when i think back of one of my friends in springfield, doug mayol, he tells the story. he ounce a -- owns a small business in springfield, a shop that sells cards and gifts. his only worker has medicare coverage, but doug has to buy private health insurance. unfortunately, you see, doug has a problem. he was diagnosed many years ago -- 30 years ago, in fact -- with congenital heart valve defect. he has no symptoms. without regular health care, he runs the risk of developing serious problems. in the year 2001, doug, in springfield, illinois, paid $200 a month for health insurance. 2001. by 2005, even though he had not turned in any claims, his cost of health insurance was up to $400 a month. the next year, when he turned 50 years of age, the rate nearly doubled to $750 a month. he made some changes in coverage so he'd pay more out of pocket, choose a small network of providers, have a higher deductible, got his premium down to $650 a month. this man owns a small shop. he sells greeting cards. he was up to $650 a month. two years later his deductible jumped over $1,000 a

. >> springfield, illinois. jill on the republican line. good morning. >> good morning. >> you're on. go ahead. >> yeah, my concern is that it may have been addressed. my concern is that we have a small business here and it's difficult to compete with internet because of the tax situation. so, to be fair, it makes more sense to me for internet goods to be taxed as well. again- >> what kind of business t do you run? >> a discount store. springfield. >> okay. well, is it really government's role to say we don't, we think that - um... cable television or satellite t.v. has an advantage over cable t.v. and therefore we're going to put an extra tax on it. it has the advantage of not have to dig up streets and stuff so we'll bring the costs up to the same level. how could there be any progress and how could there be any innovation. any innovation that strips cost out of the system would be compensated by a government that was constantly trying bring everybody's cost up to the same. that doesn't make sense. the right test is a tax is a price you p

[laughter] which as it so happens springfield massachusetts is full of anyway.we all the american car a lot more than entertaining spectacle of detroit's barry as billionaires. [laughter] in fact, many people my age, we owe our very existence to the car or to the car's back seat. [laughter] where if you check our parents' wedding anniversary with our birthday and find them a little too close to comfort that is probably where we were conceived. there was no premarital sex in america before the invention of the internal combustion engine. [laughter] it is true. you could dance naked girl into the record of your farmhouse because your mom and dad couldn't commit so they were stuck working on the farm. and you're from house to not have an iraq run because recreation have not been discovered to to all of our work. on a saturday night you could take a girl out in a buggy but it was hard to get her into the mood to let you bust into her course of it because the two of you were facing the hind end of a horse. [laughter] it spoils the atmosphere. so the car lead us out o

not only did he not go to springfield which the operative much know, he didn't go to the office in chicago either. the troubled his staff to put it lightly and they said it was almost as if have some real psychological problem. i talked to enough people who mentioned this to me that i finally went and talked to several psychiatrists who never good enough psychiatrists so they wouldn't want give a diagnosis of because i haven't examined him but they did appoint a toward the male clinic definition of a narcissistic personality disorder which is someone who has an overall need for attention and has to be in the middle of things, much of which is to cover up a basic lack of self-esteem and many of his staff members really thought this fit into a tea because they remembered so many of the times when they couldn't get him out of the office or at of his house which is most likely, to go to an event or a political event, to talk about his policies and he was so passionate about. he didn't want to go. he just didn't want that kind of confrontation with anyone that would challenge him which makes yo

a lot of foreign travelers come to walk the streets that abraham lincoln walked in springfield, illinois, highlighting states across the state with a series of stories of the president's life in 42 different counties of illinois where his journeys took him. the abraham lincoln museum is a project i thought about 18 years ago understand is today is a reality. this abraham presidential library and human draws over a half million tourists to springfield, many of them families of children who leave with an enjoyable visit. southern illinois draws visitors to its garden of the gods. it is the gateway to the shawnee national forest. summer visits to quincy, illinois, feature historic architecture and a lot of enjoyment along the mighty mississippi river. we have our unusual tourist attractions in illinois. near my old hometown of east st. louis, you can see the world's largest ketchup bottle or the two-story outhouse in gaze, illinois, or the home of superman, including a 15-foot superman statue and a six-foot popeye statue in chester, illinois. a lot of photographs have been taken in front of

so he did have some support in the senate in springfield, but it was still, he made no attempt reallyo have any kind of a relationship other than one of total anger with michael madigan. >> yes, sir. >> about the ethic of the landfill should it have been on its merit? or was it stopped when it should have gone ahead? >> that's a good question. i think there were some questions about the landfill, but in the end after the illinois epa shut it down, there will be more hearings. and they reopened it and eventually it did pretty much get a clean bill of health. >> it seems to me, we have another question but the question and that was so much, and the same thing is true with a lot of the things that blagojevich wanted to do. it's not what he wanted to do but how he wanted to do it. did anyone ever heard him to leave the house and go to work? there's a lot of jobs you can do at home. you do have to show up and just be their. >> guestco he was recalling urged to leave the house and go to work. lucile would go over there every morning and he would sort of go over the days events and it was hi

illinois politicians because he certainly is in a position to sell a lot about what goes on in springfieldrticularly with michael maddening -- madigan and, as far as how much insight it has we will see if he has a ghost writer. >> a question from the audience. >> first of all, it was great to listen to you, but i was wondering i agree with the observation of him being very opportunistic and i was wondering can you put this in context of the rest of illinois politics. do we just look at blagojevich's as a case of the rod blagojevich or how does this fit into the rest of of state chicago politics and obviously when has gone in the governor's office, is this just an illinois affliction or what is going on here? >> i do have a chapter in my book devoted to the history of illinois political corruption. can i just one chapter? [laughter] >> it could have been a lot longer. there is no doubt we live in a state that has a strong sordid history of political corruption stemming 1853 governor madsen on tuna thousand dollars in script which he found he -- he said he found in a shoebox which goes along

company either charges too much, tries to get rid of, like in the case of the small businessman from springfield, that my friend, dick durbin talked about, or when they are denied coverage, or when they can't get coverage, or we're not renewing your proposal, or whatever. we understand that there needs to be a check on the insurance companies, and left alone they will not provide the kind of low-cost full health care that many, many americans need. when we propose a public option, we are proposing someone to keep a check on them. that's the only point here. if we had complete faith in the insurance companies, we wouldn't be debating public option. if we had complete faith that left on their own, when you had the situation, an illness, and your costs went way up, they said, sure, we're going to take care of you, you signed the contract when you were healthy and now you're sick -- sometimes that happens, i'm not saying it never happens but what about the times it doesn't. and praise god we're healthy, and it might happen? there has to be a check on the insurance companies. that is what the so-call

this requires careful study, not a springfield-style, here's the bill, let's vote, rush job. the bill's sponsors are still trying to resolve questions over whether and how to impose sanctions on countries that do not limit emissions. that's crucial." that's exactly what we've been saying. the chicago -- even the "chicago tribune" agrees with that. "that's crucial. those foreign countries would enjoy a cost advantage in manufacturing if their industries were free to pollute while americans -- american industries picked up the tab for controlling emissions. the democrats need to delay a vote. otherwise, the house members should vote "no." well, that came out today, the "chicago tribune." and even the "chicago tribune" says there shouldn't be a vote. but there's going to be a vote tomorrow, and i -- i -- i -- i can't imagine that speaker pelosi would bring this up for a vote unless she the votes. and what's the motivation of this knowing full well that it will not pass the senate, will not become law, but there's something that they can take -- i mentioned copenhagen a minute ag

springfield, good morning. caller: good morning, i was listening to how they said donald rumsfeld originally had presidential aspirations. are we looking for to see him run it as president in the next four years? does, has he ever admitted to responsibility for, that we should have sent more troops into iraq? or has he glossed over this? guest: as their presidential ambitions i think those are behind him. he has no intention, that he shared with me, anyway of coming back into government, their lone run for president. he spends much of his time working on his own memoir which is due l.a.out late next year. no, he has not expressed regrets about the troop level issue. we might hear more from him about that in his book. i deal with it at length in mind. he was not the only one. -- i do with that issue in mine. he was not the only one for limiting the number of trips. that was also the favor of his top generals in iraq at the time. they all shared the view that it would be better to turn over responsibility for sec

in my hometown of springfield, illinois, my health insurance plan tells me there is one preferred hospital of the two i could choose. i know if i don't go to that hospital, i could end up with a bill that i have to pay personally. so there are limitations under the current system. that is to be expected. we want to limit those to as few as possible so that people are able to come forward and have the basic choice they want in physicians. then there's a question about how to keep the cost under control. if we're going to build this new health care reform on private health insurance, the obvious question is: will there be a medical insurance plan like medicare available. so you can look at all of the private health insurance plans you might buy and also consider the government health insurance plan, the public health insurance plan as an option. this is controversial. health insurance companies say if we have to compete with a government plan, they'll always charge less and we won't be able to compete. others argue that if you don't have at least one nonprofit entity offering health insuranc

host: on the phone from springfield, mass., good morning.ler: first, i would like to say that i have watched you on msnbc. host: -- guest: thank you. caller: two questions. what do you think about the cabinet? what you think about the flip flops? guest: good question. the most striking thing, frankly, is the presence of hillary clinton in the cabinet. there was more rancor around him and they are now working together on a staff level. it was an extraordinary move to bring her in. this was a decision that he made before the primary was over. he obviously has a number of republicans in their. they have been smart about pulling in republicans. certainly not because congress is going to flip over because of ray lahood, but it showed his willingness to be reasonable on a middle ground. the flip-flop question is interesting. the supreme court debate is obviously very alive right now. when chief justice john roberts was nominated to the court, he was convinced by his staff not to vote for roberts because of the flak that he would take. having voted

earlier this week, i talked about a small business man in springfield, my hometown, who in the span of just a few years have seen his insurance premiums increase by 500% though he's never turned in a claim. he's been forced to change his health care plan repeatedly and because he is a small business owner, he has no bargaining power. what we're trying to do is to ensure that americans are protected from this kind of price increase and that they're promised services that they can have when they need them. my colleagues on the other side of the aisle continue to raise tactics of fear and concern to steer us away from the real issues at hand. yesterday the senator from arizona talked about -- quote -- "a new regime of regulation for the insurance companies." end of quote. he expressed concern that democrats in congress are trying to control what health insurance companies are doing. well, if the senator is talking about trying to take under control some of the practices of health insurance companies in america today, i'd say it's long overdue. people know what happens when their health in

but in state capitals like harrisburg, in sacramento, albany, springfield, all across this country, education is being challenged by the current economic crisis. we have to decide as americans and as pennsylvanians and every state in the union, are we going to continue educational prag or are we going to use this recession as an excuse for bringing it to a halt? are we going to give up because times are a little tough? are we going to mortgage our future because education is the future? it's our future for hispanic kids, for african american kids, but for all american kids. and this is not the time to give up on education. this is the time to stand strong. this is the time to stand strong. and if that means raising revenue, as difficult as that is in this political climate, revenue must be raised to presoys education, because it is the only way, it's the only way to empty our jails. it's the only way to have fairness in our economic system. it's the only way that everyone is going to have opportunity to get the best jobs, those cutting edge jobs that need high technology education. so number

we're going to take a phone call from springfield. caller: i was listening to how they said that donald rumsfeld originally had presidential aspirations. are we looking forward to see rooms fille -- rumsfeld run for president in the next four years? has the everest region has ever admitted responsibility or that we should have sent more troops on the ground when we invaded iran? is this something that has been glossed over? >> when we invaded in rock iniraq? guest: he has never shared an intention with me about coming back into government. he is spending time working on his own memoir due out next year. he has not expressed any regrets or second thoughts about the troop level issue. we will probably hear more from him about that. i deal with that at length in my book. he was not the only one. -- i do with that issue in mine. he was not the only one for limiting the number of trips. that was also the favor of his top generals in iraq at the time. they all shared the view that it would be better to turn over responsibility for security

tuesday night the magical manny tour, began not in springfield but albuquerque. >> the last time the ic isotopes were this big homer simpson was using the bat. dodger outfielder suspended for 50 games for violating major league baseball's drug policy. he was playing with the albuquerque isotopes. the isotopes in ""the simpsons" threatened to move. manny, who struggled in this game, maybe it was the southwest flight that he took to fly to albuquerque. he did fly commercial. manny did play four innings. he went 0 for 2 with a strikeout. in his time on the albuquerque field. and for ramirez, he is scheduled to play two more games, too. five innings on wednesday, and six innings on thursday, then fly back to los angeles for friday. manny of course rescheduled to join the dodgers on the field july 3rd when they face the padres in san diego, the firsts game after his suspension comess to an end. >> all right. so the dodgers with one eye onnt albuquerque,e,e,eye on chicago and the white sox on tuesday. region. inflicting suffering of its own people and many others. to be sure i am aware and

if you want to see bureaucracy, you can talk to the small businessman in springfield, who is a friend of mine, who has had to jump through a series of hoops to find a way to continue health care coverage and keep his small business going. plain and simple, the health insurance industry today is a bureaucracy, and it's one that most people know firsthand. it's what americans face and small business owners face every single day. so we need to move to a new idea, an idea that is not based on the health insurance companies' model. they are the ones who are profiting. last year was a bad year for most american businesses. according to cnn and "fortune" magazine, only 24 of the fortune 500 company stocks generated a positive return last year. among those that did not have a positive return last year -- g.m., united airlines, time warner, ford, cbs and macy's -- all these companies lost billions in what financial analysts tell us was the fortune 500's worst year ever last year. there were two sectors of the economy that did well: the oil industry and the health insurance industry. the top fo

. >> years ago my bookkeeper in springfield illinois passed away. listen i'm, a lawyer i'll do my own tax return. i think every member of congress should be required to do their own tax return. we would have tax simplification in a hurry in this country. as you might guess, the irs sent back my tax return and said you did a math error here mr. durbin, which is a humbling experience and disqualified me from service in the president's cabinet. having said that, it was an eye opener. may i ask you about refund anticipation loans. i don't know if you're familiar with these. i've co-sponsor the legislation, nationalal consumer law center found the interest rate for a refund anticipation loan can range from 50% to 500%. is the irs doing anything at this point to address concerns about refund anticipation loans? >> a couple of things, one of the most important things we do is continue to get our technology in order so we can get refunds out quick to so they can get money in their pockets. we now, if you electronically file and get a direct deposit you'll g

springfield, good morning, markets. >> caller: how are you doing? i was just listening to how donald rumsfeld hagel originally had some presidential aspirations. are we looking forward to seeing rumsfeld rahm as the president in the next four years, and as well, as for ms responsibility has he ever admitted to the responsibility or admitted that we should have sent more troops on the ground when we first invaded iraq or is it something that is kind of glossed over? >> guest: as for future presidential ambitions, i think those are behind rumsfeld. he has no intention that he shared with me any way of coming back into the government, let alone running for president. he's spending much of his time working on his own memoir which is due out late next year. no, he has not expressed any regrets, any second thoughts about the troop level initio. we will probably hear more from him about that in his book. i deal with it at length in my book. he was not the only one arguing for holding the line on the number of troops and trying to bring them down in iraq. t

i got on the phone and called one of my great friends in springfield illinois, joe kelley. he came in on the seventh day after d-day with artillery and spent 18 months in the army, fought the battle of the bulge, a great fellow. talked about volunteering and i want to tell you something. when joe kelly and his four brothers volunteered in chicago to fight in world war ii, it wasn't because they were afraid. they volunteered because they felt they could only keep this country saved by being prepared to stand up for it and fight. they did it and did it successfully. that spirit, that patriotic spirit of the day, joe kelley and so many others is what will keep america safe and president obama knows it. senator mccaul and kyl can come to the floor and express their fear over and over again, the latest year they have about the safety of the country but they are not borne up on the fact. i will stand by general colin powell and others, people i admire that have given so many years of their life and service to the country that agree with president obama to close the guantanamo fac

i don't know if you were in springfield for that. you certainly saw it and reviewed it.t was really quite a moment when blagojevich took office and a lot of people thought that he had a ton of promise to do just what you're talking about. >> absolutely, you have to remember it was 25 years since democrats held the office -- they controlled both the legislature, both branches of the legislature and governor and you remember the governor that he followed, you know, george ryan, was in a bit of trouble. he hadn't been indicted yet -- i mean, he had been indicted but he hadn't been convicted yet. this was going to be the new era of reform, progressive politics were coming to illinois. and rod blagojevich looked like the guy to lead it. >> so put on your psychologist hat and your political analyst hat and tell me what went wrong. >> i'm not sure they're the same thing. [laughter] >> put one on and then put the other one on. >> okay. >> what went wrong? what was his tragic flaw if he had one or what were his tragic mistakes? >> i think you again have to understand -- to unders

the younger people are thinking of simpson coming in and blowing up the city of springfield and think of that as nuclear energy. there's 13, 15, or more plants on the drawing board right now. it may take 20 years. what do i do if i don't have coal? i could use gas and oil. those are kind of bad. we tried to get the refinery done in indiana to handle canadian tar sands. another one over by detroit. they are going to be tied up for 10, 15 years. they were half of e.p.a. discharge. rahm emanuel and others are going we can't build that refinery. we don't want any in america. what are we -- i make 58% of the r.v.'s. what are you going to do put a little fan on the roof? international designs 800 people design the big trucks in my district. how are we going to deliver goods to market? the rail is already jammed. the canals are jammed. rivers are jammed. if we can't use trucks, which take up about 40% of the energy on our roads, how are we

hobson of springfield. and that was all ralph's doing. he made a commitment to make sure there was an ohioan on every committee that mattered. i'm a lawyer by training and i said, ralph, i think i would like to be on the judiciary committee. he said, what are you nuts? we needed a republican from ohio on the transportation committee and he put me there and it was one of the happiest times of my life. the two things that i want to talk about. mr. serrano is right about his observations, but i came in the class of 1994, so i'm one of those republican revolutionaries that created the first majority since 1954. mr. speaker, you may remember and others may remember that at that time, there was a lot of rhetoric in this chamber and there were some things that became targets. and parks became targets. but what i will always remember is that it was the desire on my side of the aisle to zero fund things like the national endowment for the arts and national endowment for the humanities. and i thought it was misguided. and congressman regula as the

. >> host: said he announced in 2007 springfield, illinois. here's one of the moments. >> that's why i will have to set priorities and make hard choices and all the government will play a crucial role in bringing about the changes we need, more money and programs alone will all get us where we need to go. each of us and our own lives will have to accept responsibility. for instilling ethic of achievement and or children. for adapting to a more competitive economy, for strengthening the communities and sharing some measure of sacrifice. so let us begin. let us begin this part work together. let also transform this nation. >> host: yet, richard wolffe, he began with that speech in l.a. and began to struggle and a lot of backbiting or concern within the campaign. >> right, he raised a lot to begin with which none of us expected, but around the summertime things started to deflate and his debate performance was weak. he didn't really prep for it, he thought debates were trivial in a way and his speech that was based on that announcement speech sta

my colleague from equality illinois reck garcia, who is the leading gay rights lobbyist in springfield in the state house sing it is praises of barack obama. and so we know this is someone who understands our issues and we have to keep working with him. it's only been 150 days. host: lake city, florida. welcome. caller: i'm real interested in this subject. in the early 80's, about the middle of the reagan administration, barry bower, his spiritual adviser testified to congress. it's in c spain's archives because i saw it on c-span. there was a hearing. and a congress person asked gary bower why ronald reagan kept vetoing the aids money they were putting in the package. and it was really bothering, hiv was just coming along there that nobody knew that much about it. bourd told congress, he said, well i've advised the president that god created the aids epidemic to eliminate the blacks and the queers. those were his exact words. at that particular time i laughed. i didn't know that i had a 16-year-old son that was hiv positive, which died later. and i look back and i say to myself, how f

or springfield, illinois? i don't think so. in fact, i think it's beyond the realm of possibility. also want to make it clear that we have before us an important decision to make. are we going to deal with guantanamo because it is a threat to the safety of our servicemen, or are we going to keep it open so that some people who believe in it can have their political bragging rights. i would rather side with those who believe closing guantanamo brings steeft our men and women -- safety to our men and women in uniform. guantanamo is a recruiting tool for terrorists. that is not my conclusion alone. it is the conclusion that has been reached by many. when i look back and see those who've said, for example, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, mike mullen, "the concern i've had about guantanamo is it has been a recruiting symbol for those extremists and jihadists who would fight us. that is the heart and concern for guantanamo's continued existence." same statement from general petraeus. same statement from defense secretary gates. same statement from rear admiral mark busby and other