host: we're talking with stephen dinan from the "washington times politics.? about the fiscal cliff, the numbers are on the screen. before going to the phones we want to show you a little bit about what speaker boehner had to say yesterday in his explanation as to why plan b legislation was pulled from the house vote. and he also added that he didn't think the members' refusal to vote on it was aimed at him personally. [video clip] >> there was a perception that the vote last night was going to increase taxes. i disagree with the characterization of that by, but it was out there and we had a number of our members who just didn't want to be perceived as having raised taxes. that was the real issue. you've all heard me say this and i've told my colleague this, you do the right things every day for the right reasons, the right things will happen. while we were not able to get the votes and avert 98.1% of the tax increases, i don't think -- they were not taking that out on me. they were dealing with the perception that somebody might accuse them of raising taxes.

stephen diana, -- dinan, have the last word. guest: caller is talking about taxes getting too high and he is unable to afford those things. president obama is offering government assistance for a number of things like college tuition tax credits. care drug bills. this is the fundamental debate. is it better to have low benefits in society where an individual vents to make those decisions and will suffer by not -- individual gets to make those decisions for a society where the government is able to pay for more of those benefits and provide assistance for college at the expense of higher taxes. that is underlying the fiscal cliff and everything going on on capitol hill behind us. that is the philosophical question. i tax, high benefits or a low tax, low benefits. host: the president is on his way to high this weekend. i am assuming speaker boehner is going to high and majority leader reid is going to nevada. will there be any discussions between anybody over the next week or so? when do we expect these five banks -- these guys wi

stephen diana, -- dinan, have the last word. guest: caller is talking about taxes getting too high and he is unable to afford those things. president obama is offering government assistance for a number of things like college tuition tax credits, health- care drug bills. this is the fundamental debate. is it better to have low benefits in society where an individual vents to make those decisions and will suffer by not -- individual gets to make those decisions for a society where the government is able to pay for more of those benefits and provide assistance for college at the expense of higher taxes. that is underlying the fiscal cliff and everything going on on capitol hill behind us. that is the philosophical question. i tax, high benefits or a low tax, low benefits. host: the president is on his way to high this weekend. i am assuming speaker boehner is going to high and majority leader reid is going to nevada. will there be any discussions between anybody over the next week or so? when do we expect these five banks -- these

our guest is stephen dinan. then a look at the colombo and shootings and the recent tragedy in the newtown shootings. washington journal is live here on c-span. >> if you work for him, you sometimes get a generous or overbearing or cruel boss. he did not know how to apologize. many of his age and class, they are not going to apologize to someone young. he had a way of turning the tables. his version of an apology would be, your deliver good job today, but the issue was not settled. -- you did a good job today, what the issue was not settled. he always got the last word. his bodyguard pushed him into a doorway. a couple of his men were wounded. church hill did not like to be touched. he said, thompson, you should not have done that. >> sunday "q&a" with paul reid to complete manchester's volume "the last lion." p.m. on "q&a." >> anti-gun protesters interrupted remarks twice. the pro-gun organization also announced it is developing a national school emergency response program aimed at securing schools. it will be

i'm stephen dinan, politics editor at the washington times. i believe what if she said. you can learn a lot about in the national stage from immigration conversations and the latino voter in particular, from what went on in arizona, particularly the counterfactual explosion of the limits of -- test the limits of what we can learn about latino voters and their effect on electoral politics and on policy. so, i guess i'd like to start with just sort of a basic question. if somebody were to ask you what a -- the white voter is, i would have no clue how to actually answer that question. so, let's start with the very tough one, which is what is the latino voter? what is a latino voter, in particular, what is the latino voter in arizona? who is he or she? how much of the electorate, how much of the population, the citizenry, who is that person? >> okay. as many in the audience already know, the latino population in the it's is very diverse. various origin, mexican american primarily, also cubans and puerto ricans. in america the latino population is primarily mexican origin. bu

i'm going to hand the stage over to stephen dinan who is the politics editor of the "washington times" who is going to conduct a conversation about arizona with 9/11, he was an associate professor in the school of politics at asu. so thank you, stephen. take it away. >> so, professor, good to have you. i'm politics editor at the "washington times." i agree with what tamar jacinta actually i think you can learn a lot about the national stage, immigration conversation, and the latino voter in particular from what went on in arizona, particularly it explores the limits, it tests the limits of what we can learn about latino voters and their affect goes on electoral politics and foreign policy. so i guess i would like to start with just sort of a basic question. if somebody would ask what the white voter is, i would have no clue how to actually answer that question. so let's start with a very tough one, which is what is the latino voter, or what is a latino voter? in particular ways the latino voter in arizona? who is he or she? how much of the electorate, how much of the population, who i