the presidents of the fed have been expressing what's going on and the power of the new york fed, kansas city fed, st. louis fed, the richmond fed, shockingly, find in agreement with you, an unprecedented agreement, where you agreed to absorb any losses that would be incured by the fed. the treasury actually signed that agreement. my first question is yes or no, do you support the concept of having the presidents of each bank be confirmed by the senate? >> no. >> thank you. for the record, before this month is out, how much t.a.r.p. money will aig, can you provide for the record before this month is out, how much t.a.r.p. money aig has disbursed since january 1st of this year and who are the recipients? >> i think so, but i can't do that here. >> can you do it within the month? >> i think that information is in the public domain. >> how many of those and which contracts were paid at 100% on the dollar and which were not? >> i wish there was a legal contract, there was no bankruptcy allowed. we need a system where we can renegotiate those things, but we don't have a system like that. >> w

. >> john, in new york city. what do you think? >> good morning thank you for c-span. the debate of healthcare is all over. nobody really talks about what prevention actually means. that is really what are we putting into our bodies. you think about all the packaged and processed foods. why would i pay for other people's habyits of not taking care of their bodies. >> thanks for your call. from democrats. what's your point? >> di definitely support single payer. it's an important thick that all the people ask themselves. which is more important? healthcare for people in this country or profits for insurance companies? if we could cut 30% off the cost of our healthcare, because they are draining off 30% of every dollar in our system. the worst part about it is it is self per pet ue waiting. the insurance companies can put under their healthcare. they can hire more people, which they have to turn around and create more profits. . >> i think we've lost ron. the president addresses healthcare in his weekly radio address. this is what he has to say. >> when we can't accept i

host: on the front page of the "new york times", the article, house unvails health bill, mine new key points. the proposal would establish a new public health insurance plan to compete with private plans. this week on our program, "newsmakers," representative pete stark of california is one of the authors of the health care draft that the democrats announced yesterday. and he talks about whether new taxes are needed to pay for the health plan. >> i would say there's no consensus. nobody likes to raise taxes. so that i would be misleading you if i said there's going to be a vat or -- there will be i'm quite sure at least i would favor this an increase for people making more than $250,000 a year. i would suggest that's the president's suggestion. we're going to adopt that, i'm pretty sure. >> an income tax increase? >> i think so. >> but other than that, i suppose, which i think is maybe fair to say was something on the agenda irrespective of health care. is it your goal and do you think it's attainable, to finance the bill at the end of the process without additional taxes? >> i don't

host: new york, good morning. caller: good morning, the morning. i have been following you on cnbc. guest: msnbc, please. [laughter] caller: i am sorry. i have been living in this country for many years. i was a hillary clinton supporter. we have a family that debates hotly in politics. by switched over to obama, persuaded by my daughters. guest: a common story, by the way. children convincing their parents did. caller: it did not take that much convincing. following hillary clinton's statements, moving over to obama, it brought back memories of how very much i was going for mrs. clinton. then obama came up. i had not heard of him that much. i had to catch up on a lot of reading. i am looking forward to reading your book, sir. host: why secretary of state and not vice president? guest: he said very early on that he had picture for that job before the primaries were over -- picked her for that job before the primaries were over. she was never seriously considered for vice president. the conversation boiled down to senator clinton saying that i do not want to go through vetting unless

host: newsweek managing editor john nigam joins me from new york. good morning. this cover story -- victory in iraq. he writes in this that the country's fate still hangs in the balance between failure and success and american actions would make a crucial difference. can you elaborate on that for us? >> we are in arguably the third of fourth phase of the war. we have gone from shock and all to it insurgency and a surge and now we are trying to see what happens post-surge and can the conditions for political stability that will allow us to remove more than 70,000 or 80,000 of our troops, leaving still a significant force, whether this condition can be established. i think his point this week was that, where as the situation has looked dire in the past, there is reason to -- for hope. but we have undertaken a incredibly difficult and complex task and there is no getting around the level of complexity and difficulty that we still have to confront. our military force has been during an extraordinarily good job, and some of this is out of our hands, in the hands of th

fine if you're sitting in new york or washington making editorial decisions. those doing the fighting, those who are victims of the violence that is unleashed have a different view, understandably. so the questions you raise are things we think about all the time. and the goal has to be to learn from the iraq experience so that we do a better job next time, which is not to say that the next time going to war won't be the right thing. the correct answer is not always not projecting force. but we are a fallible and human institution like any other in the media, and i think if we tried to pretend to be godlike or omniscient, then we are doing a disservice to the country, and we are deluding ourselves. host: blast caller is on the republicans line calling from alabama. caller: back in 1997, november issue, along investigative piece that described the sufferings of the kurds from chemical and biological warfare that saddam hussein's republican army was afflicting them with. in light of that, why do you think the press is so successful against the bush and mr. just

joining us in new york is kevin baker, the author of the cover story in harper's magazine, barack hoover obama. thank you for being with us. you read in the july edition, not that president obama's failure would be unthinkable, but the best indication is that he will fail because he will be an able and refused to seize the radical moment at hand. please explain. hoguest: almost all the time and politics, change comes with a compromise. occasionally you have a radical moment, a moment where you are headed for the edge of a cliff. if you don't take drastic action, you go over the cliff. i think one -- this is one of these moments, like most moments in our history, the civil war, the start of the cold war period this is what he will have to deal with. host: you can send us an e-mail or twitter. you also read in your piece, and both the private and public sectors, the lack of both will and new ideas is stunning. guest: starting from the auto makers, you would have think what is shown up in washington fighting for their lives with a terrific new ideas on how they would run their businesses. y

. >> first call for our guest up in new york. she is liz garbus of hbo. harlem, new york. suzanne, republican caller. hello there. >> good morning. hi, liz. i'm a fan of your work and i just wanted to know whether or not you mentioned something about that we're not at war anymore so, i mean, most people do consider us, this country, still engaged in a war on terror and also is it relevant at all that you're producing partner for the past ten years has 11 laurie kennedy, who is a far left wing activist? i was wondering if you could, you know, at least be honest about your political background of your company and kind of left wing agenda that you have. thank you. >> what do you say, liz garbus? >> i didn't mean to say we weren't at war. certainly there's a war going on in iraq, there's a lot of military activity going on in many regions so i didn't mean to indicate we were not at war. what i meant when i said the so-called war on terror is that's what it was called during the bush administration and currently today we aren't calling it the war on terror. that was more of a s

he has also been a political commentator for news outlets like "washington post,""new york times,"and abc news. he authored a book about republicans as minorities in the house. he has been a faculty adviser to the presidential convention. he also founded the nels washington program in 1987. in 2007, he received the higher education outstanding faculty award. he will moderate our panel. he will introduce the panelists. please join me in welcoming him. [applause] >> thank you. i appreciate that. thank you again to the reynolds foundation for generally -- generously supporting the symposium. i would like to begin by acknowledging the alumni who have joined us today. i created the washington term program 22 years ago. without the loyal support of the alumni in washington, i could never have kept the program going. they have provided helps with -- they have provided help with internships and visits. they have been enormously helpful. over the many years when i have called on alums for help, no one has ever said no to me. of course, none of you will ever break that record. i think again to

also, "the new york post." inside "the new york daily news" has this photograph. from inside "the new york post" -- they reprint his remarks. he said, "there's nothing i can do, but i will live with this pain for the rest of my life. i apologize to my victims. i am sorry. i know that does not help you, your honor. thank you for listening." caller: my question is -- reggie walton is report about the sexual abuse in prison, i am concerned about the number of rapes being reported. a lot of the men that are being raped, some of them are being infected with hiv and aids. when they come out of the prison, they are sleeping with these different women. host: that is one of the points that he mentioned. 95% of those incarcerated in u.s. prisons ultimately leave jail in move back into society. caller: this is a big problem. what will the of administration do to try to curb this? the african american community, especially the black women, are being infected with this. i am not infected, thank god, but there are so many that are. as far as the hon darhondurans e concerned, ho

if raising taxes worked, new york and california would have balanced budgets, but they don't. the interest groups spend the money as fast as they find it. our record for four years was to control all federal spending, including entitlements, at 2.9% a year for four years, the lowest rate increase since calvin coolidge. don't tell me it can't be done. that means you have to look at how did he do it. we also doubled the size of the national budget impasse the first tax cut in 16 years to accelerate economic growth and increased revenue through prosperity. we reformed welfare. this was not a negative. 92% of the american people favored welfare refor by the time we won the argument, we were in a position where two out of every three people went to work or school on welfare, got off medicaid, started paying taxes, their incomes went up, their lives got better. that was real change. we reform medicare when it was scheduled to go broke. only twice since world war two has spending gone down, 1991 and 1995. i think it would be easy for domestic discretionary spending -- i think the cou

heinrich: just to thank my friend from new york for really closing, i think, on the issue we need to think about. this is about independence. it's about seizing the moment and about providing the good jobs for tomorrow for the next generation, for my sons who are 6 and 2 1/2, i want them to grow up with the same opportunities i had and more. it's going to be up to us to be able to pass this legislation to be able to provide those kinds of opportunities for the future generations of our nation. . mr. polis: when people hear cap and trade and hear these, this is what they really mean. a lot of the things we talked about here today. we are talking about the future of the american economy. we're talking about creating green jobs. we're talking about saving american households $750 a year within 10 years and $3,90000 a year within 20 years -- $3,900 a year within 20 years. we're talking about making america the center of this technology, exporting this technology, to some of the very same countries that we rely upon today for importing, either manufacturing products or energy-represented

"the boston globe" is reporting that the new york times co. has hired goldman sachs to manage the possible sale of open code the boston globe." the report says they have begun accepting bids. >> "washington journal" continues. host: gov. howard dean joins us, the author of "howard dean's prescriptions for real healthcare reform." guest: i do not think we are blind to get much agreement between dr. dean and dr. coburn on this one. the idea that we were better off with insurance companies is a crazy idea. there are more bureaucrats telling doctors what to do than there ever were in the united states government. host: as far as prescriptions that the obama administration one for health care, how did they fall in line with what you are prescribing? guest: that is the plan in prescribing. there needs to be a public option. the most effective, efficient plant in america -- taking care of people with medicare. yes, there are serious problems. compared to what the private insurance companies have done to doctors and patients over the last 15 years, we

first up this is richard on the republican line from new york. go ahead. caller: thank you for c-span. they just passed the cap and trade legislation and house. in the congressman who voted for that should be impeached because there were not allowed to read the bill. just like the patriot act. but they did not read the bill. how can you vote on something you did not read? now with question if they go to the senate if they should allow the american people to read it online for seven days before they vote on it. this is treasonous. i would like a campaign for liberty. ron paul's site tops a lot about it. host: the importance of being able to read the bill? guest: it is important, but this cap and trade bill has been going on for decades. it has been gradual. you have had debate on it for the last several congresses. the have improved on the past previous efforts. john mccain has been a leader previously in pushing legislation on this. this agenda did not surprise. it is one president obama campaigned on it, the details of which were well-understood by leader

the situation in new york is very interesting. what you have had for decades is republicans controlling the state senate and democrats controlling the general assembly and state house. they have had a gentleman's agreement where the democrats and house have been allowed to restrict themselves and not disadvantage themselves and republican senators approved, while the democrats let the republicans in the senate control redistricting. some republicans retained control even as the state got more and more blue. now you have the split. with the york trading as it is, if it is true it is a matter of time before democrats take over the state senate. they actually did, but i believe a couple of democrats switched parties to create this situation. host: good morning on the democrats' line. caller: thank you for letting me speak to your guest there. i have a question about the fairness of all this. it seems like what happened is during the 1990's, and have worked in civil-rights. there were so intent on getting minority districts that a lot

host: both of you right in blogs online for there's an article this morning in the new york times, journalism rules are benton news coverage from iran. they're talking about unverified video in the coverage of the street demonstrations in tirana. with these rules changing, how does that change what you do as a reporter or journalist for politics? guest: the huffington post as the following this very carefully. a lot of that is using twitter beats, something which we did not have a few years ago. it is reliance on people from the inside who perhaps are not sources you would normally go to. host:neko pitney came into quite a bit of criticism. guest: he used to be my deputy but i think what you say is a little anxious over the fact that journalism is shifting and we have new players at the table who represent a huge audience. by virtue of that, they have a seat of the table because of demanding information from the administration to convey to its readers. many in the elite society of journalism woodfield at the table should be small enough to accommodate only them and they are feeling that the r

we have wide authority to do that. >> i read in the new york times story this morning. the assumption that it is right is erroneous. >> i would like to hear this from the attorney general. >> mr. holder, i have been disappointed to have you late in responding to my letter. three letters have gone unanswered by the department. we have serious concern about that. with regards to hate crime legislation, i would suggest that we have a hearing about that. a matter worthy of attention. i would offer for the record, a letter from the commission of civil-rights, six of the eight members have signed it, writing to us, they think that it will be able to do that. hopefully that will be on the floor. president obama sign procedures to close the 1 ton of detention facility. to determine whether they should be prosecuted, released, or handle in some other way. that view, the attorney general, are the person responsible. do you agree that this guantanamo task force bears responsibility or the release of transfer from guantanamo bay? >> i think that i bear responsibility, along with ot

robert is up from new york city on the democrats' line. caller: thank you so much for having me on. it is surprising that they are showing 9.4% in terms of the rate of unemployment. the line directly beneath that says that it is the most in 25 years. i had an opportunity to work with an organization hiring individuals for customer service representatives. it over the last few months, we have seen an enormous amount of individuals applying for this particular job. my question to yourself and the viewers is this. even though we are showing 345,000 in terms of job loss, what type of hiring have we had? are there any indications that there are jobs being created? if you take the numbers since november, we have several million people who are still unemployed. >> according to the latest figure from the labor department, the total job loss since december 2007 has been a net total of 6 million. as you point out, there has been some creation of new jobs in some of the highway construction areas. in the financial industries and the tourism industries, there have been job losses. mark is next

she was in new york. i know what the environment is in the prosecutor's office. there are a lot of aggressive type a personalities. -- tayba "de" -- type "a" personalities. it is very difficult to handle serious felony cases. everyone wants to handle the serious felony cases. in six months, sonia sotomayor was promoted to handle certain cases in the courtroom. she prosecuted every type of crime imaginable, including the most serious crimes that are committed in our country. she had many famous cases. one was the tarzan murderer. she joined a law enforcement officers scouring houses for evidence. after a month of trial. she convicted of one person on three district -- three different murders. he was sent to life in prison. -- sentenced to life in prison. there was a longtime prosecutor who was willing to take a child pornography case. -- so my york -- sonia sotomayor stepped up to deal with a case dealing with child pornography convictions. these were the first child pornography convictions after the supreme court had upheld new york's law that barred the sale of

and that his -- the mayor of new york's statements were insensitive. so these puerto rican nationalists reconstituted later into groups like the faln, which has recently had occasion, we've discussed in depth, the faln, itself, was responsible for more than 100 violent attacks resulting in at least six deaths. i find it ironic that once again we find ourselves discussing these murderous faln members, not long ago we considered whether or not to consider attorney general eric holder who advocated pardoning them and president clinton did. and now we've -- we find ourselves wondering about this nominee to the court and what her views on these matters and how her mind works as she thinks about these kind of issues. we don't have enough information, unfortunately, to assess these concerns effectively. we requested information relating to judge sotomayor's involvement with the fund, a tycal question of all nominees. but critically important for a supreme court nominee. but we've not received information, indeed, we have received nine documents totaling fewer

host: let's get to our first call from new york. caller: thank you for cspan. ne congressman that bloated -- any congressman that voted for the cap and trade bill should be impeached because they did not read the bill perr and. they should allow the american people to read it. the ron paul website explains it better than i can. i would like to hear them talk about ron paul at the federal reserve. caller: it is important to read the bill. guest: cap and trade has been going on for a decade. this is been a gradual process. we have had debates for a while. john mccain has been a leader in pushing similar legislation. this agenda did not surprise anybody. it is one that president-elect barack obama campaigned on. the details were well-understood by leaders of both parties in the house. host: the president expressed doubt about the tariff provision in the bill. does he go into this negotiation with political capital and getting out of the bill once it goes to the senate? guest: he gave an interview yesterday and it was an effort to influence the senate debate. they

carolyn maloney of new york will chair -- today, she is the chair of the committee. she left from a moment ago. harvard law professor elizabeth warren heads the congressional oversight panel. a washington post -- "washington post" reports this morning that the government should repeat its stress test of the nation's largest banks if the subject of severity of the economic downturn prove too rosy. representative maloney and is worn in the room. live coverage here on c-span. -- and miss warren in the room. live coverage here on c-span. >> i want to compliment you on your research and all of your work in support of credit cards reform and your testimony and support were very important to the passage of the credit cardholder bill of rights. thank you. this is the third in a series of hearings this committee has held to examine the degree to which the troubled assets relief program has succeeded in its goals. the june report is the result of the government stress test, which were designed to evaluate the balance sheet of financial institutions. and to provide recommendati

decision to cancel the plan to auction slots they three new york air ports? >> i hadn't heard of it and if it's true, i think it sounds like a dreadful mistake. j.f.k. is full, that's very convenient for those people who are flying and have slots at j.f.k. the only chance for other carriers to get in there is for slots to be auctioned so i'm not sure who comes up with these ideas sometimes. >> aviation safety is in the news this week as the national transportation safety board investigates the crash in buffalo, new york. do you think the issues that have come to light, including pilot pay, training and commutes need action from the airline need action from the airline industry? >> well, look, obviously, if there's an incident airlines and the f.a.a. -- thank you very much -- airlines and the f.a.a. need to look at every single incident to see what lessons can be learned from them. i think fully the most domestic airlines, most international airlines are extremely well run, at virgin we are proud of the fact that we have run an airline for 25 years without inc

this is anna "the new york times" -- doctors group opposes public health care insurance plan. the ama says it will oppose creation of a government- sponsored insurance plan which president obama and many other democrats see as an essential element to remake the health care system. the opposition could be a mutuamajor hurdle. it is america's largest physician organization with about 2 minute 50,000 members. next caller, how you pay for caller: health care as the europeans do, with a gas tax. you drive a fuel-efficient car and it does not cost you that much. it costs less than some of the averages monthly premiums. individuals paying $800, families paying $1,500. on a similar note, many republicans are being very disingenuous. if john mccain were president at think he would be running the government and the economy almost the exact same way. bailing out the economy, bailing out the auto industry -- and they're blasting obama. i really believe that there are many republicans who want obama to fail even if it meant the economy collapsing, even if it meant a terrorist attack. it is

new york times columnist david brooks talks about the administration -- the obama administration. then, the health and human services secretary testifies. the you're watching public affairs programming on c-span. >> coming up on tomorrow morning's "washington journal." jarrett allen of the hill paper has written about detainee interrogations'. and for the sixty fifth anniversary of d-day, we will talk to john mcmanus, author of "the americans at normandy." >> today, the labor department reported in 9.4% unemployment rate for last month. that is half of a% higher than -- that is half a percentage higher than in april. it is an hour and 15 minutes. >> i would like to welcome the chairman for holding this meeting. they will brief us on the most recent unemployment data. this morning's release reported may job losses totaling 345,000 . almost half the losses in recent months, but an unemployment rate of 9.4%, a jump of have of a percentage from the previous month. workers at part-time workers who cannot find full-time employment, the unemployment rate jumps to 16.4%, the highest rate

gentleman from new york, mr. hinchey. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for three minutes. mr. hinchey: thank you, madam speaker, and i want to thank chairwoman slaughter for yielding me this time. i'd like to commend chairman mollohan for doing an outstanding job with this year's commerce, justice and science bill. and i intend to vote for it, support it enthusiastically. i know that he had to make some hard choices and i am pleased that he was able to fund nearly all of the administration's requests for the national science foundation in particular. however, a provision in the report concerning materials research has just been brought to my attention and i am hopeful that as this bill moves to conference we might be able to address this language. the basic research and fundamental science funded by the national science foundation are vitally important to the future of our nation. however, there is language in the report eliminating the president's proposed increase in the n.s.f.

burke but, new york, is on the line. -- bert plan -- brooklyn, new york. caller: i wanted to talk about the health care plan president obama is pushing. what they create more debt? host: what do you think? caller: i think there will be a major problem. how come attacks more rich people? it will discourage people like me to donate or to help or to give by paying more taxes. host: let's move on to laura on the independent line from maryland. caller: i am a poor person. i never even thought to write it off my taxes. that is not the point i wanted to make. i wanted to talk about fox. rupert murdoch', owns several newspapers. he describes himself as a tabloid journalists. he owned a tabloid in england. he is fond of saying he does not report the facts. he is a commentator, like plan backed -- glenn beck says that he was. i would suggest you turn to c- span. i think rupert murdoch should know. host: thank you for calling. this is a picture of william jefferson. they are entering district court on tuesday. the federal bribery trial opens. they say he used his off

president obama said in in an interview with the new york times, obama basically said that we cannot continue down the path that we have been going. wall street cannot be the people running the entire economy. we can never go back to that situation. he singled out in particular the financial industry's compensation practices. when i went to college in the 1980's, i guess i was kind of stupid. i went on to study history. i got a ph.d. in history. all of the other kids that i knew went on to go work for wall street. that was so obviously what the writing on the wall was telling you. this was the future. these guys were pulling down fantastic sums until about eight months ago. i agree with the president that we cannot go back to that. these people can't just be taking the loot of the world and making the decisions for the economy, because they make idiotic decisions. i want to refer you to paul krugman. the line that he repeats, we have to make things boring again. that is right. >> that will not happen until we get campaign finance reform. that is probably every -- prerequisite. >> i t

city of new york, we will consider whether the city can meet ricoh's standing requirements by alleging injury resulting from nonpayment of taxes. and third, shady grove orthodick associates v. all state insurance company presents an issue procedure teachers will follow with rapt attention. may a state legislature forbid recourse to class actions for claims arising under state law but filed as diversity cases in federal court. well, that completes my report on the 2008 to 2009 term. and i invite judge livingston and judge cravitz to join me in conversation. [applause] >> you're watching c-span's america and the courts. next, seventh circuit chief judge frank easterbrook on the issues and challenges the seventh circuit has faced this past term and what's ahead in the new term. he spoke at the seventh circuit's judiciary conference in indianapolis on may 18th. >> thank you. two speakers at lunch makes for a long program. and you want to hear from chief justice shepard, so i will be brief. the most significant change in the circuit during the last year is our decision to invite some distri

i think we have just done that with the one who was transferred to the southern district of new york to be tried. the conversation will up -- with the hill will be an ongoing one. having worked with vice president gore, when he gave a speech for a c s several years ago, a number of people from the prior administration came together and talked about a lot of national security issues. people are not an extreme different positions. there are certain fundamental differences over things like what constitutes torture, but on a lot of the issues, everybody is trying to do the right thing. on the military commissions in guantanamo, the there is a desire to have the rule of law applied. everybody's trying to figure out how to do this as best they can. >>noel -- i am having trouble with my mike. i think they are bringing them up and down. you serve as legal counsel at a time that has general -- that has generated great controversy. and number of opinions of the office were withdrawn by the bush administration before they left office. there is a review now some of what went on at that time. i w

let me introduce carolyn from new york. then from maryland. -- ben from maryland. one person from texas and another from new jersey. one person from florida. i think that is all of the members who are here with us. the may be some others who will come later. i will be introducing some of the other speakers in a moment. this is one of the really significant days in the calendar for our country, in particular the state department. we have so many people who have been affected by this significant issue over the years. it is especially fitting that we would hold this announcement here where we have a great diplomatic history of so many important events in our nation. i am especially pleased that our new ambassador, the new director of the office here at the state apartment was confirmed in time for him to be a part of this ceremony. [applause] he has been a valued member of the team on the house judiciary committee. thanks to him, hundreds of trafficking survivors are now living productive and healthy lives in our own country while their abusers are behind bars. we're

let's look at this article from "the new york times." some of the measures that this would allow would be approved or ban proposed new tobacco product. prohibit use of terms like light, mild, and low tar. it is not co as far as eliminating menthol, but it comes close to that. do you think the bill goes far enough? would you like to see it go farther? the house will be taking a vote today follow-up -- the house will be taking a vote today to follow up on yesterday's action. patty is on the republican line. good morning. what do you think about this? caller: i do not think the government should control tobacco. they are already controlling everything else. they are getting everything that they can possibly control and will control under this administration. i think people should know that cigarettes are not good for you, ok? and you know better than to put things in your body that is going to hurt you or kill you. but as far as the government getting into it, no, they are already controlled -- they are going to control us. i am saying ever

as we listen to new york, good morning. caller: i'm calling to respond to the caller who says we have to listen to our readers regardless. because they're doing such a hard job. the bush family, if you look at any reasonable history of the bush family get us into wars and time again to power. you have press got bush treading openly with though nazis when he was a senator. a myriad of illegal activity they're pretty much like the gambino crime family and should be prosecuted under the rico statutes. host: thank you. here is a headline. we're also focusing on the issue of health care. president obama is during the health debate of the capital. she writes that with democrats deeply divided, president obama is trying to enlist the governors and grassroots supporters to increase pressure on lawmakers without getting mired in a messy battle plane out on capitol hill. in a session in the roosevelt room in a meeting last week with some governors he tried to steer the debate away from government in washington to the states. he will

todd, new york. good morning. caller: one of the things that we often forget is what led us in the last two years to the point we are at with general motors and chrysler. that was the increase in gasoline prices. general motors relies so much on truck sales, we jumped up to $4 per gallon. what did not have been better to supplement oil companies with billions of dollars to not get us to this point? instead of throwing money at the auto makers? if we had never had $4 per gallon prices, i do not think that we would have been in this situation. host: the president spend the night in paris, flying back to washington today. this is a scene from a conference. an e-mail, going back to the issue of chrysler and fiat. "americans complain about high- priced cars, but we live a high- priced life. how many chinese have one to one cars for family members? caller: good morning, c-span. like the last guy said, the problem with gas prices, they have known this for 30 years or more. gas prices, they do not plan for the market. the

york, but what can you do after we see a resolution in new york? what we do from that point forward? had we make sure that north korea has not destabilize the region. they remain united with our partners in the six party process. >> i would ask about what ambassador bonds worth had said. they said he had confidence that the north korean's may come back to the talks. >> you have had a pattern here over a number of years. we want to get the attention of the international community. they think they are not being paid attention to. we are not going to reward bad behavior, but we really want to make sure that the north -- that north korea returns to the process. at various times, there has been progress. we did reach a broad base agreement in september 2005 that put north korea on a path to denuclearization. we like to get back to that path. ultimately, i do not think north korea has that much of a choice. when you look at the -- when you look at the disparity between the conditions that exist in north korea, the conditions that exist elsewhere in the r

and from the "new york post," "let's be friends." laura is next on the republican line from erie, pennsylvania. caller: i just wanted to address two separate parts of this. first, calling mr. obama is a christian when conservative christians in this country will never have common ground on his belief on abortion, on homosexual unions, and putting that agenda into our schools, and on comprehensive sex education, handing our kids condoms and birth control. its coat collar, how will you take those -- host: caller, how will you take those domestic issues and integrate them with -- caller: we are not going to find common ground on that because he does not reflect christian beliefs, you know, in our own country that conservative christians agree with. i also wanted to ask -- there was a traditional values.org at said he was mixing fact with fiction. the center said there were only 2.3 miss lee -- 2.3 million muslims in america where obama said there were 7 million. also mr. obama is claiming that islam promotes power and dignity among huma

this is the front page of the new york times. the states returning to last resorts in the budget crisis, painful cuts in taxes. even officials in the same party is it -- are fighting as the deadline looms. the economy is choked by the worst recession in 60 years. governors and legislatures are proving program cuts, layoffs and to eight small degree, tax increases. all states must have a new budget in place by july 1st. most are already predicting shortfalls as tax collection schrank, unemployment rises and the stock market remains in turmoil. georgia, on our in a pat line. caller: the jobs that didn't go overseas, confession taken over by the illegals. this administration has no intention, no feasible way of creating an economy that can say -- sustain a married couple with a couple of kids. these jobs might be able -- the stimulus package might be able to buy a cheeseburger and 99¢ menu at mcdonald's, but it does not change our standard of living. the two industries that are profitable our health care and education. most of them

caller: i am from new york. i would like to know, does the young man had any knowledge as to whether -- i know that in the state of new york, i receive medicare and so did my husband we pay into it because we are both employees of the state or a municipality. what i would like to know is, i found out recently when i tried to pay money back to medicare for something that is run by a private company and certain areas. i would like to know whether he knows which states or if there are states besides the state of new york that pay a private company to handle medicare and medicaid guest: well, there are all kinds of private participation in the program. for example, medicare part d, which was introduced in 2003 as part of the prescription drug benefit, allows private delivery of services and benefits, but that tends to be decided by the individual. so i am not entirely sure what the caller is asking about. i would have to know a little bit more about the details of her situation. host: our next caller is phillies fro

host: phil joins us from new york. good morning. caller: good morning, back to iran, the president while he was running wanted to have unconditional communications with our enemies/opponents, iran, north korea, and i wonder whether churchill is still relevant. someone visited hitler in 1937 and churchill stood up in front of the house of commons and condemn it because he thought that halifax was giving comfort or discomfort to the people who were against the though nazis at the time, so does this principle still apply today and especially to a different culture, and oriental/eastern culture? guest: 1 always has to be careful not to make an argument that is comparing anyone to go nazis. host: a pretty unique group. guest: but churchill was complaining about a condition that existed in london in the 1930's. my parents were in that society. they did not know the future. they thought the hiller was dealable. there's a wonderful book recently out that discusses how the british government and literate society were judging which of the naz

of new york state energy research and development authority. projects that found us utilizing our wind, our sun, our earth, our soil, and our water enabled us to create energy supplies for new york state. hydroken netic power that was produced simply by the turn by lens of the east river along the shortline of the island of manhattan is there as a demonstration project. and r&d project that as a prototype holds promise, great promise when deployed into the manufacturing and commercial sectors. the opportunity for geothermal where i witnessed at the culinary institute of america, six new dorms and lodges as they are referred to utilizing geothermal as an energy source. and using the constant temperature of the earth far below us was a simple and novel idea, almost cavelike in its concept, but it is providing modern day usage. and certainly wind, solar, p.v., all being utilized in new york state as much as 1,100 megawatts worth of wind power. this is possible. it's very possible. and the jobs that we can create are countless as we go forward and

she wasn't in new york but she was a very active questioner. it is a has ardous business trying to predict which way a judge will go. it seemed from her questions that she did not agree with the government's position. she was taking a more restrictive view of executive power and authority than the government had advocated. based on those two data points if it appears she may take a more liberal view on national security, but as we mentioned, she has appreciation for some of the interest at stake. >> as you indicated elections have consequences and i think a fair assumption that we would not be enchanted with any supreme court nominee that president obama would put forward, but there's a con yum from bad to worse that those nominees could fall on. i was wondering where she falls on that continuum. >> my view is that she is a very reasonable choice for the president to have made. you know, if -- in a world where i could say i would choose this justice i might well have chosen a different justice, but at the same time elections have consequences.

for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. towns: thank you, madam speaker. i would like to talk about the financial emergency facing the postal service. we must act now to correct this problem. the postal service lost nearly $2 billion in the second quarter. and expects to lose more than $6.5 billion in 2009. despite cutting billions in costs, it faces an unprecedented decline in mail volume due to the recession and the diversion of mail to electronic communications. uniquely, the postal service is supposed to pay $5 billion annually into the retirement benefits trust fund which is overfunded compared to similar companies. and law requires the postal service to shell out billions of dollars to pre-fund retirement benefits regardless of economic or financial conditions. the postal service expects a cash shortfall of $1.5 billion at the end of the fiscal year. and might not

york times" in new york review of books and national geographic and cetera. if you google pico iyer as i did the term travel writer pops up quite often and in one sense it is true. the does travel, that is for sure and he does write but to call a pico iyer a travel writer is a bit like calling him a ballplayer. the description falls well short of the green and i think it is the first and only goldman or i have news not going any further because i don't play golf but you get the idea. he has been two god knows how many countries when he always as far as i can tell travels with a similar objective to get at the essence of a place and in the process and eliminate many universal truths. his father you may not know was one of the great scholars ghandi in-line ghandi it seems to me that he is engaged in his own experiments with truth, only was a bit more clothing and a touch more here. in his books and essays pico iyer ins is a question that most journalists i think failed to answer and is a very simple question, what is it like there? what is it really like their?

outlets such as "washington post", "new york times," usa today, national journal, npr and abc news. he's co-author of the 1994 book, chris's permanent minority republicans in the u.s. house. since 1988, professor, we has been a faculty adviser to the presidential convention and he also founded the washington term program in 1987. in 2007 he received the virginia council of higher education outstanding faculty award. professor, we will moderate and introduced the panelists so please join me in welcoming professor bill connelly. [applause] >> thank you, blogging. thank you again to the reynolds foundation for generously supporting this symposium. i would like to begin by acknowledging the alumni who joined today as bryan said, i created the washington program 22 years ago and without the loyal support of the alumni in washington, d.c. i could never have kept this without internships and jobs upon graduation or speakers in seminars and visits the alumni have been helpful. i like to thank the alumni eve dance over the many years when i called on the alums for help no one has ever said n

to buffalo, new york on the the republican caller: line good morning, thank you for taking my call. this concerns the previous cobbing of the geneva conventions were said not to apply to the detainee's we have now. in july george w. bush said plainly that the geneva conventions would not be extended to the detainees and no one spoke against it, not even nancy pelosi. she is now against the techniques that were used. i think of it as advanced course in. host: did you say it advanced coercion? caller: yes, we're not breaking their fingers are doing physical harm to them. host: how much of a say should congress have compared to executive authority? caller: if obama was look for advice that might be wise, but to have them make decisions for him -- there is a difference between the two branches, but to have congress decide what should be done, i did not agree with that. host: here is a story on the iraq as u.s. troops began to move out by tuesday. this is our reuters report. tennessee, good morning on the independence line. caller: good morning, and thank you to all of the cable companie

york times" stories during obama's first 50 days in office and found that 73% were favorable. this writer did press work for two politicians and now works for this particular group. caller: a just read this article. i wanted to say that i believe there's a love affair with him. how could you look past with chris matthews said in the campaign about having a tingle go down his middle leg. host: is there anything more recent you have seen? caller: yes, with kevin thomas saying that he is like god. the zip codes of most journalists, where they live, most white journalists live very insulated lives and don't have much contact with the realities of race in this country. obama is a symbol more than a man, a symbol of the unrealized integration. most to support him live in pockets of homogeneity -- the for the they live from blacks the higher opinion they have of them. you'll find very few reports of the reality of the brown/black were going on in the inner cities in prisons and school systems. it makes people feel good to believe we have turned a corner and are living -- the attorney

district court in new york and a democrat, bill clinton, appointed her to the u.s. court of appeals. she was confirmed by a democratic majority senate and then a republican majority senate. her record as a judge is as clear and publicly accessible as any recent nominee. and clearly shows modesty and restraint on the bench. she would bring more judicial experience to the supreme court than any justice in 70 years and more federal judicial experience than anyone in the past century. her record and her adherence to precedent leave no doubt whatsoever that she respects the constitution and the rule of law. judge sotomayor's record made clear she believes what determines a case is not her personal references but he law. her hundreds of decisions prove conclusively that she looks at what the law says she looks at what congress has said, and she looks above all at what precedent says. she is meticulous about looking at the fact, then decides the outcome in accordance with the constitution. on top of that, judge sotomayor's personal background is rich with the joys and hard

host: "the new york times" reports this morning on democrats saying they were trying to decide whether to finance coverage of the uninsured with one broad based tax or a combination of smaller taxes." what do you think about that? guest: that is a tax that is a hidden tax, a tax added virtually at every level of production, which means you could have what would appear to be 10 small taxes all added together they can raise huge amounts of revenue. therefore, taxing the american public by a huge amount, which is basically hidden. i am a very strong opponent of a value-added tax. i think it is a bad idea, and thaparticularly during a recess. it would hurt everyone, including small businesses that we need to be creating jobs. host: what about amendments? well amendments be offered by republicans on the committee, and what is their likelihood of being put into a final package? guest: well, we will be having amendments. we have alternative plans for health care. health care is something that we all admit, that we're all very cognizant of it needing to be revised. but we need to do it in the

she was in the drirkt of new york, they hear a lot of these. from what i've seen, she's taken more of a pro-plaintiff view, more of a pro-shareholder view in some of these cases. so based on her past record, that's where i'd anticipate her coming in, stouget the usual qualifications of once again on the supreme court all bets are off but based on her track record that's the approach she seems to have taken to date. any other questions? i think there's one in the back there. >> you mentioned judge wood and kagen. do you think they're on the short list, looking down the road, for when justice stevens retires or justice ginsburg, what's the scuttlebutt about who would be on the short list for those spots? >> let me first say i think it's reasonably likely that president obama will have another opportunity to make an appointment. i think that question of who is the next one going to be is certainly something i'm sure the white house has thought about and frankly it wouldn't surprise me if they made the sotomayor appointment in light of people they