corporations, it makes for stronger economic growth in general. so we espouse it. we push it. we try to help those not now doing it get into it in a bigger wa way. >> john with cq. how would you like to see medicare changed to ease burdens on the young? >> that is a -- something we're talking a great deal about. talking a lot of people about it. think there are three or four issues. first of all, medicare costs are unbelievable for a lot of reasons. we have to find ways to provide the services that medicare provides with three or four changes. you're probably going to have to do something a little more on the copays. you have to look very carefully,

you know. we had a great program that helped us on the pharmaceuticals, which is a huge issue. how are you going to do that? it's about costs and delivery systems. and it's really about intelligent use by the medicare participants of the system. by the way, it's also about -- i hate to say this, because this is always everybody's argument how you fix government spending. they say get rid of the waste, afraid and abuse. there is a good deal of fraud in the medicare system. not by our every-day retirees. there are a whole series of things to work on. the real thing that will be looked at is medicaid. that's growing faster than others. i will tell everybody and take the last question. over against that wall on this side there are a whole lot of really smart people that know about trade, know about energy, know about medicare, medicaid, health care, they know about legal reform, they know it all.

and i told them to come down here, they would learn something from you. after we finish, if you want to ask them what our views are, they're a lot smarter than i am. it's one of our rules around here is we don't hire people who don't know it better than marty and i know it. the last question is -- >> tom, andy sullivan with voters. you mentioned education reform. i'd like to hear more about what specifically you think needs to happen. do state and local governments need to spend more? do we need to make it easier for charter schools to open up should there be vouchers to allow public school students to attend private schools? what other things need to happen? >> first of all, we paint or k through 12 schools through the same brush when we talk about it. you know, there are a lot of k through 12 schools in this country where our kids get great educations. tremendous educations. and they come out and they go to

good colleges, or they come out and they go to good crafts, service industries, or they come out and just get a job. but they can read, right, calculate, think about things, know something about the world. they got a great education. the real question -- i'd like to change your question is what will we do about that 30%, whatever the number, 40% that are disadvantaged? that are -- they lack equal opportunity because of those schools. and when you look at those schools, it's sort of like anything else we do. it's like running your business. it's leadership. it's quality people. it's a clear set of objectives. it's a way of measuring what we're doing. you know, the question about money, we spend more money on education than we ever did and more anybody ever did.

we need to spend it smartly. i think charter schools bring something to the party. i think, you know, having some sets of standards. look, the core standards don't tell you how you have to teach people. they tell you what these kids have to come out of your school learning. i think the how is there. whether it was the republican education department or whether it's democrats or whether it's -- though the union issues are a little different amongst those what we have to do are pretty clear. what i'd like people to focus ia black and white deal. we have a lot of good ones, let's see what they're doing. we're anxious on working on that. if we can get everybody first mad and then concerned about this on a specific number -- not only the whole system, that we

can begin to make progress. look, thank you very much for your patience. thanks for coming to do this all the time. we appreciate your coverage during the year. those folks will be happy to talk to you. if you really want to know what's going to go on in the fed, ask marty. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

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>> on the next "washington journal," republican and democratic political strategist join us to talk about the 2014 and 2016 elections in the agenda ahead in congress. then we discuss the legacy of resident lyndon johnson's war on poverty and today's social programs. "washington journal," live every morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> the deadline is approaching videospan's student cam competition, open to middle school and high school students, answering the question -- what's the most important issue congress should address this year? there's $100,000 in total prizes with a grand prize of our thousand dollars. entries are due by january 20.

get more information at studentcam.org. radio address,y president obama called on congress to extend unemployment insurance for over one million americans and outlined his plan for economic growth and job creation. mississippiran from has the republican response. he outlines his objection to the health care law. >> hi, everybody. yesterday, we learned that in 2013, our businesses created 2.2 million jobs, including 70,000 last month. our employment rate is the lowest -- unemployment rate is the lowest it has been since 2008, and across our broader economy, there are signs of progress. our manufacturing and housing sectors are rebounding. energy, technology, and automotive sectors are booming, thanks in part to the reforms in the affordable care act, health care costs now eat up less of

our economy. over the past four years, costs have grown at the slowest rate on record, and since i took office, we've cut our deficits by more than half. thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of the american people, our economy is growing stronger, but we know we've got more work to do together. our success as a country depends on more than the success of our broader economy. it depends on the success of the american people. it depends on your ability to make ends meet, provide for your little hardwith a work, feel like you can get ahead. we have got to keep our economy growing and make sure more americans have the opportunity to share in that growth. we have got to keep creating jobs that offer new opportunities and make sure those jobs offer the wages and benefits that let you rebuild him security. -- some security. we've got more kids to educate and families to cover with health insurance and an immigration system to fix, and we've got to make sure this recovery leaves no one behind.

this will be a year of action. i will keep doing everything i can to create new jobs and new opportunities for american families. with congress or on my own, and with everyone willing to play their part, and that action should begin by extending unemployment insurance for americans who were laid off in the recession through no fault of their own. this bottle economic lifeline helps people support their families while they look for a new job, and it demands responsibility in return by requiring that they prove they are actively looking for work. before the holidays, republicans in congress just let that lifeline expire for one point 3 million americans. if this does not get fixed, it will hurt about 14 million americans over the course of this year. earlier this week on the democrats and republicans in the senate took the first steps towards making this right, but congress needs to finish the job right away. more than one million americans across the country will feel a

little hope right away if they do. working folks are looking for the kind of stable, secure jobs that went overseas in the past couple of decades, so next week, i will join companies and colleges and take action to boost the high-tech manufacturing that boost the kind of good middle jobs a growing middle class requires. business workers are ready to play their part and hire more workers, so i will be joined by college workers as we -- college presidents as we lay out the steps to help more young people go to college and graduate the gills they need to graduating get jobs -- the skills they need. month, with myhe state of the union address, i will mobilize the country around the national mission of making sure our economy offers everyone at works hard a fair shot opportunity and success. as americans, that's what we should expect. after everything we've done to recover and rebuild from the crisis this past five years,

after all your hard work and sacrifice, that's what you deserve. thanks. have a great weekend. >> hello. i am a united states senator for mississippi. the beginning of the new year is a time when many americans decide to make positive changes in their lives. it can be a time we decide to adopt healthier lifestyles or take a fresh look at the family budget. unfortunately, as this year begins, many people are worried about how the so-called affordable care act, also known as obamacare, is affecting their health and personal finances. republicans in the senate inc. we should repeal or defund the program because of its cost and complexity. the affordable care act was supposed to be fully operational by january 1 of this year, but here we are, two weeks at the

administration continues to implement the law's burdensome mandates. the law is not living up to the promises made by its supporters, and it is questionable whether the law will meet its fundamental purpose -- to significantly expand health insurance coverage. 5 million americans have been the health plans that they liked and were promised they could keep. some of my constituents have discovered that the new insurance can cost twice as much as they had been paying. deniedhers are being access to doctors with whom they were perfectly happy. the administration's enrollment numbers do not paint a pretty picture. they do not tell us how many of the enrollees have actually lost existing coverage and were forced into the exchanges, and the numbers do not tell us whether applicants have actually pay their premiums and received coverage.

there is ample reason to be skeptical that those numbers will improve substantially. it a lot cannot keep its most basic promise, it should be repealed -- if the law cannot keep its most basic promise, it should be repealed, and we've introduced legislation to do just that. we should go back to the drawing board and draft him and since bipartisan legislation that will work better for all americans with out spending billions of taxpayer dollars to support these failing policies. in the spirit of the new year, we should resolve to help make our health care system more user-friendly and affordable. thank you. next, a reporters roundtable, discussing some of the telecommunications issues that might be addressed by congress this year on "the communicators." after that, c-span's first ladies series, featuring dolly madison. later, the another duration ceremony for terry mcauliffe, who was sworn in today as .irginia's 72nd governor

>> c-span, created by america's cable companies in 1979, brought to you as a public service by your television provider. >> this week on "the at someators," a look of the telecommunications and tech issues that congress and fcc may face in 2014. joining us are three working reporters on telecommunications. matthew schwartz is with "communications daily." paul barbagallo" is the managing editor at bloomberg bna. what do you think is on the fcc and federal agenda this year? in 2014art off, the fcc and beyond will be intently focused on spectrum. congress as well.