host: a lot of questions lined up for you, rick rodgers.uest: i don't know what happened to eliminating the penalties from withdrawing for 401(k)'s. that was talked about in the 1990's, and i know was also talked about for the victims of hurricane katrina. that those people would be allowed to take money up to a certain amount out of their 401(k) or their ira without penalty and it never got anywhere. that is probably a political answer. addressing the first two issues, i was like to stress that we do not have to reduce pensions. we do not have to take out benefits and make them lower. we just need to stretch out when they can actually start to draw those. that is looking at it as being a reduction, but if retirement age is raised or the benefit formula is recalculated, so that it is taking 15 years average instead of 10 years, we are not looking at reducing the pension, just making it the shorter period than what was originally planned. host: let's go to the independent line. columbus, ohiom and i am retired union 536. when i became disabl

and later, a discussion on what employees can do to help secure their employee pensions with rick rodgers. author and retirement counselor. that's live at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. >> lamar alexander discusses his decision to step down. and he discusses the key issues in congress including appropriations and dealing with the debt and spending and revenue issues. "newsmakers," today at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. ♪ >> and this weekend in charlotte, north carolina, book tv and the literary life from the site of the 2012 democratic national convention. on book tv on c-span2, charlotte's banking industry with bank town author rick rothacker and karen cox. how the south was created an american plorp culture and the relationship between independent bookstores and public lesser. and on american history tv on c-span 3, tour 1 th president james polk's birthplace. and visit the reed gold mine where gold was first discovered from america. this weekend on c-span2 and 3. in his weekly address, president obama talks about how education is an important part of his economic agend

and rick rodgers, a retirement counselor, we will talk about the fifth anniversary of the pension protection act. all of that plus your calls and a look at the news. "washington journal" starts at 7:00 a.m.. we will see you then. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> coming up, former senators byron dorgan and trent lott on deficit reduction and raising taxes. economic coverage continues with a look at the current economic situation globally with robert zoellick and christine lagarde. >> sunday on c-span's "newsmakers" -- lamar alexander and his decision to step down, and how congress has changed operations over his four years in leadership. >> the c-span networks -- we provide coverage of politics, public affairs, nonfiction books, and american history. this month, a book for congress to continue federal spending into november, including four recent natural disasters, keep tabs on the deficit committee, and follow presidential candidates as they continue to campaign. it is all available on television, radio, onlin

later, discussion on what employers can do to help secure employee pensions with rick rodgers. that is live at 7:00 a.m. eastern, here on c-span. >> in my opinion, i think that bounds of academic freedom have just been pushed too far. >> naomi schaefer rally suggests is -- suggests the entitlement mentality needs to go pickax there are basically professions -- there are basically professors of cooking. when pressed, a professor who is telling the party line will say we need someone to do security study so they can talk about immigration, even though it is controversial. someone in nutritional studies needs to be able to say something controversial about obesity. >> that and other reasons why you will not get the college education you paid for, sunday night on "q&a". >> you don't play politics at a time of national crisis. you don't play politics with the economy, and you never, ever let politics with people's jobs. w

and then a discussion on what employees can do to help secure their pensions with rick rodgers, a retirementor. that is live at 7:00 a.m. here on c-span. >> you do not play politics at time of national crisis. if you do not play politics with the economy, and you never ever play politics with people's jobs. >> with the british house of commons in recess, annual party conferences are under way. watch this keynote from the liberal democrat conference this sunday at 9:00 on c-span. in the weeks ahead, ed miliband and david cameron. >> present obama spoke tonight at the closing ceremony an awards dinner of the congressional black caucus foundation. in his address, he talked about the efforts of his administration to help those in need and urged congress to pass his jobs plan during this 30- minute event was held in the nation's capital. ♪ [applause] >> hello cbc. thank you so much, thank you. please, everybody have a seat. it is wonderful to be with it is wonderful to be with all of you tonight, with the conscience of the congress. thank you, chairman cleaver and brother pain for all that you do