and continued by the obama administration have always seen eye trend or at least records of. presidential administrations trying to intimidate and put pressure on journalists in the past absolutely in fact one frustration of journalists is that every administration that gets into power tends to talk about government transparency before hand and then once they're the ones that would be subject to that transparency you know they talk a good game but in fact when it comes down to it they want to keep secrets and prevent these things from getting out and president obama is particularly disappointing because it's hard to think of any president that before he was allowed to talk so much about transparency and the importance of whistleblowers and protecting them and so it's just a particular disappointment to see him do what a lot of other presidents happened before jalen definitely talk a big game you're right there i you know i was a lot of things that we hear used often as the excuse is that this falls under the banner of national sink. parity and that's what they try to claim wi

has president obama turned into dick cheney that's the argument being made over how the obama administration is handling the case involving reporter james risin and his confidential source i've been to that in just a moment. twenty years ago in the largest country. to some degree to. what had been true. gender just. where did it take. seven thirty am in moscow these here are to you headlines greece grinds to a halt as a forty eight hour general strike takes effect while athens erupts in violence where protesters voiced their anger at proposed cuts to secure e.u. bailout cash the strike was timed to coincide with a crucial vote in the greek parliament on whether to accept brussels terms for financial aid this as china's prime minister offers a financial lifeline to the union during a visit to europe. french finance minister christine lagarde becomes the first female head of the international monetary fund winning overwhelming support from europe russia china and the us her chief rival for the position was mexican banker augustine carstens who lobbied as a non european candidate better suited

the net result was in late 1975, under the ford administration, during that administration, congress in the first footnote of my testimony invited the legal adviser to come forward with a definition of hostilities from the executive branch and apply the judgments we are describing here. in my testimony, i described the response given by mr. li and his co-author in which they essentially set forth a standard. this is on page 6 of the testimony. they said the executive branch understands in which armed forces are engaged in exchanges of fire with opposing units of hostile forces. they said the term should not include situations which were once in which the nature of the mission is limited, where the exposure of forces is limited, the risk of escalation is limited or when they are conducting something less than full military counters as opposed to surgical military activities. >> where is that from? >> page 6 of my testimony in the first footnote, the letter from the state department legal adviser. with regard to the scientific affairs ought international relations. congress acknowledge

administration in 2009? >> yes. what i'd say is i wouldn't say i disagree. i say i hope this is not a subtle difference. i don't agree. i don't think it's been supported -- that number has nots been supported -- >> well, i think your answer is you do not agree with the crane report. >> yes, the number i don't believe has a solid -- >> i just want it on the record that you disagree with the crane report. >> yes, i disagree with the analysis of the crane report. >> well, thank you. i see you won the prize for forbearance today, and we thank you, and we welcome the second panel. >> thank you. [inaudible conversations] i'm going to ask unanimous consent dr. burgess asked that troy's opinion in the "politico" >> in the meantime a look at the u.s. capitol where the senate will be gaveling in in about 15 minutes. we will have live coverage from the floor starting with the general speeches. at 4:30 p.m. senators will turn to the confirmation of a new solicitor general. test vote on the nomination is scheduled for 5:

versus the bush administration. production on the outer continental shelf also increased? >> it has pared >> thank you very much. >> we have avote call on the floor. i want to thank all the witnesses for your generosity and time. the record will remain open for an additional week to allow you to add additional information. with that, we stand adjourned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> we learned today that lawrence eagleburger, former secretary of state, has died. mr. eagleburger rows of the ranks of the u.s. foreign service and state department, becoming a top aide to henry kissinger during the nixon and ford administration. he was ambassador to yugoslavia for jimmy carter and served as secretary of state during the george h.w. bush administration. the cause of death was pneumonia. he was 80 years old. in this week's youtube address, president obama discusses the state of the u.s. auto industry and its relation to the rest of the ec

administration health benefits have become far more complex. along with anticipated state changes and a possible local changes. to successfully navigate these changes we must educate and train staff as well as the board of trustees to enhance and develop statutory compliance with information technology. the health service system manages close to $700 million per year for nearly 109,000 covered lives with an administrative budget of less than 1%. requiring the administration costs be paid for by the district. 51% of the budget is paid for by enterprise departments and by school districts and community college districts. the costs for retirees is 64% of the typical expenditures but most companies make for health benefits administration. our top priority has been maintaining day to day operations that make sure benefits are accurately administered through health coverage. streamlining initiatives over the last 18 months that have saved the city $16 million, not including the audit that we just completed. over the next five years we have identified

the net result was in late 1975, under the ford administration, during that administration, congress in the first footnote of my testimony invited the legal adviser to come forward with a definition of hostilities from the executive branch and apply the judgments we are describing here. in my testimony, i described the response given by mr. li and his co-author in which they essentially set forth a standard. this is on page 6 of the testimony. they said the executive branch understands in which armed forces are engaged in exchanges of fire with opposing units of hostile forces. they said the term should not include situations which were once in which the nature of the mission is limited, where the exposure of forces is limited, the risk of escalation is limited or when they are conducting something less than full military counters as opposed to surgical military activities. >> where is that from? >> page 6 of my testimony in the first footnote, the letter from the state department legal adviser. with regard to the scientific affairs ought international relations. congress acknowledge

well judging by the silence of this administration it seems that what happens at good moment stays a good mile and who cares if it's great if you were enemies abroad or i don't know cost them soldiers life right or wrong but i have more in just a bit. and this time it's the wall street employees who are on the chopping block and i don't know about you but when bad times catch up with those who helped create i'm well i do country jump ship. paving it's friday june twenty fourth eight pm here in washington d.c. and we see coughing up and you're watching r t. all right well casey anthony anthony murder trial scandal it is not that is not what we're going to be talking about at all here except to make fun of the fact that this is what's on all of the channels all day long i mean i personally don't get it but libya libya is something these guys are not really covering we are of course one of the bigger developments today the top admiral dealing with nato sam locklear the head of nato joint operations admit openly that we're trying to kill gadhafi now remember all that talk about i don't k

the net result was in late 1975, under the ford administration, during that administration, congressthe first footnote of my testimony invited the legal adviser to me forward with a definition of hostilities from the executive branch and apply the judgmentwe are describing here. in my testimony, i described the response given by mr. li and his co-author in which they essentially set forth a standard. this is on page 6 of the stimony. they said the executive branch understands in which armed forces are engaged in exchanges of fire with opposing unit of hostile forces. they said the term should not include situations which were once in which the nature of the mission is limited, whe the exposure of forces is limited, the risk of escalation is limited or when they are conducting something less than full military counters as opposed to surgical military activities. >> where is that from? >> page 6 of my testimony in the first footnote, the letter from the state department legal adviser. with regard to the scientific affairs ought international relations. congress acknowledged it did not

the administration has been unable to apply any duration. in effort to protect civilians under imminent threat to obliterating libya's military arsenal. most recently, the administration has sought to avoid its obligation under war powers resolution by making the incredible assertion that u.s. military operations in libya do not constitute hostilities. even some prominent supporters of the war have refused to accept this claim. the administration's own description of the operations in libya _ the fallacy of the vision. -- in libyan underscore the fallacy of the vision. predator drungs fired missiles on many occasions -- predator drones fired missiles on many occasions. they depend on the essential support functions provided by the united states. the resolution required the united -- the president to terminate fossiforces in libya y 20. the administration declined to offer any explanation of its view that u.s. forces were not engaged in hostilities in libya and tarot nearly a month later, on june 15. -- in libya until nearly a month later, on

decision with no new conditions. -- the arizona administrator' -- the zoning administrator's decision with no new conditions. vice president garcia: i assume the zoning administrator will talk about what is legally required with parking. the curb cuts -- would someone get a ticket if they parked there? >> they are not actually painted red. next to the curb cuts, they are painted red. three cars can park, and regularly do, in each of those. vice president garcia: why is it painted red next to the curb cut? >> i will show you. this is a very tight turn, and 90 degree turn. it is tough for fire trucks to make that turn. the entire curve from here to here is painted red. vice president garcia: to allow clearance. all right. thank you. >> you are welcome. president goh: what you have the picture up, could you show me where the curb cut is on that picture? >> there is one right here. there is one right here. and there is one right here. you can see it in the pictures in that exhibit. the greenhouse is the smaller of the structures. -- the green house is the smaller of the structures and has

right well whether you agree with that or not judging by the silence of this administration seems that what happens at most stays there so why isn't the government or media commenting. and what is up with corporations sleeping with the government or who knows these days i mean it may be the other way around it may mean the death of democracy according to one guest we'll have more in just a bit. good evening it's friday june twenty fourth four pm here in washington d.c. and you see coughing up and watching our team right folks there's a breaking news development in the casey anthony murder trial and our team has the exclusive scoop you guys ready for this. everyone nobody gives a damn ok we have more than four unemployed americans for every single job in this country the government is acting frankly like a rich girl who stole her daddy's credit card and is going on a shopping spree more importantly there may not be a credit card to steal soon enough of these debt talk implosions actually get in the way of a lifting of that limit on the debt ceiling but of course the mainstream press is

on the administration before it. not only does it make us look i know it's critical think about how it might inspire people in other countries to retaliate to react against what they see as an injustice that's not a right move that's not right behavior but at the end of the day right or wrong that's exactly what's going to happen that's exactly what could affect american soldiers american troops abroad and what's the point of putting those folks at risk for what a dark hole prison the feel the i don't know almost no intelligence of worth doesn't make much sense to me but i decided to ask that question to jason leopold is an investigative reporter and the editor of truthout dot com take a look what he had to say. when we spoke actually a couple of months ago when the guantanamo detainee files were released i noted that there was this stunning hypocrisy within this administration and it also was was true for the bush administration and that is vilifying other countries other governments for human rights abuses in many

this administration, any administration usurping the appropriate role and authority of the senate in the advise and consent process. mr. president, this is obviously directly relevant to this legislation. as we debate this legislation designed to reduce the number of positions in the government that require senate confirmation, we should also ensure that the senate's role is not eroded by unconfirmed federal czars in very significant positions which should be subject to advice and consent. that's what my amendment is about. that's what my amendment would correct. this amendment would ensure that any administration -- not just this one; any administration -- republican, democrat, other is prevented from using so-called czars or similar positions to perform duties that are the responsibility of those positions subject to confirmation by prohibiting funding of those so-called czar positions. specifically, the amendment would prohibit funding for these czar positions. the amendment does not unduly restrict presidential advisory staff. we all agree the president is entitleed to direct adv

the obama administration is worse. >> we did look at the administration of george bush, which was widely criticized for appointing donors to these kinds of posts. and they had about the same number in four years that the obama administration has had in two years. >> reporter: and diane, according to a separate study by the american foreign service association, president obama has nominated more appointees who were political over the career diplomats than any president since the ford administration. diane? >> leading us off tonight, jake tapper at the white house. thank you, jake. >>> and, there is an outcry tonight, because of pakistan, and what that country did. pakistan, which receives billions of dollars in u.s. assistance, arrested the people in that country who helped the united states find and take down osama bin laden. word of the arrests came as some of the heroes, the american heroes of that mission, came home, and here's martha raddatz. >> reporter: the american sailors who buried bin laden at sea came home today, greeted as heroes. >> it absolutely is historic and we're proud

i don't think the obama administration has done that. to compound what has happened they say what is happening in libya is not hostilities. we are dropping bombs on people. those are hostilities. i think it flows from an inability to communicate and get people on board and especially members of congress. i have very limited sympathy right now for the obama administration. >> lehrer: mark? >> the war powers act, just to understand it, grew out of 1973, the vietnam war, and it requires a president, after taking military action-- he has 60 days to seek the consultation of congress. and--. >> lehrer: you don't have to get it ahead of time. >> you don't have to get it ahead of time. you don't have to get authorization of congress but it does not require a vote. that has always been the loophole. the 435 secretaries of state is not real. everybody is for the war powers act until they bottom b.c. president. the record is replete with senator obama talking about the need, the urgent need, unlike the bush administration for the president to consu

with the change in the administration, the obama administration last year passed to withdraw the application. the board empowered to make the decision within the application should be withdrawn in an unusual decision chose not to allow it to be withdrawn. we now have a very convoluted process at nrc where we're trying to determine if there is or is not a vote. we're in discussions on a bipartisan basis with the chairman of nuclear regulatory commission on that issue. the purpose of this hearing is to determine what the legal criteria is for the department of energy to terminate the amount in. the distinguished deputy secretary or undersecretary has said that that decision was based on social public acceptance. is that correct? >> secretary chu has testified many times, yes. >> where does it say that social public acceptance is the criteria? >> i didn't say it was in the nuclear waste policy. >> why wasn't a part of the decisionmaking process? >> our secretary with benefit of legal counsel and this is in the courts -- >> the secretary of energy decided that yucca mountain wasn't not acceptabl

administration in 2009?es. what i'd say is i wouldn't say i disagree. i say i hope this is not a subtle difference. i don't agree. i don't think it's been supported -- that number has nots been supported -- >> well, i think your answer is you do not agree with the crane report. >> yes, the number i don't believe has a solid -- >> i just want it on the record that you disagree with the crane report. >> yes, i disagree with the analysis of the crane report. >> well, thank you. i see you won the prize for forbearance today, and we thank you, and we welcome the second panel. >> thank you. [inaudible conversations] i'm going to ask unanimous consent dr. burgess asked that troy's opinion in the "politico" . . >> you have retired military surrounding the compound. you have isi agents as well. this is not a normal house. this was a large compound. heavily fortified. suspicious-looking. in a military area. it leads me to the question on our relationship with pakistan. where do we go from here? in my judgment, it is h

and that is the abuse by the executive over several administrations, but culminating in this administration, of appointing so-called czars as an end run around the u.s. constitution, as an end run around the powers of the senate, the balance of power of advice and consent and confirmation. so, mr. president, my amendment would fix that. it would defund czars and their offices, and it's carefully crafted, it's carefully defined. and it would say that we're not going to allow these czars to operate when they're essentially taking the place and the functions of what should be a senate-confirmed position. again, the language is careful. it's carefully thought out. it's carefully crafted. there are exceptions in the language which are important. i commend all of my colleagues to look at that. but the main point is simple and clear and important. we shouldn't allow any executive, any administration to end run the u.s. constitution, to end run the senate's important and appropriate role of confirmation advice and consent. so i encourage all of my colleagues to support this amendment. in closing, i

so for some regional administration has to take care for the locality administration. so this is mainly a guideline that has to support local administrations in their work. and why do local administrations need this? because there is a regional regulation that says that all our local authorities need to have a local mobility plan. i heard this morning about a problem like neighbors complaining when things have to be changed and the whole debate that is coming up then. but i think we have it similar because it's our local mayors who sometimes are hesitating to put into practice -- that's one of the reasons why those cycling routes sometimes get stuck, because you have a regional cycling route, but local authorities, we have 19 in brussels, local authorities do have to give permits for that. there is a lot of criticism on that and i heard my dutch colleague say one hour ago, you can get stuck because at local levels people don't like it, although your regional plan is to be so good. that's true. on the other hand, i think that it's a good democratic process to really to

but in other respects the obama administration has continued bush administration it has continueds. policies with the warrant was surveillance and the use of drones to assassinate people who are considered threats to u.s. security including american citizens. the assertion of strong secrecy privileges which makes it difficult if not impossible to bring lawsuits.th and really detention of people without trial is greatly criticized during the bush and administration although obama's hasfear continued as well. >> what is to iran and phobia? >> that is a combination of tyrant and phobia and the unreasoning fear of the excessively powerful executive. the country haexsy a long tradition of t po iran a phobia. was it was justified in the beginning because it. >> most countries smirking them and. >> but also with european history feared the u.s.ona policy would degenerate intoso a monarchies then a tyranny. they were very worried about the constitutional design to be explained by their efforts to explain that from taking place but what hasre u happened is most countries have become democrac

i have been told by various administrative administrators where i go. i have been told i have a daughter that works in it d.c., a corporate health-care lawyer, who does not deal with the medicare side, but i have heard about various things through her. i am 73. i worked until 67 and a half. i knew the plan i was going on to. a medical advantage plan. host: is the bottom line that you do not want medicare to change? is it too complicated? caller: i am sorry. i am furious. at the bottom line is, you have to be very, very highly sophisticated to do what paul ryan wants to do. he is going to give youa voucher and you're going to opt for your -- glenn host: let me interrupt you. we want to get an answer. the current medicare system is already complicated as seniors get vouchers. guest: she is lucky that almost the entire new york city delegation agrees with her. we do believe that no one that reaches a senior age, especially at 80 years, can be shopping around with a voucher asking an insurance company to cover us when we are the people who are vulnerable. i

now this administration has shut it down. we can argue back and forth whether what the chairman did was illegal or maybe just wrong or maybe just a miscommunication. the truth is we do not have a permanent facility that is certified or under certification process. it seems that would be a very fertile area for us to look at in this committee. at some point, regardless of how we take our nuclear energy policy, we will have to grapple with this. that would be my suggestion. we can waste a lot of time arguing or we can move forward and say, what are we going to do now? i yelled back. >> i would just say that the delay of the report is a delay of science. that is part of this whole debate. the report that has been delayed. i yield five minutes to the vice chairman. >> it certainly is important to hear scientific information. the implication is the credibility of the nrc and many issues of licensing. last week chairman jaczko says your office has exonerated him. i'm not sure your report supports that interpretation. on the matter

administration in 2009? >> yes. what i'd say is i wouldn't say i disagree. i say i hope this is not a subtle difference. i don't agree. i don't think it's been supported, that number has not been supported -- >> i think your answer is you do not agree with the crane report. >> yes, the number i don't believe has a solid foundation. >> i just want it on the record you disagree with the crane report. >> yes, i disagree with the analysis in the crane report. >> i see you won the prize here for fore beerns today. thank you very much, and we welcome the second panel. >> thank you. >> i'm going to ask namings concept -- unanimous consent that the opinion in the "politico" be put part of the record. without objection, so ordered. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> we'll have you gentlemen sit down at your convenience. i'll point them out before i swear them in. mr. james, a senior research fellow at the heritage foundation. mr. phenomenal covax, a senior vice president at the u.s. chamber of com

in other respects the obama administration has continued bush administration policies. warrantless surveillance is an example. the use of drones to fascinate people who are considered threats to u.s. security including american citizens. the assertion of strong secrecy privileges which has made it difficult if not impossible for people harmed by counter terror operations to make lawsuits. really detention of people without trial is something that was greatly criticized during the bush administration but the obama administration has continued that as well. >> host: you use the term tyr o tyranophob tyranophobia. >> guest: it is the unreasoning fear of powerful executives. this country has a long tradition of that. at the beginning it was quite justified because when the country was founded it was the only large republic or quasi democracy at the time. most countries were kingdoms and the founders were well read in the classics and in european history as well, fear is that the u.s. would follow the precedents of other republics and degenerate into a monarchies and into a

l, the last administration.hy are the groups even legal? care and isna, the largest influ enissue groups in america, the largest terrorism financing trial in american history, the holyland foundation trial of 2007 and 2008, which is online by the way, yes, all the documents, indictments, the results of it, but both of these groups were named as unindicted co-conspirators, yet there's an open door to our white house. it's madness, yet they advice the fbi on sensitivity training for the muslim community. this is the fox inside the hen house. >> host: didn't you write about a guy who was at fort hood about two weeks after nadal advising kind of caution. this guy is a member of the muslim brotherhood? >> guest: leading official of isna, an acknowledged muslim brotherhood front, and a month after the fort hood shootings lectured on islam to u.s. troops at fort hood. you can't make this up. >> host: you have to ask yourself who is watching the store? again, it seems to me that americans need to wake up to what this is

to discuss his latest story in the new yorker magazine and here he says the obama administration allowing fear not facts dictate a potentially disastrous foreign policy towards iran mr hersh thank you so much for sitting down with us based on your investigation is the united states wrong to assume the worst when it comes to iran if the fear is based on the notion that you know that some our iran has the bomb or is going to get a bomb so that's ridiculous because every bit of evidence they have it from their own intelligence community. but the people who are part of the birdsville but you know there's no weapons there we've known that for years we've been looking for years there for years and years we supported sanctions program that's designed to stop the punishment is. aimed at stopping the iranians from doing something you know we know they're not doing for me and i think i wrote me earlier for the analogy between what they're doing with obama's doing with iran is very close to what bush and dick cheney the vice president that did to iraq that is they they they wanted to punish they wan

the last administration did, this administration did. we've had great disasters and great impacts in other areas of the economy but amazingly, the reforms came after everyone was back up and running, not before they were allowed to go back up and run. governor, you've been very kind with your time. we appreciate your being here. you're probably the most welcomed relief to us in congress to see somebody who's doing the right things, who's making the right decisions, who's steering a course for your state and we appreciate your taking your valuable time to be up here today. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, congressman. >> we'll now take a five-minute recess to set up the next panel. .. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> we now the second panel with us. [inaudible] >> try that again. the president of the st. bernard parish in the state of louisiana. mr. bill williams, commissioner of the gulf county district b state of florida. mr. frank

we're following the bush administration and its predecessor. there has been continuity across republican and democratic administration. i'm not sure what you mean by informal, but it sounded right. >> most the rules are submitted on an informal basis before the draft rule is officially submitted. with respect to significant rules would you be willing to provide changes suggested during the informal review process? >> it is very rare that a rule is submitted and formally. that is not normal practice. it is extremely unusual. all i would say that happens sometimes is there are interagency discussions of rules we don't have the authority to make changes in those discussions. sometimes the agency describes that the discussions are informative. so in other words informal review is extremely rare. what is not is interagency discussion, and there are no changes made because there are no rule checks. >> you're saying is rare, but was it done? >> in a formal review, no. discussion, but not -- typically not in formal. >> you're saying is rare, but it occ

our decades of efforts were considered to be without value to this administration. they kicked us to the curb. this administration's involvement from retirees who cannot protect themselves was political, illegal, unethical, and immoral. they have the ability to treat every worker in a fair and equitable manner. they still can. they will refuse to do so. the long-term effects of these decisions are horrendous. according to a study, every year $1.6 billion of economic activity has been lost and will continue to be lost every year for the next two decades. clearly in violation of the requirements of tar. retirees have lost their futures. they will struggle to survive for the rest of their lives. they have lost insurance on top of reduced tensions. many cannot pay mortgages are put dickinson college. they have to compete for the same nonexistent jobs. one such person is with me here today. she has to deal with other issues including a husband who is fighting a disease. she and thousands of others are in an unsustainable situation. others have seen their homes for close.

they've been trying that since the clinton administration when the clinton administration classified an anti-khomeini and ahmadinejad, as of now, group called m.e.k., their initials, they're an anti-totalitarian regime group and there are over 3,000 residents of a camp in iraq. we as a nation gave them our sovereign promise. we'll make sure you're safe and secure. when we turn things over to the elected government of iraq, we were assured by that government that they would take care of that promise and they would keep the residents at camp ashroff safe. and yet last -- well, i guess nearly a week ago when a group of six of us met with the prime minister of iraq there in baghdad and tried to discuss the issue of the iraqi military going to camp ashroff and killing over 30, perhaps 35 residents of the camp, wounding perhaps 100 or more from reports from a video dana rohrabacher had seen. i did not. he said it was clear these were unarmed civilians that were killed by the iraqi military. that's not the promise we made to those people in the camp. it's not what president maliki made to t

eight years of the bush administration. so this talk that tax cuts or the high end are going to create jobs, it just didn't happen. so we want to talk about the past. we want to know what we're going to do in the future, but it's important to learn from the past so we don't do it again so we're not in this situation again. so as i said, the thought of an unincurvered, if that would be the -- unincumbered, if that would be the bill before us, this bill isn't right and i'm glad that hopefully will have a big, strong vote against it. i want to commend my colleague, congressman welsh. he was -- in his letter, he did not demand anything. he's saying, let's get together and talk about how we can have a clean debt limit bill. why don't we follow his lead on that and get together and see how we can do this in a way that's clean and/or at the same time has a plan, a bipartisan plan to reduce the deficit so that we can do just that as we increase jobs and strengthen the middle class? that -- thank you, mr. welsh, for your leadership

there were things from the truman administration, eisenhower administration. there's not much dramatic that is left. but it's nice to know that 40 years later, documents that have been readily available for all these years are now officially unclassified. >> brown: all right. sandy ungar, michael beschloss, thanks very much. >> pleasure. >> thank you. >> ifill: finally tonight, it's been nearly a year since supreme court justice john paul stevens stepped down from the bench as its third-longest serving justice. appointed by republican president gerald ford in 1975, stevens retired with a reputation as the leader of the court's liberal wing, and is now working on a book about his time in the company of five successive chief justices. i sat down with justice stevens after he was honored today at the law library of congress. >> ifill: justice stevens, thank you tore joining us. >> nice to be here. thank you. >> ifill: when you were appointed by president ford you were considered to be the republican nominee that by the time you retired you were considered to be t

we are fortunate to have the administrator, cass sunstein, with us. he will be able to tell us about the regulatory review activity that has occurred since our last hearing. the stated focus of this hearing is to learn more about the agency plans for regulatory reform which the white house released for public review and comment. if we are going to have an honest review, we must consider all relative facts. we should examine cost and do so wherever possible. we also must give equal consideration to benefit. yesterday we were supposed to mark up a bill called the trade act which calls for analysis of the cumulative impact of epa regulation which was postponed. it illustrates what is wrong with how we approach regulatory reform and this committee with this majority. it focuses nearly exclusively on the economic cost and amend its analysis of the impact of regulation on jobs, electricity costs, manufacturing and trade which is all appropriate, but it ignores the dangers of unchecked pollution on health, environment, and global climate change. one-sided ap

the administration doesn't just sit there.rade agreements. despite countless speeches from the president and his administration about the importance of the three trade agreements to american exports, creating american jobs and strengthening our alliances with key friends, his administration busies itself concocting more roadblocks, more delays and more excuses. it's time to be blunt about this. this schizophrenic trade policy is doing nothing but hurting american workers, hurting jobs and undermining our recovery. i believe that each free trade agreement standing on its own merits and with the full backing of the white house and congressional leadership will pass with significant bipartisan margins. but we are now told that we will never have a chance to vote on any of these agreements unless the white house and democrat senators get what they want on trade adjustment assistance. let's put this in perspective. our economy teeters on the brink with a weak economic recovery. one in seven americans happens to be on food stamps. d

what is happening in the administration?if part of this is to keep the taliban it's only hope is for a negotiated settlement. there's not going to be a "va" day celebrated, a victory in afghanistan or a victory over the taliban celebrated in the american history books. and i think-- i think the administration is in very tough negotiations right now as far as the deficit reduction and the debt. and that-- this has to come into that, into play. we're talking about large sums of money beyond the troops and the number that we've committed there. so i think it's-- i think it's got a political traction to it right now. there are fewer and fewer republicans who are blindly committed to the united states engagement around the world. it's not-- it's a respectable republican position now in the congress to question, even to criticize and to oppose, united states extension of our mission in afghanistan. >> brown: all right, now, speak of political traction, let me use that to make a segue to traditional american politics-- newt gingric

by the bush administration. it was made clear to inner agencies they should participate, and they did. frankly, a president who has his appointees or independent agencies can persuade them to participate if he expresses the desire strongly enough. i don't think that was done in this case. now, despite the limitations, the initiative has as reported by the oira team has meaningful results. overall, the executive branch agencies identified over 100 possible rule changes for the purported potential savings in the short term of about $1 billion. for an administration up until now reduced regulation on virtually nothing, this agenda is significant. as encouraging as that is, the administer's acknowledgement that regulations have cost and take time and day to review the mandates imposed to determine if they are necessary and effective. still, it is too soon for americans to breathe a sigh of relief. many last week are the low-hanging fruit of excesses that should have been plucked long ago. such as milk being a danger

but in other respects the obama administration has continued bush administration policies. wireless surveillance -- sorry, warrantless surveillance is an example, the use of drones to assassinate people who are considered threats to u.s. security including american citizens, the assertion of strong secrecy privileges which has made it difficult if not impossible for people harmed by counterterror operations to bring lawsuits. in these and other ways, and really, you know, detention of people without trial is something that was greatly criticized during the bush administration, but the obama administration has continued with that as well. >> host: professor posner, in "the executive unbound," you use the term tiran phobia. what is that? >> tiran phobia is the combination of tyrant and phobia, and it's the unreasoning fear of an excessively powerful executive. and this country has a long tradition of tiran phobia. at the beginning it was quite justified because when the country was founded, it was only large republic or quasidemocracy at the time. most countries were kingdoms