freedman's new book, ago the will of the people." america and the courts at 7:00 p.m. eastern, here on c-span. sunday on "washington journal," the launch of a right-wing think tank. also roben farzad of "business week." then, relief efforts in haiti. sunday on newsmakers, senator bob corker on how republicans and democrats might find agreement on a bill to regulate wall street. >> there is the issue of consumerÑiq protectsÑ. having a freestanding agency is a nonstarter with me. i don't know how i could be more clear. i know that senator dodd knows that. i think he knows that the bill is not going to pass the senate that has a freestanding consumer protection agency, and i sense a willingness on both sides of the aisle to seek a balance so that consumer protection certainly is increased, because there were lapses there, but it is not in any way overwhelm the safety and soundness side of bank regulation and financial institution regulation. we cannot lead a trump the safety and soundness side. i sense there is a desire to see that balance. what we need to do is build a l

so benjamin freedman, a harvard economist wrote a book on this subject that if you look at the moments when there are great periods of social reform, they're periods of economic growth. >> how many times have you had a private conversation with this man since he's been president? ten? >> no, not that mn m. >> rose: five? >> yeah, maybe. >> rose: five. one on one or one with a small group. and which you had a chance to test him. >> yeah. he's impressive. he remains... >> rose: impressive because? >> i think the most impressive thing is he reads everything. >> rose: really. including your column. >> but not only that. i mean everything. second if you make an argument against him he's heard that argument and he's aware of it and handled it. at least in his own mind. maybe not sufficiently to yours but he's handled it. so he remains a remarkable figure, one whom it is possible even if you disagree with this policy one whom it is possible to have great faith in. >> rose: and also that he's capable of greatness. >> i still think that, yes. i think hubris was a problem, as it is for all new p

sir lawrence freedman? >> thank you very much. i want to talk to you about relations with the united states. we have for a lot of about -- we have for a lot about not only the asymmetry -- we have heard not only about the asymmetries in size between the united states and the united kingdom, but also the very different structures of government. >> well, the head of usaid was andrew natsios, so that was the obvious link. he fought in the first gulf war and was a republican, the head of usaid, and he said the most dangerous possibility is that we get chaos and sectarian divisions, and what we must do is talk the top off the baathists system -- what we must do is chop the top off the baathist system. >> when was that? >> i think it was late 2002, but i could check. >> you have anticipated my next question, which was about the ship from the state department to the pentagon. when did you become aware of the shifting the focus of the postwar planning -- when did you become aware of the shift in focus? >> i think was fairly said. we all k

he is barry freedman's analog of the four horse men who in pre1937 were willing to challenge roosevelt going to be a majority for a full-blown confrontation, but that does not mean that the court might not inadvertently stumble into a confrontation. you look at the language of person person-hood in the citizens united case, and it unites the libertarians and the pro business types in the central figure of anthony kennedy, who has elements of both of these strands. above all, he is a judicial supremacist. he is more willing to strike down federal and state laws than any other justice. he voted to strike down more lows than any other justice. he has an almost romantic notion of individual liberty that may lead him to strike down the financial accountant say this happens and they strike down the financial accountability board. they probably think of themselves as moderate. john roberts came into office saying he wanted narrow unanimous decisions. he didn't like 5-4 decisions. basically he says sometimes you have got to bite the bullet. so he might think well i'm not challenging the presid

he wrote that that bubble was caused by the monetary authorities and of course, milton and freedman andanna schwartz wrote their book in 1963 on the monetary issue in the united states that discuss this exact thing that why we are in the situation we are, why do we get business cycles? we don't get business cycles because all of a sudden all of the businessmen have decided or businesswomen, keeping in line with the politically correct. they make all of the wrong decisions at all the same time, right? you can see that certain individual businesses may make wrong decisions but why should it be that every now and then, all of a sudden, we produce tomorrow automobiles or houses or too many of such things. why do business cycles go up and down? it can't be that the market is doing this. it must be the government central planner that is doing this. so why housing? housing came about because the government decided that you guys weren't buying enough housing. and we want you to all own your own home. and i was on the plane i was with a guy that was very articulate guy, 28 years old, he is a vic

today on america and the courts, the panel of law professors discuss fellow panelist barry freedman'sw book, "the will of the people." america and the courts at 7:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. updated and rereleased just in time for president's day. c-span's, who is buried in grant's tomb? a tour of presidential grave sithes. the book is a unique and comp hence yi guide to the resting places of this country's presidents. >> it's a wonderful way to humanize and personalize the past. to take events and movements that otherwise might seem impossibly remote. there's something universal about the fact that we're all going to one day be on our death bed, we're all going to face growing old. we all have to wrestle with questions of immortality and mortality. and those are some of the themes that run through all of this. but it's also, frankly, an entertaining book. there are lots of stories, aneck dotes designed to humanize all of these people. >> available now at your favorite book seller or order from the publisher at public affairs books.com. >> coming up nesk, a detailed view inside no

. >> sarah lawrence freedman will ask you about the september dossier. i would like to move on for a moment to another aspect and that is you set on a number of occasions in 2002 indeed in early 2003 that iraq was a test of the international community's ability to deal with both wmd and terrorism. if i could just quote from your monthly press conference on the 18th of february 2003. the stance that the world takes now against saddam is not just vital in its own right, it is a huge test of our seriousness in dealing with the twin threats of weapons of mass distraction and terrorism. can you tell us how you saw those links, and again, what evidence you had that there were links? because as you know, the butler committee has established that there weren't direct links at that time between saddam and al qaeda. >> the link was, in my mind, at that time, this, that there was a proliferation threat that was potentially growing, because we had in iran, we have north korea, we have libya, we had iraq obviously. but with a lot of emphasis on a.q. khan activities.