graduated what year? >> 1991. >> you live where? >> in jersey city, new jersey. >> and the cover of this book, who was the artist? she has some unique work inside the book. >> molly crabapple. she's a friend of mine. she's just an amazing artist. very up and coming. she specializes in this paintings with figures that are bright and beautiful. it was a real coo for me when she said she would illustrate book. >> our guest has been matt taibbi. the name of the book is "divide american justice in the age of the wealth gap." >> thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014]

♪ >> next, a house committee looks at the implementation for house exchanges at the state level. journal,xt washington author of the centerless manifesto, discusses the centralist american party in politics. also, the sign-up figure of 7.1 million enrollees means. " the wall street journal "

looks at the debt relief act, which expired in december of last year area did and we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. washington journal, live on facebook and c-span. >> our myrtle beach station that did not have news, news operation cost us almost $800,000. it is not cheap. it is not for the faint of heart. it is what people needed to get them back to our station. billy huggins was my general manager there.

i don't care what kind of wealth they may have been blessed with. could survivey i this without these joint services and shared services agreements. >> the sec ruled that owners cannot control more than one station in a local market. find out more monday on the communicators at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2. >> during question time this asked --id cameron answered questions about the privatization of the uk's postal service and other domestic issues. this is about 35 minutes. >> questions to the prime minister.

>> question number one, mr. speaker. meetingsorning i had with my colleagues and others. i shall have further such meetings later today. jeremy corbin. is a prime minister aware that at the present time in england, in britain, rather, 396,000 people are in the private rented sector. of them feel insecure, half of them say they hate far too much in red. does he not think it is time to end the social cleansing of the inner-city britain by bringing in proper rent regulation with a fair rent formula? >> where i am sure he and i would agree is the need to build more houses, including houses and the private rented sector.

is fullthink is wrong on rent control has been tried in the past. destroy the private rented sector and drive everyone back to the state sector and reduce the quality of housing as a result. week when the chancellor of the exchequer has spoken of the importance to the government of securing full employment, can my right honorable friend confirm that the record shows that no labor government in history left office with unemployment lower -- it does nots illustrate in this area the importance of the principles that what matters is what works. >> my right honorable friend is factually correct. every labor government has left office with unemployment higher than when he came to office.

in this parliament, what we have seen is 1.7 million more people , 1.3yed in the other million more people employed as a whole. we must keep up the works to offer more hope and more security to our people. >> ed miller band. mr. speaker, mr. speaker, can the prime minister tell the house what is his excuse for the royal mail fiasco? >> what i would say about the royal mail is that taxpayers benefited from selling the business for 2 billion pounds. is 2 billionse, pounds at the party opposite never achieved because they were never able to sell the business. own side aret his saying but this issue. it was a debacle, unethical and

immoral. p.sold the shares for 330 what are they trading at now? they are trading ahead of where they sold. the fact is that when the right -- >> order.tleman neither the prime minister, nor the leader of the opposition, nor any other leader of this house must he shouted down. minister. >> when the right honorable gentleman was sitting in the lost half as visit billion pounds. it is now in the private sector, it is making profit, it is paying taxes, it is working hard for a country. more to the point, there are people who work for the post office to living letters delivering parcels who own shares in the business they work for.

they have a stake in the future of the royal mail. they are collecting dividend as well as pay, and that is something we should all be proud of. >> speaker, he can't answer the question because it is such an embarrassment. he sold at 330p, and this morning the price was 563 pence. it is basic math, mr. speaker. not so much the wolf of wall street, more the dunce of downing street. let me ask this. if royal mail was sold at today's price, how much more would the taxpayer of earned? >> i will take a lecture from almost anyone in the country about the sale of royal mail, but not from the two muppets who

advised the last chancellor. not a word of apology for nine billion pounds wasted. the royal mail privatization has got two billion pounds for the taxpayer, 140,000 employees owning shares, 700,000 members of the public who are now shareholder. this is a great success for our country and something you should be praising. >> mr. speaker, again he can't answer the question. the answer is for the taxpayer would have gotten 1.4 billion pound less than it is worth today. here is the thing. >> order. when the prime minister was speaking, i said he shouldn't be shouted down, and neither should anybody else. however hard the effort is made to shout one down, it won't work. we will keep going. as soon as the juveniles stop, so much the better. >> a third of the shares were sold to just a number of investors. there was a gentleman's agreed that those 50 investors wouldn't sell the shares. what happened? within weeks, half of those

shares had been sold, and they made a killing worth hundreds of millions of pounds. in other words, his friend in the city. maybe he can tell us what happened to that gentleman's agreement about those shares? >> mr. speaker, we know why he is asking these questions, because he is paid to by the trade union. yes. yes. mr. speaker, he sat in the cabinet and wanted to privatize the royal mail. that was the commitment. what happened was the general secretary of the communication workers union said this. in terms of the last labor government, they tried to privatize the royal mail. it was the unions that brought the government to its senses. once again they were weak in government because they couldn't carry out their policies. they are week in on suggestion because they don't support share holding by post workers in the royal mail. they are week because they have no economic policy, and they are weak because they have no plan. he flogged it off to his friend in his city, and he can't answer the question. now i am going to ask him the question again. there was a gentleman's agreement that these long-term investors, so-called, would not sell their shares, but half of them were sold and hundreds of millions of pounds were made. what happened? >> what happened is the taxpayer is two billion pounds better off. he sat in a cabinet that wanted to privatize royal mail. they couldn't to it. >> order. let's hear the answer. >> they couldn't do it because the trade unions wouldn't let them. there are now 140,000 share holders working for the royal michael. there are almost three quarters of a million members of the public with shares. these are signs of celebration for the country, not talking them down because they are anti-market, anti-competitive, anti-business. for nothing has changed in the labor party. no wonder they have advertised this week for someone to bring some fresh ideas to the leadership. i've got the commercial here.

it says this, mr. speaker. you should have the ability to manage the different teams across the labor party. he flogged it off to his friend in his city, and he can't answer the question. now i am going to ask him the question again. there was a gentleman's agreement that these long-term investors, so-called, would not sell their shares, but half of them were sold and hundreds of millions of pounds were made. what happened? >> what happened is the taxpayer is two billion pounds better off.

he sat in a cabinet that wanted to privatize royal mail. they couldn't to it. >> order. let's hear the answer. >> they couldn't do it because the trade unions wouldn't let them. there are now 140,000 share holders working for the royal mail. there are almost three quarters of a million members of the public with shares. these are signs of celebration for the country, not talking them down because they are anti-market, anti-competitive, anti-business. for nothing has changed in the labor party. no wonder they have advertised this week for someone to bring some fresh ideas to the leadership. i've got the commercial here. it says this, mr. speaker. you should have the ability to manage the different teams across the labor party. i think that must be the hardest job in britain. no wonder they are looking for a change, because they have a

leader who hasn't got a clue. >> mr. speaker, he has gone as red as a post book. 1.4 billion pounds for the taxpayer. this is a sale nobody wanted and nobody voted for. a national asset sold at a knock-down price to make a fortune for a few. it is the symbol of a government who stands up for the wrong people with the british people paying the price. >> mr. speaker, it is a sale nobody wanted. it was in his manifesto. it was in the last government. they worked so hard, mr. speaker. they failed to do it. but this coalition government privatized the royal mail, created thousands of new

shareholders, and there is a great business working for britain. we have seen it all from labor this week. they are advertising for fresh s idea. people around him are fighting. get this, mr. speaker. their top advisor is called arnie, and he has gone to america, but unlike arnie, he says i am not coming back. they are warring, weak, and they haven't got a plan. >> thank you very much, mr. speaker. it is as quick to go 225 miles over land and sea from here to brussels as it is on the train to norwich. we need investment in better faster rail infrastructure, and they should bring those benefits to norfolk north. >> i pay tribute to the lady for the work they are doing. this is actually a very important project. i welcome the interest shown by business authorities and enterprise partnerships.

it is one of the fastest growing parts of our country. and as world class companies and universities. i look forward to the task force report that i know she is working on, and i hope this will be used to shape the specification for the long rail franchise that should start in 2016. >> mr. speaker, 35 years ago, we united to bring down the labor government and bring in margaret thatcher. today they are united on the side of tax cuts for big business, united on the side of energy companies. doesn't this demonstrate, prime minister, that what people across the u.k. need is not separation between scotland and england, but liberation from right wing toward the economic?

>> he has provided a very useful public service. he has reminded me of one useful thing that the s.n.p. have done in their history, which is to get rid of that dreadful labor government. where i don't agree with him -- i agree with him on one very important thing in spite of his views. i do agree that the united kingdom is much better off together. one of the issues he raised i think he is completely wrong about. this is the week they have cut corporation tax to 21%. that is going to attract businesses into england, wales and scotland. he should be standing up and praising this tax reduction rather than criticizing it. >> martin? >> it was recently said that he would give more weight to consultant's economic models than 10,000 objections from

local people. is that what the national planning framework meant by empowering local people? >> the national planning framework is very clear about the importance of listening to local people in terms of development. actually, my right honorable friend would have received a letter recently to explain some of the changes in the guidance under the framework to make sure that previous housing performance is taken into account and these very important decisions. >> thank you. at a time of crisis, the prime minister saw first-hand just how good the hospital in my constituency can be. six years into a rebuilding program, that hospital has been plunged into crisis. it is starved with staff and effectively stripped of key clinical services. the nearest hospital away is 42 miles away in carlisle. will the prime minister commit today to do everything he can to assist me, local commissions and my community in retaining the consultant services of the hospital? >> first of all, he is entirely right i saw for myself what a

job this hospital does and how important it is. but the commissioning group total revenues that are available this year are at and increase of 2.3%, 663 million pounds. that is because this government decided to protect n.h.s. spending and not cut it. that is why important hospital developments can go ahead. >> a record number of small businesses and many more people seeking to become self-employed. can our friend tell the house what steps the government is taking to help first-time prunes into becoming first-time employers and helping people achievement ambitions in life? >> what we need to do is make it easier for someone to take on their first employee. that is why this saturday we are bringing in the 2,000 pound employment allowance. every business that employs someone will see a tax reduction of up to 2,000 pounds. that means that 55,000

businesses will be taken out of paying national insurance contributions altogether. the party introduced jobs taxes, we are cutting jobs taxes. >> at the weekend, the general warned of reducing the regular arm from 102,000 to 82,000 by 2020 would weaken the armed forces and was one hell of a risk to take. can the perform tell us why he doesn't think it is one hell of a risk? >> the reason why i think it is the right thing to do is to make sure our armed forces have the best equipment of any armed forces anywhere in the world. i have been out to afghanistan every year since 2006, sometimes twice a year, and i always ask the same question. do you have the equipment you need? is there anything else you want? it is under this government you have seen real improvement in equipment. so what i would say to her is yes, we will have an 82,000

regular army. we will also have a larger reserve force, and we are recruiting for that actively. and we will have armed forces and defense equipment that this country can be very proud of. >> following last week's excellent news of the seaman's development in whole, we move quickly with plans for the south bank. does my friend share my view that all parties must work together to make sure that it becomes the green capital of the u.k.? >> i absolutely agree with my honorable friend. the announcement is a huge step forward because it is going to bring an enormous amount of industry in its wake in terms of supply and component manufacture. we have to make sure that colleges are training up apprentices. he knows there are still agreements needed in other parts

to make sure that all of the developments necessary go ahead. >> the prime minister will know that millions of people across the country value and love their postseason card account, particularly those who don't have access to banks and don't want to have a bank. they want to get their cash each week. this is renegotiated with the contract. will he give a commitment today that whatever happens, pensioners or everyone on benefits will be able to access through the postseason to get the money that they need? >> i heard very carefully what she said. it is important for people to use the postseason in the way -- use the post office in the way she says. there have been changes in the way the card account works. i strongly support it, but i will look closely at it. >> thank you, mr. speaker. would my right honorable friend accept that on this 100th anniversary of the first world war, the territorial army won 71

v.c.'s and thousands of other declarations in that war and learning from the lessons from our english-speaking cousins in america and the pivotal role the national guard has played in iraq and afghanistan, that is the way to ensure we can afford the equipment we need for our armed forces for the future? >> let me pay tribute for my friend who has campaigned very hard for the average and the forces. the point he makes is a good one. you can see today a territorial army working alongside the regular army, fighting with them and being deck rated with them. other countries have shown it is -- and being decorated with them. other countries have shown it is possible to have a larger reserve force and that is the way to have a well equipped army, navy and air force in the future. >> mr. speaker, the convention says a standard for the

protection of children against sexual exploitation. the u.k. have signed it but have not yet ratified it. following recent episodes in the u.k., will the government now consider ratifying this very important convention? >> what i can say to the honorable gentleman, i absolutely agree with him that child sexual exploitation is an abhorrent crime, and we are going to stamp it out. we have signed this convention. i understand there is a small amount of further assessment to be done before the u.k. is in a position to ratify the convention. i will keep in touch with developments. >> does my friend agree with me that the doubling of capital allowances to half a million pounds provide a welcome boost to manufacturing and will increase investment in the manufacturing sector, securing more jobs for british people? >> my honorable friend is absolutely right.

this is a key part of our long-term economic plan to make sure we have our businesses investing. one of the remarkable things of the budget was we were going to address some of the perennial weaknesses in the british economy. we need to export more, invest more. we need to improve our performance in those regards. we need to make sure the investment is spread around the country, and we are not going to be satisfied with an unbalanced recovery. >> mr. speaker today the ford motor company agreed to a multi-million pound contribution toward the pension fund of former ford employees. will the prime minister congratulate, the union across a cross-party group -- who have struggled to get a fair deal for former ford workers and agree to

what other pensioners who have the same polite -- >> i didn't camp the end of his question, but i wholeheartedly agree with him. this is a good development for pensioners and all those who played a role. there are colleagues on all side of the house who have been involved in this. they are all to be credited for the work they have done to get this justice. >> while i welcome the government's intervention on fuel bills, many rural people have to depend on more expensive fuels. will the government investigate a way in which they can benefit these things that lead to poverty. >> there are many people who are off main gas. i think there are things we can do, not east in encouraging the -- not least in encouraging the power of group purchases by encouraging communities to come together and buy oil and gas together so that actually you can drive down prices. i am sure that he will be looking at the options that are available in his constituency.

>> thank you, mr. speaker. three months ago i asked the prime minister about his 1,000 pound bobby tax that anyone joining the police has to pay. 1,000 pounds might not be much to him, but it is having a huge impact on others like that. there are 2,000 officers under strength and finding it impossible to recruit. we all know the bobby tax is wrong. >> order, order. this question will be heard. braying, sneering and making rude remarks is the sort of thing the public despise. the honorable lady will be heard and the person sneering, if he has any sense of shame, ought to be ashamed of himself. >> mr. speaker, this is an important issue to anybody who lives in this country.

we all know the bobby tax is wrong. will the prime minister also now accept it is not working and polish it in order that our police get back to strength to depend the people in my constituency? >> well, first of all, it is not a tax. second of all, it is not a barrier to recruitment. and third of all, recruitment is taking place in the metropolitan police. yes of course we have seen reductions in police funding. but we have also seen significance cuts in crime. the metropolitan police are recruiting, and they are confident they will be able to get good recruits. >> bringing super fast broadband to rural areas is important, and the government is rightly spending over a billion pound on this. but my constituents are frustrated that b.t. can't tell them when or even if their home will be connected up. that makes planning impossible. will the prime minister tell b.t. to produce clearer plans for the billions of pounds of taxpayer money they are getting? >> i have had this discussion is with them, and i am happy to

hold it again. i know my honorable friend will take up this specific point. we have asked b.t. to give more detail about which homes and areas will get broadband in their roll-out plan so that then other companies and other organizations are able to see whether there are different ways of filling in any potential gaps. but i don't agree with some who think that somehow b.t. haven't been put are their shoulder to the wheel. there is a massive investment going on in terms of broadband. 10,000 homes and businesses are connected every week. this is a real success story for our country. >> mr. speaker. of the royal mill share price remains about 70% above the flotation price. does the prime minister rule out paying a four million pound money tom taxpayers government advisors? >> what i would say to the honorable lady is the taxpayer is two billion pound better off because we were able to put this business in the private sector

where as previous governments failed so dismally. >> mr. speaker, ply constituent is seeking the right to be treated by the english grand. will the prime minister investigate what could be done to help her and other n.h.s. refugees who is seeking the highest standard and lower waiting times which are being delivered by this government? >> my honorable friend is right to raids this. -- write to raise this. frankly, what is happening in our n.h.s. in wales is a scandal, and it is a scandal that is entirely the responsibility of the labor part running the government. they made the decision to cut n.h.s. spending by 8% in wales. as a result they haven't met a a&e target since 2009.

the last time -- i don't know why the leader of the opposition is laughing. it is not funny, the state of the n.h.s. in wales. if he had any gumption or backbone, he would get hold of the first minister in wales and tell him to start investing in the n.h.s. in wales. >> 25 years ago yesterday, a patch was imposed on the people of scotland. -- eight hold tax was imposed on the people of scotland. a prime minister was kicked out of office by her own party. would this prime minister take this opportunity to apologize for that? >> i didn't catch the beginning of the question. i don't know if it would be possible for him to ask it again. i know it was the same as the scottish national party person. >> 25 years ago yesterday a hated poll tax was on the people of scotland. will the prime minister take this opportunity to apologize for that? >> i have made clear my view about this issue many times over

many years. i think the council tax is a much better replacement. the key is to keep the levels of the council tax down. that is why on this side of the house we support a freeze. >> in 2012, people wanted this house to stop charitable air ambulances having to pay the v.a.t. i would like to thank the prime minister for his budget, meaning more missions are flown and more lives are saved. they are using it for good purposes because we have a good long-term economic plan. >> my honorable friend is right and i pay tribute to him because he is the chairman for the air group ambulances. he led a debate in the house in 2012. i am delighted about the result achieved in the budget. i think it will lead to an expansion of this service. he is right that you can only make these decisions if you look

at the nations resources, get the spending down, in short an economic plan. >> thank you. why has it taken four years to recruit just 41 teachers into the 10 million pounds radio troops to teachers program? >> we support the troops to teachers program. i will look carefully at what the gentleman says. it is a good proposal. i want to make sure it is working. >> mr. speaker it appears on my council tax bill that the lancastershire and district council have raised the council tax by 2%. yes, very shocking. would the prime minister help me in finding out what has gone on? is it really 2% and help me sort this matter out? >> what i would say to my honorable friend, and he can say to lancaster council and district council.

this government is making the money available so the councils can freeze their council test. they should help people keep their bills down and make sure that the council tax is frozen. >> mr. speaker, the high school community in my constituency was left devastated when 14-year-old jaymee skinner died played futbol. i am sure the prime minister and the whole house would wish to send their condolences to the head teacher, the staff at the school, her friends and family, who sent her to school yesterday morning, never to return home. >> this was an absolutely shocking accident that people would have seen across the country. our hearts go out to all those involved.

clearly the lessons will be learned to make sure that tragic accidents like this can never happen again. >> the chancellor's cousin is great news for britain. it will do nothing to help the large companies. will he now tackle the problem by getting rid of the pubco price escalator. >> i thank my friend for what he said about the cut in beer duty. this is about making sure this industry creates job and supporting the public trade. we announced 3,000 additional jobs. we want to look carefully about what is happening in pubs and the activities of some public companies. it has been debated and we are looking closely as what more we can do to make sure there are fair outcomes for britain's public goers.

>> could i ask the prime minister what plans he has got to reform higher education loans so the system works for students, works for all universities and also works for the country? >> the biggest plan we have in this space is to expand the number of people going to higher education by taking the cap off the numbers who can attendant. there are plans in terms of fees and repayments, are clearly set out. it is encouraging that it has not put off people from going to university. nor has it put off people from low income backgrounds going to university. i would make this point to him. someone said in june of 2010, a graduate tax would replace up front tuition fees. i would consult before publishing detailed plans later