what i thought you mit ask mebout and something i make a bigeal in the book is theighting that ed meeses over the constitution. it may have been a contributor factor in the defeat of bork's nomination by the way because you raise thisp a factor and not the factor. i think that was enormsly important and useful argument to start and lo and hold i noticed today even a guy like -- who's the guy at yale, lamar, people now will try to claim to be originalists in one form or another even when they're not. th's an emple of picking a fight about something. in that case it's not connected -- well, there were some connections. mees had some ideas about federalism and reagan had some ideas about federalism. they had an instinct about argument that pervaded that was a large part of reagan's presidency and when you're losing you can maintain presidential initiative. you can pick individual initiatives. they like to fight about stuff. it was great. >> i think that these proposals in the second term were pructive. >> pull your mic up. >> although i think meese got the originalist argument wrong. he ta

although i think that ed meese got the argument wrong.lk about original intent, not original meaning. and intent is somehow you have to infer the intent of the people who wrote the language, which i think is a mistake because people can support language for very different reasons, and i think the fact that ed meese didn't have the argument track. i think the consequent didn't go very far. actually agree with you, i include in the book a couple of references in the defects of the acnes part of the. that's why they were so shocked and outraged by a. >> and bill's argument is also justice alito who we have a president to thank for who you're talking about today. >> replicans in congress keep talking about waste, fraud and abuse in the budget. and my problem with that eventually you have to talk about cutting programs i have some memory of that period, i don't know if reagan era talk about that. i think before he ran for president he really understands that eventually some kind of programs have to be cut. >> bill have more insight than i woul

he is the author of 20 books including biographies of ronald reagan, barry goldwater, edward meese, histories of the american conservative movement and the heritage foundation. his works have it translated into chinese,apanese, swedish and french picu is the founding direcor of the institute of public him at georgetown university and a fellow at the institute of politics at the john f. kennedy school of harvard. spec is a past president of the philadelphia society and has been at the hoover institution. doctor edwds also appeared on many leading television and metaprograms. is his upcoming book i a poverty of william f. buckley, jr. which will be published in the spring of 2010. has a bachelor's in english, duke university and a graduate work in paris. in addition to receiving his phd d the countryside in virginia with his wife who assist him in all his writings. please welcome doctor lee edwards. [applause] >> thank you, patrick. and good morning, ladies and gentlemen that it is a beautiful day in washington. and a great day to be alive. especially if you are young conservative. [applause] >

it cost meese to $300 a month to insure my 13-year-old daughter. >> they are just saying we don't like this, scaring people away from the debate and going to town halls and not having a debate and just having a shouting match. >> i'll agree with you on that one. >> i'm not afraid to say it. i'm a democrats so i'm for whatever they have moving forward, i just wish they would work together. >> a government-run health care plan that would compete with private insurance companies on whether to try something else maybe like co-ops like your farmers have here in the midwest a lot. do you think we need a big government option? >> no. no. i don't. i think there should be a public option in there. if you don't like it, don't take it. we have other services with the federal government. we have the postal service, we have ups. >> the president will give a big speech to congress next wednesday night. he's lost the initiative in august because of these town halls and other things. is there one thing you want to hear from the president that makes you think, okay? i might not agree with everything yo

it is a docent program being run today by meese and poland who lost her husband, a navy captain roberte and. she and other members -- family members have added something poignant and profound to the program. we are honored on this day that the president and first lady, who have made the welfare of military families her priority, are here to help us commemorate this anniversary. it is with my great pleasure to introduce our commander in chief, the president of the united states [applause] -- states. [applause] >> secretary gates, admiral mullen, members of the armed forces, fellow americans, family and friends of those that we lost this day, michelle and i heard deeply humbled to be with you. 8 september have come and gone. no turning of the season can didn't -- diminish the pain and loss of that day. no passage of time and no dark skies condone the meaning of this moment. so on this solemn day, at this take an hour, once more, we pause, once more, we pray. as a nation, as a people. in city streets where our two towers were turned into ash and dust, the quiet field where the plane fell

i would "a couple of assesents of the book, one by one of presidenteagan's closest advisers ed meese tewes sd quote, steven hayward and his first volume has given us a fascinatin readable book about a unique era in american politics. is meticulous research and perceptive insights provided an informative and entertaining account of ronald reagan's re from hollywood to the presidency as well as an in-depth understanding of the times in which t@e ascent of kurd. mark lendee at boston college also said quote,he first volume sas a brilliant work of political history an an analysis. aegis a uly successful effort to treat the phenomenon of royal reagan within a brder historicalramework. steven hayward is a senior fellow at the pacific research institute and i wou like to welcome him to talk about his new book. [applause] >> tha you very much john and thank you for the cato ititute for hosting us today. john mentioned how first of all u came out right before the events in the decade chain so much oamerican life and i thought knock on wood things would be different this time so i turned up in

some americans like meese said at their desk send roach checks and most americansat on their couches 32nd televion ads are perhaps large debates. in 2008, millions of americans who never participated before got up from their desks and their couches, they talk to the neighbors, then docked and doors and travel to battleground states and early primary states or in some cases they just make phonecalls from their kitchen tae. the fact is there was a sea change in th level of political participation and its intsity in the 2008 presidential campaign. today we are seein a he uptick in the number of americans interested in national communities service. application to programs like the peace corps and americorps our way uprcut in the first five months of this fiscal year the rporation for national community service received over 150,000 on line applications to americorps comred to just over 70,000 during the entire last year. in increases of well over 100%. teach for america eceived over 35,000 applications, a 50% increase over last year for 4100 slots. every communities service organization

but meese a few things at the outset. i have been in the pro-life movement for 37 years.i have been in the congress for 29 years. [applause] i have cochaired the bipartisan caucus for the last 27 years. it never in all of those years have i been more concerned, and i know you share that and our panelists share that, about the abortion promotion coming out of the white house. the culture of death promoted by barack obama, his secretary of state, his cabinet, by the subcabinet, by appointees, by czers -- czars, these are more at risk now than roe v wade itself. in the current health care debate, this is the point of contact, the place where we have to stand firm to insure that we do not see a lessening of protection for the unborn child and no further expansion of the culture of death. i do believe obamacare represents the greatest threat since roe v wade itself. they're going for it all. there are using an enormous amount of deception, misdirection. the abortion rights organizations have been playing this game using code words like "reproductive health" and" reproductive r

signing statements were not really common until the reagan administration, when attorney general meeseed that phe president's view and interpretation of low were not being recorded anywhere in particular, so they made an effort to have west publishing company compile the signing statement. that is not an official publication. so we also began recording these signing statements for cosigni statement cannot overce the language of the love. it can however, affect executive brch implementation of the law. , there are a lot of scholars and crles savage at the "boston globe" arguepresident bush was abusing his authori and in effect he was nullifying love by ordering executive branch to disregard provisions but i have to say that this has been a presidential prerogative since the reagan administration pretty consistently, that especially where you have provision that say purports to constrain theresident's foreign-policy authority in some way, that the president feels is inappropriate, both departments of justice, republican and democratic, are very likely to lo at that asomething that needs

he called them abominable circumstances and one that great -- grieves me and concern meese deeply.ou make of the allegations of racism made by jimmy carter? >> with all due respect, this is another example of the president -- you know, expressing solely his own opinion mp i don't think it is reflective of a larger population. and this is -- this is the same we have all of 2008. that there -- hint of racism the president -- we could never have an african-american as a president. he wouldn't be qualified, wouldn't get support from the black community. i think that what -- this president was able to do is bring people together and show this country has moved and n a very significant way beyond that. i think in many ways, this is another type of effort to paint individuals especially individuals from the south and in a way that's not there. and it is not reflective of the political realities of today's america. >> and i want to ask you about the representative david scott. he is a democrat from georgia and said this racial undercurrent of president obama is something that has been the