>> from washington, the mclaughlin group, american original. for over three decades sharpest minds, best sources, hardest talk. >> issue one, libertarians unleashed. >> as you can see for the second year in a row -- [ applause ] >> kentucky senator rand paul won with 31%. texas senator ted cruz came in second with 11. ben carson came in third at nine. governor christie came in at eight, governor walker at 7. former senator san tore um at

seven and mark aruba oh at 6. >> since rand paul's stellar showing at the conference six months ago senator paul has continued to make waves around the nation. as the 2016 presidential race draws closer, two is centering himself at the heart of republican party politics. get this, he has reframed traditional libertarianism. he is repudiated its isolationist character. for example, he'd vote in favor of military action against isis. >> if a vote came to you would you vote yes or no? >> yes. i would vote yes and i would do it in a heart because i think radical islam, isis is a threat to the united states. they're a threat to embassies, consulates, journalists. >> is senator rand paul a libertarian and is he leading libertarians toward mainstream

of american politics? >> i think that's a fair assessment. rand paul is not as pure a libertarian as his father ron paul was and rand paul is making acom indications to what happened. he balked off total in foreign aid. he is going to have some problems i think in the primaries because the fundamental core of the republican party at its elite level is very interventionist, very oriented to cold war, behind the cheney bush foreign policy. also you get into social, cultural, border issues and things like that and a more traditional conservative is dominant. he has been an effective force. >> twice as many men as women declare themselves to be libertarians. can you account for that? >> i think men like to think they can do it on their own and

don't need government and women traditionally look to government for a helping hand. they know they can't count on the men to add a footnote to that. as for rand paul, i don't think his recent support for air strikes in isis is redefining libertarianism. it is more putting his finger to the wind and checking where public opinion is. he's definitely got ambition to run for president. he is putting together a team and political detailed a dozen of people who he considers his insiders. i would point out there wasn't a single woman among them. i think he is an interesting figure. i think he is desperately trying to run from his father's image, does not want to be seen as a pure libertarian. he is trying to redefine republic party in positive ways and maybe he will redefine

libertarianism but does not want to be known as a libertarian. he wants to be seen as mainstream republic modernizing the republic party. >> since 1972 data shows women are more likely than men to identify with major political parties than to call themselves independents or affiliate with minor parties. women stick with the major brands. does that surprise you? >> no, that doesn't surprise me. women are looking for security in a changing world. i think the traditional brands offer more of that than some outliers. >> tom what kind of libertarian are you? >> i would suppose i am a conservative libertarian. i recognize between having conservatives saying we should have guns in homes but rights for homosexuals for example is something we would find uncomfortable. i think rand paul's opportunity

is he is popular with younger americans, has the ability to bring in people who would never have considered voting republican before but as pat points to he will struggle in 2016 to deal with that line which is mohamed morsi intention. >> who are the -- . >> men are twice as likely to say libertarian describes them well and know the meaning of the term. men 15%. women 7%. unquote. more college graduates, 15%, identify libertarian whereas those with no more than a high school education, 7%, identified themselves as libertarian. there are also partisan differences. 14% of independents said they were libertarian and 12% of republicans said they were libertarian and 6% of democrats said they were libertarian.

>> are you libertarian? >> no, i am not libertarian. >> care to say what you are? >> i would consider myself a moderate liberal and moderate conservative depending on who the candidate is. >> depending on what the polls say. >> finger in the wind? >> no. i make a judgment about a candidate in personal terms. to me that's the most important part of anybody's potential to serve as a leader. >> you are an independent. >> i am an independent. >> no party affiliation. >> i have no party affiliation. i have never had a party affiliation. i have predominantly supported democrats for national office. >> you vote more frequently republican or democrat? >> national, i vote more frequently democrat. in state and local i vote more frequently for republicans. >> you must know some tea parties. >> very few. i never get invited to a tea

party. >> you think tea parties are libertarians? >> i don't think so. i think they have a political philosophy. >> that's one of the libertarian issues. where rand paul and all the republicans are basically together is sort of small government although paul ryan, he is moving to reform the welfare state and change it to a degree, portman and some other folks. you know what it goes back to, john? you see lou rock well's website. russell kirk is the traditionalist conservative. >> who did murky rockbod train? was it hilary? >> no, no. he is a libertarian. >> whom am i thinking of? >> i don't know. when he ran for president it wasn't as a libertarian.

>> they both come up -- traditionalism. look at scotland and other places. libertarian is one force but communitariansm, liberalism, tribism, are some of the most forceful ones in the world. >> when you realize it means cutting off wonderful services from government, people back off. >> don't forget you can watch this program on the web at any time at mclaughlin.com. could anything be simpler or more character building? when we come back is the united states congress a plutocracy?

s, washington, dc based cq roll call has calculated net worth of every member of the united states congress. 435 representatives and 100 senators. and then ranked them. to crack this year's list calendar year 2013 data of the top 50 richest members of congress, a member has to be worth at least $7.4 million, up

from $6.7 million one year ago. the top 50 are also white. 18% of the richest members are women. 30 are republican. 20 are democrat. first here are the top ten richest members from the house of representatives. number one, representative darrell isa, california republican, $357 million. he is the richest member of congress, house, and senate. number two, mike mccall, texas republican, 118 million. john delany, 112 million, four, colorado democrat, 74 million. number five, scott peters, california democrat, 45 million. number six, washington democrat, 38 million. number seven veteran buchanan, florida republican, 37 million.

eight, shelly pingry maine democrat, 34 million. number nine, gary miller, california republican, 33 million. number 10, nancy pell oh see, california democrat, 29 million. why does congress attract millionaires do you think, tom? >> i think a big issue is a lot of people who are millionaires have financial flexibility to be able to run for office and to be able to take time out and investment of time that takes campaigning. >> and money. >> and the money. at the same time if you look at people who are wealthy they tend to be a lot of the time in positions of ceos or positions where they have a lot of influence. moving into national level leadership position perhaps to some degree is an extension to that. >> john, let's take the rockefeller family. they inherited enormous wealth.

nelson wants to go into public service. a son of one of them in west virginia is in public service. they like to go into these because they have all the money in the world. they're not satisfied with that. they want do something for public service. it's not a bad thing. >> there are wonderful examples of families in public service. looking at the list i think if you are an average voter you are not distinguishing between super rich, mostly rich, just rich enough to make it to congress. people think members of congress live in a bubble and they don't really understand concerns. i just sat in on two focus groups of women voters in little rock, arkansas, des moines iowa. they say oh members of congress have healthcare, don't have to worry about feeding their families and putting gas in their car. the gulf between people and congress is enormous. maybe the wealth is part of that but i think voters think everybody in --

>> salary of $200,000 almost and that puts them pretty much out. that's about four times median average. >> roll call's richest senators in u.s. senate. >> jay rockefeller, west virginia democrat, 108 million. two, mark warner, virginia democrat, 95 million. three, richard blooming that will connecticut democrat, 62 million. four, diane feinstein, california democrat, 44 million. five, jim rich, idaho republican, 19 million. six, bob corker, tennessee republican, 19 million, claire mcaskill, missouri democrat, 18 million, john mccain arizona republican, 15 million. nine, north dakota republican, 15 million. ten, ron johnson, wisconsin republican, 14 million. >> question, given the number

of millionaires in the senate did you find it a bit audacious that 48 senate democrats voted to amend the constitution to restrict political spending by other rich people? >> no. why would that be a surprise coming from the democratic party? let's face it, republicans have access to many more people of wealth by and large than democrats do. of course they're going to want to limit that source of funding. >> that's a much bigger issue than what went on in senate a couple weeks ago. that's democracy for constitutional amendment that would amend constitution to put restrictions on money giving. ask people out there why we can't raise minimum wage, why we can't stop companies from going ashore and denying taxes they should be paying to treasury, why we can't get a lot done in washington. it's because in special interest money lobbying and

influencing lawmakers. because of supreme court decisions there is some effort around trying to pass constitutional amendment. it will take a long time. >> yeah. >> the influence of big money, a lot called dark money, because people don't have to disclose who they are, really it's poisoning our democracy. >> speaking of dark money, you have any of that? >> let me put it this way john, to the best of my knowledge i do not. i have to confess if i were in the senate you would probably have me on one of the lists, maybe the number one. >> you got more money than rockefeller? >> yes. >> mort does good with his money. there is a new book culling out called billionaires, assessing political influence. mort is in the book, i approve everything he does with his money, supporting health issues

and so on. it's what you do with your money that makes a difference. >> you think the rich can understand the plight of the lower cases? >> yes, i think some can and some will not because obviously they're living a different lifestyle but they have perspective on other issues. one thing being for example the fiscal health of the country. that's something a lot of wealthy people have a real concern for. it's something they're going to talk about. they understand if i may say so what fill on floppy means and how the community has to support issues we need resolved. >> putting up building for the public good. you have a new building going up. is that complete? >> almost. >> i commend you on that. issue three, spinning a web. >> i decided it was time to come back in and rejoin the debate. we're in a transitional period in the country and we need strong debate inside the democratic party and between the two parties on where the

country needs to go. >> jim webb ignited speculation about a run for 2016 democratic presidential nomination during a late august trip to iowa. senator webb stomped 800 miles of the state on behalf of democrats up for reelection in november. senator webb was not commit al when asked for radio iowa interviewer whether he would run in 2016. jim webb is a democracy rated war hero. he is opposed to interventionism and foreign policy, has been selectively critical of hilary clinton. jim webb is not lacking in national security credentials and is the author of nine books. in addition to six years in the u.s. senate webb was secretary of the navy under president reagan. after graduating from naval academy webb fought asthma

reason in vietnam war where he earned two bronze stars and a purple heart. his latest book is a memoranda with a of his life growing up in an air force family and his subsequent military career. can jim webb give hilary clinton a run for her money if he gets in the race? be brief. >> i think jim webb is fascinating. he considers himself an intellectual. if he gets in there will be high minded conversations. he left after one term because he can't stand the far all of politics. i don't know that he would have the stomach for a campaign trail. i welcome him. >> he is terrific, a war hero, served the country well. i think it would be interesting to have him there. i think he is a good different voice inside the democratic party. he is a patriotic guy but not a big interventionist in war because he has seen a lot of it. >> he has been a republican and

a democrat and probably an independent. he is not a down the line democrat by any means. >> i would say i will probably not be voting for democratic candidate but i think it would be great for the country to have jim webb in there with hilary clinton. i would rather that he was on that primary campaign trail than elizabeth warren because he brings unique perspective to the democratic party and everyone in the country could benefit from the exchanges. >> here is an interesting fact, wealthy politicians, are they more likely to favor economic status quo? >> i would say they aren't. >> they are not? >> not the people i have dealt with. they understand that we have to change a lot of changes between our fiscal policy and our tax policy in order to get the economy of the country moving again and to do it in a sustainable way. >> the body of political science data shows ownership in

a society makes one more to the status quo whether that's middle class, homeownership or millionaires wealth. >> i do think that applies to a lot of people with wealth but a lot of folks i know that go into politics with money want to change things and be dramatic figures. >> there are no billionaires in either the house or the senate, correct? you think you could correct that. >> the silk stocking district must be -- [ laughter ] >> i remember there have been efforts to draft you to run for mayor in the past in new york if i remember correctly. >> in mayor of new york, only billionaire politician i am aware of still active on the scene today is mike bloomberg. >> right. >> he was a terrific mayor. >> he's got about $22 billion. >> 18 billion. >> that's this weekend. >> he gives a lot away.

>> gives to johns hopkins. not just johns hopkins. i met him on a board. he is phenomenal. he does a lot of work, was a terrific mayor. he rebuilt the sense of the city. he is 73 or 74 years old. >> why doesn't he run? >> for what? >> president. he tried before. >> he wouldn't be able to carry new york city against democratic candidate. >> he is an independent now. >> on political probability scale from 0 to 100, 0 meaning no likelihood whatsoever and 10 meaning metaphysical certitude, what is the likelihood that he will run? >> one to three. >> four. >> i'd put it at five. >> i really want to continue the trend. i will put it at six. >> i will put it at eight or fine. i saw that piece that he did

with those two women in, i think, idaho or iowa. he was right on the money so to speak. we'll be right back with predictions.

z >> predictions, pat. >> rand paul will be one of three finalists for republican nomination. >> constitutional amendment to

regulate campaign donations will gain strength after 2016 candidates each have to raise $1 billion. >> tom. >> next president of the united states will be a republican. >> mort zuckerman. >> next election year will see economy and jobs as principal issue because of the weakness in both categories will continue until then. >> one month ago before november mid-term elections i predict hispanic turn out will fail to reach the level of 2010. this year it will not rise above 30% due to disillusionment with president obama over repeated postponement of immigration reform. bye-bye.

welcome to government contracting weekly sponsored by aoc key solutions, inc. government contracting weekly is the only television program devoted exclusively to the competitive and dynamic world of government contracting, a world where coming in second place is not an option but where principle-centered winning is the only approach. good morning and welcome to government contracting weekly. i'm jim mccarthy, the owner of key solutions and the host of this show. we know that small business owners and employees make up a considerable part of our weekly audience. and for that reason, i'm very pleased that we'll be committing today's entire program to the current state of affairs in the small business administration. joining me today is john shoraka, the associate administrator for government contracting and business development for the sba.