in 90% of blacks have no respect for clarence thomas. maybe even 98%, so why would you have clarence thomas come to the race track? and then, most people, i mean blacks are sophisticated. if you see michael jordan bursting out of some kind of paper wall. i think the all-star race at the end of may, you know he is paid for his being invited because you never see him at the racetrack ever again. it is ceremonial and it is trying to pull the wool over potential black fans, but nascar, they think that is the right way to go about it. but today, they don't have a significant number of black fans. >> let's stay on that subject, because nascar over the years has launched different programs that have been presented to the public s. diversity programs. can you talk about the effectiveness of programs like drive for diversity? >> like i stated earlier, it is photo opportunities. if you can put kids in pictures, it is hard to sit up here on the stage or in the press to attack kids. nascar, they know that. they are not going to say, we are trying. i

. >> today on america & the courts, supreme court justice stephen breyer and clarence thomas discussed next year's budget before a house appropriations subcommittee. it ought about cameras in the courtroom, the diversity of law clerks, and cases involving health care legislation. "america & the courts," is tonight at 7:00 eastern here on c-span. but in his weekly online address, president obama talks about financial regulation that would create a part -- a consumer protection agency and established new rules governing the practices of wall street firms and government sponsored entities. after that, republican house whip eric cantor talks about the federal tax filing deadline and criticizes better it -- criticizes government spending and higher taxes. >> there were many causes of the turmoil that ripped through our economy over the past two years. but above all, this crisis was caused by the failures in the financial industry. what is clear is that this crisis could have been avoided, if wall street firms were more accountable, if financial dealings were more transparent, and if consume

rivaling judge bork in terms of pure drama were the hearings for clarence thomas in 1991. his confirmation process was going along sort of swimmingly until news reports leaked one of his former employees made statements to the fbi accusing him of sexual harassment. that accusation and the treatment in the in the made it some of the most riveting, a two-word explanation for a generation of women being utterly steved out by politics. >> this is a circus. it's a national disgrace. and from my standpoint, as a black american, as far as i'm concerned, it is a high tech lynching for blacks who think for themselves, do for themselves, to have different ideas. and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. you will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the u.s. and u.s. senate rather than hung from a tree. >> professor hill, you said you took it to mean that judge thomas wanted to have sex with you. but in fact he never did ask you to have sex, correct? >> no, he did not ask me to have sex. he did continually pressure me

our witnesses are justice clarence thomas. and justice stephen breyer. both of whom have appeared before the subcommittee previously. in fact, i think justice thomas may be on his way to setting a record for appearances before the committee. we'll have to put up your number. [laughter] justice thomas was nominated to the court in 1991 by the first president bush after serving as assistant secretary of education for sism rights, chairman of the equal employment opportunity commission, and as a judge on the court of appeals for the district of columbia, among other positions and we welcome you again to the committee. and i say that with great admiration when i say that you've been here so many times before us. to share with us. justice breyer joined the court in 1994. as a nominee of president clinton. before that, he was a professor at harvard law school, staff member, for the senate judiciary committee, and judge and then chief judge on the court of appeals for the first circuit. we welcome both of you today. we're glad that your previous appearances befo

guests rising republican star marco rubio and virginia thomas, wife of supreme court justice clarence thomasup next, america's retail giant just giving america's 10,000 tax cuts to stimulate the economy. you heard me right. let's hope d.c. is listening.  . tax cuts from wal-mart. a stimulus plan you need to hear about, plus, a supreme court >> wal-mart out with its own aggressive stimulus plan and slashing prices on 10,000 items from food to home goods. gary b says it's like 10,000 tax cuts for consumers so d.c. take note. is this the stimulus that america needs, gary? >> absolutely, leave it to a private company to get it right. the greatest wealth creator in maybe the history of the universe cutting all of these prices. brenda, look who benefits, wal-mart the company benefits, customers obviously benefit, the community around them benefits. even the union employees at wal-mart benefit because wal-mart grows bigger and bot ton line they'll take in more revenue than with higher prices. that's the lesson that the government should learn, if they lower taxes like reagan did-- . mike you want

virginia thomas, wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas and she is starting a tea party of her own. that comes up on tax day. coming up here, forget deporting illegal workers. new government plan protecting their pay. it sounds outrageous but someone says it will put more legal americans back to work. you want to hear that flip side next! ♪ at the end of the day in sitka, alaska, everyone awaits the return of the fishing boats. ♪ their safe arrival is highly anticipated, ♪ as is something else. a shipment of natural sea salt from cargill, essential for preserving the catch. we deliver the salt on precise schedules... and ship it efficiently all along the alaskan coast; saving the fishermen money, and their catch. this is how cargill works with customers. >>> this is a fox news alert. hello. i'm uma pemmaraju. nation in warning amid word the leader died. president of poland and 96 others killed in a plane crash in western russia. president obama is calling the loss devastating to poland, the u.s. and the world. also on board that plane the polish president's wife as well as high

women's fury at the way unusual was treated during the way that clarence thomas confirmation hearings, making 1992 the quote unquote year of the woman when war with untrained more women ran for congress than ever before. went susan's book backlash was a bestseller. win the right girl movement had taken hold, talking back to male domination in the punk rock movement. when they were take back the night i was at college and university campuses all over the country. so i started at this moment, was reminded how much kind of feminist energy there was in the air. and as i moved farther along and got closer and closer to the present, i was struck by how, over time, how to effectively feminism, a social movement that has done so much for women and four men, for that matter, has been so vilified in the media that many young women regarded as the ideological equivalent of anthrax. so i wanted to trace how did that happen. i also teach and work with young women, and i've seen that we once again have been referred and famously called a problem with no name. meaning millions of young women, the gi

court of appeals, went on to clerk for clarence thomas, was the counsel of the house, senate judiciary committee, is now a berkeley professor, very prolific writer, and he is distorting information in a very dishonest way. and i think that to do that to make a point and to try to do it for political purposes is very dangerous. and i certainly hope republicans and the authoritarian republican at least, the authoritarian conservative republican, gets off this kick because it's going to backfire on them. >> host: you wrote in the book on warren harding some of the parallels between the teapot dome scandal and watergate. what were they? >> guest: well, there's, the -- first of all, of course, it's the first time we have a special prosecutor. we get in teapot dome two. i want to caveat your mention of teapot dome and harding with the fact that warren harding has nothing to do with it. that's one of the great travesties that he's been tagged with teapot dome when it happens after he's, it's totally away from him. the one time he learns of the scandal he deals with it aggressively, but yet he

thomas clarence's nomination to the supreme court. >> a report from the abc news vault november 5th, 1991. >> reporter: you've seen the hearings. now see the sitcom. >> i deny each and every single allegation against me today. >> this man does not belong on the supreme court. he belongs in the national repertory theater. >> reporter: last night's episode of "designing women" may be an example of a new trend. call it situation commentary. >> they're ridiculing her for not coming forward then, they're blasting her for coming forward now. i think they taught their lesson very well. >> what lesson is that? >> the lesson that says, all men are created equal. >> reporter: both sides of the hill/thomas debate were represented in the episode. >> oh, please. >> reporter: the show's writer/producer concedes she tipped the balance towards anita hill. >> allan simpson refers to this as, this sexual harassment crap. nice talk, huh? from a united states senator. >> reporter: but at least one critic isn't laughing. >> i'm always very skeptical when television, entertainment shows, take on serious t

court of appeals, and clarence thomas with the council of the house or senate judiciary committee is berkeley professor. very prolific writer and he is distorting information in a very dishonest way. to do that and to do it for political purposes is very dangerous. the authoritarian conservative republican gets off this because -- >> the parallels between the teapot scandal and watergate. what were they? >> guest: the first time we have a special prosecutor. your mention of teapot dome and parting with the fact that warren harding has nothing to do with it. he has been tagged when it happens after it is totally away from him and the one tiny learns it he deals with the aggressively but yet he bears the burden of teapot dome. >> host: he died before he can defend himself. >> guest: but teapot dome is a cure corruption scandal and the only parallel -- the strongest parallel is the use of the special prosecutor. a selected two by the department of justice and i have read a memo by the watergate prosecutors drawing on many of the precedents established under teapot dome. it shows we have

. >> well, richard wieler, this book came to our attention at book tv via justice clarence thomas. he told us about it. what is your relationship with him? >> >> i've known clarence since the first day he arrived in the attorney general's office, jack danforth recruited him out of yale, and so our relationship goes back some 35 years. weactually worked together on several cases, consulted with him. i probably spent every day eating lunch and discussing the events of the world. so clarence is a good, good, good friend, and i had a feeling somebody must have given you a tip on the book, because it hasn't had much publicity. i haven't been able to market it. >> how long did it take you to write it? >> well, i started writing 10 years ago. i wrote the first three chapters. i did it because clarence and another friend were urging me to put my story down. they said i shouldn't pass from the scene without people knowing what happened, and then it just stalled. i couldn't find a way to make it sound realistic or something other than just modeling stuff. i didn't want to be that way, and the

you had clarence thomas. those are gone because you're right, there are lessons learned from that.de doesn't want to do that. but also, the last few picks they've been replacing people who are similar on the court. the real issue is going to be when you have a republican president and a liberal member steps down or if you're going to have a conservative court member step down under a democratic president. that's the only time we're really going to see a big fight. speaking of being shamed, look, i mean i would hope even the republican -- i'm sorry, a libertarian like you would think the people in arizona are totally nut jobs. the house of representatives in arizona passed a bill 31-22 requiring the next president to show their birth certificate. they've taken this wingnut argument and have -- and are trying to make it law. this is just dumb. >> i don't disagree with you, mr. martin, not at all. however, i think the concentration of it by those who would be against constitutional conservatives, which is what i am, i'm a libertarian for zoning. so i'm really just a constitutional con

the key example here would be clarence thomas during his confirmation hearing saying that what was going on was a high-tech lynching. what we saw was a dramatic increase among african-american supporters when he described what he was experiencing as a lynching. even though as a matter of history, no black man has been lynched by white men for something he allege eddie did to a white woman. so it was a poor use historically, reasonably, in terms of what we were looking at. in this case, we similarly have to say that what michael steele is talking about, you know, he's being persecuted or that he has a slimmer area to make mistakes in, i think that's not accurate. that's a bit like tiger woods saying his scandal broke because of race. >> given the plausity of african-american representation, certainly in the management, can the argument be made the reverse is true, he may have a wider margin for error? >> i think that we could hypothesize that, which is to say that there are some very talented african-american politicos who look at the democrat party and the republican party. and they see

our witnesses are justice clarence thomas. and justice stephen breyer. both of whom have appeared before the subcommittee previously. in fact, i think justice thomas may be on his way to setting a record for appearances before the committee. we'll have to put up your number. [laughter] justice thomas was nominated to the court in 1991 by the first president bush after serving as assistant secretary of education for sism rights, chairman of the equal employment opportunity commission, and as a judge on the court of appeals for the district of columbia, among other positions and we welcome you again to the committee. and i say that with great admiration when i say that you've been here so many times before us. to share with us. justice breyer joined the court in 1994. as a nominee of president clinton. before that, he was a professor at harvard law school, staff member, for the senate judiciary committee, and judge and then chief judge on the court of appeals for the first circuit. we welcome both of you today. we're glad that your previous appearances bef

caller: if you could address the previous callers comments about clarence thomas. i think you're missing a key point here concerning the populist anchor. -- anger. the federal government was never constituted to be the originator of consumer loans. it is not so much going to war -- know, people are angry about war, but that is the proper function of federal government, not been the guarantee of mortgages or banks or any other institution. furthermore, the whole notion that i can be taxed, let me tell you [unintelligible] speaks clearly to the taxation clause and governmental power. these are things that say the commerce clause is limited in its scope. i do not want -- if i do not want to participate in commerce, i do not have to. that is between me and my state, not between me and the federal government. host: let's pick that up into various parts. first, and responding to the comments made about clarence thomas, let me tell you, one of the interesting things about having this computer on the desk and having the twitter of feed opened, there is a secondary conversa

caller: if you could address the previous callers comments about clarence thomas. i think you're missing a key point here concerning the populist anchor. -- anger. the federal government was never constituted to be the originator of consumer loans. it is not so much going to war -- know, people are angry about war, but that is the proper function of federal government, not been the guarantee of mortgages or banks or any other institution. furthermore, the whole notion that i can be taxed, let me tell you [unintelligible] speaks clearly to the taxation clause and governmental power. these are things that say the commerce clause is limited in its scope. i do not want -- if i do not want to participate in commerce, i do not have to. that is between me and my state, not between me and the federal government. host: let's pick that up into various parts. first, and responding to the comments made about clarence thomas, let me tell you, one of the interesting things about having this computer on the desk and having the twitter of feed opened, there is a secondary conversa

he knows how d clarence thomas. he knows it's bare nudged and brutal. he -- bare knuckled and it can be brutal. megyn: it reminds me of when chief justice is john roberts an was asked by joe biden, i want someone who will be in there protecting the little guy and john roberts said when the little guy deserves protecting he will get it, but he says sometimes the big guy deserves protecting. he says we are like umpires. megyn: we'll see what the name is going to be. everybody will be watching the white house for that announcement. brian wilson, thank you so much. we are getting new data on the economy and the ballooning deficit. ben stein is with us to talk about whats happening with jobs, federal spending and whether your taxes are about to go up. sarah palin fired up the crowd as you saw moments ago and firing back at president obama. she delivered the keynote address down at this huge event for the republican party. we'll play you more of her much anticipated speech and bring you the democratic response with doug schoen straight ahead. megyn: brand-new

clarence thomas and stephen breyer testified on capitol hill thursday. this is about 11 $5. -- 1.5 hours. >> the committee will come to order. just a personal note, numbers 42 is an honor of april 15 1947. we honor him today. i thought it be fitting to honor numbers 42. a good story about him being the last player to win. >> what is the yankees record so far? >> you are out of order. owlet i to note that there has been a change at the courts which has special meaning to the court and to the american society in general. she comes from the south bronx. it is the area i grew up in. her parents were born in the same island of puerto rico that i was born in. it was a special time to become a part of the fair procedures. this morning we gather to hear about the 2011 budget. we have the honor of the joined by two distinguished justices of the supreme court regarding appropriations request. as we do so at a time when the court's undeserving member has announce that he will retire for the summer. i know that i speak for every member of this committee when asked t

our witnesses are justice clarence thomas and justice stephen breyer, both of them who have appeared ore the subcommittee previously. in fact, i think justice thomas is on his way to setting a record for appearing before the committee. we'll have to put up your number. justice thomas was nominated to the court in 1991 by the first president bush after serving as assistant secretary of education for civil rights. chairman of the equal opportunity employment commission as a judge on the court of appeals for the district of columbia among other precision spirit we welcome you again to the committee may say that with great admiration and i say that she's been here so many times before us. to share with us. just as breyer joined the court in 1994. his nominee of president clinton. before that he was a professor of harvard law school, staff member for the senate judiciary committee and judge and then chief judge on the court of appeals for the first segment. we welcome both of you today. well glad that your previous appearances before the subcommittee. requires you return for repeat perform

if you are my age which is a little above, 55 -- you might know clarence thomas because we lived througha very acrimonious hearing before the senate judiciary committee around his nomination. generally speaking, a supreme court nomination is an opportunity just for the american people to learn a little bit more about judges and what they do. i'm curious with a show of hands, did any of you have an opportunity to see the hearings of sonia sotomayor, or roberts, or alito? so, you have a little bit of a sense as to the protocol. and of course, presidents, most -- well, most republican presidents look forward with tremendous energy and enthusiasm around the appointment process. it reminds me of the story when richard nixon was president. one day someone comes into his office and says, mr. president, i think that thurgood marshall is really sick. richard nixon was getting his hopes of the little bit that maybe he would have an opportunity to name his successor. so we send some high-level official from the justice department over to thurgood marshall's hospital room, and a lawyer now some ador

after that, supreme court justices stephen briar and clarence thomas talk about the court's budget requestor the next year, and later, president obama outlines his plan for nasa and the future of space flight. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] tomorrow morning, a look at the congressional agenda own with sharon brown of ohio. robert sloan is the author of an article but says wall street is the key to democracy. also, more about the future of nasa. "washington journal" is live on c-span every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. >> all this month, see the winners of the studentcam documentary competition. middle school and high-school students submitted videos on one of the country's greatest strengths or a challenge the country is facing. what's this every day at 6:50 eastern just before "washington journal." at 8:30, meet the students who made them, and for a preview of all of the winners visit studentcam.org. >> part of an investigation into last year's fort hood shooting. joe lieberman and susan collins leave the commit

. >> today on america and the courts scorlt justice it's brire and clarence thomas discuss the supreme court justice. they allegation talk about cameras in the courtroom, diversity in law clerks, and thanksgiving >> this weekend the first of three british election debates. for the first time prime minister gordon brown, conservative party leader david camron and nick clegg will debate. sunday 9:00 eastern pacific on c-span. >> at a tacks day rally held here in washington earlier this week, speakers included members of congress, and radio talk show host kneel ports. this is about 2 1/2 hours. >> all right, the old days when i -- [inaudible] god, country, family. [applause] >> but let's start out giving thanks where thanks is due. let's start out with god. -- please lead us into prayer. thank you. you're dear father in heavien we praise you as the soverple ruler of the universe, king or kings and lord of lords. we thank you that you are ordained human government and given that government its limits and called civil imagine strates ministers of god and indeed when they stay within the bou

arm by a huge income of which is a little bit above how shall we say this, 55, you might know clarence thomase we lived through a very acrimonious hearing before the senate judiciary committee around thomas's nomination. but generally speaking there are opportunity, a supreme court nomination is an opportunity just for the american people to learn of a bit more about judges and what they do here and i'm curious, a show of hands, did any have an opportunity to see the justice sotomayor hearings or robbers or justice alito? you have a little bit of a sense as to what that protocol is here and, of course, president's, most presidents, while shell they say most republican presidents look forward with tremendous energy and enthusiasm and around the appointment process. it reminds me of a store when richard nixon was president. god bless you. remember richard nixon. and one day someone comes into his office and says, mr. president, i think thurgood marshall is really sick. well, richard nixon was getting his hopes up of all that maybe he would have an opportunity to name his successor so he sent so

clarence thomas's book, very interesting. i'm always reading about half a dozen different books at once. i went back and i am digging into thomas murphy's book, the seven story mountain which was published in 48 or 49 so it's a little bit old but timeless, great spiritual autobiography. right now basically those are the three books and working through. >> thanks very much for your time. >>> robyn stone who was boyd? >> he was many people, complicated man having grown up in st. louis, he was growing up in poverty raised by his grandmother after his father died and his father left for the vehicle for new york city. he came up in poverty and worked his way up. he decided he wanted to be a newspaperman early on in his teenage years in the 11th grade and pursued that through a scholarship at the university of missouri working at the post-dispatch in st. louis, his hometown. very early on he thought about to be a journalist and be good enough to work at "the new york times" and that tenacity enabled him to overcome all of the barri

thomas. what is your relationship with him? >> guest: high known clarence since the first day he arrived in the attorney general's office, jack done forth recruited him out of -- jack danforth recruited him out of jail, so our relationship goes back some 35 years. we actually worked together on several occasions, consulted with him. we ate lunch and discussed the events of the world, so clarence is a good, good, good friend and i had a feeling somebody must have given you a tip on the bo book, because it hasn't had much publicity. i haven't been able to market it. >> host: how long did it take you to write it? >> guest: well, i started writing 10 years ago. i wrote the first three chapters. i did it because clarence and other friends were urging me to put my story down. they said i shouldn't pass from the scene without people knowing what happened, and then it just stalled. i couldn't find a way to make it realistic or something other than just bottle and stuff, i didn't want it to be that way an three years ago, maureen clark, just walked into my life. she

women's theory at the way anita hill was treated during the clarence thomas confirmation hearings, making 1992 the "year of the woman" when more women ran for congress than ever before, when susan flutie's book that lash was a best-seller, when the riot girl movement had taken hold talking back to male domination in the punk rock movement, when there were take backs of the night rallies at college and university campuses all over the country.