representative vicky hartzler talks about budget negotiations. host: good morning, everyone. washington will resume the senate authorization bill with lots of debate about what to do detaineesanamo bay and sexual assault in the military. live coverage on c-span2. later today the president and the clintons will wait reath at the jfk memorial. we will have coverage. go to our website at www.c- span.org.

presidentick with the this morning and begin with his comments yesterday as the wall street ceo council or he talked about how washington gridlock does not necessarily reflect divisions in our country. republicans as well. send us a tweet. or post on facebook. you can also e-mail us. let me show you the president in his own words yesterday. he was interviewed by a columnist for the paper. here is what he had to say about washington gridlock. >> when you go to other countries, the political divisions are so much more stark and wider.

america, the difference between democrats and republicans, we are fighting inside the 40 yard line. >> you have fooled most people on that in the past couple of months i would say. betweenld distinguish is rhetoric and tax experts differences. -- people calles me a socialist sometime, but you have to meet a real socialist to have a real sense of what it is. i am talking about lowering the corporate tax rate. my health care reform is based on the private marketplace. stock market looking pretty good last time i checked. true that i am concerned about growing inequality in the system, but no one questions the

efficacy of a market economy in terms of producing wealth and innovation and competitiveness. republicans, even the tea party, one of my favorite posting signs.ks government, keep your hands off my medicare. and about that. ideologically they did not like the idea of the federal government. protect thet very about the basic social safety net that had been structured. host: president obama yesterday talking about gridlock -- gridlock in washington. what do you think? 585 881.ns 202, independence and all others, the

opinion section of the usa today newspaper, five ways to reduce hyper partisanship. washington has become a place can end ag a squish career --

then they say -- host: larry in hernando, mississippi. democratic caller. caller: i would like to make three points. i just watched the president and agreed with everything he said.

my second point is a lot of of people are not free -- remembering what the republican set. even if it is their own ideas. tom price of georgia and mike lee of georgia on tape saying in to shut down.t that is a fact. not bring them up and do not show them on the tape saying it. i am so angry with democrats, i do not know what to do. aboutwhat do you think the idea that gridlock in washington does not reflect the division and our country outside of washington? i agree with it. before they got in office, the republican said they will not vote with them, even if they use

their own ideas. host: angela and aiken, south carolina. the gridlock in washington, i do not think it reflects the accurate division and our country. the media plays a big role in this by how they report. reporter that the someone said today, but does not reflect what someone said a week ago or year ago. this country cannot survive as long as we have this gridlock. the things that need to get done will not get done. democrats of agree with a lot of the things republicans are saying. republicans that agree with the democrats, but because it has become so now that politicians forget what they went to washington to do, this is about the country, not just about your

constituent, this is about the , andd states of america we're sitting here destroying it. the ones that are benefiting are the media moguls and the talkshow host and talk radio. --ting richer and richer getting richer and richer at the expense of the country. instead of researching it and finding out 90% of what they hear is not true. >> jean says gridlock in d.c. does not come close to the division over our country. >> reflecting and competent politicians wanting to get ahead of the cost of the nation and naïve public. on this issue, the government shutdown in budget negotiations is part of the deal.

we will be covering that

ceremony at the white house. whether or not it reflects decisions in the country, there are the numbers on the screen. look no further than gay marriage saying that the gridlock in washington on that issue reflects the divisions in our country. momentum comes to a halt. those against it say the in theal playing field remaining 34 states that have not approved it, the days of easy targets are over.

they dispute the idea that the victories have been easy but agree that the circles are far from over. what do you think? you are on the air. caller: i think they will go back to the old way for the republican party and the democratic party. instead of having all these affairs, they can feed a lot more people in the united states. caller: i just wanted to say that the republicans have sent many bills to the senate, but a

very reid has blocked all of them. he refuses to look at them. how can republicans get anything across if the senate won't even look at the bills. aboutat the woman said sending representatives to do what you want them to do, ted sent to get rid of obamacare. he was only doing what his constituents asked to to do. >> you think that it does reflect divisions? >> yes. the president is the worst one to go out and divide the people because all he says is bad things about whoever at that moment he is having a problem with.

he doesn't want them to disagree with them. anybody. he has talked about everybody as far as i can see. the republicans, he puts them down. they have come up with a lot of good solutions and he doesn't want to hear them. >> politics is gridlock. you fix that by removing lobbying. mentioned senate majority leader harry reid of nevada making headlines this morning. you majority leader is preparing to move for limits on filibuster in the senate. vote could come as early as this week.

lots of debate earlier this week on what to do with detainees from guantánamo bay. that topic dividing democrats. you probably heard in the headlines that a florida congressman has been charged with cocaine possession. radel says he is ready to face the consequences of his actions. he was caught buying drugs as part of a federal investigation into a local drug ring and is being charged with cocaine possession. after you agents working with a dealer told them that one of his clients was a member of congress

and he purchased the cocaine. the charge is a misdemeanor and carries a maximum of 180 days in prison or a fine of $5,000. you probably heard this in the news yesterday. his sons down to him, the former candidate for governor, and killed himself. it brought new scrutiny to virginia's mental health system six years after the virginia tech massacre that prompted an outpouring of attention and dollars. they say the system is starved for money and reform. mental health advocates expect agreement. with histhe problem son after his evaluation on

monday. what are your thoughts on gridlock in washington? does it reflect what is outside the capital. in the onet trust term president. he is more concerned about the next election then he is concerned about the american people. obvious the race for the , he is running against the current kentucky democratic secretary of state.

the solution for president obama which isively performing services. about what he can do to personally gain and continue his position to gain politically in order to keep his job. it is not about you and me. >> huge swaths are desperately afraid of the demographic cultural changes and want him stopped. what do you think? >> thank you for taking my call. the ceo conference last night.

obama made a pretty good point talking about the ideological difference between republicans and democrats. in europe, there is a very big difference. look at somebody like --ard stern >> we are listening. sorry, hopefully you can call back in. the technical glitches, we covered that hearing. we want to show you what the -- hisittee chairman questioning of henry chow who is leading the technical rollout of the website. the day this went live,

how much was developed? >> 100% of all the priorities that were set by the business for october 1. >> what about the other parts? >> there was a prioritization associated with shop employer and the spanish website. >> we have heard it wasn't designed for that many people. you said it was 100% ready. it was 100% built. >> it is not built if it is running functionally -- >> i will certainly not try to tell you it was working well.

>> they knew there would be problems with the website. in other news, overseas, reports about a potential deal between the u.s. and afghanistan. and comes down to a single personal gesture. attrition for military mistakes that hurt afghans. , heturn for such a letter would end his vehement opposition to counterterrorism on private afghan homes. one of the contentious issues.

clearing the way for an past the 2014 withdraw deadline. the letter would be tantamount to an apology but he did not use that word. talks in geneva, front page of the washington post says lawmakers are dollars that they were unlikely to impose economic sanctions on , removing a potential obstacle they say could come within days. jpmorgan chase and the justice department settled on 13 theion, the settlement justice department said the bank would pay over troubled mortgage securities. is the largest they have ever

reached with a single company. reporting onn post how it will be spent. struggling homeowners, various civil claims. the bank could still face criminal charges and it would also be contending with separate lawsuits into security sales from attorney general in many states. the wall street journal editorial board weighing in on that saying that there is also the detail that 80% of byurities at issue were sold morgan but the two failing firms it bought at the governments request. be no willing buyers during the next crisis when washington asks companies to by

others that are failing. our divisions reflected in washington? gridlock in washington, it is very good. politics is a war of ideas. i am tired of people saying if you disagree with obama, you are a racist. the ideas blocked by the majority leader in the senate, [inaudible]

[indiscernible] obamacare lies about everything. [indiscernible] >> we will go to jan in atlanta. >> i believe gridlock in washington was never this bad until our first black president was elected. people of color would vote in governor's races, we could break the deadlock in washington. >> michael, independent color. >> this is not a personal belief but a fact. washington can only be changed from the outside in, not the

inside out. talkpoliticians go up and about promises that turn out to be lies, we have nobody to blame but ourselves. i don't think the gridlock in -- the gridlock in washington expresses how people feel in the country. medicare.e to take both republicans and democrats like medicare and they don't want it fundamentally changed. is so much misinformation from the people in washington and from the media. says ify constantly they are against obamacare or something like that that he took money from medicare. the truth was he took money from

medicare advantage and the money that he took was overpayments to insurance companies because they weren't as efficient as medicare was. people really don't understand actuallyacare lengthened the life of medicare and closed a doughnut old. >> both sides blame each other. being have little to fear fired for doing nothing. who is retiring yesterday put out his ideas for overhauling the tax code. despite it operating momentum, he began unveiling specific options arguing that it may yet have political potency. he opened with the topic and tended to spur interest.

both parties are keen to lower the 35% corporate tax rate and encourage companies to bring home $2 trillion in profit held overseas to avoid taxation. he proposes lowering the corporate rate under 30% and did not specify a target. would end the practice of deferral to let companies avoid u.s. taxes until they bring that money home. he will be unveiling more of his land this week. put thatcial times story on their front page. virginia, independent color. on the air. what do you think about gridlock in washington?

one last call for brandy station virginia. to scott inon westminster, maryland. i saw your story from usa today regarding how they recommend getting rid of gridlock. one thing they mentioned was reducing gerrymandering. i wonder if that includes race minority-ricts and based district as outlined in the civil rights act. because minority-based districts are the definition of gerrymandering. besay that a person cannot -- their district must be, under law, protected and a certain iscentage of minority voters gerrymandering. with a democrat

of new york about yesterday's hearing investigating technical glitches. talk aboutwe will the impact of sequestration on the pentagon as well as ongoing budget negotiations. ♪ >> when president kennedy was minute, several dallas police officer ran up the knoll because people were pointing to it as the source of the gunfire. he expected to find an armed

gunman and he encountered a man who was asked who he was and he presented secret service credentials. smith was familiar with secret service credentials. reported officers essentially the same thing. more than one on the grassy knoll. the secret service and everyone locationidentified the of every single secret service officer at that time. officersecret service went to parkland hospital with the president and the vice president. no one can identify these people with secret service credentials. the facts ando people can make up their own mind. the lasting legacy of jfk

sunday night at 9:00 on afterwards. and later today, live for the national book awards in new york city. coverage starts at 6 p.m. eastern with red carpet and watching live coverage of the award ceremony on c-span two. >> washington journal continues. >> congressman, let me show you the headlines in the washington times. republicans pressed the president to remove the website. they want it taken down. guest: every effort is being made to work through the weaknesses of the website. to go forward and allow people

the chance to enroll. have heard it is made better and we will continue to pursue. a vastly improved response and stability that will be helpful. henry chow oversaw the rollout of the website and was saying that 30% of the website is still not done. an important part of the website. are you satisfied with that? >> the president has said himself he is angry about the way it has been rolled out. there are those people that are technically sound in terms of skill set that can get this finished and get it done and

improved. shooting for the exchange to be established is a big benefit to americans. a great majority of people have indicated they want it fixed. know what is in that package and they know what the vast improvements are. the opportunities for preventative care to avoid pre- existing conditions. not digging into seniors pocket for expensive pharmaceutical needs. to stayold being able on their parents policies. all of these major benefits where we have seen slippage over the last decade. people have jumped into the middle of the story but nobody

is talking about before the act. businesses refusing and unable to provide health care coverage for their workers. they wanted to, but it was not affordable. we saw 31% of small businesses that had been providing health care coverage for their workers. salaries are flat line. we need to go back to the humble understand that there was a dire need to address economic development and well- being of this country. the mission here is a just one

and we need to go forward to pursue our efforts. hoped there would be a where thereesponse were difficulties starting the system. republicans and democrats alike worked to get it done. if we would spend more energy to upmit to getting the system and running, a lot can happen. rehashing of a things we already knew. it is allowing for a less than popular flavor out there for the nation. the president says they will have to remarket and rebrand healthcare.gov.

several reports of costing north of $600 million so far. the benefits brought to the consumers are strong. cost is spread over the next decade, it is somewhat modest. you want to make certain it is done as expeditiously as possible and is cheaper price tag to the consumer. is that system, that segway important. don't need to necessarily enroll by going to the website. andcan do it in person through the mail. there are various ways to get

enrolled. let's move forward and make certain there are no more shutdowns over the affordable care act. they all tried to deny benefits to americans. i wanted to get your reaction to reports that a company did an investigation into the website and warned the white house in march that it was not ready to go. they had this to say about that report. this report talks about chaos. nobody is in charge. you have multiple people making changes to the system weeks prior to testing. tire to the rollout without

testing it. these are things you should have been doing anyway. should there has been a longer test period? perhaps. the was designed with expectation that individual states would run their exchanges. my home state of new york has had a tremendous experience as has california, connecticut, rhode island, kentucky. outthe 36 states that opted embraced this agenda to serve the public well, i think it would've been a different outcome. withverburdening on a plan a sizable chunk created a different outcome, a different

scenario. believe we can do it in rapid fashion. on thehnical wizardry project, let's move forward. banging away on what we already know is not resolving anything. but we need a bipartisan commitment. sharon from texas city. i have three quick points that i want to make. congress. doctors in telling people what is wrong with the system. why won't you listen to them ac? ?

i don't believe people want socialized medicine. why don't you take the money wasted on the website and give it to the states so they can fund charity hospitals and county services? third, this has not been bipartisan from the very beginning. 3590, theginally hr service members home credit act that passed the house and it was gutted in the senate. the wording for the affordable care act was put in there and power given to the irs. i don't want the government run like that. running around behind closed doors and ramming stuff through.

several questions in that call. advising, idoctors medicalry area of the arena was approached for their advice and input on the legislation. not just the doctors that served in the house or senate, but out reaching to the universe from pharmaceutical types and medical doctors. there was input galore. in terms of giving the dollars to the state, it him flies -- implies it would be a maintenance of the old system which was proven to be a failure.

where you had pre-existing conditions, being a woman, too many pregnancies. limits on health care benefits that would reduce the quality of insurance. costs,% administrative having to go directly to health care. all these benefits would be denied. states with the status quo is not the answer. divide that by 50 states, it comes to precious little. the suggestion that this is a socialized model is the furthest thing from the truth. it is a private-sector insurance industry model that has to comply with minimum standards for health care coverage.

it is a competitive model in the exchange area. we have seen a 53% reduction in premiums in new york. worke seeing that it does and we are seeing much activity in the last two weeks. it tells me there is a great desire for people to opt into the medical model or the massachusetts model. we saw an onslaught of enrollment. some of that is in human nature. we should anticipate growth until the final end of the sign- up cycle.

enrollment is ahead of that of massachusetts. host: why is guest: in oh, a number of people are -- you know, a number of people are calling for different sites. it if you can get people into intermediate steps where they can review all levels of the plan, from the gold and platinum plans, still not substantial to the outcome of the world that existed before the affordable care act. people are saying we went to amazon and bought books and did this. it is not the same.

how many people, it is a difficult journey. constituents reached out to a navigator, and they consider themselves to be fairly about and well-informed insurance coverage but they still needed a navigator to help them through the different plans and what they would mean to their own pocketbook. it is happening. it is evolving. want to get past the kinks in the system, we will get to a much needed reform that is long overdue. host: when do you think we will see that? guest: give it a few months, we will see improvement, and when we look back in a year or two, we will say it is a best and proven. for -- vast improvement. for small businesses, you can do great information, and people are coming back saying they were surprised at the reduction. one of our colleagues, jim moran, from virginia, read a

letter from a constituent whose husband suffered from pancreatic cancer. they were struggling post is death. she had to do below high school students headed for college. she needed assistance. that wasn earlier plan $1400, and found something for $700. we are looking at the weaknesses in the website, the kinks in the but rolling on those negatives, fanning the flames so as to tarnish the image of the affordable care act and exchanges is regrettable. there needs to be a bipartisan flavor of can do. host: al is next. republican in tennessee. caller: i work in health care. i have an advanced degree in health care. healthcare.gov is not health

service. it is redistributing wealth. when you start linking, knowing what outcomes you get, the accountable care organizations, it will be a disaster. this was passed on the mountain of lies. obama was reelected on a mountain of lies, and you would be crazy to give your personal data to a navigator. the reason the navigators were not screened was because they could not pass and you would be crazy to give them personal information. host: let's talk about that issue -- identity theft, not only giving identity to a navigator, but the website itself. guest: there were a couple of hearings about this, and the security of the system has proven to be rather strong.

there is no evidence of hacking of healthcare.gov. you know, as people pointed out yesterday, as experts in their field, you are at risk with sourceacking from every that has information from you. the important thing to keep in pre-affordable- care act, there was cherry picking, and all sorts of questions about your health care status. the questions they asked -- they are asking now -- "are you a smoker?" the pre-existing conditions being bypassed, and now you just have straightforward information that is kept secure. they have gone to the efforts to provide security. plethorat asking the of questions about someone's health care. to the point of the previous caller talking about some of the

costs to set up the system and the incentives, we are paying now. i served for 25 years in my state legislative body. i saw what the costs were. it was not only expensive to the taxpayer, it was some quality care. you had people going into emergency rooms, not knowing which emergency care doctor they would be visiting, no connection, no continual of service. ineffective,, dehumanizing to those using it, and very expensive to the taxpayer and the insurance rate payer. today, you will have yes, some start up cost incentives to get people into the system, but they will be part of a system that will enjoy preventative care, bend the cost curve for health care services, and then you will have these organizations set up that will coordinate and collaborate the care.

my dad, who was recently in a nursing home getting assistance, had that effort made, and there is great cost savings when people are collaborating, discussing all of the various elements from therapy to the various disciplines that certain professionals, medical doctors have. having them coordinate that reduces costs. some of the models set up, the care organizations -- they will drive an overall bargain. why: from twitter, explain some states have only one option to choose from, and why all hospitals will not accept payments from exchanges. guest: the efforts here are to provide for competition and every effort will be made to provide for competition in the individual states where there might have been one. again, there is participation driven by your willingness to abide by the various standards that have to be maintained. every effort will be made, i

think, to foster competition. in terms of hospitals -- host: she said why all hospitals will not accept payments from exchanges. is that not true? guest: i am not sure that it's true. i would have to check. host: cheryl. illinois. caller: thank you for taking my call. thank you, representative. i truly appreciate him clearing up some of these negative points that are being brought up about .he law i, myself, am so excited to think about all of the mothers that can stay home and raise their children instead of worrying about how to afford ,ealth care for their family finding a job, and paying for babysitters. i've spoken to many friends. my children are older, but many friends have had to do this to

have health care, and i know i would have loved to stay at home and take care of my kid, but 20 years ago, we could not afford to do so. i would also like to mention disingenuous.t is i think the media is focusing on so many negative points about this health-care law to build a story. i just feel it is disingenuous not to bring out the positive aspects of how this law is going to help reshape our country. host: sorry, cheryl. cut you off a little soon. i appreciate the sentiments the caller shared. a monumentals is piece, probably in the realm of social security, medicare, that have been set up as models for the country. we know the good that has produced, the stability it has fostered, and i think we will

look back and see this as a monumental piece if we could just get past the whole effort to deny and diminish some of the benefits here. the image-casting that is being achieved by fanning the flames of negativity, again, are regrettable. host: now that the oversight subcommittee that you sit on, has looked into the website, and i wanted your thoughts on what the president said yesterday, when he is quoted as saying there is no bigger gap the twin the private sector and the public sector than information technology. what we probably needed to do was blow up how we procure for i.t.. guest: there will be lessons learned here. hopefully they will be constructive. if the procurement situation was a weakness, let's fix that.

let's make sure we have all of the skill set involved, and the best outcome on behalf of the taxpayer. otherwise, it is not the benefit that it can be. i think, again, these kinks will be worked out. for us to take on such a major exercise with 36 states opting out, which i think is going to change, too, when people start finding out in the individual state that they are paying a tax and not getting a benefit, i think the pressure will be on when they hear the success stories. ?ost: why are they paying guest: there are federal dollars used for the system, and if you are opting out, that is a failure to not share that benefit with your people. again, i think a lot of this has been driven by either political theater or scare tactics. both of them are regrettable outcomes and have no place in serving the public in a very

humane-driven situation. , orlando, florida, independent caller. caller: thank you for taking my call. first, i want to say the affordable care act saved my daughter's life. 24 years in served the military. when my daughter turned 18, she was dropped from his policy. she has a pre-existing disease that eventually she will die from. because of her income, she was not able to qualify for medicaid, so we're going back- and-forth to hospitals to get her care. when the affordable care act came in, her father called me and said they put her back on his plan. i am sorry eric i'm emotional -- i am sorry.

i'm emotional. after a year and a half, my daughter was able to get a life- saving operation last month, so she has a fighting chance to go to college, live her life, and paid her taxes like everybody else. i feel so bad because of the negative press going on about the affordable care act, but i want to say it has and it is working, and it is saving people's lives, so be patient. host: so your daughter was able to go back on your husband's military health care? dost: i do not -- caller: i not know what happened, but when she turned 18, she was dropped, but when the law said you could be on until 26, they put her back on at 19. host: thank you for sharing your story. guest: i cannot say it better than the caller. anne points out the outstanding

benefit heart of this package. there are far too many stories -- this. area i hear , hear over and over pharmaceutical costs that are draining seniors income, it is turnaround. -- it is turned around. we are not going on the positives. we are one of the last countries, one of the last industrialized countries in the come to this universal access to a system. how can we tolerate tens of millions of americans not having this opportunity? host: if parents go on the exchange and get some sort of plan through the federal run state exchange, can they bring their kids with them until the age 26? does that apply to the exchanges as well? guest: i believe it does.

host: what does he do to the number of youth that are in the pool now that are key to the exchanges succeeding? that. i should retract the young people will have to shop for their own situation in the exchanges, and i think i think that will probably be the result. basically, the situation in massachusetts, which is our only model to site, found that many young people, a great majority, determined they were going to purchase a policy on the exchange. remember, they -- there are those penalties out there, you are a cost to the system if you are not insured. while it is modest in the first year, it rises to the point where you would be paying for coverage with no coverage. hopefully it inspires you to enroll. host: still an individual wants

you to respond to -- is a true congress has their own website with a goal plans only available to them? guest: there is a federal subsidy that any employer would offer its worker, and to get back, i believe it is the gold plan that you have to choose. there are gold plans and silver plans everywhere in the country. host: it is reported by robert that members of congress are having an easier time while americans suffer with the website. fair question magic of the fairness comes when everybody has equal access to -- fair? fairness comes when everybody has equal access to a navigator. i do not think members of

congress should be getting special treatment, and i will work with my constituents to network them with navigators to make sure that whatever the outreach is done. host: have you signed up yet? guest: i have not. i maintain my new york health care policy coverage. host: explain why. guest: because while people thought they were cadillac systems, i found my health care system was on par, if not utter incident -- that are in some ways. -- better in some ways. host: you served how many years in the state legislature? guest: 25. host: margaret. republican caller, you are on with paul tonko. caller: it was interesting to see you stammer through the last three answers. as you stammer through them -- through not being able to answer

an important question about use and exchange. language that the democrats is very posh toned. i remember when this went to the house and senate and how shamefully democrats acted. it is interested for three important questions, for you and your policy, you had trouble answering. again, i think it should be about fundamental fairness. there should not be special treatment for anyone across-the- board, and access and information exchange is critical to making this work. i think we need to make certain that that is the outcome for our constituents across the country. host: d zynga special website for members of congress will go away because of this -- do you think the special website for members of congress will go away

because of this front page story on "the new york times?" guest: it might. whatever creative qualities they utilize to get people enrolled, the outcome of getting enrollment is a critical piece. host: gene is next in arcadia, louisiana. indian -- independent caller. caller: good morning. i would like to say first of all i think the investigation of the affordable care act is a waste of time. it is a political ploy. theare $24 billion costs to taxpayers by the republicans in 16 days to $600 million for the set up of the website. i am african american, and i know all of the codes. i will say this until the day that i die. these republicans hate president

obama. and they will do anything, use any ploy to try to destroy him. they do not care anything about obamacare or the affordable care act. they just want this president to cease to exist, and this is just one of the avenues, so they need to get real and do things that will help us like jobs, immigration reform, and stop all of this silliness. it is just crazy. they are not helping the american people. host: we got your point. timesman -- congressman? guest: i would have to disagree -- agree that some of the disagreements are less than substantive. there is a personality thing that comes into play, and it is personalized rather than substantive in nature, and i find it regrettable. arecallers pointed there other issues -- absolutely. 80% of people surveyed today and

over the past year have said let's deal with growing the economy, let's foster a climate that provides for private-sector job growth. that is what people want done. they want jobs. they still say that is the number-one one issue. they need to provide for an innovation economy where we are in the midst of a race with dozens of countries around the world. where are we in investing in education, research, workforce development -- these are the things that need to be done. we are trying to bring that back as a message here, instead of spending all of this time on scare tactics in a situation that should find us working in a bipartisan, cooperative spirit to enroll people, but at the same time, bring back the issues that are of most importance to the american public. host: president obama yesterday endorsed the idea of a step-by- step process on immigration reform, giving house republicans rim to take up order security,

-- giving the republicans room to take up border security. would you support that? guest: moving toward a final goal, incrementally, doing it that way, might be the only choice. i have the need -- feel the need to be urgent from the agricultural community, the medical community, the technical community that i served. there is a need for immigration reform to be done. incremental steps -- that is what it takes. the same is true for energy reform with many reaching for the low hanging fruit, leading some of the other transmission issues and generation activities to just bypass us. so, if that is all we could get done in this very dysfunctional congress where nothing is being done, i mean, people have determined this might be the most dysfunctional congress in

the history of the house, and i think it is because of the avoidance of really big issues out there and the lack of desire to get anything done. host: real quick, what is the medical community want immigration reform done? had doctorave shortages. there are people that want to serve the area that i represent, and there held up many times by immigration situations. host: louisville, kentucky. bill. an independent. caller: good morning. we talk about transferring rooms tofrom emergency clinics. all we're doing is transferring from one physical location to another. you might save a couple of bucks, but not that much. additionally, a lot of people sign up for it now are signing up for it because it is free medical care. who is going to pay for these

subsidies? the subsidies do not go to people, they go to the insurance companies. somebody has to pay for the subsidies. it will not be the privileged washington class, will it? you guys are all exempt. i will tell you who will pay for it, the small business community, and the working, productive middle class. that is a politically generated redistribution of wealth, and that is exactly what this president wanted when he spoke about a transformed america and spreading the wealth around. that is what he got, and that is what he wanted. guest: we have to look at a couple of issues at the same time. growing jobs is the best way to reduce the deficit and strengthening economy. growing the economy should be the primary goal. i do not see that happening on the house floor with boats that are avoided and simply not done correctly. in addition, while the transformation of the health- care arena is going on and we develop jobs in the country,

there are benefits that are undeniable. it is not just transitioning people from emergency rooms over to community clinics. it is connecting them to an ongoing, continuum of service, standardization, you know, a certain level of quality of care. that will prove very beneficial. that will be not only addressing a human cost, favorably, but also address the economics of the situation. it will allow for a healthier outcome, and we will be saving money. scored the cbo has affordable care act as a deficit reducer over the next decade, and into the next decade to follow. it is because of that -- there is a strong outcome that tears down here. it is the date -- bears down here. it is the dignified thing to do. there is a moral compass that guides this, but there is no

mistaking, we have to grow this economy, and that is being avoided. the president has sent over many bills. we have talked about research advancement. i say cut where you can and invest where you must. we are not doing those orders of things. winning the global race on innovation, clean energy, it is critical to the future of this country and the generations to follow. host: abilene, texas, republican caller. caller: good morning, congressman konkle. i have been sitting here, listening to this, i am so far off of what i was going to say. you said earlier -- just a couple of things. i spend 34 years in the air force, and does a man's word mean anything anymore? , and iold when i went in was a page in congress back in , and thank god i was

drafted and saved from a life of politics. i've been living overseas the last few years. i am in the oil business. my family has been in the oil business for the last few years. it seems like a man's word is not worth anything anymore. you talk about wanting jobs, the disingenuousness like the xl pipeline, like if you want to care,our help, -- health you are bad mouthing insurance companies. would you going to do when they want to leave the u.s.? the same thing with my business. i do not need the epa, the texas rail commission. i do not hate the president, i hate his policies. dom. ok, guest: what i am picking up is in order of standards.

i think there are jobs to create if you're promoting a clean environment. i do not think enhancing the istection of the environment against growing jobs. i heard about the pipeline. we will be having discussions about the soundness of pipelines. i served a district that saw a a pipeline -- explosion. let's go forward in fairness that allows for the growth of jobs and speaks to public safety. host: sandra. illinois. democratic caller. sandra, you are on the air. caller: hi. i just want to know why are you shoving the affordable care act down everyone's throat? -- it isums are not

not working. the premiums are too happy. people are getting fined. they do not have enough to pay for everything. guest: as i have talked to many constituents, when they first get some premiums, if they are high, i tell them to continue to shop, and in most cases, people have that they are finding a bargain out there. most people, as i said, in new york, the outcome has been a 53% reduction in premiums. nationally, it is 63%. there are some folks that have had substandard policies that really were not worth the paper they were printed on, and if they really had catastrophic situations, or a hospital visit that was required medically, they may find that they had a worthless policy, but this is providing quality care at affordable prices. continue to shop. i would tell the caller she

the navigatorth to make sure they are finding the benefit because most people are finding those benefits. host: should the president consider extending the enrollment? it runs until march, and i would hold on that until we see how that process is performing. host: congressman paul tonko, thank you. coming up next, we will talk with vicky hartzler, republican of missouri, about budget negotiations in cuts to the pentagon, and later, our spotlight on -- spotlight on magazines continues with a piece on bitcoin and other digital "urrencies with "wired magazine. tothe american ambassador china is stepping down. gary locke says he informed the president of his decision when they met earlier this month.

gary locke says he is proud of what the u.s. embassy and consulates in china have accomplished, highlighting increasing u.s. exports to china, promoting chinese investments in the u.s., and reducing waiting times for a visa. he is married with three children, and says he is leaving the poised -- posted to rejoin his family in seattle. killed inhave been the latest attacks targeting shiite muslims and areas in and outside of baghdad. insurgents continue to fight against the shiite-led government efforts to stabilize the country. as talks on the iranian nuclear program continues, the reigning supreme leader says economic pressure will not result on -- saidt in preventions, and they have no animosity toward the american people. french president francois

hollande believes comments referring to israel as "the rabid dog of the region" complicate the nuclear talks. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. day would begin with her coming in in the morning, probably around 9:00, and she would come in toting a straw bag in each hand filled with some of the things you see on her desk that she had taken home for signing or speechwriting, our event planning -- whatever she was working on. work.uld come in, get to her desk was always very orderly. as she worked on her desk with whenrs she was processing, she completed things, she would put them on the floor. she loved the office because she could look out at her all a modern -- alma mater. we had three office staff at the time.

there was a person that handled person who came from the white house as her press secretary who helped work on speeches, and then i was in the office. by friday afternoon, she was ready to leave and go to the ranch, which she was always calling home, and about 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon, she would say do i have anything else to do, and if cancer was no, she would take all the secret service, i am ready to go -- answer was no, she would say call the secret service, i am ready to go. our series continues monday as we look at first lady pat nixon. "> "washington journal continues. host: we are back with congresswoman vicky hartzler. let me begin with "the wall street journal and the headline that senator mitch mcconnell came over to the house

republicans for your weekly meeting yesterday and said we need to stand firm on the spending cuts on sequestration, and let it happen, even if it means cutting the pentagon budget. what do you think? well, he did not specifically address the defense. number, keeping a lower but we need to keep our priorities right for you -- the country. i would like to replace the defense cuts and reprioritize the budget and still keep it on a path that would get us to a balanced budget. host: keep the bottom number, but cut somewhere else, not at the pentagon at all? guest: we need to restore the $20 billion cuts set to go into effective sequestration continues. defense makes about 18% of the budget, but has had to incur 50% of the cuts, and it is very

damaging to our military, and i have implications -- concerns about implications to national defense. host: explained the potential damages or the damages that have been done so far. service am on the armed committee and the readiness subcommittee, and we have had readiness oft the our military. because of the cuts, we have seen a lot of the training that has been set aside, and the of ouris only to national of a bowl of over 42 army the grades is combat-ready 42 army brigades is combat ready. we have had simulators rather than airplanes. themaybe have canceled -- navy has had to cancel five deployments of carrier groups and we now only have one carrier group in the mediterranean.

the marines have to shift around the readiness dollars to provide for the training. we hear stories of airplane sitting on the tarmac come in not even having bullets for our soldiers to train with. so, this is very concerning, and i feel we cannot hollow out our forces. we have to be able to meet whatever challenge our nation faces had host: another -- faces. host: another $20 billion would do what? increase the training, and ultimately, if the trajectory continues, we will see an additional hundred thousand soldiers let go out of the army, and we would have the smallest air force ever in our country, the smallest navy since army war i, the smallest since before world war ii, and that is just not acceptable in my book.

host: do you have a military base in your district? guest: i have two. we have the home of the stealth bomber and a basic training site with a biological, nuclear and military police and an engineering school for our country. host: what impact have they have seen from -- have they seen from sequestration? guest: the b-2 bomber has been protected, so their training hours have been detected, but some are saying less training hours, and it's for letting .ould, it is concerning it is damaging for the morale of the troops and for the community as a whole. host: if you do not cut from the pentagon, where does the money come from?

guest: well, twofold when you try to balance the budget. i used to teach home economics. you can decrease spending or increase revenue. first and foremost, if we could put some revenue-enhancing opportunities for growth, and i'm not talking about tax increases, but getting jobs back, that would bring more revenue back into the country. something simple is to approve the keystone pipeline, which would provide more jobs. if we could provide more certainty for job creators, i know businesses would grow. he would hire. a part of that is to have certainty about our health care intem, which right now is major turmoil. employers do not know what to expect from the president's health care plan and their implications, so they are not hiring and they are laying off workers. if we could get that right, that would make a huge difference for our economy.

the other thing is to spend wisely. budget,60% of the mandatory spending categories, and that is driving up the budget. it is time to be smart and reform and strengthen the important programs. host: the cochairs of the committee have said a grand bargain is elusive. they do not have enough time, so to avoid the next round of sequestration cuts, what do you cut, specifically what programs? of thewell, i remember agricultural committee, and we have a farm bill that is now in conference and we are looking at making reforms there. the house version has $40 million in reforms that will save taxpayer dollars, and to replace the cuts to the defense we need 20 billion dollars next year, so there are places where we could look. i am hopeful we can make it happen.

is up first in albuquerque, new mexico. independent caller. caller: i was wondering, as a member of the budget committee, would you be in favor of means testing social security and medicare down to $100,000 a year and hope that that saves medicare and social security for another 20 or 30 years? guest: i think it is time to to start the discussion. social security is vital to senior citizens across the country, and it is scheduled to go bankrupt in 20 years. the disability portion is scheduled to run out of money in three years. -- we cannot keep kicking the can down the road. it is time to have a discussion on how to preserve and protect this important program. i hope the discussion can begin because it is very important and we have to protect it. host: what you make of the thatine in "political"

frank lucas said it was deadline week this week, that they need to come to a deal on farm legislation. great, if weld be could get it this week. it it is a good goal. we have been talking about this for three years now. we are at the conference committee stage, so that is encourage. there is agreement on most of the portions. there are three main sections they are discussing, and there are quite a few differences in that area, but let's get it done this week. >> do you think if that happens it becomes some sort of budget deal, because as you are saying, the conference committee is looking at farm subsidies as a way to lower spending. does it get attached to some sort of budget deal? >> i have been -- guest: i have been visiting with some of the budget committee them at this point they say it is not part of

the conversation. it seems like it might be a win- win for both sides. in fondue lake, wisconsin. independent caller. caller: good morning, ladies. happy thanksgiving. i have a question. i talked a lot of people in my hometown, and the question always comes up, who in the heck is really in charge up their? you do not have to answer that. my comment, though, is we are sending billions and billions and billions of dollars to foreign countries every day. they it about time that stop that, at least for a year? put a hold on that for a year and get america back straight again? guest: that comes up at home as well. aboutn aid only makes up 1% of the entire budget, so if you were to cut that out, it would not balance the budget, but it is worth the discussion.

it is time to quit spending money and send it to nations that do not like us and where we do not have a vital u.s. interest. the white house did pass some funding for some of the countries, and we put some stipulations on some others saying you need to follow these guidelines to get our aid. foreign aid is a tool, a diplomatic tool that is important. many times, we do have a vital u.s. interest in other countries . so, it is important that we work with those countries to make sure that they are advancing agendas that would be helpful to us, and spend those dollars wisely. so, i think we should examine each country and see if we have that interest there and either to support isue wanted. ist: didi on twitter, or defense spending considered an impediment, or are we acting too much like an empire.

james has cut the defense budget in half, and america might survive this debt problem, maybe. guest: it is a discretionary spending category, along with all of the other programs in washington, d.c., and put those together, and it makes up 47% of the budget, and i was shocked and i got here two years ago to see how sobering it is -- our debt situation, and the fact that we could cut all of defense, all of the programs in washington, d.c., and we still would not have a balanced budget. we cannot balance the budget on the defense. we have to address the other 60% of the budget, and get back to the constitution. there are only a few things we should be doing, and the number one thing is to provide for common defense. we need to be smart and prioritize that. host: let's go back to the meeting "the washington -- the wall street journal" reported on

with your talk with mitch mcconnell, what did he say, and what was the reaction? guest: he was outlining what he was seeing on the senate side in these negotiations, that we have to continue to try to hold plan, which is reducing the spending, and getting to a balanced budget. that is our ultimate goal. our house much it gets there in 10 years, whereas the senate budget never balances. it raises taxes by $1 trillion. hours does it without raising taxes. i voted against the budget control act that said sequestration in motion, but it has enabled us to reduce discretionary spending for two years in a row, which has not been done since the 1950's, right after the korean war. it is not the best way to do it,

but we preferred to -- and we would prefer to look at programs , but it has become percent goal of starting us on a path to get but it has -- accomplished the goal of starting us on a path to get out of debt. host: "the wall street journal" reports that if a deal is not reached between the budget committee negotiators, the house and senate conference committee, that overall discretionary spending would drop from 986 to 967 billion dollars for fiscal year 2014, with most of the cuts coming from the pentagon. culpepper, virginia. democratic caller. caller: thank you for taking my call. i wanted to ask the representative directly on the line, i believe very, very

strongly that within our lifetime we will end war. i heard her say -- her statistics that it would mean the troops are lower than in world war i, and for the air force and the other services, and i think that is great. democrats come together as strongly as the republicans are, even though they seem idiotic, they stick together. if the american people, the people of america, get together, believe me, we will end war. we do not need it. we do not need to what country. we are already stronger than all of the other major military institutions of the world. we are already stronger. we do not need to spend this word we need to help the american people every any the american people -- this. we to help the american people. listen to me.

host: all right. guest: i certainly wish that was so. i think he is hopeful, but i do not see that is going to happen. if it were up to americans, we would certainly live in peace with everyone in the world, but there are other people in other parts of the world who do not like us and do not appreciate freedom, and there are some real threats out there. we look at north korea, that is a threat. iran, that is a threat. said they groups have want to destroy the united states, and if they have the capability, they could. it is wise for us to be prepared and to be willing not only to defend ourselves, but also our allies. we certainly do not invite work, but we need to be prepared for it. i think it is important that we keep the capabilities that we have, and are able to meet any challenge that might come our way. host: from twitter --

representative hartzler, you represent one of the poorest so don't in missouri, you want medicaid expansion, and why do you want to cut food stamps? a great question, because it is not exactly true. as far as the food stamps situation, we are not, in the farm bill, proposing to cut any food from anybody that qualifies, and it is very important to me that everyone in my district and in this country that needs food assistance, that they get that, because it is very important to families. what we do want to do is get rid of some waste, some fraud, and some abuse in the system and save tax dollars while doing it, so part of the savings would come from just reducing some of those programs, such as right now we are going down into mexico, and we have programs to promote how to sign up for food stamps.

we do not need to be spending money that way. lottery winners are getting food stamps. we also go back to the 1996 welfare reform law that was very successful and signed by democratic president bill clinton that said if you are an able-bodied adult without dependence, so a very small category of people, but in that category, you should be willing, in order to get your snap benefits, and be able to work for 20 my -- 20 hours a week were volunteer for 20 hours a week, or have some sort of work training for 20 hours 20 hours a week. we think that is very reasonable, and that would provide a lot of savings. far as medicaid expansion, that is a state issue, so it is up to the missouri legislature to determine that, so they are the ones discussing that right now. host: as far as the food stamp program being cut, the senate

wants to cut $4.5 billion. the house has a much larger units legislation. is that always, fraud, and abuse? all waste, fraud, and abuse? guest: no. forsenate is not allowing able-bodied dependence, and in the house we stopped categorical eligibility, which is being abused in some states, which basically says if you qualify for one public assistance program, such as energy assistance for your home, automatically, they are giving them food stamps, even though the qualifications are different areas we are just say -- different territory are just saying that everybody should fill out the paperwork for snap, and if you need it, you will get it, but if your income levels did not qualify, you should no longer get the benefit.

host: house republicans want to cut the food stamp program by $39 billion over 10 years. guest: right. 10 years. keep that in mind. host: i want to go back to iran. this is from "the washington post." guest: i disagree with that strongly. i think the president of iran has come to the table because of the sanctions. they are starting to feel the impact of that, and if anything, now with the time we need to be pushing even harder and passing more sanctions, because the deal that secretary of state kerry was willing to approve last week, and thankfully france was the one that said no deal, would have allowed them to continue to

send their centrifuges and enrich uranium. it would not have stopped them. it was called a freeze, but it would allow them to continue that, and they are very close to nuclear weapon capability. you have pledged in the past that if they have a nuclear weapon, that they plan to use it to annihilate israel and the united states. i disagree with that. i think we need to be passing more sanctions, if anything, to force them to stop and sees , -- cease their program and make sure we are safe. this and your thoughts on emerging deal from afghanistan and the united states -- is the headline from "the washington times." in exchange, the united states would apologize for harm that has been done to afghans. ow.st: w

i have not had a chance to read that yet. we need a new security agreement for beyond 2014, one our troops will be out, and i think it is wise to have a presence there to assist the afghan security forces and help them maintain the gains that have been made, think, doesgize, i not make any sense at all because we have helped those people so much. i have had a chance to go there on a congressional delegation, and see firsthand the improvements that we have brought to the lives of the people there. i think, if anything, they should be thanking us for the sacrifices and the service, and the dollars and resources we have put into their country. "the new yorkhow says" describes it -- they months of fraud negotiations

guest: wow. aroundred of us going the world apologizing for things that we have done that have actually helped other countries, and we have used tax dollars. i hope that will not be accepted and we can work out a deal without that. host: lauryn hill wants to go back to the discussion about the pentagon, saying that half of the civilian jobs, and have the contractors, as they feed off each other using american money. guest: it is important is he where cuts can be made, but overall, as we can tell, with training being sidelined, it is very damaging right now to our national defense. we need to replace those defense cuts. host: danny.

nevada, missouri. republican caller. caller: good morning. i would like for you to address what i have heard reported very little, and we have done in conflict, which is as the afghan war is dying down, we are destroying billions of dollars worth of equipment that i feel could be recycled. i understand there are lots of things that can not be, but there are a lot that can be. in the past, they push things into the ocean just to get rid of it. a buchanan like me a little bit. -- maybe you can enlighten me a little bit. guest: thank you for calling me. thank you for your question. i have dissipated in several hearings on that very question, the drawdown, -- participated in

several hearings on that very question, the drawdown, and how they will do it. back a lot of equipment, as well as troops, and each piece of equipment goes through an assessment process to determine if it makes sense financially for the taxpayer to bring it home because they have to transport it out, drive it many times,, pakistan, and then put it on a ship or transport it by playing back -- playing back here -- plane back here. they need to do the maintenance, and bring it back to readiness to use. some equipment has been destroyed just in the course of the conflict. other equipment, which is too expensive, they deem, to bring home, that is worn out, but , sometimesome use they are giving it to allies or working out an agreement with

afghanistan, transitioning. i felt better about it after participating in that hearing. hearing the commanders explain how that is being done. they are doing it in a prudent manner. they are not destroying anything just for the sake of destroying it. it will be brought home, we fabricated, or given to the allies, so there will not be any waste. host: rake in mooresville, indiana. independent caller. caller: i have a question for the representative. host: go ahead. caller: isn't it true that in afghanistan and also iraq, we had duplicated spending? we have soldiers trained to support our troops, and we have private companies like halliburton and kbr that are doing the same jobs our individuals are trained to do. now, if we're going to spend money here, how are we going to

train our troops and duplicate the same spending? cut, by thes be a privatizing our military? that is question one. you mentioned the keystone pipeline. during the construction of the keystone pipeline, and i heard this in the senate and i watch the sun c-span, -- watched this on c-span. it would create 2500 jobs during the construction, but after the construction, only 45 jobs would exist after the construction. how would this help our economy, and does it not only benefit one group, corporate spending, corporate america? guest: ok. great questions. i know, and i have heard stories about iraq. i've only been here two and a half years, so i have dealt more with afghanistan. this point of at private contractors duplicating the missions that are going on

right now with our troops in afghanistan. primarily, we have the army providing grounds to -- ground troop support to the afghan security forces that are in charge of the security operations. the air force is providing air support with airplanes, and that is mainly the missions now. we are doing training of afghan security forces. those are the main missions right now. as we said, they are bringing out the troops, so to schedule they will be out by the end of 2014, the president has said. control tosferring the afghans at this point, as far as that goes. as far as the keystone pipeline, yes, it will provide a lot of jobs during the construction, and they will not be maintained forever, but during that time, it will give a boost to the economy, and it is just one example of things that can be done. we have a pipeline going through my district now from another canadian company that had the authority already to do that

because they were just connecting the current pipeline from illinois to oklahoma, that i could tell you it is six miles from my house, and the little town that i am from, archie, has seen a huge boom. economy, by having all those -- boom to their economy by having an economic peopleit is bringig boost. anything that we can do help set the time and certainly it would be very popular. we did a show from cushing, oklahoma, about the pipeline companies that run pipes all over our country, including canada, have been doing so for years, and how it all comes to cushing, oklahoma, one of the largest facilities in the country. we interviewed the folks from ridge -- -- and

embridge. i have heardr nothing but the same tired rhetoric from the 2012 elections . more tax cuts for the job creators. has it worked in 30 years of reaganomics? stamps, 75 per month in suit -- in food stamps, cut to $17. i'm a disabled person. i can literally get out of bed most of the time. cutblicans do not want to food stamps? you want to cut welfare? but corporate welfare. make sure they pay a rate comparable to those who work at walmart. national security? how about you guys sign-up and do a tour over there. you are going to send one percent of our population to go fight? your heads time for

to kick in. the bill that we were talking about, reforming the snap program, has not passed yet , so i do not know how in your case your food stamps have been cut, but that is not something we are talking about today. i am sorry to hear that. it is important that we provide for national defense and i appreciate so much the volunteer army that we have, the navy, the marines, the air force. we have such brave, courageous men and women willing to volunteer their service and defend our country. that is what our country has relied on for their security since the beginning. we are thankful for the founding fathers and those who fought in the revolutionary war all the way through. it is important that we in congress support them and provide them with the tools they need in order to keep not only themselves saved to come home

safe to their family, but also to protect the interests of our nation and make sure that future generations enjoy the freedom that we enjoy, that is what we are trying to do. balance everything and provide for defense. the story this morning in "the new york times," regarding syria and efforts to destroy chemical weapons, what do you think about this -- as a member of the armed services committee. unwilling to -- unable to find a country willing to destroy the weapons, u.s. is considering placing them on a barge where they would be dissolved or incinerated. the systems under review involved destroying the precursor material used to form withcal munitions operational chemicals being destroyed separately. under one plan five incinerators operating at a temperature of 2700 degrees --

host: have you have -- have you heard about this proposal? what do you think? i heard about it in a classified setting and am surprised to see it in the news. but yes, getting rid of the precursor ingredients, it is not until they are combined that it actually becomes lethal. mechanisms to do that. i am encouraged by the progress that has been made. i very much opposed u.s. involvement in that conflict and was glad that the president did congressional opinion and approval for that, because i did not see a direct u.s. interest. at first i was kind of skeptical of the deal, with russia willing

to come in and broker the deal, but so far serious has cooperated. has cooperated. the international teams are on the ground, which was a huge acknowledgment, that they had them, and syria helped to identify the sites, the international teams inspected that. now begins the difficult part of actually dismantling the chemicals. with the ongoing conflict there, that is not going to be easy, transporting them out to do that. you are surprised this is in the news because you learned about it in a classified briefing. is there harm that this is in the news? guest: i do not think so. you are just getting more into the specifics of how it would be done. it was only shared with us originally and a classified

setting. tony, republican caller, california. youer: does it not concern about the legislation that republicans would send to the desk of obama especially after what he did with obamacare, just changing things at will and the whole country finding out that obama and all democrats are nothing but bald-faced lies -- bald-faced liars? they are not going to follow this. we need to wait until these democrats are gone -- believe me they will be gone by next november. our ---guest: -- guest: congress isoal in to get the economy going, create jobs, address the concerns of americans. one of them right now is addressing the health care system. there are many national security and agriculture areas that we can work on. i am hopeful that we can find

some common ground. this year in the house we are taking up energy bills. there is a lot of agreement that we need to remain and become energy independent in america on foreigny so much oil or countries that do not even like us. let's work on ways that we can increase our energy output here in our own country, hopefully the president will go along with that as well. we were sent here to work, not just sit around. for the future we are here to address issues and find solutions and that is what i want to do. richmond, virginia, thank you for taking my call -- richmond, virginia. thank you, vicki. are the corporate military spending. the profit margins.

i have not heard you mention that. we had a vice president who was chairman of the board of what i was told was the largest u.s. contractor at the time. why do we need black ops when we have rangers and navy seals? why do we need halliburton when we have privates to drive the trucks in and out of war zones? i do not understand this. i am an independent and i am concerned about my country. you were talking about sending the troops over and how grateful you are for them. i coached high school full all, a lot of these people do not have options. the military is their only option other than getting into debt with student loans and agrees that will not get them jobs. when are we going to roll up our sleeves and get to the table? another thing i would like to know, how much time do you spend in a 40 hour work week getting to washington? time do you spend is

speaking to your constituents? guest: you covered a lot there, we have a lot in common. i used to be a high school track coach and teacher for many years. i loved teenagers. i know you do, too. that is part of what motivates me to do the best possible to make sure our young people have as bright of a future and as much opportunity as we have had. as far as the defense contractors and their profit margins, i do not know, specifically, but it is done through a bidding process. each time there is a contract procured. so, they compete for the lowest price there. that is very important, that we keep that competition to get the best bang for the buck as a taxpayer in that regard. so, it is important that we continue to look at that and make sure the money is spent wisely. as far as the 20 hours per week

and lobbyists, i would say very, very little. maybe one per week that i see in the hallway or something that i say hi to, probably not more than half an hour, maybe an hour out of a 40 hour week. there is not as much of it as people think. mostly, intime, hearings on armed services. i have a lot of them every week. probably three hours or four hours of hearings every week on the budget committee and agriculture committee. visiting with constituents, we had a telephone town hall last are havingb and we another one tonight in different parts of my district with different constituents from home coming to visit. we have an opportunity to visit with them. i could not say the number of hours, but certainly that is my focus. i work for the people of the fourth district of missouri. that is where the good ideas

come from. i want to hear from them. together i think we can find solutions for our country. times,"he washington reporting this morning, the headline -- "the senate and house at odds over what to do with detainees in guantanamo bay." what would you like to see happen? i would like to see us maintain the status quo. i do not support bringing them to this country to have their hearings and trials. i think that they need to stay under military tribunal and we tried that way. not support releasing these detainees and sending them back home. the ones that happened, at least a large percentage of them have backd right around, come and gotten involved in al qaeda and whatever terrorist network they are, implementing attacks against ourselves, our troops, or our allies. i support the house version.

another contentious debate on the floor over this legislation, sexual assault in the military. there are two different proposals, one would take it out of the chain of command, the justice system. what do you think should happen? guest: i support keeping it in the chain of command, but adding the provisions that the house added, which gives a lot more protections and advocates for the victims and prevention programs. we added many, many different provisions there to address those concerns. if this passes the senate, the bodies have to get together in conference committee. what is the deadline for passing the authorization bill? of the year.d this is a bright spot in washington, it has passed for 51 years in a row. even though there is gridlock on many other topics, this is

something that is prioritized and is a bipartisan effort on defense. i am hopeful and feel confident we will get it done again. the senate will continue their debate, look for coverage on c-span two this morning. lori, los angeles, hello. i have a question to ask the representative. strongly about social security, medicare, and medicaid. my husband has cancer and epilepsy. if you cut social security, medicare, medicaid, my husband would literally die. first, know that many discussions on that deal with future programs and what they would look like. we would not do anything to harm you or your husband right now. that. there about are some changes that can be made and need to be made to preserve it for the future.

with the money in these funds scheduled to run out, depending on the program you are talking about, the three years for social security disability, 10 years for medicare part a, social security is more like 20 years, it is time and it is prudent to take steps to preserve them. we cannot just keep kicking the can down the road, but people need to rest assured whether you are a senior citizen or a person on disability or social security or medicare that the people here as we have these discussions are going to be very, very conscience of the need that people have and that is what is driving us to want to try to preserve these programs, they are very important to people. promises have been made and they deserve these benefits and we want to make sure they are there for the future. host: congresswoman vicki hartzler, thank you for speaking

to our viewers. guest: thank you. digitale next topic, currency, federal agencies want to regulate it, we will talk about that coming up next. first a news update from c-span radio. >> news on the economy at this hour, retail sales rose four percent in october, up from a flat reading in september. the rise is the largest in four months. october retail sales indicate that consumers stepped up spending at the start of the quarter. spending for consumers accounts for 70% of economic activity. the labor department says that the consumer price index fell last month, down from a 0.2% gain in september. the decrease was primarily due to a drop in gasoline prices. the largest since april. over the last 12 months overall prices have increased one

percent, well below the federal reserve's inflation target. turning to foreign policy, this morning senator marco rubio gives a speech on that subject. the politico playbook says the florida republican will push for a steadier and abroad with more diplomacy and foreign aid had of military force. the foreigno, on relations and intelligence committees reportedly consulted widely as he prepared for that speech. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. we bring public affairs events from washington directly to you, putting you in the room at congressional hearings, briefings, conferences, offering complete gavel-to-gavel coverage of the house all as a public service of private industry. c-span, created by the cable television industry 30 years ago. funded by your cable or satellite tv provider. now you can watch us in hd.

>> if you are a middle school our high school student, the c- span student cam competition wants to know what the most important issue is that congress should address next year. you have a chance of the grand 100,000 $5,000, with dollars in total prizes. get more info at studentcam.org. >> "washington journal" continues. on wednesdays we take a look at our spot line -- spotlight magazine articles, today taking a look at "wired magazine." inside there is this piece, "how to say bit cloying." the author is joining us -- bit tcoin." -- bi the author is joining us this morning. let's start with -- what is bit

coin? a form of money born in the digital age for the digital era. to sendway for people money back and forth that is as close to friction free as we have ever seen. it is simultaneously indicative inthe explosive growth interest in alternative currencies, alternative to the euro, what have you, yet it is completely unique and unlike anything we have ever really seen in the past when it comes to different kinds of money out there. host: how is it used? it is used to send money from me to you, down the street or in singapore, to buy and sell goods and services online. products,everyday sometimes services. the street, down

here in portland, or as a lot of us have heard, for more nefarious purposes, like purchasing drugs online. one thing they offer that is both enticing to a lot of people and worrisome to law enforcement is that it provides a cloak of anonymity that is almost on par with a cash transaction. in other words if you buy drugs from someone on the street with cash, it is pretty much an untraceable transaction, unlike credit cards. it coined offers something very close to anonymity -- is something very close to anonymity. on the other side of the coin, do you track how this stuff in a civil society? we need to track the income that people are bringing in so that we can tax it. host: is it a currency or a

commodity? guest: sundays it feels like people are talking about it as the latest version of cash and other days like it is gold, because it has this limited which is frustrating to people who are worried about the fate of the u.s. dollar. if we just keep issuing more and more dollars, does that not deflate the value of the dollar in our pocket? it is hard to know exactly which one of these things bitcoin is, because money serves multiple functions. it is a medium of exchange, a standard account, store of value. so, what on earth is bitcoin? it is a currency because anything can be a currency. as long as people engage in the transaction and infuse the currency with value by way of

their faith. if you believe that these uncut rubies that i am holding are a sufficient payment for the pizza that you just made and want to sell to me, bingo, we can have a transaction. , wampum feathers shells, japanese yen. in that sense, bitcoin is another currency. on the other hand it is something more, it is almost like the internet of money. from a technical standpoint it is an open source platform. we can build on it and build things out of it. it is a currency, but it is much more than that and we are already seeing just a hint of what that could be with products like an e-mail service that you to use the platform for protect the anonymity and privacy of your e-mail correspondence. so, it really has nothing to do with the currency. currency hasw,

caught fire of late, these were the hearings yesterday in washington. severalght, there were hearings on capitol hill taking a look at digital currency and what it all means. but how could it be currency? isn't a nickel a nickel? a dollar a dollar? when you look at the value of bitcoin, the price range from five dollars per bitcoin to $20, than april 1 to may 1 the price ranged from $79 to $237 per bitcoin. and then you have seen it trade just recently at $400 per bitcoin. host: in the past day or two it has --guest: in the past day or two it has shot up to even $700. these hearings, with government officials saying that with a number of caveats there is nothing explicitly wrong or illicit about bit point or other

digital currencies, for that matter, but you are absolutely right, the value is all over the map. these price fluctuations, and this is what i tried to cover for "wired," the price fluctuations are very scary to the everyman. if you do not understand how the technology works, unless you are filthy rich it seems too risky to engage in this kind of speculation. this is -- what some people say is the achilles' heel of bitcoin , other people are just calling it the early days and something inevitable, you will see speculative value much more than trade value. in other words 20 years from now let's say that bitcoin really takes hold, more and more people own and transact with it. theoretically, will settle down as people use it to buy and sell goods online, much as they do with the dollar and

the euro. that is a huge? . no one knows if that will actually happen. again, the volatility in the price is what scares people. but the idea that price volatility by itself somehow disqualifies bitcoin from being a currency is nonsense. the somali schilling is a currency. u.s. dollar is remarkably stable, but it's value still function waits because it is not anchored to any real-world substance that you can dig out of the ground. are attributes to national currency, currency issued by central banks that gives them more stability. one is just the fact that most of us are using those currencies for almost everything, so that widespread acceptance and use of this form of money for a medium

of exchange, for value, for a standard unit of account, this kind of settles the price down, but again, it still moves, but bitcoin is sort of getting tossed around in the wind because it is so completely new. -- recentrecent vista discussion and disclosure of interest in bitcoin, that is when everyone is sort of jumping in the pool and kind of money managers will say investors, woe, woe, backup. this looks like a bubble. host: in this piece that you wrote you say it is time to take it mainstream. how do you do that? well, there are a couple of things that could happen. the idea in the east that frankly agitates a lot of super users of bitcoin is the notion that although bitcoin's magic and power comes from the fact ist it is decentralized, it

not a currency issued from on high by a central bank. it is controlled by this network of users and computers that monitor and keep track of all the transactions. it is a mathematically based currency, new bitcoin are created based on algorithm, not the decision-making skills of individuals sitting around a mahogany table. i wanted to interrupt, because i wanted this to be clear, there is no centralization to this. no federal reserve. guest: exactly, and this is what makes bitcoin unlike anything we have seen before. this facet is really exciting to a lot of people who are again worried about the long-term value of a national currency controlled by a central bank. it is also attractive, frankly, of the supereople

libertarian stripe, worried control,ernment privacy, want to return to the gold standard, they like the idea of a currency that has value that government cannot touch. indeed, that is a very powerful, if not world changing idea. another way to think about that is that there is no there there to shut down. it becomesk that if too problematic, law enforcement can shut it down, but they cannot. it would be like shutting down the internet. you can try, you can nibble around the edges -- for example, there are bitcoin exchanges that help individuals convert u.s. dollars in two bitcoin or back and forth, you can shut down exchange -- indeed, some have been shut down because they were involved in criminal endeavors, but you cannot shut down bitcoin . this is sort of a magical aspect of this new form of money.

how do you take it mainstream? problem, issue, or the is this price volatility. the everyman, when you are not superrich, you do not want to engage in that kind of risky activity with your money. you certainly do not want to do nominate your children's college fund into bitcoin anytime soon. how can you do this online using bitcoin? the idea that really rattled a lot of enthusiasts is that maybe it requires a little bit of centralized control. when you say those words, you infuriate all sorts of bitcoin enthusiasts, because their default mode of thinking is that now you are talking about a central bank, a federal reserve, human beings deciding this stuff, not mathematics. they think that not only is that garbage, but it changes exactly how bit point works. what i would say in response is

that we still need some kind of guard rails in effect to keep the currency within a reasonable boundary so that the boundary is not so low or high that you get this spiraling out of control that will just send everyone fleeing for a safer form of money. in fact we have seen hints of this already. there is a group behind bitcoin in a way that has stepped in on thesion to make sure software is working smoothly and that these transactions are being settled appropriately. i just do not think it is outlandish to think that that could make limited controls to provide a guard rail for bitcoin. one swing too far to the left or right and maybe that would make it more reasonable to the everyman. that is step one.

step two, of course, is showing the everyman that this is incredibly value -- valuable to you. having to pay two percent, three percent, four percent for every credit card charge out there -- right away this is like what bit point is doing that is attractive to merchants, you are talking about frictionless or nearly frictionless form of money or payment transaction. so-called person-to-person transaction. you are cutting out the middleman. by just getting money from me to you. this is why people talk about virtual currency as revolutionary and why a lot of the levelheaded discussions during the hearings in washington this week talked about the potential, the positive potential of something for the economy as a whole and for consumers. oft: we covered a couple

those hearings here on c-span. for viewers who are interested, they should go to our website, www.c-span.org the headline yesterday was "virtual cash -- www.c-span.org. the headline yesterday was "virtual cash increases problems around the world." we have this twitter message -- no, not at all. for me this is what is so exciting about the future of money. really know -- i started this project a couple of fête,ago, looking at the possibly the dubious fate of the u.s. dollar, specifically in its cash iteration. we are not talking about the death of the dollar, we are talking about paper money. at the time i thought that this was kind of the two-part valentine, one part eulogy to

these rectangular slips of paper that we all have this unique relationship with. something that was both dazzling and a dizzying happened when i put the dollar under the microscope, figuratively and literally. you start to learn about not just where currency comes from and the history of the dollar, but where it is going and what it could be in the future. in the digital realm, money could be and really already is taking all kinds of different shapes. again, because anything can be a currency as long as the users infuse it with value by way of their faith and by using it. the dollar, for example. nothing makes a dollar worth a dollar except that our belief that it is valuable and our confidence that some third party will accept it as payment later. e, there no there ther

is no gold in a vault somewhere, it is just paper that we have come to accept based on the full faith and trust of the u.s. government, etc. it is the same thing with alternative currencies that we see sprouting up -- ithaca, new york, has something called ithaca hours. them in the berkshires, massachusetts. anything can be a currency. in the digital realm, there is nothing stopping us from having -- i am holding my hand up like this all the time because i am picturing on your mobile phone what is essentially a rainbow of different currency options to make payments at a merchant or online, depending on which which transaction, makes the most sense for you as a consumer in that particular moment. host: i was just thinking, that sounds very complicated.

that future of deciding which currency to use the side -- based on what you are buying. yes and no. 10 years ago my default mode was to picture a cash register. you would be crazy to think that it would be yen, euros, dollars, pesos, etc.. you are going to provide correct change in all of these? convertd you be able to the proper exchange rate in that time and place? yourobile ubiquity in pocket, you have these computers that can do all of this convergence on the fly. present to people the obvious value proposition. an example that i like to use, it sounds cutesy on the surface but it is legitimate, i think, something like airline miles or, even more so, disney dollars.

that is a community currency that you use at disney land when you go there to buy and sell on- site. now, if i am going to emerge and by a latte, computer, new paris sneak her, and they say -- if you transact using disney dollars, when you have them in your virtual wallet, when you take your family 14 months from now and you use the disney dollars there, you will receive what amounts to a 15% discount on all of your transactions. for a lot of families on the margin financially, they have been saving for years and years to go for a family of five, this is a lot of money in savings. on theseem confusing surface to have this rainbow of currency options, but once people see the value in using this currency, they will do so.

the fact that airline miles are already so popular and being used by people to buy trips or hotel reservations, rental cars? that is proof that this kind of thing can fly. and of course, government has no problem with it as long as the airline miles you are issuing do not look too much like the u.s. dollar in their physical form and you are not advertising them loudly as a competitor to the u.s. dollar. david wolman, i have to get to our callers hear. he is the author of "the end of counterfeiters, preachers, techies, dreamers, the coming cashless society." texas, good morning. caller: i am going to speak by going in the wind, from here to there, but you will see the

point i am coming to. some of my educated words are not too well. i will show you what i have directed. russia, canada, america, the tri-force. there will be a different alignment. america taking over this world -- not this world, but with the war there will be a new relief formed. this goes back to the blue action -- goes back to the ancient greeks. there will be a new testament. there will be certain zones for churches, some of them will pay their tithes to the federal administration. governingnati and the of the stars, bringing the balances together, this will link us universally in the ocean , putting pressure on the court, causing earthquakes for the zoning of oil. host: ok, i am going to leave it

there and move on to a tweet. guest: that is a great question. i do not actually know if you can borrow in bit coin. my guess is that they do not exist, but i would like to hear from people who know otherwise. this is indicative of the fact that bitcoin is so unique. will there be banking services? will there be an online wallet that holds onto it for you wetjen market could you ever get credit? could you denominate a mortgage? i do not know about the interest rate question and it remains to be seen if bitcoin will mature

in that fashion and be embraced by the more formal banking sector or if it will remain within the purview of the technocrat. tom, good morning. can you hear me ok? -- can you hear me ok? the one thing that scares me aret bitcoin, there countries that feel that the american dollar is insubstantial , nothing that we can depend on as we have in the past. americans do not realize that if a terrorist wants to buy oil somewhere,arabia or they have to change the money into american dollars. the american dollar is used as the basis for trade and whatnot throughout the world. a lot of people feel, though, that america cannot be defended anymore.depended upon if they decide to pay in other forms of money or exchanges to

use the sides the american dollar, people hate the central bank because they print out all the money, but people have confidence that the money coming from the central bank is good money, that it can be used throughout the world to keep our economy going. host: tom, those are your concerns with bitcoin? caller: something to the point where the american dollar is under pressure. host: david wolman? preciselys is representative of the anxieties that people have about the state of national currencies and our government, that it is driving people toward bitcoin. you can think a lot about digital gold. you have to think again of this idea, the full faith and trust of the u.s. government. what makes one dollar one dollar? that is our case with issuing institutions.

behind that faith is the government. if you do not have faith in the decision-making that the government is conducting to protect the value of the currency over the long term, you are going to look for something else. this is why i imagine, greta, you do not denominate your kids college fund in somalia shillings, because you do not have faith in the currency. with the government shutdown and everything before that, the fiscal cliff, the confidence of people in the dollar is being rattled because their confidence in washington's ability to get anything done has been shaken. that being said, the status of the dollar as the so-called reserve currency of the world is not in jeopardy anytime soon. most international transactions are still settled in dollars. most central banks the world over pay for money unreserved so that they can buy and sell

currency to adjust their own prices. one way to think about it, the thread from cormac mccarthy, if you completely lose faith in the u.s. dollar you might as well go get your blankets and your guns. all currency values are free- floating. they are all tethered to the u.s. dollar, but the dollar is not tethered to anything. there is no why are correct -- connecting it to the ground with some real-world substance. when you start to really worry -- is the u.s. dollar hyper inflating into the heavens? it could lead you down this line of tanking that frankly it's kind of scary and i just do not think that that is going to happen. although i sympathize with the caller's concerns, i just think that for better or for worse we

in thistied together endeavor of protecting the value of the dollar. host: we have this tweet -- that is a great question. i think that with venture capitalists right now, the mentality is that these early days, at least some of the people i have talked to, the early days are now like the early days of the internet. nobody outside silicon valley really understood what it was or what the potential might be. a lot of people outside silicon it as aoh-pooh'd frivolous experiment. i think a lot of people in silicon valley are trying to look the on what is today an obvious bubble in the speculative value of bitcoin.

what they are seeing is less the kind of super libertarian i do not want to be a participant in ideal, they are actually seeing this marvelous tool for online transaction, this idea of peer to peer money. the internet has never really deliver that to us as consumers. people in silicon valley, when they talk about e-commerce, that is what they are thinking about with peer to peer transactions. that is where they see it as potentially the most powerful. whether you are a mom and pop shop of eight people or a giant corporation. least i seee at venture capitalists primary .nterest in bitcoin as far as cozying up to legislators, does that suggest motivert of alternative or nefarious purpose? i do not really know, but i do think that the fact that a lot

of people who are positive about bitcoin, they are not just posting blogs about how they do not ever want to pay their taxes and by carolyn. aey are saying that this is new and legitimate form of money and if it is going to be that, we need to embrace regulation and regulators and help them to understand what it is and help them establish parameters so that it can become enmeshed in the financial system, so that it does not flee overseas and all of the usage and innovation. we do not want the usage to flee overseas because that would potentially leave the u.s. and outcon valley entrepreneurs of what is potentially a great profit. we are talking about bitcoin, its value, what it all moot -- and what it all means. this tweet --

host: here on the cnbc website, they have a look at the value of was 550 the last trade two dollars. larry, go ahead. caller: good morning there, greta. ok, so let me tell you something there, the boy had a song in memphis and it was that i owe my so to the company to the company store. we did that with our currency and the goaltender. you are forgetting -- well, you are young. you are forgetting that legal

tender only came about because gold became too hard to carry around. earlier we went on the barter system, meaning you had to learn a trade, i had to learn a trade, we benefited each other. people did not need each other's crafts and all they had to do to develop legal tender was have gold. instead of the gold standard we went on the person standard. it in other words, we employed people. have fewer people employed and taxes are not coming like they should be. copper is becoming emptier and emptier. what we do not need is another way for people to own their soul to the company store, to bring us back around to the metaphor, we need something that enhances everyone to learn to do something besides gather and collect money, which has been easier and easier, the ones and zeros in the computer.

, yourdavid wolman thoughts? guest: well, it is all just zeros and ones on the computer. this is the idea that frightens a lot of people. even if you are not talking about bitcoin, the fact that most money today is already digital. so much of it vaporized, all of that value was gone a few years ago with the financial meltdown. it is your caller, to me analogous to the way that people think about gold. they are just so worried about the dollar and where it might go , they want something that they perceived to be is more stable. in a way, these people are perfect potential bitcoin users because of this idea that bitcoin has a limited supply and that the algorithm has set a limit on how many will be out there.

21 million coins will be created or issued and that is it. that is exactly why it is not a viable currency, some say, but others say that this is precisely why it will thrive and have strong value into the future. we will see which camp is right. the gao is reporting that there may be as many as 11 bid: --bitcoins. mike, new york, go ahead. caller: did you speak to a constitutional lawyer or expert on this piece? in section eight, section 10, it states that only congress can coin money, no one else can coin money. i think the reason these people are going to congress now to lobby them is to try to buy them

off so that they can make it legal to coin their own money. guest: well, i did not look into that for the essay we are talking about, but in writing about "the end of money," i looked into that and more, and the reality is that much more innovation with currency is permissible under the law than most of us might think upon first glance. where we run into problems, actually, is if you start to mint coins that look very much like a u.s. nickel, dime, or quarter, that is going to get you in trouble. the same thing, of course, for counterfeit engine mins. but the boundary between what is and is not permissible currency is really not clear. some of those things are clear -- if you make a representation that looks too much like a $100

bill, you will get in trouble, you are a counterfeiter. but with something like bitcoin, disney dollars, airline miles, , facebook credits -- there are all kinds of new forms of money being born all the time and they are not illegal. when we talk about beagle tender -- frankly, this is something before writing the book that i misunderstood, i thought legal tender was -- you have to use dollars. that is not the case. it only means that if i owe you money and i have a debt that is denominated in dollars, we have agreed that that is my debt. when i come to pay it in dollars you cannot subsequently say to me know, you have to pay me in euros, what have you. it is all for settling debts, but there is nothing from stopping me from pain you with

airline miles for your goods and services. , to questionslman from twitter -- i can do my best. the first one, how can you as acipate in bitcoin, copy out right now, it does really look like it is -- caveat right now, it does look very expensive. i would not advocate for anyone anyone without excess money to jump into the fray. but if you do want to participate in bitcoin, do some reading online first and foremost. the best access point is probably one of these exchanges. much like a currency exchange window at an airport where you are going to change your dollars your trip tor

europe, you go to a currency exchange online and you can change dollars into bitcoin. you buy some and then you have them in a virtual wallet that you can the ploy as you see fit. so, that is one. as far as how it differs from , paypal is a way to settle a transaction that is relatively swift and is enabling online transactions for merchants that really did change the world, but paypal transactions are still kind of wrapped up in the credit card network. to open a paypal account, you still need to give them credit card information. are takingn, you this virtual alternative currency and using it directly for the exchange of goods and services you are acquiring. you are leaving the credit card industry, the banks, the national currencies out of the equation when you are using it.

host: we have this message from twitter -- host: let me add to that, what are miners? (202) 737-0002 who will --guest: who will be using it is whoever wants to. there is this chicken and egg problem, because i am not going to use bitcoin if no merchants around me will accept it. for the merchants the problem is ash why would i go through the trouble of making it possible for my business to accept this if i do not see any consumers out there who really want to use it? there is this chicken and a difficulty, but nevertheless a lot of people are already using and sell a lot of things online. the same question, miners, this gets more into the nitty-gritty

of how the distributed network of bitcoin works. one way i like to think about bitcoin is like a 19th-century merchants ledger of all the transactions coming in and out, except this ledger is not just sitting on one shopkeeper's desk, this ledger is distributed over the entire network. so, every transaction denominated in bitcoin is recorded in the ledger. the process of doing that recording, of validating the transaction, is also known as mining. in that process, people's computers out there are settling a transaction and also performing these computational puzzles and they are rewarded with new bitcoin when they do so, when they win the race. that process is also known as mining. next.john, you are

portsmouth, ohio, republican caller. guest: my question is such -- governments thrive off of taxes. they use this to pay their employees, to pay your congressman, your president, to pay their soldiers, to pay for their warmish scenes. how are they going to tax this throughout the world so that governments get their money? i will take the answer off the air. guest: a great question, and right now they have no idea how to. that is the short answer. that is partially why these hearings are taking place. but for a bit of perspective, even though bitcoin is in the press right now and the value has skyrocketed recently, it is still such a miniscule fraction of the modern economy that i do not think government is too worried about it yet. having said that, if you are making tens of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin with

your new venture a few years from now, the irs is going to want some of that. have aw, people different feeling about that, depending on the politics. but there is no question that this is a puzzle for governments and for tax collecting agencies. host: one of our viewers says -- michael, bloomington, indiana, independent caller. i just had aer: comment. well, a few comments. your question earlier about borrowing,ding and there is already a healthy economy in this. several third parties who provide security services for transactions between peer to peer lending. number two, the a coin --bitcoin

bitcoin ledger is a secured by is secured by cryptology. whether it becomes the currency currenciesd or not, are heading in this direction of cryptographic security, because method ofs the safest for taking current sees from double spending or counterfeiting. exchanges are [indiscernible] -- host: the average person is getting pretty confused at this point. can you explain what michael is

talking about there? guest: another way to think about it, if bitcoin fails for some reason, there will be -- if not already are, 8, 18, or 38 bitcoin-likeoi innovations out there in the wings. i mentioned in the ledger earlier that tracks all the transactions. he is right that the identities involved in the transactions, those participants are rejected by cryptography. is so closebitcoin to being anonymous is a medium of exchange. almost as good as cash when it comes to protecting your privacy . but it is not anonymous in that all the transactions are tracked on this ledger. that is crucial with this issue of double spending. in other words how do you stop

someone from turning the 20 bitcoin into 40 bitcoin because they are good at computer coding? this is the answer, you have this enormous ledger tracking the transactions so that once a spent, not only can you see that it has been spent, but everyone in the network and see it has been spent. this is part of the power and isic and ruler of bitcoin the crypto currency of the future. host: we are running out of time, quickly, who started bitcoin? guest: nobody knows. to me this is another ingredient in the power of this currency. a currency needs trust and faith for people to use it and for it to have value and i think that the mysterious creation myth of bitcoin is part of the magic of conjuring this value. there is a name for this guy or group of guys out there, but no one kn