i paid tribute to the birmingham city council. we want to see that regeneration continued. the problem with the the previous government's hoosing commitments made a particularly hot social housing is that they simply were not funded. one of the things we have been able to do in making the 6 billion pounds of cuts made this year is to cut back some of that money back into social housing scheme which the last government promised but never funded. >> has my right hon. friend had the opportunity to reflectton the common [unintelligible] some f -- reflect on the comments of [unintelligible] this is clearly something that should be supported by both sides of the house. [uniitelligible] >> that is rather a good idea on that performance. i think he is right. he was handpicked by the last government to be a treasury minister nd he absolutely put his finger on the button. he said this, " there's nothing progressive about a overnment that spends more than they can rrise and taxation and nothing progressive that leaves generations to come with liabilities incurred by the current genera

now the city of birmingham is facing a $77 million deficit.nd what i'm saying a lot of times the voters put the wrong -- she mentioned about the type of people that we vote into office. and i would like for c-span to do a major focus on what's happening here in birmingham because we, the people, are really suffering at the hands of corrupt elected officials. have a good morning. host: professor, before we go to your response, i want to point out from this piece it does talk about jefferson county. the most populous county in alabama is shouldering about $5 billion of debt. most of which was issued to overhaul its suer system in the mid 1990s. but the county's real trouble stem from a 2003 refinancing of the original fixed rate bonds and a corrupt local government that accepted kickbacks in exchange for mangling's the county's ports foleyo. guest: that's a problem. because you may have a city that's taken on a lot of debt, a city that's financed some very large projects and perhaps what pushes the city over the edge is that that element of corr

he is now practicing law in birmingham. john hiatt -- jonathan hiatt is the executive director of the afl-cio, so there is nobody who is more aware of labor law issues. the supreme court has had quite a lot to say, for better or worse, about the state of labor laws in the united states. pamela karlan, who everybody knows and is indebted to for her wit and wisdom. she is a professor at stanford, where she helps direct the supreme court clinic and is a very astute and wonderful observer of the u.s. supreme court. i thought i would start by having us talk about a case that has been kind of iconic for what it tells us about the court's approach to statutory interpretations in terms of the press disconnect between congressional intent and the way the court reads statutes. i should just say, as part of framing our discussion here, it is an excellent time to sort of do two things -- share two themes that will run throughout our conversation. we will take the temperature of the roberts court. it is undergoing change, obviously, but

host: birmingham, alabama. caller: good morning. i appreciate what you have done in your career. i hope they will continue to stand for what is true ricardo's of party affiliation. -- regardless of party affiliation. i hope that individuals like you, who i believe is honest and tries to do what is right for our country, -- this was a great transfer of wealth. the american people are paying for it. i appreciate all you do. host: do you suspect that you will be voting for any democratic amendments during this process of negotiations? guest: most of the amendment will be coming from us. we have agreements. i had an amendment yesterday in remarks to make about it. before i got through the first couple of paragraphs, chairman frank said he would accept it. we do have some commonality on some of these issues. we are trying to bridge the gap. host: do you suspect you will vote for the final package? guest: if there are not substantial changes in several areas, i cannot see myself voting on the package. giving them more authority and power and not holding regulators accountable and expan

birmingham, alabama, on our democrat line, go ahead. hello? i don't have birmingham. that should be birmingham. go ahead. caller: i have a suggestion to stop the oil leak. you can get this [unintelligible] and mix it with some of this power. --powder. you can use robert --rubber. i have another idea. get a small tree and put it in the hall. ole. [unintelligible] you can get a rowboat and fitted over that hole. host: thank you for your views. we have about 15-20 minutes of your calls about what is set for the u.s. energy policy after the gulf oil spill. the british prime minister complained last week about white house criticism of bp, saying it was hurting bp stock which is important to retirees in the uk. this headline succesays the u.k. should back down over be paid. are independent line, go ahead caller: thank you for cspan but i want to talk about all the promises that have been made i want people to understand that the money going into the candidates, look at the money they spend and you wonder why they spend the kind of money. look at the kind oo money that3 from

of 40 commando who died from wounds sustained in afghanistan at the queen elizabeth hospital in birminghamn monday, and to the two soldiers from the 1st battalion the duke of lancaster's regiment who died yesterday. we should send our sincere condolences to their families and their friends. we should pay tribute to the exceptional work of our armed forces serving in afghanistan and, perhaps today in particular, to the highly skilled doctors and nurses who work alongside them, and those who treat the injured personnel back in the uk. this morning i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. in addition to my duties in the house, i shall have further such meetings later today. >> philip davies. >> does my right honorable friend accept that the millions of people who voted conservative at the last election in order to make him prime minister did not do so in order to see a reduction in the number of people sent to prison or to see those criminals given softer sentences? if he really wants to reduce the budget of the prison service, can i suggest that he start by taking sky tv away f

british tabloids say that you recently -- i want to get this right -- you walked into a local pub in birmingham everybody's tab when you left. true? >> yes. what's wrong with buying a few friends a beer. >> larry: all right. you're in the midst now of a massive world tour. in fact, you're coming to us from the o2 arena in london where you'll be performing. what is that pressure like, to go on that kind of tour? >> it's a wonderful pressure. it's the most amazing pressure. it's not like any other kind of pressure. it's not under pressure, it's not water pressure. it's not pressure cooker. it's just wonderful. it's miraculous. i'm so blessed. i look out into the audience and i scream and cry, and we sing and we cheer and we dance. and i can't believe that 17,000 people singing my lyrics or that even know my name. and i'm so -- i'm so grateful, larry. i can't say enough about my little monsters, my beautiful fans. they inspire me so much. i've been writing my new album on the road every day. it's been a wonderful experience. of course, i always want to be better, but not a bad pressure. a good, wo

he is now practicing law in birmingham. john hiatt -- jonathan hiatt is the executive director of the afl-cio, so there is nobody who is more aware of labor law issues. the supreme court has had quite a lot to say, for better or worse, about the state of labor laws in the united states. pamela karlan, who everybody knows and is indebted to for her wit and wisdom. she is a professor at stanford, where she helps direct the supreme court clinic and is a very astute and wonderful observer of the u.s. supreme court. i thought i would start by having us talk about a case that has been kind of iconic for what it tells us about the court's approach to statutory interpretations in terms of the press disconnect between congressional intent and the way the court reads statutes. i should just say, as part of framing ouriscussion here, it is an excellent time to sort of do two things -- share two themes that will run throughout our conversation. we will take the temperature of the roberts court. it is undergoing change, obviously, but w

upgrade of the tyne and wear matter, the extension of the manchester metrolink, the redevelopment of birminghamimprovements to the rail lines between chef flop -- to sheffield and between liverpool and leeds. we will create all large regional growth fund to provide finance for regional capital projects over the next two years. we will announce the details shortly but priority will be given to projects that have the greatest impact on innovation and jobs. third, we will shortly announce a new tax scheme to help create new businesses in those regions where the private sector is not strong enough. for the next three years anyone who sets up a new business outside london, the southeast, and the eastern region will be exempt from up to 5,000 pound of employer national insurance payments for each of their first 10 employees hired. we now have the scheme up and running by september, but any qualifying new business set up from today will also receive help. and the treasury estimate that some 4000 businesses -- 400,000 businesses will benefit, ensuring all parts of our country contribute to a more balan

host: birmingham, alabama, on our independent line. caller: good morning. submit to you that you said the biggest danger would be other aircraft. that cannot -- the biggest danger is this. there are laws being passed to cause this country -- that are making it illegal for us to film police in their duties and doing their actions. it does not matter how far away from you they are, there are passing laws so we cannot even sell them. people are being thrown in jail for monitoring police actions. you, in your own admission, said these are being used for police enforcement. i submit to you any time a government goes ahead and passes laws that the citizens themselves -- when they are allowed to film us but we cannot film them, that is not a democracy. it is tyranny. you in promoting these things are a tyrant. host: we will leave it a guest: there. good. -- guest: good. i do not know what to say. host: in your article on monday, you were quoting saying the faa administrator, hank krakowski, told european aviation officials, "we are having constant conversations an

now practicing law in birmingham. john hyatt is executive director of the aflcio. no one is more on labor laws then john. the supreme court has had a lot to say for better or worse. pam who everyone in the acs nose and is indebted to. she is a professor at stanford where she hopes to direct the supreme court clinic. she is a very astute and wonderful observer of the u.s. supreme court. i thought we would start by talking about an iconic case. [unintelligible] concerning the disconnect between congressional intent and the way the statues are. as part of framing our discussion here, it is an excellent time for two things. one theme is to take the temperature of the roberts court, closing in on five years. it will have a long trajectory. it is undergoing change. i think we have seen enough to draw some conclusions. the other theme this panel and bodies is the role of judges. we're talking about statutory and constitutional interpretation. a primary aim of the acs at this moment is to push for the nomination and confirmation of progressive judges who will not stand in