health care costs. then a look at congress' plan for the farm bill which expires at the end of the december. we are joined by a roll call staff writer. "washington journal," live with your calls, tweets and e-mails coming up. ♪ host: following that homecoming rally in wisconsin, congressmen and a vice presidential candidate, paul ryan, heads to the iowa state fair for campaigning. president obama will kick off a three-day bus tour in iowa. there will be ma -- there will be lots more live campaign 2012 coverage today. we will be talking about the u.s. a, b. -- about the u.s. economy.

could you trust more? -- who do you trust more? the number to call for our democrat line is 202-737-0001. the number to call for our republican line is 202-737-0002. the number to call for our independent line is 202-628- 0205. lots in the papers. "the wallstreet journal" had this headline. the overall debate on

host: lots on the economy there. we will get to your calls. want to get to social media as well. our facebook address is a facebook.com/cspan. our first call on the economy is a tad from illinois. good morning. this is steve, right?

caller: one question i have to ask, both candidates, back in 1980, ronald reagan gave out high-tech billions of dollars of weapons to fight russia. and today we are fighting al qaeda. what is going to happen 10 years from now when a president has to make a decision on whether to give money to health care or weapons and food to afghanistan and a rack. host: get us to the question. caller: that is what i would like to ask the candidates and that is what i would like to ask one of the representatives from your show. host: ok.

thank you. they call on the independent line. which would you trust more? caller: i do not trust the republicans at all. obama had a guy up there and all he could say was his main goal was to make this present a one- term president. obama put out all kinds of things. a i really believed the man would try to work with republicans, but they sat on their hands the whole time. if he wanted it, they didn't. even stuff they had put out before that they wanted to do, they were all against. the congress and the house of representatives under

republicans is about the worst thing that this country has ever run into. host: thank you. we do get to the point. want to get some other viewpoints. we will hear from the president and paul ryan in a little bit. here is a comment on the republican from texas. good morning. caller: good morning. in a medical doctor. i am basically for ryan and romney. i think the government needs to be cut down in size. it is very wasteful. romney does get that. i think the overly are afraid they will be on the losing end. that is certainly not the case. i think we are in a very big risk of losing our democracy. host: thank you for calling. here is a little bit of president obama at that fund-

raiser. [video clip] >> this kind of top-down economics is central to governor romney and it is central to his running mate. just yesterday morning, my opponent shows his running mate. the ideological leader of the republicans in congress, mr. paul ryan. i want to congratulate. no, no. i want to congratulate congressman ryan. i know him. i welcome him to the race. congressman ryan is a decent man. he is a family man. he is an articulate spokesman for governor romney's vision. but, this is a vision that i fundamentally disagree with. >> a country with four years of trillion dollar deficits. a country in economic stagnation.

the worst economic recovery in a 70 years. the largest deficits and the biggest government since world war ii. nearly one in six americans are in poverty today. it is the highest rate in a generation. you know what? we are not going to take that. we are going to turn it around. [applause] the good news is this. we can do this. we can turn this around. we can get this economy turned around. we can get people back to work. host: here is a quote from the "the wallstreet journal" peace today. very rare when can't it's go 1- on-one with each other.

host: that romney will be at a place called the jews palace. -- at the juice palace. a democrat, you are up next. caller: i think romney can suck a cock. host: we move on to the next

call. caller: it is difficult to not observed that in three years obama and timothy geithner have reduced the value of the dollar by 50%. that will not hurt mitt romney, but it will hurt poor people and elderly people. this is not helping people by reducing the value of the dollar by 50%. the chinese will not sell as lithium. the only thing -- the only way we will get it is to go back to afghanistan and a stay there forever. host: a message on twitter. here is the front page of the milwaukee journal today. thousands cheer romney, ryan.

we have the next caller. caller: i want to balance the next caller. -- the previous caller. i brush -- i trust the obama campaign because they saved the auto industry. they brought us back from the brink of disaster. it is obvious that romney and a wry and what to dismantle our government and not improve our government. from virginiaar on the line for democrats. are you there? who do you trust more on the economy? caller: i trusted the president and i plan to vote for him and support his continuing administration in terms of how he is handling the economy. i think it is very obvious what

he inherited. it has been going on since the 1980's. i remember very well when the independents were -- when the dependence was placed on the wealthy to create the jobs. if they are the job creators, why have been not corrected the jobs at all? host: paul ryan yesterday said that if the gop side gets elected, they're not going to make excuses or blind people. they will take responsibility. that was a shot at the president. any reaction to the congressman? caller: it is very interesting to not want to accept responsibility right off the bat, but it is terrible that for the years the president has been there, they constantly point the fingers at him as if he created the mess he inherited.

he has done a wonderful job of getting us this far. my personal life is better since this administration. there have been struggles over the last 25, 30 years. is the perfect? no. but i absolutely believe in his economic policies. host: thank you for calling. here is the front page of "the financial times."

host: here is a clip from the abc sunday morning program. [video clip] it is a pick that should struggle everybody. the middle class, seniors, students, because of ryan's record. he is a right-wing ideologue it. he constructed a budget that, like romney, would lavished trillions of dollars of tax cuts, most of them on the wealthy. would raise the burden on the middle class. would cut back things at deeply like student loans and research and development. he is a guy who would plan to and -- who plan to end medicare as we know it.

even george bush called it irresponsible. he believes we should ban abortion even in cases of rape and. this was a defining choice for mitt romney. it is a clarifying choice for the american people. host: david axelrod from yesterday. this is from twitter this morning. to the "the new york times" this morning.

host: we have college park, md. on the line. good morning. caller: i wanted to talk out how ryan would use the budget. he wants to spend money in the next fiscal year. we already account for 41% of the world's defense budget. i just do not think we need to

be spending that much money on defense. for health care, for education, for me, that was the focus. he said it was the highest priority. host: ok. a photo of the gop candidates. a republican, good morning. caller: i do not understand how people are still falling for this. if there's any significant difference between the democratic voter or the republicans. i do not trust either of them. i wanted to vote for ron paul. truth does not have a party, really.

we are hardly even america anymore. we are a country run by secret society. they might have a slave differences, socialism -- they might have some differences, socialism. host: east point, georgia. an independent. caller: mr. paul ryan, he spoke about the united states yesterday. he talked about the high unemployment and he also stated that one in six americans are in poverty, but doesn't he realize

that it is the republican policy on the bush, and he was a part of that issue that created these problems. i think it would be a bad choice at this time to go to a republican house and republican house of representatives. host: we will take 25 more minutes on your calls on which presidential ticket you trust more on the economy. here is a facebook comment this morning. that is from joe clark on facebook. you can join the conversation at a facebook.com/cspan. romney says, i have my own

budget. here is a little bit of mitt romney from that program. [video clip] >> i expect there'll be areas of expertise that he has a passion in and concern for. he will take a lead role and work primarily with the vice president. but he would also have a role in helping shepherd legislation on the hill. of course, you have a legislative affairs director who takes that kind of lead as well. you cannot imagine having someone like paul ryan who is able to work with democratic senators and the house to make things happen. i cannot imagine not using him and to have his skill in finding those people who can come

together and find common ground. this is one of the key reasons i selected him. he has that unusual, almost unique capacity to find people of different parties tour of a common purpose that can come together to do something that is right. host: from "60 minutes" last night when he was asked what ryan would bring to the administration. this on the front page in the "tribune." we remind you that paul ryan will be in in the morning, iowa today. here is nashville, tennessee now. david, a democrat. caller: good morning. paul ryan has been there in congress.

from the two tax cuts. all of this underfunded. no child left behind. he is of a grover norquist. can you imagine if we have a president and a vice president who signed a pledge that they cannot do any taxes? how can they begin to compromise? paul ryan is a career politician. there are many people who profit off of these programs. he wants to cut child care for kids. this is crazy. he was part of the problem. he is the problem. he is a part of the republican

administration that took that up. thank you. host: louisiana, a republican. caller: i just want to say that our brother watched somebody do something good with the money. that is it. host: cincinnati, now. a democrat, good morning. caller: which -- barack obama and joe biden, all of the way. as far as our current economy, i have two words for you -- republican obstruction. the only reason our economy is not better is because republicans have done everything they can to repeal barack obama. he came in with 13% unemployment.

now we're down to 8.3% unemployment. we are headed to 7%. we will be at 6% unemployment if we can stop republican obstruction. i think that is fundamentally true. in israel, he did not like with the media had to say about him. he still has not released the tax returns. i think harry reid is absolutely right. i think he is drawing attention away from the fact -- every media outlet is on message. is this a game at changer? there is a great piece on that. i do not trust mitt romney on

the economy. i think paul ryan is just one more person that aid some. mitt romney not only does not have my vote, he does not have my respect. host: here is a tweet this morning. to "the washington post." this headline out of st. august. host: the "the wallstreet

journal" talks a little bit more about it today. host: that is "the wallstreet

journal" this morning. back to "60 minutes." [video clip] >> what we have talked about is the changes in medicare. we're looking for young people down the road. in america, the nature of this country has been giving people more freedom, more choices. >> you have to do a little selling. >> our point is that we need to preserve their benefits because the government made promises to them to organize their retirements around. in order to do that, you must reformate for those of us who are younger. the starter from the clinton commission in the late 1990's. host: ted, an independent, thank you for waiting. caller: you could call me a reagan democrat.

i made john kennedy-type believer. but not senator kennedy by any means. i am very upset with mr. romney for his pick. in an old white guy. i believe the worst thing he could have done is to choose a white millionaire. he has given mr. obama another term because like it or not, it is reality. i really believe that mr. romney

has stuck his middle finger out at all the hispanic people in this country. i think there were hoping for someone like senator marco rubio in florida. without taking that the hispanic vote away from obama, i believe he has just handed obama a second term. i'm really ticked off at mitt romney. host: that caller mentioning mitt romney will be in florida today at 5:15 eastern time. look for the event here on c- span. lead editorial speaks about the romney brian plan for america. less than 24 hours after he chose ryan, there were trying to

distance themselves from his politically toxic budget plan. host: who do you trust more on the economy at this point? caller: indefinitely romney and ryan because president obama has been in office.

it is been like to giving away the farm. we continue all of these programs and and so forth. there is almost one trillion dollars worth of assistance to people. now, the dream act, do not get me wrong. i am of latin and hispanic descent. but this created to more million people to come to the unemployment records or roll i should say. i am an engineer. i have been unemployed since 2008. it is unbelievable. i do work part-time. but the fluctuation given to other people and the excepted. i feel there has to be a change. and we give them u.s. money. that is not right.

anyway, that is it. host: thank you for calling. a facebook, does not point to either take it. a call from nashville, tennessee. who do you trust more? caller: definitely the president and his administration. paul ryan does have a voting record. he has been there for 14 years. you must remember that the republicans must and it did and repeal paygo. if it was implemented and applied to the deficit, we would have been deficit-free in 2010. that is the main focus of mr.

ryan and his hypocrisy. he voted for the unfunded wars. he voted for the unfunded pharmaceutical plans. he is part of the problem, not the solution. thank you. host: charles wright's on twitter this morning -- charles writes on twitter this morning. here is an editorial in "the wallstreet journal."

host: illinois, an independent. caller: good morning. so far, i am leading -- i am leaning towards the democratic ticket based on congress since 2009. congress has the purse strings. congress writes the laws. if people realize that we do not have a king -- congress does not do their job. basically, the republican side. thank you. host: let's hear from jim on the republican line. caller: i definitely support the republicans more. things were fine until the democrats to cover the congress in the election of 2006.

they threw the economy on the rocks. they have been unaccountable. they have not had a budget since obama was in there. he has appointed all these unaccountable czars. in d.c. all of the businesses seem to be busy. as soon as you did out of the capital district, everything is closed down businesses. people of of work. the whole administration has been nothing but the washington elite. we have to get these people out of there. harry reid will not let anything get through no matter what the house does. he just fix it in his pocket. it is time for a change. a big change. host: john from illinois, good morning. caller: it is time for romney and ryan. i just want to clear up something for the american

people. president obama did not bail out, we did. people call up there and say that president obama bail these people out and everything. they did not. we did. host: thank you. in other news this morning, here is the frontline of the "usa today." host: that is an "usa today."

host: lots of reporting and that in the papers. who'd you trust more on the economy? caller: i guess i have to go with romney. i voted for obama last time. i do not work for the government. one of the things you always hear is the politicians now, you have to make the hard choice. there are running this economy in the ground. the deficit's going through the roof. the easy vote is to cut the deficits. run a good fiscal policy. everybody says how obama got handed the worst economy. he got handed off 4.5%

unemployment? the same as a roosevelt got handed to him. president obama is following those policy and hand over fist. we're getting the same results. at three years of a recession. it looks like it is leading into longer and longer. reagan, what did he get handed? 20% inflation, 20% unemployment. i do not hear news commentators talking about factual history or the way i remember it. host: let's go on to a georgia now. caller: i agree with the last caller and the other republican caller before that. this economy has to be taken care of.

our deficit is way out. we need to go ahead and cut. everyone keeps saying that ryan has been in there. what about biden? what has he done. all he does is practical jokes. obama does the chicago mafia stuff on us. i just do not understand its people. wake up. we have to get romney in there to get our life and our country back. please, listen. feel with your brain and your heart. the need to feel with your brain now. we need to have a republican in there to straighten this out. we have to get our house in order. we do not live in washington. we live out here in the country ande everything is gottd country. host: we have the lead editorial

in "the financial times" today. host: bonnie on the democratic line. who'd you trust more? caller: president obama and joe biden. the private sector jobs have raised where if you look at the chart when president bush was there, they were losing tens of

thousands of jobs. also, the reason that the construction workers and carpenters and all that are not back to work is because the republican congress had a bigger impact and that they would not pass them. bridges are falling apart. our roads are falling apart. instead of the republican congress -- instead, the republican congress let that happen and paid food stamps instead of putting people to work to help our country. also, they keep saying budget, budget. president obama has proposed a budget every year. but the republicans have stopped it. a they are under this person that says no raise in taxes -- in taxes. it is not working.

bush's economy did not work. that saying that we have too much regulation. well, we did not regulate the banks and look what happened. my husband and i lost hundreds of dollars in our ira and so did everybody else in this country without regulation. they are wanting to go back to that? i personally do not want to use my a -- to lose my money in our ira. we have made some of the back and i do not want to lose it. if we put the same people back then, there are just going to say, do this, jpmorgan. do this, goldman sachs. we will not have any regulation. if we need regulation so the middle class people to not lose all their money. host: thank you. we have a few, maybe several more minutes left to take your calls. one of the stories i want to

point out getting a little traction this morning.

host: eldorado, kansas. charles. go-ahead. caller: i feel like president obama, his ideal makes me a warm and a fuzzy. but what has not come across to the american people is that we need seriousness. that is why i believe in mitt romney and paul ryan. we have to make some decisions to our economy that nobody is going to like. host: all right, charles. one more point about that story from the hill. host: florida now on the

economy. good morning. caller: i listen to all of this bickering. it is a light, we have paul ryan on the ticket and we are going to the far right. obama is going to the left. our country needs to come together and work together whether we have a republican in or democrat. i will sit with the democratic ticket i think that obama had a lot on his plate when he entered office. we came very close to going into another deep depression. he got to the auto companies back. i think he is doing the best he can. i do not think we need somebody far right or far left. i think we all have lost sight. we have to come together like fdr bought -- like fdr brought

the country together. when we cannot join together and work for one goal and that is to pull the country together. it makes it strong both economically and across the ocean where so many other governments are falling apart. host: "usa today" has this photo of mr. romney and mr. ryan. the headline says "entered the x factor." north carolina, your up now. an independent. good morning. what would you like to say? who'd you trust more on the economy? caller: i do not trust either. i do not know why evelyn keeps an actor is a difference. there is only a sliver of

difference between both of these proposed obama even though it is a non-budget and the paul ryan budget. there is really not that much a big difference when you think about it. also, we could about obama's personal track record on the economy it is not so hot, although you cannot blame them for everything. since his been in office, we have had over 500 trillion dollars increase to our debt. after stimulus, after the quantitative easing from the federal reserve double time, we have not seen much growth. and then took the paul ryan budget, if there is not a cut at all, although people described as being draconian for it's a dream or somehow too much. you got to think about it. he is not cutting any spending. he is increasing the rate of growth of the spending. according to the cbo, you not have a balanced budget until 2014.

really, what are we talking a lot here? we're talking about pennies when the country is facing, i believe it is $14 trillion debt. what are we really talking about here? how can we trust either one of these parties as far as the economy goes? host: let's hear from st. louis now. janet, democratic line. good morning. caller: i just want to say that we have had eight years of bush and the republicans. ryan did not do anything then. i feel like we should go back with obama. i feel like obama is working. he had a hard job. he has done a lot. i feel the depression going better. give obama another chance. host: thank you for calling. from twitter.

back to the "the wallstreet journal." interesting facts about the gop ticket. mr. ryan is the first of wisconsinite on the ticket. host: idaho, devi, a republican. caller: i will vote for president obama because all the republicans have been doing is making us go into a whole. the head doing -- have been doing that since bush still is a big tax decrease.

host: does that translate into your republican vote for the president? caller: no. i am a democrat. with lower credit rating and everything else because of them. host: ok. we appreciate your thoughts this morning. with a couple of other front pages from around the country today. the "hawkeye" out of iowa talks about the pros and cons in the campaign.

host: one of the many stories out of iowa today which is where paul ryan will be. mitt romney will be in a florida. that is it for this first part of the program. we will continue to talk politics with charles mahtesian. and later in the program, helen darling. a look of their at large employers and health care. we will be right back. >> it is the idea that we are in this together. that regardless of who we are or where we come from or how much money we have, each of us counts. and working together to create

opportunity and a good life for all, all of us are enriched not just in economic terms, but as citizens and as human beings. [applause] >> my opponent will not rule out raising taxes, but i will and the congress will push me to raise taxes. i will say no. there will push, and i will say no. off to push again, and i will say to them, read my lips. no new taxes. [applause] c-span has aired every minute of every major party conventions since 1984. watch the republican national convention live on c-span on august 27. >> late tonight on c-span 2, executives from google and twitter talk about the influence of technology around the world.

>> one of the fascinating things about the olympics, i think, is it will be really interesting for media. for the people in the media industry to understand this change that we are going through from a filtered outside view of the event for there is a broadcaster and the interview michael phelps before or after the race. and to get this kind of linear progression that is delivered to you in a certain way. now, before, during, and after the of and, if you have this unfiltered inside out to view of the event from the participants and the people who are at the event. >> it is worth of feeling sorry for the nbc folks who spend all this money to do something which is time the late and they have in certain lots of ads and feature stories and wonderful

narratives about the athletes and their personal stories and so forth. there is an alternative narrative which is watched the olympics via twitter. it is just a different choice. >> you can watch this whole discussion on c-span2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: as the table, charles mahtesian. it has been two days. what is the bulk of for the gop ticket so far? guest: i think we've seen a great deal of energy, similar in some ways to 2008. you can see the crowds there are attracting to the ticket. i think the selection itself was a surprise in many ways but generated a lot of enthusiasm on the republican side. host: your recent apiece in politico.

you wrote this over the weekend. about thet talking man paul ryan. what have you learned so far? guest: it was related to the budget plan, the controversial reforms. it was going to be litigated over the plan and the reforms for medicare. we saw lots of numbers about that. it is no surprise it did not pull all that well. people like him. but there is some polling out there and it shows the country does not really know him all that well. especially independents. he is still a blank slate and somebody to be defined. host: the president and democrats are trying to define him right away and in their own way.

what should they do to get what they want into the debate? guest: it will be a different debate than folks expected. there is no debate about the ryan budget. you will see that they refer to paul ryan as the running mate of their local republican candidate for challenger. that will be the framework for this discussion. i think you have a serious discussion about the merits of that plan. host: a national politics editor for political. we will continue to talk about the race following the selection of paul ryan over the weekend. we will continue to take your tweets. why i what? why now? what will the messages be?

guest: i think there are a couple of reasons. bile is a swing states. it is up for grabs. this year, and it looks a little different. ryan has a great deal of appeal in iowa. he has some familiarity with that terrain. i also think that there was a lot of excitement not only about ryan, but about the idea of having a catholic on the ticket because he might appeal to other catholics in a year with the catholic vote is up for grabs. in iowa, it went heavily for barack obama in 2008. i think it is much more up for grabs this year. i think paul ryan will appeal to that vote. he is a lot of connections and

it has done well. naturally, they want to compete. host: mitt romney will be in south florida today in miami. what will his message be to south floridians? guest: the first message that will want to make is about the ticket and who paul ryan is. if you look at the map of paul ryan, if he will clearly be an asset in the midwest. that is obvious. if there are other democrats -- their other demographics in place. places like florida if you pay close attention to the entitlement debate. off naturally, there will be some concern and a real effort among democrats to define the budget in a very negative

way. i think you'll see an attempt to explain who paul ryan is and what the ticket stands for. host: we will have president obama on live in the 12:00 hour and paul ryan at 2:30 p.m. eastern time. our first call now for our guests, charles mahtesian from political. good morning. caller: good morning. i just want to say i think it is very important to know that the ryan budget cut medicare. please to not cut me off. it cuts medicare, medicaid, and pale grants -- pell grants. i just heard your guest speaking about catholics. it is my understanding that a group of catholic nuns are on a bus tour right now talking about how immoral the rise in budget is.

this is before he was selected as the vice-presidential candidate. i think in all of this the republicans are trying to avoid decreasing in the taxes on the wealthy people. they are willing to cut all these programs. there'd be some much more money in the budget if they had tax increases. if but they all signed this form from grover norquist about tax reform. and for people who do not understand one thing with that medicaid, i hear a lot of older people calling in. that affects people in nursing homes. people will not be able to go to nursing homes that really need that. host: let's hear from our guest.

guest: you made a point about the catholic vote. it is too diverse. this was something that has been going on. i think you are seeing an interest of a debate in the catholic community about the paul ryan budget and i think that will play out in a place like iowa. host: jason from louisville. caller: my question is, mitt romney said we cannot take four more years of on-the-job training. what president has ever had the

experience of being president? host: thank you for calling. guest: it gets to the qualifications of mitt romney and paul ryan. mitt romney is not necessarily as widely known as you might think to the american people. people are getting much more accustomed to him. loss of questions about paul ryan. he is a fairly useful candidate. host: a headline in "the washington post." he says that i know him and he is a decent man and i welcome paul ryan to the race. we have more from the president yesterday. [video clip] >> this is central to governor

romney and it is central to his running mate. my opponent shows his running mate yesterday morning. mr. paul ryan. i want to congratulate -- [boos] i welcome congressman ryan to the race. he is a decent and family man. he is an articulate spokesperson for governor romney. it is a vision i disagree with. host: that word "ideologue" is out there this weekend. guest: there is a war is being waged over defining paul ryan. it is for the democrats to define him in a way that works

to their advantage. you heard this yesterday on the sunday shows that paul ryan was an extremist and an ideologue. host: here is paul ryan himself in wisconsin from yesterday. [video clip] >> a country with four years of a trillion-dollar deficits, economic stagnation. the worst economic recovery in 70 years. the largest deficit and the biggest government since world war ii. nearly one in six americans are in poverty today. you know what? we are not going to take that. we are going to turn that around. [cheers and applause]

the good news is we can do this. we can turn this around. we can get this economy turned around and we can get people back to work. host: some say the crowd was estimated at 10,000. guest: there is a great deal of curiosity about paul ryan. the biggest crowd was in wisconsin, waukesha. that is his backyard. that is his home state of wisconsin. it was an emotional appearance for him because of the size and it was an historic moment for him. he has a connection to the wisconsin a culture. host: sort of a homecoming rally for him.

mitt romney and paul ryan will go their separate ways. guest: they were joking about the nature of campaigning, they both have to be in different places. the vice presidential candidate gets dispatched to the smaller market and you'll probably see that now. that is why they are in different states. the message in the short term has to be defining paul ryan in a way that works for republicans and then gets back him as an ideologue. host: charles mahtesian is the national political editor for politico. we have herald from new jersey,

a republican -- harold. caller: we have a marvelous constitution and marvelous people with generous hearts. we need from our leaders inspiration. president obama has the ability to do that. he gave an inspiring speech in may to a high school that had been destroyed and came back. my president said correctly to the graduates, we need god. god bless you. the united states of america. god has answered that prayer and said, mr. president, i will bless the united states if you keep our commandments.

the problem is we have not been keeping the commitments, especially you shall not give false testimony and that kind of stuff. this great country deserves better than evil. we do not need to demonize people. we should have unconditional love. a love for people, for pets. \ what we need is to shine the light of devotion to the commandments and to all of the marvelous things that where this country started. host: let's hear from our guest. guest: he talked about the degraded nature of our political debate.

millions and millions of dollars have been plowed into market after market. there is no reason to think that will change on both sides. host: good morning, bobby. caller: i have to disagree with your guest. he may be a good family man. he has a record in congress of what he is for and what he is against. that is very plain. you can look the record up. they make a big deal about social security. there's a simple solution to that. take the cap of. -- take the cap off. the cap should be taken off.

everybody pays what they make. on the trade deficit, this goes from one of the republicans, donald trump. he says put a tax on china imports, the st. that they have on stuff that goes over there. -- the same that they have on stuff that goes over there. do that and in a couple of years you will not have to worry about the deficit. thank you. host: thank you. guest: i do not necessarily disagree with the caller. paul ryan does have a record in congress. each party will best frame that record in a way that best suits them. the republicans have a larger task of explaining who is paul

ryan. people are far less familiar with the paul ryan plan. we know that there is lots about the plan that is unpopular. people do not necessarily understand what is in it. that's what makes the definition of paul ryan so essential to the republican party. host: mitt romney will be making a campaign stop in miami, herald." to 'the we have a tweet from jody. a must-win fort must wi romney? guest: none of the big states

are in place are very competitive in the 2012 election. florida is extremely competitive and it is such a diverse state. it has a huge treasure trove of electoral votes. it is a state need this side can afford to avoid. host: we will have the miami event live on c-span at about 5:00 p.m. eastern time. mitt romney and senator marco rubio expected to join him as well. this comes after hour event with paul ryan and president obama early in the day. bonnie from oklahoma, good morning. caller: am i on? host: you are. caller: to those people who say what the government is going to

do for me? i'll tell them. romney and ryan will give them a job. and then they can spend their money as they want. right now the government gives them money and they'll have to spend it what they want to spend it for. but i think that all of these people that are sitting on their duffs and want the government handout, free education, freak headstart, free everything -- free headstart, but somebody else is paying for it. guest: the cult hit on an issue that will be important during the homestretch of the election. it is central and you hear republican candidates up and down the ticket, the idea

there's been a great expansion of the federal government during the past crutcher years. the other part is about the need for the federal government to play a role in the lives of many americans. host: how important is the personal chemistry between the men? guest: it is not essential. you have seen cases of candidates not liking each other. i did not think that is the case here. oftentimes they have big egos. they seem to have some kind of chemistry. romney has a great deal of respect for paul ryan. there is some risk for that choice. most of his advisers advise mitt romney not to pick ryan.

mitt romney felt even stronger after meeting paul ryan. it is not essential to them winning but it does help. host: there was an event in north carolina yesterday. they tape a segment for "60 minutes" which ran last night. here's a look. [video clip] >> i anticipate there'll be some areas of his expertise or he will take a lead role in helping to oversee those areas. cabinet officers will work with the vice president. he will have a role in helping to shepherd legislation on the hill. you have a legislative affairs director that takes that kind of lead, as well.

paul ryan has been able to work with members of the house and republicans. i cannot imagine not using him and using that skill to get people to come together on common ground. this is a key reason i selected him. he has almost a unique capacity to find people of different parties who are of common purpose that can come together to do something that is right for the country. host: mitt romney things paul ryan will be effective on the hill. guest: you never know what kind of relationship they will have until the administration comes into place. there are some areas where paul ryan would play an important role. he has been in congress for 14 years. liaison to thoseak as

on the hill. and also he would play a big role in fiscal policy. you can pretty much draw an outline of where he would have the bigger footprint. host: there writer writes in "the wall street journal" about why mitt romney chose paul ryan. the goal is to win. pick up on the independent vote out there. it is up for grabs. asset to moee, the real that ryan brings to the ticket

is the enthusiasm of the base. the obama administration has signaled which way they are going and the romney approach will be similar. ick -- polls out today are showing the race is essentially where was in may. in may, it mitt romney was up 48%-47%. since then, the results are almost exactly the same. now it is 48%-47% obama. something had to be done from the romney campaign to move the

dial in one trajectory or another. to me, that seems to be the more likely motivation. i think paul ryan is the kind of skill set that can appeal to swing voters. you will be -- whether you think it is is the kind of reform we need, it doesn't matter. it is polarizing enough that you would not support a candidate like that if you're trying to win. host: thank you fruit waiting. good morning -- thank you for waiting. caller: i feel as though i have my party back. we're a country and our country works -- we are not like western

europe where they throw promised to the people. i think ryan and romney were great together. we need economic growth and opportunity. allow the free enterprise system to work. you cannot burden it. i'm a catholic and i'm concerned about obamacare. even the bishops have a lawsuit or something. i did not think people should go around saying the ryan budget is anti-human. we have to get back to the people running the governments. host: we look at this headline in politico. guest: that is an issue that joanne references.

it generates a great deal of enthusiasm among the base. and also among catholics. this is the first major ticket that is a non-protestant ticket, with a mormon and a catholic. the value is that it is a year the catholic vote is up for grabs. conservative catholics find great appeal in paul ryan. they are looking for somebody who can speak to the values that ryan articulates. there beginning to see opening round of the debate over pliant's value to the ticket. he is very strong in certain areas. he will have some strength with conservative catholics. he has a bunch of constituencies on the right that he appeals to.

there is a poll. anything tied up with age or gender or anything else within the numbers you can tell us? guest: the overarching theme is how static the race was. you can guess close to the mark on how the race was. the economy is a huge problem for barack obama. he is ok on foreign policy. americans are not happy with his job performance on the economy. the outcome of the election will be contingent on that because that has been the problem all along and continues to be. host: tin is a democrat from

pennsylvania -- tim. caller: paul -- somebody mentioned about paul ryan being an ideologue. i do not think that is too far off base. if you talk to anybody who is in it getsth line raayn rand, pretty crazy talking to him. it is like a lady created this idea that only exist in her own mind. for some reason, young people latch on to that like a religion. when ryan has his own staff and has to read her book, that is an ideologue. host: any thoughts?

guest: that gets to what we have been talking about this morning -- who is paul ryan and what is the believe? host: the democrats plan to point to his opposition to abortion rights and federal financing of contraceptions which could turn more women away from the gop ticket. guest: we found the president has a lead among female voters. it seems pronounced this year especially. it is the kind of issue that has been accelerated because the democratic message this year about a war on women and we will be litigating all those issues over the fall.

host: tax returns came up in the "60 minutes" interview. one viewer wants to know when the last time the cabinet has only shown two years of income tax returns. guest: that has been a big problem for romney in getting passed this and handling the attacks on his tax returns. paul ryan would not want to complicate that message or do anything that would create a big distance between them. he will release two years of returns and that puts him in line with the nominee. host: harold, atlanta, good morning. caller: the cbo came out with

the ryan budget. the medical costs are going up. landslide for obama. and also, sir, the taxes. 2% romney will pay. are you kidding me? look at his voting record. you are going to tell me -- host: the line for republicans in new york. caller: good morning. i am opposed to both sides. i believe if obama is as much of a polarizing figure as paul ryan. i believe politicians do not

have skin in the game and a vote according to their self interest. i admire paul ryan's technocracy because he is knowledgeable about the budget and he probably could get the country into better shape. i disagree with the fact -- allows loopholes where hedge funds and wealthy people can escape very high tax rates. they pay capital gains and dividends of currently 15%. i think that is wrong. if he wants to be honest, he would address that. i think we should not be a debtor nation. historically, debtor nations decline and it ultimately leads to their demise. i think obama, we do not know

obama very well. many of his records are hidden. he spent a lot of money protecting his so-called transparency. if he was concerned about jobs, he would not have spent two years on his health plan. that is all i have to say. host: ok. guest: the college gets to the point that comes up over and over. there is a tremendous cynicism in the american electorate. you see that in the polling in spades. you see that in the disapproval numbers of congress. they are at or near historic lows. it is a prevalent theme and there is no sign it is getting better.

host: are there any alternatives for folks? guest: there will be alternatives. there always are. one of the bigger options that could affect the presidential election in some states would be gary johnson, from the libertarian party. we typically do not see the third party is doing well or being competitive except maybe once in a generation phenomenon. this year, johnson is a little different. he is a former teacher and governor in new mexico. he has some attraction in the rocky mountain west. hi digits in some polls --high

ts in some polls. third-party candidates tend to fade. host: the conventions are starting in a few weeks. "sarah palin will not have rnc speaking role." guest: that tells you something about the role that sarah palin plays in the party. she does have a base either way. she has a solid base within the republican party. you see that in her success in endorsing candidates in the house and senate. she has taken a different kind of approach to supporting candidates and has had a great

deal of success at the senate level. every time she endorses a candidate and brings her support to the table, it underscores her influence in the republican party. she has a voice that is unlike any other in the reported. she will have a very big footprint in the republican party. host: jane is a democratic caller from cincinnati. caller: good morning. obama has the welfare. he has had a reason and he did not start welfare. republicans and democrats from thousands of years ago started that and have not let up on that. it was supposed to be set up for taboret and democrats and republicans ran it into the

ground. there is not enough jobs out there for anybody to go to. if he did not work on health care, we would not have that now. it was a big issue for him to start off on and i appreciate him for doing it. they do get a republican in office and they are with him, they will be set out on the streets of the nursing homes and they will not like that one bit. guest: it is beginning to social lines and get some attractions fare reform.welll

republicans have criticized the administration's moves as lessening the commitment by welfare reform. we have not had that debate at the national level at a sustained way since the 1990's. that introduces an unstable elements. and where the parties are on it now 15 years later. host: st. augustine is a small community in florida where mitt romney will be going to and we had this headline. he will be on the campus of flager college. scott is calling from that town now. you are a member of the green

party. talk to us about mitt romney's visit. caller: the paper doesn't mention anything. they want you to show up. they said the governor came here but the paper did not mention it. left real quick and only the tea party people were left. host: what are you looking for? caller: honesty, a special from you guys. c-span said yesterday that you are a charity. you're not a charity. you get the money and he take the money. you do not ask for donations. you get our money for free. number table, why are you here with politico?-- numbered two.

politico is a republican organization. host: what makes you thing politico is a republican organization? caller: all the independent polls are saying obama is ahead. his poll says they are tied. so 1984 of you guys to promote mitt romney and paul ryan for days on end. you are promoting the republican party. you are scared that they are going to lose. host: a couple of strong points from scott, a green party person. pittsburgh, pennsylvania. a chance to respond to political being a republican organization. guest: i don't think there's any

merit to that. we will cover mitt romney and paul ryan. our readers have insatiable appetites for politics. we will cover a closely. that is true of almost any news organization. almost invariably you'll get killed from both sides. we get criticism from both sides about where we stand. having been in the relevant editorial meetings, we do not care. we are nonpartisan publication. we tried to explain to our readers what is happening behind the scene and to spot trends. this a political theater that is unfolding before us and i think

we do a pretty good job most of the time. host: where the numbers right now with fund-raising? guest: we're drowning under an avalanche of money. the romney campaign is doing extremely well. the obama campaign, you see them raising money against the romney campaign saying we need to remain competitive. i think republicans are in a pretty good place when you and in what the super pacs are doing. host: how about the congressional races? guest: incumbents usually do better than challengers. millions of dollars at house races even before labor day. super pacs are playing a big role. it is and accelerated role of

business as usual. what we saw before the ryans legend was the house and senate debate was largely going to be defined by the ryan budget. the special election in upstate new york in 2011 showed democrats this can be an effective argument when prosecuted the right way. it was something of an upset there. that has been the heart of the argument against democratic candidates. pick essentially doubles down on that. every republican candidate is going to have to explain. it is something that can be

explained successfully because republicans have done that. thtey won a campaign in nevada. medicare reforms were debated in a tough environment and they won comfortably. the argument was different and the with a inoculated themselves was different. republicans were able to explain their condition by using his mother, who explained the republican position. host: call is from pittsburgh on the republican line -- pual. caller: c-span does an excellent job of covering all the issues from all points of view. you should be commended for that. i think paul ryan is an excellent choice.

i watched the rally they had last night in wisconsin. some 10,000 people. it is uplifting to hear how people are proud of the country. it was inspiring. he is willing to take on the issues. this country and has serious financial problems and an enormous debt. future generations are not going to be able to pay it. if we don't take it hard look at entitlements, we are going to collapse. the president had an opportunity with the bowles-simpson plan to weigh in on that, but he chose not to. the president is not touting his health-care plan or his other plans in his stimulus package

and those sort of things. it is all attack, attack, attack. the country is looking for an honest, open discussion about the issues. that's all i have to say. host: 1 viewer says he is looking for some information. guest: i have not pored over the record, but when it comes to members of congress, paul ryan has worked in the past with republicans. pends how youfense define working with democrats. from everything we can tell, ryan is somebody that is known for having some strong views and being a solid conservative.

but also been a sincere guy when it comes to dealing with the opposition. you can check his record on that. some of that will be in the eye of the beholder. he is not seen as somebody who is just a bomb thrower or backbencher, as opposed to being a legislator of some substance. host: tom from fort lauderdale, democrat. caller: good morning. your previous caller talked about demonizing the parties and each other. look, george bush jr. ran the dirtiest campaign that we have

seen. they do not want to tell the truth. they want to talk about how bad it the other person is. there is no substance to the campaign. it the republican party has been lying to the american people. all they do is protect big business. the rich are all republicans. republicans are always running up the deficit. the tea party jumped on a bandwagon. obama walked into the biggest deficit that we have since the great depression. he didn't have a magic wand to magically make it better in three years. nobody would be able to. the republican party disputes

all these lies. kee middle class should wait up. they know that the people that are religious and take this to heart vote their way. when i hear all these republican speeches, it is like listening to a used car salesmen telling you how this car will do everything including butter your toast and make your life some much better. that: i guess we'll put caller down as undecided. we are a polarized country right now. we're back where we started as far as the red-blue states divide. that is an unfortunate byproduct of the nature of the debate.

both parties'chants is of winning will be determined by maximizing their base vote. i think it goes to the point about the disillusionment of the american electorate, the frustration about the way to conduct our elections and the nature of the debate and the tone of the debate. host: paul ryan is back in play. how important is wisconsin in the race? guest: very important. paul ryan will be a great asset in the midwest. wisconsin is the kind of stayed where lots of folks thought it was a much more democratic state than it was. it was fairly competitive. it is a state that was decided

by about 1% in a number of elections if you take 2008 out of the mix. it is a state that republicans did well in in 2010. they is essentially ran the table. barack obama killed john mccain there. barack obama probably wins wisconsin if they continue on the same trajectory. if that changes, mitt romney probably picked one of the best people to do that. paul ryan does not guarantee wisconsin. mitt romney's chances of winning wisconsin are better now because of a paul ryan. host: what states are you looking at that are very much in play? guest: north carolina and virginia are essentials states.

colorado, nevada will be an important state. iowa. you begin to get to expand the orbit of a swing states and a look at states like michigan, pennsylvania, states that have not gone republican since 1988 but are showing some signs of openness to the republican ticket. host host: serena from wisconsin, welcome. caller: there are only 535 people in the dc area and make all the decisions. for us to say there are people in hard times, there are. how many people actually would have been considered welfare

from years ago? we have big screen tvs and we drive big cars and we eat steak and lobster. we go out and we party. we go out to dinner a lot. are we really a welfare nation? or is it what mr. obama wants us to believe? guest: these calls are showing how important the economy is and how important prosperity is to the presidential debate. the questions surrounding austerity and the austerity measures that we need to take as a nation. we will see it over the next 90 days or so. host: there is a story about the senate race that is happening tomorrow. they are talking about tommy thompson, the former governor.

guest: it is remarkable that tommy thompson would be in for a tough fight in wisconsin. it tells you about the dilution of the republican party. back in the 1990's, thompson was one of the intellectual leaders. he was a storied governor who congress look to on any number of policy areas including welfare reform. he is a giant on the wisconsin landscape in terms of the number of terms he won. the idea they have to scramble is remarkable. that tells you about the changes in the republican party. also he was an hhs secretary at

a time when many republicans were frustrated, at a time when republicans were frustrated with levels of spending in washington. some things that thompson did as secretary and his post- government career have contributed to a sense that maybe he is not the right candidate for this era in wisconsin. it will be interesting to see what happens. host: 1 more story about paul ryan from "the washington post." they're saying the democrats wasted little time in blasting paul ryan. he exempted $60,000 in contributions.

is this the kind of thing that would hurt him? guest: this is a new start that just came mouout. is always something in a politician's background. i think you'll see lots of stuff now that paul ryan has been picked. now they are going to rot everything they have on paul ryan slowly to the media over the next few weeks in an attempt to define paul ryan. host: charles mahtesian, thank you for your time. we will talk about health care with helen darling. she is with the national business group on health. large companies expect about a 7% increase on health care costs.

later in the program, daniel newhauser will join us to talk about the farm bill. it is not quite finished yet. we'll get an update. some more news from c-span radio. >> reaction continuant to come in on paul line's selection as the vice-presidential candidate. david axelrod is comparing mitt romney's tories of paul ryan to john mccain's selection of sarah palin four years ago. the choice is "not going to be romney." for a new campaign ad already targeting congressman ryan. it portrays the ticket as a

threat to medicare. it promotes president obama as medicare's protector. the romney campaign has released in a television ad of accusing the white house of stripping -- medtronic campaigns today in florida. c-span will carry that live. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> hello. we are anonymous. we have been watching you -- >> t to more of an internet phenomenon or a movement. people collaborating together online to protest against all kinds of different reasons and to harass people sometimes for fun. guest: in her new book, she looks at the impact and motivations of the hacker group

anonymous. night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c- span2. "washington journal" continues. host: helen darling is the president and ceo of the national business group on health. guest: it is a membership of large employers including 65 of the fortune 100. 342 members. we work on health, health care, health policy from the point of view of large employers. we represent about 50 million employees, dependents, and retirees. host: what exactly did you want to find out and one of the main results? guest: we do a survey every year

in the summer. that is the first time that large employers know what they will be doing for the subsequent year. they are dealing with the affordable care act, we wanted to know what they are doing but also how the yoke are coping with the affordable care act. those of the broad areas that we serve it about. host: what did you find out about cost/ guest: the bad news is that costs continues to rise. it is 7% for 2012 on a rising bis.e ase. of whack.it is way out it was a little higher before that. host: does the study looked at

years beyond next year? guest: we just asked about 2013. they'll have to tell their ceo, this is the money you have to plan on spending on health benefits for the employees. host: we will put the phone numbers on the bottom of the screen for gas as we talk about what large employers are expecting. what they and other employers will have to do about it. our guest is helen darling, president and ceo of the national business group on health. we will get to your calls in just a moment. for employees of large businesses, with this 7 becerra increase, what are they expected to do -- with this 7% increase,

what i expected to do? guest: asking that employees get their prescription drugs through mail order or they will pay a higher price if going to the retailer. they'll have already done that. they wake-up in the morning on open enrollment day and they will know and they will pay more out of pocket themselves. that is from the beginning. the cost sharing is going up slightly. the amount that comes out of the paycheck will go up less than 5%. this is a time when wages are flat. if they are standing still, they are probably having less income because maybe there hours have been cut. host: you had touched on the health care law. plug that back into the conversation.

guest: large employers have to make changes. they have to get information out. the have to provide it in a particular way. it has to be done in a customized way. there is an administrative burden. there are fees that they have to pay. depending on how the rules are written, if they provide coverage and for the employee, the out-of-pocket contributions is more than a certain amount, 9.5% of their income from that employer, it is considered "on affordable." -- 'un host: can you gauge which employers will be assuming the new costs?

take us deeper into cost sharing. guest: large employers have comprehensive benefits. their costs are considerably higher. cost sharing will probably up to 20%. employers pay 80%, employees pay 20%. from north hear carolina. our first caller is jaunt on the republican line talking about health care costs at larger companies. caller: good morning. i would like for the lady to clear up one thing that the democrats keep talking about trying to scare the people on medicare. let's clear it up. all mitt romney and paul ryan are trying to do it is continue

to make it solvent. they are trying to -- the democrats keep saying they will block grant it. it i optional. people 55 and over, they can keep what they got. when people get 65, it is optional. they can keep the medicare that they'll are going to get. or they can get a grant. who would not want to have that option? host: bister anything that we can apply to this conversation -- is there anything that we can apply to this conversation? guest: not really. there was some assistance to large employers who provide coverage for retirees. that is the only area where the

affordable care act was supporter of for large employers. they still provide the kind of medical benefits. host: what is considered a large employer? guest: for us, it is over 500. host: let's hear from raleigh, north carolina. caller: i am disabled. i am retired and i worked most of my life. i have two chronic bonuses. i have lucas -- lupis, so if i go over my voucher -- i have to

have back surgery and my doctor told me to stop taking medicaid because he said it was too messy and they do not pay aren't armed. -- pay aren't tied. guest: there is no worry on her behalf. there is plenty of coverage for all of the things that she is talking about. host: moving on to dixon, ill., sarah. we're talking about health care and larger businesses that are experiencing an increase in health-care costs. what did you think? caller: it has been really hard for people in their fifties to get jobs. are the premiums more for employers that hire 57-year- old's verses a 20 something

year-old? guest: our insurers are self insured, do not pay premiums. they just basically pay medical claims. they pay more for someone who maybe 50, but some of the biggest expenses are newborn babies who are born premature or automobile accidents or diving accidents. there is no age related -- it is called age banding. but there is no question that as you age you have a need for more services, and a lot of them are just preventive services. and it is true that as you get older -- i can tell you that as you get older, you have problems study did not have when you were younger. host: what did they say are the most effective ways to control

costs? guest: the number one way to control costs for large employee numbers is a consumer directed health plan. these are health plans with higher deductibles. there are variable, and sometimes you have a choice on how variable you want to be. are you also have cost sharing on the service. the consumer directed health plan bring to the employee or the defendant into what we call consumerism. we know they pay more attention to calling the nurse line to get information. they get more preventive services, a whole range of things. consumer directed is the number one. the second is held wellness improvement. all employers are now offering very comprehensive programs to encourage their employees and adult dependents to choose their lifestyles, to do a whole range of things, including talk to a

coach. if they do it, the employers will in some instances pay them more money -- for instance, put $100 in their health account. there are a range of things. no. 2 is cost sharing. those three things are the most effective way to control costs. host: do you expect the wellness to grow in years to come? guest: yes, it is interesting. in the last five years, the leading employers have used this. more and more employers are turning their organizations and to what they call and what we call a culture of hults with a lot of emphasis on people choosing healthy lifestyles. paying for personal coaching, when you think about that, if

someone would have tried to grade 10 years ago for a personal coach, someone will have said, are you kidding? but there are that is what they're doing. and -- but now that is what they're doing. host: you may be interested to know that the purchasing of health benefits at xerox corporation, 55,000 people. certainly, a big company. we are in buffalo, new york, john, a democrat. caller: i just want to know if this is born to be a long-term 7% rise in or after 2014 when everybody has to get health care, will about lower lacoste's after 2013? guest: there is no evidence that cost will be lower. in 2014, millions of people, assuming it goes the way it goes to go despite the supreme were

decision about medicaid, assuming additional people will have coverage. that will cost as much as a cause for a large employer. costs are not going to go down. our fear is that demand could go up and then providers could increase prices because they have more demands on them. health care is different. it is not like buying a computer where costs are down when more people buy. in health care, that is not necessarily the case at all. in the next three or four years, unless we actively control costs, they will go of, and they go up more than 7%. host: here is a tweet from nick. he wants to know why they don't support a national health care option.

is that true that they do not support a national plan? guest: i think he means like health care for all. there may be some large employers that think that is a good idea. generally, i think there is a fear that if something is government run, it is not going to end up costing less. they use the comparison between medicare and the private sector and how medicare costs so little. it if you can control prices, basically, medicare told -- medicare tells the providers what they will pay them. they do not have to discuss it further. and they do that with medicaid to. -- medicaid, too. those private doctors turn around and charge more for what -- to make up for what they feel is missing. it is estimated about $1,000 per year per family coverage in cost

because of that. if we had national health insurance and they did it that way, yes, it would probably cost employers last, but i cannot believe that would pass because the health industry would take about a 20% pay cut, and i've never seen them willing to do that. host: next rose from anne bindi florida keyes -- the next call is from anne in the florida keyes. caller: about two or three years ago they passed where you could keep your adult children on your health plan. my husband works for a large company. what they did is that we used to have a $200 deductible per family and that became a $1,000 deductible per family. we could have injured our adult children for that amount of money. -- insured our adult children

for that amount of money. there's always a dip in the system. it does not work. it is not real. somebody comes up with an answer and the insurance companies come up with a well-rounded. i do not think the nationalized health care will work either. guest: there is no question that probably the employer to increase the deductible, which has been happening across the board for the past three years. it is somewhat independent of betting -- adding the adult children of 26, because it was going to happen anyway. but you are making an extremely important point. there is no free lunch. if you move people are on to the plan and increased the cost of the current debt -- of the plan, thereby to increase in cost sharing.

host: steffan in ohio, good morning. caller: if you previous callers as the question i was going to grass. because of that, i want to know, what is it in massachusetts that makes the health system work that could be implemented nationally soared ribordy could benefit from the same -- so everybody could benefit from the same type of plan? guest: that is an excellent question. generally, what is looked at for the exchanges in the affordable care act will looke a lot like the massachusetts connector. massachusetts is a very rich state. they already have literally billions of dollars that were

being paid to hospitals to cover people for hospitalization. most states do not have that. there was already a pool of money and that made it easy when they brought in a lot of new people. and it was used to cover those people. it would be hard to have that work in most other states in the country. but the model is very similar to the exchanges. host: can you give us more becher and on the consumer directed health plans. what are they? guest: some of them are high deductible plans, but not all of them. the prince of all behind them is it is a plan where you have a high -- a principle behind it is where you have a high deductible, so you care what you are spending money on. usually the first amount of money is where you have to pay

upfront. it is a front-end deductible. most of the employers actually seed the account from which you pay out, so you are eased in to this higher deductible. if you get something called a health savings account, which is a tax qualified savings account, which you own, your employer might give you, let's say, $500 for your account. it is your money. you can save it, like for a retiree, or you can use it for your deductible. you can reduce the amount of deductible you have to pay. the principle is that if you feel it is your money, you are going to ask more questions about whether you need something, what it costs, if there is something less expensive. we know, for example, when you

are in a consumer director of planned, people are much more likely to use a generic -- consumer directed health plan, people are much more likely to use generic, call the nurse line. the principle is changing the dynamics of consumers obama -- of consumerism. it is not just doing what your doctor said. host: we have barbour on the democratic plan -- barbara on the democratic line. caller: if these companies do not want to pay for of care coverage, why do we have this as a business?

if you have a single payer, you can still use private industry to oversee. but the industry does not want to do that. furthermore, people have criticized government-run health care, like the u.k.. they should try going without any health care at the age of 60 like i did for three and our viewers -- three and a half years before obamacare kicked in in pennsylvania and i was able to buy because of pre-existing conditions. i was refused any kind of health care coverage by the private industry. private industry has to look out for itself, because they are a business. they are to make a profit. which is ridiculous if you get it on his face.

this business of health savings accounts, you have to have money in order to save that. in order -- in other words, if you do not have $1,000 a month to put into a of savings plan, you do not have a of savings plan. guest: a couple of things. first, employers are put -- are paying over hundreds of dollars on average. usually, was taken out of the employee's paycheck is considerably less. you are already getting from on, youst pagy period are giving money from your employer that you can use to pay your medical bills. you can set that aside literally

or figuratively, and if you do not have any health care benefits for the first six or seven months, you may have equal to the collective all right there in just four is taken out of your paycheck. caller: moving forward, what role, if any, does capitol hill have in this big business of health care? host: the most important role they should have is controlling health care costs and encouraging controlling health- care costs. not getting in the way or putting in mandates or administrative burdens that cost money. and if employers are trying to decide whether to hire one person -- , i mean, we have a slowly recovering economy. it is recovering, but it is certainly slow. if employers are waiting to see if the economy is strong enough to maintain the jobs, the more expensive we make it to hire or

keep someone on a full-time basis, which is what we are doing -- and congress and the administration could make it worse -- then we will not have the recovery that we need. everybody needs to say that our biggest problem for the working families, for the nation, for our competition in the world, is controlling caller: health care costs last call from virginia, george, republican. are finee and medicaid -- caller: medicare and medicaid are fine. the only problem we have are the people that run those programs. they're not doing their job properly. we have all kinds of a chronic systems for everything else. why can't we come up with an

electronic system to check all of this stuff? when the doctors are sending in their bills and hospitals are sending in their burrows that they are not ee paid? guest: he is making -- that they are not paid double? guest: he is making a very important point. in large percent of the economy is wasted. it puts your address when you do not need to be put at risk, or it actually harms you. there is no argument about the total. yes, there is some fraud and abuse and we should always do more about that. but the biggest problem is the overuse of tests and services that do not improve health. they do not add clinical value. the institute of medicine, you can go to their website and see lots of information. lots of experts have dealt with

this topic. what congress and the administration can do is to make the elimination of risk top of the agenda. all of this about the fiscal crisis, much of that would actually go away if we fix this problem. caller: good morning, and a 70- year-old retired banker from houston. a good number of my neighbors and people i associate with are from small oil companies. there is one thing that i've heard from more than one source, that these companies are giving serious consideration to cancelling all benefits from health care, taking the amount

of they normally gave and deducting the penalty and handed a check to the employees to get their own health insurance. i'm wondering if that is something that your guest can comment on. guest: i'd be happy to. there is evidence that the small employers are certainly considering dodd. if you do the math, it may be an attractive thing to do. most smaller employers do not provide coverage. the higher it costs, the more likely they are to stop providing the coverage. you are right about that there. one caution, though, and it depends on what you want to do as an employer. the reason most large employers self provide very rich business -- benefits is because most want to recruit and retain talent. if you're going to do that in this country today, whether that is a policy that we would all

start going back 40 years or not, if you want to hire the most talented people and keep them, then today in the united states to have to provide health benefits. if you're going to change the equation there, then you have to realize two things. number one, it will affect your ability to attract talent. and you allow to provide them a lot more cash to make up for that, and that is one of the arguments that is against doing what they're talking about. host: thanks a lot for your time and inside on things this morning. guest: thank you very much. host: we have about 40 minutes left in this edition of "washington journal" and what we're going to do next is talk to daniel newhauser from ocala who will talk to us about the farm bill.

it expires in the end of the timber. but first, an update from c-span radio. >> more on campaign 2012. politico and abc news reporting that dan seymour has become a senior advisor to paul reihan. mr. seymour has played a major political as well as advisory role on mitt romney's team. but he will be serving a much broader role with mr. ryan, helping on things like debate prep and the convention speech. he was asked by beth myers, who led the presidential search process to servin the role for the eventual nominee months ago. it turns are he and all right go back nearly two decades to the days of congressional staffers. he will be traveling with a congressman paul ryan full time. there's been an apparent shooting attack by an afghan policeman on nato forces and

afghan soldiers. the u.s.-led military coalition says none of its service members were killed. it taliban spokesman is claiming a responsibility. and in syria, a private ejected from a plane after technical failure -- a private was ejected from a plane after technical failure. rebels are claiming it was gunned down. the warplane appears to spiral into a ball of flames. it was impossible to independently verify the video. the news agency said it was on a training mission today and that the search was underway to find the private. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> it is the idea of -- that we are in this together. each of us cared and by working together to create opportunity and a good life for all, all of

us are enriched not just in economic terms, but as citizens and as human beings. [applause] >> marra opponent will not rule out raising taxes, but i will, and the congress will push me to raise taxes and i will say no, and they will push, and i will say no. and they will push again and i will say to them, read my lips, no new taxes. >> c-span has aired every minute of every party convention since 1984. watch this year live on c-span starting monday, august 27. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are here to talk about the farm bill and at the table this morning his local staff writer -- will call staff writer

jay newhauser erb. when congress went into its break, you have this piece adderall call. -- about roll-call. what were you writing here? guest: agriculture groups, farmers, i was writing about congress members going back to their districts and they would hear it from these foreign words, people who represent these interests. people would say, where are you doing in washington? you are not doing anything. you need to pass it, especially because of the drought. the members would be -- would come back feeling in danger of their political future figure not do something. host: a story of thurman, iowa, they are giving everyone a hard time about the lack of a farm bill.

exactly what does the farm bill do and when does it expire? guest: it expires september 30. the main problem now is that there are provisions that help farmers, emergency aid for farmers, that have already expired in 2011. while corn and soybean growers are not as vulnerable right there because there emergency is still baden told at the september 30, the last round of cattle dying off and there was a really big provision. the problem is, $70 million over five years was spent on supplemental nutritional program, which was called food stamps. democrats think that the cuts are too broad. republicans think that there are

not enough. there are not enough votes in the middle. when the members come back to d.c. next month, they will see what the consequences of not passing this bill are and they will get something done. host: the number is on the screen. tell us about your situation, if you can on the line for farmers and ranchers. daniel newhauser is here to give us an update on things. when do they come back, early september? guest: yes, that is right. they will have a national conference in charlotte and in the week after that they will be back. the problem is, there are only eight or so legislative days that month, and then of course, the election. there is just not a lot of time

to do this, and if they do it, if left be quick. and they after conference at which the senate version, which is drastically different. we will see if there is the political will to get this done. if not, there might be a short- term extension. they tried to pass a short-term extension and there was a lot of problem with that. host: have a drought in to all of this and it gets a little deeper. the where our folks getting help right now? guest: president obama is going to be in iowa today. he needs to ramp up his messaging on this farm bill. the announced over the weekend that the agriculture department is going to do some sort of aid. he will announce that in further detail in iowa, not

coincidentally, a big swing state. and also, kind of ground zero for this battle over the farm bill. he will announce that the executive branch will buy up more than $100 million in livestock to help these farmers. that is something the executive branch can do and it fits into his election year narrative that congress is dysfunctional and that he has to go around them. there is nothing that he can -- that they can do, so he's got to do it. host: he will be in council bluffs, iowa as part of a three- day bus tour of iowa. we will have that again today live paul ryan will be at the iowa state fair in des moines, iowa as well. guest: it will be interesting to see where he goes with this because he has been as -- a staunch opponent of the farm

bill and the food stamps program for some time. the budget that the house passed some months ago included were more than $100 million in cuts to farm bill programs. i believe, that was over 10 years. the bill that the agriculture committee passed includes about $16 billion. he is way to the right to begin where his party wants to go with this. this being such a big issue, it is not hard seen democrats gore after him, especially now that he is the vice presidential nominee. host: that will happen about 1:30 p.m. today in iowa. boston, you are up first to speak with daniel newhauser erb. caller: hello, my name is steve. i look at my farm and built --

the farming go as a tough time. -- i look at the farming bill as a tough time. you have all of these things up in the air. it is killing their crops regardless. i do not think the farmers need to be worried about the bill. i think they need to talk to the right people to make the machines they are making that is causing problems with the food. we've got to eat. guest: certainly, there are other factors, too, but i think most of the farmers right now

are worried about the farm bill. it includes payments, emergency aid, which is what they need right now with the drop. -- the drought. host: lindsey, a democrat line. caller: i watched c-span every morning. i am 83 years old. i think the government should reach out to the farmers. this is an act of god through the heat because the drought. it is causing a lot of people to be without food. i think the government should do something about it. host: we appreciate you calling. a westport, conn., on the democrat's line. caller: can you explain how much of the sugar subsidy is? what interest groups support it?

what interest groups oppose it? and what possible benefit is that for the u.s.? host: can you help us with that? guest: yes, i can. i cannot explain the exact total. the sugar lobby is a very powerful group around here. they definitely would like to have more. host: we look forward to hearing about your situation if you are calling in. a little bit of background. expanding the availability of farm credit is one of the points they are making. about $100,000 loans totaling $14.6 billion since 2009. there has been about $110 billion worth of liability on about half a million farms.

congress voted to expand disaster relief. but it did not vote on it before the august recess. guest: back to the previous caller, she was saying bad emergency disaster relief is important. -- that emergency disaster relief is important. we have seen this after things like that tornado in joplin, missouri, and other places. it needs to offset. it presented itself again this time we have a temporary package in the house, the when you were just talking about. and it came from environmental programs and other storage of programs, and beverly irked democrats and that is why they voted against it.

-- that really irked democrats and that is why they voted against it. host: in this article it says that democrats are stonewalling. is that a fair take? guest: the agriculture committee passed its with a majority vote. republican leaders want to get this done. they've all said they want to do it. they just cannot have the votes within their conference. there is a senior group within the republican conference that is ideologically opposed to the food stamp program. they want more cuts. but if it goes to the floor, they will offer amendments for $33,000 in cuts. there will may be split the thing up for the food portion. if they could do this in a clean

way, they would. right before an election, this is not something they want to see on the floor. host: jackie, good morning. caller: on the farm aid, they're going to help the farmers, but on the other hand, they do not want to help people eat. what good does it do to help the farmers to produce food for people to read? -- for people to eat? i want to say to the republicans, i want you to cut all the food stamps, cut everything from the farmers, cut everything from the robotic, and then you see how this country is going to be. -- from everybody, and then you see how this country is going to be. the farmers, when they laid off

the workers and went to machinery, they subsidize that. america, we have to be like every other country. we're going to go through starvation. they say they want less government, but why are they running for office? guest: that is a great point, and maybe that is why the democratic message will resonate on the country. not only do the farmers need this bill, but millions of people who rely on these programs to meet need them as well. -- to eat need them as well. republicans might have a hard time when it comes to defending their position on that in a way the resonates with much of the country. host: with more on the drought, tom vilsack was on-air news makers program talking about the drought and food prices.

[video clip] >> we expect an increase in 3% to 4%. that is not off much from traditionally what we see in inflation. in 2008, we saw 5.5% increase. next year, we are considering up to a 4% increase. this year, between 2% to 3%. all of those are within the historical range of food inflation. if the drought has an impact, there will be two impacts. one, in the short term, as livestock is being liquidated, but there is a possibility of a slight oversupply, which could result in lower prices for a short time frame at the course restore, primarily for meat and poultry.

as we get later in to the year and the first part of next year, as there is a tightening of supplies, we could see some increases. if the drug does cause increases, it could be somewhere between a half a percentage point to a% and -- to 1% in inflation. it will have a profound impact -- there are many more factors that could have a more profound impact and even a drought. host: the you have anything to add their? guest: that is exactly what i think you will hear barack obama say later today. there will announce that they are buying up excess livestock, especially poultry and of course, beef. host: we have charlie on the line. caller: good morning.

the question asked about the sugar subsidy, the one family down in florida, the goule family, it is to under $21 million a year. if the price goes up and the price goes down, the american people pay for this family that was kicked up -- kicked out by castro and set up in the sugar business. the question i have is, it seems that we have a lot of welfare that goes on throughout the country, whether it's defense or agriculture. 40% of the corn is diverted into ethanol. and it takes 2.3 gallons of diesel fuel by the time you plant the corn and cook the corn and reduce it down to 1 gallon. the fee to us as ranchers goes up because we have diverted all of this crop.

what we have a subsidy, is great. when we do not have a subsidy, the price to the consumer grows up. we always talk about eliminating welfare to poor people. why are we not talking about welfare to people like the family in florida, the orange growers down near the get free drainage, the water they pump out of the -- out in the everglades? and even out west, we have subsidies to ranchers that basically give free forage on the blm land that is owned by the public. there are a lot of subsidies that go on. why don't we just call it welfare, because that is exactly what it is. guest: that is a valid point and one that senators and representatives brought up, for to kigali with ethanol. i believe there was an effort

to last year to get rid of ethanol subsidies. we will see a lot more talk -- maybe not in this farm bill, but as we go on about dealing with that issue. host: more dealing with the right? on the farm bill. this is an editorial in alaska. they write that while farmers only make up a small fraction of the nation's voters, we all have to eat. in nebraska, our economy depends on a healthy, secure farm sector. let's hope they will bring the house bill to a vote. the chicago tribune wrote, congress wrestles with spending cuts and the midwest makes this a prickly time for congress to be taking up the farm bill. the origin need for deficit reduction should result in a substantial cut from this nearly 100 note -- $100 billion year

measure for spending. it is not too late for the nation to save a ton of money. guest: that is an interesting point. there is a train of thought on capitol hill that they can use the farm bill for deficit reduction and this thing that they are calling the fiscal cliff. there are a million other things to do with. we have the payroll tax and the sequestered. the cost of lot of money. something like $20 billion. if the lump them into the larger picture of stuff there after deal with, they can say, we are spending money over here, but saving money on the farm bill. that could give them a bit of a push. host: 15 counties across 32

states have been declared drought disaster areas. guest: about one quarter of the country is in extreme drought. it is the worst since the 1950's. host: daniel newhauser is a staff writer for roll call after joining them a couple of years ago as an intern. let's go to the republican line. good morning, jake. jake, are you there? i think we lost jake. let's go to southern missouri. paul on the independent line. caller: hi, this is john. i'm calling to help stave off starvation in america. what does paul newhauser think of the idea of everyone growing

at least two to mader plants on their patio -- tomato plants on their patio or porch this year to help with the crop? host: actually, it is daniel newhauser, but nonetheless. guest: i grew to medeiros myself. but i do not see -- i grow tomatoes myself. but i do not take government mandate for iran to do that. but not a bad idea host: -- for everyone to do that. but not a bad idea. host: next call from minnesota. caller: on the farm bill, the money that is allocated is approximately 4% of the total budget of this country. of the 4%, 25% goes to farmers and ranchers. 75% goes to things like wic and

food stamps. here is something else you might find interesting. a lot of people may have touched on this a little bit. in 2011, this country burned one-third of the corn crop for ethanol. when you make ethanol, it takes eight tenths of a gallon of fossil fuel to grow the corn to make 1 gallon of ethanol. with this drought, a lot of people probably do not see it, but come next spring, the secretary of agriculture could be way off on 3% to 4%. food prices might go through the ceiling. another thing, plan ahead. people should plan ahead. what happens if there is a

second year of drought to? this could get very serious. guest: that is a good point. this could get serious and nobody knows how serious it could get. that is our reason some of the agriculture groups are saying to pass the bill now. not only would expand the legislature, but it would review the aid for the next five years. rather than a short-term measure for a year or so, there's a lot of talk in washington these days about establishing certainty for everybody, really. and during these long term programs, not a lot of these short-term measures they have been doing. enter your point about the percentage of the bill the go to programs like wic and snap, that is the problem in a lot of conservatives is about this

program. it is called the farm bill, but the some $380 billion is spent on food aid. many say that these things should be decoupled. that they should be cut. that is why we've had it -- had trouble getting it through congress. host: a, this morning on twitter. they will not talk about id until the heat is on. the house majority with kevin mccarthy, who was from bakersfield calif. suggested --

boston, tony, independent, good morning. caller: just talking about the farmers and they are responsible because of the drought. mitt romney voted to leave against it. when bush was in office, he voted to send all the jobs overseas. and it costs a struggle to make it. they are -- costs us triple to make it. they are getting richer and we are getting poorer. we have no work and no aid to support ourselves. guest: another example of why this could be a hard sell and while republicans want to put this behind them when they come back.

you mentioned on a's running mate, paul reihan. i would not be too surprised to see president obama drop a name or to a vote in his speech today in iowa. host: we have linda, who is a former come on the line. good morning, linda. -- who is a farmer, on the line. good morning, linda. caller: i would like you to -- i would like to ask your guest why he thinks it is a bad idea to keep the end of programs with the farming programs? guest: i did not say it was a bad idea. i'm not trying to express an opinion one way or another. i think democrats and people who want to get this aid past feel it is a bad idea because quite simply, you would not be able to pass these things on their own. a lot of the reason you can pass it is because it is tied to the farm bill. maybe it is a political

misnomer of the bill itself. if they decouple it, and that is what conservatives want to do, it would have a much harder time getting through congress. host: a tweet with more detail on the government spending. how much of the farm bill is paid to farmers not to form? and why is that? guest: i'm sorry, i'm not sure. host: moving on, sean, libertarian caller. caller: in the farming industry, if you're familiar with the harvesting portion of the industry, was wondering why there was not a thing put into the bill to help stabilize farmers' with the large percentage of the acreage that they ought to harvest every year. guest: there is some emergency aid for trees. there were a lot of wild fires in the last year.

this emergency aid is still valid for corn and soybean, and in both the house and senate version, there's a lot more emergency aid for all manners of farmers and ranchers. host: from the seattle times recently, congress should now sacrifice food stamps. it is one of the most effective first lines against hunger. congress should not pass a 2012 fargo that includes cuts to the federal program. susan, from kansas, you are on the air. caller: i am 50 years old and i think it was in the clinton administration -- there was a moving congress were they said they were going to has won more farm subsidy package and then after that, we are born to cut all farm aid. farmers will be governed by the free-market like everybody else.

i cannot find anybody who seems to remember this legislation. i'm wondering is our guest is conversant with that. and if so, what ever happened to that? i thought farmers got the end of -- this legislation was 10 or 15 years ago. guest: there has always been talk about ending these government programs. there's always a segment of people who want to do that. it is just not feasible. if you see all of these editorials and articles today, you see exactly why. you try to take away program, something that affects so many people, and especially with the climate of the drought, and you're going to get hit. you lose your election. in places like kansas and iowa where these people are from, they are getting a lot of flash back -- a lot of lashing out.

it does not seem politically feasible. host: george in illinois, welcome to the program. caller: good morning. mr. newhauser, i would like to know what portion of the 20 percent of our farmers get the of the tort reform bill proceed? -- the total farm bill proceeds? what portion is going to be agency, which is staffed? also, the grain companies for -- a green companies for export subsidies, but has also restored we been in the farm bill and is called farm subsidy, you know, the export support. i wonder if you can give me that

members on that. guest: i do not have the numbers in front of me, but that is another issue. exports are a hot button issue this year politically. host: one more from the newport herald. they write up the farm bill and the drought has fallen to political party -- partisanship. not a lot of hope out there. guest: and can you blame people?

it seems congress is more divided than ever. we have been covering -- people like me have been covering this city for decades. people who pride themselves on working together are hitting the road. it does not give a lot of optimism out there. that is why we see a lot of editorials for calling on people to get things done. host: even if it is a one-year extension, let's say, plus the political season, do you expect a lot of turnover because of this one issue? guest: it is hard to say. in these hot button places, this is a huge issue. you mentioned agriculture is our kultury tom vilsack. his wife, christy, is running against one of the most conservative members of congress, and she is hitting him

every day about this farm bill. this is a guy that it every set of circumstances is against the food stamp program, but here he is advocating for this bill because he knows he cannot get it done politically with the market. host: next caller. it caller: good morning and thank you for taking my phone call. what igor bertran shopping to buy look at the frozen foods and they are all from foreign -- when i go grocery shopping, i look at the foreign foods and they're off from foreign countries. -- all from foreign countries. my question is, we need to pass this farm bill in the united states. people need to recognize that if we do not pass this farm bill,

there will be more and more imported vegetables and fruit into this country, and they use more pesticides than the american farmers. in order to help the farmers, we all need to call congress to help push this farm bill. guest: you mentioned a lot of food coming from overseas. there is a new effort to at boosting organic and local farming. one member -- member in particular stands out. and she is an organic farmer herself. one portion of this bill will allow for people who use the snap program to spend it on local farms. it would be -- and there is

also a form to table program for local schools. -- a farm to table program for local foodschools. host: we appreciate your time. guest: thank you. host: we will hear about today's political events in a moment. "washington journal" start every morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. we will see you back here tomorrow. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> president obama is on the road today campaigning in iowa. we will have live coverage of hi