and is the fcc prepared? is the fcc up up-to-date on all these changes and the way it's structured? >> guest: we are trying. i think goth agencies historically -- government agencies historically, you know, the problem with the fcc has always been that it's federal meaning that government can always be a couple steps behind the industry. i think the new leadership has brought an excellent team into the fcc where we're really trying to get out to see what is actually going on outside of the walls of the government agencies, and i'm encowrminged that we -- encouraged that we will have the relationships to actually deal with the realities that exist as opposed to what we read. you know, our proceedings at the fcc blogs are actually allowed as comments in our proceedings now. i think we're really working towards becoming a new media agency. and because that entails an awful lot of education, but we're really working towards that. >> host: the structure of the commissioners yourselves, you're really not allowed to meet with each other, is that correct? >> guest: we meet one-on-one an awf

net neutrality studies by fcc also tainted by google. it's a commentary by tim carney, conservative writer, and he says the study done at harvard had microsoft and google funding it in part. >> guest: well, this is an area where there are a lot of studies coming in from a lot of people. we'll have a very open process that will look at all the information that comes in. we have a great staff here of experienced engineers and economists who are approaching this with no bias other than doing the right thing for the american people. and it's also important to understand that this issue, it's not about google or other large companies that can take care of themselves, this is about the next generation of entrepreneurs, of small businesses of new speakers. this is about making sure that the internet continues to be a place where companies that we haven't heard of yet can have a chance to start to launch their businesses on a robust and open platform that can reach the widest possible audience. expwhrs two final areas, mr. chairman, number one,

he warns the fcc of the direction of the broadband plan. he is worried the fcc has been lowering expectations of the plan by signalling it could be a work in progress with additional details to be filled in as more data becomes available. >> senator rockefeller and senators kno snowe pushed throue program i mentioned before. we welcome the push by senator rockefeller to make sure we have a plan that really pushes the ball forward in a significant way on meeting the goal of congress and the president. i think everyone understands that in a changing landscape, the last thing we want is to have a plan that is written and is interesting that gets put in a drawer and then looked at a few years later. we have senator rockefeller's support on developing a living, breathing plan that makes progress, says milestones, and has mechanisms built into continually improve the plan and technology changes to promote universal broadbent in america. >> our guest is the federal communication commission chairman, julius janikowski. moving on to another topic, t

we need to do the same thing at the fcc. maybe some of the department of defense wants to use some of the commercial spectrum. we have one test bed, and we may need to implement more test beds. some of the technologies out there, cognitive radios, software defined radios, these are technologies that are in development. they are going to make all these things easier. there are smart technologies where they can see when something is being used. we need to expedite the development and make easier for them to be brought to the market. i think we certainly need to work together. >> i was just curious about white spaces. do you know if the fcc is moving forward? we have not heard much since then from google and others about using this technology. >> we are looking at some of the issues with wireless right now that are in the white spaces. as soon as we saw that problem is the is all part of a long- range plan. you do not want to move wireless microphones to a place where you have to move them again. it is a long range planning pro

finally, with respect to fcc staff, i've been urging fcc employees to set an example.i reinforced the agency the important of complying with the order, banning the use of advices as well as banning the use of personal devices on vehicles. they text and drive at all times. to encourage their families and friends to do likewise. in closing, i look forward to continuing to work with the committee, to comply. >> thank you very much. i will start the questioning. it seems to me, you're talking about 800 to 12,000 people at any given moment. and they are driving lethal weapons. and if they get away with it, that's fine. when they don't get away with it, we already know that 5,000 plus people pie, -- die and half a billion people are injured. and yet it's a part of our lives. nobody has ever really done this sort of kind of thing before. we have to stop it. we have a help on arkansas that senator pryor will discuss has done this. but then again, i don't know how do you change cultural habits. texting, if you watch president give a state of the union half of the congress is te

would you outline for us your basic philosophy when it comes to the fcc and regulations? >> it is such an important time with respect to communications. our communication infrastructure is increasingly essential to the is increasingly essential to the daily lives of every american,

in the past the fcc has missed its target date, and we're not going to do that. in fact, we've already started our ownership proceeding with a series of workshops here in 2009. it's consistent with our general goal of trying to handle difficult, complex issues in an open, participatory manner that focuses on the facts and the data and the goals and objectives that we have as a country. in this area, i think, there continues to be a concern about excessive consolidation in the media space. but there are also clearly changes going on many the marketplace that we'll pay attention to as well. we see newspapers not only under pressure, but in some cases closing down, laying off employees. this isn't healthy. it's not healthy to see news gathering in our country under pressure. we need a vibrant media business, a vibrant news business in the country, and that's something that we'll be looking at as we look at the ownership rules. we'll be doing this in an open, fact-based way. it'll continue for quite some time, and we're looking for the broadest possible participation

elected politician in arizona, and in the 50 + and 60's, we have a former governor, a former head of the fcc. people who were politicians or had held other roles more broadly than the judge, and the last individual who did something other than the a judge was william rehnquist. but he was more recent by a few hours, actually, and he had not been a job she -- judge before. he essentially was the last time we have someone on who had not worn a black robe. so in terms of talking about diversity on the bench or people who have a certain stature beyond the law is a point that some critics embrace. >> in terms of the confirmation process, i do not think there are many right now who think that the confirmation process does not meet some rethinking. but in terms of great legal luminaries, it is hard to know what is to start the important. -- historically important. i do not think there's much doubt that 100 years from now, third of marshall will be a very significant justice on the court. but an interesting commentary i've heard recently by more liberal offices, kathleen sullivan said this, they des

they don't normally associate that with the fcc as much, or certainly these kinds of investigations. does that respect something new and different. should people on wall street be worried? >> they would be worried. look, historically, as a former prosecutor myself, we use a lot of undercover techniques in connection with come of our investigation be they informants, setting up front businesses to atrack those who might be blind to engage in this conduct, wiretaps, and also sorts of other investigative techniques. we will continue to use them as best as we can in order to fair it out to this kind of misconduct. >> does any sense, again, i know you don't have -- you can't tell us about additional arrest. but this is an investigation that is just beginning. largely concluded. can you give us a time sense, at least? >> i pass on that. >> all right. well, i had to make any try at least. let me ask you about another case that's been in the news. it involves the sec. this week bear stearns, acquitted on criminal charges about misleading investors about losses at their funds. of course, your

somebody at the fcc told me when i tried to paint a hypothetical that the laws are not written for a grass-roots campaign. there is a problem right there so it is extraordinarily difficult if you don't come with a cottage industry of lawyers, people who are savvy two halla laws are applied and a fundamental background understanding or a vehicle like a major party to navigate the regulatory framework. with that said that needs to be improved i would not agree to get rid of it but we will talk about that. every third party and candidate base is 51 different ballot access laws but the nightmare is unbelievable because every single third party candidate will tell you the majority of resources, all the blood sweat and tears goes to going on the ballot because if not, you're not a choice. this is a system of ballot laws these are written by whom? the democrats and republicans to occupy the general assembly and state legislatures in every state. even though some states are reasonable, others are off the charts and make it intentionally difficult not on the official application but try to fo

we didn't decide on the side of the fcc. we decided on commissions united back with our long experience, 75 years were combined of enforcing this law, we said to the courts, this is an unenforceable, confusing law. it's unconstitutional. you should overturn it. also, the idea that again republicans are perfectly happy with the thought and are part of some kind of democratic conspiracy to keep it in, i think, again is demonstrably not true. it's very true, senator mccain is the poster child for this law, but he's almost alone on his side of the political aisle in supporting this law. when the vote came down in 2002, the majority of democrats voted for this law in the house and senate, only a small minority of republicans voted for it. and almost all of the major lawsuits that have been brought to try to get this law overturned, republicans have filed them, including two pending lawsuits right now, which are going up against the restrictions on the parties, which frankly if they win the case will help the independent parties a

said that adhering was decided against a publicly in the nomination fight i had trying to get on the fcc. as a doctor that has put out i think the supreme court made a fundamental error when it upheld the main parts of the fecal law in the buckley versus lao decision that and i headed to having been a commissioner for two years that the fec i think is a terrible idea to have a federal bureaucracy making decisions on what kind of political activity and what kind of political speech is acceptable or not acceptable under the force of federal law. i think the feca law has protected them, then made it very difficult for ordinary citizens to run for office as i have said. because it is a byzantine and confusing law, even the six commissioners who run it often disagree doing their best as lawyer to try to figure out what the law prohibits and what it doesn't. i also think that the mccain-feingold law is directly responsible for the huge growth of 527 and other organizations like that, because we did in 2002 is it imposing a lot of restrictions on the political parties, the money they can get an

but what we need to do is the system is broken and even the commissioners at the fcc sent a letter to congress singing let's fix the presidential financing system so there is an admission that some parts of the system have to be fixed and so one answer is not just to do nothing or have no government. we actually have to work it is hard questions come and they are not fast answers. >> the woman on the aisle here on the right side. >> thank you. my name is anna bill fischer. i live in northern virginia, professor bennett when i see one more negative tv ad in this race and i have also lived in seattle washington so i know how things go. i would like to throw a couple of things out to you all. i do believe the american -- to the gentleman from seattle people don't vote because they don't have choices. alexandria just changed the way against the public opinion in alexandria va how we are going to elect the next mayor and council and school board to increase voter turnout so it would be in the election cycle with the president. seattle washington state has a million things on the ballot so

fcc chairman maps out the goals for his agency.host: richard trumka, afl-cio president, joining us to talk about jobs and unemployment rates. the most recent one, 10.2%. how many are union members? guest: probably 20%. we have a lot in some areas where the unemployment rate is higher tree in construction in the washington, d.c. area. if you take the underemployed, those who are ready less than they would like to be working, it is much higher. host: afl-cio has developed a five-point plan. guest: this is a short-term job creation. in the long term, there were many other things. this is to get jobs created right now. we think it can create two million jobs in a year. the person is unemployment benefits, food assistance. the program is set to expire on december 31 of this year. if we do not extend it, a lot of people -- the unemployment rates will shoot up. the second thing we need to do is invest in our infrastructure. putting people back to work to create in the infrastructure that we need to be sufficient. we have a $3 trillion inf

the internet, one of the topics monday with meredith baker, the newest republican commissioner at the fcc. "washington journal" continues. host: for the next half hour we will take open phones. part of our goal this morning is to also take a look at the senate health debate, this time looking at the politics of some of the major players. to see how the debate here in washington, d.c. is affecting them back come. first, to give you a sense of where we're going is joining us on the phone, the editor of "the arkansas times." when we hear about the senator we hear about the context here, but what is happening as far as health care debate in your home state? guest: it is the debate of the hour with millions spent on tv advertising by both sides. lincoln is widely perceived to be in difficult circumstances for the election next year, but because of generally low poll numbers to begin with but made worse by of being in the middle of the healthcare debate in an uncertain position. the front page of your paper today, it says that it has her in the hot seat. talk a little about what happens when sh

this week, we talked to the chairman of the fcc. about a wide range of topics and one of that was about and indecency in television. guest: parents have concerns in this area about what their kids are exposed to per they want to make sure that they are empowered to do what they think is best for their children. i am an optimist in this area because i think with new technologies we will find solutions to empower parents to protect kids that are completely consistent with the first amendment and that, i hope, will make the harter elements of this issue go away. parents do not want the first amendment undermine. they want to exercise their responsibility as parents to protect their kids. that is what i hope we will see coming out of the marketplace. host: that was part of a wide- ranging discussion about broadbent. you can see the program twice saturday evenings at 6:00 on c- span and see it on mondays on c- span 2 at 8:00 in the morning and 8:00 in the evening. you can also check out the full interview on our website, c- span.org. go

one of the topics monday with meredith at welle baker, the newest commissioner at the fcc, on c-span 2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: the numbers. for democrats, republicans and independents. open phones for about 15 minutes. we'll talk about wal-mart for an hour and then in our last 45 minutes we're going to take a look at vice presidents. on the front page of "usa today" a story about health care ads targeting senators still undecided about health care legislation. writing evan tracy with the campaign media analysis group has counted more than 70 ordinary cares from the u.s. chamber of commerce to individual physicians -- and the senator complained about the ads. since the beginning of the year, quote there have been more than $3.3 million worth of media ads by groups from outside the state. a democrat said who was up for re-election. in arkansas 1570 pots spots at a cost of $600,000. and another saw 1,900 spots at a cost of $1 million. in louisiana 100 spots at a cost of $00,000 targeted democratic senator mary landrieu. and others. birmingham, alabama is up first in th

enhance security units for city hall and headquarters, both of which are near the courthouse and the fccas well as bridges and transit systems. increased agents, aviation flyer, sniper teams and hazmat units. this list does not come from me, but from the police officer -- the police commissioner in new york. commissioner kelly estimated, and this is a rough estimation at this early point because i just asked him to do it yesterday that as much as 90% of the additional outlays will need to go to overtime alone because they're not going to be able to hire new police officers for all of this. all of this comes at a time when, of course, we compete, new york city does for federal grants of the cops' hiring grant. we haven't received any money for that program last year. so i worry about safety first, obviously and the burden of the taxpayers in new york and so in 1995, the host was to the trial of sheikh abdul ram an and the mastermind of the bombing at the world trade center and the costs associated with the trial were reimbursed by the federal government. so my question to you is would you

i use the fcc definition. we can talk about how that may vary in the weight that i can see the party. there was the bipartisan campaign reform act of 2002. we can see the effects. i also want to observe how this all contracts with previous laws on the books. the public funding act began in 1972. the combination has important implications for party organizations, specifically the unravelling of the public finance system. it has dampened party activities. candidates have assumed a greater role in financing their campaigns. the candidates are chiefly responsible for financing their campaigns. i would argue that the shift has been helped along with the collapse of the public financing system. when presidential candidates declined public funding, and the constraints that go with it, they attract private funds that might have gone to the parties in the past. as a result, the parties to experienced drops. the trend is likely to continue as candidates give up on this obsolete system, enabling them to raise enough mone

the fcc chairman maps out his goals for the agency on "the communicators." the national football league is changing its policy on concussions. it comes after a house hearing on the issue. you can see the hearing tonight on c-span. >> thanksgiving week, a look at politics in america from the bipartisan policy center. topics include next year's midterm elections and a look ahead to 2012. the role of the media and assessing the obama presidency. on tuesday night, president obama welcomes the indian prime minister. there will also be three nights of original c-span documentary's, beginning with the supreme court on thursday night. >> the postal service announced $3.8 billion in losses for fiscal year 2009. the postal service officials testified before a house oversight subcommittee this month on efforts to decrease future losses. stephen lynch of massachusetts is the chair. this is about one hour and 45 minutes. >> good morning. the hearing will now come to order. i want to welcome all of those in attendance. the purpose of the hearing today is to examine the st

yet despite for peace,fcc has on seemed -- this fight for peace has often seemed the most difficult victory to win. year-to-date as we set very -- here today as we said very careful limits on our power, we draw boundaries around our fears of one another. as we begin to control our fears, we can better ensure our future. in a setting our hands to this treaty, we set our nation's anda safer course. we have labored long to make salt ii a safe and useful chart toward the future. let us pledge now all together to use this treaty as we continue our passage to peace. >> i have always been enormously impressed by the number of times presidents in similar situations sake thinks that are so obvious. these agreements can in fact help, and they can do wonderful things, and yet with salt ii, it was never passed. it was never approved by the u.s. senate. so the president can strike their deals, but they have to be mindful of the political support they have back at home. nick, were there other issues involved in one carter could not get that passed? >> he was probably more responsible than any other civil