it's something we are familiar with and in the context of the stem cell debates of the last decade, the passionate debates, what i do in the book is go back for decades at the beginning of this controversy, show how it's developed to the point is that today but place it in the broad international context through an examination of france, the u.k. and germany as well. >> why did you choose those and the subtitle refers to the atlantic democracy but why did you choose those nations? >> several reasons. i'm a european by training, political scientist and i've lived in europe for six or seven years, so i know the country's, and of the languages and the culture and it's important to be able to immerse yourself in a different culture in crafting a book like this, but i think the main reason has to do with the fact that these are leading scientific powers that have been on the cutting edge of the science, the technology as well as the ethical debates around these issues and it's in these countries the you see in the political systems take up the questions in the most systematic fashion. >> win

concerns they had about her and some of the difficulties with her in debate prep, that was a huge win for her. because it went over so well and because she was broadly seen as having held her own against joe biden, the small error that they had been so concerned about was completely overlooked. the media dynamics are sometimes unpredictable as you know. >> let me follow up on something that mark halperin talked about earlier. it was a best-selling book now turned into a movie. but in terms of writing this book and the style in which you present to the readers, what were you thinking? >> well, we were thinking very much, it's funny when mark talked about the genesis of the book, the initial idea being let's try to make this as a movie. we both said, neither one of us has written a screen play. that's probably not a good idea. but there was no question as we wrote the book we wanted the book to have a cinematic feel to it or novelistic feel to it. there's not a lot of back story in the book. we felt like because these candidates were so well known, we didn't ha

the clock on this? is there a live debate now? how do you see nothing in the current state of the discussion with your ideas? given the weight gains have unfolded in the way this language of right is not so much under the u.s. domestic context? i mean, they are not very often but more and more they are beginning to be. but certainly globally, there really difficult to contest. >> yes, that's a great question. i want to say a few things. one, i can absolutely see the dynamic and the way the human rights advocate would feel compelled to move into different areas that are foremost in the mind. i want to emphasize in many ways i see this as the remarkably path to answer, something we should all be happy about and prod us. and in my discussion, i only want to also raise smog capital. and yet, on the question of what might change now, it seems to me this is always evolving. and the way that the notion of in particular that's captured the imagination of so many people, it is also the case that we see movements focused on other things. thi

last night in washington to raise money for the kind fund, i debated ann coulter. i'll let one of the conservative students in that audience tell us what he thought of the debate. [ male announcer ] this is lawn ranger -- eden prairie, minnesota. in here, the landscaping business grows with snow. to keep big winter jobs on track, at&t provided a mobile solution that lets everyone from field workers to accounting, initiate, bill, and track work in real time. you can't live under a dome in minnesota, that's why there's guys like me. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ >>> so mitt romney's five adult sons, why should people get excited and not terrified by your presence on the campaign trail? >> well, we connect with the younger voter. our average age is 36 while our median age is 35. and we like the same things as young people such as sport, cinema and doo-wop. see? we're just like you, america. >> all right. our thanks to stephen king for creating those boys. >>> president obama will hold his first press

last night in washington to raise money for the kind fund, i debated ann coulter. i'll let one of the conservative students in that audience tell us what he thought of the debate. [ male announcer ] this is lawn ranger -- eden prairie, minnesota. in here, the landscaping business grows with snow. to keep big winter jobs on track, at&t provided a mobile solution that lets everyone from field workers to accounting, initiate, bill, and track work in real time. you can't live under a dome in minnesota, that's why there's guys like me. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ on december 21st, polar shifts will reverse the earth's gravitational pull and hurtle us all into space, which would render retirement planning unnecessary. but say the sun rises on december 22nd and you still need to retire, td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. we'll even throw in up to $600 when you open a new account or roll over an old 401(k). so who's in control now, mayans? >>> so mitt ro

last night in washington to raise money for the kind fund, i debated ann coulter. i'll let one of the conservative students in that audience tell us what he thought of the debate. ♪ [ male announcer ] how could switchgrass in argentina, change engineering in dubai, aluminum production in south africa, and the aerospace industry in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. >>> so mitt romney's five adult sons, why should people get excited and not terrified by your presence on the campaign trail? >> well, we connect with the younger voter. our average age is 36 while our median age is 35. and we like the same things as young people such as sport, cinema and doo-wop. see? we're just like you, america. >> all right. our thanks to stephen king for creating tho

the committees and so on have looked into it in the 1970's. debates within bureaucracies on both sides of the atlantic, but i think seeing that first child through icf and 1978, which we all remember, those of us who are old enough, really brought this issue to the attention of a wider public. >> 1978, it does that compare to the the founding of a vaccine for polio, eccentric? >> i think so. absolutely. in fact, qualitatively different kind of gesture. it's not another vaccine, however important, is the first time in human history that a child has been conceived a laboratory outside the womb. raises, as i said, all kinds of issues about family life that we have been wrestling with, km, childhood, sexuality, and what i focus on in this book is what it means for science and technology and where we want to draw the lines, where we have john lies in the past, where we want to draw lines in the future about the kinds of research that we are willing to err have with embryos in a laboratory. >> professor banchoff, would you consider embryo politics to be a p

• ú&&->> smith: joe biden. >> lehrer: oe biddn, &-hillary clinnon, but by the then the next debateime here was a ebate. >> smitt: right we forget how people improve. >> ehher: it, absolutely -ight, you either improve or like romney, he's neither &-gotten betttr orrwwrse he's ú&&-just held steady. >> smith: hat''shis; his >> ehrer: exactly, yeah, -ut it matters sse,,it ú& really does matttrr.3 >> lehrer: nn the aagumeet oh well the quessions are too short, and the annwers are too short and there are ppople creaming and hollering in tte background i coold do without all of that. ú& >> smith: right. >> ehrer::i agree that you could criticize the mechanics of the debates >> lehrer: but the impact and the importaacc can not be, i don't think, can be uuderemphasized. >> smith: it oocuus to me3 that you are not wriiing >> ehree: no. >> smiih: just generrl election debatee. >> llhrer: that's right.3 primary debates? &->> lehrer: mcneii nn i did3 ú& -,,robert mcneil nd i did aa3 primary debate in 1992. >> lehrer: ann it was we had them aroond in a -elevisionnstudio like this >> smith: muus

i totally agree the debate would not end of the law were thrown out.ver, the moment when the rig be sufficient political will for the congress and the president to come together and pass meaningful, near comprehensive reform, that might take another 20 years. the debate would certainly not end, but these moments that occur in the early 1990's, 2009, 2010, and in 1965, and 1935, these are not moments that come every session, every decade. these are every generation or every other generation before these chances happen. that is why it is important, i think, to build on in. the original social security act of franklin roosevelt signed in 1935 excluded two-thirds of working african-americans, excluded more than half of working women, but it was the foundation and the structure that was built on the over time to create the social security system we have and know and recognize today. i think a similar with medicare and medicaid and similar with the affordable care act. >> dr. stephanie woolhandler? >> this is a little like saying that's we're going to star s

so there's the debate as to where the sweet spot is. so the money we spend on our weapons doesn't just go to kind of filling out forms. you know, there's one take on it, at least. >> donna democratic caller in baltimore. good morning. >> caller: hi. in response your earlier caller, i'd like to say it was almost right after president obama cut the military budget i think like $38 billion and the following week gave $31 billion yesterday, i believe, at the israeli conference with benjamin netanyahu, gave them $31 billion for their defense. it just seems redundant. also, my main -- my first question was are they working on like everything is getting smaller, computer, everything, are they working on like tiny nuclear that could be on drones and things like that? >> no, i don't think that nuclear weapons would ever be on a drone. i mean, the debate right now is whether we keep all three legs of the nuclear triad which is the airborne leg which is the bombers that we have that are equipped to carry the nuclear weapons and the sea planes that

you think about the debates that are happening in the house and the senate, and you think -- you really do start thinking boy, these conversations are going to be really, really different when there are more women in these debates. as i said, the u.s. congress is only 17% women now, one in six members of the congress are women. and what is missing from so many of these conversations is exactly the story, the personal story you just shared of being an obgyn, and what it means for women to have access to a full range of health care, that it isn't just about birth control, but there are so many other health reasons for women to have access to the birth control pill and so many other things. it is about health care. it's about the economy. it's about what women need to do to protect their families and to have families. and i do -- i'm with you. sometimes i wonder where these conversations are going. a and you just know, you know that when there is an equal number of women and men at the table, and good strong pro-choice democratic women sharing their personal stories, this debate, this conv

that is the debate in congress over these issues. guest just talked about the number of nuclear weapons in the united states. as of 2009, it was over 5100 warheads. the number dismantled was 8700. guest: there are about 3000 more still in line to be dismantled. it is a difficult thing to do. the national security administration just completed the dismantlement last year of one of the cold war vestiges, one of those weapons that does not have a use in our current stockpile. it was the be 53 -- b-53. it was the size of a minivan. there was no reason to have it now. the nsa dismantles a weapon like that. it is a difficult thing when you are talking about dismantling something the size of a minivan with radioactive parts and high explosive potential. you do not just take out screwdrivers and taken apart. it is a very methodical process. just moving something like that is difficult. they have to develop special tools and cranes to do that. the nsa maintains what we have. they also dismantle stuff we do not need. it happens at the same plan

what an honor to peak the master debater. you -- i love science, exploration and new frontiers and all that, so your moon base idea caught my attention. you might have missed in the news that we are paying $50 million per astronaut for a taxi ride up to the space station. that's about $238,000 miles from the moon. now john kennedy is the republican an -- antithisis, if he had not been shot, there would be no apocalypse in southeast asia, no continual robbing of the truffs by the republicans -- trust funds. >> stop you on those notes and get a response from speaker gingrich. >> well, first of all, i think the tragedy of president kennedy being killed is one that affected all of us. i still to this day remember where i was when i learned about it and how shocking it was, and how the whole nation watched for 24 hours really the first time in a very long time we've seen something like that happen to a president. and i think he was so young and so vital. his wife was so beautiful. it was a stunning moment that is unforgettable for

things that you haae do is you have to3 decide the names of the >> smith: rrght..3 &-this book,,the last debatery character ii the book either present or ffrmerr3 cowboys.3o the dallas [laughter] and then i got, if i had just left it alone i'ddbeen okay. i decided there would be a sunday program called, sunday with ross, something likk that. be the host of the show. >> smith: yeaa. >> lehrer: and i had,,i described what he did on the show, and what he onsiderrd ú&nssdered to be less than favoorbll terms..3 >> smithh right. yeah i can't imagine why3 based on your deecriptton, he wouldn't havv been. -ight. >> lehrer: and hee he let me grossly unfair. e ttld me it was i thought ou were my covered him as a -ewspaperman. frrends but.-3 beeore. knew him, ann, and, he wasú always, heeand iialways got along really welll and i ssid, well i as just; i was jjstttrying to be funny. funny. >> smith: eah. [ laaghter ]because he seemed to much of a sense of humor during those two presidential cammaigns, >> lehrer: right. well trusted that, and, and he. >> smith: yeaa he was. so, so no benson, no perot, and th

balance should be the subject of the debate. e fact republicans are throwing balance out the window, willing to give tax cuts to the wealthiest and balancing the budget on the backs of seniors and the middle class is something we strongly disagree with and frankly isn't where the vast majority of the american publics believes we should be headed. >> josh earnest joining us from the white house. thanks for adding your perspective to this ongoing debate. appreciate your time on this tuesday. >> thanks for the opportunity, steve. have a good day. >>> this is "washington today" on c-span radio. jennifer ruben is going to be joining us in our next hour. she blogs right turn, the name of her blog, at washingtonpost.com. >>> meanwhile on capitol hill, a fight over a small export credit agency is dividing congress. it's also holding up a popular bipartisan jobs bill. the issue is the export/import bank, which is a self-financing agency that helps to facilitate the sale of american goods outside the u.s. overseas. it does, however, need c

-- a final push today in the debate over health-care reform law. the supreme court rule rule -- will rule on this later. >> good afternoon. the morning session just wrapped up here. there is a short recess before they go back inside for the second part of these arguments. right now the argument is whether or not the health care law will still stand if the individual mandate is struck down. we talked to a lot of people outside the courtroom and many believe that it should be. many also believe it should not. freedom, rights, individual liberty continue to take center stage in the battle over health care. the white house has one last chance to convince the high court that everyone in this country should have access to health care. the argument became more apparent that upholding this law would be an uphill battle. >> if it is not good for the country. >> this woman says government has no right to mandate health care. >> if this mandate is up held it will be the demise of this country. >> health care should be a right, not a privilege. one that this wo

that is the debate on the two sides. the democrats generally contend that this is primarily an attack on women's health care and contraception specifically but the republicans say that there's an underlying first amendment issue here, senator hatch, senator mcconnell and others saying that this could infringe on the rights of religious institutions and their affiliates to cover services or force them to cover services that they find morally objectionable. >> let me ask you about the reaction from the u.s. conference of catholic bishops saying it expects to build on today's vote to push the case to overturn this contraception coverage rule in the house of representatives. and obviously they are aligning themselves with republicans. this is quickly becoming an election year issue. >> certainly. and as we have seen in the last few weeks on the campaign trail with former senator santorum on the republican side speaking about this issue frequently, i expect that we'll hear more about it on both sides in congressional election

the retail campaigning and he obviously has been involved in a lot of different back and forth in the debates and i think it's all possess positive. the fact that we have been negative towards each other and allowing the president free reign to govern as opposed to being a candidate is a mistake and i think that has hurt us to this point. if it's over tonight, then we can change, focus on this president and the difference between his policies and ours and i think still, the republicans have have a chance to win the race. >> a big if, it's over. maggie, let's talk specifically about ohio, you know, this was sort of rick santorum's too lose kind of maybe coming out of michigan, we know he has gone down in his support among catholic voters, that has surprised lots of voters says. chuck said i think insightfully that this is as much about mitt romney as it is about rick santorum. >> yeah, i think that is right. coming out of michigan it was harder for santorum, the momentum was on romneromney's s. there are demographics that favor santorum but he is getting out spent. one of the x factors is that

they have been out, not prote protecting part in the debate. the senate has been absent without any leadership, without any leadership, without a budget for over -- how 1,063 days. during that period of time. the american people are asking for more. the american people say that we deserve better. american people are asking this one sn. when will washington stop borrowing and spending my children's money? well, we see the answer is not coming from the white house. we see the answer is not coming from the senate as well. we have stepped up to the plate as we have in the past to provide a budget that will do just that. it will provide balanced budget in the future. it will answer the american public's that they live in their means just as every business and family has to do. today we offer a specific plan. today we are able to say that we will live in troubled times today so that our children in the future will be able to liveh that, i would like to turn the over to my colleague who has done an extraordinary job on many aspects of this budget and y

the debate over health care. members of the obama administration and members of congress on hand to watch the proceedings, three days of oral arguments, all of it available on our website, c-span.org. senator mike lee is weighing in on the issue of the constitution. you can check it out online at politico.com. it says the constitution limits the type of power the federal government can exercise. in the words of james madison, the powers delegated by the proposed constitution? to the federal government are few and defined, those that will remain in the state government are numerous and indefinite, it says. now on our independent line from wisconsin, the question is, is the intent of the founding fathers, the debate over health care. gene, a go-ahead. caller: i was trying to get a hold of you yesterday. i was wondering about the constitution, why was it when bush was in office and he pushed through the prescription drug and there was a penalty for a tax or whatever you want to call it, you had 63 days to sign up for

did you hear the debate on social issues? are you concerned that republicans both those running for president at the federal level and in a number of states are alienating women in the country over reproductive rights? >> no, i think this notion is quite bizarre, quite frankly. do i wish certain things hadn't been said that sounded like perhaps people didn't understand that women like me actually work because we like to work and find fulfillment in working? sure. but i don't believe that there's a war on women. we have differences in among the candidates and across party lines about these issues, but no one is going after women's reproductive rights and no one is going to turn the clock back decades. so we need to lower the rhetoric here and realize that when we get into debates, for instance, about religious conscience and the role of for instance the catholic church, that people are expressing real views about constitutional protections and we need to stop name calling about it. >> do you think this nomination process is goi

i do think the process right now, the debate right now is distorted. istorted by some of the things that you mentioned. i'd say it's distorted even more by political and media culture which does tend to reward behavior on the extremes and actually penalizes this kind of problem solving behavior that you advocate just now. >> which is the end of the day -- isn't that a cultural failure? isn't the answer, we can come up with all the systems we want. if the people of any given culture want to fight, and the mechanism is oh, we just got to fight. i'm an occupier. i'm going do-to-fight with you, a tea partier, i'm a democrat, i'm going to fight, fight. i'm a republican. i want to fight. that is a different culture. people would say i don't want to fight with michael. i want to figure out what we agree to and what we can enhance what we're trying to accomplish. i don't want to fight with john harris. i want to talk to john harris and see where i agree to try to advance that. that is not really good politics or media business these days. we all know that. >> e

who do you think could stand up to barack obama in october and win the debates? because we're certainly -- the romney strategy of outspending isn't going to work against obama. the fact is, obama is going to have more money, he's going to be more negative, if we don't somebody that can win the debates in november, we'll have someone where it's hard to win in november. >> you mentioned your promise $2 gallon of gas. barack obama called that a phony election-year promise. many of our viewers want to know what if you can back that up. we had this question from facebook. your response? >> well, sure. if he gets a chance go to newt.org and look at my 30-minute message that outlines how i would do this. when barack obama was swore in, gas was $1.89 a gallon. the price of natural gas has dropped from 8,000 cubic a feet under to 3,000 cubic feet. the president himself admitted in his speech, that on natural gas terms we have had an explosion of new discoveries. it all came from drilling. and it has lowered the price dramatically from $8 to $3. you apply that same principl

last debate he delivers in my view his most elegant remarks of any of of the seven debates in regard to slavery's immorality. i think we have time maybe for one more question. yes, sir? [ inaudible question ] -- of 1848, he was pretty much against slavery, how much were they involved in the underground railroad? >> they were involved in the underground railroad in parts of pennsylvania and the fact of the matter is that the american anti-slavery society was very aware of what you just mentioned, that many of these german immigrants were opposed to slavery and in fact the american anti-slavery intentionally sent anti-slavery agents hired to lecture for them into parts of pennsylvania with that very idea in mind. well thank you very much. i've appreciated your attention. [ applause ] >>> you're watching american american >> there's a new website for watch featured video from the regular weekly series as well as access the history tweets, history in the news and social media from facebook, youtube, twitter and four square. follow "american history tv," all weekend, every weekend on c-sp

what were the anxieties she faced, having to prep for the debate? that is one of the most revealing sections which we double, triple checked. she really got that down before the debate and was almost shut down? i had a number of people say it was even worse than you are showing. i relate with her. i have had to step into summer in places where i feel over my head. she was not surrounded by people she felt she could trust. it was that difficult of a campaign. there was that much animosity between people who had been with john mccain. tavis: i have never figured out how it is that anyone let's themselves getting into something they know they're not prepared for. so much of life is knowing your limitations and abilities. to think you can do x when you're not prepared. >> if you waited to fill prepared, you might not do anything. about there talking president, it is different then hosting a show on pbs. >> you are right. she was saying, we think she will be ready. one of the scariest lines, a lawyer says, she might be able to get ready by the time she ne

rick santorum mentioned the word jobs not once in the last debate. e the president's looking strong. is strong. is focused on the economy. and that's going to carry him through this election. >> governor? >> i think that's a manufactured issue. i think for democrats and this president, they're trying to do everything they can to take the issue off of jobs and the economy, debt, deficit and energy because they don't have a plan. i would say republican governors have had something to do with that. the fact is, when you go back to the beginning of this add m, gas prices have doubled. the nufb of new proposals for taxes and spending are through the roof in this obama administration, and with democrat governors. the number of people that have actually lost a job, over 800,000. while we're making some progress, i can't think of a thing this administration has done that would be responsible for that. i would say we could do better. 8%, not good enough. we can do a lot better, with 25 million americans underemployed or unemployed. that's not good enough. mitt

in the last month, but in fact in the last year is a republican party that has really stepped up the debate on social issues from defunding planned parenthood to the contraception issue. it's been nonstop. and in the last few weeks, it has really, really picked up. and what we're seeing at emily's list, and what our campaigns are seeing around the country in fact is that the women voters, this is not what they're interested in. everybody is concerned about the economy, but they're also not putting up with it. it's not the kind of conversation we want to be having. these are women across the country who support access to birth control, who support planned parenthood. and i think if the republicans keep down this path, we're going to really energize, continue the energize women voters this november. >> let's look at the emilis' list pac campaign contributions in 2012, and you can tell us about the pac in a moment. total receipts over $15 million have come in. total spent over $13 million. and then 3.4 million have come into the pac from individual donors contributing over $200 or more. tell u

look, i was on a debate the other day about these issues. i was actually debating senator ron johnson. and the economy, i think it was on the jobs day or right around there, and he attributed the improving economy to the policies of ronald reagan, okay? they just hadn't quite kicked in yet. now, yesterday i read some republican commentator saying that the reason the market went up yesterday was because the forward-looking market predicts that a republican will win in 2012. so, you know, if you're looking backwards or if you're looking forwards, it has nothing to do with the president. it's all somebody else, and that somebody else tends to be a conservative. i mean, this is a spin cycle that is as divorced from the facts as you can get. >> now, let me ask you, congressman, the candidate mitt romney said today that he won't apologize for his wealth. let me let you hear it first before i ask you my question. >> i made a lot of money. i've been very successful. i'm not going to apologize for that. i know the dnc tries to push this out and they g

now this hearing though has given rise to speculation that some of the politicians involved in the debate may try to use the trayvon martin case as a platform for their own political gain. >>> investigators are trying to determine what led to a murder/suicide involving a father and his 13-year-old daughter in fairfax county. it happened about 1:00 tuesday morning in an suv parked outside the home of the girl's grandparents on forest grove drive in the sleepy hollow neighborhood. the victims are identified as 40-year-old john jackson and his 13-year-old daughter alexis. a neighbor heard the gunshots who lives three doors down. >> it went bang, bang, bang. very quick. three times. >> john jackson left the police department in 2010 after serving 16 years on the force. he then ran a waste removal company with his brother. he and his daughter lived in falls church. >>> national harbor one step closer to getting a casino. the maryland state senate approved a bill clearing the way for another casino in maryland. now the plan still needs approval in the house of delegates, the governor and majori

so much as the person had to play at the gallery in the way that he hasn't done before i think the debate is a good thing yes yes i think the big change is you know up until this election hootin has been above politics and he hasn't been a politician is just the president as i would you want to call him however the demonstrations you know he was dictating the debate by saying this is important and then everybody talked about whatever he chose the difference with this election is that he did the demonstrations and pulled him down into the process and then he's lost control of the debate and so he's become. responsible accountable in the way that he never has before which is not to say that he's responsible accountable in the way that we have in the west nevertheless it was the beginning of real politics if you like it wasn't just the beginning ok john what do you think about probably be gay. being of real politics in russia because i mean i wouldn't probably go as far as ben but i do like that there is a dialogue happening here when i worry about is that the opposition won't engage mr puti

so the debate, that's on them. with respect to the money, the 527s, i saw this writing on the wall at the beginning of my tenure when i got into the rnc and saw our major donors which were all largely bush donors. they were there largely since bush 41. a lot of them had been hit, you know, by the recession and the depression, you know, economic depression. and so their bank accounts were smaller. they weren't giving to party organizations which they typically don't do unless they have the white house or something to give to. so we had to come up with a different structure to raise those monies. so we went out and generated a million new donors and got a lot of grassroots activism that way. the 527s have created their own enti entity. my concern is the lack of disclosure. the lack of ability to let the donors -- the people know who their donors are so campaigns can either want to associate with those donors or not. i think congress will fix that after this cycle. particularly after hearing the crew from the american

that's exactly the effort that i have in mind. >> that debate that you refer to in butler, the court came down on hamilton's side in dicta. it was only a year later in the social security case that the court elevated the dicta to the holding of the case after roosevelt threatened to pack the court with six new members. the infamous court-packing scheme. with respect to the butler court coming down on hamilton's side, the only problem with that is that none of the other founding generation came down on the hamilton side. the debate arose over the introduction of his report on manufacturers in 1791 which was a national industrial policy which the congress immediately shelved because it was utterly contrary to the tenor and the language of the constitution. the butler court in coming down on hamilton's side ignored that entire vision of the founding generation because it was enlightened by the new deal mindset. >> you should have filed an amicus brief with that case. >> this is why we choose roger as the moderator. >> i was in my infancy at that time, but for which i would have. all rig

and the effect of the debates really catapulted his name and reputation across the nation. so lincoln was interested in having these debates because it would enhance his name and increase familiarity with his name throughout illinois. so in '58 both of them and both of their political allize on both sides decided that these debates would be beneficial to each of them. there were seven debates because there were seven political, congressional districts in illinois at that time. and when lincoln and douglas come to galesburg, lincoln knew very well what president and i know and the knox alums know which is lincoln knew very well about galesburg and knox college's reputation. he knew he was on very good ground that day. although you must understand there were many, many supporters of douglas in the audience that day, lincoln had a very friendly crowd that day. at one point he turns to douglas and says, you are blowing out the moral lights around us. you're putting us in the dark. if you consider any person to be a slave owner and another person to be a slave. he took a moral st

the debate is -- the political debate is what are those choices? at do we invest in together as opposed to the individual pursuit? but you can deny that even the designer of our market system says that there are places where the market fails and we need to have a response. and that is the role for government. i think the political discussion is how big is that? howhat are those areas? how do we support that? not that government is bad or that rich people bad. that is what our political conversation is driving us to and does not get us to the most important question of how do we balance these things? how'd we make it so that transportation is not the responsibility of the individual business? because it is a collective and shared value and productivity results. >> will take one more question in the front. wait for the microphone. we will do to questions very quick answer quickly. >> my name is jeremy donaldson and diane is student. i heard that occupy wall street was mentioned -- and i am a student. i heard that occupy wall street was mentioned. ever

the debate has been driven much more it seems by sort of this duel between is the u.s. standing close enough to israel. and i think that it is important to sort of unpack what this debate is about. there are a lot of politics, internal, domestic politics on the israeli side and u.s. side that are driving -- >> on the iranian side. iran is also place that had politics, right? >> absolutely. pit personally can speak less to that but, of course -- what we are hearing is that iran is a divided country. and that ahmadinejad is increasingly isolated from the ayatollah. and there -- there is -- a lot of dissatisfaction within iran towards the regime. and iran is also -- has faced its internal uprising and oppositional movement. so -- that plays into it. >> can i ask you this question, jennifer? you said about the -- the media reports, contrary. there's actually desire in the israeli's government to seek -- diplomacy and a report about the -- netanyahu gave the president the look which is the story we just told. esther whispering into the ear of the king who wants to destroy the

remember when you listen to the debate about taxes and medicare and medicaid, remember that even before this crisis, almost 20% of children in the united states were living in poverty and 40% of children born were born to parents covered by medicaid. and remember that the fortunes of children born in america today, the quality of the public schools they attend, the quality of health care they get the chance they have to go to college, depends still in this country today depends significantly on the wealth of their parents or on the color of their skin. and remember too that we're a country of great strength and resilience. we've successfully navigated the most dangerous phase of the worst economic crisis in generations. we need to bring that same sense of national purpose to the many challenges ahead. that's going to require better results from our political system. no economy can be stronger over time than the ability of its political leaders to come together and make some tough decisions. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> thank you very much,ar as you know you don't get off that ea

when it was time to go back to dhs -- i decided i needed to be more engaged in the public debate. there's some things you cannot do as a public servant that you can do on the outside. that's how i ended up at the immigration policy center. we're all about trying to provide the kind of facts and information that helped shape the debate in the way that it supports the idea that immigration is important to america. we are part of the american immigration council, formally known as the american immigration law foundation. we work very closely with lawyers, including one of the sponsors of tonight's events. when i talk about compehensive immigration reform to people, i often like to move away from the movie analogy to the game analogy. think about it as a rubik's cube. if you get one side right, it probably means the other sites are screwed up. you cannot think about immigration as the one issue. there are so many that interact with each other. we often focus on legalization because it's such an overwhelming issue in many ways. we have so many people that are here without the appropriat

. >> previewing the debate to the fall campaign, the social issues versus the economy. more than 200,000 jobs created in february, and who has the winning prescription for more growth? with us, romney supporter and chair of the governor's association, virginia's governor, bob mcdonnell, and maryland's governor, martin o'malley. finally, our political roundtable is here to talk politics and about something else, civility. where has it gone and can it return? why the president called sandra after rush limbaugh attacks? he was thinking about his own daughters. >> i want them to speak their mind in a thoughtful way, and i don't want them attacked or called horrible names because they are being good citizens. >> we have a discussion with reverend al sharpton, host of msnbc's politics nation. and marsha blackburn, and ej dionne, and peggy noonan. >>> good morning. another split decision in republican presidential contest held over the weekend, and the results showing a big win in kansas for rick santorum, but mitt romney also won the delegate in wyoming's on going process, an