have hundreds of thousands more people getting into work, able to provide for their families and get the peace of mind and security that the people want in this country. that is what we are publishing today and that is real progress for our nation. >> 45% of people do not pay their utility bills. one million of them do not have bank accounts. energy companies are charging 115 pounds extra for people who do not pay by direct debit on a hitting pensioners the most. i direct debit, hitting pensioners the most. >> i am happy to look into this issue. that is why we have taken steps to compel energy companies to put people onto the lower tariffs. we want to make sure that everyone can make a budget of that. we have also cut energy bills by 50 pounds by rolling back costs of some of these green measures. we should continue to make this

market more competitive and give more choice to consumers, encourage the switching which happened a huge amount towards the end of last year that has saved many people many hundreds of pounds. >> order. >> you have been watching prime minister's questions from the british house of commons. everyed live on c-span 2 wednesday and again sunday nights at 9:00 eastern and pacific on c-span. you can watch anytime at c-span.org, or you will find video of past questions and other public affairs programs. >> c-span launched its first schoolbus in 1993, visiting hundreds of schools and communities nationwide, raising awareness of how c-span covers politics and government. 20 years later, the c-span bus continues on the road on the campaign trail and visiting for festivals, education

events, and schools. look for us on the road and online. you can also follow us on twitter. it is all brought to you by cable and satellite providers. university students will get their chance to visit the bus and join us mornings live on "washington journal," as we hit the road for the big 12 conference tour. >> we want to focus on 2014. to focus on midterm election politics. joining us is jennifer duffy and nathan gonzales. good morning. talk about house races. how many are truly competitive and how does this compare to previous election cycles? we have 52 house races out of 145 on our list. it roughly falls for the target is for midday election cycles.

compare to past wave cycles, previous to election day there were almost 100 seats on our competitive list. now we're down to 50. part of the explanation is we have a round of redistricting under our belts where there was somes -- and there was uncertainty. depending on what the national political environment is, we could see that number grow. this could roughly be the field we have for the next 11 months. how many truly tossup races and how many are we onlyive now? guest: have three races, two democrat. -- two democrat and tossup. there are three seats that are leaning in republican's

direction. however this is going to change. one of the reasons there aren't more seats as we are really waiting to see the outcome of some of these primaries. this is particularly true in places like north carolina. republicans have the advantage of only having 16 seats up. those 15 seats, 13 of them are in very red states. don't have that much opportunity to expand the field. kentucky, there have been talks of trying to get a good candidate in mississippi. republicans have a very different picture. they are fighting on pretty friendly ground. there are a lot of formidable seats in red states.

they also have more potential to grow, especially if the political landscape favors them. they might have enough to make the case and some other races. that short list is going to get a lot longer. host: oath guests understand the geopolitical print -- understand the geography of states. you can send us an e-mail or send us a tweet at c-span wj. let's look at what it would take for the democrats to take control of the house of representatives. republicans have 234 seats. and net gain of 17 would flip the house from republican to democrat. when we look at the 52 seats on our competitive lists,

it is not a matter of only winning 17 out of 52 seats. democrats are defending half of those 52 seats. they not only have to win the seats they are defending but then also gained 17 more. there have been some pretty critical republican thatessional districts kept open. these are seats democrats have been salivating over four years. democrats have some of their own open seats. out any potential gains democrats may win by getting those democrat -- by getting those seats. take almost a small miracle at this point.

it is not the type of election or type of environment the credits need to win those seats. in terms of the u.s. senate, the democrats have 55 seats. 45 for the republicans. republicans need six seats, that assumes they do not lose any of their own. important they hold on in kentucky and georgia. if they can't the road just gets a lot steeper. we talked about the three seats already leaning in republicans direction. would have to win three of the remaining seats we consider vulnerable. louisiana, arkansas,

michigan, iowa, north carolina. that requires being incumbent. i am not at a place where i am willing to say the senate has a 50-50 proposition. a poll that shows little faith and no news here. pretty evenly split when it comes to the house of representatives's 45. president's own job approval rating is in the low 40's. guest: a tie is a most a win for republicans. that number needs to creep up democrats in order

to have a distinct chance of taking back the house. i want to begin by that begin with an ad that was released last week. -- by an ad that was released last week. [video clip] of a voice have much but i have been helped by somebody with a new big as somebody with a big voice. -- somebody with a big voice. i was exposed to radiation. .ike many others i got a cancer mitch mcconnell stepped in and helped create cancer screening programs and provide compensation for sick workers. us andked down walls for helped save people's lives. gives a voice to kentucky's working family.

i would like to raise my voice. we are represented by a man who has worked hard for us and always will. >> i am mitch mcconnell and i approved this message. host: is this effective? different.s it is not the full be role. -role.l b he pushes back against the democratic argument that he has done nothing for the state. i thought it was interesting that one of the first press releases attacking this ad was from the same conservatives who accused him of running your marks, which i thought was a little far field of a point. it shows you that he gets squeezed by the right. overall it is a fairly effective

at. guest: this is january of the election year. this is an early ad but it shows how much money is going to be spent. it was a one minute at in january. it shows you we are on pace for an election that is going to be millions of dollars. not onlya primary challenge, wt -- matt? >> he is not a kentucky native, something we are going to hear a lot more about. he believes that mcconnell is part of the problem here. he is not a conservative. i think the mcconnell com

ampaign has done very well in not giving him too much room to maneuver. rand paul until it's too late, and i think the lesson that the mechanical -- mcconnell fulks learned was that we were not going to do that again. there's very little room to maneuver, nothing that goes unanswered. they follow him around, they have caught every mistake he has made. he is not going to get a free road to do much. that is going to make it hard, mcconnell has about a 20 point lead now. does he question is, have the personal resources, and how much of that is he willing to put into this race? host: a radio ad from friday.

>> mitch mcconnell is telling his pals of washington dc that this senate race is the battle for the heart and soul of the republican party. what is really at stake is so much more than that. this is a battle for the hea rt and soul of the entire clinical process. will we continue to have a by, and forf, the people, or of, by, and for a handful of politicians? this is about the future of kentucky, and the future of the united states of america. i am matt bevin, and i approved this message because after 30 years, conduct he deserves another -- kentucky deserves better. host: the primary challenge with thetor mitch mcconnell,

mcconnell campaign said that they were into law prevent -- in too long. for the heart and soul of the republican party, because it is almost verbatim to a column that we wrote about how important this race is. if these antiestablishment conservatives are able to knock off mitch mcconnell, it is going a shockwaved through the republican party, give some of these other races that are later in the calendar some momentum. theymay not be the race, may get a couple of victories this cycle, it is maybe a little bit later on in the calendar. -- kentuckypublican primary is coming up in the

calendar. louisiana is a pure tossup at the moment, what is happening at that -- in that state? yup to remember that it has become increasingly more republican, which makes the child a little bit harder -- the challenge a little bit harder. the congressman who is fairly conservative, although the tea party would like a more conservative candidate. guyt of them are actually a ired airng a roet force officer. of jungleaving a sort primary on election day, it is no can enhance 50%, we will have a runoff on december 6.

we will have until them to figure out who controls the senate. the numbers are not good, largely because of her vote on health care. any support that she is given to president obama is not well received. flipside, she is going to be chairman of the energy committee, it is a big deal in louisiana. she's getting a lot of business support as a result. her campaign will be very well-funded. there is a reason she has started to challenge the president on something, most notably health care. she would voteid for it again if she had the chance, and this is going to be a very interesting race, and a late in the game player. host: we will get to your calls and comments in the northeast -- comments. it is back andt

the new hampshire district. -- forth in the new hampshire district. guest: those are all pretty key races when it comes to the house. two primary opponents, one of which is compiling a list of credible as an putting together a real campaign. he has to deal with that. republican who narrowly lost last time, you're going to -- the democrats are going to try to tighten to the him to the teae party. a retired air force pilot who

rumsfeld the last time she was here. slow to get her campaign up and running, and those are two key races. host: these are early numbers, because these are campaigns that will exceed over $1 billion this year. cs,terms of the super pa $20.5 million so far. these campaigns have not even gotten underway. guest: there are a handful that have been on the air, but a lot have not. majority onn this the democratic side go to try to help some of these incumbents. they also did something that wenty surprised me -- they into new hampshire to run an who ison scott brown,

not even in the race yet. host: you do not think he will run? guest: i think it is a jump ball. we will see. is this all about 2016? guest: it is possible. maybe he wants to be governor, which you can also run for judy six and -- run for a 2016. at any rate, i think the thing to watch this year is the rise cs.single issue super pa there is one in kentucky, when liz cheney was running. they have started to spend some real money. e smallering to se

numbers in terms of american crossroads with the mississippi super pacs, they're going to be very important in these races, and what they go to do. host: the ones listed in gray are true tossups right now. the ones that are light blue are leaning republican. solidin light blue -- read, i should say, are likely or leaning republican. how many senate races are up in 2014? guest: 56 now. montana. and possibly theoing to be whether democrats ought candidate is going to be the appointed senate or, but that races on the ballot anyway.

host: our phone lines are open. join us on twitter, or facebook. democrat line, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: how are you doing? i wanted to know as far as 2016, i want to know if republicans do not extend unemployment, would that hurt them in the boat -- votes? host: thank you for that call. what about 2014 in the midterm elections? guest: it will be one part of the puzzle, where democrats will be trying to portray republicans as not want you to do simple things to help government work. it will be a small part of it,

but i do not think we will see a lot of ads that are singly focused on unemployment. it'll be a wider case that the democrats are trying to make. host: a modest agenda in the state of the union address on tuesday. his audience will be a number of , not only the democratic party, but midterm election borders -- voters. moreyear involved executive orders the legislative action. though much of this is the blueprint for democrats this year? all of theill be blueprint for democrats this year. we are already seeing them work have seensues we before, the war on women, rights, white -- contraception, and unemployment.

all of those things will come back, but i do not know if it is in his address to put out a very aggressive agenda given a congress that does not get anything done. host: welcome to the program. caller: thank you. obamacare is going to be affecting a lot more political races than people think, in favor of the democrats. tens of millions of people are going to be receiving new health care, especially in kentucky. i think that is the top state of enrolling people, and would all those people go to vote, they will be clicking on democrat, not republican. i would hate to see the runblicans continue to commercials about obamacare, it is shooting themselves in the foot, they need to move to a different topic. guest: i think he brings up a

point, we have to wait and see. part of obamacare is going to be a gigantic issue in the 2014 elections. as he gets rolled out, and is affecting people's lives, how it plays out. do people like their coverage, do they not like it? do they like the premiums they are paying or do they not like it? if there were supposed to sign up, and they're starting to get by let, how does that affect it -- analyzed, how does that affect it? there's the potential for to happen the other way as well. feels one way,y i think the strategists right now feel like this is a solid president has gone too far, and can help the 2014 election. host: anyone of you following the race on florida governor

rick scott seeking reelection? guest: exactly. i think this is going to be one of the best races, and one of the most expensive of the cycle. are scott's numbers terrible. 30's.b approval is in the but charlie crist is not a candidate. -- perfect candidate. infamousd a rather senate race that did not go well in 2000 and -- 2010. i think this is going to be a big race. i do not even have a favorite candidate in terms of who i think is ahead. either candidate should not be underestimated.

host: democrat line, good morning. jonathan, are you with us? caller: yes. good morning. , we haves to the race portrayingn one ad a solid supporter of the obamacare act. it is more of a 50-50 in , as itity in the state is throughout the nation. there per trigger with the health care act -- portraying her with the health care act,

i know rumor has it -- some of the democratic strategist, and they are not -- even though they have or trade her as -- portrayed her as a liar. thank you. host: thank you. guest: the senate race was talked about a little bit. i think that the caller is i salute you write about -- is absolutely right about new hampshire being a swing state. their congressional district has flipped a couple of times. this is probably the product of being such a large legislature. i think that if