go on. i think you get the idea. host: michael, we are out of time, so, thank you, we will stop there. fort worth, texas. his support for health care. we have just a few seconds left so let me tell you about things coming up this weekend on c- span. on "q&a" our guest is the former commander of the uss cole, and

wheat -- he will be talking about his new historical narrative about al-qaeda's attack on the uss cole. and on our newspapers program, lee saunders, brenda head of american federation of state, county, and municipal employees just coming into office and you'll meet him during this clip and then we will be back live on "washington journal" with david harsanyi. [video clip]journa >> and the state of florida -- and stop the privatization of state services and we did it with help of republicans. we have to set the facts straight. the average pension that the retiree receives is $18,000 or $19,000 a year. you have some folks who say that is a huge amount, that they are

ripping off the system. $18,000 or $19,000 a year is not a huge amount. it represents money the pensioner has put into that system. this is not money just coming from the state, but it is money that employee has put into the system because they had expected a retirement at the end of the year, at the end of their twilight years. what we've got to do, i believe, it is get those kinds of facts out. but i think we also got to bring together not only folks the labor unions but academics and politicians and sit down and talk about the issue of pensions. i propose to do that, at my first executive board meeting, at that will be a priority for my administration and we will be looking of the pension issue and maybe think outside of the box and seek advice and seek recommendations and have discussions, have communication with folks outside of labor, and let's see where we can go with this. >> "washington journal"

continues. host: let me introduce you to our first guest, david harsanyi , syndicated columnist and he is a senior reporter for "human events" covering economic and political issues. over his years his writings have. in "the wall street journal." "weekly standard." "reason magazine," and other publications. you began as a sports writer. were you a sports writer love and politics, how that work? guest: my family had defected from communist hungary, and it was a big topic in my house will but i always loved it. but i love sports as well. host: do you use a lot of sports analyses? guest: no, i try not to. host: let's start talking about jobs. looking at some of your recent columns, you are interested in job creation and what the effects are in this country. yesterday we got new numbers from private sector reporting,

and here is opened with the orange county register." private jobs growth across all sectors -- "the orange county register." today we are looking for private and public sector job -- johnson how the unemployment rate stands overall. candidates are talking about jobs, jobs, jobs. president obama on the campaign trail, the headlines. mitt romney made his campaign centerpiece as a job creator. when you think about how this country most effectively create jobs, where do you come from on that question on guest: not the government jobs, clearly from my ideological jobs, i think private sector jobs are more important in creating wealth and create wealth is more important to creating jobs than just jobs for jobs sake because i do not think it is the way the economy and work. we have and use our economy with a moral imperative where we have

to create certain kinds of jobs that we want, whereas i think it is organic and we can never predict what jobs are going to be. i think we have done a little too much of that as well. but rarely with great energy and things like that. host: when you look at the private sector numbers, they divide it into large corporations, midsize companies, and small business and small business looks the healthiest in job creation overall. what you think is happening in e economy stimulating small business higher -- one such a long time access of capital is a jealous. guest: i think it still is a jealous. people are uncertain. i think small businesses typically lead and a recovery that we are technically income even though a lot of people are not feeling it yet, and obviously the last time we saw jobs and numbers they were not good at all. we predict or at least the private sector numbers yesterday predicted a nice rebound this month. i am hopeful on that. but i and not sure if larger

corporations are probably more hesitant to expand. smaller companies taking advantage of that. host: overall you are feeling hopeful about the economy right now? guest: not really. even if we see over 100,000 or 100 of the be thousand new jobs, it is still pretty anemic overall -- or 150 new -- 150,000 jobs, it is pretty anemic overall. there is a lot of political uncertainty and of the uncertainty for people to have a long view. but i think at some point it ends, right? host: in a coordinated move yesterday major banks cut interest rates to pump more money in the economy and are waiting for the fed to make a similar announcement. guest: last we heard, i heard they were leaning that way in the minutes from the fed. but a lot of banks are sitting on a bunch of money, so i am not sure how helpful it will be. i am not an economist, so i did

not know. monetary policy is difficult. but i am a little worried in the long term about inflation. easy to say let's fix it now, but what happened to the retirement funds of older folks and things like that? there is a larger view we have to think about even though we are struggling right now. host: let us switch to the presidential campaigns. when you listen to both candidates and how they are approaching their messages on jobs and the economy, what do you hear from each one? guest: i do not hear much from it romney, let's start with that. i did not think he is very ideological as a person and i think his jobs plan, a lot of cliches frankly, because it is election time and he does not want to give specific reasons politicians never get specific. so, i don't think he has done a very good job in presenting a vision to conservatives or to the right or the country or to independents. that is problematic. i don't like obama's jobs plan. i think there are five different

areas he conference. and, you know, it is a little project -- protectionist, and so the feels right, is a populist, but i don't think it will be smart. host: what about his move on china yesterday, the possible auto industry tariff? guest: i think it is a bad idea. we went through something like that with solar panels were the chinese are producing cheaper solar panels, so they tried to pass a bill that would essentially give them with huge tariffs. they hit back -- we would get in a trade war with china which will not be good for the economy. even during the depression with learned that tariffs are probably not a good idea. host: as a conservative, you are disappointed with how the romney campaign is positioning itself, and i can find lots of other examples looking through opinion pages this morning. where will conservatives out there in the country go this year if they are disappointed? guest: i think there is so much energy and anchor frankly at the obama administration that they have no other place to go. it is just how politics works.

but i think romney bank has presented an incredible opportunity -- whether it is the president's fault on not -- we are in a terrible economy and typically the american people blame the person in charge of the terrible economy, but yet mitt romney has not taken advantage of it in the way he could. not just on health care and things like that, you know, where he is sort of in trouble because of his own policies, but he is always on the defensive, even with bain capital and other areas. outsourcing jobs and things like that, where he should be defending outsources, for instance, as a way to increase productivity. i think he is too nervous to go out on a limb on those issues. host: i showed in an earlier segment a very popular photograph this morning of mr. romney on vacation in new hampshire with his power vote and his family members, at least four papers have printed it this morning. there have been critiques of the way his campaign has been organizing its messaging.

what were your thoughts when you saw that photograph popping up and resonating so much this week? guest: i don't know. listen, i don't think mitt romney can hide from who he is or how his life is about or that he had an elevator in his garage, that he is just a really, really rich do and if he pretends not to be he comes off fate. i don't know what to say about messaging. i think people care less about that and more on policy issues considering the way the economy is going. i am worried about the policy message, which is terrible. host: will stay with this theme for just a minute because it is not the first presidential campaign that has gotten caught up in vacation photographs and the messages they telegraph. mr. kerry windsurfing. the first george bush on his motor vote off the coast of maine. there have been prior examples of how these kinds of photographs resonate with the public. guest: i am not sure how much

the resume. i think it might be the big deal for the media. i am not sure people care that much that kerry was -- what was the, windsurfing and scuba gear. i do not think people make decisions on those sorts of issues, but i think perhaps in a broader sense you have sort of a perspective of a person and you sort of this like them personally or you feel like they are out of touch, things like that might happen. but generally i think people have made up their minds already. i think there is a lot of noise that does not really resonate that the media does not create. but i do not think people change their votes on stuff like that. host: overall, maybe a philosophical question of americans's view on what they expect from their candidates. throughout history we have had this love-a relationship that looks like with successful people aspiring office -- love- hate relationship. guest: it is ironic that being

successful is viewed as a handicap when you are running for office. it means you have done things in life that should be admired, i suppose. not always. with george bush, jr., we had -- his connections probably helped him a lot being a successful businessman, mitt romney as well, but i personally cannot care less. john kerry has a ton of money but i disagree with his policies. we do have a love-hate relationship. all candidates pretend to be an everyman, go to diners, things like that. i am not sure how often people make their decisions on that. if the economy was not terrible, if things were going well, that might matter, that you want to like your candidate more. but today people are pretty said in their opinions about what is going on and which way we need to go and that is what the polls cannot move that much. both have stayed pretty steady since we started doing the daily polling, gallup and others.

host: i want to get some calls in. david harsanyi joining us, longtime political columnist from the conservative point of view at "human events" right now but also syndicated nationally and you can find a lot of his writings on my. our first caller from ohio. catherine is a democrat. you are on your caller: good morning. good morning, c-span. i would like to say right now that all of my children and my grandchildren who are old enough to have a job are working. so i am very thankful for that. the first time in about three or four years where they all had a job. but the reason of my call is very simple. i would like to know what's romney -- what romney has as far as the incident happening in the u.k. and also concern he has not released its financial statements. he wants to have the highest job in the united states without releasing any of the

information. of course, i am not jealous, but i am curious as to why i am forced to pay taxes but he does not have to. he just has to say i don't want to and therefore he does not have to. i feel like it is a great disservice to the americans and for the american way of life for you to tell me i must but someone who is very rich like him, he can choose. either you an american or you are not. and the way i look at it, if you do not want to keep your money here, then you should not run for office. and you can tell by the sound of my voice i am very upset because i am a middle-class american who have lost a lot in the last five, six years. my 401k is still in the toilet and he has made plenty of money off of the backs of americans but yet he does not want to come clean with us americans, he wants us to vote for him and for him to say, well, gee, you get

with me the day after the election and i will tell you what i will do for jobs. no, i want your opinion now and i want you to come clean for the american people now. guest: i think she is right, i guest: i think she is right. i think presidential candidates should be transparent, and that means college records. i'm not sure what she means about mitt romney not paying taxes. he has made a lot of money in his life. he did not make money off the back of americans. he was a businessman. no one is forced to buy anything in this country except health care moving forward. i think bain capital provide more productivity.

host: her first comments were on the barclays bank libor scandal. guest: i only know what i have read in the papers. it looks pretty bad. i'm not sure how that connects to mitt romney. host: an overall sense of concern about big banks and the economy. wilmington, ill. it. the illinois. -- illinois. bud. caller: i heard you say that you were worried about provoking a trade war with china, and i think we are in a trade war, and we are losing. not only are we losing, but because they own so much of our debt, we pay a regular trade to our enemy in the form of the dividend we send over there.

guest: the debt is bad, but having china invested in our future, i do not think that is terrible because if we go under, they do not get their money. i think our relationship with china right now is a good one. gm sells tons of cars in china. as the economy grows, it will be better for us when we want to sell them our products. i think there is always some war going on, but it is bad to expand it. host: you made comments about people being required to purchase health care. the speaker in "the washington times" reaffirms the efforts to repeal. do you respect -- do you support those efforts? guest: i do.

i was in the supreme court when roberts read the first part, then it was downhill from there. i think this is symbolic. it is not willing to go anywhere but it shows the american people that republicans are serious about it and i hope it moves forward. host: having read your opinion, what is your assessment of the decision-making from the chief johnston -- chief justice? guest: i think it was a big mistake. i think you need to be active in defending the constitution. even though i'm not saying that as an economic solution it is a terrible idea, but i think the precedent it sets is offals -- awful. host: in what ways? guest: you could force people to buy things you think they should have and slap a tax on it.

that is dangerous. i'm not saying the government will force us to eat broccoli tomorrow, but whatever it is, the government should not course us to take part in the private market. host: the next call for david harsanyi is from texas. al. caller: good morning, everyone. i think mitt romney can get his message back on track, if he does what it did in iowa, where in those blue jeans, that did something for me. i do not swing that way. host: i am not sure where he is going. guest: i would like him to wear a suit. i need someone to love -- seem

presidential. jack host: bobo. -- bob. caller: what i hear from the right is that we need to cut spending to get out of the recession, and as far as i know we have never gotten all the recession budget of a recession like that. it took massive government spending like award to get us out of the great depression. in guest: just cutting will not get us out of anything, we are at a place where we could cause another crisis, cannot pay our debt, and the government continues to grow despite what people say. if we have over a $1 trillion deficit every year. it is a separate issue. everything in the economy is connected in some sense.

we have spent tons of money trying to fix the economy and it has not worked. perhaps looking at different ways, freeing up the markets to sticks them themselves. host: two twitter comments about the china trade sanctions issue. host: read about this. guest: somebody else would have built cars and sold them to china other than gm and probably do it cheaper and better. as far as trade wars, i understand the sentiment, right and left, our inclination is to want to close borders, save jobs and be more protectionist, but when you look at go world

and how it is worked, it is not good for -- it has worked, it is not good for our economy. i understand that this tough, and during an election no politician will say things like that. host: here is one more. what should be done? guest: i am not sure if that is true, frankly. host: national. charles. republican. you are on for david harsanyi. caller: i would like to make a statement. i do not think people are against wealth. let me give you an example. the banks made a lot bad decisions and they used the money from the poorest american , -- thehat draw welfare

people that got, -- not get up every morning, we'd get up every morning, and they did not use the wealthy money. they used social security, medicaid, medicare, money that i pay into and they pay into. i know too much about the guy running for the republican nominee to vote for him. i'm a republican. i will not go into detail, because i am hoping some people will vote for him. i am not saying obama has done anything for this country, but if this guy gets elected he will go over the top with it. myself, and make about $80,000 a year. i would rather pay a little more than these people stealing money from my mother and father. thank you.

guest: i am not sure those are connected. barack obama voted for the bank bailouts as well. mitt romney was not there. i believe he supported tarp. almost everybody supported tarp. i'm not sure the money came from social security because there is no money to pay for everything, but i understand the sentiment and i agree. host: dayton, ohio. tom. an independent. caller: i look at missed. mr. romney as tim cook, the apple ceo, who was on television and said he could not bring the jobs back because people could not afford his product. he could make $400 billion a year, but paid employees $1 an hour. people need to wake up. they are using slave work --

slave labor and killing american workers. guest: the boom of outsourcing in the 1990's was great, and i think people are looking for a scapegoat. there are fundamental problems. i understand the sentiment. there is populism. people want to blame someone, but i'm not sure that cheap labor in other countries is terrible. it gives us products said are cheaper and it gives us money in other areas of the economy. host: untwitter -- guest: at some point i am sure they will come up but not right now. host: is not an immediate concern. guest: i think people are always willing to lend you money. we are still the united states

and our word is pretty good. a few weeks ago there was a rush to buy treasury bonds in the united states with people getting out of european bonds. we're still doing better than most places in the world. i would not worry about that, even though i do not think we should be borrowing money as much, but it is still not a big worry. it's called in about 20 minutes, we'll have the latest unemployment numbers, something the president will be speaking about today, and we expect a reaction from the romney campaign as well. we'll keep this segment going so that our guest, david harsanyi can't we get -- can react. the next call is from that and ruche, indiana -- louisiana -- baton rouge, louisiana. lee. caller: i see you're talking about job creation. how will you have a job creation if you will not let the keystone

pipeline come through, and you want to bankrupt all of the coal companies? it does not make any sense to me. you were talking about mitt romney not been truthful or transparent, and i think obama is the very first president ever sealed all of his records, his college records, his health records, all of his records. how in the world is that been transparent? i imagine he is probably the first president ever did that. host: thank you. guest: i agree. as i mentioned, obama has not been completely transparent either. also, the keystone pipeline is very important and energy is a big part of the economy. we have all lot of it. we should make it easier for

people to produce energy and the obama administration has not done that. energy is still relatively cheap. it is not killing us yet, but look at what is happening in iran, it could be a huge problem and it would be better if we could produce. host: the lead story in "the new york times" is that the administration is about to grant its 25th waiver for the no child left behind a lot. where u.s. supporter of this law? guest: i do not like centralized education policy. i think states should come up with their own solution. every state has different needs and different populations, but moreover their good laboratories to see what works and what does not. i hope we follow the same path when it comes to health care if mitt romney wins president. he will grant waivers on the

first day and we can build from there. host: how can you process publicly that a conservative president side note child left behind in george bush, and a liberal press -- liberal president is signing waivers? guest: these things happen. i think the inclination was to institute testing to see how teachers were doing and things like that. i think it is bad precedents to expand education and the education department's power over states. arnie duncan is not as be loved by the unions as other democratic education secretaries have them. maybe we are headed in the right direction. i spent a lot of time in colorado and they're democrats ran very progressive school

district in the sense of charter schools and choice. it is not an issue that is as clear cut as right and left. host: the next call is from memphis, van, a democrat. you are on for david harsanyi. caller: he said something about medicare. bill clinton set aside $500 billion for medicare. george bush the second gave it to the rich as a tax break. you know that they take it out of medicare every time. thank you. guest: i respectfully disagree. i do not think. was taken out of medicare funding and george bush's tax cuts were not taken from anyone. they allowed people to keep more of their own money and tax receipts were up, so i'm not

sure if that is accurate. host: circling back to the comments earlier in response to the caller on offshore in mitt romney's investments and his paying a lower tax rate -- guest: i think that politically have in offshore accounts is probably going to be bad for mitt romney. i do not personally see a big deal with it, but bain capital did not destroy companies. they saved companies for the most part. i am not saying everything they did was perfect. sometimes companies have to be. strips down because they are not efficient and productive. -- sometimes companies have to be stripped down because they

are not efficient or productive. people do not like it, but that is how it works, and it has been working for us for a long time. host: on private sector against public sector jobs -- this e- mail -- guest: well, a businessman can also shut down his company, take his money and put it in the bank if he feels like it. there is nothing we can do about that. if he or she finds a way to be more productive, he should do that. we have a lot of infrastructure projects. there is plenty going on, but just throwing money at government which often word used to just balance their own

budgets in the states, i think it is more complex than just saying we will do more infrastructure. host: you brought -- you write twice a month for "human events? guest: i have a weekly column. host: as far as subject, what do you find yourself most attracted to? guest: economic issues, mostly, but also culture. to most people, everything in the world is connected in a way. why do people spend their money on? when i went to the movie the other day, and i saw "ted," which was excellent, and there were a lot of people in line.

i do not feel like things are crumbling. i do not know if we are in a depression in the sense that we mentioned like in the 1930's. i am more concerned about how people spend money, and that is in more things than they tell pollsters. host: december is a time that is being called the fiscal cliff because of measures the expiration dates, including the sequestration project -- process, so this morning in "the financial times" --

new guest: at think that is going to happen again. i am sure they will get something done. it is suicide not to. the republicans will probably try to get as much as they can in cuts. part of this is military spending cuts, which i think republicans should agreed to on some level just to show they're serious about this. they lose credibility when they take that off of the table all the time. it is suicide. i cannot imagine people would be that nihilistic. host: from twitter, it is bowles-simpson a solution in your mind? guest: it might have done, but it is long gone. everybody ignored it. yes, i think it might have been. host: tacoma, washington, up

next for david harsanyi. cameron. you are on. caller: i want to ask first about tax reform, but first a quick comment about the media and how much responsibility it has and how much effect it has on voters to read either get president bush's term and i will mention a few line items that ronald reagan would not have done. the patriot act, in no way. he would not have passed that. the department of homeland security, that would not have happened. medicare part b on a credit card, that would not have happened. nation-building in the middle east, that would not happen. the press is allowed to cast a blue dog democrat president as a conservative, and that is a big problem. the question i want to ask about tax reform, mitch mcconnell has claimed that the federal government will consume all the

wealth in the nation in 13 months. in other words, if you took all of the rich in the nation and took everything they had, that is over in 13 months. is that not like feeding the stock for the next spring? is that with the democrats advocate? guest: i think the bush presidency was a disaster for conservatism, because he was not a conservative in the way people imagine. tax reform, i think it would be vital to help the economy, simplifying the tax code, flattening it did in some way. there will be disagreement on this, there should be agreement, as it should be both sides talking about it. closing loopholes, things like that. what was his final point --

final point about eating up all of the wealth? i do not think we will do that. i think we will take on debt, but the larger point is right, we're getting to the point where the wells will be as big as the debt pact with host: on tax reform, chris in alabama --f guest: i do not know why he would have the upper hand. i do not think he has more power than congress. i think it will be a stalemate, and hopefully that is how you get a compromise, not by lecturing the other side and what they are not doing. tax reform as possible. i think it is one of the few things that are actually possible in washington right now. host: speaking of george bush, it is his 66th birthday today, and also nancy reagan is 91 on this july 6 morning. cindy. ohio. caller: i wish you had a line

that said american instead of any party. i was calling just basically to say -- usually i rant, but not today -- i hope our children and grandchildren never grow up if all of these adults are an example of what they are going to be. nobody act's grown up any more. there is enough blame to go all around if you want to be honest about everybody. as far as outsourcing jobs because they are cheaper, well, we can not. with our education, we cannot live on those wages as american people. let's be honest. there is no way. thank you for your time. guest: two things. first of all, there is no inflation right now. might seem that way, but it is not really there. listen, there are honest people

up there. americans are doing great things with technology. businesses are doing great things. people are doing great things. it is a wonderful country still. sometimes we focus on washington like this is the world. people here are not serious, but elsewhere things work well, and you have to keep that in mind. host: new york. john. a republican. caller: everyone is talking about not being in a recession, but if you are spending 30% of your income on health care, or 40% of your income tried to pay your taxes or feed your family, your -- you rich people would have a problem with it. how many members of congress that our elderly have wives or husbands that are on social security or medicare?

they want their part of it. why don't they take and make health care and education a right, then a tax the people on every dollar that they take in, whether it is wages or whatever, a 1% tax, before deductions. no richmond gets out. no poor man gets out. you would have enough money to cover the bill. thank you. guest: i would like to state that i am not rich because i am a journalist, and i would say the average worth of the senator is somewhere around $13 million, so they are wealthy and a bit out of touch, but making health care a right is a bad idea. we have enough rights. we do not need to make everything a right. healthcare is very expensive. we need reform, and most people with knowledge that.

we just have to move forward. host: louisville, ky. wilson, a republican. caller: i have a question for the gentleman. it seems that one of the big concerns that david has indicated is protectionism. this country is a sovereign nation in name only. we do not have any industrial strength left. it is all located offshore, everywhere. we are worried about jobs, but we cannot compete with the cheap labor in countries like china, indonesia, taiwan, mexico, you name it. my question is, there wouldn't have to have been legislation that would have embraced -- that would have -- there would have

had to have been legislation that embraced taking jobs out of this country. our elective the officials swear an oath of office to protect the constitution of the american people. something has happened here. we do not have jobs and we are in deep trouble. i think we ought to impose tar iffs on countries like china, and something ought to be done to get our industrial base back in the continental limits of the united states and put people back to work. if you have a comment, i will listen. guest: well, the world is a complicated place. it is difficult to take a company and tell them they cannot have a job off shore. sometimes you make a part here,

and assemble it over there. what is in decline is jobs in manufacturing because productivity has gotten so much better. what can you do about that? you cannot tell companies to be less productive. i think this is more perception that reality, but i understand when things are bad people get upset about things like outsourcing, but i am not sure how you begin to start to make a lot to tell companies to make things in the united states or have all of their workers here. they are international corporations, and so i think it would be difficult. host: david harsanyi has his first book out. it is called "nanny state." this is how it looks guest: that is all i could fit on the cover.

host: what could i -- what could people find in your book? guest: if you know michael bloomberg is up to come up with taxes on soda, i go around the nation, and making sure that we are still free. host: are people reacting negatively to this? guest: people react negatively to the things they do not like, and embraced the things they do. they looked at these as separate issues, smoking bans they like, but so the bands they do not like. host: while we're waiting for the numbers to come in, there is an issue around the reporting of these numbers, and we wanted to talk to you more about the bureau of labor statistics and how they release these numbers to the press. explain how important these numbers are to so many constituencies. guest: they are hugely

important. the market will move based on what the numbers are unless they guess right. they bring in a bunch of reporters into the room. the release the numbers at 8:00 to them, but keep them sequestered, and 8:30, they turn the switch is on, and everyone sends it out. the government had proposed making reporters use government-run software, hardware and computers, but they backed off after bloomberg and other companies were shocked at this as they should be. using government computers as information would be a terrible precedent, but the numbers are always being revised here and there and bad news comes in later. people are skeptical. i think it is about the system, not nefarious content. host: here are the numbers. 80,000 jobs added in june. the unemployment rate stays at 8.2%.

guest: that is pretty negative. they were expecting over 100,000. not good. host: not good for whom? guest: for america. we are stagnant. host: we will leave that as your last comment. thank you for taking our viewer calls and e-mail. we'll take a break, and our next segment is america by the numbers, where you will need nicholas jones from the census bureau and columnist cynthia gordy. we will look at america's black population at how it stands in 2012 and what trends book like going forward. we will be right back -- trends look like going forward, and we will be right back. ♪

>> tax reform should focus on the results that we want. it could create jobs. it could spark innovation. it could expand opportunity. it could guarantee our competitiveness. it could put america back on top. >> you can talk about gold all the you want, but we have put up stop signs, stop lights, and none of it ever changes congress'behavior . >> from the time i have lost total control, i went out from -- for two pitchers of beer, and i said in a state tax rate of 25%. he said he would have to get rid of mortgage interest deductions. i said what about 26%?

[laughter] >> you could make the did manage to homeowners much more progressive. what we did was to convert the home mortgage deduction to a tax credit at our lower rate. >> changing the tax code, yesterday and today -- current and former lawmakers of the bipartisan policy gentle on the battles won and lost. find it -- center, on the battles won and lost. find it on mine on the c-span video library. this weekend, had to the state capitol in jefferson, city missouri, -- jefferson city, missouri. former first lady jean carnahan from her book "if walls could talk." also, eight provisions -- a

provisions west, the story behind eight miniature babylonian clay tablets. sunday, on american history tv -- >> said one time this was called the bloodiest 47 acres in america. >> a former warden takes you through the missouri state penitentiary. once a month, c-span's local content vehicles to explore the history of literary life of cities across america. this sunday, from jefferson, city on -- jefferson city, on c- span two and 3. >> it is time for our -- "washington journal" continues. host: it is time for our america by the numbers, and today we look at who is black in

america, how that has changed, and what the trend is for the future. nicholas jones is at the u.s. census bureau. he is the bureau chief of the racial statistics branch. also at the table is cynthia gordy, a political correspondent for tweet -- theroot.com. thank you for being with us. since we announced this yesterday on twitter, we have had a lot of people saying why do we look at subsections of american society. we are all americans. why does the government gather statistics on the demographic groups? guest: that is good for the context to set up the story today. we collect the data to provide information for different programs and policies. we have data on the numbers of people that are in a particular group, and also where they are living and their characteristics.

host: we have looked at the asian population and more recently the hispanic population, said today our question is who is black in america. what does the term black need as you define it? guest: that is a great question. we have a slide that shows information on who is black in america and we follow standard by the federal government, and we define black as a category that reported entries as black and african americans, and also nigerian, or canyon, and afro- caribbean entries like haitian or jamaican. host: this is the headline. tell us what we have. host: -- guest: these are placed -- based on july, 2011, showing

44 million people in america are african american. host: our phone lines will be open if you would like to make a comment or make a -- s question. we will also add some policy discussion. phone lines our/your region of the country. --/your region of the country. if you use twitter, at a hash tag. let me look at the next slide. this looks set the population projected to 2015. guest: this provides information on how the african- american population has changed.

the red bars indicate the population in 2000 and then 2010, and in the blue bars show projections through the year 2015. -- 2050. there are people that reported as single-race, black, and then people that reported black and another race. those are the numbers at the top. they add to the maximum number of people that are black or african-american. the numbers are projected to grow from about 40 million in 2010, to about 65 million in 2050. host: also the percentage of people that are black in combination. guest: the proportions are growing from about 1.7 million to about 8.8 million in terms of people that reported wonder more blaze -- race and included

black. host: what is the implication, cynthia gordy? guest: i think that is really a thing that changes depending on the generation for example, president obama is mixed race but identifies as black. younger generations are self- identified as bi-racial. in terms of what the census does, defining black as an all- encompassing term for a diverse group of people, so even though people defined differently, we tend to use the term black to encompass everybody, but understanding that is a nuanced and personal thing. host: this detailed slighted that looks at the same time, mr. jones, looks at the percentage

of the overall population. guest: this also takes us from 2000 to 2050, and you can see that it will get -- levels off at about 2020, but the proportion increases for those reporting black and another race. this means the proportion of african-americans reporting more than one race, the younger generation, which is projected to continue to grow faster is where you see the trend moving out. host: here is the however. they are growing in single-digit numbers, and for much of the last part of the 20% -- 20 -- 20th century, it was about 12% or 13%. hispanic numbers are growing exponentially. what does this mean for policy

discussions around policy issues? guest: what strikes me, especially when we get to 2050, the census came out and said we would be a majority/minority country, which sounds strange, and that includes african- americans, latinos, and mixed race people. i think that has implications for education, particularly in addressing the achievement test, which is for so long something we have looked at that effects a corner of society, but as the corner gets bigger it is a sign that this is something we have to look at and effects the entire nation if we're going to be competitive globally and have the highest level of college graduates by 2020, which the president has identified as a goal. we have to look at policies

that touch students in the communities of color as they become a bigger chunk of our students. host: james is on the line from chattanooga, tennessee. welcome to the conversation. caller: what i have noticed, a lot of the plaques that you have spoken of, they are not able to vote because of felony records, and a lot of hispanics do not vote because they are a legal or otherwise. the census bureau, do you actually know how many of those people are illegal, and what i noticed is the hispanic population is growing, but they are challenging blacks. [unintelligible] marco rubio 1 without 50% of the population.

it's blacks did not stand up, and the blacks they put on television like michael steele, clarence thomas, they do not defend black rights or interests. sonia sotomayor made a statement defending hispanic rights. what i would like for you to tell me it is this, what benefits do we blacks get out of bagging white and hispanic representatives? we are left out. we have the highest unemployment rate in the united states and nobody is looking for us. thank you. host: thank you. guest: i think he speaks to the important issue of civic participation, and that is an issue in this election season has become pretty interesting, as we have seen legislation that makes it harder to vote, and some of this legislation effects african-americans

disproportionately in terms of having certain kinds of ideas, cutting early voting, or requiring birth certificates in order to register to result. i think that is an important issue on the minds of a lot of civil rights organizations in terms of not only been able to practice democracy, but being able to vote for a representative government on the count of african-americans, so it is an important issue that is being handled furiously by many people in civil rights organizations. host: mr. jones, how long have you been working at your job? guest: i remember starting the day before the census bureau on -- in 2000. a little over 10 years. host: how has your job changed? guest: it has been fascinating, studying data on different

populations, and we have the ability now to have data with people that suffer identified as more than one race. that is showing growth as compared to the total u.s. population. the african-american population reporting as single race grew faster than the total, but among those that grew -- that reported more than one race grew by 75%. that is larger for children and young people. host: cedric asks -- please speak to black and employment rising to 14.4%. guest: it is a dire issue. one of the biggest complaints about this administration has been the lack of targeted policies which address black

unemployment, which is typically twice that of the general population. i think that criticism is fair. 14% black unemployment is depression-era statistics. when the administration has tried to do is have policies toward low-income people which would have an impact on african american communities, which tend to be more likely to be lower income. for example, the recovery act in 2009 included a subsidized job program for low-income adults, a summer jobs program for low-income young people, and these programs were utilized by all lot of african-americans. there were also jobs-training program targeting young people. they were race-neutral, but they tried to be targeted looking at needs.

i think these programs are helpful, but i do not think they are as proportionate to the need. it is like a program here and a program there as opposed to a robust jobs program, which i think the president is struggling to get done. host: this chart shows just where black or african-americans live in the united states. guest: there is great data in the census, and we have data from population estimates, and this chart shows the four regions of the country, and indicates the black population is predominantly in the south, where 54% of african-americans reside, and there are about 18% in the northeast, and then in the midwest that 18%. only 10% of blacks live in the west region, which is shown in green. host: if we have asked this question 30 or 40 years ago,

what would percentages look like? guest: the percentages have generally been in the south, so that is not new, in the midwest and northeast is growing. we have a graph that looks at county-level change from 2000 to 2010, and we look at how it is changing over time. host: the latest colors are the smallest percentage, and the darkest, 25% or more. guest: this shows the percentage change by county across the country. counties with african-american populations of 1000 or more are shown. the purple indicates an increase in the percentage change. we can see that within counties in the northeastern corridor, african-americans increased over the last 10 years, as well as counties in the south, specifically in florida as we see with a lot of counties in

purple. we also saw a large growth in parts of the west and the midwest, especially around arizona, nevada, california and oregon. we see pockets of growth around metropolitan areas, 01 ecb in orange is an interesting -- what you see in oranges and interesting mixed in the west. host: the largest historical movement was the so-called great migration from the south to the north. as we look at this, are black americans moving all over the country, or returning to the south where their grandparents have left? guest: the trend is sort of a reapers great migration, with more people looking -- moving -- sort of a reverse great

migration with more people moving to the south from the north, and some of that is money, as you get more of living in atlanta they do in washington, d.c. what is really interesting to me about this migration to get wedtech in particular where the atlanta area -- to atlanta in particular, it is really turning georgia more blue, and democratic operatives have been looking at this migration for a long time and a guess that within the next two election cycles because of this influx of african-americans it might turn blue. host: from a political standpoint to statistics standpoint, what are we looking at in georgia? guest: this is a great that where we see percentage change in the black population from

2000 to 2010. we're looking at small areas. there is a red line that indicates the atlanta metro area. within the yellow circle is the city of atlanta. the proportion of percentage changed in african-americans living outside of the city is increasing. within the yellow circle, you see the purple and the light purple. that means proportions in the metro area are decreasing as opposed to outside of the city. this is also illustrated in other metro areas. host: for example washington, d.c., where there has been a migration to the suburbs and maryland, why is that happening? guest: you have different pushes and pulls. host: american hero wants to come back to you on twitter

about your comments on the obama administration, "so what she is saying is the administration policies have not worked?" guest: this is administration has repeatedly said that he is the president of all of america, so he is not really interested in looking at racially specific policies, but is looking at need-based policies. in terms of whether they have worked, they worked to the extent that they have created a difference, but have they offset 14% unemployment? no, they have not. it is also important to note that the president does not work in a vacuum, so he has to have cooperation from congress to get bigger things past, and he is been trying to do this for the past year with his jobs bill. it is a drip and drab approach.

host: next is a joke, watching in seattle. you are -- it is joe, watching in seattle. you are on. caller: my question is about who is african-american and which groups are identified as black or african-american. could you show that again, and does that include somalia, ethiopia, and some of the other countries? host: here is the one that looks at the trend going forward and how that grows. what is the definition? guest: includes all people that identified as black, and also people that report entries like somalia or nigerian. there is a slide-shows proportions that are foreign- born, and they are able to measure proportions from

somalia, haiti, nigeria, etc. host: you brought the 2010 census just so you can see how people are asked to self-report. what is significant about it and how has it changed? guest: the question in 2010 is similar to the question we asked in 2000, the what is difference is we brought back asian and pacific islander, and we are also doing experiences -- experiments that look at different reporting patterns from all groups when they're able to report detailed ethnicities. we have a slide-shows some of that as well. this is one of our design strategies in something we call the alternative question your experiment, a place where we can provide opportunities for people to have a right-in example and a check box.

when we are experimenting with it is whether people would take the opportunity to write in whether they are somalian for nigerian. host: who would be most interested in that information? guest: we have a lot of interest. many people want to know about their communities and what statistics show. we have that in the american communities service that provides information on not only race and ethnicity, but also ancestry and country of birth is of great interest. host: the next slide is on the age of the black population compared to the overall u.s. population. without looking at the numbers in an overall sense, how would you describe it? guest: the african american generation is younger, and the population that is older is more likely to be non-african-

american. host: what is the policy implication? guest: i am interested in looking in the 65 and older population. i think one reason for the mortality gap is health-related. a lot of african-americans are actually dying from preventative illnesses, such as heart disease or diabetes, and one policy that as tried to get those disparities from a standpoint of preventative medicine has been the affordable care act with the huge provision to make insurance plans provide free preventive care, and the idea is to get a hold on the health problems in advance before waiting it -- before -- before waiting to when it is too late.

i think the affordable care act attempts to get at that. host: there is an opinion piece this morning's newspapers described as a health disparity among populations, written by the director of health disparities solution said johns hopkins. daniel howard is the executive director of the center for health policy. they write -- guest: right. so, i just talked about preventive medicine and health insurance, and those things are important, but a lot of these

are based on the environment. african-americans tend to live in communities that do not have access to a healthier foods, for areas of green spaces where they can exercise safely. so, there has been from the department of health and human services, plans, sort of, to to the communities to find community-based solutions. it will not exist in health insurance alone. access is not enough. it is something the administration is looking into in terms of giving best practices to communities to find their own solutions. host: mr. jones commit to your experiment, this on twitter -- guest: there is a difference in terms of the way the federal government clarifies disinformation. we have a question that asks

people of cuban origin to identify if their cuban, but also their race. you might have cubans that say they are black or white and black, and that is based on self identification. host: williamsburg, virginia. brandy. you are on the air. caller: i am glad the young lady brought up preventative health services. i have been calling in for 10 years promoting preventive services for all families and children with my mobile fitness facilities. i want to read something to you. this was a story from a in 2005 for "get america moving." the trail of adult-sized stationary bikes were occupied by a group of kindergartners. i initially thought the bikes were generating electricity for suspicion -- for c-span.

what i experience in many locations is of failure in programming that is unable to move to where the greatest needs are. that whole group of children riding in public housing in virginia, having the temperature close to 100, and having over 100 children 1.5 through 18 riding inside my facility. if you give children and families access and opportunity -- this triple down thing is not working. everybody is getting rich at the top. none of that is ending up in neighborhoods or schools. guest: i think it is interesting

you mentioned children. the first lady's signature program has been to address obesity within generations. i think she is taking a holistic approach to looking at the culture of food, nutrition, and exercising. the idea of being 20 years from now, hopefully american children will grow up in a different culture. in the schools, they will have better food and more physical education. their homes and neighborhoods will be revamped because elected officials have looked into this as being a national imperative. people think the campaign is all about what we will do now. it is supposed to be a long-term plan to change the culture. is to be continued, but it is definitely something the

government is thinking and talking about. host: justin is one of those unhappy on twitter. response? guest: i thought you were going to throw the question over to nicholas. there are so many different communities and experiences in this country. to define reclassifying people based on where they are in the country, what kind of communities they are living in, what is needed. i think it is important to have those things documented so they can be addressed and so we have a picture of what is going on. we're all americans, but i think it is important to look at communities to better address their issues by knowing what the

picture looks like. guest: i agree. that is the great thing about the statistics we collect. we provide a portrait of the country, how it is changing and what the characteristics are. that is the best measure for knowing how we're doing and how we can improve. host: is part of the problem of violence? caller: one thing the program has identified is a lot of these things are not just a matter of will. it is not just that people are lazy and do not want to exercise. that is part of it. another part is safety. if you do not feel safe to jog down your street or have a part to play in, you will be less active. a lot of that is being addressed

by mayors. the first lady is addressing mayors' conferences to address public safety as a health issue. children spend a lot of their day in school. why are we not offering a culture of physical fitness and movement? those things are a big part of the picture. host: the next slide have to do with the economy. what have we learned looking at black households by tight? guest: the yellow bar is for the u.s. population showing about half of all households are married families. that is compared to about 20% of african-american households. on the right, the statistics shows about 13% of african- american households are female-

headed. host: what are the implications of these numbers? caller: when we talk about female household, there is the notion it means black fathers are not in their children's lives. i think that is not necessarily the case. one thing the obama administration has pushed is the father initiative that recognized just because a father is not in the house does not mean that are not part of their children's lives. it also recognizes these fathers who may be non-custodial and out of the house may have obstacles keeping them from being more engaged with their family. it made the economic issues. -- it may be economic issues. it may be fathers in the criminal justice system.

they are struggling and not able to reconnect with their families. they passed a series of programs and policies that recognize father's who are trying and struggling. they're connecting them to services for job training. in the criminal justice system, fathers. in a child-support system, instead of just focusing on the money, they're focusing on connecting them to job services and their children. there are a number of things going on to help father's. they may not be in the home but still want to be part of their families. >host: following up on the comment about the mccourt -- about the majority-minority country. guest: the population projections are based on 2008. they are indicating the

population will become a majority around 2050. those projections will be based on the 2010 census. that will give us a definitive set of answers about when the population is projected. if the viewers are interested in more information about how the minority population is changing, census.org provides an overview and looks at trends in minority populations over time. host: was there ever a time when the black family or household was doing better than today? why the slide down? guest: there are a lot of theories. one thing people try to point to is the rise of welfare and having welfare policies that penalize two-parent households and break up the family. speaking with people that have studied the black family, a

theme that comes up the lot is the lack of jobs. the factory jobs peter out with industry. as black men were becoming more unemployed, that means having a lot of stress in the family. it is multi-faceted. there was a time when these factory-based industry -- the factor-based industry was more secure. there were more two-. households in the black community. -- there were more two-parent households in the black community. guest: what is interesting uc about eight of every 10 americans are high school graduates or more. on the right side, we see about 20% has a bachelor's degree compared to 18% of african-

americans. host: what are the stories behind those numbers? guest: there are a lot of stories. some of it is the achievement gap are mentioned before with those not prepared to go to college. college is expensive for everybody. i think the administration has tried to get at both of those issues in a number of ways in terms of the achievement gap. the signature of protest in the race to the top. the grant program is a contest that lets states get more funding if they agree to more changes in their school system. one of those things is central to it. you have to have a plan for turning around her lowest performing schools. it is an experimental they were people are trying new approaches.

it is patchwork. it is too early to see if that is going to make a difference. that is the idea. a around trying to make college more affordable, this administration is focused on more funding for pell grants to low-income college students. that is really important to african-americans. about 50% of minority students use pell grants as opposed to about 1/4 of students at other institutions. having more access to programs is vital to a lot of black college students staying -- having more access to programs -- to pell grants is vital to a lot of black college students staying in. host: when we look at the black population, what do we see? guest: there are differences. we look at occupations.

we have another graphic that shows data for females. the difference between african- american males are they are less likely to be in management, business, science, and arts and more likely to be in service occupations. the differences for females are not as large. however, black females are more likely to be in service. host: the black female population comprised 32% of management. compared to males, that is almost 10 percentage points higher. black women are finding jobs in management, science, and the arts. also, sales and office work. what do you see when you see the numbers? guest: it goes back to educational attainment as well. the difference in education, it did not break it down by gender.

if you were to break down african-americans in college, it is significantly higher for black women who retain higher education. naturally when you have more black women than black men with degrees, they're able to get into higher sectors of management and business. that is a reflection of that. host: sacramento, lisa. caller: the young lady mentioned healthy in the black community. about food stamps, when you get food stamps, you tend to get sweet cereal. everything is sweet. if you do not get food stamps, you are on the budget. i think it is the black community with the food stamps.

another thing she mentioned about education. they have more black kids now and the 21st century that is going to college. i did a survey on my own on the internet. there is a lot of children from single-parent homes watching their parents struggle. they want better for themselves. they're going to college and getting degrees. thank you. guest: definitely. i did not mean to imply black students are not going to college. rather, addressing the disparity between african-americans and the general population. that is by no means to say black people are not going to college. i want to go back to which you mentioned about food. i am not sure about food stamps. but i do want to say one thing people mention about low income commie