>> mr. hart? thank you for your comment. i think that there's a great deal of merit to that comment and we'll try to do better in the future. perhaps better coordination in terms of having the document prepared and coordinating it with when the packets go out to all the commissioners. i do believe there are extra copies for any members of the public that wish to have them, that they are over on the table. but we'll try to do better in the future. and thank you for your comments. >> i'll review it again, i make mistakes like anybody else but i didn't see it in reviewing the packet, in what i received and thought it was worth a mention. >> if it's any consolation, it's not in our packet either. any further comment? hearing none -- line item number -- are we -- briefly, commissioner dejesus asked we reopen line item 5-c, scheduling of items. is that appropriate to reopen an item? >> it was five. all i want to do -- [inaudible] >> reopen 5-b for commissioner dejesus. >> i just wasn't here last week when we were talking about sch

>> mr. hart? thank you for your comment. i think that there's a great deal of merit to that comment and we'll try to do better in the future. perhaps better coordination in terms of having the document prepared and coordinating it with when the packets go out to all the commissioners. i do believe there are extra copies for any members of the public that wish to have them, that they are over on the table. but we'll try to do better in the future. and thank you for your comments. >> i'll review it again, i make mistakesik

mr. hart, you speak about the prices not going up. i am on social security and we have not gotten a raise in two years. they say the prices have not gone up. you do not address the issue of an lot of companies are taking [unintelligible] away from all kinds of products even up to a pound. for instance, on sugar, yet they are charging the same amount for the item. could you address that for me because, like i said, no one has addressed this issue? i am a very good shopper and i notice when they take away ounces from food but they do not lower the price. please address this, please. guest: certainly. when food companies are looking at how the package their products, they are cognizant of these price increases as well. they have a couple of ways to deal with that. they can maintain their products at the same quantity and raise the price so they can maintain the price level at the same level. again, what they are facing in terms of their costs of producing that food product is not only the body of the agricultural products but how much do

mr. hart, you speak about the prices not going up.m on social security and we have not gotten a raise in two years. they say the prices have not gone u. you do not address the issue of an lot of companies are taking [unintelligible] away from all kinds of produs even up to a pound. for instance, on sugar, yet they are charging the same amount for the item. could you address that for me because, like i said, no one has addressed this issue? i am a very good shopper and i notice when they take away ounces from food but they do not lower the price. please address this, please. guest: certainly. when food companies are looking at how the package their products, they are cognizant of these price increases as well. they have a couple of ways to deal with that. they can maintain their products at the same quantity and raise the price so they can maintain the price level at the same level. again, what they are facing in terms of their costs of producing that food product is no only the body of the agricultural products but how much does it co

mr. january hart joined in 2010, prior to joining "the post" he was a part of the news board from 1993 to 2000. he then became the national affairs columnist for bloomberg news from 2000 to 2001, and left to work as a policy advisor to michael bloomberg and his successful campaign. the major of the new york city. he returned to the deputy editor of the editorial page from 2000 to 2005. mr. caphart and the daily news editorial award won the prize for editor writing for the editor series on the apollo theater in harlem. please welcome him. a round of applause. [applause] [applause] >> we also have serving as our first panelist today, mr. dr. austin. dr. austin is a sociologist on racial relations with a specializations on african-americans. prior to join the policy institute, he was assistant director at search at the foundation center and a senior fellow at the demos think tank. from 2001 to 2005, he served on the faculty of westland university. he's the author of "getting it wrong: how black intellectuals are failing black america and achieving blackness." race, black nationalism, and cen

mr. january hart joined in 2010, prior to joining "the post" he was a part of the news board from 1993 to 2000. he then became the national affairs columnist for bloomberg news from 2000 to 2001, and left to work as a policy advisor to michael bloomberg and his successful campaign. the major of the new york city. he returned to the deputy editor of the editorial page from 2000 to 2005. mr. caphart and the daily news editorial award won the prize for editor writing for the editor series on the apollo theater in harlem. please welcome him. a round of applause. [applause] [applause] >> we also have serving as our first panelist today, mr. dr. austin. dr. austin is a sociologist on racial relations with a specializations on african-americans. prior to join the policy institute, he was assistant director at search at the foundation center and a senior fellow at the demos think tank. from 2001 to 2005, he served on the faculty of westland university. he's the author of "getting it wrong: how black intellectuals are failing black america and achieving blackness." race, black nationalism, and cen