smith goes to washington." let's watch. >> it has become so accepted, so part of our political culture now that it's normal. your average citizen doesn't would expect to have because these voices are much louder and they're much better financed. >> this issthe story about human failure. i mean, i don't think that corruption as a part is an issue. the corruption i was involved in was the human failure. it's an issue of power. i became just a machine. a cog in the machine. like hey, get up, go do your thing, get yours. i just lost track of what brought me here. >> abramoff couldn't have flourished if the system itself was not corrupt. were the need for money, the members of congress and their need for money is so huge that they don't have their guard up. >> this has all gone into a feeding frenzy with money. >> what do you expect me to do? >> i don't know what the solution is. i would have loved to have public financing. here's your money and here's your money. you don't have to raise any. this would end all of t

they began to leak information to "the washington post's" sue sccmidt. >> i got a call from a washingtona republican, and he told me, you ought to look into jack abramoff. he's representing these indian tribes, and charging millions of dollars and he's working with thhs young guy mike scanlynne, who came off tom delay's staff, and scanlynn is, you know, living like a sultan. >> an irresistible pitch man, scanlynne because jack's go-to guy for selling grass roots political campaigns to the indian tribes. >> what we have built is a political grass roots data base. say, forrexample, we had a problem with a particular state senator. let's say you wanted to make sure that somebody didn't win. we might not have enough to get our candidate enough votes guaranteed to win it, but we can certainly, certainly prevent somebody from gettiig elected. [laughter] >> sccnlynne's political work paid off. only a couple years after he left delay's office, scanlynne was flying in private jets,, dressing in hand-tailored european suits, and buying more than $20 million in real estate, including a sprawling co

washington dc. and so, i am going to tell you this evening, that we have the right angle to defeat harry reid. [applause] thank you so much. thank you. thank you all for being here. we are going to go forward. thank you. thank you is so much. >> we can, and we will. >>

that needs to happen in washington. we need to make sure we have the right regulations on the books, that the relationships are not overly cozy, and that we give the tools to the regulators to do the job. we need the asset of being able to charge folks criminally if they make serious misrepresentations. we need to evaluate any disaster scenario, not just something written on a piece of paper. as to be substantiated and tested. we clearly, clearly need to do more in this area to protect our valuable coast. >> the video is so disturbing. and rebuttals? we might be able to return to that later in the debate. let's move on to the economy. our economic recovery is slow going. over the past 1.5 years, our state unemployment line has swollen by 120,000 out of work. since small businesses create the majority of jobs, we want to know what you would do to help small business owners in north carolina. >> i have already touched on that a little bit. i have then a small business owner myself. i have made payroll, i have had to do ma

that needs to happen in washington. we need to make sure we have the right regulations on the books, that the relationships are not overly cozy, and that we give the tools to the regulators to do the job. we need the asset of being able to charge folks criminally if they make serious misrepresentations. we need to evaluate any disaster scenario, not just something written on a piece of paper. as to be substantiated and tested. we clearly, clearly need to do more in this area to protect our valuable coast. >> the video is so disturbing. and rebuttals? we might be able to return to that later in the debate. let's move on to the economy. our economic recovery is slow going. over the past 1.5 years, our state unemployment line has swollen by 120,000 out of work. since small businesses create the majority of jobs, we want to know what you would do to help small business owners in north carolina. >> i have already touched on that a little bit. i have then a small business owner myself. i have made payroll, i have had to do ma

when the glass breaks in washington d.c. in the middle of the night and some family is sitting there and some criminal is coming at them, they're still alone and defenseless against violent criminal. >> you're allowed to have a gun in the home for self-defense. >> ifill: is there a middle ground here in which there is a way to come up with... let me finish the question, guys. where there is any acceptable limitation on guns being private gun ownership. >> every city in this country we ought to have a program calld project exile where every time a drug dealer touchs a gun, gang member touches a gun, violent felon touches a gun there's 100% prosecution every single time. that will make people safe all over this country but more restrictions on the honest people, denying their constitutional rights, that's not the way to go. >> i fully agree that we need tough enforcement of our laws. i was a mayor for 12 years. i strengthened the police department. we need to put the bad guys away but i'd like to prevent some of these crimes f

once again, all of a sudden now you come back to washington and you find out that washington still believes in one size fits all mentality, programs and mandates. this is the only area where that's found. and the question should be asking -- the question you should be asking is why? it's very simple. that's our purpose of being the federal government. if you need to have something occurring in this country where everyone is doing the exact same thing at the exact same time in the exact same way, the federal government, the national government here in washington, is the only one that can orestrate and mandate that. so if we have to be in lock step, this is the level to go. this is the place to accomplish that task. but if indeed maybe something different is needed and creativity and options are important, it's not going to happen from washington. never has, and i don't think it ever will in the near future. if indeed you want something different, then you have to empower state and local governments to accomplish that task. if you want to create -- if you want creativity, you'll allow states

hill hill of the washington times. senior editorial writer. the case against kayingn in a few days on monday and in 45 minutes we'll talk with hanna rosin who wrote this article. the end of men. it's the coverage of the atlantic monthly magazine and we'll talk with her in 45 minutes. up next. quin hillyer of the washington times. we'll be right back. ♪ >> c-span is available in over 100 million homes bringing you a direct link to politics. history and nonbooks all as a public service created by america's cable companies. >> let me say to the american people this is a change in personnel but not a change in policy. general patraeus fully participated in our review last fall and supported and helped design the strategy we have in place. >> learn more about the president's choice to head u.s. forces in afghanistan. general patraeus has been on c-span more than 40 times. watch his appearances on-line any time at the c-span video library. washington, your way. >> starting mob day, watch the confirmation hearing for supreme

and washington was a different place then. you could make a phone call and get john mitchell on the telephone. and i had a phone number for him. he was in new york. and i thought i could get him because on that occasion the white house, as it had throughout the first weeks after the break-in, had made the issue of watergate our conduct at the "washington post" rather than the conduct of the president and his mean. and every day the president or others in his entourage would get up and attack us and "the washington post" for making up fiction and having a political agenda. so they did it on this occasion, too, when we wrote this story that said mitchell had controlled this fund, and so i called mitchell and i said, mr. mitchell, we have a story -- >> he got him. i think he was asleep. >> he said what time is it? i said 11:00. he said 11:00 when? and i said at night, sir. he said, oh. he might have had a pop or two. possible. so i said we have a story in tomorrow's paper i would like to read to you and carl bernstein from "the w

"washington journal" is live beginning at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. >> no candidate in this race, democrat or republican, has given voters in new hampshire or america more questions or be able to show what they are made of. >> look at the cspan video library which many hours of videos which you can search by name, title, issue, committee, interest group and more available free on line. >> cspan, our public appears content is available on television, radio, and online and you can connect with us on twitter,9(ya facebook, and youte and and sign up for our scheduled alert e-mails @ c- span.org. >> yesterday's , 12 states had run off or primary elections. incumbent blanche lincoln won renomination yesterday. here is her speech last night in little rock, arkansas. >> [cheers and applause] >> you are a great, arkansas. [applause] i cannot begin to thank each and every one of you across this great state for such a Ájob in letting a message out that is loud and clear. [applause] and that message was that the bulk of this senator is not for its s

here is eugene washington in "the washington post." , but no, florida. richard, republican -- pompano. caller: i think it is going to be a speech in real leader would have given probably 45 days ago. he is like 45 days late. when he was down in the gulf he should have taken a news conference and let people asking questions so we can get real answers. thank you very much. host: applebaum of rights and "the post" that this is not obama's katrina. south end, indiana. david, and upended. what about the speech? caller: first of all, if you will start parting ways and say you are democrat or republican, that is the wrong answer first of all. you've got to be an american first. as far as obama doing this or not doing this, saying the right thing not saying the wrong thing, the focus on the president is the wrong area to be in. this is a criminal investigation. if obama were to lift the moratorium like your caller said before, that would be political suicide. and as far as more is being fought 1 mile beneath the ocean -- the real war should be fought between the

care is the politico from washington d.c. -- here is the "politico" from washington d.c. and here is "the hill" newspaper. here is what joe barton had to say yesterday. >> i am not speaking for the republican party or anyone in the house of representatives, but myself. i am ashamed of what happened in the white house yesterday. i think it is a tragedy of the first portioproportion that a pe corporation can be subject to what i would characterize as a shakedown, in this case a $20 billion shakedown, with the attorney general of the united states who is legitimately conducting a criminal investigation, and has every right to do so on behalf of the american people. it amounts to a $20 billion slush fund. it is unprecedented in our nation's history and has no legal standing and, i think, sets a terrible precedent for our nation. host: here he is with a scrum of photographers all around taking his picture. and here is "the wall street journal." the "washington post" have no picture, but a lead story as well. and inside the money section. and before we get to calls, here is the

"washington journal" continues. host: we will be discussing the g-20 summit for the next 45 minutes. to get a start did we will introduce the former chief economist with the u.s. agency for international development and is not the global economy and development senior fellow at the brookings institution. we want to get started with the dow jones news writer who is at the summit. good morning. welcome to the program. guest: good morning. host: what is the agenda for today's meetings? guest: the d-20 have not really start to. what is going right now is the g-8 summit. what is going to be front and center is a consolidation, a debt reduction. that is probably going to be one of the it not the most important items on the agenda. host: how does what they are talking about this morning set things up for the d20g-20 meeti. host: we were told last by officials that debt reduction was a key items discussed as well. in the context, they were talking more about the pace of debt reduction as opposed to the whole concept. they a

"washington journal" is live at 7:00 a.m.astern. >> a couple of live events to tell about tomorrow. there is a hearing on the exxon valdez decision. members will focus on the proposed bill that will allow punitive damages in oil spill cases. that is on c-span3 at 10:00 eastern. here on c-span, president obama holds a town hall meeting with citizens in wheaton, md., to discuss the health-care bill and the efforts to combat scams and frauds. live coverage at 11:40 a.m. eastern. >> no one has given them more opportunities. >> they are the faces you see every day. see some of their early television appearances at the c- span television library, with over 160 hours. it is one quarter century, and you can search in many ways. all available free, on-line. >> federal reserve chairman ben bernanke says that despite declines in financial markets, he does not think the u.s. economy will slip back into recession. he was interviewed by a former newsman sam donaldson -- by former newsman sam donaldson. this is about one hour. >> before i i

not just washington. so being a business person isn't necessarily as a clean a message as it was perhaps four years ago. host: let us go to other races people were focusing on. the other being in montana where republican rep is the front runner. what happens in montana? guest: i did not think this is a place democrats will put a lot of attention. this is still a very conservative state. when you look at the playing field in front of them, democrats will be spending much more time playing defense than offense. what they are really looking forward to our some of the opportunities they have with a couple of open seats. but really they will look at a place like virginia where they have a number of all organ -- and vulnerable freshmen on the line. glenn knight from virginia beach, tom -- from charlottesville, and gerry connoley from northern virginia, have tough races. democrats are most excited about results from the connolly district, the more conservative candidate, sort of outsider beat the favored candida

this is "washington journal." . . host: in the senate and house today, they continue their work on financial reform. there is also a committee meeting looking into our role in afghanistan -- and the report out -- the u.s. indirectly paid warlords. there is an article in the newspaper about how money is peing funneled in afghanistan. here are the phone lines. we are also online at c- span.org. and you can find us on twitter at twitter.com/cspanwj and here is this story in "the washington post." the u.s. is funding a massive protection racket in afghanistan, and directly paying tens of millions of dollars to warlords. the security arrangements are part of a $2.16 billion transport contract and violate laws on the use of private contractors as well as a defense department regulations. military officials on the ground are focused on getting supplies were needed, and have virtually no addition of health security is actually provided for the convoys that transport goods throughout the country. a democrat from massachusetts

i try to look for the bad things in washington. people who or sometimes breaking the law but often pushing up against the law. i don't really have an exact definition. i sort of look for stories that if people picked up on that they would say that is wrong. five years at the law "street journal." >> let me go back to march 31, 2006. lots of people in this town talk about this story to this day. has to do with somebody named emily miller. give us the beginning. >> this is the heart of the jack abramoff scandal. he was a big-time republican lobbyist back in the day, released about five years ago. he made a lot of money from clients telling them how influential he was with republicans on capitol hill, particularly with tom delay. in order to get in bed with the delay crowd, he hired a lot of people at of delay pose the office. he brought staffers to football games, baseball games, conserves. became one of the most popular places for young republicans to go out at night. there is a rumor that if you were a capitol hill staffer, you got

off-lead in "the washington post." we will cover the peter orszag speech on all of this on tape today. we will show it to you a bit later. we want to get your thoughts on this latest proposal by the white house to cut 5% of the budget across the agencies. we will read more but here are the phone numbers first -- the post goes on to say that republicans have that leslie hammered obama and congressional benefits for their role driving budget deficits to record levels. they go on to put this quote from rahm emanuel -- water down, massachusetts. curt on the line for democrats. what do you say? 5% budget cut across the board. a new proposal from the white house. caller: does not seen it is actually accomplishing much. i don't know, i really don't see the point in 5% cut on this. i think what we need to do is we need to raise taxes. we are way over due to raise taxes. host: what kind of taxes? caller: corporate taxes need to go up. maybe not so much raise taxes but more on lines of stop tax cuts we have had. there are too ma

what is really important to understand is the institution of "the washington post." some truly independent newspaper d voice. we could have found out these things and editors and publisher could have said we are not calling to publish this. they said that we have this responsibility. they are really turned us loose and were able to work full- time on this. very unusual for to particularly young reporters like ourselves. i remember in january of 1973, we had written all of these stories essentially saying there is a major criminal cspiracy beingun and conducted in the nixon white house. this was not believed to a level that i think we did not it knowledge between ourselves. over on the national staff, people were kind of looking at us as some kind of kooks. >> telling the editor of the paper that he should assign this story to the national political reporters because real were endangering the future of the newspaper. >> catherine graham back to us and ask us for lunch. i remember this much. we knew her a little bit. t very well. this is really an important management

we have a spending problem in washington. we are seeing our deficits go down over the last several years in the bush administration. in 2007 it bottomed out, and the debt went up in 2008 and 2009. it is a spending problem not a revenue problem. this administration does not want to tackle it at all. host: savannah, georgia. caller: good morning. whenever president obama was going around the country campaigning, he campaigned that the country -- george bush's country was in dire straits. he campaigned saying that he was going to fix things. now, all i can hear is him complaining and is talking heads, too. look at what we have walked into it was my understanding that he understood that and was going to do something about it. whenever you are confronted with this, why has not he fixed this and done it? guest: i serve on the budget committee. the democrat majority started out their refrain the same way they always do, blaming george bush. bush.

that " is in washington d.c.t the jefferson memorial and i would like everybody who is watching know that you can do web searches for law enforcement that say our founding fathers were terrorists. >> as we hear from you, let's look at the new numbers for the senate race in nevada where sharon engle is the republican nominee with almost 60% reporting. angle at 39% compared to lowden 28%. are you with us? >> the tea party movement and how some of the more conservative right wing people like the lady in nevada, i wonder how she would fare against harry reid. >> that is a question we are keeping an eye on her campaign. sharon angle the winner. this is what it looks like from the early pictures as they await the final results from that race. she has been declared the winner. there will be two reeds on the ballot. harry gray is the senate democratic leader. tomorrow morning, in the water will join us on "washington journal." >> first of all, i want to thank you for c-span. i think it is wonderful you are able to get on

distrust washington. and ere are real reasons for that. but where i would go at the in of your starting place is, am going to take the senate se. if we're going to go through some decades in the united states in which we already i think and then through, where we basically ae whipsawed from one end of the super majority to the other end of the super majority, and don' actually advocate a systemic reform that we want, that the ountry wants, on the fundamental issues facing us. then the question isn't, so, therefore, should we be pushing for democracy reform, the quotient is a request even more structural reforms than most of us have been yet thinking about. it requiresven more radical thinking about what is the fundamental relationship between the american electorate and the institutions which, in fact, are how our democracy behaves both in elections and during governance. i'm going to take a moment and give a reflection on 15 years worth of americaspeaks. miles senate, tom said. we grew up to create large

i lived in washington -- live in washington. i have a lot of memories of the senator byrd. i have to say that i will offer condolences to his family and your the historic figure. -- and him as a historic madri -- a historic figure. not have the same views of robert byrd as the lady who just called it he took too long to change. 1964, he filibustered the civil rights bill. there are the things he could have done for minorities -- other things he could have done for minorities. i think he is called some, with his views on the war of late, -- he evolved some, with his views on the war of late. his relationship with ted kennedy is well documented he is one of the greatest orators the senate ever had. i met him twice. his mind was not as it once was, but he was still brilliant. he pulled together a wonderful speech to the students at -- he pulled together a wonderful speech. west virginia tech -- 1980 -- i was a yoong turk and and i was boycotting his appearance on campus, because he was a member of the klan. he was a great man, but i hope west virginia now evolves. we have a lo

relations, moscow has veered closer to washington than pteron. -- washington than tehran. host: mike can middle eastern nations find common ground to help solve some of the defers conflict and issues? guest: that is a sentiment i share. to address the call's email, when i look at the younger generation in the middle east there is a much more powerful trend of globalization then i think of their parents' generation had. the dominant trend was anti imperialism. the internet of the facebook, the internet, and satellite television, people want to be connected with one another. they do not want to continue the fighting of the previous generation. host: our focus is iran. you can log on at c arnegieendowment.com. caller: whose payroll are you on? to support your efforts? are you being paid by israel and other war mongering countries who are trying to ratchet up a war so that my president will then have to attack iran? i want to know why i continue to bring up the act that your president has denied the holocaust. that is merely just his opinion that it did not happen here. by 8 b

"washington journal" is next. . . host: thursday, president obama meets with the russian president at the white house leading into this weekend's g-eight g-20 meeting. we begin this morning with a push from the administration. do you support the idea to push the superfund? for republicans, 202-737-0001. for democrats, 202-737-0002. for independents, 202-628-0205. "the washington post" is the only newspaper this morning that the president's plans to push for the registration of the superfund tax. the program established 30 years ago to clean up sites around the country is facing a budget crunch. "for 15 years the government opposed taxes on oil and chemical companies. the money went into a clean up a trust fund, which reached its peak of $3.8 billion in 1996. the fund ran out of money as the taxes expired in 1995. the obama administration will push to reinstate the so-called superfund tax. at the environmental protection agency, which rarely urges passage of specific bills, will send a letter to congress as early as mo

this is sunday on q&a. >> "washington journal" continues. host: our guest is here with us to talk about financial legislation. what are you hearing from your constituents. you represent new jersey. many people that work on wall street, what are they saying to you about this legislation? guest: they are concerned about spending in general. the first topic that always comes up at the town hall meetings is this. they say let's not have more spending over there, which means no more bailout. stop bailing out wall street and everybody else. make sure you do not pass a bill that perpetuates it. host: does this legislation continue to do that? guest: absolutely. you had to the discussion in the senate a few weeks ago before we went on break with the $50 billion fund in their. -- there. when they pulled this out and they said we ended the bailout, well, no. if you look in the bill, there are still lots of language that give the government' a lot of ability to step in and say we will help of this company, but not this company. where does this money co

here is a look at "the washington times." link and's seed is in play as 11 states vote on "super tuesday." that is what they call it. in arkansas, misses lincoln was forced into a primary runoff after coming in short. she got 45% of the vote and mr. halter got 43%. down in california, and a look at the governor's race. actually, this is the governor's race there -- conservative or liberal establishment or maverick, money still talks. that is the message from california as a billionaire made whitman leads multimillionaires times commissioner -- multimillionaires state insurance commissioner. republican gov. john hogan and democratic state senator tracy potter of the prohibitive favorites to win their party's nominations. to virginia, the house democrats swept into office on mr. obama's coattails may have trouble hanging on this year. the field is rife with tea party backed republican challengers, maybe to right. six republicans are vying for the chance to take on democratic representative glenn knight -- nye. connecticut. call

this is "washington journal." . . this is "the washington post" on the economy. we want to get your thoughts today this morning. are we headed to a double-dip recession?3 screen. here is the lead in "the washington post" -- this story is on the front page of "the washington post." the story above the fold is about david petreaus and the oil spill. another story on the economy, front page of "the new york times" this morning. above the fold. this is an economic analysis piece written this morning by david leonhardt. we want to know from you, do you think we are headed toward a double-dip recession? the definition, according to -- investopedia says this -- when gross domestic product growth slides back to negative after a quarter of two of positive growth. it recession followed by short- lived recovery, followed by another recession. west virginia, danny, democratic line. what do you think this morning? caller: good morning. it is not only that we are going into a double-dip recession, but a permanent lower level of economic activity. we shipped 25 million jobs off

terry in washington.come. >> i just wanted to comment that i think you guys are doing real good down there. i would hope that you would stay on task with this. i went to mount saying helens 30 years ago -- unt st. helens. there were hundreds of people that went to sandbag. what i saw coming down that river was not water. we realized we didn't know how to handle this. that is what an unprecedented the event is. that is what this is. incourage you to take your anchor and pain which i do feel because this is not -- this is a global catastrophe. just take that and channel it into let's move on. what do we need to do? let's think outside the box. we never dealt with this before. it is up to us. we cannot sit around and point fingers at people. we have to get people out there. we have to coordinate people from across the country. if someo will coordinate that i can guarantee there would be all kinds of volunteers on the beaches. >> we thank you from the call from washington. one thing we have been able to do is

it is washington your way. >> "washington journal" continues.t: john shadegg is here to talk about a whale drrlling. -- is here to talk about oil drilling. this is a story yesterday in "the new york times" quoting the epa administrator, and co-chair of this mission to look at this. any moratorium would require the industry require safer drilling they wouldand that's be markedly strengthened. he said you cannot do that fast enough. look at the history of washington. a congressional hearing revealed the five major oil companies relied on an inadequate plan to+ respond to an offshore oil spill. guest: what is wrong according to the judge's opinion is that it is capricious in the sense that is not written the way his comments are written. they are not imposed on deepwater drilling in the gulf until they do those things. if you said we will have a moratorium until the major oil companies rewrite their recovery plans, i think it would rewrite them quickly. if they would impose this on bp, which i think was dealing with risky practices, i ask them a se

washington was a different place then.ohn mitchell on the telephone. i have a phone number for him. i thought i could get him. on that occasion, the white house, as it had throughout the first weeks after the break-in, had made our conduct rather it in the conduct of the president and his men. the president and others would get up and attack us at the washington post for making up fiction and having any political agenda. they did it on this occasion, too. we wrote the story that said mitchell controlled of this fund. i called mitchell and said we have a story -- >> you got him, he was asleep. >> he said what time is it? i said 11:00. he said 11:00 when? i said at night. he may have had a pop or two. i said we have a story a would like to read to you. i began reading. john mitchell while attorney general of the united states controlled a secret fund. he said jesus. i read a few more words by which time it said john mitchell well attorney-general controlled a secret fund and paid for undercover activities against the politic

washington journal continues. host: here as promised is representative todd akin, serving as missouri's second district representative for his fifth term. he has two military sons. he himself, an army officer in the past at fort bulbar in alexandria, virginia, and also as a member of the army rotc. president obama fired general mcchrystal yesterday. was that the right decision? guest: well, the president clearly has the right to fire generals. it was a tough decision for him. by doing that, it creates a lot of problems. if he hadn't done it, it would have created problems. it was one of those tough situations. host: what do you think about the selection of david petraeus to replace him? guest: david petraeus has a good reputation on the hill. mcchrystal was a very capable guy. he was particularly effective in terms of special operations. he was very much a get the job done, kind of kick them in the sea, kind of guy, and a man's man, and all. both were viewed as competent, somewhat in different ways. host: david pe

but this is washington. and every window is easier to talk about eliminating inefficiency than to make the tough choices required to actually get it done. we need to hold this plan to its promises. the federal government has to fully commit to doing more with less. agencies must be creative and aggressive using 5% cuts at a minimum and not a final goal. this congress should also play an active role in finding cost-effective ways to achieve our goals. this is an opportunity that cannot be allowed to slip by. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from north carolina rise? ms. foxx: permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. foxx: thank you, madam speaker. we've got a debt problem in america. the federal government keeps spending money and running up the national credit card at a record clip, $8.5 trillion over 10 years. congress can't just cross its fingers and hope everythi

and jay mathews, education columnist for "the washington post."ay, how big an are they facing right now? >> my view is it has no impact on the reform measures we're talking about. that most school districts will either freeze salaries or raise class sizes and that historically doesn't have much effect on student achievement. >> brown: before we get to reform effort, in the classroom and in terms of the numbers, the numbers are pretty big. >> well, you'll have one, two, maybe three more kids in the class. data we've got shows that kind of change in class size has no affect on achievement, no real affect on what goes on in the classroom. it's a fairly tr *euf kwralg effect. >> brown: what do you see? >> there are, of course, varying estimates as to the impact on the number of teachers likely to lose their jobs in this year. some people are saying 100,000 across the country. there was another city that came out with 300,000 across the country which does seem overwhelming, to be honest. but it does seem that there are some alternatives to just firing

it is washington, your way. >> "washington journal" continues.ant to welcome winston porter, president of the waste policy center. we want to focus on the issues in the gulf coast. the times picayune at this -- has this story. "it will never be the same" - is that a fair assessment? post -- guest: it is hard to say. there will certainly be a long period a thing as being just shovelled. it is hard to say how long it will be. host: every day, about 15 truckloads is being sent about 150 miles from where it is found in the gulf to a landfill in florida. what is happening to that material? guest: at the epa and the states have authorized about one dozen landfills to take this material. having run that program at the epa, i can tell you these landfills are pretty safe. they have liners. they have special systems. you have to watch it carefully. you have to watch that the trucks do not durable material as they go. some of it may be in -- do not dribble material as they go. some of it may be in liquid form. we dispose of 350 million tons -- not pounds --

it is the usual debate in washington. centralized control verses bring in the private sector to meet the needs of america. that is why it my subcommittee on telecommunications is so exciting. it just moves too fast. new things happen way before government can get its hands around it. that is the benefit of growth. >> as a quick follow-up to my question, if there is going to be telecom legislation what would you want it to accomplish? >> i think this whole convergence of voice, video, data, and the stove pipes that uc really need to be converge, and this debate is a perfect example of how reforming the telecom act, what you cannot do is take data information under title 2, which was how we regulated ma bell from route 3 dial phone to rotary dial phone. now lot to do that for data services, where you have folks breakout data flows differently. that is why you have to get the good minds of the day. we want more freedom for innovation. we do not want government control. >> as broadband becomes the new national medium do you t

book tv on c-span two. >> "washington journal" continues. host: on your screen is a gentleman by the name of brian o'neal. he is someone who has spent 21 years of his professional life as an attorney representing 32,000 alaskan fisherman and natives in their quest for damages and repneumonia ration from the exxon valdez oil spill what lessons can we learn from that experience to apply to what's happening in the gulf today? >> well, the first thing you learn is that if you're going to extract and transport oil, there's going to be catastrophic spills, and that's because people are in charge of the extraction and transportation of oil. the second thing is where the oil goes, nobody knows. in the case of the valdez, everybody thought the oil would go southeast, and it goes northwest. and it went a tremendous distance, a distance of about the length of theewest coast of the united states. so where the oil goes, you don't know. what it does, you don't know. its impact on different kinds of beaches, its impact on marsh lands and different creature

the gentlelady from washington. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: thank you, i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of the congressional award program re-authorize act of 2009. this bill -- the awards program is a public-private partnership to recognize america's youth ages 14 to 23. applicants excel in service, personal development, physical fitness and exploration, receive various levels of the award, including bronze, silver, gold certificates and medals. it also provides scholarships to select winners for participation in the people to people program and the presidential classroom and for select incoming freshmen to drexel university. the congressional award program was founded in 1979 and has recognized outstanding youth since that time. to earn the award, youth are encouraged to set their own goals in one of four areas of volunteer service, personal development, physical fitness and expedition and exploration. it encourages adolescents and young adults to set and achieve their own challenging goals and r

then "washington journal," live with your phone calls. that's followed by a house hearing on mortgage foreclosure. and later, live coverage of today's g-8 summit in canada. >> let me say to the american people, this is a change in personnel, but it is not a change in policy. general petraeus fully participated in our review last fall, and he both supported and helped design the strategy that we have in place. >> learn more about the president's choice to head u.s. forces in afghanistan. general david petraeus has been on c-span more than 40 times. watch his appearances at hearings, briefings, and other events online any time at the c-span video library. it's washington your way. >> c-span, our public affairs content is available on television, radio, and online, and you can also connect with us on twitter, facebook, and youtube, and sign up for our schedule alert emails at c-span.org. >> and now clinton-era fema director james lee witt, he spoke at the clinton presidential library about relief efforts following hurricanes and haiti earthq

the gentleman from washington. mr. insle mr. speaker, i have no additional requests for time. i commend this to the house and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from utah. mr. chaffetz: i thank you, mr. speaker. would the gentleman yield for a question? help me understand why this resolution is needed at this time. i don't want to debate your -- and i appreciate your passion for this topic. it's evident and i appreciate that, but given that we already passed the federal ocean acidification research and monitoring act and authorized some $76 millionwhy the need for this additional resolution? mr. inslee: if the gentleman will allow me to respond. it's a great question and the answer is clear. you know, you look at americans who today have iteally deep in their hearts what's happening the gulf. i know in your district, all of our folks, republicans and democrats, understand the damage that's happening. what americans are not aware of yeis this other looming potential disaster in the oc

for what purpose does the gentlelady from washington rise? mrs. mcmorris rodgers: i request permission to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to congratulate an eighth grade student from walla walla, washington, the winner of the first girls rock the house contest in my home state. at a time when only 17% of congress is made up of women, we need to be doing a better job of making young ladies aware of the opportunities and encouraging more young women to become involved in public service. that's why i'm a strong supporter of girls rock the house and i'm very proud of this year's winner. the bill elie wrote is well researched, well written. it's an idea to promote healthy living and i am aproud to stand before my colleagues and ask them to join me in recognizing her achievement on behalf of the united states congress, congratulations, well-done. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time.

on "washington journal"

this is a piece from "the washington post." "most leadership has given away less than 40% of their expenditures this cycle, even though they say they are bundling donations for others. showing expenditures made by lawmakers tapping into their leadership packet, the john boehner spent about 70,000 at the ritz carlton over the past 16 months. harry reid spent $4,000 at the charlie palmer stakeouts -- steakhouse." we can show you this as we go the next phone call. charlie, good morning. what do you think? should president obama be showing more a motion? caller: i do not defend the question. of we all know that his strong leadership point as a president is that he is calm. . to me that is what you need. this is just another media made up story to make the president look bad. i know that he has done a lot. i do not need his focus on anything negative. i keep up with this unfortunate news. two wars, the different things that korea is trying to do with israel, people trying to double. i think that he will prevail and be one of the bes

it is like you had an airplane crash at washington national, you would just fix the problem at washingtonnational and all the other airports would continue to have it. it proved to be complacency and lack of vigilance. host: how do they use muscle then, to get things done? guest: i would like them to have some regulatory power. they go through the systems in place to express them to the regulators to go to the media, public johnson, and over time they are able to get corrections to them -- publicize them. these are very boring issues. two months ago, who cared about flow operators in the gulf of mexico? the only people paying attention to our regulators who probably were thinking about that job in the oil industry in the future, and their friends who are in the oil industry. that is how you get things like the deepwater horizon being approved without any proper planning and without proper looking at, because there is nobody looking over their shoulder. host: next call, from florida. caller: good morning, and thank you for c-span. i have heard several people say that really finding the cau

that's it for "the washington journal" today. book tv on the weekend, remember that, on c-span2, 48 hours of nonfiction books. lots of good stuff coming up. you can go to book tv.org to find out the schedule. and "washington journal" will be here 7:00 a.m. saturday and sunday. right now we will take you to a panel. this is on afghanistan. it is being held at george washington university. there homeland security policy institute. a member of afghan parliament and chairman of the afghan parliament economic committee will be speaking shortly. here is the start of this panel on afghanistan. . >> we have had ambassadors representing their countries in the united states to talk about the challenges their countries are facing domestically and regionally. we are delighted today and we have competition. the united states is playing slovenia and the world cup this morning right now. admittedly, if i were not here, i would be glued to the tv like my friends. there were fewer consequences if i were living in somalia were watching soccer is n