u.s. relations with syria could be defined by long-distance wi-fi works. later, staff writer lauren smith looks at the future of student loan rates and proposals to keep rates from increasing. "washington journal" is next. host: this is the "washington journal" for june 1. the first 45 minutes this morning, the topic student loans. interest rates on federal

government subsidized loans are set to double by july 1. the house passed the bill to keep the rates from going up. president obama said the bill does not go far enough. you may have saw that before we started the show this morning. the senate is scheduled to work on the show this week. we're interested in hearing from you about the federal student loan program. rates possible to double. especially if you are a student and parent. if you are a student and a parent and want to give your perspective, especially if you are dealing with student loans, 202-585-3883. yes, social media is available to you. c-span wj is the twitter address. we also have comments on

facebook.com/c-span. send us something at journal.cspan.org. this is about the moving jump according to the headline in federal student loan rates.

>> that was jay carney, the white house press secretary. the topic being student loans. the subsidized loan portion being set to double by july 1. we want to get your thoughts. here's how to do so. if you want to give us a call, 202-585-3881 for republicans, 202-575-3880 for democrats, 202-585-3882 for independents, and for those of you who are students and parents, 202-585-3883. the event was at rose garden

yesterday. you may have seen a bit of it before we aired. here's president obama talking about workers needed higher education and talking about the debt that students pay, an average of $26,000. president obama: we're here to make sure the workers can earn the skills and education to do the jobs that companies are hiring for right now, and are going to keep hiring for in the future. we know the sewerrestrestrest -t path to the middle class is some form of education. you are going to need more than just a high school education to succeed in this economy. the young people here today get that. they are working through college. maybe just graduated. earning their degree isn't just

the best investment they can make for their future, it is the best investment they can make in america's future. but like a lot of young people all across the country, these students have had to take on more and more and more debt to pay for this investment. since most of today's college students were born tuition and fees at public universities have more than doubled. these days the average student that takes out loans to pay for four years of college graduates owing more than $26,000. host: we'll hear more from president obama, get reaction from the republican sides. your thoughts welcomed as well on the phone lines. they start with a 202 area. 585-3881 for republicans, 3880 for democrats, 3882 for independents, and if you are a student and parent, 585-3883.

we have 35 comments on facebook so far. you can also post your comments on facebook.com. here are two. curt saying i'm looking for the term quote student loans. if i can find the education section in the u.s. constitution. can anyone direct me to the pertinent article? michael says this is a repeat of every other time the law is about to sunset and congress just sits on their hands or creates distractions. we need to hold congress accountable for their actions or inactions. twitter says the only things student loans do is give for-profit schools tons of money and no results requirement. can you say grade curve? he finishes with a lol. susan, democrats line, you are up for the morning. thanks for calling. caller: good morning. i'm calling, because i understand that tammy baldwin

put out -- was proposes a thing that students pay the same percentage that banks pay from borrowing from the government. i don't know exactly what it says. it seems to me that would be fair. banks are paying very little interest. her thing was why can't students pay the same amount of interest that banks do? that's my only comment. i don't see -- host: why do you think students should pay the same amount as banks do? >> caller: these kids are working hard and spending money for their loans. why should they be charged 6.9% or whatever they want to charge them. that's ridiculous. they are not earning any money yet. host: that's 6.8% will be the rate that goes into effect come july 1 if some type of resolve

in congress does not happen. the house passing a bill, the senate working on legislation next week. republican line, brian. hi there. caller: how are you doing? i got student loans. i'm 31. got quite a bit. and i just saw my rate. it is 6.8%. i'm not sure what this is all about. host: are they subsidized by the federal government? caller: yes. i got them in 2005. host: tell me about the amount. caller: i went to chiropractic school. i have over $200,000. host: as far as the rate, what do you think about the proposal by the president to at least try to knock the rates down a little bit? i guess from the political aspect, what do you think about the political nature of this

debate? caller: i think -- i'm in health care. the last lady talking about people not being able to make enough money. it is difficult to pay these student loans off right now. especially with cuts in reimbursemented rates to doctors. because i am -- i did buy a practice too. my overhead is extremely high. but, you know, that's a whole nother debate. to answer your question, it would be nice to see, you know, democrats, republicans get together and reduce the rates for students. it is definitely -- it is a serious issue. it needs to be addressed and taken care of. you know? someone is getting the money. we're trying to make a living. still a very sluggish economy.

host: this is susan scott on twitter. obama student loan scheme is set ups a funding source for his big government agenda. it is a sick redistribution stunt. we hear from a parent. if you are a student or parent, it is 585-3883. here's susan from knoxville, tennessee. hello. good morning. go ahead. caller: good morning. hello. this is affecting both my daughter and her husband. my daughter has a bachelor's degree. my husband has a master's. both of them last very, very good jobs in 2009. both of them have returned to college, my husband for his second master's in another field. well, a related field, to increase his employability.

my daughter for the same reason. they are working. my husband took a 50% pay cut and my daughter a 30% pay cut after the difficulties. they are both borrowing money again. our daughters loans from her bachelor's hadn't been paid off. these are new loans he's taking out. and i'm very concerned about the rates they are paying for -- will be paying for two reasons. we don't know what they -- what they will be earning even with the advanced education the way the economy is or isn't going. and i am right behind elizabeth warren's proposal for students to pay the same interest rate as banks. it's not really a very frivolous idea. the banks get money from the window for under 1% turn around. they give loans to the general

public anywhere from 6% up to 21%. 29% if you are paying on a credit card. so the banks have tremendous profits. students who have already -- either starting their careers -- just starting school or smashed in the middle of their careers by the great falldown in 2009, they weren't responsible for, going to be saddled for the rest of their live. that's not going to do our country any good whatsoever. host: hunter up next. calling from florida on the independent line. caller: good morning. i was listening yesterday to dick morrow. he was saying the 2% going up is going to take care of obamacare. he doesn't bring that up when he talks at the meetings and makes it sound so good. the 2% of the student loans will

go to pay for obamacare. i think whenever they come out with the rules and regulations, the first page should have the -- all of the contents of it so people know what page to look for and where it is. not the sneak things in it at the end of the day. also people that call say different things. i know you are ask where they are from, you should ask what they do. a lot of them calling are just people getting all kinds of money from the government and never working. thank you so much. host: black foot, idaho. this is independent line parent. hello. >>caller: hi. i'm calling about -- i have a dvd, a very explicit one, of sally mae and their collections tactics. i don't have a clue as to where to send it. host: as far as within your government? >>

caller: yes. host: have you tried starting with a legislator? caller: no. everything is on computers. i don't own one. host: what do you think about the topic about the potential doubling of rates? caller: i think it is rather disgusting for the fact that these kids have to go somewhere. my son was in the military. he went to get -- he went and got this student loan. it started out as a low interest prate. -- rate. now it's up to 7.25. i'm co-signed on it, i'm retired, and over the past year, i've had over 100 calls from various zip codes -- not zip codes but area codes. i kept track of them for a good year. i've had over 100. my son was harassed to the point

of going out of his tree. host: this was over the loans, i take it. caller: yes. host: that's roberta from idaho. here's senator harry reid's statement. the house republican proposal is a non-starter in the senate because it would leave middle class families with the uncertainty of seeing their rates fluctuate wildly year after year, potentially having to pay thousands more from one year to the next. it could cost students an average of almost $2,000 more in interest if we did nothing at all, or about $6500 of interest at current rate. also commenting on the whole effort about student loans was john kline. he's the republican from minnesota. he came to the house before this event took place last week to talk about student loans and specifically what the house proposal does for it. >> last summer with the lower

rates scheduled for july 1, 2012, debate reached a fever pitch. the president began touring college campuses, calling on campuses that prevent the increase that his own party set in motion in between. -- in 2007. no one wanted to see interest rates double. we need to move away from a system that allows washington to use students for profit. when congress approved legislation to shave off of the stafford loan increase, we lent our support to use it to work towards a long-term solution that better aligns interest rates for the free market. the smartest solutions accomplishes this goal by simply moving all federal student loans, except perkins loans, to market-based interest rate system.

this responsible legislation was put forth by the president earlier this year. it is a narrow piece of legislation that will provide a lasting solution to the problem facing the federal student loan program. unfortunately -- unfortunately, mr. speaker, some critics would rather kick the can down the road and extend the rates that a taxpayer costs of roughly $8 billion. they want to continue to fail status quo. host: a christian science monitor has a breakdown. here's what it says. what types of loans would have their interest rates double? subsidized stafford loans. seven million students qualify. the real that created the rate will expire july 1 and set the rate at 6.8%. they represent about 26% of the

total federal student loan volume. families also rely on unsubsidized stafford loans and plus loans. they bare the interest rate of 6.8 or 7.9% respectively. what's common to change the interest rate -- you heard representative klein talk about this, both are common in the fact they create marketplaces for p.l.u.s. loans and the proposals by president obama.

host: a little bit of information as we talk about the issue. the larger issue is the doubling of the rates could take place if not legislative solution is found by july 1. that's what we're talking about this morning. host: democrat line. how are you doing? caller: fine. thanks. to me it is just a matter of economics. the more money i paid off in student loans, the less i had to do anything else. i had over $37,000. i'm down to about $24,000.

with gas prices what they are, it gets to a matter of where i'm not even able to get to work if prices keep going the way they are. so again to me it is just a matter of economics. we want to strengthen the country. you got to make an education affordable. host: what was your interest rate? caller: right now it is 6%. host: would you mind tells us monthly how much you pay? caller: i've been paying $235. i had to lower because of an illness. host: what degree did you take with the loans? caller: i started out as a licensed nurse and went back and became and registered nurse. i was working on my bachelors.

host: that's c.e. from the democrats line. next up is carlton from montana on our independent line. caller: good morning, pedro. the banks are disgusting people. they get money from us. they want $700 billion overnight. we give it to them. they practically own our government. and what they are doing to our students is disgusting. the movement that elizabeth warren is putting forward, i hope it makes it through the congress. our students need help. when i was in school, we didn't pay anything in california. they gave you a draft for about what the future and students were going to be. my daughter was a 3.9 students. the other ones are paying their

loans too. they should be loaning them at lowest rate. this is the future of our country. you know, if people want -- if you want to get this country back, we have to start a movement. i hope c-span does it to publicly finance elections to clear the lobbyist and all of the people earning control of our government. especially the corporations. we need our government back. host: u.s. news and world reports takes a look at student loans. they also look at those who have them. especially as they contribute to the economy. they break it down in various categories.

host: gail is from new jersey on our republican line. caller: i think people should want to live within their mean. they shouldn't be taking out loans as much as even up to $100-$200,000 a year for $50,000 a year colleges. my late husband worked two jobs for me. he used vacation from his main

job. as much to 80-100 hours a week to put my daughter through college, to buy cars, we did what is called live within our means. unfortunately, most of the people in the country that want everybody to subsidize them. it is ridiculous. my husband didn't even take off ten years ago when he was diagnosed with cancer. he went back to work too soon. i think it's a disgrace having to subsidize everybody, illegals, white, black, whoever and whatever you are. it's ridiculous. how about working for a living instead of having other people subsidize you? host: how many -- caller: vocational schools. i went to one 40 years ago. i put myself to a business school to learn and be able to be a bookkeeper. host: can i ask a question? your daughter's education, how

many years did she go to school? caller: she finished as an rn. she was down at the university of maryland. it is hard to say 21 years ago already. but it's hard to believe. host: at the time, how much did your daughter's education cost? caller: i don't remember. i think it was $15,000 a year for out-of-state tuition then. host: so you never took out a loan. it was all paid for it. caller: no, my husband paid for it by working his second job. his second job during tax season was like his full-time job. his worked seven days a week, he worked one night off season, he worked a half a day on saturday. he did that for 20-some odd years. ironically and unfortunately we were in florida for a few years. he was supposed to teach a tax prep course. unfortunately, he had a heart

attacked, died, and couldn't make teaching the class that might obviously. but he worked two jobs for about 25 years. i mean i've seen him -- i've gotten on four or five hour sleep nights with him by the time he came in during tax season. host: thank you very much. thank you for your comments and giving perspectives. student loan rate set to double for some. stafford loans could double by 2.68% by july 1. rates as high as 10% from some loans from government is highway robbery. teresa from ohio. caller: i have a question that the nation needs to answer. what kind of education system do we need to have for our kids? and ourselves? i'm in my 50's. i'm about to finish my bachelor

degree in business management. and, yes, i've taken out loans. i started out at a community college. and i went back to school after being out for 25 years. i will be finishing up this fall. i've had to take student loans out in order to not just pay for my college, but live on. for four year i did not have a job because of the economy. host: were the loans subsidized or not? caller: they are all subsidized. host: what is your interest rate? caller: about 5.927 something. i haven't looked at them late lay. the payback should be based on what your income is at the time you have your first job. which should be not long after you have your degree. host: fix the payback rate

depending on your salary is. caller: what your salary is, yeah. i know there are several people that don't take more student loan debt out than what you expect to have as a first-year salary. from your first employment. most of these kids come into school -- like i said, i'm in my 50's. i was prepared for college in the 70 -- 1970's. i'm still prepared. most of the kids, being they are being taught to the test, they are not prepared to think and go through college. host: how long before you pay off your student loans? caller: i hope within ten years. it is going to depend on where i can get my first full-time job. right now i'm working part time. host: you don't pay anything as

of right now? caller: i can't. it is the only thing i've got to live off. host: okay. student loans are the topic for the next 15 minutes. a couple of other pieces of news. this is the national section of the "new york times".

host: george from harrisburg, pennsylvania on the independent line. caller: good morning, pedro. how are you doing? host: i'm fine. thanks. caller: the level of education in the 1980's we were ranked number one in the world. now we've dropped down to about 25, 26 in the world. the difference is, you know, st. paul said in the bible, for trying to become wise, they become fool. speaking of the roman empire. what we've done here in our country is we've become economic

slaves to the financial parasites. most of these countries that have surpassed us with their education systems consider it a right. we still consider it to be a privilege. the parents are running to the people that are better educated, taking them out of our country, and these strikes are destroying the country. i just hope that some day we have forgot being like -- as paul described in the first chapter of corinthians. we are destroying our education system, destroy everything in the country, just to be. until it changes, we're going to

be just like the romans. host: student loan government guarantee leaves led to a lack of fiduciary responsibility. it's a moral hazard for banks. "the wall street journal" looks at agriculture subsidies in 2012.

host: claudia is next from spring grove. i pushed the wrong button. this is hilda, new york, on our parent line for parents. hello. caller: good morning. i want to start by saying that the loan industry is just another too big to fail all over again. they are trying to control it. it is just too much money on the table. my daughter graduated from 2008 with a major in journalism. starting, she started a reporter in the area within the tri-state area. no benefits hourly. very difficult to pay her student loans.

she is still living at home at 27. last year she was able to find a decent paying job with benefits. it is still a struggle. hopefully things will change. host: do you co-sign on these loans at all? caller: i did, yes. host: how much do you pay monthly? caller: she pays $700 monthly. host: that will probably continue on. caller: before car or apartment buying, yes. host: can she get a new interest rate and try to do that? >> caller: we are exploring the other options. it is difficult.

host: now to the democrat line. caller: i got a job at motor vehicle. later on in life, i decided to go back to school for pharmacy technician. i was sick after the second month. i went to the school, can i drop out. i really wasn't doing that well in school at the time. so they told me my grades was very bad. so now i'm still trying to pay back the loan, you know, -- i had to go back to my original job as a bus driver to try to pay this loan off. so it should be after two

months, you know, if you just go two months to the school, you shouldn't have to pay back the loan. it should be defaulted. all of the money they are getting from all of these people, you know, that's just how i feel. host: that's keith from new jersey. here's twitter. lending to students should be private and at market rates. if you want to cut down costs for a kid, write them a check. we have a few more minutes. the "washington post" looking at the affordable care act.

host: patricia has been holding on in jacksonville, florida. democrats line. caller: good morning. i would like to call in and talk about the student loans. i would like to say that i am a student loan baby. i'm 50 years old. i have worked in the system since graduating from college in 1985. i went through college on a scholarship. i played sports and earned my way through my bachelor's degree. i hold a bachelors in biology and chemistry. i work with the city of jacksonville. i felt the need to go back to school and earn my master's degree. i acquired a student loan. i feel like the student loans

are a privilege. because it is just like a car loan. if you want to drive, you need to pay it back. and the same thing with the student loans. i understand the students who can't afford the rates. i concur with the rates at range they are. but i also feel that with my son who just recently graduated from high school, the economy today does not have the resources to house these high-income graduates. they are going to the schools expecting to come out and land a high-earning job. you should look at the entry level jobs. what i did for my son, is i brought him in under me working with the city as a file clerk. he will start school part time. he won't have a get a student loan. he'll utilize the pell grant. because the economy is so depressed right now, we can't keep pulling from the nation of

student loans, and we're not paying them back. so my concern is that we're getting them, but we're not willing to pay them back. host: your son, as far as what he wants to do, what are his plans? where does he plan on going to school? caller: he wanted to -- he wanted to do, like, computer design. then being a parent, i have to educate him on the current condition of the market and what type of jobs will be available. what i recommended to him is that to get a business degree and then get an associate in some type of computer design and as he mature and able to pay back a student loan, he can go and get the extra degree that he would like to have. host: so pell grants and continue on that way. that's the plan? caller: build on until he comes into maturity. then he can start paying back

into the system. host: thanks for your comments this morning and your perspective. here's andy soltis rewriting about the war in syria.

host: a related story in the "financial times." host: couple more calls on this. valerie from baltimore, maryland. a student. hi. caller: good morning. how are you? host: well. thanks. caller: i woke up. i had the tv on last night. there you were talking about

student loans. host: hopefully you weren't dreaming about yours; right? caller: actually, i think i was. i was a third degree student. i went to nyu years ago. i paid off my bachelor's degree. i worked full time and attended school full time. then i got my master's degree, paid off that. when i went back to school for my nursing degree, i don't think people realize when you go to nursing school, you can't work. you have clinicals that are at nights or on saturdays. if you attend nursing school, you can't work. so in my 40's, i took out student loans, graduated in 2008 from nursing school. i worked for a large, not-for-profit health care provider insurance company here in the mid atlantic. there's no idea of overtime to

subsidize your income. so i called sally mae the other day, actually. right now my interest rate is 4.75. i've been paying interest since i graduated. what ended up happening is they wanted to raise my rate, my payment per month from $500 to over $900. i called them. i said i really can't do this at $900. and i tried to negotiate with them. they said i'll give you, you know, $600 or $650 a month. i can't do the $900. and they went through the supervisor and said, you know, we don't have any other programs to accommodate that. you'll just have to default. so here i am, doing what i said i would do is pay my loans. in the economy, there's no

overtime now. the company i'm working for doesn't have overtime. that was my plan. in nursing, you can make a lot of money by doing what you love, but with the economy and the changes in the health care system, there's no overtime. host: apologies. i have to take some other calls before we finish up. we appreciate the perspective. pennsylvania, independent line. hello, brian. brian, are you there? caller: yes, i am. host: go ahead. caller: i think i have the solution. americans have to realize when banks borrow money from the federal reserve, they borrow it at a rate of 3%. do you hear me? host: yes. caller: okay. why can't the american public borrow directly from the federal reserve? we seem to put all of the money in bailing out banks. i really don't think they do a very good service for us. why can't americans just pay us a flat rate from a national

banking system that i think that would be good -- host: let me leave you there. i have to take in one more call. candace, hello. caller: hello. host: you are on. go ahead. caller: good morning. i'm calling in reference to the student loan that may be increased. host: you are on. yes. caller: my daughter is just starting out as a freshman. trying to teach her to be responsible and be accountable, learning different things, and the system, i find it rather unbelievable that she may be faced with such an increase just starting out with the federal student loans. she has gotten grants and scholarships. it is just a concern to me with -- as we're going to continue to go for the next four years what we should expect if it would increase even more over that time. host: what's her degree in? caller: she's going for fashion

design. i've taught her you need to do business, marketing, something more what we're dealing with in our economy now just in case as we continue to go forward. there is in the business available for what she really likes to do. host: is she going to be going to school in state or out of state? caller: in state. host: she'll continue. she has the loans. you are concerned about the -- them increasing. caller: yes. it hear it could increase by july, i'm assuming it is going to affect her over the next four years. just a concern of all of our young people. i agree we need to stop making them responsible for the deaf sets -- deficits that we have. there ought to be a better way

to help our children get through college, other than the making the burden on them. host: i would invite you to stay with us. we're going to take up the topic again at 9:15. we'll talk about the details and what the house and senate are doing, and especially president obama's call yesterday to keep the rates from going up. stay with us at 9:15. you can have a chance to learn more about this and anyone interested in the topic as well. as far as what's coming up next, we're going to have terry jeffrey, he's the town hall column mist and editor and chief at cnnnews.com. then christopher will explain why setting up networks in countries like syria may be beneficial for the united states. first on the american tv channels it is a focus on palm

spring, california. join c-span2 to watch the special program and local authorities from a city known as the playgrounds of the stars. that's including roger ransom. he was talking about his book, confederate states of america. it's a look at what the united states would be like if the south had won the civil war. >> think for a minute of the united states from baltimore all the way down through around florida, down along the gulf coast to the end of texas. that would all be a foreign territory. it would not be part of the united states. the united states would have no real access to either the atlantic or the caribbean, except for a narrow path from baltimore north as far as boston. beyond that, it's not good harbors anyway. all of the sudden the great atlantic coast of the united states is narrowed down to a point to blockaded. everything has to be funneled

through there. it doesn't mean the united states would collapse of its own weight. it means the united states would no longer have anywhere near the presence in the western hemisphere in terms of dealing with british intervention or french intervention. but i remind my readers in 1865 the french had troops, technically, it was the emperor maximillian in mexico. my theory is had the south won the civil war, the french would have stayed in mexico and the british would have expanded their influence around the caribbean. and what became, the caribbean dominated by the big american state would not be that. there would be a south and north. the south would be allied to the british and the french. that would change the geopolitics. now i think it would also change the politics within the united

states of america. losing wars does not come easily to any populous. and in the case of the civil war going the wrong way and having the south win, the republicans would be cursed because they were the ones that started the war in the eyes of the public. then lost it. but the south would be the ones that surrendered to the enemy. "washington journal" continues. host: joining us now, terry jeffrey. he's the editor and chief of cnsnews.com. welcome to the program. guest: we try to do as much

original reporting as we can. i'm also a columnist. town hall runs my syndicated column. host: in your jobs, what are you looking for as the information you get and what you want to provide to people that read your services? guest: the media search center is a conservative organization. i am a conservative. conservatives have the sense that the establishment and news media isn't dominated by con conservatives. interesting stories go unnoticed and unreported. they are trying to do high quality and accurate reporting, especially about things in the federal government that aren't being governmented. host: what's chief? guest: there's a lot of them. for example, on the irs story, we -- one of our editors did a story about that back in march of last year based on material that was being put out by the

american center for law and justice. i think we were ahead of the curve. i don't think we knew where it was going to go. the inspector generals report really kicked that one into high gear. we have been ahead of the curve in reporting on things like benghazi. you see the report about medicare on the front page of the "new york times." we put a strong focus on explaining to people, putting out government data about what's going on in the welfare state. i think that "new york times" story is polyannaish. >>host: tell us your take. guest: they came out with the report. it is better than people expected. it is not going to go and solve it. the fact of the matter is every single penny that people pay is spent immediately by the federal government. not only immediately, there's no

trust fund where they are saving money. they are going out and boring money in the market from the chinas and others. the same time the federal reserve is monitorrizing the debt by tieing up the u.s. treasury securities to try to keep the interest rate down. i think we have a $16.7 trillion debt. the latest legislation to suspend the legal debt limit expired. the treasury is going through the accounting gimmicks. primarily not counting the money they owe to the federal workers as debt. so they can literally borrow money past their legal debt limits. the idea that medicare is better off than it has been -- host: talk about the report in light -- part of the reasons that some of the cost savings are found which according to registration is because of what's been done through the affordable care act. guest: let me put a perspective on that.

i did a story this week in fiscal 2013. according to the commission that's put together by congress about medicaid and the children's health insurance program, they said there were 72.6 million americans in 2012 that were on medicaid. that was a record. the year before that, there was 71.7 million. back in miscall -- fiscal 2008, there was about 58.79 million americans. it's gone up 23% in four fiscal years. the bureau of labor statistics has put out some data. they track how many people are full-time workers in the private sector, not in the government. there's about 97 million americans that work full-time in the private sector. that "new york times" stories said there's 52 million people on medicare. there's a coupe of people on medicare also on medicaid. i think about 10 million. there's net 42 million there.

that means we have about 112 million people on medicaid and medicare. there's only 97 million full-time workers. you and me. there's someone out there we're paying taxes to support. every single person that gets up and goes to work is supporting more than one other person on medicaid and medicare. if people think the system is fiscally solvent, they are in for a big comeuppance. host: terry jeffrey is our gust. -- guest. if you want to find his work or ask him questions, do so on the phone lines, 202-585-3881 for republicans, 202-585-3880 for democrats, and 202-585-3882 for

independents. if you want to send us an e-mail, journal@cspan.org. give your assessment of how it has gone so far. what are the high points to date? guest: so far i don't think the president has had a high point. the biggest issue i think facing our country is obamacare. he wanted to get the gun legislation earlier. he didn't get that. the big issue is immigration. another one is going to be -- and i think it will be the key of his second term is whether he is able to sustain obamacare as enacted or whether it is, in fact, repealed or rolled back. i know you were talking about that earlier. clearly there's a number of indicators now that government itself is having difficulty implementing this incredibly complex law. host: this was about some of the

exchanges being able to go online. we talked about that earlier. guest: right. they are going to be one plan people are offered. the story we had has gone surprising attention so far. to go into accountability, which is basically the auditing agency of congress put out a report about the -- part of obamacare was a promise that people who had preexisting conditions could be able to get insurance. it is going to be redeemed by requiring all health care plans to cover people with preexisting conditions. in the period before that starts, they appropriated $5 billion. they set up a government program for pre-existing insurance. they ran out -- basically they've almost ran out of money. in february, they decided no longer to enroll new people with pre-existing conditions in the obamacare plan. they are already rationing enrollment for people with pre-existing conditions in their plan.

that's an extraordinary thing. it is happening according to the gao. host: what is expected in 2014? guest: i don't think understand the gravity of this issue. the catholic bishops in the united states approved a resolution saying the mandate that requires all health care plans to cover sterilizations and others is illegal. that's a direct quote. many of the bishops have sent out letters saying they cannot and will not -- will not -- obey the law. some of their literature v has made references to the martin luther king and his civil disobedience and his willingness to be jailed for disagreeing with segregation. i don't not think the

administration or media actually understands how profoundly the catholic church is opposed to that regulation. that is going to be a major story in the country in the next year. host: here's bob from benson, illinois. caller: good morning. i haven't had my coffee yet. i apologize in advance if i'm not making myself clear. i don't understand why you have someone from cns news on c-span. the media is not a liberal as he claimed. it is corporate or conservative. i'm a glad -- grad student. i study politics closes. look at his demeanor, sir, i apologize, but the smirking and the laughing and giggling about government programs -- the individuals are government together. the government is not some third party that is divorced from

reality, divorced from society here. we make up the government. host: as you know by watching this program, we put a lot of news sources through this program. he's our guest. do you have a question for him? caller: yeah, i'd like to know how he came up with the numbers he was using regarding there being more people on medicare and medicaid versus people working? :

more people on medicare and medicaid combined than private- sector full-time workers in the united states. there is another 17 million people who are full-time workers for the government in the united states. if you add those people in, the taxpayers have to pay the salaries of the people working for the government -- you see that individuals working full- time in the private sector are carrying a huge burden of a welfare state. host: kentucky, good morning, independence line. comment in aave a short question. i am retired military so i'm a recipient of what is socialized health care. on the other hand, i wish that some day we would remove the idea that medicare and medicaid is the same premise. my parents and grandparents are somehow recipients of welfare.

the medicare system is a pay-as- you-go entity and those people who have worked hard their lives have paid into it and continue to pay into the system. we, the people, are not aiding those people. those people pay for that system on a monthly or yearly basis so they are not on welfare. they are paying for assistance. to lump them into the people paying for medicare and medicaid is safe disingenuous concept. i hope we can remove that idea that we, the people, are paying for the people on medicare. my parents and grandparents are not on welfare. they are paying for these services out of their pockets, thank you. is a: clearly, medicare program that people go on when they retire. it is mandatory you pay for all your life and the government cannot renege on the commitments.

enacted medicare and medicaid was signed by lyndon johnson in 1965. 1965, americans got along and we became a great country without the government controlling the health care system. a we are headed toward, majority of americans receiving health care through the federal government, the federal government has control over health care. they are the principal purchaser. there are members of congress that want us to go directly to a single payer system. catholicabout the bishops were there are going to force everybody including catholic institutions to pay for things like abortions. when you give the government control over something as important as health care in this country, you are giving government leverage to compel you to act against your conscience. host: let's hear from north

carolina, a republican line. caller: is the first time i have called. independent just called and bless his heart, it is what i wanted to hear. i have been wanting to hear somebody explain to the public that there is a huge difference in medicare and medicaid. if you want to call the benefits, that is fine but medicare is an earned benefit. medicaid is in unearned benefit . if it was changed and there was never any medicare, that would be fine. i wish they would do that now starting with the people who have not been working. cover themselves. they also need to know that medicare only covers part a where you become 65 and you have paid into it all your working years. that is just for hospital.

if you don't go into the hospital, good, the government has that. if you want b cover the doctors, you have to pay extra for that. the other thing people should understand about medicare is that they have been paying payroll taxes all their lives. the money is spent immediately. that cash immediately goes out of the treasury. trillion deficit, $11 trillion is money that is from people in the public. the other $6 trillion is money that has been barred out of social security and medicare. to get the money in the future to pay those benefits, they will have to borrow money from the public and paid out in benefits to the people who paid medicare taxes and they were spent. the money the treasury borrows from the public is paying 2.5%

interest. it is so low because the federal reserve is buying up debt in the market creating an artificial demand for u.s. debt. historical rates of interest are more like 6%. we are looking potentially at these projections -- if we follow historical lines -- interest rates will triple. in the amount of money the government has to finance the money has already borrowed. another thing that will inevitably happen in the future is you have an economic cycle and there is bound to be another recession. in the coming years, we're recession and an incredible increase in interest the federal government has to pay on the debt. host: you said part of your goal is to take different take some big stories. what about immigration? what is the ankle people are missing? guest: i have been writing about this one for years. some people make the argument

that illegal immigrants help us pay for social security. that is true because illegal immigrants are working and payroll taxes in many cases are being paid and have the illegal immigrant by the employer. this argument is made in the paper this morning in "the post." theyost important reason contribute to this system is they are younger than their native-born population guest: she is a good person and the conservative, too. the source for this is a

december, 2008 inspector original report. there were looking at the earnings suspense file. it is a computer report or the put the money that is paid on w2's the name does not match the social security number. in the latest year it was reported, there was about 7.7 million of those. years, they have had more. there is one employer in the who filed the 37,375 bad w2's in one year. two columns about this particular case. there is 1960 employers in the united states in 2005 who filed 500 or more bad w2's there is a real pattern. from thecoming

restaurant and hotel industry. the use unskilled labor but they can move the facility overseas. asked the department of, the security whether they had ever taken any enforcement action against this employer who filed 37,375 bad w2's and they told me is that they could not know who the employer is because they don't get that information from the irs or sells a security. -- or social security administration. chertoff was the homeland security head. if you were an employer who got a notice and you took certain steps and approached the workers and fixed the best, you would have safe harbor from that being evidence that you were willfully hiring illegal immigrants. it was challenged in court and the judge put an injunction on that and when president obama came in, he threw out the

regulation. do aboutyou going to employers that year after year file bad w2's, hands of thousands of them, with the irs? the social security administration and the irs are the players doing nothing about it. people need to know this and have a right to know this. clearly flouting the law of the united states of america. before they do with immigration on any other level, they need to deal with this where they already have the data. i cannot imagine a more egregious example of the willful non-enforcement of the law. this is big business that file 37,375 bad w2's. that is a big business. i don't see how any conservative can say that is a good thing. get real aggressive

about going after a little tea party groups. who are your donors? they are not enforcing this? unbelievable. host: if you want to find out more about what he is working on as a reporter, cnsnews.com is the website. are putting new stories out there every single day. host: mich., a democrat line. caller: good morning. terry is not a conservative. he is a confederate. his job is to bring down the obama administration. i hope the people look at this with a jaundiced eye, everything he says this morning. part of the propaganda machine of the republican party who want to

destroy our government. taken theicans have budget of the irs and decimated it. have taken the personnel and made sure that people are taken , looking the irs jobs into those false claims, and then they heap more work on these people. the republicans have said they do not want to put the burden of debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren. yet, they want to double the percentage of borrowing money to go to college. since the republicans ran appealing to the tea party with limited government and talking about the debt, they control the house of representatives. john boehner came in in march 4, 2011 and made the first debt

limit deal. the debt has gone up by more than $2.50 trillion under the republican house of representatives. the constitution of united states has no money may be spent from the treasury accepted by the preparation may by law which means the government cannot spend a single penny unless john boehner's republican-controlled house of representatives appropriates it. he has become a partner with president obama in running the debt of united states. there is another story that has gotten not enough attention. i mentioned the regulation that would enforce all health insurance plans. cardinal o'malley, the archbishop of boston, wrote a letter to all members of congress and he asked that they attach to must-pass legislation called hr 940 spa entered by a number of people in the house -- sponsored by a number of people

in the house that says you cannot be sponsored by a health insurance plan that violates your conscience. it would not force us to buy abortions. the archbishop of boston asked this of john boehner and the house republicans. didn't do it and they are not talking about on the debt limit per the only other legislation would be the preparations for the hr that they have to pass a the end of this fiscal year the. republic couldn't-controlled house of representatives under john boehner will give barack obama the money to force catholics and other christians to act against their faith course of the making and buy health insurance that among other things pays for drugs that kill innocent lives, innocent unborn babies. the house of representatives has done that and i think they will continue to do that. host:

guest: they are talking about the death. --debt. the source for this is the bureau of public debt. you can look every single day at 4:00, they update what the actual debt is of the united states. this fiscal year starting october 1. the actual debt of united states, the amount of money owed to people as gone up about $700 billion this year. host: as far as the number of the debt, it is coming down? i did a story about this. in the month of april -- another thing the treasury does is a monthly treasury statement. in april, the government ran a surplus in the month of april because people paid taxes. in terms of cash flow in the

month of april, the government had a positive net. six or $700 billion added to the debt. was expecting a $900 billion debt and the congressional budget office estimates it differently. we will increase the debt this year by hundreds of billions of dollars and i will make an educated guess that the last year before obama came into increased $458t billion. was the tarp but that deficit. we will have a much bigger debt and deficit this year. host: this is mike from pennsylvania on the independent line. i was wondering what right wingers like your guest are always referring to the

moral authority of catholic bishops and cardinals. why does he make a big deal that they are not going to go by law? there are a lot of laws that aboutgo by a special laws pedophilia. how can use the catholic church as a moral authority? they shuttle priests and bishops who are pedophiles in this country. guest: that is the classic inym.cy of ad homy if you read the declaration of independence, people believe in natural law. the catholic church embraces this. they say there is an immutable moral order credit by got that no individual or state has a right to violate. it comes from a classic christian theology. it comes from cicero.

thomas jefferson said that cicero was one of the sources of the declaration of independence. thatounders understood there was hypocrisy. thomas jefferson was violating the inalienable rights of people. martin luther king called the united states back to the natural law to the inalienable rights that we get from god, not from the stage. it is the duty of the state to protect our rights that are given from god, not to violate them and the catholic church is defending that. it is a profound right and the right of conscience to not do something immoral. if the state forces a state to pay for drug that kills unborn child is an immoral act and the state has no authority to do it and they should not be allowed to do it. john boehner should stop them from doing that.

all americans, even if they don't like the catholic church, should support catholics and other christians who are asking that their freedom of conscious be regarded by a country founded on that natural law. host: from twitter -- guest: i haven't followed the details of why she is quitting. i think she is an excellent congresswoman and that is because she stood up for what she believed in and was willing of the the leadership republican house of representatives but i don't think they like her much. i think she had impact on their many people around the country who appreciate what she did. she will be a mixed force in congress. i talked about the tea party congress. john boehner becomes the speaker and they cooperate with obama running up the debt and so forth. i think the republicans elected in the 2000 election retained by washington faster than the

republican congressmen. of thecame more washington scene faster than other class of republicans which is ironic. wrotethe washington post" a story about it and it got a response. the talks about michelle bachmann and her influence. guest: through the modern history of the republican party, there have been a group of people that are moderates were always arguing that people will make a traditionalist- conservative argument are hurtful and politically --

purple to the party. i believe the opposite is true. going back to martin luther king, why did he have the impact he did? i think it's because people -- he riveted the intention of the entire country. he put the conscience of the country. people realized that wait a minute, what are we doing here? this is wrong and particularly when you see what is happening inside the republican party. there are people who are outspoken in the defense of innocent human life, the fundamental right of human life. if your outspoken about the need for our country to come back to its moral values, your some kind of extremist. i would argue that even president obama knows in his heart that to kill unborn child is wrong. i think he knows it. i think all americans know it. in paul said god has written

the heart of every man block. we need more politicians who are willing to stand up to the program of some people in their own party and the media and speak the truth. that's the only way they can pursue -- they can persuade the country. host: when bob dole talks about the ideas of the republican party and the need for more ideas and working to god, how does that factor into the current state of the party? guest: i think he is absolutely wrong. bob dole and the primary. life is not a popular planks in the republican party. the 14th amendment provides equal protection and should apply to the unborn child. bob dole was successful in politics within the confines of the u.s. senate where he was majority leader. he was not successful in getting

elected president against bill clinton. i think bob dole is wrong. host: silver spring, maryland, democrat line. caller: i wanted to ask your guest -- he mentioned that more people are on medicare and medicaid based solely on the number of private-sector workers. i was wondering why he is not including federal workers. they also pay social security and medicare taxes. guest: that's a good point and i think i mentioned it. offloaded buty be there is 97 million full-time government workers. 114 million full-time workers in the united states approximately the government workers' salaries is being paid by the taxpayers. are they paying taxes? yes, they are so it is not fair to segregate them but it does put in perspective that there is only 7 million public sector --

private sector workers and their supporting -- 7 million private sector workers and they are supporting the whole system. we have more people on the ball on working in the private sector and that's where you have a problem. host: our next call is from battin rouge, louisiana, on a republican line. caller: good morning, mr. jefferies. i just got your e-mail that says china appeals to u.s. treasury bill. the people would like to know about that. i have another question -- i got another e-mail that says obama -- brother in bed with terrorists, granted tax-exempt irs status. he did not hear about it, he read it in the newspaper. can you comment on those?

guest: i'm not familiar with those stories. i have read the headline about the present but i am not familiar with them. host: go on to jane from cincinnati, ohio, a democrat line. caller: morning to you. here i come. i want to talk about the health care. always talk about the health care. i have been watching your past two months because i got sick over this. this guy does not know what he is talking about about everything he spoke about this morning, not anything makes any sense at all for anybody but a republican or a rich person. when you go toy sleep at night for what you are doing to us and what you want to continue to do even more -- make all of us either dirt poor or felt the rich is what you are

trying to do. host: now that you've got his attention, do you have a question? caller: you let him blah and blah you don't let us have a chance. host: i'm asking if you had a question. caller: my question is when are they going to give it up and let our country in peace? we don't want to drown down here. honestly believe that people florist better in freedom than they do where the government controls large elements of their lives. host: let's go to shirley from cleveland, tennessee, republican line. caller: hello? before.ever called i am a little bit nervous. onould like to comment

social security and medicare. and my husbandld is 85. i worked until i was 65. actually, 70. but when i got my print out, i worked from the time i was 15 years old. only took one year off when i was sick. my husband is the same period i happen to know that the government has stolen $15 trillion from the social security account. welfare, i we are on would like to comment and i would like your comments. monthe over $200 per removed from our social security check before we get it by the federal government to pay for part a. they only pay 80% to the hospitals.

they don't pay anything to the doctors. when they get through, we have to pay $900 on this and that to go to the hospital or whatever. there are all kinds of deductibles. to help us to be able to get proper medical, we have to go out and buy what you call a supplemental. host: i don't mean to cut you off but you have to wrap up because we are running out of time. caller: the total for part a and b runs about $800 per month, retired people. how can you say we're getting something free? it is costing us every month around $800. comment on that. guest: she is not getting something free, she is absolutely right. she and her husband paid taxes their entire lives for those benefits and they deserve to get them.

host: here is the website, cns.com. what is your attention on now? guest: there are so many things. there is going to be the immigration bill under consideration. eventually, they will have to grapple with the debt limit. we're past the deadline on that. host: will that be a showdown like last time? guest:no, i think they reached a truce on this. the unfortunate, i don't expect john boehner to fight it. host: as was supposed to think that republicans could get together around. do you see that sense of solidarity? guest: no, i think the republican party is divided on that pretty deeply. that they is possible could enact and immigration reform. not in favor but it is realistic and possible that they could enact immigration reform

and it does not really deal with the company that filed bad w2's but it does put illegal aliens in the united states on the pathway to citizenship. john boehner will be a key player on that. he will not bring to the floor with cardinal o'malley wants him to. he may bring to the floor the immigration bill that has amnesty for illegal aliens. i think that will be a big issue. host: you can check out the work of our guests and his colleagues at cnsnews.com. he serves as the editor in chief. thanks for your time. coming up, we will talk with christopher pine of the truman national security product -- project. later on our program, we will talk with lauren smith about why interest rates for subsidize

student minds -- loans are likely to double. that and more as "washington journal" continues. >> there will be very different impact depending on who you are in the affordable care expert averages will not tell the story for the young and healthy will see big increases and in some cases, our services to%, their number is 197%. these are sharp premium increases. for others, that will get relative decreases as a result of the regulatory framework. you just don't want to rely on an average per there is not a single number that will tell you the story of the aca implementation . some people will get quite a bit of impact and others are a lot less. >> this weekend, the impact of the new health care law on insurance premiums sunday night

at 9:00 eastern. also this weekend on c-span 2, youratkinson take questions lie sunday at noon and on american history tv on c-span 3, our weekly look at the presidency, george h. w. bush and german reunification sunday at 7:30. >> what would the world be like if a southern confederacy was on the southern border of the united states of america? think for a minute of the united states from baltimore all the way down to around florida and along the gulf coast and the end of texas. would be a foreign territory. it would not be part of the united states. in fact, the united states would have no real access to either the atlantic or the caribbean except for a narrow path from baltimore north as far as boston. those are not very good harbors

any way. all this setting, the great coastal atlantic coast of the united states is narrowed down to the point where it can easily be blockaded. it does not mean the united states would collapse on its own weight greeted me the united states would no longer have anywhere near the presence in the western hemisphere in terms of dealing with british intervention or french intervention. roger ransomauthor this weekend as book-tv looks at the history of literary life of palm springs, calif. today at noon eastern on c-span 2 and sunday at 5:00 on cspan 3. continues. journal" host: our guest is christopher with the truman national project. can i ask you about the internet and do you think it might be

used as a diplomatic tool in dealing with our country? guest: i think the can. our ideals in america are for open access. tore is a lot more we can do insure that others have that access as well. it is an element of soft power. in innovationrld so we should leverage that diplomatically as well as with other elements of power. host: you wrote an op-ed for " the new york times" dealing with syria and the use of the internet as far as diplomatic mes for that country and this is part of what you wrote -- in innovation can you expand on that idea? guest: certainly, there is a lot of available commercial technology that we could employ to ensure that syrians would have open internet access for it right now, the assad regime is

cracking down and limiting access and using the internet against the opposition and the people of syria. cannot get their message out so my view is that we should be ensuring that they have open access, allowing a moderate voices to be heard in that country as well as the other voices but the idea being that if all voices are heard, the moderates and their argument should resonate. for me, the idea really came from egypt. the president there has carved out a safe haven there. host: who is he? guest: is an egyptian cardiologists to turn satirist. he is known as the egyptian jon stewart. a listing to interview with him on the radio and he talked about the importance of youtube during the egyptian political transition. of syria should be

able to hear him. they should be able to share their own youtube video and the idea is that if they can do that, perhaps they can effect more change in that country host: how does the government of syria control the internet? guest: it is an authoritarian regime and the state runs the infrastructure there. the telecommunications infrastructure in the country is all run by the assad regime. thoseontrol access to networks and they can monitor those networks and monitor the activity on those networks. they can use those networks to target opposition to find where they are. settingwifi networks as i have advocated, we could then mitigate some of that risk that the opposition would face and insure they would have a means to freely communicate among themselves and with the outside world to increase transparency, to show the world the atrocities taking place.

host: we will talk about specifics but if you have a question for our guest, the telephone numbers are on your screen. if you want to send us a tweet - you can also send us e-mail -- trumans a fellow at the national security project area for those who may not know what that i a brief history? >> guest: it is a think tank in d.c. that has great folks that do a lot of great policy work and education. there are a lot of fellows in d.c. part of it. we advocate for progressive national security policies. i like it because there is a lot of innovative thinkers there and it is a great forum to share and exchange views. host: he is also a consultant

for the defense department for cyber technology programs. guest: i work on offensive programs for dod and provide technical and policy expertise to those programs. we're looking at new technologies and innovations. we think about cyber differently. we think about it as a means for good and not just as a weapon or a means to steal. when we look to the future, we are looking at the innovation in the country at large and the great things it has produced. we say maybe there is more we can do with this element of power. host: talk about the technical aspects of wi-fi for syria? guest: there are different ways you could do this. there are commercial available technologies that could be employed today that already existed in south asia, there are long-range wi-fi networks. tell has one called the rural

connectivity platform but that is not the only system. fi up to 60smit wi- miles. you can also do this using technology you confided your local wal-mart. it could be very simple. the idea is by giving wi-fi access points, it could be as simple as parking a truck along the border, broadcasting back into the country, perhaps giving some networking technology to the opposition but then really allowing them to use their own innovations, a daisy chain networks together, and use those internet access points to bring the internet connectivity deeper into syria to enable freer communications and coordination between the opposition groups as well as to the syrian population host: should be monitored by the united states and for what purposes? guest: it probably should be thetore tod sure that

regime does not gain access to that end is not using those networks to target the opposition and crack down. i would try to encourage and in gender as much free and open discussion on those networks. i would not restrict content on the networks. i don't the duquesne restrict necessarily who will have access host: is that a concern? guest: host: i think you have to rest on the american ideal that freedom of speech will promote moderate views. that is a classical liberal ideal but it is what this country was founded on. we have a strong foundation of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. on line, it should be no different. we should have freedom of speech and freedom of digital assembly and that is what i advocate for. the ideas that the most compelling voices in the national debate in syria will prevail over time. ones thathose of the

the most constructive. i think we can rest assured -- i think the political transition in egypt is a good analog -- egypt has a long way to go but certainly, the open internet access has promoted more moderate views and egypt. host: what is the end result for those exchanging ideas? what would it do for syria overall? guest: the conflict in syria will go on for some time. be violencebably for some time and there will be a political transition. i think we need to consider options that would affect our interest there not only in the short term but in the long term. i think there is a danger in just arming the opposition. perhaps some groups could be vetted properly to be hard but we have very little introspection into syria.

it would help us gain some introspection into the activities in that country. have seen the harm that can come from arming those you don't have a good relationship with. that could come back on us and we have to be careful and not hurt our long-term interest by some rash action in the short term. host: from twitter -- this is where we would employed military cyber power to ensure -- i'm not saying he would have a choice. we should go in and stand up these numbers and defend them and keep them up and resilience. then we should keep the regime off of those networks from iserfering host:yusef john from maryland. -- joins us from maryland. >> caller: good morning. thank you for a wonderful program. cspan as educational and i enjoy

it. i have a question about the information that is being put on the internet from different organizations expos and some of the secret documents or even the issues that the government's deal with and the public is not aware of. thewould that affect political climate in the states as well as the world? guest: that's a great question and something we are wrestling with in the u.s. freedom of speech isn't always comfortable. openave to be willing to your mind that listen to views you might not agree with. certainly, there can be harmful speech, things we need to protect people against, pedophilia and things like that. however, by and large, open

communication of free speech we have seen in this country has promoted a very egalitarian climate and one in which minority factions can challenge views and it makes democracy safer. it is at times uncomfortable. host: the phone numbers are on your screen the. and also send us a tweet. your idea for syria is concerned, what would be the time frame as far as setting it up? what is the cost? do you have specifics? i have not priced this out. this is an idea and something i hope folks will consider.

feasible using existing technologies. i believe if you compare to the cost of inaction, the costs are moderate and should be very reasonable for us to consider. these existing technology platforms are commercially available and commercially priced at market standards. it can be the kind of thing that i think we can do fairly easily. we have systems on the border and tiedle already, missile defenses, ballistic missile defenses, that nato has deployed in turkey so there is a footprint we could build on that leverage to do this quite easily. host: waterbury, conn., a democrat line. i want tood morning, answer a question. there is a lot of youtube videos of syrian rebels committing atrocities.

the internet access is somewhat available to them and to the assad team and he is talking about a wi-fi network for . who is going to build that? at&t or verizon? no. i want to know if he can comment judge gavend the access to google for wiretapping of americans, thank you, goodbye. guest: you are absolutely right to free the opposition does have some access. that access is indeed controlled by the assad regime but they are not able to control everything all the time but they are able to use the current emperor structure against the opposition. they are not all angels on the opposition. there is a lot of violence taking place and a lot of

atrocities. more open access would help dampen that, would help expose atrocities on both sides and, ideally, as we have seen in this country, more transparent media access. reference to some of the recent requests for documentation from some of these tech companies. that's a story the media has been covering quite well. of this in ther country and the good that it has had the more we can encourage that and an agenda that in other countries, to me, that is a value were promoting. it is a value were promoting using our military capabilities as well as our other elements of military power. host: from twitter -- guest: it would be hard to keep

regime voices from leveraging that network. i'm not suggesting that we would need to. i think what we would want to do is to ensure that the regime could not gain access and could not use it to target the opposition, to find where they are located. our military certainly has the capability to be able to do that remotely, to defend against those types of intrusions. they already do it for our u.s. military defense networks around the world and they are good at it. we could do the same thing remotely protecting this mobile ad hoc the other networks. host: from twitter -- i think we would want to look at all the borders. we would need support from the neighboring countries. there are tensions on those borders but our military is pretty good at dealing in those

situations. we've got a lot of experience. host: new jersey, on a republican line. caller: i question the wisdom of what you are proposing because you were talking earlier how it is dangerous to just go out and arm and a but isn't that what you're doing when you are empowering them to communicate? you said there are no angels or not all asians, they're not all freedom lovers. are you empowering them to work with other terrorist groups throughout the middle east and make easier for them to take over to the detriment of syrians? guest: i would characterize it as accountability. you are empowering them but at the same time, you are requiring them to be held accountable by the population. that is what we have seen in egypt with open access. it has encouraged more accountability i go back to basim yusef. he has called out some of the

more radical implements in the country and he, himself, is a muslim ands a devoted and has had the courage to call up some of the radical factions for blatant lies and things like that. in turn, that has promoted more accountability within egypt and it has dampened some of the radical voices. certainly, things like this have risk. a whole loting right now. to me, 80,000 people being slaughtered is unacceptable. we have to do more. few good options, frankly, but i think this is one of them and when we can control and that we can mitigate the risks. host: this is tom from ohio on our independent line. morning, i am following along with what the last caller said. i am concerned by the

destabilization of the whole region since the invasion of iraq which is still clearly going on. i am not sure that this is a good idea. . egyptwhat happened in though it was a legitimate election, we now have the muslim brotherhood in power. this law of unintended consequences, we have literally opened a can of worms. scripture is very clear -- uisaiah 17 & 19, the burden of damascus, continuously inhabited city, is about to become a ruinous heap and the burden of egypt, i will turn egyptian against egyptian. it is proper size to that civil war is coming. i don't know if we know what we are doing. the blind leading the blind. guest: it is a very difficult

region of the world, no question having spent a lot of time in iraq, i wasn't necessarily in favor of the war in the beginning of spending time there with iraqis, i have a lot of friends in iraq and the moderate elements there in particular i think we recognized it around 2005-2006 and the importance of empowered moderates in iraq. the result of that was very favorable and resulted few goode anbar waiting which is one of the first political transitions as part of the same thing taking place right now. have a long-term strategy in the region. we cannot walk away and ignore it. we would do so at our peril. part of that long-term strategy needs to be -- how do you enable and empower moderates in the long term? how'd you enable them to be more

power and enable them to gain power politically? you have to build those moderate elements within the middle eastern society. if you can do that in a constructive way, that will benefit our long-term interests. i think promoting open internet access encouraging more accountability, encouraging more open information sharing is a positive force as we see in this country it is one that can enable that long-term strategy. host:how wired are serious? relatively guest:un-wired compare to the u.s.. it is growing. social media is definitely growing in promise. it is in particular with mobile devices and the type of network i am talking about would enable mobile devices as well. host: waco, texas, raymond, r democrat line. caller: good morning. i am wondering if we as

and as diplomatic -- i don't know -- you know how we run this country -- should we be worried about china with the internet and how they react or look at us? butonly on the internet, the way we have come about allowing them so much money. they are using that money against us to buy this country up. i find it very disturbing. i heard on the radio just this past week that china is using buy off theo agricultural department in this great nation. people should be worried about this. i don't know how you all look at this. china and the internet

since that goes your specialty. guest: there is growing interest in asia in technology and online policies to promote innovation. some nations in asia including the chinese take a different view about restricting content. as we continue our bilateral dialogue with the chinese and there are high level discussions taking place this week and last week, we need to be able to have policy disagreements about restricting content agree we need to encourage the chinese to become more open and less restrictive of content. they have a much different view about cyber-security and what that means. for us, is about protecting the medium and mitigating threats over the medium. some nations, is about restricting content. there is strict morally offensive content and that can also mean anything objectionable

to the leadership of those countries. as we continue our bilateral dialogue with the chinese, we have had some positive developments recently. there's a cyber working group under the strategic dialogue that has been established with secretary john kerry. this will be on the agenda this week as the president meets with chinese leader. host: qatari hagel is in singapore and addressed -- addressedhagel address this as well -- when it comes to the chinese and what they do with cyber espionage, as it is called, what are they doing and what are our concerns in the united states? guest: china just like the u.s. is a giant monolithic.

there are sub actors and non state actors in the country. some of them have affiliations with the state potentially and are more loosely affiliated than others. likewise, there are many other nations around the world that have similar stake and non-state actions taking place is important that when we look at china, we go below that first layer and look at the dynamics taking place. ourfact is -- a lot of networks in the u.s. are not very well secured. companies in particular, many of them have not been investing adequately in cyber security. that means these networks are very easy to penetrate and to steal data from, intellectual property, trade secrets, etc. with these networks being so vulnerable, it is rife cyber crime. it would be like if the walking dead a neighborhood street and all the doors left wide open -- it is like a thief what king

down the street and all the doors are left wide open. norms have to be something more than just a discussion. it has to reflect changes in behavior. the chinese have work to do there, there's no question. they could be doing more to rein in some of these criminal elements and potentially affiliated elements with the state and me to affect that behavior. you could argue that it is in the long-term interest of china and i'm certain that the framework of laws which secretary hagel and the president will be talking about this with the chinese. host: how do you all to that behavior? guest: it is discussed -- discussing it and talk about respecting intellectual property and free trade. that is really what these issues are all about it. aggregate, it weakens our economy and puts us at a disadvantage. it is an economic issue and the jobs issue.

we have some work to do to secure our systems better, to promote better awareness about cyber security so investors are making smarter decisions in terms of where they put their money.ent you want to make sure your investment is protected and if your investment is going into the creation of intellectual stoleny which is then and commercialized by some other foreign entity, that is not a good investment. we got some work to do in this country, domestically, but also to encourage more normal constructive behavior on the world scene. i have a technical question. stolen and commercialized by somea woua more substantive comment. the tactical question relates to the reliability of networks that the u.s. might attempt to construct or preserve. for the use of people in syria. and not quite sure i understand how that can be done for

example, china has had great success in blocking access. i'm not sure how we can provide any kind of reliable access to the people in syria. how be like to know overcome. make to the point that i am not sure that people are aware of. islam is a very, very conservative faith. farmers in the middle ages. that is the mindset. even if you bring internet, you are still talking about people who are going to be naturally not receptive to the kinds of messages they see. question,is a great

the reliability issue. i think it is possible to address it through redundancy in and resiliency. you can do that through crowds sourcing. the great news is we have a lot of folks who want internet access and are willing to work for it. we can do this remotely. as long as you are providing redundancy around the border -- as i mentioned, that can be as simple as deploying basic wi-fi systems. you can certainly do this at scale and if you provided enough of that redundancy and crowd sourced the opposition, we could be certain that desire for that access would line up to keep the access up and running. jeremy, good morning.

-- host: jeremy, good morning. caller: this is related to my military experience. when you talk about the trucks on the border of syria, what kind of specific military commitment are you requiring to defend them against counter aggression? specifically how are you proposing to prevent that from united states of forces to the area. theou want to put this on ground in the middle east again at this time in history? >> a great question, jeremy, something that needs to be debated. thesee absolutely right, are trade-offs and it is not about risk. my personal view, and i was against the iraq invasion. i served there probably and glad

that you're able to help the people achieve a modicum of stability. hopefully that will remain the case, but there is certainly a concern here that this could trigger ask dilatory actions. we would need to consider this very carefully and as part of a grand strategy to affect not only the region, but bring pressure on the regime. my point is that we do not have very many good options in , butng with assad there is more that we can do. i do believe that 80,000 people being slaughtered is unacceptable and we have the ability to manage the risk. i think we should consider this and come to your point, there were a lot of other elements to this contextual the that would have to be taken into account. >> pontiac, michigan. democratic line.

host: -- host: pontiac, michigan. democratic line. caller: a quick response to the tool,et as a diplomatic at the same time in syria how can it be a diplomatic tool to people who are from a third world nature, living conditions, etc., and then the regime controlling the internet and at the same time we have russia, selling fighter jets to the without any aggression from the allies in that region. my question is -- how do we negotiate or diplomatically go into this situation with the regime there to transition them out, yet we have such a powerful world force backing up the assad regime, just as russia backs

iran and china backs north korea. yet the threat of these people being murdered since this civil war has taken place, where do we come in at as far as the internet being a political tool? just diplomatic. we would need to use military capabilities as well. this is something we have considered, there are plenty of voices on the hill calling for air strikes and safe air corridors, etc.. i do not necessarily believe that that is a great option. background,force that is not so easy to do. beating a no-fly zone would

a very significant commitment and may indeed result in quite a few civilian casualties. so, to me that is something that we would have to consider very carefully. this option would require military force. there is no question. we would have to be a very significant use our military capabilities to keep these networks up and running. youver, i believe that if look at the options the are available, this one could result in positive effects with minimal consequences. >> -- host: we have a few minutes with you. can we talk about larger issues with cyber security? "the was a piece in washington post," from max fisher.

host: can you give some context and to what we are talking about? guest: it is also known as countermeasures. the house passed legislation a few months ago that did include for the private sector to implement some of these countermeasures. they left the term countermeasures' fairly ill- defined, which is a problem, because it could mean all measure of things. the house bill provides immunity in that any decisions made based under that provision could, as long as it were not intended to do harm, be protected. i think that is problematic and would encourage this sort of moral hazard, where it would almost be the wild west. that is taking a bit too far.

did there is a real concern here in washington. part of this debate is -- our countermeasures helpful for this? would they constructively affect the problem? or exacerbate it and create a quid, perot, " situation where you had a wild west of companies going back and forth. my personal view is that we have to be very careful with countermeasures. going back to your discussion from earlier, they could be used for context if we are not careful. we saw this in those ip acts. host of those were legislative proposals? guest: yes, meant to address online privacy. consumer advocacy groups, there were concerns that they would use that legislation to restrict content to help themselves.

to make sure that their networks were not being compromised. requires a common lexicon. debate inwithin the b.c. we need to do better at defining these more nebulous terms, like countermeasures. what does it really mean? i am hopeful that as the senate debates this legislation, they will be transparent. the intelligence committee is right now working on legislation. house thatrtunately in the had a close the markup and it was a surprise to many of us. it was a disappointment to many of us as well, those of us the kerry of privacy and civil liberties. i am hoping the senate will be more transparent in its approach and will be more open about things the countermeasures and

the dangers that they propose. host: what can countermeasures' look like? guest: it could be as simple as forensic lee figuring out what, exactly, has been planted, hacking back and turning the implant against them. i do not need to keep out on you too much here, sorry if i do -- on you too much here. sorry if i do. you can house that had a close the reverse it to de where it is coming from. you can send a signal back to destroy data that has been stolen. that can have consequences, the leading of the things in those files. those machines are a third party, compromise the unwitting

computers. it could be a family computer that has perhaps not updated software or implemented patches. so the machine as part of a spot on that. that is often was used to exfiltrated this data. host: albert, michigan, independent line. caller: a quick addition to this nonsense, all we have to do is go back to the old system and limit some of the information online. that is all we have to do. host: is it as simple as that? guest: i think we can do better at protecting information. i am not sure that we want to give up the advantages of the internet and technology, it has given us incredible advantages in the world of competitiveness.

i think that there are ways to mitigate the risks while leveraging that advantage. that is really where our focus should be, promoting more innovation. as the debate continues it is important to think about policy that will promote innovation and create demand for greater security. in my view some of the bills discussed is not enough. the government should be doing more to encourage companies, particularly those that provide critical services to the communities -- power to hospitals, clean water, safe transportation. it is about 85% a critical infrastructure that is privately owned and operated. be companies need to encouraged and compelled to make

these investments. if they do that, my view is that you will create a greater demand brevard for security. this will become something that more people are aware of. in return the i.t. community will respond with more secure products. thinking long-term, not just about the short-term problem, we should be thinking about how to encourage greater cyber security writ large. host: pennsylvania, hello. theer: i am listening with day i heard there was a demonstration in washington, d.c. heard that he should do some of that -- heard that he did some imaginative stuff that he should not be on trial for the death penalty for. he is an innovator. you are talking out of both sides of your mouth. saying that we have to innovate.

let's use the talent that we have. guest: i respectfully disagree with you. i believe that private manning committed espionage, treason. i believe that he put american lives at risk. i am in favor of being more transparent. in the first to admit i am criticizing the government for over-classifying. i think they do that too much. but mr. manning took it upon himself to put troops at risk by leaking classified information, information he had taken an oath to protect. forums for himr to express his views. i should not judge him. he is alleged to have done that. but i do agree with the intent of encouraging more transparency. that is a good thing, something that we should all do.

justshould not be able to classify everything. at the same time, we have to protect our intelligence sources, troops, and there is a tradition in this country of those national security secrets and elements being protected with classified information. >> he has pled guilty to 10 of the 22 charges regarding .nformation he has passed on he has denied the more serious espionage charges. north carolina, you are the last fall. independent line, good morning. before we started this segment he said that the administration was full of progressive thinkers. i would like to get a comment, egypt, the oppression, slaughter, and rape of christians. and then the progressive way of thinking and how it translates

into the irs and their oppression of opposition and the justice department's disregard of the u.s. constitution. thank you. i will take my comments off the air. guest: having worked in d.c., and in the government, i believe that often unfortunately some of these decisions are the result of incompetence and not necessarily an intent to harm. i think that what i have seen of the irs issued, it seems like the folks there were trying to cut koner's -- cut corners. i think they were just trying to make things easier on themselves and have been overwhelmed with the workload. in general, though, i do not disagree that -- has a long way to go. certainly across the region as we are seeing there is an upcoming election and more we

should be doing there in iran. we have made it easier for them to get access to advanced communications devices. that was a recent decision by the treasury department that i applaud her. there is more that we can be doing to promote those voices. that is really the basis of that argument. we should be doing that to empower moderates and we can radicals. host: the truman national security project, christopher finan, thank you for your time. our final segment, looking at the potential rising of interest rates for sums to well -- some loans to 6.8% by july 1. us as smith joins "washington journal" continues. ♪ [video clip]

>> when the attorney general of rain to me indicated that he wanted each of the three charges. the death penalty three times. it may not realize how serious they were and that was not about me. that was about the construction of this imaginary enemy and i was the embodiment of that enemy. was not that interested in talking about that time and what happened. it was not a love story, she was not interested in talking about it. she is not one of these people the to go to directly. i was going to get to her directly. i figured out that there were

very important people in her life and i chipped away at the people she knew and trusted, was able to write letters and get them involved, let them see my previous work. slowly, she came around and she agreed to meet me. lynch lifer shola of angela davis, 1960's radical. this week on a "q&a." asshe made the first speech a first lady, establishes the white house china collection, and is the first to have a christmas tree in the white house. me caroline harrison as we continue our series on first ladies with your questions and phone, facebook, and twitter.

>> "washington journal" continues. host: as promised, lauren smith , from "cq roll call." president obama had an event yesterday about student loans in the rose garden. what is the issue? guest: he is -- it is funny, he said that if this feels like deja vu, that is because it happened last year. it might be helpful to start with the fact that in 2006 democrats in congress voted to lower student loan rates incrementally over four years from 6.8% to 3.4%. those were certain types of student loans, subsidized student loans. and of course last year we hit unless congress acted, they regard to double

back up. as we saw last year with three ,onths of partisan mudslinging they finally work out a deal, but it was only a one-year extension. 30 days from today those rates are set to double again. right now there are a lot of different proposals being drawn and as you saw yesterday, president obama came out against the house republicans. host: if i hear this correctly, the house version and the president's version, there are a lot of similarities but some differences? guest: it is true. the house proposal would set the interest rate at 2.5%. they would cap that at 8.5%.

from graduate loans they would have that to 4.5%. thethe difference here with president's proposal is that he does not provide a cap, but he does do is take it to the 10- year treasury and for unsubsidized steel loans ads on to that door on subsidized student loans, 2.93% on top of that. host: they will both fluctuate, but it depends on the rate of fluctuation? guest: exactly. the house bill would allow the rate to continue to fluctuate around its time with the loans whereas the president's proposal would fix the loan once you got it. the: that would change monthly rate you have to write. guest: exactly. because it does not have a cap,

those protections are what he commonly refers to as income contingent repayment plans. once you graduate it is based on a certain percentage of your salary. host: if you want to ask our -- t questions for democrats, 202-585-3880. for republicans, 202-585-3881. for independents, 202-585-3882. for students and parents holding on to these types of loans, 585-383. yesterday the president spoke about this issue in the rose garden. we will play a little bit of what he said. clips]clip] -- video >> the average student will rack up an additional $1,000 in debt.

i assume that most of you cannot afford that. anyone here can afford that? if this sounds like deja vu, that is because it is. we went through this last summer. some of you were here. it was not as hot. i do not think we did this event outside. we went through this. eventually congress listened to all the parents and young people who said do not double my rates. because folks made their voices heard, congress acted to make interest rates low. but they only did it for a year and that year is almost up. we have to make sure that these rates do not double on july 1. the house of representatives has already passed a student loan bill and i am glad they took action, but unfortunately the bill does not meet that test. it fails to lock in loan rates for students next year.

it eliminates safeguards for lower income families. that is not fair. the interest rates could double more on july 1. the house bill is not smart or fair. host: would you add to that? guest: republicans came out after the speech and bringing him for what they called campaign style speech. last year we saw him using the same rhetoric. of course, that fight happened with the backdrop of a presidential election. certainly there is more national attention based on student loans. once again, this is an issue that is part of the obama administration's broader economic policy. they want more skilled workers.

we have a goal to be a country with the highest number of graduates in the world. here -- what you see him doing here, the parents asking -- do not double my rates, if you look out that on twitter you will see lots of different stories about that. he is really calling on the public to get in touch with their congressman and show the support that needs to be shown to keep these interest rates low. will talk to about the senate in a little bit, but first some calls. mary, parent. caller to we live without a lot in order to save enough money for our children. obama is just another example of giving things to people so that

they do not have to work hard to make choices. these kids that will not be making a lot of money are obviously working hard enough to pay back and work for a job before they get out. obama is allowing people to just sit at home and depend on the government to take care of them. guest: people feel your , recoveringht now from the economic recession there are a lot of feelings, strong feelings about what the obama administration should and should not be feeling. one thing that we see on the hill a lot is that one bipartisan issue is helping

students afford college. as you said, putting your daughters through college, it is burden right now. we need to remember that with this debate it is really only one small piece of a broader conversation about how to the higher education act, which congress will hopefully be taking up this year. that really includes other things, like pell grants, work study programs. there is a lot to debate, but i think that what we are seeing right now with congress, there are several proposals based on keeping these rates from not just doubling, but staying low for the long term and hopefully within a month that is what we will see. host to one viewer asked -- how much of the student loan program is still part of the government?

guest all of it. part of the 2010 health care overhaul, actually, the government took the student loan program completely under its wing. " we have now is the federal student loan program administered through the federal government. you can get a private loan if you want. loans do not provide nearly any of the protections as similar programs on the back end. host: does the government make interest off of these loans? guest: yes. in part it goes to help to fund these health-care laws. it is also used to allow for more borrowing. host: the next call is robert, democratic line, missouri.

caller: i took out a student loan in 1988. i broke my leg, lost my leg in 1990. not to worry about alone anymore. a bill for 12% interest plus 24% in fees and correction fees. my daughter i could not even rent an apartment because of the last 25 years. sorry for youry difficulties. out acrossis playing the country. it is something you hear on both sides of the aisle.

there really is a crisis right now right studentsdebt loans which has surpassed credit card debt of the past year. obama and arne duncan like to say a lot that it is really preventing the economy from moving. students who graduate with an average of $27,000 in debt per year are not able to purchase a car, they are not able to save for a first home. this is definitely a narrative that is playing out across the country. i would be interested in knowing whether the loans that the caller took out our federal student laws or private student loans. many times, with federal student loans, there is a lot of leeway and flexibility involved with paying back if you run into financial situations. iivate student loans, as mentioned, while they might provide lower interest rates on

the front end, there are fewer protections on the back end. what is interesting is that student loan debt is the only type of debt in the u.s. that cannot be discharged in death. issues one of the big for democrats in the house and the senate, looking for ways to provide tighter regulations on private student loans which is difficult to do. host: believe it would increase. or impact to different branches -- recent graduates. our they would benefit from the income contingent retention plans that the president proposed which allows you to pay 10% of your salary. whether you have a job that provides a good salary or whether you like to pursue something like teaching which

might not provide a great seller but you are passionate about it -- you would be able to safely repay that loan. host: says jake who joins us from annapolis, good morning. caller: good morning, thank you for cspan. couple ofo make a points. i wrote my congressman to let have $100,000 of student debt but most of that is under my mother to social security number but i want to get that transferred to my name. that is a lot of weight on her shoulders. is there any pending legislation that can do that? the student loan debt in this country as a greater impact because it is not just on the students but also on the parents. i would just like to know to

that the student loan bubble has led to the housing bubble which includes port underwriting standards and when i took these loans out, i knew what they were by kick myself for not doing more research out of high school but many kids are now realizing how much debt that they are really in. count on one hand how many of my friends could afford a home. i want to thank you guys for cspan and helping us. guest: thank you for your question. i would like to hone in on the transparency issue that you mentioned, that you knew a little about what you're getting into but you could have spent more time researching how much it would cost on the back end. that, again, is the narrative we see playing across the entire country. one of the biggest initiatives

that the department of education has taken on with student laws the past four years is providing more information, making student loan borrowing more transparent, requiring colleges to provide students with a fact sheet of what they are getting into -- how much to original cost, how much books and fees are estimated, how much boarding will cost -- with a side-by-side comparison about what type of aid available whether it is pell grants or work studies, the federal student aid program, perkins loans -- so that the new student borrower can really understand on the back and what their estimated amount of repayment will be. i think that is really important host: next call is richard from fort myers, fla., republican line. caller: good morning. thank you for cspan. in all this discussion we hear about student loans, no one is

talking about the responsibility of the colleges and universities to be run more efficiently. shouldn't these organizations somehow be accountable for reasonable costs? we have a college in fort myers that recently had only been a community college and the president gets close to $700,000 per year. so many of these kids think they have to go to a four-year school right away and that is the concept of community colleges. guest: thank you for your question, that is an excellent question. this is an important point -- the obama administration as well as parties -- democrats and republicans in both chambers are really trying to figure out how to get colleges and universities to lower their costs. something we sought in both state of the unions was the president saying that if

colleges and universities cannot contain their tuition costs, we will make it harder for you to get federal aid. to help your school. if you are not playing your part in keeping down tuition costs, then you are not helping us at all. this is really an important point. with state budgets strapped for cash, the first place they look is cutting from their higher education institutions. on the back end, that will not help the economy recover but this is definitely some oppenheim that is not talked about maybe in the media very often, it is 100% on the minds of members of congress in both chambers. hopefully, beck gives you confidence that they are on this. one of her followers says --

guest: there are several proposals out there right now. i would say that in addition to the house republican proposal that passed last week and in addition to the president's proposal that passed last week, there is also -- there are two additional proposals based on the treasury. there is a little bit of bipartisanship there. one proposal that the senate democrats proposed would peg interest rates to beat 91-day treasury. it would allow the secretary of education to choose the cap that he wanted. excuse me, it would allow the secretary of education to choose the additional interest rate on top of that loan and would cap the rates at 6.8%.

there's also a republican proposal which was the first one in the senate which would peg interest rate to the 10-year treasury plus. they are gaining a little traction. wewe look into next week, will see all of them come out host: the senate takes up next week? guest: exactly, majority leader harry reid announced after the obama speech friday that he is planning a vote the senate democrats' current proposal which is actually a two-year extension of the current rate. that would be kicking the can it would allowbut congressmen more time to negotiate a longer-term solution host: has the house expressed appetite for that? >> it is a non-starter in the house. the house proposal is a non-

starter in the senate. the senate democrats option will be offered on the floor of the senate next week potentially attached as an amendment to the farm bill because that is what is moving now. to failes are expected which would then set up a scenario where, as much as they don't like to do it, lawmakers would be forced to sit down and actually compromise on something. host: tracy from last vegas, she is a parent, good morning. caller: i'm calling in reference to mary called on the republican line. my concerns as a parent are, with much else going to college, who eventually the parents cannot afford $30,000 or more will not be able to send their children to college. that is my fear with the rate of the loans and the debt they will come out of college with. guest: it is a fear that many

people have around the country right now. with all of these calls coming in, we are seeing the same sense of urgency and wary that -- and worry that we will not be able to afford the cost of tuition in the future. that is why the reauthorization of the higher education act which will hopefully gain traction or the next couple of years is really important. the obama administration has done a lot in its first term and continues to do a lot to help students go to college they raise the maximum award for the program to $5,550 and expanded the eligibility where as maybe before, you were not eligible for a pell grant because your family made too much money, you are now probably eligible for

that. expandve tried to transparency initiatives, to provide a better look at what college will cost and the back end. there are definitely some initiatives right now under way to help more people afford college. it is going to have to -- helpful also have to come from states and universities doing their part to contain college costs. host: tom from florida, independent line. caller: this is just another pathetic example of how government does not work. the obama proposal will cost less people to qualify for loans because if you are a bank, and you regulate the way they are being regulated in the real- estate market, they don't want

to give a long period get the government out of education and a lot of these problems would not exist. we're just repeating the same mistakes we made with ginnie mae and a federal subsidizing of mortgages. this is just another boondoggle waiting to happen. i will wait for your response. iest: it is a real concern, agree, there have been comparisons made in the recent year with student loan bubble and the mortgage bauble. while they are playing out the sink, it is important to note that they are definitely two different types of debt being incurred. you mentioned less people being able to qualify for loans. and getting the government out of the banking system but what we should also remember or is important to remember is that it was not too long ago where

students were really being saddled with more debt than we have ever seen under the private loan system. in 2006, i think, there were a lot of media reports claiming the student -- the private student loan scandal and this is one of the biggest reasons that the government got into the federal student loan system to begin with, to provide more protections for students who were really getting hammered with interest rates on the back end of their college education. host: wyoming is next, a parent. caller: my name is michelle and this is for tom. i have a long and my daughter is a graduate working on a master's and also has tremendous debt. for her student loan. if you are a parent and you don't have the money to send your kid, you have to get loans plus other loans that are

offered out there. if the government did not step in, the interest rate parents + loans and student loans are ridiculous. thank you to the government for stepping in. my daughter can now make some of those payments. she got a job and has been graduated since 2011 and it will allow her to pay the student loans. everybody does not make the kind of money. i think we need to scrutinize the college's at the percentage of graduates to see how much money they can make on students coming to their school. what i have learned in this eight deer -- a to-year process by of my daughter going to college is it is a money-making business.. they pay over $400 for books and i try to resell them and they get 1/4 of the value.

apparently, from florida does not have kids. if you don't have a higher education, how can you get a job to sustain yourself? guest: thank you and congratulations to your daughter. you raised a couple of interesting points. i want to talk about graduation rates and colleges and universities be more transparent about how many students they graduate and what percentage of students they graduate and even where there students end up -- the percentages of them that end up with jobs upon graduating. this is an important point. a lot of different people on the hill including the administration are trying to look at. it harkens back to the transparency issue where we want to -- the government would like to provide students with a better protection of what they might be able to accomplish upon

graduating including what they're employment plan looks like, what their chances are that they will get a job, and also, what salary they might actually be making to give them a better understanding of their responsibility. host: give you a perspective on how the house republicans are responding to the president -- even before congress about this the, it was representative john kline of minnesota, chairman of the education and work force committee, who took to the floor of the house to talk about the student loan system and to talk about what has been happening under this administration. [video clip] >> last summer, with the expiration of the lower rates scheduled for july 1, 2012, debate about student loans reached a fever pitch. the president began touring college campuses and calling on congress to prevent the increase that his own party set in motion back in 2007. as i said at the time, no one wants the interest rates doubled particularly at a time when one out of every two college

graduates was struggling to find a full-time job. when need to move away from a system that allows washington politicians to use student loan interest rates as bargaining chips to create uncertainty and confusion for bar were sprayed when congress approved legislation to temporarily stave off the stafford loan rate increase, my colleagues and i left our support with the promise that we would use this time to work toward a long-term solution that better align its interest rates with the free market. the smarter solutions for students accomplishes this goal by moving all student federal loans accept perkins loans, to market-based interest rate system. this responsible legislation builds upon a proposal that was put forth by the president earlier this year. the smarter solutions forced to dance act a narrow piece of legislation that will provide a lasting solution to the problem. sometunately, mr. speaker, critics would rather kick the can down the road and simply

extend the current arbitrary rates at a taxpayer cost of roughly $8 billion. they want to continue the failed status quo and the politicians in charge of setting rates. ast: the house passing student loan proposal and the senate will work on that next week and the president calling for more and when this legislation comes up, certain subsidized loans will jump to 6.8%. that is the topic we have been engaging in. milford, conn., democrats line. when wei was in college had a financial meltdown. callerone word from the from florida and that is tarp. andfact that the banks lending institutions and foreign international institutions get to borrow from the fed at one

rate and they want to use student's as pawns to increase -- we graduated from college. we are responsible. people don't realize that i have a degree in education and my brother right behind me wanted to get an accounting degree which he did. we both graduated summa cum laude but if you want to go into a specialized profession now and we both went to state university, you have to go for five years. there are no longer four-year programs. after the five years, because the courses are not offered and yes, we work jobs, that was an extra year of college tuition there plus, we had to get a master's degree after that or we could not get a job or there were no object -- or there were no jobs to get and consequently that added another year tuition. -- to pullr us to do ourselves up by our bootstraps and educate ourselves.

that j. p. morgan can get interest at 0.5% and they are talking about raising the next group of students. one of my loans is at seven. something. host: thank you very much. guest: raise a couple of good points -- one of the interesting things with this involving student loans is that republicans and democrats genuinely believe the new interest rates should the market based. this is really the basis for what we will probably see coming in the next month of how congress fixes this law. areket-based rates currently lower.

please keep watching this debate if you have suggestions. be in touch with your representative. another interesting point that you mentioned the was meeting to get a five-year degree, a master's program or something like that. something the obama administration has been really pushing high-school students on, not just letting them know they need a master's degree but telling them that high-school degree is not going to cut it in this economy any more. you see a strong push from the administration to have high school graduates enter college and colleges not traditionally as we think of a four-year college. he is also speaking of technical

degrees, community college degrees. i think what we will start seeing over the next few years, as the economy rebounds, there are many programs tailored more closely to the specific somethia needs in different communities. plant you have a car were different jobs require different skills, you'll see those local community colleges around that car plant provide programs to specifically graduate and employed as students. i think we will see more tailored programs which should help with that issue. host: there is a story in "the boston globe." do we know what the default rate on student loans is?

students typically graduate with about $27,000 in student debt and the default rates have risen over the last few years. i am not 100% sure with the default rate is right now. you mentioned private student loans which are completely different beast. not come with as many protections which is one of the reasons the cfpb is taking a look at that as well as members of both chambers. default rates are absolutely critical especially with private student loans because once you start defaulting on province to the lungs, it is much harder to pay down even gesture interest. there are a lot of penalties on the backside want to start defaulting. go about federal student loans is that if you're in jeopardy of defaulting, they are willing to work out a plan for you so that you are not dinged those extra

interest rates if you need more time. host: this is dayton, ohio, republican line. make a i would like to point -- some of the school's popping up along the highways are causing students to take out more debt than what they can afford. while and i had customers coming in with student loans to pay cash for cars because the schools tell them they could use the money for anything they wanted and i don't think that's right the school to be responsible to make sure the students are doing something with the money for their education, not buying cars. is there anything you can do to help make sure these colleges are doing what they are supposed to do? this is a national college.

guest: thank you for your call. when you reference colleges popping up around a was, you might be talking about for- profit colleges which we have seen an increase in over the last decade or so. these are colleges that offer degrees in flexible ways. non-are going after the traditional family. single mothers, english-language learners, veterans who have just come back from overseas -- they provide really flexible programs, night classes, part- time degrees -- it is really great for the economy right now. seenne problem we have with for-profit colleges, although it is getting better, is that there have been some really aggressive recruiting and marketing tactics towards a certain populations to sign on

and sign up for class as an degrees and take out loans that really are not suited for them. they are private student loans with huge interest rates. obama administration and democrats in general have been trying to crack down on the for- profit industry at least their marketing tactics. to make them more transparent so these people know what they're getting into when they sign up for them. a lot of worry is that the degree they graduate with are essentially worthless. you have nursing degrees, for certifiedrom un institutions that really don't allow its graduates to even get a nursing job upon graduating. caller is probably referencing that. host: from twitter -- probablythink she is

referencing the similarity to the mortgage bubble. i don't think we will see a student loan bubble burst, said to speak. there are two different types of debt. especially if the government can wrap its arms around this issue quickly enough. i think we have learned a lot from the mortgage bubble sell. hopefully we will see that in the next month. -- whohis is robert from is a parent. you are talking about student loans and the mayor of florida was talking about how the institution should be responsible. manyin the 1990's, american students would show up for one course they needed for their masters but the institution would advertise the course curriculum but when we got to the class, the teacher would not teach the course.

this went on for 1.5 years. they would not teach 28 african- american students. as soon as female students showed up, they taught the class. thank you and goodbye. guest: thank you for your question. i think a lot of what we are going to see with the reauthorization of the higher education act this year or next year is an increase accountability on colleges and universities to provide a safe level of tuition, a low level of tuition for students, strong percentages of graduates, and there will be more accountability placed on them for not only graduating them the job placement afterwards. this is a big part of how, in the future, we're going to be a cost saving for students. onlineow you think educational change this discussion? guest: there are more courses being offered now not only for higher education but in k-12 on

line. is there mooks which education phrase for these on- line courses. starting to see a lot of colleges tiptoe into this swimming pool, if you will there is not a whole lot of evidence about how it will shape the future of higher education but one thing is certain, it will provide less cost to two students. cqt:lauren smith rights for roll call. thank you. on our program to more, we're going to feature two guests to talk about president obama's or recent speech at morehouse college. then we will have a discussion about america's energy with michael levy of the council of foreign relations.