tonkin gets up before 4:00 a.m. make the hour-long commute to chicago where he's supervising a construction site. when work's done, he heads straight back to school. >> and i'm here until 10:00. >> reporter: that's like a 16, 18 hour day. >> it's brutal. >> reporter: but tonkin is fortunate. only about half of those in the government's dislocated workers program find jobs and often those new jobs pay significantly less than their previous ones. have you taken a hit as a result of this? >> yeah. yeah. i've taken a hit. >> reporter: tonkin's salary has dropped from $95,000 to $65,000. >> reporter: but i'm grateful. >> reporter: so you're making less but happy to have the job? >> you bet. >> reporter: on saturday, ed tonkin will graduate with his associates degree in construction management. tomorrow we'll look at one business that's investing in laid off autoworkers by retraining them for new careers. katie? >> couric: we should say congratulations to ed, that's really impressive. >> reporter: sure is, 16 hour days. >

tonkin gets up before 4:00 a.m. the hour-long commute to chicago, where he supervises a construction site. when work's done, he heads straight back to school. >> and i'm here until 10:00. >> reporter: that's like a 16, 18-hour day. >> it's brutal. >> reporter: tonkin's salary dropped from $95,000 to $65,000. >> but i'm grateful. >> reporter: so you're making less but happy to have the job. >> you bet. you bet. >> and this saturday, ed tonkin will graduate from mchenry county college with his associate's degree in construction management. anthony mason, cbs news, new york. >>> coming up later on "the early show," immigration reform. president obama wants action now, before the 2012 campaign gets cooking, but it's easier said than done. >>> also, tablet wars. we get a look at the latest challengers to apple's ipad. >>> and arnold and maria. can the ex-governator and the kennedy wife get back together? that's the "cbs morning news" for this wednesday. thanks for watching, everyone. i'm betty nguyen. have a great day. -

has taken a different approach. >> i wasn't a very good student when i was a kid. >> reporter: tonkinome 400,000 americans studying under the government's workforce investment act. has it made a difference? >> i feel a lot more confident. there's a lot more positions that i would be willing to apply for. that i wouldn't have before i took the course. >> reporter: and he's found a job, 45 minutes away in chicago as a construction site supervisor. >> i talked to the masonry contractor -- >> reporter: after work he heads to class. it's like a 16, 18 hour day. >> it's brutal. >> reporter: half in the government's dislocated worker program find jobs and when they do they often face a hefty cut in salary. tonkin's has dropped by $30,000. >> but i'm grateful. >> reporter: making less but you're happy to have the job? >> you bet. you bet. >> and this saturday, ed tonkin will graduate with his associate's degree in construction management. >> what can we expect tonight? >> tonight we go to dow chemical company in midland, michigan, taking laid off autoworkers and training them to make solar sh

agreeing this is wag the dog i'm telling you yes i know our government has lied to us the gulf of tonkin and it was only thing that laureus in my lifetime frankly but i'm just wondering why the nine eleven truth there is would love one back if he were actually works for a government agency and and nine eleven truth is love glenn beck ok they they don't are a great i in that please let me your thoughts on william edwards hickman's becoming the role model for a vehicle that is so you're trying to create a partisan wedge to keep people in the partisan left right paradigm here glenn beck isn't the last twelve or so says we should remember the spirit the day after nine eleven same thing obama said sunday night these guys are basically pushing the same paradigm they have fake controlled opposition to make obama look like he's on the left while he passes an insurance plan written by the insurance companies as sub socialist health care while he continues the war glenn beck gives him left cover by attacking him claiming he's on the left look i'm way past this junior high gas that i got that willi

good thing to be skeptical of the government our government has lied to us to look at the gulf of tonkin incident that got us into the vietnam war or bush's lies that got us into iraq there's no denying that we need to keep a close eye on the business going on here in washington d.c. but this healthy skepticism has turned malignant and today the top rated cable news network and i use the word news very loosely as well as the right wing internet blogosphere and of course the lion's share of talk radio is advancing this toxic strain of thinking it causes us to believe that everything the government is doing particularly want to democrats in the white house is part of some conspiracy to harm us and this is causing us to lose sight of the fact that we are the government after all this is a democratic republic and if we don't trust the government that we don't trust ourselves if we submit to this thinking and we are involving ourselves in the government the way we should be where founding fathers intended us to i think this modern day mistrust started back in one thousand nine hundred one wit

many people who criticize war powers who think vietnam was constitutional because of the gulf of tonkin resolution. some say lyndon johnson lied to get them to pass the statute. every year there were significant increases in the military voted by congress and appropriations. the president and congress agree on vietnam for a long time, and congress acted every year. how did the vietnam war end? congress cut off funding, and the war ended just like that. sometimes we confuse lack of political will for some kind of constitutional defect. i think the house and senate just did not want to use that ample powers they had in vietnam. >> nixon said it was unconstitutional, and that is why he vetoed it, but for a different reason than you indicate. i do not think it says the president can do anything he wants for 60 days. it just as the constitutional powers of the president to introduce troops -- hostilities may only be exercised pursuant to a declaration of war or national emergency created by an attack upon the united states, its territories or its armed forces. it does not say the president i