south carolina's primary this saturday. florida, 10 days later, followed by nevada and maine. our political coverage will continue through them all. you can see the candidate events live online join the conversation on our facebook page and twittered. congress returns to session next week. this morning, "washington journal" talked to a two reporters about what to expect from the point of commerce. -- 2012 congress.

this is about that will be several popes on raising the debt limit. basically, congress has agreed to raise the debt limit last summer. this is a political vote of disapproving of the president's authority. the last time, partisan vote, democrats mostly voted for it, republicans against it. there will also be a boat in the senate on this, but it will not lead to anything because the president has the power to veto it. that is the main thing that will be happening on the house this week. host: kick sherman, the president will make his state of the union address next week. what kind of milestone is that,

what will the big debate to be as congress looks at the agenda? guest: it will be a legislative preflight the year. the biggest thing they would deal with is a payroll tax cuts. obama likes to draw distinctions from republicans. that is what we expected to do in his state of the union, but this payroll tax holiday it is almost sure to be brought up because democrats want it and republican stumbled when they try to do at the end of the year. host: hearing from a presidential hopefuls in the gop field, so bob cusec, it is expected to be a light year with so many campaigns going on. what do you expect as we go to 2012? guest: the house will be fascinating because they will do

a lot of maneuvering. a lot will not get done. republicans will be highlighting issues at what the president to discuss, whether it is drilling, the keystone, but the common denominator will be jobs. the senate will be pushing for things that will try to get the ultimate republican nominee on record, whether it is the dream act, which mitt romney has vowed to veto, or raising taxes on millionaires. it will be a lot of maneuvering. host: we have the bush taxes expiring this year. is that something that we will hear lots about? guest: republican members and aides feel i need to do stuff to get some political points on the board. they had a bruising of the 100th of congress. they stumbled on the payroll tax cut, funding over the debt

ceiling. they are looking for items to pass that will make a statement. the president may not find them, but will at least get them on the record tried to put them in favor of the 2012 elections, where congress is also up for reelection. that will play a big role, going forward. host: bush era tax cuts? guest: house, senate, and warehouse are all basically up for grabs. the house is most likely to stay with the majority party, but certainly, it could still be in place. host: let's get to the phones to hear from philip in miami, florida. caller: good morning. these politicians, republicans have been pointing out, obama is

embroiled with a lot of people that have money. the rich are the people controlling these politicians, and in turn, these things are being put on the books. it is too late now, they are too far out of reach. these people are keeping politicians in place. when they get in office, and they do not want to do anything for the poor people. this has been going on and will continue until they put some of these laws into effect. when those start to come upper, that is what i would like to see on the ballot. the rich people need to pay their fair share. they seem to be talking around that, i wonder why? host: he talks about the idea of

the 1%, something that president obama is incorporated into his campaign pitches. guest: democrats no republicans will not go for raising taxes, but they look at the pole and a sea advantage there. polls suggest a fair amount of republican support raising taxes on millionaires. that is where they would try to rulby the republican party. democrats are going to try to continue that advantage. we will hear a lot about tax policy in 2012. guest: with these push tax cuts coming up at the end of the year, john major has been working on a big deficit plan. it is likely he will try to do that again. the bush tax cuts are a party issue for republicans. one way to get out of them is to

get out -- is to rework it. that is something to keep an eye on, going forward it may seem . host: it may seem like groundhog's day. something that the congress approved is now coming up again. is this code to be a rehash of what we heard in 2011? guest: republicans will want to get this out of the way. half a dozen a i have spoken to said they do not want to have this payroll tax bite. it is not good for them, not policy they can agree with, but they cannot stomach to reject it. they want to get it out of the way. guest: it will be rough-and- tumble because you have so many house republicans are upset with the policy, and leadership does agree that they wanted to extend

it for the old year. finding their will to talk about unemployment insurance reforms, but this will happen and will be extended for the rest of the year. host: steve in richmond. good morning. caller: i am a republican, 55 years old. last year, the last election, i voted for obama because i am tired of the republicans, the top 1% is what they are concerned with. $20 million a year, -- ceo's making $20 million a year, but they do not want to give the workers a decent wage to live on. right now, republicans are more interested in the 1%, and the heck with everyone else. of course, the top 1% has the money to donate to the

republican party. guest: that will be a huge issue, going forward. republicans are cognizant of the fact they are seen as a party that only caters to the wealthy. eric cantor has pushed himself as someone that wants to raise everyone up, but getting that message across is not easy for republicans who have long been seen in that mold. >> we have a specially seen that with the dnc. portraying mitt romney and republicans as out of touch, where republicans want to talk about president obama's record, his controversial effort to pass health care reform, and the stimulus. host: let's take a look at some key dates of the upcoming legislative session. in early february, the president will release his budget request. the end of next month, the apparel tax extension and unemployment benefits.

at the end of the calendar year, december 31, the bush-era tax cuts to expire. joey and massachusetts. independent line. caller: i would like to know how many days congress worked last year. every time i turn around they are on vacation or are doing this or that. when they vote on things, they always wait until the last minute. right before we run out of money or the government shuts down. it is only scare tactics and the american people need to wake up. i call my congressmen all the time, and i tell them, you have to start doing work. do not wait until last minute to get things passed. host: what would you like to see congress do this year?

caller: i would like to see them straightened out social security. it has to be straightened out, the way it is going. welfare programs, -- we are giving too much away. i know people are talking about the rich, but we have to talk about the other side, too. a lot of these programs are bringing us down. guest: there has been a lot of rhetoric on both sides about how much congress should be in. when democrats took over the house, they said we are going to have five-day workweeks. eric cantor has introduced a new schedule. two weeks ended, one week out. we are working the whole time, but we just want to get back to

our districts. host: has there been a reaction to the congressional schedule, not just what they accomplished last year, but the number of days they are in washington versus their home district? i remember being here and hearing the same complaint when democrats were in control. however they do it will be difficult. at least this year there has been a lot more anger about the schedule. democrats, over this recess, have tried to score political points by going to the floor and pointing out that republicans were not here. host: a story in the "the washington times" --

guest: it is fascinating, with those kinds of statistics, we have seen nancy pelosi call this a do nothing congress, not noting that the democrats controlled the senate. that will be the flavor of the year, the white house running against this congress. those kinds of statistics have to make john boehner a little bit nervous. host: let's listen to harry reid. he was on "meet the press" this

week. he is talking about placing the blame on congress. >> understand we have had obstructionism on steroids. mitch mcconnell said his number one goal at the beginning of this conference -- congress was to defeat president obama. that is how they legislated. we spent months on things used to happen matter of factly. raising the debt ceiling. we did it for president reagan 18 times, and we spent 2.5 months doing that. the number one goal is extending a payroll tax. that was a disaster for them. can you imagine republicans were opposed to lowering taxes? i would hope they understand it. everything does not have to be a fight. legislation is about building consensus, a compromise. i hope the tea party does not

have influenced this year that they have in previous years. it has been really bad for this country. host: harry reid on "me depress ." in response, mitch mcconnell said -- -- "meet the press." respond to senator reid and this push-pull moment. we will also talk about the tea party element. guest: what he is saying is what house leaders are sensing. they need to do something, rally around something that they are for. in the eyes of a lot of people, they are seen as being against a lot of things. raising the debt ceiling, funding the government, and they are seen as not compromising. that is not what they want going

into an election year. they are going to baltimore this week on the house republican retreat and they need to rally around some sort of way forward, or else they could be in trouble. ack, harry reid talking about the tea party, saying they are to blame partly for this gridlock. guest: polls show the two-party is not a force that it used to be. we have seen that with mitt romney. the tea party had never been fond of mitt romney. they are weaker than before and will certainly be a question into this election how strong they will be in 2012. host: ron from new hampshire. good morning. caller: i believe obama has done

all that he has been a lot to do by congress this year. after november, we still have mixed political houses -- congress, said it. we will be in for another four years of nothing. i just do not believe -- i think obama has a pretty squeaky clean record becoming -- before becoming president, but a lot of these presidential candidates have a lot of skeletons in their closet. they seem to be very self- serving. mitt romney, a corporate raider before becoming a senator. newt gingrich -- they just have a lot of skeletons. obama's seems to be squeaky clean before making it to president. i just do not see anyone taking him down, i to not care who the republican nominee is, come

november. host: did you vote in the primary last week? caller: no, i did not. i voted for obama last year, and i will again this year. host: thank you. let's hear from our guests. guest: republicans would counter the argument about his squeaky clean persona. whether or not those associations are brought up in 2012 is a question. regardless, president obama called himself the underdog last year. i think if you talk to democrats now, they do not think they are the underdogs. they have a lot of money. we have seen a very contested primary with a fair amount of

gas. the white house has to be fairly confident of where they are right now, especially with unemployment down to 8.5%. host: a comment on twitter -- you're on the campaign trail just days ago in south carolina. do you see the congressional sessions in the year ahead coming up as a topic? it is being debated or talked about among candidates? guest: they are, but as they go forward, congress will they put in the position to answer for them. mitt romney looks like he is heading to the nomination. he will be put in the position where he has to answer things like, if john boehner does a large budget deficit deal, every part of that will be picked apart on the campaign. if there is any stumble in the

payroll tax cut, do you agree with house republicans and how they are handling this? the answer to that question, if anything is passed, is probably not. john boehner also wants to do a highway bill and a chord with expanded oil drilling. that will pass through the house likely, but not likely in the senate. host: stephen is a republican caller in salisbury, mass.. caller: good morning. how are you? the question i have is, i understand everyone is talking about how good president obama is, and even how bad he is doing, but he is just a spokesman for the united states. you need a congress and senate and everyone else to pass the

bills before he can do anything. the main thing that people are overlooking is we pay more for the aliens to live here in the united states. we give them public aid, housing, food stamps, medical. they are allowed to take american jobs. for example, there is a gentleman who used to work for the company, not even a legal citizen of the united states, but he sued the company because he was fired for not having a great car or anything. host: steven is concerned about illegal immigration. is that anywhere on congress's radar? guest: there is a lot of that, certainly from democrats. when democrats had control of both chambers, they probably could have passed the dream act. they had enough support from republicans, but they went after health care. that took a long time.

president obama has repeatedly vowed to pass comprehensive immigration reform. in order for him to win, he will need the immigration vote. immigration really divides the republican party. democrats will be talking about that issue a fair amount. guest: we hear this on the campaign trail. newt gingrich wants people who have been here for 20 years, in good standing with their community, to become legal. rick perry, santorum, a lot of people have been completely killing him for that. that is something that will be hot in the primary and general election. if someone were to ask me whether i thought a scaled-down immigration bill would be something that the house and senate would consider this year, i would probably say no. host: dick sherman and bob cusack are our guests.

sequestration was it were that we heard a lot of it in the last couple of months. as the steel was negotiated to figure out how to deal with the debt limit. nothing came out of the super committee. sequestration is looming. give us a refresher on what that is all about, and what does that looming deadline mean for congress? guest: the super committee wanted incentives for the democrats and republicans to broker a big deal. that was cut for domestic spending for democrats. republican to not want to put taxes on the table, so they put defense cuts on the table. now the defense industry and defense hawks are saying there is no way the defense industry can take these cuts. others in congress are indicating, they are actually not cuts, it is cuts to the rate of growth.

the fascinating thing here is, defense secretary leon panetta does not like these cuts looming, but president obama has said he is telling to veto anything that would mean cuts in entitlement spending. the defense cuts that are booming in 2013 are going to be talked about. host: what are some of the strategies we will see within congress on either side, on facing sequestration, how to avoid it or letting it go through? guest: democrats have come around to the opinion that sequestration is not that bad. the super committee was considering a lot more drastic cuts than the sequestration put into place. democrats are ok with letting it stand. republican leadership has tried to divide the plan, has a lot of different pieces moving on

sequestration. eric cantor has tried to do his own plan, try to get it folded into unemployment insurance. john boehner would be most likely to do a sequestration picks at the end of the year with the bush tax cuts. defense cuts do not come into play until 2014, but he will face stiff head winds from defense hawks who want to get it done before that. host: let's go to kentucky. our third is in on our independent line. -- arthur is on our independent line. caller: wednesday get away with all that -- once they get rid of all their perks and have to live like the rest of us, focus on the gdp, and obliterate, that is when this country will come back. until then, as long as congress

blows all the money that they do, they are way overstaffed. the congressmen and in some ways, the supreme court, until they change their ways, things will be like this. guest: one thing that you will see on that issue is house republican leaders vowed to move forward on a bill that would ban congressional insider-trading. it's got a lot of attention in a report. eric cantor wants to make changes to the bill. not exactly sure what he wants to do. he wants to make it broader than the one introduced. there is anchored outside the beltway. host: a story on cnn. senator rand paul cut a check to

the treasury department. he is not the only member of congress who has given back money from his office to the treasury. what does that say, politically, and is that the kind of message that will resonate? guest: absolutely is a good political move. $500,000 does not do anything in controlling the national deficit. but there are members who did tens of thousands of dollars back. it is great politically, makes you look like you are tightening the belt in office. that caller would probably be happy with that, with his state senator, but very little in practical terms. host: gary writes on twitter --

bob cusack, congress has had quite a low approval rating. what do they do to boost up the way the american people see them, the work they get them? guest: for the most part, they will be blaming the other party. with the house in republican hands, the senate in democratic hands. going back to harry reid, people are tired of fighting. both parties will try to ratchet down the fighting, at least in the early part of the year. the temperature will certainly be getting on in the fall. host: a comment on twitter -- jake sherman, is that a sentence that you hear from members of congress? guest: the two sides to not agree on what is good for the

country. that was the idea in tried to do a large-scale deficit plan. as john boehner said, lock arms and jumped out of the boat. the pressure from inside, even at his own leadership table -- john boehner had congressional leaders who did not agree with them. they had taken on medicare and social security and around the criticized for it. that is a sentiment we hear. unfortunately, there are very few areas of agreement on these larger issues, like medicare, social security, tax policies. the election could be the only thing that solves that. host: michelle is a democratic caller from dallas, texas. caller: what bothers me is the people making the decisions have forgotten about the people. we are talking about balancing the budget and doing tax cuts,

but we are now looking at the taxes of the 1%. anyone knows that you cannot cut expenses without bringing money in. that is why we go to work every day. we can cut expenses, but we have to bring money in. my question to the guest today is, when we are talking about tax cuts, balancing the budget, can you recommend where you would like to cut taxes, and would you be willing to go to those people and say, we are cutting your budget. if you are cutting from the telegram, would you be willing to go to -- pell grant, would you be willing to go to college students and say we are not giving you any money? the people making the decisions are so far removed from actual life, they can make the cuts with no feeling or facing the problem. guest: certainly, when they have

to make tough decisions, they say there is not a tax problem, it is a spending problem. democrats come back and say, we need more revenue. i do think over the last several years, politics has gone very volatile. we are seeing that at town hall meetings. some members, because of that, because of this youtube era, have decided to cut down on the public appearances. host: republican caller from oklahoma. guest: i am calling -- caller: i am calling mainly to support ron paul. he is a clear contrast to obama. your network, not much of it is showing much of him. he has been endorsed by tom

davis and jim demint. host: just so you know, we are trying to give each candidate equal time. what do you think about his legislative record, what he has done in congress? caller: what do i think of his record? compared to who? obama? host: just in general. he has been a congressmen along time. what he has been doing is consistent. he also gave money back to -- the money that he got -- back to government. obama's excuses for his failure being congress is false. he had a democratically controlled senate and congress and did nothing but destroy the country. host: jake, you were on the

campaign trail. what is wrong calls perception on the trail? guest: the advantage is he has run for president a few times. he has organization on the ground. we saw that in iowa, we will see it in south carolina. he is tried to lock up more delegates to have more leverage down the road. he admits men rum is a likely nominee, but to be honest, there is not much talk about people's records. the public does not pay attention to congress. and they are not attuned to what has been going on in washington. ron paul has been in congress since the 1970's, but that is not really being talked about on the trail. host: david from las vegas, nevada. go ahead. caller: i wanted to comment on

the fight about the payroll tax cut. if the general population would familiarize themselves with freedman economics versus keynesian economics would understand the tax cuts. there is an important difference between what the republicans and democrats look at. when you look at the state of affairs, the economy, i do not know how you can sit here with these economic ideas with benefiting the rich and it will trickle down to us. the keynesian takes labor into consideration, and that is important. lincoln was not a marxist, but he was famous for saying labor is very important to capital. in need to be considered a lot more than what it is. republicans are completely

trouncing on the middle class. and the economic philosophy of friedman is a failure, from everything i have seen. host: let's get a reaction from bob cusack. guest: the payroll tax holiday, the right does not like it, and a fair amount of liberals also do not want to take money out of social security. eventually, they believe it will be used as a reform to cut back on social security. they said it was going to be only a one-year thing, but it is going to be renewed. will it be renewed at the end of 2012? there are people in congress who are nervous this is taking money out of an entitlement program. once again, we have to make some painful decisions, and they think this is one thing where congress is giving money to

people but we cannot afford it. host: the caller talked about economic philosophies and ideas. is that something that plays out? guest: i am not sure members of congress are aware of complex economic debates. the optics and politics are incredibly complicated. the republicans do not like raising taxes and not let the politics of raising taxes. but you have members of congress that say that the only way out of this -- publicly on capitol hill -- a comprehensive rewrite of the tax code. they are composites to the fact that they cannot get out of it. host: looking at the shake-up in the white house. jack lew coming in. jake sherman, tell us about what

this means for the white house's relationship with congress. guest: it has been incredibly rocky in the past. jack lew has good relations with both houses. he could be a good thing for the president's relationship with congress, but the president has an important political calculus to make with his budget that he will be submitting. that will set the tone for the election year, the battle with house republicans. his relationship might be all for naught if they cannot improve relations with the republicans. host: bob cusack, what kind of liaison role do they perform? guest: jack lew is for involved

with policy than others were. it can be involved in the dealmaking. rahm emanuel was in those meetings with harry reid, on the phone with him. bill daley, not as much. jack lew was taking the lead on that. now that he is chief of staff, he has other responsibilities, managing the staff at the white house, who gets to see the president, but lew will be very involved in that because of his budget background. host: nick is a republican in the bronx. caller: most of times, people think about newt gingrich being the most experienced guy. he has been in washington the

longest and the nose things better. he knows shortcuts. he is also giving people headaches. if you get married a couple of times, you have to change it. host: let's ask what that relationship means to washington on the campaign trail. we have heard people say i am not a washington insider here. bob cusack one look at the records of those who pull running for president, they have had washington ties and connections. guest: without a doubt. gingrich has been in the washington area for decades. while touting the fact that he passed welfare reform, he did not mention that president clinton was part of that. newt gingrich's experiences in washington are certainly mixed. a lot of house republicans do not like him.

tom coburn, who was involved in the effort to oust him as speaker, said he found his leadership lacking. richard burr has also been critical. gingrich does have support in congress, some endorsements, but not a lot. host: jake sherman, let's talk about steps the president made over the christmas holiday, to move people into place. he wanted to see mr. cordray become the head of the consumer financial protection bureau. how is that going to play out? guest: i think that has passed. senate democrats and republicans in the house and senate have already battled over that. there might be some challenges, some talk about it, but it will not be the overarching part of the narrative. host: do you see that as having any indication as congress comes back? guest: the chamber of commerce

is thinking about suing on those recess appointments. consumer agency is something that will be talked about a lot. president obama talks a lot about it. it is one of the differences that you see in the presidential campaign on the republican side and leaders in congress. there is talk about repealing dodd-frank on the campaign trail, but we have not yet seen it in the house. host: bob cusack is the managing editor for "the hill." dick sherman is a staffer at politico. thank you as well. >> some news from the campaign trail. john hunt and will withdraw from the race of the presidential nomination. his campaign manager tells the associated press, mr. huntsman will announce his withdrawal from myrtle beach, south carolina, and will endorse mr. romney. word of that withdrawal came on

the same day that south carolina's largest newspaper endorsed him for president. at the same time, c-span2 will be live with a campaign event with texas governor rick perry, with his wife anita. rick santorum and his wife karen will also be speaking at the event. we will have live coverage of the former pennsylvania senators comments, at 1:30 south carolina's primary is coming up on saturday, florida, 10 days later, followed by the bad and maine. road to the white house political coverage continues through all of those events. you could watch online at c- span.org/campaign2012, and you can also join in on facebook and

twitter. we are going to listen to some viewers phone calls from this morning's washington journal -- "washington journal." host: romney is seen as a likely beneficiary. jon huntsman plans to withdraw from the broken the presidential race on monday.

let's go to the phones to hear from patricia. democrat in bakersfield, california. caller: i watched the debate and i thought john hunt and it really good. one of the most decent candidates they have running. one of my other questions, i never hear them talk about what they have done lately. all the candidates talk about what they did in the past, but they have not said what they have done lately to help the economy improve. host: what do you think huntsman leaving the race mean for the rest of the field?

caller: ron paul may get his supporters. host: santa cruz, california. go right ahead. caller: i was going to say, looking at jon huntsman, host: let's go to a new color. michelle and new jersey. what do you think about the news that jon huntsman plans to bowed out of the race? caller: a lot of folks here, within our own district, with my family, there is a lot of conservative moderates out there who insert -- supported huntsman. with him leaving, the field has diverted, with mitt romney being

the only clear indicator of anyone in the gop which has some moderate concerns, moderate policies within the conservative base. the stratification of the political party is now so imminent. we are disappointed to see him leave. i am concerned, with the candidates left over, whether the gop at all could face barack obama in the general elections, what it would do for the hispanic vote, other books as well. host: what do you think huntsman brought to the race? caller: he was moderate on foreign policy. as a student of foreign policy, one thing i was concerned about for my generation, what to do about certain containments, whether from the middle east policy, aging economics. huntsman was very intellectual

in these areas. i do not know what the true conservative hard-liners that are left over, such as rick perry, or any other gop contender, can show the american public on the international stage. host: a tweet -- ellen, democratic caller and logansport, indiana. good morning. welcome to the show, go right ahead. caller: i am calling about huntsman getting out of the race. i thought he was a great gentleman. at the end of the debate, he said he could not get along with mitt romney. faber separating the parties. -- they were separating the parties. he would be willing to work with

democrats. that is why i liked jon huntsman. maybe i wouldn't change my vote. i wouldn't now . host: ken, roseland, va.. caller: jon huntsman dropping out will help ron paul. he is a diversion. the only anti-war candidate -- and most americans are against these unwinnable wars in pakistan, afghanistan, the terrible mistake we made going into iraq -- ron paul is the only republican candidate who can attract independents and democrats. that is what is needed. they will not vote for romney. ron paul has the best chance of

defeating obama, because he can attract many blacks, as well as other independents that will vote for ron paul. host: we have someone who agrees with you on twitter -- let's look at the coverage of jon huntsman decision to get out of the republican race.

milan, michigan. dean, democratic caller. caller: i do not think huntsman had a chance from the start. his name was not really out there. i just want to say something about mitt romney. he is coming into this race, really pushing people around, starting wars with different people. we really need to look out for rick santorum.

i think he has a good point on certain things. i think he will be a big one in this race. host: let's look at a story about rick santorum, the battle going on to get the evangelical support in south carolina. this is a story from "the new york times" --

host: cincinnati, ohio. ken is a republican. caller: i host a radio show here in cincinnati. we have been watching the races. i do not think huntsman out of the race will have that big of an effect. what i am concerned about is the scorched earth policy of newt gingrich. people across america understand he backs that. remember the contract of america, when he refused to change the way we look at our tax policy. the congressional term limits. new gingrich back -- lied to the american people back then -- newt gingrich ally to the american people back then. i hope people can see through newt gingrich and what is going on in south carolina. host: a tweet --

chicago, illinois. bill is on our independent line. caller: i wanted to say, huntsman dropping out -- i think the republican party has moved so far to the right. i really do not have a choice but to vote democratic all the way. host: would you have voted for jon huntsman? caller: i doubt it. i have not heard any republican condemn voter suppression. host: katherine on our

democratic line in nevada. caller: how are you doing this morning? i am calling about, i have been a democrat my whole life. i could have seen a huntsman- paul ticket because i am so against the wars. the one thing i have against paul, i like a lot of the things that he stands for, especially bringing the troops home. apart that upsets me is when he keeps pushing that right to work state. i am in a right to work state. when you have that alongside sarbanes oxley, it takes away the person's right to face their accusers. you cannot even find a lawyer to stand for you on that one. those two loss canceled your ability to stand up for yourself when people come up against you. that is the one thing that is wrong with ron paul. other than that, he is the only

candidate in the group that i have any respect for. host: a comment on facebook. sosasam writes -- pensacola, florida. michael is a democratic caller. caller: i wanted to say, huntsman is the only one that is qualified to be president. the rest of them, like ronald reagan, he is probably turning over in his grave seeing the rest of these people. they have no sense. that is all i have got to say. host: another michael, this one is a republican. caller: i believe most of jon huntsman's votes will go to ron

paul. jon huntsman was the only one in the race that was pretty much anti-war. i believe the peace candidate will win eventually. if you look at it, ron paul is the on the one that gets consistent independent and democratic votes. if we think mitt romney, who have several republican party does not even light, will win, we are fooling ourselves. if we do not vote for ron paul, there is no way we are or to the cross over road and win against barack obama. host: kansas city, nate, independent line. what do you think about jon huntsman? caller: i do not think he has the name recognition that mitt romney has. if you remember, mitt romney also pulled out of the last campaign. i do not know if he made a deal with members of the party, with mccain.

now he gets the opportunity to be the front runner. also, he could be the one to win the nomination as far as the republican party. host: do you support mitt romney? caller: i would support him if he was not running against obama. as an african-american, historical things aside -- other than that, i am pretty crazy about mitt romney. host: billy's right on twitter -- elise writes on twitter -- responding to another tweet we mentioned on the show. like jackson, texas.

host: joe in the bronx. caller: good morning, greta. listen, what i want to say, in reference to hearing mr. huntsman is going to resign from

the race. first of all, what i want to say, this is a person that works for the president. the president is the person that put bread and butter -- to help them put bread and butter on the table for his family. to me, for a person to turn around and want to run against this man and talk so bad about him, is a traitor. i do not think any black person would do that. therefore, he should have waited until 2016 to run. i do not think he was going to go anywhere anyway because of what i just said, greta.

he is still going, or is going to be the conversation that people will talk about. he was not going to go anywhere anyway. host: let's look at an e-mail that came from parley in minnesota. -- carly in minnesota. host: richard, independent line, welcome. caller: gov. hunstman was way too far to the left. i did not know too much about his message, only that he was an ambassador for china. however, ron paul has a real chance of winning the election

if the republican party will start to back him. he has been labeled persona non grata by the media. ron paul's policy will give the power back to the people where it belongs. both parties are very much afraid of this. especially, the media. in order for the republicans to win, the need to start supporting ron paul and put him in the limelight. host: we have an e-mail from washington -- let's take a look at more of the stories in the news been reported about the presidential campaign. the republican field. "new york times" rights -- mr. romney still faces many

challenges. former senator rick santorum of pennsylvania. to the early stages of the nominating contest, in a recent republican standard bearer has had such a diffuse and shifting field of opponents. looking back at history a presidential races in the field. the next stage is south carolina's primary, which isn't just a few days. that is on saturday. then we move onto a couple of other states. let's look at "usa today." florida on january 31. arizona, february 28. this story is looking at states that allow early voting. richard wolff reports when south

carolina voters cast their ballots in the republican primary saturday, they will have company. the same day for the republicans can begin in person but in for the state's january 31 primary, drawing more than 100,000 state residents who already have cast absentee ballots. jon huntsman's announced in his dropping out of the race and the expected history of jon huntsman. he formally entered the race back in june. well after many of his republican rivals such as romney who had already formed campaign organizations and fund-raising networks. huntsman was ambassador to china but resigned in late april. from the beginning, huntsman had vowed to be a different kind of candidate. as a campaign developed, and

began drawing sharper contrast with his rivals, especially mitt romney. the news today been reported by the associated press and others as husband plans to drop out of the race today and anticipated to endorse mitt romney. democratic caller, ohio. caller: good morning. with and dropping out of the race and supporting mitt romney, it is a brought to me. host: wide use said that? caller: with mitt romney being a mormon, i feel like having john huntsman endorse him, to me, it, normalizes mitt romney. host: arizona, michael is on the independent line. let's move on to florida.

republican. welcome. caller: i question why jon huntsman endorses mitt romney after going after mitt romney. what it looks like to me now is romney is funded by goldman sachs, jpmorgan. obama is funded by goldman sachs, j.p. morgan. this seems ron paul is one of my people vs. goldman sachs, jpmorgan. i hope ron paul points this out in the debate. host: texas, independent line. good morning. caller: the way things have been swinging, first you have the pete's a guy up there first and then he leaves. they have gingrich and perry and romney. you never know how things will swing. jon huntsman, i would call him a

moderate republican. he is probably easier to put up against obama in the election. host: what do you think him dropping out means for the rest of the field? caller: i don't know. i think perry ought to drop out. for a long time, he has been our governor. he can count all the jobs he has made, our unemployment has doubled. i think it is because of more people moving into the state, though. host: let's look at a couple of other stores in the news. this is the day to celebrate martin luther king, jr., the federal holiday. "washington post" with president obama and one of his daughters at the martin luther king, jr. memorial. here is what the piece says, for

the first time in our country's history, the mall is more diversified and looking more like america. to have a preacher from alabama situate between jefferson and lincoln memorials, tells a compelling story of how great this country is. to have situated in a slave owner and a man who freed the slaves is a descendant of the slaves. i was from president and chief executive of the martin luther king, jr. national memorial project foundation. he is their viewing the with the president and one of his daughters. this story in "usa today," putting martin luther king's papers on-line public access thousands of items. there's a handwritten draft complete with cross out that martin luther king acceptance speech for the 1964 nobel peace prize. there are notes about the ending of king's iconic "i have a dream" speech and charming letters he received from children.

200,000 documents and all will be available online for the first time today that the nation marks martin luther king day. the imaging project, financing overseen by chippy martin saf - jpmorgan chase. the project and about after martin luther king iii contacted the bank about the documents. 100 volunteers from around the world have sorted through boxes of personal papers, documents, and handwritten notes. we're talking this morning about the celebration for martin luther king, jr. and will be talking later but the national day of service, which is tied to martin luther king's day. the president of first lady are participating in that today. they will begin a volunteer project with their daughters. the president of first lady will also attend the kennedy center tonight. we will be broadcasting the

national action network on c- span3. other events throughout the day. he can find out more by going to c-span.org. the, we'll talk with director of the americorps program here on ""washington journal." the tier from travis, independent caller, weighing in on news jon huntsman is getting out of the presidential race. where are you calling from? >> michigan. host: go-ahead. caller: i have registered as independent. i've never had an opportunity to really have my say at the ballot. i have lived in arizona and moved here to michigan. something i just wanted to point out after watching c-span and listening to how the races progress, it reminds me of 200 years ago, the same thing going on amongst our congressmen and

presidents was the war of 1812. you had candidates the promoted the wars. you had those the words of part of the federalists under george washington. then you had someone who actually spoke up for the people, the actual author of the bill of rights and the declaration of independence, i mean, i'm sorry, i'm really nervous. i would just like for more people to look back at history and see how history does repeat itself. i see a similar correlation going on today. host: boston, massachusetts, independent line. caller: good morning. i'm calling about jon huntsman and being a mormon and mitt romney also being a mormon. right now mr. romney is doing well in the polls, but i think

once the press gets a hold of the mormon religion or with everyone a call it and exposes it to the rest of the nation for what it is, they are going to see it in a different light. unfortunate, the american people are not represented well as far as being on top of the issues. we have a lot of people voting that do not know any of the issues. the dumbing down of america, is to make college. the haves keeping the have nots. at one time your second and third in and then signs in 1957, now we're 47 and 52nd. i find that to the -- once that happens, i don't believe america, which was based on all the religions picked out of england, mostly christian

religions, are going to be able to accept him. host: do you think mormonism is a cult? caller: sort of like the jehovah's witnesses. host: but you're advocating for other kinds of religious freedom? caller: i think church and state should be separated. host: let's look at a story from cnn on mormonism and the presidential race. here's what jon huntsman said -- jon huntsman, one of two mormons running for the white house, said the resulting firestorm over the passing comments has become a political sideshow. jon huntsman has dropped out of

the presidential race. we're still looking at the other candidates. a wonder we think about what this means for other people. will it be a bump for mitt romney? some of our callers think it will help ron paul. what do you think it means for the race in the field? >> you can find the rest of this online. we go live to myrtle beach for an announcement by to presidential candidate jon huntsman. he is reportedly withdrawn from the race for president.

>> we expect to see jon huntsman shortly. we're in myrtle beach, south carolina. we are expecting him to withdraw from the race for the presidential nomination. his campaign manager says he will be endorsing mitt romney. the former utah kavner placed third and last week's new hampshire primary. he acknowledged expectations for him in south carolina this week would be very low. he had just received an endorsement from south carolina's largest newspaper "the state." he still decided to pull out of the state. we will hear momentarily what he

has to say.

>> we are waiting for jon huntsman's arrival. you can see on the left part of your screen, an older gentleman seated, that is his father. john has been served china or was serving time until he resigned in late april. bitumens pass before his kickoff speech on june 22 near the statue of liberty -- nearly two months passed before his kickoff speech on june 22 near the

statue of liberty. he has decided to withdraw from the gop presidential race before the primaries this weekend. let's hear what he has to say. >> good morning, everybody. i am delighted to be surrounded, first and foremost, by those i love and appreciate most. i am up here with the greatest human being i've ever known, my wife mary kay, who has sustained us throughout this journey. i'm also appear with an interesting group of campaign activists called the jon 2012 girls. i am delighted to be with them. i am also delighted to be joined by our daughter gracie, that our campaign senior foreign-policy adviser grid i want to compliment her on the excellent job she did. i'm here with my father, and i want to express my love and

appreciation to him. my son-in-law as well along with a terrific team. some supporters like the beloved iras campbell, former first lady of this great state is with us. as is the attorney general, alan wilson, and close, personal friend of mine, mike campbell, who is here among others. i would like to make just a few comments about the current state of the presidential race and then will let you go. as candidates for our party's nomination, our common goal is to restore old and principled leadership to the white house. leadership that will reignite our economy and renew the american spirit. yet rather than seeking to advance that common goal by speaking directly to the voters about our ideas to rebuild america, this race has degenerated into an onslaught of

negative and personal attacks not worthy of the american people. and not worthy of this critical time in our nation's history. this is the most important election of our lifetime. to this country desperately needs to begin a journey that will allow us to create a courageous the tackle our two most urgent deficits -- one is an economic deficit and the other is a trust deficit. only bold ideas will get as to where we need to be. and this campaign needs to be driven by those ideas. at its core, the republican party is a party of ideas, but the current toxic form of our political discourse does not help our cause. and it is just one of the many

reasons why the american people have lost trust in their elected leaders. today i call on each campaign to cease attacking each other and instead, talk directly to the american people about how our conservative ideas will create jobs, reduce our nation's debt, stabilize energy prices, and provide a brighter future for our children and our grandchildren. let's invest our time and resources and building trust with the american people. and uniting them around a common purpose. three years ago, the president promised to unite the american people, it is in there too -- a desire to engage in class warfare for political gain has left us more divided than ever. this divisiveness is corrosive

and does not advance america's interests. this nation was built on unity and trust. trust in each other, trust and revolution that gave birth to the freest and most prosperous nation the world has ever known. trust in our system of government. that sense of unity and trust has sustained us through world wars and national tragedies. now we needed to sustain us during this hour of need. ultimately, this election is about more than the future of one campaign or one party. it is about the future of our nation. and for our nation to move forward together with new leadership and unity, the republican party must first unite.

we entered this race to six months ago with the longest of long shots. my candidacy was staked on the simple principle of country first. and driven by a refusal to pass down to the next generation, a country that is less powerful, less prosperous, and less competitive than the one we inherited. today, i am suspending my campaign for the presidency. i believe it is time for our party to unite around a candidate best equipped to defeat barack obama. despite our differences in the space between dusk on some of the issues, i believe -- and the space between us on some of the issues, i believe that candidate is mitt romney. as for my family, we step down with an even greater appreciation for american democracy, which is fundamental

to american values. after all the town halls and handshakes and meet and greet, we leave it in the hands of the people and we respect the results for it to our many staff, supporters, and volunteers, i offer my heartfelt thanks. today, our campaign for the presidency ends, but our campaign to build a better and more trustworthy america continues. we will continue to fight for a flatter, simpler tax code that tells unleash opportunity rather than stifle it, for an energy policy that ends the scourge of our addiction to foreign oil, for congressional term limits, for education reform the prepares our kids for the realities of the 21st century, for financial reform that breaks

up too big to fail banks and protect taxpayers from future bailouts. and we will continue fighting to bring home our brave men and women from afghanistan and stop nation-building overseas and start rebuilding our own nation. for mary kay and our family, these last six months have been an incredible and on spiring journey. i have seen the very best of america. i have seen it in the spirit of our entrepreneurs whose innovations continue to inspire and better the world. i have seen it in the courage of our veterans who have met at vfw halls in communities all across this nation. i saw it in china, 10,000 miles away, meeting with dissidents who had been tortured and beaten but who drew strength from our nation's values, our

openness, our freedoms, our commitment to human rights. halfway around the world, they could still see america's liked. -- light. that is the power america still projects. i will never stop fighting to make sure america's light shines for generations and generations to come. because in the end, we must all come together as americans. we must be reminded that the fight to preserve and enhance life, liberty, and happiness is what really sets us apart in this world, and is worth our tireless efforts as citizens of this most extraordinary nation. thank you and may god bless america. thank you.

>> why the change of heart on romney? >> thank you, everybody. >> the announcement from jon huntsman officially stepping down as the presidential candidate, endorsing mitt romney for gop presidential nomination. mitt romney getting ready for tonight's debate with the remaining gop candidates in hosted by fox news in myrtle beach, scheduled for 9:00 eastern time. ofre hearing from the moms south carolina today and what they think about the gop presidential candidates during a cafemom forum in myrtle beach. c-span on, rick santorum and

karen santorum will meet with the moms at 1:30. rick perry and his wife are meeting with them right now. republican pollster frank luntz is giving the conversation flowing and directing questions. you can watch live on c-span, listen on radio or stream online c-span.org today at 1:30. south carolina's primary is saturday. florida, 10 days later followed by nevada and maine. the road to the white house political coverage by c-span will continue. c-span.org/campaign2012. joined in on facebook and twittered. -- join in on facebook and twitter. >> where asking middle and high school students, which part of the constitution has meaning to you and why?

grand prize of $5,000.50000 dollars in total prices. get your five-eight minute documentary to c-span by friday january 20. for last minute details, go online c-span.org. >> south carolina holds the nation's first seven republican presidential primary on saturday. over this past weekend in myrtle beach, congressman tim scott hosted a town hall meeting for undecided voters. the chair of the republican governors association talks for about an hour and 10 minutes. >> thank you. these policemen you see around you are armed and dangerous. i would like to introduce someone i have got to know over the last year. i have worked with probably 100

members of congress now. some are better than others. you should be very proud. there must have been some sort of divine intervention because something could happen in the first congressional district of south carolina. the -- and good happened in the first congressional district of south carolina. he understands policy. he understands people. he understands the country and what it needs. there is a lot of anxiety and anger in this country right now, and a lot of division. if there's anyone i know from this new class that has the capability to bring people together and to get them to be optimistic again and confident again and believe their children will inherit a better country just as we it is because of congressman tim scott. please welcome him.

[applause] >> good evening, robo beach, south carolina. this kind of reminds me of my high school football days. a chilly, crisp evening thinking about what needs to happen next to get back on track to win the game. in america, we're plan for the stakes that matter. some of you realize this is probably the most import presidential election and all of our lifetimes. [applause] we need a president and they need to read the notes, where he will not need a teleprompter. we have had these series of town hall meetings. i thought, i would love for my constituents to hear from a governor who understands how to actually cut spending -- a new

concept in washington. a cut is of the imaginary number that never actually existed. we will cut spending from where it may have gone to where it might go, but not where it is. challenging matt only understood in washington, d.c. in virginia, we have a governor who took a $6.5 billion shortfall and turn it into a $1 billion surplus. many fans of i-73 in the house? [applause] you have a governor who understands the necessity of business structure and the decisions on investment in it. we have with us the next speaker you will hear, not only that the governor of virginia, bob macdonald, but just maybe the balancing act necessary to bring the white house back to our side because he may be our next vice- president. you never know. [applause]

perhaps. let's hear it for the governor. [applause] >> thank you very much. thank you. thank you. good evening. what a treat to be back in myrtle beach. i was telling him when i was a young kid living in northern virginia, my parents would bring the family down here every year how many of you remember the old crescent beach? we were there every year for about a decade through the 1960's and early 1970's. i have some many fond memories of coming here and sitting in that traffic from 95 to hear. that is why 73 is a pretty good idea. congressman, thank you for hosting these town halls and i need to be here with you. you have had some of the presidential candidates here already to give you a firsthand look at the candidates. i cannot tell you how much i

admire what tim has done. he campaigned for some of our candidates in 2009 and 2010 in virginia. he is a great, bright, conservative voice in the u.n. is states congress. he sticks to his guns. that is why he was rewarded with being the leader of the freshman class and why he is already taken the stand of things we need to do like cutting the corporate income tax rate so we can have more american dollars get reinvested and being able to expand the american business around the world. thank you for your leadership. you have done a great job in a short time. always great to be with one of the great wordsmiths in america. dr. frank luntz has done a great job with some of those focus groups over the years and helpful to me in giving me advice and your representative alan clements and johnny, thank you for your service.

i have already run into five virginians. thank you to all of them from coming. some drove, summer look at it. i wanted deputize all the as honorary virginians. i come from a state or the first to governors were patrick henry and thomas jefferson. that is the gig i got right now. it is a great job. i know you all our freedom loving people that understand the american dream in south carolina. all of you that our by those gas lines, be careful. it uses natural gas, which is a terrible fossil fuel. we just may have the epa putting that out of business, so be careful standing too close to that heat while they're here. i brought a few folks with me from virginia. my campaign manager when i ran for governor, who is now the executive director of the republican governors association that helps your great, when last

year. tickets for coming, phil. -- thank you for coming. i'm from the government and i'm here to help. i heard that before could reagan said it, i thought it would be an opening line. you know what he meant. government is only there to help if it reflects the will of the people and respects the constitution of the united states of america. we take that pretty serious in virginia since guys like jefferson wrote the declaration and guys like madison and mason wrote a good share of that united states constitution. that is why we were the first day to file suit against obamacare a year ago and why we're helping lead the fight with your governor against that. [applause] let me make a couple of comments. i know your attention is on the critically important goal of winning back the united states senate, perhaps more important, collecting a new commander in

chief our top priority for our country. i think there are three things to it turned out, -- determine the outcome. one, we need to get the greatest country in the world back to work. this chronic unemployment rate that has been over 9% for 32 months is just unacceptable and unsustainable. it quashes the ability of people to achieve the american dream if they cannot fend for themselves with a good, a private-sector job to take care of their family. this president's policies on jobs are horrible. more spending, more taxes, failing to realize it is the brilliance of the on japan york, the risk taker, the small businessman that really gets access to the american dream. -- the brilliance of the on to on to canoers, the risk takers,

the small businessmen. we're the most business from the state in america because we get it. said that risk takers and people that have well and want to pursue opportunity, that is good. that is right for america, not more government. and secondly, we have more debt and more deficit with this president that have been wrapped up than any other three-year period in american history. absolutely the wrong thing to do. we're mortgaging the future of our kids. we're going to be over $20 trillion in short order with the leadership of this president. there is no way to spend our way out of this problem. with a spending problem, not a revenue problem. we have to set priorities and

say what is right for our country and spend accordingly. [applause] the former governor was tim kane. he left no the $6 billion deficit and a $2 billion income tax increase to try to fix it. we cut spending back to 2006 levels, balanced the budget with had $1 billion in surplus in the last two years. that is what can be done. the third thing is probably the most important. leadership. leadership really matters. who sets the rules and policies for our country really matters. that is why these elections are so important. the outcome really does matter. this president has planned all the problems whether it is jobs or energy or whatever the -- blamed all the problems on the

tea party, the house republicans, always someone else's fault. i say, mr. president, you're the leader of the free world of the united states of america, take responsibility, said parties, get results. that is what you should be doing. [applause] we need a leader that wants to put in place results oriented conservatism. quit making excuses. just get things done. americans want people who get the basic services, statues required, get that done well and make sure government sets priorities and then stay out of their way so people can be free to use their god-given talents to pursue the american dream. that is what we need to continue. i look forward to your questions and participating in this town hall. with all this hot air from these

politicians, it will warm this place up pretty quick. thank you very much. [applause] >> we've just been joined by the chairman of the south carolina gop. [applause] the with the format works is pretty simple. you ask the questions, i'm your conduit, and all articulated to the guy up there. i will call your name and give you an opportunity to be recognized. then we'll get to the question and let him answer it. the first question comes from michael and tracy griffin. there you are. thank you for being here. mr. vice president -- [laughter] recently, the president has talked about downsizing the government.

what are your thoughts on whether he is sincere and if yes, how're to encourage those of us on the right to join him in an attempt to reduce the size of government? >> thank you, congressman, and to give for that question. talk is cheap it actions and results matter. what we have seen over the last three years, despite your best efforts and your colleagues in the house, which three are from virginia, i hope they're helping you, is just the opposite. we've seen some of the greatest expansion of government power in history. look what he tried to do in south carolina with the nlrb. cannot get things done by pro union policies in the u.s. congress because you all had the sense to kill it, so he tried to do it administratively with three unelected people in china stop blowing from coming from the west coast of south

carolina. the obamacare legislation creates i don't know how many dozens and dozens of new agencies and programs. what we have seen is more spending, more governments solutions. 10 months away from an election. of course, i think we will try to see this to the middle to creep common-sense policies. everybody knows we have to do it. we are broke. $15 trillion in debt. over the last decade, the republicans have contributed to some of that debt. we did not exactly want the clock back. if you go from where we were when obama took office thomas $5 trillion additional debt in three years is unbelievable. more taxation, more unionization. these are the things the president has promoted. it is the opposite of what any

to do to encourage the contract and your to take risk and grow -- borrow capital and create jobs. he wants to consolidate a couple of agencies and hopefully create efficiencies. if history is about this, he says it will save $3 billion over the next 10 years. fine. i applaud him. that is a drop in the bucket compared to what needs to be done. as long as he maintains that the we cannot touch entitlements, it is never going to work. everyone knows you cannot balance this horrific $1.5 trillion deficit if you cannot be serious about entitlement reform and government reform across the spectrum. i hope he is serious. i hope when he is right, that we find that common ground and cut government. but there's so much more to do. i don't think on the backs of

the president has a real interest in reducing government. most of his solutions are just the opposite, big government as opposed to more freedom and capitalism. >> thank you, governor. [applause] one of the great challenges we have had over the last year with the president is we like 80% of what he says, but we hate 90% of what he does. the next question comes from victoria williams thank you for being here. victoria says, virginia has done a fantastic job as their relates to the unemployment rate. 6%. our nation is at 8.5%. how can we as a country model our economic attitude and economic behavior's after the great state of virginia? >> i love the softball questions could just keep throwing them up here. thank you. i don't think it is that hard. we know what works.

we have been the greatest country on earth for 235 years. we understand the basic principles of freedom and federalism and limited government and understanding for repeople but we promised opportunity. we guarantee opportunity, not outcome. a fundamental difference between us and other socialist-child countries where they tried a promise outcomes and results. -- socialist-style countries where they try to promise outcomes and results. with the second highest corporate income tax and all the world. no wonder capitalist are fleeing elsewhere. you had one of the great ideas with your legislation to cut that 35% federal income tax so we do not force american businesses to go to singapore or

china or taiwan or some other country or the rates are lower. the president of coke said a couple of months ago, it is easy to do business in china today than america with this president. shocking. i was in china about six months ago on a trade mission. i tell you, they want to do business with america and they're cutting bureaucracy and try to find ways to model themselves after the way we do in america. they are learning a lot from us. we should not be having the kinds of policies. what we have done is try to cut taxes in this area is that impair the ability of businesses to create and grow access to capital. we have tried to create some targeted incentives by looking at what is virginia could that? advanced manufacturing and cybersecurity and modeling simulation and wine in tourism -- and tourism.

liberal democrats in the movie about a conservative republican president, steven spielberg. we're promoting new incentives focused on those industries. what is so important is this president is spending most of the time attacking people that are successful. listen, the president is a good family man, a nice guy. his wife with just with my wife in virginia. we do have common ground we applaud that. his policies are flat wrong. he is attacking successful people. somehow if you have been successful, your somehow stomping on other people's rights? we should condemn that. that is not the american formula of success. [applause] what i say, look, if you want to come to virginia and relocate your business here, we would

love it. we have gotten people from california like hilton and other major companies that have relocated from california to virginia because they do not get it when it comes to taxes and regulation and we do. we know this is a competitive marketplace not only for ideas, but for jobs. the more you can make your state business-friendly and bring in those job creators your state, the better off you are going to be. these are pretty elementary concepts. that is what tim is trying to do in congress. we put him place. chris christie, scott walker, rick scott are doing that. that is why you see some of the most pro-business friendly states in america are headed by republican governors. they get it. i will say virginia has been ranked no. 1 this year, but those other republican governors are in a great job. [applause] >> another amazing talent comes

from jason watson. are you here? thank you. he is a commercial fisherman. he spends a lot of time to live with the regulatory environment getting worse and worse on commerce. this question goes to the regulatory environment we have in this nation, specifically, catch limits, impact offshore fishing but more importantly, the regulatory environment that has stifled growth throughout this nation is doing it more because in the last 12 months, we've added 70,000 pages of the compliance cost of $95 billion just to comply. would you talk about that? >> i think the great cancer that undermines wealth creation and job creation is taxation regulation and litigation, and to some degree in certain areas like the boeing case, unionization.

what this president seems to do, tim, because he cannot get certain things done, on various environmental fronts like cap and trade uncertain union areas like card check, he's trusty's the administrative process attacked with -- he tries to use the administrative process attack with good public servants, but try to get them to pass the volumes of new regulation that enacts some of these policies. i think some are beyond the scope of what congress intended. regulations, as long as they have a valid consumer protection or public safety impact and do it in the least intrusive way upon the citizens, then it makes sense. some of the regulations we have seen over the last couple of years, particularly with the bombs of them in public headed right now for obamacare, are

really just a hidden tax. they add to the cost of doing business. who pays for it? you do because it is passed on as part of the cost of doing business from the businessman. it is the same thing the fishing area. i do think we need to balance the sensible goal protecting our environment and natural resources with the needs of commerce. for a long time in most states and in the nation, we realized that has to be some limits on catches of all kinds of things. we have some elements that affect our fishermen in virginia. if they become excessive to achieve a political objective on behalf of people that are maybe very far left when it comes to environmental protection, then you stifle entrepreneurship and hurt the businessman. that is the goal. reasonable regulation that

achieves a valid public safety or consumer protection and does not just pass on the cost of the businessman. that should be our goal. [applause] >> our next question comes from thomas middleton. good to see you out there. he is a question about voter fraud and the federal intrusion. in south carolina, our immigration law, our voter id, and the nlrb are three situations were we see the federal government coming into our state and they're suing us or trying to steal jobs from this great state. your state is a right to work state as ours. how do we stop the voter fraud and how we stop the intrusion the federal look at government seems to be doing rampantly throughout this nation? >> one of the great hallmarks of the american republic is for the most part, people have confidence in the outcome of elections. you see these horrible images and other countries where these totalitarian regimes in a 99% of

the vote and everyone knows what is going on. having the principle of one-man, one-vote the counted is so important to our founders. it is one of the things the revolution was about, no taxation without representation. colonists were denied that representation, so they decided they would make their stand and fight for it. making sure that everybody casts one vote and not more than one vote is also important. we have done some things like basic fodder identification requirements at the polls, just to prove you are few say you are, without adding anything to suppress voter turnout is a common-sense way to do it. with regards to the overbearing federal government, that would take the rest of this town hall and beyond. when the 10th minute was adopted, it meant something.

it meant that article i section 8 of the constitution was a box the government was supposed to be in. that articulated the limited, find it powers of what washington is supposed to do. not more, not less. the federal government, when they get outside the box, it tries to be all things to all people or to do whatever the courts allow them to do, and it really tramples on with the 10th and then it was all about which says whatever they cannot do, it is left to you, the people, in the states respectively. i really think an important part of what we try to do with the republican governors association is to help rebalance those powers between state and federal governments. we see it all throughout the federalist papers about the importance of keeping some limitations on a federal

government that is a lot about what the first 10 amendments was about, to guarantee those individual liberties to the citizens and to the states respectively. i think we'd have a louder voice. we will be done that a lot of the republican governors association. individual governor's making the best choices because they are closer to the people. that is whatever some believed in. it is more responsive, more attentive. just like these town hall meetings we are having here. i know you believe that, tim, the limitations really mean a lot or are important and we should restore them. [applause] >> thank you for the question on voter fraud, tom. no doubt 2008, 91 people who

died before 2008 were able to rise from the great -- grave and participate in electing barack obama. that's turned -- its turn our attention to what who makes a good president. he suggested being a governor is a very good road to the white house. [laughter] that is the easy part. gov. perry? gov. romney? gov. huntsman. compare the records. >> i am a -- i am biased because i think governors make good presidents, and so do virginians, we have had eight. i am not running. the three things we talked about, we talked about up front frank, i have talked about this in your focus groups.

what people say we need to do to restore the great country that we have is get the american engine of opportunity back to work with more jobs, in our fiscal house in order, families are doing it and businesses are doing and the federal government should do it, too. we have to balance our state budgets. they print money tim has been a good boy for not doing that. [applause] not all of "they." we have self and forced debt ceilings and our state, they don't. we need voices like tim scott being of a say how we get that in order. and leadership. those are the three key issues i see coming up. i have said i'm so what partial the governors because when i see the failures in leadership and direction of this administration, the skill set that i think is best suited to fix that is what the governors really have to do every day,

that is we have to balance budgets every year. you cannot spend more than you have. you have to account for all the time. which means you have to increase taxes or cut spending. in virginia, we cut spending. secondly, when you are -- when the unemployment rate is 9%, you cannot be blaming congress or the man behind the tree. you have to take responsibility for it what are your tax policies and regulations? are you saying jobs and businesses are a good thing? are you engaging in class warfare? we don't do that. i think because governors are held directly responsible for the unemployment rate, they will have the best ideas, i think, on how to get that under control and business development, on energy policy. so i am a little partial to governors. i can say, if you have three governors in the race. most oem