marty makary. this is his book. his book is called "unaccountable." that is coming up in just a few minutes. we want to get an update on some of the senate races around the country. joining us is abby livingston, a reporter with "roll call" newspaper. we have been talking about the presidential campaign but there are some senate debates that c- span will be carrying live and that you have been covering. a star wisconsin -- let's start with wisconsin. guest: this is a state and the presidential race seems pretty competitive. president obama has pulled ahead by about five points in the latest poll. some of that is changing the trajectory of the race. tommy thompson seem to have the momentum. tammy baldwin is within the margin of error or a little ahead. host: why is that? guest: the balkwin surge corresponds with president obama getting some distance from governor romney. governor thompson was perceived as the best republican nominee. paul ryan nomination for the vp. suddenly wisconsin was back in the republican column. host: is tonight their only debat

marty makary about medical errors in hospital. also a discussion with william wiatrowski and john mendeloff about workplace safety and occupational hazards. >> now, a look at the presidential election through political cartoons. a couple of weeks ago thenewseum postedartoonist panelists. we will show you as much we can until the senate debate at 11:00 eastern. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. welcome to another edition of inside media. if you have been walking through the city, you may have noticed the preponderant of men and women caring along the large pads. cartoonists are in town. today is day three of the american editorial cartoonists convention meeting across town at george washington university. we were lucky enough to snag three of the cartoonist who will share with us some of their work. it will give us their take on the hectic and sometimes hysterical campaign season. seated to my left is lalo alaraz. his cartoon is seen in scores of newspapers like the los angeles times. he has produced cartoons for the l.a. we

marty makary, thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> today's best advice from wyclef jeannapshot from progressive before you switch your insurance. [ horn honks ] just plug snapshot into your car, and drive like you -- to see if your good driving could save you up to 30%. so try the way to save that's as unique as you are. now you can test-drive snapshot before you switch. visit progressive.com today. and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well. ...and we inspected his brakes for free. -free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. >>> 58 minut

marty makary, a surgeon at johns hopkins hospitals in baltimore. here is his book. we have about a half-hour left on the "washington journal" this morning. coming up, our weekly america by the numbers segment. we will be looking at workplace safety issues. we will be right back. >> the first thing in our article here is getting medicare costs under control as the number-one priority. and it is the most untouchable thing. but that is going to cause more trouble than any other problem we got physically in the u.s. getting medicare costs under control is the number-one thing. >> usain also, surcharge smokers, and the obese for their medicare coverage. >> right. >> where did that idea come from? >> it came from oz. on the person that put it in the memo, but i did not have to fight hard for it. i ran something in the "washington post" where instead of calling people morbidly obese i called them mega-fatties and i was reduced by the "washington post" for being insensitive. and i guess i probably am. this is something that everybody knows to be true and someone has to pay