caller: hello, i think joe biden is doing a fine job. i think he brings an incredible amount of experience. i do not think he is running the show. some people like me think that dick cheney did that in the past. he is not politically correct in his speaking because he is too honest. that is probably why i really like him. other than that, i think obama is one of the smartest politicians to come along and he did pick him. host: next up is destin, fla. on our independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. joe biden disturbs me. i think he has a foot-in-mouth disease. the only thing that sets him up good is it judge sotomayor who is roman catholic, does not believe in abortion -- i think that will help. as far as health care, social security is going broke. medicare is going broke. where is the money going to come from? i would love for someone to answer that question. as far as taxes go, hold on to your wallet, everybody. host: linda, i wonder response to more of what this historian writes. comparing the vice president to the bask

host: jared bernstein is chief economic adviser to vice president joe biden. please come back soon. now a news update from c-span radio. >> economic numbers just in. may retail sales rise by the largest amounts to an apple europe -- four months, reflecting higher auto and gas sales. new claims for what is benefits drop more than expected to

senate committee on the judiciary for then senator joe biden. no francisco, civil and criminal involved the federal and state government including enforcement actions brought by government lawsuits and gets government in congressional investigations can he has recognized authority on constitutional and national security laws. in addition, mr. francisco advises individuals and companies subject to congressional investigations such as international coal group in connection with the 2006 sago mine accident. perhaps more important with respective of this panel he served as the associate counsel for president bush in 2001 until 2003, and in the deputy assistant attorney general in the office of legal counsel from 2003 until 2005. spencer overton is the principal deputy assistant attorney general for the office of legal policy and the department of justice. he is really only from a position of a professor of law at george washington university law school where he specializes in the log democracy. mr. overton was a commissioner on the carter baker comm

they get that, joe biden is here and joe i want to talk to you. you had a terrific relationship but he fell on hard times and you talk about him as the most important guiding role. >> mr. president, i think this is great what you are doing, this is a big deal. the president said that fathers make mistakes and i made my share. my father said there is a mistake that a father shouldn't make, to communicate to their child that there is total unconditional love. and it doesn't matter if you are rich or poor or smart or handsome or not. it doesn't matter. kids need love. and as a single parent, mr. president, i did that having two sons as evan knows and my mom has an expression, and she said, i can hear her when i was a kid, saying it to her peers. she said, be careful how you treat your children, you may need them some day. and i want to tell you, the president knows my sons and daughter, it doesn't change, the happiest thing in the world is being a father. this day my 40-year-old son is attorney in state of delaware and my 29-year-old son and my daugh

but first, vice-president joe biden earlier today said the economy showing signs of improvement, despite the nation's highest unemployment rate in 25 years. president obama will announce spending boosts over the summer. >> this morning we received another reminder of the challenges facing families for up the nation. payroll contraction last month, 345,000 jobs, employment rate rose to ninth with 4%, the highest rate in 25 years. -- the rate is 9.4%. we are trying to make it through the deepest recession in the decade and are hurt badly by it. there is also some signs of hope today in the report, and a few signs that our action is to get the economy back on track. analysts had expected that we would lose more than 500,000 jobs in may. instead, we lost three entered 45,000 jobs -- a 345,000 jobs. that is the lowest number of job losses since last september, and the fourth month in a row that we are shedding jobs. i don't expect that to satisfy anyone. it does not satisfy me or the president or our economic visit -- advisers. especially it is the case of our nation's factories. we lost more

joe biden has some thoughts. here is a look. >> the bill the president -- when it comes, the president will look at it, he will make a judgment. the reason we need health care is just not moral, it is a fiscal responsibility. health care goes up 50% a year -- in the last six years. that breaks the budget. that keeps us bankrupt a long time. he wants a public plan in there. host: do you support a tax on employee health benefits? one writer says i would like to see a 2% -- 3% tax. joining us this morning is bob cusack the manager of the hill newspaper. they might put a filibuster on the paper. at the end of the week, when the announcement was made at a hearing. guest: mitch mcconnell noted that he previously has been against filibustering of judges. he said when they went after former nominee, that means he will change his position as to whether republicans can. they also said president obama is resistance -- resistant to justice alito and roberts. . the republicans are split over how to deal with this. democrats h

a quarter-century later, barack obama and joe biden's historic victory in 2008 proves that the party is ready. the new administration and congress have the chance to build a long lasting change and reform, and the opportunity to carry out a new democratic agenda. education reform, national service, health reform, energy, fiscal responsibility, and long- term growth. on the democratic leadership council, the organization that al built from the ground up is taking on a new challenge. under bruce's leadership, house legacy lives on. the power of a good idea can still inspire our party and to transform our nation. >> 25 years ago, he had the courage to see it was time for a different kind of democrat. today, our party is stronger, and our country is better off. he was right. ideas are worth fighting for. that is as true now as it was when the democrat met a hope. >> looking back at his two terms in office, it would be hard to think of a single american citizen who was a private citizen that has had a more positive impact on the progress of american life in the last 25 years than al from.

last congress legislation essentially the same as this one was co-sponsored in the senate by joe biden and hillary clinton, who are now the vice president and secretary of state. this year president obama, the vice president, and the secretary of state have gone silent on the bill. when asked about it, the vice president's communications director said no comment on this from here. the legislation goes exactly in the wrong direction. so much so that even president obama, the vice president, and the secretary of state are running away from it. so should we. i yield back. >> i thank the gentleman. i recognize the chairman of the full committee. >> thank you. the president is running away from a lot of things, said this is just one more of them. -- so this is just one more of them. that does not mean that consideration is just as important. we have been here before, ladies and gentlemen. there are some secrets we have to keep away from citizens and congress people and everybody else, bloggers, but wait a minute. which ones? that is what we are here to try to sort it out. we did not say oba

one caller, then calling joe biden of a cheapskate with charitable contributions. i want to point felt that obama is also guilty of being too. he gave $800,000 taxable income, less than 1% of that. i will connect the dots. they all accused republicans of being greedy and not caring for people. it was dick cheney who gave 40% of his income for charitable contributions. . . pis also guilty ofbeing too. he gave $800,000 taxable income, less than 1% of that. i will connect the dots. they all accused republicans of being greedy and not caring for people. it was dick cheney who gave 40% of his income for charitable contributions. . . p driven by a religious coo-coos, in my opinion. and the problem is that you're used as a distraction by arabs to keep the minds of the peoples busy so they don't look at their own problems. but my question on israeli settlements is when he pulled these guys back, because i'm not for it. host: the president talked about a freeze on jewish settlements when he made his speech. is there any chance of this happenin

our unemployment rate is in an astro nom mick 9.4, and of course, they send out joe biden, one of the great double talkers of our time to tell us the unemployment rate is getting better. the government wants to run health care and tell people what doctors they can see. how much they can make, what cars to drive. and they're killing off the entrepreneurs who are the backbone of our economy. it's no wonder that the russian newspaper pravda, the former house organ for the soviet communist regime recently said the american deskenlt into markism is happening with breathtaking speed. we can blame nancy pelosi, harry reid, chris dodd, george soros, david axelrod and their ilk for the down fall of this the country. it saddens me greatly to think we were the great powerful good in the world. we as americans knew america to be strong. and we were the liberators of the entire world. we are becoming a weak nation. obama really thinks he is a soft-spoken julius caesar and thinks he's going to conquer the world with his soft spoken sweet talk and really thinks he's going to bring all the enemies of

despite every effort of the elite media to prop up joe biden and pretend he actually knows what he's doing, i felt looking at john mccain and sarah pail lynn this country would have been amazingly better off had they been in the white house. [cheers and applause] >> i also want to say that i think on behalf of both campaign committees that john voice has given you your battle cry for the next year and a half. and i say this having once with haley barber and bob doll crisscrossed the country when we've been out of power for 40 years and people thought we were absolutely out of our minds to suggest we could actually win a majority. i think the phrase "do not tell me it can't be done" is about as good a way to start thinking about 2010 and 2012 as you could imagine. [applause] >> and i think our goal should be to reach out to the american people in every possible way, to make sure that john baner becomes the speaker of the house in january of 2011, that mitch mcconnell becomes the senate majority leader, and that this is a one-term presidency in the jimmy carter tradition. [cheers and a

biden. he will help review the trip to green bay and obama's town hall meeting. congressman fred upton is coming up next. ♪ >> every weekend, the latest non-fiction books and authors. saturday, have you run for congress was $7,000 and your sixth grade students managing the campaign? this teacher give it a shot. she is interviewed by representative norton. sunday, joel takes you inside the revolution -- how callers are battling to dominate the middle east and transform the world. what is next for the economy? former policy adviser arthur on taxes and the end of prosperity. later, for closure nation -- a former real-estate attorney on the housing crash and where it is headed. every weekend is filled with books and authors on booktv.org. >> here is our present policy. we are eager to stop the bombing, just as we are eager to stop the war. >> telephone conversations from the final months of lyndon johnson's presidency, on vietnam, you and appointees, and trouble for his choice for supreme cour

we learned that vice president joe biden called on other potential opponent, congresswoman caroline maloney. she has not yet announced whether or not she is running. for kristin gillibrand, it means one more sign of relief. it seems like all of her challengers, but for maloney, are sitting on the sidelines. when president obama chose congressmen john mchugh for army secretary, the cry went up that this was another chance to win a republican seat. it has been held by the republican mchugh since 1982. the problem here for democrats is that one of their strongest potential candidates is also somebody that the new york senate democrats want to keep. his name e won a special collecr the state senate. it is a very republican seat. the concern among democrats in that state is that if he leaves, he could lose the state senate seat in control of the senate is a tie. as "the new york times" reports, the state senate would have a leadership impasse. even more important for those people down the road, if democrats are not in control of the redistricting process, that could be bad news for the congressi

he is executive she of staff to vice president joe biden. before joining vice-president gore's staff, ron was chief of staff to janet reno and assist -- associate counsel in charge of judicial selection. he has been a veteran of five presidential campaigns. he directed the fall debate preparations for president obama as well as john kerry in 2004. in 2000 and served as general counsel on the vice president recount committee in florida, a role made slightly more famous by kevin spacey. on capitol hill he stirred that reduce service that staff director for the senate democratic committee. enforcement actions brought by government lawsuits against governments and in congressional investigations. mr. francisco advises clients before the committee on foreign investment in the united states and is a recognized authority on constitutional and national security laws. in addition, mr. francisco advises individuals and companies subject to congressional investigation such as the international coal group in connection with the 2006 sago mine action. mo

joe biden has been a senator almost as long as i have been on life. he has been at the forefront of every major policy debate since the early 1970's. of course, obama has the least amount of experience, but nevertheless i think that gives them an ingrained sense of what is possible, what their limits are. we have seen a little friction, surprisingly little friction, i think that is in part because they're so sensitive to how congress operates and to the

. >> newt gingrich says the media has to pretend that joe biden knows what he is doing? >> should i speak on behalf of the elite media? the vice president is among the most trusted advisers that the president has, in the role that he plays is very significant, from his efforts to implement the recovery plan, through the efforts on foreign policy, we are grateful to have him, as the country is for his service. >> when you briefed the president, did you have any information about the suspect? >> this was, about one out of 55, 2:00. all that i knew was, somebody had gone in with a gun, shot at the security guard, the individual was fired at, the individual was 89 years old, or 90 years old. i did not have the age when i was talking to the president. i assume he has been given more updates. if there is information -- >> 90 years old? >> that is what i have seen on the way out, the age of the gunmen who entered the museum. i saw this on television, i have not been on the e-mail or blackberry. >> did you have an indication that this was a hate crime? >> at that time i was just

took up the challenge of bring being back the forgotten middle class barack obama's and joe biden's victory proves that the party has been reborn. the new administration and congress have a chance to build a broad lasting majority for change and reform and the opportunity to carry out a new agenda for a new era. education reform, national service, health reform, energy, fiscal responsibility and long-term growth. in the democratic leader council the organization that al from built from the ground up is taking on that new challenge. under bruce reed's leadership al's legacy lives on proofrpg once again how -- proving once again how the power of a good idea with build the party. >> 25 years ago al had the courage to see it was time for a different democrat. today our party stronger and our country is better off because he did. ideas are worth fighting for. that is as true now as it was when the new dreamt from south bend met a new democratic from a place called hope. >> as president clinton once said, looking back at his two terms in office, it would be hard to figure the single american citi

biden and hillary clinton who are now president obama's vice president and secretary of state. but this year president obama, vice president clinton and -- or vice president biden, excuse me, and secretary of state clinton have gone silent on the bill. when asked about it recently the vice president's communications director said, quote, no comment on this from here. the legislation goes exactly in the wrong direction. so much so that even president obama, vice president biden and secretary of state clinton are running away from it. so should we. he yield back the balance of my time. >> i thank the gentleman. i now recognize the distinguished chairman of the full committee for an opening statement. >> ranking member emeritus -- i mean, chairman emeritus. the president is running away from a lot of things so this is just one more of them. that doesn't mean that the consideration is not extremely important. we've been here before, ladies and gentlemen. i'm for state secrets. there are some secrets that we've got to keep away from citizens and congress people and everybody else, b

. >> did the selection of joe biden surprise you? >> i will admit to being surprised. knowing that they had tensions in the senate, senator biden was the chairman of the foreign relations committee, been there for decades. he did not really treat this young senator with a big profile very well. he treated whim some disdain. and that came out in the campaign and the primary process when biden himself was a candidate. they obviously set that aside. the candidate himself, obama wanted biden from the get go. the press unfolded. he was frustrated with the shortness of the short list. and while biden was his pick, i think he wanted something more. and look at them today. biden generally is they think inside the white house that his heart is in the right place but his mouth often isn't. and that indiscipline which has come out post election has been a problem, has been a source of tension. when you have a very, very disciplined president. though during the campaign they thought he did a fabulous job of completing what he was setting out to do, which was reaching older white w

earlier today vice president joe biden held a town hall meeting in the toledo, ohio, area. he heard from governor ted strickland and others that one of the biggest economic challenges facing ohio remains an inability of businesses to obtain the credit they need. the reason is because our banking system suffered a heart attack last year and still hasn't fully recovered. safe and sound credit and prudent financial behavior by individuals and institutions should be our nation's financial system's primary purpose. the administration's priorities tell me it plans a much larger role for higher risk securities in whatever system they are envisioning which to me threatens more higher risk behavior. banks traditionally have served as intermediaries between people who have money, depositors, and those who need money, borrowers. the bank's value added was their ability to loan money sensibly. within parameters of $10 of loans for every $1 on deposit. and thus sensibly and responsibly managing their deposits and collecting on the loans that they were to oversee. wall street's high-risk

a couple months, a couple weeks ago, vice-president joe biden had a meeting with 6 governors and it was an interesting meeting. the governors were pushing for their own projects, the midwest governors said they had a plan to meet link the midwestern cities, 110 miles an hour. gov. cheney said there is a plan to link richmond and washington with 110 mile an hour trains. gov. nixon of missouri spoke up and governor patrick of massachusetts and myself said slowdown, we can't make this effort building 100 miles an hour train systems, or else we are truly consigning ourselves to be a second-class nation when it comes to transporting our citizens. we have to look at the maglevs and latrines, if we did the work we needed on amtrak we could go from new york to washington in an hour and 30 minutes, new york to philadelphia in 33 minutes, we could consign the shuttle to the rest heat and by doing that we could improve east/west air traffic along the eastern seaboard. we shouldn't fly people 500 miles or less, we should be putting them on high speed trains. ranking member thune asked a good questi

we hear joe biden the other day saying that it was anybody's guess as to the stimulus bill, what would happen. there were people who said this is going to have no benefit. i think this is a big push -- to me, it is the biggest power grab ever, and i would not trust an oversight body without really going slowly as to how this is set up. guest: i think she makes a fair point. we should go about this slowly. we want to make sure that we address these issues, and address them well. there is no reason to rush. right now our economic institutions, there is some stability in them, so there is time to look in june and july. i mean, i want to get it done so that we can sign a document in this congress because i believe it is important. fannie mae and freddie mac -- absolutely. look, there was not enough oversight. but let me just suggest, those who come today to say is freddie mac and fannie mae -- well, my friend jeb hensarling has been in congress for many years and never raised his voice about. they were in power, in the majority from 1994 to just a few months ago. let's not get sidetracked

host: joe biden said barack obama would be tested in the first six months of his administration. is this that test? guest: this is one of many. the world obviously doesn't -- north korea acts almost like clockwork in terms of its festing -- testing of new governments and old governments. but i think so i think they're trying to see -- there's two things really driving it. one is eternal unrest and crisis within north korea. and the other one is trying to see what a new administration -- what they can extract from the new administration, basically. host: let me go back to the map to give our audience some geographical perspective. this is a google image that has been downloaded quite frequently over last couple of years. you can again see the lights on in south korea. and not on in north korea. what does this tell you? >> well it tells you that the character and the nature of the government in a placematters a whole lot. the korean people are very similar. they both emerged basically the same place, after world war ii. and the korean government -- the south korean government had a

rachel maddow drives a big four- wheel-drive truck and joe biden drives a chop the truck. is it -- is there a reason why they don't buy a yaris or fit, thereby doubling their gas mileage and therefore cutting co2 in half and cutting the importation of gas and have? why do we need tax incentives when the democrats themselves should just be driving smaller cars. are democrats embarrassed to drive smaller cars? guest: i suppose there is a fair point, if they are supposed to be inspiring people to buy smaller cars, this should lead by example. host: he mentioned foreign cars. an article in "the new york times" say small car makers benefit from detroit's financial woes. is detroit competitively positioned to take advantage of cash for clunkers in offering high mileage vehicles as well as some of the foreign competitors? guest: it is probably a fair comment to say detroit is very much going through the process of reorganizing their product lines and bringing out smaller cars. i do not think this program is going to benefit the next generation of cars we're talking about coming d

joe biden has been a senator almost as long as i have been alive and has been at the forefront of every major policy debate since the early '70s. of course, obama is the least amount of experience but nevertheless i think that's gives them an ingrained sense of what is possible, what their limits are. we have seen very little direction surprisingly little friction and given what is on the table so far i think in part because they are so sensitive to how congress operates into the buttons you can and can't push in order to deliver out comes here and i think that is probably the least appreciated feature of this presidency noir. i also thing going back to something i mentioned initially, a lot of it depends on the sort of little interactions that add up so much overtime. the president has so far demonstrated his willingness. >> off immediately offer of policies that democrats don't like. for instance in this budget he proposed limiting the charitable deductions that while the taxpayers can take, that went over like a ton of bricks and he took it off the table almost read away. that is som