. >> reporter: meet hal rogers. i understand you are the incoming appropriations chairman. >> that's what they tell me. >> reporter: he's the man republicans have chosen to run the most powerful committee in congress, the one that controls the government's purse strings. >> our federal spending is off the charts. >> reporter: an odd choice for a party that wants to cut spending. rogers has been called "the prince of pork." he's funneled so much money in pet projects to his district that his hometown of somerset, kentucky, has been dubbed "mr. rogers' neighborhood." over the past 2 years alone, he's responsible for 135 pet projects, called earmarks, at a cost of $250 million. there's $52 million for the so-called national center for hometown security, located in his hometown and chaired by a big donor to his campaign. and there's the daniel boone parkway -- or there was, until 2003, when it was renamed the hal rogers parkway after he got federal money to do away with the tolls. and most recently, $5 million for group

. >> reporter: meet hal rogers. i understand you are the incoming appropriations chairman. >> that's what they tell me. >> reporter: he's the man republicans have chosen to run the most powerful committee in congress, the one that controls the government's purse strings. >> our federal spending is off the charts. >> reporter: an odd choice for a party that wants to cut spending. rogers has been called "the prince of pork." he's funneled so much money to pet projects in his district that his hometown of somerset, kentucky, has been dubbed "mr. rogers' neighborhood." over the past two years alone, he's responsible for 135 pet projects, called earmarks, at a cost of about $250 million. there's $52 million for the so-called national center for hometown security, located in his hometown and chaired by a big donor to his campaign. and there's the daniel boone parkway -- or there was, until 2003, when it was renamed the hal rogers parkway after he got federal money to do away with the tolls. and most recently, $5 million f

that work will be guided by our new committee chairman, hal rogers who will be my only speaker this evening besides myself, and hal's full committee ranking member norman dicks. i want to wish them both well as they take on their new responsibilities. while david obey and i have not agreed on very much this year, let me also pause for second -- for a second to express my appreciation to david and wish he and his wife joan good health and happiness as they pursue new opportunities outside of the congress. the moe way let me say that david obey is passionate about the things he's passionate about. i don't agree with him on many policy issues, but i do want you to know this, david. the country and both of our great parties need an awful lot more people with the kind of passion you display and if we had that, we'd get our work done in an entirely different fashion. before closing, let me make two other brief comments. as frustrating as this year has been for me, i know it's been an even more frustrating year for the highly professional house appropriations committee. our committee is blessed wi

hal rogers will not have the same power his predecessors had from the get go. everyone who was up for this position has been an approved reader for a very long time. i know a lot of people got behind jack kingston from georgia, one of the appropriators for a very long time. while he is more conservative for some areas, all of these people are still appropriators by the end of the day. everyone on the above reasons committee will have to revamp how they do business. host: thank you for joining us this morning. guest: thank you. host: back to your phone calls -- democrats only. is president obama alienating you? the topic of a paul west analysis piece on the moves president obama made of lead. woodland hills, california. tony, go ahead. caller: president obama did not alienate made. he only extended the tax cuts for two years. he did not extend them permanently and i think he did what he had to do. host: what about the estate tax? the headline is that democrats to draw the line at the state tax after obama is the deal -- obama's deal. they do not like that the ra

hal rogers has been a part of that band, and i think it is great. the culture of the appropriations committee is going to have to change. in my view. it has been a committee of spending where obviously -- it appropriates money, that is obviously its job. but it has sort of been where, all right, democrats want to spend something, republicans want to spend something, so let us make agreements. that is how we got into the deficit problems we are in it and it kind of happens with the tax cuts -- you want these benefits, let's do all of it. that is how we are getting into this deficit problem instead of shrinking things. the appropriations committee, i believe -- and i hope in the future -- needs to be one that, instead of conducting a lot of oversight -- ion't tnk we ed to go through and necessarily cut everying by 10% or something like that, but let's talk to every government agency and make them justify their budget, make them justified, do they have accountability in place, are we getting the bang for the buck in each and eve department, and does no

hal rogers has been a part of that band, and i think it is great. the culture of the appropriations committee is going to have to change. in my view. it has been a committee of spending where obviously -- it appropriates money, that is obviously its job. but it has sort of been where, all right, democrats want to spend something, republicans want to spend something, so let us make agreements. that is how we got into the deficit problems we are in it and it kind of happens with the tax cuts -- you want these benefits, let's do all of it. that is how we are getting into this deficit problem instead of shrinking things. the appropriations committee, i believe -- and i hope in the future -- needs to be one that, instead of conducting a lot of oversight -- i don't think we need to go through and necessarily cut everything by 10% or something like that, but let's talk to every government agency and make them justify their budget, make them justified, do they have accountability in place, are we getting the bang for the buck in each and every department, a