viebeck on the hill. withigh school teachers help for students getting ready to take the advanced placement u.s. government exam. host: good morning. the wall street journal said how congress considers immigration reform, especially on back taxes. " looks atngton post the reelection campaign of gov. mitch mcconnell of kentucky. house off the representatives will say that the house will investigate why the irs targeted 80 party group.

75 groups were selected between 2010 and 2012. the next 45 minutes we are quick to get your reaction. those things you can react off of, the irs is actions specifically. and then what can be done about it. give us a call. if you want to comment on our social media platforms -- if you are just following the story the associated press bricks down what happened. it says --

eric counter -- eric cantor sent

out this tweet -- this going to talk about for the first 45 minutes this morning. the phone lines will be on your screen. @cspanwj is how you reach us on twitter. some of the facebook comments this morning --

two of the comments on facebook. send us tweets cspanwj. this is from the "associated press," -- we will go to the calls. republican line, this is raymond, good morning.

my comment is this whole isuation -- our government sitting there being bipartisan. i'm assuming that our constitution is not being adhered to by this particular administration. be easier to have this kind of thing happened. the fact they're going after the tea party like that or any other different have a point of view from the establishment, that is where we are heading. host: what you think of the calls for investigation on this matter? caller: absolutely. but capetian has to be for anyone involved.

-- retribution has to be for anyone involved. this is one to be one more thing they can get away with. nothing gets done. host:this is rick from louisville, ohio. caller: the irs allows $10 trillion of corporate billionaires to be sheltered all over the world. you watch at 2:00 in the morning, there are religious shows, 5 to 10 of them at a time on cable tv and one of them advertises potions. irsg up to detroit the

90%. corporations at george bushefore was elected, created a born- again christion. born-again25 million christians that voted in george bush. those christians are now the tea party. host: specifically about the actions of the irs, what are your thoughts? caller: there is no irs. if there was an irs the would not be 10 trillion dollars of american money that is sheltered overseas. party.hem and the tea the tea party is a radical right-wing organization.

mary.we'll move on to republican line, good morning. caller: that man is left wing and that is what i want to talk about with the irs > something needs to be done with the irs. they have been so powerful to be able to go in and investigate into everything. be liberals out there should irate because it could happen to you. the national coordinator of the tea party patriots put out a press release yesterday --

the irs saying they are looking teao targeting certain party and patriot groups for their tax exempt status. they issued an apology for the act yesterday. the numbers are on the reach and you cann reject the numbers are on the screen and you can reach us through our -- the

numbers are on the screen and you can reach us through our social media. about: this discussion the irs, what i understand it so far is that this has been going on for three years. i think it is coming out now because it is a diversion from the benghazi hearing. for the first time since eight -- hs ago the fact they now have whistle- blower's coming forward. i do not know where it is going to lead. host: what specifically do you think of the irs action that? caller: i do not think it is right. the fact it is a top story these days -- post closewashington " ads --

"the washington post" adds -- mike, oklahoma city, democrat's line. st thing i would like to talk about is benghazi.

reda democrat in a very place. why in the world should certain [indiscernible] year.it me last bunch of my money. i don't mind paying, that's the truth. [indiscernible] you do not mind the scrutiny of the groups themselves? caller: would you mind the cops looking at drug dealers? when you get down to it they are breaking it the law.

host: it has to be said the groups are looked at for their tax exempt status. re how theyon't cai vote. host: off of facebook this morning. we are getting your reactions this morning to the irs apologizing for targeting tea party and a true type groups. the numbers are on your screen. we will hear from victor in silver spring, maryland on our republican line. caller: there should be an oversight hearing in the house took a poll tax situation.

many of your how audience realizes that next year the irs is going to be running obamacare. if you think it is bad paying taxes now, it is coming. to beberals are goign to bng the first to scream. host: what you think of this recent activity? caller: it does not surprise me, obama has had an enemy list for a long time. unlike nixon he is willing to do something about it. host: as far as investigations into this matter and things along that nature, should that take place? caller: exactly. the irs is getting too powerful and they are going to come down on the wrong people one of these days. i do not know if i am going to see it in my lifetime that there is going to be a civil war. host: that is silver spring

maryland. j kearney at the white house was asked about the ira's apology. here's what he had to say. >> given the president was so critical of so many of these groups isn't natural for the public to think that these things are politically motivated? .> does things need to be noted -- two things need to be noted. the irs is an independent organization. it contains only two political appointees within it. the individual running the irs at the time was the previous administration. question that if this activity took place it is inappropriate and action needs to be taken place. the president is expected for to be investigated. host: independent line, this is joe. caller: pardon my cold.

two things. the media has so distorted the tea party. what are they? rtarerata bunch of ian individuals who want the government to live within their means. i calledof years ago your show and complained about werethe wall streeters getttining rich. we are water boarding at the wrong people at guantanamo, we should take them to guantanamo. for two years the irs came down on me like you would not believe. this is a very dangerous group.

host: if the matter is investigated what what you want to see come out of it? caller: i would like to see to issued these orders to go after the tea party. i want to see how far up it does. this government has appeared to keep weight of losing documents -- has a very convenient way of losing documents. there is nothing more to say on benghazi. you'll never get to the truth. there are too many layers of nonsense. i hope people believe me because that is what is going on. host: jeff off of twitter says -- next of, lydia, san diego, democrats line.

i agree with the last tweet you just read. i believe all political parties should be investigated for tax- exempt status regardless. there is too much danger involved in that area. host: as far as the ira's actions, it is located did it or not? -- irs actions, is it ok they did it or not? anyone applying for tax- exempt status for political affiliation should be scrutinized. the irs has been scrutinizing other political agendas for years. because this is a right-wing organization now it is getting a lot of attention.

joining usis lydia from san diego, california. jay from oklahoma, you are next on our republican line. caller: good morning. maybe we are missing the point here. we need to tear down all of the barriers that this administration has put on the general public. toe is the point, we need abolish the irs. withed to do away taxation. the fairest way to do that is with a fair tax. the fair tax is nothing more than a consumption tax, then we do not have to worry about abuses by the irs. specifically on this matter, what are your thoughts on that?

caller: have to go from the boto the top, if it went from the top to bottom we need to investigate it. are to abusive. what they are doing is violating the constitution. what happened to equal taxation of all people? that is all i want to say. roberts as this -- up next is steve from west virginia, independent line. doing this're you morning? host: well, thanks. would single out any party or any group of people and specifically audit them and not do this in a fair manner.

i think this violates our constitution. like this stuff dangerous to our body of politics. i find it appalling. -- i find it appalling. i am not a tea party fan. do support caller: the do you support- the investigation? caller: i do, very much. host: the headline says posts a big surplus in five years --

this is sandy from jacksonville, illinois talking about information from the irs just today, looking at the party patriot groups for their tax- exempt status. democrats line, good morning. i just want to say that

i think the tea party is a cover-up. host: as far as the actions of the irs? i understand that sometimes they look at people they do not need to. but i think they need to look at the churches, too. there are people telling you how to vote and what you should vote for and that is not what you go to church for. host: you support the idea that more tax-exempt status was directed towards these groups? caller: i most certainly do. i want to say at the end here that i love the president and his family. host: why you support it? caller: i think karl rove and his buddies are running this. they are trying to run our country. they are billionaires and they are trying to run our country as they see fit. host: joe from virginia, republican line. caller: i think we see something

-- it is targeting the tea party. how can we not know that there is a political agenda behind it and it is being directed by the politico in washington? cannot seesee how we se how obvious that is. , weave the people in power know who is being investigated. where is the debate? host: to the idea that was released out of this that it was low level management types that did this? caller: poppycock. it just cannot be true. if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it is a duck. journal"e wall street this morning --

stories this morning about the burial site for the gentleman, he was buried outside of richmond, virginia. cliff ino to

baltimore maryland on our independent line. caller: good morning. thank you for having me on c- span. goes i agree irs with the previous callers, they should be abolished. it is unconstitutional and totally illegal. as far as the federal reserve, it is the same deal. they are a private bank. host: that is the irs at large. what about the action in specific? caller: i think the irs should be abolished. this government is totally out of control. host: albany, georgia. democrats line. caller: i think they should have a target.

sayingre holding scieigns "no more taxes." [indiscernible] that is what the irs exists for. we do need the irs. we do need to cut taxes. host: it was a look into their tax-exempt status. you relate holding a sign it to this type of scrutiny an investigation? caller: i sure do. this is a country where people to outrageous things just under "freedom of speech." you saw them in washington. every one saw what they were doing. host: dwayne from crawford. republican line.

how peopl amazes me e tend to forget tahthat there is no organization that causes fear to the american people like the irs. give property rights that the power and freedom to the from slavery to indentured servants. it is property right. they need to remember that. host: a couple of stores looking at syria, this one from "the wall street journal." m another story in "the washington

post " this morning --

meanwhile 25 people were killed when the army shelled the syrian town -- on this monday's program we are devoting the entire program, taking a look at issues concerning syria. chase all men will be our guest to talk about the diplomatic -- j. solomon will be our guest about this black solutions. we will take a look at military capabilities, not only of the country themselves but those fighting as the president and government. pink is next from california. good morning. caller: i'm happy i got through and thanks for taking my call.

i retired from the irs and i listen to most of the people calling in. they have no idea what the irs does or how it operates. the irs investigate people claiming tax exempt status if they are active for a political party or candidate. they are supposed be investigated. they are supposed to be stopped. host: what you think about the low-level management was in charge of this kind of activity? caller: the main focus should be that somebody apologized. they have no idea what they were apologizing for. host: what you mean by that? imagine if someone went out and took a look at an organization, that is what they were supposed to do. host: this activity is

commonplace? are speaking about -- host: looking specifically at these tea party and patriot groups? caller: yes, that is what the irs is supposed to do. the people in the irs to not make the rules. the rules are made and what -- are made in washington. if they are pointed complain they should complain to themselves. -- if they are going to complain they should complain to themselves. host: reports this morning that astronauts will walk on a more urgency state -- in an emergency spacewalk to stop an ammonia leak. starts at 8:15. it says here nasa tv will show it. we are showing the astronauts as

they prepare to go out on the spacewalk to fix the ammonia leak. this is being called an emergency spacewalk. other reports saying there are concerns about it happening to the degree that no one really knows as of yet. the astronauts there preparing to take the space walk. it will take place at about 8:15 this morning. we will continue on with our phone calls. clearfield, utah. republican mind -- hello. republican line -- hello. astronautsope those have the best of luck. thing i have to say about the irs is the caller was makingbout washington

the rules. they have to do their job. the only thing i disagree with is the fact that whether the party is calling to be investigated or not, i understand -- i do not see the probable cause of the situation. there's supposed the transparency in our government. i did not see the form of transparency where they are targeting a group of government forties and apologize why wouldeason -- they be apologizing if they did not have -- apologizing unless they did not have probable cause for the situation. the interesting thing is that the middle-class over the last 45 years -- the top 1% has and 184 $4

million average. an $18.4 million average. that is what my comment was. members on both sides saying the accord take a look at it. how you think we will come out of the situation? does comeat i hope out of this -- whatever they investigate it feel like it is worth following. the government has proven that if they feel there is cost to it they will go after it. the only thing i worry about is the american citizen. i'm hoping whatever they

decide does not put americans in a box. our number one right is that we are supposed be free. like americaneels as a whole, we are not only free economically enslaved. people go crazy but big banks. host: as far as the hatred groups applying for tax-exempt status, we will continue that in a moment. from "the washington post" --

hear some of what the president had to say. [video clip] >> regular access to a doctor or medicine, that is not a privilege it is a right. i understand the politics of this stuff but there are times i want people to step back and say -- are you prepared to say that 30 million americans do not have health insurance? are you prepared to say that is not a word to go? because of politics? that is why we are going to

keep fighting to make sure every american gets the care they need when they need it. that is what our families deserve. that is what the vast majority of americans believe in. that is what we are on to deliver. host: if he were to go to the front page of "the washington post closed " this morning -- "the washington post" this morning --

ronald from cincinnati, the mall for waiting on our independent line. caller: this is all just mudslinging. [indiscernible]

why should they work for us? we cannot afford. page benghazi on the front of the new york times. the headline --

there is a follow-up story taking a look of the political side of this. this story centers on the former secretary of state hillary clinton and her possible political ambitions for running for the white house. the last couple of paragraphs -- on tomorrow's program we are going to have cheryl atkins on. ead stories of the li on benghazi.

she will take your questions on information that came up this week. you can join us on tomorrow's washington journal. baron from missouri, you are on our democrats live. a believe the irs is underpaid and overworked. they are so little people doing so much work. with the tea party is close to treason as possible in some ways -- i would investigate them too. it does not make any sense. morning'sory in this papers saying --

dan from the hampshire -- from new hampshire -- this is on our democrat line. caller: 80 minutes ago you read from a paper that said between 2010 and 2012 that the number of these tea party groups has doubled. to reason that when any group applies for tax-exempt status doubles in such a sort. period in such a short of time the irs will look into

it. what is the uproar? -- ourtement before i go politics is a reflection of our personalities. the ankle biters in this country take every single andation and investigate it see how we can blame the other side. it is tearing down this country, it is not helpful. that is all i have to say. host: we will take one more call, david from patten rouge, louisiana. , from battenrouge louisiana. caller: happy mother's day to all the mothers out there. the caller that called then and said the irs is the highest form

of tyranny, dc tea party groups have been known to be funded by people like tobacco executives. a couple of months ago there was a study done by the national cancer institute that says that some of the funding of this kind of activity goes back to the executive. it is coming back to these people who use oversee tax shelters to pay taxes. they should be looked into. attack by a political the administration, that should also be looked into. i think that is not the case. like a big overreaction whohe people on the right

have been on a huge anti- government kick. that is all i have to sit. host: you can continue posting on facebook if you want to keep up this conversation. here is what is coming up on our program. released showsa hospitals procedures can differ by tens of thousands of dollars depending on where you go and in some cases what part of the country you live in. joiningebeck will be us. designsrnment demanded be taken-printed dongun off line. very talked -- talked onthornberry

several issues. this little bit, he talked about what should be done in response to a defense department report that says to the 5000 sexual assaults that occurred in the u.s. military last year was up 6000 from the previous year. >> there was a new report estimating there were 26,000 assad of the military last year. what you think about some of the changes being proposed of stripping the commander possibility to overturn the guilty verdicts? be sure wewe need to understand the ramifications of these different proposals. it is indefensible that there would be sexual assault, especially sexual assault on the scale anywhere in the military.

it is understandable people in congress would say we need to pass this or that to stop it and i completely agree that we must stop it. we also need to make sure we understand the consequences of any particular action that is designed to reduce sexual assault but may have other consequences. my point is we need to understand what is happening here and be sure we understand the consequences of these various proposals before we pass something just to respond in a knee-jerk fasion. we need to make sure it goes to the heart of the problem and not just some sort of mandate to make congress feel better. month'soks like in next defense authorization markup the verdict is going to be taken up. are you worried that might have

unintended consequences and will not fix the problem? >> i think we ought to examine it. the not know for sure what answer is. the military has a separate system of justice from t civilian world. there can be no denying that something is terribly wrong here that we would have sexual assault on such a scale. that is why i think we really need to make sure we are understanding what is down the here and not just some cosmetic fix after the assault happened. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us now 9is elise viebeck. this week information was released on costs for hospital

procedures. why would it come up this week? caller: there has been a lot of news about the implementation of the affordable care act. we have not been talking about prices and what consumers pay. the medicare and medicaid agency cannot with these numbers in an unprecedented report. we have not seen anything like this in terms of transparency. host: what to the numbers show? caller: they show the cost for almost every hospital in the nation, the top hundred procedures being built from medicare. you have everything from a heart transplant to a hip replacement. much theshows how difference in cost would take if you went to a different hospital or lived in a different part of the nation? caller: exactly. what we saw was enormous irrational differences in price. even if you go 3 miles down the

road you could be paying thousands if not tens of for ands of dollars more basic procedure. host: two hospitals, university of miami and jacksonville hospitals, if you had a heart attack with major complications , at one hospital you would pay $166,174. at another hospital is two hundred $48,000, compared to 185,000. if you had a permanent pacemaker implant it would be $127,000 and if you go a few blocks away in the $66,000. of thisere are examples thrust the country. i was looking at a treatment in respiratory ailment that can cost you about $700,000 or $100,000. if you are short to end up paying these prices.

if you have insurance the insurers are quick to negotiate for you. it is a major problem in our health-care system. host: just because these are the prices it is not necessarily what the insurers will pay for. justr: even in medicare, because we are seeing these as medicare charges does not mean we are seeing -- does not mean they are paying these costs. insurance companies are quick to negotiate for the prices. if you are un-insured this quite help youis way through it. if you can go to a hospital that has significantly cheaper price you should do that. tot: this is a price quoted an uninsured person. does that mean the hospital cannot change the price will work with the person? caller: that was part of the hospital's response to this data. we do not know the reasons for all of this. there are so many reasons for

this difference in price. the hospital provides a lot of charity care. they go on reimbursed for billions of dollars in the care every year. host: for the cost of medical care, u.s. hospitals -- that is our topic. call on one of a the lines on our screen -- you can also send us a tweet @cspanwj. as far as the administration putting out information, why it when they put it out? what is the point? host: they are starting in the transparency of initiative and this is step one. we do not know what is going to come of this, we know consumer

community information and insurance could bargain down prices where they see a hospital down the road is charging so much more. we may see prices fall but it is the start of the process. in american health care there is a huge lack of transparency. we do not choose our doctors based on price. host: the information is available to the general public? guest: it is. i am sure there are going to be some news outlets like ours that are going to try to bring that up. -- try to swing the bat. -- swing the data. there are so many things that contribute to it. originallyere charging prices based on what these procedures cost and how much the hospital needed in revenue in terms of investing in facilities. now we see these disparities. what is going on is that very few consumers are paying these prices so there is no check on

hospital facilities. what they are doing is they are sending them in anticipation of negotiating with medicare. is james first call from clifton springs, new york. you are on with elise viebeck. lady.: hello there young always been aas problem in our nation and the only way to solve it, as i have said to every legislator, that you may goincome and in 15,000 brackets and --lionaires and billionaires sargeants are

trying to get an emergency the next group would be 275,000. the millionaires and billionaires would pay a fee that would clear the medicare problem. new york costs medicare, this is a true story, when i was in returnedh diabetes i july 2004.guy in i get back in new york and they did not have to return it. medicare is supposed to be the same. guest: i think what we heard is

a call for increase in taxing in medicare. what he wants to see is richer people pay more for premiums in order to shore up the finances and subsidize for those that cannot afford as much. there is some means testing in medicare. we do see people who are richer paying some higher premiums in areas. host: robert from clifton, tennessee -- republican line. if in: i was wondering the report they noticed any difference between the press and in private hospitals and pressing in university hospitals. here in tennessee we have noticed that there is a big price difference there. host: i just pulled up tennessee, there is a link with -- it will cost you on

average $30,000 in tennessee. a great question. university hospitals tend to charge more than nonprofit hospitals. university hospitals tend to charge more because they have personnel that is more highly trained in certain ways. nonprofit hospitals and charity hospitals are the lowest prices overall. host: this is steve in virginia. caller: i think we ought to disallow doctors from buying interest from insurance companies. they should form up cooperatives on a congressional district level. self police the incompetent doctors out of their ranks and the incompetent doctors can go back and is in training if they are kicked out of the cooperative. use -- thelimit the

abuse that lawyers are routinely going against the medical profession for. we may even have to allow -- stop allowing lawyers to sue. guest: what we are hearing is licensing in the medical profession. they make sure there aren't bad actors. maybe we could do it at a more local level to make sure there's marketability. host: with the insurance industry weigh in on disinformation? guest: they did. they said it was a good step forward. people to realize that consumers deserve disinformation and we will see what happens next. -- deserve this information and we will see what happens next. host: hospitals are a part of it. guest: the affordable care act is obviously the big health care story of our time. there are many parts of the law that saw to introduce more consumer oriented for the obama

administration to pursue an initiative like this because this is part of what we saw in the law. because of the affordable care at you do get a uniform summary of benefits from your insurance company to make that support a little bit more easy to digest. we have seen that people preferred to do their taxes and go to the gym rather than read about the affordable care act, so it tries to make everything easier to understand. hospitals required to put this information out there? guest: they do reported to medicare. this is information that has been available in the past but this was just reported to the public. michael. louisiana red.

caller: i just made the switch from medicaid to medicare. i had a pacemaker planted. $55,000 was the bill. 55,000 under medicaid. that was the house will -- hospital bill. now, more recently, that was one year and a half ago, and more recently i had a case of pneumonia. i was not admitted to a local hospital, a different hospital from where i got the pacemaker implant. i got one bag of an antibiotic that has been around for a while. , i made the

transition to medicare. they are throwing medical care at me. i wante lavishing what to call waste, fraud and abuse. i went in the hospital for a garden-variety staph infection, and they put me on three antibiotics invocation -- in rotation. they admitted me to the hospital. i looked up the cost. one was $5,000 a day. or a dose. host: we will let our guests respond. guest: it is rare that you hear medicare beneficiaries saying that their benefits are too generous. cared onllowed to be depending what you he -- the

medical status will determine what you get. the government will not try to cut off your treatment because it is too expensive. that is the way the program has been designed. there has been some debate about changing that. does them twitter -- different cost means lower cost regions subsidize higher cost regions in health insurance and medicare? guest: that is an interesting point here and in some cases it is probably true. do see enormous price disparities based on recent -- regions we are talking about. the coast and cities tend to be more expensive. medicare does pay a uniform price for certain procedures, but in terms of private insurance, you do see some there. host: major joint replacement $37,000.as --

arkansas, ray. republican line. good morning. caller:. -- how are you. i had kidney stones in california and it cost $600. a couple of weeks ago i got a bill for $8,500. uest: are you on insurance? caller: erect. guest: at -- correct. guest: that is exactly what we are talking about. depends on where you live and what hospitals you go to. i hope callers who do not have insurance can be getting the best costs. host: vera asks if you can

explain the difference between nonprofit and for national not .or -- not for profit hospitals guest: they tend to be interchangeable. host: john from florida. thank you for holding on. you are on the independent line. caller: i have a question that i cannot answer, -- cannot get answered. i am on medicare. i am on a blue cross blue shield medicare plus plan. about $115 comes out of my social security check. --5 comes out of my tension pension check and my employer pays $400 a month. , to pick600 a month

up 20% of my medicare. no wonder they are going broke. guest: another caller worried about medicare finances. that is what we hear on capitol hill, that the program will go broke and that means major changes to shore up finances. host: chest pain in michigan, almost 11 -- $12,000. michigan is our next call. kathleen. democrats find. -- democrats line. caller: i just had a medical procedure. i suspect they had a carcinoma on my face, and i was correct. i had to shop around. the primary physician does not accept medicaid. that includes my son who has medicaid. the health department was $90

minimum. the primary care doctor was $60 and he did a biopsy, and kind of burned it off. it was very trying. -- terminology is dermatologists in town -- there are two of them -- i ask a lot of questions on the phone. the nurse came back with two prices -- $1000 or $750. -- doctor said he wished he she would not have told me $750. he did the procedure, and i quickly reapply for medicaid. it is very difficult. there is no help. dhs here in michigan is combative, to say the least. initially, last month it was $438.

it just went up to $483. i quickly checked a full body check. it is so much work trying to move through all of these different angles on trying to get help. i am very healthy, and they do a lot of preventative care. my children are healthy, but it seems to be there is no reward for taking care of yourself and when you do have something that comes up like this, it is a real struggle. when somebody tells you you have cancer -- and i work in a cancer registry, so i am aware of the it is a nevertheless big worry. host: we will let our guests respond. guest: i am so sorry to hear that story. i think anyone facing a potentially daunting medical ailment is not want to be dealing with insurance and

government programs at all. you just want to be able to have a good relationship with your doctor, a trusted provider who you know will care for you. the more we can reform american healthcare to get to that place, the better. host: as far as ne prices are out there, will this lower prices in some way? guest: that is what we hope -- market correction, if everyone knows their prices, they will even out. my fear is there is static electricity in the system. things will stay the same for a long time. this we will continue conversation, but on cnn it is being reported that the west wing of the white house was evacuated under an abundance of caution after authorities investigate the source of smoke coming out of what is believed

to be a mechanical closet. we will have details as they become available. back to our conversation -- hospitals do not necessarily want to put out disinformation because -- this information because they do not want to see what the guy across the street is charging. guest: they said it was not ok to share all the prices, and particularly not the rates they negotiate with private insurance companies with a guy across the street, because they might be getting a better deal and to have that transparency could mess with that. he also expressed concerns about antitrust violations. each of the that hospitals have to give to medicaid, -- host: the hospitals having to give information to medicaid, has that always been the case? a -- guest: cms collects

tremendous amount of data they do not share with the public, and this is one case where they said let's just let it out there, and there have been stories about variations in prices even one or two miles apart. you could be paying tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars more. ist: in a general sense, this a warning for the hospital industry? guest: it might be, but we have not seen enormous pushback. it'll are still wondering what this means. host: burlington, kentucky. republican line. caller: could you please explain what they mean by means testing -- is it based on your w-2, how much money they save,

person a and person b both and person a has saved money, and person b has gone on vacation, should they pay the same? guest: in general, they are not trying to punish people that are frugal. host: we had a viewer asking about dr. salaries and how that factors in this conversation. guest: that is the next thing we could turn to. there is enormous variation. in rural hospitals, there is a lack of dollar -- doctors because they can make more money elsewhere. host: huntsville alabama. -- huntsville, alabama, the crestline. caller: i do understand that hospitals have to charge a little more for procedures

because of insurance and i believe it is called in dinges -- indigenous care. now that we have 32 million with insurance, do you expect we will pay less to hospitals? guest: because of the affordable care act, that is possible, whether prices might go down. we will see if there is an overall impact on prices. the administration has promised premiums would go down for most people. host: we will continue talking about hospitals and what they charge for a couple of questions about a story on the front page of "the washington post."

can you give your take on this practice? guest: this is a big story and the question is is this legal. hhs says it is legal. i think kathleen sebelius has to do this in her private capacity. she cannot use her official title in soliciting funds in this way, but it fits into the larger narrative about how .bamacare is struggling we saw an enormous backlash from republicans after they saw this article, saying the law was set to be a failure and the federal health secretary should not be soliciting more billions of dollars to support it. host: some of the groups include community organizations, church groups and the like. guest: that is true. the administration is facing an enormous task in implementing this law and there are many unexpected costs. for example, because many states

have chosen not to create their own insurance exchanges, the federal government has to do that for them, and there was not money appropriated for the federal government to do that, so they have to do a lot of creative accounting to make that work. we heard that kathleen sebelius is reaching out to major donors and groups that could help. i am sure she is making the case this law could help millions of americans to buy health insurance and experience more financial stability. we will see what the fallout from the article is. they are here next week. host: is there a sense from what the industry reaction has been? jacoby have not heard anything. i am sure they will come for in time. made ane president announcement about the affordable care act, taking a part of the agenda again. where does that -- what does that say about where it is and

its implementation? the story about kathleen sebelius tramples a little bit .n president obama's news cycle they want to make sure first that people understand because the law will not work if people do not join up and they will not join if they do not understand. the administration is grappling with moving parts. it is facing criticism from capitol hill. we will see how they deal with it over the coming months. the biggest task, i believe, is educating the public. we saw a survey saying that for you and 10 americans -- four in 10 americans do not believe the law is on the books. the administration has a long way to go. host: as far as a general strategy to make it more understandable, what is the plan? guest: they will launch major

education programs this summer. some of the criticism has been that they should start know because -- now it is there is less than one year before this will be up and running. they will have groups helping the uninsured help find insurance through the exchanges or the medicaid expansion. there are things happening, but the criticism is there is not enough. in the slide deck is joining us from "the hill" -- viebeck isach -- from "the hill." anna. new york. caller: i had a statement about the transparency in health care. i find it ironic. last fall, there was a person

in our local area, and it was a huge nose put the -- newspaper story, that cms has a pilot wrote them called an observation bed status, which means a person can go into an emergency room, go upstairs to a hospital bed as they have maybe done several times ago, and the perception is they are being admitted into the hospital, and in actuality they are being put into what is called an observation that. -- bed. they might either for several like not just 24 hours happy like -- like most people have that experience of the unwatched and then sent home. there directly placed on a bed. this person was an elderly person and needed to have a

short time for rehabilitation before being discharged. the family got a bill for $20,000, and when they questioned it, they said you were not admitted. you are in an observation bed, a medicare pilot rim, and the theitals -- program, and hospitals are under no obligation to inform the patients that you are not admitted and your insurance will not pay one dime of your stay. they appeal to the office of aging and they said sorry, we cannot help you. it is the law. they appeal to the hospital, and they said sorry, we cannot help you. it is the law. becausefor seniors, they did not need this qualifying stay in a hospital, their rehabilitation bill was not paid if they were not technically admitted.

host: you put a lot out there. let's let the gu r .uest: that is a terrible story i'm sorry to hear of it. there is so much in medicare and medicaid that falls inside of rules and if you are outside of the rules, you can get hit with a major bill and that is something members of congress are concerned about. an elderly person being treated in a bed on the floor sounds terrible to me. i hope that caller get some help. host: a graph in "the washington post" looks at the average build procedures and the average medicare reimbursement.

far offt shows you how these prices aren't because these businesses would not be able to function if medicare were not paying them essentially what the procedures are worth. prices, charges and build in american medicine do not really reflect the cost. ron, chattanooga, tennessee, independent line. seek cap -- caller: i wanted to ask a question about disparity in cost. is that not because medicare sets the price on the set cost and by law the hospital cannot change that price? i have struggled with this. i am at an independent

consultant, and my wife constantly had to get a job for us to have insurance and you have kids, and it has constantly been a struggle. i am 53, and i just had soldier shoulder your -- surgery, and the actual costs was $7,000, and if i have not it was likee, i paid, and i paid -- more for my air-conditioning then i played in the -- for the surgery, but if i had not had insurance, it would have set me back tremendously. are those costs set by medicare and how to hospitals get away with having such disparities? it would seem to be a form of

discrimination to charge so much more. guest: we have heard that from -- of for-profit hospitals critics of for-profit hospital saying that there has been some reading. will reimburse for certain procedures. they are certainly not getting the bills and pay them in full. there is a question here of the exactly how the prices impact the overall prices for healthcare in the united states. these charges make it impossible for people to paris and shop, as we have been talking about, -- comparison shop, and that is than what we are talking about. host: for the uninsured, what does this mean for getting the prices lowered or paying out-of- pocket? guest: they are in a terrible position because unless they are doing a tremendous amount of

comparison shopping and wading through data, you could get hit with costs that could be hundreds of thousands of dollars more than they would be. they are trying to develop materials to help people know how they should take, that is a major problem. host: maryland. democrats line. caller: i appreciate your efforts and thank you for the research. if you walked into my hospital room and saw you were taking .are of me, i would feel better i had cataract surgery, and two anesthesia prices. i found out there were two people there, which was fine, and then i found out they were not in my network, so i found if you i supposed to ask are in my network while you

putting a mask on me? it is kind of confusing. guest: exactly. complicated, be especially if you are in one of the government programs and dealing with alan -- eligibility rules. evidenceanecdotal about people not paying hospital bills altogether because they cannot afford them? absolutely. you cannot control if you get a major medical condition, and you could end up paying more than you could afford in a lifetime. we have heard stories of insurance companies or hospitals that have employed aggressive debt collection practices. sitting the -- certainly not every hospital does that, but we have heard of cases where people are asked to pay at their bedside, and it is against the law. if you are going through a major illness, you should not be given

with the bills right there. host: that factors into the cost that some of the hospitals have to charge. beverly hills, california. republican line. caller: thank you for letting me on the phone. you just mention this -- one of the issues i am having is actually, cedars-sinai demanding that i pay money upfront for .ervices after an accident i have had two accident in the last year. i insurance is out of hawaii. california does not accept it, and i keep wondering where -- when the obama healthcare rules will come in where they will not require or demand that we pay or exclude things that have happened in the past. the issue is they are now

demanding money up front, even as such hospitals as cedars- sinai in beverly hills. are there insurance companies that i can get in california that will not charge me thousands of dollars every month? host: thank you, caller. guest: the caller was asking about when certain provisions would take effect and the ban on discriminating against previous conditions will come on january 1 next year and that is also when you can obtain insurance through exchanges. if you're looking for the best bang for your buck, you can go through the insurance exchange and compare races for plans offered -- prices for plans offered in california. .hat is a terrible situation it is very hard to be charged money up front. i am not sure exactly what the rules are in california about

that, but if he is concerned, i would encourage him to get in touch with a member of congress. host: where are we in the setup of these insurance exchanges? >> it is a big list for the administration. they are hoping that by october, it will begin rolling and exchanges will go live in january. it is just a matter of months from now. what they are having to do is negotiate with insurance commissioners and companies, which is unprecedented for the federal health department, to have to go in with this detail. host: are their fears of delays? guest: there have been questions about delays. republicans on the hill have talked about calling for delays, but democrats say they pressing ahead and they feel people's opinion of the law would go down further if they delayed the law.

i want to push through, meet the deadlines and begin serving the public because they believe that will drive up the opinion of the law. pointto the previous about education, is the public educated on how these exchanges work? guest: in general, they are not that there is misunderstanding about how the law works, what it does and whether it is still on the books. we will probably see major public service announcements. viewers can expect to see television commercials. we even heard about obama care being mentioned in popular sitcoms like "modern family." there will be a major public push because the administration knows that unless people understand it it will not work. host: houston, texas. steve, independent line. caller: my name is steve. these guys realize what social security is doing to these $1000 making only $300 to

a month, and here is medicare -- medicaid -- they tell you you have to buy insurance, and the problem with that is it is $100 out of their checks. how can they afford this? guest: there are questions for vulnerable americans, particularly older ones relying on social security and medicare, because changes could raise prices beyond what people could pay. there are many democrats on the hill fighting against proposals like chained cpi, a term we hear a lot, people are concerned prices will go up and people will not be able to afford basic living. is a staff viebeck writer for "the hill." thehill.comk out for her writing.

july for joining us. we'll be talking about 3-d printing for guns. we will have a conversation about that, but before that a short session of (and here is how you can --'s short session of "and here is how you can join us -- we will be right back. >> this department might be nearing a stage where the frequency of this crime and the perception that there is tolerance of it could undermine our ability to effectively carry out the mission and recruit and retain the good people that we need very that is unacceptable -- that we need. that is acceptable to me and the leaders of the institution and it should be unacceptable to everyone in the united states

military. we need cultural change where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. when allegations are treated seriously, bystanders are motivated to intervene and where offenders know that they will be held accountable by strong and effective systems of justice. >> this weekend on c-span, defense secretary chuck hagel outlines new initiatives to fight sexual assault in the armed services. today at 1:40 p.m. eastern. gregoryorning at 10:30, hicks on the attack in benghazi. on booktv, eric schmidt and eric: -- jared: share their vision of a world where everyone is connected. cold wary,

intelligence during the eisenhower administration, sunday at 3:00 p.m. >> she is the first first lady to serve -- earn a college degree. opposing slavery, she influences her husband to switch from the whig party to the anti- slavery republican party, and she hosts the first annual white house easter egg roll. .eet ruthie -- lucy hayes your questions and comments monday night, live at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span and c-span three and also c-span radio and c-span.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: before we go to the next segment, you can join us.

if you want to send us a tweet, wj. can tweak a set c-span this is a picture out of new york. it shows the spire at the recently completed one world trade center, giving the tower a sixolic height of 1770 feet, making it the tallest structure in the western mr.. -- hemisphere. new york gazeds with pride at the structure. it is beautiful, and more power to new york. governor andrew cuomo said the completion symbolizes the resilience of our state and nation. beacon thatcludes a

will be visible for 50 miles, transmitters to provide unparalleled radio and television service, according to officials. the top of the tower completed yesterday, courtesy of "the new york post." also from "the daily news", this in washington. he was in full uniform, and exchanged and jigs and stories with soldiers expensing physical therapy at walter reed. that is provided by "the new york daily news." (before the next segment. oklahoma city, democrat line. i have no type of

medical insurance whatsoever. i do not have medicaid, medicare, and back in january i was in hospital with pneumonia for 25 days. one week after i was in the hospital, my long collapsed, and i got a partial bill for $150,000. . do not have medicaid i cannot even get medicaid because my children no longer lived in the home. i do not know how i would pay my bill. youybody is worried about all are going to do something about health care. i want to know what are you going to do about health care and how wide the able to pay my bills. host: missouri. independent line. caller: thank you. i wish i could have talked to ,he young lady on the air

because i am a claims examiner for a major insurance company, and i pay all kinds of claims. the hospital bills are just wild. they are high. everybody has their hands in something. if you have surgery, you have the assistant, you are having it all. i think more people will join for obama care because i think it will be a good program because nobody can afford this out here. i have worked for the insurance companies. even with myself, most people or not educated on obamacare on their own health care. host: the prices that the hospitals charged -- were you surprised that one procedure in

one place and another procedure in another place could differ so widely? because i, i was not have worked for a lot of major insurance companies, and that was not surprising. that is not surprising to me. me getting back to people not knowing and understanding their insurance companies, you network, out-of-network, people are not educated in this kind of stuff. host: chicago, illinois. lisa, democrats line. caller: can you hear me? i'm sorry, i will turn my tv down. host: we appreciate it. calling about the article you are reading about kathleen sebelius going out and asking for money. i think it is a shame that she has to essentially beg for money

for things the government should educate theto public about benefits that will be paid for by their tax dollars. it is like people are screaming "do not help me with my tax money" or do not educate me with my taxmoney, but keep money to make sure you and your family are covered, you meaning the politicians. the republicans and their lobbyists have spent millions so that this law would not go through. host: i have the story right here. and low of the graphics -- -- about $1 billion of fund set aside for the overall implementation, but $5 billion to $10 billion needed to get the law up and running over the next decade.

caller: that is a shame, and the very people fighting this, they have health care, their family has health care due to taxpayers and you need to tell me i cannot get it with my own tax dollars? they spent millions so the law would not get through, millions so that you do not know about it, and now they are holding back money so you do not get education were care. it is outrageous. host: leonard, tulsa, oklahoma. republican line. caller: good morning. i have been hospitalized for several procedures. i paid allductible, of that, and then i got a bill one year later saying they did not bill my insurance company because the hospital did not give them the information, so now i am being asked to pay the full bill. connecticut.

go ahead. caller: i am actually a medical student, and i wanted to say how remarkable it is how little information as providers we have about the cost of things and i can sympathize with the consumer in that it is impossible for them to shop based on costs. often times, tests are repeated. there are other alternatives not explored. it seems difficult for people to have any sense of how much things cost and be able to be informed consumers of because thejust information is not available, even to the providers. host: what do you think helps to improve that then? this initiative by the obama administration is something that could help, but ultimately i think the government will have to do more to tell people how much things

cost and what is available because from the health providers cited there does not seem to be an ability to do that .t the present host: do you think that now that we know about this kind of information that there is more transparency in discussing what people pay for medical care? caller: i think transparency is one part of it, but the other anan -- issue is there is asymmetry of information. you do not know enough to make an informed decision, even if they have information in regards to what treatments are available. host: that is tom from connecticut. this is tim from idaho. democrats line. caller: good morning.

first time caller. what needs to happen, i believe -- it is not so much a democrat and republican thing, i think it is a healthcare issue. i live in idaho, and across the street from my house, it is 187 steps to a hospital here, and they will not take my insurance for workmen's compensation from california just like the gentleman who called from beverly hills. i traveled 1300 miles one way just to get health care. i do not know if better education would help, but anyway, thank you. host: one more call. bruce. florida. republican line. my name is bruce, first time caller. i just had open heart surgery. i had several problems with insurance company. i have blue cross and blue shieldfirst time caller that i f money every month, and paid it to 15, maybe 18 years.

a problem -- i have a problem with my heart, i go into the hospital, and i say that i am ppo, i need blue cross and blue shield, and to keep that in needective that i do not anyone else working on me, and they fill me up with drugs, and i thought my insurance company told them. andd everything you said, it was the doctors fault. they added a few dollars, nothing serious. , just got on medicare in april looking at what were the best packages, and i said there are too many questions you have to ask the companies. let me ask the doctor, because there were two doctors i wanted to make sure that i would have

in case something else happened to me. , youyour heart being open want to make sure you feel comfortable going in because you will be under medication, and who knows what you are thinking. with the doctors, i felt very secure. they gave six plans to go on, and they recommended certain ones that are good. i wound up taking medicare and get the supplements. in the supplements, it gives me my pills for my drugs that i could take, and they have different categories. one costs so much money, two costs this much money, and three costs that much money. i question, why can you not make it easier or i could go into a --ferent drug money company

let's say medicare. the other program that i am in -- host: we will have to leave it there. thank you for the call. missouri, kathy. my problem is i have had cancer and i cannot even insurance -- purchase health insurance until i am five years out. other health issues besides what is cancer-related, and like i said, no health insurance company will let me buy health insurance from them because i am not five years out. do inre you supposed to that situation? you go to the doctor, and they will not help you. host: a story in "the washington post" looks at rent the same there's been a

steady rise since 2008. baltimore, maryland. this is a man does. democrats will -- this is amanda. "time: there was a magazine" article called "bitter pill" and it addressed many of the issues that have been brought up. for several people that have gotten around this fails, there are names of -- around his bills, there are names of people

that help negotiate those. and a very.ice list there is no rhyme or reason. hospital toom hospital, where services and .edications are overpriced the things you might think would to been andd like things like that if you are in an emergency room, can be billed separately. it is just insane. everybody should read that article, "bitter pill" in "time magazine." host: that was amanda from baltimore, maryland. you might have seen stories this week about the liberator, this rented at home on what is known as a 3-d printer.

the state department asked the person who put the plans out for this gun to take down the plans. join us to talk more about this is andy greenberg who is with "forbes magazine." telling me more about the gun and how it came about? >> -- guest: cody wilson is a texas law student and he has had using a 3-d printer for an entire gun. it creates very precise object. gun anyone this is a can download. wilson who is a libertarian and anarchist intends this to be a gun that could evade all forms of gun control.

a 3-d gun cannot be controlled the same way one that needs to be bought from a commercial supplier needs to be. host: here are the parts involved. does it have the ability to fire on a consistent basis? guest: i spent some time with cody and i witnessed the first shot. as far as i was able to tell and he was able to tell, despite the fact that the barrel is plastic and the body of the gun is plastic, it is capable of firing a standard and fun -- handgun round without visible damage and even if the barrel is damage, he could swap in a new barrel. host: is this legal? guest: he is a law student, and

has been very careful to make sure of what he is doing is legal. he has a manufacturing license, to make sure he abides by the undetectable firearms act. he put a chunk of metal into it as just a way to abide by the law. if you printed it at home, you could take that out and have an undetectable firearm. the one thing he has been caught on is it is essentially that he exported this done by putting it on the internet, so the department of defense through the state department has demanded that he take it down because he is supposedly violated export controls of weapons and that is the flight we are about to see. host: the state department asked him to take the information down, he did it, and what happens next? guest: it is clear already that you cannot control a gun like

this by simply taking it off the internet want it has already been out there -- once it has already been out there. i have spoken to a group that says they have already had 100,000 downloads around the world. it is not clear how many have been printed, but it has already spread well beyond the government's control. bywill already be spread everyone who owns this already. a is supposedly on filesharing website in europe that has invaded every other attempt to take off other copyright-infringing items. the horses out of the barn many thousands of times over, and i do think the gun has successfully invaded forms of gun control. him: the 3-d printable done

a something people can do with equipment. we want to have discussions about how this changes gun policy. if you want to ask the guests questions -- back to the 3-d technology involved, how common is it, and how does it work? an $8,000 3-ded printer. they bought it secondhand, so it .s $30,000 for now, it is not that easy.

you need to have industrial equipment. it is not a personal 3-d printer. the goal is to adopt the model -- adapt the model until it can be printed on a $2000 printer, or a cheaper one and when it can be made with a personal 3-d printer that is not much more expensive than a 3-d printer. that is when their dream comes alive and gun control becomes obsolete. host: how does the printer work again? meltdown essentially plastic, and the content moves up and down and side to side, laying down tiny strands that solidifies. the plastic is assembled into a percent -- precise polymer structure that cools and the platform the object is being built on goes down slowly.

sometimes it takes as much as eight or 10 hours, at a fully formed object comes out on the other end. other kinds of 3-d printers -- this one can find common plastic, but other printers can print in metal, nylon or other interesting materials. there is still a lot to be explored in this idea of andting contraband items, that is what they are trying to introduce, this idea that will evolve. tot: our guest is with us talk about this until about 9:15 walter from arizona. identifies himself as a gun owner. good morning. caller: good morning. i just wanted to talk about what happened in new jersey in the 1980's, learning gun manufacturer created and all nylon gun.

it was an actual manufactured went -- no metal parts, right through a metal detector, and even had nylon casing for the bullets. it was not detectable. they made it and they started selling them. they were small caliber pistols. the fbi gave him a cease-and- desist order. they did not stop. they had a raid on their manufacturing plant and inventory was confiscated and the company was shut down permanently. so, the type of case has already happened. they are running into a problem here now aware the printers might actually be stopped from the market if they cannot resolve it. that was my only comment. host: mr. andy greenberg? guest: it is important to point out that it is not simply a case

about a plastic gun. it can be printed in a way that is undetectable, and that is an issue that the below congressmen to include an, provision on these 3-d guns. the undetectable in the of the gun can be achieved in other ways. the idea that anyone can create a gun at home, in their garage, circumventing the control law with a couple of clicks on their computer and a 3-d printer -- that is the issue, the fact that it will be hard to shut this down. the caller said, you could seize all 3-d printers, but they are being used for many legitimate purposes in medicine, aerospace and lots of other things that i do not think the government is willing to stymie by taking the technology away from us. 3-d printers will be as important as personal computers

going forward, and i really hope the government would not take them away just because they can be used to create dangerous objects as well. host: bill king from twitter wonders what the nra position on plastic guns will be. have a weight in quest -- have they weighed in? have reached out to them, and they have been quiet on the issue. it seems that their interest is to remain silent, because they often represent the gun industry, who probably are not fans of the idea that people can make their own guns at home. this is probably too hot of a topic -- the idea of a weapon that can invade all gun control is probably not something they want to support in the public. host: a gun owner. good morning. caller: i want to know if this is similar to when they made

guns, or will they fire more than one bullet at a time? host: thank you. guest: many have commented that it has long been possible to make what people call a zip gun, a collection of simple hardware that can fire a simple bullet. in some ways, people say this does not matter because there are other ways to do it. what is important is the fact that you do not require any kind of know how to do this is going forward it will be possible to do it with less effort, the way it once required some know how to create a precisely formatted document, and then became something anyone can do. it might become as easy to today it is easier to create a

zip gun with the rubber bands or however you do it. i am an expert. 3-di think eventually -- printing will overtake that kind of hardware as a way to create guns at home, as dangerous as it sounds. host: madison, indiana. good morning. technology of this printing began 25 years ago and it is pretty complicated and basically 3-d modeling. the concept of people owning these -- you know, it is pretty much going to be corporations. the average guy is not going to be able to afford this. i think the young fellow -- his only problem is he was not greasy the right homes.

palms.sing the right like everyone is going to be able to do this. the terroristic fear factor. it is just ridiculous. the previous caller that you can make a zip gun out of a car antenna and they have been making ceramic guns for a long time. i think every body is just overreacting to a lot of things. host: mr. greenberg? guest: what you say is true in some ways. right now it requires an industrial 3-d printer. that is expensive. what has changed since the caller was using 3-d printers is now there are personal 3-d printers as well. some cost less than $1000. the eventual goal of this group is to make this gun rentable with a sub-thousand dollar project, like the open-source one, which which is the cheapest one. i think what tony wilson, who created this gun, it's really aiming for is simply to

demonstrate that there is a kind of illegal contraband file that the government would like to regulate, and no matter how they try, they can't do it. they already tried to take it off-line but it is is nonetheless running around the world. as an anarchist, this is almost a symbolic gesture for him. he wants to show the government is irrelevant, for better or for worse. host: one of the viewers are saying a search of the pirate bay website that shows the liberator plans are on about 2300 servers around the public way. guest: that is right. and they can be downloaded in seconds. i tested it and found that is the case. there are going to be other servers. people will pass this hand to hand. i found initially the defense industry was using a storage service called mega in new zealand owned by the interesting antiauthority. com and it is kim. co

posted. host: can the average person, if i got one of these printers and the design, could i print it myself? or do i need technical skill? guest: if you have the right kind of printer, you can do it at home. that is exactly what they have done. they are a very small operation. that sizedquare lie workshop where they made all of this happen. square-foot size workshop. it will become easier. a you can now order fully functioning 3-d printer that is not for simply technical people, for around 22 hundred dollars. that someday soon will probably be able to do something similar. host: philip from montclair, virginia. caller: i am a mechanical engineer. we happen to use a few different 3-d printing services

as well as have a particular printer in-house. that particular printer costs well over $30,000. even at that, the key thing is the materials -- the engineered materials. this guy printed something out of abs. abs, as you can see, is not a material that can handle anything larger than what he shot and maybe really only once or twice. fearnk the idea -- the that everybody is going to run out and buy a printer for $2200. those printers that are easily made at home and/or purchased for very, very little, they are not renters that really can actually lay down -- it is called fused deposition of material. they cannot lay down and engineered material that hasn't the strength to truly be able that's trulyweapon

viable. yes, he is trying to make a point. i don't by all means think that lord, one of these -- we've got to get the government in here to do regulation. host: can i ask a question? in your estimation, what does it mean to you the state department asks for the plans to be taken off-line? caller: you know, there's part of me that understands why. there's the other part that says it is a bit of overreach. look at the glock. it revolutionized plastic handgun, or a large portion of handguns being made out of plastic. they only put metal parts in there too obviously meet the federal guidelines. i look and i say it is a bit of

overreach. host: ok. mr. greenberg? guest: i think the caller is right that it is not in the hands of regular people yet, but that is the stated goal of defense did she did it -- defense distribute is. and people laughed when people said you cannot do it on any 3-d printer but they have proven it is possible. the interchangeable barrel system, when one barrel breaks they have a newly printed one ready to swap in. there will be different kinds of ways of dealing with the imprecision or the lack of durability of this kind of practice. as i keep saying, this already has made it possible for many, many thousands, if not tens of thousands of workshops around the country to create a gun without any sort of regulation. and what cody wilson has tried to demonstrate is simply this symbolic gesture. he has already succeeded.

he caused the government to get in a fight with him about some sort of dangerous digital shape and bring to life the fact that the government can't control objects on the internet the way that it would like to. i was really his goal. host: quick comments on some of the policy issues involved. you mentioned them both. you talk about to legislators -- steve israel and senator schumer about the undetectable firearms modernization act. you talk about the state department ordering the blueprints out of the international traffic in arms regulations. the modernization act, exactly what is it? guest: undetectable firearms act was signed into law by ronald reagan in 1988, i think there'd it is about to expire. steve israel and chuck schumer, both new york congressman, have called for it to be renewed and to be extended to cover homemade ammunition magazines and lower

receivers, the body of the gun. these are components defense distributed had already shown could be printed at home. in fact, simply renewing the bill would make it illegal for somebody to print an entirely plastic undetectable weapon at home. that is one kind of fig leaf measure, i think, to prevent the spread of 3-d printed guns. in fact, it does not address the fact that this gun is spreading online, that it is distributed, as it is designed, and can be downloaded anywhere in the world. i think that is in part why this date department came in -- why the state department, came in in favor of the law enforcement buddies -- i am speculating -- to basically force defense this to get it to -- defense distributed to take it online. the idea that this is a threat to u.s. military, a monopoly of

technology, which is what the export control is supposed to protect, i do not think it makes sense. i am sure the military is not concerned about a 3-d printable weapon. it seems law enforcement is and there is likely some cooperation in the u.s. government. host: a question from twitter -- to be clear, it would not create the metal part for the plastic on, correct? guest: there are two metal parts. there is the single common hardware store nail used as a firing pin and a trunk of steel that defends distributed to put in their gun to make it detectable muscle they are complying. but that chunk of steel could be taken out and it works just as well. it is really just a single male and a piece of ammunition that would be the only detectable metal -- it is really just a single nail and the piece of ammunition. but the tech ability --

detectability is not really the issue. host: the only problem problem -- it is not unusual to build a gun at home. you just cannot sell it because you do not have a license to be able to sell. guest: i think it is absolutely true. that is part of what cody wilson, i think, is banking on. there is nothing illegal about creating a gun at home, as long as it is detectable and you are not selling it. but he is trying to evade other kinds of laws, that would allow people to buy sophisticated weapons. he is hoping this project eventually will surpass the zip gun and other homemade guns and make a better gun more easily and open it to a wider audience and other kinds of homemade gun technologies.

host: has the state department said how long it will take whether or not -- can make the files available again? guest: i have not spoken to the state department. i bet the letter. it is going to be weeks at least. but does it really matter? the state department at the end of all of this -- decided cannot put it back up online. i do not think defense distributed much cares at this point. they could supply the files directly to pirate bay which is now hosting the 3-d printable gun. if they have new upgrades they want to release they will simply do it directly there. or use twitter or other social media to announce it. trying to control a single publishing channel or export of a digital good at all is in some ways entirely outmoded and just

a figment of the state department's imagination. host: california. gun owner, hello. caller: to me it sounds very similar to the attempt of the state department in the early 1990s to restrict the that theion court eventually overthrew on constitutional grounds. they said the law is not applicable -- the constitution itself protect it the right to distribute that kind of information. that is exactly what cody wilson is trying to replicate. he is talking about philip zimmermann, the photographer in 1993 and invented a piece of software that was the first encryption software for encrypting data and keeping it secret. it was so powerful that the government could not crack it as far as anyone knows. as a result, they investigated philip zimmermann -- the state

department investigated him by putting it on the internet just as they are now investigating defense distributed by putting -- for putting the digital gun online. at the end philip zimmermann won the case because there was a free-speech argument, the programming code is speech and should be freely available under the first amendment. i think cody wilson is going to try a similar argument here am a that the blueprints of a gun are also speech. what he has successfully gun here is combine the first amendment and the second amendment. the first amendment protection of free speech, with the second amendment protection of guns. intou make a gun information, then free-speech becomes a protection on guns. host: our last call for the segment from utah, this is don, also a gun owner. go ahead. caller: one thing i wanted to

bring up, the comments were made what all is made with this technology. i think it was on 60 minutes or one of those shows they were also showing where they were making body parts. they had not been approved yet but they were creating an ear using cartilage from the person. i pertinence -- personally witnessed one of these printers in action and they are absolutely awesome. they can print and metal, they can print and plastic, they can print any human body parts. it is not something i see them shutting down, being able to stop h without aell o -- without a hell of a fight. guest: the obama administration put hundreds of millions of dollars into 3-d printing. it is a miraculous technology, it can be. it has already been used for making prosthetics.

, legs.nd arms i think it will be used to create organic materials soon. it is used in aerospace and elsewhere. it is a technology that could potentially revolutionize manufacturing. i don't think that even our fears of the fact that can be used to make a gun should in any way hamper the innovations in 3-d printing. policyhat are the gun discussions going forward because of this technology, the plans? what happens with the state department? guest: if you are asking what the government should do -- host: the broader discussion of how it changes gun policy in the united states. guest: i think there will be kind of a replay of the philip zimmermann discussion in 1993. what do you do with contraband information?

when information violates some law, like export control, can you violate free-speech to control it? i don't think you can. i think in the end this gun will proliferate. it seems to me the only way to actually try to regulate a gun like this is to move the regulation to the ammunition, which still cannot be printed for now. author ofew connee andy greenbg the book "the machine kills secrets." andy greenberg has been our guest. thanks for your time. if you are and ap government student you are probably in the midst of repairing for your ap government exam. this is your chance. we haven't opportunity to help you out. our annual cram for the exam segment. some tips, guidance, maybe go through a couple of questions to do that. if you're interested in a question, here you go. what if the questions you might

see. state and local governments are required to to do something without funding. what is it called? think about that for a little while. we will have guests to help you with your answers when "washington journal" continues. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> post 9/11, and whole lot more people cared about national security issues than was the case before. a, all of a sudden there was market for former cia folks, former defense intelligence agencies, former national security agency -- the big eavesdropping agency. all of those guys who were used to operating in the shadows saw a market for their services as commentators, book writers.

so, there was this somewhat uncomfortable interaction between the agencies and these usually former employees. >> at the time i thought waterboarding was something we needed to do. as time has passed and as september 11 has moved farther and farther back into history, i think i have changed my mind and i think that waterboarding is probably something we should not be in the business of doing. >> why do you say it now? damn a because we are americans and we are better than that. guy who i think by all accounts meant well, who served his country well by most accounts for 15 years and some very dangerous situations. he risked his life to take on al qaeda and pakistan. and to take on ever resume -- take on terrorism. he is going off to prison for 30 months, leaving his young family. >>. shane on his feature story

-- "from spy to source to convict." jailed cia officer. sunday at 8:00 p.m. on c-span. about the situation in afghanistan in 1978 and 1979 was just how different it was from what we face today. many things are radically different. there are no radical leftist parties or secular parties in afghanistan today. that has all been pretty much wiped out. weren the 1970s, those really the powerful forces in afghanistan. khad fordent mohammed most of the 1970s was a secularist modernizer, not unlike the shah of iran and he was replaced in 1978 by the afghan communist who try to remodel society according to their own utopian design. they very quickly ran aground with that.

of the whole country rose up against them and that is why the soviets had to come in. what is amazing is the way that invasion and the almost unending civil war that has followed, compounded by the coupon best in -- u.s. intervention, has wiped out the old afghanistan we saw in the 1960s and 1970s. >> revolutionary islam, market revolution, the pope visits poland and start to appear in communist countries -- kristen carol on 1979 -- christian carol on 1979. on booktv. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining me, andrew conneen from adam i stevenson larsonhool and we have

also from adlai stevenson. if you are a student preparing for the ap government exam. thank you for joining us. students know what this is all about but for those who don't, tell us a little bit about this exam. guest: it takes place on tuesday, it will be for college credit. students have been prepping the entire year, in some cases, since january, to get college credit if they can do well on the multiple-choice and free response questions. host: as students prepare, so advice -- some advice. you go there are two portions. one is multiple-choice. 60 multiple-choice questions in a 45 minute time period, and then 100 minutes to write four says think essays on american government and politics. i say, game on. host: i can tell you first and foremost, to start this segment. we want to hear from students only. students who are preparing for the exam. we have two experts. if you live in the eastern and central time zone, here is the

number could -- to call -- host: students, call-in. the rest of you who want to stay and watch it here is a sample question for you. i'm glad i have these two guys to answer it. and replacing the articles of confederation with the new constitution, what was the most important effect? host: if you are still with us and do not know the answer, let's get the answer. host: the answer was to create a strong national government. it is a -- guest: the answer was to create a strong central government. federalism, the role of state

and local governments. of those are some of the big concepts. host: is it only constitutional based stuff? what other aspects of history? guest: a good question. this is not a current events test. you will not be asked about obamacare and what his foreign policy today, but it is conceptual, vocabulary driven. it a political science test that you need to know how government works. the balance of power between national, state, and local government. a terrific exam. host: eight tweet to angie. she wants to start off with a shout out to mrs. lellis. guest: the warren court is a very specific question. i am not sure they will ask you something quite whole historical. but the warren court is clearly a court we remember that has taken on more civil liberties and civil rights cases and expanded liberty for all. host: andy from indiana. 11th grade. welcome, go ahead. caller: i am wondering what you

guys think the predictions are for the -- this year. guest: we do not predict a lot but certainly you can expect questions on powerful. how strong is the president, congress. what are in formal versus former -- formal powers. i would also prepare something on federalism. another great question that allows us to look at a number of concepts across national, state, and local governments. guest: look at the big concepts of the class. checks and balances is another perfect free response question. what are the roles of the courts and congress and directing with each other. host: here is another tweet. host: i don't know how you do both of those. guest: hard money is not capped limits is

to candidates. soft money is illegal because of mccain-feingold. it used to be unlimited donations to political artist. we once had the question on previous bonds -- and some students said hard money was coined in soft money was paper currency. as long as you know it is not that, it is fine. guest: hard money is when you buy the prom tickets in soft money is when the parents pay for the limo. host: washington. 10th grade. hello. caller: a shout out to my ap government teacher, mr. beale. what are major government institutions that you think will be on the test? guest: the great -- a great question because institution provokes fear oftentimes. institutions are anything you studied in class. they could be congress, the presidency. it could be political parties. we differentiate between the

linkage institutions in the institutions of government. institutions of government -- congress, courts, president. the linkage institutions, those who connect we the people with our governmental institutions -- political parties, interest groups, campaigns and elections. great questions. guest: it could be elections. elections have been institutionalized weird that falls under institutionalism as well. host: another tweet -- how important is knowing the landmark supreme court cases? guest: we always have a lot of questions about what supreme court cases you should know. brown versus board of education. back to asking about the warren court. you should know about selective incorporation and the cases that incorporate the bill of rights for state and local governments. but there is no end all be on list of supreme court landmark cases. host: make sure you know roe v wade. i like -- versus new york as selected case. but if you have a lot of supreme court cases in your mind, use them as examples.

remember, in those free response questions, if it says explain -- don't just define and explain the term. give us a good example. host: breanne, virginia beach, 10th grade. caller: i was wondering what factors can encourage a higher political efficacy. hostguest: in our class, when we hit our favorite government words, thanks for mentioning mine so early. political efficacy. i would write it on every free response question for fun. efficacy speaks to the american people's mama my trust in government. my belief that the government is responsive to my needs. wrinkly, if we want a healthy democracy, we need an increase in clinical efficacy -- frankly, if we want a healthy democracy. host: or where a, colorado. 10th grade. caller: i wanted to give a shout out to my ap government teacher ms. patrick. what is the difference between

entitlement programs and social security. guest: entitlement is social security. social security -- entitlements are mandatory spending, permanent spending. social security and medicare are the top two programs. interest on the national debt. those are all entitlements. that contrasts with discussion every spending where it -- the government has a choice every year. host: a sample question for those who made the following at home. you may be a student or you maybe not. it is about the division of power between the national national, state, and local governments. you have five choices -- host: this is about the division of power between national, state, local governments. host: the only answer is federalism. something we teach in our classes, when you see the prompt in a multiple-choice question, don't carry a debate among a, b, c, d, and even -- answer the question in your

mind right away before even looking at the answer because most of you when you see separation between national, state, and local, you are thinking federalism. zero and right on federalism. host: julio. first, he wants to get a shout out to mrs. newman's second. government class. for those at home, you will hear that a lot. i in triangle. guest: we love the i in triangle. i want to give a shout out all the tedious. 11 thing we have learned during this -- doing the show for five years. how prepared the students are. your teachers are doing a great job. today we are just affirming what your teachers have done. guest: the iron triangle, one of the more complicated concepts. it is a way to shape policy. it involves three voices. it involves a bureaucracy, a committee or a subcommittee from congress, legislative branch, a special interest group.

i finally think i have a perfect example of this. it involves canned mushrooms. hey joe, did you know the fda requires that canned mushrooms 30 7.5 be packed -- milligrams of exorbitant asset. the way they, but the policy isn't iron triangle -- 37.5 ascorbic acid. quarter cultural subcommittee, working with a lobbyist from the american muslim institute. this is an example of elitism -- very few voices. it tends to be fascinated very consensual. not a lot of public comment about it. they come up with a policy how to pack mushrooms in acid. the iron triangle. host: brian is from washington, 12th grade. caller: i want to give a shout out to my government teacher.

can you explain the major differences between open primaries,) and is an blanket primaries? guest: i love the question. we just seen a presidential election this last november. i am not sure we will see a lot on presidential elections the primary elections are fair game. i think the two words you mentioned are of utmost importance. (or in a closed primary. in an open primary, anybody can vote. you can grab a ballot and mark the candidates you want to see in the general election. in a closed primary, you must declare a political party preference. in illinois am aware we are from, in a closed primary you have to say, listen, i am a democrat and they can only give you the democratic ballot where you can only choose democratic candidates. host: a student named justin kolpack. he wants to give a shout out.

guest: you could have waited until monday but thanks for e- mailing. executive privilege is the power of the executive branch, physically the white house and president, to withhold information from the public or maybe withhold information from congress. an executive order is a directive from the president to the federal bureaucracy that has the power of law. guest: this is a key concept because it differentiates between formal and informal -- informal powers of the president. we have to balance the informal -- what does the constitution say about presidential power and what the president actually do that may in fact might not be directly stated in the document? host: jordan is up next, hagerstown, maryland. caller: i want to give a shadow to my teacher ms. kelly from clear spring. , question was, i was wondering the majority of the questions, i am wondering what they will be on, the majority.

guest: that is a balance. and certainly we know the institutions -- congress, president, and the court, make up the majority of the multiple- choice questions. of those three, i would prepare for the president and congress questions the most but do not forsake the foundations, do not forsake federalism. attention tor public opinion, demographics of voters. you are doing the right thing studying with us this morning. guest: if you go to the website citizenu.org it provides insight into the vocabulary words and concepts students are expected to understand. it is a good place to study after the program. host: how long are students studying for usually for this? guest: for many we hope this is more than a class, this is a lifestyle. this is just the first step of a lifetime of studying american government politics. let's remember, the highest office in our government may not be the president, it is you,

the american citizen. host: ernesto, thanks for holding on. he is from california. 10th grade. caller: i would love to get a shout out to my ap government teachers. how important are the courts to allow the year on the test? he caught the courts throughout the years -- historically you may have to know -- guest: the courts throughout the years, historically you may have to know the warren court. but probably the only historical reference will be the warren court. you should know the court more recently have gotten into issues of civil liberties, and particularly you should know selective incorporation. selected important -- selective incorporation is more important to know, when the supreme court selectively made the bill of rights apply to states on a case to case basis using the 14th amendment due process cause. guest: when i studied the courts i would focus on the levels of court. understand that united states supreme court is the highest

appellate court. in means it does not determine guilt or innocence. it is looking at a case not for the first time -- this is not a trial, but an appellate court. also another appellate court below the supreme court that has revisited the district court cases that have been appealed that there are store question -- still questions about. know the three levels and the three terms -- key terms like jurisdiction. host: a gift to give away. we will not tell you what it is, but this is how you earn it. you answer a question -- if you let the phone screen or know you want to take a shot at it, you will give the answer and if it is the right one you will win the prize. it deals with the presidential succession act of 1947. host: let's go over the potential answers one more time, if we could.

host: students, if you want to take a shot at it and you have the right answer -- call and tell the phones green and you want to take a shot and we will do that. maria gives a shout out to mr. wayne and asks about checks and balances. guest: this is another question that for some reason we are afraid of. checks and balance examples. there are many. the charts online, in your textbook, what your teacher is giving you, are probably sufficient. but remember in our system of government, rarely can one group act unilaterally. if there is an impeachment -- yes, the house brings the articles of impeachment but the senate has the trial to remove that person. the granddaddy of them all, congress can do all this work to get a bill passed and the

president can take his plan and say, not going to do it, and veto it right then and there. these are checks and balances. guest: i think a good example that might be on this test is what role does congress have over the courts. we know that article three of the constitution establishes one supreme court. we also know that congress can establish the number of justices on the court, congressman establish -- congress establishes the salaries, they establish the lower levels and the docket, the jurisdiction of the court. host: westlake, ohio. 11th grade. billy. caller: i want to give a shout korgan saintn ignatius. fragmentation. can you explain the three different types of fragmentation and how they called gridlock? [laughter] guest: this is one of the questions that makes us giggle us oftentimes with a particular bias or perspective of a textbook.

some textbooks talk about gaming and everything in the course is about gaming. this sounds to -- this sounds like one of the textbooks -- frankly we do not use a word fragmentation in our last. i can guarantee you on tuesday's exam there will not be a particular buzzword that drives the test -- like fragmentation. clearly we know there are many ways that fragment a bill becoming law. how it is used in your class, not exactly sure. guest: you probably should know what influences a legislator to make votes. it could be a party. it could be there own gut instinct -- the trustee model. or what the majority of the constituents think. that would be a factor on how legislators vote. host: joseph once the first one giving shout out to the grand pooh bah mr. scott. can you clarify the revolving door? guest: i love the concept of the revolving door for a lot of

reasons. not least of which is it happens a lot and very few know about it. it is when a government worker takes his or her expertise and leaves public service and is hired by a private institution and then uses that access to the government to benefit -- for the profit of private institutions. it is not unusual to see a member of congress or particularly a bureaucrat to let, from, say, the department of defense to leave the department of defense and then get a job with a contract air that makes a defense implement and they mutually profit. this is called the revolving door. there are checks and balances. the government has not just turned a blind eye. they made it a little more difficult to leave public service and enter private service. guest: i hope you do not mind me in themore about -- iron triangle, the lobbyist for the mushroom institute probably worked as a staffer for the

committee or a civil servant in the fda where she got expertise about mushrooms and ascorbic acid and now she earned a lot more as a lobbyist because she knows more about that than any person on the planet and she is able to take the technical information and shape policy. that is the revolving door. guest: some teachers may talk about fragmentation but he talks about fungus. from spokane, washington. how are you? caller: i am good. host: you want to take a shot at the question? here is the question -- color: first of all, to -- caller:, first of all, can i give a shout out to my teacher mr.veal? and the answer is, a, secretary of state.

guest: i'm sorry. guest: how about another gas? host: keep trying. we have a few more minutes. it is not easy. guest: we have never seen it happen. host: it is true. if you want to keep going at it -- please, do not use google before you call. know the answer. , 11th grade. caller: i want to know what has congress done to try to limit the presidential power and what has president tried to do to limit congressional power? guest: great question. i will handle congress. this is what institutions do. they battle each other and they check and balance. there are a variety of ways congress has tried to limit presidential power. let's not forget in a divided government we have now where the house of representatives is a majority republican, that in and of itself is a check of the present.

there are some other big ones of the test also looks at. of the war powers act. it used by congress to try to limit what they saw as an unfettered presidential commander in chief. coming out of vietnam in the mid-1970s, the congress wanted to limit the imperial presidency. always a big-time example. let's not forget, congress uses the budget perhaps more than any other vehicle it has to presidential power. host: justin kolpack, my student, mentioned executive privilege, withholding information, and also executive orders, ordering certain directives. but the prime presidential power is the bully pulpit. he is a single voice. when he speaks, the nation in the world listens. as that single voice he has tremendous influence to shape public opinion. host: andrew from washington. 11th grade. -- : you just caller: you just answered my

call. it's so sorry about that. we have jennifer who wants to take a shot at the question. i think we read the answers as far as the question is earned when it comes to succession of power. what is the answer. pro tempore.dent guest: if it was facebook, sums up. president, vice president, speaker of the house, and resident pro tempore. host: you will receive a copy of the constitution, but not any, a signature attached, senator patrick leahy. guest: he is currently the senate president pro tempore so he is third in line.

guest: and he wishes you good luck on the ap government exam. host: this is the copy of the constitution you will receive. thanks for participating. if you can just put her on hold and get the information from her, we will make sure it gets into her. go, obviouslyes taking tests are part of this and nerves are part of it. what is the best advice you can give to students? an issue onwill be multiple choice. 60 questions and 40 minutes. you really have to be quick with reading. it is a reading test. read very carefully. time is less of an issue with free response. mr. larson is an expert. guest: free reese ponce questions, for me, i would list -- free response questions, for me, i would list all the key themes and tried to cross pollinate. in our class -- and i am sure in your class -- federalism,

participation, political parties, interest groups come campaigns. congress, president, and courts. those 10 themes, i am writing them down before anything else and i ask for each of the four, how can i include something about federalism, how can i include something about campaigns, how can i include something about interest groups? repeat the exact words of the prompt in each of the answers. host: the power of judicial review established in the case -- guest: this is another one of those court cases where we would say you just have to know this one. judicial review, i can remember and exam where it was not asked and cannot remember and exam where this court case did not appear -- marbury versus madison. host: just to give you a little bit of context, we have a

,egislator, senator john kyl and he explains of the review and the court case and this was during a senate session back july of 2012. [video clip] -- inall know and marbury versus madison this could establish the review of congressional action and sent it and have overturned hundreds of laws that would -- unprecedented order extraordinary to overturn, as the resident has said. as the supreme court noted in the case with determining whether acts of the legislative branch are consistent with the constitution is the very essence of traditional -- judicial duty, and the constitution is superior to any ordinary act of the legislator. the conflict, the constitution and not such ordinary act must govern the case to which they apply. host: if you want to see it for yourself, the c-span video

library. , florida.le frank from the 12th grade. hello. are you there? caller: i'm here. toike to give a shout out my teacher mr. keith and all my friends at the ap review session. my question is, in the citizens united versus fcc case, there was a question on the multiple- choice -- citizens united versus fec. what will be the most important topic? health care affordable act? what other things? guest: citizens united would be one the more recent things you should know. this is not a current events course am a but, frank -- and i know your teacher is doing this already -- the more you read the news now, the more prepared you will be for the exam because the more you read the news now the more you will see examples in the news about the affordable care act rate yesterday president obama was speaking about the affordable care act, so you will be familiar with those laws and

supreme court cases that really connect with the big concepts of the court. he really great prep tool. host: atlanta, georgia. guest: i would love to give a shout out to my teacher mr. -- and his cat. are there any checks and balances between bureaucracy and the judicial branch? guest: we are talking checks and balances, and would love the questions. talking about a check and balance between the federal bureaucracy and the courts. clearly the courts can rule acts of the bureaucracy unconstitutional. they can come in, with an activist court in particular, redefine what the congressional statutes mean and alter or change how they bureaucracy acts. now, having the bureaucracy check the congress -- or check the courts, that is. remember, bureaucracy has something called administrative law. congress right to make statutes that allow the bureaucracy -- let's say, the department of

agriculture, to have somewhat unilateral authority. we call it administrative law. in some instances, this is a check on the courts. the courts may say something in the decision and then the bureaucracy of just how they implement those laws a stone what the court says. but trying to circumnavigate a bit the courts decision. guest: sometimes the bureaucracy, the federal communications, fcc, accented court if they find broadcasters who broadcast obscene material, so they act in a court at this case. host: marissa first of all wants to give a shout out to her -- ap government class. guest: democracy by the finish in his majority ready -- majoritarian. we think whatever the majority of citizens one, that is what we received. it increases efficacy. makes it look like government response to -- responsive. but the united states of america was not established as a juror

terry and democracy. the founding fathers envisioned a republic. it accepted there are minority rights. frankly, when you look at the bill of rights, those were not written for majorities but the one guy out on the street who wanted to speak his mind irrespective of what the majority wanted. thankfully so so, that first amendment still rules. out till,a from pol california. 11th grade. caller: wondering if you could tell the difference between a pac and a 527 group and the limitations? guest: aipac was established in the 1974 law, if you are a special interest group that wants to give money to a party or candidate you have to -- formed a political action committee. to essentially give them hard money. they give an amount of money, $5,000, limited what they give a candidate from a pac. 527 is an example of a super pac.

either loopholes in current campaign-finance laws that allow citizens -- citizens united, corporations -- to give an unlimited amount of money for independent causes. a super pac is not giving money directly to barack obama or to mr. romney, but they are spending money independently of those campaigns geared but it could be unlimited. a really good example of a loophole in campaign-finance law. guest: 40 years ago in this town, two washington post reporters were hounding a president by the name of richard nixon and they were told either secret sources, follow the money. good advice for tuesday's exam. follow the money. i think you will see some good campaign-finance questions on tuesday. host: andrew entwistle from twitter. legislative veto in today's politics. guest: that is mr. larson's expertise. guest: legislative veto we do not see much anymore. i am not sure i can think of an

example. all we are talking about how congress acts as, again, a way to check and balance presidential vetoes and other types of things. wrigley, i am not even sure it has been used guest: something that might be on there in terms of checks and balances,, the budget reform act of 1974. this establishes the process for creating the budget. the president recommends the budget with the help of the office of management and budget. congress shapes the budget, like they would with any law. they write it up with the help of the congressional budget office. in the end, the president has to sign the budget and approve it like he does with any law. and the president does not have the power to impound funds. if he approves the budget, he has to spend the money. host: and so, some of that process, not so much budget but part of it, i guess, goes to your test question. congressional committee for reconciling differences between the house and senate version of a bill. what is the process know?

eight guest: another great example of how this test is february. -- look at delivery. -- vocabulary. no the conference committees and the standing committees. dandy committees are permanent committees. the senate judiciary committee. house agricultural committee. they study builds year after year, and in many cases, the same members. but this question speaks to conference committees, that rare time were members of the house and members of the senate come together to reconcile differences in similar bills, but they need to be approved in exact form. conference committee. you can be guaranteed it is on the test. guest: you should also know the two types of committees specific to the house of representatives. the rules committee which establishes rules of debate and the calendar for bills in the house, and the other is of the ways and means committee, which

because the house has the power to tax, and specifically given that power to tax by the constitution, the house has a ways and means committee that in fact essentially decides tax law. host: back in july 2012 are presented of buck mckeon was on the house floor and he talked about his perspective on conference committee is formed. [video clip] -- wehave a process by have a process by which we were outlined by the constitution of the aids. one body passes legislation, the other body passes legislation. a const -- conference committee is formed and the differences are resolved. it goes back to the bodies for final passing and then goes to the president for his signature. host: again, the video library. you brought a stack of green cards. we tried to reduce all the vocabulary down to the essential 100. as the students at my school

know, i carry this pack of 100 cards and my back pocket wherever i go. in fact, we saw elena kagan coming here for breck is and i showed her one of the cards -- coming in for breakfast and i showed her one of the cards. he is going to pick a card and show it to mr. andrew conneen, time for you to play the game. guest: i will pick the card. -- host: i will pick the card. a great word. guest: 1932 was the last good example of critical alignment. when one group of party voters switches on a very large scale basis to the other party. 1932 was action in good example. a regional example was 1964 when white southerners who had been voting for the republican party rather than the democratic party -- were voting for the republican party rather than the democratic party.

guest: one of my favorite words to say. the closer you are to power, the more power you have. we talk about the white house office. when we think about the presidency, a lot of times you think about the cabinet, that he needs in some mythic realm with all the cabinet heads and they determine policy. in reality, the closest advisors to the president have the most power. it is not the cabinet. it is his white house office staff, that group of 3, 4, 500 that surrounds them every day who are not confirmed by the senate, by the way. these are his closest campaign friends and advisers. we call it the role of propinquity -- the closer your to the president, the the more power. host: a couple more calls. lucas, virginia beach. 10th grade. caller: first i would like to give a shadow to my teacher teacher and everyone in the review session. why do you all feel the two- party system has survived so long in american government? guest: the two-party system,

you are absolutely right, is not in the constitution. it is amazing it has survived considering there is no mention in the competition. it has historical foundations in the ratification. the debate about the size of the central government as it connects to the states. but really you need parties, you need team, you need organization if you are going to get policies and acted and shape. there are 535 members of congress and a bicameral legislature. you have an executive branch. in order to get them on the same page, you need to get them organized into teams. we call those teams political parties. because of our single-member district system in the house of representatives and the senate elections, one team -- you will essentially have two teams because there is no incentive for a third team to finish third. guest: remember, lucas. you do not make it a game and the role -- the roles of the election -- morality wins all.

whoever gets the most votes. remember what we said about political efficacy? if we only have two parties and the most vote wins, it guarantees the winner has the majority of the vote. all about the roles of our politics that increase efficacy. host: one more call. new york. 12 great. caller: i want to give a shout out to the fifth. -- fifth or yield class. i was wondering -- so, normally in the process of impeachment among the supreme court justice sits in on the senate when they tried weber is being impeached. i was just wondering, what if the supreme court justice -- like the head supreme court justice is the one being impeached? who would sit in on the senate? guest: i bumped into elena kagan walking into the studio and i wish he was here. guest: maybe it is the senate pro tempore. sorry, do not know the answer. it is a hypothetical that we

have never tested. probably would involve a supreme court decision. for post-high-- school students. u.org. citizen we have been building over 10 years years. great videos about the concepts. we were invited down to interview the fellows at the university of chicago. a you can see great with some really heavy weight when it comes to american government and politics and learn from those true experts. host: this has been are crammed for the exam time in the joined and danielonneen lost -- daniel larson from daniele stevenson -- larson from at a high school. coming up tomorrow, cheryl atkinson, cbs news reporter who has been in the lead about benghazi. she will join us at 745 a.m.

and also joined by carolyn atwell davis from the national center for missing and exploited children. discussing state and federal law related to a suction and missing and exploited children. and at 9:15 a.m., former the identity director of national security. talking about the growing threat of homegrown terrorism. we will take a look at the topics, the papers him and your