the former south carolina republican jim demint is president of the heritage foundation and the front lines of the opposition of the health care overhaul. he wrote an opinion piece on why he is not backing down. why heritage is not backing down. he joins us from greenful. >> i head your piece and seen the back and forth. a lot of people are asking what is the next step for republicans? it seems to be a split in the republican party on the fight against obama care. >> the conservatives around the country are united. what we have done over the last few months are go all over the country and help people understand what the law will do to them and as the stories continue to come out of how this is hurting people and jobs and health care and the cost of health care, more and more people see this is a disastrous law for america. we started the debate and heritage is in this for the long haul. our goal is to get this law repealed. >> you see the last couple of weeks as a loss? >> not at all. it's the beginning of a battle. we won the debate with the american people and that's where the whole

they and the heritage foundation, they are controlling everything. and at the same time threatening -- they've already shut down the government for 15 days, reverend. 15 days at $1.6 million a day. over $2 billion a already. and then at the same time, reverend, they are threatening the full faith and credit of the country. >> boehner had a bill and then all of a sudden they pull it back. i mean, 30 hours before we go into default with fitch looking at downgrading us. they're playing these kind of games, congressman? >> it's totally irresponsible. it's un-american. and it's letting down the people of our country. they've got to put country before party. country before tea party. >> the heritage action and the tea party, what is their strength, what is their power? how can they maneuver and manipulate the speaker of the house like this? >> well, look. with a lot of the congressional districts and a lot of these people were sent here with the promise they were going to defund obama care. what they are worried about is a primary. there's little incentive

and today senator cruz continued that crusade at the headquarters for the heritage foundation. >> it is a particular privilege being here at heritage, heritage plays such an important role in helping articulate and defend conservative principles across this country. and in no fight has that been more apparent than in the fight over obama care. >> but republicans were on the other side of that fight just a few years ago. they've completely flip-flopped. now the whole right wing is against it. why? because president obama is for it. but he's come too far to back down now. >> and if if was hard doing it just in one state, it's harder to do no all 50 states. especially when the governors of a bunch of states and half of the congress aren't trying to help. yeah. it's hard, but it's worth it. it is the right thing to do. and we're going to keep moving forward. what can happen here in massachusetts could happen all across the country. and for them and for you we are going to see this through. [ applause ] >> joining me now is congresswoman edwards from maryland and jonathan grew bar, mit eco

i've already mentioned the crucial role that todd at the heritage foundation and the heritage foundation itself played in putting toward the original -- forward the original objection to the affordable care act even before the bill emerged from are committee. josh tells the story in the book about what happened with that report that nathaniel stewart and i and todd wrote and how it was used to shape the republicans' argument in the senate so that the republicans who had not -- the republicans in the senate who were not previously planning on making a constitutional point of order in the senate because the staff couldn't think of a constitutional objection to make to the bill, once they were exposed to this argument, they then did lodge a constitutional point of order, and there was a debate on the floor of congress the day before the bill passed on christmas eve. that debate was broadcast on c-span, and it brought to the country the issue of the constitutional problems with this bill in a way that was highly salient and otherwise would never have come out had it not been for the heritage

lou: you know i'm watching the heritage foundation, and heritage act group.enevieve, you are caught in a vortex, the republican party has always been the party of business. business is going one direction. and on the issue just concluded. and much of the republican party was going the other. on illegal immigration and amnesty we're seeing a cross current. a conflict. this looks like it may rupture and create fizzures that are lasting and profound, perhaps leading to a third party, what do you think. >> look, what is good for big business is not always good for the individual taxpayer, whether it is obamacare, i don't think that obamacare is good for big be either or illegal immigration and amnesty. we're looking out for the individual american citizen. and heritage foundation will keep doing, that but i, this is battle of obamacare, you will see it with immigration, the american people have a lot, rightfully so, questions about this kind of legislation. being put before them, another perfect example a lot of things in this we don't know it is there until it i

claust who are is a legal fellow here at the sentser for legal and judicial studies at the heritage foundation. and he's a graduate of new york university school of law here at heritage. he focuses on civil rights, the role of the federal courts and other constitutional issues. we're just going to remain seat and have a conversation here. each panelist will speak for about 10 minutes and then hopefully we'll have a conversation with you, the audience. the floor is yours. >> thank you very much. thank you, representative bishop, for being here and thank you for your leadership on this 30r7b issue. -- on this important issue. i think one of the things that the shutdown has shown is the importance of memorial and how americans care about them. they are sacred to us. and i just will start off with this image of dwight eisenhower in normandy in 1963. and this is normandy today. these cemeteries that are shut down, the flag does not fly above them. it is really a desecration of our memory and of those brave souls who perished in normandy. we have a dratigs -- we have a tradition of presidential memo

he joined the heritage foundation. nobody in past history could explain it.hy would you give up to help legislate unless you're not interested in legislation? >> he's probably making a lot more money. >> could be. >> personal angle here. but these people, you're right. they're not interested in governance or policy. the tea party people, this is one thing i don't think boehner -- >> i think it's the fight itself. >> they want to disrupt. they want to fight and disrupt. they don't want compromises. they don't want deals. they don't want policy wins. they want to fight and destroy. >> sam, respond to this. on the right, the lesson from the government shutdown seems to be the republican party itself caved. here's rush limbaugh the cheerleader on the hard right this week. let's listen to rush. >> i was pondering if i can ever remember a greater political disaster in my lifetime, if i can ever remember a time when a political party just made a decision not to exist. >> congressman tim huelskamp told "the washington post," we'll be looking for any opportunity. we t

every month for the policy institute to put on this conservative networking event with the heritage foundation, and bridget wagner every month. the purpose of the conservative woman's network event is to highlight the most outstanding conservative women in america. but our regular attendees know that every year in december we like to invite a distinguished gentleman, like senator coburn to speak. it's not because we don't like men, we do, rather, we believe that if conservatives fail to highlight our own conservative women we allow the left to supplant them with far less significant role models. it's now my pleasure to introduce senator tom coburn who was elected in november of 2004 as a citizen legislature, dr. coburn pledged to serve no more than two terms in the u.s. senate and to continue to care for his patients. prior to his election to the senate, dr. coburn represented oklahoma's second congressional district in the u.s. house of representatives from 1995 to 2001. he retired from congress to fulfill his pledge to serve no more than three terms in the house of representatives. senator c

jim demint in his heritage foundation which led the shutdown charge has a new report out about obama care. let's talk about the policy. it finds in the report, quote, individuals in most states will end up spending more on the exchanges. now, talking points memo found one rather glaring problem with that report from the heritage foundation. quote, this is talking memos, they didn't account for the financial help that the affordable care act gives uninsured people. in other words, they ignored the subsidies for millions of low-income families that's the central part of the law. millions of americans get help to buy insurance. i mean, that's the whole point of the law. so in all of this confusion that they're trying to cause, they're putting out outright lies, myths, and exaggerations which gets away from the point of the law which is why the law was enacted and was put through in the first place, joan. >> well, right. and ever since heritage has signed a report on immigration to a white supremacist, i don't think that their searches have credibility anymore. there was a problem with d

thank you as always for your interest and to the heritage foundation for hosting me. always nice to come out and talk about issues i work a lot on in the privacy of my office and i think i will share it with a broad audience. let me start where john ended which is to talk about the external first and focus on the internal.

well, welcome, welcome, welcome to the heritage foundation.w, one of the things that we love to do at the heritage foundation is bring reformers to our auditorium. it's a great thing to be a reformer and to use principles, conservative principles, the founders' principles to do those kinds of reforms. so today we have brought to our stage a reformer, the governor of north carolina, pat mccrory, is the 74rd governor of that great state. he also served as the mayor of charlotte, any of you who have ever visited charlotte, you know that he's very proud of that city and his experience there. he also served on the city council. but in addition to that, he has a great record if the private sector. he worked for duke energy for quite a few years and also with sales consulting for a private sector company and on strategic initiatives. all of these things do a very good job of preparing someone to be the governor of the tenth large state in the country. so welcome, governor. >> it's an honor to be here. thanks for having me here at heritage. thank you

welcome to the heritage foundation. would you please join me in welcoming our special guest, the governor of north carolina. and becky norton the external relation vice president at the heritage foundation. lady and gentleman. [applause] hopefully microphones are working and we'll start. test them out. >> very good. >> these mics and you'll give us the sign. okay. well, welcome, welcome, welcome to the heritage foundation. one of the thing we love do at the heritage foundation is brie reformers to the auditorium. it's a great thing to be a reformer and use principles, conservative pribs. -- principles the founder of principles to dot reforms. today we are introwght -- brought to our state the reformer. the governor of north carolina the 74th governor of the great state. he serve as the mayor of charlotte. his experience there. he also served on the city council in addition to that he's a great record for the private sector. he worked for duke energy for quite a few years. and sales consulting for are private sector comp

andrew with the heritage foundation.udge, i think many folks are certainly troubled by a breakdown of education on what the content of the natural law is, so i was just when if you have some recommendations for folks as far as what sources they could go to, maybe educate themselves or others about the natural law? >> the first thing i would recommend is you read the joseph story entry in the encyclopedia. [laughter] is four pages long. it's a good start here. .. and their natural tradition. and also, i think to a lesser degree the natural tradition were acquaintance. my question to you is when interpreting the constitution since the framers were influenced by several different and occasionally conflictin

that's number one and number two what really cracks me up about this whole thing was that the heritage foundation came up with the individual mandate and came up with this whole idea for health care reform that then is soon as obama decided was what the country was that that was going to be obamacare is soon is that you know that we kind of compromise and got rid of the public option suddenly it's going to kill everyone's grandmother the heritage foundation has has come out and said that you know they they didn't have this they didn't come up with obamacare because what they would have done would have been different because there would have been more carrots and fewer and fewer sticks i mean it was like this nuance thing i don't know the romney idea and romney care too i mean if they would just come out and say look this is what we want to do is going to run a good run for years earlier in the presidential primary difference between what we're called ins with like to do and what obamacare does first of all republicans would not make them republicans generally and i'm not necessarily talking about

this is a part of a series from the heritage foundation on judicial restraint. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon and welcome to the heritage foundation we welcome those were joining us on our heritage website those who are also joining us on c-span this afternoon we would ask everyone in house to make sure that your cell phones have been turned off for all of our recordings going on. we will post this for everyone's future reference and our internet viewers are always welcome to e-mail us at speaker at heritage.org. hosting our discussion and introducing our special guest today is the ronald reagan distinguished fellow american is here at the heritage foundation and also the 75th attorney general of the united states. edwin meese. [applause] >> we joined you in welcoming here in welcoming you this evening to which as we know, it includes those that are familiar with history is named in honor of a distinguished judge who epitomized thankfulness to the constitution and this lecture is part of a series that we have in preserving

this law is a private based expanse of health insurance based on ideas developed bit heritage foundation in the early 1990s. >> with all due respect, the heritage foundation never had these elaborate controls and planning and you may have label me a right-winger, i understand, all is fair in love and war, you look where the insurance plans are one size fits all, no distinction between them, i don't see how this is not government run, jonathan. that's all i'm saying. >> how can you say there's no difference between them? have you looked at the massachusetts plans all run by private health insurance plans. you really aren't giving a fact based perspective on the law. that's the problem. people need to know the facts of what this law does. >> matt welch, want to hear from you on this. >> i think the main problem here is that obama care tried to do so many different things at once. it attempted to tackle the very real problem of a lot of americans who wanted to have health insurance, particularly catastrophic health insurance and were unable to get it. you try to fix that problem and unfortu

melissa: let's turn to the energy economist for the heritage foundation. you heard everything that came before you. i want to drill down on the dollars and cents what he is talking about but i respect the technology but it has to have price parity in order to make sense for people at home. what do you think of the dollars and cents behind this? >> well so far solar is lagging behind on the dollars and cents. if you look at current cost of energy as well as projected future cost of energy, natural gas and coal are much cheaper, sometimes twice, solar is twice as expensive as thee sources of energy, not to mention nuclear and even wind are cheaper. so it has a long way to go to reach cost parity. when it will reach cost parity they won't need subsidies to artificially prop up their industry. melissa: sure, without question but does this get you closer? we're looking cost of building operating a plant on the screen. this is new technology. it is one reason it would be so much higher. solar thermal, 26.2 cents a kilowatt-hour. based on building a plant at $2 b

for example, the heritage foundation, they crunched all the numbers and they calculated how much premiums are going to rise state-by-state under the new obama care exchanges. starting right now, you're going to see these dramatic hikes right there at the bottom of your screen for you, the american people, for example, ages 27 and 50. now, my next two guests are business owners who are being forced to rethink their hiring strategies, reduce their employees' hours all because of obama care. but the worst part about all of this is they both personally warn these lawmakers about the consequences earlier this month when they both testified on capitol hill, and yet our selfish lawmakers, that wasn't a part of this debate this last week and a half, two weeks, their pleas for help. well, when they voted last night, they were ignored. joining me now are the vice president of paul's supermarkets, steve herman and hauling junk owner. steve herman, let me start with you. i found your story pretty interesting because both your grandfather and your father were in the supermarket business? >> correct, y

. >> heritage foundation president jim demint defended them in an op ed. good policy is good politics. if the republicans had not fought on obama care, the compromise would have been over the budget sequester. would the gop divide break out into high profile fights as we had in 2014? at least a half dozen have challengers on the right. yesterday they reached mississippi. state senator chris mcdaniel announced the candidacy and got the backing of three groups, powerful from the outside. some are promising more of the same. >> those who can't stand strong to defend our republic and our constitution, heck yeah. they have to be primaried. otherwise we are going down. >> nbc's senior editor mark murray is here at this morning's 50 read and joins me now. mark, it's the fascinating dynamic obviously virginia's shut down is most likely going to deliver to the democrats which has not been done in many years. in terms of the battle within the party, do you think moving forward when you have a guy like orrin hatch saying to chuck publicly, heritage, heritage action i

>> well, i think the credibility of anything from the heritage foundation is not at its peak right now. we're seeing premiums go down dramatically in states. we're seeing peoplen role. we're seeing stories come in. that's the thing. when people talk about obama care -- >> premiums aren't going up in states. >> they're forgetting how bad the status quo was before. how many people couldn't get insurance. we're seeing premiums skyrocket. not like premiums weren't going up before obama care happened. people who were in the working poor and not qualifying in medicaid. so you see a whole set of options here for people who were hitting caps we know the kind of tragic cases of families that were going bankrupt. a small business owner in maryland who's saving $5,000 per employee now because of the own care. >> but are you denying premiums are going up in many cases? >> ones going up, ones going down. >> they're not supposed to go up ever. >> are you saying that premiums aren't going up or what people are are paying after the subsidy? >> the problem with the heritage numbers is the heritage numb

republicans in a closed meeting last night, a secret meeting, were saying exactly what the heritage foundationage action group is doing right now. i mean, connie, how else could we read that? >> that's exactly right. and i have one question for cruz and his colleagues. who do you answer to? do you answer to the people you represent? do you represent your government? do you represent the people of america? or do you -- are you going to represent these far right bullies? and let's be clear on this. this is bullying. and we know how most americans feel about that. >> one good thing, ed, if this goes down tonight, is i think that totally frees up mcconnell to go right back and say the house can't do this, we're going to make a deal in the senate. and just jam it into the house. >> well, that gives the republican senators some cover when they go home. they can say we know washington has got problems, but it's not my fault. i mean, heck, i voted to make sure -- the republican senator will say, i voted to keep the government open and also raise the debt ceiling. the problem is over in the house. i me

it is not john boehner, nor eric cantor or ted cruz but the heritage foundation. hill scanlon read that e-mail and within minutes the rules committee canceled their hearing , and the meeting and john boehner's office shot -- shut down with tightlipped -- not answering anything. all the republican voters who think when they call their representative it will matter, forget it. let me jump in. the orange county register has this. heritage foundation urges house members to vote against the republican proposal last republican proposal because it does absolutely nothing to help americans who are negatively impacted by obamacare. right, so if they are pulling the strings, what is the the leaders? one lobbyist group that spends millions upon millions of dollars to get their voice heard can bring the house of representatives to a grinding halt, something is wrong. there must've been an open to of airplane glue in the supreme court that day when they said this is constitutional. going onto ron. independent caller in new york. caller: good morning. i am a guyt is getting rea

when governor romney signed this law, on the stage with him was a speaker from the heritage foundation about what a victory it is. now it's the devil's work. now it's just ugly partisan politics. >> let me start with this question. among the president's problems are that he again and again said if you have an insurance policy and most people thought they had a good insurance policy thought they could be left alone. they bought that on their own. now they're being told by their insurance companies that those policies aren't going to exist anymore. what do you think was wrong if you didn't think anything was wrong and the way the president said you'd be left alone with no paperwork if you had a good policy. >> chris, the president probably should have made a vaguer statement about in general you'll be left alone. because the bottom line is 80% of americans get insurance from their employer or the government and they're not affected. we're talking about the small slice that buy insurance on their own. half of those people will be able to replicate what they have today. maybe the name of t

he joined the heritage foundation. nobody in past history could explain it.hy would you give up to help legislate unless you're not interested in legislation? >> he's probably making a lot more money. >> could be. >> personal angle here. but these people, you're right. they're not interested in governance or policy. the tea party people, this is one thing i don't think boehner -- >> i think it's the fight itself. >> they want to disrupt. they want to fight and disrupt. they don't want compromises. they don't want deals. they don't want policy wins. they want to fight and destroy. >> sam, respond to this. seems to be the republican party itself caved. here's rush limbaugh the cheerleader on the hard right this week. let's listen to rush. >> i was pondering if i can ever remember a greater political disaster in my lifetime, if i can ever remember a time when a political party just made a decision not to exist. >> congressman tim huelskamp told "the washington post," we'll be looking for any opportunity. we took a shot at it and we fell short. i think we're wait

he and his heritage foundation puppeteers, they need fund-raisers like the great sarah palin who postedher facebook page after the shutdown was over, quote, friends, do not be discouraged by the shenanigans of d.c.'s permanent political class today. be energized. we're going to shake things up in 2014. rest well tonight. for oh soon, we must focus on important house and senate races. let's start with kentucky! oh, yes. let's. because that's where just today jim demint senate conservative's fund announced its endorsement in that very race. quote, he is not afraid to stand up to the establishment, and he will do what it takes to stop obama care, and though they were not talking about mitch mcconnell, but rather his conservative primary challenger, matt bevin. that's all right, mitch, times like this one can often rely on the folk wisdom of the ages, passed down to generation after generation. >> there's an old saying that politi politics, it ain't bean bag. >> politics, it ain't bean bag, brother. and no one has seen that axiom quite like robert costa, joining us live from washington. rob

saying that this group largely funded by cokes and the heritage foundation and others, i mean, that wasight? very clearly to jam up the president on pretty much every issue which is not exactly the way that the democratic system is supposed to work. >> that's right. it is important to understand what citizens united did to make that possible. basically, a wealthy person could give $3 million to an outside group like a superpac or corporation and then spend an unlimited sum on races. right in what's different in this case is if the court strikes down these limits, and individual will be able to give $3 million, a politician can ask for that $3 million and then the politicians can divy this up between their party committee, the state committees, federal committees and all of the candidates across the country who are running for u.s. house and u.s. senate. so, it's a real problem and there's an opportunity for cash for favors and asking for that $3 million contribution. >> right. you were in the courtroom this week for the arguments. i mean, i can believe but i cannot believe justice scali

the welcome you to heritage foundation. please turn your cell phones off. e-mail us at speaker @ heritage.org. hosting our discussion and introducing our special guest today is the ronl reagan distinguished fellow emeritous here at the hair didge foundation, alsoed 5th attorney general of the united states, edwin meese. mr. meese? [applause] >> thank you, ladies and gentlemen. i join john in welcoming you here to this lecture this evening, which, as you know, the joseph story lecture, as those who are familiar with request legal history know, is named in honor of a distinguished judge who epitomized faithfulness to the constitution. this lecture is part of a series in preserving the constitution series. this lecture is an important part of that series, obviously. in november of 1811, the age of 32, joseph story became the youngest justice appointed to the united states supreme court. he served in that capacity from 811 to 1845. he is perhaps best remembered or his l publishing of 1833. this work is meant by many experts in the field as the cornerstone of ear

been encouraged by former senator jim demint, who is now the president of the conservative heritage foundationrrendered last week, mr. demint was still at it, attacking the lawyer in the "wall street journal" and praising those who brought the country to a standstill. it is why so many are thankful for the courageous leadership of people like senators ted cruz and mike lee and conservatives in the house of representatives, he wrote. unfortunately, that group clearly does not include republican senator orrin hatch, who had this to say about heritage. >> there's a real question in the minds of many republicans now, and i'm not just speaking for myself, for a lot of people, that is heritage going to go so political that it really doesn't amount to anything anymore. >> it really doesn't amount it to anything anymore. that's a particularly pertinent statement, because the affordable care act, with its individual mandate, is not the work of the current president. in fact, the individual mandate was first proposed by two conservative think tanks, one of which was the heritage foundation. back in 1989

the heritage foundation, certainly a conservative organization, proposed the initial skeleton of what see with obama care. then newt gingrich ran with it back in the '90s. then mitt romney, again republican governor of massachusetts enacted it at the state level. exactly what you see here. it's been a republican proposal time after time. the minute barack obama attaches his name to it, scores of republicans oppose it. orrin hatch of utah was one of the big proponents of this back in the '90s. no longer because barack obama supports it. >> when this passed under nancy pelosi not one republican voted for it. >> of course. because barack obama and nancy pelosi supported it. obviously. >> julie and lars, thanks for your time. >> thank you so much. >>> carnival ride operator in court today facing criminal charges after an accident injured five people at a state fair. so are your kids safe? do you let your kids go on these rides? it's a really tough question, isn't it? the latest from the courtroom straight ahead. >>> and mourners pack the funeral of a popular high school teacher. what's ne

you've got 500 right wing talk show hosts running around the country with bullet points from the heritage foundationf doing this, it's going to have an impact on how people think. i think talk radio has had a great influence on putting people in a very entrenched way of thinking on certain ideologies. and they do a good job of communicating, no doubt about it. and most of the conservative think tanks do a great job of using that medium. and so when they got the microphone, when the fairness doctrine was knocked down, things turned a lot in this country. and getting people entrenched in how they think is really what it's all about. but this is undoubtedly and krauthammer talked about it last -- in recent days on shows. that this is the game-changer for the liberals in this country. this is why obama care needs to be successful. this is generational change. this is something that the american people will always hang with the progressive movement. and they will be certainly indebted to democrats for making this happen because the republicans have been a no-show. and it is messaging. so there are victor

this is from the heritage foundation years ago. this is what mandated coverage is all about, that's where it came from. then it was put into practice by a republican governor, who became their presidential nominee last year. he lost by running against it, against this president who wanted to implement it. so, you know, that has to be the message here from the democrats. this is a law that was passed, it's not a bill, it's a law. they're trying to implement it. and for the republicans to close down the government and endanger not just the u.s. but the world economy over this is stunning. >> well, the democrats have been staying on message. they're united, they're staying on message. part of that message was voiced this morning by kristen gillibrand this morning. >> this is a fight right now between republicans. it's between common sense republicans who want to do their jobs and those who just want to say no, it's my way or the highway. it's not how government works. it's not how our constitution as designed. >> thomas friedman wrote

obamacare is actually was created as far as what i've learned i was actually a republican the heritage foundation meghan is there question and they're lying. well i just i think that you know you know and more people need to get educated about as terry why because that you have on the bridge and you had on the land the conversation the great mind the fact that when max kaiser i think the whole buying what i made with i have nothing to do with buying and i going to have negative thank you thank you very much for the call i. appreciate your rant i really do and the thing that you have to know as live with warren savage is that people ask is the system rigged yes the system is rigged there is a reason why republicans and conservatives don't want there to be a strong middle class and that's because whenever you look at the history of america whenever the middle class has gotten strong it produces a period of instability the c.e.o.'s don't make as much money people start demanding rights the last time was the sixty's in the seventy's and you had you had you know the women's rights movement you had the