moore and virginia congressman gerald connolly take a look at the effect of the deal on the shut down and raising the debt ceiling. >> we'll begin reopening our government immediately, and we can begin to lift this cloud of uncertainty and unease from our businesses and from the american people. host: with the house and senate passing a bill that funds government till mid-january, raises the debt ceiling until early february, fur load federal workers will head back to work starting today. for our next hour here at the "washington journal," your thoughts are welcomed on the end of the shutdown and what you think the white house democrats and republicans in the house and senate achieved over the last 2 1/2 weeks. here's how you can reach out to us this morning. on our republican line, it's 202-585-3881. for democrats, 202-585-3880.

and for independents, 202-585-3882. we've also set aside a special line for those of you who are federal workers and have been watching this particularly from your perspective, and here's how you can reach out to us on that line, 202-585-3883. if you want to reach out to us on social media, that's just fine. cspanwj is on twitter. our facebook page has about 127 comments so far this morning, facebook.com/cspan. you can always send us an email. hat email is journal @ c-span.org. link at the brink is how they cast it. if you go to the "boston globe," their headline is "crisis over" with an asterisk, and that stands for at least three months, reflecting the short-terminate of the bills that were signed.

and if you go to the orange county only -- orange county register out of california, "now the real work begins with the. there's a proposal to come up with a plan to nail out aspects of the budget by mid-december. joining to us take up that discussion who's been joining us several times over the last couple of weeks to talk about aspects of the shutdown, here's david hawkings of roll call, serves as their senior editor. mr. hawkings, welcome. guest: good morning, pedro. host: stay start off with the house and senate as they deal with the budget, can you cast what's expected over the next couple of months, specific well these talks? >> well, they begin, at least with a photo op this morning before leaders of the two budget committees, mr. ryan for the house republicans, senator murray for the senate democrats, senator sessions, and chris van holland are going to meet for breakfast, and the

cameras are going to be allowed in to take a picture of that. and that will signal the beginning. we think after that, mr. ryan and senator murray may actually have some serious discussions to see where they can go. now, i should note from the outset that the two democrats voted last night for the bill and the two republicans voted against it. so, you know, there you go. that should be as much of a signal as any that there has been no magic fairy dust poured down on congress in the last 24 hours to make them agree on any of the things that they have for so long disagreed about. of course, revenue is the number one word in the budget negotiations ahead. the republicans have foresworn any consideration of raising additional revenue as part of a budget deal, and the democrats in turn have really foresworn consideration of any.

restraints to mandatory programs that are the real drivers of the annual deficit, and therefore, the debt, medicare, medicaid, social security, they have foresworn much discussion that have unless the republicans put revenue on the table. host: also weave into the discussions about the sequester levels and how much those levels will become part of the ongoing discussions. i'm sure there are those who would still like to see. that guest: that's exactly right. you're walking perfectly into where i was going, which is that i think it will become relatively clear patriot early on that they're not going to get any sort of grand bargain in the trillions of dollars of budget savings. that's just not going to be possible, and the discussions will relatively quickly go to the sequester and whether to mend it or end it or turn it off altogether.

that really might be the best they can do by december 13, which is their state deadline for getting a budget resolution. almost all democrats and many republicans want to turn off the sequester. at a minimum, they want to allow flexibility. there is no flexibility under this deal. there is no additional flexibility for the agencies to spend money differently than the across the board dictates ver the next three months. probably it would take about $50 billion to make the -- to make the people who are anxious for the sequester happy. now, the good news is that in all these past budget negotiations, there's probably a roster of about $500 billion in other cuts that exist that

both sides are open to, so in theory, they could come up with that list they could all agree to settle on that list of $500 billion over 10 years in for easing s to pay the discretionary burden of spending. host: in your piece about this posted last night on roll call, you say that a line says it would also raised likelihood soon after lawmakers return for the midterm election year, they would defy the odds again by enacting a package of policy changes. talk a little bit about 2014 influences all this. guest: well, 2014 influence it is by, yeah, i think you read the line right before i said, yeah, but probably now that will never happen. 2014 influences us because, you know, the midterm primaries start early ads your listeners have heard many, many times again, many, many times.

most members of congress, if they face any re-election trouble at all, they face it from their own side. this is true especially for republicans who, if they face re-election trouble, it's from a challenge from their right, so that also argues against any magic formula in which the republicans would agree to raise taxes or the democrats would agree to cut deeply into entitlements. it's just not in their best interest or in their short-term political interest to do so, and right in the teeth of their re-election races. host: david hawkings who serves as senior he had for roll call, joining us. mr. hawkings, the most interesting thing you've seen over the last couple of weeks, what would that be? guest: i think the most interesting thing i've seen would be something -- i was told that i heard, which is that the republicans sang "amazing grace" tw mornings ago before the meeting at which -- house ne final

republicans took one final run to try to win something out of this. probably the most misguided choice of a hymn, of a song ever, ever in the history of congressional politics, right? because that it is a song about funerals, a song most often sung at funerals, a song most often sung by people who feel by they need to repent and people who feel that they have found something that has eluded them. in all three cases, probably t the best choice of house republicans. host: david hawkings with roll call, and you can find his work on the roll call website. mr. hawkings, thank you as always. again, for the next hour, your chance to weigh in on the end of the shutdown. again, the lines will be, for republicans, 202-585-3881. for democrats, 202-585-3880. for independents, 202-385-3882. and we've set aside a line for federal workers this morning,

202-585-3883. the social media web sites are available to you as well. here is greensburg, kentucky, republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. i think the government shut douvens a bad thing, but, you know, they should be just like the rest of us. i mean, there's a lot more than just the government that's unemployed. i don't think that we're all represented by our government anymore. i'm lay nag hospital right now waiting for heart surgery. i broke my back three times. i've been unemployed. miss nancy pelosi talks about the american dream. well, you know, the american dream is not for the middle class. the american dream is for the people who don't work at all and keep voting. that's nonsense. we're not being represented. the government needs to be washed away and start over. host: do you think this will change how you vote in future

elections? caller: no, because i vote for -- i'm a republican, but i vote for who i think is going to do the best job. that's the way we should be. i've been working trying to get disability after three bad breaks, a stroke, for three years, and the american government is going to let me lose everything i own before i get that disability. host: the world war ii memorial, which was a central feature, even starting on the first day of the shutdown in washington, d.c., now open as you can see there. part of the cameras that will be around washington, d.c., as we go across this morning, getting your thoughts on the shutdown. also, if you go to one of the metro stops here, one of the many metro stops here in washington, d.c., federal workers starting to go back to work, as you can see there. we'll show you those pictures as we go along this morning, get your thoughts on the end of the shutdown. melinda, pendleton, west virginia, democrats line. hi. caller: hello. host: you're on. go right ahead. caller: i've been watching this whole thing and, you know, yeah, i give some republicans

credit. but he was out for the poor. i'm a single mother raising two kids. now, when this government shut down, it affected all of us. host: how did it affect you specifically? caller: insurance-wise. i can't work. i've worked -- i'm 42 years old. and how many i going to ard for this obamacare? i can't work because i'm innocent good health, and a doctor would not release me to go back to work. how many i going afford this insurance? where am i going to live? with no money coming in, i can't get disability. i've tried for my son, because my son is disabled. he's been denied four times, but everybody else can get it. obama, i haven't heard obama say one thing about the poor. it's middle class and up. what about the poor?

what are my kids learning in school? america is supposed to be brave and free. we're held hostage, and that's what they're treating us, as hostages. we need a government. i'm taking care of an elderly woman too that has one leg, heart problems. how is she going to afford this insurance? host: caller, you said at the beginning you gave some republicans credit. which ones -- which ones and why? caller: i can't think of his name, but he kept on calling him mr. president. how is it single mother going to afford this insurance? what's it going to do for them? it's going to do nothing for us. how about the elderly? host: again, we've set aside a line for federal workers this morning. this is derek, washington, d.c., on our democrats line. derek, have you been going -- is this your first day back at work or have you been working all along? tell us a little bit about your story. caller: i've been working all along because i am an essential employee, but i have friends who have been laid off because

of the shutdown. the problem i have is that the president is trying to do something for the american people with the affordable care act. ted cruz and his family moved where they have a state one health system in canada. ted cruz was raised on that system, and he never once talked about how bad it was like as far as emergencies or any other medical problems they may have had. and then they come to the united states trying to destroy something we put together for the american people who need it, who are struggling and can't afford it. it's outrageous, and i think that anyone out there who thinks ted cruz is doing something for the american people need to think about he's never complained about how he was raised on the healthcare system in canada. it was free.

thank you. host: james is joining from us sill her lake, indiana, and he is on our independent line. hello. caller: hello, pedro. host: you're on, go ahead. caller: i would like to make a few comments, and please don't shut me off. caller: barack obama, if he act like a president, like he should have, he would not had trouble with the republican party. you got to act leak a leader to be a leader. and in his case, he did not do it. host: how could he have done so? caller: he could have reached out like a president should. i have never seen any president, democrat or republican, that refused so much to lead like a leader should, and he is failing in all of it. and i got another thing to say. rack obama is out to smear his opponent before an election

. this is the mid-term election. did he this in 2012. he did it in 2008. he smears his opponent by smear job, also attacking and backing up and refuse to admit what he does. and to me, he is a very poor resident for either party. host: e.j. dionne in his column in "the washington post" this morning, the headline, "moderates take note," talks a little bit about the president's leadership. e goes on to say --

host: the lines will be on your screen, social media as well. don't forget, we set aside a special line for you federal workers out there, 202-585-3883. 202-585-3883. here's elliot, who is joining us on our federal workers line. he's from midland, georgia, identifies himself as a democrat. elliot, good morning. caller: hey, good morning, pedro. what are you doing? host: what are you doing for the government? caller: i work security on installation. host: have you been working or fur lowered?

-- furloughed? caller: i've been working the whole time. my point is, as federal workers, we're going to be right back at this again in january and february, because we'll always be used as pawn in this game between democrats and republicans. even though we're going back to work today, january, february, we'll be right back at it again, and thanks for taking my call. host: elliot, eve if what we've seen over the last 2 1/2 weeks, you still think after that experience that you will see this again early next year? caller: we will. t's going to happen. as long as they can't sit down and agree on anything, we'll always be used as, like i said, as pauns in a chest game. host: you may have heard our guest at the top of the show talk about this budget conference, and, you know, in some cause, it will be republicans over concerns over taxes, and democrats' concerns over entitlements. do you think some type of con sins, resolve can come between

the two parties when it comes to those big issues? caller: what's iron sixty country is so divided, republicans and democrats, and i watch c-span every morning and listen to folks call in, complain about the president, and he is the president. people don't like to address him as that, but what we all have to look at as americans is that the chinese are looking at this, and they're the ones benefiting from how we're working in this country. they're just sitting back, educating their students and reaping all the benefits of all the foolishness that we have going on in this country. host: it was last night that harry reid we want to the floor and discussed the topic, the concept of manufactured crisis as far as he described it, also went on to thank members of his caucus for the work that the senate did on its bill. here's what today say. in want to express here

the right place on the senate floor that the support of my everyone knows my caucus has been lock strong together. we worked the president. we've been a real team. but within way we've been able to be a team is my team made the bigger team work. so i'm really grateful. no one will ever know the work that we do off the floor, behind the scenes. i depend on these three senators for virtually everything we're able to accomplish. host: off of twitter, carol says that they have simply "kicked the can down the road, nothing gained," let's move on to other news." jenny, up next from lancaster, ohio, republican line. hi. you're on. go ahead. caller: well, you know what i

think? why can't we all just sit down and see what everybody knows about the constitution and give most of those people, they're not businessmen, i think we should give them some lessons on how to run business and let's just start over and read the constitution, and we do have the executive branch, legislative branch and additional branch. we're supposed to have a balance, and we don't. scommoip how does that balance -- what have you seen that have balance? caller: it hasn't affected me whatsoever. none of this has affected me whatsoever. i'm on disability. i've been on disability since 1999, and i'll tell you something. i shape everything i get from this country. i get food stamps. i don't complain. i appreciate what i get. i do back for people what i can do. you have to give it away to keep it. i just think that everybody's

just so befuddled, they don't know what they're doing. host: you said specifically they could gain something by reading the constitution. what do you think they can gain from that? caller: well, let me tell you something. i have books on the constitution, ok? it used to be you were allowed to call up there and get one for free and they would mail it to you. you know what? you can't do that anymore. i called there a couple of weeks ago, and the lady told me we can't do that over the phone anymore. i said why not? she said you have to get on the computer and order it and pay for it, which i thought was really strange. host: what do you think people can get from reading it, specifically legislators? caller: it's the law. everything is based on the constitution. it's that simple. host: your house speaker is from ohio. what do you think of his performance over the last couple of weeks? caller: i liked him. host: what do you think of his performance? how do you think he handled the whole thing? caller: i think the man is probably under so much stress, he probably doesn't know what

he's doing. but yet, at the same time, he's doing the best he can do. they're all doing the best they can do. i'm not judging any of them. i'm thinking about becoming an independent, because, you know what? i'll tell you something. there's a little bit in republicans and a little bit in democrats. they used to be combined together, then they split apart. i don't know what the answer is. all i know is i'm not affected by it. host: but you're thinking about becoming an independent is because of what happened the last couple of weeks or other things leading up to that? >> i think the reason why it feels that way is because nobody's talking about the constitution. host: gotcha. made your thoughts known. in the u.s. senate, they passed the debt ceiling bill with votes of 81-18. all democrats voting aye, and 27 republicans also voting aye as well. in the house, 285-144 was the vote, and those are the votes that took place yesterday. the president signing the government back, those portions

that were furloughed or shut down, now back open. federal workers returning to work, and you may have heard, you've seen, we see shots of people coming to work. it's southwest here in washington, d.c. again, the government will reopen as it stands right now until mid-january. the debt ceiling till early february. and your thoughts are welcomed on not only last night's votes, but as we go forward, especially as talks about the budget take place on the phone lines, off twitter, off facebook as well. eugene, oregon, democrats line. david, good morning. caller: good morning, pedro. i want to say, i appreciate the last federal employee and his opinion. i think china is sitting there salivating over this indecisive kick the can down the road. but what's sad for me is that fiscally conservative -- as a fiscally conservative democrat, i've made many suggestions to my elected officials here in

oregon. i've even contacted patty murray when she was a part of the gang of six or whatever it was called. it's all falling on deaf ears. i've made some real pertinent, good, thoughtful suggestions. host: such as? caller: for someone like myself who's been on disability since 1994, social security disability was never set up to support people like myself, and to me, this has been a gift from the american people, and ever month it is a gift that the american people give the disabled to help them through with their bills and things like that, and yet i believe that, you know, for someone like who's who's been on the system for 15 or more years, you had enough cola increases.

after 15 years, you should be able to suspend those at least for the next five or 10 years until there's another -- when you can move it up some. and then taxing every dollar because the social security system was created before we had millionaire athletes and c.e.o.'s. insurance and so there's all this money that's being made that isn't going towards the social security department for making that solvent for the future. noip i'm hearing you correctly, you would support, as far as the revenue side, more taxation, even changes to entitlements that needed to be made as well. caller: i'm in the entitlement part, and i believe that it is overbloated.

i've seen people getting their social security disability because they're too heavy or because they're depressed, but yet i remember when i was -- someone through in the social security department, well, are you depressed? unfortunately, you know, yes, this whole thing is kind of depressing. and that literally blocked everything up for another year because they tried to say that that was why i was trying to get the disability when, in actuality, i suffer from dementia, early onset dementia due to a pharmaceutical. was a guinea pig for a pharmaceutical company, and the experiment went wrong, and it burnt -- it burnt a part on my brain. host: so david, you've expressed these thoughts to your legislators, not only in the local level, but the higher up, and nothing back as far as

a response. caller: i've even had -- peter defazio's office has literally just started hanging occupy me because they don't even want to hear suggestions of working with the other side, and that's, to me, the most frustrating, is that the democrats of senators america leave and widen, they don't even contact me back. they don't even talk about the suggestions that i come up with, and i've had literally pages and pages in my files cabinet of stuff that i brought out to them and put word for word exactly how they could change the law to make it more equal and more balanced and not so focus on the middle class supporting everything. host: that's david from eugene,

oregon. thomas thorne saying "all i can say is november 2014 we will never forget this." curt house says, status quo survives once again. off of twitter, ron says this morning, sequester is the law of the land, live with it. it's a start. if up to the reach out on us on social media, duke so. phone lines available to you as well. your thoughts on the government passing the debt bill, the government reopening. again, our first hour this morning, we'll be joined by two guests during our 8:00 hour n. our last hour, again, give you an opportunity to talk to us, give us your thoughts on what's happened over the last two weeks, 2 1/2 weeks, plus events from yesterday. topeka, kansas, independent line. brian, hi there. caller: hi, pedro. it's ashley, sorry. host: oh, apologies. go ahead. caller: no, it's ok. listen, as -- first of all, both sides have acted like

spoiled rotten, rich school kids. and second of all, as an employee in the healthcare establishment, i can already see the writing on the wall, and i don't really care what anyone in official washington says. the writing on the wall is there. it is a miserable failure, and hey don't understand that. host: what do you think is the cause of your perception of the exchange? what do you think the problem is? caller: well, pedro, i read in throughout, ites i read where the g.a.o., the g.a.o., before obamacare was rolled out, i read where the

these people who support it that said the technological -- the technology is not there to support such a ig exchange. and guess what, with all due respect, this white house failed miserably, and they shrug their shoulders at that report. host: what do you think about republican efforts to fund aspects of the president's healthcare law or at least elay portions of it? caller: well, republicans had a point that was well made by republicans in which some aspects of the law were delayed, while others -- see, in other words, from what i

understand, the business side was able to skirt the law for another year. meanwhile, taxpayers who are hardly anywhere near $100,000 a year in salaries, they're the ones who are going to have to pay the brunt in all of this, and do we get any waivers? no. why? because, number one, we don't ave any connections to the "big players." host: and that's ryan from topeka, kansas. there's a story in "usa today" talking about the healthcare exchanges. it includes a source from millward down bridge tail, about 9.4 million people visited healthcare.gov in the first week of operation. for those who made it to the enrollment page, 36,000. again, one of the factoids from the "usa today" story, which you can find online. john from waldorf, maryland, not too far from washington,

d.c., republican line, hi. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. yeah, i think i'm a federal worker. i have not been affected by a furlough because i'm active duty, but i've been watching this and listening to c-span regularly. i think the real point of all of this for me was that our leadership is ignoring the mathematics of this situation, and this idea of calling a debt ceiling raising, you know, all of the nomanclature out there, but what it really comes down to, when president obama took office, the average debt, our national debt per person in the united states was approximately $26,000. that means every man, woman and child in the united states would have to pay $26,000 for to us break even. now it is $49,000. anybody can do the math. take the national deficit and

divide it by the number of people in the united states, and there you have it. so really, this president in two terms has literally doubled the nation's debt, spent more than all the previous presidents combined, and, you know, the public needs to understand that someday that debt is going to be called in. you can't hand your child a credit card and have them continue to spend on it, keep raising their credit limit ithout some consequence. our leaders in washington, when they talk about lifting the sequester, it's the height of irresponsibility, and what it really means is our children and their children and, you know, their children on down the road are going to have to shoulder that load. if this country survives it. host: the orange county register story on its front page has a listing of things that were part of the final deal, and they just tick them off as in and out.

egory, the government will open. and the removal and delay of the start of taxes on medical device both out of the bill. but in the bill is the affordable care act income verification in which the department of health and human services must certify it can verify income eligibility of people applying for government subsidies. when it comes to budgeting, it will set up a negotiating committee, which we've talked about. federal workers will receive ck pay, furloughed federal workers. but the out of the bill portion that would eliminate health insurance for some government employees, so that's a take on what's in and out of the final bill. when it came to the senate floor, you heard from majority leader. mitch mcconnell also went to the floor to talk about the end result of the senate negotiation and talked about the american public that's been focused on the affordable care act. here's what today say.

>> throughout this debate, the debate was focused on obamacare, for good reason -- this law is ravaging our economy, killing jobs, driving up premiums, and driving people off the healthcare plans they have and like. in droves. it's a disastrous rollout, and it's a sign of even worse things to come. and the refusal to delay it reflects a kind of stubborn obsession that will do untold damage to our country, and republicans remain determined to repeal this terrible law. but for today, for today, the relief we hope for is to reopen the government, avoid default, and protect the historic cuts we achieved under the budget control act. this is far less than many of us had hoped for, frankly, but it's far better than what some had sought. host: that's from yesterday. a shot on your screen of the

u.s. small business administration. you may have heard how small business loans were factored into what was going o. you see some activity there. it's early still, but you'll see more activity as federal work goers back to work, those who were furloughed, and we'll be showing you some of those scenes as we go throughout the morning. quiche i can't is one of those federal workers in canton, maryland. ere you furloughed or not? caller: no, i was not furloughed. and a pleasant good morning to you. i was not furloughed, but i am an essential employee who works at t.s.a. at the b.w.i. location. i called in this morning to let you guys know that, regardless of our status, we had to work, but we are style a furloughed status because we didn't get paid until the government opened. we still remained professional drk our jobs. came in every day regardless of finances or whatever

experiences we had at home. because i discussed this with my co-workers. we laughed about it. we made jokes to keep our minds sane just to come to work, we had to talk about it and just have fun about it. but what i'm getting at, with the obamacare, at least democrats had -- at least they made an effort -- president obama made an effort to provide provide medical care for everyone. but republicans are complaining about the program and, you know, but they're not coming up with anything. what plan do they have to help with us medical care? i know there's always going contradictions, but what are you thinking to the table to say, ok, this is a better plan or you can provide healthcare for all americans? they're not saying that, so i'm saying, at least he tried, and let's try to see if it works. if it doesn't work, we can tweak it. but at least we have medical

care for everyone. that's all i want to say this morning. i thank you for having me. host: before you go, talk a little bit -- you told about how you were telling jokes with your fellow co-workers. talk about the morale over the last couple of weeks though. caller: oh, we had to build our own morale. we're such a great team, and we know that we're here to serve the public, and we love the american people. i mean, i just wanted them to be calm in the midst of all of this turmoil, so we try to do our best, making them feel comfortable, making them feel like we're there for them in every way, so we still made fun with what we were doing in the midst of everything just to build on our morale, build our camaraderie between each other. host: i mean did, it play into the politics, especially if there was partisan politics, people were republicans or democrats? did that come into factors as far as how you go with this thing? caller: the funniest thing is, when everyone is in the same basket, nobody knows -- nobody thinks about who's republicans or democrat. we're all furloughed. we were all working without

pay, so we were all one. so even though you were republican or democrat, we were all just discussing how we were being affected, regardless. parties. host: that's keisha from maryland, giving her perspective. again, we set aside a line for federal workers, 202-585-3883 is that line f. you're republican, 202-585-3881. democrats, 202-585-3880. and independents, 202-585-3882. here's gregory, brownsville, pennsylvania, democrats line. hi. caller: thanks for c-span. i'd like to say i'm a democrat, but i'm an american first, and then democrat. and i believe the senior politicians up there got their heads together because of the tea party situation and they found out it's better for them to get along together rather than having people do their things. i am disabled, and i'm willing to give up $25 each check to

help, 1% would give a little bit, and everybody start doing a little bit to help each other and get the middle class back. but i think the older politicians this time figured out what they had to do, and they had this to happen to wake us up. it's time for people to vote for america and then the democrats, republicans, or independents. that's how i feel, and i wanted to be able to say that. host: you may have heard about those infamous barricades at the world war ii memorial thaw probably have seen in pictures, especially on the very first day of the shutdown. there's workers there loading them up on to trucks to be carted away. our c-span cameras not only at the world war ii memorial, but also some shots downtown as far as federal workers, places

where federal workers would come. here's a shot of the national -- here's a shot of nasa, and again, a square here in d.c. again, some of those shots as people filter in, the government back open, those furloughed coming back to work. again, we'll show you that. james from south carolina, independent line, hi. caller: good morning, pedro. it's good to talk to you. i've listened to different people talking this morning, and it shows a tremendous division that we have in this country, and i would like to come at it from a different view and possibly see if you would think how many people would like to see -- you go back to states' rights and possibly even some people may even want to secede from the united states and open a different point of view and each state could have laws that people would deprave at a time

to. and they would go to is that that state instead of us being divided. they could live happy in the state they wanted. they had the law that would be most in favor of what their political view would be. host: why do you think there's a value in that? caller: i think there's a value in that because they're allowed liberty. it allows people to have freedom to have choices. and today, there's not -- you're either democrat or republican or you're at the mercy of the federal government. if you had political choices, which we don't have today m. years ago, people gravitated west. you could go to -- i mean, there were places. today it would be difficult unless you want to go to canada, gravitate to another company, i would like to see at least c-span ask the question. how many people, if the country was divided, going back to states' rights, and the

state-run federal government having more of a say than the state had, i would like to see people's opinions on that. i know that would be a good question to ask, but there may be people out there that are very concerned and see that this country right now is going otally in the wrong direction. host: in south carolina that she their way of thinking as well? caller: i'm not sure how many people feel that way. i don't think it's just south carolina. i think there's very few people that may kneel way. but there may be enough to want to gravitate to one state, and if that state were put out there, even though i've been here for five generation, i would have to give it some consideration depending on what state laws they had. they could enact different laws that might be whole subject to

a person who has the political feeling that they would to want live in that state. i know that's very controversial, but at least it is a different view for people arguing back and forth about democrat and republican, democrat and republican. why not give a different point of view and let other people make some of their own decisions about liberty and justice? host: james, with that out there, we'll let viewers respond to you if they wish, now that you put your thoughts out there. that was james. here's john from milwaukee, wisconsin, republican line, federal worker. hello, john. caller: hello. host: hi. you're on. have you been furloughed or not? caller: not really. i have a question in regards to, would you like to -- host: we'll move on to sharon. georgia, democrats line. caller: pedro? how are you, dear? host: well, thank you. caller: thank you for c-span.

just a couple of comments i wanted to make. let's play it again, sam. i would like to see a r an affirmative action where they can appreciate the fact that they did put out obamacare, because eighth lot of people that have to live with that insurance because they can't afford it. and it's a shame. the real reason is because of fat cats and the insurance companies to keep the b.m.w.'s nd three-story mansions. let them cut out the pastries and put chris van holland in as speaker of the house. how does that sound? host: why do you think that would be a good move? caller: because he is level-headed. he's highly intelligent. and he does reach across the aisle and try to get things going. host: do you think that we'll see this again? we've had a couple of people say that we could see this again come early next year when

those deadlines get, not only with the government opening or closing, potentially closing, and the debt limit as well, duppinge we'll see this kind of action again? caller: oh, yes, i do, unfortunately, because of the tight grip the young guns have in the republican party, unfortunately. but i agree about one thing. we can't keep living on a credit card. we can't keep living on the credit card. and the sooner we get this debt a d, the sooner that we have little more leverage and getting away from china. host: if you have to advise your legislator or the body at large, how would you make those changes? what would you like see happen specifically in order to get ebt down and paid off? caller: bring manufacturers back to the united states, for starters, and all of us are going to have to give. that's all there is to it.

i can understand how people feel, we're not rich people. we're insurance poor. believe me when i tell you that. but the premiums and everything that they charge, people don't make the money anymore like they used to be to be able to pay for it. there's got to be a happy medium somewhere. they're going to have to come down with an agreement the american people can live with it, so people under the middle class, which let's face, it the middle class is a joke anymore, and so everybody can be covered. but i think it was a bold step. i did not say it was right. i did not say it was perfect. but at least it is a bold step to help everybody. and they can fix it along the way. if there's something wrong, you know, or whatever, they can fix it. host: if you're joining us for us for the remainder of our time, 15 minutes, we're talking

about the government reopening, talking about the longer term issues of discussions about the budget that are to take place, even starting this morning, as our guest, david hawkings, suggested at the top of this program. this is a chance to give your thoughts on it. 202-585-3818 for republicans. 02-558-3880 for democrats. 202-558-3882 for independents. for federal workers who want to give your thoughts, 02-585-3883. sheer scotty. scotty is from west virginia on our independent line, a retired federal worker. caller: how you doing, sir? host: fine, thank you. good morning. caller: first of all, i'd like to say that all this last 15 days is just a dog and pony show. now, i really think that because i think both parties is really out of touch with the

united states. they're setting laws up for them to fail, both sides. they're not looking at the real issues of the united states. may i say, number one issue, everybody you hear all across hear everybody what your callers have just called in is on disability, social security, and -- or something like that, government assistance. now used to, back in the 1960's nd 1970's, they did have programs. they was called the a.d.c. program, that they had to go out and work for this welfare money. and in order for them to get disability, they really had to be disabled. now, there's a lot of people out of here that's getting disability that don't diverse it.

you know, it's got to the point where a lot of people in this country think it's a right to get money from the government and not have to do nothing for it. host: what do you think is the best way forward now, considering what we've been through the last two weeks or so? caller: well, i think the congress and the senators need to set up committees and talk to the states, each state have a committee and go to them, and 'll give you an example, ok? we got a problem with prescription drugs across the united states now, like take oxycontin, for instance. i just grabbed that drug out of the blue. i think it's a class one or two drug. i'm for norm cyst. i really don't know. but i know we've had a lot of this and stuff contribute to it, and everybody's, they're wanting to ban it and everything, and now since they

went and scared all the pharmacies across the united states, this used to be, if i was vacationing in california and got sick, went to a doctor, i could get a prescription, but now i can't. they need to take -- how simple would it be on something like that to put an age limit on it? nobody should be getting that type of drug unless they was really hurt. now, if an put an age limit on a 40-year-old, you wouldn't have all these 18, 19-year-old young kids o.d.'ing on it. i mean, to me, that makes common sense. host: ok. that's scott from west virginia. here is darla from smithfield, texas, republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. host: you're on, ma'am. go ahead. caller: ok. you know, i had a call per the obama healthcare stuff, i had gotten two things through the

mail. i had called both companies, and they told me i was not eligible because i did not make 15,000 a year. they told me if i did, my payment would be $4 aun a month. i make $8,000 a year. i got health problems. i cannot get help because i make too much money or i don't make enough money. and i don't understand what people like the elders with the social security, what are we upposed to do? i'd just like to know what people like me and in my situation, what are we supposed to do? i can't go to the doctor because they want so much money. i just don't know. host: we ask people to comment about a lot of things, and now that the government is back open, what are your thoughts, especially things you've seen

over the last 2 1/2 weeks? caller: well, i just think it's sad. i really think it's sad, because it's always about the rich, the rich. the middle class, i don't consider myself poor. i don't make enough money because of my health. i just think whoever makes $15,000, they probably got health insurance and everything else through their work. to me, i think they need to look at people and don't matter . help these people. host: that's darla. mayor cory booker of newark easily won new jersey's special senate election wednesday, finally rising to an office that measures up to his national profile. the "new york times" going on to say --

host: debbie from philadelphia, pennsylvania, independent line, federal worker. hi. caller: hi, good morning. i'm calling because i'm responding to the gentleman that called to say do the math. and it's interesting. i want to know if they did the math or lose 800,000 jobs a month. and the expenses that are put out on these two wars. and, you know, we had to bring up the rear when we talk about credit cards. the piece about affordable healthcare act, if you've never had health insurance, then you're going to have a sticker shock because you're now going to understand why insurance is

so high for people. now, the affordable healthcare act is not going to mean it's going to be cheap. it means it's going to be cheaper. and that's the difference. but hopefully it will still mean that you will be able to have the coverage that you are able to, are able to have when you were restricted because you had a preexisting condition. host: so, debbie, you identify yourself as a federal worker. were you furloughed? caller: yes, and i work for social security, and i hear people talk about people that receive social security disability. but it's not like they just walk up to the window and sign up. it's not easy to receive, and who are we to say who can get social security disability and who cannot? host: just to clarify, were you furloughed for the last 2 1/2 weeks? caller: yes, yes, yes. host: how did you manage that? caller: well, you just put on

your big pants and figure it out. that's exactly what people do every day, whether they're furloughed or not. it's not like we're making all these big dollars. and we want to talk about the welfare system, well, i think that's what's going on down there on pennsylvania avenue. are being paid doing nothing down there in that capitol building. host: do you think you're going to find yourself in a similar position come mid-january? caller: well, i just can't see something being solved in eight weeks that we haven't able to solve in years. host: and that's debbie from philadelphia, pennsylvania, identifying herself as a federal worker, as we've set aside a line for federal workers. up next, joining us, eve from alpena, michigan. independent line, hi. caller: hey, good morning. i just wanted to make a comment

that this deal does absolutely nothing to solve the problem. all it does is delay the problem and does absolutely nothing to solve our deficit. i think it's sad that people actually think this is a win by some people when it actually -- it just delays the inevitable. and this president has shown he's not going to negotiate on the things he believes in. he will not negotiate. it's fun ty me that a group of senators and congressmen are labeled extremists and are labeled terrorists for standing up for our constitution. they govern our country and made it great, a group of senators has been called extremist and terrorist for standing up for our constitution. host: what do you think would have made it a win? caller: i think if obama would have least given something to

this debacle that is obamacare, and i think it's shown today that it's not working, then he will not budge on his core beliefs. it's his progressive, anti-constitutional belief. host: steve from michigan, we're going to take one more call. this is julia, maryland, independent line, and a federal worker. julia, good morning. julia, are you there? caller: i'm sorry. i still had you on mute. how are you doing this morning? host: fine, fine. have you been furloughed? caller: yes, i am a federal employee, as is my husband. i was furloughed. my husband was not. i do work for the n.i.h., and i can say that this was a travesty to all these employees who are out there trying to serve the general public n. response to the gentleman who

was just talking, i think as an independent and look agent those sides, i understand that the select republicans who were very adamant on making sure that obama care wasn't going to continue, it's just obama was, i feel, obama wasn't negotiating. they were holding a budget hostage. 800,000 citizens and everybody else who was affected, work fog the n.i.h., we are really going to see the heat of it. i'm driving to work right now, god knows what's going to happen. but i just don't think this was the avenue or the right way, but one of your callers earlier was talking about the overall, i think, atmosphere for some of the furloughed and nonfurloughed employees, and agree. and at the end of the day, we're all just employees and citizens. this doesn't matter, and i think we look at it as, you know what, you're going to be paying us, could have got an lot out of this. again, this just wasn't the place to do that.

host: what type of work do you do for n.i.h.? caller: i deal with policy and budget. host: and so -- caller: activities, so i fund universities and hospitals to do research. host: what type of research specifically? caller: it's caller: it is multifaceted -- eight, malaria, infectious disease. ast: did the research come to stop or did some aspects keep going? fortunately, we were allowed to have a few essential employees, but we do fund clinical trials all over the world, but i could not check my e-mail or do anything, and i do not know what i'm getting into. of course the research is being affected. so, it is just really sad. it makes me really, really sad,

and it is what we are coming to they year, every end of fiscal year, and it is time something has to change. host: will you prepared january -- would you say more, prepare more? caller: i do not know what my agency would change. as one of the larger agencies, we did our due diligence to making sure that the grants were done in a timely manner, and with the end of the fiscal year being september 30, we have the majority of our work done in the middle of august. we had to prepare for things like this. host: will you personally prepare differently as the end of the year and early next year comes? caller: we have a lot of clinical trials we are funding.

we are making sure we are wrapping everything up, making sure we give the grantee community everything possible. we pretty much left them in the dark. host: that is julia in bethesda, maryland, giving her thoughts, as many have in the first hour. we will take this up in the last hour. coming up, we'll be joined by stephen moore of "wall street journal." later on, gerald connolly from virginia will join us to talk about what is next in the house. that, as "washington journal" continues after this. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] ♪ >> when you are in a debate with --ebody who is a believer

believes in god, or believes jesus is the son of god, can you respect somebody who believes that -- do you believe they are stupid? >> i always respect the individual people, and people that are christians but have science, i canof respect their beliefs. i cannot respect the beliefs of creationist. withe i treat them politeness. a british journalist said i respect you as a person too much to respect your ridiculous believe. quinn talks to richard dawkins on "american history tv

on " "afterwords," part of booktv on c-span2. >> niagara is a reconstruction of a ship built here in the winter of 1813 for the battle of lake erie. it was built to contest control with the british and to wrest control of the lake with the rest of the squadron of ships that was built here. it includes timbers from the original. they are not structural or load- bearing. they are a symbolic presence. what is original about the ship is the way it sales. the work the crew has to do is very much what this team and had to do in 1813. en had to do inm

1813. teach in, and appreciation of the war of 1812, and the maritime history of the great lakes, but really most of the learning that is on board is about the functioning of the team. that is of real value now a place where we could continue certain traditions and certain attitudes and abilities that have been with us for centuries. we perpetuate that and keep it going. -- commodorenor oliver perry would lead them to victory. we look at the history of erie, pennsylvania on c-span2. "washington journal" continues.

is stephenng us now moore from "wall street journal -- what are the lessons learned from your perspective? guest: one of the lessons formrepublicans is you cannot win this kind of fight against the president when you are not unified. our editorial page said there is no one in america that wants to get rid of obamacare more than we do, but this was not a smart strategy because this president was very unlikely to ever agree to defunding his signature achievement. view, and it was validated with what happened yesterday, was that this was a story that would not have a happy ending. in general, i would agree with a lot of your callers that say there is no real winners. you could play the political game and say the president won

because he forced republicans to back down, but we extended expansion of our debt and we did nothing about it. as an economist, that is something i am very worried about. host: now that we have this health senate conference about to take place, do you find any comfort -- [laughter] guest: do you know how many of these commissions i have seen in the last 20 years question mark i think it is laughable that they created -- 20 years? i think it is laughable that they created another committee. they have only extended the budget for six weeks, so it is possible we could be sitting here talking about the same thing. i do not think republicans have shutdownch for a big

fight, but we could see a fight over the debt ceiling in january or early-february. host: holding on, not raising until concessions are made? guest: who knows? the one thing that has been forgotten is republicans have been playing with a week and, that they have one thing democrats are desperate to get rid of, the sequester and the budget caps. democrats who want to spend more money are very eager to get rid of that, or at least suspend that. you could possibly see some kind of negotiation where, for example, president obama might say look, we have known from the debacle of the exchanges of the last 10 days, it is not ready to go, not ready for prime time. went.3% of the people that on the website got thrilled. on possibly a one-year delay

penalties in exchange for a one- year delay on the budget caps. that is one idea. the other thing is whether they will go to the other entitlement. host: taxes will be a sticking point? guest: taxes will not go up there publicans -- go up. republicans will not let taxes go up because they will make the case president obama had his tax increase. host: the numbers are on your screen. joseph. albany, new york, republican line. go ahead.

i was thinking sometimes cash my paycheck, i spent leave.ollars before i dollarsould take three a year, times 250 million people, it is a lot of money. everybody,e it from welfare, social security, paychecks, and like a bandit, i would take it and pull it once -- band-aid, i would take it and pull it once. host: you would say you could find sources anyway to get money from? 1992 90 million cars went to between the exits on the throw, andtate free-

it cost $.20. if you charge another five cents, added up, 90 million cars. host: can you add anything more to that? guest: i am not in favor of niggling and dining -- nickel and dime every american, but if you take one penny out of spending you would go a long way to dramatically reducing this budget deficit. we could get the number down, and it is progress. if we can get the american people to work, that would do a lot. when you are asking about raising taxes, we do not really need to raise taxes, to get people working so that they are paying taxes. host: let's go to clint.

he is from texas on our democrats line. caller: i wanted to make a few comments. i noticed during this fiasco i used to be a republican. i changed it. i am going to democrats after seeing what they did in the house. one, they change the rules in the house, and i believe, put it to where the speaker of the house was the only one that could ring a hill -- bring a bill to the floor. that is close to being a dictatorship to meet. what really bothered me was the president told people up front i will not negotiate on the health care bill. now, grant you, there are some problems with it as far as people trying to enroll in it, however, the hits they had show

people do want to get into the program. grant you, they should have a better set up, more servers and but i dothere system, them, it wasome of ill-planned in the first place. host: thank you, caller. guest: a couple of things -- it was interesting. i remember when democrats ran the house and republicans complained about the same thing, if they could not get anything to the house floor when t-bone oh and nancy pelosi -- tip o'neill and nancy pelosi were the speakers. anysenate is different -- senator can bring up a bill at any time, although harry reid prevented that from happening. i think republicans should not have gotten this into this crisis in the first place, and president was irresponsible in

not negotiating in bringing us to the brink of this financial fiasco. fortunately, we have gotten out of this, but like i said, i am not sure we resolved any the issues. we still have obamacare, which is not just all of the problems with the exchanges and how it will increase our deficit, but as an economist, i worry about what this will do for employment. i talk to employers all over the country, traveling a lot, and they tell me they are not going to hire more than 50 workers. some have 65 workers and they say they will cut back. i also talked to a lot of employers in the fast food restaurants, and the fast food industry is the biggest employer in america, and they say they are cutting back their hours to 28 hours a week. for people that are lower income, need a full-time job, that is a real hardship. host: you are a member of the editorial board.

your editorial deals with ted cruz. what is it about question -- about? guest: i know ted cruz. i like him. he has made a big difference in his first six months here, but i have also told him that i thought his strategy was flawed. when you did not have the senate republicans behind you, it would lead to a division in the republican party. i thought his goal was admirable . i am not sure the tactical way was very smart. host: "the washington post" picks up on ted cruz in its editorial. here is what they write guest: well, you know, that is the way the political system works. when i started the club for

growth, the idea was to create more competitive binaries, and try to get a change in the and, byeam in congress, the way, i think 90% of americans would agree that we need to totally change the composition of congress -- democrat and republican. his guys did not serve the american people. they are serving special interests. one thing i have been passionate for in the last 20 years, and what has happened in the last couple weeks is a monument to this -- term limits. they should serve six years in the senate and begun. let a more diverse -- be gone. let a more diverse group in. host: is the tea party a help or a hindrance to speaker boehner? guest: right now, i would say a huge hindrance. i think the leadership of the tea party has made some tactical mistakes and they have given the tea party a black guy. you meet the people, -- black

eye. you meet the people, and they come from all walks of life. they just care about the future of our country. people say me when they are jihadist, terrible people with bombs strapped to their backs. whatight as agree with they want to do, but they want to balance the budget, given of the health-care law, and a prosperous economy. host: do you think they will be as much of an influence going forward? guest: it is a good question. you know, i am not sure about that. a lot of republicans saying wait a minute, you are the ones that led us down this path that did not work so well, so their influence in the short term has been diminished. t from philadelphia, pennsylvania, independent line, and also identifies as a federal worker. caller: hello question mark

host: -- hello? host: go ahead. caller: i think it is saysesting that mr. moore our president is are working for special interest. i think that is obvious. i would like to also get some more thoughts on trying to get more revenue from companies like ge that make $5 billion and pay nothing in 2010, and i understand 40% of corporations pay nothing. what are his thoughts on that question mark -- on that? guest: thank you. i have been working for tax reform in this country. everyone, even president obama believes our corporate tax system is a complete mess. i am called a head start program for every other country that competes against the united states because we have the all otherx rates of

industrialized countries. that is not good for american business and american jobs. some companies pay nothing. .hat is completely unjust i would favor a much lower rate system that gets rid of all of the loopholes -- all of the loopholes, credit and deductions, and i would do the same thing on the individual side. we can get the tax rate down to 17%, 18%, if we got rid of special interest loopholes to housing, charities, and the wind industry, and on and on. -- : maverick on twitter guest: i like him already. host: please historically contrast the shutdown with prior shutdowns. guest: it was interesting. in 1996, i was working for the republicans in the house, and what was different than was bill clinton was negotiating. the republicans negotiated with bill clinton.

bill clinton got most of what you want, but republicans got some concessions and we moved on. what was different about this one is the president said i am not negotiating in the sandbox child,ed like a spoiled and he always thought he had the political upper hand, which he did in the end given the republicans caved in, but i am not so sure that the president is a big winner here. i think a lot of people see discussed with republicans, and also with the way the president behaved, and not coming up with some sort of negotiated settlement that would have made another $1s we write trillion of higher debt allowances that we will do something to get the budget under control. his is one of the first times we raise the debt ceiling with no conditions attached. factored much is that with the rollout of the health- care system?

guest: i am not sure of the question. host: how much of his success will be judged on the health- care law? stakedhe has certainly his presidency on it, but i was always of the paint -- of the opinion if obamacare is going to fail, let it proceed. see howmaking people they like it. in a year or two, if they like it, it will be the law of the land. thise late-1980's we had medicare expansion, and seniors hated it. it was one of the first times in american history a new entitlement program was repealed. i think there is a good probability that as this moves on, people see how many jobs are being destroyed, how the cost increase. 90% of americans already have

health insurance. their big worry is i will get something worse. host: roy in new castle, pennsylvania, democrats line. yes, everybody you listen to, they tell you that 40% on every dollar spent by the government is our road -- borrowed. what that tells me is that every government check coming through is 40% is being borrowed. the president makes over $400,000. hundred $60,000 of his pay could come from china -- $160,000 of his pay could come from china. every state representative that gets over $174,000, over $60,000 china.r pay comes from i've been working since i was 15. i have been paying into social security. i am finally going to get there.

i'm going to apply for it at the over $600s year, and of my money will be borrowed from china, and they cannot even take 3% on the sequester? they have to cut that back at least 40%. host: thank you, caller. guest: sounds more like a republican and a democrat. one of the interesting things that has happened is we had this sequester cut, a 5% cut, and it actually worked well. there were some hardships. the american people know that $.20, 30 cents, $.40 of every dollar spent in this town is wasted. when we do a 5% cut, and maybe a 2% or 3% cut next year, it is not a bad way to cut spending. when you talk to private business and private households,

people cut back their expenditures. businesses retooled. they sweated out the waste. that is what government needs to do. i agree with this gentleman that there is more room for that. the military has taken a big art of the cut. there is a a lot of waste in the military. over will the discussions the budget coming up deal with replacing the sequester? guest: i am not in favor of that. the democrats, a lot of these programs they really care about -- education programs, national public radio -- they are all getting hit by the sequester. this is the potential negotiation -- maybe suspending the sequester for a year to get real entitlement reforms. whether that happens or not, one thing you have to realize --

this is like the hatfields and the mccoys in washington. the republicans and the democrats, they hate each other right now. this is one of the unfortunate fallouts. this president then said he would unify everyone and bring everyone together, i do not know about you, you have been here a long time, i have never seen it so divided. presence of the next thing on the agenda is immigration reform. the nextesident said thing on the agenda is immigration reform. ofst: i am strongly in favor immigration reform. immigrants are a great asset to this country, and i would like to see this get done. a lot of people are here illegally, and i would like them it -- andreen card, work if they are contributing to our society. young, hard-new, working workers in this country.

the great thing about america is they want to come here and contribute. host: the vitriol from the last two and a half weeks, could that affect what goes forward as far as agendas? guest: we will see. it is a poisonous atmosphere. right across the street from where we are sitting, it is pretty toxic and it will be interesting to see how long that lasts. host: sean. west virginia. independent line. caller: how are you doing? host: fine. caller: last night, 80 senators voted no. ted cruz was waving his flag. the country was about to go off of the cliff. what kind of american would lead his country literally go off the cliff and face the trouble that we were facing? now i have a question for you guys. i am a coal miner. i am a coal miner, and about two

years ago, three years ago, my wife heard herself and anti-get disability -- and had to get disability. i had to leave work. now, i take care of my wife. her socialelp but security disability. i take care of my sister's two kids. she is deceased. i get no help except for a little bit of food stamps. i have never had to go on any kind of assistance in my life. i have worked since i was 17 years old. these republicans need to get their head out of their ass and straighten this country out. host: this gentleman is a coal miner, and i am not so sure -- guest: this gentleman is a coal miner, and i am not so sure he wants to support democrats. they want to get rid of the industry because they hate toxic fuels.

when thing the gentleman said -- i think he said there were 80 people that voted against this. i think the vote was 80-20. maze.1 days -- guest: this was a huge margin. if you're concerned about our national debt, it isn't it -- is it an honorable thing to keep voting to raise this debt ceiling? that was the question being raised yesterday. no.e 18 people voted they basically took the principled position that we have to start now, not tomorrow, to do something about this debt. is from arlington virginia and on our republican line -- arlington, virginia, and on our republican line. my notes out.

i used to be a journalist. my points are the things that have not been discussed. ofst of all one-third workers are freelance. geteconomy is not going to at. everybody is blaming the republicans, blame technology. everybody loves the free access. us the jobs. it is costing us the businesses that we know that used to be rick businesses -- brick businesses. ecological companies are the ones responsible for a lot of tax dollars -- technology companies are the ones responsible for a lot of tax dollars going out of the country. a lot of money is being thrown at startups in the tech industry. we are learning what we thought was a free ride was actually an expensive one. we have been paying with our privacy. a lot of these companies, home states in california like

but nevada is a state that does not cooperate with the irs. i have done research, which has have done research which shows me how many thousands of companies are in harry reid's state. host: what is the question for our guest? isn't "the wall street journal lowe's quote addressing this -- "the wall street journal" addressing this? guest: this is a good subject to end on. i think that -- i am actually somewhat bullish about the u.s. economy. the economy has been pretty lousy for five years. incomes are lower today than before the recession. we are still 3 million, 4 million jobs before where we

were in 2007. it has been a paltry recovery. there are some things to be optimistic about. the energy industry -- the biggest oil and gas boom in this country is going on right now. theunited states is now number one energy producing country in the world. and those are high-paying jobs, $75,000, or $80,000 a year. number three, american corporations and companies, small and large, they have become lean, mean, fighting machines. if you want to look at the best- run companies in the world, they are here in the united states. that used to not be the case. there is some reason for optimism. we have to keep our fingers crossed. the number one issue is jobs. let's get america back to work. now that we have this crisis

behind us, hopefully we can get back to creating the kinds of good jobs americans want. host: stephen moore, thanks so much. guest: thanks for c-span. host: we continue our conversation with gerry connolly . we will take up that conversation after this update from c-span radio. 8:32 a.m. eastern time. in passing yesterday passed legislation, members of congress denied themselves a pay raise -- in passing yesterday's legislation, members of congress denied themselves a pay raise. members of congress make $174,000 a year and are supposed to get an annual a raise under a 1989 law. meanwhile, senators, after passing the debt and spending

measure, endorsed, by unanimous consent, caroline kennedy to be the u.s. ambassador to japan. at her confirmation hearing last month, she promised to carry forward her father's legacy. she was five days shy of her sixth birthday when her father was assassinated on november 22, 1963. where an al warship qaeda suspect was interrogated after being taken from libya by u.s. special forces has come to the rescue of 120 somali migrants. a statement today from the maltese army says it asked the uss san antonio to intervene because it was close to the migrants' dinghy. they were having trouble in rough seas and high winds. al-liby was captured during a military raid in libya on october 5 and question for a week aboard the san antonio before being transferred to the u.s. last weekend. he is due to stand trial on

terror charges in new york city. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> it is a reconstruction of the ship that was built here in 1812-1813 for the battle of late yuri -- of lake erie. it was built to wrest control of the lake with the rest of the squadron. it incorporates timbers from the original. they are not structural or loadbearing. they are embedded in the frame between the pieces here they are a symbolic presence of the original ship -- between the pieces. they are a symbolic presence of the original ship. what the crew has to do is very

much what the scene and had to do in 1815 -- the seamen had to do in 1815. we teach history. we teach people in appreciation of the war of 1812 and the maritime history of the great lakes. most of the learning that takes place on board is about functioning as members of a team, as a ship's company. it is the seamanship they are learning that is of real value now. it is a place where we can continue certain traditions and attitudes and abilities that have been with us for centuries. we perpetuate them. >> the commodore would help lead the u.s. to victory in the battle of lake erie. the rest of the story this weekend as booktv and american history tv look at the literary life and history of erie, pennsylvania, on c-span2 and c-

span3. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us now, gerry connolly, a representative from virginia. thank you for joining us. what are the lessons learned over the last couple weeks? guest: i hope one of the lessons is that we are not going to resort to hostagetaking to try to get our way in the congress of the united states. that would have set a terrible precedent and taken us down the road of anarchy and chaos. no matter how ignoble or noble the cause. i think that is a key lesson. the other one is there is no getting around the fact that we need to work together across the aisle if we are going to get substantial legislation accomplished. and that means the process involves give and take. it cannot just be a set of demands that need to be met. i hope that is a lesson that

sunk in, especially for some of the newer tea party members. host: do you think we will experience the same type of situations next year when these deadlines hit? guest: i really don't. of course, it could happen. i don't doubt there will be some brinkmanship. one of the lessons learned is that has very little political payoff, in fact, quite the opposite. it has real negative fallout. especially since both of the dates we approved last night get election year,, an i think most politicians, even of the more radical variety, are going to respect the fact that they are in their own reelection cycle. -ed inthere was an ope "usa today." were theot only

attempts to defund obamacare worth the effort, they are far from over. washington liberals have so much invested in obamacare, they don't dare admit its failures. but there will be a price to pay for such blind allegiance. guest: there will be a price to pay for that view. they have tried to repeal or defund obamacare out right 46 times. they just shut the government 16 days and threatened the sovereign credit of the united states for the first time since alexander hamilton was secretary of the treasury -- over this law. they have had three bytes of the apple. that's all you get. -- three bites of the apple. that's all you get. it is the law of the land. they challenged in court, all the way to the supreme court. the supreme court found it constitutional. they lost that. you get a third bite. that is called elections.

the man after whom they have pejoratively named this legislation, president obama, won that by 5 million votes. at what point do you respect the will of the people and the democratic process? host: our guest is with us until 9:00. you can ask him questions on one of four lines. republicans.1 for democrats.880 for independents. for you can tweet us as well. profound is a footprint in my district. everybody was affected by the shutdown. when i could get away on the weekends from being in session am a i went to affairs and festivals -- in session, i went

to fairs and festivals. the number one topic was what are they doing and stories about impact to families. host: what is the number one thing about determining back compensation? guest: retroactive pay was provided. federal workers will be made whole. many of them experience the cash flow problem, to say nothing of the anxiety of not being able to go to work. hopefully that will be smoothed out over the next couple weeks. ast: do you expect it to be few weeks before the back pay is given? guest: i would hope it is going to be an accelerated process so that families are not needlessly suffering. i also represent probably the largest single number of federal contract employees in the country. and those folks who were furloughed in the private sector

-- many of them, unfortunately, there is no mechanism for making them whole. they will have to eat some portion of the shutdown. that is very real. host: here is a call for representative gerry connolly. you are on our republican line. good morning. it is impossible for a building like that your freefall on 9/11 unless explosives -- like that freefall on 9/11 unless explosives were used. there hasressman, been an organized effort to ask these kinds of questions. i will let you address it if you wish. guest: i don't know what the gentlelady is referring to. host: good morning, congressman. guest: you are in the 11th district of virginia.

caller: i appreciate the job you are doing for us. in virginia, we have -- our congressmen are usually common sense when they do things. having said this, it seems to me there are always 20 guys who take us hostage in this country. let 20hamed sometimes guys shut down the government and they are still trusting our country. i don't know how we explain to other countries that we have a democracy when our democracy is in danger. i want to say something. these guys are not going away because they represent states that believe that obamacare -- not only obamacare, but they have some agenda to attack the president, all his agenda, regardless of what you say to them. i have a lot of reactions to what he just said.

first of all, i accept this integrity of those who have a different point of view -- the sincerity of those who have a different point of view. i ran for office to get something done and not to tear something down and not to level and dysfunction. precisely that. others genuinely feel they have to use the opportunity they have legislatively to either make a point or try to shrink the size of government or make other statements about health care. i do think it is very important yourte -- and i noted previous guest sort of lauded the 18 members of the senate, all republicans, who voted against the compromise bill, the bipartisan compromise bill last night. i am shocked somebody from "the wall street journal" would think that was a good thing. that vote was crystal clear. we were going to default starting today.

last night, when you had that moment of truth, that vote was about whether you thought it was ok to default, to have someone on the editorial board of "the wall street journal" actually think that is ok is breathtaking to me. it is not ok. we have a fiduciary responsibility to the country to preserve the full faith and credit of the united states. and it is standing in the world as the safest harbor for investment and the strongest currency in the world. in ao risk all of that reckless appeal to outside raisewing groups who money and try to broaden their membership by always being a lightning rod -- to me, it is irresponsible. some of my colleagues, most certainly, were responding to that siren call instead of looking at the merits of the case for the sake of the country. --t:

guest: it is the law of the land. that is true. but the same republicans who now say that -- because that is one of the republican talking points -- were just, not so long ago before the election last year calling it obama's sequester, a horrible thing, the earth was going to swallow us whole if we allowed it to continue, it was reckless, it was irresponsible, and it needed to be dealt with. now they embrace it because it has massive spending cuts that wheneverof a haircut, applied, irrespective of performance. i find that, frankly, more than ironic coming from the republican side of the aisle. host: the house and senate will meet to discuss matters of the budget. how optimistic are you when it

comes to dealing with budget issues? i am i am always --guest: always optimistic. i believe reason can prevail, as it did last night at the last minute. we can think that somehow paper over the profound differences in approach. it isn't just a matter of different numbers. it is a philosophical gap between the ryan budget and the bipartisan budget in the senate. the ryan budget is one of the most radical documents ever put together by anybody in congress. 5 trillion in domestic investment. it does not pay down the debt. it takes that five dollars trillion and gives

another tax cut at the high end. down on what he had done before and causing enormous dislocation. this investment in research and development, medical research, education, infrastructure, for the sake of another tax cut. i think that is unbelievably reckless fiscal policy. it would be ruinous to the united states. it would hand over the future to the chinese and other competitors. that has to be conferenced with the democratic budget coming out of the senate that modestly increases investments in r&d and infrastructure and the like. i don't know how you reconcile those two radically different approaches, but it is worth a try. host: republican line and identified as up up -- as a

federal worker. caller: good morning. i would like to start off and say that i am a republican as of september of 2012. born into a democratic family. the majority of my family is democrat. i've voted democrat and .epublican the last 35 years the reason for my switch, and i -- i cannotmy point stand the lies and the muddy waters that the democrats in the house and the senate keep carr ying. and they carry it to promote an ideology that just isn't working. i am a hispanic. that is one of my backgrounds. you say you are for minorities and for the people, but in reality, the policies that you

are pushing and carrying in those muddy buckets for this president are carrying -- taking this country down. you say you have problems understanding why a set number of republicans are tearing this country down. i ask you, we are $17 trillion in debt, and i'm looking at the bigger picture. we are not handing our next generation a better way of life. what we are doing with what you , why are sothis law many people getting pushed down to part-time work, below part- time work? anything above 29 hours is considered full-time. thank you, caller. guest: the way you framed your question in someway crystallizes what has happened to our policy in america.

we point our finger at the capital and say why can't we get along. here is an american citizen who has already decided that he other point of view any other party constitutes lies -- that the other point of view in the other party constitutes lies and that they are liars. that lack of respect for another point of view is a problem in our polity today. why can't someone and knowledge that someone can be equally sincere and equally highly motivated but have a different point of view? share a different philosophy of governance, have a different worldview, have a different set of experiences, all of which are to be respected. i think we need to restore that among ourselves as citizens, not just in the halls of congress. in some ways, the halls of ,ongress reflect that division that sort of growing lack of

tolerance for another point of view. i guess that is my response. i think we have -- he has verbalized in many ways part of the symptoms that plague us in our politics today in america. host: houston, texas, independent line. caller: good morning. pedro, we miss you in houston. i have two questions. i think what you guys did with standing in around is awesome. as everyone knows from houston, ted cruz doesn't represent all of houston. let's just make that clear. my question is, is the tea party more concerned about higher taxes on their special interests , the guys that's making all the money in the united states, being that with the aca coming in effect in january, are they

going to be responsible for putting all the money that their andany makes on their taxes paying into the system? my second question is, when february comes, will the tea party try to hold federal income taxes back from the american people as another tactic to try to get their way? i only make $17,000 a year. the aca does not -- has not put me in part-time work. being that my children's father passed away three years ago, with his $600 that i get every month for my children, it still puts me at the poverty line. the affordable care act definitely helps me. whattrying to figure out is their next strategy. these guys seem like they will do anything and everything to hurt the poor. guest: thank you.

i am glad the affordable care act is going to help you and your family. i am sorry for your loss, your husband's passing. toouldn't venture a guess as what the tea party's next move might be. i don't know that the tea party is a cohesive force or party that exercises discipline. it certainly has influence. a lot of that influence is being funded by very wealthy outside direct thewho help agenda, if not the actions, of its adherents in congress. and i think that has to be watched. if you look at the vote last night, only 87 republicans in the house, unlike their counterparts in the senate,

where a majority of republicans supported the bipartisan deal to reopen the government and avoid default on the national debt -- in the house, a distinct minority, 87 republicans, voted for it. it tells you a lot about the power of these outside influences -- not on everybody, but on a substantial number who felt they could not afford to vote for it without risking their political future. host: another story in "usa today," about -- does this concern you? guest: it does concern me. getave had 3 1/2 years to ready for the rollout. there are software and hardware glitches. it is my hope that we are going to iron those out very swiftly. but i do think that it could have been done better. i will tell you those that have succeeded have been pleasantly surprised at the offerings and that the cost differential from

what they are paying now. i believe it is actually going to be good news, but we are going to have to get through a rough spot that could have been avoided by better preparation on the technology side. host: are you aware of the number of people who have actually signed up for health care? guest: they were inundated in the first 72 hours. they got more hits in the first 70 two hours after registration newsade available than cbs gets in a year. that is not an excuse, but they really were inundated. i think maybe they underestimated the overwhelming interest in what's available out there. that has to be addressed and hopefully it is being addressed right now. host: from new york, republican line. caller: good morning, everyone.

good morning, mr. connolly. i have two comments. one is a comment, the other is a question. why should we close our government for about two weeks? i hope they have a logical reason. we just make poor people more poor. my second question is, how government is going to fix the problems which is caused by these two weeks of shutting down the government? and i will have your comments, mr. connolly. thank you for the program. guest: thank you. if i understood the thrust of the questions, it seemed to be how are we better off for having shut the government down for 16 days. my answer to that would be we are not better off. it caused great disruption to people theves, the

government service. for example, $33 million a day in new small business loans from the small business administration were put on ice for 16 days. 10,000 new applications for people who reached the eligibility age for social security, and a matching number for medicare, put on ice. they could not be processed because people were furloughed. of the24,000 employees national park service, 22,000 were furloughed. the national park director, running a system of 401 parks that crosses the international date line well into the pacific ocean -- it is even bigger than continent wide -- had nine people working with him in administration headquarters because everyone else was furloughed. nobel prize winners doing

scientific research, critical research, furloughed. i had a constituent who won the highest public service award in washington who was furloughed. he runs the mars rover program with 3000 employees at nasa furloughed. having permission from the ethics office to go to the gala to receive his own award. critical research in protecting us from antibiotic resistant bacteria -- on ice because they were furloughed. real.e consequences are the economic estimate is that the shutdown cost the economy $24 billion. we want to grow the economy. we don't want to contract. next, it will cost taxpayer money to shut down the government and reopen it.

debt.ur additional that makes no sense from an economic or fiscal point of view . the other damage done is in the image and reputation of the united states. at least they know what they are doing when they tell us how we ought to do things, they have the credibility. all of that was tarnished if not shaken in the international community. and that may seem like an intangible, but it is going to hurt us. it hurts us in international negotiations, in international financial institutions, in terms of our ability to be a strong and robust player. those are real consequences. in my point of view, no good from shutting down the government. anytime that happens, it represents a failure of our system. the public's confidence

in its own democratic institutions. that is never a good thing in a democracy. host: democrat line, you are the last caller. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to start off with a statement or question. who are the american people? both parties talked about the american people, but clearly they were talking about two different sets of people. the democrats are talking about 99% of the american people. the republicans are talking about 1% of the american people. when the republicans talk about the american people, they are not talking about people that need health care, social security, medicare, medicaid. they are not talking about the 47% that romney was going to ignore. when they say the american people don't want the affordable