two of my colleagues at the center for american progress they probably wider than david madeline of the american worker project basically what they did is they put together a graph union membership over the last thirty years and they matched it with what happened to middle class incomes as you can see they both fell dramatically and they fell at nearly the exact same time and what this tells us is that unions actually have been a very very strong force for the middle class and that has unions like mine so does the middle class so that what the right wingers are telling us right now that unions there are hurting as hurting taxpayers are hurting middle class americans and appears it appears the history just isn't back up there like the great stabilizer. lives nobody talking about this is that is it because the reporters of the time we get to the network level are so rich that they don't want to see their taxes cut is that their bosses are millionaires and billionaires used to be politicians are afraid that billionaires will destroy them politically you probably know the story of our robin

consequences been a graph that we just showed everybody that you published today at the center for american progress is progress to work and you tell us about this so basically what's happening right now is conservatives all over the country conservative right wing legislators are saying that we have to start cutting down on our collective bargaining rights here to start attacking unions and the reason why is it can also take a whole lot of money what two of my colleagues at the center for american progress they carla water the david madeline of the american worker project basically what they did is they put together a graph of union membership over the last thirty years and they matched it with what happened to middle class incomes as you can see they both fell dramatically and they fell at nearly the exact same time and what just how this is that unions actually i mean a very very strong force for the middle class and that as unions like mine so does the middle class so that what the right wingers are tying us right now that unions there are hurting as hurting taxpayer hurting middle class america

be because military power can't be answer to everything that was lawrence korb of the center for american progress. now when we talk about the protests in the middle east here's something else that we have to be very mindful of all that in reference cause a surge in oil prices and higher oil and gas prices as well as the skyrocketing price of crude oil that is the last thing americans need right now and just today thank you ben bernanke he testified in front of the u.s. congress he told lawmakers that a prolonging rise in oil prices what in fact was a danger to the u.s. economy but he didn't think the increase would last too long according to him the situation will not get out of control well for more investigative journalists greg palast is talking to us from the long island new york greg good to see you celebrating the things that he sort of downplaying the current situation saying that these are just temporary increases the situation won't get out of control do you do you agree with that assessment well it's temporary in that we've now gotten used to seventy dollars a barrel oil as a low price

for more senior fellow at the center for american progress lawrence korb is in our studios lawrence great to see you as always a lot to talk about so hillary clinton testifying in front of the u.s. congress today saying all options are on the table when it comes to libya is the united states going to intervene militarily well i think what you try to do is two things one say we have to pass a possibility so you better think about it you know colonel gadhafi before you continue killing killing your people and then the other is to show that we're concerned about exactly what's what's happening will we use military force will you i would be very surprised we would. say going on the ground i do think however if nato were the you when authorizes missions to take refugees out by ship or to have a no fly zone the united states would participate in that but we will take the leadership but why it would be i mean why not get involved in tunisia and egypt and all these other countries and then all these better experience going on rather well i mean again you did not have the same situation in tunisia

run on -- [no audio] >> we are having some technical problems with our signal from the center for american progress action fund this morning. we look to continue with our live coverage today here on c- span. now back to the center for american progress action fund and more remarks from john podesta this morning. he will be introducing henry waxman. >> export them to the rest of the world. american workers can succeed at the millions of new jobs that a clean energy will create. our competitors are at it. we need to be added as well. -- we need to be at it as well. we to be stronger in the long run. representative waxman has more to say. it is my pleasure to introduce the congressman and to get the conversation started. henry waxman represents california's 38 congressional districts. he chaired the committee as well as the committee on oversight and government reform. congressman waxman has championed the environmental and public health protections and introduced the first climate bill in congress in 1992, serving as the primary author of the clean air act that stopped acid rain. he coauthored the am

. >> we are joined by a representative from the center for american progress. i am presuming you heard president obama's speech some hours ago, but where he said very clearly he justified america's position being in libya. did you buy what he said? >> i did. cautiously. i had been hoping for some clarity to the mission and some idea of the next steps. i think president obama successfully gave us that. i think this is a very fluid situation. i think anyone who describes it in state are kind of kidding themselves. this situation is changing. president obama did provide clarity in terms of the real u.s. interest here and how our interests and values united here in this situation. >> he did not actually outline any clear and game. is that what you were hoping he would do? >> i was not necessarily hoping for an end game. as i said, this is a fluid situation. even in the best scenarios, when we imagine and games, the situation can change. i would have liked to see some better idea of what the next steps were going to be beyond this meeting in london which is going to

can't the fine pair of the scots are with me is matthew national security editor at the center for american progress thanks so much for being here so i feel like nobody really knows what's going on because obama first comes out and says gadhafi must go then he leaves now he's in brazil and now we have military leaders going out being the talking heads on news channels saying that could off he could go or he could stay i feel like there is no end goal there is no message that anyone agreed upon before launching. operation right well i think obama has said for the past few weeks that the gadhafi must go he's lost the legitimacy to rule if he ever had it i mean this is a violent dictator who has been oppressing his people for quite some time but the bottom line is we have entered another military intervention with the stated goal of protecting civilians from gadhafi his government but at the same time we have the president saying that if you must go so i would really is really unclear at what stage will be satisfied if gadhafi stops as it seemed like he was going to just we can what do we do there and

he spoke for about 45 minutes at an event hosted by the center for american progress action fund. this begins with the group's chief operating officer, neera tanden. >> thank you all for coming today. my name is neera tanden, and i'm the chief operating officer at the center for american progress. i also oversee our health team here at the center, and so we're very honored to have, have you all here. prior to my time here, i served on the president's health careae reform team at the white house and was an adviser to secretarye sebelius. so i'm particularly honored tows welcome you all here for the anniversary of the affordable care act, the first year anniversary. while it's the first year anniversary for the affordable a care act, it is actually a six-year anniversary for us here at c.a.p.. it was six years ago today that we put forward our own plan to provide coverage for all americans reform the health care system through insurance regulation, provide tax subsidies and subsidies to people to be able to afford it and to lower the cost of healthv care. and if that sounds a little

the center for american progress' michael linden says democrats should push back, forcing republicans to focus on the real fight. >> on the one hand, let's keep it to the budget, let's keep the policy for another debate and let's expand the debate to the whole budget, not just one sliver. >> reporter: the debate over the whole budget may pick up as soon as next week. house republicans are preparing to release a budget plan for next year, one that may call for big changes in spending on popular programs like medicare. darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> tom: here are the stories in tonight's n.b.r. newswheel: a smaller-than-expected decline in consumer confidence helped boost investor confidence. the dow rose 81, the nasdaq added 26 and the s&p 500 gained nine. trading volume was light: 804 million shares on the big board, 1.6 billion on the nasdaq. the conference board's index of consumer confidence fell eight points to a reading of 63.4 in march, sparking a pop in consumer-discretionary stocks. but home prices continued to drop, renewing concerns about a double-di

the center for american progress and the fund had focused on shaping strong markets, investing in world- class infrastructure. they will create certainty for clean energy investors and businesses while building a foundation for robust future growth. these technologies will help the largest polluters reduce their carbon dioxide pollution under rules to be set by the environmental protection agency. another area of our focus remains ending our independence -- our dependence on foreign oil. did we need another week of call? oil prices are at their highest level. before the spike that was caused by the turmoil in north africa and the middle east. imported oil already accounted for half of our trade deficit. you would think congress would act with haste to bring on technologies that would increase efficiency and switch our fuel mix to less volatile domestic supplies. what was the house's response? to cut investments in oil and programs including public transit, high-speed rail, and programs to help factories retooled to make cleaner cars. that is insanity masquerading as fiscal discipline. w

administration officials and women activists talked about the report and a forum hosted by the center for american progressis is one hour and 20 minutes. my name is heather boucher. i'm senior economist at the center for american progress and it is my honor and privilege to introduce and welcome you all to this event this afternoon. i have to say as an economist, this is commiped of event. i'm so excited about this report about the conversation we're going to have today. and we're so honored to be co-hosting with the white house council on women and girls. i hope all of you enjoy it as much as i intend to. we at the center for american progress and i'm sure many of you in the audience greatly appreciate the support this administration has given to advancing the cause of women and girls not only in the united states but around the world. that's what we're talking about today. the cause of women and girls has been a priority from day one when the president, one of the first bills he signed the lilly ledbetter fair pay act. in last year's budget and this year's budget, the administration has tried to put its

the bottom ninety percent combined to hear this with me as i am hurst economist at the center for american progress thanks so much for being here thank you i mean first of all these guys are rich over a lot of money they're really rich and you know there's four point five trillion dollars in combined wealth with forbes billionaires there's one point five billion people in the world living on one dollar a day or less i mean these billionaires could double the incomes of the one point five billion poor people around the world and they'd still be billionaires and it just doesn't seem right right i mean we're still supposedly reeling from this economic crisis the hippie entire world in right now we're seeing protests all across the world we're seeing rising food prices you know unemployment is high and then at the same time these billionaires there are more of them and they're getting richer how does that even happen but i think we have to why is it that these people are becoming so rich that there is growth happening around the world especially in the brics the residual russia india china. and that's

and four so this is a little bit out of date i keep hoping that a group like maybe the center for american progress will create a similar one with a more modern you know up to date database but just for example let's look at the two thousand and four years georgia pacific which is now owned by the koch brothers and chemical which is you know so we've got a coke brothers guy who's on the dura lies a staff and you've got a dow chemical guy and girl isis staff and so when we look at these companies. around here and. so this is a this is a real experiment here and we look at their directors ok who are the directors here and then we can do it almost as a matter of the individual names we just say ok see let's see companies this guy's on ok so he's on and c.r. and he's on bell south and what companies is this guy on well turns out he's always constant energy and fidelity national and manpower and. surly and so ok georgia pacific who now. one of the koch brothers is of course now a director but here are the directors and or they were in two thousand and four and what's just pick one by random here will. b

he spoke at the center for american progress for an hour. quex good morning, everyone and welcome. i am chairman for the action fund. i am pleased you could join us for this morning's discussion with congressman henry waxman. representative waxman is one of the most determined and effective progressive advocates in congress today. we all know that he has his hands full defending against a barrage of attacks on great energy and public health programs. it is a special thanks to the congressman for taking time out of your schedule. thank you for being willing to come here and speak to us. i want to start by taking a moment to recognize your hard work on the american queen in ag and security act in the previous congress. the house passage was a success. it would have lowered production costs by spurring investment in clean energy technology while controlling costs. thanks to his leadership, it had broadbased support that it needed to win final approval in the house of representatives. unfortunately, [unintelligible] from passing complementary legislation and given the hill, we'reolitic

with here discussed with me and said giuliani reporter and blogger for think progress to order and a progress report the center for american progress action fund so thanks so much for being here thanks for having me also what's your take do you think that seals the deal obama gave a very short statement when he signed this executive order didn't even mention closing gitmo last month we heard leon panetta say a director say that if they ever caught osama bin laden they would send him to get no which means it's still open for business so you know is it your to say well here's the thing two years ago president obama came into office and said very proudly very rightly we're going to close this place down he actually cited executive orders so that within a year we're going to close this place down but since then you have things that fall apart we had congress and i and the bidens. to close the operation there and bring the president stateside and we even had people in small world towns illinois saying sure the detainees here you know we could use the stimulus from building prisons for these people and yet congress has provided.

here to discuss it with us is alex sites alter porter and blogger for think progress dory and a progress report at the center for american progress action fund alex thanks so much for being here thanks a lot for me. first of all how people of problem is voter fraud in the u.s. don't we already have lots of legislation on the books you can go to jail for this is a felony offense you have to pay all kinds of fines and is it still you know really just damaging our elections every year you know the only fraud in voter fraud is the allegation of fraud there basically has no voter fraud in america in two thousand and two the bush administration made cracking down on voter fraud one of their top priorities the department of justice launched this huge national investigation spent five years looking into voter fraud allegations they found eighty six cases five years fifty states eighty six cases and the vast majority those were people who simply didn't understand the rules and accidentally committed voter fraud without even realizing it so there's no conspiracy there's no. massive organized effort to do for america so there's a c

state's budget you're discussing with me is a reporter and blogger for think progress dot org and the progress support at the center for american progress action fund so thanks so much for being here thanks for having me you know if everything we've been hearing from governor walker all of his media appearances the speeches that he's given have you once heard him go back to some of the policies some of the legislation that was enacted it while he was governor those tax breaks that i think for the most part everyone agrees helped wisconsin's budget problems well here's the thing right when governors not only walker case numerous others throughout the country they're telling us that there's these are facing budget deficit so the way that they're going to solve these deficits is what slavery the middle class by slamming main street america will take you where you need rights here teachers firefighters policemen but they're not telling us about the corporate tax rates they passed about the special interests they have carved out their own tax loopholes in the tax code and other big corporations and big really wealthy people were not

you're discussing with me is that you're lining reporter and blogger for think progress dot org and the progress report the center for americanprogress as well seek not only presidents of less government and i want to thank you both for joining me tonight and see i must start with you because i know that you aren't a fan of unions obviously but if we look back at this day if we look back at this day in history though look at this tragic event you know can you deny the importance of unions when it comes to workers' rights when it comes to safety in the workplace yes and nineteen zero eight they have long since outlived their usefulness as demonstrated by the current private sector union membership is under eight percent it's seven point nine percent they have served their purpose in the in the evolution and they may not have ever been necessary because in the evolution of a capitalist system you start out with the robber barons because only a certain number of people have money and they make the working conditions untenable but what that is is an opportunity for other employers to come in and say ok you don't have to work eigh

this doomed from the start or discuss the witnesses lawrence korb senior fellow at the center for american progress well i think that much for coming here now obviously this is all interwoven but let's see if we can break it down militarily politically and let's just start with military strategy how do you possibly conduct an operation of this size when there really wasn't you know a goal something that was agreed upon before it even happens now the goal was agreed upon the goal was to protect civilians who for free from killing. innocent people but how do you do that with airstrikes if not always easy to talk about isn't. what will the goal wasn't the goal was to prevent him from killing civilians which in fact he's not i mean basically we have accomplished and we're continuing to patrol and keep the pressure on him so that he can do what again their goal was for to you know remove gadhafi from power would you like that to happen sure but that's not the goal of the mission and there also seems to be a little bit of a problem in the sense that no one can really figure out who is in charge right bec

wishes to support her discuss with me is matthew just national security adviser at the center for american progress thanks so much for being here tonight first of all walk us through exactly how fervent of a supporter of the ira was asked was you you just said you just steve's and close from him he was a real supporter a very vocal supporter but opponent of british presence in ireland and a supporter of terrorism attacks as as you just said attacks that killed civilians including american civilians so he's he's down with them he totally agrees with their cause he'll still stay it to this day but you know can you imagine what if there had been hearings back in that day on you know sympathizers with the our a with the ira we can be locked up in jail probably to this day as we still speak it's a good question but i think it really goes to the way in which especially since nine eleven this term terrorism has become a political weapon it's often thrown around as if once you declare someone to be a terrorist that's all you need to know there's no reason to really understand what's motivating them or what

want to welcome back to c-span daniel weiss, a senior fellow of climate change at the center for american progress. as you watched the events unfold after the earthquake in japan, what the lessons for america's energy policy? guest: it is a horrible tragedy in our hearts and thoughts go out to the japanese people. we will be covering this tragedy for months to come. there are a few lessons we can learn. this is most important, we are capable of developing very complex systems to address our problems, but those complex systems can never be risk-free. they will be vulnerable to an outside events that no one anticipated as well as human error. we saw that in the bp oil disaster last year. we have seen that in the fukushima plant now. in today's paper, "new york times," officials might have waited too long before trying to address the issues. there is always those things. when we design complex systems, we have to understand that they are not error free. host: the me read you from "in new york times," also on the website. they may have lost a valuable time. new questions are rising about whether they

militarily was this doomed from the start and disgusted with this is senior fellow at the center for american progress where i think much for doing that is now obviously this is all interwoven but let's see if we can break it down militarily politically and let's just start with a military strategy how do you possibly conduct an operation of this size when there really wasn't you know a goal something that was agreed upon before it even happens now the goal was agreed on the goal was to protect so they're useful for free from killing. innocent people but how do you do that with airstrikes if could on the way that you had a lot of eason stepping down would you go through all the goal wasn't that the goal was to prevent him from supernews which in fact he's going i mean basically we have accomplished and we're continuing to patrol and keep the pressure on him so that he can't do what he did the goal was for to you know were moved from power would you like that to happen sure but that's not the goal of the mission now there also seems to be a little bit of a problem in the sense that no one can really fi

i'm the chief operating center for the american progress. i oversee it was enacted one year ago today. congressman wiener was talking about the -- talking at the center for american progress action fund. >> thank you all for coming today. i am mayor ed tanden. -- i am neera tanden. we are very honored to have you all here. prior to my time here, i served on the president's health care reform team at the white house and was an advisor to secretary sebelius. i am particularly honored to invite you here on the first anniversary of the affordable care act. it is actually a six-year anniversary for us here at cap. it was six years ago today that we put forward our own plan to provide coverage for all americans, reform the health care system through insurance regulation, provide tax subsidies, and subsidies for people to be able to afford it and to lower the cost of health care. it sounds a little familiar. i hope it does. we believe it helped shaped the debate in the presidential cycle and ultimately the congressional passage. over the last six ye

and between george soros who also has a lot of money who also funds think tank funds the center for american progress been tried to influence public policy that's exactly right and you know i don't know i work for american progress has received george soros funding but it's important to note that everything we do it this is what we do it is to how to improve the middle class to help the working poor so it's good that you know that money is going to a better cause i'm not and i don't imagine language to help get a word in here yeah if this is exactly what's good good for the goose is good for the gander here the left has been doing this for years even well before george soros you have people from barbra streisand steven spielberg in other worlds the folks funding the left the rockefeller's and here you have two brothers there are patriots who are funding projects to increase freedom and liberty and country and just because some folks on the left can agree with that agenda doesn't mean is there any way though in this they're spending money putting their money where their mouth is. and improve our count

hill -- he spoke at the center for american progress action fund in washington d.c.. this is 45 minutes. >> welcome. i'm the chief operating center for the american progress. i oversee our health center. we're very honored to have you all here. prior to my time here at cap, i served on the president's health care reform team at the white house and was an adviser to secretary sebelius. i'm honored to have you all here on the anniversary of the affordable care act. the first year anniversary for the affordable care act, it is actually a six year anniversary for us at cap. it was six years ago today that we put forward our own plan to provide coverage for all americans, reform the health care system through insurance regulation, provide tax subsidies and subsidies to people to be able to afford it and to lower the cost of health care. if that sounds a little familiar, i hope it does, because we believe it hps shape the debate and the presidenti cycle and ultimately for congressional passage. over the last six years, cap has worked very hard to push the idea of covering al

i'm joined by heather, our host here at the center for american progress. lynn rosenthal, first-ever white house adviser on violence against women. and the assistant administrator for women's business ownership at the s.b.a. and, again, another big piece of this report. avis, who is one of our great partners and one of the people who does come and or the of ask me to do things and yell at me but wonderfully always with a smile. i enjoy that. executive director of the national council of negro women has been a stalwart and great spokesperson for women of color throughout the world and finally barbara, the executive director and vice president for the institute for women's policy research. i will start with barbara. one thing brar knows as heidi one of the first meetings hi upon arriving at the white house two years ago was with barbara or hide why and one of the first things in this skeers of people asking me to do thing that's occurred was barbara and heidi saying it would be great if we can have all of the data about women in the federal government in one p

am proud of him and our administration and i want to thank all of our panelists and the center for american progress for all the good work that you all do everyday in promoting a robust dialogue on these issues. thank you all for coming. [applause]

all this, we turn to daniel weiss, senior fellow and director of climate strategy at the center for american progress. and lisa margonelli, author of "oil on the brain: oil's long strange trip to your tank," and director of the energy policy initiative at the new america foundation. welcome to you both. daniel weiss, explain for us as concisely and clearly as you can, why we have seen the prices go up so steeply so quickly and whether it has anything to do with what's happening in libya. >> absolutely it has to do with the instability in libya and the middle east. only a small portion, maybe about half of libya's oil production has been disrupted which is about 1% of total world oil production. what the market is worried about is that this is not going to be the end and that there will be unrest in other oil-producing countries like bahrain and particularly saudi arabia. so some of these high prices are based on speculation, fear that prices will go higher still. that's why we believe that when price gets a little bit higher and gasoline prices get a little bit higher, the president needs to act to p

that is live from the center for american progress. until then, a look of the situation of earthquakes, and how the u.s. might react to a situation similar to that in japan. applegate. he serves as the senior science adviser for earthquake and geologic hazards. could an earthquake of the magnitude of the one in japan have been in the united states? guest: i appreciate the opportunity to speak with you. we have two zonesf the united states that do have the potential to generate similar kinds of earthquakes. part of the pacific plate is diving down beneath north america. one part is off of alaska. in 1964, we have a magnitude 9 earthquake. it caused a significant local tsunami. the other is a small micro-plate linked to the pacific off the pacific northwest. we call this area cascadia. it runs from british columbia to california. a magnitude 9 earthquake is definitely possible there. ho: we have a chart of the united states. it has the hazard zones. we always think about the west coast of the united states, hawaii, and alaska as places mo

i am delighted to be with you and your colleagues here the center for american progress. i want to salute the outstanding work that you do. this morning, i want to speak to you as bluntly as possible. during my career in congress protecting health and the environment has been my top priority. during tse years, i have been in many battles. i fght president reagan's efforts to roll back the clean air act in the 1980's and went on to pass landmark 1990 clear -- clean air act revisions over the opposition of many industries until we were able to work out a bipartisan consensus. i battled efforts by vice- president dan quayle and his council on competitiveness. tom delay and the case tree project, and president george w. bush and vice president dick cheney's efforts to roll back the law on the environment. i have never been in a congress where there was such an overwhelming disconnect between science and public policy. the republicans in congress have become the party of science deniers and that is profoundly dangerous. exhibit a in the republican attack on science is the upto

for hundreds of years. the argument about america that is at the heart of this. he can argue that progressives, and i do work for the center for american progress, have an extra constitutional vision of the system of laws and of constitutional decision making that our view that we have a living constitution that should, to some degree, acknowledge the realities of the world we live in today, and that the reason why the constitution speaks in broader language is not as restrictive as statute is because our founders recognize that they could not determine what america would be 250-300 years from the times they lived in, so those who arguer for a broader constitutional perspective obviously limited by the text and having some strong adherence to the text, but still breathing to the degree that we recognize the facts in the way people live is not -- is not a vision that is not respectful of liberty. we define liberty just we may have a different vision of what that liberty means. for example, i, migs, personal -- myself, personally believe it is not respectful of somebody's libberty interest that we argue we live in a world where people, a

i am delighted to be with you and your colleagues here the center for american progress. i want to salute the outstanding work that you do. this morning, i want to speak to you as bluntly as possible. during my career in congress protecting health and the environment has been my top priority. during those years, i have been in many battles. i fought president reagan's efforts to roll back the clean air act in the 1980's and went on to pass landmark 1990 clear -- clean air act revisions over the opposition of many industries until we were able to work out a bipartisan consensus. i battled efforts by vice- president dan quayle and his council on competitiveness. tom delay and the case tree project, and president george w. bush and vice president dick cheney's efforts to roll back the law on the environment. i have never been in a congress where there was such an overwhelming disconnect between science and public policy. the republicans in congress have become the party of science deniers and that is profoundly dangerous. exhibit a in the republican attack on science is the

he is co-founder of the project to end crimes against humanity affiliated with the center for american progress. he has worked with the white house and under president clinton. unicef, the international crisis group and the u.s. insti stute of peace. he has authored ten books and appeared on tv programs and has been here frequently. and i would like to if she would like to come to the witness table cindy mccain who has been a leader on issues dealing with health care for africa including the american voluntary medical team leading medical missions and is the wife of the distinguished senator from arizona. john mccain, but has worked with pragts smile and the land removal group, the halo trust. if you would proceed. >> thank you very much. this is very excited about this. it is a great honor. thank you all very much for including me today. mr. chairman mr. ranking member and members of the subsubcommit. eci is the only u.s. based grant making organization entirely focused on working with and for the people of eastern congo. and area that carries the distinction of being the deadliest and most vo

he is speaking of the center for american process. -- progress. we will have his remarks live on monday at 10:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. next, like, your calls and comments on the "washington journal." then "newsmakers" with harold rogers of kentucky. then the hillary clinton. >> i find more and more the behavior of professional sports owners to be unseemly in the sense that they want hundreds of millions of dollars from their communities, and yet they do not really participate in the problems that those communities have. >> tonight on a "q&a," sally jenkins on the intersection of sports and public policy. >> this morning, frank luntz talks about his book on business. randi weingarten discusses the su