how many of you rememberever we flew into washington national airport we had to sit in our seats for 30 minutes before landing and we had to sit in the seats for 30 minutes after takeoff? a totally nonsensical rule -- >> will the gentleman yield on that? mr. ehlers: i will not. i do not have the time. mr. defazio: well, the gentleman -- mr. ehlers: i have the time. the point is they make nonsensical rules that are totally unresponsive to our efforts to change it and that rule was not changed until i offered an amendment on the rule. an amendment was passed by acclamation and laughter because everyone supported it. now they've done some more regulations about general aviation without consulting the committee, without consulting general aviation interests and doing what i think is really very strange, often stupid regulations. it is clear that they need better review and that they have to use more caution and consult with those affected when they are developing rules. i think this bill will force them to think more carefully and thoroughly about what they are doing and what they are pr

two weeks ago i went to washington national airport to view one of these machines. i saw how the technologies being used, the techniques being used and the procedures that t.s.a. is being put into place to protect our privacy. the images is very revealing. it's ill -- illlogical because if we allow this then -- illogical because if we allow it should be at every single building that we enter and every single bus we enter. i ask my colleagues to join me in voting for this amendment. thank you. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from utah reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman rise? >> i rise to claim the time, reluctantly, in opposition to the amendment. the chair: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for five minutes. mr. dent: i took a good look at the whole body imaging machines over at reagan international airport. i have to say a couple of things about this. i was impressed by the technology. it seems that over -- we have a great deal of satisfaction from passengers who utilize that type of screening. there are limitations to the magnatromete

hastings of washington. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 474, the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i thank my colleagues, ms. jackson lee of texas and mr. rogers for co-sponsoring this very important amendment. highly trained canine teams have been trained in the united states since 1973. dogs are extremely reliable in their mobility and makes them invaluable in screening all types of cargo quickly and effectively. as we approach the august, 2010 deadline to screen cargo transported on passenger airlines, it is critical that t.s.a. is prepared to deal with all types of cargo without unnecessarily slowing down. within my district, cherry growers transport half of the cherries they export on passenger airlines. my amendment would increase the number of canine teams specifically dedicated to air cargo by a minimum of 100 dogs. the need for additional canines is clear. the seattle

i have never spent a weekend in washington, d.c. i go home and i, like every member of this body loves their family and we understand the importance of family and how strong families are to this country. additionally, i know how hard federal employees work. i honor them for their work and their devotion to the people of this country and the devotion to their job. and they do deserve competitive compensation and a good benefits package. at the same time, i believe at this time, this bill sends a wrong message at the wrong time to working americans, their taxpayers and families that they themselves are struggling to sacrifice to give a select few in this government additional new benefits. in february of this year, my democrat colleagues passed a $1.2 trillion economic stimulus package with absolutely no, zero republican support. this was their failed attempt to provide jobs to the struggling economy. the u.s. has eliminated 663,000 in march alone and an additional 536,000 in april. over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed ha

but in fact, there's no suffering in washington. we have some of the lowest unemployment. we have a growing quality of life. even home prices are not falling very much here. it's not a surprise why. salaries are not falling here. those of us who will speak here today are making nearly $170,000 a year and many of our staff, a great many of our staff make over $100,000 a year, as to a -- as do a great many of the federal workforce. this bill does not have one provision to say, if you make $170,000 a year, why do we have to give you this benefit? because you have to choose between feeding your children and being with your children? certainly not. there are no protections against, in fact, those who do not need this special benefit getting it. there are no safeguards at all. as a matter of fact, this bill envisions the $1 billion over five years, or more than $2 billion over 10 years swelling to $4 billion over 10 years or more because in fact it believes it should be eight weeks of special leave. now in the rules committee, i was told i just didn't understand, that germany gi

i thought maybe this week i would return to washington, d.c., and find the solution. someone would know, provide an explanation. i cannot understand how closing automobile dealerships, those who sell automobiles, are advantageous to the bottom line of the profit of general motors or chrysler. this can't be a market based decision. there must be some political consideration that's ongoing to encourage these dealerships to be closed. the closing of those dearlyships are devastating to communities as well as the businesses that we are closing. at the same time provide no economic improvement in the bottom line of our automobile manufacturers. so, mr. speaker, i again ask those, my colleagues, and those at the white house, the automobile task force is it a political consideration that's occurring to encourage general motors and chrysler to disenfranchise their franchisees, or is there some market-based decision which this is based? yet no one can provide that answer. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >

s or washington bureaucrats. number four, we believe there should be less frivolous lawsuits. we certainly want to protect the tort laws in america but we conet want frivolous lawsuits. number five, we believe the patient-doctor relationship should be preserved and that we should not have a british, canadian or german-style centralized government planning where the doctor-patient relationship is destroyed and, mr. speaker, i yield back. thank you. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kansas. >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute.

washington, reuters, medical bills are involved in more than 60% of u.s. personal bankruptcies. an increase of 50% in just six years. now, we've had a certain kind of folks running this place over the last six years, right? the u.s. researchers reported on thursday, more than 70% of the bankrupt families had health insurance, but were still overwhelmed by their medical debts. the team at harvard law school, harvard medical school and ohio university reported in the "american journal of medicine," a very representable institution. using -- this is a quote from the study, using a conservative definition, 62.1% of all bankruptcies i2007 were medical. 92% of these medical debtors had medical debts over $5,000 or 10% of their pretax family income, the researchers wrote. another startling quote, most medical debtors were well-educated, owned homes, and had middle class occupations. now that's pretty serious. i just want to ask, one of the three of you, do any of you have reactions to this study? i yield to the gentlewoman from california, ms. woolsey. ms. woolsey: you're actually tell

washington, d.c. doesn't have a revenue problem but a spending problem. we hear time and time again with the legislation be proposed, well, under the last administration, we had a spending problem. as a freshman class, we recognize that and we agree with it. that's one of the reasons we came to washington because we knew there was out of control spending here and the american people did he serve better -- deserve better. and they experience that in their household budgets every day. american families make tough decisions. they don't -- they don't go out and do deficit spending and fill up their credit cards and take out loans where they have no idea who is going to lend them the money. but the federal government has been doing that. the republican freshmen came here to restore fiscal accountability and responsibility. that's why we are united in imposing the wasteful stimulus or stuless bill. before i came to congress, i had no idea how many zeros were in a trillion and i didn't think it was physically possible to spend $2 trillion in three months. but my

now the philosophy in washington, d.c. i found out is you borrow more than you take in and you spend what you take in also. that's what we have done this year. as you have mentioned, we started our fiscal year on 1 october and by the 26 of april of this year, we had spent all the money that the taxpayers had sent us for the year. everything we have is borrowed money. and if the folks back home ask you, what is your biggest frustration or surprise or whatever and a lot of them think it's the work load. it's not that. it's the partisanship and second is the spending. i just can't get over the staggering amount of money that we spend up here. and to give you an example, in our local city, we put 120-plus million in water and sewer improvements and not raised taxes. we didn't have the federal government pay for it. mrs. lummis: how did you pay for it? mr. roe: we spent less than we took in and it wasn't complicated. in the city where we were, we have one of the lowest tax rates in the state of tennessee, so smaller government,

and how process here in washington impedes that, or the energy issue specifically? either one. mr. luetkemeyer: in my home state where i served as a majority and minority leadership, it's not unlike missouri but it's different. here, we don't necessarily run everything through committee. not everything has to be germane. not always are you allowed to offer amendments. it's an amazing process where i thought there'd be more open, more transparent, that was the promise from the administration. yet we see little of that through the discussion here it's been interesting to listen to my colleagues and yourself and know they've got some great stories to tell. great perspectives on how we should be governing ourselves, how we as a people should be governing ourselves, and it's interesting to me that, you know, if you look at our constitution, it says we the people, it doesn't say we the government. to me, i think that's very important. we stop and think about our framers, when they put this very special document together this american experiment they were trying, they sa

[applause] [applause] >> after the president's speech, we spoke to a washington post reporter who was in cairo. >> let's find out what some local reaction is, howard schneider is with us, you are in a coffee house. >> yeah, i am in a neighborhood that's in a fun-festive downtown neighborhood. we have been in the coffee shop as people have gathered. >> what are you seeing? >> you know, it was interesting, people sort of filtered in. and the core group that were interested in this sat here for hours, many hours watching the feed on the state broadcaster. and the state run television amped up the imagery here, the flag and obama, they put this message of mutual respect to heart and ran with it. >> we heard applause in the chamber as the speech was delivered. what was the reaction of the locals? >> not as much clapping, there was head nodding. and turned to the quotes of koran, and the guy next to me liked that of moses and all working for that of peace. they like the idea that everyone has a role. >> now cairo is a huge and bustling city, how much of it is consumed with the president's v

we talk as we should here in washington about muslim terrorism. and it poses real threats to free people. but muslim terrorism cannot continue forever. the world will be upset but not ultimately shaken by what these terrorists fanatics do. but on the other hand, if china remains a democracy in the 21st century, my grandchildren, my children have the risk that they -- their century will even more bloody than mine has been. so the heroes that we celebrate today, speak not only for china but they speak for 21st century in which the world knows competition to build better computers, better cars and everything, and everyone wins from that competition. rather than a world that we increase to destroy each other. and the key is democracy in china. and the heroes who fight for the world and for my grandchildren, are the men and women who are here, who we honor today. some of those heroes are fallen gun practitioners. who have in the face of unbelievable torture created internet freedom systems that jian talked about and that shatter those. and others are l

. >> coming up on tomorrow's "washington journal," david makovsky of the washington institute will talk about president obama's middle east trip. "washington journal" begins each morning at 7 eastern. and later in the morning, we will get an update on the may employment numbers, live coverage begins at 9:30 eastern on c-span2. >> now a house hearing on the fiscal year 2010 budget on the military special units. this is about an hour. >> we can expect the members to drift in as we proceed. but want to be respectful of the admiral's time. and welcome, it's always a pleasure to see you up here, and certainly we appreciate the work you do for our country. i have an opening statement i will submit for the record. i briefly want to say how important special operations command is to our national security, and how we respect the job that you and the people under you have protected our national security. some areas are known but other areas that may not be aware of but just as important. the holistic approach that the special operations commands has brought to winning that fight. without question

curious how you think that is going in general and give you an opportunity to respond, "the washington post" has written an article critical of the contracting but it hasn't followed the process and in some instances i have a strong bias that drowning the d.o.d. process is one of the things inhibiting our ability to move forward but it's not to say we don't need to have some transparent process so we make sure it's all in the up and up and not in the best interest of the taxpayers and i'll give you an opportunity to comment on a couple of those issues and where you see it headed. >> i certainly agree with you and am encouraged by all secretary of defense gates has said about relooking at how that position is done departmentwide with an eye towards cost reduction and streamlining acquisition processors. within the special operations command, as you said, we are attended by those who are more agile than their services can be with their acquisition programs using our mfp-11 budget for the special operations peculiar acquisition procurement actions that we take. i focused on this a couple

department of agriculture here in washington, d.c. my mother's father was sheriff of sioux falls, south dakota, and my brother, george allison, with me today, retired with the rank of captain after 28 years in the u.s. navy. having started my own career in the navy, i'm honored and inspired by the opportunity to return to public service. thank you very much. >> thank you very, very much. in our conversation i didn't know that your dad had been in the fbi. my father was an fbi. >> really, really? >> in fact, his first post was in sioux falls, south dakota. long before i was born, by the way. i might have been raised there. over the years. thank you. we are joined by mark warner, senator warner of virginia. mark, do you have any opening comments you'd like to make? >> senator tester told me since i was late i had to reserve my comments. >> well, john runs the show around here, so we appreciate it. let me start with some questions. i'm going to leave the clock off. i'll invite my colleagues sings there are three or four of us here to hav

then "washington journal." this begins every weekday at 7 :00am eastern. >> sunday on "q and a," mitch daniels on the gop. >> we have to think about how to speak more meing-- meaningfully to the problems and the young people of today. you don't have to be a candidate. >> q and a on c-span, also on xm radio or download the podcst. -- podcast. >> now i house hearing on the military operations unit, including the navy seals. this is about one hour. >> members come in as we proceed. i would like to get started on time. it is a pleasure to see you and we appreciate what you do for the country. i have an opening statement that i have written, then i will submit for the record. i want to say how important this is to the national security of our nation, and how much we appreciate the job that you and all of the people under you have done in protecting the national security all over the world in many places, some of them which are well known like iraq and afghanistan, others that people are not aware of that are just as

the washington post has been critical of this, following the instances. i have a strong bias that this is inhibiting the ability to move forward. this does not mean that we do not need to have a transparent process and make certain that this is in the interest of the taxpayers. >> i am encouraged by what they have said about looking at how the acquisition is done, within nine to cost-reduction, and streamlining acquisition processes. within the special operations command, we are intended to be more agile than the services can be with the acquisition programs, with a budget for the special operations peculiar -- the pri. actions that we take. i focused on this a couple of years ago, investigating in our own house, many of the benefits from this process for articles that we led growth, and i thought that we were operating comfortably, in the middle of the authorization, not pushing the edge of this, so we have several initiatives to provide more agility internally, and along the way we have been granted relief from participation, in the service wide joint a

washb" washington journal" is ey day at 7. >> this weekend, the midwest's largest literary event on saturday starting at 11:00 eastern and throughout the day. panels and offers on the economy, globalization and the american worker, homosexual rights, the former illinois gov. blagojevich, civil rights and so john netroots, the mob and counterfeiting, and a look at an altar. then stanley greenberg on advising many great leaders. he is interviewed by mary matalin. and on sunday bill ayers, university of illinois professor. we will discuss his latest book. he will take your calls as well as questions from the audience at the literary festival. for a complete schedule of programs and times, go on line. >> now a portion of a rally marking the 20th anniversary of the tiananmen square protests in beijing, china. hundreds were killed in the government crackdown that followed. the event was held on the west lawn of the u.s. capitol building. >> jim, are you ready? >> i am ready. i would like to welcome you to the 20th commemoration anniversary of the tiananmen square movement. we are here to remember

." >> coming up and 30 minutes, we're joined by a representative from the washington institute for near east policy. .

there is an editorial in site "the washington post" called "no laughing matter, why the u.s. needs to get serious now about the long-term budget deficits. we will get your phone calls on this issue as well. 202-737-0001 on our line for republicans. 202-737-0002 if you are a democrat. and if you are an independent, 202-628-0205. among the front page stories in "the new york times," traveling with the president. we will talk about what came from the news conference with president obama and german chancellor angela merkel this morning. from "the new york times," the editorial points out that is neither surprising nor irreversibly dangerous that the total federal debt held by the -- held by the public looks as if 57% of gross domestic product by the end of fiscal year 2009, well above the previous four decades average of 40%. what is more alarming is that barring any major spending cuts or tax increases, president obama's budget could drive that figure to 82% by the year 2019, that according to the congressional budget office. let's hear from jerry on the issue of the deficit and

host: "the washington post," "the cairo appeal." "the washington times," "obama gives the bush speech." here is part of a the president said yesterday with regard to those territories and recognizing israel's right to exist alongside the palestinian people. >> now is the time for palestinians to focus on what they can build. the palestinian authority must develop its capacity to govern with institutions that serve the needs of its people. hamas does have support among some palestinians, but they also have to recognize they have responsibilities to play a role in fulfilling palestinian aspirations, to unify the palestinian people. hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, recognize israel's right to exist. at the same time, israelis must acknowledge that as it is real's right to exist cannot be denied, so must palestine's. [applause] this construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. it is time for these settlements to stoppe. host: part of the president's 55-minute speech yest

danielle pletka has a piece in "the washington post" this morning. "consider the task of dennis roskam obamas special adviser to the persian gulf and southwest asia he brought enthusiasm and a deep knowledge to the job, but the peace process was constrained by u.s. laws that reasonably require the palestinian liberation organization to abandon terrorism and recognize israel before receiving aid from the united states. the plo took tentative, initial steps toward recognizing israel, but followed those steps with terrorist activities. iran has until the end of the year to signal serious intent to negotiate a resolution to its nuclear program. administration officials are optimistic that iran is willing to engage sincerely. this final point. the administration should remember a simple rule. once is a mistake. twice is a pattern three times as blindness." guest: the point is to say that somehow dennis ross might turn a blind eye to the iranian nuclear program. i do not think that is correct. this is a threat to regional peace. it is a threat to american

host: our guest is the washington bureau chief for al jazeera arabic, abderrahim foukara. he also worked for wgbh in boston. thought want to share with you one of the many editorials. this one is from "the wall street journal. a one of the points is that hanging over all of this, the question of iran and how to deal with it. then this point that if mr. obama is serious about stopping to iran, he has to do a couple of steps that i outlined. guest: the issue of iran is interesting. the way that the president handled it in his speech yesterday -- obviously, it caused some waves in the arab and muslim world. there are basically two trends, if you will, in the middle east about the issue of iran there are people who see iran's attempts to acquire a nuclear capability as potentially leading to iran acquiring a nuclear weapon. they're very nervous about that. a nuclear iran, they feel, will definitely destabilize the middle east. that school of thought exists more in the official circles in the middle east, in egypt and saudi arabia, some of the gulf countries. among the populace

host: that host: is from the washington post this morning. -- that is from "the washington post" this evening. there will be an apple event this weekend. mortgage rates hit a six-month high. the piece points out that rates have risen to the highest levels in six months. it is threatening to the late housing turnaround by discouraging potential homebuyers. the issue this morning is unemployment. it is at 9.4%. 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 numb

. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we want to welcome ceci connolly from the "washington post." what is the issue like in washington? what has the president proposed? what is likely to happen with congress over the summer? guest: this was a big topic in the last campaign. president obama came in and said it was his top domestic priority and that he wants to get something done this year. taking a lesson from the clinton experience of 16 years ago, president obama and his team are not writing legislation. he has laid out eight principles. they are fairly broad. he wants to get on a path to covering every american. as importantly, he wants to control the out-of-control rate of spending going on right now in health care. he wants to improve its quality. they're big things that just about everybody can agree on in principle. most of the action is on capitol hill. on the most part, it is in the democratic caucuses of a few key committees. the senate finance committee is the key one. they are working hard. we expect to

you can read more from ceci connolly the "washington post." tomorrow, we will spend part of the program looking at the anniversary of the d-day anniversary in june of 1944. the war came to an end about one year later. president obama will be there with those who served along with our allies from france. representatives from germany will also be in attendance. we will have live coverage tomorrow. on sunday, we will look at the 2008 presidential campaign. we will also look closely at the situation in california with deep financial situation and budget. up next, angela merkel and president obama were in a dr dresden. the news conference focused on the speech in cairo yesterday. here is that news conference from about 4:00 a.m. this morning east coast time. c-sp[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] . . i think that this is indeed a trip up a highly symbolic nature. let me remind all of us of the visit to the concentration camp we will take later in the day. it is important

we got some analysis this morning on "washington journal." host: let me share with the many of the editorials. they call it the cairo speech. pointing out that words are important. mr. obama was right when he urged leaders to say those words in public, but words are not enough. mr. obama, who has been in office less than six months, has a lot to do to fulfill this mission. guest: what the president is trying to do, he wants to turn the page with the muslim world. once to begin a new dialogue and search for common ground. -- he wants to begin a new dialogue. at the same time, as he said, everything does not change with one speech. but one of his prime objectives is to get a lot of people in different muslim communities to reevaluate their attitudes towards the united states, and create wider distance between some of these muslim communities and extremist forces. one of the ways to do that is to engage in a peace process, but he hit about seven key themes in that speech. host: let me share another editorial from the "wall street journa;." mr. o

host: if you just joined us, our guest is the washington bureau chief for al jazeera. our next call is vincent, joining us from ohio on the phone. thank you. good morning. caller: my question is, if the middle east did not have any oil, if there was no oil in the middle east, do you think the united states would be so invasive in a worrying about what we call human rights in another country? mai basic, it is that we have not addressed " we have seen. e united states. some people in the united states, we say that the muslims are terrorists. is in one man's terrorist another man's freedom fighter? when you allow israel to be able to do whatever they choose to do and to allow the palestinians not to have their own sovereignty, if it was reversed the other way, we would be, it is terrible. i feel that the united states should come clean and say that the arabs have basically been a tribal people. they have had battles with the jews since the beginning of time. they will continue to have battles. why don't we be honest and say that the only reason we're there is because of f

initially, the focus of al jazeera in the united states was washington, what happens politically in washington. we gradually started to widen the circle and cover things in other part of the united states. we cover not just the political stuff. we try to cover social, cultural, religious topics, including the issue of race. we have covered the issue of race extensively during our extensive coverage of the election up to 2008, obviously. what happened in katrina was one aspect of it. what is creating reverberations about this issue of hypocrisy that the caller was talking about is when people in the middle east selling was going on in iraq after the invasion, the chaos, and the effort by the bush administration to take democracy to iraq peepe. people then saw the issues around katrina. that caused confusion. how can a government with its own problems try to export democracy to other parts of the world and the middle east? i go back to my fundamental argument. that is that you cannot compare the arab world with the united states in terms of democratic systems. >> another reminder, a chance to se

according to the washington post editorial page, the administration's position on state singer -- state secrets makes it hard to distinguish it from its predecessor. the aclu has written that when it comes to key national security, the obama administration is continue -- is continuing along the path that was paved by the bush of ministration. -- by the bush administration. this has not changed. this is more of the same. i just have to tell you, i am thankful that mr. obama has had an epiphany lately. i hope he accelerates this, because i think the national security of the country, and the economic future and constitutional free market is at stake. i will give mr. grossman and opportunity, the aclu said this is more of the same. i will give you a chance to agree or disagree with the ec -- aclu director. >> i agree. this is not a political matter. it is about the safety of our nation. >> that is my main point. i know i took the opportunity to express some feelings of -- that the men station has, hypocritical and some of the attacks the made in the previous administration. they have come t

this would be easy in washington. people are passionate about having something to say, saying it briefly, and stopping. most parts of the country, people will go on and on. in washington, people say it and stop. that is admirable. >> is a weird thing to find someone coming to washington and say they find the culture admirable. >> you were very involved in the obama campaign, and early helps them develop ways to use social networking. are there one or two things that the obama campaign should have or could have done to use social media? do you have any suggestions for the 2012 campaign? >> regarding the past campaign, i just don't know. i am out of my depth there. the use of the technology was pretty effective, it worked well. i would have liked to see more non partisan efforts, figuring out how to get the youth vote out more. for 2012, i do not know. in my dream life, what i am hoping to see -- i think at some point, social media will supplant the use of tv as means of getting the word out. i would like to see that ti

he is making a couple of other stops before he goes back to washington. i hope to get him to come down to the briefing room next week and he can debrief you himself on the current situation. we are obviously aware of the attack today. it is devastating on the one hand, but everything we have seen shows there is progress being made on the ground. the area that the talent that has to operate -- taliban has to operate is shrinking. it would appear that the tide is turning in terms of pakistan the attitudes towards the caliban -- towards the taliban. at the same time, we're obviously recognizing that the current offensive has had an impact on the pakistan population, something between two and a half million -- 2.5000003 million displaced persons -- 2.5 million and 3 million displaced persons. we're going to continue in a variety of ways to assess that and help the pakistan government in any way we can make sure that we care for these people, some of them are in camps and staying with families and family members. is a very dire situation. we're going to do wha

and washington host to this event. this is one hour. >> we have with us to people who ideally situated to speak to these two issues. we're going to start by talking about the domestic political scene on the eve of the presidential election then the vulnerability is of the economy. i will not go through their biographies, which have before you, in the inte

this is on the minds of people here in washington. how effective do you think an embargo on refined products would be? >> to talk about the demographic change, there are about 60 countries in the world have declining populations. i think that iran and every one else wanted to that point because if you have a continued rise in population, the world will not hold the ball. -- will not hold them all. you heard one of my german colleagues point out that they had raised retirement ages and he has seen shifts in pensions. i am not one that fears of the aging problem. actually, ron is more where china was 15 years ago where you have this much larger than normal share of your relatively working age and you do not have a lot of children that our dependencants. turning to the credit capitalism issues, i would not call it crony capitalism, i would call it crony stateism. maybe the rhetoric was one way, but it has not been the other way that is an area which is best addressed by just opening up competition and i think that is where the government

there's been a lot of spin in washington these past months about the impact the stimulus and it's almost like we're listening to baghdad bob again from iraq tell us about how the country is winning the war as the u.s. troops are rolling into his city. last january, two top administration economists argued if we enacted the stimulus which has added, you know -- will add almost a trillion dollars to our debt, that if we did that, we would keep the unemployment rate at or below 8% this year. this level has already been exceeded; correct? >> correct. >> isn't there from an economic view looking at the poster in watching the rising unemployment which trails the economy as we all know but looking at the president's projections of 8%, 8.1% versus the current 9.4%, is that statistically significant in unemployment? >> yes, that's a significant difference. and to reach an 8.1% average for the year we would need to see the unemployment rate drop to well below 8.1% for a good portion of the year to hit that market. it seems difficult. >> yeah, and indeed as we go in the year the more severe -- we'd

i am going to talk all about washington. you have come here to our capital at a unique moment when we are like the business center of the universe. i used to cover business. i try to cover culture where ever it is going. in the 1990's i covered silicon valley when it was the business center of america and maybe the world. i used to hang around places where all the ceo's had these water guns, places where people had luxury cars that came from companies with foreign policy. i used to say ben & jerry's should make a pacifist toothpaste. that was the culture back in those days that gave us all the progress of grocery stores like whole foods and trader joe's were all the cashier's look like they are on loan from amnesty international. my favorite section and trader joe's is the snack food section, because they do not have this potato chips and pretzels because that would lead to the obesity of america. they have snacks for kids who come home and say they want a snack that will prevent colorectal cancer. that was one culture i cov

. >> 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 since the government started collecting this information in 19 and -- in 1994. it was announced that the initial jobless claims for the week ending may 30 foul. -- fell. c-

i'm going to talk a little about washington. you've come here to our capital at a unique moment when we're actually like the business center of the universe. i used to cover business -- i try to cover culture wherever it's going. in the 1990's i covered silicon valley when that was the business center of america and maybe the world. i used to hang around places where all the c.e.o.'s have these supersoaker water guns. where the socially progressive places where people had saabs and audis and socially acceptable to have a luxury car as long as it came from a country that was hostile to u.s. foreign policy. that was cool. they would get their ben and jerry's ice cream. i said they should make a pacifist toothpaste that doesn't kill germs. it just asks them to leave. that would be a big seller. [laughter] that was the culture that gave us all the progressive grocery stores like whole foods and trader joe's. where all the cashiers look like they're on loan from amnesty international. the socially progressive places. my favorite sect

my first few days in washington were cabinet what approaches on h1n1 and it was a great illustration of how various members of the cabinet and various departments needed to collaborate and cooperate, not just in terms of that kind of emergency but i think on a regular basis, so i really look forward to not only figuring out within our own agency how to break down some of those silos and put people at the table on crosscutting issues, but then with colleagues in cabinet agencies, because often all of us are approaching the same problem but from different lenses and taxpayer dollars will go a lot further and the programs will be a lot more beneficial if we can actually approach them as you say in a holistic approach. >> thanks very much madam secretary. madam secretary the president requested over $600 billion as sort of they set aside seed money for the health reform proposal. although half of that was dependent upon generating revenue by reducing the tax deductibility of charitable contributions. it looks like the senate has rejected that so we are probably at about 300 billion in te

., "washington journal". >> this week, judge sonia sotomayor was in washington in advance of her confirmation hearings. >> i would like people to say this is the best hearing we have ever had. >> she is a very human person of great legal mind, and i think that is the right person to be on the supreme court. >> watch her with senate leadership and members of the judiciary committee on c-span's "america and the courts "today at 7:00 p.m. eastern. >> today campaign for america's future. this included john podesta and clust discussed ways to advance the progressive movement with the obama administration. this is an hour. >> good morning. my name is roger hickey. this is the take back america conference. in this last historic election we did take back america. we took it back from the edge of disaster. so the people in this room deserve a lot of credit. i'd like you all to give yourselves and president barack obama a big round of applause. [applause] >> for progress siffs taking back -- for progressives, taking america back was just the first step. during our years in the wilderness, progressives

i want to officially welcome you to washington. i know there have been lots of welcomes already. i want to welcome you to washington, d.c., the nation's capital, where the people have reclaimed our capital and our country and we have secured our leader in the white house. this is a new day in america, and we have just begun the work of transforming our country, our communities, and our families. we have a remarkable president. one who thinks big and acts boldly. it is good to be here with all of you. all of us together have worked hard for years to have a transformational election to work to elect progressive majority that could actually make change happen. and we have all learned how to work together to come out of our silos to understand how electoral work can work more effectively if we work together in partnership, and that's what got us here. i am proud of the part that the labor union has done in that. they have all, generation after generation, have giveen dwsh to use their voice, passions, skills. exploited by employers, marge liesed by politicians, and left behind by our

let's all go get lunch, and >> and coming up on this morning's "washington journal", jared allen has written an article about congressional intelligence briefings on detainee investigations. >> and we'll talk to john mcmanus, the author of "the americans at d-day and the americans at normandy." >> there is still time to get your 2009 u.s. congressional directory with information about the cabinet and the nation's governors, plus district maps. it's $16.95 online at c-span.org/products or call 1-877-on-c-span. >> president obama and german chancellor angela merkel held a news conference yesterday in dresden, germany. during the conference, they talked about climate change and the 65th anniversary of d-day. today president obama will speak in france at a commemoration of the anniversary. >> good morning, ladies and gentlemen. we are lucky to have the american president with us here for the first time after meeting with us at the nato summit. we will visit a little bit of dresden, and later we go to the former concentration camp. i believe this is a trip of a highly symbolic nature. let

. >> "washington journal" is next. that's followed by live coverage of president obama and other world leaders in normandy france commemorating the 65th anniversary of d-day. >> and coming up on "washington journal," reporter jared allen has written a book on detainee tear gations. -- ininterrogations. and

"washington journal" starts now. . >> good morning and welcome to washington joirnal today. first, when the president gets back to the u.s., he'll be work with the democrats to hammer out landmark legislation. they face some noisy programs from thone those on the left. we want to find out from you, how should congress be handling healthcare and the healthcare debate. this is an article from the washington post. >> we'll go to this article from the post. >> many republicans see the movement as evidence that democrats consider setting the countier on the path to "govern-run healthcare" as they describe it. conservatives for patients' rights, an advocacy group, revealed a $1.2 billion ad is that views plans as a bulldozer. >> charlotte, north carolina. you are our first caller. how should congress be handling healthcare? >> i think the only way is if this country goes to a single pair program. the same that they have in france and canada and cuba. we have the higher infant mortality rate than cuba does. >> how will a single pair plan remedy that? >> everyone will be on a single