the g-20 leaders renewed our commitment made in pittsburgh to use fossil fuel subsidies. the united states and laid out our plans for this goal, and we are thinking this is one the most important steps we can take to create clean energy jobs, increase our energy security, and address the threat of climate change, and i am pleased that we endorsed my proposal in the fight against corruption. in too many places, there is a break on -- brake on growth. this will be more broadly shared. many include by saying that i know that much of the focus coming into these meetings was on whether our nations would be divided by different approaches, but as we have proven repeatedly over the past 18 months, our nations can and have come together through the g-20 to build on the foundation of our shared interest. indeed, that is the purpose of these meetings. we can bridge our differences. we can continue a relentless focus on durable growth that puts our people to work and broadens prosperity for the world. so with that, let me take a few questions. i have got a handy list here. i am goin

. >> president of, will be in pittsburgh to speak at the university. -- president obama will be in pittsburgh to speak at the university. host: theree some tax breaks in here for businesses and individuals. what are some of the big ones for businesses? guest: the biggest one is the research tax credit. it helps pharmaceutical companies and technology firms rform research. there are also ta breaks for banks on their overseas income that they earned. tax breaks for restaurant in retail less than less than that get quicker depreciation under the bill. host: there are als provisions to extend lending from the small iness administration. how does that work? guest: there is quite a bit in the bill. it has grown beyond e traditional tax breaks, tax extenders' package. various small business lending stuff in there, the bonds for local and state government infrastructure, spending that was originally approved as part of the stimulus bill. is it is renewing or expanding that bonding authority. there's a summer jobs program for ars, federal funding for jewish summer jobs -- useyouth, federal funding for

you know because of the anti- trust exemption baseball, the pittsburgh pirates -- pittsburgh piratesmired in last place. just kidding. [laughter] anyway, passed the house 406-19. there are concerned -- concerns that eliminating the exemption would stop small health insurers from being able to collaborate and put them at a competitive disadvantage. if you are united, you don't have to worry about the fact that the exemption gives you the ability -- all they have plenty of information. but if you are one of the small, innovative health insurers you don't have access to the great information. you've got to get together to collaborate. why isn't that a reason to keep the exemption? and i love that question. a variation of what we talked about before. i love it only because it allows me to really -- collaboration is not illegal. and i think that is a point we keep making again and again at the antitrust division, that collaboration in and of itself is not illegal. the antitrust laws and the collaboration guidelines and health care guidelines all speak to this directly. so, legitimate coll

it is great to be back at carnegie mellon, and in the beautiful city of pittsburgh. i love visiting a good sports town. last year i stole dan rooney to serve as my ambassador to ireland. [laughter] to make it up, i invited both the steelers and the penguins to the white house to celebrate their championships. [applause] seeing how the blackhawks are headed to philly tonight with a 2-0 lead in the stanley cup final, i am just glad that we're on this side of the state. [laughter] i noticed a couple of people said they were rooting for the blackhawks which tell me something about the rivalry between pittsburgh and philly. we meet here at an incredibly difficult time for america. among other times, is a time when the worst environmental disaster of its kind in our nation's history is threatening the gulf coast and the people who live there. right now, stopping this oil spill and containing its damage is necessarily the top priority not just of my administration, but i think of the entire country. and we are waging this battle every minute of every day. but at the same ti

[applause] >> it is great to be back in the beautiful city of pittsburgh. i love to be in a great sports town. last year, i told -- i tapped them ready to serve as my ambassador to ireland. i invited both the steelers and the penguins to the white house to celebrate their championships. [applause] seeing how the black hawks are headed to philadelphia tonight with a 2-0 lead in the stanley cup finals, i am glad that we on this side of the state. [laughter] i noticed a couple people said there were rooting for the black hawks which tells you something about the rivalry between pittsburgh and philly. of course, we meet here at an incredibly difficult time for america. among other things, a time when the worst environmental disaster of its kind in our nation's history is threatening the gulf coast and the people who live there. right now, stopping this oil spill and contain the damage is the top priority not just in my administration but of the entire country. we are waging this battle every minute of every day. at the same time, we are continuing our efforts t

they now agree to it in pittsburgh. pittsburgh. each of the countries that already done this at a finance minister level. they submit to treasuries of how they think they are macroeconomics policy is going to go over the next five years. then the imf takes those and comes up with an analysis of whether or not these are consistent among each other. one concern is that you have differences -- some countries want to export their way out of this. the country's one to decide that, someone has to import. otherwise, we have an imbalance. the second thing there is huge concern about the relationship between the united states and china. we import more than we export. they export more than they import. we import their capital. they have capital surpluses. they lend this money. the problem there is not the form but the scale. the word "balance" means getting away from having these deficit surpluses concentrated so much in these two countries. the way they are doing that is collectively work thing -- working together to travel is under strong,

host: you are a graduate of the university of pittsburgh. me pointxeç>÷ol= out one h- it is spending on local spending plummeted. they spend on roads, schools, all construction products so fast that federal stimulus money has that been able to fill in the gap. >guest: this is the biggest single problem over the next year. state and local governments have a budget gap of $125 billion in the year ahead. it is not just that they are stopping projects, they will be laying off hundreds of thousands of workers including probably 300,000 education workers, teachers and school personnel. starting a this fall. when that happens, that will do real damage to the economy. only congress can do anything about this. the states are forced to balance their budgets. they cannot borrow. they cannot do deficit spending. if congress does not pass legislation they are considering now to inject money#h to pay fr teachers and to help the states with medicaid expenses and other expenses that will keep people employed, we will see a sharp drop in employment. we wil

at an afternoon speech in pittsburgh, president obama refocused on possible criminal wrongdoing, leading up to the spill. >> the catastrophe unfolding in the gulf right now may prove to be a result of human error. or of corporations taking dangerous shorted cuts to compromise safety. but we have to conditional that-- acknowledge that there are inherent risks to drilling four miles beneath the surface of the earth. >> lehrer: today, federal officials approved a permit for a new offshore well in the gulf in shallow water about 50 miles off louisiana. a moratorium on deep water drilling remains in effect. >> ifill: jit zeit and anger is spreading along with the oil. the coastal beachs and marshes of louisiana, mississippi, alabama and florida. joining frus new orleans with an update on the situation is the head of the national occasionic and atmospheric administration. welcome jane lubchenco. you were with us about two weeks ago and you said you thought the oil was nine to 12 days away. 14 or more days away. is what we're seeing come ashore on all these other coastal states, is that what yo

bernard goldsteen from the university of pittsburgh says he's most concerned about those involved in the cleanup operations. >> the kind of organization ans we worry about are the respiratory tract-- people inhaling the-- and they affect the nose and eyes and upper respiratory track so they'll develop a cough. some people have skin reactions when you put certain types of petroleum hydrocarbons on their skin. so, again, skin contact should be voided. >> reporter: louisiana's state university's edward oberson is also worried about cleanup workers. but he said the dangerous chemicals in the spill dissipate before they reach shore, and the general population, including people in plaquimines have little to worry about. >> it can make you feel light-headed and some people are more susceptible to that exposure than others , but it's not acutely toxic chemical. gasoline is much more dangerous than this oil, much more dangerous. it's explosive. it contains human carcinogen benzene, and we use gasoline every day. >> reporter: shrimper a.j. cooper and many others we spoke to don't buy this stuf

this is part of what we promised in pittsburgh. we congratulate various countries that have managed to adopt measures in terms of budget and deficit reduction such as what has happened in the u.k., the reduction of unemployment in china, and a new regulation in the u.s. we are also going to work to have a balance and durable economic growth. the g-21 some assessment for each country -- the 20 once an assessment for each country. we have come to an agreement for important reform of the financial sector. improve regulation, capitalization, and a prudent approach. we managed to complete this important work earlier than forecasted. each country will be able to determine and apply a bank tax if necessary. we have also discussed other measures such as anti- protectionism and the cancellation of the debt of haiti. the g-20 has a lot more to do to ensure good recovery, but we have strived towards goals that canada has worked for. as we strive to build sustainable economies, that is the issue we have to tackle head-on. we have a firm target

pittsburgh, massachusetts, independent line. good morning. we lost sam. tony in atlanta, good morning. caller: thank you for c-span. this is my first time calling. my comment is that i had to much debt and my job started cutting back on hours and i was not able to pay all my bills on time. i had to make budget changes -- make a bunch of changes. it seems to me that i'm paying back my bankruptcy and it costs me more now to pay the debts o ff. the loss, when the change to come actually heard it and -- sit law -- laws, when they changed it, actually hurt the consumer. guest: that experience is not atypical. the 2005 law changes, perhaps what the caller was referring to, require some individuals to have the capacity to repay more of their debts. the law authorizes them to do so through a repayment plan in chapter 13. it shifts it to chapter 15 were at a greater percentage is repaid over a period of time of three to five years. host: next caller. caller: steve, how you doing this morning? host: fine, thank you. caller: my comment begins in 1963. we were experi

they forget three police officers were killed in the pittsburgh because he was afraid obama was goingto take his guns. they forget about the old gentleman who went to the holocaust museum to try to shoot people because he wanted to go into the fed and 1981 -- this book could have been -- >> we're out of time. >> this could have been examples of hate crimes after obamm was elected and it would fill up the book. >> thank you. those are fascinating and on point observation that i hope we can get into those. i want to come to my good friend, james rucker last. he is the executive director of+ color of change, and online lobby of six and a dozen people dedicatee to and will find ways of black americans anddforcing politicians to be more responsive to their needs. recently, york for media matters and tried to visit some accountability in the new media environment driven by profit and giant conglomerate media organizations. i was wondering if you could describe the work of cholera of change and what you think the impact it has had and where it should go in the future. -- color of change and

in pittsburgh, we went further, moving beyond the old economic cycles of boom and bust, by committingour nations to in new -- to a new framework that is balanced with specific financial reforms. our bold action has succeeded. in the u.s., we're committed above all to leading by example. because of the steps we have taken to get our economy moving, we're growing again, and this growth is beginning to translate into job creation. we're now poised to pass the toughest financial reforms since the aftermath of the great depression. globally, economic contraction has given way to economic growth. we are rebounding. emerging economies, and the particular, are seeing impressive growth. we have pull ourselves back from the brink and begun to move forward with economic recovery. but, as we all know, that is not good enough. the u.s. and around the world, too many people are still out of work. we have been reminded that financial crisis in one country can have consequences far beyond its borders. history teaches us the growth and prosperity is never guaranteed. it requires constant effort and co

order to guarantee durable and powerful economic growth, and this is part of what we promised in pittsburgh. we congratulate various countries that have managed to adopt measures to this end in terms of budget and deficit reduction such as what has happened in u.k., reduction of unemployment in china and new regulation framework in the u.s. and we also are going to work to have a balanced and durable economic growth and g-20 wants an assessment for each country at a tame when we shall be looking at it. so we have come to an agreement for an important reform of the financial sector. so improve regulation for capitalization and prudent approach, and we manage to complete this important work earlier than forecast. each country will be able to determine and apply a bank tax if necessary. we have also discussed other measures such as anti-protectionism and also the debt. it has a lot more to do to ensure good recovery. but we have strived towards goals that canada had worked for. >> that is the issue we have had to tackle head on, and we have arrived at firm targets for advanced economies on deb

i visited all formally shuddered plant and pittsburgh -- a formally shuttered plant and pittsburgh, north carolina. they're going out and picking up used oil and turning it into biodiesel. it's absolutely marvelous and those jobs stay right here. they do not go anywhere else. and we've got the community colleges to help the workers, if there's something specific about a particular industry. we have got it, all the right infrastructure for us to be a leader in america, and help emissions and oil. that is the right thing to do for the next generation and for ourselves right now. >> mr. cunningham, alternative energy. >> it should be a part of our energy future. we have to look over the horizon and see what the opportunities are. the federal government has a very important role and north carolina can and should lead, and we are. one of the videos that i mentioned from my video series earlier, a gentleman who works for a company, and he started his career in the oil business. now he is into alternative energy. because north carolina was forward thinking about an alternative energy standard, w

. >> i don't know how i can be more clear than to look at what has been said in pittsburgh. >> the climate has to be a component of the comprehensive energy. >> this would crash your computer all the times that the president has talked about the comprehensive strategy. >> there are reports that bp was considering suspending one of their dividend payments. was there any talk at all about the anti pp rhetoribp rhetoric? is the president concerned about losing influence allies in the media? >> no. i've said this before and i will reiterate. if the president had decided to run for president based the what the pundits were saying, he would be in the senate. i appreciate the hand of the polls of america by those that live on cable tv. i don't think that is where all of real america lives. >> -- one of the things that the government groups have complained about is the deal that was cut to in terms of requirements. can you talk about why the president of tax to the deal? >> i would be happy to look at what was put out and give a sense of what is in that brief. thanks. i would say he is probably in

in our second meeting in pittsburgh, with our recovery beginning to take hold, we agreed to work to pursue a balanced pattern of global growth and repair of our financial systems. this weekend in toronto, i hope we can build on this progress by coordinating our efforts to promote economic growth, to pursue financial reform, and to strengthen the global economy. we need to act in concert for a simple reason. this crisis proved and events continue to affirm their our economies are inextricably linked. -- that our economies are inextricably linked. safeguards of the to our nation's can help protect all nations. -- of each of our nations can help protect all nations. i am proud of the work of chairman dauodd and chairman frank and the strong work of chairman petersen and the parties who were up very late last night. we are poised to pass the toughest financial reforms since the ones we've created in the net -- in the aftermath of the great depression. it represents 90% of what i proposed when i took up this fight. now, let me be clear. our economic growth and prosperity depend on a strong, rob

and i will ask unanimous consent to put this interview that appeared in the pittsburgh tribune into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. mcgovern: in that same interview i think it's important for my colleagues to know that the minority leader talked about his belief that we should raise the retirement age for social security to 70. clearly we need to talk about how we keep social security solvent, but he then went further to say that we should take that money, not put it into social security, but pay for the war. so our senior citizens should pay for this war, the rest of us don't. the burden once again falls on our senior citizens. we know what they are about. we know what their beliefs are. and given an opportunity to take back control of their house, we know they'll try to undo wall street regulatory reform. >> will the gentleman yield? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts controls the time. mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. i would appreciate it if i'm not interrupted when i'm speaking. it is in this interview we put in th

i have done it in denver, los angeles, and in pittsburgh. you have seen the inability to connect the need to those that want to help. i was recently out in los angeles. a woman stood out in the back of a group and said she was a very active community leader in los angeles. when they are making decisions about veterans, she did not have anybody in the room that knew anything about veterans. they did not know anything about the family challenges. while there is a great desire to make this connection. -- we have to figure out how to make it so that communities. how to make that connection? it is not as simple as it might seem to be. sometimes people ask me, how time -- how come you are involved in this? in a very critical way for me, our veterans recruit for this. if they have had a good experience and they believe in us, and they go home and tell others. that ambulances others to come back in. it is really a very strong part of our recruiting program, even though it is not actively stated as such. one of my goals is to figure out a way to work

the government feels they can impose prevailing wages -- you can't get any city of pittsburgh government contract unless you pay prevailing wage. what makes a politician think he can set wage rates when it should be a free market? if i am in millionaire and i look at the environment and the rules to hiring people, if there are too many barriers, i will take my money where there are less barriers. they should drop the quotas, prevailing wage. unions, what did they have as a bargaining chip? 500 people decide they don't want to work for me? i will find somebody else. what do they have other than an intimidation? they need to remove the barriers and quotas. and i wish one state would at least experiment with this. put a moratorium on all barriers to wages and you will see an explosion of hiring. ok, bye. host: this is "the washington post" with the headline, push to extend jobless aid. pittsburg -- sorry, just talked to tom. let us move on to paul on the democratic line from kentucky. caller: i have a solution for, you know, we are going down big time in this country. we need to nationalize

in pittsburgh, the oil spill at the top. speech, but the headline, oma defense policies. flotilla attack o front page. israeli p.m. defense flotilla defends -- isrli pm the flotilla attack. and this headline, nuclear not on the table. a lot of callers suggested putting a nuclear device down in the wells to seal it. today," it the oil spill dominates their. tay," the oil spill dominates there. rises, focus turns on damage. some more fromu few telephone calls. pensacola, florida. thomas on the republican line. caer: i'm a little surprised becoming so thin kins not all, just wanted to call as an opportunity topic before you. got it. i strongly disagree with that caller. is one ofearly this the worst catastrophes to happen states of america. know where this caller from, but down here nightmare. i actually appreciate c-span with a number of guests think this is the issue. that, you ask what is the concern. thing happened, the is jobs and the economy. anybody with any sense can look around and see the sovereign debt of around the world, re ome, deficits, 18% real unemployment.

ear open for japanese, chinese, italian, polish, ukrainian in the crowded streets of baltimore, pittsburgh, san francisco. the newsstands are bursting with newspapers in all these linkages and more. multiple his papers because in many of these languages, you had to have one paper for regular organization democrats and another one for socialist and another one for union members. the grandchildren of the children who ran those streets are some of the same people worrying openly about what these new immigrants will mean to our old country. from all the data, my best advice is to not worry. if you watch spanish-language television or listen to creole radio in miami or brooklyn, what do you hear? every couple of minutes, you hear ads for night schools, take language courses, cd rom language courses for the whole family. no one is developing these products, pain for the ads, and buying the courses for kicks. no latino family doubts that the acquisition of english for themselves and for their families is absolutely vital for climbing, the bottom rungs of the socio-economic ladder to get someplace

[applause] >> a little later, president obama will be in pittsburgh. he will talk about the state of the economy. it is just after 1:30 eastern. >> we have got three new c-span books for you. abraham lincoln, the supreme court, and who's buried in grant's tomb. to order, potogo to c-span.org /books. >> this weekend, noted feminist author and legal scholar. the university of chicago law professor has written or contributed to more than 20 books on liberal education, ethics, and legal justice. joyner 3 hour discussion with your e-mail and phone calls. sunday at noon. >> now want to south carolina politics. the primary race is next week to replace her cover rent -- republican gov. mark sanford. we take you live to a debate between the three democratic candidate in the race tomorrow. that is starting at 7:00. yesterday, for republican candidates running for the nomination debated at the university in florence. this hourlong debate is courtesy of wbtw. >> good evening. i want to welcome our viewers and those joining us watching us live on c-span. tonight, w

more broadly, just to widen out the challenges that the world economy faces, we said in pittsburgh that it was important for us to rebalance, in part because the u.s. economy, for a long period of time, was the engine of world economic growth. we were sucking in imports from all across the world, financed by huge amounts of consumer debt. because of the financial crisis, but also because that debt was fundamentally unsustainable. the united states was not going to be a will to serve in that same capacity to that extent. we are still going to be open and the importing as well as exporting. but the economic realities are such that for us to see sustained global economic growth, all countries are going to have to be moving in some new directions. that was acknowledged in pittsburg. that means that surplus countries will have to think about how are we spurring domestic demand. that means that emerging countries will have to think, are we only oriented toward exports, or are we also starting to produce manufactured goods and services for the internal market? it means that deficit countries h

here is how it concludes -- on the republican line is david from pittsburgh, pennsylvania. caller: just wanted to make one point. a democrat who mentioned that he was in the klan. it just wanted to expound on that -- because if it was a republican we would be talking about his past. he was a 20-year-long member. i did not know the hierarchy. not a member myself. but once i heard the term, grand -- something like that. maybe the people in west virginia can enlighten me. meaning he was a recruiter, he would bring young men in and send them out to terrorize blacks. interesting you hear black people praising him today. it is really strange. also, he once referred to the black race during the confederate flag talks, way back, called them a mongrel race and he used the n-word on "meet the press" referring to white trash as white -- you know what. just to juxtaposed -- just remember if trent lott had been a 20-year-long member of the klan. he never would have gotten into the senate. i think the double standards are amazing. i don't personally believe that white men like this chang

in pittsburgh, the oil spill at the top. speech, but the headline, obama defense policies. they have the flotilla attack on their front page. israeli p.m. defense flotilla attacked -- israeli pm defends the flotilla attack. and this headline, nuclear option not on the table. a lot of callers suggested putting a nuclear device down in the wells to seal it. "usa today," it the oil spill dominates their. -- "usa today," the oil spill dominates there. as anxiety rises, focus turns on limiting damage. we will show you some more from pages after a few telephone calls. pensacola, florida. thomas on the republican line. caller: i'm a little surprised c-span is becoming so thin skins host: not all, just wanted to use the call as an opportunity to put the topic before you. caller: i got it. i strongly disagree with that caller. i think clearly this is one of the worst catastrophes to happen to the united states of america. i don't know where this caller is calling from, but down here it is a nightmare. i actually appreciate c-span covering this with a number of guests. i think this i

mark, and it spurred -- in pittsburgh. caller: i think he entered a couple of my questions. i have two friends. i am 46. my best friend, his mother had umw medicare. and they are keeping her in the hospital. she had a heart attack. host: we are having a problem with his connection. we are going to move on to stephanie in washington, d.c. caller: what was taken on of medicare was the business subsidy. nothing was taken out of medicare except for the subsidy that paid business for something that they did not need. it was being paid for by 90% of the other medicare patients who were not subsidize the way that this is always is. as for the doctor shortage, i would rather see a nurse practitioner anyway. i do not think there will be a shortage. there will be a lot of people going in to help people, instead of doctors who just want to make money. and they say we do not want lawyers in the business but what about the hundreds of thousands of people a year who are killed by hospitals and doctors, and they won the lawyers out of it? host: let's begin with the doctor shortage. guest:

out of pittsburgh and we are now owned by some institution far, far away from us. according to the "l.a. times," on june 26, 2010, it stated the propose red form bill won't help protect small banks, nor keep competition alive in our banking system. a return to prudent banking would address this concern. reinstating and strengthening glass-steagall would move our financial system to a more competitive mode. the bill that's proposed from everything i know about it will not do that. i wanted to reference a report from bloomberg business week, that i -- that has two sentences at the beginning of the article that are important, and i quote, legislation to overhaul financial regulation will help sur b -- curb risk taking and boost capital requirements. what it won't do is fundamentally reshape wall street's biggest banks or prevent another crisis. if we can't do that, why would i want to vote for it? so i want to ask my colleagues this -- does the proposed bill make the necessary change to be able to prevent the financial crisis of 2008? if it can't, why vote for it? too

but the pittsburgh steelers, they have all these -- i know we have some michigan folks. i dunno if we have any steelers fans, but the steelers have however many super bowl trophies. if it were washington, they would redistribute to the poor detroit lions. that would be airport in the world of sports. there are a lot of things we can learn. said, as most of you all are too young to remember but he always talks about the future is now, and that is the way we ought to look at it because we can't afford to continue kicking the can down the road because that can is turning into a barrel and what you find with what is going on in washington is everything from the health care monstrosity and experimented telling us what kind of energy we use and then telling us how much income we can have and how to increase taxes on capital gains and income and dividends and debts and even talking about value-added taxes. i have all the confidence in the world and the ability of americans and america to compete and succeed and i have heard from many folks for the last year while writing this b

in pittsburgh, the oil spill again on the top. above that, the president's speeches today with the headline "obama defense policies." the do have the flotilla attack story on their front page as well. in atlanta, another setback for bp in this newspaper this morning. in denver, "nuclear option on the table." we have had a number of callers to have suggested putting a nuclear device in the well o the nuclear option is not on the table. as ideas on sealing the well pour in, federal officials reject any notion of a nuke blast. these are the actual dimensions of the pipe that is spewing 8,000 gallons of oil per day into the gulf. this shows for much of the oil is leaking herr. there's a 25-inch diameter riser pipe. we will show you some more from pages after a few telephone calls. let's begin with pensacola, fla. good morning, thomas. host: -- caller: i am surprised that c-span is becoming so thin skinned. host: not thin skinned at all. caller: i strongly disagree with that caller. this is one of the worst catastrophes to happen to th

at our second meeting in pittsburgh, our recovery beginning to take cold, we agree -- take hold, we agreed to work to pursue a balanced pattern of growth and repair our financial systems. this weekend in toronto, i hope we can build on this progress by coordinating our efforts to bring economic growth and strengthen the global economy. we need to act in concert for a simple reason. this crisis proved, and events continue to affirm, that our national economies aree inexplicably link. -- inextricably linked. just as economic turmoil in one place can quickly spread to another, safeguards in each of our nations can help protect all nations. i am gratified we have made great progress towards enacting these safeguards here at home. it was due to the incredibly hard work chairman dodd and chairman frank, and the strong leadership of chairwoman lincoln. there was also a great effort py the members of both parties who were up very late last night. we're poised to pass the toughest financial reform since those we created in the aftermath of the great depression. early this morning, the house and sen

here is how it concludes -- on the republican line is david from pittsburgh, pennsylvania.caller: just wanted to make one point. a democrat who mentioned thahe was in the klan. it just wanted to expound on that -- because if it was a republican we would be talking about his past. he was a 20-year-long membe i did not know the hierarchy. not a member myself. but once i heard the term, grand -- something like that. maybe the people in west virginia can enlighten me. meaning he was a recruiter, he would bring young men i and send them out to terrorize blacks. interesting you hear black people praising him today. it is really strange. also, he once referred to the black race during the confederate flag talks, way back, called them a mongrel race and he used the n-word on "meet the press" referring to white trash as white -- you know what. just to juxtaposed -- just remember if trent lott had been 20-year-long member of the klan. he never would have gotten into the senate. i think the double standards are amazing. i don't personally believe that white men like this change. i thi

at our second meeting in pittsburgh, our recovery beginning to take cold, we agree to work to pursue a balanced pattern of growth and repair our financial systems. this weekend in toronto, i hope we can build on this progress by coordinating our efforts to bring economic growth and strengthen the global economy. we need to act in concert for simple reason. this crisis proved, and events continue to affirm, that our national economies are inexplicably link. just as economic turmoil in one place can quickly spread to another, safeguards in each of our nations can help protect all nations. i am gratified we have made great progress towards enacting these safeguards here at home. it was due to the incredibly hard work chairman dog and chairman frank, and the strong leadership of chairwoman lincoln. there was also a great effort by the members of both parties who were up very late last night. we're poised to pass the toughest financial reform since those we created in the aftermath of the great depression. early this morning, the house and senate reached an agreement on a set of wall stre

host: you are a graduate of the university of pittsburgh. me pointxeç>÷ol= out one h- it is spending on local spending plummeted. they spend on roads, schools, all construction products so fast that federal stimulus money has that been able to fill in the gap. >guest: this is the biggest single problem over the next year. state and local governments have a budget gap of $125 billion in the year ahead. it is not just that they are stopping projects, they will be laying off hundreds of thousands of workers including probably 300,000 education workers, teachers and school personnel. starting a this fall. when that happens, that will do real damage to the economy. only congress can do anything about this. the states are forced to balance their budgets. they cannot borrow. they cannot do deficit spending. if congress does not pass legislation they are considering now to inject money#h to pay fr teachers and to help the states with medicaid expenses and other expenses that will keep people employed, we will see a sharp drop in employment. we wil

and more broadly, with the challenges that the world economy is facing, we have said in pittsburgh at the g-20 that it was important to reach balance because the u.s. economy, for a very long time, was the engine of world economic growth. we have the imports from all across the world, financed by huge amounts of consumer debt. and because of the financial crisis, and also because this was fundamentally unsustainable. the united states is not going to be able to serve in that same capacity to that same extent. we are huge part of the world economy and we will still be open, and we will still be importing and exporting. but the economic reality is such that for us to see sustained global economic growth, every country is going to have to be moving in a new direction. this means that the surplus countries are going to have to think about how we continue the domestic demand, and this means that the emerging countries are going to have to think, are we oriented towards exports, or are we also starting to think about manufacturing goods and services for the internal markets? this means that