tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. if democrats failed to garner any republican support for health-care reform, the gop is hoping for a replay of 1994, when they regained the house following a contentious health care debate. could the opposition backfire? that question to one of the leading republicans in the house, mike pence of indiana. also, former "the x-files"

starke david duchovny is on the show. we're glad that you could join us. mike pence and actor david duchovny, coming up right now. >> there are so many things that wal-mart is looking forward to doing, like helping people live better. but mostly, we're helping build stronger communities and relationships. with your help, the best is yet to come. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports "tavis smiley." tavis and nationwide, working together to improve financial literacy and the economic empowerment that comes with it. >> ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television]

tavis: congressmen mike pence of indiana is the chair of the house republican conference. in that capacity, he is the third highest ranking member of the gop in the house. he is serving his third term. congressmen, nice to have you on the show. >> thank you, tavis. tavis: i was on "meet the press" a couple weeks ago, and i cannot even get a chance to make my argument before someone said president obama does not need republicans. he controls about houses of congress. all he has to do is rally his own troops. respectfully, why am i talking to you? >> i do not think it is so much the president does or does not need members of the republican party. the president needs the american people. right now, the problem that

democrats and the administration have with their plan to launch a government-run insurance plan is a majority of americans do not like the plan. i think we all recognize we have to achieve some type of health care reform that lowers the cost of health insurance, lowers the cost of health care, but a government-run insurance plan with a public option that could cause americans to lose insurance they have, i think it is losing support among the american people and it is strongly opposed by the republicans. tavis: for those who take your view that the government. it ought not to be in health care, hear that opinion loud and clear. many say that your party is representing the obstructionist point of view. you say what to that? >> i think the purpose of the opposition is to oppose every time that you do.

whenever principle allows, the purpose of the opposition is to support members working in a bipartisan way. in this measure, they're literally are over half a dozen republican alternative bills that are clearly described on our conference website, tavis, gop.gov. republicans have been bringing forward ideas on issues like, how do we deal with the chronically uninsured working in this country? how do we deal with pre-existing conditions? our framework does not include a massive expansion of the federal government's role, but we have offered alternatives in that regard. i think americans understand that. also, i think, as i said before, when principal demands, i think the purpose of the opposition is to oppose. of what comes to government-run insurance that could lead to a takeover of health care, -- when

it comes to government-run at insurance, i think millions of americans appreciate the opposition that republicans and some democrats in congress have been providing. tavis: why can't we get bipartisanship on this issue? if everybody in american agrees that health care is the most broken and needs to be fixed, everybody agrees something is wrong with health care, unless your party is deliberately being obstructionist and difficult or unless one of your colleagues tried to make this president obama's waterloo, why cannot we get bipartisanship on an issue that everybody agrees has to be addressed? >> i do not think that is a naive question, it is critical. it is a question we have been asking since the first of the year, tavis. we passed the so-called stimulus bill and no republican proposals were in that bill. the budget was developed without

republican input. the same with regard to the energy bill, the cap and trade legislation. i think millions of americans have seen the way congress has been bringing forward thousand- page bills the day before they are brought to the floor. they see that we have really had a profound decline in deliberation on capitol hill. why that has occurred, i cannot really say. you have to check with the majority in congress why that is the case. but i believe that millions of americans would like during these difficult economic times to take a breath and come back to the table and find some modest reforms that would really help working families have access to more affordable health insurance without dramatically increasing the size of government or dramatically increasing the debt on our children and grandchildren. we have not been afforded the opportunity to do that most of this year, and i think that is a

frustration to the american people. tavis: if the government gets involved, does not get involved, tell me how we have increased competition, which even republicans police on every other measure, good old enterprise, competition, is what allows for the american public to be better served? if government is not the reason or the rationale for the engine that drives competition so that everybody else who is offering health care behaved correctly, then how do you get that competition? >> i think that is the right question, and it is another one of those promises on which -- it is one of those promiseemises on which we agree. there is a virtual monopoly, just a handful of insurance options available for small

business owners like in my state of indiana. we absolutely need to bring competition into that system to drive down the cost and make health insurance more affordable, but we cannot believe the answer is to bring in the government as a competitor. we believe that we should allow the american people to purchase health insurance across state lines, all across the united states, and find a health insurance plan for their small business, family, or family farm that makes the most sense to them. right now, ople in my state, watching all across the country, they know they can only purchase health insurance in their state, with groups that are formed in their state. we think that with association health plans, you could create nationwide insurance products that, given the size of the risk pool, would almost overnight be more affordable than what is available in most jurisdictions. that is the kind of competition we believe is the answer.

we believe to the extent president is calling for more competition that he is right. i just do not believe that the federal government is an honest, genuine competitor in the marketplace. i have said before that the government competes with the private sector the way that an alligator competes with a duck. we need to bring all 1300 health insurance companies that are relegated to just particular states today, allow them to create products for all americans and just watch the costs come down. tavis: thank you, congressman, i appreciate the colloquialism. whenever we get on the other side of this health-care debate, assuming that one day that we will with a measure that you support or oppose, at some point will move on to another issue and hopefully have something that is legitimate reform from this debate. when that happens, on the other

side, the midterm elections, if the republicans hold firm and did not support the president, there is the hope that you will see a repeat of 1994 by standing firm, republicans take back the house after being the minority party some years now. the other side is the strategy backfires. what will happen? >> i really believe that the republicans should not be thinking of calculations about midterm elections. i think we ought to dig in and do what is right for the american people. we understand that we have to do something to lower the cost of health insurance and lower the cost of health care. ultimately, even the congressional budget office has identified plants that are being moved through congress -- that the plans at a moving through congress would not lower the cost. we need to do what is right. i think the midterm elections will be less about political

posturing and more about whether the american people feel that congress has got the message, not just on this issue, tavis, but i was in washington for the taxpayer march on washington. i did town hall meetings all across eastern indian out over the month of august, traveled the country. the american people are frustrated with washington, d.c., and with the political class in both parties that have seen runaway federal spending on their republican and democrat spending, bailouts, takeovers -- borrowing spending, bailouts, takeovers. if washington does not get the message, election day is usually the day that they get it. tavis: is it your sense that whatever health care comes forth will be without republican support? >> i hope that is not the case,

but so far it has been frustrating. we have seen the democrat majority move forward with the launching of a government-run insurance plan, including a public option. we have seen mandates, $800 billion of higher taxes, and we have seen resistance to any effort to reduce the size and scope of that proposal for turned toward market-based solutions. but, tavis, you have been covering washington a long time. hope springs eternal, and i think if the millions of americans are watching tonight will continue to allow their voices be heard, that anything is possible. we might come together and pass the modest reforms that are really in the interest of the working families and small businesses. tavis: from your mouth to god's ears. thank you for coming on. up next, actor david duchovny.

stay with us. tavis: i am pleased to welcome actor david, -- actor david duchovny, whose series "californication" premieres this sunday. >> i insist. >> crack the sky was a big deal for me. please? pretty please? >> this is a blank page.

>> wow. tavis: i was just about to make a smart alec remark, which is that i heard that the first episode is really good because of a great director. >> yes, that is true. tavis: the inside joke is that david is the director of that first episode. and you said to me that the actor in your scene is literally your oldest, straight from high school. howur best friend in a scene on the first show of the first season at your directing -- how cool is it to have you enter best friend in a scene like that? >> i would say, i just cannot believe i am getting paid to do this. we are doing work that we enjoy. we had a wonderful week together. at this point in the show, all the other actors and the people

i have worked with are really friends. we really enjoyed working together. when i get to direct, i get to watch these actors that i normally am like this with and i watched them from behind the camera. it is really weird because i have kind of fallen in love with them as actors. you see it written on the page, as an actor, you go and do it. as a director, you see it written on the page and the actors do it, and then you say, my god, that is why they work. they really did something. peter gallagher was one of the guest stars this season. he said it is an impossible job because we are all together in it, and then at one point is just you and the lights are on you and you are completely alone. that is why we have that type of fraternity and his love comes out. tavis: this begs the question, which is, how does one direct

one's self? >> not well. i have done it a few times. you tend to give yourself short shrift, just look at the scripps, read the lines approximately, and then you move on -- you just look at the script, read the lines approximately, and then move on. the creator of the show is also watching from behind the monitor. sometimes it is hard when your acting in the scene and directing, acting opposite an actor or actress, and i will start to say, they're doing really well, this is terrific. then i say, no, i cannot say that right now. you become an audience rather than a participant. tavis: what do you make of the fact that you have another series that has been fortunate to go into multiple seasons? that is everybody's dream in the

business. >> i just feel grateful. i think it is, i think spiritual is a good word for it. i think would happen sometimes is that it is synchronous city and timing, and what happens if you are lucky -- i think it is synchronicity. tavis: pay attention to what? >> yourself, and what you are able to do as you go along in this business and art. you pay attention to your own growth and zero not openings. i feel like i am -- i have always felt like i am a slow warner -- slow learner, but i learn well. i feel like i get access to more of myself as i go along, whereas i see somebody like my wife who has just been fantastic from the beginning. but that was not me.

again, getting back to your question, it is a matter of people coming together at the right time, with the right material, to do their best work, and the right time of the culture that it hits in a certain way. it is all of these little tumblers and a lock that have come together and then the lock opens and you get multiple seasons. but i will just take credit for being sensitive to what resonates with me, and then i go for that. you exist successfully in that because you are doing something that means something to you. tavis: what can you tell me about where we are going to find you and the show in season three? >> the show is very much a balancing act. it is not really about anything. it is about this guy's character. tavis: that is a great concept for a show, three seasons about nothing. >> that was the original ship --

that was the original joke about seinfeld. we are about nothing and is not about the jokes, either. we are really doing it with smoke and mirrors. this year, my character's beloved mother is in it n.y., and we're trying to make it work in a way that we do it in the show, which is insane. but i am also a single dad with my daughter and i have run out of money, so i take a job at a local southern california at university. that is not a good place for an anti-authoritarian character and for somebody who is tempted like he is to be amongst the young coeds. tavis: guarding the chicken coop. i am still marinating on this point, that it is a show about nothing.

obviously, "seinfeld" did very well. this is inside baseball, but help me understand what you mean when you say it is a show about nothing and how that percy's? >> -- and how that proceeds? >> i am not going to speak for hollywood, but say a show like "the x-files," it is about these agents who are investigating unsolved mysteries, paranormal. that is what the show was about. when the plot -- on the show plays out, it becomes more about the characters and the characters become as important as the story. the procedural of solving a case, medical shows are about healing the sick. then the characters involved. this shows a situation where you have characters that are completely self-destructive and the man speaks his mind. he is a loose cannon. he does not have to go to work.

there is no work place that he goes to. he does not have to do anything. there is nothing that he does. he is a writer, but there is nothing harder than to dramatize on film and television and being an artist or writer. it is the most boring thing that you could imagine to just watch. it is wonderful to read, but it is not interesting to look at. especially because most of writing is not writing, so it is really just that. that is what i mean. you cannot rely on a fantastic event happening to compel the show or get your interest. all you rely on are the characters and the writing. tavis: back to the characters, the show has a lot of fans, obviously, back a third season. it has critics as well. one of the criticisms is that the show is over secs --

oversexed and sexist. there is a new character on the show, kathleen turner, who is what a woman and sexist in the role that she plays -- who is a woman and sexist and the role that she plays. is that by design? >> i do not think so, because of that sexist criticism, early in the show's ron, we were sitting around in your talking to us about this. they said, it seems that more women are watching the show then men, and that was surprising to people -- more women for watching the show than men. then some people said that makes sense because of women really rahm the world in this show. -- really run the world and this show. the show is about making it work. he will do anything for his

daughter, desperately in love with his daughter. she has him wrapped around her finger. she has a secret over him, and therefore manipulates him in any direction that she wants. we realize that the world of the show is completely run by the women, even though the shenanigans that the men are going through, they could be seen as sexist and a certain light because there is a lot of casual sex going on, objectification of women and men, but the heart of the show is run by women. tavis: what makes us connect to your character? >> i don't know. sometimes when you're doing a character and is working to a certain point, you do not want to look behind the curtain. if i started to think about it logically, i would step on my

own feet. but i think, always from the beginning, i did not want to make this guy likeable constantly. but it was about finding a character, finding this character as somebody who always tells the truth. that is always an interesting thing to watch. to somebody watching at home who was not directly affected by this guy's outrageousness, is a wish fulfillment fantasy that we all have, that we could all see what is exactly on our mind and speak the truth. tavis: are you liking playing this guy? >> i like it because that same freedom that he has, there is a certain freedom in planning him -- in plain him -- in portraying

him. i follow my instincts with this character and i do whatever i want. we play with a lot of freedom and shoot with a lot of freedom. as an actor, that is a real joy to be trusted like that and to be trusted with something. tavis: it is a joy to watch your work, as always. actor david duchovny, "californication," season 3 is debuting on sunday. access our podcast on our website, pbs.org. we will see you next time. until next time, as always, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley on pbs.org. tavis: join me next time with former nfl stand out michael strahan and a new series called "brothers." >> there are so many things that wal-mart is looking forward to doing, like helping people live better.

but mostly, we're helping build stronger communities and relationships. because with your help, the best is yet to come. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports "tavis smiley." tavis and nationwide, working together to improve financial literacy and the economic empowerment that comes with it. >> ♪ nationwide is on your sid♪ >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--