and also, you know, like sara palin, she is republican, got rid of the jet that the previous governor bought for no real reason. so why is the rnc trying to get jets? it doesn't seem to make any sense. is the rest of the 48 kind of asleep at the wheel or what? host: two different issues. why don't you take what you found out in your reporting about michael steel and wanting to fly on private jets. guest: michael steele has already been under criticism for chartering private jets, which means a single time you call a company and they get a private jet ready for you and fly you to your destination. he has spent quite a bit of money on that. what i reported is that at one point there was actually discussion between steele and other top aides at the rnc about whether maybe they should buy a private jet to facilitate michael steele's travels. with the critics already worried about the chartrd jets, that probably would have been very controversial. but he appears to have backed off a bit. host: next phone call from texas. fred on the republican line. caller: good morning. thanks for c-span

guest: i spend so much time trying to figure out the sara palin effect. what's going on with her and voters. and i talk with voters, talk to a lot of folks. and i don't understand it but i -- there's no question that 10, 15% of voters, a decent chunk of the republican base, likes her. and my sense is there's certainly policy that a lot of them identify with. but by and large a lot of them like her because of things like the tina f.a.a. parity and the number of hits she takes from people in the press, from everyone else. and so it's a very weird phenomenon. i'm not sure whether that's -- i don't think that 10 to 15% is enough to actually launch her on a successful presidential run. she may try and she will have to broaden out past that but it's interesting watching that stratification of politicians and of the electorate based on essentially the sara palin effect. guest: i think you're right, there is definitely a following behind her. but as far as i can tell, like the polls that have shown her when people rate her in terms of wanting her to run, they don

senate majority leader harry reid poking some fun at former governor sara palin. >> i realized it was my -- i couldn't write it on my hand, so... >> special. >> okay. we think that was all in good fun that. is your last call. we're closing down shop. thank for being with us tonight. o'reilly factor is next g night fro

years ago people ron paul supporters who opposed bases overseas, foreign aid, right now they were sara palinupporters. and there's a debate happening in the tea party movement. the neo conservatives have the upper hand. the paul people don't have the advantage. but there is a debate whether or not we get back to the constitutional government that means kind of a manifesto strength everywhere or that means pulling back. right now the people who want blaces in as many countries as possible, long-term commitments are the ones running this movement. and for someone like yourself, for ron paul too i can see how that's irritating. host: in the "wall street journal" this morning, this article republican party hits stride in campaign funding, tell us about where their money is coming from, how it compares with the democrats, and where are they spending it? guest: they're raising more money than the democrats largely from online funding. the democrats party have come under fire for wasting money and for holding lavish events. and that doesn't matter as much as it used to because conservative donors c

we were in boston yesterday with sara palin. [applause] >> and 10,000-plus of my base staters to joining us to take and reclaim the peel's republic of mastercard for america. republic of massachusetts for america. you're doing all the hard work, though, the only way this country gets fixed is if you do the work in the trenches. we can get you reved up but at the end of the day it's walking precincts and keeping the hammer down to restore a constitutional republic to the united states of america. >> and don't you dare ever let anybody tell you you're a racist, you're angry or you're a mob. wear human rights movement. what we are doing is based on the united states constitution. [applause] the united states constitution sets up america as the only -- only society in the history of mankind premised on the idea that the only legitimate idea for government to protect the individuals' civil liberties and rights and it's impossible to be a racist and civil rights advocate is to anybody who hangs around with misspelled signs i got news

from the southern republican leadership conference, speeches by sara palin and louisiana governor bobby jindal. tomorrow, on "washington journal," amy howe discusses the retirement of justice stevens and who might replace him. ben smith looks at the role of the southern leadership conference. advice on preparing your taxes. the president of refugees international. that is live at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. >> what in the world is more ridiculous right now than american politics? >> for the past year, using clips from -- using clips from media outlets including c-span, "auto tune the news." >> democratic congressman bart stupak announces his retirement from the u.s. house of representatives. he recently told "the detroit free press" that the travel back and forth to his district was beginning to wear on him. he was a former state trooper first elected in 1982. he is known recently for working to include language in the health-care law banning the use of taxpayer dollars for abortions. we began with remarks from his wife. this is about 25 minutes. >> important>> bart and i met on a

journalists, or would you prefer to bring the best ratings and your best commentators, such as sara palance -- or sarah palin? >> if you do the best job reporting five, we will get the best ratings. -- reporting the facts, we will get the best ratings. up until a few years ago, is something very big happened, people turn to cnn. now they automatically go to fox. big news events fox add more to its audience then does cnn, because they trust us. >> i attended george washington university. about half way through your discussion you said "the new york times" set a liberal agenda, but there has been a lot of discussion that fox news said some very conservative agenda. the you believe fox news has any kind of agenda, and if so, what do you think that is? >> i sing there are a lot of conservative commentary. -- i think there is a lot of conservative commentary. it is interesting when they made a move against the white house, all the other networks immediately came to our defense , and they do not like it. they grow paranoid, and that is life. >> what about the time president bush was in office? i do not believe the

palin took on the former speaker of the house. >> there is no shame in being the party of no. >> reporter: she can clearly fire up the republican base -- >> sarahe question is, can she actually help expand the party's reach? andrea canning, abc news, new orleans. >>> and a note now about a royal anniversary mark bid an injury. you'll remember april 9th, 2005, prince charles married camilla parker bowl er bou parker, but today, we learned she fell while on a vacation, hiking in scotland and fractured her leg. so, about anniversary in a cast. >>> up next, think of it as kind of "american idol," but with life and death courage at stake. our "person of the week." i had ongoing pain. a deep ache all over. i found out that connected to our muscles are nerves that send messages through the body. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia, thought to be the result of overactive nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. i learned lyrica can provide significant relief from fibromyalgia pain. so now i can do more of what i love. [ female announcer ] lyrica is not for everyone. lyrica may cause serious allergic react