host: as ranking member on the house budget committee, what was your reaction given by your paul ryanirman paul, republican of -- what was your reaction to paul ryan's response? guest: i agree that it is important for both parties to work together to try to tackle the deficit and debt. that is what the president said last night. he is serious about getting together with members of congress on both sides of the aisle to do exactly that. i was disappointed that paul ryan spent a fair amount of time about -- spent a fair amount of time talking about repealing the health care bill. i don't think people want to start from scratch. people understand the important consumer and patient protections that are in that bill. for example, your kids cannot be denied health insurance because they have diabetes or asthma. you can keep your kids on your policy until the age of 26. small businesses are getting tax credits. i do not think people want to wipe out all that stuff. we recognize that we need to make the changes and adjustments as we move along. this preoccupation with throwing out the whole t

you will see paul ryan, his remarks are distributed now.is is a speech about the role of government in american ociety. and an argument that we're in a financial crisis, an emergency, that requires us to completely rethink the way that government acts, its size and role. the president didn't have that tonight. i mean he talked about expanding high speed rail service to 80% of the american pub. that's a different set of priorities. so there's going... even though both of them will be very civil and very bipartisan, you're going to see a very large contrast in philosophy. so tonight... this is a good thing from my perspective, you're going to see one philosophy and another one very, very different. a clear choice. i'm not sure who is reading the american public better. the president may well win that contest. but it's a clear contrast. >> lehrer: clear contrast. >> i think there will be. i mean it's the difference being the chairman of the house budget committee, especially as a first-time chair, than it is being president of the united state

host: are you concerned that michelle bachman is taking too much attention away from paul ryan? guest: no, there is so much attention to go around. i think mr. ryan will do a good job explaining where we are. i do not think we will be ready for some of the measures that i think are necessary, until the country understands where we are and the risks we face. i hate to keep on doing this -- people ask me all the time, how long before we turn into greece and ireland, portugal? we have done some research in my office about the level of debt and deficit to gdp. the truth is, we are pretty close already. this graph shows the percentage of debt to gdp. we are right there with portugal. icelandic is pointed in the right direction, but we are not. -- is planned -- iceland is pointed in the right direction, but we are not. host: next phone call on the independent line. baltimore, maryland. caller: good morning. congressman, it is a pleasure to speak to you. i have a question this morning. but i am only 58, i spent over 20 years in the army. army pensions are not that much. i barely make 19

ryan deliveringwas paul the republican response. it is time to take your telephone calls and your tweaks in reaction to the state of the union 2011. here are the telephone numbers. you can tweak us and use the @cspan address. the tea party express is giving an alternative response. we will link to that from our web site and if you are interested watch and that on television, c-span will carry it on the network. we're beginning with a call from brooklyn. the reaction to the speech or the response. caller: my reaction is that obama was masterful. i think he showed clear leadership. i think we need to invest more in our infrastructure and in education and innovation. lucky said, this is where america's prosperity comes from. we need to get back to that. i think we need to make some cuts in the budget, but be responsible. we can take people and to the boss. host: next comes from robert in georgia. you are on the air, robert. what did you think of the president's speech or the republican response? caller: i like to thank you for the seve

you will see paul ryan, his remarks are distributed now.is is a speech about the role of government in american society. and an argument that we're in a financial crisis, an emergency, that requires us to completely rethink the way that government acts, its size and role. the president didn't have that tonight. i mean he talked about expanding high speed rail service to 80% of the american pub. that's a different set of priorities. so there's going... even though both of them will be very civil and very bipartisan, you're going to see a very large contrast in philosophy. so tonight... this is a good thing from my perspective, you're going to see one philosophy and another one very, very different. a clear choice. i'm not sure who is reading the american public better. the president may well win that contest. but it's a clear contrast. >> lehrer: clear contrast. >> i think there will be. i mean it's the difference being the chairman of the house budget committee, especially as a first-time chair, than it is being president of the united stat

that is one way in which paul ryan succeeded. he made that argument today. >> rose: how would this president different from the points that paul ryan made about government? >> well, if you -- >> >> rose: he seemed to be trying to define himself as -- >> i don't think you could describe the health care bill as a mod of self-restraint and limited government. that is exhibit a. the stimulus package $850 billion included in that stimulus package a great deal of spending in the areas the president talked about tonight. renewable energy, infrastructure, not just $8 billion or $10 billion as he talked about tonight but $20, $ 40 billion. >> rose: the president in the stimulus bill as designing this president and -- defining this president and how he defined himself tonight seem to be two different things. >> i think john heilemann said earlier he had a narrative which he lacked in the stimulus -- he seemed to be transational then. >> rose: -- transactional. i think he did better tonight. john, i would say paul ryan didn't specify a sing

paul ryan, unfortunately for his national debut, someone who is well regarded by many, fell into the category of 5 minutes to midnight, things are dark and are going to be bleaker and this is the time for cold showers and root canal. >> five minutes to dawn, five minutes to midnight? >> there are two kinds of democrats, those who's been, those who tell the truth. what we got from the president was a remarkable speech of spin. he did not even use the word "debt" until he was 35 minutes into the speech, and what he proposed was essentially nothing, the most trivial cuts come in a speech were the first half was all about new stimulus. it is as if nothing had happened, as if he was going to continue it exactly as he -- if the face the electorate is not serious when it says it wants shrinking of government -- >> the electorate is not serious, and you see that all the time. they want it generically but not specifically. there are not willing to pay -- they are not willing to pay -- >> in those circumstances, the president should lead and not pander to end irresponsible electorate that allo

i think what you are going to see in this house is a talented team of young leaders like paul ryan, the head of the budget committee, who are going to impress on policy, not necessarily as politicians, but extremely impressive on policy. it is going to be a serious republican house. >> you are talking about backtracking. >> john bidder is a grown-up, a legislator, whose job iso -- john boehner is a grown-up and legislator, whose job is to get the job done.

paul ryan, the republican with the budget axe. he's a little like the guy in the movie "dave," the accidental president who sets out to fix the budget, line by line. >> that's another $47 million, so, this is good. we're doing good. >> reporter: but in the movie, dave only has to find $650 million in savings. ryan wants to cut several trillion over the next ten years. i mean, how do you go in here and find the kind of savings you want to find and how do you -- >> i've been reading these things since i was 22 years old. you go through it line by line. direct loans, this is perfect. that is a new spending on auto pilot that has no congressional oversight and it gave the illusion that they were cutting spending. >> reporter: he's a 40-year-old father of three who worked as a congressional staffer before getting elected in his own right at just 28 years old. at a forum last year, he questioned the president with his son in his lap. but to democrats, ryan is a villain, who would balance the budget on the backs of seniors and the poor.

this is the fight the white house is preparing with paul ryan and the republicans because paul ryan willt, mark whitaker, today at the white house, senior officials gave every hint of a rope-a-dope to this. the talking point is we'll see what republican party we get in opposition. we'll see how they want to come at us and where they want to cut. >> you know, it is interesting that the president took about -- we have it in pages but about five pages of the speech to talk about all the new investments we need to continue to make before he got around to the point he's actually calling for a freeze on all discretionary spending for five years so the question is how does that math add up? >> i'm told michele bachmann has made her way to our television camera having delivered the tea party version of the response and we're close to our off air time here but congresswoman, we're happy to be able to talk to you. i know you were stuck behind a motorcade tonight. my first and foremost question is what was it about the gop response that was less than satisfying to you to feel the need to give the s

you will see paul ryan, his remarks are distributed now.s is a speech about the role of government in american society. and an argument that we're in a financial crisis, an emergency, that requires us to completely rethink the way that government acts, its size and role. the president didn't have that tonight. i mean he talked about expanding high speed rail service to 80% of the american pub. that's a different set of priorities. so there's going... even though both of them will be very civil and very bipartisan, u're going t e a very large contrast in philosophy. so tonight... this is a good thing from my perspective, you're going to see one philosophy and another one very, very different. a clear choice. i'm not sure who is reading the american public better. the president may well win that contest. but it's a clear contrast. >> lehrer: clear contrast. >> i think there will be. i mean it's the difference being the chairman of the house budget committee, especially as a first-time chair, than it is being president of the united states. th

paul ryan will say we're in an emergency, a fiscal emergency. that's going to require serious measures, probably beyond what the president is proposing. ryan is a big advocate of reform of medicare, for example. i believe if... coming out of that the administration really attacks that and demonizes it, that's not a good sign. eventually that problem has to be confronted and has to be done in a bipartisan way. there's no way around it. mark is exactly right. neither side has much of a political interest in doing this. it's entirely a substantive need. it's a test of our political system in many ways. >> lehrer: a test of the system in a word? >> i think it is. i do think the president is in a stronger position on reforming the entitlements in the sense that he can make the case, "i am the representative and leader of the democratic party. these are our programs. we care about them. we want to improve them while the other side has been historically their opponents. who do you want making these cuts if the cuts need to be made?" >>. >> lehrer: to c

that's not what eric cantor or paul ryan would lay out as the fundamentals of our competitiveness.ther elements of the agenda on corporate tax reform and regulatory reform and free trade that does create more conflict with the republican party but at the core it's a vision of a role of government creating the conditions of prosperity almost abraham linco lincolnesk that's a big problem from where paul ryan or eric cantor would end up. >> you can cloak an increase of spending and competitiveness agenda but you can't win the future when we drown in debt when our biggest competitor is the banker and person to whom we're indebted. a competitiveness focus is smart but it needs to be a conservative one that cuts spending and cuts debt. >> erin, death is what the business community wants to hear tackled. >> they want debt in focus. we do have a debt problem. we know that. one thing that doesn't get talked about that when we are feeling bad about ourselves compared to china and even with the financial crisis, $63 trillion are assets. debt is 13.5 trillion. we're a wealthy country. we can d

the caller mentioned paul ryan. here is his argument on the floor yesterday. >> this health care law, if left in place, will accelerate our country's path towards -- it will do as the president's own chief actuary will do, increase health care costs. we have seen premiums go up across the board. we have party heard from thousands of employers across the country -- we have already heard from thousands of employers across the country. we're already hearing from the lack of choices that consumers will get. this a new lot is a fiscal house of cards and is a health-care house of cards. it does not make our health care system better. i would argue it makes it weaker. we believe we can get to the moment of having affordable health care for every american, regardless of pre-existing conditions, without having the government taking it over, without $1 trillion of tax increases and medicare cuts. we believe in this. let's have health care reform put the patients in charge, not the government in charge. host: democrats on the

for example, in the previous congress, both paul ryan and john spratt, the former democratic chairman proposed different approaches to what is known as expedited rescission, that is, obviously, a complicated word for -- the meaning is pretty simple, which is that it allows another opportunity to scrub the budget, it allows the president, or whoever the executive branch may be -- whoever the president is, whether it is barack obama or somebody else to look at some of the measures passed by congress and say, hey, maybe you guys didn't really intend to do this, and eliminate what may be considered excessive spending. now, congress would then have an opportunity to come back and override that, but that may be one example of where we may get some agreement. now, the devil is in the details and that's what we will have to see. >> i was just going to ask about the republican commitment to cut $100 billion from the domestic discretionary spending and scale that bac back to 50 billion, ist achievable, is 50 billion achievable? >> well we will have to see because as you well know, when they wer

so far, except for people like paul ryan, the incoming charmente, the leadership has been quite cautious about would really make a meaningful difference, unlike the prime minster of great britain where they have put together a transformation of things about the british social welfare state. first of all, how serious they are about spending cuts. there's very little evidence to date that they're that serious. >> we will get some really clear indications within the next six weeks, get them in the president's state of the union address. we will get them in his budget, which the white house analysis is going to be about a week late. that's a document that in divided government you can almost guarantee the minute it gets to the hill, it is going to be declared dead on arrival. what you get out of the president's budget is some sense of where he thinks he can hold the line, where he is going to draw the distinctions. and also a sense of what his priorities are going to be. it will start the argument. >> but i think the republican leadership has quite a challenge. they do not have a union fied

the official one from house budget committee chairman paul ryan, then a follow-up from minnesota's michele bachmann representing the tea party wing. >> mr. speaker, i'm looking to find out what will be the specific cuts that the president will be proposing. we haven't heard specific cuts so far. >> reporter: republican leaders say publicly that miss bachmann has every right to deliver her owned a dress but they worry it sends the message that there are two distinct factions in the g.o.p. katie? >> couric: nancy cordes. nancy, thank you very much. in an earlier life, senior political correspondent jeff greenfield was a political speech writer. he has some thoughts now on the challenge the president is facing tonight. >> reporter: the president tonight will find himself in the same position as every recent president. he'll be the fifth consecutive chief executive to look out on a congress where the other party controls at least one house. so what to say? he could begin on a light touch. >> i look out at you i know how some of you must have felt in 1992. ( laughs ) >> reporter: and expect him

here is paul ryan on his blog.st: i would say one of the reasons we have a health care problem is because medicare is structured in a way that it can offload a lot of its costs on the private sector. medicare is governed by a series of the fact of price controls because the government uses its vast pressing -- purchasing power to set prices for the medical industry. that distorts the entire health care marketplace, changes prices in the private sector, offload some of the cost to the private sector, and that is some other reason why you have the high cost escalation. medicare is a huge program and it is very hard to isolate its attacks within the health-care marketplace. host: an e-mail from a dealer about reforming social security. guest: there is a very large -- lively debate, i am sure you know, about the defense budget. even people on the conservative side are saying defense should not be sacrosanct. there is some waste here. that need to be cut. no question, the pentagon is a government bureaucracy and governm

the republican response will come from paul ryan of wisconsin. we will have your phone calls and reaction on c-span, c-span radio, an online. you can also watch the address on c-span2 2. >> this week on "the communicators," a discussion meredith attwell baker. >> meredith attwell baker is a one of the two republicans who sit on the federal communications commission. if we could start with the vote the fcc took this week, which omcast merger. you were for it. why? >> this is my first time on a merger with the fcc. we have fallen into some pitfalls. comcast filed this merger with us on january 28 of last year. we have an internal clock up 180 days or repaid it is a big merger and we should carefully consider it. we should do it in a more timely manner. manner.

i want to see whether you're going to vote for that rules package that gives paul ryan the authority to set the budget limits himself. taking away your vote that you talked about that was so precious. and taking the right of all of us in the house of representatives-- having one member set the budget ceiling for the entire country is absolutely irresponsible and undemocratic. >> smith: go ahead. >> this is what america loves. this is what america loves. both sides pointing the finger at the other saying "it's your fault." >> it's not about fault. what are you going to do. >> when we talk about having adult conversations, we have to start acting like adults. it's very amusing to walk through this. i have to tell you for being on the outside all my life, i don't know how in the world you folks go home and look these people in the eye and say "we've done a great job." your country is $14 trillion in debt. >> you've got the opportunity now. >> congressman kelly, now you are one of those folks. it is your job in the majority party to govern. the first thing the republicans did when they t

starting in wisconsin, frederica paul ryan, who's the incoming chairman of the house budget committee gave the republican response last night. he's from wisconsin. to what degree is he speaking for where voters of wisconsin have gone since dwight? >> well, i guess you'd have to measure that by the election results and given that it is now a majority of republican states, i gather that he speaks for those voters and his message clearly is on budget restraint and he regards entitlements as something that's going to drag us down into, you know, the situation in greece. he said last night that government entitlements are growing a social safety net to a hammock. he's the one who has proposals in his road map, of course, to get at social security spending by allowing people to privately invest some of that money and by gradually turning medicaid into vouchers. so i think this message of fiscal restraint and a bloated government resonates here in the state of wisconsin and i think that's why you saw what you saw in the midterm elections. >> and the anger that was expressed in the midterm el

here is paul ryan on his blog. guest: i would say one of the reasons we have a health care problem is because medicare is structured in a way that it can offload a lot of its costs on the private sector. medicare is governed by a series of the fact of price controls because the government uses its vast pressing -- purchasing power to set prices for the medical industry. that distorts the entire health care marketplace, changes prices in the private sector, offload some of the cost to the private sector, and that is some other reason why you have the high cost escalation. medicare is a huge program and it is very hard to isolate its attacks within the health-care marketplace. host: an e-mail from a dealer about reforming social security. guest: there is a very large -- lively debate, i am sure you know, about the defense budget. even people on the conservative side are saying defense should not be sacrosanct. there is some waste here. that need to be cut. no question, the pentagon is a government bureaucracy and gov

you have paul ryan giving the official response to republicans, but then you have michele bachman who has started caucus giving her own address. guest: michelle laughlin is a fascinating figure in american politics. -- michelle bachman. she had to spend $11.6 million to raise the 13 million, so many may be saying how you do that? you spend a lot of money on direct mail and odoess and a lot of money with people on the phone trying to raise money for you. she has a very high turn rate in other words. it is not as a people ur money into her campaign coffers, she has to pull it out of them. it is costly to do that. by onemillion raised w member of the house gives her potical heft but you cannot ignore. but she is not a fulcrum in the house republican conference. she just is not. she thought for a couple of weeks for running for the house congress chairmanship position. it was made clear that if she did, she would probably get less than 20% of the votes, so she quietly folded that tent. she is a visible figure, but not particularly a leader. she can set rhetorical boundaes but does not dry

paul ryan will be head of the budget committee. he is going to be with the voice of republicans. good thing for republicans. >> colby, your star of the future. >> rubio, republican vice presidential candidate. >> happy new year. see you next week. >> for a transcript, go to

paul ryan will be head of the budget committee. he is going to be with the voice of republicans. good thing for republicans. >> colby, your star of the future. >> rubio, republican vice presidential candidate. >> happy new year. see you next week. >> for a transcript, go to

i am congressman paul ryan from janesville, wisconsin -- and chairman here at the house budget committee. president obama just addressed a congressional chamber filled with many new faces. one face we did not see tonight was that of our friend and colleague, congresswoman gabrielle giffords of arizona. we all miss gabby and her cheerful spirit, and we are praying for her return to the house chamber. earlier this month, president obama spoke movingly at a memorial event for the six people who died on that violent morning in tucson. still, there are no words that can lift the sorrow thatow engulfs the families and friends of the fallen. what we can do is assure them that the nation is praying for them, that, in the words of the psalmist, the lord heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds, and that over time grace will replace grief. as gabby continues to make encouraging progress, we must keep her and the others in our thoughts as we attend to the work now before us. tonight, the president focused a lot of attention on our economy in general -- and on our deficit and debt in parti

i'm congressman paul ryan from wisconsin and chairman here at the house budget committee.nt obama just addressed a congressional chamber filled with many new faces. one face we did not see tonight was that of our friend and colleague congresswoman gabrielle giffords of arizona. we all miss gabby and her cheerful spirit and praying for her to return to the house claimer will. earlier this month, president obama spoke movingly at a memorial event for the six people who died on that violent morning in tucson. still, there are no words that can lift the sorrow that now engulfs the families and frenls of the fallen. what we can do is assure them that the nation is praying for them, that in the world words, lord teams the broken hearted, and over time, grace will replace grief. as gabby makes progress, we must keep her and the others in our thoughts as we attend to the work before us. tonight, the president focused a lot of attention on our economy in general. and our deficit and debt in particular. he was right to do so. and some of his words were reassuring. as chairman of the

guest: i think it's a very substantial proposal to we have to see what paul ryan proposes. rand paul has proposed half of 1 trillion dollars -- hald of $1 trillion this year alone. host: paul ryan has said it is only feasible this year to cut about $60 billion this year. guest: i think they need to go further than that. i think there's a lot of pressure inside congress to not cut spending. nobody likes to make tough choices. this is not a democrat versus republican problem. i would say it is the establishment versus reformer problem. paul ryan is getting a lot of pressure from his own members. that is what the tea party is here for. host: how will you hold paul ryan and john boehner accountable? if $60 billion is the number they get to this year, what will happen? guest: it is not just that number. that was their initial number to cut spending. we are really looking at the total number that comes out of the house budget resolution, which will probably happen by april 15. it will probably happen in conjunction with the extension of the debt limit. we have a good short-term me

the house budget committee chair paul ryan of wisconsin. you can be a part of the discussion through your phone calls and tweets and on facebook.com/c-span and for more go to c-span.org/stou. c-span2 will be simulcasting the speech and get live coverage as they pass through the statutory hou house >>> efforts to get republican and democrats to sit together during the president's state of the union address. the two parties typically sit on opposite sides of the house chamber. the bipartisan seating proposal was first introduced by democratic senator mark udall of colorado. this is about 25 minutes. >> well, good morning to everybody. i've been joined by senator miles an hourkowski from alaska, congressman schuller from north carolina and the senator from arizona. i'm senator udall from colorado. i think what connects all of us is that we're all westerners. senator murkowski is from alaska. congressman gosar represents the use part of austin including the udall homeland including the northeastern part of arizona and i married a north carolini

i will turn over to paul gigot and paul ryan. >> it is a great pleasure for me to be here. it is a pleasure to be here with congressman ryan. the plan today is we will talk about 40 minutes and then we will open up for questions. before we get into the details of the budget year and the debate, let me ask you to think ahead two years, to 2012. >> the packers will have their second super bowl ring by then. >> you are more optimistic than i am, i am afraid. but you are running for reelection, you want to present to the voters what you have accomplished. thinking ahead, what is it that you want to tell the voters, show the voters that you have done in these two years? >> that is an import question. what i hope we will have done is have been responsible. we will conduct ourselves with humility. we will have work with president obama on occasion where we find common ground on issues to get things done for the country. but at the end of the day, and 2012, -- in 2012, i think there are large chasms of government philosophies that will not be bridged. i feel that we owe it to the c

and we saw this disconnect last night with michele bachmann speaking right after paul ryan.t did not look good for the republican party. they have some work to do internally. much like the democrats have had in the past when the liberals were leading the moderating. there will be a point if the tea party gains the kinds of momentum that they think they already have and most people think they don't have, they have to get to a point where the tea party is so powerful that it really is the tail wagging the republican dog. when you see that, if you see that you'll see much more attention. >> thanks for your time and insight. >>> well, a san rafael woman says she's on a crusade. she was kicked off an airplane because of her baby's car seat. today it happened again. little sunshine bradley has been on several airplane flights with no problem. twice, though, flight crews have kicked her and her mom off of the plane. the problem is with sunshine's car seat which is a standard model. it even has a sticker saying it's faa approved. does require a window seat or a seat with extra leg r

walker, our newly elected senator ron johnson from wisconsin, our congressional delegation including paul ryan and on behalf of the republican party wisconsin, i am proud and happy to stand before you and for our next chairman of the republican national chimecommite chairman, reince preibus. [applause] i have been involved in politics for some time, 30 something years and have watched over the last dozen or so years, the career that reince has brought to our party culminating several years ago when he became our leader. he immediately, upon becoming been chairman, he retired air debt, he ran the house, he hired the best people, he raised record amounts of money. he regretted conservative candidates. he represented us wonderfully to the media. he stayed on message. he wrapped us -- he wrapped his around the various coalition groups to include the tea party and the results november to show it. never before in the history of our state at least turned our stayed around. governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, both houses, the united states senate, and two congressional seats. it was a sta

paul ryan is very well respected among republicans. he is going to say something sadder very unpopular. -- that are very unpopular. some of the cuts he is talking about would mean real problems for law enforcement and health care. did you have michelle bachman and a tea party folks, they are saying that is not enough. there is a divided republican party. i do not think we have ever seen this kind of thing. a response to a response. we will see how those. >> congressman ryan is going to focus on what president obama has to say about freezing spending. we would like to -- we want to go back to 2008 levels. michele bock men will say that we can go further. i do not think you will see a controversial comment. >> i want to move from politics back to mechanics. since you have recent experience with this, who is the host tonight? >> it is really that the congress is the house. in some sense, the speaker of the house. the vice president is technically the president of the senate. it is a joint event. >> how much communication is with the white