"washington journal" is next. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> it foggy in washington. our view is obscured. members of congress made feedback. senators took to the sunday talk shows to wait and on topics including immigration reform. a deal emerged between labor unions and the chamber of commerce which tackles a worker visa program. we would like to hear your opinion. here are the numbers to call --

what do you think about the deal? you can send us a tweet @cspanwj.span.or a page from the wall street journal. the senate must convince republicans. hi that is what we are asked in you

about. the agreement between the chamber of commerce and the union. it would kick in 2015. in the first year, there will be 20,000 people. the maximum available per year would be 200,000 visas.

the minimum with the 20,000. it would increase over a four- year period. after five years, the number would the adjusted depending on economic conditions. we hear more about how it would work. it is for nonseasonal, low-wage workers in industries such as hospitality, retail, and construction. employers would have to pay the wage they would pay similar wage.s or the prevailing there would be protections for workers. immigrant workers could change jobs and petition for permanent that is after a year. there would be restrictions on employers. the programuld not during a strike or lockout. the new york times has the story --

it looks at how senators are we acting to what business and .abor leaders have put together here is one paragraph -- ashley tell us more is parker, a congressional reporter for "the new york times." the her details from "the wall street journal" and "the new york times." why is that nifty and that the afl-cio and the chamber of commerce have come to an agreement? it will have a lot of

different components. the holdup in terms of writing has been theon deal on a low skilled worker program between the business and labor communities. that is what salty negotiations before the gas that is what stops the negotiations before the recess. they will have to iron this out before they write the legislative language and introduce the bill. host: why are we seeing them take the lead? they have crafted a deal regarding this one aspect of workers. why isn't this coming out of the senate or house? thet: in 2007, one of reasons that it failed was because the chamber and the afl- aancannot camome up to in

agreement. the senate group has been negotiating in private. you have had these parallel negotiations between the chamber and the afl-cio. the senators felt that these groups new their concerns and where they could compromise and where they could not. they can reach an agreement and the senator should take the agreement and right legislative language. this is ambers does, senators'bill. they will come to an agreement and make recommendations. it is up to the senators to choose what to ask that. you: what numbers are watching -- with members of congress are you watching? guest: on the republican side -- senator graham, senator

mccain. ing as theyntereste are from border states. it reais real. d a tesy t town hall. obe others are not he the much vious candidates. south carolina-- is ground zero for pushback. make its and they can work here. and we can make it work everywhere. also senator schumer, senator t andn, senator and bbennet

others. him? why aren't we talking about the house? a similar group in the house that gets less attention. this group has been negotiating getthe past four years to legislation. they hope to introduce the legislation after congress returns from the break. speaker boehner and the members agreed that it has to come from the senate side. immigration will be a tougher sell in the house. everyone is fine with letting the senate take the lead. the house group wants to make their mark and introduce their own language. >> ashley parker, reporter for

"the new york times." are you traveling around to hear what locals are saying? guest: yeah. i hope to do more. i want to watch senator graham and see the mood in south carolina. it will interesting to see how it plays in congress and in this rates. ist: "the new york times" looking at the opinion of hazel town, pennsylvania. thank you. here are the numbers to call if you would like to way in tone the business labor negotiation deal -- let us listen to one of the

comments made by a senator this weekend on a sunday talk show. we her center lindsey graham way in -- we heard senator lindsey graham away in on cnn -- [video clip] will be the year we pacify him and immigration rate warm signed into law -- we passed immigration law signed into law. to make sure that the guestworker program is available to employers who cannot find an american worker. system willgration turn into a merit is immigration said to him == system. stopping the third wave mean securing the border and controls and get the job in america. we have accomplished that in

this bill. it will pass. host: let us hear what margaret has to say on our democrats line. this is sad news. i could see it coming. nothing is said about the poverty level in our country, the population or poverty level. immigration is not immigration so much as a continued effort to of workers.nd-tier a hotel chain brought in romanians. they get let's rights. the wages do not go up. it rings more poor people into the u.s. they use this excuse that americans will not do the job. they will not do the jobs incorrectly or for low wages. it keeps us in poverty. it is illegal labor. it is happening from food forms

to the way animals are handled and hospitals where noses have been replaced by foreign labor. you cannot reform anything. it pushes the society lower. we do not have lately but one step above it. the new poor people competing with the regular poor people -- will they have benefits, healthcare? will they be used as second class and when they are hurt or used up have no rights? we are trying to make our country like the slave labor in china. host: does it give you encouragement that the afl-cio is signing off on this proposal russia mark we see a picture of the president of the afl-cio. he says the new system helps everyone. caller: they have not been fighting for the poverty level

and quality of jobs for americans. i am not sure who they are writing or. i have not seen benefits go up or health of the people go of. it is prior. -- it is dire. they are talking low wage. independent.s, there is a problem. these workers are not competing with outside workers. they are competing with american workers. this will not do anything better for american worker wages. this will not help america. it will bring american workers down further. host: frank, new york, independent caller. this was a sellout by

labor and by our politicians. they have no honor. look back eight months ago. 9 millionned to the immigrants russia mark they are making -- what happened to the 9 million immigrants? egal," ita term "ill means illegal. it is not fair for the american worker. it looks like america is losing all of the honor that they thought they had accumulated. we are not honorable. we are sellouts. visa program starts april 1, 2015. 200,000tween 20000 and

visas. small businesses would get a preference. one third would reserve for businesses with under 25 point you. there is a on construction jobs. that is limited to 15,000 visas per year. it would rise in the following years. in year five, the numbers will be based on a newly formed immigration bureau with the recommendations that it would provide. we are asking you what you think of this proposal by business and labor groups. gloria, wyoming, independent line. i have been wondering likethey would not do somoi li other countries -- before they come here, they have to have a job.

the way they used to do it. they would have the employer about for the person coming in. they had to keep track of the person. when the person left there and for your, the employer had to let the government know he had left the employment to go elsewhere. they had a set number of years they could be here. it was well tracked by the person who was hiring and the government. that was by the wayside. that made the employer responsible to make sure that if they had a five-year period, and then they left because the employer rest responsible. host: the wall street journal tells us there are protections for

workers. that so they don't lose out on jobs. i wanted to get your opinion, but unfortunately i moved on to the next call. my apologies. bill is calling from arkansas, republican. smith.in fort >host: what you think about what

we just read on employers, and worker protections? caller: it's a good start, but there should be more detail and they should make an exception for people in the health care arena that takes care of disabled veterans. host: what should be exceptions be? work?uld they caller: for people taking care of disabled veterans. host: would you have exceptions for immigrants coming in or would you want to see american jobs dealt with in another way? caller: i beg your pardon. host: would that exception before the immigrants or for the american workers that have those jobs? caller: just to facilitate, to make more visas available so we could have more health care workers to take care of veterans at reasonable cost. host: on facebook --

you can share your opinions on our facebook page by looking for c-span. up next, cincinnati, on our independent line is ron. there's greed and corruption. they take away your social security by privatizing. so what do you expect? you have to go after these people are breaking the laws. it's not fair. this country is not fair anymore. allowing the rich to do the way they do. the working class is being devastated. you cannot expect anything but this. what they want and you get the shaft.

host: let's see what senator chuck schumer had to say yesterday on whether immigration is a done deal. [video clip] >> with the agreement between business and labor, every major policy issue has been resolved on the gang of eight. now we have all agreed we will not come to a final agreement until we see draft legislative language and we agree on that. we drafted some of it already. the rest will be drafted this week. i am very optimistic that we will have an agreement among the eight of us next week. senator patrick leahy has agreed to have extensive marked up and debate on the bill in april. and we go to the floor in may. host: that was chuck schumer. richard is our next caller in minneapolis on our republican line. caller: good morning. sellout by our

politicians, all of them should be voted out. 16%ot a prediction of unemployment. i think it is disgraceful to our politicians that are being bought out by the big corporations. it will lead to more age discrimination like fairview health services due here in minneapolis. thank you. host: daryl in new jersey on our independent line. caller: this is absolutely outrageous. i just want to say to people, if you are a professional person -- i'm a software engineer, there's a game being played now by employers pick. they no longer do their own human resources or own talent recruiting. what is happening is professional on the east coast are getting calls from recruiters on the west coast and the south and southwest and they are saying we have a great opportunity, six figures, but we

will not help you with your relocation, we will not help you with anything, just show up and we will do a six month contract to hire. that's fine, but if you are married and have a family, you cannot just pick up that way. it's a game that is being played. i think this is all about driving the cost of labor. not the man will labor but the cost of professional labor. professional people like me. it's driving the cost of that labor and it is hurting families. host: we saw that one of the senators as part of the gang of eight is a senator from your state. senator menendez, a democrat. who would you like him to weigh in on the issue? caller: what i want to the senator to do is if they are going to pass something like this, to approve something like this, and a half to put in protections to prevent companies from basically outsourcing jobs

, good middle-class jobs, for professional people like me. this is not just information technology people. this has happened to radiologists and physical therapists. they are doing this not just in manufacturing but they are doing it up and down the pace scale. i don't want my senator to support this. host: let's look at some more details about this deal. a story coming to us from the associated press. here's what richard trumka had to say --

we ran through some of the numbers earlier. the store also mentions that a safety valve would allow employers to exceed the cap set if they can show need and pay premium wages. any additional workers brought in would be subtracted from the following years cap,. the workers could move from employer to employer and was able to petition for permanent residence after year and citizenshipeek u.s. there neither is possible for temporary workers right now. linda in myrtle beach, south carolina, democrat. caller: i am outraged about this bill. my husband is a carpenter. we recently moved here from

pennsylvania. it seems that the fat cats, the contractor's down here, are hiring people that don't even have a green card. my husband cannot find a job. van withen them in a their families. one person goes in and they have the six children and the wife waiting in the vehicle. my husband is qualified and is a good worker. we might have to move because he cannot find work here. i spent the contractors in myrtle beach should be fined for not having workers who have a green card. let's take care of us first let's take care of us first. host: richard trumka said these would be protections for workers. instead of hiring an illegal worker, businesses would hire

people who have come to the country through all legal new program and they would have to be paid the same wages as your husband, so they would not be threatening his stop. caller: he does not have a job right now and he will take anything. he will take a $6 that the contractors pay down here, but they don't want to hire my husband. they want to hire people that cannot speak the language, the money abroad. i don't agree with that. licensing and inspection in myrtle beach and i said i would like to know who are to contractors? they said we have nothing to do with that, that it would be immigration. i don't believe it's going to happen. how could anybody controlled test? it is out of hand. everything will fall to the cracks. host: let's look at a story from the state of pennsylvania. a new attitude on immigration.

let's go to our next caller, tony, in boston, on our independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. i was befuddled by the senator's comments that we will need additional workers in the out

years. looking at 2012 population estimates, but showed an increase of 120 million people by 2016 and with no end in sight. that means it will continue to grow after that. of the u.s.e size population an integral part of the immigration discussion, since immigration is a primary driver for that? host: what are your thought about the unions and the timber of commerce being able to come to the table and reach an agreement? caller: i think the unions will do what ever they have to do to grow the unions. they have their own interests. host: what about the chamber? caller: i believe business has its own interest. to grow interest host: let's listen to senator jeff flake of arizona yesterday on nbc about immigration reform. [video clip] laborre much closer with and business agreeing on this guest worker plant. that does not mean we've crossed

every i. we still have a ways to go in terms of looking at the language and making sure it's everything we thought it would be. but we are closer, certainly. >> if there's a deal that you agreed to with this group of aids, but you cannot recruit more republicans on your side, would you walk away? -- this group of 8? >> we are committed to this, if we can get the language right. i think we will stick together as a gamble. gang.a i don't want to talk about walking away. >> how important is senator marco rubio to this? he is seen as a bridge to some of the more conservative members of the senate conference. if he were not in the coalition, would it hurt your cost to get? a get? >> he is extremely important. input intoa lot of the language already.

he's making the point now that we need to go through regular order, which i support. so he is extremely important to this effort. is extremely important to this effort. see senator rubio is getting a lot of attention on this. "the new york times" piece reveals the immigration bill still has a week ago. we also see "the washington post washington post" with this headline -- here is the statement the senator released. he said i am encouraged by reports of an agreement between business groups and unions --

what do you think about this immigration deal reached between business and labor? tactic is our next call in new jersey. emma cracks line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i had a concern with what the congressman mentioned on "meet the press" about the language within the bill. bea we are going to speaking about illegal immigrants, then the people who are also hiring them are an illegal act. so, you are going to have to be consistently treating the cause and the effect of what is happening on that. with regards to the caller from, the earlier caller about the wall streetnk "the journal" mentions that there would be comparable wages but i don't see anything regarding benefit packages like health and stuff like that.

i hear a lot of complaining about draining upon the health care system within the united states. if you are going to be doing this, it has to be comprehensive with this. but if you are offering the same benefit package and the same wages, why do we need immigration workers? we have a lot of unemployed construction workers who need a lot of work, and in other areas also. so, there is concern about taking care of americans first. if we are going to be that inclusive, american workers will work for that. host: patrick from new jersey. , on, st. charles, missouri the republicans line. gary, what do you think? caller: for many years we have had laws and systems set up for immigration, for illegal immigration, once they are here, trying to keep them out, and that didn't work. they violated them and that is how they got there.

a new system is going to stop them? no. host: why are you cynical about that? caller: why am i cynical? look at the approval of government. in congress. by the way, on c-span i heard for a long time -- how many companies left the country? and is it more like 5000 or 500,000 companies left? host: we could do a search on that. why does the number concern you? what does it say about workers and the state of the economy? caller: it concerns me because allof the companies left, the employees out of work when they left the country and now we will fill so many of the jobs with illegal people. host: what would you do to find a solution? say one thing, you could not hire them. they would have to go back home. -- by work was not there

the way, if you had a business and you can't get anybody to work for six dollars an hour, you have to raise your prices. that is how you get an american worker. host: doris from waco, texas. democrats line. caller: i just woke up and turned the tv on. host: go ahead and join in. caller: i think the border definitely should be closed and fixed before any promise of citizenship. in 1986 under reagan, so many millions of illegals were given citizenship. that was supposed to fix the ,roblem, and here we are again not even 30 years later and we are doing the same thing. i was born here. i am 75 years old. in the small town, there are now -- hello?

host: we are still listening. there are more illegals than citizens in the small town where i live near waco. host: what do you think about creating more of a guest worker program, a different form, this w visa program? caller: for about two years they have been doing construction near my home. i don't see anybody who looks like they are citizens. this has been going on for about two wl years. i think the unemployment will go down if we do not taken so many illegals. host: harder you judging whether or not they are citizens? caller: -- host: how can you tell who is a citizen or not? --m ago l e there are no whites or blacks.

host: could they be legal latino americans of mexican americans working in the job? caller: they don't speak english. tom from northto carolina on the independent line. i would like to address something that has not been brought up as far as what are the voting rights of the undocumented workers if they are given the path to citizenship .nder all lawrence --laws under our laws, a felon loses the right to vote and once they cross the border it is a felony offense. do you think? caller: i don't think they should be given voting rights immediately. they should suffer the same consequences as any other felon, unless you will give these convicted felons voting rights back. host: here is what a viewer writes on twitter --

we have some more comments coming into our facebook page. craig says -- you can join in on this conversation on our facebook page. one other comment and a couple of others have said this -- i didn't know business and labor were in charge of the country's immigration policies. saying he thinks this is putting

the cart before the horse. looking at how our news articles are talking about what kind of an effect this agreement will have on members of congress, ashley parker writes and says that -- this story looks at how he is weighing in, but also how the senators are positioned in relation to business and labor unions. you can see that story on "the new york times" website. mary is the next caller from philadelphia on the democrats line. taking myank you for call. i just want to let the audience know that we already have a role laws on the books where every is required to verify a

person's name, social security number, because we provide these andoyers with tax breaks the law has been in effect for over 30 years. it is the federal verification employment laws and database. in order toer, hire someone, they are required , federalto our system payroll taxes, social security taxes, and medicare taxes. when an employer hires an undocumented worker, they are underfunding our system. that's why you hear these senators are now saying that they don't have enough money in medicare, social security, that's because they did not validate workers when they came

to them for employment, because they have to pay into the system. i hope part of this immigration bill is that they are made to pay back taxes, that these employers are made to pay a fine because they violated our federal laws. host: do you think the proposal we have been talking about this morning would make things better or worse? caller: if they paid into the system, like everybody else -- because we have people who go to jail if they don't their federal taxes. to comellow a worker on board because they are undocumented, they should be required to pay our taxes also. they should also be required to pay a fine.

and also, the employer should be made to pay a fine. host: let's leave it there and look at a comment on twitter -- david axelrod weighed in on " meet the press" yesterday. let's take a listen to what he had to say about the politics and president obama's motivation to get an immigration bill passed. [video clip] i understand the paranoia because it is a difficult issue. he wanted this accomplishment. this is a legacy item very no doubt in my mind he wants to pass, and -- company has an immigration reform. host: our next call from washington, d.c., on the independent line. go ahead. caller: good morning. the last caller -- not the last caller before made a comment. it made me realize finally

something both sides can come together on, black and white, democrat and republican, and that seems to be hate. i don't understand. anybody who doesn't elementary review of immigration policy and the history of the united eight knows that before the mid century, it was an open door if border and anyone could pass. it seems to me the only reason why immigration policy has ever ,hanged has been out of hate misconception, ignorance, and intolerance. yet that is where we are again. they are not white and they are not black, therefore therefore they are latino, they are immigrants and they are somehow wrong. host: you are talking about the caller who was joining us from texas who was saying she did not think the workers were legal because he were not white or black, they were anna? isler: the extent to that through, i don't think people are taking into account the history of immigration policies. we have always allowed immigrant in, as long as it supplies our

personal needs. he for that, it was not general notion but now it seems like things seem to be leaning back towards. host: what do you think about the worker visa program we are talking about this morning? caller: i have to admit, i don't know a whole lot about it. studieding from having it but i came into the show late. i do not know the particulars. there are things i am not 100% educated on. host: let's look at the details and we will review what for you and other viewers after we laid out some of the details. this is a deal hammered out between afl-cio and the chamber of commerce. here's what we know about it so far. it would begin in wendy 15. it would extend into the future from there. 2015.would kick in 200,000 visas to come and work. the minimum number would be 20,000. there is a preference for small businesses, a third of the

businesses would be saved for businesses with only 25 employees or fewer. a one and construction jobs -- onn construction jobs--a cap construction jobs. beyond thend program numbers would be aced on the need received, decided by a new immigration bureau. one of our callers earlier asked for details about u.s. jobs going overseas. here is a piece in "the wall street journal." it says you but this multinational corporations, brand-name companies that include more than a fifth of american workers are hiring a broad and cutting back at home.

ofing a look at a couple other stories. pentagon budget fears are dealt -- falling on deaf ears. this is from "the washington times." looking at another story about is warningn, hagel

of changes as the pen icon cuts back. the headline in "the new york times." looking at another story, federal overtime cuts taking a toll on workers and services, reports "the washington post." we can also see more about the sequester, the impact remains elusive, reports "the wall street journal." in the city of baltimore, agencies that help the poor and needy in schools are waiting to see if the public will step up, if donors will help out and teachers who -- and those already employed can be stretched to help carry the

extra load. we also see this from "the washington times" yesterday, a photograph of president obama and the first family coming home from st. john's st. john's church for easter sunday service. we see a little bit about how the white house is celebrating easter. corporate donations and sales of exit have kept the white house easter even rolling. in a time of severe budget restraints, two factors of blame how the white house good welcome 30,000 people for the 135th easter egg roll. corporate sponsors and souvenir eggs helping to pay for the bill. we are talking about a business and labor deal on worker visas. burlington, vermont. democrat line. caller: i think it is a good idea to open the borders. immigrants do yeoman's work. they do excellent work some of that i've seen. i hireetter prices when

a contractor that uses immigrants. the only thing i would say is that we should have .eciprocated kind of laws that if we give them right, then we should have the right to may be immigrate to mexico and do work there and get similar type of benefits. that's the only way it would work. because there's a lot of people who do want to leave the united states for better work and for better jobs. two-wayink it is a street. i think think we need to get the other countries to bump up their standard of living also. host: this is what smiley22 says on twitter --

sharon from naperville, illinois. independent caller. go ahead. caller: good morning. ifust called to comment on you want to learn more about globalization, just click on the united nations because it is all agenda 21. in un host: what do you think about his business and labor deal on immigration? all her co- caller: my comment goes to globalization. host: we are focused on building -- business and labor. bill, what do you think? corporate -- corpus christi, texas. caller: it is ridiculous to get labor to get the representation when they are managing to try to go into the chamber of commerce. how can you expect them to get a good deal? but here's what i called about. i have guest workers coming into

my state, right to work. the employer can never man up because they would not pay the going wage but connced he can bring in foreign skilled labor, welders, because he needed them so badly. guess what he is paying them? he pays them less than the workers in the right to work state. and the republicans down here, they are saying american has found a newer, cheaper, better workforce. from corpusstory christi, texas. let's go to laurel, maryland, and hear what richard has to say on the republicans line. strange to meeems --s morning is the pervasive pervasiveness of the callers who are against this thing. not so much for it. one fellow just recently had a little bit of an answer for it. -- and who knows

the real total of illegal immigrants in this country. let's say there are 20,000 or 20 million. if you are an illegal, you will drive the price down because the contractors using them will take advantage of the fact that you are illegal and you might just do things cheaper or at his will so you won't -- i think reform is not the issue here. there should be an effort to make reparations for what the damage that this has done to the average working man in this country. host: what do you think about how this worker visa program would work? do you think it would take care of the problem you are talking

about, immigrants coming in and earning less pay than american citizens for the same jobs which hurts americans jobs? caller: i can only say that not knowing the intricacies of the bill, i would hope, i would really hope it would really help. but i am coming from a the contrived intentional turning of the head, allowing these immigrants to .ome in when the earthquake took place in haiti, we had 5000 troops down there within weeks, within days, really. if you've got a problem on the border which requires 5000ering, you can have go to haiti for that reason, the reasons they sent them. why couldn't you have that

response to illegal immigration? host: that is richard in maryland. the final headline from "the financial times." we heard from members of congress today, including senator rubio, saying this has not been hammered into official legislation yet. it is a deal struck the twin the afl-cio and the chamber of commerce. we will be hearing more about it in the coming weeks. coming up next on "washington journal" this morning, the faa plans to close more than 100 and 40 airport control tower's of sequestration. we will hear about the impact from the former rector general for the transportation department. later on, what the federal health-care law will mean for insurance premiums. we will be right back. on first ladies,

anna harrison, whose husband william henry harrison, who died the first month in office. julia tyler who becomes resident tyler second wife. >> i think of her as the madonna of first ladies. she loved the publicity. she actually posed as a model at a time when that was, needless to say, frowned upon. she was known as the rows of long island. by all accounts was bewitching. certainly bewitched 57-year-old john tyler. who married her. and she loved being first lady. she had the job for less than a year. it was she who ordered the marine band to play hail to the chief whenever the president appears, and also julia tyler who greeted her guest sitting on a throne on a raised platform with purple plumes in

her hair. it was almost as if she receded to the more queenly role marco washington had deliberately rejected. >> we will include your questions and comments about these three first ladies by phone, face book, and twitter, tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span and c-span three. and on c-span radio and www.c- span.org. will reduce our grants by about five percent, which roughly equates to $22 million or so, which will be varioustive among the licensees and stations that i've described. and so, we have, in fact, taken about a 13% cut in our overall federal funding in the last two years, and if the entire federal government had not had sustained the cuts we sustain

the budget would be $500 billion smaller than it is now. we feel we made a significant contribution to deficit reduction and retirement of the federal debt within our own context. >> the impact of spending cuts on public television, tonight the8:00 eastern on " communicators" on c-span two. host: we are looking at the control tower and surrounding area in lakeland, florida, expected to close april 21 because of sequestration. to talk more about what is in store for control towers at various sites is mary schiovo, former inspector general for the transportation department. thank you for joining us from south carolina. guest: thanks for having me. host: let's start with the basics. the headline we are seeing says of the faa is planning to close 149 u.s. airport towers because of these budget cuts called sequestration. mary schiovo, where are these

towers located? guest: the towers are located all over the country. most of them are what we call contract hours. many years ago -- in fact, i worked on this when i wasn't rector general -- we determined the towers had such little activity that they were selected for a program called contract hours where the tower activities were actually performed by contractors and the faa days the contractor to perform the air traffic control services for the united eight government. -- united states government. there are actually 450 contract hours, 514 total towers and the rest operated by the faa. here is the the difference, over 19,000 airports, almost 6000 of them are public use airports, but we only have 514 towers. most aviation goes on without towers. in closing these contract hours, it does not mean the airport is closed. it means the pilots will have to fly as they are trained him a

without an air traffic control tower. in fact, that is how you learn to fly when you get a private license. host: described the scene at airports that do not have air affic ntrol towers. how does it work and what did the pilots do? obviously have to have the proper radio frequencies and be prepared. an fcc radiove license, you report you are entering the pattern. every airport has a set up way you enter the pattern didn't you report in as you are entering the pattern and as always, whether busy airspace or not, you are supposed to be looking for traffic. you report you are entering the downwind leg and you get literally in line, like you line up for your position landing, you'd report out your position on the communications line, and then you turn your ace leg and you go in and you are kind of purpose the evoke to the runway, and finally your turn into final. you have to be very careful. it no mistake, it is your job to

look around for traffic. , oftraffic control towers course, not only do they have radio communications but they literally have people with binoculars at time looking for airplanes if they cannot find them. the radar now can see the planes, but in the future we won't have that. we will have an entire computerized air traffic control system. run byoing to be airplanes talking to each other through computers, collision avoidance, and also talking to the ground and satellite. it will be a total global positioning system where literally airplanes will sequence and position themselves through this computer program. its formerschiovo inspector general for the transportation department thomas from 1990-1996 and now a partner at motley rice, for a decade now. if you would like to join the conversation about these faa plans to close 140 nine airport control towers, here are the numbers to call --

host: you laid out some reasons why they are not needed in some airports. guest: in some airports. the busiest airport in atlanta operations a year. parallel runways. you have airplanes landing seconds apart. you must have air traffic control. 7,800 , missouri, has operations a year.

that is a huge difference. traffic is air- handled in just 32 hours. we have contacted our flights to just 30 places. people say we have a huge skies. we all want to be in the 32 hours and the 30 airports rather than spread out among the 5, airports.public used we have a plan to keep us all flying safely. is aat plan, we said this good place for a tower. some are not busy enough to justify -- we have a stair stepping of airports.

about 50 airports handle all of the traffic. 10 airports handle 30% of the traffic. those areas are difficult to fly in. we haveous aerospace -- categories of airspace. people who are not pose a problem. there is a difficulty in separating traffic. you must be equipped and you must be under their guidance. in the rest of the airports, you don't have the equipment. even have to have a transponder. a transponder allows you to

communicate your position with and ourtraffic control new air-traffic control system, that equipment will allow your position to be known to aircraf traffic control and to other traffic. it should make mid-air collisions in possible. that assumes all planes will have that equipment. no matter how many eyes we have, it will not work unless the planes are able to fly in the system. there are other layers of safety. that is some of the ways you will be able to fly in the

future. in the future the computer can do it automatically. the air traffic controllers will be our safety eyes. the new system will allow the planes to coordinate with air traffic control and with the airports, landing systems, and each other. it only works if the planes have the equipment. unit allows you to communicate your position. board rader and collision avoidance. traffic basic is tis, information system. a computer screen allows you to see were other aircraft is and

gives you an alert when other aircraft are close. pilots do not use it. you need to be trained. the commercial aircraft have a collision avoidance system. a plane will divert if you are on a collision course. host: we want to get to some calls as we're speaking with mary schiavo. sport-dog.weet by explain how the human element comes into play. was behind schedule and over budget, according to a report in "the washington post."

to thethis goes back federal aviation administration. it is their job to be on top of this. there have been many inspector general reports and we as seen a lack of oversight over this contract. this is important. this is all we are going to have. we are already taking down primary radar. into put all of our eggs that basket. the planes will be sequenced by the computers. information must be put into the next gen computers. that is what is going to separate the trafficked.

we will still need air traffic sure thers to make equipment talks with each other. allair traffic controller now have the computer workstations. we kept the paper slip as a backup. the air traffic controllers will be there to keep the safe. they will do this by computer. you'll have to have your nextgen equipment and proper transponders to communicate with it. host: dave from chicago, illinois.

caller: thank you for taking my call. instructor and i have to correct you. former military. your dependency on technology is swayed to one side. they are astounded with all the video game technology. i turn it off. they have to be able to look outside the window. not looking out the window, swapping paint with another plane in flight. when we go so far into technology that kids don't look out the window, i cannot even hire them. up our airplanes.

.he problem starts at the top the basic citizen does not understand the basic complexity has been shoved down our throat. host: let's get a response. right.he is absolutely i flew in the old system. if you do not look out the window, you have lost observation. otherave to see and avoid aircraft. backe talk about sitting and watching the scenery. that's not how you fly.

particularly in chicago. .hat is a busy airspace when we were taught, you have to learn a sweep pattern. you had to sweep the sky and back to your panel and you didn't stop that pattern the whole time you were in the air. heave the teenage son and wants to go to flight school. the caller is right. importing. sky are host: john from michigan. complaininglitician this sequester is going to break the bank is ridiculous. they got us into this position

and they should have to put up including their retirement benefits. i hate this idea. politician anda his plane almost gets hits by an independent airplane, they are going to change all this. that's what i believe is going to happen. at the airre people traffic control towers." guest: i think you are right. we tend to legislate by anecdote. i think they will get serious by requiring a higher performance level. it is interesting.

compared apples to apples and compared to hours of the same size, faa and contract. the contract hours beat the faa. about aower cost million dollars and the contract tower said fewer errors. it is about accountability and responsibility. when you have these problems in the towers, you have to ask yourself why? rateo they have a better than the faa personnel? to the fireir feet it to do a better job.

separateill have to traffic. the faa has roles in the making to allow drones to fly in our air space. flying.new way of adapt.ed to we are putting more in the skies than just planes and pilots. .e to legislate by anecdote a politician will have a near miss and hopefully we will do better. we have higher performance levels. there should be no reason why an air-traffic controller is caught sleeping on the job or out of the building when they are

supposed to be controlling trafficked. that should never happen. host: let's look at the faa budget. jody.e a tweet from guest: no. we should not eliminate established safety requirements. billion was only part of the sequestration. was setthe 1930's it up. the trust fund that we have.

the official trust fund was set up in 1970. transportationd as something to be paid by user fees. jet fuel taxes and by other fees that the airports put on. the whole idea was that the user paid for the system. got stalledisions in congress. they did not want increases on those fees. so funding for aviation got stalled. now we don't all pay for with our ticket taxes and our fuel taxes. some is a direct transfer from the government.

down about 25%-30%. commercial aviation has fallen .ff since 2005 by about 26% there is not a safety rule that has been changed. it is every department. you cannot justify leaving them out of the sequester. forecastan extended into the future. one of the first lines is that for theworkload is down fifth year in a row. are taking ahey

cut like everybody else. i agree with you. we should never compromise safety. the department of transportation has to be on top of this. was inspectoriavo general to the transportation department back in the 1990's. a partner. as let's look at the towers scheduled to close because of sequestration. this is a profile.

host: one of our tweeters wants springs will be without a tower. art some states being hit harder than others? guest: it is not rural communities. it is low activity. places where there is not a line of activity. it is hard to justify the spending. pretax mom and pop in peoria -- mom and pop in peoria? it is a matter of limitations of

resources. we have made the decision that if a tower does not have the business, we're going to close that tower. there is a government -- if you want a tower in every airport in the state can pay, and texas did just that last week. the state of texas is going to pay. it is a matter of money. f a state wants to keep them -- you can do a reimbursable agreement with the government's.

host: dabber in florida. -- debra. caller: hello. i'm concerned that a tower is on the list to because i cut. we have st. petersburg, clear water. we have a small airport in tampa and emmett till air force base. there is 86,000 flights that come in and out of there. there is cooperation amongst the airports in terms of helping died airplanes -- helping rplanes.i the tower has recently been renovated.

i think it is a bad decision to pick that tower away. host: let's show our viewers a story from cnn. among the towers to be closed are those in frederick, maryland, at near st. petersburg, florida. they have been open less than a year. guest: right. again, there is an element of lack of long-term planning or lack of a reasonable funding. we know how much money we have to spend. we put a lot more money into the pipeline. the trust fund is paid for with ticket taxes and fuel taxes. there is a lot of competition

for that. airports and runways and you name thit. there is also sadly waste of that money. with that -- audit money goes. we found a golf course built with that money. you have to stay on top of with a spend that money. i would look carefully at both decisions. why did you do that? we have runway overrun safety aprons. we have outages of equipment in busy areas. that is an important point the caller has made.

all those towers in the area -- it is important to coordinate them. .n new york, they coordinate newark corneille's with la coordinate's with la guardia and kennedy. they have to coordinate, too. if florida wants to keep all their airports open, they can pay the government to do them and the faa will be able to keep those towers open. host: we have some comments on twitter.

host: bill is our next caller in massachusetts. caller: good morning. license and a controlled airport. it may for a more complete education. one of the airports that are closing in massachusetts is norwood. norwood is only two miles outside of the boston tsa. 19,000 airports in the united states and most have flight schools.

with the closing of these towers, with respect to the ones tsa's,re close to a closemake for situation. you'll have pilots who used to be afraid of flying into norwood. that now be venturing it within two miles as the crow flies. this will be an unsafe situation. the traffic space is incredibly congested. theel they should re-review towers and maybe revaluate 3 or four of these closings. i have not done a study on this.

i would be interested in their comments about close to high density aerospace. host: thank you, bill. guest: i learned to fly and a controlled towered airport. ohio state university has their own tower. that is one that is slated to close. you learn from day one and they let you go up and solo, york air traffic controller is your friend. they are your lifeline to the ground below. it makes for a different learning experience. if you need that experience, we're still going to have -- 514 closing.d 149 are

it will be incumbent to make sure that students get that air traffic control experience. four airports that are close to usy airspace, i hope the faa has looked at that closely and not just to get a head count on planes. he is right. it is a different learning experience. all the rulesllow because you do not want the air traffic control yelling at you. i think it was a great learning environment and i want students to be able to have that training. they will have to be sent on training flights through those airports. host: wesley in san diego.

-- er: what if our privacy doe we have a right to privacy regarding these controls? privacy. main point, host: you are talking about drones. caller: they use drones for spying. i am against that. host: mary schiavo is shaking her head. guest: there is a notice of proposed rulemaking. aey have sought to designate number of airports as places for .rial runs for drone traffick

schools are to bring safety and order. where can they fly and where can they not fly? something thatd you're free to photograph if it is visible by the public. how close can they get? can look into people's backyards or into their windows? this is an issue where the law has not caught up with technology. the drone laws are being debated. anybody can comment on these laws. it is pretty important. host: you can talk with mary air traffict

control towers scheduled to close. here are the numbers. our last caller was from san diego. there's a story from the associated press last week.

host: does that concern you? guest: it does. they have a specific need in a specific area. been planning the national airspace system. it is an airport that is vital to california, and in california should pay for that. we cannot have them everywhere. 5700 and public use airports. that sounds like an airport that has great regional and statewide importance. i think they should step up and try to keep that tower open. they have 18 aircraft and they

get to keep their towers when elan has 980,000. there is a huge difference in how the money is spent -- atlanta has 980,000. host: greg and ohio. caller: hi. i flu years ago from my non controlled airports. have,ve the atif, used to air-traffic information system, responsible for your air- traffic. i am concerned with the turbulence on the aircraft. -- you have turbulence which is the for text

of the wing tips from the larger aircraft. the smaller aircraft people are taught to hold free longer period of time until you make contact. how will this affect on these non controlled airports? was going to affect this? guest: the bigger aircraft -- were studied alot. they have unique flight characteristics, especially if they are loaded. it varies with the plane and the weight of the plane that is following. you can have an upset event.

there were a series of light and did they were lost not recover and crashed after 757.ng behind a have eavy you have to stake a minute and a half or several nautical miles behind the plane if you are light following a heavy. are like tornadoes on the end of the plane. you have to stay behind the vortices and up. you canet over here, have an upset event. the air traffic controllers have to tell you you're behind a heavy. if she cannot hear what is going you'reey will tell you, "

behind date have theavy." you simply get out of line and not take off behind a heavy aircraft. you have to be cognizant of that. you need a warning that you are following a heavy. pilots are going to be responsible for that. some of these airports did not the runways because are too short. that is something a pilot has to watch out for. i was a student pilot out of toledo. a big plane took off in front of me. i waited longer than a minute and a half.

proposition for a smaller plane. .ost: we have this on twitter what would you do with these closures? close. these towers can what should happen next? guest: the faa pass to do its job.- has to do its its job is safety. all they have to concentrate on now is safety. they have to be careful to evaluate this. contract power operators have less errors than the faa. than ast 1/4 less

comparable faa tower. onuldn't we spend more money more contract hours and less faa towers. goodontrollers are only as as our controllers. .his makes no sense to me workload is down for the fifth straight year. 2005, yet their mistakes are up. ground collision avoidance warning systems on the plains. collision avoidance systems have saved innumerable lives as well as t-warnings in the

cockpit. better icing equipment. we have to make sure this equipment is required and installed and used in all aircraft in america. that will save a lot of lives. it is thisschiavo, morning from south carolina. thank you so much. guest: thank you. "the: louise radnofsky from wall street journal" will be our next guest. back.be right

[video clip] >> on "first ladies," anna harrison, whose husband william henry harrison, who died the first month in office. julia tyler who becomes resident tyler second wife. >> i think of her as the madonna of first ladies. she loved the publicity. she actually posed as a model at a time when that was, needless to say, frowned upon. she was known as the rows of long island. by all accounts was bewitching. certainly bewitched 57-year-old john tyler. who married her. and she loved being first lady. she had the job for less than a year. but it was she who ordered the marine band to play hail to the chief whenever the president appears, and also julia tyler

who greeted her guest sitting on a throne on a raised platform with purple plumes in her hair. it was almost as if she receded to the more queenly role marco washington had deliberately rejected. >> we will include your questions and comments about these three first ladies by phone, face book, and twitter, tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span and c-span three. -- c-span3. and on c-span radio and www.c- span.org. >> the sequester will reduce our grants by about 5%, which roughly equates to $22 million or so, which will be distributive among the various licensees and stations that i've described. and so, we have, in fact, taken about a 13% cut in our overall federal funding in the last two

years, and if the entire federal government had not had sustained the cuts we sustain the budget would be $500 billion smaller than it is now. we feel we made a significant contribution to deficit reduction and retirement of the federal debt within our own context. >> the impact of spending cuts on public television, tonight at 8:00 eastern on "the communicators" on c-span2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we start a series on the affordable care act. we will look at whether insurance premiums are scheduled to rise. louise radnofsky is our guest. secretary sebelius say some could see insurance premiums rise. we saw this headline in your

newspaper, "the wall street journal." why all the conversation about insurance premiums. guest: the premise that people face are key to determining whether they buy coverage. it would be a sign as whether the lot is working as intended. people are concerned about that, too. it is a huge deal. host: why are we talking about insurance premiums right now? guest: people will be buying the policies in october. there's a question about whether they will be ready or not. this has been talked about for a long time.

host: we will see the open enrollment began for these health insurance marketplaces in october. we'll see more people getting coverage. we will see some benefits to being in sharesured. companies will not be able to refuse you for pre-existing conditions. what has to happen now for this to rollout in the next couple of months? guest: insurers are trying to figure out how to set premiums. these are the restrictions that whate buying -- eying

could happen to premiums. woman could see their premiums go down. that's what the secretary was getting at. premiums coulde, go up. host: if you like to talk about premiums and the affordable care act, here are the numbers to call. the: how much power to insurance companies have to set rates? reviewsome states can increases that are on reasonable. putting itsnt is faith into competition working out.

but can price shop for their plan. that will encourage insurance companies to keep their levels tfair. host: are we talking about everyone who has health insurance? guest: we are looking at the their insurance on their own. about half of americans get their insurance through their employers. they see relatively few changes under the law, including to their premiums. not nearly as likely to be a

huge issue as for the individual and small groups. .ost: let's go to the phones o.ller: hell medicare part b premium may go up. some people got letters. i want to know what that is going to do it under the affordable care act. thank you very much. premiumsdicare part b are tied to an assessment to what has to happen. medicare and the perceived -- it will program be more selfolvent.

people are wondering whether there is a direct connection. host: the role of government subsidies. what are you watching? guest: people will be eligible for subsidies based on their income. of themaking up to 400% federal poverty level. the subsidies are available on a sliding scale. might at the higher end see a small discounts. in some cases, people could be paying less. host: it sounds like we don't know that will balance out. guest: we will know when the

insurers file their rates. host: let's go to kevin in virginia. caller: good morning. president obama said my premiums are going to go down. he said it repeatedly when he was running for president. it is not true at all. this man is not to be trusted. would you just got done saying is people cannot be charged for pre-existing conditions. tou will raise my premiums up a high premium where it would be equal with someone who has a pre-existing condition. then you say nobody will be charged for having a pre-

existing condition. the president said my premiums are not going to rise. mixing theidea of is somethingls that people have worried will increase premiums across the board for people. there are some elements to reduce the risks of having a lot of unhealthy people in their pool. the first couple of years will be critical. they want to see young and healthy people enrolled. people who are sick already are might become sick will want to be participating in that market. host: michael from chicago.

my own i happen to buy health insurance. i'm having trouble of taking the actuarial tables allout. .uest: that is interesting that is a little bit different than what i heard before. the insurance policy that you can buy is some out cheaper and that is interesting. that doesn't sound like a lot of other places around the country. thevidual premiums relatively low in some markets. host: are you still on the line? money. after tax mon

month.r guest: what are you planning to do next year? caller: chances are i will pay it. it seems bad for capitalism. guest: interesting. there are a lot of people counting there'll be more people like you. .ost: we have the tweet host: we're hearing a different perspective. under 65 stand to

gain a great deal. their premiums cannot be more than three times those that are charged to a young person. their premiums could be lower than they would see right now. the question is if there'll be enough young people to balance that out. host: we are talking with louise radnofsky, a health policy reporter for the "the wall street journal." a story to say about health insurance premiums. glenda is our next caller. caller: i listen to you all the time. i want to know with the cadillac plan is. i and stand there is a taxi for people with cadillac plans.

. also am on try care and a widow of a military who retired from the navy. i want to know what the cadillac plan and if that affects me. inst: the cadillac tax kicks it in 2018. that is an expectation that the plan will change the way they are set up over the next few years to avoid exposure to taxes. it is not something we have to worry about this year. tricare is something interesting. that is for members of the military and their dependents. there's the young adult coverage provision.

military were concerned that tricare would be .egatively affect host: this from right wing radical. guest: we didn't know what the cost of the insurance is going to be. the penalty in the first year -- or at $95 or a persian a portion of somebody's in come. it may well vary across the country. consider the value of the insurance product in an of itself. people may feel they don't

expect to use the insurance. .ost: shirley in alabama -- welcomeo ahead and go ahead. caller: i have a granddaughter and she is a single mother and makes enough money to get by. people under a certain income would be on medicaid. our governor will not accept the extra money from the federal government. does that mean she will not be able to get on medicaid? does that work? guest: i am guessing she is in taxes as well. -- i am guessing she is in texas as well. medicare

varies by eligibility in each state. it is primarily aimed at women with children in some states. .ould it go away under the law for a one-000 a year person household. if the extension does not go ahead in a given state, there are options between current eligibility at 100% of poverty level. it would probably receive a high subsidy. it is very specific to people's circumstances. the income would be in the

category and they could face a tough time. host: where is your family member living? caller: enterprise, alabama. host: how much have you been able to figure out in terms of the requirements and eligibility? according tow that the obamacare law that she is supposed to be eligible because she doesn't even make $20,000 a year. ,000. $20 i do not think that is enough in our state to get on medicaid. .uest: i apologize al obama has very low

eligibility for medicaid. that is one of the issues the governor considered whether they would take the dollars to raise medicaid. thestate would have to meet administrative cost of doing that. medicaid eligibility has been so low in the state. the jump overnight would be pretty hard. this is still a matter of considerable debate. host: this is a story that our guest recently reported for the "the wall street journal." it looks at tennessee. atse battles are unfolding the statewide level. what this does not show us --

what does this map show us? guest: tennessee has eight borders. part of the concern is if they expand eligibility and neighboring states did not come out there might be an incentive for people to move to tennessee. this is a tough decision for them to make. federal the lure of dollars. some states are worried about the contribution they would have to make. they do not see this as an entitlement they want to be swallowing. are notates in red planning to participate in the

medicaid expansion. you can see the states that are leaning or not. guest: tennessee is still undecided. he wants to do that. convinced.et it seems to be changing every day. host: welcome.

older, less healthier people are excited about that. they will have access to it. your younger people are saying it would be cheaper to pay the penalty and the one. you will have on healthier people ready to buy because it would be cheaper because the younger healthier people will .ot be interested they will not be interested until they get sick or something happens. one of our early tweeters says -- guest: that is the worst-case scenario.

stateunter to it is governments that are some sort of of the law plan a massive enrollment aimed at getting people who are uninsured to buy the product and aimed at encouraging people who have skimpy but cheap insurance to buy expensive more generous coverage. the key question is what young healthy people in the market the site to do it and what route you they placed on health insurance -- what value they place on health insurance. caller: hello. the premiums from these insurance companies are being artificially raised by the insurance companies. they object to barack obama's

health care plan. they believe in market-based country and they do not believe that the government should help anybody. if you want to buy insurance, you should. insurance companies are not honest. my mother paid insurance for 37 years. she got lung cancer and went into the hospital and they said they believed she had had a pre- existing condition. they dropped her and let her die in a hospital bed. they take money and turn their backs and let you die. brock obama -- barack obama is trying to help the people. republicans are trying to hurt the country. this country is under attack by conservatives who want to burn the constitution and the bill of rights and replace it with the bible and force their believe. they think you get sick, go to a

church and begged them for money. can you talk about what his mother experience? we will get that to the question of what the health insurers are warning and what incentives they have. it sounds as if the insurance company practice that you encountered is along the practice that is outlawed by the affordable care act. it says that insurers cannot drop people because they get sick. things that the sticks and peoples' mind. is nota is that with being permissible, the

insurance companies have to adapt to the new market. they are saying it is not possible to price in a way that does not force them to raise prices. stay afloat,to they will have to offer policies at a competitive price and induce people to pick them rather than a competitor when they start to get federal credits. they have the option to go elsewhere. guest: the society of actuaries issued this report in march warning that the cost of medical claims to the new individual insurance market could rise by 32% over the first few years the law is in place. what was their basis and what was the reception to the report? was thatat if found the cost of medical claims would vary across the country.

it could be an 80% increase in some places. it could be smaller in states like new york and vermont. they are trying to gain out what the changes in the market would be. some of the other changes are a broader package of benefits. it got a lot of pushback. medical claims are not the same as premiums. there were levels about the technologies -- there were levels about the methodologies. tried toistration dismiss it as a report created by a group that had an intent to see the health law failed.

we do not know what will happen with premiums. this is one factor. it seems to have been based on a modeling that we will discover soon enough as to if it is the case. it is something insurers are looking at, too. they think medical claims could go up and affect pricing decisions carriers make. am a health insurance broker. i was in favor of health care reform. the cost constraints are not there. medical costs are rising faster than everything else. one of the problems that i have is i have to be more creative with coming up with plans that people can afford. it is scary when you look at how

much they have gone up in the last two years. also, the out-of-pocket -- it common for companies to have dollar0,000 or 15,000 deductibles. the state of maryland gives products to people who cannot buy it in the regular market. a couple to-- for get no-cost shearing or just co- pays -- it is $2800 per month. one of the things we have

known about the high rest cool -- high risk pool is that the premiums have been high because there is no relatively healthy people in the pool to offset the risks. that is why the government have taken them on. the federal high risk full had po enrollment -- high-risk ol hello enrollment. you had to the insured for at least a month. it wasinistration said working through the $5 billion appropriations set aside for the full and would close the two new enrollees so it made sure it had enough money to play out -- pay out the plan. the people with pre-existing conditions can be expensive. the question is what happens to the market as they enter that

and pricing has to be adjusted to take into account that risk. host: from twitter -- rates have been going up for the last two years. the main provisions of the law have not taken full of. the cost increase associated through theg people people of 26 are not considered to be high. it is not clear whether have highcompanies claims or any of the other factors they with they accounted for their increasing rates. been rate increases that have made people nervous.

at couldrespects, -- thet affect premiums. louise radnofsky is a health reporter from "the wall street journal." she has also been a reporter for "newsday." we are looking at insurance premiums and what may happen to them as part of the federal insurance law. what financial demands were put on the health insurance companies as far as executive pay and bonuses? how much of that will be reduced to pay for healthcare? thrown the public ofption out? guest: the medical lost ratio was passed.

the requirement is that the insurance companies have to of what they received in premiums on playing fast paying out medical frames. theot, they have to refund consumer with rebates. the rebates have been small. this is something she did to the fact that the ratio and churches insurers to set their -- the ratios encourages their insurers to set premiums at reasonable levels. there are a lot of different insights into that. you can pick which ones that seem to work best as an explanation. there are competing theories. host: what will you watch for in the next few months? what are some other development you will track? guest: we are tracking the medicaid expansion.

we look closely last year at the difference between exchanges and whether the rural government or state government would run them. that would not have a major difference on the lives of people as much as the medicare expansion going ahead. that is one good thing to look for. the exchanges will be a big issue because this is where the the discussion is about who will run them in the astra -- abstract. the administration says -- ther e will be an exchange available to consumers. more than half of the states -- will beral government involved in making that happen. we need to change the way the cdc scores all

legislation. the democrats and republicans tend to get a score from them to get it under a threshold in which the president said it would have been my hundred billion dollars. now we learn that you are looking at $2 trillion. said we0, the president had to do this right now. it would create jobs. four years later, it would not have taken that long for things to kick in. there are five things that the president and the proponents of this legislation campaign on whether it is 20s x or pre- existing -- 26 or pre-existing. the bill is 3000 pages. the americans need to look at the reality.

i respect the things you have. , most ofhave guests them lived in d.c. or whatever state capital and did not live in the real world. they are inundated with the inside the beltway ng and not the gas inside the beltway thing and not the reality. get away from the democrat and republican stuff. hold this president accountable. politicianse that never have to abide by the same healthcare plans. look at the callers. do the same thing they claim is so good for us. guest: you are not the only person who objects to the way that cbo does the scoring.

some complain that they cannot get long-term standing skircores and their initiatives go nowhere. as to the issue as to why the law passed in 2010 is not coming into effect fully until 2014, many believe it would take years to implement a huge program and make sure some of the changes that will affect insurers and employers and everyone had- that time to do those properly. hostthere is a provision that requires numbers of congress and their staff to buy the health care. -- this polls very0 well. it is popular.

it is not clear how it will work. --ch member of congress which exchange members of congress will require to buy. it would address the perception that members of congress have a different options than the rest of the public. it ensures that they were the first to know if there are problems that situate straightfaced. that their constituents may face. the hospitals where they train. others -- the hospitals where they train. are's -- the hospitals where they train doct ors, if they are paying for their college or for them to go

there, why don't we knock out the middleman, the insurance companies and go on a person's income. that would be more affordable and easier to do. there is an issue in the law for the teaching hospitals. they have been locked layers and advocating for the medicaid expansion. huge players in advocating for the medicare expansion. that would bring them patients with the ability to pay their bill. i did not follow the other question. it sounds as if you are interested in medicaid for every body where coverage was through a government run program and income.ed by people'ss'

single-s opposition to payer. that is why that did not go anywhere. a question for clari ficaitiontion -- some provisions require insurers to justify rate increases. in some states, insurance commissioners can deny rate increases that are i unreasonable. the elements of the law designed is the premiums in check idea that starting october people will go online or in person and look at insurance

policies and what they would pay for each and pick one. they would receive a federal subsidy depending on their income and and high-priced getill l-- will not as many customers. the insurance company would want to price competitively. host: louise radnofsky, health policy reporter for "the wall street journal." it is tax season. the "washington journal " we'll look at the iressa. and overseasdoes and what your taxpayer -- what your tax dollars -- what the and what and oversees your tax dollars pay for.

♪ anna harrison whose husband dies after a month in office. letitia tyler would become first lady as her president assumes the presidency. julia tyler becomes the president second wife. >> j is the madonna of first ladies. -- julia is the madonna of first ladies. .he posed as a model she was known as the rows of long island. she was bewitching. she bewitched john tyler. he married her. she loved being first lady. who ordered tyler

the marine band to play "hail to and who greeted her just sitting on a raised that form -- raised that form. she receded to the queenly role that martha washington rejected. questionsude your and comments about the first ladies by phone, face up, and twitter each -- facebook and twitter tonight. will reducester , whichnts by about 5% equates to $22 million orders though, which will be distributed among the various nations. -- stations. we have taken a cut in our

overall federal funding over the last two years. if the federal government had since name the cuts that we have sustained, the budget would be billions smaller than it is now. we have made a contribution to deficit reduction and retirement of the federal debt in our context. >> the impact of spending cuts on public television tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on "the communicators." host: we will look at your money and how tax dollars are sent and what the programs do and they benefit. we look at the internal revenue service. our guest is jim white. with the basics. what is the purpose of the internal revenue service russia mark guest -- irs?

they get 100 million phone calls per year. 90,000 staff. they issue over 100 million refunds to people. it is a massive operation. host: turn to the iressa budget budgett turn to the irs and what they receive money to do. they have three purposes -- provide services to taxpayers. on their phone lines and website. .heir enforcement programs because they process the many tax returns, they have a massive information processing capability so they are trying to of great their systems while

processing. they can never stop while of grading. host: this is the busy tax season. people are filing for their refunds and paying what they owe. explain what the yearly tax gap is. how is that created and how much is it? guest: it is the enforcement part. the tax gap is the part of the taxes legally old by people that are not paid. it is $450 billion per year. collects maybe $65 billion per year. host: has that changed? guest: it has not. it is growing in dollars over time but relative to the economy, it is the same size. i do not know whether to treat that as a success or failure on

the part of the irs. the economy is more complex. they are saying about where they were in terms of the tax cut. host: how much of the money is recouped? what kinds? guest: papering and $65 billion -- they bring in $65 billion. most money comes involuntarily. the money collected almost always comes in voluntarily. what is needed is an enforcement presence so that taxpayers are confident that the irs is enforcing the law -- they are people's friends and people's friends and neighbors are paying their fair share. host: here is a story from " time" --

why is that an issue? what happens when the irs discover someone is underreporting? guest: where third parties are reporting your income to the irs, the compliance rate is high. have highrners compliance rate because the w-2 goes to the wage corneearners ad they know the irs knows.

roris hard to make in eorro because you have the number on the w-2. where there is no information reporting, the noncompliance rate is high. one area is business and,, especially -- one area is is especially smalls, businesses. host: if you would like to talk about the irs as part of our " here are " segmetn,nt, the numbers -- you can talk with jim white, the government accountability officer director. what do you do? role, i domy performance audits of irs and

how effectively they run their programs, their systems of acquisitions and sediment programs. goao is part of the legislative branch. the other part is tax policy analysis for congress. who auditare that the americans. the internet is wonderful. you can know any a and know this shrewd -- the truth. the truth is not that the irs funds our government. the irs is a private organization. we do not know who owes it. rates aned us money at loan shark would love. the only thing our money comes

to is to pay the interest rate on the money they loaned us. it does not pay for one government project or anything. this fraud of the irs and the federal reserve tank needs to -- federal reserve bank needs to go. host: let's have to . guest: the irs is a branch of the treasury department. it is a public entity. it brings in $2.2 trillion. that does not entirely funded the federal government because the deficit -- we borrow the rest. let us look at some details at a glance --

total collections, $2.5 trillion. the number of people receiving refunds, 120 million. formuch of a goal foof it zero numberave a when it comes to people owing money were getting old money? people tend to use the irs and taxaes as a form of forced savings. people like to get a degree from -- people like to get a degree from some the irs. a overpaid throughout the year and get a huge refund. it is used that way. people can adjust the amount that is withheld so they do not over withhold. a lot of people do not take

advantage of that. host: does the irs have a goal in terms of people underreporting? thet: they try to inform public about opportunities to adjust their withholding. -- mirarry m, democrats iam, democrat. guest: i have been reading about romney's taxes. so much money has been's -- in the cayman -- so much money has been stashed in the cayman islands. how could they have $100 million in an ira when you can only put excessive dollars per year in -- ear in?per y ss that something the orirs look

into? request to look and how effective the irs is enforcing rules. offshore income is a terrible problem for the irs. is about information reporting. there is little information when -- theren offshore at is little information reporting on offshore accounts. it is hard for the irs enforce this year. done things within offshore voluntary disclosure program. there have been recent tax law

changes that may help with detecting money offshore. guest: tim white is director of tax issues at gao. taxs on the irs administration and tax policy. there is a 10-year statue of limitation on collection of tax is. there are requirements that have to be met. is it correct that at or 10 years of someone meeting the requirements a may not have to pay those taxes they are behind on? guest guest: i am not sure it is 10 years. it may be shorter. i am not sure it is this same for all situations. you need to talk to a tax advisor. guest: why does that interest

you? caller: i am an accountant. i have with tax situations. guest: what have you learned as an accountant? if you have met certain requirements, with regards to when you last pager taxes and if you have had investigation -- when you last pager taxes -- ,hen you last pageid your taxes you do not have to pay. i am somewhat busy. caller: my son has been audited for 2007. he has been fighting them all of

this time. letters from different states about this name audit. they ask for the same information. he has sent it over and over again. he got involved with an advocate. the advocate said your taxes are fine. the advocate has been fighting the irs for about six months trying to get his taxes straight. my complaint is that the irs is corrupt. how does that work if the irs audit someone who is watching how they go about conducting an audit and how an issue is resolved or followed up on? guest: because it is so large,

there are problems with different parts communicating effectively with each other. it is possible to get notices from different office is. some information systems are not as modern. things may cross. taxpayers may send in information but it is not entered into the system in time. the taxpayer advocate is a indp -dependent -- quasi- ependent, independent from the irs. if you want to find a local taxpayer advocate office, they are on the irs website. it is quasi-independent from irs. my wife worked at irs.

i have no problem with the irs. if you do not want to have tax problems, either married or date a good accountant. it is complicated. we need to reform the tax system. i have relatives who make over a million dollars per year. they have an air-conditioning contract company. they have season-ticket for football and baseball games. they have a farm but no one gets to eat their cattle but them. they've i knew if it meant each year. -- they buy new equipment year. they boast about never paying taxes. it is tax-deductible. they should pay taxes. these are arrogant people.

they should pay taxes. host: any feedback? guest: there is a complexity of the tax code. the caller is correct about the complexity. it has gotten more complex. one of the things that creates the complexity is that we run so much social and economic policy through the tax code. a lot of deductions, credits, areusions, etc. from taxes the equivalent of spending: programs run through the tax code. for education,rt health care through the tax code through deductions, exclusions. that makes the code more complex. that makes it easier for people

who want to cheat to find places to hide in the complexity of the code. it adds to errors. people make innocent mistakes. we issued a report on federal assistance for families with college students. support for higher education. one of the things we found -- we looked at programs. there were large spending programs. we look at seven tax breaks. all of these programs providing assistance for higher education. people were making wrong decisions. that is because of the complexity. they cannot figure which program gave the largest benefits. people left money on the table. int: what is the irs'

overseeing the administration of some of the social programs? guest: that is an example. host: the intake of money we have talked about. what happens? what do they do? how is the infrastructure set up? guest: with the affordable care act, there are new taxes and penalties provisions and assistance provisions that irs will administer. they will administer it the way they administer other provisions of the tax laws. -- there algebra every are eligibility rules. the irs determines whether people are complying with those eligibility determined. produced a "star

.erkrlek" parody video [video clip] there is one more problem. those practicing without a license. we asked one guy for credentials. he showed us his movie ticket. byt: we are seeing a parody the independents line. -- irs. it received criticism from the house ways and means subcommittee on oversight. done a review not of this. says it was a training video. that is as much as i know. host: the cost was $60,000

according to news reports. this is of concern. susan, new york, republicans line. caller: i do fraud and scam investigations. i am getting phone calls of identities being taken. that is through the irs. they are not getting refunds back. the irs is contacting these people because face -- they he will not get your refund back. guest: this is a growing problem for irs. the identities are not: from irs but by other

ways. some are still in from cars others are going through databases or stealing lists of names and social security numbers. bookscan file a fraudulent -- crooks can i'll a fraudulent return. fraudulent return. if the name and social security number checks and passes irs' filters, they issue the refund. irs may not realize there has been id theft until the legitimate taxpayer files the return. the irs realizes they have two tax return with the same information. they have to sort out the honest

taxpayer and the crook. that can take a while. we have done reports on this. it is a problem that is not easy to solve. irs may not be aware until they find the second return. host: dr. jim wife is with the government accountability office -- dr. jim white is with the government accountability office. on howlooking at the irs taxpayer dollars are spent. i am a 67-year-old retired veteran. i was in the army making $60 per month. illegal.is the only way to fight them is , paying moreeone

money to get your point to them. it last time i audited them, went from me getting back taxes to me telling them $35,000. that helped me. it would have cost me $10,000 to get that done by a professional. oirs onlyrs -- the takes money from you. threehe was audited times. is that typical? audits a small fraction of tax payers. i do not know the particular's. a lot of computer 's to taxto match w-2

returns. if you have problems with irs about taxes, either a reputable tax advisor can help. the taxpayer advocate can help. there are volunteer taxes is centers.ance you can get a list from the irs website. they volunteer and do not work for the irs. they can provide assistance. caller: how much money or revenue are we missing as a result of illegal immigration? can doe anything the irs

about it? like illegal aliens not paying into the tax system. guest: i do not have a number on what we lose their. involving illegal aliens in the sense that they may also be involved in id the ft. get moneyot file to that was withheld from their paid. i am unsure about the magnitude of problem there. irs' erall tax gap after collection is several hundred billion dollars. host: when corporations are face-to-face these, is a more challenging -- when corporations are based these, does that make it more difficult for irs to theect russian mark guest:

tax laws here are train the complicated. american companies overseas are allowed to deduct taxes they paid in foreign countries to get a credit against their taxes. they are required to pay taxes when they repatriate money to the united state, which is a new amount of money offshore. partly becauseng of the information we porting to track that -- information reporting to track that. for taking myou call. they advertise that if you owe more than $10,000, they can give you such a big break. there are a few millionaires 1.at pay $0.10 on the $

if you owe less than $10,000, you have to pay it all. they are less able to pay than the others. problem. is a it gets back to the complexity of the tax code. with so many tax expenditures, special deductions, credits, and so on that are in the code. there are almost 200 special provisions in the code. those are legal ways to reduce income. the complexity makes it easier for some people to cheat on their taxes. host: breakdown what she was downg -- drake -- break what she was saying and why the numbers are relevant. guest: the uiirs tries to target

enforcement efforts to where it can get the biggest bang for its buck. it is difficult to look at tax return and pick out suspicious ones. irsave recommended to the to do better research on the nature of noncompliance. they have done that. they do random samples of taxpayers. they are small but they investigate the samples. it gives them a better sense of the nature of noncompliance and helps them redesign their programs. host: has the gao given the irs recommendations in terms of it out reach with tax payers? when they audit someone, how to best handle that and how to deal with someone who may be in over

their heads when getting audited. guest: we have made a host of recommendations on how to improve their service to taxpayers. you have a lot of people who are come choose -- who are confused and looking for answers to questions. if they can get the correct answers, that will prevent errors and tax returns. the second issue is the compliance and enforcement program. we have made recommendations. information reporting is affect assuring --d and effective in assuring compliance. information compliance on sales of assets. if you realize the capital gain is the deck to tax, read to taxnd -- the subject

, we recommend that this is reported to a brokerage forirm. host: what happens when you and recommendations? how does congress at? guest: our reports are issued to congress. they contain recommendations to irs. the congress holds hearings. through those hearings, they hold irs accountable. irs the years, commissioners have been responsive to our recommendations. had theck 20 years, irs mexican issues in terms of --

had significant issues in terms thiseir ability to manage sums acquisitions and development. we have made recommendations in all areas. a lot have been acted on. there is more to do. irs has made progress. 20 years ago, if you called, he would have difficulty getting through. if you got through, you got a correct answer only about half of the time. irs is better at giving correct answers. there is room for improvement. they have gotten more innovative moreson programs based -- innovative on the enforcement programs. host: we are talking with jim government om the accountability office.

guest: when did charitable contributions become tax deductible? why? a it is something you gave freely. this is a -- a gift is something you give freely. why are these considered double -- why are these considered tax- deductible? when did they come about? guest: this has been part of the tax code. the federal income tax is almost 100 years old. i do not know how far back the charitable deduction goes. it goes way back in time. is something that has to be in force. has been years, irs taxpayers keep

receipts for charitable gifts they make so there is more of an audit trail. host: a question on twitter -- guest: i do not know. tend to audit higher income people at higher rate incomehers -- higher people at higher rates than others. in terms of their worst, i am not sure. errors, i am not sure. daycarei was a home with small income. how do you know how much money is not collected if it is not be

ported? ?- if it is not reported guest: the tax estimates are estimated from research samples that irs takes. it draws a random sample and does the road audit -- the audits. -- t hororh the difficult part is estimating how many people are underpaying taxes. the noncompliance that makes up the tax is in small amounts spread over billions of taxpayers. that is a challenge because it is not worth sending and auditor -- it is not worth

sending an auditor out to collect $250. welcome, go ahead. caller: i was wondering about the compliance he keeps talking about. file --e clients code is the compliance code voluntary? guest: the tax system in the united days is voluntary. it is an odd use of the word "voluntary. whil" the word of flies to the way people report their income. it is in that sense that the word gets used.

it is not voluntary in the sense that you are required to pay taxes by law. if not, you are subject to penalties. me to: which law requires pay taxes? guest: there was an amendment to the constitution and there have been court decisions based on that. irs has a section on its website that lays out the legal basis for the tax laws. "earch under "tax scams. host: how has the use of the internet changed the game for the irs and taxpayers? what do you watch at the gao? answer 20 million phone calls with human of sisters. it is -- human sa