every speech feels like a con. ,ashington politicians committees of both parties have a bad habit ofusing on the process of politics rather than the purpose of politics, which is to lead and concerts. even our guys in the gop to often have a habit of reading their stage direction. especially these days. scripted, tog too calculate it. they talk about rebuilding the party. how about rebuilding the middle class? [applause] about re-branding the gop instead of restoring the trust of the american people. we cannot just ignore that we lost a big election. we came in second out of two. we need to figure out our job. what will we do next? as we go about that listen to what the speakers have to say. let us be clear on one thing, we are not here to read brand the party we are here to rebuild the country. -- to re-brand party. we are here to rebuild the country. [applause] dedicatet here to ourselves to new talking points coming from d.c. we are not here to put a fresh coat of rhetorical paint on our party. we are not here to abandon our principles in a contest of government giveaways. that is

this was painted while he was in .ashington after rachel's death had it with him all the time, on his chain or in his pocket or on his bedside table so that he could see it in the morning when he awakens. she was with him pretty much all the time even though she had passed away. this was a book that was important to jackson. psalm book.rachel's she made this cross stitch cover to keep the book nice. after her death, jackson kept things like this close at hand so that he could refer to them, another way of keeping her clothes. after shed a habit died of purchasing more using our keeping things that reminded him of our. this was the central hall of the hermitage manchin. although the house burned after jackson insisted they repurchase the same wallpaper they had chosen. she liked it and it reminded him of her and he wanted it here. this is jackson's bedroom. she waschel's death, not very far away from him. he kept many mementos of her around. he had a portrait that was a favorite of his copy so that he could have been hanging over the fireplace so that it would be the first thing he saw

to do it, we have to make sure we're making the right noises in ashington. the other day, dr. isaac and directors of two other national laboratories wrote about the effects of the so-called sequester, across the board budget cuts. it will have an effect on scientific research. one of the reasons i was opposed to the cuts is because they do not distinguish between vital investment and wasteful rograms. they do not trim the fat, but cut into muscle. there is research being done here that gives a great place for researchers to come, but lso to create all kinds of stuff that create good jobs. dr. isaac said these cuts will force him to stop any new projects down the line. he says, the sudden halt will freeze american science in place while the rest of the world races forward. it will cost millions of dollars in missed future opportunities. because of the sequester, we are looking at two years where we do not start new research. at a time when every month you have to replace your smartphone because something new has come up, imagine what that means when china and germany are pumpin

other than sequestration, not much is happening in ashington.free day in the republican party where rand paul and me were described as wacko birds. when we first heard that, we thought it was a new kind of drone. if standing for liberty and standing for the constitution makes you an wacko bird, then tell to me a proud wacko bird. [applause] and i think there are more than a few other wacko birds gathered ere today. i am going to tell you if, the biggest surprise since coming to washington -- people ask you what surprised you when you came to washington. the biggest surprise has been the defeatist attitude among so many republicans who have been in washington a long time. i cannot tell you how many times people have wanted to that me on the head and say, that is nice. you can vote no and we will just lose. it is utterly maddening. i'm going tell you a dirty little secret that the mainstream media won't tell you. for the last three weeks conservatives have been winning. [applause] we are winning because of you. three specific examples in the last

of columbia, connecticut, maine, maryland, massachusetts, new hampshire, new york, vermont, and ashingtonhave made same-sex marriage legal. brandon, go ahead. >> this is supposed to be a free country. equality for same-sex couples, which is ridiculous in this day and age. we need -- we need to be able to be free and be ourselves and that is what this country is about. all i'm asking and gay people everywhere just want to be equal, to be recognized as human beings. we're tax paying citizens, we're outstanding citizens, we're here and we need equality. please, i'm hoping that the country new york city matter what your religious views railroad political views, please realize there are other people out there that have their own lives to lead and they are beautiful and wonderful lives and i hope people can see that. i'm in support of same-sex marriage all the way across. i wanted to say that and get other people to hear. >> tampa, florida is next who is opposing same-sex marriage. hello. >> hello, how are you? >> doing fine. thanks. >> i oppose and the reason being is because if -- the definit

what would be the message to congress and the ashington policy community in terms of how this fits inhe array of u.s. engagement with pakistan? there is an object lesson from this engagement from pakistan and afghan. this has been one of the messages of my ambassadorship in pakistan. 2014 is not and should not be a repeat of 1999 or 1990. that is how the region is interpreting 2014. afghans think we have done successful work. pakistanis and others are interpreting the transition in which 14 as being a repeat of .he soviet withdrawal i would reject the comparison. that is how the narrative has developed. we paid as a country a steep price for our disengagement in afghanistan. our refusal to consider a political settlement is part of the 1988 geneva accord. our decision to impose .anctions on pakistan in 1990 we paid a price for those decisions on september 11, 2001. we pay a price and terms of some legacy of concern. i cannot predict the future. i cannot predict how things will develop anin the next few years. we need to be cautious. we have stakes in that region. disengagement would b

that was due to expire as part of a larger set of budget issues that were unresolved in .ashington ast of the final agreement that avoided the massive potential but the fiscal cliff had, it was agreed that the payroll tax holiday which expire. taxes would go up again. the tax rate went up by 2% from 4.2% up to 6.2%. caller: why did it go back to this higher level? what will that money be used to pay for? host: it goes into the social security fund. that was something that was agreed upon, that this would be -- the holiday was never meant to be permanent. that tax is not move up rapidly in the past. back toafter it goes its previous levels, what impact has had on consumers, particularly on their psychology, on their spending and so forth? caller: anybody when they get their pay check and they realize a decent money -- decent amount of money missing, you're supposed to see about $130 less for your paycheck for the average american salary. is not totally insignificant. it is also not deal breaking change. it is not that huge where its effect on spending is enormous. the data has been inc

ashington journal -- "washington ," each morning at 7:00 a.m. on c-span. >> we will put them down as undecided. [laughter] >> as i listen to those what as, it struck me wonderful thing free speech is. >>, rumsfeld made the just -- donald rumsfeld made the justifications for attacking iraq. how much money is halliburton going to make? how many u.s. soldiers will be killed? how many iraqi civilians will die from this adventure? i would like those questions answered now by someone like rumsfeld. >> more with medea benjamin sunday night at 8:00 p.m. on c- q&a.'s q when the -- this event is held at the cato institute. it is one hour and 10 minutes. >> welcome to the cato institute. welcome to those who are watching on c-span 2 and on cato.org. how is my reception? can you hear me? ok. we are delighted to bring together an all-star panel to talk about the state of gay marriage in the supreme court and in american society. a couple of our panelists are fresh from hearing the second day of the supreme court oral arguments. it has been kind of dramatic.

drastic ashington is a draconian cut actually reducing the increase. what the ryan budget does, what we're proposing is a 1.6% decrease on the increase. right now the federal budget is scheduled to increase by 5% over the next 10 years. we'll actually increase the budget 3.4%. i would say that's fairly modest. that is a way to be able to deal what's happening in the nation and it's also a way to deal with what's happening to come in the days ahead. we're not promoting additional stimulus spending as the current proposal is. it did not help us several years ago. at is promised is we'd be at 5.5% unemployment instead of hovering 8% as we are right now. if you want real jobs, it has to be in the private sector. that's the only thing that can be sustained. otherwise you're dependent year after year after year with additional taxes and additional spending. we need to have the private sector be engaged in this. the way to do that is to encourage the private sector with some level of stability. with that i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back the

almost 30 years ago i drove from my home in wisconsin to ashington in order to work for president reagan's reelection campaign. i have close friends and family members who did the same thing in order to work for other campaigns at all levels in both parties. that was special to come back to a library honoring my first boss in politics, to talk not only about one individual's accomplishments, but to talk about how good men and women of a wide range of ideologies and partisan backgrounds can come together on behalf of the common good. we learned a lot in the course of this hour and 10 minutes. what i will take away is a change in the rules, but it is about the women and men who we send to represent us, and what that tells me is something that i have come to believe more strongly than anything else hat i've learned as an observer -- politics is too important to be left to the politicians. if you want the system to work, whether in your city, state, or country, it requires the active involvement of every single one of us as citizens. in a moment, i will ask you to thank our panelists, but for