and finally on terms of the obama administration, again without making too much of it, the obama administrationfaces something of a bush or the republican administration's bill face and i think the most acute form we have seen in recent years, or ever in the democratic party, he has a party that is deeply split on trade and globalization issues. i want to point out to you that last week 104 democrats in the house signed on to a bill that really called for a total revamp yet u.s. trade policy and stopping and going back and looking at fda's before going forward. now, i understand, you know, congressman can sign built and doesn't cost them anything but i think it is an importance of what the obama administration will face. in that regard let me shift from their to the regional questions, but before i do so, a place where it's going to come to trade policy and certainly will be to the floor in the administration when it besides do so, go forward with regional initiatives. and that is the pressure to increase the u.s. demand in terms of labor and the environment. the most recent demand in the house

barack obama's administration, george bush's administration what this company to outsource jobs. they demonstrate that by their actions. one person used to say you are known by your deeds. barack obama is known by his deeds with a comes to china just as george bush was. we are getting new numbers friday on on employment in the country. it will be about 9.6. it will be 10 before we are done. host: what does that mean? is there a psychological aspect associated with that number? guest: it will largely be felt on the political side. it will not have a real effect on the economy. at some point, the obama administration will have to stop blaming president bush for our problems. if the unemployment rate stays above 10% for a long time, the republicans will get traction other arguments the rea scene with government spending and other things that do not work. it is how we spend the money not if we have government spending. this stimulus package demonic -- unlike the chinese stimulus package does not do a lot to create jobs. there were a lot of bold claims about abc news is a balanced oper

it is fair to say that the obama administration has taken that baton and continued to run at full speed. the administration has taken on health care reform and attempting to address greenhouse gases. so, it is fair to say that he is part of that mad dash, but the mad dash began with the republican system. the guy's got scared and decided they had to act aggressively and even with that we're looking at an unemployment rate of close to 10%. host: we have a call from maine on the democrats' line. i'm sorry, i did not have my button push. caller: the problem is one thing -- hedge funds. you should know that i know. before you were born -- i have been in the market for an awfully long time. hedge funds are manipulators of stocks. the reason the fuel prices got up to $147 per barrel when there was no shortage of oil is because hedge fund futures were buying futures. they manipulate. one particular man who was a brilliant mathematician made it $1 billion for himself last year. he says that the market is like a casino -- that is correct. they allow card counters to come in there and manipulate

has the obama administration tacitly agreed with israel that any palestinian state would not be allowed to have a standing military? >> well, i think i'll just say that in any solution that we work out -- israel needs to have its security concerns taken very seriously and worked out. but i'm not going to jump ahead and say what exactly that package would entail specifically. this is something for the two parties to work out for themselves. >> can use a with a secretary clinton has communicated with any former bush demonstration officials in order to help clarify her own understanding of what commitments the united states may or may not have made to israel in relation to settlement activity? >> no, i don't have anything for you on that. >> what about settlements? the white house simmons said nothing about settlements after two very clear statements from both the president and the secretary about this issue, there are some money is really right suggesting that perhaps the obama administration has backed itself into a corner and there's also policy concern of trying to reposition the u.s.

this is not an obama administration versus and budget minister in tech analysis. -- bush administration type of analysis. we are continuing on the work of one ambassador who was my predecessor who started focusing on some of these problems. the more you look at it, the more you find it. >> if you are on the watch list for 10 years consecutive day, yards -- two years consecutive yearlly, you are demoted? how many have sanctions on tier 3? >> our records that should be able to get to that answer. is there a number we can say that it has increased by? >> i do not think we can quantify it yet. being able to quantify, there are two problems. given the nature of human trafficking, it is hard to get the data. if it was a government sponsored lender -- labor, they may have had government employees along in the workforce. one of the things we have seen, the bomb ilo report says it is a $31 billion profit -- the ilo report says is about a $31 billion profit. >> 20? >> to the traffickers in the last year. $50 billion of direct impact. and number of companies looking at the supply chains whether it

executive director, has written quote back when it comes to key national security policy the obama administration is continuing along the path paved by the previous administration. the new administration has embraced or only superficially modified several policies held over from the bush era including the use of the state secrets plane that the justice department invoked to throw out the suit. this is not change, this is more of the same. mr. chairman, i am thankful that mr. obama has had some epiphanies lately. i hope that he accelerates them because national-security, the economic future and constitutional future is at stake. with that said, i am going to give mr. grossman an opportunity, they said this is not change, this is more of the same. will give you a chance to agree or disagree. >> i agree entirely and it is quite heartening. demonstrates that this is not a partisan matter. it is not a political matter. is about the safety of our nation, the tween presidential administrations, there has been no disagreement. >> i know i took the opportunity to express' some feelings that the administra

i think the american people including the obama administration is over it. it seems like oh, yeah, what are you going to do about it. like he said, what are you going to do about it? they're going to stop giving israel money and not help him with this iran thing. host: sir? gues guest: not living up to the palestinian settlement freeze. i'm not sure that is a good argument to make. that is what the israeli opinion is. in israel, both sides agreed to accept, but none of the players actually ever lived up to the agreements. about him using foreign aid to israel as a stick against the tanyau government, i don't see that happening right now. israel is one of the biggest recipients of assistance every year. of this assistance in military aid to israel, part of an american philosophy that israel has to have a qualitative military edge in the region. in that sense, the strategic pack pact that didn't change. it is hard to see the obama administration changing that part of the pact with israel purchase i don't see it playing in right now. one more thing on the broad

the obama administration knows that we can no longer ignore crisis. and peter orszag, who i consider a friend, obama administration's o.m.b. director, has even said -- this is a quote from the c.b.o. director -- or the o.m.b. director -- "i don't want to sound like the boy crying wolf but it is a fact that given the path we are on, two things. one is we will ultimately wind up with a financial crisis that is substantially more severe than even what we're facing today if we don't alter the path of federal spending. and, secondly, that if we are on that path in the future and something like we are experiencing today occurred, we would have much less maneuvering to fight those fires because we will have already depleted the firetruck." i'd like to say in due respect to the o.m.b. director, mr. orszag, the firetruck is depleted. we're already there. and i'm disappointed as o.m.b. director he has forgotten his commitment to entitlement and tax reform that he so boldly and loudly called for when he was c.b.o. director. you would think that a change in title

we have so much on the plate of the obama administration. one of my fears from the campaign is that people would want a quick fix. things were so dire for the last eight years. people's expectations were enormously high in the one a quick fix. we in america have gotten used to having things fixed in a hurry. information at our hands so quickly, so we want quick answers, and unfortunately the economic problems are so deep. host: you are breaking up a little so i will move on to the independent line in ohio. caller: yes, and not very optimistic about the economy. with this stimulus package that the democrats pretty much forced down our throat and did not allow anyone to read before they passed it >> we will leave this morning's "washington journal" to go to the white house briefing which is just beginning, live, on c- span. [laughter] >> re, sometimes those things that happen in bubble boxes come out of my mouth. >> and a question -- michael jackson from friday to today and then the letter over the weekend -- >> i do not understand. >> friday,

just recently just a think today the administration called mr. obama called the iraq war a war of choice yet he continues to persecute, prosecute that war. and he has withdrawal timetable is essentially the same as the bush administration. the guantanamo bay issue has been brought up a great deal and yet it appears the result will be either terrorists in the united states subject to all of our constitutional rights work creation of something essentially the same as guantanamo bay. the surveillance techniques that would decry so profoundly by the obama administration and the obama campaign have been essentially left in place the same way. i even heard the president the other day say that we cannot sustain the deficit spending to amaze you sometimes. the obama justice department invoked the secrecy privilege in three court cases since the president of this. according to "the washington post" editorial page deal, administration state secrets mix of hard to distinguish from its predecessor. according to less day-to-day editorial page, quote, the obama admi

the singaporeans are trying to get the obama administration interested. the japanese are interested in following through on theirs, and from a political point of view some advance before he goes into an election campaign would be something, it seems to me, something that should be attractive to the obama administration. one final set of points and that is -- and here these are more questions than anything else. which arvin and the others will know more than others. when you look over india's ability to move forward, and i realize arvin may have reservations about moving toward with -- forward with ftas in general, but thus far i went to the government site, and they list about 14 sort of what could be fount r counted as ftas, but several of them are really superficial. there's some goods preferences between a couple of countries. the indian-asean fta which apparently they're going to sign i think goes to another level, but the key, though fairly complex and deeper fta though certainly not of the caliber that the united states has signed, the europeans hav

we have so much on the plate of the obama administration. one of my fears from the campaign is that people would want a quick fix. things were so dire for the last eight years. people's expectations were enormously high in the one a quick fix. we in america have gotten used to having things fixed in a hurry. information at our hands so quickly, so we want quick answers, and unfortunately the economic problems are so deep. host: you are breaking up a little so i will move on to the independent line in ohio. caller: yes, and not very optimistic about the economy. with this stimulus package that the democrats pretty much forced down our throat and did not allow anyone to read before they passed it, that money will have to come due some time and that will absolutely destroy the economy. this cap and trade bill the democrats are pushing through the house, or did pushed through, did not allow the republicans to rita. and put down amendments at 3:00 a.m. -- they are hiding something. the no will raise taxes. . it will raise electric bills and gas a

from day one the obama administration made a point of offering to engage directly. and given the events of the past six months it seems equally possible that north korea is simply consumed with its internal leadership succession issues or possibly even simply responding to its dislike of the policies of south korea in recent period. and that has encouraged it to adopt a brash and defiant posture against external pressure. the greatest likelihood i suspect that ambassador bosworth would agree is that there's some of all three of these involved in the position that they're taking. some observers on the outside have concluded that diplomacy with north korea is essentially hopeless. well, i completely, bluntly disagree with that as i'm confident ambassador bosworth is. it's an imperfect tool but the fact is, that even with north korea, when we engage in diplomacy, diplomacy paid some dividends. and it could again in the future. so finally, there's a common assumption that north korea will sell anything to anyone. north korea's export of nuclear technology to syria appea

indicating there will be discussion on how to finesse that with a obama administration. is that your understanding? >> again, you are asking me to get into what is going to happen when we actually sit down and negotiate, but it has to be worked out first and foremost between the two parties themselves. we are a facilitator. >> as far as the settlement freeze and negotiations on natural growth, is there room for negotiation? >> our policy is clear, settlement activity must be frozen, an obligation under the road map. >> why not criticize prime minister netanyahu's speech, because he felt sure? -- he fell short? >> we want to focus on how we can get to this ultimate goal that the whole world wants. we take it as a positive that he accepted this idea of two states living side by side. >> just had an election -- >> pretty much opposed -- >> much of the world. >> yemen. the bodies of the missing europeans have turned up. >> i did not know what you are referring to. >> can you give me a little bit more -- >> they were killed, germans, a brit, and a south korean. i will have to

to underscore what is actually happening 24/7 in the obama administration. add to this the fact that the administration has stuffed pro-abortion activists, a literal who's who in the abortion rights organizations, in key gatekeeper positions and you get the idea. you see that abortion is a serious undertaking by this administration. even the gatekeeper, the woman, and a fine woman, who heads up the u.s. agency for international development, wendy sherman, used to be the director of emily's list. so every dollar of foreign aid goes to the person who used to be the director of emily's list. yet obama's international abortion agenda is unpopular and getting increasingly unpopular with the american public. the gallup poll found by a margin of 65% to 35% americans opposed his reskigs of the mexico city policy and i would note parenthetically the most recent gallup poll from may 15 indicates that americans are clearly trending pro-life with 51% calling themselves pro-life, 42% calling themself pro-choice. . america is changing, it is evolving in favor of life. in

on the little. >> there was a letter of criticism sent by the human rights president to the obama administration for their backing recently of the defensive marriage act. and the response from the administration was written up in the "wall street journal." says the justice department spokeswoman said in the statement that the department was following routine in the filing and wasn't making a policy statement. "as it generally does with existing statutes, the justice department is defending the law on the books in court. until congress paffs legislation repeeling the law, the administration will continue to defend the statute when it is challenged in the justice system" guest: rob, that is true as far as it goes. the president did take an oath of office to uphold the laws of the country and that is his job. and until the law is changed he has to enfor force the current law. however, there are still questions as to why particularly insulting and stupid arguments had to be included in that brief. for example, the argument na, well, as a gay person, you aren't being discriminated against because you

the obama administration has given from what all indicators are

-india relationship, about the obama administration's desire to take the administration -- to take the relationship to a new level. her hopes that an expanded partnership will be the signature accomplishment of both governments and of which economic corporation is a core element. but most significantly for the topic at issue here, trade cooperation, she recognized what i think it's long been the case in this area. and as she put it, we need bilateral cooperation between our governments to catch up with the business and people to people ties. with that in mind, and with strong government in both countries, it is time for the government to seize opportunity, to build confidence in the trade relationship, and to facilitate rather than impede bilateral business ties. first we opted to start with the basics. and that is the government should seek to resolve long-standing bilateral trade irritants on both sides. that's what i would call low hanging fruit. the indian government should seek to remove tariff and nontariff barriers particularly where there is no competition, there is no competin

>> thank you very much. >> next, new york times columnist david brooks talks about the obama administration. president obama holds a press conference with german chancellor angela merkle, and that -- look at the latest unemployment figures. >> there is still time to get your copy of c-span's 2009 congressional director, with information on house and senate members, the cabinet, supreme court justices, and the nation's governors, plus the street maps and how to con tact committees and caucuses. >> now, "new york times" columnist david brooks speaking about president obama. mr. brooks was at the national conference of the american advertising federation as the keynote speaker at the oak the new york times" luncheon. this is 20 minutes. >> i never get tired of looking in that. it is fun to be cool. good afternoon. we are about to hear from one of the nation's most respected and well-liked drugless. he certainly has a lot to talk about these days. -- well-liked journalists. he must occasionally wondered why he campaigned so hard for the job. moments after he took the oath, president obama had t

has he talked to the obama administration? guest: the obama administration is most comfortable with those of a great with him. host: detroit on the independent line. guest: i have been invited several times over the last six months to testify on the hill and have had an opportunity to relate my views. caller: i watch a lot of these shows and i am glad i got on with you. i live in michigan and have a small business. all of a sudden, i got a form from my bank that said they are cutting my credit card for my business. a $20,000 limit. i have never missed payments. we have not used it in a couple of months. we are doing well, and all of a sudden, they are cutting it out of nowhere. the reason was that we have not used it in a few months. thank you for your business but we will have to close your account. no other reason. we had no problems at all. i ask my friend who was a cpa and he said it is happening across the board. i am a clinical psychologist, so i see this in a hold from buy. nothing really can get done weather republican

the obama administration is avoiding debt. it is a very pragmatic, not a very emotionally-satisfying response at times. you want to stand up and shout, and the republicans demand that. this administration sits back and says it might be easier to do that in the short term, but in the long term we need to be pragmatic. this government is very important and we have to deal with it. host: john on the independent line is joining us from rockport, new york. caller: hello. my comment is this, there seems to be a trend ofiran developing nuclear weapons, on the other hand, israel has 200-300 of their own nuclear devices. secondly, there seems to be a great deal of credibility put into the tweets and twitter which was rolled out only two months before all this happen. also myspace -- myspace is owned by rupert murdoch who also owns

obviously the obama administration is putting off. and particularly vice-president cheney in making this big effort to connect, be more transparent. but there are politics in at as well. >> i imagine there are differences and the differences may or may not be bigger than we think once we start seeing more classes between the branches. these internal task forces that the administration has set up, you are more transparent than the bush should ministrations was and the clinton administration was prior to that. to me, the real fight about transparency in our administration, the claims of executive privilege, when it was putting the executive congress against the presidency, you don't normally see that when those fights with both parties told congress and the white house. if, i hope, the control of the congress and the presidency come to differ over the next few years, you will see those classes, and you will see the extent to which president obama is committed to transparency. i happen to think there's an enormous value to be able to shi

the situation has now been compounded by a recent obama administration action that now blames cities and farms in california for the plight of the killer whale. this is absolutely absurd. what is wrong with this government? we are starving people to save the killer whale now. this highly controversial opinion was rushed into print by the obama administration without public comment or debate. this is a clear violation of the endangered species act and has since been challenged in court. nevertheless, the obama administration, just like the captain of the titanic, declared full steam ahead and mandated further reductions in california's water supply. this has caused water shortage to spread to los angeles and even to san diego. the democrat congress is directly responsible. you were warned, you failed to act and now this congress must accept the responsibility for their actions. a government that cannot provide water is a government that has failed. throughout history dictators like zimbabwe's mugabe have used water as a weapon to starve their enemies of water. but what we've never see

we will focus on how to read the obama administration. ining us to help interpret that is john shaw. if you have to pick below points to consider on how to grade the administration on its bank policies, would you say? guest: it is too soon to tell with the agenda for the financial-services industry, whether it is working. they inherited a very complex and chaotic situation. you start out by saying it is too soon to tell. broadly it will be measured by the degree of stability that enters the financial system and to which banks can lend to consumers. this whole notion we hear about systemic risk, but institutions became so in snared and complex, that brought the whole system into jeopardy. the long term will be the sense in which banks lend, to which consumers and businesses can borrow at a reasonable rate, the degree of stability in the system. host: with the money that has been given back -- is that a pure way to sense if there is stability arriving in the market? guest: it is an indication. i was at a hearing yesterday with tim geithner w

the same is true of the obama administration. the cable that the secretary ascending to diplomatic corps is here in the united states, it is a marker as not just a continuation of the commitment of the bush administration to fighting in the trafficking in modern slavery, but in anticipation -- but an intensification of the obama administration. i think it's something that those of us who work in the field whether it is here in the state department, people like myself web and federal prosecutors and investigators working with the ngo's, that is something we're seeing a positive response to. as far as the counter trafficking response, i would like to leave you with two things. one of which is the notion that because we are in a time of economic crisis, guest workers are particularly vulnerable because of the way in which recruitment is often done. we see a problem in the worker programs

over the past several months, the obama administration has been working to manage an historic crisis in the auto industry. president obama inherited an auto industry that lost 50% of its sales and over 400,000 jobs in the year before he took office. two companies, general motor and chrysler had received substantial loans from the prior administration and were requesting substantial additi additional assistance that only the government could provide. without this assistance, both of these companies faced uncontrolled bankruptcies and almost certain liquidation which would have cost significant job loss with a ripple effect throughout our entire economy. even so, president obama was unwilling to put additional taxpayer dollars on the line unless these companies and their stakeholders were willing to fundamentally restructure, address prior bad business decisions, and chart a path towards long-term financial viability without ongoing government assistance. therefore, the president decided to give both gm and chrysler a chance to work with their stakeholders to make them stronger, leaner

the reality is that the obama administration can't continue the unprecedented level of spending while claiming to hold the middle class harmless. now, if you don't believe me, listen to leading economists. martin sullivan, a former economic aide to president reagan, actually, who backed president obama last fall said and i'm quoting -- "you simply can't tax the rich enough to make all this up." unquote. he goes on to say and the quote continues: "just getting the budget to a sustainable level, there needs to be a broad-based tax increase." leonard butman with the tax policy center said and, again, i'm quoting -- "there is no way we're going to be able to pay for government 10, 20 years from now without coming up with a new revenue source. and, finally, economist paul krudman wrote, and i quote -- ""i find it hard to see how the federal government can meet its long-term obligations without some tax increases on the middle class." unquote. all of these experts echo the point i'm making, you can't tax the rich enough to pay -- to cover all the spending. inevitably what all of this is lea

the obama administration has been trying -- it is a delicate balance. host: is there any precedent for this kind of position? guest: we have seen the government step in before. it is a step beyond at least the finance industry, what we have seen in the past. especially because of public pressure, you will see a lot more desire, why are these guys making hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses, and their companies continue to destroy the economy? host: hothis announcement, a number of banks that received federal aid will be repaid the money as early as this week. why are they taking that step now? guest: they don't want to face executive compensation restrictions. the money they got from the government, especially last fall when there was no capital available to banks. the banks will say, washington is interfering too much. we want to get out from under the umbrella. half of these companies would not exist if washington would not have stepped in. these companies, it is funny. guest: he oversaw $7 billion worth of pay outs to victims and victims' famil

would like to sayeá,&@ @ @ @ r anywhere near the level of pride and joy i do with what the obama administrationhas been able to do in his first 125 days, an extraordinary amount of credit for that goes to john. it is also great to be here with lisa, given her contribution to acs. after four times of debating administration officials, it is nice to be an administration official. [applause] i have had the unique role of working for two vice presidents and a very different vice- president in between. with all of them, the role of a vice-president starts and ends with his relationship with the president and what the president asked him too. al gore said the vice president has one other do you which is to cast a vote in the senate when there is a tie vote. as he is fond of saying, every time i vote, we win. in the case of vice-president biden, president obama has asked him to be a counselor at large and take on special projects as they come up. right now we are spending a lot of time implementing the recovery act and have a lot of our staff working on that. on the foreign-policy side we are working

caller: good morning, my question is why is the obama administration creating all these czar positions? why don't they let congressional members do it because they're not doing anything for the people? guest: one reason these positions are being put into place is because it gives them a point man. it is partly a political demonstration that these are issues they consider important enough to appoint someone specifically to focus on them. host: he will also oversee the pay of the automobile companies. guest: right, gmac, gm -- all these firms. anyone who has received bailouts in the last six or seven months. host: here is a tweet -- a comment on mr. feinberg. every american should see a giant red alert here. this is baltimore, md. on our democrats' caller: line good morning. i have a question for your guest. my question is, i wonder if mr. crittenden was aware that president obama as a center sponsored a bill to curb executive pay? guest: yes, i mean, heat -- go ahead. yes, heat as a senator on a number of issues sponsored legislation, mortgage bankruptcy -- caller: yes, i did here on np

more from a caller comparing the bush administration with the obama administration with regards to detainees. caller: when fdr was president it was an overwhelming congressional majority. s the post portrayed he was no great humanitarian, enemy combatants were shot under roosevelt as evidence to wet the previous caller said about the germans. and he incarcerated all the japanese just for being japanese. host: clear lake, texas on our independent line. caller: thank you, i do not think that bush was mistaken in using his executive authority. i do not think close in guantanamo is going to solve anything, and moving them to another location. they must be processed in some kind of trial. just changing the location will be an expense to the taxpayer and will not address the core issue of having their day in court and what kind of justice system will be used. but guantanamo has turned into this poster child for america's foreign policy and is a red herring. i do not think the world is inflamed over the few detainees we have in guantanamo. i think that we need to be focused on the money we give isr

recently, i think today, the administration -- mr. obama called the iraq war a war of choice. yet he continues to persecute -- prosecute that war. he has eight withdrawal timetable, essentially the same as the bush administration. the guantanamo bay issue has been brought up, yet it appears that the result will be either terrorists in the u.s., subject to all of our constitutional rights, or the creation of something essentially the same as guantanamo bay, the interrogation techniques have been left to essentially in place at the same way. i even heard the president the other day say we cannot sustain this deficit spending. it's enough to amaze you sometimes. according to the washington post editorial page, the administration's position on state singer -- state secrets makes it hard to distinguish it from its predecessor. the aclu has written that when it comes to key national security, the obama administration is continue -- is continuing along the path that was paved by the bush of ministration. -- by the bush administration. this has not changed. this is more of the same. i

the obama administration admits nothing ever changed, this was only change as an enticement, not because they ceased any of the activities. the legal threshold for being on the state sponsor of terrorism was that. they have been on the list since 1988 and there has never been any reason to take them off from a legal perspective. it was a diplomatic move to take them off. i hope we don't use that as an excuse not to move on this. i will yield to your research on the issue. i am looking as a way to appear more serious than rhetoric. what they're doing is a danger to the whole world. thank you for being with us. i will yield back. >> i will recognize senator f n feingo feingold. >> i am very pleased that this hearing is being held. it has been awhile since the committee explore this issue, and one that we agree is one of the greatest challenges to our national security. although we made some initial headway at the last of the last administration, we have not found a lasting solution. the korean peninsula continues to deteriorate. the united states needs to take a central role in determining

the same is true of the obama administration. today's press event upstairs, the cable that the secretary is sending to the diplomatic corps in the united states and abroad, is something that is a marker for not just a continuation of the bush did ministration's commitment to fighting in and trafficking and modern slavery but an intensification of the part of hillary clinton and the obama administration. that is something that those of us who worked in the field, whether in the state department, people like myself who have been federal prosecutors investigating the cases working with the ngos, that is something we have seen a lot of response to world wide. we will hopefully see an improvement in the coming year as far as the countertrafficking response. 2 things i would like to leave you with, one of which is the notion that because we are in a time of economic crisis, especially workers, foreign guest workers are particularly vulnerable, it is too often done, we see a problem in programs. a number of rankings are affected by coun

to a large extent it depends on how far the obama administration will go to satisfy domestic critics on its handling of the iran issue. it makes it tough for the obama administration to reach out to iran and they're behaving in this particular way, not just the allegedly fraudulent elections, but also the kind of harsh response to opponents. you have human rights groups like amnesty international and human rights watch talking about scary things in tehran going on right now. people arrested at their homes, people trashing houses. seizing people and putting them into prison, allegations of torture and abuse. it makes iran even more radioactive than before and politically very hard for obama to say, hey let's talk about the nuclear issue. who wants to be seen ago she was someone who has such a bad reputation? host: what were the circumstances under which you left iran to go to dubai, would as we look for guest: down the road it seemed to me that the iranian authorities were inventing this fantastic scenario for all these foreigners and a dual nationalists were involved in this best con

response to the question, looking out beyond where we are now in a broad focus i think the obama administration believes it is time to begin talking seriously with the affected countries about a permanent replacement for the armistice of 53. that was 50 years ago and in some ways concerning and lamentable a state of war still technically exists on the korean peninsula. >> thank you. -- before, senator casey. before senator shaheen i just want to say committee process we have promised durham -- we have the prime minister coming and after your questioning if the ambassador we are going to switch panels and i want to have time to hear from the second panel of experts and if i could ask the ambassador to pass by on the way out we would appreciate that and finally senator boxer asked me to mention that she shares the concern about the imprisonment of laurel lane and she invites them to join in signing with respect to the administration's approach. senator shaheen. >> thank you, mr. chairman. ambassador basra, thank you for being here and your service. i would point out to our graduate of dartmouth a

but the that's one reason why the obama administration is taking on so much so early pre did have an intuitive understanding that people's attention is going to scatter. i think he is enormously capable. this is one respect in which he is different than george w. bush. he was ok. when he was given a written speech and he could give it, he had some gifted speech writers. in the day-to-day argument of public policy, he was just not very good. i just hate to say that, but that is not where he excelled. obama is good at all of this. what was the story he told senator reid, that he has the gift. he has the gift of persuasion. he can talk his way into and out of anything, i suppose. that could become, at some point, to be seen at glib -- as glib. when he starts to call a certain things shameful like the bonuses. ok, maybe they are, but we -- but we want him to keep saying that? i think it is interesting to see how it is going to play out over time. overall, we need to see the effects of his policies. and we're looking at up to 10% inflation, a stagnant economy, that is not going to be a ve

according to "the washington post" editorial page, the obama administration's position on state secrets makes it hard to distinguish from its predecessor. anthony romero, the executive director of the aclu, has written a new administration has embraced policies held over from the bush era including the use of the state secrets play. less congress legislation essentially the same as h.r. 984, was co-sponsored in the senate by senator joe biden and hillary clinton, who were now president obama's vice president and secretary of state but this year president obama, vice president clinton and secretary-- vice president biden, excuse me and secretary of state: have gone silent on the bill. when asked about recently the vice president's communications director said "no comment on this from here." the legislation goes exactly in the wrong direction. so much so that even president obama, vice president biden and secretary of state clinton are running away from it. so should we and i yield back the balance of my time. >> i thank the gentleman and i now recognize the distinguished chairman of the

and it is one of the major reasons, not the only reason, but one of the reasons why for the obama administration the ultimate goal remains verifiable denuclearization. because if the korean pen ins la is denuclearized, then there is really no risk of proliferation. but we are not prepared and never will be prepared to settle for a policy which only concentrates on proliferation and ignores the root cause, which is the nuclearization of north korea. root cause which is the nuclear station if north korea. >> i certainly agree with that. if we had the capacity the proliferation issue is quinn to be there. we know that, and the best way to deal with that is the policy at the peninsula being nuclear weapons. so i agree with you. i just want to underscore the point not only direct threat of north korea having weapons capacity about what it could be as a supplier to other regions and other organizations including terrorist groups. we know that there has already been smoking guns here and we just need to understand the risk factors and take the appropriate actions and i think that proceeding from the un

but in the first four months of the obama administration, republicans have filibustered eight of the nominees, the ones we had to file cloture on. i've indicated there are many others with the constraints we have, with the rules in the senate, i can't file cloture on every one of these. those eight filibusters in the first four months of president obama's administration are twice as many as president bush faced in his first four years. four months compared to four years. so i hope, mr. president, people who are listening, watching or understanding this, we are not here berating republicans in oregon or nevada or cross the country. what i'm saying as the republicans here in the senate, the 40 of them, are not being fair to our president and our country. last year after senate republicans held up the work of congress more then any or time in the history -- remember, 100 filibusters last year -- after that the american people rejected the republican status quo. they said no to republicans "just say no" strategy. i would hope they learn the american people don't like this. independents d

we are not alone in this concern is precisely why the obama administration also opposes the mcgovern amendments stating that the mcgovern amendment, quote, would demonstrate a lack of commitment to the new strategy. it will signal to our afghan partners that the u.s. presence and efforts in the country are fleeting. and it demonstrates to al qaeda we are not intending to see this new strategy through, end quote. it could hamper u.s. strategy goals in the entire region. rather than focusing on an exit strategy, we should instead be focused on working with the obama administration to provide the necessary flexibility to craft policies that offer the best chance of success while ensuring congressional consultation and congressional notification. the underlying bill provides this balance and that's why chairman skelton, ranking member mckeon, chairman berman, and i ask our colleagues to support u.s. efforts in afghanistan and oppose the mcgovern amendment. the chair: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i yield myself 15 seconds. mr. chairman

the money speaker pelosi and the obama administration want to spend today is all borrowed money. we do not have this money. our constituents do not have this money. the federal government does not have this money. the democrat lead verse made the irresponsible decision to borrow in order to spend it at their whim. this bill will increase the deficit by borrowing and spending money we don't have. we can no longer blame the deficit and economic difficulties today on the previous administration because the democrat leaders are continuing to dig america into a bigger and bigger hole. this borrowed money is all being spent by speaker pelosi and the unemployment -- and the obama administration. as a result, the unemployment rate continues to rise and the deficit continues to rise also. this bill contains also several hundred earmarks. the earmark system is flawed. we know that even some of the earmarks in this bill have had questions raised about them. this legislation contains several giveaways for and preferential treatment to green countries to promote the green climate this bill ap

>> the bokes has put a strong em-- obama administration has put a strong emphasis. he spoke at the national academy of sciences and called for this level of mobilization. but i think the key place where you see the obama administration pushing this is in the support for higher standards in english, math, and science, across the board. but the work more so -- i don't mean not to answer this but it's both the states that are also pushing this right now. the council of chief state school officers and the national governors association just came out two weeks ago for the common core, which is joining together for clearer standards. and the question is will they take up science next. >> our guest is with us until 9:00 a and the discussion we are going to have is about math and science education in the united states. tennessee, doug on our independent line. you are up first. caller: good morning. i really -- what bothers me about this whole mads and science thing is i think -- math and science thing is you have to realize that american students don't see a big incentive t