not coolidge. they wanted to welcome him into office and now he thinks [unintelligible] we wanted to compare the challenge there is a summer rainstorm. remember when we had president wilson, the high living constitution? we had a progressive movement. that is when the income tax became law. they got it up to 77. we got the fed. there was some form of national hair care. -- health care. many americans wondered if their country was going into a revolution. there was inflation, unemployment. if they demonstrated in berlin, what would not de demonstrate in boston, seattle? somehow it was stopped in the 1920's when coolidge was president. not much progress of a law passed. it did put progressivism on hold. the results were fabulous. the economy grew. you look at a nominal number and it is better. that is often deflation. unemployment was high for a moment. it dropped a really fast. that is below several years in the recession. real wages grew. people got cars. the rich got richer, but also by the ins ha

not coolidge. here is what the editor of "the nation" magazine wrote about him to welcome coolidge into office that summer of 1923. "and now the presidency since low indeed. we doubt whether it has ever fallen into the hands of someone so cold, reactionary, an enlightened, or one who has done less to deserve it and calvin coolidge. but we wanted to compare the challenge to the challenges of today and that starts with a wave of progressivism. we had eight solemn rainstorm, but they had a tsunami. we had president wilson, the living constitution, we had the progressive movement, in the teens, when the income tax became law. the first rate was 7% and they had gotten up to this -- the first top rate was seven and got up to 77% in less than a decade. of course, we got the fed in the '20s and a plan to have some form of national health care, to redistribute wealth, fairness was the concept that as well. many americans wondered if their country was going to have a revolution the way of europe because of o

>> it began in 1923 under president calvin coolidge.s and red, green, and white. the ceremonies featured a local choir and a quartet from the u.s. marine band. a lot has changed since then and the ceremony has grown. in fact, the tree we are celebrating tonight is a live tree that has been here since 1978. in fact, this year, the street is the most energy-efficient tree that we had it -- this tree is the most energy efficient tree that we had. [applause] >> well, this is just a set up for this park. but the national park service, you do work for parks all around the country. well, would you believe there are almost 400? in fact, there are 393 unit in our national parks system that celebrate our nation's history, landscaped, and culture. whether it is here at president's part or any of the national parks systems, we want people to come out and enjoy and learn more about their national parks. theet's give it up for national park service. [applause] thank you for keeping the holiday tradition going. there is really no better symbol of the

lighting ceremony is a loan-standing tradition that goes back to 1923 starting with president calvin coolidge>>> i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. >>> dress code is essential for one art exhibit in moscow. well known sculptors are working in frigid temperatures to create masterpieces from blocks of ice. using chainsaws, they're shaping ice displays like this delicately decorated living room, but don't worry. if you can't handle the museum's 14 degree tip temperatures, visitors are being given coats to keep warm. >>> if you think that story was cold, this one is colder. an ambitious mountain climber braved minus 22 degree temperatures to jump off a peak in antarctica. the base jumpers reached two miles above sea level before taking the plunge there. he glided for about 45 seconds before pulling his parachute and safely landing at the bottom. >>> winter weather has brought paris to a stand still, but some folks are making the best of the snowy situation. they gathered at a church to ski 500 feet down the snow covered steps. the

but it came at a cost and with the efficiency of essentially having stood at the front of the cap coolidge troubled cash out. >> the total cost of the tax cut about $850 billion. if the tax bill had not passed more than four and 50,000 californians would have their benefits a limited it in december. christine conley has been looking into the details of all that and the unemployment feature here in california. >> right off the bat let's look at the picture bottom plant in california right now. revenue numbers just released, california's unemployment rate is holding steady for fourth month and remains a 12.4%. they reported that 2.2 million all californians were unemployed. waiting to find it was quite happy with the tax bill because again part of that was that they got the is that implied benefits extended. the benefits to read out on december 1st so, what did it is it extends those benefits to 99 weeks for people. that's a big deal for people that means the checks will keep coming, for others are not as lucky. will show you. at the san francisco edt office i found my cottage he see and hea

>> it began in 1923 under president calvin coolidge.onies featured a local choir and a quartet from the u.s. marine band. a lot has changed since then and the ceremony has grown. in fact, the tree we are celebrating tonight is a live tree that has been here since 1978. in fact, this year, the street is the most energy-efficient tree that we had it -- this tree is the most energy efficient tree that we had. [applause] >> well, this is just a set up for this park. but the national park service, you do work for parks all around the country. well, would you believe there are almost 400? in fact, there are 393 unit in our national parks system that celebrate our nation's history, landscaped, and culture. whether it is here at president's part or any of the national parks systems, we want people to come out and enjoy and learn more about their national parks. theet's give it up for national park service. [applause] thank you for keeping the holiday tradition going. there is really no better symbol of the hope of the season than the light of t

coolidge lowered the top tax rate from 58% to 25%. kennedy from 91% to 70%. reagan from 70% to 50%. bush it was smaller. they say that's different than what the house democrats are arguing about, a slight increase of 3%. and that that in an economic time like this when we have record deficits is hardly unreasonable. >> but they are telling you that. my father by the way went to his grave waiting for the cuts that were promised him when he was president of the united states. when he raised taxes back in the 1980s to shore up social security. he was promised $3 in spending cuts for every dollar in tax increase. he decreased taxes but of what is waiting for the spending cuts when he died in 2004. we give you 3% more money. i gairn steve i have it won't go towards breaking count deficit. it will go towards spending and that always happens to the democrats in congress. unfortunately it happened in a rough can-controlled congress between 2001 to 2008. that's why they lost their jobs in 2008. megyn: michael reagan, always great getting your perspective. thank you so much. coming up at the

president has been a person of the year at least once except for colvin coolidge, hoover and ford. >> fascinating. >> it's snowing. >>> it's starting to snow across the area. a lot of pictures. thank you

the skipper which was the presidents choose name for roosevelt, currently an illusion to is not a coolidge's he had taken advantage of that and it gave him the confidence to overcome his insecurities and to take on the u.s. state department. roosevelt was drawn into the fray by a proposal in 1943 by the romanian government saw the handwriting on the wall and knew that they were doomed. they thought that they would try to save themselves from future war criminal action by offering to ransom some 70,000 jews were a considerable sum of money. the money would somehow not go to the axis of powers until after the war. treasury secretary morgenthau was in charge of making the financial arrangements for the payment of the ransom. he founded every move he was frustrated by the state department, whose key officials involved in visas were suspected of anti-summit system. anyhow, morgenthau carried the fight directly to roosevelt himself. he was not reluctant to do that, unlike some of his colleagues andy sent roosevelt, had one of its aids dry report entitled report to the secretary on the acquiescence

so what ellen coolidge, his brave white granddaughter calls i believe was a family tradition. [laughter] and something that shaped him forever. there are two families i have put together as one. this is a house divided that exist across the chasm of slavery. that is something i invite you to talk to me how you put one story together of people whose interests are opposed by blood, terror, and by money and everything else but within this regime of source and violence, there is also intimacy and connection that is hard to get our minds around. imagine being a woman that wakes up in the morning the first person you give an order to like carry out my chamber pot who is your half-sister also your slave or the woman the first thing you are told, take my slop out and come back later and you will have to sell my head because i hurt my clothing in the ballroom and you are hurt slave and her aunt and the woman who was sleeping with her father. and he expects too never to talk about this if that is at all possible and try to enter into that in the universe the regime of tension and it is

. >> i did naval rotc back in, you know, the coolidge administration. the military to connect there with exactly the point you made recently in your op-ed piece about this disconnect between those who serve and people who kind of say, oh, no, not -- that's not for me. and one way to do that is to bring it -- bring rotc everywhere. >> here is what i think, bob. i've actually been thinking about this a fair amount. and what i would do is if not do it campus by campus, if you go to boston, for example, you could do an m.i.t. harvard program and put a couple of institutions together and have a central rotc program drawing on all the institutions. if you do it institution by institution, with the questions that the military already has about costs, you have to put officers in those programs and training programs, they may be better to do something that is more centralized. >> let me bring it back to the wider challenges that the president has faced this year. he has had a strong finish, but this has been a tough year for the president and the democrats. ap w

. >> eric coolidge of american shipper magazine. we talked about the trust of dray program and partnership, companies follow security guidelines and give that ahead of time. we can talk about that for a while. what concrete steps do you specifically have in mind to modernize that program, when will we see those? >> two major directions. first to expand the reach with foreign partners. we have begun a mutual recognition discussions with european union. the way we already reached them in new zealand, jordan and korea with mutual recognition of trusted shipper programs. we need a more concerted and effective way, quicker time frame of recognizing that we need to be satisfied, as our foreign partner would need to be appropriate allegations for security. the second major area is engaging with vote private sector to overcome this notion that the benefits of being in this have not been realized. release rate, you begin to see that in fact there have been significant benefits so that i would suggest a system that by my remarks here this mor

i should allude to that discussion this morning about coolidge and was he responsible for what happened to in 1939 after president roosevelt's spending spree, we have the 17th largest army in the world. it is not just small government that conservatives stand on defense. it is wrong to think of these things as sharp alternatives. to start with, the founders did not present it that way. rather, the reverse. if you look at the federalist papers, one of the things that is striking is how much they come back to the theme of, we need a strong national government to defend us against foreigners. the federalist 41 has this great passage. he is talking about anti- federalists want to limit power to maintain a standing party. how could readiness for war in times of peace be prohibited unless we could prohibit the establishment of every hostile nation? it could be only regulated by the danger and means of attack. this is not hamilton who enthused about national defense. it is adams. we have to give the government all the power it may need. the second thing that is worth mentioning, it brings me t

. >>> it as first family tradition dating back nearly 90 years to president coolidge. >> president obama hit the button to light up the national christmas tree. the crowd bundled up in the cold with the 42-foot colorado blue spruce brightened up the sky just south of the white house. >> jackie evancho was there. belting out in incredible voice here. she sang "o holy night." take a listen. ♪ ♪ fall on your knees, oh hear the angels' voices ♪ ♪ oh night divine, oh the night when christ was born ♪ [ male announcer ] a red, raw nose can feel really sore. achoo! [ male announcer ] and common tissue can make it burn even more. new puffs plus lotion is more soothing than common tissue and delivers twice the moisturizers to your nose versus the next leading lotion tissue. sleep is here, on the wings of lunesta. and if you wake up often in the middle of the night... rest is here, on the wings of lunesta. lunesta helps you fall asleep and stay asleep, so you can wake up feeling rested. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or en

we looked at the coolidge administration. george w bush.or. >> reporter: they paid more taxes. when tax rates were 90% ronald reagan would make four movies and go ride horses. he said it didn't pay to make more movies, it changes our behavior. we have a clip about this, what it's doing to the kids. raising taxes won't cover the entitlement deficit. the problem is the spending, every year it goes up. when president bush took office government spent $1.8 trillion, wasn't that enough? no. the president wanted to do things like give sr. a pre scripps drug entitlement. >> you are giving them the modern medicine they deserve. [applause] >> reporter: now the current administration has nearly doubled the spending. >> there you go. there you go. we are done. [applause] >> reporter: the obama administration alone has added more than a trillion dollars to the debt just this year. and as bad as that is it's going to get worse, the coming threat is entitlement, social security, medicaid, the big one medicare. what are we going to do about that? excuse m

. >>> finally, it's a holiday tradition that began with president coolidge in 1923 and last night president obama and his family lit the national christmas tree. the tree, a colorado blue spruce. now, 42 feet tall, grows on ellipse south of the white house. >>> on this friday morning, >> another storm system over the pacific northwest, watch those passes along i-90. snow and heavy snow as you head to higher elevations. a lot going on. rebecca, over to you. >> thank you. >>> plans set for the funeral tomorrow afternoon of elizabeth edwards. they'll hear tributes of daughter and friends but not her estranged husband. correspondent elaine quijano is in raleigh, north carolina. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this is where the funeral will take place. personal deeply meaning for the edwards' family. elizabeth edwards will be remembered by friends and family tomorrow in a ceremony celebrating her life. two close friends and elizabeth's 28-year-old daughter cate will have the difficult task of offering eulogies. >> she's been through so much, losing her brother and now her mom. she's ver

as a result, we controlled spending to 2.9% a year, the lowest rate since calvin coolidge in the 1920s, we cut taxes to increase economic growth and the result was we balanced the budget for four straight years, and paid off $65 billion of debt. they had to believe that the republicans were genuinely serious in order for them to have that kind of negotiation, when there is a liberal democrat in the white house. the result was a bipartisan effort, cut taxes and spur the economy and that ought to be the goal about -- the goal with the next congress and stand toe to toe and say you're not going to intimidate us and blackmail us on principle, we're going to -- going to rely on the american people to see what's happening. jenna: we often veer in these conversations into the political rift because we see the different parties, and the executive branch as well. what about the risk to the american people? the american people that are going to actually see the government temporarily shutting down, not only what that means to us in general to see a government shut down, but also, what it means s

host: professor greenberg is the author of three books already shadow," "calvin coolidge," and "presidential duels but as i remember that book. i have got -- "presidential doo dles." i remember that part. -- that book. guest: they went to the archives and brought it to basic books, or the editor there came to me and said she wanted a story to put this in context and to an introduction. it seemed -- she wanted a historian to put this in context and to do in a direction. it seemed like a fun project. and also, our growing interest in the personal and private and even psychological sides of the president's or the course of american history. the president has become, on the one hand, so far out of reach, but on the other hand has had to effect populist style to feel like he is one of us. these doodles are a way to imagine getting inside to what they are. host: charlie, thanks for holding. you are on the air. caller: i have, not a question, but a comment, more or less, with the tax is a president clinton and president obama. i feel that under 1993 -- on the the 1993, president clinton -- there wa

this is something calvin coolidge, perhaps america's most underrated president acknowledged when he said to a busy body aide, don't just do something, stand there. [laughter] >> the point is that it is far, far easier to establish than to rid one's self of any bureaucracy. and of all mankind's bureaucracies, the hardest to kill are government bureaucracies. when the economic crisis broke in the fall of 2008, the united states was quick off the mark to spend more, to borrow more, to intervene more in business, and impose a raft of paralyzing new regulations. in the past year and a half, president obama has greatly expanded the size and intrusiveness of the federal government, has spent trillions of dollars, trillions of dollars, and has, under the rubric of health care reform, put another 20% of the american economy under the control of washington. i think ruefully of thomas jefferson's advice that to preserve our independence we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt, we must make our election between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude. as i speak, the fed is emb

you might say going back to the earlier discussion about president coolidge, about his mistake, he limited government but he also limit it our military capacity. maybe that was not so good. i want to talk about that for a bit because i think in all lot of ways, that is one of the things people talk about with the tea party movement and other contexts. the republican party is divided or conservatives are divided between people who put the priority on small government and national defence and these things are in conflict. . . in 1939, after almost eight years of president roosevelt's spending spree, we had the 17th largest army in the world, smaller than portugal and row mania, not just small -- row mania and it's wrong to think of these things as really sharp alternatives. to start with, the founders didn't present it that way, i think rather the reverse. if you look at the federalist papers, one of the things that is striking is how much they come back to the theme that we need a strong national government to defend us against foreigners. federalist 41 has this great passage, he's talking

carl anthony talks about first lady grace coolidge and her partnership with the 30th president. then historian richard francis of on the salem witch trials where 19 were put to death. american history tv, telling the american story, every weekend. see the complete schedule online at c-span.org/history. >> according to the treasury department, the federal government has run budget deficits exceeding one trillion dollars for the last two fiscal years. the national deficit for the first two months of fiscal year 2011 was just over $290 billion. now, the aspen institute hosts a discussion with grover norquist from americans for tax reform, an anti stern, former president of ceiu labor organization and a member of the president's commission on fiscal responsibility. this is nine minutes. -- 90 minutes. >> and this want to welcome everyone every minute to turn off your cell phones. >> we are all excited to be here today. we focus on helping all americans. from child savings accounts to those to help americans with their financial security to investment options. today, we brought this

terrorists and it is a rather sober and poignant appeal to australia's malae, the united states to coolidge cool it. i would also conclude in the record the full article in forbes magazine on forthcoming disclosures in the hundreds of thousands of documents of the corporate crimes, corporate abuse, corporate cover-ups that julien assange assured for this would be forthcoming and to reduce our ethnocentrism, mr. chairman, i would like to note that wikileaks does not just the united states issue but there are people in peru, ken yep, australia, iceland, switzerland and other countries who have benefited from wikileaks disclosures of rampant corruption and injustice in those countries. >> without objection, your several documents will be accepted into the record. we have a record vote and so we will take a brief recess and then resume the questioning of the members. thank you for being patient. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> the committee will come to order. before yielding to bob goodlatte, i wanted to have just two minutes further for any of you who wanted to add to t

terrorists and it is a rather sober and poignant appeal to australia's malae, the united states to coolidge cool it. i would also conclude in the record the full article in forbes magazine on forthcoming disclosures in the hundreds of thousands of documents of the corporate crimes, corporate abuse, corporate cover-ups that julien assange assured for this would be forthcoming and to reduce our ethnocentrism, mr. chairman, i would like to note that wikileaks does not just the united states issue but there are people in peru, ken yep, australia, iceland, switzerland and other countries who have benefited from wikileaks disclosures of rampant corruption and injustice in those countries. >> without objection, your several documents will be accepted into the record. we have a record vote and so we will take a brief recess and then resume the questioning of the members. thank you for being patient. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> the committee will come to order. before yielding to bob goodlatte, i wanted to have just two minutes further for any of you who wanted to add to t

also this weekend, carl anthony talks about first lady grace coolidge. historian richard francis on why it one of the judges at the salem witch trials recanted his guilty verdicts. telling the american story every weekend. see the complete schedule on line. >> richard holbrooke, u.s. special on by to afghanistan passed away this big after surgery to repair a tear in his aorta. today, members of the u.s. house paid tribute to the ambassador in speeches in the chamber. this is 20 minutes. of this resolution which recognizes and honors the life and career of one of america's most potent diplomatic assets, ambassador richard c. holbrooke, and for opening comments i'd like to yield to someone who is a close and great friend of his, e chair of the foreign operations subcommittee, the house appropriations committee, the chief sponsor of this resolution that the ranking member and i have joined, mrs. lowey of new york, for such time as she may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. mrs. lowey: mr. speaker, i rise in suppor

terrorists and it is a rather sober and poignant appeal to astralia's malae, the united states to coolidge cool it. i would also conclude in the record the full article in forbes magazine on forthcoming disclosures in the hundreds of thsands of documents of the corporate crimes, corporate abuse, corporate cover-ups that julien assange assured for this would be forthcoming and to reduce our ethnocentrism, mr. chairman, i would like to note that wikileaks does not just the united states issue but ere are people in peru, ken yep, australia, iceland, swzerland and other countries who have benefited from wikileaks disclosures of rampant corruption and injutice in those countries. >> without objection, your several documents will be accepted into the record. we have a record vote and so we will take a brief recess and then resume the questioning of the members. thank you for being patient. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> the committee will come to order. before yielding to bob goodlatte, i wanted to have just two minutes further for any of you who wanted to add to the disc

coolidge did the latter. his commerce secretary, herbert hoover -- he did not see it as the role of washington to run it all. private philanthropy should take the lead. a third feature of coolidge that enabled him to achieve what he did was that he practiced politics while. he was a career politician. the kind that we are trying to vote out these days. he knew that to get your goal, it took skill whether it was a pocket veto or behind-the-scenes work. he did his work carefully. he picked his battles. he did not have a steep learning curve because he took the years before he got to the presidency to learn his craft. he is the rare animal that is a master and uses his mastery to make government smaller. the final feature of the coolidge mask did -- coolidge method is his humility. his humility towards his office. he not only have the ability to delegate, he believed he should out of respect for the structure of the executive branch. when the time came to run for a second elected term, kind of an entitlement of

carl anthony talked-about the first lady, grace coolidge. richard francis on and why the judges at the salem witch trials recanted the guilty verdicts. american history tv, telling america's story every weekend. you can have our schedules in mailed to you. >> look back at the public life of richard holbrooke on line at the c-span video library. nominated for the nobel peace prize seven times, he served under four presidents and was on a main architect of the dayton peace agreement ending the war in bosnia. the c-span video library. it is washington your way. >> a hearing was held today focusing on mortgage foreclosure. we will hear from officials and advocates for homeowners facing foreclosure. this is two hours 20 minutes. >> they are failing to return their calls in a timely manner. their lives are disrupted and turned upside down by the foreclosure process and by the procedures. the same bankers who came to congress with hat in hand demanding a bailout, the same bakers who could not have survived without welfare paid for by the american t