john thune, with all due respect, i don't know if he has that much that he needs to wait. pawlenty and all the others. chris: you aren't whistling that tune. two years ago, a little known governor was fending off the investigation called troopergate but john mccain cast his magic wand on her. >> governor sarah palin of the great state of alaska. [cheers and applause] chris: just like that. palin was not a known quantity. he might have picked a known quantity that year, but who knew. kelly, here you were on "morning joe" that day. >> the buzz meter is lifting soundararah palin, governor of alaska. >> sarah, how do you pronounce youras lt name? >> palin. chris: we were trying to figure that out. john, you wrote in your book that on mccain's plane, palin told mccain's staff, it's god's plan. not to mention a bit of good luck going into it. every network was trying to figure it all out. >> everybody here is very proud of her, but no one expected that the road to the white house might start right here in what is known locally on the road to fairbanks. chris: another network cov

senator john thune outlines the federal debt. and a state depth terrorism report. and later a report on military detainees in afghanistan. >> tomorrow on "washington journal," we will talk to national law reporter tony morrow about newly confirmed supreme court justice elena kagan. >> also, edmund andrews, john kroger and others. "washington journal" is live beginning at 7:00 a.m. eastern time on c-span. and wednesday, treasury secretary tim geithner her and others talked about american fiscal policy. he discusses the administration's proposal to allow some of the bush era tax cuts to expire in just under a year. this is just under an hour. >> good afternoon and welcome, everyone. i am the president of the center for american progress. in just a few minutes we will hear from treasury secretary tim geithner, who i would like to thank very much for taking the time to come speak here today. i am also pleased that we have done something a little unorthodox and brought doug over to offer a divergent view on today's topic, the impending expiration of president bush's tax

the obama administration's fiscal policy, and the proposal to reduce the federal debt by senator john thune. >> we cannot go around suspecting and expecting double dealings and crockery. you cannot run a democracy like this with any kind of satisfaction in the absence of that base of honor and justice. >> watch this candid interview with new jersey rep millicent fenwich, the outspoken congresswoman, and inspiration for doonesbury character. that is free online at the c- span video library. it is washington it your way. >> now microsoft founder and chairman bill gates. he is at the annual aspen ideas festival to talk about his charitable work in education and health care. as chairman of the bill and melinda gates foundation, he manages the charity's $43 billion endowment and funds health care and education initiatives around the world. this is one hour. >> >> welcome, bill, to aspen. it is nice to have you here for the first time. bill gates. [applause] this started with some pretty downbeat talks from neil ferguson and others. i will ask you to uplift us a little bit. tell us what you are o