we had the opportunity to call dick armey and pass it on. i was not as effective as senator dole would have been. it is a memory i will longer hold. it gives an indication of the kind of man he is. >> for humorous, he used humor as an effective weapon. a lot of it was self- deprecating. i remember a particular mark up we had. senator dole was a great fan of the use of ethanol. we had a proposal to enhance the tax benefits for ethanol. i was down in the witness chair as the staff director explaining to the committee what the proposal was in the course of the market, into the senators would be free to amend it and they would vote on it. i am describing the proposal, and senator bradley, who was a vigorous opponent of the gasahol tax incentives was torturing me with a million questions. how does this work? why? what is this level? how much is the subsidy? and i am just getting sliced up by senator bradley. senator dole is just sitting there. finally, senator bradley said, what does this proposal cost? at that moment, senator dole broke in and s

>> first of all, bring everybody up to date on who dick armey is. he was the number two man and many people believe was the intellectual father of the 1994 takeover by the republicans in congress. >> one of them, along with the new gingrich. been he was but newt gingrich's easily given the credit but dick armey was probably the one responsible for the 10 roles. what i'm trying to say is this is a man who is well known and well regarded as a crafty politician. he now is the one in charge of this website i was talking about that became, by all accounts, all accounts, the rallying fulcrum -- catalyst for the expanding tea party movement. that and fox news. >> with all due respect, bob -- and i have a lot of respect -- >> i love the practice -- >> you are wrong about the tea party movement. others may have characterized it that way but those who are in the individual tea party movements, again, going back to illinois and a congressional primary i mentioned, the candidate, mr. walsh, said there are 12 different tea party groups, none of whom recognize a

and i of course had the opportunity to call dick armey and pass along this message. i wasn't quite as effective as senator joe would have been. nonetheless, it is a memory i will long hold. and i will then give you an indication of the kind of man he is. >> well, i was thinking of a more humorous -- he used humor as a very effective within. i wanted it was self-deprecating, but i remember one particular markup and senator dole was a great fan of the use of ethanol and we had a proposal to enhance the tax benefits for ethanol. and i was down in the witness chair as the staff are explaining to the committee what senator dole's proposal was in the course of a markup and then the senators would be free to amend it and they would vote on it. and so while i'm describing the proposal and senator bradley, who was at that point a vigorous opponent of the gasohol tax incentives was just torturing me with a million questions. how does this work, what is this level, how much is this subsidy? and i'm just getting sliced up by senator bradley. and senator mill is just sitting ther

they're getting financed with dick armey. follow it.no grass roots. >> you have to pick one or the other. are they an unorganized grassroots operation, or are they this highly sophisticated functioning well oiled machine? which one is it? at the end of the day. >> there's dick armey. >> at the the end of the day they will cause trouble for democrats and republicans. it is so fragmented you have seven different kind of tea parties in one congressional district going after some republican candidate. this isn't some republican movement that's just being funded by dick armey. it's not and i'm telling you, though, it's going to take out some -- >> jesse: why did it happen to george bush when they were violating the amendment to the fourth amendment -- >> we've never been in more dire straits than we were -- >> jesse: come on, george bush, it was way worse. he puts us in two wars and puts it on the credit card. >> and obama tripled that. >> jesse: congressman paul, your opinion on the tea party? >> well, i think it's totally disorganized but

dick armey, a great american., there is only one of legitimate reason to levy the task and that is to raise money. when you do that you should raise no more money than is absolutely necessary to pay for it as you go only the minimal necessary duty of the government. [cheering] and if this crowd in washington but understand that principle we would cut the size of the government to one-third of what it is today. [cheering] and they could concentrate their attention on doing what they must do well with some degree of effectiveness and more importantly, effectiveness instead of squandering the the liberty of a bunch of their silly whimsical spending programs that are more about themselves and that this great nation. now going back to my point about the only legitimate test of the tax code is to raise money. this tax code that you are living under today is an abomination of cubans. principally because of two principal corruptions. the first is the audacity they have and believing they should use the money to control yo

dick armey, a great american.here is only one of legitimate reason to levy the task and that is to raise money. when you do that you should raise no more money than is absolutely necessary to pay for it as you go only the minimal necessary duty of the government. [cheering] and if this crowd in washington but understand that principle we would cut the size ofhe government to one-third of what it is today. [cheering] and they could concentrate their attention on doing what they must do well with some degree of effectiveness and more importantly, effectiveness instead of squandering the the liberty of a bunch of their silly whimsical spending programs that are more about themselves and that this great nation. now going back to my point about the only legitimate test of the tax code is to raise money. this tax code that you are living under today is an abomination of cubans. principally because of two principal corruptions. the first is the audacity they have and believing they should use the money to control your be

th are concerned because there is a cost, there is a cost of this and win armey for house majority leader who's been a promoter of the tea party movement is quoted to a major rally prosperous saying nearly every important office in washington, d.c. is occupied by someone with an aggressive dislike the freedom from the history and the constitution, when you start up, when you're stealing a page and year in high partisanship you are playing with forces out of control. >> there's a movement going on in america so they put on a reported few weeks ago saying there had been a 300% increase in militia groups in the united states in the first year of obama. it's what i call the hatred groups, people believe it's patriotic to hate the president and government. one of the ideas and i interview folks from these groups, they believe they are defending the constitution, they are defending the constitution against enemies foreign and domestic and many of them believe president obama might be a domestic enemy as defined in the constitution. you will see a poll, evin two weeks from louis harris which i c

and i had the opportunity to call dick armey and pass this information. but nonetheless it was a memory i will long hold and it again gives you the kind of indication the man is. >> rod? >> well, i was thinking of humorous. a lot of it was self-deprecating but i remember one particular markup that we had. and senator dole was a great fan of the use of ethanol and we had a proposal to enhance the tax benefits of ethanol. and i was down in the witness chair as the staff director explaining to the committee what senator dole's proposal was in the course of a markup. and then the senators would be free to amend it and they would vote on it. and so i'm describing the proposal. and senator bradley, who was at that point a vigorous opponent of the gas-a-hol tax in -- incentives. and how much is this subsidy? and i'm just getting sliced up by senator bradley and senator dole is just sitting there. i'm thinking this is his approach. -- proposal. [laughter] >> and senator bradley said mr. dearment how much does it cost. and he said it cost just as much as that mass

when dick armey, former house majority leader who has been a promoter of the tea party movement is quoted at one major rally saying nearly every important office in washington d.c. today is occupied by someone with an aggressive dislike for heritage, our freedom, our history and our constitution. when you stir that up, when you are stirring up hate and fear in the service of hyperpartisanship you are playing with forces that can easily get out of control. southern-- 300% increase in the number of militia groups in the united states in the first year of obama. it is what i called the hate groups who believe it is patriotic to hate the president and the government. what are the ideas that i interviewed folks, they believe that they are defending the constitution. they are defending the constitution against enemies both foreign and domestic and many of you speak to them believe president obama might be a domestic enemy is defined under the constitution. you are going to see a poll come out in two weeks from louis harris, which i can't real feel yet but it will add number two that. it is sign

dick armey, a great american.me just give you a few observations. one, there is only one of legitimate reason to levy the task and that is to raise money. when you do that you should raise no more money than is absolutely necessary to pay for it as you go only the minimal necessary duty of the government. [cheering] and if this crowd in washington but understand that principle we would cut the size of the government to one-third of what it is today. [cheering] and they could concentrate their attention on doing what they must do well with some degree of effectiveness and more importantly, effectiveness instead of squandering the the liberty of a bunch of their silly whimsical spending programs that are more about themselves and that this great nation. now going back to my point about the only legitimate test of the tax code is to raise money. this tax code that you are living under today is an abomination of cubans. principally because of two principal corruptions. the first is the audacity they have and believing

gingrich, the speaker at the time, and dick armey and others were opposed to doing anything to allow the government to go forward and wanted to sort of force the issue. there was a point in time we were bouncing something back-and-forth and the house once again indicated that they would be unwilling to pass something in the senator dole can out of the cloakroom and said to me you call dick armey on the phone and tell him the next time we are not going to stop it. these people have no idea what it's like to live from paycheck to paycheck, and they are essentially doing enormous damage to the people in this country who we depend on. and it was an indication of the things that at -- when it really counted what he cared about, and it was -- he had extraordinary respect for the public service nature of government and the people who perform those services and little tolerance for the sort of indifference that seemed to be being shown and the kind of brinksmanship where other people's lives were at risk and of course i had the opportunity to call dick armey and pass along this message. [lau

grover norquist's americans for tax reform and the man guilty of the original sin of astroturfing dick armeyan't even keep a website going for six months before it becomes just another shill for the right wing. the runner up, lou dobbs. in a fawning interview with "gq" showing he's at the top of his game, provided the game is seen nilty. dobbs replies, do you think they'd have the guts to bring an independent on to msnbc? are you kidding me? have you looked at their ratings? if you looked, they're scared to dea death. nbc is ge's gift to the obama administration. and please, give us some more defense contracts. it's all good. in the last four months of his television career before cnn fired him, here were in of the ratings, compared to 294,000 watching "countdown" an hour later, lou proving again he is independent. independent of facts, independent of viewers, independent of supporters. but our winner, boss russ h. limbaugh. today he claimed the volcano eruption was god protesting reform, worst again, he lied about the tragedy at the upper big branch mine, blaming it on unions. unions must h

because of a voicemail he left for members of freedomworks, the tea party organization run by dick armeyf the gecko, he's the real service, real savings guy. here's his message to the tea partiers. >> hi, there. i'm doing a paper about freedomworks and i was wondering if somebody could give me a call back. i'm wrapping up and i just have one more piece of information i need to get from you guys. i just need to know what the percentage is of people that are mentally retarded who work for the organization, and are members of it. and oh, one final thing, wondering what your plans are, how to spin it when one of your members does actually kill somebody, wondering how, if you've got an actual pr spinning routine planned for that or are you just going to take it when it happens. just curious, so give me a call when you get a chance. thanks so much. >> hey, that is a really good voice. mr. baxter writing about the message on his blog. yeah, i know. stupid. and certainly not constructive. unfortunately, in my haste, i used the phrase mentally retarded, which ultimately drags me down to their lev

hayworth plays ball with them, dick armey plays ball with them.uys are playing ball with the fringe. i think that ought to be where a politician ought to be called to account. if you're think they're okay, you're not okay. your thought, errol? >> i agree. listen, we've had demagogues in politics for over who millenia a this point. we know them when we see them. we know why they have to be called out and know why they have to be corralled and put off to the margins where they belong. it's not going to be a pretty process but that's what has to happen. >> on the issue of drawing the line against the birthers, i think somebody not on msnbc but on fox today drew a line against a real flake he called her. i think it was glenn beck. there are limits even with him. he wouldn't go along with a truther. he thought anybody's a truther thought george bush had some sort of pump and he pumped and blew up the trade center on command is a nut because they believe that and obviously believing it because they want to be a nut. your thoughts? >> there are plenty of

i loved seeing that picture of him in the post today -- the outline -- armey with his cowboy hat on.member when he called hillary a socialist. i remember when newt gingrich, shortly after becoming speaker-elect, said that hillary and i were the enemies of normal americans. it didnt bother me a bit. i was glad to get in and mix it up. but what we learned from oklahoma city is not that we should gag each other or that we should reduce our passion for the positions we hold, but that the words we use really do matter because there are -- theres this vast echo chamber. and they go across space and they fall on the serious and the delirious, alike; they fall on the connected and the unhinged, alike. and i am not trying to muzzle anybody. but one of the things that the conservatives have always brought to the table in america is a reminder that no law can replace personal responsibility. and the more power you have, and the more influence you have, the more responsibility you have. look, im glad theyre fighting over health care and everything else; let them have at it. but i think that all

they see somebody, you know -- i mean, they see tom daschle, right, they'll stop, or they'll see dick armey, you know, they'll stop, or see a mary matalin, you know, they'll stop when she's -- she's a guest. we think the guests make the show, but sometimes even a bad guest can get a good rating. c-span: do republicans... >> guest: go figure on... c-span: do republicans or the democrats spin the most? >> guest: i don't think there's any difference. i think they all spin. they're all good at it, and, i -- as i point out in the book, i think bill -- among the presidents, bill clinton gets the prize. master spinner; just wonderful to behold. i mean, just brilliant to watch him. and spin himself out situation after situation after situation. and yet i -- i have to admit -- and i give him credit -- the bush white house is -- is keeping up with the clinton white house, i believe, so far. they're -- they're very, very good. they're very adept. karl rove, karen hughes, during the campaign and in the white house, i -- i think they have been -- are masters of the art. c-span: when did you get the idea

when congressman armey wrote the book in 1995 and introduced legislation, the tax year, 1993, just out of pure co incidence, first year in office, he and i earned about the same amount of money. i think i earned a little bit more, but i may have had a better year. what struck me though -- of course the president's income tax filings were public knowledge. that was printed in the newspaper. i did a simple calculation. his salary was x. this was the amount of money he paid in taxes. what percentage did he pay in taxes? and the number was within a percentage point or two was around 21%. i did the same for my taxes. and i paid 31%. that led me to a conclusion that there was within our tax code the clinton paradox. why should two people who earn the same amount of dollars pay a substantially different tax. a flat tax would make sense. no more reward for perhaps a questionable deduction from your income tax and at the same time, we could give people back a significant amount of their time and energy during the course of the year with keeping up with receipts and that quality time that we all

others were saying dick armey. but what we are seeing is it is really a grass-roots movement. and again, the concerns are across-the-board and across political as well as racial lines. when you ask americans about the tea party itself, you find that it is about 25% who say that they disapprove, about 30% who say they approve, but most americans do not have an opinion or have not even heard about the tea party. that itself is not the issue. i think it is picking up on this anxiety about the direction of the country is going in with regard to the economy and politics. praise comes into it only in this regard -- race comes into it only in this regard, that when you look at health care, polling comes from older, white americans who are worried about their entitlements being cut, social security, medicare, taxes being raised. only 20% of white americans think that health care reform is going to help them or their families. if you go to blacks and hispanics, it is almost the opposite. they see health care reform as fulfilling a necessary part of a whole that existed in the social sa

others were saying dick armey. but what we are seeing is it is really a grass-roots movement. and again, the concerns are across-the-board and across political as well as racial lines. when you ask americans about the tea party itself, you find that it is about 25% who say that they disapprove, about 30% who say they approve, but most americans do not have an opinion or have not even heard about the tea party. that itself is not the issue. i think it is picking up on this anxiety about the direction of the country is going in with regard to the economy and politics. praise comes into it only in this regard -- race comes into it only in this regard, that when you look at health care, polling comes from older, white americans who are worried about their entitlements being cut, social security, medicare, taxes being raised. only 20% of white americans think that health care reform is going to help them or their families. if you go to blacks and hispanics, it is almost the opposite. they see health care reform as fulfilling a necessary part of a whole that existed in the social sa

one of the key lobbyists, dick armey, is attempting to ingratiate himself within the tea bag movementnow, he does not adhere to a lot of libertarian fill so he was, so for the tea bag movement, there's a warning for you. host: thank you very much, craig holman, for being on the "washington journal." in just a few minutes, we're going to have a discuss regarding diplomatic i am montreal with bruce wedgewood, but first we want to look at the past week through the eyes of a new of the nation's editorial cartoonists. >> "washington journal" continues. host: bruce wedgewood joins us to talk about diplomatic immunity. he is an international law and diplomacy professor at johns hopkins school of advanced international studies. welcome to the program. guest: thank you very much. host: so what exactly is diplomatic immunity and who gets it and who doesn't? guest: well, diplomats get it, first of all, just from the name of the thing. host: but not all diplomats? guest: high-level diplomats. it's designed to protect people who are envoys. just imagine yourself in the cold war and you're an ameri

raising huge amounts of revenue for the government, but it is lothe by many republicans, including dick armey, who heads the anti-tax group freedom works. also this morning, front page of the "wall street journal," as the focus continues on the greek economy and a greek bond prices, which is spreading. this is from the front page of the "wall street journal," the concern over the potential electric bidity shortage in greece's private sector banks, fueled a sharp selloff in the greek debt and the equity markets on thursday, suggesting that the european union's efforts to defuse the crisis with a vague promise for international monetary rescue have all but failed. that's the i.m.f. markets signalled fresh worries that the greek banks have having the trouble meeting immediate funding needs after the country's top four banks on wednesday asked athens for access to emergency government liquidity. greece's banks had been widely viewed, according to "the wall street journal," as one of the few bright spots in the country's troubled financial infra structure. back to your phone calls. if you were to

and uncertain time, i have to tell you that i had a great time fighting with newt gingrich and dick armey. i remember when he called hillary the socialist. i remember when gingrich said that hillary and i were the enemies of normal americans. it did not bother me a bit. i was glad to get in and mix it up. but, what we learned from oklahoma city is that we should not gag each other or reduce our passions for the positions we hold, but that the words we use it really do matter. it is an echo chamber. they go across space, and they fall on the serious and the delirious alike. they fall on the connected and the unhinged alike. i am not trying to muzzle anybody, but one of the things that the conservatives have always brought to the table in america is a reminder that no law can replace personal responsibility. the more power you have, the more influence you have, the more responsibility you have. look, i am glad they are fighting over health care and everything else. let them have added. -- have at it. but i think all you have to do is read the paper every day to know that there are people ou

matter is the old conservative guard and dick armey knows this of all people. >> host: tammy bruce we have about two minutes left. what are you reading? >> guest: a few things. it just suggested to me lawrence of arabia by chris buckley interestingly enough and i want to read more fiction. , a claremont university reading a lot of things of the presidency and clues in the presidential command but more fiction should be on my list for pleasure so lawrence of arabia will be there. >> host: tammy bruce has been our guest from the "l.a. times" book festival her three books very quickly "the new american revolution." "the new thought police." "the death of right and wrong." tammy bruce.com. >> guest: it is a pleasure. >> host: we will take y to our first author piano we are live here on the campus the crowds are starting to gather it is still here in the morning a beautiful california day and you can see the first panel has been seated. . . >> if anyone is tweeting from this panel use the hash tag latpob.fz -- latfob. is anybody tweeting here? yes, we have a tweeting. what kind of future d

center of the reception was pivoted to dick armey and david. it is a good thing he is here because everybody seems to know him and like him.