>> let me talk about the service in general. first, with every irs program, my belief is we can always get better. the report you are referencing talks about some declining service levels the last two years as compared to years before. to put it in broad context, i tried to make sure we run good service channels, and when i say channels, i mean phone service, web servers, service over the internet, as well as the paper that goes back and forth. our full level of service have decreased over the last couple years. the man has really exploded. on average we get about 65 million calls every year. two years ago when we send out economic stimulus checks, we had 150 million calls. last year we had 100 million calls. some things we're trying to do to bring the numbers back of this year -- first, we are providing more service over the web used to have to call in for. the last couple years if you are calling to see where your refund is, we have an application where you can type in and find out when you are going to get your refund. this year we are adding an a

. >> joining us on "newsmakers" is douglas shulman, but the irs. steve, you have the first question. >> how are you today? >> doing well. >> last week there was a report that came out from the national taxpayer advocate talking about the services offered by the irs and talking about your goals with people calling up and looking for help, people talking to real people. i understand that it is the goal of the irs to have only 71% speak to real people. why such a small number? >> let me talk about the service in general. first of all, with every irs program, my belief is that we can always do better. the report you are referencing talks about declining service levels over the last few years. to put it in broad context, i tried to make sure that we run good service channels. what i say channels, i mean web service, service over the internet, walk-in service and paper that goes back and forth. levels of service have decrease over the past couple of years. to give you a sense why, the demand has relief loaded. on average we get about 65 million calls ever

i am appointed to be the taxpayer inside the irs. x information from guay -- from the internet for their accounts, legal issues, tax law questions, complicated things. i have gotten a letter from the irs, what does this mean? they want to talk to a live human being. and it is incumbent on the tax collector to answer the phone. a former commissioner, charles ramadi, the man who suggested need for this position road in a book that he published a really great statement, which is he failed to recognize why anyone would not pick up the phone and talk to someone who is trying to pay them money. i think that is really my point. it is not to beat up the irs, but to highlight the fact that 71.2% -- 30% of the taxpayers are not getting through. and they have to wait 12 minutes. the same people who answer the calls at the irs on the main lines are the same people who process our correspondents. you get into a cycle. you make a call, you cannot get through. first, you write a letter to the irs, you send in information. the irs does not acknowledg

i am appointed to be the taxpayer inside the irs. g substantive tax information from guay -- from the internet for their accounts, legal issues, tax law questions, complicated things. i have gotten a letter from the irs, what does this mean? they want to talk to a live human being. and it is incumbent on the tax collector to answer the phone. a former commissioner, charles ramadi, the man who suggested need for this position road in a book that he published a really great statement, which is he failed to recognize why anyone would not pick up the phone and talk to someone who is trying to pay them money. i think that is really my point. it is not to beat up the irs, but to highlight the fact that 71.2% -- 30% of the taxpayers are not getting through. and they have to wait 12 minutes. the same people who answer the calls at the irs on the main lines are the same people who process our correspondents. you get into a cycle. you make a call, you cannot get through. first, you write a letter to the irs, you send in information. the irs doe

it is not to beat up the irs. t is to highlight the fact that 71.2%, 30% of the taxpayers are not, or the calls are not getting through. they have to wait 12 minutes. i would make one other point. the same people who answer the calls that the irs on the main lines are the same people who process correspondence so you get into a cycle. you make a call, first to write a letter to the irs, you send in some information. the irs does not acknowledge that letter. it just sits there so you call the irs but you back to wait 12 minutes to get through to find that with the virus got the piece of paper you senton so you don't get through so then you send a piece of paper again which again sit somewhere because we don't have enough human beings to process but the paper in the phonecalls and then you colligan. then it just goes downhill from there, so you get into this debt spiral, and then finally the taxpayer gives up. so, we can talk about the reasons for why this is happening and i agree that the volume of calls is gone up

so number one, the irs can help. me on the show but there's an industry that preys on poor people and my gants and people that don't speak the english language very well. they have locations on corners, and they are sort of like a bank. they will give you a free, i don't know, some kind of a free money order or something if you come in there, and those are the people that prey on people. and they are not very well regulated if at all, so are we looking at tax prepareers, are we looking at the financial institutions that prey, and i say prey because they do. you can do the numbers and -- that prey on poor people and people that can't speak the language. that's the end of my diatribe. host: thank you. democrats line? caller: i'm an aarp tax volunteer and i'm often amazed at the level of testing that we are required to go through. basically we go through tax returns for mostly seniors and low-middle-income people. host: and you're tested by aarp? caller: no. we're tested by the irs required in order for us to do the volu

>>reporter: even though the new irs regulations do not take effect this year, the irs says this tax season its agents will be going around to various tax-preparation businesses, sometimes posing as taxpayers to see if the companies are providing accurate service. >>> nicole clifford was featured on maryland's most wanted two months ago. soon after the story aired she was captured by authorities. tonight police hope you'll provide a tip that leads them to her. >>reporter: this is 21-year old brown. she's wanted byte regional warrant apprehension task force on several charges, including robbery and assault. police say on august 26th, brown robbed -- on south charles street in federal hill. >> during which time, brown and her accomplices assaulted and robbed a store employee, before fleeing with an undiscloseded amount of merchandise. >>reporter: she weighs approximately 120 pounds. her last-again addresses in baltimore. court records indicate she is certainly no stranger to breaking the law. >> brown has a history of assault and deadly weapon's charges and should be considered armed and dang

and so we again we are stating what the irs says about its rules and not necessarily agreement about whether that's the best way for it to articulate its rules. and also, e.j., i guess just to give a quick answer, would be that these restrictions that are present in the irs code flow from the request and the attempt to maintain tax-exempt status, and not from the first amendment and those things are often confused. people think the first amendment, sets down these rules about lobbying, political activities. instead, it is the attempt to seek and to maintain tax-exempt status that triggers these obligations and substantial amount of lobbying and no electioneering. so let me, before we -- >> i want to make one comment. the nasty secret is that these rules are largely self enforcing or not self enforcing. the irs, the last time i looked which was a couple of years ago, i think took on 100 cases a year of 501(c)(3) violation for polygonal activity. i can't remember the last lobbying campaign they undertook. probably planned parenthood in the '30s. so most of the enforcement is self enforc

the irs will be the first to tell you, you raise taxes, tax revenues decrease. they do not collect when you raise more. why? incentive to not pay. continuing changes in the tax law. these irs agents cannot keep up with. congress passes laws on to the irs and expects them to be implemented and they can't. it is a -- [ talking over each other ] >> we have 10% unemployment. they act like they went away that's why the jobless rate is so high. >> they are going away >> unemployment is 10% today. the point is there is a point where tax cuts aren't going to keep creating jobs. as a business you have to have a need for an employee where you can make a profit. they are better than most government stimulus plans. >> john mentioned this is free money. john all due respect it is not. it is your money, it is my money. it is every citizen's. you think about the big banks, the four largest banks in the united states control over 56% of the banking assets in the united states. it is outrageous! >> we are going to leave it there, guys. >> it is free money to them, not free money

the irs is actually making that a goal. g to answer 71% of phone calls to the toll-free help line this year. which by the way is a big step up from last year when only 64% of calls got through. not that getting through means you're through. prepare to spend an average of 12 minutes on hold. that's a long time on hold, but better than it was, i guess. we've heard about setting reachable benchmark but what does it say about an organization when they start out saying you have a seven out of ten chance of us helping out. manual what happens to the odds when you throw in the irs thing about policing whether you have healthcare. what are you down to? 50%? 40%? do they put the call through the same call center? if you'd like to ask about your medical deduction, press one. if you like to confirm you have medical coverage for which you can make a deduction, press two. if you are okay waiting a really long time, thereby necessitating more medical treatment and which you will need more medical coverage and acquiring in the limit of the

nobody bothers to notice that the irs has properly done nothing about it. you need to keep this proportion as well. >> i was thinking by the way, coded words. many preachers give sermons about hope and change. i wonder if those would have been coded words. >> only if somebody was listening to the service. >> can i just recognize that joshua dubois and michael have joined us. so glad you are here. >> you can speech and not be heard. >> this is just a wonderful document. one might think that current law speaks to itself. so the fact that we've been able to dig into these complex issues and find some common ground across various lines are tremendous. we will certainly be reading this closely. i will share with my colleagues. and from the office they are going to stick around. thank you, appreciate the great work that's been done. >> thank you so much. i'm going to thank you for being here. we appreciate very much. >> that really wasn't intended as a transition. i was inspired. go ahead. >> we want to bring into the conversation and the drafters into the convers

we get into the irs restrictions on political activities of tax-exempt organizations. i soon expect to see a church called church 501 ze three. [laughter] can you talk about that distinction because i think the, to the reader the first know my answer all the questions of fact it doesn't but how much does the issue have to do with the first amendment and simply how much does it have to do with tax law? >> i will do that. >> to begin to another complicated supreme court set of doctrines. the answer the churches are unrestrained and political activity rests on at least two supreme court cases where the court said that explicitly and it has been said by both conservatives and the justice berger and liberals justice brennan so there's no question about. the question is when they become too successfully persuaded the legislature that there is some restrictions placed the church is free to say whatever they want. there are two competing doctrines. one is up on conditional, and constitutional conventions. i can't get a government benefit and then say you can only get it if you

a little bit more from the article in the "washington post." irs regulate paid >> host: back to the phones. okeechobee, florida, m.b. on our line for republicans. go ahead. >> caller: yes, sir, i had a problem with the irs many years ago that leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. my mother -- my wife did my taxes for me because she was a bookkeeper and she was coming down with alzheimer's and for some reason she didn't pay our taxes -- >> we'll leave this recorded portion of "washington journal" and take you live now to the white house and today's press briefing with press secretary rob gibbs. >> everyone who did not have a seat stood. before we get started with a few questions here let me make one quick scheduling announcement. the president will travel to ohio on february january 22nd the next stop on the white house to main street tour. president obama will meet with ohio workers, local ceos, small business owners and other local leaders about ideas for continuing to grow the economy and put americans back to work. >> we didn't understand the

>> last year the irs made a proposal about how use them for tax purposes. i am getting a ton of the mail from people that read those articles, wondering what is happening on it. he made it clear that they would not be moving forward with the proposal, and the irs does have a lot on their plate. in terms of taxpayer service and a record volume of calls from people wondering about stimulus payments, etc., they talked about what they were doing in terms of pursuing cheaters. they have a lot on their plate and we are in a situation where congress has various tax proposals in health legislation. >> how significant was it that he spoke about the swiss government? >> very significant. tax lawyers and experts that i've talked to talk about the different atmosphere out there. 10 years ago people could hide money overseas without any real fear that the federal government was going to find it. what they are trying to do is up the ante, making a new calculation on how dangerous it will be. the more dangerous that they make it for people to do that, the more the people w

balls so far in the ir half. >> bob: that is hy zone should good, ght. >ri foron gets his man to fly and rws the foul! >> bob: eric, rotnei clarke s doneothi so far in the me. a back scre and igle sc een and needs to get t shot off. i ll you what he i as three-point shooter d than are orng him to do ings that he i snot comfortable with. he hoot 49 frodownwn and he has got noe look from r -poiee range so far in this gam >> eric: that last foulasno perry steenso his send. he will got the bechn. ntucy's foul situation a little diferent. no reason to panic when stevsonenpi uckp two personals. >>ob: inde. >> eric: kentuckthe cond ranked team in the couny against arkansas. th bbyo i'm rie acrter. ca caprana also on ha win today and ketuck will doubuntedly be the number one team in the coury starting e freshmen beliable. >> ric: look at the big feow demarcus cousins! >> bob: washington coldt risk te foul. >> can'ttit back. ntuc basketball. wall he wil goto the free-row line and shoo apir >> bob: washinon cnot stay with cousins

and then a representative from the irs on its agencies new regulation. ington journal" begins every morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern. >> did you know that the new free news app is c-span radio? you can get quick access to free streaming audio channels. there is also a tab with links to all of our podcasts, including q&a" and afterwards. it is available from the app store. >> now the first meeting of the commission appointed by congress to examine the events of last year's near collapse of the financial services industry. witnesses include top executives from goldman sachs, j.p. morgan chase, morgan stanley, and bank of america. the commission made up of six democrats and four republicans is required to report to congress by december 53 this year phil angelides chairs the commission and former house ways and means committee bill thompson is the vice chair. >> the meetings of the financial crisis inquiry committee will come to order. there is a quorum present and so we will now proceed with this first of our public hearings. good morning to everyone and thank y

community with like minded states and in developing, devising and imposing these crippling sanctions on the ir iranian economy. we are on the same page. >> where are you on the same page? >> i don't think there are major differences with us on this. i think we're re-examining how we will proceed to imposing these sanctions and we are closely communicating with and cooperating with the obama administration. >> in recent years, there have been differences as far as the intelligence assessment of the u.s. government and the israeli government as to how close iran is to actually possessing a nuclear bomb. >> i think we're very closely communicating and cooperating on all of the issues. and our assessments are very similar. >> is your intelligence the same as the u.s. acessment? >> our assessments are very similar. >> there is another story in "the new york times" on the front page about the secret tunnels. take a look behind you, you see the picture, ahmadinejad wearing the hard hat. he visited a tunnel, not necessarily the tunnel where they're having nuclear facilities, but it would be deep under

but the executives also defended their firms' bonus and compensation practices, which have drawn the ire of president obama, members of congress, and the public. commissioner heather murren, a retired merrill lynch director, pressed goldman sachs chief executive lloyd blankfein on the issue. goldman is expected to award billions of dollars in bonuses next week. >> how can you reconcile these things, given what's going on in the country economically? and do you feel that your compensation adequately reflects your firm's behaviors, what the standards of the times are? >> if you look at the history of our compensation, the compensation always correlated with the results of the firm, as it did last year. >> holman: blankfein noted that he and other top executives at goldman did not receive bonuses last year. commission chairman phil angelides, a former democratic treasurer of california, sharply questioned him about goldman's practice of packaging risky mortgages and selling them to investors at the same time the firm took financial positions betting against those troubled assets. >> what we

the irs recently made headlines after giving tax breaks to citigroup, several months ago people withven amnesty. my question is, why is the irs coming up to the middle class, creating more stress for us in what is your plan to help resolve this? and if congress is unable to deal with the issue and directly impacting the middle class, i'm happy to contribute my ideas. hot mac >> well, this is something that i actually personally experienced. just several years ago. michelle and i had some family emergencies when i was still working in a law firm. add a small retirement account set up and i ended up having to withdraw it and pay that 10% penalty and there was no fun. but it was so we had to do. i'm fortunate, we were done enough were wicked absurd that hit. a lot of families aren't in that position. if they've got a nest egg to suddenly -- it's bad enough having to drive down but then they have to pay taxes on top of it is really tough. now the reason that policy is in place obviously is because you are getting that money tax-free, the idea being that you're going to actually use it fo

doug shulamn was asked about farm calls from taxpayers who call the irs and now they are handled. >> you meet your service goal, almost -- only 71% of the people who reach the irs can get through to a real person >> >> let me talk about serviceberry with every irs program, whether it is service or enforcement, my belief is that we can always get better. the report you are referencing talked about declining service levels these last two years as opposed to the years before. to put it in broad context, i try to make sure we run very good service channels. by that i mean phone service, web service, service over the internet, walk in service, as well. and our phone level of service has decreased the last couple of years. demand has really exploited. on average, we get about 65 million calls every year. a few years ago when the center of federal tax checks to everyone, we had 1 million calls. even though our levels of service was decreasing, we were answering and servicing more taxpayers than ever before. we went to 35 million calls answered to 40 million calls answered. we want to bring

i'm also directing the irs to conduct a review of the overall accuracy of companies claims about half the liberties. we need to be sure that when a company says it is paying taxes, that company is, in fact, paying taxes. beyond the steps, i'm also calling on congress to build on the kind of legislation that senator mccaskill, congressman ellsworth, and chairman towns have introduced. and that i introduced when i was senator. legislation that will crack down on tax cheats by allowing the irs to share information about tax delinquency with contracting officials. and by the way, when i introduced that senate bill, claire stood by me, and brad led the way in the house. further, my budget from last year proposed that if a company with lots of unpaid taxes receives a federal contract, the government ought to be able to pay taxpayers back in full before it's required to pay the contractors themselves. had also proposed that tax collection, on behalf of american taxpayers, should not be subject to long bureaucratic elite that it should be done for the. said congress did not act last year on t

because it is tied into the irs and payroll, in rare circumstances when you from the irs you could get jail time. no one will go to jail for not having health insurance. you long coated jail if you do not have health insurance. you're going to be to 5% but you will not go to jail. -- you are going to pay 2.5%. we're not going to take money from the federal treasury, your tax dollars to create an insurance companies or put money into insurance. this is just like medicare. payroll taxes and a monthly premium. in the house bill, we have a surcharge called the millionaire tax. tutored 70 household -- 270,000 for the family makes more than $1 million there is a surcharge. 99.91% sine will not have to worry about that here in this district. waste, fraud, abuse, long-term savings, and changing how we pay for health care. let me explain this and how you come up with about all this money in 10 years. what happens to medicare? you're going to cut medicare? in november, we will not. you still go near same doctor, your hospital we eliminate the copays and deductibles for preventive care. --no, we

with general mcchrystal and his stra tike -- strategic team and it's first time in history that the eled irs. -- elders these are the sure ra in afghanistan have been given the opportunity to express their concerns and their frustrations and also their sentment about how they feel about the presence of the u.s. in afghanistan. and probably surprising to the american public but most of the elders actual lay appreciate the fact -- actually appreciate the fact that we're there. on the other hand they're very keenly aware that the military is not just there for firepower but it was something i call brain power and i think that's one of the things that the american public should be more aware of. of the 8 of the 22 now thousand troops deployed this year they're trainer troops. these are reservists and national guard. they're veterinarians they're horticulturalists or engine ghers -- engineers or civil engineers and i think 34,000 troops that were -- 30,000. so about a third of those troops are again trainer troops and the people in afghanistan they can differenceuate and they -- differentiate. th

it is an issue that is goingç o be ongoing for the irs, and these things are valid, and they are going to deal with those. >> for your insight and questions, thank you both for joining us today. cá>> he was important not on a number of levels. it offers an explanation that had been aomçç bafflingi]ç wes in particular for many years common and thatç was -- for may years, and thatç?;çxd was ths he appeared to have. >> tonight, biographer michael seacammell and his biography. tonightw3. xd>> tomorrow, the senior advisr talked about what can be done about international and homegrown terrorism. david masci discusses same-sex marriage in the united states andçç worldwide, and an examinationvç on the civilians role in establishingç leadershp anoç afghanistan. live at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] ççççççççów3çóokmyokthis t senator christo(1.%Ñ dx4#ççç1 announced his retirement. he has been in office since 1981 and is up for reelection this year. he played

i had a problem several years ago with the irs. they said i had 15 days to come up with the money or they were going to make me sell my properties. host: taxes on the independent line. -- texas on the independent line. >> we take you live now to the state department. >> a personal pleasure and an honor to welcome back the foreign minister to the state department. representing a country that is such a valued ally of the united states. over the past 10 years king of dellabdullah has carried on the provision of the jordanian people. jordan has continued to be a key partner in the pursuit of peace and progress in the region and around the world. so today the minister and i discussed a wide range of issues. i want to begin by stating publicly what i had told the minister. i expressed both our condolence for loss of life that's was unfortunately both american and jordanian, and i expressed appreciation for jordan's combating violent extremism home and abroad. this is a struggle that unites people of faith, people of peace, everywhere. te

the brokerage, irs will forgive her the penalties if she can prove it was the brokerage's fault. yes, with interest, yes, penalties, no. fight it if it's a brokerage fault. >> contact an accountant. >> you've got the blog there. >> thank you so much. >> you can head to the dolans' website. this week they'll look how you can find money for college. and if you're looking for tax deductions on your new job searches. >>> it is the new year and it is below freezing in minnesota. >>> new year, new snow. a new england snowstorm is threatening to keep people indoors all weekend long. strong winds expected in vermont, new hampshire and maine. they are forecasting a foot or more of snow in portland, maine, by the end of this weekend. >>> most of the country dipped way below zero degrees this morning. meteorologist jenison bravely ventured outside the studio in chilly minneapolis. >> i'm belinda jensen in minnesota. as we look at temperatures, this is what we were dealing with this morning, a bunch of spots at 30 below and below that, as well. you can see in the metro officially down to 15

it is the fact that ir wants regnition, and it is not tting the recogtion it feels it deserves. >> the complication that iran is notn arab nation its different from the arab nations. the are tensions between the rsians and the arabs, and that mplicates things in the region but the one thing that they are able to do to ingratiate themselves with their nghbors is to take on the cause of paleste. >> however, they are shia, and with thexception of iraq -- >>hich creates more complication in all of this type of fine, but also, do not forget that i you put in e fact that the united states, because of the support of the shah, whoas regardeds the greatatan and still is to a degree, it is potically palatable to oppose anything the united stas is 4. >> l's get back to the ide of recognition. i word -- we were talking about the recognion factor he said something at was really -- that has rlly stuck with m he was studyingermany after wod war i, anhe said that countries thatre humiliated d are not rognized and have tremendous sense of the culture and nationality tend to make war. he was lookingt th

i am worried that they are going to to me like the irs, if you don't pay your irs bill. ey will make you sell your home, and they will have your home on the block quicker than you can imagine. i had a problem once several years ago with the irs, and they said i had 15 days to come up with the money or they would make me sell my property. host: texas, independent line. caller: i would like to comment on -- your program were talking about the stock market and what was going on there. if this country passes cap-and- trade, this country will be finished. cap-and-trade is really a ponzi scheme. there is a guy out from mit -- i have seen him on the air -- he lives in seclusion right now, because he went against the cap- and-trade, and he is really kind of afraid for his life. they fudged it all the numbers in england, and it is really a ponzi scheme did what they are going to do is take over the stock market, and when they take control of electricity, this country is done. host: a couple of articles on health care in "the new york times." "when senator ben nelson was negotiatin

my question is, why is the irs coming after the middle class, creating more stress for us and what is your plan to help resolve this? if congress is unable to deal with this issue and directly impact the middle class, would be happy to contribute my ideas. [applause] >> well, this is something that i personally experienced. this was several years ago. michelle and i had some family emergencies when i was to working in a law firm. i had a small retirement accounts set up. i ended up having to withdraw it and pay that 10% penalty. it was no fun. it was what we had to do. we were young enough that we could absorb that hit. many families are not in that position if they have a nest egg, to suddenly -- it is bad enough to draw down but also to have to pay taxes on top of it is tough. the reason that policy is in place is because you are getting that money tax-free, the idea of being you will use it for retirement. if you are spending it early before retirement, then you can imagine that many people could potentially be the system by using these accounts to avoid taxes. i want to show littl

because it is tied into the irs and payroll, in rare circumstances when you from the irs you could getalth insurance. you're going to be to 5% but you will not go to jail. -- you are going to pay 2.5%. we're not going to take money from the federal treasury, your tax dollars to create an insurance companies or put money into insurance. this is just like medicare. payroll taxes and a monthly premium. in the house bill, we have a surcharge called the millionaire tax. tax. tutored 70 household -- you do the individual of that household makes more than 500,000, or the family makes more than $1 million, there is a surcharge. 9% of you will not -- will never have to worry it -- 9.9% of you will not have to worry got that. long-term savings and changing how we pay for of care, let me explain that because it explains the inefficiencies and how you can come up with about $500 billion in savings in medicare over 10 years. what happens to medicare? all the seniors say you are cutting my medicare. we are not cutting medicare. you still go to see your same doctor, the same hospital. the only differ

. >> sunday, 1 "newsmakers," a recent report that the irs is not effectively answering phone calls from taxpayers. >> only 71% of the people who call will get through to a real person. why such a low percentage? >> first of all, with every irs program, weather service enforcement, i believe we can always get better. the report that you are talking about talks about declining service rivals these last two years as compared with the years before. to put that in broad context, i tried to make sure that we run very good service channels. when i say channels, i mean phone service, web service, service over the internet, out walk-in service, the paper that goes back and forth between the irs and taxpayers. our phone service has decreased the past couple years. the demand has really exploded. on average, we get about 65 million calls every year. two years ago, when we sent out economic stimulus checks, we had 150 million calls. last year, we had about 100 million calls. even though our levels of services we were decreasing, we were answering and servicing more taxpayers than ever before. we we

the irs. we appreciate you being with us as we close here. we started on haiti and we will close on that. the president is scheduled to speak right now on 80. we're learning that he will be w. bush and former president bill clinton to assist in the efforts for haiti after its devastating earthquake on tuesday. we will be back tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern. see you then. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] . . >> day two of the financial crisis. witnesses today include attorney general eric holder, financial industry regulators in two states attorneys general, the congressionally appointed commission made up of six democrats and four republicans is scheduled to deliver a final report by december 15 of this year. the hearings are underway. follow it live now on c-span2. later this afternoon, we'll hear more from president obama as he speaks at a job summit hilled by the house democratic caucus. congress is out of session so members can attend that meeting being

the doctors to be there. you have to pay for it. we are all in this together. just 2.5%. it is tied into an irs with the payroll, would you defraud the irs and goaded jail for not having health insurance? you're not going to jail if you do not have health insurance. you're going to have to pay 2.5%, but you're not going to jail. any health reform must be paid for and not add to that deficit. we're not going to take money from the federal treasury or your tax >> -- your tax dollars and put money into insurance so that everybody has it. it will be based on your premium just like medicare. and a monthly premium. in the house bill, we have a surcharge called the millionaire tax. tutored 70 household -- 270,000 for the family makes more than $1 million there is a surcharge. 99.91% sine will not have to worry about that here in this district. waste, fraud, abuse, long-term savings, and changing how we pay for health care. let me explain this and how you come up with about all this money in 10 years. what happens to medicare? you're going to cut medicare? in november, we will not. you still go near sa

nobody knows what is right, even the irs. t if you asked six different offices what the answer is, you get six different dances. the fair tax, everybody pays the same thing. -- you get six different answers. everybody gets a rebate for the basic necessities of life so you get a credit. the more conservative you are, the less you spend, the less taxes you pay. lower capital creates lower osts. investments creates more jobs which creates more markets which builds our economy and it restores the think we have lost the most, which is manufacturing jobs. this will keep us ahead of the rest of the world. nobody can outwork americans if we put it up and we set it up. if we have the incentives to do it right. i think the fear tax is great and public love to get awi wouly with that. all right. on the side. right there. he is coming to you. çfrom your side, you are on the hard left. >> i am sorry. i should have realized that. i hope everybody can hear me. i want to thank you for taking care of me. i got a letter from social security.

korea 60 years ago, when confronted with generals who had their own policies, fired macarthur, faced the iref the republican congress. this is a country where, as truman said, the buck stops here. i think obama has too often allows special interest groups to compromise and sabotage his agenda. he invoked the mantra of change. he is constantly invoking the mantra of change, but too often he is offered hope, and hope is a thin gruel in which public can prosper. in foreign policy, he is following in the george bush's footsteps by being bogged down by two tribal wars, which he has never been able to adequately explain to the public, except under this vague category of combating terrorism. he is head of an alliance, nato, with no enemies. behind that shield, europe and sold to russia and the post cold war embraced dominated by german economic power. asia is entering a post-american future. the rise of china and france japan and india -- confronts japan and india, and then the u.s. is gone down in tribal wars in afghanistan and pushed to the sidelines. i think the events in this area are slipping

so, i think having prepares to take tests for the irs is a very good first step for accuracy. then we should all move on to getting the biggest deduction we can. host: things for your call. we will go momentarily to the carnegie endowment for international peace. -- thanks for your call. on the panel of representatives from carnegie as well as the imf, the american enterprise institute, the institute for international finance, and the world bank. back to the phones from tennessee. caller: i don't think this will solve anything. it will add another layer to the complicated process. when you look at test-making that is a separate industry. this will spawn another industry more specialists on how to take a test. host: in the "the new york times yorkex-senator runs for governor in rhode island as independent. the former republican senator from rhode island who lost his seat to a democrat in 2006 despite his family's long term presence in state politics and not to run for governor there as an independent. his 56 years old and left the republican party after his loss to the democrat

they say it is because of the irs. even if they're making $90,000 on disability. don't think it is fair. it is not obama doing it. it is the congress and senate. host: this conversation began this debate on c-span's facebook page. you can continue the conversation there. also, a new facebook page was created called "let the cameras in." things for your calls. we will now turn our attention to national security and talk with eric lipton of "the new york times." >> admiral mike mullen talks this morning about the role of the u.s. military. his audience is high school students. we will have live coverage at 10:00 a.m. eastern. then at noon in discussion on access to and availability of water in the developing world, hosted by the wilson center in catholic services. the picture on your screen of elvis presley and richard nixon is the most requested but note in the national archives. two people who were there will talk about that photo session. the discussion will be tonight live from the national archives at 7:00 p.m. >> in fed we trust -- this author on ben bernanke i

right now, heavy focus on the ir regular side, a few years ago it was at symmetric and asymmetry. there were always the symmetries. i am always looking for symmetry's i can take advantage of with respect to the enemy. we have done that and we have got some. that goes back to what i said earlier about just the change that is occurring, from where we were just a few years ago to where we are right now. >> thank you, sir. >> i just wanted to note with incidents like what to place on december 25, of much impact would it have on u.s. strategies in iraq, afghanistan and other terrorist hotbeds'? >> it is probably too soon to tell with respect to that. certainly, there is the concern that this would bring more, and generate more support from young males who might be on that -- on the fence about what they might do with their lives. in the long run, to get at this terrorist challenge is going to be about how we influence those decisions. if i am a male, a muslim male of that age if you will, and i do not have the job, and i have not had an education, what do i decide to do with my life? th

in from time to time to answer viewers'l taxpayer advocate created by congress in representing you the irs. >> good evening and welcome. this is the first time our republican candidates for governor will debate. we're airing live throughout texas on television radio and online. i'm kera news direct or shelley kofler. we've asked the audience to hold applause during the debate. but right now put your hands together. you are invited to welcome our candidates. [applause] our candidates are -- let's introduce our candidates. our candidates are set to come a three term u.s. senator and former texas. senator hutchison is 66 years old and grew up near houston. debra medina former republican party chair and registered nurse. ms. medina was born north of corpus christi. she is 47. and rick perry has been governor since december 2000 is a former lieutenant governor from a native of paint creek near abilene. now for the next hour i'll be joined in questioning the candidates by mariemaria renee barillas a reporter with kuvn univision 23. and some 11 montgomery chief for the star fort worth telegram. j

i take great pride in the works at the irs does. we need integrity and customs and immigration systems, we need control over our borders and investigate and prosecute drug traffickers comic counterfeiters and child at saks of vendors. we need i.c.e.. i feel fortunate each and every day that i is a career federal employee has the privilege to serve as the assistant secretary for i.c.e.. it carries a great responsibility that i take very, very seriously. irresponsibility to support the employees and responsibility to protect americans from more days harm, lawlessness and abuse and responsibility to ensure thousands of people that we interact with every day, those we arrest, detained, remove, pr osecute, are treated fairly and a top police. but it is not an easy job. i will please and displeased some person, legislator, editorial border some advocacy group each and every day i am in this job. i venture to guess many of you here would have me do some things differently. this comes with the territory. i am not an advocate. i am a governo

( click, click, click ) >>> mistakes that led to the christmas day terror plot coming dangerously close to succeeding, there were a number of blund irs, tracking the suspected bomber, they didn't realize how big a threat the u.s. was facing through the small chapter of al qaeda in yemen believed to be involved in the plot. >> in the intelligence we have acquired over the last several years, it's been rather inspirational. it's said things, promoted a certain view as far as bringing the fight to us, all of the activities we were focused on were happening in yemen. in hindsight now, in 20/20 hindsight gives you much better opportunity to see it. at the time we didn't know they were talking about sending mr. abdulmutallab to the united states. >> underestimating al qaeda in yemen is it one of the conclusions, but there are others. there was a failure to assign anyone to follow up on the threat even with the information they had. shortcomings on the watch list kept umar farouk abdulmutallab's name from causing the radar to go up until he was already in the air. initial search of the suspect's name used the wrong spelling, that's just wha

>> just the lacerations on his lip. >> up ir lip or bottom lip? >> i couldn't tell. between the two. >> when you say laceration, was there a lot of blood? >> not a lot. >> would it be like a bloody nose? >> right. maybe if you might have bitten your lip. not on his shirt, nothing on his hands. i was holding him still and i didn't get any blood on me whatsoever. >> you were holding him still? >> trying to keep his neck. >> did you see any broken bones. >> no. >>> what happened? what's wrong? >> i have a neighbor. he hit the tree. i see him. he is laying down. >> you mean there was an auto accident? >> yes. >> my two officers arrived at the scene and noticed tiger woods laying on the ground in front of his vehicle with his wife over him rendering first aid. >> this situation is my fault, woods says, and it's obviously embarrassing to my family and me. i'm human and i'm not perfect. i will certainly make sure this doesn't happen again. >> everybody wants to know, all right. what happened? what does tiger woods have to tell us? >> he was backing out of his driveway and hi

s chief response to the agency's critics next. so ir going to have the heart attack. thought i was invincible. i'm on an aspirin regimen now because i never want to feel that helplessness again. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. talk to your doctor, and take care of what you have to take ca of. >>> hello, welcome back. i'm julie banderas. >> welcome to a brand-new hour of america's headquarters. a new york city man under investigation for his links to a terror suspect pleading not guilty a short time ago to charges that he fled to pakistan to get military training from al-qaeda. >> the government of yemen begins a military offensive ramping up the fight against al-qaeda with u.s. assistance. we have a live. >> the investigation into the repeat terror plots and attacks are far from over. many in washington are still looking for solutions and answers on just how to keep this country safe. the director of national intelligence says he's now forming a new commission to look into the recent intel failures. now more from

>> before they answer the question, as irs commissioner, did you try to limit the employer tax benefit? >> no, it was later incorporated in the statute. it is articulated carefully in the statute right now. >> i remember a story you told me 20 years ago when congress took away some of the deductions for travel and entertainment. you were in a very posh, washington restaurant. the waiter dumped your real in your lap. -- the waiter to dump your meal in your lap. [laughter] >> he said he had never done that before. what do you think about that? senator mccain when he was running for president was calling for that. there's a lot of discussion about the cadillac plans and the difference between the chevrolet and the cadillac. >> i agree with you on the cadillac plan. that would provide a fixed dollar amount or tax credit for plans. to really get the revenue and say to firms that you are on the own and this is not tax deductible at all, i think he would end up being criticized. you are trying to keep this balancing act where firms provide employee health insurance. if you no longer give them

and with me toalk through the latest jobs picte is david leonhardt, economics writefor "the new york time"/a- ir, today's numberas worse than expected. >>. >> yesit was. the were definitely hopes as you pointed out thawe would get a positive numr. it tur out revisions gave us a very slight positive numberor november. buthen we got this gative number for december. it's fun, the negative positiveine is actually not as important as it oen ses because it we really ed more than 100,000 jobs each month just to ecould up with populati growthment but this gives a sense really for how f we are from getting the b rket healthy again. >> reporter: i want pars the expeation games a ttle more here. because you say this revision in november actually shows we had one month where weained jobs. >> yh. >> reporr: and as i said in the introductn, recent numbers are not as bad, rtainly, as what we saw. >> exactly. it is a question of ping, expecting, allround a amework of numbers. >> that's right. onof the ways to pars it in aay that doesn't get you too dizzy a month-toonth stuff is take a three moh moving average w

this time he raised the ire of then-majority leader johnson who realized that a majority of senators might join anderson's cause. to prevent anderson's motion from receiving a vote, johnson came forward with his own compromise, changing rule 22 to reduce the required vote for cloture to two-thirdses of senators present and voting. clinton anderson relied on the constitutional option as the basis to ease or at least reconsider the cloture requirements laid out in rule 22. as he said in 1959 -- quote -- "my motion does not prejudge the nature of the rules, which the senate in its wisdom may adopt, but it does declair in effect that the senate -- declare in effect that the senate of the 85th senate is responsible for and must bear the responsibility for the rules under which the senate will operate." that responsibility cannot be shifted back upon the senate of past congresses." end quote. to appease a small group of senators, johnson had included new language. this language stated that the rules continued from one congress to the next unless they were changed under the rules. it was a

the witness. >> warner: so ir to say or do you think she tipped her handn either way? >> i don't think s did. i think her qutions, as they've been in e past, were very pointed, ry even handed of a sides. >> wner: the last question. she's been on the court thre months. i know there haven't been an big decisis yet. in h questioning, what can you tell about wt kind of juste she's turning out to be? very careful, cautious. ecific. fact oriented juste. she'is one of the... among thmost aggressive questions on a bench on a bench that's a very hot beh for quesons. >> warner: meaning she aska lot of them. >> yes. she may well make th difference in is case as we spe. >> wner: marcia coyle, thks for being back with us. >> my pleasure. >> brown: next who will ve the last laugh? we check in the changing chairs in late night tv. >> brown: who willave the last laugh? check in on the changing chairs in late night tv. >> i don't think the's any truth to the rumor. nbc only cancels you when you're in first ple. >> brownactually jay leno's bosses at nbc decided he not ok at least not at 10:00 p. where they had

not really a central part of the discussion, which they should be. irthe last major growth in unemployment before the current recession. but during that time, what we saw is that the wages increased. the wages for the workers who had been here since at least before 1982, that would be the condition for legalization, with the wages that have been flat, during the economic downturn. this was down by 20%. when men sought a greater increase in wages after legalization. this happened throughout the united states. this is a place like southwestern texas, where they see the real wages dropping before the legalization. this is it a really dramatic increase, and this is tearing at time of economic downturn. what we then look for, is that over time, the earnings were helping the native workers as well as the undocumented workers. l as helping the undocumented. this is very significant again, this is survey results that would, have been well documented and well studied over the last 20 years. the other interesting feature that happens right after legalization, is

hear, when my kids were in grade school, very young and go to the concerts and they play these plastic flutes, it sounds awful except when ire child is playing and then it sounds marvelous. so the enjoyment of everyone else is a good reason but not aristotle's reason for giving the best flutes to the best flute players. he had a different reason. maybe his view seems less familiar and accessible. anybody have idea, some other idea, some other reason for giving the best flutes to the best flute players? >> -- appreciate the good flute, the best flute player, one possibly appreciate the most best flute. >> he will most appreciate, he or she the best flute player will most appreciate and make best use of the best flute. that is aristotle's reason. which actually depends on a strange idea. the best flute should go to the best flute players because that's what flutes are for, to be played well, by a virtuoso. now, this takes us really to the heart of what's puzzling and challenging about aristotle's idea of justice. to reason about the right way, the just way of distributing things requires that we first figure out what that good

the fight against terror as an all out war. what more should be done to keep plerns safe? extra security mesh irs at airport, are they the answer? with us, two members of the bush administration national security team. former director of the cia. michael hayden and michael chertoff. finally finally, in this new year, terrorism, unemployment, and insights on what is ahead with the obama round table. special correspondent, tom brokaw, david brooks, washington post columnist, and historian, doris goodwin. >>> but, first, the u.s. has closed the embassy in the capital of yemen because of what officials are calling an active security threat posed by al qaeda there. >> it appears that he joined the affiliate of al qaeda. this group trained him, equipped them with the explosives, and directed them to attack that plane headed for america z we are joined now live by the president's top counterterrorism adviser. welcome to "meet the press." >> thank you. >> is it because of specific intelligence that says that an attack is coming? >> yes. there are and i spoke with the ambassador down there and the british