it is something that barack obama will have to get his hands on. host: how long did it take you to get this list together? guest: about three weeks. host: taking a look at paul kennedy, a historian from yale university. guest: it does seem like we are at this historical moment when american power is declining. maybe he just wrote his book too early. host: college park, maryland. good morning. caller: this is a very sad day in america. since barack obama has been collected, the election of -- elected, the election of 2008, america needs to get a grip. how long is it going to take? america has to realize bush was there for eight years. he did a lot of damage when he was there. all they can see is -- it is a black man, all the negatives. america has blood on her hands. we cannot keep going to other people's countries and try to set up a democracy. that is all i have to say. host: thank you. guest: no question, obama came into office with a deep hole. america's image around the world was devastated. he is trying to get us out of iraq, some stable equil

it is something that barack obama will have to get his hands on. host: how long did it take you to get this list together? guest: about three weeks. host: taking a look at paul kennedy, a historian from yale university. guest: it does seem like we are at this historical moment when american power is declining. maybe he just wrote his book too early. host: college park, maryland. good morning. caller: this is a very sad day in america. since barack obama has been collected, the election of -- elected, the election of 2008, america needs to get a grip. how long is it going to take? america has to realize bush was there for eight years. he did a lot of damage when he was there. all they can see is -- it is a black man, all the negatives. america has blood on her hands. we cannot keep going to other people's countries and try to set up a democracy. that is all i have to say. host: thank you. guest: no question, obama came into office with a deep hole. america's image around the world was devastated. he is trying to get us out of iraq, some stable equil

. >> best thing about barack obama is -- >> determination. >> pest thing about barack obama is -- >> the face he's put forth to the rest of the world that america is more -- is more controlled. >> and vick? >> inclusiveness and approach to governing. >> and okay. and bernadette? >> i guess i would agree, he's putting forth a more kind her and gentler face on -- on america. >> and -- and bill? >> he seems sincere about what he wants to do. >> patricia? >> i'm thinking. >> what? >> i'm thinking. >> yeah. there's nothing -- best thing about barack obama is -- >> charismatic. >> and william? >> that he's intelligent and he's trying to do what is best for the country. >> and lisa? >> his youth and determination. >> and -- and pam has? >> his family values. >> all right. >> and okay. and john? >> he'll be a one-term president. >> okay. >> okay. >> are you a republican, john? >> not at all. >> okay. okay. turn it around and i'll give you the first shot, john. and that is, the thing that makes me most uncertain about barack obama is -- >> leadership skills. >> okay. >> and -- and -- >> pamel

host: has president barack obama laid out enough explanation of u.s. military strategy to convince afghans why the u.s. is in their country to begin with? guest: yes, the strategy that president barack obama announced was clear enough to most afghans that the united states is there, of cou)se to defeat al queda and of cou)saliban to help afghanis, stand on our own feet and also for nato to facilitate that and to ensure regional peace and security for the rest of the world. so it's very much a shared partnership between the government of afghanistan and looks forward to moving into an equal partnership with nato and the united states to see success in afghanistan. host: does the average afghan view the current conflict as president barack obama's war or something left over from the bush administration? guest: well, i think they don't make that difference between the two administrations. they see this conflict as, of course, one that must be fought by humanity. it is a fight against terror and extremism and a fight against violation of human rights. of w

. >> barack obama?

barack obama got it. he understood in 2008 that his race was not a liability but in assets in this new demographic and fire met. he said i think if you tell people we have a president in the white house on the shores of lake which iran and day sister half indonesian married to a chinese canadian, they will think he may have a better sense of what is going on in our lives and country and he would be right. he was. there is an old saying that demography is destiny. this racial revolution is huge. and one of the things as i wrote the book, i realized it was big but i did not realize just how big it really wasn't until you pore through the numbers but also the different stories that people have as they bring to the table. and that it is every where. is not a california revolution or new york revolution, a revolution happening and kansas, iowa, places we don't think of where a huge amount of immigration and inter ratio marriage and all the rest is changing our country. that is a big story itself and certainly

that sing in your face barack obama is this, this and this. it's the casual subtle thing like maybe showing a republican ad that shows obama with a photo of children behind him about a sex and, some concept that went on behind the election and then cnn actually ran that ad, the republican party had a right to put a. i don't think a cnn or the other networks had a right that it's not responsible journalism. that had to me showed obama looking like a pedophile. he standing there like this, their children behind them and its barack obama wants to teach children about sex education. well, fine. show that. if you're the republican party, but cnn, msnbc, fox, no. don't show that. i think that was very damaging. >> mr. overstreet, you self publish this book. >> i had to self publish it because the idea came to me from watching gore debate george bush actually, previously. and i watched the debate and i would think george bush, really didn't do that you go or won that debate. he was very informative. so at the end of the debate i would wait for the po

in the possibility that he heard his brother's voice in barack obama? >> that's really interesting question. you mentioned -- i always say i'm from massachusetts. we have mad our problems in this sphere. i always like to say thak god for louisiana. >> for both of us. >> for the sake of us all. >> consist kids and young adults who worked for bobby kennedy's campaign ended up supporting barack obama, and who heard a little bit of a sense of j.f.k. in the sort of somewhat -- the cerebral and cool part of him. and some of the r.f.k. in the more sort of -- in the more passionate part of him. and different people who were out of the kennedy tradition, some saw him more as jesk, some saw him more as r.f.k. and i think that's possible. but you gave me an opening to do one thing i wanted to do before we close. by chance, i was looking up something in arthur schlesinger's great journals. they're fantastic. there's a lot of great gossip in them. there are a lot of very shrewd political observations. and i happened upon this passage in 1963. so it was taken the fir

finish this sentence -- the best thing about barack obama is -- the best thing about barack obama is -- >> i think his optimism. >> best thing about barack obama is? >> his determination. >> best thing about barack obama is? >> the face he's put forth to the rest of the world that america is more -- is more controlled. >> vick? >> his inclusiveness and his approach to government. >> ber na zphet >> well, i guess >> bernadette? >> well, i guess i would agree, he's putting a more kinder, gentler face on america. >> bill? >> he seems sincere on what he wants to do. >> uh-huh. patricia? >> been thinking. >> what? >> i've been thinking. >> best thing about barack obama is? >> he's charismatic? >> and that he's intelligent and that he's trying to do what's best for the country. >> lisa? >> his youth and his determination. >> pam lal? >> his family values -- pamela? >> his family values. >> he'll be a one-term president. >> ok. >> are you a republican? >> not -- >> ok. >> turn it around and i'll give you the first shot, john. and that is the thing that makes me most uncertain about barack o

in the possibility that he heard his brother's voice in barack obama? >> that's really interesting question. you mentioned -- i always say i'm from massachusetts. we have mad our problems in this sphere. i always like to say thak god for louisiana. >> for both of us. >> for the sake of us all. >> consist kids and young adults who worked for bobby kennedy's campaign ended up supporting barack obama, and who heard a little bit of a sense of j.f.k. in the sort of somewhat -- the cerebral and cool part of him. and some of the r.f.k. in the more sort of -- in the more passionate part of him. and different people who were out of the kennedy tradition, some saw him more as jesk, some saw him more as r.f.k. and i think that's possible. but you gave me an opening to do one thing i wanted to do before we close. by chance, i was looking up something in arthur schlesinger's great journals. they're fantastic. there's a lot of great gossip in them. there are a lot of very shrewd political observations. and i happened upon this passage in 1963. so it was taken the fir

in the possibility that he heard his brother's voice in barack obama? >> that's really interesting question. you mentioned -- i always say i'm from massachusetts. we have mad our problems in this sphere. i always like to say thak god for louisiana. >> for both of us. >> for the sake of us all. >> consist kids and young adults who worked for bobby kennedy's campaign ended up supporting barack obama, and who heard a little bit of a sense of j.f.k. in the sort of somewhat -- the cerebral and cool part of him. and some of the r.f.k. in the more sort of -- in the more passionate part of him. and different people who were out of the kennedy tradition, some saw him more as jesk, some saw him more as r.f.k. and i think that's possible. but you gave me an opening to do one thing i wanted to do before we close. by chance, i was looking up something in arthur schlesinger's great journals. they're fantastic. there's a lot of great gossip in them. there are a lot of very shrewd political observations. and i happened upon this passage in 1963. so it was taken the fir

i am not too happy with barack obama, per say. host: looking at headlines, with friends like these, u.s. help depends on a nation deeply suspicious of american intentions. this year saying 2009 will be remembered as the year the american people stood up and put pressure on washington. next is bob joining us from chicago. good morning. caller: good morning. [unintelligible] caller: rush limbaugh is one of the most racist people in america to a black president. only in america could that happen. what is astonishing is that george bush, i felt comfortable during the iraq war, and then for him to keep -- when he had a son that trashed this country, is really astonishing. i appreciate being able to say this on c-span. i tell you why there is going to be a whole lot of good that comes out of obama's administration, no matter what people do or say or lie. host: there was an election in houston for mayor, and if you go to the houston chronicle web site, more details. annise parker wins houston race for mayor, which means she will be the f

. >> democraticongressman from massachusetts,arly suppoer of barack obama. let meegin by echoing a question from west point graduate andietnam veteran, drew bacevich -- "if afghanistan is essential to the safety of e united states, why not said 100,00rather than 3000?" >> good question. you t the feeling that there is a perfunctory quality to oba's address, thate is not hay with it, whatever he does is not gng to work, she tries to do a si-middle route here. there is sometng unsatisfactory about his respon, and what else -- and yet what else is he going to do? most people would do whate did, which is n good, but wt else are you going to do? >> mark? >> the mysteryo mis the pocy of escalatn any evacuati at the same time. it ds seem a little bit from column a and a little bit from colu b. i do nothink it winstrong enthusiasm on ther side. i really look at it as trying to recycle the faed bush policy. accoing to separate testimony by both general jim jones, the national security viser, and then general david praeus, in public words, there are fewer than 100 al

rooted in the possibility that he heard his brothers voice in barack obama? >> that's really an interesting question. i -- you mow, he mentioned, i'm from massachusetts, we have had our problems and i always like it say thank god for louisiana. and -- >> for both of us all. and the -- the -- i think that what i would -- was struck by was how many people i knew who as kids or young adults have worked for bobby kennedy's campaign and who ended up supporting barack obama. and heard this kind of a little bit of a sense of j.f.k. in the sort of somewhat, the 0 -- the cerebral and cool part of him. and -- some of the r.f.k. in the more sort of -- in the more passion fat part of him. and different people who are out of the kennedy tradition, some saw it more as j.f.k. and some saw him more as r.f.k. they gave an opening to do one thing i want to do before we close by chance i was looking up something in the great journals if you looked at those. there's a lot of great gossip in them and a lot of absolutely political observations. and i happened upon this passage in

president barack obama understands this. he delayed his departure so that he could preside over the senate passage of health-care par. host: our next call is on our lives republicans out of new york city. caller: i think it is important for a president to get away so he can reflect on everything without the influence of others around him and also without the pressures that are confronting him every day at his door through his secretary and such. he goes away and gets to relax and he gets to think. thinking is a more effective tool in solving problems. guest: presidents are also -- often asked what books they are taking with them? you always get a list of books. president barack obama and president clinton also did the same thing. stack they took stacks of books with them on vacation. they did try to read them. we don't know yet what books president obama has taken. it would be nice to be took a few of mine. i think president bush, father and son, it was maybe private and family time. each president has to define his own appr

president barack obama. there is one person that does this to the same extent of barack obama. in the short space of time, yet such major changes as he has done. the question for the committee was whether it would be bold enough to single out the most powerful man in the world with the responsibility and the obligations that come with the office of the president of united states. the committee came to the conclusion that it must still be possible to award the nobel peace prize to a political leader. we cannot get the world on a safer track with our political leadership. time is short. history can tell us a great deal about lost opportunities. it is now, today, we have the opportunity to support his ideals. this year's pryde is a call to action for all this. the committee knows that many will weigh his ideals against what he really does and that should be welcomed. but if the demand is eager to fulfill your ideals to the letter and that once were to stop having ideals, we are left with a most damaging division between the limits of today's realities and the vision for tomorrow.

president barack obama. there is one person dominate international politics to the same extent as obama. or in such a short space of time. in this year so many has touched major changes as obama has done. the question for the committee was rather, whether it would be bold enough to single out the most man in the world with responsibility and the obligations that come with the office of the president of the united states. the committee came to the conclusion that it must still be possible to award the nobel peace prize to political leaders. you cannot get the world on the same track without political leadership. and time is short. many have argued that the prize comes to early but history can tell a great deal about lost opportunities. it is now, today, we have the opportunity to support president obama's ideas. this year's prize is indeed a call to action for all of us. the committee knows that many will weigh his ideas against what he really does. and that should be welcomed. but if the demand is either to

host: president barack obama will speak live in 20 minutes. host: well peter, numbers going back and #orth in the call for the record, as you said. "t!illion with the move that th senate made this morning following the house and it raised the ceiling on the government debt to 12 point 4 trillion dollars and the fact the president must sign this. telephone calls. next is maine supporting the legislation. caller: hi. merry chris massachusettses i support the bill for many reasons. one is i'm 14 years old. of course i live with my parents and both work full-time. altogether with both of them they make just around $30,000. the state of maine says we cannot buy our insurance out of the state. so right now for a $15,000 deductible, we're paying $400 a month. now that takes a big chunk out of the money that my parents earn and with this healthcare, it's going to low tear cost so that way, we're going to be able to afford healthcare. government option it will lower overall and show that we're going to stand up to the insurance companies and et in the

what about barack obama as president? >> what impact is this having? >> i have had this conversation multiple times with friends. a good friend of mine has been trying to lose weight for years. he relayed to me that i can be the company has shown this imposes -- we can raise the bar for ourselves. in a lot of different ways, i have had a conversation. we have a hard conversation between generations. one of my family friends was telling me that she did not want to vote for barack obama because she was afraid that he would get assassinated. for a younger generation, that is unacceptably cautious. she thought -- she saw martin luther king killed and did not want to see that happening to obama. often and ends beenthere was a broader conversation between generations that he was enforcing. what is the agenda for the black community more broadly. the big thing is what happened to the civil-rights movement. what happened to the black freedom struggle in this country because it kind of dissipated in the 1970's, 1980's, and 1990's. what is interesting about obam

but it also underscored for me this almost agonizing balancing act that barack obama is trying to carry off. because here he is on one side perhaps the dominant wing of his party always antiwar, they're rather unhappy about if fact that he's sending 30,000 more troops to afghanistan. and then on the other side perhaps led by dick cheney, a movement that is essentially saying barack obama is shutting down guantanamo and he's ending things that he calls torture, all this is going to make us weaker. and they will say if god forbid there's ever any kind of an attack on american interests that obama encouraged this. so here he is trying to do all these things at once and i think all those things were in the speech. >> lehrer: joe bottum, do you agree there's some politics at work here as well as morality and all these other things we've been talking about? >> for the president of the united states, there is always politics at work, that's what it means to be the president. so of course you're right. and that only contributes to the kind of intellectual incoherence of the speech. the question

. >> barack obama. >> i went down to the inauguration. i was doing that for the news hour, and i did that work the news hour, and there is an historic quality which never can be taken away. it is one thing, but it is a very important thing. the quality became more real because he was elected president. then there is a question, what do we do today, mr. president? we are seeing the problems he has got himself into, and i imagine we will see many more of them. he is an interesting position after his afghan speech. his supporters will be his enemies. >> sarah palin. >> i will give you cole porter. you have that thing, that certain thing, that makes the birds for get to sing. you have that thing, that special thing. she really has something. i was amazed when she quit as governor of alaska. you know, she is running -- she has had executive experience. but wider sheet -- why did she cut it off? why did she top it off with foreclosure? because she is seeking the top executive job in the country, arguably in the world. how do you explain that? w

rooted in the possibility that he heard his brothers voice in barack obama? >> that's really an interesting question. i -- you mow, he mentioned, i'm from massachusetts, we have had our problems and i always like it say thank god for louisiana. and -- >> for both of us all. and the -- the -- i think that what i would -- was struck by was how many people i knew who as kids or young adults have worked for bobby kennedy's campaign and who ended up supporting barack obama. and heard this kind of a little bit of a sense of j.f.k. in the sort of somewhat, the 0 -- the cerebral and cool part of him. and -- some of the r.f.k. in the more sort of -- in the more passion fat part of him. and different people who are out of the kennedy tradition, some saw it more as j.f.k. and some saw him more as r.f.k. they gave an opening to do one thing i want to do before we close by chance i was looking up something in the great journals if you looked at those. there's a lot of great gossip in them and a lot of absolutely political observations. and i happened upon this passage in

president barack obama at his first address in february. congressional addresses are raising taxes on the middle taxes by stacks of dimes and senate democrats on tuesday made it cheer they won't be bound by the president's vow. 54 voted to kill i'd mo' republican mike kra crap o's. bill. those include a mandate of up to $750 a year for americans who fail to purchase health insurance, new levies on small business many of which file individuals tax returns that don't offer healthcare to employees and new tax penalties on health savings accounts flexible spending a counts. we're listening to your opinion. nq,t call is robins, north carolina. john, independent line. your on the air. caller: hello. yeah, this is my first time calling. c-span. i've been watching it on and off for the last several yearj and i try to keep up on things. i really agree with doctor dean, i thought thought should pass something but now i realize it's a poison pill and i trust doctor dean. i think obama has been co-opted by wall street and it's a shame. i agree with man

guest: seems the more that barack obama goes in the centrist direction the more he becomes willing and able and even eager to escalate the war in of guinness stan, the more that centrist penance like david broder enthused. unfortunately, obama is damaging his base within the democratic party. whether you talk about abandonment of the public option, escalation in a canister and, rigid escalation in afghanistan, you have a problem in the obama party. it will matter. republicans were cheerleading the warlike speech in oslo. they will have the ninth cell of next year. the base will matter within the democratic party. host: what did you think? guest: rather than war-like i would characterize this as perhaps the best speech that the president has given since his inauguration speech. that is principally because he acknowledged something that we among the conservative pun docracy have been looking for -- as you said, norman, is because you recognize that there is indeed number one, evil in the world, and number two, recognition in the fact that for the last 60 years it has been the u.s. that h

host: president barack obama will speak live in 20 minutes. host: well peter, numbers going back and #orth in the call for the record, as you said. "t!illion with the move that th senate made this morning following the house and it raised the ceiling on the government debt to 12 point 4 trillion dollars and the fact the president must sign this. telephone calls. next is maine supporting the legislation. caller: hi. merry chris massachusettses i support the bill for many reasons. one is i'm 14 years old. of course i live with my parents and both work full-time. altogether with both of them they make just around $30,000. the state of maine says we cannot buy our insurance out of the state. so right now for a $15,000 deductible, we're paying $400 a month. now that takes a big chunk out of the money that my parents earn and with this healthcare, it's going to low tear cost so that way, we're going to be able to afford healthcare. government option it will lower overall and show that we're going to stand up to the insurance companies and et in the

that america uer barack obama had ended, promised end gutanamo to abandon and reject torture as a means of govnmental action. so i mean i think there re real reasons. i'not saying there -- to really reject- in europe somehow re -europe in the 20thentury stole more ood and lost more suns by a factor, geometrical fact than the uted states did. and so they knowar. their resistence to war bad upon having been fought in the ckyard and front yard. i thought thatresident obama made -- i i do not think th the entrance of thunited states, certainly in iraq and a questi of contind presence eight ars after the event of 9/11 in afanistan and eight years afr the taliban -- is e test of a justar. >> lehrer: dyou think that esident obama made the case for afghanistan whi he was making his bipoint speech? >> a little was about pragmasm. the is this elaborate thing called just r theory which he did not go into fortunately. >> lehrer: that's very complica complicated. >> pretty raightforward. >> y have 30 seconds. >> i would be ppy to do it but he mentioned allhese different princiess, but then in the en

i don't think barack obama thinks about the court a lot. i don't think he cares the way a lot of us care about the court. i think he believes change comes from the political season. are the ex-active branch and so the best thing to do is get the hell out of a way. i think he is someone who is just not -- and it's not out of ignorance. i mean he -- think he believes to political change does not come from the courts. and is not particularly hopeful or expected that the cours will ever lead the way. >> any of you who want to ask questions should come up to the fike phone phones in the front. thank you so much. it's really a pleasure to put faces to names. i've heard a lot from all of you about the different theories about why the public cares to read about the supreme court despite maybe their irrelevance or whatever. that they're sort of our deety because of the personal answer buzz of of the politicians, only a couple of different reasons. mr. libtech you mentioned that it affects hundreds of millions of people in their decisions. so it was

obama to make sure that a second great depression with not happen, as it did not. by may see the era of small government is back again next year. because there is every indication that we are -- republicans are going to say next year is, you know, don't talk about second great depression, talk about the fact that this is the most big government president at least in recent times, ultimately will lead to a rise in tax, not good for america, they'll use that in the midterm campaign. >> feels a little bit like being on a treadmill though. >> this cycle that we are on. >> there is the boom and the bust and you know, i think that it is true are you going soee members of congress trying to find ways to distance themselves from washington. i think that has been something of the trend for a while now because of scandals and because of the association with washington has never been particularly positive. but what you are seeing now in the way that candidates are positions themselves now, is all right, sure, yes, there was the bank bailout and then the auto bailout and other

caller: barack obama personally. he is taking on a big mess from the bush and cheney administration and republican politicians want to sit back and pretend like they have had nothing to do with it and republican voters when act like they had nothing to do with it and the american people. this all happened on our watch. we are in a big mess we created for ourselves and the fact of, wants to take it on, that has to be the most impressive political figure because like the previous caller, people like joe lieberman down to all over the place basically on a vengeance mission, not looking out for the best interest of the country. obama definitely is the most impressive political figure. host: republican side. tina, florida. caller: hillary clinton. she has done more than anybody. we've come through far. i lived through the 1980's and when it came in the '90s and cleaned up bush's mess, i learned right there how to live and not to trust what was going on. they put us through jobs, they gave as jobs, five. trillion surplus t

what does barack obama say in cairo? what is his opening line? bin"we are not and imperialists colonial power. we are revolutionary state. we were born against an empire." it was a great speech. i do not think anyone disputes that. the problem is going to be following that up. the count -- the counter- narrative has to be punctuated with real things. they have proceeded to do that in some places and they are struggling in others. in the battlefield of the narratives, the israeli-arab of battlefield, they are having a difficult time. they do not have partners. that makes moving forward very hard. i believe i am convinced that they understand the central role of the war of ideology. >> i am studying at the university of maryland. are really enjoyed your speech. i wanted to make a comment. about my country afghanistan, you talk about the elections rate i was there during the elections and was working directly on the elections. we were seeing how things were being arranged on the forefront. everybody was watching that. nobody was -- and we could see

when you elect barack obama, you chose somebody would take america in any direction and increase the rest of the world and find friends -- in a new direction and increase relations with the rest of the world and find friends were recanted -- where we can. i think republicans want the president to be successful, because he is successful, that all america is. host: next up, david on the line for independence. caller: this is a fairly new city. we have almost a quarter million people here. to your thing on inflation, i feel like inflation is alive and well, even though the government does not count some of the costs. pierre prices were raised last summer because of the expenses with transportation and transportation companies have not the word the prices, so few prices of gunned down. -- have not lowered the prices, if you prices going down -- fuel prices going down. we are paying more for smaller food packages. host: before you go, tell us a little bit about the governor's race in florida. caller: i have not been paying that much attention right now. guest: dave, i got a little suggest

one of my family friend was telling me that she did not want to vote for barack obama because she was afraid that he would get assassinated. for a younger generation, that is unacceptably cautious and i accept the bleak -- and unacceptably cautious. she thought -- as she saw martin luther king killed and did not want to see that happening to obama. there was a broader conversation between generations that he was in forcing. -- he was in force and -- in for some -- enforcing. the big thing is what happened to the civil-rights movement. what happened to the black freedom struggle in this country because it kind of dissipated in the 1970's, 1980's, and 1990's. what is interesting about obama's election is it takes you back to the forefront. >> in 1996, and we saw the dreadlocks. did you feel differently about the world? >> i had to redreads for several years. basically, it was not a hair -- it was here in knots -- hair in knots. i had the privilege of having some bosses at in this nbc -- at msnbc that saw it as a plus. even when i worked for bill gray, that was the first time i thought t

he is doing this because it is about barack obama. he and john mccain, john mccain can put those on the floor that make el cents. since john mccain used to be an independent who always brought people together. -- he put the bills are before that make no sense. senator lieberman has something within him, bitterness toward the president. host: about 15 more minutes of your call. here is something that says that senator lieberman tells harry reid to his face, all votes against the current health care bill. in a face-to-face meeting on sunday he said he would vote against the bill that includes a public option, or provisions that would extend medicare. he read the comments publicly known again on "face the nation." here is the headline on "the new york times." to portland, a republican caller. caller: it sounds to me like we're not very close to a bill in the senate on health care. i don't think the mainstream media has been telling people just how divided the democrats are on health care bill. that is what i heard from that interview yes

i don't believe they all started when barack obama became president. we do try here to help. i was astounded to hear the gentleman from michigan say it hasn't created one job. madam speaker, tell that to the cops and firefighters in my districts who were rehired because of this. tell that to the people now working to clean up a superfund site in my district which was funded by this bill. this denial of reality to avade responsibility for the dilemma -- evade responsibility for the dilemma we are in is breathtaking. i thank the gentleman from wisconsin -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. frank: for a wonderful bill. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. lewis: madam speaker, it's my privilege to introduce chairman franks, a -- chairman frank, a chairman from the committee, mr. hensarling from texas, two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. hensarling: i thank the gentleman for yielding. now, repeating failure over and

like barack obama. he said, "my grandfather explained that we americans can set our minds to do anything we decide to do." we had won world war ii. we had to rebuild europe through the marshall plan. and we build the national highway system. we were justifiably proud of our accomplishments. but is our government today capable of executing our greatest challenges? iraq, katrina, the brutal economic meltdown, where once again facing questions about our government's ability to execute. the men on the street believes that we have a crisis. people are mad. they are angry angry. they're angry at wall street, but also at our government. those who run our government programs also believe that we have a crisis. 60 percent of their senior executives said that government today is less capable of executing than it was 30 years ago. most people will then ask who's to blame for this state of affairs? the answer, of course, depends on whose side you're on. george w. bush, barack obama, newt gingrich, nancy pelosi, the

president barack obama understands this. he delayed his departure so that he could preside over the senate passage of health-care par. host: our next call is on our lives republicans out of new york city. caller: i think it is important for a president to get away so he can reflect on everything without the influence of others around him and also without the pressures that are confronting him every day at his door through his secretary and such. he goes away and gets to relax and he gets to think. thinking is a more effective tool in solving problems. guest: presidents are also -- often asked what books they are taking with them? you always get a list of books. president barack obama and president clinton also did the same thing. stack they took stacks of books with them on vacation. they did try to read them. we don't know yet what books president obama has taken. it would be nice to be took a few of mine. i think president bush, father and son, it was maybe private and family time. each president has to define his own appr

"we expect to hear from president barack obama shortly and other world leaders are speaking. we're recording those speeches and one of those later in our program, in particular the president'." other world leaders including the german chancellor angela merkel spoke. this runs about 45 minutes. >> here in copenhagen, more than 100 heads of state and government have gathered. more than 100 ministers of the environment and representatives of non-governmental organizations, many young people who together with us are very much switching for a solution, wondering whether we will be able to come up with a solution of the future issue, preserving our environment and find an answer to the changes brought by climate change. will we be able to do that? not at sometime in the future but in the next 24 hours? that exactly is the period of time we have at our disposal, until the end of this conference. i am aware of the fact that all of the world, there is a lot of good will. i am also aware of the fact that many are somewhat disappointed at each other and over each other's position. this

his connections to nancy pelosi and barack obama. as a democratic incumbent it remains about him, he will lose. his only chance of winning is to make it about the republicans. you guys have it closest in terms of defining who your opponent is before they get their campaign off the ground. kill him in the crib. poisoned the well. you need to define his campaign before they do. in real life when i had these numbers, the real number wasn't in september, when this candidate's number was 13-4 i wasn't suggesting we attack him. if we attack him then he will never get his campaign off the ground. never look at this race again. injure him from the get go. i will discredit him and we will win the election. our campaign decided not to do that for other reasons. we lost the race. once you get to that on election day, it does not been personal. on the issues you are toast. because everybody -- it will discount. the democrat incumbent will have a financial advantage. you leverage or financial advantage when you have it. if you have a financial ad

i don't think barack obama thinks about the court a lot. i don't think he cares the way a lot of us care about the court. i think he believes change comes from the political season. are the ex-active branch and so the best thing to do is get the hell out of a way. i think he is someone who is just not -- and it's not out of ignorance. i mean he -- think he believes to political change does not come from the courts. and is not particularly hopeful or expected that the cours will ever lead the way. >> any of you who want to ask questions should come up to the fike phone phones in the front. thank you so much. it's really a pleasure to put faces to names. i've heard a lot from all of you about the different theories about why the public cares to read about the supreme court despite maybe their irrelevance or whatever. that they're sort of our deety because of the personal answer buzz of of the politicians, only a couple of different reasons. mr. libtech you mentioned that it affects hundreds of millions of people in their decisions. so it was

there was no way barack obama would become president of the united states. with that prediction in mind as i go forward. what i would like to do is review the key judgments of the strategic review that i chaired, talk a little bit about what has happened in the interim and the president's announcement last week. . . he inherited a disaster in afghanistan and pakistan. it began with a brilliant military success that virtually -- at virtually no cost. for seven years, the previous administration did heard about afghanistan and pakistan and did not act. -- the administration dithered. an insurgency which should have never been allowed it to grow now threatens the survival of the karzai government in afghanistan and threatens to defeat the north atlantic treaty organization's first ground operation ever. worse than that, the disaster in afghanistan is destabilizing south and central asia on a whole. the situation the president inherited is bad and has gotten worse in the 10 months since then. we have no time machine and cannot go back and do this over. we can wi

however, barack obama has instituted a set of policies negative to the black people. this year, $85 million were cut from the education budge as an example. >> larry: we will be right back. tightness in my chest came back- i knew i had to see my doctor. he told me i had choices in controller medicines. we chose symbicort. symbicort starts to improve my lung function within 15 minutes. that's important to me because i know the two medicines in symbicort are beginning to treat my symptoms and helping me take control of my asthma. and that makes symbicort a good choice for me. symbicort will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. and should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol may increase the chance of asthma-related death. so, it is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on other asthma medicines. see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. i know symbicort won't replace a rescue inhaler. within 15 minutes symbicort starts to improve my lung function and begins to treat my sym

there is no way barack obama is going to become president of the united states. so bear that prediction in mind as i go forward. [laughter] >> what i would like to do then over the course of the next 40 minutes or so is review the key judgments of the strategic review that i chaired, talk a little bit about what has happened in the interim when the closure of that strategic review in march and the president's comments at west point and then look at the road ahead. let me be careful and clear, i'm speaking here as a senior fellow . i'm not here as a supposeman for president obama, for the united states government. do not interpret my words as reflecting the views of the united states government in anyway whatsoever. i'll start with the bottom line right up front. president obama inherited in january a disaster in afghanistan and pakistan. a war that had begun with a brilliant military success at virtually no cost was squandered. and for seven years the previous administration dithered about afghanistan and pakistan and did not act. as a consequence, an insurgency

president barack obama will outline his after dpan stan war strategy tonight at the u.s. military academy at west point, new york. you can see that on the c-span networks. on-line at c-span.org and on c-span radio live at 8:00 eastern. british prime minister jordan brown says he'll send five hundred more troops to afghanistan bringing the total number of worry tish troops to nearly 10,000. after his announcement you'll hear from opposition party leaders and questions from members of parliament. this is about an hour and a half. >> statement the prime minister. >> with permission mr. speaker let me begin the statement on afghanistan by once more paying tribute to our armed forces. since 2001 our forces have been fighting in afghanistan one of the long longest military campaigns of recent times. longer than the world wars of the last century as part of our centuries fight against global terrorism and all-times they have shown the highest professionalism and courage making them the best admired and best in the world. they've endured heavy and tragic casualties and deserve ou

president barack obama is due to come out and speak after t

." >> larry: tonight, is barack obama the new war president? >> as commander in chief, i have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 u.s. troops to afghanistan. >> larry: what will the decision mean for his presidency? america, the world? michael moore is here. he says obama's caving in. we've got reaction from war vets. we'll go live to afghanistan. those for and against troop escalation will debate it. can the u.s. win all this? next on a midnight special edition of "larry king live." midnight in the east, 9:00 in the west. the special live edition of "larry king live," following this historic westpoint address by the president. we go first to tokyo, where michael moore is standing by. the oscar-winning documentary filmmaker, his latest film is "capitalism: a love story." prior to tonight's speech, he posted a letter to the president. the president didn't listen to you. you wanted to withdraw. he did not take your advice. what do you think the result will be? >> i feel very bad for him. i feel even w

barack obama has. been that he does have a white mother and that he is only half black, and i don't mean to offend the president because i do see him as a black man, i just don't see how a lot of those social ways he has seen in life and the privileges from his white side, being that white people do have quite privilege in america -- how he can directly relate to with the average black male is going through? what about private-owned prisons? what about addressing issues that could be revolutionary? guest: president barack obama is a wonderful role model for our young african-american men. secondly, i know the president gets it. when you look at the president's policies as it relates to the criminal justice system, for example. when you look at the people he has appointed such as attorney general eric holder who understands the disparities in crack cocaine sentencing. the president has put in place people to begin to try to turn this around. it will not happen overnight. president obama along with john

20th-century before barack obama was even born. [laughter] [applause] by being elected the first african american as to sit as the united states senator, you did it in 1967, when millions of african-americans in the united states were still denied the right to cast a vote at all. senator, if you were not an athlete as a boy, you certainly have made up for it as a man. which of your hurdles seemed most steep to you at the time? becoming a decorated officer in the segregated 336th combat infantry regiment during world war ii? was it upon your return when you became an editor of the law review at boston university law school. why before you assume the post do you think you could actually become share of the boston finance commission? what made you think that a black man could win statewide office as attorney general, particularly in a staple where to % of the population was african american -- where 2% of the population was african- american? how did you think as a lifelong republican you could be elected to anything in overwhelmingly

in the american election year of 2008, as barack obama glided unexpectedly toward the white house, a new political merten took hold among the chattering classes. the conservative era, the age of reagan was said to be in the. according to liberal writers like ejb on, the once mighty conservative intellectual and political force that had dominated nations debate since the late 1970s had fallen into more of bundy and disarray. a few conservative pundits seemed half inclined to agree. a frequent contributor to national review online sensed what he called intellectual fatigue among his ideological allies. and added, the conservative idea factory is not producing as it once did. another rising conservative commentator, goldberg, comments a column in u.s.a. today in mid- 2008 by quoting the writers you must plan to johnson who said cheer up, for the worst is yet to come. although goldberg went on to insist that the conservative movement had a lot of life left in it, he captured the mood of trepidation, gripping many around him as the election approached. some on the right were more acerbic,

obama. >> okay. i'm sorry. [inaudible] >> what were reagan's views and his position on -- [inaudible] >> on federal reserve? >> what were his views in the federal reserve? and all the income tax? >> well, he was once asked in 1980 about a particular tax cut and he says, i favor a tax cut anytime. i don't know what his -- well, but he reformed it in 1986 when he was president and, of course, in 1981, the tax system was the top marginal rate was 70%. he brought that down to, you know, the high 20s. so we knew what his attitude was about the tax system. and also, of course, you had, you know, the series of rising steps on the tax system and it was simplefied down to three simple tax rates. [inaudible] >> well, let me just say one thing. i don't know if i can address that specifically except that ronald reagan was always suspicious of any concentration of power, whatsoever. he saw a concentration of power, whether it was by corporate america or by government as a threat to individual freedoms. and too mu