to be healthcare law, and congress. , sam stein, of the " huffington post" will take questions. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: good morning and welcome to "washington journal" on this friday, july 19. student loan interest rates will be cut and thomas perez was confirmed as labor secretary. at the white house, president obama touted health care yet today and what the federal law will mean for middle-class americans in his estimation. in detroit, the city has filed for bankruptcy.

it is the largest municipal bankruptcy in u.s. history. we would like to get your opinion of this story. are the numbers to call -- -- can also find us on line here is the front page of "usa today"- "the detroit free press" -

we see this quote -- paper courtesy of the newseum, "the detroit news" - the papers are digging into what this story means for the people of detroit as well as the city itself. "the new york times"said -

looking at thee break down how this will affect people there. "the wall street journal" syas - says -

let's get your thoughts on this story. here is a call from washington on our independent line. caller: i wanted to say i believe this will become a growing trend among the states in the united states. host: what do you think about that? does it concern you? is it necessary? caller: it concerns me and i think it is probably necessary. host: what do you make of what is going on in detroit? what would you be thinking or feeling if you lived there?

caller: i would be thinking that more jobs in manufacturing need to be treated by some of these big companies. host: if you live in detroit or anywhere in michigan, you can call us this morning on a joe, georgia,-- republican. caller: the problem is, when need to have more taxpayer chance in georgia. we've got taxpayer champions. tom price -- we have to elect people would know how to cut spending and know how to run a city. we just had too much spending at every level of government. the answer is to have -- detroit did not have good management and in georgia, we have great management.

and we have a guy that will be a great governor and congressmen who know how to cut spending. that is the key. we have to cut spending. the democrats do the opposite. host: what would you do if you are running the city of detroit? caller: i would cut spending and taxes and i would tell the citizens that we cannot afford the big pensions. we have to put detroit on a ime. host: where do you go from here if they are declaring bankruptcy? caller: you have to tell the unions we can afford the pensions. we will have to cut out unnecessary wages. in all the country, we need less government, less taxes, and more freedom. host: let's look at how this bankruptcy filing compares to past bankruptcy filings in municipalities.

-- itn see the population is much higher than the other numbers. . joe joins us from north dakota on the independent line. good togood morning, talk to you again. i would like to comment on the detroit situation. and on america in general. these so-called republicans want to privatize everything. in 1992, in order to run a

successful business, the private business, you would have to function under dictatorship style. that is what is going on with all of the privatization. the smaller the government, the more freedom to have. the bigger the government, -- just the opposite the bigger the government, the more freedom you have because that is what a dictatorship is and that's what these republicans are trying to turn this into, a disk -- a dictatorship so we can compete with china and have slave labor. i never thought i would see this in my lifetime. host: what would you do if you are running the city of detroit? caller: right now, i would declare a national emergency. anould chop the city down appeal to all the people in this country to put pressure on washington, d.c. and have them up all the constitution.

if they apply the constitution, all this garbage could be cleared up. impeachment is the special -- dissenting a special interests and lobbyists. that is corruption in america. it has gone terribly wrong. jimmy carter was right. host: let's hear from madison heights, michigan. caller: thank you for cspan. detroit,eal sad day in a sad day in michigan. we, the people, back in november of last year, voted down the emergency manager block. law. this adolf hitler governor we have wind behind our backs and and ramrodded through the system. as about the money, the greedy 1% cheaper -- gop has taken over

michigan. adolf hitler is alive and well and he is governor of michigan. host: that's a strong comparison. caller: of course it is, he is a dictator. people, go against the you are no better than hitler. host: let's hear from another member of michigan state. this is from hillsdale, mich., a democrat. my feelings about the bankruptcy in detroit, i think it is a good thing. dog democrat. i am surprised to tell you that i am in favor of a lot of things the governor did. i am not in favor of the emergency manager law./ i think it is a good thing that detroit is going through bankruptcy because it needs to slim down . it lost some of population over

the last few years. i lived outside the state for 30 years and when i came back, my wife and i went to detroit. one of the avenues was practically vacant. there is less than half a million people living there now. it needs to slim down and get the infrastructure narrowed down to a much smaller city perimeter. the city to change limits so detroit is a much smaller town bennett has been. then i think everything will work out fine host: are you willing to deal with the repercussions of that in the state of michigan? caller: you have to. host: look at "the wall street journal."

ga., a democrat, next. there isood morning, an article today about the

detroit bank added that i think everyone should read. thinkkruptcy that i everyone should read. privatization has driven detroit into dire financial straits beyond that, governor snyder created the emergency manager l aw dry detroit into bankruptcy a few years ago to embarrass the political structure. i think it is cynical and politically driven. each right has had these issues for years and -- detroit has had these issues for years. it starts with the county's and

detroit is in wayne county. -- it isintegrating about integrating smaller municipalities into larger bodies and that's where it starts. let's go to pennsylvania, dave, republican. itler: i wanted to say that is amazing to listen to everybody call and all the people talking this morning. nobody can talk about the racial dynamics. that guy talk a little bit about it but you have some examples like that. call them little zimbabwes, cause and all over our country. all over ourm country. these are areas that were once

in duster is a mostly white, a german-italian neighborhoods and industrial people. the blacks moved in and they say we cannot run what the white to build in the same way. race does matter. host: that is racially offensive. you say that their race means that african-americans cannot run something and that is not something we will talk about. there is reported about the racial elements of what is happening in detroit from "the new york times." both the

our last caller was from pennsylvania. here is more from " the new york times." let's go to maria in new jersey

on the independent line. caller: good morning, i agree with the person said that globalism is one of the causes of this. the attorney general in april at promulgated a policy under equal opportunity employment that will make no distinction between employing illegal aliens and the average american citizen. our trade agreements are deliberately slanted so there will be no manufacturing here. companiest included news sent the manufacturing jobs for cars to mexico and other countries. there should be marches from people of all colors on washington because the enemy actually is within and until we get rid of the traders in our government, we will all go down together. thank you very much. host: here is a tweet-

alabama, a democrat, welcome. caller: i have been trying to get on for a long time. i have so much i want to said. i don't feel sorry for a lot of these people stop. the boating these people in. they make decisions for you. this is one thing detroit can do. they should have got together with business people to see if they can't come in and refurbish some of those homes and rebuild them and see if they can't build manufacturing like maybe a t- shirt company or anything. if the government partner with them, they could have done a welfare program to get people off of welfare to pay them $14 per hour to work in manufacturing businesses. you have people and government who are sending our jobs to

other countries. you are voting these people in and you get mad a president who is trying to keep the jobs here. my father was a marine. he taught me how to pay attention to what is going on in this country. i have been paying attention and -- it makes me sick that somebody votes these people in and lend some real support for a vote in a person that will do right by you. i sent some information to the president as best i could. get the kids in school to send letters to their parents and thank them for taking care of them or something. is a lot of things you can do. every day we can have a difference theme like i love my espoused day. send your old lady or old man

some flowers for the metal. we are sitting around and we can save this country. host: have you ever run for office? caller: no, i have a master's in accounting and finance. host: have you thought about it? caller: no, i don't want somebody -- they put york -- they don't care what you are doing for them. they are going to act like you're a bad person in the spotlight. i don't have time for that. i want people to pay attention. host: let's look at more information about what this bankruptcy filing means. this is from "the wall street journal."

pam is a democrat joining us from missouri, good morning. i feel good morning, with all the empty buildings and stuff up there, why don't be -- the company's move their factories overseas so why doesn't the government make them bring their factories back? put the american people back to work. stop sending our jobs overseas. host:gail from new jersey, republican caller, welcome. caller: my late husband worked

for the state dot in new jersey 2010, i was able to receive my late husband's pension when he passed for i. you have to live within your means but unions are making pensions unsustainable for the government. bringing inot enough money to continue paying. people have to learn to live within their means. one of the biggest problems is pensions. i went for a day or two and then i realized that that got to learn -- live within their means. that is what is happening. that is why all the states doing well economically are run by the republican governors. you want.eck on it if people have to learn to live

within their means and when you have to keep subsidizing instance, i'm not against immigrants but the illegal ones do not pay federal income taxes. the country cannot sustain itself at this rate. host: tampa, fla., independent caller. caller: good morning, a first- time caller, longtime listeners. i believe i have your solution. you have to put those american products on the shelves. i don't know how to implement that that that's what you have to do. you do that, problem solved. host: are you watching how the auto industry has fares? caller: let's take all manufacturing. it has all gone overseas. you start selling my product under a shelf, you help me, i will help you, it is all local. put the american products back

on the shelf, somehow, someway, problem solved. host: here is what brice tweets - maxine lives in linden, mich., an independent. caller: good morning and thank you for cspan. you are talking about detroit bankruptcy? i can sum it up in two words -- corrupt politics and drugs. if you look at detroit, how many officials have been in that it and sent to prison -- you take kwami kilpatrick and all his minions have melted the city try and have done nothing for the people. the people are just corrupt with drugs.

of detroit problem and anybody who says it is anything different is kidding themselves. thank you very much. in washington, democrats line,hi. caller: thank you for having me on, i listened frequently. i think this is a crying shame. it seems like this is a pilot program. consequently, over the entire united states, this move of we canty that we have, have wars and some money overseas and give people money all over the world but when it comes to one state in our country, as we did for wall street, wall street was bailed out we cannot bail out one city in our country? as the previous caller said, put some things on the shelf. during manufacturing back. the labor unions is a fight that

is in congress now. people need people to speak for them in the labor unions. the price for what the pensions would be could come down. those prices could come down but you've got to have fair and balanced equity for the individuals that will be able to have a voice. if there is no voice, for example, the only thing we have -- i am glad for cspan to get information like this -- people need to know and want to speak on these things but when you have the powers that be and the money that is behind these austerity programs, it looks bleak. that is all i have to say. i hope things will get better in detroit and we can bail them out like we did wall street. thank you very much. host: michigan senator carl

levin spoke earlier this week at a christian science monitor breakfast that cspan kerri. let's take a listen to him talking about his vision for the city of detroit [video clip] on its way back. i say this as someone who knows almost every block of my city. there are parts of detroit with her devastated. butnot only see pictures you see the devastation. i wish you could take pictures of the parts of detroit which are coming back strong. young people are moving into the city because they want to be ready action is. the action right now is going big. host: that is michigan senator carl levin, democrat talking this week at a christian science monitor breakfast about his thoughts on the city of detroit free and fair to tell us more by phone is stephen henderson with the "detroit free press." good morning thank you for joining us.

guest: thanks for having me. host: let's talk about what the mood in detroit is. what has been the public reaction? unexpected.was not sort ofbeen in this dire situation now for quite some time. we have had an emergency manager since the spring. this is one of the first things he talked about. he said of things do not work out and if he could not get creditors and retirees and other people who have claims against the city to go along with his plan, bankruptcy was going to be where we were headed. that has been something we have been talking and thinking about for some time. it is still a shock when it happens because it is the largest city ever to have to

file for chapter 9 protection. i think people are sort of reflective about how long it has been, this downward slide and how many things have happened that have pushed us in this direction and no one ever did anything to pull us back the other way. overly think people are down about this. paris they think it is of the for andke we have with get rest of governance in detroit. tell us about the emergency manager. what can he do now? appointed inyrr the spring.

he is from washington. jones-dayawyer at the law firm. he is a turnaround expert. he has worked with some pretty big bankruptcies before. the most notable wife was the price of bankruptcy fifth we are familiar with and void. detroit fifth. the emergency manager physician is not popular and people think it is anti-democratic. -- p. merges the manager position is not popular and people think is anti-democratic. people voted to get rid of the law. the legislature came back and rammed a new one through in lame duck. it is a controversial part of the financial architecture in michigan. has comeall, kevin orr

in and grabbed hold of the idea of saving detroit. when i say setting detroit, saving detroit. andplan takes on the banks other people we owe money to. it says you have gotten everything you can out of this city and the people here, now it is time for us to walk away from you and walked back toward trying to build a livable city for the people who are here. he has gotten an immense amount of credit from people for having taken that position and having stuck to it. going into bankruptcy is a pretty high expectations that fifth attitudeis a

and he will continue to push for the idea that when we are through with this, we have 700,000 people here with police and fire service and have to have garbage pickup and street lights that were. many of those things don't work right now. he is an emergency manager and that is controversial. there are some people who are upset about that but i think is tenure and the things he has done have clearly made it a priority to try to fix detroit for those of us live here. host: we heard some comments from earlier this week, senator carl levin from your state talking about the resurgence of detroit free how does that factor in and how does the view that he expressed match up with what you are guest: seeing? seeing?

guest: the strike is two cities. i am a detroit native if i have lived in other places including baltimore and washington for about 14 years. i have been here most of my life. detroit has got more of a dichotomy going on now than i can remember at any time. the resurgence that senator levin is talking about is very obvious in places like downtown detroit in a place called midtown which is not far away where we are starting to see this sort of fight staff entrepreneurialism of the economy takeoff with a lot of young people where we see quicken loan s is now headquartered here and abroad 10,000 new place to downtown detroit over the last few years.

there are lots of other businesses that are starting to sort of collective themselves in the cities for. you have young people moving into if there is a momentum there and in energy fed is really important. -- and energy that is really important. people away from downtown and midtown, you see a big difference. we have block after block in places where there is one or two houses on the bluffs left -- on the block left and the level of abandonment is exacerbated by the level of poverty and is exacerbated by the lack of services. lights 40% of the street in detroit that do not work. at night in these neighborhoods, it is very dark which also leads to a lack of safety. it is a big city.

it is 139 square miles of detroit. the of it is suffering from things i just described for if you have a very small areas that are benefiting from this resurgence. .t really is two cities will impede the struggles we are having in most of the city. going on, instead of going really well, far happening despite the trouble we are having paying our bills fifth host: thank you for being with us. your reaction today to the news that detroit has filed for bankruptcy. this is the largest municipality ever to file for chapter 9.

memphis, tennessee, republican. caller: for the man facing this and having the courage to handle it -- when i first turned you on, everyone was giving him grief for the destruction of last 50 years of liberal destructiveness and regulations. ,ost: who are you talking about the governor or city manager deaf caller: the two of them

together. they are working together. it is like fleming the doctor for having to cut off your foot after it gets grant -- gang green. frigid bankruptcy is resetting the force and getting out from under. your callers don't understand bankruptcy. when individual declares bankruptcy, the slate is wiped clean depending on what form of bankruptcy you claim. then the pressure is off and you can learn to be more responsible and handle it better if if you take this new shaft and give effect to the liberals who relented in the first place and to regulate business out of existence, if you will be right back here in a few years. host: we mentioned fifth governor who was quoted - our caller brought up first perspective from a bankruptcy means. "the wall street journal" asks -

darren from california, democrat, hi. caller: a want to address the individual that fold up -- earlier talking about detroit .ooking like zimbabwe veri that is a tough truth but here's another one. it looked that way because the biggest problem that america has is there has always been

worth if americans want to. that's how those people got here. black people over there got here because of work you would not do. i am tired of sitting here of listening to this crap about how hard you work and how benevolent you are. you open the border at you free the slaves because there is still work you will not do. boilhese racial problems down to one thing, you are lazy. host: i don't want to stop you from talking but far you african-american? caller: yes fifth few host: are talking about slavery and people brought here to do the work that white people don't want to do? caller: then you get here and send the jobs overseas. host: the caller made an offensive comment. i would like to hear from what your thoughts are on what this means for the african-american community in detroit and the broader community of detroit. what would you do if you ran

this is the death caller: 5 would probably do for no different than what they are doing fifth there are a whole bunch of hard fruits that we have to face like the unions and a penchant for it get there self-defense not like to our selves. the blue states support the red states. this idea of benevolence and hard work, lose it. there is no historical reference to support it. host: i mentioned "the wall street journal" looking at what detrick could sell off and "the washington post " says -

mohammed is our next caller from fredericksburg, va., independent line. caller:hi, thank god for cspan and i would like to say that i have been following detroit, michigan. i have been falling other states, too. -- i have been following other states, too. the good, every one of cities are being brought down to bankruptcy filing. ouruld like to say that debt keeps increasing and are tax revenue is not catching up. aroundt per person is $50,000 and our debt for taxpayer is around $150,000. onon't know what is going with the $100,000 that is missing. it could be the illegal

immigrants not paying taxes and working here illegally. of thee taking a piece pipe out of our pie we work for the pie. the: you talked about how big picture looks in terms of national debt and local debt. "the washington post"gives us a picture of municipal bankruptcy filings. you can see the numbers of chapter 9 filing by cities and localities over the years. let's take a look at a couple of

other stories this morning. confirmed gina mccarthy and thomas perez. there is a bipartisan agreement to cut interest rates for student loans. the president yesterday talked about health care. the story in " the new york times "says - yesterdayent spoke promoting the federal health care a lot in front of a group

of americans who he says have benefited from a rebate provision in the health care law that sends money back to the end if insurers at of the year, some had to send back payments to those who use their services. this is from "the wall street journal " we'll talk more about this with our guests later on this morning. igalso see in the paper that of the irs, the inspector general, says he was not told that the irs flagged left- leaning groups. he told congress yesterday --

get one last call in our conversation about detroit. this is from sterling, va., a republican. caller: i think it is a combination of things in detroit and they began back in the early 1960's when they started doing this thing with pollution control on the vehicles. the car companies and the petroleum industry made a deal with the unions that if they choke down the engines they could control pollution. because they did that, american cars became less efficient and people are going to buy cars that get more miles per gallon. it took time.t, everybody has a patriotic feeling that you want to buy american but after a while, it

starts hitting you in the pocket books so bad. that is what happened. .nions are a necessary evil i'm an eisenhower republican. of hand inway out the businesses. there is also such a thing as practical and pragmatic. cars lost their fuel efficiency and everybody i know, when they buy a car, one of the first things they do -- this goes back to the 1970's -- they were saying that american cars are not built as well. , in the 2000's, they want more bells and whistles on the cars. that woman whose father was a marine. host: let's leave it there.

a couple of last tweets - coming up next, we'll talk with stephen dinan of "the washington times" with a look at the week in politics. we will be right back. ♪ ♪

>> in 2003, you recommended an historical reckoning of the crimes committed sponsored or permitted by the united states. which crimes were referring to and which decisions taken by the current administration would you recommend? >> thank you, senator. thank you for giving me occasion to respond to that. i, as an immigrant to this country, think this country is the greatest country on earth as do you. i would never apologize to america. america is the light to the world. we have freedoms and opportunities here that people dream about abroad. i certainly did. to that quote, one of the things that had moved to me -- some have mentioned it was written very critically about

the clinton administration response to the rwanda genocide back in 1994. president clinton himself had come forward and expressed his regret that the united states did not do more in the face of the genocide. when i travelled to rwanda, i have been very critical, i was stunned to see the degree to which clinton + visit to rwanda, his apology for not having done more and how it had resonated with rwandans. >> this weekend, the senate foreign relations committee takes up the nomination of some that the power to the u.s. ambassador to the un saturday at 10:00 a.m. eastern. a harlem book fairfax -- the harlem book fair. 3, lectures in history and a history of u.s. political parties, sunday at 1:00.

"washington journal" continues. politics dinan is editor at "the washington times." you have eight utility index looking at the productivity of index and how much the house and senate get done and that land recently says -- guest: we called the legislative utility index and i developed it about two years ago. a lot of folks look at the number of bills that passed congress and try to judge congress by the number of bills enacted into law and i wanted to go deeper and take a broader look at legislative activity. i look at things like the number of days spent in session. sometimes they only spend a couple of hours on the floor and the number of pages they compile in the congressional record and the number of bills from each chamber that are enacted into

law, a number of bills they passed for each chamber. it was a way of taking the temperature of how much is going on on the floor which is a way of seeing how much they are actually doing. years done it for three brett in 2011, the worst year ever by far, the records to back to 1947, they could not get very much done at all. the senate in particular was a giant roadblock. last year was actually the second worst year on record for the senate. the house individually did much better. big news this year is that the senate has replaced itself as the second worst year on record beating last year but the house has dropped dramatically. in the first two years after republicans lost control, the tea party-fueled push happened and now it has been a conscious decision that they are waiting to see what the senate will send them. in the first two years, they

passed bills to cut spending and taxes and pass bills and energy. it was the whole tea party agenda and they saw them die in the senate. increase deal of the beginning of this year, the violence and women act and hurricanes and eight -- the house said we keep passing these bills and john boehner goes into a room with president obama and comes back with a deal and says take it or leave it to us. we want to push the bills we have been doing. the result is that the house has stepped back and said let's see what the senate can get done and then we will do it. that is why you see less action and fewer floor votes and less time in session, just a lower level of legislative activity. i should add that there are some people out there who think that is a good thing. when i wrote this story, most of the, mentors web page said that as a good thing. they don't want congress doing anything. mosteader said he is

scared when congress acted so there are two ways to look at it. host:"the national journal" has this story. what does that signify to you? give this a read on the level of cooperation either between the senate for the house and the white house? guest: the group that is forming, we have seen this for liberation and the last couple of months are so of the gangs in the senate. some people object to that term but that is how the label themselves. these are bipartisan groups that come together to cut a deal externally from the party leadership. they have the blessing of the leaders but they are acting independently and

probably off the floor and negotiating with the white house. you have two different things. there is the pressure for a bipartisan deal knowing there is nothing partisan that can pass the senate and the second is the realization we are headed for another big showdown at the end of this term in the fall. we are at our debt limit and the treasury department is using extraordinary measures that will allow it to put off crossing that limit for several months but we are right there. something will have to happen or we face either a default if for a dramatic lessening of spending. looking at that and the past few fights we have had over the past two years light on spending, a head thisks say let's off. if they want to keep the five are they going. where does congress go

after a deal between the senate and the white house or a bipartisan deal on immigration a comes to hitting the house staff guest: that is the right question. we are seeing immigration already. there was a bipartisan bill in the senate that the 68 boats which is the highest immigration has gotten a number of years. it is stalling out in the house. republicans in the house are waiting to see what can get sent over. that is no guarantee that there will be action. in this case, the house will look at it. house republicans have been fairly adamant that they do not want new revenue coming out of any tax deal. the senators are saying that they will accept some new revenue. house speaker john boehner says all the new revenue has to come from dynamic scoring from economic growth rather than raising rates to increase.

theft evolved.ewalk to have there is and it felt something done. host: if you like petan spare if you would like to join the conversation -- .- if you like host: tell us how you think this got averted? what happens behind the scenes? guest: it got averted because republicans took everything the democrats -- republicans caved

on their demands. there are seven nominees who are contentious and were the subject of what democrats said were longstanding and repeated blockades by democrats. majority leader harry reid and the senate set up seven showdown votes were supposed to happen tuesday. he said to take these seven nominees or he would use the nuclear option. the first of the nominees was richard cordray for the financial protection bureau which was set up by the post- wall street collapse legislation. republicans this like this. has done independent funding and there is no congressional oversight and they think it will be used to hurt the economy. they have been trying to keep

the bureau from getting up and running until they get more assurances over how it will run. this is standard for what republicans have done for the use the process to force concessions from the white house to keep the actual operations from moving too quickly. democrats got fed up and said we will go ahead and push these nominees. this happened over the last two weeks and democrats finally waited until after the immigration bill was done. houri reed said he will not do anything partisan but once that was done, he said now i will pull the trigger on this if republicans do not accept all seven nominees. tuesday, when republicans came up with a deal accept almost all the nominees for the two that did not acceptable labor relations nominees that made a recessa appointments on. it is complex but richard cordray was also a recess appointment but the republicans

decided not to fight on him. the white house agreed to withdraw the two nominees and replace them with two people who have the same ideology. president obama won just about everything he wanted out of the policy. he got two other people who will probably be the exact same policy people and we are still faced with a filibuster fight if and when republicans do more obstruction it is a tentative cease-fire. democrats won this round and democrats will have to figure out how far they push in the future host: we will talk more about the nlrb situation but let's involve our callers. independent line, good morning. caller: thank you very much. i am an independent and it is very obvious that stephen is a democrat. i would like to say first of all

that, in reference to the it has been, pointed out that this is not a good amnesty bill. one reason is it is perpetual amnesty. comenyone has to do is into this country and say they are leaving their country for political asylum or they are being abused or whatever in their country. they can come over here. the u.s. taxpayer will have to pay for their lawyer. they will be set up with a drivers license and social security number and they will receive taxpayer benefits. host: we will get stephen dinan to respond to that, but out of

curiosity, why do you think he is a democrat? caller: everything he said. host: we will get his response. guest: the immigration bill -- there is a lot in there. she touched on a number of the objections that folks have to the bill. is asylum and refugee system different than the legalization part of it. the bill does do some changes to the asylum and refugee system like allowing more time for those applications to come in. what i took away from the call was the amount of anger out there. that is what is driving house republicans. they have a different constituency than senate republicans.

gone,y redistricting has they do not have the same voters. sliced and diced voters. their voters are not necessarily as eager to see legalization as senate voters are. that is driving the difference whoeen senate republicans -- there is one interesting difference. senate republicans, even those that voted against the bill, most of them believe there will and should be a pathway to citizenship. view forot universal house republicans. leadersse republican think there should be a path to citizenship, especially for dream act kids, but that is the key debate. senate republicans, they are

basically arguing over what the trigger should be before you do full legalization and a pathway to citizenship and house republicans are not at that point. they are not sure they want full legalization. until you get that issue sorted, i am skeptical a bill gets done this year. been anephen dinan has editor for 15 years and has been covering the immigration debate. bob. duluth, minnesota. caller: thank you for taking my call. partisanship is rendering the government this functional and i think the reason for that is lobbyists and we need to change the way we lobby our elected

officials because a person that is elected to office cannot really make a good decision based on his own conscience. he has to make a decision based want, and lobbyists the republicans have a certain group of lobbyists, the democrats have a certain group of lobbyists, and because of the money they need to get elected they are not really functioning as the kind of people we sent to do the job. they are functioning as representatives of the lobbyists. thank you. guest: there was an interesting story that i saw. we were talking earlier about deal, and then i saw another story about the areer of lobbyists that

descending on capitol hill to make sure there tax breaks are not cut out of the deal. both sides of the aisle feel this is a problem and we have seen the evidence. there are more economic impact lobbyists than any other interest. there is a reason tax breaks are in their, and they convinced needsers their industry those tax breaks. every single one will be a battleground. you could probably get a tax deal done if you did not have lobbyists fighting for special interests, but the constitution guarantees the right to petition your government, and the lobbyists consider themselves the guardians of that. they do a job, whether we like the job, but they do make

washington run. host: let's talk about the national labor relations board. all three branches of government judicial branch as well. tell us about the court system. a story from this week "a third court overturns obama recess appointment." guest: i love story. the president had nominations for the national labor relations board. they need to have a certain membership to have a quorum to operate and they were in danger of not having the quorum so president obama made to resource -- recess appointments. board thenelations goes on.

the recess appointments were made in early-january, 2012, made at a time when the senate was meeting every three days in pro forma sessions. that was just so they could consider themselves in session for the purposes of preventing the president from making recess appointments and it was complex can leave thember capital for more than three days without the other one also doing that. the president looked at the senate and said you are doing pro forma. there is one of you on the floor, you are meeting for 30 seconds, so i will make recess appointments, determining that they are not there to give advice on the nominees.

made thedent they weres, and then sued. the first court was in the district of columbia where a they-judge panel ruled were illegal because of the three-day rule and that the constitution says the president can only make these appointments during the recess of the senate. that court went further and said he can only make appointments on vacancies that occurred during the recess, and that is the single recess that occurs after congress adjourned at the end of the year. it is a real constitutional issue. if the court's opinion is upheld, it will undo 70 years of presidential practices, all but

eliminating recess appointments because very few vacancies arrive when congress is out of session, especially the way it has been staying recently in session up until it begins a new session. still to come, and this is the interesting part, there is a growing fight -- brewing fight. nominatedobama has three new judges for the court. republicans say that is retaliation. they have signaled they will block those. now all of this is tied together, which is why the filibuster fight in the court ruling are interesting because they are combined in a constitutional mess. another part of that is the supreme court last week said it will take the case on the labor

relations nominees, so in the next session we should get a ruling about the president appointment powers. oft: here is the front page "washington times." let's get to the phones. reid. republican. caller: thank you. i have a comment that is a little philosophical. before that, can i criticize c- span and i will be brief. host: sure. caller: there is an element in your background that spree -- screens the calls politically. subject about the

i called toand asked about president obama buying his house from a noted mobster.-- was hungs later, this up. a guy with at know little voice, but we want to hear from all opinions. we want to hear your perspective on this issue. go ahead and we will get even diamond's -- stephen dinan's

response. minutes,dd up the especially when steve is on. host: do you want to use your time to talk to stephen dinan? ok, we would have a policy if there was no veto. was madisonieve it and monroe that had a bill come said theyk and they liked the policy, but they thought it was unconstitutional so they would veto it, so they took the veto as a

constitutional obligation. signed theent bush campaign finance reform law, he actually said there are parts of this letter unconstitutional but i am signing it and i will leave the courts to sort it out. it shows the trajectory about the change to the president is said it is all about the constitution, and to the president that said i am leaving it to the courts. host: indianapolis. robert. republican caller. caller: in terms of the gridlock, the people that elected those conservatives, is exactly what they want. there is a socialist agenda, and people like the cougar were voted out -- luger were voted

out because of it and the media is so left wing. luger votednk against health care. it did not get any republican votes. host: it does not necessarily comment on the worthiness of the legislation. -- a 1200-the 1200 page bill shows up the same as a two-page bill, but having said that, the 1200 and page bill will have more votes on it. there are a lot of people that of june 30ongress as having 15 bills enacted into law and i do not think that is the right way to judge it because there are more bills going on. that is why i do a broader index.

but defining is the same, it is a slow year. host: we are talking about the "washington times" futility index. a couple of tweets. says theanquility immigration bill is like the affordable care act, we need to pass it to know what is in it, who makes profits and how many problems it creates. clerk calls everything showboating and says no one wants to pass anything with a midterm election just ahead, and john responds and says there is always an election i had. reporter and that conversation. are we at the point where we stop asking real legislation? elections matter immensely and that is what you see the difference on the immigration debate.

host: robert. new jersey. democrat. go ahead. .aller: good morning thank you for letting me express my views. subjecting at the matter, and this young man stephen dinan has set up a matrix to show a do-nothing congress doing nothing. i do not know where both of you live, let's say you have a front lawn. you can live in a high-rise like i do and i do not have a front lawn, the let's say you have a front lawn. you hired someone to cut your lawn. they looked at your lawn, looked at you, and walked away. --annot imagine you pay in paying them to do nothing.

about locking and doing nothing. doneal lefties have nothing, and the thought process seems to be to drown government in the back of. -- bathtub. if you do not want to do anything, why run for office? couch, andt on the do nothing. do not travel all the way to washington, d.c., to not go to work, to not legislate, to block everything, to drown things in bathtubs. lefty people, and republican radical tea party types, they have a thought process where if i do not touch -- cut your grass, you still have to pay me. from that quotation was

grover norquist. guest: we have a partisan divide that is interesting that explains a lot of gridlock. democrats believe government is a force for good and it can do good things. that is much less of a view on the republican side and we saw that after the tea party-fueled election of 2010 and it is why there is gridlock. when you have a party that believes the best thing to do is government, and house boehner said a lot of people believe government should be smaller and they should be repealing parts of government. immigrants want to do more with government and that is what you get the gridlock -- democrats want to do more with government and that is why you get the gridlock. the caller is right in that some want to go to washington not to pass new stuff, but to cut

stuff, and in some cases that is why their constituents sent them there. when you look at polls, congress has a 15% approval rating, but voters generally do like their own congressman or congresswoman. we like who we individually sent to congress, but we do not like of the house or the 98 other members of the senate we did not send their. that explains why you are paying those two senators and the one house member that you probably do like, but unfortunate for you the rest of the country is paying the people you do not like. met: matt between's and -- to meet in congress needs more than one rule change and to and pro forma sessions. sasha says the president cannot get advice and consent. hi, ann.

caller: thank you. i hope i get as much time as some of these fellows. you keep talking about this functional -- dysfunctional congress. only 10% of americans have a peanut representative. when you look at it historically, what would you attribute the dysfunction to? the republicans taking a bow to undermine everything the obama administration did versus special interest? what would you personally attribute the dysfunction to -- to?n mark -- to e 90 90% of americans supported background checks on gun, but that was voted down. associate the

dysfunction with, and this is off-topic, i have spent a lot of time in nursing homes, and i would like to see a program on nursing aide pay, ratio of nurses to patients and why the government does not set a standard for those ratios. thank you. , dulythank you, ann noted. guest: first of all, let me say that founders intended for things to the hard, to ensure that if the government acted and had the support of a vast majority of people. they believed government power was not necessarily a good thing, but in some ways a necessary evil and cumbersome so that if something did get done it would be clear the majority of the population was in favor of it and it was a good thing. in particular, the gridlock

right now, it goes back to this philosophical divide, and it is not just government doing something versus government doing less. with thens came in philosophy that we have been .ver-spending for three decades we have been borrowing from the future and they decided we could no longer to payfrom the future for needs and priorities -- either tax cuts or spending now. once you have that realization, everything becomes cover. for the last 20 years we said we could spend more money and borrow from the future. once you have done that, everything becomes tougher because you cannot use your marks to get legend -- earmarks to get legislation through. you also have a fundamental

difference. if you cannot take money from the future, you have to live within your means. democrats want to see more government, so they say we have to raise taxes to do the kinds of things we want to do. republicans do not want to do those new things and are still working to bring government to a smaller size. it is a fundamental clash. as long as we are no longer living on borrowed money, it is no surprise we see the gridlock. part of the problem is the public is contradicted. some of them -- they want their benefits, and they want their low taxes. right now, in the economic climate that we are in, you cannot have both. host: stephen dinan, politics editor at the "washington times" thank you for your time. coming up next, we will talk to "the huffington

post." we will be right back. ♪ decided he was a delicious subject for a biography when it dawned on me that he had been not only at abraham lincoln's bedside after his assassination, but also at the bedside of william mckinley in 1901. i thought who could this fellow be, and when i open the archives, i realized what a rich subject it was. as toey, his life

bookends. there is lincoln on one hand. he was abraham lincoln's personal secretary. abouth of what we know lincoln comes from hayes contact with him. he was the secretary of state for teddy roosevelt. you have these iconic opens of american history. when you look deeper, you realize that all of the chapters in between, from the civil war through the beginning of the 20th century, he is a present in all of those chapters. in many cases, he has written those chapters of american and. sunday 8:00 p.m. on c-span "q&a."

jackie was raised as her mother was raised. she was the same kind of post this. the entertaining -- that was her heritage and she did it again in the white house. right after her administration, during the johnson years, the world erupted like volcanoes. we had the women that went to work, got divorced this and demanded equal rights. we had free love, flower children, and free sex. boy was a great for the young. i missed all of that. [laughter] the whole world changed and it became a new concept of women, and i think this is clinton -- mrs. clinton represents the new woman. those close to recent

presidential wives talk about the role of the first lady and how it has changed with the nation monday night on c-span. "washington journal" continues. host: sam stein is with "the huffington post." thank you for joining us. here are some headlines. "does president obama have a second term strategy?" and then we see the use of the hand" -- in the second term, obama is seen as using a hidden hand approach." strategyhe president's in terms of getting legislation passed? guest: maybe it is zero whatever you have against the wall and see what sticks.

however fashion throws the big picture into one tiny box. it seems they are trying everything they can do with the knowledge the republicans can block it. there has been some fruits of their labor. republicans have come to agreements on confirmation, immigrations, etc. and we are getting word of new budget talks. some of this can be traced back to the dinners that he had, the outreach, and the general sense that they can work with that chamber. strategy and gamesmanship is moot if john boehner stands in the way of everything. host: what is the president's relationship like with senate and house democrats? i think it is fine. it was never that close. he was only there for two years. he did not know those

relationships with many. maybe tom coburn, but he is a conservative. the white house is caught in a bind where they could be doing more, working harder behind the scenes, but if they put to much their fingerprints on any legislative item, there is the risk it will alienate republicans. it is kind of a lose-lose situation. i do not think that president is particularly well regarded, but i do not think it is that that. -- that bad. host: sam stein of the "huffington post" has been tracking quest ration. here are recent stories. attention is this getting nationwide and how much are americans feeling it?

jacob not getting much attention in terms of coverage in -- guest: not getting that much attention in terms of coverage and washington, d.c., but it is everywhere, are the because a lot of the is happening outside the beltway. we set out to tell the stories of sequestration through the eyes of those affected. we did a google search for any community suffering through had cuts.-- headstart some of the stories are really bad. inare not getting a sense washington, d.c., because the focus is on topline budget numbers, but if you talk to them you get the sense is really hurting these people. host: there is the headline in "the new york times" that there is no good news. at a: the talks are

standstill. with respect to the furloughing employees,department two weeks ago, a number of employees that a job from the pentagon to the nation's capital to raise awareness of what is happening here, and i job alongside -- jogged along side with them which was hard because my questioning was hard because i was breathing harder, but one woman i talked to said she has not gone out to a restaurant in six months because she was anticipating sequestration and another guy said working mantra days a week was tough when your job is to monitor international satellite. part of what is problematic is the impact builds up over time. host: sam stein with "huffington post." you can join the conversation

let's listen to comment april,nt obama made in about sequestration, and something "huffington post" wrote about, listening in particular for the tone of where responsibility lies for sequestration. [video clip] you seem to suggest that somehow these folks have no responsibility and my job is to get them to behave. that is their job. they are elected -- members of congress are elected in order to do what is right for their constituencies and the american people. so, if in fact they are seriously concerned about passenger convenience and safety, then they should not just be thinking about tomorrow, next week or the week after that, but five years from now,

10 years from now and 15 years from now. president obama talking about congress and laying the responsibility for sequestration at the feet of congress. is that still the white house's attitude and what have we learned about the governing ?tyle customer -- style guest: it is complicated. in order to get beyond the debt ceiling crisis, the white house offered sequestration as an alternative. they never wanted to be put in that situation, but to resolve it, they did that, and the anticipation would be that it would be so onerous, and the cuts would be so painful and illogical, which a lot of them are, that congress would have to replace it. they did not calculate that the appetite for additional revenue would be so problematic that they would rather deal with sequestration.

there at a place where president is right, congress needs to do something, as he cannot just wave a magic wand and say voila, we fixed something, but on the other hand it has become a game of chicken of who would blink first. they are having incredible costs around the country. mike in houston, texas, on our republican line. caller: the incredible cost around the country are the exact intent of the president. he wants to create pain and make people feel it, so that he can justify government. obama needs government. he needs government to be the way and means of people's happiness, their pursuit of happiness and their dependency. he does not want people being self-reliant. when government is cut in any

way, and this is not a -- once and for all, the government is spending more this year than it did last year. that is a fact. obama cannot afford to lose this argument because of the economy -- well, if the economy sustains itself at the world rate that it is -- poor rate that it is, he cannot lose the argument. distributed so that he can live the life of the top one quarter of the top 1%. let's not make the mistake, as an obama lives the life of the top 1% more than anyone in the united states. guest: more than anyone? place angree that this -- inant role about whether we will have a profound safety net. a lot of this has to do with government services. i would quibble with the idea

that this is a game to get people dependent on government. a lot of sequestration will have a harmful impact on the private sector. the nih is funding far fewer research grants and it would prior to sequestration. 700 grants will not be funded. those create some of the medicines that revolutionize the surgery, the medical coverage we have in this country that the private sector can build upon. i spoke to a couple of researchers and scientists for another piece i did. we will set ourselves back. we now have therapy for heart attacks. if you want to live a good life after a heart attack for 20 years, you need additional therapy, they are testing that right now, and that will be delayed because of sequestration. host: let's look at nondefense programs that were cut.

money from aart, childcare and development block , and, funding from wic title v of the child health services block grant. are you hearing from them? guest: absolutely. after we did the piece, many parts.u are missing we, for example. we have a piece monday -- meals on wheels, for example. aboutday, we are talking public defenders who are operating without investigators. our criminal justice system is getting rocked because of sequestration. keep in mind, it was supposed to happen across-the-board, be so widespread and info that people would replace it, and it has not

happened here at host: -- happened. twitter, c-span junkie. then ron, neither congress nor the president wants to deal with the fallout of the budget cuts and the sequester is the only way to get cuts. wast: the replacement bill laughable to the democrats at this point, which was basically keeping all the nondefense cuts. democrats, they are trying to get a replacement bill that needs more revenue. at some point these two sides need to figure out what to do in the middle, and the only hope i have heard from any lawmaker is in the upcoming budget negotiations that will happen in december, there will come off with -- come up with an

agreement that is more responsible for -- responsible. host: democrats line. ron. caller: thank you. libby, you are very beautiful, very smart and c-span is the key to have you. host: thank you, what is your stein?n for mr. sam caller: i was wondering if you would have any statistics on the first six years of the presidency for how much legislation has been passed as opposed to the first six years of president clinton, president bush senior, president bush junior. i am sure there is a huge -- disparitytheir

there. i was wondering, what is your disparity, why it is happening, with this president is opposed to the six years of these other presidents presidencies. i believe it is a fight between the haves and have-nots, basically. that is basically what it all comes down to. republicans want to spend the money on destroying nations and rebuilding them. this administration would like to help the people of america. i think that is where the big fight is at between the two parties. different ideologies. host: let's get a response from sam stein. guest: first, i am upset that you did not think i was beautiful and intelligent. host: he must have been a friend of mine.

guest: i do not have hard did as, but my colleagues report that said this congress was on pace to be the least productive. in the first few years things moved more smoothly from the president's perspective because he had a 60 vote majority in the .enate and in the house since then, it has come to a standstill. there have been some breakthroughs and there is the potential for more, but if you compare this presidency to past ones, my sense is it would be less productive minus those first two years, but i'm guessing google could give you a better answer. host: your colleague had this piece -- you can find that story at huffingtonpost.com.

tommy in new york, new york. caller just said republicans want to destroy countries and rebuild them, and he was making like the democrats -- that is right, they do not want to destroy nations and read november, but the democrats -- rebuild them, but the democrats want to just give money away. they have everyone bamboozled. the vice president, nancy pelosi, every time they have a speech they throw in "middle- class." they have these young,'s good kids -- young, stupid kids bamboozled that they are about the middle class. nobody cares about the middle class. host: sorry. guest: i guess, tommy, i would

this agree with some of that. the deficit is going down under this president. now, do we spend too much money? i think that is probably true. with respect to taxing the middle class, the tax deal that january raise rates for people making over, i believe, $250,000, but left everybody else intact. the middlethink class is about $250,000, then they are not taxing the middle class. host: let's talk about student loans. it looks like we are seeing a deal struck between a bipartisan group the senate to lower student loan rates. who do you attribute that to, and what does that say about congress? those this is one of

cases where the senate is disproving conventional wisdom, that everything is dysfunctional . the senate has produced some breakthroughs recently. we have one on student loans here at some of the more -- loans. some of the more aggressive members -- progressive members are not happy with it. there is a likelihood it will rise even though it is starting fairly low. in terms of politics and legislative politics specifically, this is one of those cases where there has been a gravitation towards being productive as opposed obstructionist -- opposed to obstructionist. " storyhuffington post

guest: keep in mind, they have gone up. they doubled because congress failed to meet the deadline, so what the senate has decided to do was get them done immediately, and retroactively, and people took out a loan in this weird time, they would be helped out, too, but they could adjust up. they seem agreed to adjust up. was rightlleague about his we are now in a situation where the government reaps the profits of the student loans, taking out the middleman, and this could boost government revenue. people say why do that when you can get cheaper loans to students at a fixed rate, and i am not sure what their response is. i wish i knew it.

host: sam stein with "huffington post." what you learn about the white house in deal brokering like this? what does it say about president obama's leadership style and strategy? guest: some of it depends on the process. in some cases they like to be the -- in the forefront. talking about sequestration, the president went out in the community and said we need to replace it. on immigration reform, the president has strategically been out of the scene because he knows if he were to endorse something it would give ammunition to the other side to oppose it. student loans is where they were working behind the scenes, involved in negotiations, and they blessed the agreement because they want to move the ball forward and get a resolution to the underpinning of all of this -- resolution.

the underpinning of all of this is they are realizing the clock is starting to take with 3.5 of the presidency (they cannot sit around and wait for presidency, and they cannot sit around and wait for the consumer financial protection board nominee to be picked. host: randy. caller: good morning. based on looking at you two people on the tv, you look at the -- you look at about -- about the same age as my son, which is 38 and 34 years old.

i am wondering what the world will look like for them 20 years from now. when i was being raised, my dad and mom had six kids, and my mother never about -- about the same age as my son, which is 38 and 34 years old. i am wondering what the world will look like for them 20 years from now. when i was being raised, my dad and mom had six kids, and my mother never worked for a job, and they were able to support a house and a home without going into debt. right now we have a situation where the federal government borrows 42% or so of its budget from future generations. is, whati am saying you think the world is going to look like in the future when the government, it seems to me, seems to be doing too much. it seems to be listening to you, sam, that you believe in government activism and the government is supposed to solve all of these problems, including putting kids through school with the federal student loans. i got my two boys to start working when they were 15 years old, and they both graduated without any student that at all and they were able to buy houses. you guys are pushing for the rates to be so low that it would

be crazy not to take a student loan. lawyer, of mine is a and he is 50, still paying off student loans. this is crazy and i think the government is out of control. host: let's get a response. guest: first of all, i have not advocated a single thing. i have talked about the consequences of things being cut. i could set you up with people's experience belve me. i think it is fantastic that you are able to put kids through college without student loans. for everyone. we could debate whether the government has a role to play, but advocates could argue that going through private lenders is more costly. as for future obligations and what the world will look like in 20 years, i think it is

perfectly reasonable to be concerned about that and deficits, and whether we are from futureations generations to pay for stuff now or whether social security will be there for people my age, and this is a conversation that washington has had throughout the obama presidency. the question is what is the best solution, and the two parties have yet to come to an agreement. the democratic party has offered some solutions in terms of entitlement reforms, probably not as much as you would like, randy. the republican party has offered nothing with respect to revenue. the question is can they come to an agreement that would alleviate the burden to future generations are going to have? at this point, being an observer, it does not seem like they are that close. host: florida. austin is a republican.

caller: how is it going? host: good. caller: i want to make a quick comment. i watch the show every morning and i'm a big fan. my comment is based on the amount that we give to other countries, based on what happened in sequestration, when we talk about how much money we give to other countries, people always say it is not a big deal, it is not that much money, but taste -- but based on what we cut in sequestration versus what we have given to other countries, they are about equal. why can't we not just giving money to other countries? host: all right, austin. guest: it is a good question. the question is what happens when you reduce foreign aid. doing reduce money to israel, for instance much of they are considered -- instance?

they are considered an important ally in the region. about pakistan? they are the nexus of the war on terror. it is a really good question. it is beyond my expertise, but keep in mind, once you have cut foreign aid, there is nowhere else to cut, and we need to examine where we are cunning and what percentage of the budget we are cutting. some things we spend a lot of money on that could use the reduction. very things we spend little money on would get hurt. is painful for small groups, for institutions that do not have big budgets. we need to recognize that. host: pennsylvania. michael, independent caller. caller: how are you doing? g -- host: good.

caller: i do not know how to say this exactly, but it seems to me that when the red state republican conservatives from the south called -- i am a white man from pennsylvania, and i have the impression that they used to not like the idea of brown people immigrating to the united states, and their biggest concern is they cannot handle the fact a black man was elected and reelected as president of the united states. i was wondering what you thought about the racial overtones of all of the anti-obama everything that goes on constantly. thank you. guest: that is a hot one. i will pass on that one, unless you want to expand this to immigration reform, which is i think what you are talking about their.

i do not think it is racial, to be honest with you. i think it is more political. people that oppose immigration reform are deeply concerned that a lot of people wind up coming to this country will, inevitably, my a good majority, he come democrat -- become democrats and vote democratic, and then use the social safety nets that have contributed to our budget problems. there is a congressional budget office study that has looked at that and decided that that is not exactly true, it would be a deficit reducer, good for the economy, and it would help social security, but i do not think the opposition is racial. i think it is more political. host: sam stein of "huffington post." -- some of usgary are happy this is the least productive congress. less vegetation means less undulations, and maybe one day last spending. guest: gary, you speak for a lot of conservatives. host: another gary.

democrat. a democrat, iot am independent. the guy from pennsylvania said he was a white guy and it is not racial, or we know where he was going with that. host: he said he didn't see racial elements. caller: it is not racial. the pakistanis and all of them, it put them thousands of years -- it took them thousands of years to put themselves in situations that they are in. we have stuff like sports and movie stars with tons of money into that, and that we want to help them to. soldier millions of dollars for putting their life on the line rather than kobe bryant or spraining his ankle? i think it is not racial. i think it is funny that he

brought it up and i think it will be brought up again and been to death. host: what will be brought up? caller: the race issue. host: relating to migration? -- immigration question mark -- immigration? host: the president -- caller: everything. guest: i agree that kobe bryant is paid too much. host: there were comments from eric holder. there have been calls for president obama to speak about the george zimmerman verdict or his perspective on what it means to be a black man in america. what does "huffington post" report on this?

guest: it stems from the trayvon martin killing, and how there was racial profiling. what do we look at here? the court ruling, the way the police handled the situation in the aftermath question race -- aftermath? race gets into some of these issues. with respect to what obama can do about this, from my reporting, the white house does more at they can do this juncture. he gave a major race speech during the 2008 campaign, and he himself has moved a dialogue by just been elected and appointed the first black attorney general. if he were to give a speech, i'm

not sure what it would do for the dialogue. i have heard other people talk about it that are much better suited to discuss this than i am, talking about how this is an ongoing process, and the progress is incremental. we are not there yet. host: john, republican caller in orlando, florida. you are on with sam stein, politicaln post," editor, white house correspondent. john are you with us? caller: yes. i was going to talk about something else, but this gentleman brought up the issue of race. i am a black republican. the congressional black caucus has been nonexistent president obama has been president. believeds in my family we -- president obama would be transformational.

actually, he has been more of a race bader, feeding into this along with eric holder, then anyone in modern times. the first question i have for this gentleman. host: we only have one minute left. guest: we have stand your ground. here in florida he mentioned something about it being race- related, which is not the case. wet: than me just tell you will talk more about stand your ground tomorrow on "washington journal," with to get debating that issue. that might be a topic you're interested in error seek -- interested in. caller: can i ask one question? host: you have 10 seconds. caller: individuals like this -- host: we have to go. your response?

guest: what i meant is there are statistics that show if if you are a white veil that uses the law you are much more likely to be let off than if you are a black male. i have read that in several places. >> we just got out of this. were we have three major scandals. we are waiting to see what will happen on the budget. >> thank you so much. we go to the house floor. thing for all of america. the work they ha