running an $8 million deficit, flint has no money to pay them. or 46 of its 193 police officers also receiving pink slips. a tough thing for the city with the second-highest crime rate in the state. >> they didn't just trim a little bit, they just cut our throats. >> reporter: but flint is hardly alone. some much bigger towns are deeply in the red and facing painful choices. los angeles and san francisco have $400 million shortfalls. dallas $190 million. boston $130 million. baltimore $120 million. overall, at least 41 states have mid--year budget gaps. >> it's ironic because as people's needs are rising dramatically, the resources available to the states to meet those needs have collapsed. >> reporter: the forced austerity comes as states and cities total up tax receipts and plan for the next fiscal year starting in july. revenues in the recession are down and the federal stimulus is phasing out. so in charlotte, north carolina, the budget ax is falling on 600 teachers. in boston, protests erupted over news the schools will lose 83 janitors with

ah this will one make you flint. the steepest section of the mountain cable and had to quit.ing to set a record. they intended to walk 59 feet of that wire. that wire's 1,600 feet high. the first guy as you just saw there fell onto the wire, that guy. he hurt his leg, he quit. the second guy that fellow, he gave up after his shoes got covered in oil. and it became dangerously slippe slippery. >>> more than 12,000 runners hit the streets of d.c. this morning for the suntrust nional marathon. 26.2-mile course kicked off at rfk stadium and wound its way past several monuments on this first day of spring. serious competitors out there and folks who did it for the fun of it. streets were lined with thousands of fan, who runners said, made those miles much more bearable. hometown hero michael wardian, it was his fourth time. arlington native finished in -- >> when someone comes on your home field you don't want them to walk away with the w and i feel like i have to protect this house. >> protect this house. both take hope $to,000 checks. big congrates to both of them. and what a fa

i'm concerned that disadvantaged districts, like flint, michigan, where i live, will be stretched too thin if more students move to charter school programs and take their entire per pupil state allocation with them. what type of supports would you propose to help those districts if we transition to a system that supports significant charter school expansion? the charter schools really are able to market their schools in a way that the public school systems cannot. and very often, my experience has been that the more sophisticated parents are the ones who opt for the charter schools. how would you help those schools where the students are left behind in their traditional public school system? >> yes, sir. i've said repeatedly that i'm not a fan of charter schools. i'm a fan of good charter schools. we have some charter schools in this country that are extraordinarily high performing, often in very, very poor communities. we have some charter schools that are just mediocre. and we have some charter schools that, frankly, need to close. i spoke to the national association of charter scho

i'm concerned that disadvantaged districts, like flint, michigan, where i live will be stretched too more students move to charter school programs and take their entire state allocation with them. what type it supports would you propose to help those districts if we transition to a system that supports significant charter school expansion? the charter schools are really able to market their schools in a way that the public school systems cannot. and very often, might expect has been that the more sophisticated parents are the one who opt for the charter schools. how would you help those schools where the students are left behind in the traditional public school system? >> yes or. i've said repeatedly that i'm not a fan of charter schools. i'm a fan of good charter school. and we have some charter schools in this country that are stored i high-performing, often very, very poor community. with some charter schools that are just mediocre, and we have sometimes goal is that need to close. and i spoke to the nationals association of charter schools, i said exactly those things. will want

. >> we'll talk about your member of congress, you're from flint, michigan, mark stupac, we'll talk about him and what was achieved as a result of his willingness to vote yes with his anti-abortion colleagues. will everyone with constipation please report to gate 17? thank you so much. constipation's uncomfortable enough, so why take a harsh laxative? phillips' caplets work naturally with your colon... for overnight relief without cramps. phillips' caplets. >>> michael moore, your congressman in michigan, bart stupac, a democrat. i think it's fair to say because he and about half a dozen other anti-abortion democrats decided to vote in favor of the bill last night, there will be health care reform signed into law at the white house tomorrow. how much credit do you give congressman stupac? >> well, did he the right thing. my neighbors and i spent the weekend up here e-mailing him and calling and putting as much pressure on him as we could. so i think that he heard us. it was one of these rare instances where a politician actually listens to his constituents. and he did the right thing. i t

. >> we'll talk about your member of congress, you're from flint, michigan, mark stupac, we'll talk about him and what was achieved as a result of his willingness to vote yes with his anti-abortion colleagues. [ male announcer ] when you look closely at the mercedes-benz glk, when you study its engineering, its safety systems, and when you consider who will be riding with you, perhaps the question is not so much whether you can afford to drive a vehicle that is built this way but whether you can afford not to. the glk. the engineering of mercedes-benz. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial. ♪ for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial. we're with you when you're saving for your dreams. when you want a bank that travels with you. with you when you're ready for the next move. [ male announcer ] now that wells fargo and wachovia have come together, what's in it for you? unprecedented strength, the stability of the leading community bank in the nation and with 12,000 atms and thousands of branches, we're with you in more wa

lemieux: it is a story from flint, michigan. a lady by the name of carol vliet, about her cancer. she has tumors metastasizing to her brain, liver, kidney and throat. the president of the united states and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle like to give individual examples about people who are suffering without health insurance. sheer a lady who has medicaid, a government-run program. the 0 only solace that she says she has is she found a doctor she likes, dr. sahouri, because he's given her a regimen of chemo and radiation for the past years and it's given her some relief. she was devastated when she found out from her doctor a couple of months ago that he could no longer see her because, like a growing number of doctors, he had stopped take patients with medicaid. and it's not just medicaid. it's also now medicare. we know that if you are trying to get into medicare, only about 78% of the providers are taking medicare. so here we are, we're about to create a huge new government entitle program -- entitlement program to put 31 million more americans into a health care s

. >>> there could be big changes in the area of the white flint metro station. turn that neighborhood into neighborhoods of apartment buildings, shops and more. we will see how they can pay for that. thank you for watc today, we know it's small businesses that can create the jobs america needs. that's why at&t is investing billions to upgrade and build out our wired and wireless networks. making them faster, smarter, and more secure. connecting small businesses to markets across the country, and around the world. now is the time for nvesent and innovation. now is the time for nvesent and innovation. the future is waiting. at&t.

next to the call from flint, mich., on the independent line. caller: basically, as long as we are willing to spend every dime that we have in this country on security and paranoia -- and negate our welfare, our expectation is messed up. if we will spend all this money on defense -- and it does, not does the limit, then of course we will suffer. this is just a taste of what is to come until we get that balance. host: the newspaper in new orleans has a story about a review by the inspector general. it says that the firm repeatedly overbills. back to your telephone calls, this one from tallahassee, fla., a democrat. caller: yes, ma'am. you look good this morning. this is really an absurd discussion because the money will just find its way there regardless. of course, they should ban earmarks, but it will find its way to another venue. c-span, your pride yourselves -- and i watch you faithfully, you pride yourself some been egalitarian and fair. i like to point something now that shows that you are not. the whole business of the supreme court cover

host: flint, michigan is up next, what is the nature of the economy there? caller: terrible, sir, terrible, terrible. i am a disabled veteran. that lady who just called -- i did not hear anybody talk about the war. if we did not have to pay for one year of the war, we could help out all these people. i am suffering. host: what do you think about this new effort for homeowners? caller: they want me to give $5,000 to get out from under water. they appraised my house at $200,000. now, i am coming up to $140,000. they brought this into two loans. i got a second mortgage. i am paying about $2,000 per month on both of them. i am not asking to get out of the loan. i am asking for one interest rate would gmac. they are charging me 11.5%. they told me i get too much money from the government. they do not want to help me at all. i think it is a scam. they want me to give them $1,500 up front. host: sioux city, iowa, go ahead caller: i am glad you accepted my call. i love your show. if someone purchases of a house and you assume they purchase it because they like the h

you go back to what the judgment in flint was talking about, absolutely what we have seen with china, really quite radically -- big change. part of the reason we've seen so much movement offshore in activities is because of this monopolization. once you control the marketplace, you can determine where it is going to be built and you can do it in any way you wish. monopolization actually leads to more offshoring. host: clay, independent. caller: before 1914, at the federal reserve iris act, we at tariffs. lincoln was for high tariffs. then as soon as the federal-irs -- federal reserve-i rest, with the stroke of a pen, wiped out russia and turned it into the soviet union and killed 35 million christians, and then wipe out the farmers of america, and then went on to spread china -- red china. that is who is behind it. they are communists, they terrorized africa now. they are looting africa for the raw materials to destroy america. host: we will get a response. any thoughts? guest: clade mentioned that before 1914 we had terrorist. the action that terrorists will into the 1970's -- clay m

volet, she's in flint, michigan, she has cancer. for two years she's been receiving treatment, but now her doctor is dropping her from medicaid. he says, after a while you realize that we're really losing money on seeing these patients. not even breaking even. we're starting to lose more and more money month after month. all across america health care providers are dumping medicaid. and we're about to put 16 million new people. so i'm going to take a page from my friends on the other side. because they say the american people should have the same rich benefits that we should have. what i'm proposing today in this amendment is that 535 members of congress should have the same benefits as these 16 million new people and thesemillioredent, us amendment the members of congress will go into medicaid. if it's good enough for 50 million americans, it should be good enough for us. so i've offered amendment 3586, it will require that the benefits that are paid for health care by the federal government for the 535 members of congress go to th

you go back to what the judgment in flint was talking about, absolutely what we have seen with china,lly quite radically -- big change. part of the reason we've seen so much movement offshore in activities is because of this monopolization. once you control the marketplace, you can determine where it is going to be built and you can do it in any way you wish. monopolization actually leads to more offshoring. host: clay, independent. caller: before 1914, at the federal reserve iris act, we at tariffs. lincoln was for high tariffs. then as soon as the federal-irs -- federal reserve-i rest, with the stroke of a pen, wiped out russia and turned it into the soviet union and killed 35 million christians, and then wipe out the farmers of america, and then went on to spread china -- red china. that is who is behind it. they are communists, they terrorized africa now. they are looting africa for the raw materials to destroy america. host: we will get a response. any thoughts? guest: clade mentioned that before 1914 we had terrorist. the action that terrorists will into the 1970's -- clay menti

volet, she's in flint, michigan, she has cancer. for two years she's been receiving treatment, but now her doctor is dropping her from medicaid. he says, after a while you realize that we're really losing money on seeing these patients. not even breaking even. we're starting to lose more and more money month after month. all across america health care providers are dumping medicaid. and we're about to put 16 million new people. so i'm going to take a page from my friends on the other side. because they say the american people should have the same rich benefits that we should have. what i'm proposing today in this amendment is that 535 members of congress should have the same benefits as these 16 million new people and these 50 million americans. mr. president, under this amendment the members of congress will go into medicaid. if it's good enough for 50 million americans, it should be good enough for us. so i've offered amendment 3586, it will require that the benefits that are paid for health care by the federal government for the