Expenditure of our federal resources in incarceration and the i think the average on mandatory minimums is about 11year incarceration and so without going too far, are you suggesting that those resources could be applied in other ways to make us safer . Absolutely. As ive looked at the spending of the department of justice and seeing that the bureau of prisons each and every year takes up a larger and larger percentage of the department of justice budget, that money has to come from somewhere and where its been coming from is money for agents and prosecutors and also critically importantly money for state and Law Enforcement assistance for the cop on the street. Those are the things that i believe keep our country safe. Now, let me say there are some defendants who need those long sentences. There are some who need to be this prison for a very long time. Because they are dangerous and our Society Needs to be protected from them but i think we need to use those lengthy sentences in a sm
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for braving the cold. For those of you watching at home, we had a big snowstorm here in d. C. , and it was difficult for a lot of people to get in, and we have a pretty full room considering the circumstances. So welcome to all of you. Thank you to winnie. One of my first jobs in politics was here at the center for American Progress when it was still just a fledgling organization with about i dont even remember at the time. But winnie was my boss here, and it was an honor to work for her. I learned so much from her, so thank you for the introduction and thank you for hosting us here today. So this panel and this conversation is about whats going on in the country. If you take a look currently at whats happening in washington, just last week, theyre having snowball fights on the senate floor debating whether Climate Change actually exists. Theyre trying to figure out what parts of the government to shut down. Its not a serious conversation. And then whe
Society this morning over on the house side. They allowed a senator to go across on the house side. The presiding officer knows, she served there. Once in a while we get to go over there. They were kind enough to invite us over there this morning. They did remarkable work on this legislation and are continuing their advocacy today even as we speak, and we are grateful for their for their work. Autism speaks is another Great Organization thats done enormous work to bring us to where we are today. And the arc as well. A lot of americans know about the arc, the National Downs Syndrome Society as well as autism speaks. So were grateful for their support but we still have a ways to go. One of the best ways to ensure that this legislation will get over the goal line we dont want to use too many football analogies here, but if were if were getting close, even if were in the socalled red zone, were not in the end zone yet. We have a ways to go. But one of the best ways to make sure that that h
Timothy writes for the hill. He houses out for another week long break, but the senate will be in. Says, it is crunch time on energy. What is the status of that measure . Said, theyus, as you have scheduled a vote for the bill. What is Holding Things up right and what might hold up the bill as a whole, is republicans want to get amendments into that. Including senate reid,ty reader leader have blocked those amendments. One of the amendments would be to force the approval of the Keystone Pipeline. Reid is open to having a vote on a separate bill just for the Keystone Pipeline. Fiveesnt want these other Energy Related amendments to be considered for this bill. He used a procedure called filling a tree to prevent any amendments from being considered. For ain, senators calling vote on the pipeline. What is the boot mood of the country on building the pipeline . A lot of polls have shown that the country does support this pipeline. For the most part, the polls have shown the possible jobs t
What has happened in the last seven days. You can contact us via social media. Seven democrats broke ranks from the usa today this morning front page of the Arizona Republic this morning. The Washington Post. Thats a little bit from the Washington Post. We go toarticle before calls. This is from the hill. A couple of issues here based defense spending is to increase to 490 billion from 487 defensethis year, while primer war funding decreases. Those are some of the figures in the House Appropriations committees numbers. This week in congress, pretty busy week. He have benghazi, lois lerner, appropriations, surveillance, x the pipeline. Caller please dont cut me off. The gop has done nothing to help American People. All the talk about his scandals to bring the president down. No president has ever been treated like this in the white for godd the gop stands opposing people. Tyrone, what would you like to see them do . Caller id like to see them be more productive and help this president g