samuelsson is reflecting a great concern. >> the expectations of congress, functions as it is supposed to, are over drown -- >> they have to project what congress is going to do -- >> we have had five years, connective years in which growth has been 2.1 pest. that is the lowest -- 2.1%. that is the lowest since the depression. we are under tremendous economic pressure and political pressure. we will have to have a level of leadership we have not had in a long time. >> spangler was right -- [ talking at the same time ] [ laughter ] >> in this environment mclaughlin is right. i think we need a third party and i think you are our man. the mclaughlin group has its own website and you can watch this program on the web on www.mclaughlin.com. www.mclaughlin.com ballot battle. >> election day, november 4, is not just politicians who will get yea or nay vote. so will ballot initiatives, economic and social issues decided by voters who pertain to their individual state. often these issues have been neglected or stalled that federal level. namely in the u.s. congress. of the 125 ballot initiative

now just monday "the washington post," robert samuelsson wrote a piece he entitled "family deficit" in "the washington post" taking a look saying there are economic problems that are arising as we see the breakdown of family and culture. so, i guess my question is, are we coming to consensus where maybe cultural issues is impacting economic opportunity? is the left coming on board, like david alluded to? what has changed the discussion since murphy brown to where you have, you know, brookings talking about the breakdown of the family? >> well, ms. sawhill has been a leader in understanding the catastrophe that is the rise of single parenting. so, i don't think that she's necessarily indicative of a change. and i think we've still got a lot of ground to conquer in spreading the understanding as widely as possible of the relationship between family breakdown and poverty. i still see the classic story on "the new york times" complaining about poverty and the difficulty that poor families are having getting by. it is almost never pointed out explicitly that what they're talking about is si