Transcripts For CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20140802

Good afternoon everybody. Happy friday. I thought i would take some questions but first let me say a few words. This morning we learned that our economy created over 200,000 new jobs in july. Thats on top of about 300,000 new jobs in june. So we are now in a sixmonth streak with at least 200,000 new jobs each month. Thats the first time that has happened since 1997. Over the past year we have had more jobs than any year since 2006 and all told our businesses have created 9. 9 million new jobs over the past 53 months. Thats the longest streak of privatesector job creation in our history. And as we saw in wednesday the economy grew at a strong pace in the spring. Companies are investing, consumers are spending, American Manufacturing energy, technology autos all are booming. Thanks to the decisions we have made and the grid and resilience of the American People we have recovered faster and come farther from the recession than almost any other advanced country on earth. So the good news is the economy clearly is getting stronger. Things are getting better. Our engines are revving a little bit louder and the decisions we make right now can sustain and keep that growth and momentum going. Unfortunately there are series of steps we could be taking to maintain momentum and perhaps even accelerate it. There are steps we could be taking that would result in more job growth, higher wages, higher incomes, more relief for middleclass families and so far at least in congress we have not seen them willing or able to take those steps. I have been pushing for common sense ideas like rebuilding or the structure in ways that are sustained over many years and support millions of good jobs and help businesses compete. Ive been advocating on behalf of raising the minimum wage, making it easier for working folks to pay off their student loans, fair pay, paid leave, all these policies have two things in common. All of them would help working families feel more stable and secure and all of them so far have been blocked or ignored by republicans in congress. Thats why it might administration keeps taking whatever actions we can take on our own to help working famili families. Now its good that congress was able to pass legislation to strengthen the va and i want to thank the chairman and ranking members who were involved in that. Its good that congress was able to at least Fund Transportation projects for a few more months before leaving town although it falls far short of the kind of infrastructure effort that we need that would actually accelerate the economy. But for the most part the bigticket items, the things that would really make a difference in the lives of middleclass families, those things are just not getting done. Lets just take a recent example, immigration. We all agree that theres a problem that needs to be solved in a portion of our southern border. And even agree on most of the solutions. But instead of working together, instead of focusing on the 80 where there is agreement between democrats and republicans between the administration and congress, House Republicans as we speak are trying to pass the most extreme and unworkable versions of a bill that they already know is going nowhere areas they cant pass it in the senate and if it were to pass the senate i would veto it and they know it. Ive been trying to solve a problem. This is a message bill they couldnt pull off yesterday so they made their little more extreme so maybe they could pass it today. Just so they can check a box before they are leaving town for a month. This is on an issue that they all and says it had to be a top priority. Our efforts administratively so far have helped to slow the tide of Child Migrants trying to come to our country but without Additional Resources and help from congress, we are just not going to have the resources we need to fully solve the problem. That means while they are out on vacation im going to have to make some tough choices to meet the challenge with or without congress and yesterday even though they have been sitting on a bipartisan immigration bill for over a year, House Republicans suggested that since they dont expect to actually pass a bill that i can find that i actually should go ahead and act on my own to solve the problem. Keep in mind that just a few days earlier they voted to sue me for acting on my own and then when i couldnt pass the bill yesterday, they put out a statement suggesting i should act on my own because they couldnt pass the bill. So immigration has not gotten done. A student loan bill that would help folks who have Student Loan Debt consolidate and refinance at lower rates, that didnt pa pass. The transportation bill that they did pass just gets us through the spring when we should actually be planning years in advance. States and businesses are raising the minimum wage for their workers because this congress is failing to do so. Even basic things like approving career diplomats were critical ambassador posts arent getting done. Last night for purely political reasons Senate Republicans for a certain period of time blocked our new ambassador to russia. It raised such an uproar that finally they went ahead and let irs and ambassador pass it at a time when we are dealing everyday with the crisis in ukraine. They are still blocking our ambassador for sierra leone where there is currently in is currently an evil outbreak. Theyre blocking ambassador to guatemala even as they demand to stop the flow of unaccompanied children from guatemala. There are a lot of things we could be arguing about on policy. That is what we should be doing as a democracy that we shouldnt be having an argument about placing career diplomats with bipartisan support in countries around the world where we have to have a presence. The bottom line is this, we have come a long way over the last five and a half years. Our challenges are nowhere near as bonding as they were when i first came into office. But the American People demand and deserve a strong and focused effort on the part of all of us to keep moving the country forward and to focus on their concerns. And the fact is we could be much further along and we could be doing even better and that the economy could be Even Stronger and more jobs could be created if congress would do the job the people sent them here to do. I will not stop trying to work with both parties to get things moving faster for middleclass families and those trying to get into the middle class. When Congress Returns next month my hope is instead of simply trying to pass partisan message bills on party lines that dont actually solve problems, they are going to be willing to come together to at least focus on some key areas where there is broad agreement. After all that we have had to overcome, our congress should stop standing in the way of our country success. So with that let me take a couple of questions and i will start with roberta with reuters. I want to ask about the institution and why do you think israel should embrace a ceasefire in gaza when soldiers appear to have been abducted and hamas continues to use its network of tom most to launch attacks and also have you seen israel on your call protecting civilians . Well first of all i think its important to note that we have and i have unequivocally condemn hamas and the palestinian factions that were responsible for killing two Israeli Soldiers and abducting a third are most minutes after the ceasefire had been announced. And the u. N. Has condemned them as well. I want to make sure that they are listening and if they are serious about trying to resolve the situation that soldier needs to be unconditionally released as soon as possible. I have been very clear throughout this crisis that israel has a right to defend itself. No country can tolerate missiles raining down on its cities and people having to rush to bomb shelters every 20 minutes or half hour. No country can or would tolerate tunnels being dug under their land that can be used to launch terrorist attacks, and so not only have we been supportive of israel in its right to defend itself but in very concrete terms for example in support for the iron dome Problem Program that is intercepted rockets fired down on israeli cities. We have been trying to cooperate as much as we can to make sure that israel is able to protect its citizens. Now the same time we have also been clear that innocent civilians in gaza caught in the crossfire have to weigh on our conscience and we have to do more to protect them. A ceasefire was one way in which we could stop the killing, to step back and to try to resolve some of the underlying issues that have been building up for quite some time. Israel committed to the 72 hour for ceasefire and it was violated and trying to put that back together is going to be challenging but we will continue to make those efforts. Let me take this opportunity by the way to give secretary john kerry credit. He has been persistent. He has worked very hard. He has endured on many occasions really unfair criticism. Simply to try to get to the point where the killing stops and the underlying issues about israels security but also the concerns of palestinians in gaza can be addressed. We are going to keep working towards that. Its going to take some time. I think its going to be very hard to put a ceasefire back together again if israelis and the International Community cant feel confident that hamas can follow through on a ceasefire commitment. And its not particularly relevant whether a particular leader in hamas ordered the subduction. The point is when they sign onto a ceasefire they are claiming to speak for all the palestinian factions. They dont have control and just moments after ceasefire signed you have Israeli Soldiers being killed and captured, then its hard for the israelis to feel confident that a ceasefire can actually be honored. I am in constant consultation with Prime Minister netanyahu. Our National Security team is in constant communication with the israeli military. I want to see Everything Possible done to make sure that Palestinian Civilians are not being killed and it is heartbreaking to see what is happening there. I think many of us recognize the dilemma we have. On the one hand, israel has a right to defend itself and its got to be able to get at those rockets and those Tunnel Networks. On the other hand, because of the incredibly irresponsible actions on the part of hamas too oftentimes house these rocket launches right in the middle of civilian neighborhoods, we end up seeing people who had nothing to do with these rockets ending up being hurt. Part of the reason why we have been pushing so hard for a ceasefire is precisely because its hard to reconcile israels legitimate need to defend itself with our concern with those civilians. And if we can pause the fight, then its possible that we may be able to arrive at a formula that spares lives and also ensures israels security. But its difficult and i dont think we should pretend otherwise. Bill plante. Mr. President like that ceasefire you have called for Diplomatic Solutions not only in israel and gaza but also in ukraine and iraq. With very little effect so far. As the United States of america lost its influence in the world and have you lost yours . Look, this is a common theme that folks bring up. Apparently people have forgotten that america has the most powerful country on earth still does not control everything around the world. And so our diplomatic efforts often take time. They often will see progress and then step backwards. That has been true in the middle east. That has been true in europe. That has been true in asia. Thats the nature of world affairs. Its not neat and its not smooth but if you look at for example ukraine, we have made progress in delivering on what we said we would do. We cant control how mr. Putin thinks but what we can do is say to mr. Putin, if you continue on the path of arming separatists with heavy armaments that evidence suggests may have resulted in 300 innocent people on a jet dying and that violates International Law and undermines the integrity, territorial integrity and sovereignty of ukraine, then you are going to face consequences that will hurt your country. And there was a lot of skepticism about our ability to coordinate with europeans for a strong series of sanctions and each time we have done what we said we would do including this week when we put in place sanctions that have an impact on key sectors of the russian economy. Their energy, their defense, their financial systems. It hasnt resolve the problem yet. I spoke to mr. Putin this morning and i indicated to him just as we say we will do what we do in terms of sanctions will also do we say we will do in terms of solving this diplomatically if he takes a different position. If he respects and honors the right of ukrainians to determine their own destiny than its possible to make sure that russian interests are addressed that are legitimate and that ukrainians are able to make their own decisions. And we can resolve this conflict and some of the bloodshed. But the point is built that if you look at the 20th century and the early part of this century, there are lot of complex that america doesnt resolve. That has always been true. That doesnt mean we stop trying. And its not a measure of american influence on any given day or at any given moment. There are conflicts around the world that are difficult. The conflict in Northern Ireland raged for a very long time until finally something programs where the parties decided that it wasnt worth killing each other. The palestinianisraeli conflict has been going on even longer than you have been reporting. [laughter] and i dont think at any point was there a suggestion somehow that america didnt have influence just because we werent able to finalize the israelipalestinian peace deal. You will recall that situations like kosovo and bosnia raged on for quite some time and there was a lot more death and bloodshed than there has been so far in the ukrainian situation before it ultimately didnt get resolved. And so i recognize with so many different issues popping up around the world, sometimes it may seem as if this is an aberration or its unusual but the truth of the matter is that this is a big world out there and as indispensable as we are to try to leave it there are still going to be tragedies out there and there will be conflicts and our job is just to make sure we continue to project whats right and whats just and we are building coalitions of likeminded countries and partners in order to advance not only our core security interest but also be in just of the world as a whole. Do you think you couldve done more . On which one . On any of them. Well look, i think bill the nature of being president is that you are always asking yourself what more can you do. With respects to let say the israelipalestinian issue this administration invested an enormous amount to try to bring the parties together around a framework for peace and a twostate solution. John kerry invested an enormous amount of time. In the end its up to the two parties to make a decision. We can leave them to resolve some of the technical issues and to show them a path that they have got to want it. With respect to ukraine i think we have done everything we can to support the Ukrainian Government and to deter russia by moving further into ukraine. But, short of going to war they are going to be some constraints in terms of what we can do if president putin and russia are ignoring what should be their longterm interest. Right now if what we have done is imposed sufficient costs on russia that the objectively speaking, they should, president putin should want to resolve this diplomatically. Get the sanctions lifted and get their economy going again and have good relations with ukraine. But, sometimes people dont always act rationally and they dont always act based on their medium or longterm interest. That cant deter us though. We have just got to stay out of it. Wendell. Mr. President republicans point to some of your executive orders as a reason they say they cant trust you to implement legislation as they pass it. Even if you dont buy that argument do you hold yourself totally blameless in the ability it appears to reach an agreement with the republicanled house . Wendell, lets just take their the recent example of immigration. A bipartisan bill passed out of the senate cosponsored by not just democrats but some very conservative republicans who recognize that the system currently is broken and if in fact we put more resources on the border, provide a path which those undocumented workers who have been living here for a long time and advertise your are coming out of the shadows and paying their taxes, paying a fine, learning english, if we fix the Legal Immigration system so its more efficient, if we are attracting young people who may have studied here to stay here and create jobs here, that all is going to be good for the economy. Its going to reduce the deficit. It might have forestalled some of the problems we are seeing now in the Rio Grande Valley with these unaccompanied children. So we have a bipartisan bill wendell, a bipartisan agreement supported by everyone from labor labour to the evangelical community to Law Enforcement so the argument isnt between me and the House Republicans. Its between the House Republicans and Senate Republicans. And House Republicans and the Business Community and House Republicans and the evangelical community. Im just one of the people they seem to disagree with on this issue. So thats on the comprehensive bill. Now we have a shortterm crisis with respect to the Rio Grande Valley. They say we need more resources. We need tougher Border Security in this area where these unaccompanied children are showing up. We agree so we put forward a supplemental to give us the Additional Resources and funding to do exactly what they say we should be doing. And they cant pass the bill. They cant even pass their own version of the bill. So that is not a disagreement between me and the House Republicans. Thats a disagreement between the House Republicans and the House Republicans. The point is that on a range of these issues, whether its tax reform, whether its reducing the deficit, whether its rebuilding our structure we have consistently put forward proposals that in previous years and previous administrations would not have been considered radical or leftwing. It would have been considered pretty sensible mainstream approaches to solving problems. I would include under that by the way the Affordable Care act but thats a whole mother conversation. And in circumstances where even basic common sense plainvanilla legislation cant pass because House Republicans consider it somehow a compromise of their principles or giving obama a victory, then we have got to take action. Otherwise we are not going to be making progress on the things that the American People care about. On the border supplemental . Im going to have to act alone because we dont have enough resources. We have already been pretty clear, we have run out of money. And we are going to have to reallocate resources in order to just make sure that some of the basic functions that have to take place down there, whether its making sure these children are properly housed warmaking sure we have enough Immigration Judges to process their cases, but those things get done. We are going to have to reallocate some resources. But the broader point wendell is that if in fact House Republicans are concerned about me acting independently of congress, despite the fact that im taking fewer executive actions that executive actions than my Republican Party sister or my democratic predecessor before that or the republican predecessor before that been the easiest way to solve it is passing legislation. Get things done. On the supplemental, we agreed on 80 of the issues. There were 20 of the issues that perhaps there were disagreements between democrats and republicans. As i said to one republican colleagues that was done here that i was briefing about National Security issues, why would we just go ahead and pass the 80 we agree on and we will try to work to resolve the differences on the other 20 . Why would we do that and he didnt really have a good answer for it. So there is no doubt that i can always do better on everything including making additional calls to Speaker Boehner and having more conversations with some of the House Republicans leadership. But in the end the challenge i have right now is that they are not able to act even on what they say there are priorities are. And they are not able to work and compromise even with Senate Republicans on certain issues. And they consider what has been traditionally republican supported initiatives. They consider those as somehow a betrayal of the cause. Take the example of the exportimport bank. This is an interesting thing that has happened. I mean, this is a program in which we helped to provide financing to sell American Goods and products around the world. Every country does this. It has traditionally been championed by the republicans. For some reason right now, the House Republicans have decided that we shouldnt do this. Which means that when American Companies go overseas and they are trying to close a sale on selling boeing planes for example or a ge turbine or some other american product that has all kinds of subcontractors behind it and is creating all kinds of jobs and all sorts of Small Businesses depend on that sale and that American Company is going up against a German Company or a Chinese Company and the chinese and the German Company are providing financing and the American Company is and we may lose that sale. When did that become something that republicans opposed . It would be like me having a car dealership for ford and the toyota dealership offers somebody financing and i dont. We will lose business and we will lose jobs if we dont pass it. So there are some big issues where i understand why we have differences. On taxes, republicans want to maintain some corporate loopholes that i think need to be close because i think we should be giving tax breaks to families that are struggling with childcare or trying to save for a college education. On health care obviously their view is that we should not be helping folks get Health Care Even though its through the private marketplace. My view is that in a country as wealthy as ours we can afford to make sure everybody has access to Affordable Care. Those are legitimate policy arguments. But getting our ambassadors confirmed . These are career diplomats, not political types. Making sure that we pass legislation to strengthen our borders and put more folks down there, those shouldnt be controversial. And i think you would be hardpressed to find an example of where i wouldnt welcome some reasonable efforts to actually get a bill passed out of congress that i could find. Last question. Michelle kaczynski. He made the point that in certain difficult complex in the past both sides reached a point where they were tired of the budget. You think we are actually far from that point right now and is it realistic to try to broker a ceasefire right now when there are still tunnel operations . Is that going to cause a change of approach on this point forward . Keep in mind that the ceasefire that had been agreed to would have given israel the capability to continue to dismantle these tunnel operations but the israelis cant dismantle these Tunnel Networks without going into Major Population Centers in gaza. So i think the israelis are entirely right that these Tunnel Networks need to be dismantled. Theres a way of doing that while still reducing the bloodshed. You are right that it has complex. Sometimes people have to feel deeply the cost. Anybody who has been watching some of these images i would like to think thank should recognize the costs. You have children who are getting killed. You have women defenseless who are getting killed. You have israelis whose lives are disrupted constantly. And living in fear. And those are costs that are avoidable if they are able to get a ceasefire that preserves israels ability to defend itself and gives it the capacity to have the assurance that they are not going to be constantly threatened by rocket fire in the future and conversely, an agreement that recognizes the palestinians need to be able to make a living and the average palestinians capacity to live a decent life. But its hard. Its going to be hard to get there. I think that there is a lot of anger and there is a lot of despair and thats a volatile mix. But we have to keep trying. And bill asked earlier about American Leadership. Part of the reason why america remains a dispensable part of the essential ingredient in American Leadership is that we are willing to plunge in and try where other countries dont bother trying. The fact of the matter is in all these crises that have been mentioned there may be some tangential risks to the United States. In some cases as in iraq and isis, those are dangers that have to be addressed right now and we have to take them very seriously. But for the most part these are not the rockets arent being fired into the United States. The reason we are concerned is because we recognize we have got some special responsibilities. We have to have some humility about what we can and cant accomplish. We have to recognize our resources are finite and we are coming out of a decade of war and our military has been stretched very hard as has our budget. Nevertheless, we try. We go in there and we make an effort and when i see john kerry going out there and trying to broker a ceasefire we should all be supporting him. We shouldnt be a bunch of complaints and guessing about oh it hasnt happened yet and nitpicking before he has had a chance to complete his efforts. Because i will tell you what there isnt any other country thats going in there and making those efforts. And more often than not as a consequence of our involvement to get better outcomes. Not perfect outcomes, not immediate outcomes that we get better outcomes. And thats going to be true with respect to the middle east. Thats going to be true with respect to the ukraine and certainly true with respect to iraq. And its useful for me to and by reminding folks that in my first term if i had a press conference like this typically everybody would want to ask about the economy and how come jobs were being created and how come the Housing Market is still bad. Why isnt it working . Well you know what . What we did work and the economy is better and when i say that we just had six months of more than 200,000 jobs that hasnt happened in 17 years, that shows you the power of persistence. It shows you that if you stay at it, eventually we will made some progress. All right . I thought that you guys were going to ask me how i was going to spend my birthday. What happened to the happy birthday thing . I will address two points. I will address hold on, guys. Come on. You are not that pent up. Ive been giving you questions lately. On brennan, and the cia, the rdi report has been transmitted. The declassified version that will be released at the pleasure of the senate committee. I have full confidence in john brennan. I think he has technology and directly apologize to senator feinstein that cia personnel did not properly handle an investigation as to how certain documents were not authorized to be released to the senate staff got somehow into the hands of senate staff and its clear from the ig report that some very poor judgment was shown in terms of how that was handled. Keep in mind john brennan was the person that called for the ig report and esrd stood up a task force to make sure that lessons are learned and mistakes are resolved. With respect to the larger point of the rdi report itself, even before i came into office, i was very clear that in the immediate aftermath of 9 11, we did some things that were wrong. We did a whole lot of things that were right, but we tortured some folks. We did some things that were contrary to our values. I understand why it happened. I think its important when we look back to recall how afraid people were after the twin towers fell and the pentagon had been hit in the plane in pennsylvania had fallen and people did not know whether more attacks were imminent and there was enormous pressure on our Law Enforcement and our National Security teams to try to deal with this, and you know its important for us not to feel too sanctimonious in retrospect about the tough job with those folks had. A lot of those folks were working hard and under enormous pressure and are real patriots but having said all that, we did some things that were wrong. And that is what that report reflects and that is the reason why after i took office one of the first things i did was to ban some of the extraordinary interrogation techniques that are the subject of that report. My hope is that this report reminds us once again that the character of our country has to be measured in part not by what we do when things are easy but but what we do when things are hard. And when we engage in some of these enhanced interrogation techniques, techniques that i believe and i think any fairminded person would believe were torture, we crossed a line and that needs to be, that needs to be understood and accepted and we have to as a country take responsibility for that so hopefully we dont do it again in the future. Now i gave you a question. We have a u. S. Africa summit coming up next week. Its going to be an unprecedented gathering of african leaders. The importance of this for a America Needs to be understood. Africa is one of the Fastest Growing confidence in the world. You have six of the 10 fastestgrowing economies in africa. You have all sorts of other countries like china and brazil and india deeply interested in working with africa, not to extract Natural Resources along which traditionally has been the relationship between africa and the rest of the world but now because africa is growing and you have thriving markets ending of entrepreneurs and extraordinary talent among the people there and africa also happens to be one of the continents where america is the most popular and people feel a real affinity for our way of life. We have made enormous progress over the last several years and not just providing traditional aid to africa, helping countries that are suffering from auma attrition or helping countries that are suffering from aids but rather partner in thinking about how can we trade more and how can we do business together . Thats the kind of relationship that africa is looking for. Ive had conversations over the last several months with u. S. Businesses, some of the biggest u. S. Businesses in the world and they say africa, thats one of our top priorities. We want to do business with those folks and we think we can create u. S. Jobs and send u. S. Exports to africa but we have got to be engaged. This gives us a chance to do that. It also gives us a chance to talk to africa about Security Issues because as we have seen, terrorist networks try to find places where governance is weak and security structures are weak and if we want to keep ourselves safe over the longterm one of the things we can do is make sure that we are partnering with some countries that really have pretty Effective Security forces and have been applying themselves in peacekeeping and conflict resolution efforts in africa and that ultimately can save us and our troops and our military a lot of money if we have strong partners who are able to deal with conflicts in these regions. So its going to be a terrific conference. Eyewall wyden to you. Traffic will be back here in washington. I know everybody has been warned about that but we are really looking forward to this and i think its going to be a great success. The last thing im going to say about this because i know its been on peoples minds is the issue of ebola. This is something that we take very seriously. A soon as there is an outbreak anywhere in the world of any disease that could have significant effects, the cdc is in communication with the World Health Organization and other multilateral agencies to try to make sure that we have got an appropriate response. This has been a more aggressive Ebola Outbreak and we have seen in the past. But keep in mind that it is still affecting parts of three countries and we have got some 50 countries represented at the summit. We are doing two things with respect to the summit itself. We are taking appropriate precautions. Folks who are coming from these countries that had even a marginal risk or infinitesimal risk of having been exposed in some fashion we are making sure we are doing screening on that and as they leave the country. We will do additional screening when they are here. We felt confident the procedures we have put in place are appropriate. More broadly, the cdc and our various Health Agencies are going to be working very intently with the World Health Organization and some of our partner countries to make sure that we can search some resources down there and organization to these countries that are pretty poor and dont have a Strong Public Health infrastructure so that we can start containing the problem. Keep in mind that ebola is not something that is easily transmitted. That is why generally outbreaks dissipate but the key is identifying, quarantining, isolating those who contract it and making sure that practices are in place that avoid transmission. And it can be done but its got to be done in an organized systematic way. That means we will have to help these countries accomplish that. All right, okay . There you go april. Thats what im talking about. Someone buy me wish me a happy birthday. Although it isnt until monday, you are right. Thank you very much. [inaudible conversations] she was so beautiful and so smart and also so witty that she was just always irresistible to men. I never saw even in old age. I gave her 80th Birthday Party and Richard Cohen the washington columnist was at this party. They sat together after dinner having coffee and at one point she begins to stroke his beard and afterwards, heavens he says. I had never met and 80yearold before that i wanted to leap into bed with. She had this dam had this vampish and seductive quality all of her life. In an interview with the Christian Science science monitor House Budget Committee chair paul ryan talked about this years congressional elections. The 2016 president ial race, immigration policy, tax reform and reaction to his proposal to fight poverty. He also commented on House Republicans lawsuit against the president and talk of impeachment. This is an hour. [inaudible conversations] we are just going to have to get a new hosts to do it. Are you doing at . Thats good. Here we go. Thanks for coming. I guess todays represented paul ryan chairman of the House Budget Committee to his last visit here was in february of 2012 and thank you for coming back. He showed an early interest in politics working as a staffer while still in college at Miami University in ohio. After graduation i guess was a speechwriter for jack kemp and worked for camps and power america think tank. Camp told washingtonian magazine that ryans strength is that is quote an activist conservative not a stick in the mud conservative. According to the almanac of american politics while representative ryan worked on capitol hill as a legislative director for Sam Brownback he also moonlighted as a waiter in 1998 at the ripe old age of 28 he was elected to congress and became chairman of the Budget Committee in 2011. You are calling it was the Republican Partys Vice President ial nominee in 2012. I want to as always we are on the record here. Please no blogging or tweeting and now of any kind of a breakfast is underway to listen to what our guests says. There is no embargo when the session ends. To help you curb their relentless urge we were enough pictures of the session to a reporters as soon as the breakfast ends. As regular attendees know if you would like to ask a question please do the traditional thing and send me a subtle mom threatening signal and i will call on one when we have the time available. Thanks again for doing this. My pleasure. Thank you. How about if i just talk about what i recently proposed with our upward mobility projects. Its an opportunity plan. I spent the last year and a half or so during the country, listening to people who are doing a phenomenal job fighting poverty and learning about the different ideas that are a the there, the federal government and its programs looking for evidence or studies of success and then conducting around a half a dozen dealings with the Budget Committee. Our thinking was that this 50 anniversary anniversary the war on poverty where we still have the highest poverty rates in a generation and the highest deep Property Rights and we have been recording it my feeling was we had to do Something Different and better and when you take a look at it with the 30,000foot view i would argue that we have more or less measured success in the war on property based on efforts or inputs. How much money we have spent and how many programs did we create a not on results and the outcomes. How many people are we actually getting out of poverty . So when you take a look at it i think the reforms we are offering on are more focused on outcomes and focus on putting the federal government in its proper place in helping advocate what actually works. The biggest policy is what we call the opportunity grant. The opportunity grants give states the ability to conduct innovative reforms to get people from welfare to work. It consolidates up to 11 programs in a single funding stream. Its not just a loose block grant. The states had to do a few things. Number one they have to get people in need. They cant use it to pay for other areas like roads and bridges. Work works. The one thing we have learned is getting people to work as the bridge to a better life. Number three families need to have choices. You cant just use a government to provide services. Of all the things theyre phenomenal groups at the local level who have done a phenomenal job of transitioning people into lives of opportunity. We work with groups Like Catholic Charities Lutheran Social Services america work so you have to break up the monopoly of service and give families in need a choice to pay their benefits and number four you need to test the results. Thats the one thing we dont do very well is determine whether or not what we do is actually effective and actually reaching the objective so we need to test the results. Its one of the things we recommend, not mandate because i think thats extremely effective. What it does is it make us localize customized personal plan and that means each person is a different problem. Poverty is very compensated and having a system of accountability, having a system of customization for someone who works for the caseworker helps customize their needs and their plan and its the best way of getting a person onto a better life on where they want to go. That to me is one of the best things we can do. We stop short of carrying reforms in the United States. Another round of likeminded reforms are in need. There are a number of other things we have proposed other ideas that have been proposed that we think are smart. Criminal justice reforms presented a summary form. Think we need to do education reform to go at sources of tuition inflation. I think with respect to the eitc is a program that is in need of reform and the ways and Means Committee should look into that. We propose a number spending cuts to programs that are wasteful or fraudulent or ineffective, to try and pull young adults into the workforce. Among the problems we have in our labor force who people have stopped looking for work is very acute among younger people and by raising the to a thousand dollars on the eitc that is one of the programs that helps hold the workforce. There are a number of ideas. The whole point of this was to start the conversation. Start a conversation and focus on solutions with the night toward actual objectives and result outcomes and that means if we are going to invest all this time and money lets do it in a way that works with Civil Society, that doesnt displace and recognizes the boots on the ground of the people on the front front lines may know a thing or two and we shouldnt frustrate or micromanage. We should be behind that and test results go with what works and is effective. Thats the kind of conversation want to have. If we can have that kind of a commerce nation and this is what we are trying to start here, we can start putting in Place Solutions and making a difference. I will leave it at that because that is just one of the issues we have been working on and i assume you want to talk about other things as well. Let me talk to bite your plan for a moment and ask you about how you access it responsibly that fall into several categories. The Senate Budget and policy priorities and places a member of objections and one of them is a member of things that are block grant like typically shrink often substantially. They cite the Home Investment Partnership program down 60 since its inception social Services Block ground down 80 . Another objection comes from people who feel getting greater power over poverty assistance to states that sean have been particularly warm warmhearted might be a problem. But. People are generous. I think its fully right and appropriate to expect some and return. If theyre going to spend their money and helping people out of poverty theres nothing wrong with having some accountability so that people use their generosity as a way to get out of poverty. Having that accountability for the assistance plugging is wholly appropriate call all taxpayers would want. Were not talking about a government of breaking into government providing a monopoly so that crews that are very successful already can help get people where there are and where want to be. This is basically an extension of the principles used and welfare reform. Going to appoint members to, suggesting this is the did not pay for medicaid, one size fits all top down expansion which is going to be an Unfunded Mandate is the same thing has not wanted to be able to help the poor people in your state which misses the point and thats an insult to the whole motion here. The phenomenal job of welfare reform. This was truly successful removing people from welfare and on to a better life. These are the kinds of proposals were talking about here. Its the opposite of the medicaid obamacare expansion which is top down dictated by the federal government. We trying to go with a bottomup approach. Go with what works to respect local people, respect other groups like nonprofits, for profits, people who are trained in getting people on their feet again. Paying a person who is receiving benefits, theres something expected to return. Tear with the problem the chair half. And so theres accountabilities of these dollars. And i believe by giving multiple groups and states the ability you will actually do a far better job fighting poverty and the status quo which i would argue is indefensible. Ish use. As far as the budget is concerned, you can find these at any level. That did not want to get into a funding debate. Thats right beside the point. The point is lets figure out how to reform it. A good figure out what funding level to fund a question deliberation between running for President Army the ways and Means Committee as an impact on so many of the economic issues. There really are just doing their job. The problems that are facing our country and i see in front of me right now, try not to think about my personal ambitions or personal career moves or how i can, you know, think about. The fact is, im focusing on policy right now. Since 2015 will sit down and have proper deliberation and conversation necessary. Right now which is focused on what i can do in my job today. I think its a better use of my time and is more faithful to the people i represent. Michael bender, demi and poetic. Congressman, you already alluded to this. It does in many ways from this plan. [inaudible conversations] i tried getting at this last point, crank. If either of us went into another but the conversation all we would be talking about our numbers and statistics. We could have another debate about the status quo, funding the status quo. I think that is a sidestep. There is really another point. Lets talk about to reform programs with an eye toward results. The fact of the matter is, these reforms could occur under a spending level. We can have a debate at the proper time. A standby. Its very important for Economic Growth, upward mobility and for the future of our country that would bounce a budget and pay down our debt. We are heading into our debt crisis will have to get our hands on that. This debate that im trying to start should be about how to reform. As i mentioned at the beginning of it, you can find it at any level you want. Does not have that debate. Lisa. Our people back their hearing . Jack. Okay. Thanks. [inaudible question] Case Management is something we recommend. As a young woman, at the local Catholic Charities office. And she became homeless in her teens. Appearance more less abandoned her. She lives in that town called sharon, wisconsin tomorrow town on the rock of illinois border. She had some problems of her life. And they sat down with her and put together what they call a life plan. They looked at the knees she had and the aspirations. She had chosen profession she wants to get into, medical field. So they basically your turf find a minimumwage job. But they also helped with her benefits, of which were just with cafeterias. A aside from government assistance to get your ged she needed, to iran to the job training she needed, and now she has a job and shes going to school and shes getting married and spreading her life together and started to go into the chosen profession she had. And the person sitting down and understand your problems and covering of the plan to help our get to where she wants to be a commission would not a done that. She would have remained homeless. Now shes getting married, getting the profession she wants, and shes a happy person building a life for herself. I can go on. Lowincome job, but she has benefits worse is going to school. She is a very get an opportunity to get the degree shinnies to it the career she wants the will get her out of poverty. So it is not as if there is some silver build of we can pass. The question is, can you help people get themselves out of poverty given the assistance and tools that they need cack the problem with these programs is the pile a mop and in many ways they discourage people from going to work. Basically give people of a disincentive. Fargo to work, less secure, will lose. As much as 0. 80 on the dollar in benefits by going in doing so you need to have a system that encourages work, that helps people understand that it is always a good time to take a step toward work. Some person might need child care or might need education. Some person may have an addiction and might have character issues but they have to learn about the skills you need to hold a job. Some people might just have a temporary problem in their life, death of a family in need a quick helping hand. Theyre all different. The point is, we should respect those differences and come up with more customized aid that can help get people were they need to be an measure results of accountability and transparency. Think thats far better going forward. Does the point. There are so many groups out there doing Amazing Things the neighborhood and indianapolis with high crime and high murder rate. Hes being a man, many of whom coming and a person when theyre going through and learning about the kinds of things that need to do to become good providers, good family members, productive members of society, and hes working with local employers to help these people get good jobs. It works. It is successful. Lets help encourage more of these good works. From a philosophical point of you i think in many cases the federal government in its war on poverty has inadvertently to place Civil Society and crowded out get things that are happening when it should be supporting. Should be mending supply lines. In the other point i think is it has given this motion in our society that this is your problem. Pretax is. The government fixes party. Thats not true. We need to break those notions so that everybody gets involved and does something in one of the way they can to make a difference in this area. That is the message i think we need over and over and over for going to be successful and reentering the poor and helping people get from where there were there want to be. Mr. Chairman, you use the word test several times to describe the program. Seeing heavy have come as. Received has less than compassionate. The programs you envision this going to be tested to see the los . Has one of the things required. It has to be tested. Other items, it has to go to the poor. We measure success based on how much money with coriente problem. Paramount measuring based on results, based on the outcomes. Are we getting people into work, a career cannot just jobs, but a career. Nor we increasing economic ability . And we need to test and measure these things so that we can replicate successful outcomes, so that we can scale things up. Thus the whole point, and i think we fell into this trap that all the great ideas come from washington. And creating a new program just as working. So many things are out there that could be laboratories for great ideas, many of which already exist today. [inaudible conversations] specifics. The core requirements. You have those who can work need to. And work means work related activity, work or training, work search. Number three, break up monopolies and give them a choice so that they can compete based on the outcomes. And then number four, an independent thirdparty agreed to by the federal government and state governments to measure and track outcomes and to keep it honest and transparent so that we can not only have accountability but actually measure of comes to weaken figure out what works well. Reforms that will be you to reauthorize the bill. Ive heard that conversation before. We ask him to reform years ago and they did not do so. So we have debate about reforming their activities. In many cases could fail to produce some of these reforms. I do believe this is representational. According capitalism that we have in washington. Big government and bit big business. And i believe that we, as republicans should be pro market, not necessarily probusiness. Fighting for equal access to opportunities. A rule of law, selfgovernment. And most of the money going to a handful of for the large, connected companies, lot of its just going to one company, that is not the quality. That is not Free Enterprise. And just because other countries to it does not mean we should do the same. Many do focus on Free Enterprise , good Energy Practice and could regulatory policy, good toward reform, tax reform. Lets do the things that encourage more and more business to be formed and created instead of propping up subsidizing those that already exist. To me it is the economic equivalent of giving the keys to the castle to the kings we can close the drawbridge up. Lets close the drawbridge down and bring people into the economy. I think its representational of the economic philosophy that lesson in businesses, upward mobility, Free Enterprise of Economic Growth. So thats my opinion. Could this be reformed . Of course. Would that be better . Yes. At the end of the day i really do believe there are so many worse things we should be dedicating taxpayer resources to an indian off to some solid companies. The immigration debate. [inaudible question] its hard to say in this climate. It really is. I think we need to enter going to do this thursday. A think we need to deal fairly with the border crisis. But because of the demonstrated distrust of the president in enforcing a law it is hard to see how republicans can come together with the solution that we expect the president to enforce. You know that im a fan of immigration reform. Ive sat in favor for many years we have a broken system that needs fixing. The rule of law, nationalsecurity and economic security. But, having said all of that there is this take, executing ross has written by congress. Mr. Chairman and wondered. [inaudible question] i commend the issue more as an outsource believes in conservation, believes in preservation of wetlands, have a tent. When i see the debate about Climate Change come down to advocating reforms are taxes or regulation or policy that will even solve the problem of all the end up doing is making the u. S. Economy less competitive and taking jobs. And they are extremely regressive. They take money away from lowincome people would depend on the disposable income for their livelihood. And so when i see that new coal regulation covering from the a ministration which i believe is outside of the conference along to policy ideas for new cap and trade policies are taxes, they dont even move the needle to solve the purported problem. So i dont see a solution here. I see an excuse to grow government, raised taxes and slow down Economic Growth. International competitors who would never do this to their economies. Im trying to remember, some of these ideas would capture it with the temperature by about 1 degree in nine years, Something Like that. Climate change occurs no matter what. The question is, can the federal government can and should the federal government to something about it to economic are you the federal government cant commit doesnt, and all they will do is end up hurting our country, people. Were going to go next. [inaudible question] i see this as a ridiculous camera but the president and his Political Team to try and change the narrative, raise money. Of his leader at the. [inaudible question] they get a big, large portion of that. I think they can do well. I believe that any of these companies can do extremely well on the road. I would rather have the kid reforms white comprehensive tax reform, reforms that make the American Economy more competitive so that all of our manufacturers, all of our companies, not just some, but all four companies are better positioned. I adore him. One of the most conscientious people of renown, great concern for her. About going to comment on the specifics. Im not very well versed. And think is going to your reelected. And no little bit about the split within the politics. I think hes a great reformer, and im excited to see the reforms he is done. Are more interested in your thoughts. I the people some redefinition. Of all taxpayers of the same. Thats where we half Economic Modeling that shows that reduction produces war Economic Growth and feedback. So it is important that you understand the economics. In my opinion probably structure tax reform can clearly increase Economic Growth and job creation , especially taxing our companys at much higher rates. A huge competitive disadvantage and lowering tax rates across the board. It clearly increases Economic Growth and in many cases will produce more revenue. So is different. The way to view these things is to run economic models and see which one works best. He said its a ridiculous gambit. How would you characterize the gambit . You agree is says little chance of succeeding the american to you think the are opening pandoras box your . Well, i think the responsible first of all, not car to comment. On my car to project with that would be read the constitution gives the legislative branch a number of resources and the revenues to try and check power. Just the whole point, so that we can checketts and. Unfortunately the primary power of the constitution is being denied because the senate has chosen. So thats frustration number one. Number two, the constitution also gives us the very idea about our constitution is in his selfgovernment under rule of law. Elections, the best with the constitution gives us to express selfgovernment. So that is another very important tool that the constitution gives us. What john is doing is expressing frustration that we are not using the poor are of the purse. Stand up for congressional power riders. That is why the lawsuit has the intellectual marry. The president is issuing executive orders and regulations , the parameters instead choosing give the authority in the first place. So its important to make that distinction. Thats why we will vote for it. Because i stand with the speaker in taking the president has exceeded his authority. Courts make sure that we dont serve into temptation that the Supreme Court is the superior branch of government. Us up necessarily the case. Thats what i said before. We have other avenues that we ought to be pursuing. An outside party. And not going to comment on these particular groups. Only that we are all as conservatives, as people his warreners, alarmed at the extent the president has gone to circumvent the constitution. And lets make it clear that there are a number of avenues that the framers in the constitution gave us, the people ran the legislative branch to deal with this. Many different avenues are being pursued. Mr. Dickerson. He talked about a conversation. Most of what you and other bottle for. The course of this conversation, has there been a criticism of what youve offered free use it, thats a good idea, and get the wrong. Thats an interesting idea. In terms of the conversation, as were on opening for. So far its been a pretty good response. I guess i would say that occurred before wrote this. For instance, mandatory minimums i learned a lot. A troubled around the country. When almost half of next cause go back to prison within three years of getting out of prison and a mandatory minimums, we have over correction that nice to be dialed back. I think you need to give judges a little more discretion. The or the floor because i think youll find better ways of getting people to not only move and decided to become more productive members of society. So there were some i look to some of my own positions in this arena before putting this plan out there. This plan reflects that. I have to do more of that as time goes on. Moral purpose was to do a discussion draft to get a conversation going to get feedback and input and then do legislating. Were just beginning that. But i hope to learn from constructive criticisms on how to do this. A tartan number of members on the floor about some of their ideas, of perry, about how to do condition reform, which i think is important. Some of these things are no word the. Licensing reform. A think that has served as a barrier to getting in the careers. Congressman, im struck by some of the language he used year. Circumventing the constitution. [inaudible question] la misdemeanor level. When did in the court of Public Opinion with should be litigated proper appropriations. There are other routes being pursued. In this particular case i think the president has exceeded its statutory boundaries that are written into law. Healthcare is a perfect example. Executive orders are within the boundaries of statue to implement and execute loss. That is one thing, but when you do things through regulation an executive order that exceed the clear leader of the law, that is lawmaking. And a law making a curse of the legislative branch of the executive branch. In 2012 producing and democratic president s and the Republican House and a democratic sen. [inaudible question] i gave you a couple. A twoyear budget agreement rust together, preventing future government shutdowns. A firsttime and number of years. Unfortunately the senate has chosen not to bring a single appropriation bill to the floor even though we passed a number cells. So we have not seen corresponding one is to regulate another one is transportation. We have an issue in the senate. The house in a bipartisan white came up with the reform to prevent the trust fund from going dry. If you actually look at the votes in congress, a lot of bills that pastor cars come with a bipartisan support. Job training reform for a number of years because we believe the federal government has been duplicative and redundant. About 49 different programs. So we work with our colleagues in the senate and democrats announced to come up with Commonsense Solutions focus on getting people the skills they need to get the jobs they want. We have signature job for any legislation that is not passed. So there are clearly examples of us actually making government work. Reaching compromises or rihanna and asking the other side to compromise principal and getting things done. I think a lot of people want to focus on all the where we fight but ignore reaction we get these done. Customer crosswalks to solve this problem right now. We cant wait for an agreement on tax reform. Most republicans have taken this position. We have to do Corporate Tax reform. Copay pier requested Corporate Tax reform. No, we have to do individual to read my question is, do we need to do something immediately to prevent . If so what . If not, is there any chance you guys can set aside the gridlock on individual . So i guess we will repeat. First of all, something tells there is more behind this that actual incentive. Fix the root cause of the problem. Just briefly about the president s, do you support this approach . I dont know the answer to the question. I like the blood that was put together. And i think is the leading bill in the senate. Also think recidivism reform it is important. I think thats a smart approach to helping people learn in different custodial arrangements by getting another job training, cp, counseling and the rest which are a proven track records to reduce recidivism. While people are serving time, using that time to better themselves so they can be corrected members of society. Its familiar with the bills are in congress which deserves support. To is to a quick followon. The chances that welfare reform will come . I assume it will be at next session issue. The reason were putting these out now is to have a good conversation, get feedback. Did people engaged in the get feedback and and start putting pen to paper. In my mind is next session. The Social Security disability hedge fund. Are going to have to reform the for sure. A lot of talks in the ways and Means Committee. Wendy to make sure we can revive the trust fund and make sure the program is working. We have people wanting questions. I was asked about health care. [inaudible question] i did a bill back in 2009 with tom coburn. This is not my first time putting out comprehensive. Or dictated by scoring than anything. Thats was has been keeping me. And so ive been working on Health Care Reform proposals. There are some bills other out there. Tom price says the bill. And so i plan on adding, contributing to that today. The work the as and put together. Forgive me if this has been asked already. [inaudible question] i think rand says. I dont know if theres a house version and not. I think from endorsing licensing reform. Something to think we ought to file. That is something. We want to encourage the notion that people shouldnt be with terror and deserve a second chance. Dennis i. You help people get from where they are to a better life that there is buyer for themselves. And there should be something that we have is a society. Mr. Becker. Im sorry. Every person who is a recipient inevitably this will be wiped out. Reflected that quite a bit. The wrong way to look at this is take a chest of federal money and then as soon as some Case Management. The plan is to do this in conjunction with the private sector, the Public Sector and the charitable sector. At odds with the federal commitment. This is one of the problems i see in this area is disjointed. You have the profits, not for profits, charities, local governments of going in Different Directions so you can combine dollars from the terrible sector with the federal funding stamps to achieve the goals theyre trying to achieve. Oem saying is we are not mandating Case Management. This is one of the things we recommend. Give the states the ability to try different ideas. It works pretty well. Customization and leveraging other forms of funding. As the most effective approach. Him to broaden your understanding of the proposal before you take a look at that notion. The status quo is working. We have time for too. Abcaten. [inaudible question] i do. We disagree. I think this is something for the next session. I think there are some reforms that are needed. I do believe and i think almost 20 percent of young people from 21 through 24 are now working and not in school. We of a problem among the very people we want to keep telling. That is why i think this idea which does have success tomatoes and improve. Does pull people into the work force to my think this is an area where we ought to be welcome began. Lets go up there and find the spending that we can agree. The conversations with the democrats. Think we can make a difference next year. Last question. If a think the essentially any significant. Well, let me go back for a brief moment. If were actually starting to secure the border, if conference measures are being put in place, then maybe you can have confidence in the measures. On Gun Legislation and think their efforts are better focused on treating mental wellness. Errol effort of trying to bring together a comprehensive reform. That to me is harder for some to be more pleased. The Second Amendment rights of lawabiding citizens. It think that is the issue that has been ignored too much and made partisan in the house for one reason i dont understand. And we ought to move the legislation. The problem weve been experiencing which is meant to allow this. We have amended to left. Is trying to take your discussion now. People know of the latter. The a ministration should talk more about income inequality. The individuals. More important to work on mobility and equality. Zero one Economic Growth. A faster growing economy. In my opinion those will serbs for Economic Growth. I guess we look at this i look at it mainly differently. Cargo should not be to look at the economy as a fixed pipe with a need to redistribute more equitably the bill should be tapped by for a very soon kenmore economic mobility. And those ideas in many cases end up doing more harm than good in that they actually slow down Economic Growth, reduce job creation. And that does nothing to our people on the bottom rung of the economic ladder. He should be focused on helping people rise, focus on of the charity, removing barriers that make it harder for people to improve. All the while theres no substitute for Economic Growth, a progrowth policies that create a faster economy with more attendees for everybody. Those ideas for straight. Inequality, the growing inequality. Solutions that people are suggesting a necessary like it taxes. Lets focus i think its a much smarter reform. Raising passes on Small Businesses and would love nothing more than a growing ire more businesses. We hope youll come back. Thank you. [inaudible conversations] on the next Washington Channel former congressman todd achan discusses his career in politics. Then a look at the debate over immigration reform. His knees and is a recent newsweek article. Washington journal is live and 7 00 a. M. Eastern. Sunday on book tv in depth former republican congressman from texas and president ial candidate ron paul. More than a dozen books. His latest fiscal revolution on americas education system. Join the conversation is take your calls coming emails command tweets. Book tv in primetime monday in a 30 00 p. M. Eastern, wide range of topics including the middle east and immigration, marijuana, and covering book fairs and festivals across the country. Book tv, television for serious readers. In the debate has to by the Aspen Institute been debated the merits of the case. Brouwer first to conversations we had justices kennedy and briar. My wife to the interjections. Now serving as director of art in embassies of the state department. Says the format of tonights program is a knowles noholdsbarred debate on the highly controversial subject. And our constitution was written her founders were concerned about keeping the government small. Congress was to check the power of the executive. The courts order to the check the power of. Juries or check the power of all three. But today cars and the executive branch partly resemble anything our founders could have. Congress has been incapable of passing any legislation. It spends most of his time raising money or investigating the effect it branch. The executive branch consists of hundreds of departments and agencies are run our country and the databases. Members of congress are now coming president is exceeding his Constitutional Authority by trying to do some things around the edges with immigration, minimum wages, marriage equality, Climate Change, and filling the vacancies, government positions the maker contra. So the question before us this afternoon is whether the constitutional claims of abuse of executive power and whether really should be concerned about whoever sits in the white house for an erection of the separation of powers. To deal with the problems of Campaign Finance commandandcontrol and redistricting. It is no longer dares to suggest our constitution may need revision. It to debate the separation of powers issue were are to have harvard law professor charles o. Walther you talked resident of, everything he knows about constitutional law. On the right we have miguel estrada, of the nations former Supreme Court advocate who argued the recent split decision that obama exceeded his authority in making recess appointments to the National Labor relations board. Our moderator and hopefully referee of a vigorous debate this afternoon. One of the countrys foremost journalists and Television Commentators covering legal matters. Tournament, but the debate began. The speaker says the house of representatives is going to sue the president of the United States for exceeding his authority. Can the house of representatives sue the president . It depends on the claim. It would be a very difficult lawsuit to frame because of a number of legal documents. Mostly i think the house is going to overcome a number of cases and all the congressmen and senators to not have local standing to bring claims in court. Theyre trying to get around that by having a vote of the house and saying this is not the usual case. But is relieving institution. But that raises a number of issues under case law. Usually people who come into court are claiming you took my money, a child to my house. Thats with the law calls an injury. We are failing to comply with the Affordable Care act popularly known by those who love it as a obamacare. And it is not immediately of the Seven Members of the current house of representatives are injured by the president s failure to comply with the law. It is also likely that at least some of them, there are people who are members of the public who are injured by those things and could sue. And so much he would be hit it is very challenging for the house of ring. If you have to bet on the court upholding his hand of the house would not give them more than 5050. Can the speaker of the house to the president . Can you repeat the question . No, im of the question. My answer is surprising. I would say yes. Theyve seen the president over and over again. I dont think there will be particularly successful i think president obama is not afraid. He has already said he is suing me for doing my job. He is doing his job. The feds going to be the debate between me and the congress. Let me just say this, the reality is that the president has already been stung a little bit by the Supreme Courts recent decision. The love of little opportunity for him to do what needs to do. I think Everybody Knows that the president has been supporting this idea of executive power because he is the stock by republicans for every single thing he wants to do. Are going to make him a oneterm president. Well, he was wrong. Itll be interesting to see whether he uses executive power for a lot of other things. An enormous amount of power. A you saying you think that he will have standing, that the house will be found have standing. And not sure whether they would lose or when. Im not sure he will be successful with congressman, but i do think the people saying lets get something done. People are responding to that. The saying anything personal last six years. I think it is always a very attractive claim. The other side is not letting me it is worse to go back to 1789 and read the government is best at kevins the least. In order for a loss to be made in chains to take place the assumption of the system was that there had to be consensus as to what were doing. And what is happening here is there is a do nothing congress, the executive is insane at. Everybody said that. But what you effectively have is a country that on fundamental questions of policy. Unless they can come to an agreement as to out of me in the middle tap 9944100 of their way, and nothing is going. And we all know how the republicans feel about obamacare and their claim essentially is the food in this restaurant is terrible, and the portions are too small. So, what do they have a point that you know, the law