here is brad smith's opinion of it. talk about the differences. guest: when it was first introduced in 2010, at that time the lead sponsor was senator schumer in new york and he made the statement that one of the purposes of this" was to deter people from speaking. he was very open about that. it's clear who they wanted to deter, that is constituencies that the democratic sponsors believe will be republican constituencies. it is not entirely clear, but i think one can make those kinds of predictions. so, it really is and remains a partisan views of legislation. and one of the things you can do when you begin to understand campaign finance is it is very easy to write legislation that is neutral on its face but that target -- that targets political opponents. for example, if you know how emily's list exercise political influence or how unions exercise influence or how businesses exercise influence, you can write legislation that is neutral on its face but targets that particular type of group or that particular type of agency. it would be sort of li

then later on, brad smith will be here to talk about money and politics. >> this weekend on michele flournoy- "book tv" the harlem book fair. cornel west sits in on a panel examining the next presidential election. and then celebrating the 150th anniversary of the emancipation proclamation. and then sunday at 2:00 eastern, the evil former collegians leadership summit. >> something has happened in the last two decades that are really changing the nature of large corporations, and that is the cycle time. the amount of time they have to stay on the pact has been incredibly compressed by globalization, technology shifts, regulatory ships. in fact, large corporations not only need to do with no customers and products, they need to do with disruption. disruption is when they have a great core business and some crazy comes along and says, we are going to take of this company. the best examples of this are two of the smartest companies. anybody have a blackberry or nokia phone? i was in finland had a nokia board meeting in the week the iphone came out. they passed around a copy and the fatal quote w

brad smith, former chairman of the federal election commission, was a guest on this morning's " washington journal." this is 35 minutes. >> mr. smith served five years in the federal alexian commission. he is our guest this morning to talk about campaign spending in 2012 and the senate's effort this week to pass legislation called the disclose act. let's start with this story in usa today. campaign fundraising right now at $1 billion and counting. it suggests that it could hit $3 billion. what do those numbers say to you? guest: it is not a lot of money. we need to be informed about candidates. higher spending dozen factories -- increase voter knowledge of who the candidates are and where they stand. as much as people take those 32nd at, the data shows that higher spending does increase voter knowledge and awareness. senate's's move to the effort this week to pass legislation called the disclose act. you have been a critic of that. why? >> there are a number problems with the act. it is not really necessary. people here this reports of secret money and the reality is every super pak has to

also, former federal election commissioner brad smith talks about why he opposes the independent campaign groups that disclose where they get their money. "washington journal" is live on c-span every morning at seven eastern. >> oklahoma senator tom coburn wrote in "the new york times" about the antitax pledge that has been signed to many republican members of congress and he talked about the issue on "washington journal" for 45 minutes. >> now joining us on "washington journal" is senator tom coburn and a member of the finance committee. senator, in the last couple of days, there has been an op-ed in "the new york times" and back-and-forth on the issues of taxes and spending. would you like to take this chance to clarify your position on that? >> i think we ought to have the lowest taxes that we can. but we ought to pay our taxes and not ask our children and grandchildren to do so. that is what the democrats and the republicans, no matter who is in control, have been doing for years. i frankly what it means your for our kids, my kids, which are about your age, and my grandchildren there

former federal election commissioner brad smith talks about why he opposes requiring independent campaignto disclose where they get their money. washington journal is live every morning on c-span at 7:00 a.m. eastern. more "road to the white house coverage tomorrow. mitt romney campaigns in new hampshire. that is live on c-span. live at 6:00 p.m. eastern, first lady michelle obama delivered a campaign speech in fredericksburg, virginia. >> this weekend on book tv, from new york city, the harlem book fair. live coverage starts saturday at 12:30 eastern with a panel discussion on the future of african american publishing. that is followed with a look at public education. cornell west sits on a panel examining the next presidential election. sunday at 2:00 p.m. eastern, the eagle forum leadership summit with authors including phyllis schlafly. part of book tv this weekend on c-span2. >> homeland security secretary janet napolitano testified at an oversight hearing today. she answered questions about port security, the fast and furious gun tracking operation, and the administration's policy t

that is stone gossard and shawn smith from the band, brad, right there! hey, guys!we love when you come by the show. there's brad's new record right there. "united we stand." thanks for being on the show, guys. i appreciate you guys coming back on. [ cheers and applause ] big fan. sounding good, buddy. we have a great show for you tonight. he might just be the biggest movie star in the world. he's back with "men in black 3." will smith is here tonight! [ cheers and applause ] >> steve: come on! >> jimmy: he's a good man. [ cheers and applause ] plus, he's a terrific actor starring in the new miniseries, "hatfields & mccoys." bill paxton is stopping by! [ cheers and applause ] another huge movie star. and we've got music from country superstar ronnie dunn tonight! [ cheers and applause ] brooks & dunn. this is ronnie dunn. [ applause ] he's a good man. first -- you know, the modern world is a hectic place, and that's why here at "late night" we like to celebrate the things in life that stand the test of time. things that last. things that are permanent. and what's th