of women at's vovoters. and at 8:30 a.m. s.e. cupp. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: president obama and gop challenger mitt romney are aggressively targeting their campaigns at one group that is likely to decide the election -- women get the candidates made reference to women 30 times in the debate and use the word men five times. they extended the debate into the campaign trail in 2008, women cast 53% of the vote, 11.9

million more women voting than men. we want to turn to all of you this morning -- women only -- we want to know who is your choice for president. if you're supporting governor romney or governor -- or president obama, the numbers are on your screen. you can also -- also oppose your comments on facebook or twitter. these other front pages of the newspapers. most of the papers have something about campaign 2012 and women.

"the financial times" is this -- -- says this. this recent gallup poll is not showing tuesday night's debate. that will take about a week to show up. if you look that some of the polls breaking down women coming

year is "the washington post." -- here is "the washington post." that is how it is shaping up among women according to the polls. we want to turn to you because the candidates are targetting ladies. they want your vote. we want to hear from ladies only this morning for the first 45 minutes. from virginia, supporting president obama, why?

caller: first of all, i am a retired school nurse and a retired adjunct professor. since president obama says he is standing for the rights of women, i support him on that issue. it agreed to me when -- it grieved when candidate rawness of 46 -- 47% of the people -- candidate romney said 47% of the people did not matter. when he said that we were written off, i worked and the money went to social security and that's what i am relying on. even now, the money that we use is for medication and to take

care of my husband and daughter. it was very offensive the way romney stood and disrespect to the position of our president at the debate. host: were you for president obama before those comments? caller: ask, i was. i have already made up my mind. in our paper locally, it states that went romney stated he was with women with the binders, a phone conference was made to the young lady who brought the binder. it was them went to romney and asked him if he would put more cabinet women in his cabinet in 2002. host: that is in the newspapers this morning and we will read more about that. we'll go to run a supporter in south carolina.

-- a romney supporter in south carolina. caller: i'm originally from egypt. i don't like what president obama did for the middle east. he destroyed the whole country. nobody knows that al qaeda is killing innocent soldiers. girls are raped [inaudible] they cannot go back to their christian lives. the last four years of the economy are horrible.

when my husband was working and had insurance and our laws were wonderful, -- our lives were wonderful, the hospital prices are increasing and obama care is going to be ineffective. host: foreign policy issues and the economy are your issues. did you disagree with the obama administration decision to go in and get rid of mubarak? caller: yes, i did. most of the christian people agree. they are really disappointed because during the election, [inaudible] the moslem brotherhood are controlling the country. host: that was from columbia, south carolina, from an egyptian

background talking about foreign policy issues and the economy. governor brown was on the trail yesterday -- governor romney was on the trail yesterday. [video clip] >> catherine spoke about women and the work force. why is it that there are 3.6 million more women in poverty today than when the president took office? this president has failed america's women. they have suffered in terms of getting jobs, in terms of falling into poverty. is a presidency that has not helped america's women. as i go across the country and ask women what i can do to help, what they speak about is help me find a good job or a good job for my spouse and help my kid, make sure my children have a bright future, better schools, and better job opportunities. that is what the women of america are concerned about and the answers are coming from us

and not from barack obama. host: president obama was on the trail yesterday in iowa, another battleground state. he was talking about what governor romney had to say at the debate about a binderful of women. >> what you saw last night is a fundamental difference. governor romney said hiring more teachers will migrate our economy over the next four years. yes, it will. more importantly, what about our kids over the next 40 years? what about our economy for the next 40 years? we could gut education, pay for the $5 trillion tax cut or we can recruit 100,000 new math and science teachers of the next decade. [applause] helping our young people refocus on science and technology,

engineering, math, we should make sure all our young people, our daughters as well as our sons, are excelling in these fields. [applause] we don't have to collect a bunch of binders to find a bunch of urban young women ready to conquer these fields right now. host: governor romney was on the trail as well in virginia. he was talking to female voters. that is the vote that both need in order to get over the top in campaign 2012. women only this morning, your choice for president, new haven, conn., an obama supporter, go ahead. caller: hello? i support obama because i think obama is for our country.

i think obama is doing a great job. he cannot do everything by himself. he needs the country do with them. we are all together. no man is an island by themselves. i support him and everything he is doing. if we back him up, we will [inaudible] host: what is the most important issue to you? caller: i think the most important thing to me is for our children's education . our children are our future and he is behind that. he is for teachers, science teachers, engineering teachers. i think it is a very good thing. our children are the ones who will be the future the future relies on them. host: this is from "the new york

daily news" -- these are the issues that women see as the most important ones facing women are in en. you can see the difference between women and men to issues. it might give an explanation as to why the two candidates were talking about planned parenthood, contraception, abortion at tuesday night's debate"the new york times" news poll asked this --

mary, you are next in chicago, what do you make of this discussion over contraception and abortion? caller: i am not sure about all of that. i'm a 60-year-old woman. i don't have a lot to say on that. i think it is your choice to do what you need to do. my vote for romney is on so many levels. obama has not done anything that we need him to do and i think that governor romney has in his head what we need to do. he is clear and concise in everything he has to say. host: he knows what we need to do on the economy? caller: all levels. the economy -- everything that

we do, everything we need, obama gave us hope and change and all we have seen is complete disaster. host: did you vote for president obama in 2008? caller: did not host: are you a longtime republican? caller: i'm not. this is the second time my life i will vote for republican. >host: you voted for john kerry and 2004? caller: yes, i did. host: it to watch the debates? caller: yes, i did. host: what did you think about governor run a talking about women and when he was putting his administration together in massachusetts and they made the comment of a binderful of women. it has just gone viral on the

internet. when you heard that, what did you think? did you have a reaction? caller: i think the news is so biased, you cannot believe anything basic remains to media has gone over the top. i cannot believe anything they say. host: what is your personal take? did you have any reaction at all when you heard it for the first time? caller: i believe what he said. i thought it was great that he said he employed women and went through these great efforts to put women to work. i believe the man. i completely believe in the man 100%. host: she watched the debate along with 65.6 million people tune then for the second debate. it was a slight decrease from this first debate two weeks ago

when 67.2 million people watched. that is the breakdown of who was watching and how many were watching on tuesday night. we cover it here as well on c- span and we will do so on monday night for the third and final debate in boca raton, florida. our preview program begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. we will get your thoughts before the debate begins and foreign policy is the topic. at 10:30, we will get your thoughts of what you heard at the debate. then we will re-air the debate

again. if you want to follow along on the computer, you can do so. you can go to our campaign hub. you can click on certain parts of the debate and share with your friends and follow along. we will go next to any test -- anita in florida who is undecided. why are you undecided? caller: i like good things from both of them. i don't like things from both of them. i am a retired nurse. health care is a very important issue. i think the world over. and i want us to have health care -- healthcare and clamp the

medical profession but i want us to have health care for everybody. naturally, i like the fact that whether it was getting votes are not permitted popular, he went for something he really believed in. that is obama. on the other hand, i like romney talking about each one of us taking responsibility for our lives. there is too many people that think somebody owes them something. i am 71 and i guess i was raised in the. era of ask not what the country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. we should help everybody but i believe in paying my own way. i believe in taking responsibility but i believe in helping someone less fortunate than made but not to keep them

all week but to try to help them grow and get stronger where they can do what they need to do. host: what do you want to hear over the coming couple of weeks? caller:honey, i have heard enough. i'm at a place where i am frustrated with the spin from everybody. host: are you watching the debates? caller:ohhh, yes. host: as an undecided voter, both candidates were trying to court you on tuesday night. what do you make of this back- and-forth over the binderful of women and obama referring to a cut in planned parenthood. caller: don't try to woo me. don't try to buy my vote, either one of you. , by what you will promise.

i personally hope that i would never have gotten an abortion. i don't think i've got the right to tell another cumin being what to do with their life. the republicans claim they want less government control and, yes, they want to control how another human being handled their body? host: is that enough of an issue for you to be persuaded to go to one way or the other? caller: no, and i will tell you why -- because we've got so many big issues. i don't want somebody i think will be so testosterone-power hungry that we've got to show the world that we are the best and the strongest and tell everybody what to do. the world is not the same as it used to be around world war two.

on the other hand, we cannot be qa pussy-footed country that lets everyone walk all over us. we got to keep the country say it but we got to work with the world. those are big issues. host: because you are an undecided voter and you talked about the abortion issue, hold on the line and let me show a new ad put out by the romney campaign. i need you to turn your television back on so you can hear this ad and i will come back to you and get your take on it. this is talking about the issue of contraception. [video clip] >> mitt romney banning all abortions and contraception sounded extreme. it turns out he does not oppose

it at all. in fact, he thinks abortion should be an option in cases of rape or to save the mother's life. this issue is important to me but i am more concerned about the dead are children will be left with. i voted for president obama last time. we can afford -- we cannot afford four more years. host: are you still with me? i will give you a chance to listen to the end of that ad. in the newspaper today, people are noting that ad was put together over the last two weeks and the newspaper is saying in an effort to show a more moderate position on the issue of contraception. anita, what is your take away? caller: first of all, romney, who are you? you go back and forth.

you are not against abortion at all and yet you were against abortion and only for rape or incest? those are still government control of women's issues. there was something else in that ad. - there was something else that was not -- abortion -- host: access to birth control? caller: no, honey, it wasn't about birth control. host: anyway, on this issue, it sounds like -- caller: on this issue, i have to go totally with obama. i don't think government should be deciding whether i got raped or not -- in other words, that

is still government control. host: you said that is not enough to make you go for obama? caller: no, that is just a small part of the things in our country that need to be looked at for the health and good of the whole country. host: thank you very much. we will go to milwaukee, wisconsin, a -- an obama supporter. caller: we had these problems before president obama became president. i am a big supporter of him very much because he, to me, understands women more. he is for equality with women and he has some of the things he said it was going to do. he passed obama care. those are some things he said he would do. he is only one person.

we are a whole nation and he can only do so much. host: what are the top two issues for you? caller: um - education is important. our children are our future. of course, i was happy that it passed obama care. host: we will keep taking phone calls from women only this morning for about the next 20 minutes. your choice for president and we want to hear who will vote for and why everyone to hear from the undecided women. first, a political correspondent joins us to talk about the al smith dinne./. guest: is it -- is an annual charity event here in manhattan

at the waldorf hotel. it is run by the archdiocese of new york and the al smith foundation which is named in honor of the former governor of new york who ran for president in 1928. it is a very big event. it is supposed to be the most important non-political political dinner in the country. host: why is that? caller: the big deal tonight is that president obama and mitt romney will be speaking. every year they have important guests but it has become a sort of must be their event for presidential candidates. it is a chance for them to come together in a non- confrontational way. they give numerous speeches and a poke fun at each other but they also poke fun at themselves. it is supposed to be a break

from the campaign trail. we are just two days out from the debate and get another one coming up in florida on monday. it is a chance to show a little bit of a detente. host: each man will speak tonight? s, each man will give a prepared speech with self-deprecating jr. humor, but also honoring the memory of al smith who was known as a four- term governor of new york but as a candidate for president who was heavily criticized and attacked for his catholic faith. host: al smith was one of our contenders in the series we did here on c-span, looking at those who ran for the white house,

lost but change political history. our viewers could go into the archive to learn more about alice met. -- about al smith. are all candidates invited every year to this dinner? guest: no, there has been some cases where the candidates were not invited to the dinner at all because of issues related to abortion. the candidates were not invited in 1996. at that time, then president clinton had vetoed a ban on partial birth abortions. 2004, the candidates were not invited. at that time, john kerry was the democratic and he was roman catholic but also pro-abortion rights.

that happened to be the circumstance where the candidates did not speak. host: what about this year? guest: this year, obviously, the cardinal decided to invite the candidates and he got a lot of heat for uit. peoples said it was inappropriate to have a president who has the stance he has on abortion issues speak at a function that is associated with the church, that has to do with issues of the catholic faith. it is supposed non best political and non-partisan. some people complained about mitt romney appearing at the dinner. there was a pretty lengthy blog item that the cardinal wrote.

he said it is about the memory of alice met. -- alice met. -- al smith. even though he had strong opinions, he did not demonize the people who bought differently. they want to engage people that have different views rather than shut them out or ignore them or turn your back. it is a way of fostering communication rather than emphasizing differences. host: how much money will they raise tonight? five guest: million dollars. it goes to charities to benefit children. host: thank you very much for your time this morning. guest: pleasure. host: the al smith dinner will be at 9:00 this evening. speaking of our contenders a

series, another contender we featured the was x-u.s. senator george mcgovern. the family of next u.s. senator george mcgovern says the 90- year-old is no longer responsive in hospice care. his family issued a statement wednesday afternoon. his daughter earlier told the associated press that her father is nearing the and and appears restful and peaceful. she says it is a blessing that she and other family members can be with him. george mcgovern was the democratic candidate for president who lost to richard nixon in 1972. he was a member of the u.s. house from 1957-1961 and a u.s. senator from 1963-1981. he was considered a leader in the party's liberal wing at that time. we featured him on our contender series. you can go to our website if you want to learn more about george

mcgovern. we are talking to women only here this morning for about the next 15 minutes, talking about your choice for president because the two campaigns are largely targeting you, when men, they want your vote. president obama won in 2008 with the female vote by a 13 point margin. the polls show the governor romney has tightened the gap between the two candidates when it comes to women in swing states. we'll go to fe ago, north carolina,. caller: this has been a lively conversation so far and thank you for taking my call. my family was pretty much democratic and i originally grew up in chicago. i am voting for mr. romney this time. and stepping away from my family. my aunt is probably of rage.

she has a picture of president obama's bursters of the dead. -- birth certificate. host: why are you moving away from your family? why will you support romney this time around? caller: in because of the financial aspects. me being a registered nurse, we are able to move upward for the economic ladder. pretty much, we have a tendency to be the lifeline for our families. if you are having an attack problem -- this year a move from one economic level to the next and i did not get too much money for my taxes when i filed. mr. ron they seemed to be on the right track for letting me have more of my money and to hopefully change the tax code. i have worked with quite a few women and all the women, a lot

of people don't understand that once you move out of one economic bracket and to move to the next, your taxes will go up and you get less money. mr. romney looked at that. hopefully, i'm thinking that mr. runyan will give me a tax break. -- mr. romney will give me a tax break. "i will get more money back. host: the economy is the number- one issue? caller:oh, yes, because i am the lead breadwinner here. i have to be able to work and get some of that money back. as i have moved up, i am getting less money back and hopefully, mr. romney will try to make some adjustments in the tax code. host: we are asking for women only on our facebook page --

so far we have 80 wittman choosing barack obama -- 80 women choosing barack obama women only this morning. how will you vote? the campaigns are zeroing in on you. we will keep talking to you this morning about this and our conversation continues with our guest coming up next. here is some other news --

these are being snuck overthrew the turkish border. on the front page of " the new york times" -- -- that is the washington times. then though "baltimore sun" has this story -- it is an update on the attack in libya.

that is the latest on the attack on arab diplomat and four others in benghazi. you may have heard about the foiled terrorist plot and this is - those are other headlines this morning in the newspaper. it will go back to female voters only, new york, obama supporter -- caller: good morning. i am supporting obama because of the abortion issue. it is very important to me.

inon't really believe abortion but i believe this is a free country and a woman has a right over her own body. the republicans are talking about government mandating women's rights. that is creating a big government. i listen to all these run a supporters and they say romney will do this and that. can we really take his word? he has been saying one thing and he switches. what do we tell our children? we tell our children to speak the truth and have integrity. i don't see mr. romney as a strong leader on integrity or any type of issue because he does not speak the truth. if we are electing a president,

these are very, very important issues, morals. mr. romney is saying i will do this for the middle-class and i will do that and it sounds good but the problem is, is it really true? there is not only rich people in this country. there is middle class and less fortunate. from a moral standpoint, we are all in this together. we should pull together as americans and look out for everyone not just the 47%. host: how old are you? caller: when you speak your comfort zone, most of the time you are speaking from your heart. host: we will leave it there. here is the obama campaign ad on women's issues echoing similar themes. [video clip]

>> as you make your decision, maybe you were wondering what to believe about mitt romney. when it comes to protecting your access to birth control, one thing we must remember is this -- >> will cut out funding to planned parenthood. >> he will cut it off. he will cut us off. >> planned parenthood, i will get rid of that. host: a little bit from president obama's campaign ad the issue of abortion as both candidates put out ads on abortion and contraception, talking about planned parenthood. , strategizing that is the way to talk to female voters in this campaign. we are getting your take on a female voters only and what you think. tucson, ariz., you are supporting governor romney? caller: i am also part of the 47%. host: what do you mean? caller: i am part of the poor

people, the ones without a job and what ever. i am not out of a job. i get social security. i now have my two granddaughters living with may. my son cannot find a job. i am voting for runyan. -- romney. he is a businessman, not a politician. when it comes to abortion, the ladies can go down to their doctor and get a prescription or go to their doctor and get an abortion. they have to pay for it, that's all. host: have you always been a republican? caller: no. i voted for john kennedy. i've voted for clinton the first

time. i did not the second time because he is a womanizer. when women's issues matter you voted against bill clinton the second time around but this time, the economy is the most important issue? caller: yes, ma'am, it is. i was alone in my home for about two years and then all of a sudden, obama gets in and i am not in my home alone anymore. host: have your kids and grandkids living with you? caller: i've got four adults and three grandchildren living with me. i believe romney can turn the country around or at least get it started going in the right direction. i am praying real hard for him. host: the front page of "the new york times" -

from "the washington times" -- "usa today" --

that is a little bit about the state of nevada. "usa today"also has this piece by jackie kucinich. tallahassee, fla., undecided voters, what are you undecided? caller: i am undecided because president obama ran for office swearing that he was going to fix things and he has not. host: so, then, why not vote for

governor romney? caller: i have never voted for a republican in my life. i am 45 years old and i have always voted democrat. i get 20 e-mails every day from obama and his campaign. he is just ignoring the important issues for me. host: what are they? caller: is jobs and the economy but he is not doing anything to fix that host: what do you want to hear from president obama to get your vote again? caller: i want to hear details about what he will do. i don't want to hear how he will create 12 million jobs. that is crazy and insufficient. host: what about governor romney's 5-point plan? caller: honor romney does not have a plan.

he only as talking points. host: when will you make your decision? if ir: i'm really not sure will even go votes. . the base of president obama might not even go out and vote. host: energized? caller: yes. host: would you describe yourself in 2008 and now? caller: voted for president obama in 2008 because i had to because i only vote democrat. i would have much rather had hillary clinton as president. i think she would have done a better job. it goes back to president obama's swearing he could fix everything and now whining that he cannot because it is too hard. host: an undecided voter, this

conversation continues. coming up next, we will keep talking about the all important female vote. then we will be joined by a conservative on women's issues. we will be right back. >> i have to be honest with you, i love these debates. these things are great. i think it is interesting that the president still does not have an agenda for a second term. don't you think it is time for him to finally put together a vision of what he would do in the next four years if he were elected? he's got to, without over this

week and because there is only one debate left on monday. >> let's recap what we learned last night -- his tax plan does not add up. his jobs plan does not create jobs. his deficit-reduction plan adds to the deficit. iowa, everybody has heard the new deal and you've heard of the fair deal, you've heard of a square deal, met romney is trying to sell you a sketchy deal. we are not buying it. >> to engage monday as president obama and mitt romney need in their final debate. from bogota on florida. our debate previous starts at 7:00 p.m. eastern and your reaction at 10:30 live on c- span, cspan radio, an online at c-span.org. with the focus on the

presidential debates this month, cspan is asking middle and high school students to send a message to the president as part of this year's student camp video documentary contest. students will answer the question -- what is the most important issue the president should consider in 2013? there's a grand prize of $5,000.50000 dollars in total prize is available. -- there's a grand prize of $5,000 with $50,000 in total prize money available. [video clip] we are back. let's talk about the female vote. why is this important? guest: as eleanor roosevelt said, is up to women. women votes decide elections in part because of they tend to be more volatile to the end. even though we are in negative

advertising, they respond to it more. the women have really swung back and forth. in 2008, they gave obama a huge margin. in 2010, for the first time, women voted republican in 47 years. now, they are strongly favoring president obama and did not like mitt romney until the first debate and changed their minds and are really undecided much like your last caller. host: how would you describe that last caller as a pollster? guest: the swing vote test to be an independent married woman around 45 years old, blue- collar, very hard hit by the economy and not sure the economy is coming back. she is worried the president does not have enough plans for the future and more of the same will not be good enough. on the other hand, met romney

does not get her life. she is not in his binder, said to speak. they are really torn and looking for the candidate who can say what they will do next year. for her family. host: how do you break down the female vote? guest: that is important because the women's vote is not monolithic. there is the gender gap even bigger is the marital gap. married voters tend to vote republican and unmarried daughters focal -- overwhelmingly democratic but they don't always show up to vote. it was interesting she said i may not even vote for the problem for democrats to make sure that their voters turn out. host: is that something you see? democrats are still not energetic? guest: first of all, democratic voters always tend to be less

energetic. we rely on younger voters, people of color, unmarried voters who always tend to have lower turnout rates. i did a combination of the debate and the presidential contest a really helped. as you pointed out, the republicans have a very formidable get-out-the-vote operation. this will be a real war on the ground in terms of who gets the voters out. host: were characterizing the different types of female voters? guest: first there are women of color who tend to vote for democratic. even among groups like latinos, latinos are voting democratic them latino males. there are younger and older woman. there are really three

generations. they've both republicans and obama has a problem with seniors for some time. if younger people vote, they vote democratic. host: we showed that "washington times "headline where he might not get -- where obama may not get big backing because 38% of voters said it will death in vote which is down from 66% four years ago. guest: feel look at 2010 an off- year elections -- 6.6 million young women who voted in 2008 did not show up in 2010. a 11 million on married women who had voted in 2008 did not show up. we need them back in 2012. host: what are their top issues? we had a poll this morning in the newspaper that showed the

most important issue that impact women and abortion topped the list. guest: was flabbergasted -- flabbergasted by that paul. -- i was flabbergasted by that poll. the newest poll showed 47% of women said their top issue is some kind of woman's issue like abortion or birth control. that is very surprising. that is a record high. for one thing, many women voters feel like they cannot tell the difference between these two guys. are you for a woman's right to choose? are you for employers covering birth control? i think that all of the activity of state legislatures heightens the feeling on these issues. women are very concerned about the economy and the number one question we get in our focus

groups from women voters is -- what are you going to do next year? to make my family situation better? host: clearly this is something not new to either campaign. let me show you what governor romney had to say yesterday on the campaign trail. [video clip] >> catherine spoke about women and women's equality in the work force and i asked a question that she deserves an answer to -- why is it that there are 3.6 million more women in poverty today than when the president took office? this president has failed america's women. they have suffered in terms of getting jobs, they have suffered in terms of falling into poverty. this is a president has not helped america's women and as i go across the country and ask women what i can do to help, what they speak about is help me find a good job or a good job for my spouse and held my kid,

make sure my children have a bright future, better schools, and better job opportunities. that is what the women of america are concerned about and the answers are coming from us and not from barack obama. host: powerful message? guest: except for the end. you heard it in a couple of your callers questions. first-time women her that mitt romney had a five-point plan and was going to create 12 million jobs, they thought that was great. when they did not hear any details, they were flat. after this last debate, they asked what this plan is. there are a lot of his policies that don't serve women very well. he will make the wealthy pay their fair share. he will not enforce equal pay laws. he will not raise the minimum wage. he will not close the tax credit

for jobs going overseas. he supports free trade and women support fair trade. as you analyze his policies, met ronnie's policies fail women, too. host: how does that go when women were listening to president obama in the first couple of debates and his economic plan? guest: both candidates have a lot to enter for for women. both candidates are live -- leaving women feeling that you have not told me exactly what you will do. how will you creep these two million jobs? if i had a piece of advice for either candidate company to be specific at this point. romney is saying he is the seven but he is not. host: as we noted, women in 2008 made up 53% of the vote, 11.9 women voting ben mann. >> it may be higher this year.

for sure, you will have the same thing. witness -- women are registered at higher rates and turn out in the higher rates. it is up to the women. they will determine the presidency. host: ocean springs, mississippi, on republican line, go ahead. caller: there are so many people in our families that were never even registered to vote. i was registered to vote when i was 18 years old. that was a thing for my family. my family is from north carolina and we live in the city now and grow up in nevada but that was a privilege. to be able to vote and have a voice. so many people in mississippi did not know that.

it is really important that we all have a voice. host: who will you vote for? caller: will vote caller: i am going to vote for mitt romney. he wants to help the economy grow. we had a business before katrina. we struggled. we really struggled. now we have no income. host: is it you are attracted to mitch romney because of his business background? caller: he is a family person with good values. he has good family values. he is kind and generous.

from what he says and nobody has disputed it what he did for massachusetts. host: your reaction, celinda lake. guest: thank you for your comments. when i was 18, i went in and register to vote. a lot of people were not raise like you and i were. we are all equal on election day. it is important that people vote and that all those votes get counted. renewed efforts to discourage people from voting and i think that is wrong. you hope that romney would get the economy going. he has a plan but that plan is

pretty vague. women voters believe these candidates are not as specific as they need to be. i want to know what you will do for my family. i think you know mitt romney a lot better than other people do. i think most people have concluded that both of these men are strong family man that are honest and in solid marriages with good liwives and care a lot about their kids. host: we will go to joyce in north carolina. caller: hello, c-span. host: what is your question or comment? caller: who gave the go-ahead

for pakistan to build on the land that we took and got in a peace treaty. host: why is this issue important to you? caller: because it doesn't matter what president we pick until the land is given back to israel. it's not going to get any better. host: foreign policy issues will be the topic of the third and final debate. guest: that is a good question and i'm not an expert on the specific. women are more worried about foreign policy than they were in the past. they are concerned about security issues. they are concerned about how to

keep the family and country safe. we have women more concerned about cutting military spending than men are. women want to make sure we have a plan that will protect our troops and keep our country save. that debate would have been the man's debate but i think women will be paying attention to that debate. host: an independent caller from missouri. first male caller of the morning. go ahead. caller: i have a strong lady i've been married to four 57 years. guest: that is wonderful to celebrate. caller: she is strong on scene

we get governor romney elected president. ka. will not wear a bur host: why do you think that what happened under president obama? caller: just look at it. the president in libya was with us and they brought him down. now we have people that want america.oy it has been planned for several years. host: will you be turning in on monday night? caller: yes. our economic situation has changed dramatically. we are both on social security and we had saved a lot of money

so that we can supplement our social security and live well and help our family. we are going to get destroyed economically and by the policies that have been put out by president obama. i'm trying to be nice but it is difficult to do so. my wife becomes irate. she is a strong woman who believes in taking care of herself. host: what is your reaction? guest: social security and medicare are important issues. it is kind mystifying to me. you have mitt romney and for the

voucher program, charging $6,000 more. i think there is a stark contrast. the democrats have drawn that contrast more clearly. seniors are hard hit. look at the differences between the democratic and republican party. host: janet in michigan, a republican. go ahead, janet. caller: i was listening to the reasons why people want to vote for obama. most of them are in emotional reasons. gas prices count the most. the gasto wrapramp up

prices. kids are not going to be able to afford to go anyplace. we have to cut down all of the fossil fuels, according to obama. he is off everyday on his 747 and he uses more fuel in one flight then i will ever used in my lifetime. host: you might be interested in this story from "the washington times" and what the candidates are saying on energy issues. are the candidates paying enough attention to the pocketbook issue? guest: it is a big issue for

families, a big economic issue for families. i think three things and i wish the president had and to this more forcefully. the democrats are the ones who have gone after price gouging. every fourth of july and memorial day, these wealthy gas companies raised prices. they could plan ahead. the impact of the crisis is in the pipeline. the pipeline is still full of gas at the old prices. this administration has been fighting for higher gas standards. the president has done more drilling at more oil production

in this country than anybody else. we need new energy, too. we need to develop all of our resources. we should be leading the pack. we should not be falling behind in the production. host: elizabeth in trenton, new jersey. you are on the air. caller: i'm calling from connecticut. hi, ladies. this election has gone out of hand -- has gotten out of hand. i am willing to give obama four more years. so many people have not been paying attention.

i think people need to research, called back and listen to the topics of what these candidates are talking about. a caller was talking about oil. all the prices do need to go up. people are not researching. romney is flip-floping so much. he says what you want to hear. when you go back, he does not believe a lot of these issues. i think mccain would have been a better candidate. guest: interesting call. voters want to be informed. it is really hard. this caller has done and other

research -- has done a lot of research. i think the super pacs and the money in politics is not adding to the knowledge the voter gets. it is adding to the confusion. host: some newspapers have been doing series comparing the candidates on the issues. you can compare them on a certain issue, most of the newspapers are doing that. guest: and even some local one. host: i want to read this e- mail. guest: she is my kind of gal.

host: can you speak to that tie? andt: i'm close to her age i think the baby boomer women do feel close to this. their work dispensing birth control out of the back of the infirmary when i went to college. we remember these issues in a personal way. planned parenthood has been around for 99 years. family planning and help with fertility, mammogram screening, prevented screening. this is a visceral issue for the baby boomer women. host: is president obama targeting of that female voters

specifically? guest: he is. he is talking about how mitt romney reaffirmed that position wants to do away with planned parenthood. planned parenthood's favorability is 69% right now, it is more popular than the president or his challenger. host: favoring the democrats in 1992. guest: that is right. catholic women have favorable attitudes towards planned parenthood. most catholic women sitting in

mass -- host: let's go next to nancy in nevada. caller: good morning. .'m voting for mitt romney i have said this country needs a good businessman. we're in so much trouble with this debt. people don't realize how bad it is. i believe mitt romney can create jobs. something president obama promised but has not done. he had control of the congress and senate for two years but did not do anything. tried to pass obamacare, which i was against. i do not like socialism. guest: let's talk about socialism --

host: let's talk about socialism. interesting word. guest: i think the last caller did reflect on an issue. if you ask each of the provisions, when you find is voters like them, women voters most of all. eliminating caps on your care. not allowing insurance companies to discriminate against women just because they are women. these are wildly popular with women. i think the affordable care act will be increasingly popular as it starts to have an impact.

we got a rebate in my small business. i could not believe it. was a notice to notify your female employees if they are using generic birth control is now part of preventive care and there is no co-pay. as people see that, it will be more popular. host: this is from sheey in this e-mail -- sherry. guest: she has octavo important points -- she has two important points.

we should allow medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices as we allow the v.a. in the medicaid program. that is the power of special interest lobbying. and we do need jobs and both obama and romney know it. women say a businessman knows how to create jobs. that is the tension for them. host: there is less unemployed women than men. the unemployment rate is higher among men. guest: we did an interesting survey with a republican pollster.

41% of the women say at some point in the last four years they have been the top breadwinner for their family. this is a record number. this is something both candidates need to understand. barack obama is the son of a single mother. they are the leaders in their families on this issue. host: we will go next to florida, a democratic caller. caller: hello? i would like to say romney has not shown any thing and it is common knowledge that a lawyer cannot be trusted. a vote for romney -- i will put

they are biased. -- yost: let's hear from join next. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. on voting for mitt romney the issues of the economy, foreign policy, domestic. obama has attacked women. he has attacked religious freedom. he is not supported women at all. we have less women working under his administration then when he took office. the gentleman that just called was saying liar, liar.

we cannot be yelling at each other. mitt romney has leadership, character, and i think he will take the country in a positive direction. will be weighed. the respect for life is a main issue. the respect for life has to be first and foremost for us. thank you. host: we have an e-mail from tennessee. joyo verses jon verses jonna. guest: jonna put a smart e-mail

there. most people to knock realize -- host: i think joy police that and that's why she's voting for governor romney. caller: good morning. the other night at the debate, the president's said that we were producing more oil and energy and stuff. how come the prices have not come down? i have a daughter that graduate with honors a year ago. she is having a hard time finding a job. i have a hard time voting for a president who doesn't respect the country. when the flag is there, he puts

his hands somewhere else, not on his heart. i believe in the country. he doesn't respect america. host: have you always voted republican? caller: i voted for who i thought was the best candidate. host: who did you vote for in 2008? caller: i didn't vote for obama. 2004? guest caller: i voted republican. caller: can you hear me? host: you are on the air. caller: go back and look at history.

i've seen the differences and the changes. i want people to go back and look at history. a discrepancy in voting for people for who they are. host: what are your thoughts? guest: i love that point and you're right. i think this president is very committed. you get a chance in a matter what you look like and that is what we should stand for. i think that for the first caller, strong feelings. it does disappoint me when you hear president obama does pledge allegiance to the flag.

it is disappointing when we see people say president obama is a muslim. host: i will let you get a drink of water. this is a headline from "the washington post." one caller mentioned that there's been stories about romney's comment about a binder full of women.

host: pat in texas, go ahead. caller: yes. i do not understand women. they have not been paying attention for the past table years. the congress has voted on many bills concerning women's rights. i it will be voting for president obama -- i will be voting for president obama. he is the president. i will not vote for someone with

his millions of dollars, paying 14%. i pay 56%. i am a working women. why should he pay less than me, because of the way he acquired his wealth? i will not vote for a party that will not say that women should be paid equally for the same job. i've been working for the last 50 years of life. i am 65 years old. i remember when we had to fight for the right to control our own bodies, not the government. not the state. host: patricia it is a republican in new hampshire. o ah ea.

ead. caller: a woman called earlier and said she was unhappy with what obama has done. open your eyes, people. you are an american. vote for what is best for america. romney brought all these details. what did obama do when he was campaigning for his first four years. hope, change, hope, change. i am all hope and changed out. guest: i think they both could do very powerful ads for their candidate because that is how the campaigns are framing up. it's not just a referendum but a

choice. we could make a choice that could be worse. i think that is what the first caller represented. people do want change and that is what the second call represented. i think we just heard the best summary from these women about their candidates. host: this conversation will continue. celinda lake, thank you. up next, s.e. cupp on female voters. later, the so-called fiscal cliff. >> 8:29. go all-digitall by the end of the year. newsweek global will be a

single worldwide addition supported by a paid subscription. it will be available for both tablet and the web. republican senator scott brown is apologizing for suggesting elizabeth warren used paid actors in political ad. she condemned the remarks saying senator brown had reached a new low, : his remarks shameful -- calling his remarks shameful. the annual alfred e. smith memorial foundation dinner at new york city's waldorf-astoria. it is a required stop for politicians since the end of world war 11. you can listen on c-span radio

or watch it on c-span. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. [video clip] >> it started as an economic argument. then it is education and credentials. women seem to be getting those skills at a faster rate than men, as they seem to be more nimble. i talk about how that changes marriage and the notions of fatherhood and how young people have sex and make decisions. the start to see it having an influence in our culture. >> "the end of man," saturday night on "afterwards," this

weekend on "book tv." >> "washington journal" continues. host: junius is s.e. cupp -- joining us is s.e. cupp from "new york daily news." thank you for joining us. why is the female vote important? guest: women are a majority part of the population. women in swing states will be a swing vote. i think it has more to do with our economic concerns. women have families to consider and jobs to consider and are concerned about the economy and making sure that they could to

keep more of their money and to take care of their family and the way that they want. that romney has been pulling ahead with women, inching closer to president obama. host: closing in on president obama with women in the all- important battle ground states. this is "the wall street journal" this morning. 54%-52% in ohio, but that gap is starting to tighten. how do you think governor romney did when it comes to women in the debate?

guest: look at the majority of the snap polls. mitt romney clearly won the economic portion of the debate. the number-one concern of women is the economy. you have to be pleased with mitt romney's performance. coast down the list -- he goes down the list of president obama's failures. we have to believe the economy is the most important issue to everyone, including women. it looks like he did well there. you have to assume tuesday night was a good night for romney. host: he took the debate to the trail and here's what he said

about women. [video clip] >> what you saw last night is a fundamental difference. governor romney said hiring more teachers will not grow our economy. you know what? yes, it will. we could cut education or we could recruit 100,000 new math and science teachers over the next decade, helping our young people refocus on science and technology, engineering, math. we should make sure our daughters and sons are thriving in these fields.

we don't have to collect a bunch of binders to find qualified talent in these fields. host: s.e. cupp, your reaction. guest: a bit of a false choice that we could have that. i'm not suret's -- mitt romney would agree you have to choose between tax cuts or education in a romney administration. the binder moment of the debate ineloquent onen eloque mitt romney. i would go to some of the more other substantive moments in

mitt romney's debate performance. it looks a little silly. mitt romney seem to be endorsing affirmative action. i do not know if he knew that at the time. it rang a little off. i like that he wanted to find qualified women. that project seemed to me pretty clear and firm action experiment. conservatives would find that less than positive -- pretty clear in affirmative action. host: susan, democratic caller. caller: dublin is obviously a

republican. most of my friends -- that woman is obviously a republican. she worked for the military and has been in the military and it is about her job. she put those democratic -- i feel like a lot of the callers that have said they are voting for romney are voting for selfish reasons. i cannot vote republican again in my life because i have slipped up and every time it has come back to hurt me. it has caused me to have no say in being able to fight the business. i'm retired now. i cannot ever go republican again. host: ok. s.e. cupp.

guest: likely will live in a country that she can vote any way she wants -- luckily we live in a country that she can vote any way she wants. what is the matter with kansas and that kind of project has a lot fundamental flaws with it. kansas was far more profitable and economically buoyant. we'll vote for selfish reasons, whether you have a young son or daughter or because you are retired and concerned about your future. or because you are a small business owner. i hope we're all voting in perspective of the kinds of lies that we want to lead.

protecting our business and our faith -- all of those things should be selfish. we do not vote for the greater community alone but to advance our own livelihoods. that is selfish if you want to call that. that is the point of voting. host: why are you a republican? guest: i did not grow political. i didn't realize i was conservative until i got to college. i disagreed with almost everyone there. i was nervous about telling my parents i have become a republican. i had always assumed i was a liberal. i made that call and said, so

we.ware it was like we just me. 9/11 happened in my backyard and i became an active this. began to write books and started my career. host: this is a headline. host: i wanted to get your take on the contentious nature of

tuesday night's debate. guest: i have to assume that men saw that kind of aggression and thought either republican or democrat that this is great to see romney take need to obama or obama taking at to romney. i'm not so sure women see it the same way. and there was a female moderator. i do not know of that aggression played quite as well as when it was taken to candy crowley. it is cleared these guys don't have great feelings towards each other. neither of them tried to hide it. in tuesday night's debate, the gloves or offer. they were gunning for each other.

caller: good morning. i agree with what you said. we do vote for selfish reasons. i voted for obama last time because the big platform for hope and change and a huge focus on economic change. cut the deficit and cut the debt but he is not done that. birth control and abortion and being able to get to a doctor for a free cancer screening. obama did not get us any of those things in the first place. we still have a voice. i did not think anybody else should be paying for those things for me. if these are priorities for women, we have the ability to

set them as a priority. when the economy goes bad, we sacrificed to make sure our kids are healthy and they play sports and they go to school. having a president who says someone is out to take those things from us is using scare tactics. we are in that moment of desperation. obama said he was deeply offended when someone would question him about the support of his government diplomats. i'm offended he is not done what he said he would do. host: ok. s.e. cupp. guest: there are some good points there. what has been interesting to me to watch is that president

obama and democrats have managed to make big government seem really cool and small government seem really mean. that is a defense mechanism and also in response to some shift in sexual politics. there was a pew study that looked at the gender gap. it has been growing over 30 years. women are voting more democratic than republican and voting more democrats than men are. becauseson is not a of abortion but because women have become more interested in big government solutions. they find these solutions more attractive than men do.

that is somewhat bizarre. think back to the point of women's liberation and second wave of feminism and think of the anthems of that time, " sisters are doing it for themselves." it seems a step backwards to see women groveling at the feet of big government to take care of them and to pay their bills and to be their voice. we have more rights than we ever had had in the past and our voices are louder than ever. look on television or listen to the radio or pick up a book or a newspaper or magazine and see just how strong women's voices are. if women were being honest with themselves and looking at the choices they have and the kinds

of scare tactics the democrats are using to win their votes, it isould relealize really a pander. plenty of other special interest groups. that is offensive and degrading and signal that democrats do not think very much of us. host: we will hear from joe in florida. caller: how are you today/ ? good morning. i am hispanic and i voted for romney -- or i'm going to vote for romney primarily because i think in the debate the other night and the question arose or

obama brought it up about % on his income because it goes through a blind trust. there is a difference in what he pays. rahm is paying less, -- romney is paying less, etc. etc. obama is doing the same thing but he doesn't say that about himself. people have to pay. guest: what every think about mitt romney, he is not doing anything illegal. he wants to reform the tax code. schumer said tax reform is not going to happen.

i think that is disheartening to a lot of people. densome.nd burger s host: a lot of reaction honor twitter page 2 e. said about people's motivation for voting. guest: well, sure. that is part of american independence and a part of self- reliance and a point of self sustaining the american spirit. this is what we do. we do it for love of country and faith.

those are also selfless interests. anyone who suggest there vote is strictly for the good of others is probably got their priorities mixed up. i'll people are voting to make sure their families are protected and that they are protected and that kind of bill it makes sense to me. host: we have an e-mail from dedi. guest: it is true that governor ght ey has been a little lik on specifics. i am not sure he has much incentive to be more specific. every time he leaks one of his plans, it is written by the

obama administration. he wants to reduce effective tax rates and to grow the economy by allowing the top income earners to save more of their own money. the usual free-market solutions. host: mary is next in a virginia. caller: mary -- i have no voting for 50-some years for democrats. now lived in richmond --now i lived in richmond. think obama has done a good job. mr. clinton and mrs. hillary

clinton is the best, the best that you have to offer. the man running for the republican ticket have told some money lies they're upside down. try to fit his needs. host: what about the label of mitt romney as a flip-flop per? .uest: he has earned that i think mitt romney deserves part of that. we have a record of his time in massachusetts as governor and a record of him campaigning before that and after that and currently. i think it is fair to judge his

statements against himself and asked him where he stands now. if you're going back to the electorate and their number one priority is the economy, if they feel like he is not equipped to handle the economy, those sorts of things on that matter as much. obama has not been held to a high standard on the promises he has failed to keep any changes he has had in his position. i think voters are a little forgiving when it comes to that. obama's ability sell some past and one of those hurdles and then mitt romney's flip flopping is going to hurt him at the polls. host: we have another tweet for you here.

guest: i cannot speak for him but lilly ledbetter is a tricky situation. it sounds great to say that the first bill i signed was for equal pay but that is not the case. lilly ledbetter legislation does not do anything to change equal pay. women still don't have equal pay and that is another subject. people would suggest there is an explanation that works. you can sue at a greater rate and you have a greater time portal to do with. -- have a greater time period to do it. that is exactly what lilly ledbetter does. host: georgia in new jersey.

caller: i was listening to celinda lake and what they are probably not saying is what they are seeing out here making the hair on the back of their necks stand up. i am hearing desperation. a wife, her husband works these long hours. another single mom with kids struggling to make her dollars stretch. all these people will have repercussions in the election. i think we'll see it will make their heads spin. and they it's coming will make excuses as to what is happening.

all these stupid social issues like what they are hashing over with women's rights. that will take second fiddle to the realities. they are backing women against the wall and the obama administration is going to take a hard fall. guest: i think you are seeing some of that the tactics. a lot of the bush policies are responsible for the economic crisis in 2008 and 2009. of a strawhing avenu man. the question asked president obama, "what have you done tore my vote -- what have you done to

earn my vote?" the president said i killed osama bin laden and it was it not answer n answer. mitt romney said this president has failed to deliver, to reduce health insurance premiums for the middle class. on and on to reforms and social security and the list kept on going. more people on welfare. the response from the left is that that was bush's fault. those were the things obama said he would do to get us out of the current economic crisis. o's were not bush's creations --

those were not bush's creations . those were policies obama did not keep. that is where you need to start, where president obama made promises that he failed to keep. host: there are graphics in "new york daily news" this morning asking women the most important issues facing women. host: compare that to men in the survery. what do you make of that? guest: that flies in the face of every poll i've seen. i will not call the poll a lie.

i have not seen any poll suggested abortion is the number-one issue among women. reproductive rights are generally down below the economy, health care, and education. i am reluctant to comment on whether think it's probably an out wire pull -- outlier poll. caller: thank you for taking my call. my main concern is foreign policy. i am hesitant to vote for mr. romney because of his attacks on the commander in chief and a reference to libya. the commander in chief took responsibility for what happened. what must be noted is that

everybody thinks that security supports -- such a thing is handled by the department of state. that is not the case. secretary clinton said that was ultimately her fault. that is not an accurate. however, it ultimately does come down to the president when he takes the blame for what happened. i want people to understand that the security of these consulates and embassies does not run all the way up to the top of the white house. guest: first, thank you for your service. he is right. the state department is ultimately responsible for securing our assets abroad,

embassies and consulates, and it was right for the state department to take responsibility finally for those security inefficiencies. the problem with libya, and it is a huge problem, is that from its inception, this has been mishandled by the white house, by the state department, and by the u.n. ambassador susan rice. there is enough blame to go around. as we learned in the house oversight committee hearing last week, there had been a security problems in libya -- i counted 13, over the months before 9/11 of this year in libya and that attack that killed chris stevens and three others that were not dealt with. security was requested and denied. democrats tried to suggest that was because of republican cuts.

that was made clear in the hearing, that the state department was not considering cuts as part of the problem. but security denied -- that is a state department problem. ultimately, hillary clinton, as the president said, answers to him. the problem was not that president obama failed to secure our assets in libya. the problem was the president obama and his surrogates, for weeks after libya, tried to link that attack to a video and a protest that never happened. the president might be offended by the assertion that that was a political decision but that is absolutely what it was. because it was continuously ignoring intelligence that everyone else had. intelligence from libya and intelligence from the state department that flew in the face of everything that the president and susan rice were saying for weeks. so the mess of libya is ongoing.

for me, it is not entirely about political point. it is not about if obama is winning on a this or if mitt romney is winning on this. for me, it is because we have national security interests in solving this problem. al qaeda is not going away. they are growing. as they see chaos unraveling all over the middle east, they are more and more attracted to places like benghazi where we have, apparently, sort of turned our eyes away from. the problem is only going to get worse. whoever is in the white house in november is going to need to look very hard at this. we're not going to stop asking for answers on libya just because hillary clinton has said she takes responsibility or just because president obama had a good debate tonight on this issue. i am hoping that on monday in a foreign policy debate, it comes up again and again. host: one of the tribune

newspapers this morning had an article that identified the militant who led that attack. the fbi has seen a picture of him. they do not know where that person is. just an update. s.e. cupp is our guest here, one of the hosts for msnbc's the cycle." we have a democratic caller. caller: good morning. i watched "the cycle" basically every day. i enjoy every one that is on there. everyone who is the major breadwinner in their household needs to pay attention to what is going on. if you are the major breadwinner with children and you are making under $250,000 a year, your best bet is to vote democrat. what happens to journalism? everyone knows that the republicans do not want even

romney to be a president. they just want to get the party. that is all they care about. they do not care that he is a mormon. they do not care that he flip flops. these are not the republicans of your mothers and fathers. these rt party years. -- these are people from the tea party. i imagine what you'll be doing tomorrow if you allow romney to get into office. he sends our jobs to other countries. host: i will get a response. guest: i will show the caller the same level of respect she showed me and not respond. host: republican caller from utah. go ahead. caller: i have actually always voted independent, for what i thought was the best candidate. i seriously consider voting for obama the last time. i went to the united states

federal academy for knowledge on at john mccain. i did not like what he stood for personally. i like the idea of hope and change. i really hoped it would come through. my concern is this -- i think both candidates -- [indiscernible] both campaigns. people talk about romney flip- floping, but i do not see it that way. i think he is consistent. the things that mean the most to me, god, family, individual rights. people say he does not have that. his economic plan, the thing that he said is that he would allow deductions. that is unusual. i have never heard that before. no one seems to be listening to

what he says. host: let's get s.e. cupp to respond. guest: it is fair to say most of the flip-floping romney has done has been on social issues, abortion, guns, gay marriage -- well, not gay marriage, but some of his social issues and not his economic issues. that is probably because his economic policy is informed by his experience as a businessman, and i am not sure that has really wavered or that he has had to make political answers for his economic policies and the way he has had to come up with political answers for his social policies. so, you know, whether you think that he should get a pass on the social flip-floping or not, that is your call. some people, i think, would still have an issue with his changing a mind on a number of those.

again, even the president obama has changed his mind on a lot of things as well, too. including the single-payer system but i think the caller is right, romney has been fairly consistent where his economic policy is concerned. i think that is because he's very clear himself on what his economic policy would be based on his business experience. host: ohio, independent caller. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am in the state of ohio and i am an african-american female. there are a lot of us out there. i voted for president bush before. then i voted for president obama the last time. what in understand is that it takes a long time when you are in an economic crisis for eight years, it takes awhile to get out of the whole. i lookbook -- to get out of the hole. i look at gas prices here and the nation. when i came home last night, it

was $3.31. so i am seeing a change per gallon in the status, so i think the country -- we are a nation that wants everything instantly. when i hear people like conservative women saying that women should vote not with their part, i think that is sexist and degrading to women. it is not helping. i would like to hear her comment. i know foreign-policy. my husband is an ex-marine. i know we have economic problems in this country, but i do not think, when it comes to china and libya and ahmadinejad, we can blow our economic plan up. that is not going to work. when america is attacked, we forget about our economics and we all come together. host: ok. guest: she touched on a lot of things. i think she is right that these

kinds of economic changes that we want to see will take some time. that is absolutely true. i think the point that mitt romney is trying to mate and -- trying to make and other critics of the president are trying to make is we did not set up the timeline for president obama. he said it up for himself. he made promises to reduce unemployment and to cut the debt and the deficit and to reduce spending and grow the economy. he made promises based on his own timetable and has not kept those promises. and i think that is made worse by the fact that for the first two years, he had total democratic control. the question is not why hasn't the economy changed overnight -- it is, why has the president not done what he said he was going to do? as for gas prices, you know, the president does not really have much to do with gas prices. when they go up, it is not

really his fault. when they come down, he does not really get the credit either. gas prices are, of course, about supply and demand. the president energy -- the president's energy policy can be criticized. i am hoping that energy comes up again in the foreign policy debate because it is important. the other point that the caller made was about michele bachmann and her comment that women should vote with their smarts and other parts. not sure what part of that is offensive to you, but if the idea is you think women should vote with their parts, i would ask for an explanation of exactly what that means. in the michele bachmann is trying to point out that we are not just -- i think michele bachmann is trying to point out that we're not just our reproductive parts, that we have a brain of our own and we think about the world in many ways that men do. we have economic concerns aside from abortion and aside from

contraception. and i would argue, and the reason is a conservative, because my life is affected on a daily basis far more by taxes than by reproductive issues. and that is not me, that is everyone. you may think otherwise because abortion is an important issue to you and that is all right, but your daily life is affected more by taxes than anything else. i think that is what michele bachmann was trying to say. to the foreign policy part, not quite sure what the caller was getting at, but china and russia certainly are important foreign policy issues, both economically and in terms of national security, and i am sure there will both come up on monday at the debate. host: time for one or two more calls. maxine in florida, democratic caller. caller: thank you for taking my call. the problem i have with romney -- you take when he was governor

of massachusetts, he left there with a 37% unfavorable rate. he also left the state with the 47th in job creation. he goes to utah for the olympics, and he says he balanced the budget. yes, after he went to the government to get funding to assist with the olympics. my thing is that we give more power to the presidency when we should be looking at congress. because these candidates for the presidency have a lot of things that they want to do, that they cannot do, based on the congress. there are a lot of things that obama tried to get through. but they wanted him to be a one-

term president, so everything he tried to do that was favorable for the country, congress voted it down. guest: again, i am sure that the caller is aware that for the first two years of office, obama had a democrat majority. he had democrat control of the senate and the house. so there were things he wanted to get done and he certainly could have. there were a lot of things he said he was going to do and did not. comprehensive immigration reform, reforming social security and medicare. these are all things he decided not to do so that he could concentrate primarily on the affordable care act. and if that was his number one priority, that is fine. he can own that. but, certainly, i think most people wanted the priority to be on job creation, and certainly it does not look like it was. or if it was, we are not reaping

the benefits of that yet. host: you talked about how tax's impact you more on a daily basis than reproductive issues. this is from twitter -- host: on the issue of taxes, president obama says that he has not raised taxes. guest: well, he has as part of the affordable care act. it will raise taxes on the majority of the country and almost all of the middle class. imbedded in the affordable care act is a huge tax, and that was part of the supreme court ruling. of course, there are other taxes imbedded into a number of obama policies. but, you know, unfortunately, we will not start to see the repercussions of the affordable care act because it is so

sweeping for a couple of years. host: our last call from orange, virginia, republican. caller: first of all, i think everyone should go into google and put tweeters threatening romney and see what our world is turning into. all these false promises. why did these people who have been in there all their lives sucking money from us, why did they not tell them that he was lying? doing it because of blood? and when it does that man ever do anything? you see him yelling at people trying to get his weight about -- trying to get his way. host: are you talking about president obama? caller: yes. host: why are you going to vote for romney? caller: because he will not make

me have sharia law. romney is a mormon, but he is a good man. he will not take up for our enemies like obama does. guest: obama is a christian. do you not believe that? caller: i do not believe that. i do not believe that they would murder unborn kids. keep your legs close. nowadays, you can find ways to not get pregnant. guest: i am not sure that obama is implying that obama would enforce sharia law. but to that point, i think a lot of christians take issue to joyce's extreme pro- stands, and it is extreme -- and his extreme pro-choice stance, and it is extreme. i think people would be surprised. i think there is a legitimate argument to be made that president obama's pro-choice

positions do not jive with christian orthodoxy, but i certainly do not believe that he is not a christian. he says he is. he goes to a christian church. i will believe him appeal -- believe him. host: s.e. cupp, thank you for talking to our viewers this morning. appreciate it. next, matthew cooper of "national daily journal" will discuss the latest congressional connection paul, looking at key issues facing congress. up next, "roll call's" abby livingston joins us. democratic congressman christopher murphy and the republicans were off in a debate number 3. what is this race looking like? guest: there are several polls coming out in recent days, but the best administered one shows that mercy has about a six-point

lead with a four-point margin of error. host: how closely are people watching this race and did they think it was going to be close? guest: people are watching this extremely closely in connecticut and in washington. about a year ago, national republicans are not giving this raised the time of day. but they will tell you now that linda has run a very strong campaign, and they think this is serious. host: this is the first time she has ran. is she running a different campaign than the last time? guest: she has a completely different team. one thing that is similar from the last time is she is spending a lot of money. last time she spent $47 million. i did not get the latest report, but as of august, i want to shut -- say she spent about $30 million of her own money. that is having a huge impact on this race -- she spent about $13 million of her own money.

she is the former ceo of wwe, the professional wrestling company. host: what about chris murphy -- who is spending money on his behalf? guest: you have regular democratic donors but you also have outside groups. the most interesting thing about the spending is that national democrats have had to come in and help him and help keep them in the game, a national republicans can step back and say she is spending the money so we can play elsewhere. the two main issues start with the economy, but the one thing in connecticut that is so much more apparent than elsewhere is the women's issues. murphy's camp has been trying to isolate mcmahon, trying to point her as an extremist on abortion and contraception. scheuble or -- label herself as pro-choice.

about a year ago, republicans would tell you they wanted mitt romney at the top of this ticket. i do not know if it is that strong. obama is going to win this one fairly easy in connecticut. but the poll that came out this morning from the hartford courant, she set murphy was not having an effect on obama. host: whether you're looking for in this afternoon's debate? -- what are you looking for? guest: i think there will be fireworks. there might be some sound bites surfacing at the national level. they are ready to make some personal points about each other. host: abby livingston, thank you very much. this afternoon -- that debate is this afternoon. and on monday, the third debate between presidential candidates. go to our website c-span.org to

find out if we have covered a debate in your district or in your state. we will be right back with that new national journal congressional connection poll right after this break. >> its starts as an economic argument. men are having a harder time adapting to the economy and women are adapting more easily. i cannot tell you why. there have been different times in history where men have adapted more easily. education and credentials -- the economy as fast-changing. women seem to be getting those skills and credentials at a much faster rate than men and they seem to be more nimble. that filters down into our society. i talk about how that changes marriage and our notions of fatherhood and what man can and cannot do in families. you know, how young people have sex and make decisions. so you really start to see it having an influence in our culture. >> at tucker curls and joins the author to discuss "the end of the men" this week and on c-

."an2's "book tv >> "washington journal" continues. host: matthew cooper is joining us to talk about the congressional connection poll. here is the headline from yesterday from this poll -- what did you find out? host: it was an interesting service. we do this regularly. they're designed to get a sense of the public is on various issues facing congress. we did pretty deep. in this week's "national daily journal" we look at the fiscal cliff that congress is facing when they come back after the elections. somethings are contradictory

that we found out, and a lot of things that make for difficult atmosphere in congress in trying to cut the very complicated deal. we found that about two-thirds of respondents think the idea of these automatic cuts is a bad one, so the one congress to avoid that. about two-thirds are much more likely to say that what their particular member of congress to compromise rather than stick by their principals and risk a deal. at the same time, they're tough on a number of issues. they're wary of any cuts to entitlements. they're pretty comfortable with letting the bush tax cuts expire on wealthier earners. it is an interesting set of results. host: when it comes to the bush era tax cuts, this is what you found -- when you serve raid those on letting them expire on at the wealthiest americans, 55% said yes, put them on the table. 36% said no.

were you surprised by those numbers? guest: not totally. it is pretty consistent with what we have seen all year. you never know, push comes to shove, people may become more jittery about these kind of tax sites -- these kind of tax hikes. it will all be affected by the presidential race, because president obama is committed to letting those rates go up. mitt romney is adamantly opposed to that. but we were not shocked by that result. host: you asked them and litany of questions about what should be part of any deficit deal. raising the eligibility age for medicare as part of the deficit deal -- 57% said, no, i shall not be part of a deal. 39% said yes. what do you think of that? guest: i think what is interesting is the disconnect between the public and the lead washington opinion, for lack of a better term. i think there is a pretty broad consensus in congress in both

parties -- maybe more on the republican side, about doing something about medicare in terms of getting that eligibility age up. but there's much more wariness in the country about that. host: that seems to be a non- starter for those polled, but when you asked them if there should be restrictions on spending for medicare and social security, people were split. guest: yeah, a little more split on that. you know, i think that is one of those ones that has to play at. if i had to guess, i think it will be a little more comfortable with cutting medicare spending when it comes to reimbursing hospitals and physicians. a little less so when it comes to their own benefits. we will have to see on that one. host: we're talking to matthew cooper, editor of "national daily journal." they surveyed people and ask them about what congress faces when they come back during this lame duck. you have heard a lot about the fiscal cliff.

asked people what they want congress to do. we want to get our viewers involved. start calling in now with your comments or questions for matthew cooper about what congress faces. within this story that was written were these two graphics about compromise. when it comes to the federal budget deficit, would you like lawmakers to share your views to either stand by their principles, even if that means no progress is made, or be willing to compromise, even if that means they struck a deal that you disagree with? overwhelmingly about broken down -- overwhelmingly, broken- down -- host: overwhelmingly, they all said they want some sort of compromise. guest: i think that is probably the most encouraging sign that there could be a deal on this whole fiscal cliff question.

you know, if the public is getting their members of congress, a kind of, room to cut a deal and to back up some of the things they may have promised when they ran, that is more likely to allow a deal. but, again, you have to see when you get down to the actual grass pack of what the deal would look like, and people may suddenly recoiled. it is an interesting finding for now and we will have to see when we get closer. host: then you ask, if congress fails to get an agreement, who you think should get the blame? again, breaking it down along those categories. overwhelmingly, the people said it all parties equally will get the blame. guest: yeah, i was not as surprised by that. i think there is a pox on all your houses kind of attitude with the public. when you delve even deeper, you see that they were more likely to blame republicans and

congressional republicans than president obama and less likely to blame congressional democrats than president obama. i thought that was kind of interesting. again, that is the kind of thing that can change. it might be reflective of the determination of so many of the freshmen republicans, sent to be self more republicans, who came into congress are really driving the agenda on capitol hill -- soon to be sophomore republicans. host: what is the take away as congress gets back and prepares to take on these issues? guest: it is very tough. you have a public that, in the abstract, wants compromise. in terms of the specifics, not as much. they hate these automatic cuts, but they are looming. i do not think there is tons of room here for, you know, at least in terms of public opinion, for congress to get there.

no, i think if i was a member of congress, i would look at these results quite seriously. host: barber in texas, democratic caller. -- barbara, in texas. caller: earlier this morning i was watching cnn and president obama said that he would veto congress if they voted against going ahead with the fiscal cliff and objecting to it. i was wondering if you know anything about that. also, will the republicans filibuster it if it comes that farber in congress? thank you. -- if it comes that far in congress? thank you. guest: these bush era tax cuts

which lowered rates across the board are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. that is going to happen automatically unless congress does something to stop it. president obama has basically said he wants to keep them e for a lower them earners -- he wants to keep them for lower tax bracket earners but wants to keep bemba -- let them go for higher ones. congress is pressured to lower them for the groups he thinks should be lowered. the filibuster does not come in quite yet because these things are going to expire. can congress pass some deal to keep them from expiring? that may engender a filibuster. if i was to guess what will

happen, i think they are going to do something to keep rates where they are at and wait until after the session that is coming up. there is a tight window to try to cut this complicated deal. host: the caller is referring to a "washington post" front-page article this morning. it says if he wins reelection, obama maybe to dictate the terms of the bipartisan debt reduction deal. if he loses, obama could make sure that the tax rates rise before he hands over the key to the white house on inauguration day in late january. officials declined to say whether the veto threat will stay if obama loses the election. mike in michigan, republican caller. caller: my question is -- when is obama going to pass a budget? harry reid has never brought up

a budget proposal to this administration. it is irrelevant. they cannot run an administration without this. they have to pass a budget. host: we got your point and we're getting feedback, so a reminder, you have to turn the television down when you call in. guest: greta, this is a frequent complaint about the u.s. senate, which is controlled by democrats, that they're not passing budgets. you know, it is one that continues. congress and the government can continue to function. we still have national parks and the navy and all kinds of things, even without a formal budget getting approved. they just kind of kick the

current spending down the road. you know, we will see if they can finally get to, you know, a more thoughtful and considerate budget. host: a call from an -- a call from alabama, independent. caller: good morning. how is everyone doing this morning? guest: good. caller: speaking of the fiscal cliff, i think one of the greatest compliments was done when they attached the sequestration with the expiration of those tax cuts. correct me if i am wrong, the amount of revenue from the bush tax cuts will be more than what will come in for the sequestration. so it will actually balance itself out. after everything that has gone on for the past decade, it is time for us to realize we have to pay the piper. every american, not just one or two. we should have had a war tax but we did not.

i am 50 years old. it is time for my generation to start paying for the bills that started coming in 30 years ago. host: for you, what is on the table as some sort of it does a deal that could court -- hurt you? caller: right now, a disabled veteran. i have social security. i have that and investments of my own, so i am doing ok. unless, of course, they decide to cut the benefits that i worked for and that i served for. other than that, i am ok. i was ok through this recession. even though 2008 really destroyed me, i came out and and doing all right. host: do you own a home? are you ok with eliminating the mortgage interest deduction? caller: i own my home out right.

i just pay taxes. host: what do you make of that phone call? guest: i think the caller expresses a popular sentiment, which is the country wants to see something done about the deficit. now, in our poll, that was sort of less concern about the deficit than cutting entitlements. in some ways, that was implied stayhe collar -- caller's in it because he did not want to see his veteran and disability benefits cut. bet those are the kinds of programs that will be in the cross held -- in the cross hairs this fall. there is a lot of money on the table that congress is supposed cut. $1.2 drilling, which is a lot. $600 billion or so from the defense. $600 billion from domestic programs. everybody said they do not want the defense cuts.

most everyone says they do not want the domestic cuts. the question is, can get to an equal number without it being an automatic chopping block thing? and we're going to see about that. host: kathy in cincinnati, ohio, democratic caller. caller: i was watching a recent cato institute program on c-span and one of the attorneys who had been on the simpson-bowles project made the statement that only six republican members of congress had voted for revenue increases since sometime in the 1990's, and one happened to be lugar, who is leaving congress. i am curious about your opinion on that. guest: well, i think there are a lot of republicans and some democrats on record about the tax increase. some of it comes down to semantics. can you cut a deal where you may

not raise current income tax rates and you probably lower them but get rid of lots of deductions? you know, can you have that kind of tax reform simplification that a lot of people say they want? they get bogged down in the details. some people believe that, if that is the context, the republicans would be more willing to go along with these things that are not seen as a tax increase but in some respects are. we will have to see, but i think the cato fellow was right, very few have voted for a tax hike of any kind. host: who were the gang of eight and where are they in negotiations? guest: it is a slew of senators that began their work last year. they include tom coburn of oklahoma, said xp chan was of georgia, mark warner of virginia, and others -- saxby

chambliss of georgia, and others. they have not been able to agree on this yet either, even though they have expressed good will. that bolsters the fundamental problem here. everybody kind of agrees on the goal of deficit-cutting in the specifics are very difficult. host: south carolina, republican. caller: good morning. i was just wondering, what type of interest rate and how much interest do we pay on our national debt each year? i think that is the biggest waste of money that is in government. we should not have any debt at all. guest: well, the caller ask a very important question. we have about $16 trillion in national debt. how much interest are we paying? i forget the percentage of the federal budget that is actually going to servicing that debt.

it is pretty large. it might even be as much as a quarter of the budget, but i do not know the figure of hand. what is interesting is that borrowing costs have been going down the last couple of years. even as the debt has soared, the bond market is, investors have been getting very low returns. we have been able to get money on the cheap. people are worried that that will end. we will have to raise interest rates to attract china and others back, and that would really mess up the federal budget even more. but for the moment, at least, borrowing costs are fairly low. host: this is from twitter -- host: what do people say? guest: they were game for that.

a very relevant majority were comfortable with seeing those deductions limit for upper- income taxpayers. that echoes the romney position. the obama position came out the other night in the debates and said you could, you know, have caps on some of the things like the mortgage deduction and other kinds of deductions when you got to the upper bracket. i think on that one, there is some consensus. host: here is another one from twitter -- do we need any more cuts? guest: well, it all depends on how you see the debt. it is true that, you know, a federal work force as a percentage of the world economy is down. federal spending as a percentage

of gdp is coming down. but it is still a very large national debt. $16 trillion, getting north of 100% of your annual gross domestic product. which i think most economists feel is a treacherous place to be. that is a lot of debt to carry. i think very few in congress as they go into this session are of the belief that we cut in half. host: south carolina, independent caller. caller: thank you for taking my phone call. i want to say, first, that i am a true independent. i hear these people calling in and i think some are leaning more republican or democratic. i did vote for clinton. when obama ran for office, i did consider him. but after researching his background, i did vote for john mccain. i did change my vote on that. ok?

but i am so angry that everybody always blames the republicans for not compromising. i do not get that. the senate is controlled by democrats and they have not passed a budget in how long? the last six years. so i get really angry that the media always blames the the republicans for stuff. host: we heard from administration officials that president obama is talking about what he might do on this so- called fiscal cliff and the lame duck. have we heard from republican leadership in the house about what they're planning to do on the fiscal clough --- cliff? guest: they have made it clear that they do not want tax increases. before congress went out, they tried to defer these defense cuts. that is what they focused most of their energy on. in response, our poll does show that people are slightly more

inclined to blame republicans if there is no deal. that is a reflection of our survey. and, you know, why that is, not entirely sure, but i think it probably has something to do with the fact that, you know, republicans, especially in the house, a kind of drove this conversation. whether you think they were taking a heroic stand against the deficit or whether you think there were being, you know, reckless, they basically drove this idea that we're not going to raise the debt ceiling unless we get cuts. and that prompted the supercommittee of 2011 and pushed us to the moment where we are at now. in that sense, i think republicans have driven the conversation. host: what are senate democrats saying about the lame duck? guest: they are sticking with their talking point, which is that they really want these bush tax rates eliminated for the upper income bracket.

you know, they're talking generally about spending cuts. but that is the specific that they have really honed in on. host: pennsylvania, chastity. caller: i have a question regarding republicans in the house. good morning, mr. cooper. during the passing of different bills through the office of the senate to the congress that is now under republican control, they vetoed everything. they keep blaming us during this debate in this election time, romney and through every governor i have seen it through every state. we have never passed anything. if we attempt to pass something, they block it. i am concerned with how the media is playing out during these debates and say, well, ok,

it is nuys for our party to accept -- it is nice for our party to accept been control. i want more compromise on the republicans in passing some of these laws, whether they get tax breaks, which they really do not need, and helping the american people. thank you. guest: she reflects a sentiment we found in the congressional connection poll, which is people are saying, overwhelmingly, they want compromise. they think it is more important than their member of congress sticking by a position they may have enunciated earlier. she is not alone in that. host: a tweet -- host: matthew cooper, is that where the money is when it comes to tax revenue, in the middle

class -- from the middle class? guest: that is part of it, but it is also -- part of the disposition on the part of congress not to want to say do big military cuts. so there is no consensus for that kind of thing. and, you know, there is a lot of money going to middle-class entitlements. obviously, congress will look there. but there are plenty of places where they can look in terms of corporate subsidies and things like that. i am sure those will be examined as we go forward. host: florida, a republican. caller: good morning. i have a request and then the question on the tax breaks. on city, county, and state, i find it ironic that these cra's are pushed for in the economic development zones -- businesses get tax breaks and then local

tax breaks go up on property- tax. liberals are giving these tax breaks to big businesses and little businesses and they do beautification with the money and they can borrow bond money on these cra's. but the national liberals want to raise taxes on businesses, and we all know consumers pay the taxes for these businesses in the price of the products. i wish one of your reporters would do a story on that, the difference between the national taxes and local taxes toward business. my question on the taxes is, have any of your reporters asked the president or his surrogates what the exact tax breaks are for going overseas with business and why he did not put an end to its during, especially the first two years when he had the house and senate controlled with the democrats? guest: well, the caller raises interesting questions.

let me start with the first part about business taxes. there is actually kind of a pretty good consensus on chlorine corporate tax rates. we have -- on lowering corporate tax rates. effectively, the rates are not as high as some countries because of a number of deductions, but there is a great consensus for getting those corporate rates flatter. as for the local business tax breaks, i have not followed those as closely because i am focused on the national scene here. but any number of republicans encouraged things like enterprise zones and other kinds of breaks for businesses relocating to different areas. that is different from the community reinvestment act. finally, about the tax breaks -- yeah, i mean, we know what they are and they have to do with the deductibility and being able to take write-offs for these kind

of overseas moves. there is no mystery about them. it is a good question why, if the president is so adamant about breaks for moving jobs overseas, s why he did overseaseek to close those loopholes -- why he did not siik eek to close those loopholes. host: twitter -- host: an independent caller from missouri, go ahead. caller: i would like to ask mr. cooper two or three divert things that he has possibly polled. we hear a lot about -- are you better off than you were four years ago? i think the question should be revamped to -- are we better off

in this country as opposed to the austerity that the europeans have tried? i also was wondering if he has ever polled people to ask them whether or not there district has ever been gerrymandered? the third one, do people know when gas pricing changed from being what was paid for it and what margin was allowed to the current supply and demand? host: a lot there, matthew cooper. guest: the short answer is we have not really polled on those questions. but there is no question that some european countries have tried a much greater degree of austerity then we have. it has not necessarily resulted in they're doing better. they're still suffering from problems that are plaguing the

entire eurozone. as far as gerrymandering, i have not seen polls as to whether people think they have been gerrymandered. but almost by definition, everyone has been. there is redistricting. sometimes they go to bipartisan commissions. either way, the end up with some pretty interesting shapes. host: this is from twitter -- host: we will go to marlene, a republican. caller: on the subject of compromise, the definition of compromises that both parties give up something in order to achieve a compromise. failing to do bad -- to do that is wrong and it is capitulation

on the part of the person that gives up, which seems to be the desire of our administration. and at the other thing was the amount of money that would be saved -- "saved" by letting the bush tax cuts expire is insufficient to do anything much to close the gap on where we are with the finances, and the people who are looking for compromise should be wondering -- what next? guest: well, i think you are right, that is what compromise is about, about all sides getting in. but i think people in congress and the administration -- you know, the administration extended the bush tax cuts in 2010 and they neglected to cut a deal that included raising the debt ceiling, even though there

were asked about it at the time, most notably by one of my colleagues here. you know, they got pushed into this fiscal cliff issue because the debt ceiling issue had not been dealt with. so they feel belittled hoodwinked and i think they're very determined to let these tax cuts expire now. i do not know if it will happen. i do not know if they will kick the can down the road. but they are filling more feisty than they were in 2010. the caller is right, raising the top rate does not get you all the way there for the kind of deficit-cutting calls they have been talking about. host: matthew cooper, where could there be some common ground? what have the gang of eight said about common ground between the two parties? guest: well, the common ground,

as it is generally considered, has been taking care of all of this in the context of overall tax reform. you basically do kind of what you did in 1986. you try to get rates down for everybody and you close up a lot of loopholes. over the last generation, we have done a lot of our policy- making by tax cuts or tax incentives or tax deductions, whenever you want to call them, trying to mold people's behavior. encouraging them to buy housing, child care credits, all kinds of things. the idea of tax reform is that you really try to wipe as much of that out. but in exchange, you lower rates. i think that is the greatest form of compromise. the problem is, that is an awfully complicated thing to do. i think that is going to take

more than the couple of weeks they have of legislative time schedule before the bush tax cuts expire. host: matthew cooper is the editor of "national daily journal," joining us from their newsroom. we're talking about their latest congressional connection paul looking at the so-called fiscal cliff -- congressional connection poult looking at the so-called fiscal cliff. next, independent caller from virginia. caller: i hear what you're saying about the sequestration, but we talk about small business -- if you go into business, one of the first things you find out is whoever you rented the building from, they are going into business with you because they are going to charge you so much money for rent. taxes are not really the

problem. it is what people charge. here is the irony of it all, you go into a business and take a building that is a run-down piece of property and they charge $3,000 a month -- if you do not go into that business, that person would be using that same $3,000 that he is not making as a tax deduction. in reality, you're dealing with greed in our society. [indiscernible] people say, why are they not using those buildings? they are not using those buildings because it is a tax deduction. thank you. guest: well, i am not entirely sure i follow that. because if you use the building, you're getting deductions as part of your business. it is a business expense. it can be itemized different ways. there's no question -- just to

use what he said, there are a lot of things that affect business growth and not just tax rates. they have to do with credit brackets. you know, part of -- most of what happened in the near cataclysm of 2008, 2009, was that credit froze up between corporations, between banks and companies or small businesses. that is a huge part of what drives our economy, leaving aside tax rates. host: our last phone call is from louisiana, a republican. caller: i have watched you for years, mr. cooper. you do good work. guest: thank you. caller: looking back at all of this, i really think that when they look back in there was not a budget passed by harry reid or obama for the last four years, i

really think history will say it had a lot to do -- people do not realize, if they would have passed a budget three years ago, four years ago, you know as well as i do, they had to kick the can down the road. my second point is -- mr. cooper, i am sure you are reporting on this comedy's a green jobs -- reporting on this, the green jobs. obama and these green jobs, there is so much fraud. when it comes out, people will be shaking their heads over this. guest: first of all, thank you for the compliments. that was nice.