bill, the economy, and the election. you'll hear from ohio congressman tim ryan on the election and the economy followed by tim snyder a bloomberg news and his story on the result of present obama's pledged to start a green revolution. the u.s. ambassador to libya was killed along with embassy staffers. congress continues its brief work in washington. in chicago, the teachers' strike enters its third day with no agreement. we would like to hear from you this morning, whether you think

teachers should be allowed to strike. we have special phone lines. if you are agitator, which include teachers and administrators, call. if you are a parent, call. and all other callers can read us.reach you can also find us online. send us a tweet. you can also find us on facebook. we are also on e-mail. let's take a look at the latest on the chicago teachers strike. this is the front page of the chicago tribune --

the national papers are also covering this story today. we're asking you this morning if you think educators should be allowed to strike? do you see their jobs as too valuable? the class room too important to be put at risk by strikes? or do you see it as an important way they can exercise their rights and their bargaining power? here's what "usa today" says --

the also looking at the implications of this politically and seeing where it goes on the national level. the washington post headline is --

for most of his let's get to the phones to hear what you have to say. john joins us on our educators line from maryland. caller: do i think teachers should be able to strike? yes. we spend a lot of money to go to school, get educated, and they are going to tell us that

because we have a cultural and social problem with students who are really not engaged in education, that we have to struggle with an academic problem and we are responsible for it. host: john, have you been following what's going on in chicago? caller: yes. i think somebody has to stand up. it's great. host: to give us more perspective on what's going on, we have an education reporter in chicago. she joins us now. good morning, becky. guest: good morning, libby. host: what is at the heart of this standoff? guest: the heart of it is teacher evaluation and job

security. we have a change in state law that requires the district to tie teacher evaluation to student test scores. the union has some issues with how that is being implemented in chicago. my understanding is they are still hashing out some specifics sort of details of that. on a larger scale, when they talk publicly, they say that they are philosophically opposed to it. i'm not sure how that will be dealt with. we have a reform-minded mayor, rahm emanuel, who aligned particles with president obama on pushing reforms such as these evaluations. but also closing low performing schools, turning them around, opening more charter schools.

the union is concerned about those reforms and are particularly concerned because when you close a school you have teachers out of jobs. they believe that there would like to get language that allows the teachers some protections and some rights and some recourse to be able to find a new job and continued teaching somewhere. host: do you have a sense of what happens today? where do things pickup after negotiations did not have any breakthroughs last night? guest: last night when the union president came out, he was holding an offer in his hand and he said we have given -- made a few more concessions, we have given them things. -- the school board president. he said they had better come back with a written offer and start to get serious about this, because we want to know exactly

what it is that they want. we want it in writing. we want some sort of response. when the vice president of the union came out, he said that the talks will resume sometime around 11:00. prior to that, their bargaining team would discuss what has been laid on the table and hopefully put something together. he did not specifically say we would certainly have a response. given the mood of the board president, i would hope that the union would have some sort of response. host: becky is an education reporter in chicago. you have been doing reporting on how students are dealing with this. you filed a recent story -- what is the experience like right now in chicago for the kids and parents who are out of school and the parents dealing with the change in schedule? guest: this kind of divide,

there are parents supporting teachers on the picket line and maybe they are married to a teacher or they are or they have friends and they see this as an opportunity to teach their kids. and there are parents who are working and are frustrated and are making arrangements for child care of day-to-day. one parent said they will go to grandmother's house. the district has 144 schools open for a half-day for parents to drop their kids off to have breakfast and lunch. they also announced yesterday that they will keep those sites open longer starting thursday should the strike continue. parents can keep their kids there until 2:30. i saw a lot of kids on the playground. this is like an extended summer for them in some cases. it is like a surprise snow day.

some of the kids said they did not want to make this up over the summer break next year. they would rather be in school learning now when they are excited. but they say that our teachers work hard and they should get paid and get us back in the classroom and settle this thing so it does not go on forever. i think most people hope it does not last beyond this week. >> outside chicago, in washington and elsewhere, we are seeing the issue happening in your town nationalized. presidential candidates, mitt romney weigh in on it. our people in chicago talking about what this means for the presidential campaign? or is the focus more on what's happening between the teachers and schools? >> it depends.

there was a story on the weekend. some people say this will have implications for teachers. parents say why is president obama and not stepping in to tell rahm emanuel to clean this up, to finish this. people are aware of what's going on. i asked the board president if the doctor were national implications. he said that he is not unaware of the context but that the issues are local and this is a local fight and they need to take care of what's happening here locally. on one hand, local people are aware of what this could mean for the presidential campaign. the president of the american decoration of teachers was here yesterday, randy. so the union is aware of it.

ultimately, the issue boils down to a local issues. parents would say this is local, so let's get this finished. host:. : guest: no problem. thank you. host: that was an on the ground prospective from chicago. we will take a look at what the union leader had to say in "usa today." but first let's see comments that mitt romney made on the chicago teachers strike recently. this was an interview with a conservative radio show host on monday.

let's get some more calls and hear from florida. windy is a parent. should teachers be allowed to go on strike? caller: they should not. they should be teaching our children. if you want to be a teacher, you have to love and educate children. you want to continue our future in a positive way. this is not positive in any way. it just does not work. they are not striking over money or to better educate our teachers. they are striking because they don't want to be evaluated on their job performance. does like with any job, you are evaluated on whether you are capable of doing your job. if you cannot teach our children, they should not be teaching. they should not be to anybody's children in any school.

it does not give them the right to strike. if they don't want to go teach the children, they should be fired. unions are protecting bad teachers. host: let's look at some facebook comments -- or rather twitter -- we have a poll on facebook asking the question, should teachers be allowed to strike? yes's are in the lead so far. we have had people commenting on that poll. join the conversation on facebook. john is calling us on olur all other -- our all other callers line from maryland. caller: my daughter teaches in virginia. i have a real problem with

public service unions and the fact that their demands and their pay and retirement and so forth seems to be exorbitant. i just have a real problem with that. that's all i want to say. host: let's go to our parents line, sam in oklahoma city. caller: i am a 73-. year-old parent my daughter this year will retire after 29 years. i watched her and through the years, the hours and nights that she works for the children. at's say that you pay babysitter $10 per day and night she is watching 30 children, you figure that $300 per day, five days a week, $1,500 a week.

when you add that up, that's a lot of money. but our teachers don't make that kind of money. people don't realize the hours they put in. and the sacrifices they make with the kids. my daughter, every year she has new kids coming in. i don't think the parents do their job. they don't realize our government does not realize we are the lowest paid country the world. india, japan, china, they all pay their teachers better. education in this country will never go up until we pay people. we pay engineers for what they do. that's all i have to say. i just get upset when people talk about teachers and they don't realize the hours and the time and sacrifice they put in for your kids. thank you very much. host: thanks for calling.

let's go to twitter -- you can send us your tweets. now we go to a retired educator, jerry in new york city -- jerri. caller: hi. involving evaluation, the evaluation needs to be done by teachers as well as administrators. the problem, it seems to be that the teachers are being evaluated by individuals who basically have not been in the classroom or have been in the classroom a very short time. are special-e youwho rwho education and there's no criteria as to them.

they have special needs, how are they supposed to be passing? in new york city you are asking teachers to be evaluated based on the students they have. if you evaluate where they started and where they are at the end of the year, that's great. but for you to evaluate students to be at a certain point and to always be beyond that point, 93%, that's not good enough. you cannot maintain 93%. you have to go even higher. that's where the problem is. you have the evaluation of teachers by people who do not know what it is to be in the classroom. host: let's look at some of the op-eds. "usa today" looks at the debate

--

the president of the american chimestion of teachers times in -- las vegas, nevada, ana. caller: i don't agree teachers should be able to strike. there are so many millions of people out of work.

teachers are unionized. in las vegas i obscene way too many issues where teachers are not able to determine is for behavior that you or myself or any other employee that is non- union and i don't feel they should able to strike. i like the article that you just read. it's really sad when teachers refused to take a competency test. now with the economy like it is, the job market the way it is, we are now having to go into employment settings to take tests, we have to take a battery of tests. i feel that teachers should be on the same payroll as everybody else and not given this protective covering. i would love to have $76,000 for

my annual salary. i have not worked since 2009. host: on facebook -- you can join that conversation on facebook. we are asking you this morning whether teachers should be allowed to strike. we have a phone line set up for educators and another for parents. everybody else can call us as well on a third line.

chris is a parent in nashville, tennessee. good morning at. caller: i most certainly do think that teachers should be allowed to strike. take the government for instance. when the two sides don't agree, the government shutdown. -- shuts down. i don't think teachers should be held accountable for what parents should be doing an home. a child that does better on a test to get into college, they did something extra to do better on the act or the s.a.t.. they don't do that in school. you can pay -- my daughter had to pay to take a class to do better on the act or the s.a.t. that is something we have to do

at home. these teachers are already going above and beyond. they are coming out of their own pockets sometimes for these kids for the supplies. my daughter is at m.l.k. and it's one of the top-rated schools in the country. we still have to pitch in and help out at these schools. they should be allowed to strike. host: more comments on facebook -- palm desert, california, tim is a retired educator. caller: good morning, libby.

this question goes to the place of labor and public service in our society. it does not matter who your employer is, if you earn your pay, you earn your pay. public service workers are not beholden for what they earn. they create value with their labor. they add value to their community. they return value to the taxpayers. taxpayers and tax supportive agencies can no more owned a slave than a private busines sman can. labor is denied the right to a fair wage and the right to organize and bargain and withhold their labor. if that is not exactly like slavery, it is close to indentured servitude while management has all the power and labor has no voice. thank you and have a good day.

at host: comment on twitter -- we read a comment that mitt romney made on the radio earlier this week. now let's listen to what jay carney, spokesman for the president, said at a press briefing on monday highlighting the president's stance on education. [video clip] >> i can tell you our principal concern is for the students and his principal concern is for the students and families affected by the situation. we hope that both sides are able to come together to settle this quickly and in the best interest of chicago students. beyond that, i have not gotten a specific reaction from the president. >> governor romney said the president has chosen indistinct

[ -- [indistinct]. >> the president has not made any comment to me about this incident. this president has pursued an education policy that has been a notable success and a notable bipartisan success under the president and secretary duncan's leadership. he will continue to do that. he says tripoli that investing in education now pays enormous economic dividends later. it is integral to our economic future and that's why he has made it an important part of his domestic policy agenda. with regard to teachers in particular, you know that he has on the table and has had on the table since the year ago a comprehensive proposal called american jobs act, which includes a section that if the

implemented by congress would put 100,000 teachers on the job and into our classrooms helping educate our children, if republicans would approved it. host: white house secretary jay carney on monday. we are asking what you think this morning about teacher's ability to strike. should they be allowed to? michelle is an agitator in reno, nevada. good morning. caller: hi. i personally applaud what the chicago teachers are doing. they are not fighting for more money or anything that is personally beneficial only to themselves. they are fighting for the kids. that's the kind of teacher i want teaching our kids. it is sad that we get to the

point where we have to strike. but at least they are standing up for kids. that's what we need to focus on. this looks at the role of unions -- adrian is a parent in denver, colorado. caller: i am torn because i am a parent, but my wife is a teacher. the way the system is going, it is torn up. when i grew up we were able to have books but to come home with. now the teachers have so much pressure on them to perform, so

many regulators in between trying to control teachers on what they do. they have to do a double job. then they come home frustrated. i'm frustrated that i cannot help her, because i am not in the classroom. it's not on television. all we hear about is the money. but the disciplinary problems and the bureaucracy, the teachers have their hands tied. my wife does not make $76,000. she makes $55,000 and she is one of the top teachers in the classroom. these kids love my wife. i think there should be cameras in the class room to see how bad the kids are in the classroom and what the teachers have to go. host: thanks for your call.

the new york times says -- now on our washington, d.c. phone line, our other line. caller: it's ridiculous to link the performance of a teacher to the performance of a student on a standardized test.

my wife is a teacher. you get so many kids that come in the school that are underfed, undernourished, not sleeping regularly, have problems at home. there's no way that any of these kids that come to school in that condition are going to perform. it has nothing to do with the performance of the teacher. if you want to grade the teachers, to test the teachers. say here's what we think you should know to teach. but you cannot link that to how the student performs. there's no real connection to it. really what they need to do is look at the parents. most of the kids that are failing standardized tests have failing parents. that's the point we need to look at, what are the parents doing for the kids? why are the parents not up in arms when their kids are failing test? until we can make that

connection, we are never going to see any improvement in the school systems at. parents are the primary educators for all children. host: what do you think about the teachers walking off the job, striking, should they have that right, randy? caller: i am on the fence with that. my wife is a teacher. the ability of anyone to strike should be based on the values that the group as a whole contributes to the community or do a business or what have you. public servants, i think there's a little bit of a different standard. for the most part the teachers are well cared for. i live in howard county, a pretty affluent area. teachers make decent money and have pretty good working conditions. but the fact that they are trying to do something like this is almost justification for the need for them to me to pull together and strike. it makes no sense whatsoever.

host: let's look at our facebook poll -- you can join that conversation by looking for c-span on facebook. gary tweets -- ben on our parents live in florida. caller: i disagree with the last caller who says it is the responsibility of the parents. although i can see his point on how the kids learn being a guideline for teacher wages supplemented in some way. however, maybe they should just test the teachers every year to

make sure they are up-to-date in their own knowledge. as far as the strike goes, there's no call for it. they cannot justify it. i am a retired navy veteran. we were not allowed to negotiate our wages. they are setting a poor example for the children. they are there to help the children be able to make society better in the future. what they are doing is setting a bad example. they already have two months of the year off from school. i am dating a teacher now. one of my sisters is a teacher in a local school system. i see no call for them to take the children vegetation away and show them that if something is too tough for them just walk away and wait until you get what

you want. host: let's look at some other stories in the news -- let's look at the statement from the white house, from president obama --

that is the president's

statement on the deck of the ambassador christopher stevens killed in benghazi. mitt romney put out a statement on developments in the middle east. as was before we knew publicly who specifically had been killed. as we said a moment ago, more news coming out this morning about what is happening in libya as well as what's happening in egypt. pictures in the paper today of protesters destroying an american flag. it was ripped down from the u.s. embassy in cairo yesterday. they put a black flag in its placed. in other international news, president obama spoke last night with the prime minister of

israel, benjamin netanyahu. here is the washington post reporting on that story -- here is a read on president obama's phone call. the white house said the two leaders discussed but --

some stories in the international news this morning, we are asking you whether teachers should be allowed to strike. you're looking at the chicago strike. aurora is an educator in homestead, florida. good morning. caller: good morning. keeping the topic with teaching, i have taken my grandson under my wing because the quality of education he was having in new york. i am a new yorker marc perry my husband had 13 years in the military. my children have gone on to college and some are in education and others in the medical field.

i can see in some ways why they are striking. at the same time i hear about the failures of the children in chicago. they are asking for more money, yet the progress of the children has not been shown. i had to take my grandson out of school from new york. he was so behind for his age and his level. just from february until now, he has shown such a great quality of education. his reading has improved. his comprehension. everything that we have to invest and put together just to get him up to par. it is so sad. so many kids in the classroom. situation gets uglier and uglier and they need to focus on the size of the class room. it used to be a two teachers in a classroom. now it's one teacher against 30 children in the classroom. it's very hard.

i can see both sides. at the same time, the economy is so bad with a lot of people out of work. they need to focus on other issues and make it better for them. yes, maybe 20 kids in the classroom and not 30. i have seen up to 35 in one classroom. it's hard to judge. host: now frederick is on the liinne from virginia. caller: good morning. i personally think teachers should be allowed to strike. strikes come about because of frustration. what would be worse is a teacher in a class that is totally frustrated that their voice is not being heard. they would become worst teachers for our children. in this chicago instance, if they reach an agreement, the

teachers would return to class much happier and would become better teachers with the children than if there were to remain in the classroom and be totally frustrated. thank you. host: kwame is a parent in indiana. caller: first, my condolences to those who lost their lives in the dreadful attack in africa. teachers should be allowed to strike. i am a parent and an educator. i believe that teacher evaluations should be based on several factors. s, they area doctor's not evaluated on the number of patients who die under their care. teachers in the same way should not be evaluated based upon

their performance -- the performance of their students. if an individual does not take good care of themselves, they will fall sick. if parents don't take good care of their children, they will not be able to perform in the classroom. if they are not able to perform in the classroom due to factors that come from home, why should the teachers be blamed for that? doctors forme patients who do not take care of themselves. why should we blame teachers? in regard to that, when it comes to student performance, several things go into account. are they doing their homework? if the teacher has 40 students in the classroom, how will the

teacher be able to take care of all these kids? host: for some perspective on the chicago strike situation, let's look at that school district. it is the third largest in the country after new york and los angeles. this tweet -- a couple other brief stories.

moody's has warned the u.s. may face a debt downgrade. we will talk more about that with some of our guests this morning who are in congress. they will weigh in on what that means as they make decisions in washington. and some store is looking at 9/11 remembrances. president obama said the nation is stronger since 9/11. this is from the "washington times. mitt romney pays tribute to first responders and those serving today. mitt romney said about the return of u.s. troops from abroad, but they should not be an excuse to hollow out our military. that was at the national guard association conference. president obama was with others at the pentagon memorial yesterday. papers also looking at remembrances that happened in places throughout the country including in pennsylvania, new york, and washington, where the attacks took place. we will talk more about what's happening in congress in just a few moments during this brief

work session in washington. our guests are senator chuck grassley of iowa, a republican. and we will hear from congressman tim ryan, a democrat from ohio. we will be right back. >> ♪ >> did you see the jobs report this morning? 95,000 net new jobs created and almost 400,000 people dropped out of the workforce. it is simply unimaginable. >> today we learned that after losing 800,000 jobs per month

when i took office, business once again added jobs for the 30th month in a row. a total of more than 4.6 million jobs. >> engage with c-span as the campaign moves toward the october debate. domestic policy will be the topic of the first 90-minute debate wednesday october 3 from the university of denver, tuesday the 16th to take audience questions in a town hall format from hofstra university. corn policy will be the focus of the final debate on monday the 22nd. what the vice presidential candidates' debate on thursday the 11th from center college in kentucky. through election day we will cover key house and senate races, looking at the control of congress. follow our coverage on c-span, c-span radio, and online at c- span.org. "washington journal" continues. host: senator chuck grassley, republican of iowa, on many committees in congress

including agriculture committee, the budget, the judiciary, if, joint judiciary a wide range of issues you are involved in. thanks for being here. guest: glad to be with you. c-span is kind of like a nationwide town meeting. i love town meetings in my state of iowa. host: one thing that you have been doing is hearing from constituents about the farm bill, the legislation pending in congress. what are you hearing from people back home about their concerns about the farm bill being stalled in congress? guest: not much about the details within the bill. city and rural people are pretty much satisfied with what the house of representatives -- i mean what the senate passed. basically, they are wondering when it's going to pass, because they know that it is an odd situation with farm legislation. every farm bill since 1950 has been an amendment to the 1949 farm bill. when the 2008 farm bill sunsets

on september 30, you go back to 1949. of course the situation in agriculture is a lot different now in the 21st century than it was in 1950. if you don't get something on the books, it is conduct bad policy. they are asking for one or two things. the ideal thing would be to get a five-year farm bill passed. the five-year farm bill also includes a five-year extension of food cstamps program. if you cannot get a five-year farm bill passed, at least a one-year extension of the existing farm bill then. that's not unusual. i think in 2007 we had a sunset. it was extended for one year until we got the 2008 farm bill passed. host: would you be ok with a

one-year extension? guest: it's not ideal, but it keeps us from going back to something that was not going to work today, from 1949. it's not really the best. host: how important is drought relief to your constituents and describe what you've seen on the ground in iowa? guest: we have a drought not only in iowa but its two thirds of the state. it's very bad in some parts of ottawa. farmers lucky enough to get a couple inches of rain in july might be harvesting 170 bushels of corn per acre. someplace else where maybe the soil is sandy and more subject to a drought they might be getting 10 bushels of corn per acre. it's very widespread. we do know this, that we will probably have maybe the fourth or fifth best corn crop nationwide we have ever had. but it is still down

tremendously from last year. last year it averaged 180 bushels per acre. they expect the state of iowa to have about 132 bushels per acre. nationwide, 120 bushels per acre. that sounds like a lot. when i started farming in 1960, the average nationwide was about 60 bushels per acre. host: we are talking with senator grassley of iowa. if you would like to join the conversation, call -- you don't serve on the foreign relations committee, but we would like to hear your perspectives on news that the u.s. ambassador to libya was killed in a. rocket is is breaking news. what would be the implications on this with our relations overseas with libya and egypt?

guest: it ought to have very serious implications. no country, when you have an embassy in a foreign country, it's just like american soil. it ought to be respected and protected by. we do the same thing in washington. consulates around the united states. we make sure they are adequately protected. particularly, when you get a rocket attack like that, it is an act of war and all to be treated as an act of war. i don't have the details yet. if we had an embassy personnel murdered, that is a sad situation. you have to express regret for the families that are involved. but the most important thing is we have to show the world that we are a nation that lives by international law. we expect other countries to live by international law. this is a violation of international law. your doctor take appropriate action.

host: hear the statement from secretary clinton on the death of the personnel, ambassador christopher stevens and three others. the statement goes on from there. secretary clinton says all the americans we lost in yesterday's attacks made the ultimate sacrifice. we condemn this vicious and violent attack which took their lives, which they had committed to helping the libyan people reach for a better future." guest: of all your years ago the president made a gracious effort going around that part of the world giving speeches, showing an expression of friendship of our people toward that part of the world -- four years ago.

now it looks like maybe that was a mistake, because it's probably showed some weakness on our part. host: 21 our callers have to say. harry is a republican in dexter island, iowa. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span and i want for his shchuck service for many years and being one of the only farmers. he visits all 99 counties every year. most people don't know about that. his middle name is ernst and he still works hard for the people of ottiowa. with the drought and the lower yields, higher prices, will

there be a cap on farmers like me with 5,000 acres, will we be able to get the full benefit of our lower yield at in the crop insurance? i was a little upset with mrss. -. -- she needs to realize that if there's caps on how much we can get back on crop insurance, that hurts the economy if i cannot keep . -- if i cannot

keep feeding america. guest: the committee bill in the house does not have the limit that we have in the senate bill. there would be a million dollar limit on subsidies. in other words, if you had a million dollars of income, a limit on subsidy for crop insurance. other places in the farm bill, there would be a $50,000 it on title one commodity programs. host: our caller mentioned the house race in iowa. representative steve king, a republican, going against a democrat, christie vilsack, was married to the agriculture secretary. guest: there are two very competitive races in iowa. boswell, that is incumbents against each other. and then because vilsack is well

known as the first lady of the state for many years and now the secretary of agriculture and the ability to get a lot of money, there is an indication there could be $3 million spent on each side. at this point, king is favored, but it's the most competitive race he has ever had. i think he will win. host: are you campaigning on his behalf? guest: i am. i am campaigning for the candidate and not against anyone else. wherever i go, in the legislative race or a congressional race, i campaign for the republican candidate. i don't bad mouth the democratic candidate. host: senator chuck grassley. let's hear from kathleen, a democrat in chicago. caller: let me express myself for a second, please. senator grassley, i just heard you make a statement about president obama on libya. it's not his fault. it is that minister down there in florida that wanted to burn

the koran. he also made a film and that film got across the water. that is what started this fight. you all need to stop blaming clinton and obama. for trying to keep the obama all you all want to do is just fight. you want to continue support our men and women in harm's way. then when our men and women come back, you don't even want to help them like you should. you need to stop that mess. blaming the president. go get that preacher who started this mess last night. as far as the farm bill, if the president was to bring it up today -- and i heard you say that you need a five-year package, if president obama was to bring that up today and ask you guys, from your track record, you all would say no after sitting here saying that you need to get it passed. you all need to get together. we are paying your salaries. you all have done nothing. if i am not trying to be hateful, but the truth is

polite. you all need to quit stifling this country just because you want to get rid of one person. -- the truth is thehost: we wile from the senator. this is a story from the associated press which give some context. guest: you heard kathleen misinterpret what i said to you. i was complimenting the president when he was first elected to office. he went around this part of the world trying to smooth things out for the united states. all i said was in a look like a

cynical approach now that it didn't do the good it was meant to do. in regard to the farm bill, it happens. kathleen it needs to read more in the newspaper about the farm bill. the farm bill passed the senate. even what amount of the house agriculture committee is something that the president would be willing to sign. secretary vilsack has been getting on the house of representatives to get the bill passed. host: markets from michigan -- mark is from michigan. at playing looking the fire brigade as far as the drought in the west. we had at the same time a fire down in texas and we have the

oil companies are doing they needed their tax break. how much of the big deal would be for them to donate 80,000 gallons worth of diesel fuel cards and pay the fire brigade to siphon water out of the mississippi river and take it down to the fire at down in texas or out to where the drought is? how hard would it be to get that through congress? guest: they are fighting the fires. the fire service, the forest service is doing a good job. they have the resources they need. this is an impractical suggestion. host: sandra from birmingham, alabama. caller: good morning. i would ask the senator to go

to a place where you can understand what is going on and see what is behind all this. it had not been filtered for the united states and that would explain why they're doing this stuff. these kinds of things will escalate and our people will be getting killed more if our government keeps apologizing to another country for what we can say in this country. and we are a free country. the bible and jesus had been desecrated. no one can say anything about us. we are in war with these people. that is giving the wrong signal. our president has a white mother and a black father. he is a mixed person. everybody hopes he will bring this country together. it is dividing.

i am -- i had a good-paying job. i've been disabled. i raised two children with food stamps and things. i would give that up to get our country back -- host: what does that have to do with the president's race? guest: the president trying to divide our country on race. guest: i did not think he is trying to divide on race. it is between economic groups, middle class verses people that are higher. i do find fault with the president for that class warfare. the president needs to bring people together. it is wrong to accuse the president of divide america along racial lines.

host: your in your sixth term in the senate'. i what is a battleground state -- iowa is a battleground states. guest: one thing is, unlike 20 years ago when three or four networks controlled 80% of all the news that one out, you have all the talk radio and all of the fm stations and the cable stations. you have opportunities for massive discussions of things. anybody with a political view, you can get your view out. it is tended to strengthen our democracy from the standpoint of more participation, having more potential. i like that part of tit. fact that there is dissension --

there is a lack of civility over the last 20 years that is expressed through politics. i did not think you can blame politics for people being less civil than they used to pbe. i think you see it overplayed because controversy makes news. wherever you go. c-span is the only place you don't get this sort of thing. controversy makes news. you have to make your show interesting. i tell the people in iowa, there is too much partisan in congress but not as much partisanship as what you see because controversy makes news. continues with senator baucus on the finance committee.

it was probably only two or three bills and the one i remember is the health care reform bill. every other bill got out of committee with bipartisan support. you never hear about us working together. if we were fighting every day, it would've been all over the country. you have to look at some of the motivation behind the people that are putting the news out. there still is too much partisanship. kathleen thought i was criticizing the president too much. he was going to be the most post partisan president ever. he has attended to divide america. host: chuck grassley, republican of iowa. he sits on the agriculture

committee. one issue you been working on is the fast and furious investigation. you reveal the gun walking act of that operation. we're expecting a house hearing related to operation fast and furious. we are waiting on a report from the just department. what you hope to hear from that? guest: i hope the inspector general will do what inspector general's are supposed to do. they are not supposed to be under political pressure and doing an independent investigation to get the truth out. what i want is the truth. mr. horowitz came to my office and assured me he would be that independent person. i will find out if he kept his

word when i read the report. we will find out who at the highest level approved fast and furious gun walking that led to the murder of brian terry, the border patrol agent and didn't do anything to rest drug kingpins in mexico and get the person fired. a stupid program where the government down and arizona says that we want you to violate the laws and we will fall these guns across the border -- and we will follow these guns across the border. two of these guns were found at the murder of brian terry. this has been going on for three years. we are being stonewalled.

we don't only passed laws. we're supposed to be a check on the executive branch to make sure that the laws are faithfully executed. our gun laws are not being faithfully promoted. we have been stonewalled on getting this information from the justice department. i hope the inspector general gets this out in his report. host: he testified back in june. some of your colleagues called for him to resign. guest: i have not asked for his resignation. i would ask for his resignation if he approved the stupak program. right now i don't have that provof. host: gregory in new york city. caller: good morning.

i am native american and . mr. grassley, list thing to speak, you sound like a politician that is on the verge of losing office. you have been in office for 36 years. guest: 32 years. caller: that is a long time. he first talked about the ambassador that was killed, he did not mention the cost of the film and what was the intention behind the film. it was an american is rally that didn't anti muslim film. cause and effect. that is what happened. you did degrade the president when he described his actions when he went to speak to the middle east to mend the fences

between us and the part of the world. you want to talk about class division? i think all one has to do is look at the recent democratic national convention and look at the audience and look at the republican convention and look of that audience. you tell me where the divide is. not going toi'm add to division in america. that is what we should be fighting against. we're all americans. you can be proud of your heritage. in america, we're all americans. i will not enter that and respond to that. otherwise, there was anti- israeli, anti-jewish statements in his first comment and i think he should not be dividing. i think it america, i think he

was finding fault with the film that was being produced. what does he think the first amendment is? freedom of speech. you cannot yell "fire" in a theater. we have free speech. it is a first amendment right. i do not think americans should suffer around the world because we have free speech in this country. the united nations is supposed to protect those things, as well. host: senator chuck grassley in his sixth term. he is a former. william in virginia. caller: good morning. i think the republicans are back up to their old tricks.

if my memory serves me well and i remember when reagan and carter were running against each other, they orchestrated the helicopter attacked, the wreckage. i think benjamin net to know and mitt romney got together and i think they -- i think benjamin netanyahu and mitt romney got together -- you're all a bunch of crooks. host: what do you mean by "all." guest: that's the kind of post partisanship the president was going to do away with. was he bled the people in the united states for the attack of 9/11?

host: i cannot confirm that. guest: that is a conspiracy. somebody came to a meeting with great big charts and telling me, "look at the smoke coming out of there. is a conspiracy in this country to make this happen." we cannot spend our time listing to foolish things like that. host: juan from tampa. caller: good morning. you guys are doing a good job. the party for the president was health care -- the priority for the president was health care.

not only republicans but democrats. we have to pay for somebody's health care. if i am working, why i have to pay for somebody else's health care? also, the president doesn't have the priorities. he hasn't submitted a budget is how many months? host: debate over the health care law. guest: that will be divided at the election. it is been upheld by the supreme court as being constitutional. if mitt romney is elected president, he is running on a platform of repeal and it will

be replaced by something else. was the second issue? -- what was the second issue? senator reid made that determination. you have to adopt a budget every year. senator reid decided we will not have a budget the last three years. he decided that because there is a lot tough votes, up when you have a budget up. they are very politically sensitive and he has 23 democrats up for re-election and i think he wanted to promote it. basically the senate has been shut down. we're not producing the material we normally do because

of a lot of controversial things. go back to april and you'll find a story or the agenda of the senate was going to be parallel with what the present wanted to talk about that week. after easter, we had a deal with a tax issue, the buffet tax issue. that a week of war on women and subbing about interest on student loans. then another tax issue. we start something out on monday. by thursday, we didn't get it done. we go home for the weekend. we come back and something else is done, depending of what the president wants to campaign on that we eek. it looks like the presidential

newspaper was right. the result is we get nothing done and it is all the republicans fault. the republicans only control the house of representatives. that doesn't pass the common- sense test. host: there is a story in "the washington post." mitt romney is returning to campaigning cautiously. host: what advice would you give to mitt romney? guest: not more specific on the issues but draw a difference

between you and the president of the united states on your policies and be more forceful in saying where the president has been wrong. host: let's hear from john in springfield, virginia. caller: good morning. senator, i'm very disappointed in you. i know you've been in office for 32 years. i think it is time for you to go. lipid our rating of congress. it is solo -- look at the rating of congress. -- it is so low. here's a man who refused to put his taxes out there. you want to blame the president for what happened in libya and egypt? blaming both sides.

the rating is so low. host: approval rating about 12% for congress. you deal with it? guest: you do what you have to do. you have to go on and do your job and try to do what you can to do the best job. i'm a firm believer if you try to do the very best job you can, the people will respect you for it and that is the only you can improve the rating of congress. host: bob in kentucky, wel

come. caller: good morning. he said president obama is supposed to be -- i have read a book about how republicans got together on the night of the inauguration -- paul ryan, pete sessions, jim demint -- my question becomes, i hear you say -- you sound disingenuous when you hear the president being called a liar by the republicans. the republicans are requesting your party right now. some say he is not born in the united states.

you have the senate leaders on the floor saying his number-one priority is to make sure he is a one-term president. put yourself in that position. somebody is questioning your citizenship and they tell you if you'll be a one-term president. they had a meeting of the night of your inauguration to go against everything you have done. during the health care bill, you one out and said there was death panels. you see stuff like this and it is too disingenuous to say you believe and bipartisanship. one senator said he would be a one-term president on the floor, calling the president a liar. you cannot stand this man and say he is un-american. guest: he threw a lot out there.

host: the health-care lot and try to undermine the president's -- the health care law and trying to undermine the president. guest: i don't know where that information comes from but i was not a party to any one of those meetings. i don't know there is anyone in the congress that has questioned the citizenship of the president' . simply say the issue has been brought before 3 or four judges and have thrown it out. t to not legitimate because of the birth certificate that we have -- it is not legitimate. to present himself said he would be the most post partisan president ever. i did not think it has turned

out that way. -- the president himself said he would be the most post partisan president ever. he could not say at that time the republicans could have stopped anything. they basically did not stop anything. the president probably has not been successful because he spent his time on health care reform instead of trying to heal the economy. people in his own party look back and say that was a mistake. the reason we have 8.2% unemployment right now and the stimulus has not worked is because he did not spend time on the economy. he went off on a lot of other things that are more ideological rather than try to deal with the meetings at hand.

host: mark kirk in minnesota -- margaret. caller: i know there's been an ally of negative calls, a very nasty people calling in and calling it down for what is done -- what you've done over these years. i would like to compliment you for all the years you have been in. thank you. i know it is hard work. i would like to comments on the people calling in. i've been watching c-span for years and years and used to be so interesting and fun to watch. i do watch by turn to other channels because there's so many nasty people calling in. i remember when president bush was then. he was being blasted every day on c-span by people calling and saying nasty things about him.

he is president of the united states. what do you think of how people -- it is like this president is a god. to be treated any differently -- should he be treated any differently? i do not let get skin color. i believe this president has not been doing a good job. i would never vote for him. he is for same-sex marriage and 48 socialist agenda -- and for a socialist agenda and for killing babies. host: we are running low on time.

guest: i think she is right. a person should be judged on what they do and as an individual. i could appreciate the fact that democrats would have sympathy towards the president. republicans sympathy towards mitt romney. you should be judged on what you're doing and there is no reason that you should have -- the scene other than the individual that you are. host: iowa is seen as a battleground state. this is "the financial times." talk to us about the presidential campaign there. guest: i never considered iowa a battleground state until now.

the caucuses bring us attention but never in a general election. iowa has gone democratic every year except 2004 since 1984. i think it is related to the fact -- i can quantify what it might be. we had 100,000 more democrats registered than republicans. people started changing registration. today we have about 21,000 more republicans than democrats registered. the only thing i can say is iowans tend to be moderate. they tend to be not extreme points of view of right or left.

pretty much down the middle. that means democrats may vote republican and we have about a third of the state registered as independents. host: how d.c. the unemployment rate playing in -- how do you see the unemployment rate playing in? guest: that is probably because we aren't agriculture state and the economy has been good and manufacturing connected with agriculture like tractors are processing foods. then we export a lot. about one-fourth of all the john deere tractors made in iowa are exported. the economy is pretty diversified. we have very big insurance and financial sector in cedar rapids. host: senator chuck grassley,

thank you so much. guest: glad to be with you. i appreciate all the calls. this is an expression of democracy. host: thank you. we will talk with represented to brian and later run, jim snyder of bloomberg news looks at the obama administration on energy. >> the main story of the day is the u.s. embassy, the killings at the u.s. embassy in benghazi. the u.s. ambassador to libya and three american members of his staff. the u.s. embassy in algiers warning americans to avoid non- essential travel and that calls for protest after that attack. c-span radio will bring you any

briefings from the white house or state department. officials in pakistan say over 200 people have been killed in two factory fires. delhi's place was senate garment factory in karachi in which at least 190 people died. the federal reserve might take a bold misstep to try and invigorate the u.s. economy. a third round of bond purchases meant to these long term interest rates and spur borrowing and spending might be on the horizon, say the experts. that is called quantitative easing. refuseds high court has to block the rescue fund. that pays the way for the ratification by the president. the new bailout fund is crucial

to fighting the eurozone debt crisis because they can loan money to governments that otherwise cannot borrow. the latest headlines on c-span radio. [video clip] >> i have been astounded. columbus kept numerous journals and wrote lots of letters and took trips to the americas and then there were lots of official scribes and all kinds of people doing lots of writing. we know what happened. 30,000 people have their hands chopped off. two million people have been killed. notes human being wants to be judged by their darkest day. no mission was to be judged by their darkest day -- no nation

wants to be judged by their darkest day. >> talking about his book. saturday at 10:00 p.m. eastern. "washington journal" continues. host: congress spent tim ryan -- congressmen tim ryan, democrat from ohio. ambassador chris stevens and other staffers were killed. what does this mean for relations in the region? guest: i think it will damage them greatly. it is a huge deal.

you don't always think about diplomats being so closely in the line of fire, but they are and we should be thankful for their service. this will change in a big way. host: what will you be looking at for signs? guest: i think there's a lot more to be learned. not knowing exactly who the folks are that committed this crime. we will be monitoring very closely at this situation. host: does it concern you about the stability of libya and egypt? guest: we get the blame for things we do and we get the blame for things we do not do. that comes with the territory. the changes throughout the world don't always go as planned.

we will continue to monitor the situation. host: representative tim ryan of ohio. we saw this headline this morning. "congressional leaders dug in their heels." guest: yeah. we have it long-term debt situation. i don't think anybody is denying that. this is what we need to keep president obama in place. look at mitt romney's budget over the next three years and it explodes the debt. increases in military spending. you cannot think it will not

have a long-term effect on the budget. he would repeal health care reform. that would reduce the debt by $1.3 trillion. we need a deal done after the election. it need somebody to approach this in a mature and methodical way and i think president obama is willing to do that. host: you can talk to the congressman. here is how to reach us. what is the responsibility of democrats in the house to avoid this fiscal cliff? what are you doing to lay the groundwork? guest: every member of congress needs to be prepared to cast their vote for a deal that they

are not going to agree 100% with. that is the responsibility of every member of congress. we have to ask the american people to back us on that. no one will get 100% of what thety want. we need to be in a position where we're going to accept something that is going to provide some stability in the long term and allow us to make the investments that we need to make in research and development and education and the things that will yield long-term economic growth. it has to be a balanced approach. everybody needs to be willing to say that we maybe go back home and not every constituent is going to like us. we will not go to the town hall meeting and get 100%

support. host: pat, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i would like to commend congressman ryan on the job he is doing and working with the president. the present has worked hard to bring us out of the deep ditch that we were in. when to get in, it is hard to get out and it takes longer to get out. as far as the job, i understand that jobs are not coming as fast and it is not ok but we except that. we know where we came from. as far as manufacturing, i think he has done what he can do without a congress to work with him. i think he is done a good job on

that. as for the campaign, we have governor romney and congressman paul ryan who are out campaigning. congressman ryan was against the stimulus although he asked for money for his state and said it would create jobs and he is out here campaigning and looking straight into the camera and lying about things that he has done. i don't understand how you can do that. guest: i think she is smart and i agree with her. part of what people are having with this election and congressman ryan is a friend of mine and a good guy but it is hard to reconcile the fact that he voted for a stimulus package that george bush pushed for and now complains aikens the

president obama's stimulus package and ask for money from it. he voted for two wars and a prescription drug benefits that expanded the spending in the united states and had no way to pay for it and now he is a deficit hawk. are these decisions political? there needs to be a level of consistency. i think president obama has done a good job. we have one of the lowest unemployment rates in th country, in part because of the auto plant rescue package. they make the chevy cruze, which is selling like hot cakes has been a big boon for my district.

he put tariffs on steel. we got a $650 million in a steel 700. which has employed president obama has been the president who is moving us towards a new road towards advanced manufacturing. host: let's take a look at the unemployment numbers. 7.2% in ohio. let's take a look at and at addressing manufacturing that is airing in ohio. [video clip] >> this president can tell us it was someone else's fault. this president cannot tell us you're better off today than

when he took office. >> his failed policies have destroyed thousands of jobs. the romney plan stands up to china. keep alive jobs in ohio -- keep ohio jobs in ohio. host: your response. guest: wow. that is so inaccurate. you want to ask governor romney if he is been to ohio lately. we have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. we have a huge boom in the auto industry. people are investing in the steel mills. we have huge investments in oil and gas in the eastern part of the state. we have a long way to go.

i'm not saying we are living in utopia. but for governor romney to run an ad saying president obama has not delivered for ohio is ridiculous. look at the investments in roads and bridges and the children going to school because of the grants.n of telegrapell i would put all high out up against any other state -- i would put ohio up against any other state. host: tim ryan serves on the armed services committee. ellen from new york, hi. caller: i was wondering -- are

you proud that as a democrat, the president stopped the military from being able to vote on where they were stationed. sailors were able to vote on the ships they were serving on. other military personnel were able to vote for more they workstation. now we're down to the fact that i think the last election only 4%, they had to vote absentee at that point. only 4% of the military vote has been counted. that is something that was done because of democrats being afraid of military votes because the majority statistically are republicans. is that something you're proud of? different states they're trying to get voter identification are

being sued by your administration, but nobody is suing anybody. the state's debt are adhering to the law that is supposed to be providing security for military. guest: i think everybody in the country would support those men and women to be able to vote and vote as easily as they possibly can. i support whatever measures are necessary to allow our soldiers, marines, sailors to be able to vote. my concern is what is going on in ohio where you have the secretary of state that is shrinking the amount of time that people in ohio can have the opportunity to vote. restricting hours. we have people that are working a lot. it is not easy to get to the

polls. we were able to expand the opportunity for people to vote. now we have republicans in ohio that are beginning to shrink that opportunity and trying to limit people to come and vote. all this voter i.d. stuff is a bunch of hogwash. there have been no findings of voter fraud. the republicans are saying, "we need voter identification." that hurts students and senior citizens and it hurts the poor and african-american and minorities. this is a blatant attempt for people to try to limit opportunity to go and vote and limit who can go vote.

we should make it as convened as possible. it seems like a political move and it is happening in key battleground states. host: early voting starts in ohio on october 2. host: how big do think legal play?allenges will come into guest: i think president obama will win by a significant margin to where it will be outside the requirements for any kind of automatic recount or

where they're ready to be a legitimate legal challenge. i'm optimistic in that regard. host: mary in virginia. caller: good morning. i am sick and tired of the democrats and the president. that is the head of the executive branch that is required to make sure that jobs and resources go to those here legally. you have 7 million illegals working jobs. our unemployed are homeless and cannot put food on the table. week that people all over the world know what to, to work. there is no way we can employ everybody. you have to make sure those here working are legally authorized to do wit. otherwise we will pay billions of dollars to try to keep

afloat. did i tell my there is no voter fraud. have you been living under a rock? guest: i'm waiting for some light to prove and show some real evidence of that where there has been voter fraud. it has been president obama who has made more investments and put more security forces on the border to try to stop the flow of illegal immigration. if the republicans are so good on this measure, why don't they bring something to the floor that would address this issue? this is much more complicated. we need a process where we can bring people into this country legally. we need to be able to process them. i love how our conservative friends spent a lot of time talking about illegal immigration.

then they cut the service budget. that up tobe feef make it easy for people to get into the country. everything the government does is bad -- it falls into that narrative. there's a certain role the government has to apply. these young students go to our school and get our education, and learn from our teachers and then a graduate from school and we send them back to the country that they came from to compete against america. we should make sure that those people have an opportunity to stay in america and create wealth in america and create jobs here in america. host: we have a tweet from

joseph. guest: the unemployment rate is down. the stock market is up. investments are being made. the auto industry is back. osama bin laden is gone. we have one in eight jobs is linked to the auto industry. we have stopped the bleeding. we have a long way to go. we have come a long, long way and we have to continue to dig our way out of this whole. clearly we're better off than we were four years ago. the stock market was falling by one day.ints in

we are not not where we need to be but we're moving from 750,000 jobs lost in a month. host: wade is a democratic caller. caller: a matter how many times i hear it, it never gets all to hear. "a sullen and lawn is gone -- "osama bin laden is gone." your former speaker mentioned americans approve of congress mostly after a great tragedy. i like to point out that americans are like honeybees. we know how to tonight and

approved of things. we approve of abiding by the laws and of getting stuff done. this last woman that called then about voting rights being made more difficult? the legislation in new hampshire tried to get the voter i.d. passed. governor lynch vetoes that bill. the democrats are making it easier for people to go along the lines of what has been in the past and should be still. i did not agree totally that there should not be some voter i.d. we should not allow people that are not citizens to vote.

why all of a sudden is this a pressing issue at this time? guest: i agree. it is very cynical. think about going to the right that we have as americans to get out and vote. now you're telling grandmother, seeresses some as she makes her way down to the precinct in ohio to vote, "do you have your i.d. with you?" and she hasn't driven in years. seems very cynical. look at who it hurts. it is apical power grab -- it is a political power grab. host: the latest poll shows the

rumby with a bit of a lead in ohio -- the latest poll numbers show mitt romney with a bit of a lead. guest: i just saw two yesterday that had president obama at 50% and romney at 45%. i think the ground game that president obama has -- four or five obama offices where people are getting people identified and bring them not to vote. the other thing is the economy. he slapped tariffs on chinese. he has taken on china. the other thing which is under the radar screen.

a huge collective bargaining referendum in ohio. it was all public employees and just like wisconsin and included police and fire. 62% voted it down. governor romney kamen and campaigned against the police and against the fire. karl rove, lynne cheney put a lot of money into the campaign. you have a lot of police and fire folks and teachers say, i'm never voted republican again. mitt romney is going to get caught in the riptide on this and he will be pulled under. it is under the radar screen. most people are not talking about this. you have the collective bargaining issue that mitt romney was on the wrong side of.

host: representative tim ryan. adrian in florida. caller: one thing about the free election. we have americans that flew to north carolina. they walk through the city to go to their convention. as the members voted, the teleprompter said "the yays have it." i'm so surprised that al gore did not sue because the vote was fraudulent. host: give lesser inside perspective. guest: there was some

controversy but it got rectified and political parties have these internal discussions all the time. we move forward. governor strickland is a former minister that was overseeing the platform. i don't think any political party has any corner on god. god is too big for that. i think most of us believe in a pretty big god. it does it frustrate to think that human beings somehow god is on their side more than someone else's. host: email us our next question. >> i think it's the same with a.i.g. they are now paying back more

from the tarp program. so it takes time. american people really i think appreciate. i know we appreciate it in ohio, the fact that there was nowhere else to go. a lot of people, the republicans saying why didn't the auto industry just go into the credit market and borrow noun save themselves. and the reason was there was nowhere else to go. there was no one who was going to threatened auto industry any money. the government was the last stop. and i thought it was a great, brave decision. there was not a lot of time for president obama or others who stuck our neck out to do this, there was nowhere else to go. what were we going to do? let the entire auto industry go belly up so foreign lands could buy up our economy?

and the strong middle class jobs are located in the auto industry. we did what we had to do. the taxpayers will get their money back. it won't be tomorrow but it will be over the next few years and think of how many people are now paying taxes into the coughers. i think it's fortunate see how all this is really connected. host: larry, independent caller. caller: good morning. guest: good morning. caller: i have a statement. and then i have a question. the statement is that we are $6 trillion more in debt than when this president went in, and all he's done is taken our money and flushing it down the stool. now, what about the $2 billion that went to brazil for oil when we got all the oil we want? secondly, the lowest state with unemployment, do you know what

it is? it's not ohio, that's for sure. host: and any state you're watching in particular, larry? caller: yes. i know what state it is. but see if this guy knows what it is. guest: i don't know what it is. i said ohio is one of the lowest. >> you're not even close. north dakota, my friend, is around 2% unemployment. that just shows what you know, which is nothing. all you know and all you will be able to see in the united states today, no one could bring us down militarily. guest: can i ask you a question? caller: well -- guest: you brought up the debt. do you think the debt that we have as a country, has anything to do with the two wars and prescription drug bill that the republicans passed and didn't pay anything? has that contributed to the national debt at all? caller: yes. it did. but not like this guy.

he is a spending nut. host: this guy meaning president obama? caller: yes. it's going to bring our country down, down. if this country re-elects him, this country will no longer be america. it will be russia or it will be the middle east. one or the other. guest: i -- yes, that's -- i get sad when i hear people talk like that, because they somehow think one president or person can somehow bring america down, and the reality is, the debt that we're dealing with today is primarily due to the two wars and prescription drug bill that was passed primarily by republicans and under president bush. none of it was paid for. so now all of a sudden people are saying we got to pay for this debt and they try to put it all on president obama. a reasonable person would say maybe both sides have had something to do with this. but the exception is we were in

a complete financial collapse. and we needed money injected into the economy. governor strickland could have cut every single public employee in ohio and we still wouldn't have balanced the budget. we needed the federal support and the american recovery act. it came in, and there was a big chunk of the stimulus package that was called state support, and it was just plugging holes, because we were in a complete free fall. and of course the money had to be borrowed, because we didn't have the money to pay for it. the question is how, over the long term, do we begin to balance the budget? that's dealing with entitlements and tax structure and military spending. and if over the next decade or two if we going -- to sit here and say we're not going to be america anymore because president obama gets re-elected i think is silly. and i think it's really unfair. and i think the people who

stoke those fires are being irresponsible. host: representative tim ryan keeping on the topic of the national debt. here's an email that came to "washington journal." it said, at what level of debt are you concerned the u.s. will no longer be able to borrow money? how do you rate the credit worthyness of the u.s.? >> well, we're still the safest place in the world to put your money. and there's still billions and trillions of dollars being poured into the united states, because we are a safe place. so the scare tactics that america somehow is going to turn into greece, again, is is complete nonsense. but we do have to be concerned about it. i say i'm concerned about it. i have two nephews and a niece. i don't want the pass on huge levels of debt to them. we do have to worry that public borrowing would outdo private

borrowing and stymie the economy. and we don't want to do that. so one of the best ways to do it is to make sure we have job creation now, so that's why the investing in roads and bridges and the infrastructure needs we have, those projects aren't getting any cheaper, the ability to have borrow money and make investments, that's not getting any better. so it's a two-for. get people back to work, and like the simpson-bowles commission said. even the simpson-bowles commission has said we don't want to cut spending in the short term, because that will affect the fragile recovery that we have. but over the long-term, we do need to get our house in order. and i'm supportive of that and willing to support a modest, moderate, balanced approach that also asks the top 1% to

kick in their fair share as well and not raise taxes on the middle class. host: we'll look at the debt that surpassed the $16 trillion mark. this is straight from nbc news, boehner not confident it can be resolved. to astroid effects of the fiscal eclipse before january. any comment on that? we touched on this earlier. but does the house speaker come out and saying that lower your expectations? >> part of it is because i think the speaker knows as all presidential candidates, republican presidential candidates know sitting on the stage, they were asked if you had a deal where there was one dollar in tax revenues as opposed to spending cuts? would you vote for that deal? every one of them across the

board said no. so speaker boehner knows he can't go to a tea party caucus where people making more than 1 million to kick in, he knows he can't do that, and i think it's very worrisome to him. host: matt on twitter says when will america lose to ability to borrow money? not for a long, long time. the debt percentage of g.d.p. and what it was like in world war ii versus now. a democratic caller, rudy, good morning. caller: good morning. i'm a $40,000 a year man. federal taxes i had taken out are $3,000 and i got a return of $600. i don't mind paying the money, it's just the fact that we need to do right with it. and i think everybody should chip in. and i don't want to say it, but sometimes we get a little greedy, and since you're in the position you're in, just do it

right. get everything done right, even if we have to go to fiscal eclipse. ok. thank you, mr. ryan. host: and is it valiant to go over the fiscal cliff? guest: no. i think the fact that europe is still having huge problems and many people are reporting germany will end up in a recession by the end of this year is really going to damage our antibiotic to export. so i think it's already fragile, so if you throw 9%-10% cuts across the board for military and everything else, you're going to see our economy go back into a tailspin. host: jessica is in diamond, ohio, republicans line. good morning. caller: yes. hello. i was just wanting to make a couple of comments about the manufacturing in lords town.

it is picking up. but what a lot of people don't understand is that people who had dedicated 37 or more years of their lives are now getting to play, "let's make a deal," so they are being offered buyout packages and saying if you take this now, this is what you get. and we may not offer you anything else. and it's just very frustrating. because my father worked at general motors, and he invested his entire life. i didn't see my father. he worked 16-18 hours a day. for general motors. and what they have come to him with and have said is basically, you know, for all of your hard work, you get a $ 10,000 life insurance policy, and you get $a 400,000 buyout.

and if he doesn't take it, he might not get anything else. and they are using threatening tactics to do this. and as far as the voting in ohio goes, i also know that the unions are putting great deals of pressure on people to commit voter fraud in ohio. my husband -- ex-husband actually, was actually -- he was an immigrant from england, but he had a visa to work here, and he was in the union for the autoworkers, and he was actually -- they were threatening him, telling him that if he didn't vote double-team in the next election that he would be losing his job. host: response on both those issues? guest: well, i don't know

either of the details as far as the issues. if anyone is intimidating anyone, that is wrong and should be report fed both to the union for sure. because i know it's not con done doaned with many of the union people i work with. there is an active, aggressive effort to get people to get out and vote within their union, but this is the first i've heard of a situation like that and as far as the buyout situation, i'm not sure what it would be but sounds like a $400,000 package to leave doesn't sound unappealing, necessarily. but again, i'm not familiar with the details there. but i will say again, there are 4500 people working in lords town. there is a supply chain there with the logistics company and one of the local companies just

bought 50 new trucks from the company and will from the maintaining of the trucks to the people who put the seats in, it's all been great and overall it was a good move for the president to do that. >> tim ryan, from ohio, the co-chair of the congressional manufacturing caucus and also served in the armed services and budgetting committee, and he's also an author. how it can help us improve the american spirit. >> it's about how america could be a little bit better if we all were a little more aware and paid attention a little more to what was going on. you think about the average teenager who sends 3,000-4,000 text messages a month and how we are all distracted by enormous amounts of information and how by paying attention to the present moment and

cultivating it through this practice of mindfulness really grounds us. we get so caught up in the past and on how things happen and how we can really take control of our lives i think it's being used now by the united states marine corps and corporations like google, procter & gamble, general mills. it's being studied at the best universities of the country, emery, harvard, yale, yufrlte of wisconsin and ucla are all studying this and showing how you can actually change your brain and how it works. i equate it to being in the zone. a lot of us watch athletes, especially after the olympics, being in the zone where you synchronize your mind and body to being in the same place at the same time and has great health benefits. can help us reduce health care costs and teach our kids how the pay attention instead of

yelling at them. it unlocks the science behind our minds and what's going on with education and the military. host: tim ryan, we will be watching you during campaign twelve 2007. guest: i'll be there. host: coming up next, our regular spotlight on magazines spotlight. and first this news update from c-span radio. >> the >> the white house has issued a statement condemning the attacks at the u.s. ambassador in benghazi that killed ambassador to libya christopher stevens and a member of his staff. the pentagon says it is working with the state department and president obama's order for increased security around the world. israeli government is distancing himself -- itself from the film

maker that sparked riots in -- the movie produced by a california real-estate developer who has said that he is both israeli and american. the c-span networks will bring you information and events as they become available on this developing situation. in other news, union leaders for chicago's teachers are meeting this morning to reveal a new contract proposal for the school board that district negotiators say addresses all the issues still on the table. the teachers say they do not have great expectations they will soon reach agreement. students are out of class for a third day as instructors walked the picket lines. finally, a new study suggests new voter identification laws in a number of states could adversely affect young minority voters and the fact election results in some tight races. researchers at the university of chicago and washington university at st. louis say

nearly 700,000 minority voters under the age of 30 might be unable to cast a ballot in november. some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> i think people really like to see where politicians' views have shifted over the years. i think people like ridge would like to see whether mitt romney in 1994 was campaigning for or against welfare reform, for abortion. they want to see what he was doing in the 2002 campaign, 2007. i think people like to see how these politicians involved, and there is an element that is almost a gotcha element, but also that this is incredibly interesting. >> i have tried to think why it is he has changed so often, why he finds it so difficult to come down on one side of an issue, instead sort of flows between both issues. -- sort of floats between both

issues. >> that there is a governor named ron blagojevich, and your name is barack obama -- >> it is the viral beating heart of the internet. >> more with reporter andrew kaczynski. host: we share with your recent piece that delves into the issues. this week we have bloomberg insider as our focus. our guest is a reporter for bloomberg news, an energy reporter. thanks so much for being here. it is not easy being green, paul fracking might save a president who promised a green -- how fracking might save a president who promised the green revolution. what is the hot spot for natural

gas production in the country right now? guest: natural gas production has increased 25% in the last four years. primarily in pennsylvania and in ohio. the shale, which is just getting developed. there is oil shale in north dakota, a lot of activity there. host: consumption. how significant is the rate of consumption in the u.s.? guest: consumption has increased in april for the first time, as much electricity produced from natural gas as it was from coal for the first time in the history of the country, 42%. increasing. host: as we look at your story, what was the president the plan laid out, the vision he has for energy, and how has it come to pass? guest: in 2008, president

obama as the candidate pledged $150 billion over 10 years to create 5 million jobs. a lot of that money would come from the cap and trade bill. he spent a lot of time talking about the opportunity to create a new manufacturing base by supporting green energy programs. a lot of the energy development that has taken place during hearst -- his term as fossil fuel development. natural gas production increasing in the u.s., largely not due to any sort of government policy but the hydraulic fracturing that is developing. host: tell us more about fracking. what is it and how does it work? guest: you drill down about 4,000 feet. then the drill goes straight down, and you can go horizontal.

and the company shoots down a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals. there are explosions and the high pressure of the fluids breakup part the rocks and allow the oil and gas to escape and flow to the surface. guest: looking at hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, as it is called. if you would like to join the conversation to talk about president obama's and intended energy resolution, here are the numbers to call -- our guest's peace, jim snyder's peace, --

what are the market forces at play that have changed the dynamic of fossil fuel production in the united states? guest: it really is all about fracking. it is allowing companies to get access to reserves, thousands of feet below the surface. in places that they can drill one well, also shoot off miles. that has decreased the price of natural gas to a 10-year low. host: we see an image of president obama from this past march at the fuller facility. how much control does the has vs what congress allows him to go forward with? guest: the 2009 economic stimulus including 9 million --

$9 billion for renewable energy programs, whether relation effort to allow low-income homeowners for heating and cooling of efficiency of their homes? more than had ever been spent. the interest -- they have created several hundred thousand jobs, it is not that they are not accomplishing things. host: our first caller is charles on the democrats line in columbia, missouri. caller: good morning. i had a comment and a question to the comment was that the whole thing with president obama

and him having some sort of declaration that he has not come to was making the war on this energy crisis, we as americans have always been giant consumers but we have never tried renewable resources. there is only so much one man can do. looking at the republican side of it, in the past 20 years, republicans have been consuming, consuming, consuming. no one has ever tried to go solar, green, like this man has, or as the entire campaign has. my question -- why hasn't anyone been able to incorporate renewable resources such as manufacturing or industrial marijuana? everyone looks at it as a bad

thing because it is a drug. that was accomplished in the 1920's, but it was something to keep people down. if alcohol is so bad, then why do we use it for cars? host: jim snyder, respond. guest: i think that the president has made a clean energy a focus of his campaign. he has not met all his goals, made out as a candidate in 2008, but they can talk about some things. host: our guest writes for bloomberg news that, "companies that once planned to build facilities to import liquefied gas to meet demand are now applying for export permits, thanks to the growing reserves." guest: six years ago, chemical companies were moving overseas because natural gas prices had gone up so much. now there is a load that the local companies -- you take the

company in argentina that was going to take down a plant there and rebuild it piece by piece. in ohio there are several plants that have expanded because of fracking -- steel companies that have bought some equipment. host: republican caller from oklahoma city, welcome. caller: i had two questions. one, where do you think natural gas is going in terms of a fuel source for vehicles? chesapeake energy last year included a major gas station to provide pumps across the nation, but it has been slow to take off. i was just wondering why you think that is and where you think we can go in the future. also, i seem to sense president obama seems to be -- i do not want to see -- to say

necessarily against, but he has not i believe supported natural gas as a viable, sustainable fuel source for our nation, as i would think someone would because it seems to be a good option. could you maybe tell me why he is more focused on solar and wind energy when it seems to be an available resource right now? >> to your first question, part of the problem that is restricting the growth of natural gas vehicles is a lack of infrastructure. you don't have many natural gas filling stations in the country. there is a piece of legislation called the nat gas act that provides tax incentives for companies that would build the kind of infrastructure as well as people the purchase natural gas powered vehicles. the president supports it, but

some republicans in congress are concerned, they do not want to -- they're concerned with the cost of legislation. the president spent a lot of his first years promoting wind and solar. he shifted a bit in his last date of the union in january and promoted natural-gas. it is not really related to public policy, but at the same time the administration seems to be cautious about burdening be development of new regulations -- with new regulations. host: this is a graphic from bloomberg news purdue can see petroleum appearing in purple, natural gas in gray, showing a significantly smaller footprint in terms of carbon dioxide emissions.

how much is the president relying on natural gas to play this middle line, to walk the middle line of saying it is cleaner but also -- i am not stalling energy production that the oil companies want? guest: the president as a candidate in 2008 talked about a cap and trade program limiting carbon emissions to address global warming concerns. one of the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide is coal, so if you can reduce coal use, you will have benefit on that. natural gas use is about half as much when burned as cold does, carbon dioxide. when you get more natural gas production in use, it will lower carbon dioxide production. host: 94% of natural gas produced in 2011 was produced

domestically, then there was a 29% increase in production predicted between 2010 and 2035. wisconsin caller dave, independent line. good morning. caller: hi. i noticed that republicans pushed for an oil pipe line from canada. i was just wondering, do you know which major oil corporation would benefit the most from that pipeline? guest c: it goes to refineries n the gulf coast, i think. bp has some, and i think exxon might have some. host: how does that factor in, the keystone pipeline, and how is it perceived? guest: the romney campaign is talking about the stone, as much

about the jobs created an energy source. it would carry from alberta, canada, to create a few thousand jobs, although the estimate varies. the president bought the initial permit, but they also encouraged the company to resubmit a new application, which they have. host: jean, democratic column, bowie, maryland, welcome. caller: during the 1970's, more than 15,000 cars were run on methanol successfully, at 85% methanol. the natural -- the national customer for natural gas to have to produce methanol in huge amounts have cost less than gasoline. that required no subsidy.

the lead engineer of ford motor company published a report in 2003 on 13 years of experience saying that methanol was the alternative fuel of choice from their 10 years of expertise in that area. also, mit in 2010 wrote a report saying ethanol makes more sense for the united states' fuel replacement. how do you feel about the idea of using natural gas to produce methanol? guest: i am not familiar with that particular issue, but there's a lot of talk about using natural gas for it -- there is the talk about reducing the nation's reliance on foreign oil.

there are not a lot of filling stations around. most of the biggest impact would be on fleets of trucks and buses. host: jim snyder has been with bloomberg for about 2 1/2 years. dennis, a republican caller in orlando. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for having me on the show. i have a question for your guests. i am wondering if he knows anything about -- i have come to understand that the battery technology we are using, lithium ion, for our vehicles, and i think the new chevy volt is using it for the last 10 years or so, making them temporary solutions. i was wondering if your host might have any insight on this subject, and what we're supposed

to do when these batteries do go bad because they are expensive, if there is any technology that might be coming up soon, that we would not have to worry about them going bad so soon? guest: i am not really familiar with that issue. the electric car market has not taken off as much as the administration had hoped. i think there are 40,000 vs on tholts on the road now. host: a story in july looking at fracking and concerns about fracking on the environment. it looks at a new study, marcellus shale likely seeping into pennsylvania drinking water.

the fighting further stokes the red hot controversy over fracking in the marcellus shale, suggesting that drilling waste and chemicals could migrate in ways previously thought to be impossible. give us some perspective on how the obama administration is dealing with environmental concerns about fracking. guest: the epa is in the middle of a multi-year study, the preliminary results coming later this year, complete results next year. from that, what they learned from that will inform how they regulate fracking. the issue of whether the chemicals in the water and that fluid that breaks apart the rock that allows the fossil fuels to flow to the top, whether that is migrating to the ground water resources, as probably the central controversy. host: how big of a concern could this be?

as you are explain to us, how natural gas is playing a big 's energymerica and portfolio, how much of a concern is if residents of pennsylvania don't want this happening? guest: there is a case in wyoming where byproducts might have seeped out into the groundwater, but it is found to pollute groundwater, that would certainly curtail development. host: james, independent color, pacifica, california. good morning caller: i have two questions. which chemicals are used in

fracking? my second question, -- i enjoy watching and i think you are a fox. thank you. guest: the chemicals involved in the process are a source of controversy. one of the things the administration has talked about is requiring more disclosure of the chemicals that are used when fracking is done on public lands. the industry prefers state regulation to federal regulation, and has put together a web site called frack focus, where some of those chemicals are listed. host: from jim snyder's piece,

"rising oil production has been cited as evidence the president supports what he calls and all of the above energy strategy." the all of the above strategy is something republicans in congress were using a few years ago, and the white house started using it in present -- in the president's speech is as well. where has this lead and who is obama trying to appeal to with that language? guest: i think obama is trying to appeal to people who are concerned about the economy, oil and gas development as a source of jobs in the country. i think there were 150,000 jobs in the industry in 2010 or 2011, which is 9% of the total that year. so i do not think the administration -- the administration wants to be careful as it pursues these green energy programs, that it

is not being seen as favoring these programs that appeal term and democrats, that appeal to more of the middle of the country, and particularly gas prices rose in the spring and there was talk about the administration talking about natural gas, rising levels of oil production. host: democratic caller, columbia, missouri. welcome period. caller: the pipeline stuff -- will the job creation be because of the cleanup that is going to have to be done because the piping key to breaking? what are they going to do about making sure the aquifers are not polluted? because that will definitely try up a lot of the farmland in the areas. thank you. guest: it is obviously a controversial topic, keystone, and there is a lot of

controversy between republicans and democrats in alaska over the original route. part of the pipeline was going to go over the sand hills region, which is a particularly permeable region in the state. so transcanada has developed a new route around that. i think the critics in the state think it is not good enough. there is also concern about how oil sands are mined, or greenhouse gases and oil- drilling does. -- more greenhouse gases that oil drilling does. host: jonathan, independent caller from salem, oregon. caller: good morning. everyone who is listening on c- span and wants to call in the

things they are not going to get in, call in. it actually works. i would like to say, i do not get out much, but i watched documentary films on netflix. 10 bucks, you cannot beat it. anyways, fracking, gasoline is turning people's tap water flammable. if anyone is experiencing that, call in. i am wasting your time, i am sorry. have a good one. guest: "gas lands" was a very successful documentary, raised the issue of whether it was making its way into people's wells. in places like pennsylvania, they were out in wyoming. it is not just the migration of the chemicals from the places where it is beings fracked, but

they can migrate back up to the well if they are not properly sealed, and they might find a pathway to ground water. host: long island, new york. rich, a republican column. caller: how are you? my question is there is a lot of fracking going on in upstate new york, and that is all good. my question is on the research and development side. what are they doing in terms of are in the -- of research and development? we are growing corn and renewable and engineering that. we grow corn in drought now from genetics. host: so corn as a course -- so corn as a source of fuel.

guest: it is 40% of the corn crop, so it is a big source. host: let's hear from bernie, a democratic caller in russell springs. caller: i'm calling from houston. thank you for taking my call. a little side thing here. the congress is coming into play. are they considering taking care of the same citizens, giving them a cost-of-living raise i am really concerned about that. now since we have heard a lot of things on the pre-9/11, things that could have happened or didn't happen, would that warrant an investigation like great britain did, was there any accountability of it being self induced? would that appease the people to know if there were some oversights, where is it self- induced to create another

divide-and-conquer type of mentality. host: focusing on the topic of our guest, when you talk about a cost of living increase, are you talking about because of high gas prices? caller: a couple of years ago when obama did not do it last year. is the congress going to give the same citizens a cost-of- living raise to pay for food out of their social security checks? host: as gas prices go up, what is congress'' reaction, and how are they looking at the energy portfolio? guest: they have two different approaches. when gas prices went up, they went up in the senate and house. oil and gas companies get -- president obama has called for repealing these breaks, which

amount to $40 billion over 10 years. senate democrats have a bill to repeal about half of that, and some of that money would go to the development of green energy sources. not an immediate response to gas prices, but they hope there will be longer-term process -- progress in creating some alternatives. house republicans in particular had several bills that would expand production again. they would open up areas off the atlantic coast more so, of the gulf of mexico and alaska. host: how our members of congress reacting to president obama's energy policies and goals? talked-about members of congress on the more liberal side on the conservative side who have been

asking him to do more drilling. host: congressman markey -- the idea was to drive down what is causing global warming. it died in the house, died -- passed in the house, died in the senate before resolution. manufacturers in particular, it would raise the cost of energy, although there is some allowance for that. the republicans, again, there is a concentrating on the production side. under the bush administration, to open up more areas, the leasing that the government does to allow companies to come in and fill. one point of controversy and

contention between republicans and democrats, republicans in particular, is a drilling moratorium in the gulf of mexico that the administration posed after the bp oil spill in 2010. critics of the administration would say that they really slowed the pace of leasing in the area. the administration would contend they needed time to create new rules, and it became clear that the oil companies did not have a good idea about how to stop a well that ruptured at that depth, but you're seeing oil production pick up again. host: let's go to russell springs. bernie, go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. my concern is the coal mines.

in eastern kentucky and in some places of virginia, gets either the mines are paying them or -- i would like to know what our president has in mind for the coal miners, and i will listen to your answer. thank you so much. guest: the president, the administration, the environmental protection agency has adopted new rules that do in some respects, although not as broadly, would restrict greenhouse gas emissions for new coal plants and new plants in general, but people in the coal industry say they would not be able to build a coal plant under new rules, but they're not a lot being built anyway because it is so cheap.

the market is driving a lot of this. there is some impact on regulation, but i think it is generally considered to be relatively minor. in later years it might not be so. the administration will point out that they have spent billions of dollars developing clean coal technology in the 2009 economic stimulus and elsewhere. so far -- host: let's go to carl. caller: i have a couple of comments. i have been in the gas and oil industry on and off for 40 years, and there are so many misconceptions i am hearing, it is making me pull my hair out. let me say a couple of things. one, talking about the keystone pipeline and how it is "going to ruin the aquifer in the midwest

," when all these people that say this -- i do not hear one of them say we do have quite a few hundred miles of pipes out there right now, and in fact they have been working successfully for many, many years. as long as they're put in and maintained properly, for the most part they do not leak. two, we need that pipeline. we have all this oil and gas being drilled in south dakota. it cannot get to the refinery. what refineries we have left, because now we have the epa, who has created conditions where the refineries have to add a biomass which does not exist anywhere but in the laboratory. and they are finding -- they are finding the refineries for not using a product that does not exist. guest: trans canada would make the same point that you do, that they say they have bent over

backwards to ensure that their pipeline would be one of the safest that has ever been built, but there have been spills recently. in michigan there was a spill that is being cleaned up now, from a couple years ago. a lot of the opposition is driven by officials in nebraska, so, i don't know. host: the story we're talking about as part of our spotlight on magazines segments, "it is not easy being green," from " bloomberg insider." let's talk about the gas producing states -- we are talking about taxes, 6.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas produced. also wyoming, louisiana, oklahoma, colorado, and new mexico. how is that natural gas being taken out of the ground? is it all fracking?

are there other ways natural gas is being removed? host: there are some traditional wells is being removed from. it is primarily fracking in the new sources of production coming on line. host: when use a traditional, what is that? guest: drilled straight down, and it comes up. host: what allows one company over another, which requires them to use the fracking technique? guest: i think it is mostly to do with the geology. you can frack in shale rock, but i don't think you can in other formations. host: from michigan, welcome. caller: thank you for taking my call. i'm a grandmother, 73 years old. i sold solar panels in the

1980's. it worked very well in michigan, where everybody said it would not. now, i'm looking hundreds of years ahead of time, being concerned of future generations. i know we need to transition of all levels for sustainability. i can feel how we have -- host: yes? caller: big reds, but i think we need to wake up and think of -- ignorance, but i think we need to wake up and think of future generations. we need a more sustainable element with it. host: we lost you for a moment but we got the gist of what you were talking about, sustainability. guest: manufacturers like so linda, which went bankrupt -- like solyndra, which went

bankrupt after a loan guarantee. the administration would say these companies were undercut by solar panels produced in china that could not compete. but as the price of solar panels has gone down, one of the benefits of that, installations has increased. it is still a small percentage of the total electricity we use, but it is on the rise. host: the state of ohio has the fourth fastest job growth of any u.s. state, largely due to natural gas. we can see here the permits issued, looking at the region. how significant is this in terms of politics of ohio? guest: potentially very significant. ohio's unemployment rate is a full percentage point below the

natural -- the national average. in eastern ohio, there is an optimism i found going through it. involving the development from landowners, pay the lease payment by the oil companies, and also the manufacturing corridor in the eastern part of the state. in ohio, natural gas development is and as far along as in neighboring pennsylvania. along as in far as a neighboring pennsylvania. its economy is doing a little bit better than the national average. host: jim snyder rights, "farmers are getting signing bonuses from drillers of as much as 500,000 -- as much as $5,000

an acre. amy rutledge, the director of the carroll county convention and visitors bureau said, "this has been a farming, rural community forever." guest: natural gas prices are falling, so drillers are going out there not quite as quickly as they had at the start, but they are doing exploratory wells. i understand they're finding significant resources, so we're pretty optimistic that more and more landowners in that area are going to see some checks. host: austin, texas, democrats line, you are up next. caller: i would like to complement mr. snyder, who seems to be so knowledgeable, and he is not giving a partisan lean to anything. the question on fracking.

not long ago i was -- i heard a report that there were two earthquakes somewhere between the midwest and east coast in places that traditionally do not have earthquakes, and then something about fracking possibly having to do with that. i would like to know if that is the case or a possibility. if so, i can imagine how much my insurance is going to cost since texas does not normally have earthquakes. thank you. guest: that is true. it was in ohio. they experienced small earthquakes, not from the fracking itself, fracking produces a lot of waste water because the water that goes down comes back up. ohio is taking a lot of that waste water and injecting it, and they think that was causing some small tremors.

host: john, republican line. caller: hi, mr. snyder. i was wondering what you thought of the epa's plan to do a three- year study that began in 2011, the draft plan in february, and it should be done by fall of 2013 or spring of 2014. i wonder what you thought the study was going to have on the federal government or if the state government will have control of the issue since ground water does not affect state lines, and people are drilling at state lines. guest: i think the impact would be significant. if it shows that there is evidence of groundwater pollution in any of these operations, that would obviously have a big impact. but i think the epa is going to be treading carefully on this

issue. they proposed air emissions rules. the air emissions rules were not specifically targeting fracking, although that was one of the practices that would have to comply. the industry said it was going to raise their costs to the extent it would hurt the development, and the industry said they have two more years to get the operations up to standards. they were concerned about stunting the growth of the industry. host: we have been talking about jim snyder's piece. how different is the energy portfolio expected to be under president obama vs president romney? guest: what we have seen in the obama administration is somehow the administration has little