first of all, i wholly agree with neera's assessment. and in fact deficit reduction, so far, if you include interest savings to $2.8 trillion over the number. and in at that fact it would take $900 billion over the next decade to stabilize it as a share of gdp. i think that's a goal we would agree upon in the long-term. in a functional congress, which we don't have. it's actually not that heavy of a lift. so i i thought neera's teeing up of the framing was right. look, to somehow suggest db it's not your agenda. it's way you ask the question. it would be sugar or chocolate to put off current deficit reduction is, i think the wrong frame. it's much after you have been nor nourished. our economy is suffering from absence of basic nutrition. and the austerity embedded in the deficit reduction, in my view, has come too quickly thus far is the -- i think that's something we on the panel agree on. second dpli, the reason why -- and in the long-term the reason it's not spinach once you achieve a more established growth rate. a bona fide recover

me now, former governor of mexico, bill richardson, president of the center for american progress, neeran, editor of national review, rich lowry, president and founder of the national action network, host of msnbc's "politics nation," reverend al sharpton and republican strategist steve schmidt. welcome to all of you. wow so, much to get to. steve schmidt, washington dysfunction. again, you can talk about the rule change and the minutia. it's about whether the minority candidate wants to block what the majority wants to do. what are we seeing here? >> that's right. one of the fascinating aspects of it is the fact that when leader mcconnell was in the majority of course his view was completely different, as was leader reid's. these are complicated issues. the dysfunction you saw play out this morning is why the senate, why the congress has such a low approval rating with the american people who view this as an institution almost completely removed from dealing with anything that's relevant to their actual lives. >> neera tanden, mcconnell making a point and saying what are they so upset a

i think neera is right.cbo projections. krugman wrote the other day that a 10 year budget forecast we alletty boring -- expected the budget deficit to get really big. i was there working through the administration when it was happening. right question is is not, is it too large in 2008, 2009, 2010 it is it big enough to offset the magnitude of the sector -- of the private sector demand contraction. the forces that have aligned here are those who are actually quite a bit less interested in actual deficit reduction menu would really believe.-- and you would really believe. bob really want to bring the deficit down. there are more people who want to just really shrink government. they want to get rid of social insurance because they ideologically oppose it. they do not like the safety net. if you give them the opportunity to cut medicare costs like the president did in the election, they attack him for that. i do not think, when you write down the numbers, they are as serious as they say.i think it is the tea party, i think it

. >> neera tanden, mcconnell making a point and saying what are they so upset about?resident's gotten most of what he's wanted. these are particular nominations that legally we have a right to challenge. we also know it's ideological as well. >> yeah. no. i think what people are concerned about is there are a number of agencies, not just the ones that mitch mcconnell, senator mcconnell was talking about, it's epa, it is cpfb, consumer financial protection board, but it's tallas department of labor, it's also -- it's a range -- nlrb -- a range of agencies that actually protect consumers against large special interests. and i think the issue here is really that the congress is really unpopular because it's not dealing with the country's problems, and i think people really want a functioning senate. >> and if it can't function, even though it passed immigration reform, we see another area where we get nothing done. and i get to the issue of immigration, rich lowry, which, as i referenced to senator reid, you and bill krystal, prominent conservatives, said kill this bill

i thought neera's teeing up of the framing was just right. look, to suggest somehow an agenda, i don't suggest your agenda, the way you asked the question to suggest it would be kind of like sugar or chocolate to put off current deficit reduction is, i think the wrong frame because it's much, chocolate is sort of what you have after you have been nourished. it is your dessert. frankly our economy is suffering from an absence of basic nutrition right now and the austerity embedded in the deficit reduction that i believe, in my view come too quickly thus far is demonstrably hurting economic growth in the long term. i think that is something we all on the panel agreed on. secondly, and the reason why, in the longer term it is really not spinach because once you achieve a more established growth rate, kind of a bonafide recovery that, again we would all recognize as a real genuine recovery, not what we have now, the deficit, relative to the economy falls on its own if you implement some of the kinds of changes that, that i think we need to implem

of for ten years, neera, you're doing a great job filling in for john. congress is extremely unpopular for a couple of main reasons. any poll you look at indicates that they're unpopular for two reasons. one, gridlock. gridlock, gridlock. two, not getting things done. and that's really true. we, when i came to congress -- well, actually, first time i ran for the senate we were above 45%, approaching 50%, congress. not that way anymore. last gallup number had us at 10% and not going up, going down. so why is that? of course, we all know we need to pass legislation that does good things for our country, especially the middle class. flip on c-span, as i know some of you do, and what a do you see there the vast majority of the time? nothing. blank screen. quorum calls. so we're wasting time, hour after hour, day after day. trying to give you a picture of where we're coming from, me and my caucus. lyndon johnson was majority leader for over six years. during that time he had to overcome one filibuster. i've been leader about the same time as he has. i don't k

for ten years, neera, you are doing a great job for filling in for john.has been extremely unpoplar for a few reasons. one, gridlock. gridlock. two, not getting thing done. that's really true. we -- when i came to congress -- actually the first time i ran for the senate. we were above 45% approaching 55%. not that way number. last game -- gallop number had us at 10% not going up. going down. why is that? of course, we know we need to pass legislation that does goods things for our country. especially the middle class. flip on c-span, as i know some of you do. what do you see there? the vast majority of the time? nothing. blank screen. quorum calls. we are wasting time hour after hour. day after day i can give you a picture where we are coming from. me on my caucus. lind data johnson was the majority leader for many years. he had overcome one filibuster. i've been leader about the same time as he has, i don't know the exact number. but it's around 420 fill filibusters. have things changed? they sure have changed. now, everyone knows that under the constitut

so let me conclude by saying we see, as neera said, this is not a zero-sum game.it's overwhelmingly in our interest that india continues to grow. it's overwhelmingly in our interest that china grows. it's overwhelmingly in our interest that the world economy grow. because we believe asia's success is fundamentally linked to ours. so the president and i are going to continue to reach across the ocean, both east and west, particularly to the indispensable pacific nations, to help us shape a prosperous future, for america, for their people and, i would argue, for the world. thank you all for being so gracious and listening. thank you. [applause] on the next washington journal will look at the week's political stories with lyrical editor of the washington times stephen dinan. the tell you about supposed changes -- propose changes to the filibuster law. also sam stein a political editor and white house editor of "the huffington post" will discuss the effects of sequestration and the white house's strategy for dealing with the economy. "washington journal" is on c- span

let me conclude by saying we see as neera said, it's not a diser aresome game. it's overwhelmingly in our interest that india continues to grow. it's overwhelmingly in our interest that china grows. it's overwhelmingly in our interest that the world economy grow. because we believe asia's success is fundamentally linked to ours. so the president and i are going to continue to reach across the ocean both east and west particularly to the indies penceble specific nations to help us shape the prosperous future for america, for their people, and i would argue for the world. thank you all for being so gracious in listening. thank you. [applause] [applause] [inaudible] >>> at the today's white house briefing president obama made an unscheduled appearance before reporters to give the first public statement on the trayvon martin case. after saturday's verdict in the murder trial. here is a little what the president had to say from the white house briefing room. >> there are very few african-american men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed wh