congress. this is former senator slade gorton, a republican of washington. he wrote "senator byrd served at least one full term too long, both for the institution in his state, mostly as a result of ego or record seeking. they did so at the behest of their constituents and i do not believe that that option should be taken away from the voters." tom, new jersey, what do you think? caller: in lieu of term limits, i think that congress members should be limited to at least retirement age. these people are legislating laws that will impact the generations after they are dead. they get to a point where they will be legislating to people in future generations that will not have control over at. host: i want to read you this and get your response. this is a group of cadets asked to comment on a job in congress. this is what one of them wrote about senator in a way -- "if seniority incapacitates a leader, it is up to the opponents to make that clear to voters. the architect of american democracy antici

he is in his sixth term as a member of congress. he has a degree in economics and political science from miami university in ohio, not florida. he is quite a policy which is on a subject that was the biggest this year and a major goal of the obama administration. please welcome representative paul ryan. [applause] >> good morning. anybody from wisconsin? welcome to dc. you're probably doing summer internships. what i'd like to do is give you a glimpse of the fight of the battle's going on. i came here as a young, idealistic person as a college intern. in the policy world -- what do i mean when i say fight? right now, this battle of ideas which got started in the 20th- century is coming to a crescendo. it is a battle of an ideal. what we have happening is the reoccurring seen throughout the policies moving through congress is a collision between two political philosophies or ideologies. on the left, liberalism. that name -- we call people moderate -- modern liberals. there is a doctrine that has been established for quite a while. pr

congress did. and what she has shown herself to be is a master strategist. because she had to tailor these bills to get them through the house and the senate. she had to aligngngngngngngngng. and we are the most diverse caucus imaginable, unlike our brethren on the other side. she had to tailor her caucus to an agenda that was not of the making of all of them. and somehow to do that, member by member, and believe me this is not someone who called you in and beat you over the head and shoulders until you agreed. it is a woman who fought her way through every single step. and one reason i am so proud of her, unlike people like me who, and she and i came along at the same time, she didn't start out to be a career woman. this woman had five children in six years, was your quintessential housewife. and look what she's become. every woman in america should be proud of this woman, especially those of you who are home with children today. >> unless you care about what is happening with your money. look, wh

on congress. and that was what the many, many, many thousand page record that was created before congress enacted, the mccain/feingold bill, revealed and that what's we tried to argue to the court. >> understand the argument. but the statute then in political speech that was challenged in citizens united also applied to small s-chapter corporations that may have one shareholder. there are more than 4.5 million s corporations in america. we have 56,000 in my home state of utah alone. these are small company who want the legal protections that incorporating provides. these are family farmers, ranchers, mom and pop stars and other small businesses. before the citizens united decision, these small family businesses could be barred from using their regular budget for, say, radio, program or a pam in the opposing their congressman for his vote on a bill if it was that close to an election. do you believe that constitution gets the federal government this much power? >> senator hatch, trade unions genera

congress did. and what she has shown herself to be is a master strategist. because she had to tailor these bills to get them through the house and the senate. she had to align her members. and we are the most diverse caucus imaginable, unlike our brethren on the other side. she had to tailor her caucus to an agenda that was not of the making of all of them. and somehow to do that, member by member, and believe me this is not someone who called you in and beat you over the head and shoulders until you agreed. it is a woman who fought her way through every single step. and one reason i am so proud of her, unlike people like me who, and she and i came along at the same time, she didn't start out to be a career woman. this woman had five children in six years, was your quintessential housewife. and look what she's become. every woman in america should be proud of this woman, especially those of you who are home with children today. >> unless you care about what is happening with your money. look, what

congress has finally upon some reforms to rein in wall street i don't know finds out if they will do any good or will the fat cats just keep getting even faster that's all coming your way next you know. welcome the alone a show where you'll get the real headlines and not of the mercy or coming live out of washington d.c. now it's taken months but it looks like congress has finally passed wall street reform will really help will america out of a recession i'm have the details in just a minute and next we'll bring you details on how congress plans to tackle cyber security it's a topic of growing concerns the government is quickly working to assemble a cyber command center but we still have to ask whether these threats are real and if old lawmakers are really the ones to be dealing with that then we're going to examine general petraeus his approach in afghanistan he now wants to pay local police units that are not linked to the afghan government to help u.s. soldiers just don't call them militias but will that strategy really work then will shed light on a very hush hush issue here in t

that further divides the congress. partisanship has been a real problem particularly this year and this doesn't help so the republics say. but the democrats felt it would be dragged out and may turn into a political weapon. berwick is a little controversial because he is going to run medicare but part of what he was saying earlier in his career is he admired the british system and he also was a proponent of rationing. he has made comments like that in the past, so he is not solely supported by everybody. and republicans in particular wanted a chance to try to block him basically and they won't get that and they feel frustrated. host: susan ferrechio is the chief congressional correspondent with the washington examiner. before coming there, she was with cq five years covering house republican and democratic leadership and spent time reporting for the "miami herald" on education issues and 2000 presidential election recount. she was at the "miami herald" from 1999 to 2001. back to the phones, shreveport, louisiana,dale,

i think we can do it probably in the next congress as well as this congress, but it has to be done in the right way. the process becomes very important. it is a difficult live to accomplish, but i do not think it is impossible. >> what do you see as the main trade off in scaling back the ambition of a climate and energy bill and focusing just on utilities? some of the opponents of that approach say it means you will be generated less revenue for other important causes. other industries want to get because they see it as a way to avoid regulation by the epa. they fear that will be more costly. what do you see is the trade-off as you try to scale back this bill? >> the key determinant is what can you get 60 people to vote for in the u.s. said that? that is the practical challenge we have got. if we could limit greenhouse gases and put in place a mechanism for reducing greenhouse gases in one sector of the economy, that would be major progress in my view. there are other ways to deal with it. there may be ways to provide incentives for the retirement of coal plants which would substantia

congress did, indeed, do exactly that. the initial amendment was recrafted into the graham-ky graham-kyle-levin amendment. it was an extraordinary act of bipartisanship that occurred. i think it was the vote was 8 a-14. one of the things that legislation did is -- i'm not remotely suggesting cause and effect, but the letter urge there be article three review and they provide a military review of military commission determinations. >> i bring this up because it's come up during the course of this hearing raised by senator kyle and then in your discussion with senator graham. and there's one other element that should be mentioned. the supreme court agreed with your conclusion in that letter, even before the passage of this graham-kyle-levin amendment. it held that holding that it violates the u.s. constitution to deny the detainees to habeas. they said the laws and constitution are designed to survive and remain in force in extraordinary times and justice stevens was fifth vote in the case. no surprise chief justice roberts

we know who -- 107th congress and we know who the majority was in those congresses. that's the record. now, we know there is a very clear distinction between earmarks and the n.t.b. provision which this bill enunciates. you know that an earmark provides for the authorization of a specific district or state, etc., etc. but a limited tariff benefit is a provision modifying, harmonized tariffs. we don't know what the word harmony means in this house. i am in strong support of h.r. 4380. this bill will lower costs for american small businesses, allowing them to prosper, make their products more competitive, both here and abroad. this is what we should all be about. this will create tens of thousands of united states jobs and increase united states production and expand g.d.p. by several billion dollars. my district, two towns, will benefit from duty suspensions on certain products. this is significant not only for the people who work there but for the customers of these products. if i may have 30 seconds, mr. chairman. 10 seconds. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the

it is an honor to serve in the united states congress. you see that don't and you walk onto the floor of the house of representatives and you get this chill down your spine. i hope that never goes away. if it goes away you know you have been here too long. is truly an honor. after i was the member-elect and i visited with a guy named jim hansen who has served from 22 years from the state of utah. i asked him what it would be like. it happens just the way he said. he said, "when you get there, you pitch yourself -- to pinch yourself a." ." it's true. at month 6 something happens. there is an added phenomenon. you start looking around and ask out they all got here. [laughter] we have great representatives like mr. akin and jim jordan but there are many people i worry about. i worry about this country. the united states of america is the greatest country on the face of the planet. >>> our freedoms and liberties are under attack. i think you know that and that is why you are here. i am here to tell you that it is good old fashioned people who

congress has to step in and stop them. they have to pass a law that blocks these epa global warming regulations. [applause] we have test vote. we had a test vote on june 10 in the united states senate. there was a vote on overturning the epa local warming regulation. needs 51 to pass and may god 40. only six democrats voted for it. 53 democrats voted to look the other way said on the hands not take responsibility for the future of our country and let the epa regulate. so we need to do better. we need to have more senators who understand that they can't outsource our economic future to the epa and it is not just the epa. the fcc is proposing, has proposed sweeping regulations of the internet as we heard about last night from commissioner mcdowell. they want to have complete regulatory control by treating the internet like an old-fashioned phone network or you have to get permission from regulators to do anything you want to do. that is completely unacceptable and again congress must step in and stop the fcc from regulating

republican presidents, democratic presidents, republican congresses, democratic congresses. what i would argue has changed is our colleagues on the other side. now, we are going through another procedural vote. and at the end of the day, on file merits, this could pass 80, 90 votes. no one wants to be accused of not extending this. but this whole procedural strategy of delay after delay after delay effectively has denied millions of people, not just the dollars, which are important, but just the sense -- the small sense of security that they can rely on these funds. but there is some -- that there is some place they can go. in rhode island, the average weekly benefits is $360 a month, that they can get at least $360 a month to feed their families to provide for the essential delay. when that is stripped away, they lose more than just $360. they lose the sense that there is anything out there that is going to help them. now, beyond this procedure delay, my colleagues argue, well, the reason we don't want to give this is it is a disincentive to work. $360 a week is not a disin

as well as in this congress. but it's got to be done in the right way. the process becomes very important, the process that you follow. and of course the -- it's a difficult lift to accomplish, but i don't think it's impossible. >> what do you see as the main trade-off in scaling back the ambition of a climate and energy bill and specifically focusing just on utilities? i mean, some of the opponents of that approach say that it will mean that you will be generating less revenue for other important causes, there are a lot of industries that actually want to get in under a cap because they see it as a way to avoid regulation by the e.p.a., i was wondering -- which they fear is going to be a lot more costly. what do you see as the trade-offs that you are weighing here as you are trying to scale back on this bill? >> i think the key determinate is what can you get 60 people to vote for in the u.s. senate right now. that's the practical challenge that we've got. and if we could limit greenhouse gases and put in place

the 110th congress had also passed that bill in this house as well. last week, the senate passed by you unanimous consent an amended version of h.r. 2765 named securing the protection of our enduring and established constitutional heritage act or speech. we consider the senate version today. it is the name given to the practice of doing an end run around the first amendment by suing authors and publishers in the courts of certain courts with defamation laws as we do. written as a nation that is the cite for these actions. while we generally share a proud common law legal tradition with the united kingdom, it is true that they have laws that disfavor speech critical of public officials, contrary to our own constitutional tradition. as a result, the united kingdom has become the favorite destination of libel tourists. for example, in contrast to u.s. law, british law presumes the defendant is wrong and places the burden on the defendant to prove the truth of his or her allegedly statement. this speech in british law has drawn condemnation not only from

a conservative congress. although it was elected in 1946, it had managed to alienate many of the voters, particularly organized labor. truman ran unsuccessfully against congress in 1948. the danger, susan, with looking for history to repeat itself is we have a tendency to see these events out of context and context is everything. in 1948 america had basically become a democratic nation. there were strong memories of the great depression. while truman had lost congress in 1946, there was an underlying majority in the country for a more activist government, particularly in terms of providing economic security. he was able to tap into that in 1948. the other thing that is different between now and when bill clinton was successfully moved to the right, somewhat, stopped in think -- stop and think about what has changed. it is the blog this year -- blogosphere. a very articulate base of democratic voters, many of them articulating their concerns through the web. i am not sure that even bill clinton, in this climat

congress sets that policy. it's your decision as aember of congress so to do. someone in the military would just salute and drive ou smartly. >> well, there are a number of, man things could affect mission, but you think sexual orientation does? >> again, like i say, if someone's willing to put their service firstand worry about the mission first, to me, it's not something that's an issue. >> how about the question of -- of one issue disqualifying a nominee from the court? >> well, i think it's not an issue strictly speaking of don't ask, don't tell here. it's more an issue that through her own decision, dean kagan at the haard law school deded to strictly ignore the law. there was no injunction from a court that had jurisdiction over harvard law school, no one issued a statement or enjoined the o.d. from enforcing the law as her letter said, which read into the record, she strictly acted hing that she would be able to not have the law enforced. knowing full well that the law was in full force and effect. so to that i would say, somebody that sws disregard of t

guest: a friend of mine running for congress in st. louis, missouri, said what we need is hot benches and wide gates on immigration policy. i think he is right about that. the other thing a lot of people don't know is that roughly half of the people who are in this country illegally came here legally under a student visa, a tourist visa and something and just disappeared kind of into the country. so, border security is important. it is not the whole answer. on the last part, i think there are more people asking those questions -- what is the government's responsibility and what is our responsibility? what must i take charge of for my own life and what is the government's role as a safety net or more? the things that have happened particularly in the last 18 months have led people more people all run the country to ask those questions, and that is why porter the reason why i think you see more political involvement. i think that is a good, positive thing for the country. host: ohio, robert, independent line. guest: hello, mr. thornberry

but i think the -- what do you call it -- a slanted question because you added congress because congress to make, the democrats are trying and the republicans all they know is one word, a two-letter word. i am a marine corps veteran and i feel like the republican agenda has destroyed my country. an example -- i went to the va clinic and had some issues, and they were related to my vietnam experience. and one of the procedures was not related because it was not in my record as a va benefit. you know they charge my insurance company? i called the va and dino what their response was? host: go ahead and tell us. caller: it is a lot. veterans, and issue that they feel let -- excuse me? they feel like -- that is an example of republican agenda. they preach that they are for the military but when it comes to benefits for military families and va -- and passed military, they don't do it. host: the view from curtis in pensacola, florida. republican line. jeremy, annapolis, maryland. do you have faith in president obama and/or congress? what do you think? hello, jeremy? go ahead, paul, from annapo

before i came to congress i owned several small businesses. one of my businesses was a small coffee and ice cream shop called huckleberry's. with a shop that sells food, the use it or lose it principle is intrinsic. we would not buy more perishable food than we could sell, otherwise we were at a loss. every small business owner knows that when you are working on a tight budget, you cannot afford wasteful spending. and that, mr. speaker, is exactly what these earmarks are. by targeting these earmarks, my legislation will deliver real savings. h.r. 5730 is one step towards the ultimate goal of reducing our nation's deficit. by rescinding unused earmark funds from over 20 years ago, we will be improving the way in which federal funds are managed while both proving our commitment to fiscal discipline. in today's economy it is essential that we manage taxpayer dollars well, especially with respect to transportation funding. we will never be able to adequately address the investment gap in transportation infrastructure if we do not curb unnecessary

the american people are asking this congress, this democratic controlled congress, where are the jobs? i yield five minutes to my distinguished colleague from indiana, mr. pence. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from combrin is recognized for five minutes. -- from indiana is recognized for five minutes. mr. pence: i thank the gentlelady. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pence: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in opposition to the rule and to the underlying bill . but it pains me to do so. as the record will reflect, i and most of my colleagues in this body have supported repeated extensions of unemployment benefits. and as i told my constituents yesterday, i was anxious to do so again. american families are hurting. this economy is struggling in the aftermath of the worst recession in a quarter of a century. and as my colleague just suggested, this economy is struggling in the midst of the failed economic policies of this administration and this congress. millions of american families are struggling to make en

congress passed. well, every supreme court nominee bears the burden of proof of establishing they deserve the trust of the person people tore a lifetime appointment on the high court and in my view, elena kagan is not satisfying that burden of proof and for these reasons i will oppose the nomination. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. i thank the senator from texas. the senator from oklahoma has already notified senator sessions and i that he will be speaking subsequently on the floor. the next senator will be senator durbin. just so everybody knows the route, after we vote on -- at the end of this, we'll -- i think senator sessions has a short comment he wishes to make. i may or may not respond and then we will have a vote on the kagan nomination, and then i would like to bring up the other matters of the agenda especially the deputy attorney general, a nomination which as we all know handles major law enforcement and national security issues and is vacant and needs a vote one way or the other. s

in october of 2008 i arrivinged in congress with the goal to -- arrived in congress to help -- congress with the goal to help struggling americans. i have consistently advocated for such policies. the congressional black caucus and the democratic leadership made it our duty and responsibility to advocate for jobs. earlier this year the house passed h.r. 4213, the american jobs and closing tax loophole act. in ohio alone, madam speaker this legislation would have extended unemployment -- madam speaker, this legislation would have extended unemployment and cobra benefits. it would have provided college tuition deductions to 150,000 students and allocated over 42 -- $42 million for youth summer jobs. for the nation, h.r. 4213 would have provided 5ds00 million to restore credit -- $500 million to restore credit to small businesses. the same small businesses that are creating most of the jobs in this nation. it would extend the research and development tax credit and finally it would have granted $25 billion in bonds for infrastructure development. however, madam speaker, there has been no a

>> reduction of spending is very difficult to do in congress because congress doesn't reduce spending easily. remember, in washington we call it a reduction of spending if you don't get an increase roughly comparable to inflation. the budget now in the united states is roughly about $3.8 trillion. when lyndon johnson was president of the united states, not that long ago, he very much wanted to have the budget not be over $100 billion. i wong one of his budgets was $99.9 million. whatever is done should be fair. the most important thing is whatever the president ultimately decides to do, it should be a concept that everybody is sharing the 59 a little bit and everybody is putting in their contribution to society to make the country a little bit stronger. >> rose: assess for me how well you think barack obama has handled the economy? >> the economy was in worse shape than he realized and worse shape than most people realize and the problems he had to deal with were significant so it's hard to say how he's done given what he's inherited. the most important thing he has to deal with now i

smith, has done on human trafficking throughout the -- his career here in congress to make the congress and the american people aware of this horrible tragedy that's taking place throughout the world. and i especially appreciate his work on this legislation, international megan's law. mr. speaker, slavery is alive and unfortunately very well in this world today. we see it in the form of human trafficking, sex trafficking, slavery of children that are taken from different parts of the world by these slave traders and for money they exploit these children and they make money because there are consumers that want to abuse children. unfortunately, 25% of the consumers who use sex trade victims are from the united states. they leave this country, they go to foreign countries, they find some child and they abuse that child and they pay some slave trader to do that. a million people a year are involved as victims of human trafficking. 50% of them are children, most of them are under the age of 18. it is the scourge that is taking place in our world today. . it's about time we do something abou

the answer is right there on my facebook page. >> reporter: 76% of congress f congress media and well over ialf have facebook pages. ut while politicians try to harness the power of a few ile politicians friends, it is the citizen who has the most to gain in this brave, new world. >> nine out of ten videos rave, new world.he 2008 presidential campaign that >> nine ou campaign thata and mccain were e oduced by citizens trying to influence each other. so the last people to arrive at so the the party are the politicians lves.elves. reporter: sparkeded by a single angry voice, facebook can be a level of revolution. myanmar. we've seen it in iran and myanmar. and and when leftist guerrillas in columbia l oured ia let a little boy die in captivity, oscar morales poured his outrage into a facebook age into a faceboo >> what i was trying to do was invoke the solidarity of the people. n just two days, we gathered the support of more than 10,000 followers. orter: and just just a month later, 12 million people took to the streets in solidarity in cities around the world. craig newmark believes t

that's what this congress has done. that's what the congress did under republican leadership. if you think about the medicare part d. benefit, most people who are benefitting from that understand you're taking that from your grandchildren. because it's never been paid for. $13 trillion. and we're doing that. and we did that without being honest with the american people. we have to have a change in attitude if we're going to get back to a time where we have prosperity. and we can reget or re-establish an economic growth pattern that's based on a bright future for america. we have to have a change in the way we lead in this country in how we spend money and was good and right today that doesn't mortgage the future for our children. host: independent line. thank you for waiting. caller: senator, you know, you talked about a job fair somewhere down south. i'm not sure where. but we had a job favor in cleveland. a couple hundred jobs and 10,000 people. it took two days to get them all registered. not all the people in this country that are unemployed are wanting to just sit and col

god knows they have lost faith in the congress. but when they start losing faith in themselves, that's when our country is in trouble. when they start believing that they cannot make it, that they are losing their dignity, that they are unable to put food on the table, provide shelter for their families, provide hope for their kids, america is losing something that we may not be able to recover. notwithstanding what happens from our economy. how can people talk about deficits and pay fors when a person is just asking for a little help? what difference does it make if we are able to take the $30 billion? it is not spending. this is investment. it's an investment not in foreigners, not in protecting democracy, it's an investment of people who love and want to work. i think, mr. speaker, we ought to give them an opportunity because in taking care of their needs they take care of our small businesses, too. i yield back whatever time i have. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana. mr. boustany: thank you, mr. s

congresses and indeed, the last or the congress before this side took control, which was especially historic in taking the country down to its knees, leaving it to a new entirely different administration and a different congress to pick the country up. i do commend the gentleman saying he will vote against congressman wilson's bill. but we will be looking to see if he votes -- calf mr. chaffetz: would the gentlewoman yield? ms. norton: we will be looking to see if he votes against all such bills in the future. mr. chaffetz: would the gentlewoman yield? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman has made clear she doesn't wish to yield. ms. norton: if i yield, i'll yield. and i want to say again that it is quite possible to make a point about what you want to see on the floor without trivializing a bill that is perfectly in order, perfectly respectable, in fact, helps the economy commemorating a venue that helps the economy of another member's district. if you were going to make a point that you think the congress ought to be doing other things, then make the point. but don't do it by

congress after congress after congress have failed to make the decisions. we now have $13 trillion of debt on the balance sheet. what's appalling about it is that we don't have much to show for it i don't thin we haven't invested in this country's infrastructure. we haven't built the energy infrastructure. so the hole is actually even greater an i think we imagine. you mentioned at the very beginning the difficulty of having one congress behind the next congress and the next congress. what kind of thing do you think about when you're not here but in your office that we could do that would showhat we're serious abouthis? that we're actually putting ourselves on a path of sustainability knowing that we can't fix this overnight? what is it that we -- what will do we need to demonrate and how do we need to donstrate it? i realize -- i'm not asking for specific policies, but what do you say to yourself? >> well, congress has over time moved towards multiyear budgeting plans. and you try to look at projected trajectories over a ten-year window, for example. so th

the congress and higher salaries. i do not disagree. nor do i disagree that we have to make sure that we are using government personnel efficiently. when you have got over 800,000 people with top-secret clearances and one-quarter of a million of them, coming from private companies, it is redundant. 51 companies looking at the financial transactions dealing with terrorism. do we really need all those different companies? i do not think so. host: bill is joining us on the democratic line. kansas city, kansas. caller: in calling in with a history lesson. there was a five-star general and president from kansas, summing this situation up in the late 1950's, saying to be aware of the military-industrial complex. they brought us things like the cold war. which also brings us up to the current what is going on in iraq. and afghanistan with private contractors. you cannot have secure intelligence when you include private contractors. guest: you certainly have to make sure that these individuals with top-secret clearances, that

that's what congress does. we have the power of the purse, and yet we're shortchanging that process so that we can support the goals and ideals of student financial aid awareness month and raise awareness of financial student -- student financial aid. like i said, not a bad thing but not something that should be sue planting what we should -- supplantin what we should do here. i plead with the rules committee and more importantly the leadership on the majority side and realize that the traditions of this body, the institutional -- things that we have here, open rules on appropriation bills should be offered. i've offered a lot of amendments. many of which when we were in the majority. my own party didn't like these amendments, but they suffered through them because they knew that things matter here like tradition or upholding the institution, and so they allowed all amendments, some of which targeted members of our own party. but the majority in power now doesn't seem to want that. they want to shield their mem

the congress before. what good do these letters do if there is no work on capitol hill for this decade-long failure? >> it is longer than a decade. but basically, the positions are well mapped out. we have only one redline which is not to do another round of amnesty. it did not work in 1986 and it simply incentivized most of the friends and relatives and people from the same communities that had been granted amnesty the first time to come here in large numbers, mostly from mexico. this was on top of half a million, mostly family reunification immigrants we accepted. many of whom were family reunification from people granted amnesty. if that is a clear position of the republicans, after that everything is in play. a full guest worker program that would allow whatever number of people to gainfully be employed without displacing american jobs. certainly, a transition for people already here so that they could be converted to guest worker or exit the country in a fair way. all that is in play. at the same tim

if they run rough showed then the congress would be upset and they would say the congress passed those bankruptcy laws, we don't care if you got a bankruptcy judge who wants to be reafffirmed as a judge in a few years or be a district judge down the road, we don't care if you got them to sign that bill. we're going to cut off funding for all of these czars, all of these task forces you've appointed who have no accountability to us. we're going to cut off your money and cut off your task force at the knees and cut off your czars at the needs because we are going to defund them. that power was given to congress to make sure you don't let the executive branch appoint a bunch of czars without the consent of the senate and then make rules and decide who loses their property without any accountability to anybody. the founders knew that with people in congress in numbers in the house and senate, they would never let the laws they passed be run over in such a fashion. they would stop the executive branch from doing that. but unfortunately, it didn't happen. congress let the executive branch th

congress puts it in. e 's basically fig leafs. >> the congress doesn't follow modesh. > that's my point. i don't think there's a chance that republicans would agree with my modest proposal. >> it's a political question. who gets to frame it? thehe democrats get to say that to republicans claim they're against the deficit but they e deficiteep in the tax cuts for taxrich people including the wall street bankers that got the huge bonuses? wall stree or do the republicans say, look, or do the say, are the democrats going at taxes.ain, raising the taxes. just so they can raise that bending because they want the tvernment to take over every oft of american life. i think that is a lot of what the the debate and election will be lramed around. >> and the debate comes as ben bernanke, the fed chair, is calling the outlook unusually uncertain. that's chilling. >> the market went 200 points down. >> the market is starting to evitate again. maybe unwisely. ksrope shows better numbers. the earning season looks good s

congress sets that policy. it's your decision as a member of congress so to do. someone in the military would just salute and drive out smartly. >> well, there are a number of, many things could affect mission, but you think sexual orientation does? >> again, like i say, if someone's willing to put their service first and worry about the mission first, to me, it's not something that's an issue. >> how about the question of -- of one issue disqualifying a nomiiee from the court? >> well, i think it's not an issue strictly speaking of don't ask, don't tell here. it's more an issue that through her own decision, dean kagan at the harvard law school decided to strictly ignore the law. there was no injunction from a court that had jurisdicon over harvard law school, no one issued a statement or enjoined e d.o.d. from enforcing the law as her letter said, which i read into the record, she strictly acted hoping that she would be able to not have the law enforced. knowing full well that the law was in full force and effect. so to that i would say, somebody that shows dis

it is not just talking to members of congress. because i think we have done a better job talking to the american people and getting them to understand and getting them to see -- peel away the sound bite and actually see what is in the legislation. it is not the oil industry or any other industry that prevented the senate from passing what we think would be harmful captains -- capped and trade legislation that the american people saying, no, we do not want this. host: philip, thanks for waiting. caller: speaking of talking points, keep hearing that we did not ground all airlines when planes crashed and i got curious and i google american airlines ground planes but it not only came up with american airlines -- 4200 hits. i am sure a lot are repeaters. but american airlines grounded 200 flights in march of 2008 and 900 more in april of 2008 and midwest, 14 maryland-80's for wiring problems. the problem with the deep water horizon thing is it is 5,000 feet underwater. you have to shut it. what would happen if a second well set up the

congress. why should people vote for you? >> that is a pool of most americans, not most rhode island doors. the reason that are fed up with congress is it is to contingent upon the will of all the campaign contributors and corporate interests that have rammed through the bailout of banks and the lack of a public option as part of the insurance reform package. i have always stood in stark opposition to such corporate control of our elections. >> mr. cicilline, you have a record people can scrutinize a little more than others. you came in as mayor promising reform for a clock -- a corrupt city hall. your administration had a share of blemishes. two police officers are charged in a drug ring. how can we trust you to be a reformer in washington, when many question whether you were able to do it right here in providence? >> i am proud of the work we have done in the city of providence to restore honesty and integrity. i am proud of the results in terms of new investment to the city, the lowest crime

the fact is it's time that the bipartisan forces in this congress and in future congresses understand that our greatest responsibility and obligation is not to the party leaders, republican or democrat, but to the fax pears who pay our salary, but more importantly trust us with their hard-earned money to use it appropriately and responsibly. . mr. speaker, when we talk with this year facing a $1.2 trillion deficit, i think we have to recognize it's time we start doing what the mesh people -- american people are demanding. ending improper payments is the low hanging fruit right now. basically there for the picking. and that's probably why we are able to do it today. frankly according to budget and management office, we are talking about approximately $98 billion. now, $98 billion seems to be an abstract, but when you consider the fact that that is almost twice what we spend on homeland security budget. we talk about defending our neighbors, trying to secure our borders, trying to make sure terrorism stays out of our communities. we talk a lot about that. but when we recognize that we a

guide to every member of the congress, all at your fingertips. order online at c-span.org /store. >> deputy homeland's security jane lute spoke at last week's aspen security summit. she explained the role of dhs and possible improvement. moderating was cnn's homeland security correspondent jeanne meserve. this is an hour. >> has clark mentioned last night, the real value of an event like this is in the discussion. at ibm, it is is our passion to support and implement these ideas as i know it is for many of you. the aspen security forum aligned perfectly with our commitment to help secure our nation and provide a broad leadership to build us mortar planet. my colleagues and i are participating to route the forum and we appreciate the opportunity to be able to listen, to learn, and to engage with you in these important discussion. this morning we kickoff the event with a discussion jane holl lute, the deputy secretary of homeland's security. prior to joining dhs, she served as the assistant secretary general of the united nations responsible for pe

we are born to work with congress. the idea that there ought to be another stimulus, i think -- the most important thing we should do is focus on the authorization bill. host: the next round of stimulus will be done through the appropriation process. guest: the next round should be the transportation bill. we are going to work with congress. we are working with chairman oberstar and his committee. we are working with german boxer and her committee. we want to have a new transportation bill. -- chairman boxer and her committee. host: boston, independent line. caller: i was pretty amazed hearing the reason why it is ok to check for the highway with signs saying this construction is brought to you by the stimulus act. it is just not one of those reasons that holds weight. i have been driving in massachusetts and new hampshire and i drove find them months ago and i said i cannot believe there is a sign for that to tell us what the construction was funded by. it is like a smack in the face. that money could be better spent

the census will change seats in congress. it will be drawn by all of these -- newlines will be drawn. this will be based on who controls the senate, the state house, and the governorship. this will affect show congress operates for the next four years. host: as far as the way you look at this, what is happening on these state legislative races as far as the inkling you get from what will end up? guest: the democrats have done pretty well. they are at a relative high point. they control a majority of the state houses. they have done pretty well. there are a couple of factors going against democrats. historically, in terms of the midterm election, the party controls the white house, since 1900, they have gained seats only twice and lost five times. the second factor is that this year is a wave year for the gop. you see this in -- you see this in the senate and the u.s. house. in terms of presidential approval being down quite a bit in the past year-and-a-half. you also see it in the governors' races. there is a lot of answers o

congress is set to extend those benefits. but there's disagreement over who is going to foot the bill. emily schmidt joins us from washington with all the details. good morning, emily. >> reporter: good morning. there are 14.5 million americans who don't have a job right now. today, the senate is set to go to work to try to figure out what to do about extending unemployment benefits. this effort has failed three times in the past. today, though, democrats believe things will be different. marilyn green is a missouri lawyer, who lost her job and now fears losing her unemployment benefits. the $320 she's received each week for more than a year. >> i'm an attorney who can't even get a job in a retail store. >> reporter: when her payments end, she will join 2.5 million americans who have lost their unemployment checks. unless congress extends the payments. >> it's time to stop holding workers laid off in this recession hostage to washington politics. >> reporter: president obama blames republicans for blocking extensions three ti

however, preemption is when congress pushes the states off the field. and preemption does not occur just because congress is given the poer with. congress has to take an act that deliberate and that is recognizable and is very distinct to say we don't want the states on the field. and the courts have held, including the united states supreme court, that no such act has ever been passed by congress. that's why all the precedence strongly support arizona in this case. >> suarez: professor gonzalez, what do you make of that idea, that it's concurrent, not in conflict with federal law? >> well w all due respect to professor koback, i could not possibly agree or disagree more. in simple terms, we have to look at it this way. the constitution gives some powers to the federal government and some powers to the state government. now it is true that on occasion there is some gray area but there is no gray area here it congress, most of the laws that i believe professor koback refer to are delegated authority by congress to the state. in this situation -- >> that'

it is not just talking to members of congress. because i think we have done a better job talking to the american people and getting them to understand and getting them to see -- peel away the sound bite and actually see what is in the legislation. it is not the oil industry or any other industry that prevented the senate from passing what we think would be harmful captains -- capped and trade legislation that the american people saying, no, we do not want this. host: philip, thanks for waiting. caller: speaking of talking points, keep hearing that we did not ground all airlines when planes crashed and i got curious and i google american airlines ground planes but it not only came up with american airlines -- 4200 hits. i am sure a lot are repeaters. but american airlines grounded 200 flights in march of 2008 and 900 more in april of 2008 and midwest, 14 maryland-80's for wiring problems. the problem with the deep water horizon thing is it is 5,000 feet underwater. you have to shut it. what would happen if a second well set up the

look, there's things congress should not do. congress should is not know the details of the circumstances of an individual financial institution. these are enormously -- >> it should be open to interpretation -- >> so there needs to be discretion. discretion is circumscribed by a framework. a framework that rules out the prospects of of taxpayer bailout. a framework that provides for resolution authority. a framework that insists that stufthat can be put on clearing houses and exchanges be put on clearing houses and exchanges. a framework that insists that every systemic institution, if you're big enough to bring down the system you're big enough that somebody regulate you comprehensively. those are the important elements of the framework, and i think they put us in a very, very different position going forward. >> larry, is it a blow -- >> it's about uncertainty. >> is it a blow to you that fannie and freddie were not addressed? >> no. this is a process that has to play out over time, at a time when there's still strains to put

however, preemption is when congress pushes the states off the field. and preemption does not occur just because congress is given the poer with. congress has to take an act that deliberate and that is recognizable and is very distinct to say we don't want the states on the field. and the courts have held, including the united states supreme court, that no such act has ever been passed by congress. that's why all the precedence strongly support arizona in this case. >> suarez: professor gonzalez, what do you make of that idea, that it's concurrent, not in conflict with federal law? >> well w all due respect to profesr koback, i could not possibly agree or disagree more. in simple terms, we have to look at it this way. the constitution gives some powers to the federal government and some powers to the state government. now it is true that on occasion there is some gray area but there is no gray area here it congress, most of the laws that i believe professor koback refer to are delegated authority by congress to the state. in this situation -- >> that's

host: who is your member of congress? caller: that would be casey. the congressman would be chris corny up for election and paul kantor ski. host: what district do you live in? caller: carney's district. host: will you be supporting him? caller: probably not. host: neil on the democrats' line. caller: my issue is, i guess what the other callers, about the economy and things. i think a lot of people are not really paying attention to getting us out of this recession the right way. no one is really paying attention to history and the way we came out of these in the past. we all know history repeats itself. no one is really truly focusing on how to really bring about -- the changes that our country really needs to do. host: what would your advice on changing or fixing the economy? caller: building of infrastructure with the textile manufacturers and things like that. globalization has hurt us tremendously. we have to cut back on our exports and of importing we are bringing in, you know, those things right there are really hurting us. and we have gotten