in the congress, congress is not necessarily work on facts.k based on hard party politics. how can you change that so when we can deal with tracks the kendis solution? >> was that to you? >> we have this problem. yup. okay. but in easy thing to do. you will often get hard truths, choose from a perspective of the party's spin on something, but there is data available for the american people that gets to the real facts of things. today -- kendis of it here is being live stream then there is so much information available the part of all of us on the states have committed to is providing the american people with the truth, not the party's spin. let's get the american people to get the real facts, the circumstances going on so that we together, u.s. can begin to actually solve the problems on the basis of data that is accurate and understandable so that we can fix things. it is possible to do. you are correct. >> anybody else want to jump in? >> that is one of the principals, the idea of the financial. we all have differences of opinion about how w

he deals with the first fiscal cliff and a fight if congress is even still congress. some are saying are we still congress? today is march 1st -- march 4th. the government will shut down. the majority did not agree with the interpretation the bill goes to president polk he signed as his last duty in office. sworn in on monday there was a great inaugural ball and lincoln is the great party planner as a little-known fact. he raised money for the washington monument and he had money to help get it started but was there for the cornerstone july 4th july 4th, 1848. on the planning committee for a sack retailer at the metro stop washington d.c. one of the biggest parties in washington and lincoln goes home at 3:00 in the morning he can find his cloak but not his hat. said he has to walk along the in the cold when french never forgot the story we've never forget the sight of that man walking out in judiciary square just in all these 12 years later the festivities would be for him. nobody saw the path he would take. the book concludes with him trying to get a job in the illus

but for congress as a whole to work together. we heard about it everywhere. what i talked about, how do you make that map, how as a new member can you play part. before i'm sworn i will i will reach out to every new member of congress whether they be democrat or they be republican. vo #4 >> with that bipartisanship, also comes some friendly ribbing. >> i've met several of the republican spouses and i jokingly said to a woman, she, her husband represents upstate new york, and the wife and i had a very nice conversation and i jokingly said, gees you seem more like a democratic spouse, you're a lot of fun. and her husband heard me saying this, i said, yeah, she is like a democrat, she spends like a democrat. i said, okay, we're getting into stereotypes here, but the point is, we're people. >> bustos hopes being part of the most diverse caucus will allow her to do just that. >> you saw the number of women there, you saw the number of latinos and african americans and asians, it's great. it's such a great reflection of america and a g

what is congress doing? taking a break for presidents' day. >> congress gets off one week for every federal holiday, two weeks for spring vacation, and a month in august. >> when they are working. >> they comment on tuesday and leave on thursday evenings. >> government watchdogs say government is not getting the job done. david walker has launched the no deal, no break campaign. no deal to address the fiscal challenges. no break for members of congress. >> it is time to focus full- time on trying to defuse our ticking time bomb. -- debt bomb. >> democrats blame republicans. republicans blame democrats. >> we have met the problem and it is us. >> congressional scholars say we're all to blame. >> people should be doing when they should say, why aren't you back in washington doing the people's work? >> members of congress say they need to take care of constituent business back home. congress needs to act by march 27 to keep the country operating. george lettis, wbal-tv 11 news. >> replacing john leopold. 16 peo

congress.y're not making relationships. >> it is a lot easier to go on the attack. >> the whole system is fundamentally constructed around division. >> that is how you raise money. >> people get that washington is broken and they have to come here and do something about it. >> i became a senator because i wanted to fix things. i take an oath of office for all the people. when you get to be my age, you're going to regret things about your life. i regret not reaching out and trying to make a difference. i regret not supporting in getting involved. i regret not helping the people that were trying to solve problems and letting the partisans carry this stage. don't feel that way. you don't want to have that regret. the final thought i will share with you is the most profound observation i have ever encountered about change and about dealing with changed circumstances. we are in new circumstances. congress has not always been the way it is today. we have had great problems in this country but it has

the president wants congress to do with wanting congress wants the president to do it they want and they have to cooperate to get along. last host: week to cover the president's visit to leesburg, virginia where house democrats were caucusing. how much does the president consults with democratic leaders? guest: the president has not consulted very heavily with house democrats because they are the minority in their chamber. they are not as important as the senate democrats were they control the senate. nancy pelosi has made a play to become more integral to the discussion lately and has made some progress in that regard. host: this is from twitter -- our next caller is from florida, good morning. caller: entitlements and what we will do in the next four years for trimming the budget is the question. the valley between republicans and democrats and across the country from california to new jersey, the rich versus the port -- what are we going to do to talk this out? there is so much of a spread between california and let's say florida or anywhere else. as far as the democrats and republica

i need congress to do their part.congress to take up these initiatives because we've come to far to turn back now. congress is the one with the approval rating. they have a 14% approval rating according to the wall street journal, the poll taken january 12th through the 15th. it seems that the president is playing his cards right, but to confirm that and talk about it we brought someone who is in the chamber listening to the president. also watched marco rubio watched him take a sip and we have chris moody senior writer, thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> michael: i want to get your take on the speech. you've seen a lot of them. you've traveled with other candidates now a lot. what did you think of the tactic that the president used hast night? >> well, it was an old fashioned state of the union speech where they put out a long liberal wish list. he proposed a lot of big ideas as you said, quite a few of them are not going to pass congress, particularly he talked about raising the minimum wage, the

during the 113th congress. campaign managers for the 2014 election are being hired. if you want to be part of that process, and i still have a resume to dust, i would encourage you to rapidly dust. we are moving to our second panel, which is about the interest groups which are going to influence the direction of legislative activity in the congress during the 113th congress. for my new colleagues on this panel, one of the analytical frameworks we use at georgetown law is what i call lp4. i means -- analyze things in terms of five aspects. look at an issue at the intersection of law and policy. l is law. the first p is process, which produces the law. the next p is policy. policy drives the process, which produces the law. the next p is politics. sometimes that is tough to disaggregate from policy. if we define politics as the acquisition, maintenance, and use of power, that is distinct from the substantial policy issues. the final p is personality. individuals matter, some individual personalities, especially s

what this congress doing? taking a break for presidents day. >> congress gets off one week for every federal holiday, a august.n a government watchdogs say government is not getting the job done. david walker has launched the no deal no break campaign. no deal to address the fiscal challenges. no break for members of congress. >> it is time to focus full-time on trying to defuse our ticking time bomb. >> democrats blame republicans. republicans blame democrats. >> we have met the problem and it is us. >> congressional scholars say we're all to blame. >> they should say, why aren't you back in washington doing the people's work? >> members of congress say they need to take care of constituent business back home. congress needed to act by march 27 to keep the country operating and they have to deal with the debt ceiling by mid may. george lettis, wbal-tv 11 news. >> people looking to finish the work started by john leopold. john hammond is one of the candidates. he explained his change of heart. >> it has been a

they want congress to be kind. they want congress to be accountable. mr. speaker, the third graders from mrs. gibson's class want congress to make good choices. allowing sequestration to take place is a bad choice. if the third graders can figure it out, i certainly hope we in congress can as well. let's do what they advise. let's be responsible and let's make good choices. i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from puerto rico, mr. pierluisi, for five minutes. mr. pierluisi: mr. speaker, today i'm introducing a modified version of bipartisan legislation i introduced last congress. the bill would amend the provision in federal law that applies only to puerto rico and that has harmed thousands of medicare beneficiaries on the island. my legislation would eliminate this problem for future beneficiaries and provide appropriate financial relief to current beneficiaries who have been adversely affected. senator schumer is introducing a companion bill, and i want to thank him

cahow -- >> in congress, congress doesn't necessarily work on facts. they work on politics.cts, we can get solutions. >> we had this problem. >> getting the truth is not an easy thing to do. you often get part of the truth or truth from a perspective, a spin on something. but there is data available to get to the facts on things. at this event here is being stream. there is so much information this isle, but part of u providing the american people the truth. given the circumstances so that together, we can begin to solve problems on a basis of data that is accurate. it is also understandable so we can fix things. >> i will say that as one of the principles of no labels, beginning with a common set of facts. we have an opinion of how we should navigate these challenging financial times and we should have those disagreements. >> one of the ideas is non- person staff rather than having a democratic staff or republican staff to give you information that you regurgitate, everyone has a common set of information and we will ask the appropriate questions. i came all the way from ne

. >> congress returns today to capitol hill. the house comes in at 2 p.m. eastern to take up a small number of bills under suspension of the rules with votes at 6:30. also this week a debate and vote on a measure to require the president to submit a balanced budget to congress. over in the senate, members also come back at 2 eastern for general speeches. then at about 5:30, a vote on the bill to reauthorize the violence against women act, a domestic violence law that expired in 2011. a final vote on that could happen later this week. members of both parties are attending retreat this week. as a result, the senate will be out on tuesday and wednesday, and the house no legislative business on thursday or friday. live coverage of the house on c-span and the senate here on c-span2. >> host: and you're watching "the communicators" on c-span. we are on location in las vegas at ces international 2013 at the las vegas convention center. here's some of our interviews that we did this week. well, now at the ces international show in las vegas we're joined by represen

that evidence went to congress, and congress acted accordingly. no, the court signaled today, the conservative majority of the court signaled today that they may get rid of this pillar of civil rights, the most important federal civil rights law that we've got, arguably, they signaled they may get rid of it not because of evidence that it is not needed, but just because they don't like the whole idea of it. what good is it any way? civil rights leader and congressman john lewis himself joins us next. ♪ [ telephone rings ] hello. [ man ] jen, there are a lot of beauty brands that want you to represent them. really, who? no. they add too much fragrance. no, they make you wear pink. are you kidding? no. nah. [ telephone rings ] no. not my style. no. [ cellphone rings ] [ man ] you might like this one. aveeno®. aveeno®. let me think about it. [ male announcer ] the beautiful jennifer aniston now for aveeno®. >>> selma sprang overnight from an obscure southern town to the front pages of world newspapers. this church was headquarters in the negro drive

unfortunately, congress didn't compromise.come together and done their jobs and so, as a consequence, we have got these automatic brutal spending cuts that are poised to happen next friday. >> president obama, moments ago, flanked by real people. first responders and others urging congress to stop to force the cuts known as the sequester. let's get the dig on how the cuts would impact americans and our economy if they go into effect next friday, march 1st. joining me to look at the potential impact the gaming of this "the washington post" columnist and msnbc columnist ezra klein. we showed the president earlier this hour and flanked by first responders. quite an optic at the white house. how is the sequester going to effect everyday americans? the point the president was trying to make here about the cuts? >> let's back up and say what it is. it's about a trillion dollars of spending cuts over ten years. the spending cuts done in a very dumb way. they are spread automatically in the exact same proportion across most categories

that evidence went to congress, and congress acted accordingly. no, the court signaled today, the conservative majority of the court signaled today that they may get rid of this pillar of civil rights, the most important federal civil rights law that we've got, arguably, they signaled they may get rid of it not because of ed evidence that it is not needed, but just because they don't like the whole idea of it. what good is it any way? civil rights leader and congressman john lewis himself joins us next. or just seem to f, day by day? don't compromise. new vidal sassoon pro series from the original salon genius. starts vibrant, stays vibrant. precision mix formula saturates each strand for 100% gray coverage. hydrablock conditioner helps fight fade out for up to 8 weeks. new vidal sassoon lets you say no to compromise and yes to vibrant color like this. new vidal sassoon pro series salon genius. brilliantly priced. ah. 4g, huh? verizon 4g lte. 700 megahertz spectrum, end-to-end, pure lte build. the most consistent speeds indoors or out. and, obviou

i don't think congress is not trying. i know you're trying, and i hope you can find the agreement to reach these important objectives. >> i think the sequestration issue we have in front of us on friday is a result of our lack of budgeting and effort to budget. i'm from nevada, if i'm putting money down, i put $100 down that sequestration comes and goes on friday. soon as that occurs, we get onto our budget committee mark-ups that are supposed to happen march 11th through the 15th. putting another $100 down that doesn't happen. then we are supposed to bring those bills down to the floor some time march 18th. march 27th, government funding expire bass you we don't budget. i'm arguing that day comes and go and we have a big argument. i'm talking about the instability we have and how difficult does that make your job? >> it makes me job difficult, but also makes the economy's job difficult. again, as senator merkley, the uncertainty not knowing how policy is going to be developed, and what tax rates will be, what spending wi

we want to work with congress to do the right thing. right now, the opportunity exists from our estimate to make the changes on our own and if there's an argument about it, that's ok. we have six or seven weeks to change the language so when the next c.r. or the appropriation bill is done, our language is out of it and we continue on with the responsible course of action that we are proposing. yes. >> "wall street journal." what will your reaction be if the next appropriation bill there is language that says we bar you from making this change? what will your reaction be? >> part of my job is to make a very clear and consist argument in front of congress and in front of the administration that we're doing the right thing and with our business plan, we think we have done that. we have a $20 billion gap that needs to get resolved. this needs to get resolved from a legislative stand point. if you think about it, we are on the look for $5.5 billion funding bill for the future of retiree health benefits. those things need to be resolved. we w

that is the job of the congress.n coordination with the administration, they should identify programs which are wasteful. i have three tenants who have been on section 8 for the last 20 years. why should you continue to help people for 20 years? put them on help for five years. not forever. host: we're talking to federal employees only. just as in silver spring. where do you work? caller: i am under noaa. i am a senior staffer. i have been in natural wild -- natural resources management. all the resource agencies of the federal level, i've worked for 10 years, i worked for the park service, i worked for the fish and wildlife -- we have been seeing cuts since basically the clinton administration. i have not seen programs growing. the talk about government waste, i do not get it, because in the natural resources management agency, there is none. we're all struggling to provide services to the public. from the worker level and entry- level jobs all the way up to management, i do not see a period -- see it. it makes me a

i am proud to say that during the time i served in congress, i did witness a lot of what congress did at its best. despite the partisan differences, there was a bipartisan group of leaders in the congress, tip o'neill, bob michael, howard baker, bob dole, george mitchell, and so many others, who worked at that time with the republican administration to enact bold, budget compromises. we sat together in budget meetings, put everything at the table, and we ultimately found compromise. it is that spirit of leadership and cooperation that ultimately led to a balanced budget and a surplus. ultimately, we all have a responsibility to hold our elected leaders accountable and to fight for the kind of country that we want to have. we must never forget that our democracy has survived because it was born in the principle of public service. preamble of the constitution of thee the people," united states, in order to establish a more perfect union, in order to establish justice -- ordain the constitution of the united states." i have always remembered i had the opportunity to live the american dre

that evidence went to congress, and congress acted accordingly. no, the court signaled today, the conservative majority of the court signaled today that they may get rid of this pillar of civil rights, the most important federal civil rights law that we've got, arguably, they signaled they may get rid of it not because of evidence that it is not needed, but just because they don't like the whole idea of it. what good is it any way? civil rights leader and congressman john lewis himself joins us next. vo: bold has a huge imagination a playground of innovation, color, and design. showing up where we least expect it and taking inspiration from our wildest dreams. because bold doesn't see the world in fixtures and faucets, it re-imagines. coloring our lives in ways only bold can do. it's no wonder the world can't wait to see what bold does next. but lately she's been coming in with less gray than usual. what's she up to? the new root touch-up by nice'n easy has the most shade choices, designed to match even salon color in just 10 minutes. with the new

>> good afternoon and welcome to the library of congress. i'm john cole director of the center for the book and the library of congress which is the reading and a book promotion on dhaka library and we are very pleased to be cosponsoring this program with the libraries photographs division. the center for the book was created in 77 to help the library of congress stimulate books and reading of literacy of the libraries and we are a private public partnership with the library of congress paying our salaries but indeed we have raised private money from the beginning to help support our array of programs and projects. there are centers for the books now in every state and i know that we have a broad audience today and i challenge you to look up and learn about the center for the book in your state for the reading in the libraries. .. >> not only to raise young readers but celebrate reading in always. one of the ways the celebrate is stocks such as this with our readers and beyond series to show off books, new books published based on resources

tries to turn up the heat on congress. >> congress has to act. >> another day, another crisis, another countdown in the so-called sequester. >> the harshest budget cuts. >> cuts would be so painful for both sides. >> won't help the economy or create jobs, it will eviscerate the job-creating investments. >> just ten days left to prevent $85 billion in spending cuts. >> the sequester. >> the sequester. >> the sequester. >> it won't consider whether we're cutting some bloated program or a vital service. >> it doesn't make those distinctions. if congress allows this meat cleaver approach. >> people are getting hysterical. >> thousands of teachers will be laid off. >> the president is count iing the republicans again. >> the president promised it would happen, he is the commander-in-chief. >> he would like to replace it. he has not put details out there. >> there is a stalemate, just ten days -- >> these cuts are not fair. >> the sky is falling, the sky is falling. >> they don't have to happen. congress has to act. >>> tonight, another dramatic deadline is looming for the financing of the g

is even truer in congress. the expectation is there can be current or more service delivered in an efficient, professional way for less money and the math doesn't work. you can do more with less once in awhile but year after year after year you simply can't and that is the most difficult thing for people to understand. you look at the gap that i've put up their about the vast amount drained by the bush tax cuts, some of that has gone back but only some of it because by and large the american people do not want any money spent on taxes. the price being paid for that is not so much an individual price. more a price that involves the health of the population and overall education level of our kids and those things, it is bigger and broader than any individual can take into account, hard to understand. >> how about over here? >> what hope do you see when one political party actually wants to wreck the government? there is a book called the wrecking crew that builds on that theme. i don't see any possibility of comp

and we'll be forced to make more tough decisions in the week ahead if congress files act. the good news is there is another option. two months ago we faced a similar deadline and instead of making deep cuts that would have cost jobs and slowed down our recovery, democrats and republicans came together and made responsible cuts and manageable changes to our tax code that will bring down our deficit. this time congress should pass a similar set of balanced cuts and close tax loopholes until they can replace the sequester with a smarter long term solution. right now, most members of congress don't think it's a good idea to put thousands of jobs at risk and do unnecessary damage oh our economy. yet the current republican plan puts the burden on seniors and middle class families. they would rather ask more from the vast majority of americans than close even a single tax loophole that benefits the wealthy. over the last few years, we've 345ed good progress toward reducing our deficit in a balanced way. there is no reason we can't keep chipping away at this problem. there is no r

congress could do that in this case.a solution in search of a problem. united states is not out regularly killing americans. >> it is good for the congress to check and make sure. >> that's right. >> even if only one american has been killed, if congress is concerned about the government targeting people. i think that congress could reasonably pass a statute that said not to require judicial review, because i really think that is too difficult, particularly in an armed conflict war. especially regarding the circumstances that the executive branch has to satisfy. then to require some notice and reporting back to congress. that is the check and balance. >> let me go on to mr. chesney and mr. waits. first of all, does this provide enough information about why the administration believes it has the authority to kill u.s. and abroad? i'm not talking about the one particular individual. he got the end that he deserved. i would indicate that you have collateral damage that you have to pay attention to that. a united states citi

and she actually ran for this seat in congress in 1980. and my father served on our executive council. he was mayor of the city of concord and he ran for governor when i was growing up as well. >> annie custer was literally raised on new hampshire politics. and helped out in many political campaigns during her teenage years. after graduating from dartmouth and georgetown law school she worked on presidential campaigns for john kerry in 2004 and president obama in 2008. in 2010, kuster ran for office herself. >> a very good time to get involved in the political process myself. so i ran in 2010 and only lost by 3,000 votes in a big republican wave. it made all the sense in the world to run again. >> kuster is a part of the new hampshire matriarchy. she represents her state along with another congresswoman, two female senators and governor maggie hassan. >> we have a long tradition of women working in new hampshire. i also think that the electorate has a great deal of respect for women. we were very fortunate with senator jean shaheen, who wa

i urge this congress to pass the rest. [applause] president obama: but tonight i'll lay out additional proposals fully paid for and fully consistent with the budget framework both party as i greed to 18 months ago. let me repeat. nothing i'm proposing should increase our deficit by a single dime. it is not a bigger government we need but a smarter government that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth. [applause] president obama: that's what we should be looking for. [applause] president obama: our first priority is making america a magnet for new jobs in manufacturing. after shedding jobs for more than ten years, our manufacturers have added 500,000 jobs over the past three. caterpillar is bringing jobs back from japan. ford is bringing jobs back from mexico. and this year, apple will start making macs in america again. [applause] president obama: there are things we can do, right now, to accelerate this trend. last year we created our first manufacturing info vacation institute in ohio. a once shut erred wareh

in other words-- >> from congress. >> from congress, he's not negotiating with congress. as soon as he did the speech he went down to north carolina and was talking-- >> people hate congress, maybe he's he thinking, okay, ill he' batter them and beat them over the head and if i don't get what i want maybe they will he' break in the next two years, if they don't, so what a congress led by nancy pelosi in 2014 and people at the door. >> there would be no question and i think he's just appealing to the public will and using that campaign organization that he had. they're still in place, that he e-mailed the people. it's a very usual president. >> kim, the thing most striking to me was the return of cap and trade, which democratic, a democrat senate couldn't pass in 2010, remember that? and another tax increase on natural gas and oil drilling or production which he wants to use to fund some of his renewable energy priorities. why? what's his thinking there, if it couldn't pass two years ago. >> two things are going on on the cap and trade programs, he knows it can't pass cong

it's even true in congress. we -- the expectation is that there can be current or more services delivered in an efficient, professional way. and the math does not work. you know, you can do more with less once in awhile, but year after year after year you simply can't. and i think that is the most difficult thing for people to understand. and that is why, you know, you look at that captain i put up there about the weapons for the bush tax cut. now, some of it is gone back, but only some of that because by and large the american people do not want any more money spent on taxes. the price that is being paid for that is not so much an individual price. it's more a price that involves the overall health of the population in the overall education level and our kids. those sorts of things. but that is bigger and broader than any individual can easily take into account. >> over here. >> what hope do you see when one political party actually wants to go back the government? there is a book called the wrecking crew that

i urge this congress to pass the rest. but -- tonight, i'll lay out additional proposals that are fully paid for and fully consistent with the budget framework both parties agreed to, just 18 months ago. let me repeat. nothing i'm proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a single dime. it is not a bigger government we need, but a smarter government that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth. that's what we should be looking for. our first priority is making america a magnet for new jobs in manufacturing. after shedding jobs for more than ten years, our manufacturers have added about 500,000 jobs over the past three. caterpillar is bringing jobs back from japan. ford is bringing jobs back from mexico. and this year, apple will start making macs in america again. there are things we can do, right now, to act semirate thxc trend. last year, we created our first manufacturing innovation ins tult in youngstown, ohio, a once shuddered warehouse is now a state of the art lab where there are potentials to revol

host: does congress have oversight? guest: congress wrote ala. congress has oversight and authorities over every lot it creates. the general services administration has the authority to determine if the choices made by the president in terms of office space and travel, they negotiate all the deals and sign all of the documents. the general services administration is charged with making sure the former presidents act is followed in spirit and law. the numbers we have seen today are made public. the last time there was an examination by the government accountability office was in 2001 when they were looking at travel and office space. host: on twitter, they are referring to the debate over medicare and social security. lee, rockville, maryland, republican caller. go ahead. caller: i am one of your colleagues at the library of congress. i have today off, as you know. the former vice president spiro agnew had problems with the law. he got convicted. he pleaded no contest to taking bribes and other things. what happened to his attention? guest: the vi

this has been due in part to legislation passed by the congress. for example, the fda authorization act addressed many issues that gao had recommended for improvements, to oversight of medical products and devices. for example, the with drug shortages and also increased inspections, risk-based and foreign operations. congress also passed important legislation concerning the flood insurance program which is also on our list. also, only be and agencies have been holding regular meetings with gao, which i precipitously in in order to focus on solutions and to identify ways to make the necessary improvements to get off of the list. this year in a progress has been made that we are removing two items from the list. first is an agency contracting the interagency contracting what has to be a very good and important management tool if done properly. we found back in 2005 they were not done very well. they were out of scope in terms of the contracts, lack of competition. one of the most notable examples was the high recover interrogators for iraq using an i

congress does. my amendment makes a simple change to the finding section of the bill that clarifies that congress has the constitutional responsibility to fund the federal government. now, i can guarantee that when the majority introduces its budget this month it will be so extreme that it has no chance of passing both houses. the republican majority seems to be able to come together for meaningless proposals, but they know that when it comes to sensible legislation, such as preventing us from going over the fiscal cliff or providing aid to sandy victims the 218th vote will come from a democrat. the only thing allowing the house republican caucus to govern is the house democratic caucus. it is the majority's failure to negotiate in good faith on the budget that has gotten us here today. year after year the house republican leadership has chosen to do anything within its power to discredit the president instead of working to solve our nation's challenges. i urge my colleagues to support my amendment

congress doesn't work like that. this seems to be at least the possible opening engagement of the talks of a deal. i mean, that's the amazing thing about sequester. >> we can't even schedule talks. >> negotiations have broken down. no, negotiations never began. having them break down would actually be a step in the right direction. >> swraent even had -- >> we have seen this movie before where what will happen in the final day or two as they come to some agreement not on any kind of a deal in terms of addressing the underlying issue, but merely a stop gap agreement to extend the march 1st deadline, april 1st and may 1st. that seems to be the scenario that we've seen before here, right? >> the small scenario, yeah. kelly, i was going to say you're on capitol hill. what is the end game here? one of the smart senate leadership aides that have been through this a million times, how do they think this ends? >> well, everyone expects in both parties that it will go into effect and then there's sort of a how much is the sky

that's what congress didn't want. it's actually ironic that people are saying it's better to have costly litigation that lasts years than to have an administrative process in which a jurisdiction can simply submit the documentation to the department of justice and get preclearance. >> woodruff: she's talking about what congress intended when it twhroe law. >> i know, but what congress said when it wrote this law that this was supposed to be a temporary provision that would only last five years. we've now renewed it for a fourth time. it will last until 2031 and an important issue we haven't discussed is the triggering formula. the jurisdictions that are covered today are covered based on registration of turnout data in the 1964, 196 and 1972 elections. if you updated it they would no longer be covered. >> woodruff: what about this out of date point? >> we're talking about reauthorization. in 2006 congress looked at the jurisdictions to determine what is happening in those just tk +*eubss now. that's the 15,000 pages o

congress met. washington went in person to the congress, went to the senate chamber and delivered a speech that had a series of recommendations. relatively short speech but in those days before there were standing committees, they used to cut the state of the union message up in paragraphs and create committees to address each one of the issues that the president suggested. but washington and john adams, vice president who became president followed that practice, so they created this idea that from time to time, an annual message. and for years, it was known as the annual message and didn't become known as the state of the union message until the 1940's. in 1948, there was a hollywood movie called "state of the union" and that cemented the idea that the annual message was state of the union message. adams went in person to congress. jefferson didn't enjoy public speaking. he gave only two public speeches while he was president. his first nugral address and second inaugural address. he liked to be k

as a member of congress.ow that in 2006, the house reauthorized the voting rights act 390 to 33 the senate 98-0. it's pretty bipartisan. given the way things are on capitol hill these days, where do you land in terms of optimism and the voting rights act? >> we don't have any choice but to be optimistic and reach out to people in a bipartisan way and say look, all americans should be able to vote. the vote should be something all americans get and political parties should contend with voters to win them to their side, not eliminate them from the opportunity to vote. i don't want to predict doom and gloom. i want to say the supreme court is going to look at the 15,000 pages congress generated in all the hearings that it had and say look, i guess the democratic body is in the best position to make a decision here. if we end up having to deal with it over here in congress, i'm looking forward to working with republican friends to do the right thing. >> congressman, let me open it up to our panel for a moment. da

the paralysis we have is faith country, not the congress -- is as a country, not the congress. there is a consensus that we are spending too much money. if you ask the question, the answer is yes, we are spending too much and we should reduce it, but when they are asked here are the areas that we should cut, keep the same or increase. in no area was there a plurality of people for cutting. except for foreign aid, which was basically 50/50, and every single area, two thirds or more of the people said keep it the same or increase it. we are concerned about government spending, but we just do not want to cut it from anywhere. that is what we as politicians have an obligation to have an honest discussion. we have to talk about the programs we need to be deuce. yes, we will get more efficient -- reduce. yes, we will get more efficient, but there is no way to wipe out a $1 trillion deficit with efficiency. you will have to raise taxes. part of the reason i am in favor of raising taxes is i am not in favor of making the dramatic cuts in programs that would be necessary like medicare a

then it came up to the congress and the republicans in congress 174 of them voted for this.ner paul ryan eric cantor all voted for it. and when it was over john boehner said i love this. i got 98% of what i want. these cuts which are so bad that everybody thought never, never, never would congress go along with it. you know why the republicans want to go along with it? because they don't give a damn. they don't care if the government is whacked across the board. first responders and air traffic controllers and pell grants and all of that other stuff cut. they don't care. so my question to you is, do you think this see quester is going to happen? and if it does and it looks like it is, who gets the blame? i think the american people know who gets the blame. they are not going to blame it on president obama. but the republicans are stupid stupid, stupid. let's talk about it. >> announcer: this is the "full court press," the "bill press show," live on your radio and on current tv. ♪ for true stories. with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. real, gri

do you think the president is expecting too much from congress?is asking for these things, expecting executive action. is he expecting too much and what will the executive action going to be? >> i'm not sure what he can do by check action. i think he was aiming over the heads of congress to the people saying this is what i want to do and these guys in front of of me and the very sleepy guy behind me won't do it. these are things that are the living definition of died in committee. they really are. he's not going to get a minimum wage hike out of this republican house. the purpose of the speech is that this is the stuff that by the way, as the leader of my party, which will continue to carry on thify for these things, this is what we want to do for you and captain get a vote on them. on the executive action, the courts have left it open for the e.p.a. to regulate carbon as a pollutant. that's the big hammer that republican conspiracy theories are all circulating around now. he can order that, i assume. there are things he can do. everything he does