norman ornstein?t: i think tom is spot on. looking at cause and effect in the immediate aftermath of jobs changing, it is usually a tricky business. we get changes, far more because of larger forces in the economy. we need to do more things now. one of the great tragedies is we have not done and infrastructure program that would help us along . it is interesting -- paul london, an economist, had a piece recently in "the washington post," about how this is really hurting blue-collar men, electricians, plumbers, construction workers, who have been sitting on the sidelines and have some skills. we could do a lot with government policy, but i do not look for cause and effect in short times. host: since we are going down history lane, let me show some statistics about this congress -- congressional approval ratings in 2013. you can see where gallup puts them from december. "the new york times" also noting 54s congress has passed bills. we are halfway through. how does this compare? guest: there was not a l

thomas mann of brookings institution in norman ornstein of aei are here. mike you are up next, independent caller. good morning. >> caller: good morning. i have a little quiz that will test the commitment of the two sellers to the terrible unemployment problem. we do have a terrible unemployment problem. there were two, two year year utes in american history where we had a dramatic increase in the number of jobs. one case the incoming president faced an 11.7% unemployment rate and a fundamental change in policy. within two years the unemployment rate sank to 2.4% and another case where about 10 million new jobs were created within two or three years. could i have used scholars identify that period and what lessons can be learned and if you cannot identify the period what does that say about your commitment to unemployment? >> guest: i mean i don't know the particular ones you are talking about but i would be wary of making a judgment about the particular policies adopted being responsible for the increase in the number of jobs and the decline in unemployme

the brookings institution and norman ornstein of the american enterprise institute join us, and they co- authored the book "it is even worse than it looks." you can see "washington journal" every morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. the'm standing in front of 1905 wright flyer three, the third and final experimental airplane the wright brothers built and today it survives as the second oldest of the airplanes today. this airplane, which orwell right considered the world's first practical airplane was constructed and flown in less than six years time between the time that they build theirkite of theiruccess particular airplane. it is also a plane that was built less than two years after hawk,rst flight at kitty north carolina, december 17, 1903. what is interesting to think about is that the wright flyer and kitty hawk flew just four times on one very historic day. they were four very important flight and they were the proof of concept, heavier than air flight. the airplane behind me was capable of repeated takeoff and landing, repeated flights, of not just for a few seconds at a t

norman ornstein? guest: i think tom is spot on. looking at cause and effect in the immediate aftermath of jobs changing, it is usually a tricky business. we get changes, far more because of larger forces in the economy. we need to do more things now. one of the great tragedies is we have not done and infrastructure program that would help us along . it is interesting -- paul london, an economist, had a piece recently in "the washington post," about how this is really hurting blue-collar men, electricians, plumbers, construction workers, who have been sitting on the sidelines and have some skills. we could do a lot with government policy, but i do not look for cause and effect in short times. host: since we are going down history lane, let me show some statistics about this congress -- congressional approval ratings in 2013. you can see where gallup puts them from december. "the new york times" also noting 54s congress has passed bills. we are halfway through. how does this compare? guest: there was no