one more passage from this piece by alan simpson and erskine bowles.here is a lot more to read here. it is an op-ed piece by alan simpson and erskine bowles. be big, be bold, and be strong. a democratic caller, good morning. caller: i believe that the super committee should look at recapturing welfare benefits from future tax refunds, anyone that receives welfare, and the action may be being a 10-year window it that they give them to recapture that money. i do not think that we should give this money away. one of the ways the super committee can save money is looking at welfare reform and recapturing some of those benefits in future tax refunds of recipients. host: michael, thank you for weighing in. the caller mentioned welfare. in the rest of the program, we will be featuring poverty in america. we will look at all sorts of ankles following the september report on the poverty figures. he also mentioned a program for needy families. tomorrow morning we will have a segment at 9:15 a.m. on that particular program on w. joe -- "washington journal." a cal

an overview of previous debt proposals and we will be hearing from the former senator simpson, erskine bowles, and former senator pete did manage a person without objection, this committee stands adjourned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] >> this is what we are covered on the cspan of course this morning. on c-span to a 10:00 a.m. eastern, live coverage of hillary clinton at the house foreign affairs committee. she will testify about afghanistan and pakistan. at 9:30 on c-span 3, the administrator of the gulf coast compensation fund, kenneth feinberg, is that the house natural resources committee to talk about the aid given to people hurt by the gulf oil spill. on c-span, "washington journal" next live with your phone calls and live house coverage as the house continues work on bills dealing with the withholding tax for government contractors and income eligibility requirements for certain health care programs. in about 45 minutes, we will talk to freshman congresswoman diane blac

. -- erskine bowles -- observation. predictable crisis in our history. he is talking about the debt so we piled up in the fact that we cannot pay them and we need the book. plato predicted it. our founding fathers,they worry that this experiment would run aground. it comes from ben franklin's comment when the ink is barely dry. -- the title of the book -- a lady called out -- you've given us?" keep it." at the very conception of the american system,all of our founders, adams, this. can we keep it together? the only thing i would say is that surely on the other side of that quote, i end on optimism. there is a person in this audience that has said to me with in this past month from this state that we're going down. what evidence do you have that it is not true. would you advise this person? >>buck up. [laughter] i would say they are paying close attention. it is not impossible at all. every great leading nations eventually have gone down. in every one of them, i am quite certain people were at the in denial or did not see a coming or said it cannot happen

erskine bowles and alan simpson who headed president obama's debt task force told us in the budget committee the country has never faced a more serious financial crisis than the debt crisis that we are now on. and one of the reasons is we have had these incredible surges of expenditures in programs over a period of years. we have not watched them. we have not contained them. indeed, we have taken action that made them less accountable and less efficient and more subject to fraud, abuse and waste. so this year proposes another 14% increase in the food stamp program. now, that's $80 billion. the house has proposed only a $1 billion increase. theirs comes in at $71 billion for food stamps. so theirs is more level, but it still has an increase, but certainly far less than this. to give some perspective on what we're talking about when we say $80 billion, let me just share a few facts. the federal prison system costs $7 billion. the department of justice, the entire department of justice which senator wows -- senator whitehouse and i served in and we're proud to do so gets $31 billion. the federa

erskine bowles, more democrats and republicans need to step up. >> would it get done? done. jonathan prince is the former adviser to the obama and clinton administrations. okay. great to have both of you with us. this is -- and you were the libertarian. >> correct. let's not make any -- the man in black. >> i don't want to slander anybody. >> if the senator had added five or six more things in his proposal might rise to the level of burnt -- i mean, this is a joke. it's hokeum, and we need a senate, but the whole government needs to but the a budget to vote which they haven't done because they don't want to. we know we're running out the clock for fiscal year 2012. >> a balanced budget amendment. >> a balanced budget amendment, i call it the congressional cop-out clause to the constitution that basically said we can't make the tough choices we need to do, we can't make common-sense choices come together and do our job. it hasn't been under a constitutional requirement so we'll just mandate that we do it and if you look at it in the context of the republican party that

think what the president's paying for, paul volcker led a commission which delivered a report, erskine bowlsn and delivered a report. both of those reports are collecting dust. they were specific plans with specific reforms that would have addressed these issues. the president has talked but had the opportunity for action and passed on it. i think that's what he's paying for. >> thanks very much to both of you. we appreciate it. thanks for coming back. next time, there is no need to be shy. >> we're pals. >> that's why i love it. you fight but with kind spirit. thank you, guys. >> out front next, gadhafi is dead and now buried. what was the reaction from the people in libya and what does it mean? >>> the latest in the baby lisa case. three weeks since the baby disappeared. we'll talk to a private investigator on that case tonight. >>> the sibling effect. what we can learn -- no. the burnetts, three girls. kardashians. never goes out ♪ ♪ and the sky is deep and blue ♪ ♪ won't you take me american flight 280 to miami is now ready for boarding. ♪ there with you fly without putting your life on

washington a couple years ago has been ramping up on the political front, hiring big guns like erskine bowlesclinton's former chief of staff and former clinton press secretary joel lockhart. >> with google and the tech companies, we're seeing a real spike in activity in their campaign donations and lobbying. >> reporter: facebook so far spent $550,000 on lobbying this year. google has spent about six times as much or $3.5 million on lobbying this year. last year facebook had two lobbyists in washington, this year it has more than two dozen lobbyists, joe. >> a lot on the line for these companies. thanks so much, lisa. >>> tracking the suspect in that killer 2001 anthrax case. you'll meet the woman who helped the fbi track him down. >>> plus, taking the words right out of rick perry's mouth. top , 'cause without the fans, there'd be no nascar. just like if it weren't for customers, there'd be no nationwide. that's why they serve their customers' needs, not shareholder profits. because as a mutual, nationwide doesn't report to wall street, they report to their customers. and that's just one mor

think what the president's paying for, paul volcker led a commission which delivered a report, erskine bowlse reports are collecting dust. they were specific plans with specific reforms that would have addressed these issues. the president has talked but had the opportunity for action and passed on it. i think that's what he's paying for. >> thanks very much to both of you. we appreciate it. thanks for coming back. next time, there is no need to be shy. >> we're pals. >> that's why i love it. you fight but with kind spirit. thank you, guys. >>> "outfront" next, gadhafi is dead and now buried. what was the reaction from the people in libya and what does it mean? >>> the latest in the baby lisa case. three weeks since the baby disappeared. we'll talk to a private investigator on that case tonight. >>> and the sibling effect. jeffrey kluger tells us what we can learn -- no. the brunettes, three girls. kardashians. [ male announcer ] welcome to transamerica. where together, we're transforming tomorrow. your husband put this all together when emma was born. he was an amazing man. this is for you.

erskine bowles, heading the commission appointed by president obama, he told us. he told us we're on an unsustainable path. it threatens our economic future, that we are facing the most predictable financial crisis in our history. and when asked when that crisis might occur, when might we have an economic damage arising from our debted, he said, two years, maybe a little less, maybe a little more. alan simpson, his cochairman, said i think it could be less. less than one year. this is not a game we're playing here. we don't need government officials spinning that we're living within our means and paying down our debt. we are running up debt in a fashion never, ever, ever before done in this nation. it's unsustainable and its so dangerous because it's systemic and it's so hard to get off this trend. it's demographics, it's a lot of different reasons. but it's very serious, and we need -- a leaders in o.m.b. -- and we need leaders in o.m.b. that are watching every single dime that exspent, looking for every effort and place that savings can be affected. that's what

tomorrow we have a hearing with simpson and bowles, alan simpson and erskin bowles, both partisan groupse the gang of six, that in order to reach a reduction deficit agreement, you need to take the balanced approach. you need cuts, yes, but you also need to have the revenue piece. so i think it will be very helpful to hear from them tomorrow. >> congressman, what do you say to aarp which is running ads, and our friend tom brokaw "meet the press" made the point, the aarp ads are basically making the point, don't take away any of our entitlements. shouldn't they say those who need them should get them, but some who can afford to give up some of their benefits should given the crisis we face? >> one of the budgets was put in the house that would have said for seniors, you have to fend for yourself in the private health insurance market with a voucher that declines in value. that's a non-starter and not the way to go. the better way to go is the way we started in the affordable care act where we began to reform the system to put more focus on the value of care and the quality of care as oppo

erskine bowles, more democrats and republicans need to step up. >> would it get done?onathan prince is the former adviser to the obama and clinton administrations. okay. great to have both of you with us. this is -- and you were the libertarian. >> correct. let's not make any -- >> >> the man in black. >> i don't want to slander anybody. >> if the senator had added five or six more things in his proposal might rise to the level of burnt -- i mean, this is a joke. it's hokeum, and we need a senate, but the whole government needs to but the a budget to vote which they haven't done because they don't want to. we know we're running out the clock for fiscal year 2012. >> a balanced budget amendment. >> a balanced budget amendment, i call it the congressional cop-out clause to the constitution that basically said we can't make the tough choices we need to do, we can't make common-sense choices come together and do our job. it hasn't been under a constitutional requirement so we'll just mandate that we do it and if you look at it in the context of the republican party that ri

i believe erskine bowles and senator alan simpson did a good job with the report, but remember what they recommended. do this with vigor once you get growth back to the point where you know you are not going to throw us into a recession. thank you, erskine, for doing that. it was a great thing. [applause] there are some things that are relevant. went back and read some of the things i said when i was trying to raise taxes on upper-income americans. and when we raise the corporate tax, i bragged on business. i bragged on people making money. i said the on the people i am upset about, people who are taking advantage of the tax code, shutting jobs down here and getting rid of them, but i'd brag on the idea. we should never be against success. one of america's greatest characteristics as we do not resent people who do well. i was raised in that culture. when i was a kid, if i ever looked like i resent somebody who did something better than me, my mother was likely to spank me. i mean, as a kid. we were taught it was a character defect if he resented somebody else for their own success. you s

commission created by president obama that was chaired by former senator alan simpson and by erskine bowlesthat was a bipartisan commission that included some private citizens, and members of congress. they actually came up with real proposals -- $4 trillion roughly of deficit reduction. they made the recommendations to the president. i think it was last year, 2010. the proposals were made to congress, and do you know what happened? nothing happened. there are serious proposals, but we have a government where the action needs to be taken. only the congress working with the president can legislate. you need to have an action- forcing mechanism, and when you have a citizens commission, there is still a need for congress and the president to legislate, and that has been the problem. host: how much pressure do the members of the deficit reduction committee feel to reach a deal, and is there any talk about going beyond the $1.20 trillion? guest: if they could, they would, and they might, but it will be hard enough to get to that. they might say enough already. i think it is clear they are fillin

deficit reduction committee will hear from former senators alan since an anti dementia and also erskine bowles alice rivlin who all participated and passed deficit reduction talks. you can watch videos on all of these meetings and all but public meetings on line in this he's been video library. >> middle and high school students, it is time to get cameras rolling for this year's c-span studentcam video competition. make a five-eight minute video on the same "the constitution and new" and get it to us by january 20 it and you can win the grand prize of $5,000. for complete details, go to studentcam.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: in one of a series of economic initiatives the president talked about, one of the topics addressed was that of student loans. he made this address in denver. >> i asked congress to pass a law that tells 1 million students they would not have to pay more than 10% of their income toward student loans. we won that fight, too. and that law will take effect by the time -- that law is better to take effect by the time freshmen graduate. but we decided, let's se

they just announced, late last night, alan simpson and erskine bowles, of members of the president'smission that came up with a $4 trillion, much bigger package, which included tax reform and new revenues -- they are holding this the kind of combat this charge. what people said in other, similar deficit negotiations is that, just like trade negotiations, these kinds of things happen in private. let people do the comparisons freely. bees have been very secretive. hardly any leaks have come out. although, you can imagine, typical fault lines around the issues are like revenue. they are still talking about major questions. a recommended, a major overhaul of the tax code. which baseline to use. drawing down in iraq and afghanistan. these are all decisions that would have to be made early on. host: eric, serving as a staff writer, talking about the deficit reduction committee and at today's public hearing. by the way, if you want to watch that hearing, it starts at 10:00. you can watch that live at 10:00 today on c-span 2. it will also be on c-span.org and c-span radio. thank you. caller:

reduction committee will hear from former senators alan since an anti bemidji and former officials erskine bowles and alice rivlin, who all participated in passed deficit reduction talks. if you can watch a video of the meetings as well as the deficit, the's four public meetings online at the c-span video library. watch what you want, when you want. >> every weekend, let the c-span network to be your source for public affairs, nonfiction books and american history. on c-span, politics and public affairs events. c-span2 has book tv with the latest nonfiction books and authors. an american history to be on c- span freeing, showcasing the people and events that shaped our country. and all of our programs are available anytime at the c-span video library. the c-span networks, it is washington your way. "washington journal" continues. host: grover norquist, president of americans for tax reform. atr.org. thank you for coming back. the timing is especially interesting, not just what the debt committee but halloween. guest: exactly. host: and we are right in the middle of a presidential campaigns. what

i believe erskine bowles and senator alan simpson basically did quite a good job with the of bowles-simpson back to the point you know you are not going to throw us into a recession so thank you erskine for what you did on that. it was a great thing. thank you. [applause] but there are some things that are relevant. i went back and read some of the things i said when i was trying to raise taxes on upper income americans. and when we raise the corporate tax, i bragged on business. i brag on people making money. i said the only people i am upset about are people taking advantage of the tax code and shedding jobs down here and getting rid of them, but i bragged on the idea, we should never be against success. one of america's greatest characteristics is that we don't resent people who do well. and i was raised in a culture. when i was a kid, if i ever looked like i resented somebody who did something better than me, my mother was likely to spank me. i mean as a kid, we were taught that it was a character defect if you resented somebody else for their own success. you should applaud their succe

cisco systems, the outsider, general petraeus as the strong leader from the military world, and erskine bowlesand we want other people to give us their ideas. entertainment from around the country, and then given the opportunity to vote on who fits that bill. and i think there's a lot of folks out there trying to figure out if a third party candidate is viable in this system and if anyone would jump in. >> and people could nominate their own at politico or go on twitter to do it. and then we vote on the ten that are left. let's talk more broadly about third party presidential candidates. >> right. >> a lot of people have said and written this is a moment for that. but is it viable? can it work for our system? >> well, obviously the system is stacked against a third party candidate. they don't have the infrastructure in all the different states. they have to get on the ballot in 50 different places. the reason a lot of people think it's more plausible today than ever before, technology is the great equalizer. you have the ability to quickly organize people, quickly raise money, and all the diff

the committee will hear from former senator alan simpson and erskine bowles who hit up the deficit commissione will be joined by alice rivlin and former senator pete domenici who offered mike another debt plan for the bipartisan policy center. that hearing is next tuesday and get started at 1 p.m. eastern. >>> now homeland security secretary janet napolitano testifies about u.s. immigration policies and the administration federal gun program known as fast and furious that was run by the atf. the house judiciary committee is three hours. the judiciary committee will come to order without objection the chair is authorized to declare a recess of the committee any time. this morning we welcome secretary janet napolitano to the committee for an oversight hearing on the department of homeland security. the department of homeland security was created to protect the country from terrorist attacks and force federal immigration laws and provide disaster response and assistance. dhs also performs important law enforcement and related to intellectual property and child pornography. as we begin with i wou

erskine bowles, appointed by president obama who head his own debt commission, said $4 billion. mr.s been advising the democratic majority testified a couple weeks ago you've got to have $4 trillion in reduced spending and reduced deficits. so we're not getting there. we're not doing the things necessary. and i truly believe -- and i hate to say it -- that we are still in denial in this congress. we haven't realized how serious the threat is. some of the things we're going to have to do. business as usual cannot continue. and i hope that as we go forward with this legislation we'll get some votes that can actually begin to reduce spending in a number of areas. i hope during the course of this debate the people of the united states will begin to focus on what's happening in the congress and hold us all accountable, makes sure we're managing your own effectively. and if we do that, we might surprise ourselves. indeed, we would surprise ourselves. how much that could be accomplished in a decade of sustained, smart effort to eliminate wiewf wiewf -- waste, fraud and abuse to reduce spen

. >> on tuesday, former senators alan simpson and pete domenici and erskine bowles and alice rivlin. all have participated in past deficit reduction talks, and you can watch a video of those meetings online at the c-span video library. everything's archived and search bl. watch what you want, when you wantment. >> next, the libyan ambassador to the united states n. a recent forum, he said his country needs support from the international community in order to provide security, education and training for his people. he also thanked the united states and nato for their role in toppling the regime of moammar gadhafi. he spoke at the national council on u.s./arab relation. this is about half an hour. >> which may extend a little bit longer than we originally thought. that said, the next event on the schedule is one you certainly would not want to miss. this is harriet fulbright, of course, the widow of senator j. william fulbright, and i never fail to meet a fulbright scholar throughout my travels, and we know the world is a better place for that program. but mrs. fulbright was introduced

committee will hear from former senator alan simpson and former clinton administration official erskine bowles and alice rivlin. you can watch video of those meetings along with the deficit committee's for public meetings on line at the c-span video library. everything is archived and searchable. watch what you want when you want. >> in his weekly address, president obama urges congress to pass his jobs proposal and talks about the actions he has taken this week to grow the economy. then a different perspective by freshman congressman bobby shilling. this is the republican address. he talks about his party's jobs bills which passed the house but remained stalled in the senate. >> this week, a new economic report confirms what most americans already believed to be true. over the past three decades, the middle-class has lost ground while the wealthiest have become even wealthier. the average income for the top 1% of americans has risen almost seven times faster than the income of the average middle- class family. this has happened during a time when the cost of everything has skyrocketed. in thi