cravings democratic state senator of the louisiana has been fighting since one thousand nine hundred two to try to reform the legal system in his state. we fear i mean we fail miserably because we have not provided a better community we have not transform the lives of those young people especially who make mistakes we've not given them an opportunity to redirect their lives so what we do is we tend to believe that if we lock them away a lock them up and throw away the key that somehow we're going to be safer i don't think our system is failing it just means that our culture demands a different criminal justice system than they have in your bennett demands the death penalty or. the grumbles will be out of control in this country if we don't take a very stance. as you may or may not know a child whose parent is incarcerated has a five time greater chance of want to present themselves so we are creating generations of new in sometimes even worse criminals. and and and we paying for it and we paying for it miserably in. this prison policy is costly. in two thousand and five louisiana budg

missouri's secretary of state is seeking the democratic nomination for senate appeared we will show present -- for senate. we will show congress -- we will show a fundraiser for her later. we will also talk about the economy and jobs. the missouri seat is opening with the retirement of republican senator kit bond. camping 2010 coverage on c-span. -- campaign 2010 coverage is on c-span. >>n this week's edition of "the communicators," -this was held in los angeles of may -- in may of this year. shall city on the internet is a common concern for attorneys general across -- child safety on the internet is a common concern for the attorneys general across united states. we talk about online safety in light of rapidly-changing technology. >> general counsel, we talked about the incredible technology -- general gensler, we talked about the incredible technology here. kids are quick to adapt. the technology is moving really quickly. how do you keep up with the opportunities and threats that are faced by young people who you are charged to protect? >> you are right. the technology is literally and p

. >> tonight, a kentucky senate debates between candidates, republican rand paul, and a democratic stateneral jack conway. following that, a news conference on the senate campaigns and farm subsidies. also, a pentagon retirement ceremony for former afghanistan commander general stanley mcchrystal. tomorrow, and oklahoma governor's debate. we will hear remarks from six democratic and republican candidates looking to replace the democratic governor. that is at 6:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. c-span, our public affairs content is available on television, radio, and online, and you can connect with us on twitter, facebook, and youtube. sign up for our scheduled alert e-mails @ c-span.org c-span.o. >> now a kentucky senate debate between republican rand paul and democratic state attorney general jack conway. they answer questions regarding agriculture, health care, immigration, and the economy. hostedntucky farm bureau the candidates at its headquarters. this is an hour and 50 minutes. >> good morning, everyone. i am president of kentucky farm bureau and i will be the moderator today for this fo

democrats' problems, chuck manchin misery. it is a very critical state. -- chuck mentioned missouri. the democratic senate that has been inclined to stay as far away as she can from president obama. >> she is a terrific candidate. going back and looking at that pattern with minority voters over years is a limited use this time because the obama election was unique. obama turned out to independents, african-american voters, young voters in very unusual numbers. while we're not seeing is any indication that they are fired up and ready to turn out again. >> we get a quick lesson on this and the runoff election in georgia. georgia has the role that if they do not get the 50 percent rule they end up in a runoff. we have a giant african american turnout in georgia. without sarah palin on the ticket, i think obama carries georgia. there is an argument to be made that pailin got evangelicals out. putting that aside, there was a huge african american turnout. barack obama's name was not on the ballot. six weeks later, it was 30 points. it was a 20 point blowout because african-american turnouts did not come withou

but if you look at the state level, you also have democrats controlling a decent majority of the govern norship, a majority of the state senateate houses. so the risk for the democrats at this sort of historical point is great and these are very trying times economically and it's only natural that you will see voters take out their frustrations at the party in power. right now, the g.o.p. has very few spots of official power as the democrats do. host: so depending on how the elections go and redistricting happens, look ahead at what happens in 2012. guest: great question. you've got a president who right now looks certainly weaker than he did. on the other hand, still in the high 40's. not in a crisis zone by sort of historical proportions. bush was down i think in the low 30's at the time he left office and for the final few years he served. so the president still has strong support from democrats, sinking support in terms of independents and very low support in terms of g.o.p. voters. on the other hand, i believe if you look at the polls he still probably the most trusted politician in america. that's part because he is so

earlier, to reform employer-based health care with oregon democratic senator ron wyden. >> bennett walked across the center aisle or the united states senate and said, "let's go to it." i like your idea of trying to get everybody covered. bob bennett is one of those special people in american politics who continues to believe that we ought to have ideas-driven government. >> reporter: on may 8, utah republicans let bennett know what they thought of his efforts at bipartisanship. he was defeated in his try for a fourth term at the state g.o.p. convention by activists who yelled, among other things, that he didn't love the constitution enough. >> the anger about what's going on in washington was simply too powerful to overcome. i am obviously not angry enough. one of the complaints about me was, "we don't see you on c.n.n. we don't see you on fox screaming. we don't see you shouting and fighting loud enough. you're sitting back there talking to these people and we don't want that. we want somebody really up there fighting." and, that's not my style. >> reporter: but fellow republican jim demint of south carolina, who is up for re- ele

>> i think that the united states senate needs more common sense. we need more democrats from the heartland so that people in washington understand that people on the main streets of kentucky do not think that washington is working for them. i do not think that we need to raise taxes in a recession. it is a bad deal for kentucky coal. i will always stand up for kentucky's interest. i said that we need to take a chance on health care to i would have voted for health care. i am a democrat because i believe in job security and health security. i believe that we provide opportunities to those who truly need it and i think we are the more inclusive party. i take issue with the premise of your question. there are so many differences between me and rand paul. on how we would treat foreign policy and the farmers in the state. on so many issues, i could go through the litany of all the things that he said that i disagree with, but i disagree with the premise of your question there are a lot of differences between rand paul and our campaign. >> the white house offered to campaign w

state of emergency. >> u.s. senate is preparing to release an energy bill next week that would reform offshore drilling rules. the democrats have postponed plans for broader legislation to combat climate change. that delay further undermines barack obama's pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions. he proposed to cut u.s. emissions by 17% at the last climate summit. the white house insists they have not given up on an energy tax and the carbon trading program. clean up efforts continue in china's biggest oil catastrophe. the first details are only beginning to emerge. investigators believe that a chemical to remove sulfur was pumped into the pipeline by mistake and the leak has been repaired but not before about a million barrels of oil went into the sea. the assessor in coastal communities and wildlife. accord and the netherlands has find an oil trading company 1 million euros for illegally exporting waste to the ivory coast. the shipment was dumped in the open air and in the capital of the ivory coast. thousands of people became ill complaining of abdominal pains, bleeding, and burns. they have denied any wrongdoing and the

that's because we'll have a new a new atic senator from the state of west virginia sworn in. and with that, diane, democrats will have ohe votes they need to extend unemployment without finding a unem ayy to pay for it. >> so tomorrow, the vote will come. tomorrow, tjonathan karl. thank you,n investigative report on u.s. intelligence after 9/11 >>> now, a causing a stir tonight. hington post" spenst" spent two years charting the giant sprawl, theincrease of agencies, now involved in increased intelligence. involved in "the post" says there are now more than 1,200 government "t entanizations, almost 2,000 private companies, inolved in collecting collectinge, and a huge number of people, 854,000, have access to the most sensitive information, top secret security clearance. aret of people are questioning whether the growth was effective whether th or out of control. or out control.tary of state hillary linton arrived in afghanistan today for an international n internce on the war and rebuilding that country. as two more american troops died over the weekend. 42 so far in july. 42 s .hich means this may be anot

senator. alvin greene, the surprise nominee in that state's democratic race, finally broke his silence last nightn minutes in front of a gathering of the local naacp. the speech was the first campaign appearance for the unemployed army veteran who is facing felony obscenity charges. he apparently has no campaign organization and he has suggested south carolina can solve its economic problems by selling action figures of himself. interesting plan. >> politics is never dull. >>> vice president joe biden was on abc's "this week" talking about the balance of power in washington. >> he believes democrats will surprise many this fall, and not lose their majority control of congress. it was just one of the many topics on the sunday talk shows. >> from the heart of the nation's capital, "this week" with abc's senior white house correspondent jake tapper. live from the newseum on pennsylvania avenue. >> there's that famous saying in washington by mike kinsley that a gaffe is when a politician accidentally tells the truth. robert gibbs experienced some of that -- >> i've never had a gaffe. >> you've never

states senate, carte goodwin. >> reporter: with that appointment, democrats appear to have won a major battle in the long fight to extend unemployment benefits. carte goodwin, now interim senator from west virginia, replacing the late robert byrd, should give the democrats the 60 votes they need to end a republican filibuster and send the bill for a final vote. monday, president obama accused republicans of indifference to out-of-work americans for refusing to extend benefits. >> it's time to do what's right, not for the next election, but for the middle class. >> reporter: 2 1/2 million workers have been waiting six weeks for relief since benefits expired june 2nd. republicans say they support the extension but want the $34 billion cost paid for by an equal cut in the budget. >> we want to make sure they've got the help they need, but if washington's going to spend that money, then we ought to find offsets in other spending so that we're not adding to the debt. >> reporter: the president fired back, saying the republicans have a double standard. >> the same people who didn't have any problems spending hundreds o

firefighters and teachers who need jobs in every single state in this country, whether that state is led by a senate democrat or a senate republican? of course they need jobs. and finally, madam speaker, i'll tell you, the other side does a lot of talking about small business and infrastructure. but here we passed house resolution h.r. 4849, small business and infrastructure that we know are going to create jobs and who's sitting on that? those senate republicans sitting on jobs, playing politics with the american people. the american people want a job, american workers want to work and it's time for us to deliver that work. thank you and with that i'd yield. ms. fudge: thank you so very much. again, as i expressed before you began your remarks, that you were always very informative and accurate as to the situation we find ourselves in as a house. it is certainly always a pleasure to work with you and for you to continue the fight for the american people because in fact, they do deserve a payday and thank you. i would now yield to my good friend and colleague, the dean of the ohio delegation, the delegation

two gulf state senators join us to discuss the moratorium and more: democrat bill nelson of florida and republican roger wicker of mississippi. senator wicker, the revised moratorium would allow some drilling to resume with various previceos but the opposition to it has to the gone away, why not? senator wicker, i'm afraid we're-- senator wicker, my apologies, we're not hearing you. we'll try to adjust the microphone. you can hear me, senator nelson. >> i can. >> brown: let me go to you first whilwe adjust this explain. you have supported the moratorium from the beginning. explain the benefits that you think would come from it? >> well, the question is do we want another disaster. and i don't think we do. and as testimony thereof, look at what has happened today four major companies other than b.p. announced that they were putting together a task force so that they would have safety equipment in place that could immediately come in. for example, one of the things that they're going to develop is it would be like a big bell that would go down over the blowout preventer and anchor in the

-- lies at the feet of the speaker of the house and the majority leader in the united states senate and the democrats. not republicans. wish we had the authority and the votes to kill some of these crazy ideas that are coming out of the progressives on the left. we don't have those votes. we can't kill crazy ideas. now i have to sit here and listen to the crazy allegation that republicans are to blame for blocking unemployment benefit extensions. outrageous thing to say. then to follow it up with, may god have mercy on your soul, as if the gentleman has a deep core of faith and was worried about the souls of republicans. i'm awfully glad he's not been appointed to be st. peter. if he could make that call at the paroley gates, i'm pretty -- at the pearly gates, i'm pretty sure republicans would be condemned to the fires of hell in his judgment. we have been fed a line of baloney. republicans don't have the votes to block an unemployment extension. if it didn't happen in the house of representatives, it didn't happen by the will of the speaker and the majority in this congress, the democrats. that is a

democratic party. in november, he faces jim demint. and despite being arrested on felony charge on selling photos on the internet. >> i'm the best candidate in the united states senate race here in south carolina. i'm also the best choice for the image award next year. [ laughter ] >> state oes's economic woes he wants to produce jobs by selling alvin green action figures. minor baseball team headed out action figures bearing his photo at saturday's game. >> a conservative talk radio host and his group has been kicked out of the national tea party organization over an insensitive blog posting. they wrote a letter from quote, colored people to president abraham lincoln. it provoked out outrage by the naacp. they wanted to crackdown with racist elements within it's group. joe biden and president obama don't think the tea party is racist. >> the truth is that at least elements that were involved in some of the tea party folks, we saw that on television. i don't think, i wouldn't characterize is the tea party as racist. >> the vice president predicts that democrats will hold on to majorities in both the house and the senate in the november election. >> researchers devel

democrats will conclude our policy discussion. extremely important. at 2:15, the new senator from west virginia, cart goodwin, in whom i have vast respect, will be sworn in, in front of the united states senate and the world. right after that, because cart goodwin will make the 60th vote in what is a necessary piece of legislation, we will take up and pass unemployment compensation. [applause] it's a remarkable symbol of who cart is, how important the senate is he is a united states senator. there have not been more than 1800 united stits senator in he probably won't have the biggest home base at the beginning. he way have to walk up one floor to get to the first flow. none of that makes any difference. in the senate. that's why the word soonor, junior never meant anything. it is what do you know, can you express yourself, are you can you reach across the aisle, can you ifpk it's super official, really. senator cart good wiven he will have all the powers of dan or any of the senior members of the senate. that's important that you understand that. he is a united states senator, pure and simple. now a moment on cart goodwin. i'm thrilled that he's a pointed. the find. various members of

. >> we get the reactions of two united states senators, move republican kit bond is vice chairman of the select committee on intelligence. democrat jack reed of rhode island serves on the senate armed services committee. senator, welcome. senator reed first. do you agree with president obama that these documents didn't reveal anything that wasn't already part of the debate about afghanistan? >> they did not reveal any new revelations. we have known for a long time that there was corruption in afghanistan. that there was the issue of collateral civilian casualties. we also understood that there was an ambiguous relationship between the isi, the pakistani intelligence service and some of our opponents in afghanistan. it did not reveal anything that was not known and responded to by the president in his policy announced at west point last fall. >> senator bond, do you agree with that? >> yes, i do. frankly, we had been following what went on in afghanistan and pakistan. and in the fall of 2008, my minority staff and the intelligence committee drafted a 12-page document saying we needed a new plan, and we submitted it to the presiden

democrat, a fine senator. she is having an uphill battle because she is from the state of walmart. she is not liberal enough. bart stew pack -- bart stupak announced his retirement today, another moderate democrat, a pro-life democrat. he has been much in the news in the health-care debate. the center is diminishing. but our parties can do is to harness the forces of the tea parties, the michael more's, the wings that want to fly in different directions and tear this country apart. they need to be harnessed to come back to a more reasonable thoughtful middle ground. the extremes are really winning. depends the numbers you look at, with 39% of the country is it considering themselves independent. why are we letting the wings tear us apart. there has to be a way to bring us back home. i think the parties are the best way to do it. do not ask me how when we get to the question and answers section, because i do not know. it has to happen. now coming to the extent that the parties are a little light in the seed in appealing to the masses and exerting as much power as they used to an electoral politics, i think it

democratic. next, the final michigan governor's republican primary debate. we will hear from michigan state senator tom george, state attorney general my cicilline -- a cox mike, bouchard mike, and hoekstra peter -- and peter hoekstra. >> of life from oakland university, decision 2010, the republican gubernatorial debate. >> good evening. welcome to our exclusive coverage of the final republican gubernatorial debate. we are coming to you from the metabolic it hurt in rochester. tonight, the candidates will address the issues you believe are important. i know because he hoped the fashion the questions from the dozens of phone calls and e- mails that have come in over the last couple of weeks. the rules for the debate -- each candidate will have a one-minute opening statement. at the end of the evening, we will get a 36 and closing statement. in between, there will be a question and answer question. i will answer the questions. candidates will have one minute to answer a question. each of our candidates is allotted to rubato offerings we are pleased to have with us tonight three weeks before the mich

democrats to pas sweeping reform at the financial industry. their support allowed them to close the debate earlier in the day and move forward with the vote. >> with today's vote in the senate the united states congress now passed a wall street reform bill that will bring greater economic security to families and businesses across the country. the wall street reform bill aims to strengthen consumer protection with a newburgho under the federal reserve. shine a light on financial products and create a new process that dealing with troubled financial firms. >> this legislationing is about the people on pain street not wall street. >> however, republicans say some of the new regulations go too far and will stiffel economic growth. before the official vote the house minority leader says the bill will need to be repealed. >> i believe it is ill- concieved. it will make credit harder for the american people to get. clearly harder for businesses to get. and, the fact that it is going to punish ever banker in america for the sins of a few on wall street. i think it is unwise. >> president barack obama could sign the bill as early as tomorrow. and, has indicated he will quickly appoint the first chie

senators are featured on tonight's 2010 campaign coverage. first, i can sit debate with republican primary candidates. that is at 8:30 eastern time. secretary of state is seeking the democratic nomination for senate and it we will show the president speaking at a campaign fund-raiser for tonight. that is at 9:30. then a congressman roy blunt in the running for the republican nomination. he talks about the economy and jobs at 10:10 tonight. the missouri seat is opening up with the retirement of the senator kit bond. campaign coverage on c-span. now, tennis champion venus williams on her new book. it is titled "pumped to win" on how sports can help in the world of business. it is an hour. >> thank you, guys, for coming and listening. i hope you enjoy what i have to say. if not, you can just pretend. maybe feel good. most of you all know me as a tennis player feare. i am from compton, california. i started at the age of four. we played tennis as a family thing. if he were not hitting balls, you are picking up balls. we used to drive to the courts every day after school with a shopping cart filled with balls. love to hituse4d td to every ball in the basket. if my dad did not let

you know that no democrat has ever been reelected to the united states senate in the state of iowa. bitet's be a little cautious here in terms of what is in the '88. and tom turned a little red, and if you have seen tom lose his temper, which happens on occasion, he basically at the top of his lungs says, i did not come to washington to get reelected. my brother is deaf. i understand discrimination, and we will do what ever is necessary to make this law. [applause] the second thing i would like to do is share with you another remembrancer on july 13 of 1990 when the senate was considering the conference report. i don't know how many of you in the room experienced that, but senator harkin made history in another way that day. for the first time ever, somebody debated a bill in silence, only using sign language. >> i said the other day, it was the longest speech given in the senate that no one heard. [laughter] >> i want to share with you a very short poem. is bob williams here? bob, it is called open " signs of changing times. there were no self-righteous demagoguery. no more yieldin

states where he's obviously quite a big draw. >> democrats have a better draw of hanging on to a majority in the senate. 37 senate contest this is democrats and 18 republicans defending their seats. different analysts putting the number of toss-up races between 9 and 12. among governs, there are currently 26 democrats, 23 republicans, and 1 independent. 37 states elect governors this fall. between 11 and 18 races are viewed as toss-ups. >>> political analysts from both sides agree it is now republicans who seem to want change and may be more motivated to show up at the policies. mel nanny wilkes, fox news. >>> the -- for the wealthy heated up this weekend in washington, dc. democrats and republicans hit the sunday morning tv show circuit to push their message. julie kurts has the story from washington. >> reporter: treasury secretary gite inner hit the sunday talk shows with a clear message, tax breaks for the wealthy passed under president bush should be allowed to expire at the end of this year on schedule because of the need to reduce the deficit. >> also seems responsible to let the tax cuts expire, just go to 2 to 3% of ame

state visit to britain. the timing still has to be worked out. >>> democratic lawmakers are expected to extend benefits for the long-term unemployed. they broke through a republican filibuster with the help of the new senator from west virginia. the bill goes to the house, where it is expected to be passed. >>> in northern arizona, a 12-year-old girl has died after being swept away by wast-moving floodwaters. a muddy mess and forcing dozens to evacuate. the area was scorched by a wildfire last month, causing water to flow even faster. >>> and now, for this morning's weather from around the nation. a large area of severe storms, from montana all the way to the northeast. isolated tornados in the high plains. gusty winds, hail, and flash flooding in billings, omaha, cincinnati, st. louis and d.c. and showers across the gulf coast and southeast. >> and 90s from dallas to new orleans. and most of the east coast. upper 80s in detroit, indianapolis, and the twin cities. 80 in seattle. and 91 in colorado springs. phoenix hits 109. salt lake city 100. and boise, 94. >>> and when we return, is the economy slipping back into a recession? we'll get a progress check today. >>> plus, the government worker fired over co

state senator and the state attorney general. the candidates are seeking to replace the democratic governor who was term limited. >> president obama warned americans to not make too much of the fact that oil has stopped flowing from the broken well in the gulf. the valves holding the oil back might have to be reopened. the president says that this will allow 80,000 barrels of oil to be captured every day. >> good morning, everyone. i wanted to give everyone a quick update on the situation in the gulf. as we all know, a new cap was fitted over the oil well this week. this larger and more sophisticated cap was designed to give us greater control over the oil flow as we complete the relief wells that are necessary. our scientists and x by the -- experts have met her through -- our experts have met through the night and what they're determinant is if we can safely shut in the well using the new cap without creating new problems including countless new oil leaks in the sea floor. even if this is not possible, this new cap and the additional equipment being placed in the gulf will be able to contain up to 80,000 barrels a day which shou

i will play a couple more clips from yesterday's report to the senate on the state of the economy from fed chief ben bernanke. democrats and republicans reflecting the differing views on stimulus versus deficit reduction. let us listen to the chairman, senator dodd from connecticut. real fixed investment declined and the first quarter of this year. in this less than robust environment is not surprising that price inflation is hardly an issue. for the past year the cpi increase by only 1.1% and core cpi increased by only 0.9%. in short, it looks like our economy is in need of additional help. host: next is a telephone call from houston. this is deborah, democrats like caller: good morning. it does look uncertain. i agree with that. i think we are in a place where jobs are gone and i believe there is a low probability they will come back. the employers are not hiring. they are doing well how they are. more money for them. so why should they hire? gave them at's stimulus to hire people and they are not even taking that. so, that is pretty sad to me. >> have you personally been affected by the economic downturn? are you st

their support allowed democrats to to slow debates earlier this day and move forward with the votes. >> today's votes in the senate the united statesow passed a wall street reform bill that will bring greater economic security to families and businesses across the country. >> wall street reform bill to strengthen consumer protection with the new bureau under the federal reserve. shine a light on complex the initial products and create a new process for dealing with troubled financial firms. >> this legislation is about the people on main street not the folks on wall street. republic >> and say some of the new regulations go too far i would stifle economic growth appeared before the official votes house minority leader john painter says the bill will need to be repealed. >> think defended to reform bill is ill-conceived i think it's going to make credit harder for the american people to get to clearly harder for businesses to get. and the fact that it's going to punish every banker in the for the sins of the few on wall street and its allies. to >> in the bronco, could sign the bill as early as friday and has indicated he will quick

senate judiciary committee votes today on elena kagan to the united states supreme court. the current solicitor general is expected to be confirmed largely along party lines. democratsd an edge in the committee and all support kagan. said she would f confirmed she would recuse herself in matters on health care overhaul on a case by case basis. some republicans are worried that she advised president obama about litigation against health care reform. >> oil from bp's well begin seeping into the gulf of mexico but this time much more slowly. they don't think the cap is making things worse. this is a live look at sea floor. incident commander thad allen says the leak is not a major concern. they intend to leave the cap on for now and they want to seal the hole in the ocean floor. >> millions of americans who have been out of work for an extended period are expected to get help from capitol hill. republican filibuster is expected to be broken after a temporary replacement for robert byrd is sworn in. >> marilyn green is missouri lawyer that lost her job and now fears losing her unemployment benefits. $320 she has received for more than a year. >> i'm an attorney you will

the casket of west virginia senator robert byrd arrived in charleston and is now lying in proposed at the state capitol rotunda. elected in 1952, the west virginia democrat died on monday at the age of 92. he was the longest serving member of congress in u.s. history. we will have live coverage of this memorial service later this morning. here is a portion of yesterday's arrival ceremony. ♪ [amazing grace] ♪ >> the president and vice president will speak at the memorial service this morning. that is at 11:30 in charleston, west virginia. we will have live coverage on c- span 2. the casket is lying in repose at the west virginia state capital which will be open to the public until 9:00 a.m. eastern. a funeral service will take place next tuesday at arlington virginia. robert byrd was 92. available on television, radio,s and online and you can also connect with this on twitter, facebook, and youtube and sign up for our scheduled hiller e- mails @ c-span.org. >> "washington journal" is next. later in the day, we will get an update on mennal health issues facing war veterans. live coverage is said to o'clock eastern. -- is at 2:00 eastern. coming up this hou

states and and i have been under a democrat governor's office. six of those years, four of those years with the democrat house and senate as well. in that period of time, let me give you my resume may of how i had gained bipartisan support. i passed the real idea act. if you're concerned about property rights, i stop the super national highway. i did the taxpayer transparency at, the term limits for all statewide elected officials. these are all sweeping pieces of legislation that i reached across the aisle and both sides. >> time is up. >> thank you. >> drew edmundson. >> for the last 15. five years, out of the attorney general's office, when we sought legislation from the legislature, we made a point of seeking both democratic and republican authors in the senate. and we did that before the republican party could -- took over the house in the senate. we wanted to build something out of our office to be perceived as nonpartisan, bipartisan pieces of legislation aimed at the criminal justice system, aimed at protecting consumers, whatever the particular subject matter is. we have established -- i have established relationships a

do not like republicans, you are in good hands because democrats control every state in the state of maryland. also the two united states senatorshat are in the party here you should be in good shape. host: this question from a viewer, "if the bush tax cuts expired, will earnings on retirement accounts not be higher? guest: if you have on your home for more than two years up to $500,000, you will not be. it is more than that, you will. look, all of the taxes are going to go up. that tax returns, the dividend tax, every individual marginal tax rate goes up. host: another thing people have talked about, assuming you are retiring and you have half of a million dollars in your account, could there be another tax on that money? a source of revenue that congress could be looking at? guest: some of that is taxed already, which is why we need to reform the state security. we need a program whereby if you have already paid taxes once, they should really be expanded. it is one of the practical ways out there for the american people to take their money and put it into account, letting it grow tax-free. hopefully we will get to a point wher

democrats across the country. people will voluntarily, with an incentive from the state, contribute to public schools or parochial schools. >> that is time. senator george has brought this issue up a number of times. i know you were not wild about a constitutional convention, but it is on the ballot. when it is on the ballot, they typically pass. let's assume that a constitutional convention is coming. what should it address? >> there are a lot of things. the economic climate. the tax code. school funding. social issues. all of those things. if you vote for a constitutional convention, you will create an era of uncertainty in the state of michigan for probably one year and half with no certainty that a constitutional convention and a new constitution will actually pass. what happens when you have uncertainty? capital stays on the sidelines. businesses who are thinking about investing put off those decisions until they have a clear idea as to where they will be moving in the future. a constitutional convention will put michigan's economic recovery on hold for year-and-a-half at a minimum. there will be all kinds of good ideas talked about. there'l