that the secretary of defense has ordered the pentagon to let women serve besides men on the .ront lines of battle that experiment is under the defense secretary's order. we will come back to that story throughout this first 45 minutes of the "washington journal." our phone lines are open to you. also open is our twitter and facebook page. you can follow the conversation on facebook at facebook.com/face facebook outcome/c-span. we want to talk about this morning. like i said, we have a special line for active and retired military. i especially want to hear your thoughts on that. some active and retired military members were interviewed last wate in in knoxville tennessee. interviewed was u.s. air force veteran ashley oughts. she was a utility's apprentice doing water purification there. that is one of the veterans interviewed for that story on start with john in hot springs, north carolina. john, good morning. thanks, he made a lot of good points in your previous intro and came to fiscal capability. by look at this -- physical capability in combat, i have to think about some of the positions on homosexuality as to why we perpetuate humanity through male and female gender. now,f i was a father right i would not encourage my daughter to join the military. if the commander-in-chief that we have in the white house now and possibly hillary clinton as commander-in-chief is an example of what would happen with regards to benghazi, that is for people at a diplomatic post that were left hanging out in the wind. i would not have my daughter join the military, because i would not have faith in this command structure, because i believe the upper echelon due to politics would lead my daughter -- would leave my daughter hanging out in the wind and would get her killed. --to have his son as well would you say that about a son as well, john? >> yes i would. only the strongest on the playground are respected. weaklings get it down. on.et picked here's a little bit more from that wate interview from out in knoxville. we are asking our viewers to weigh in on this topic. let's go to the tour in cedar hill, texas. a line for democrats. victoria, good morning. i am very fortunate. i was not a man during the vietnam war. i would probably have gone in and come out in a box a month later. women are driving the transports and they're dying. they don't even have an opportunity to fight for the country. the transporting men who were going to do that very it if you are woman out there, we will create something around them, some sort of mechanical device that would support everyone. i do believe women should be able to go anywhere, because anywhere we are going now, we're going to die. sterling, virginia. lee is a republican. lee, good morning. i was a navy core man. i served in the marine corps and various platforms. . served with women i would go to battle with them any day. i think we are in a progressive society. looking at countries like israel, they have proven that andn can be very capable serving alongside men. caution, i think we need to make sure that the -- make sureonent we are training them right. the last caller got it right from the perspective that we have women right now doing -- serving in convoys. my concern is always been, ok, in this type of war, when there is no defined line with the good guys and bad guys are, essentially everything is battlefield. the entire area is a battlefield. there is no front line. in world war ii, everyone knew where the front line was. does one of the problems with our veterans coming back, your awesomely hypervigilant. you're in a state of hypervigilance. my point is we are sending women into combat whether we know it or not. my worry is that we are not training them well enough. we need to do is face the fact that women can absolutely serving combat. we have had a couple of women who have one silver stars for incredible valor. we need to make sure to invest in the women that want to. serve, theyant to want to prove that they can do it, we should provide them the capabilities to do that. some stats from the defense department on women in active duty in the military. this is total overall numbers. again, we have that special line for folks in dave and retired active and in retired military. military.am retired my only concern about the issue , likeemales in combat is so many other caller say, we are not training them towards the idea of combat. , in mymean by that is career, i worked between victor units and training command. what you see is there are two different standards, one for males and one for females. even in our physical readiness testing, there are two different standards that people are held to. you cannot sit there and say we're going to make everything equal on the battlefield, but we are meant to train them different and hold under different sets of standards. if you're going to let everyone be equal, that everything has to be equal. what ends up happening, i'm afraid of, is you lower the ys because ar the guide women can't count to the same standards. that is my biggest fear because i've seen it happen before. the associated press not to fort bragg during training. 40 think about some the issues brought up in that report? perspective,my own we do 30 mile forced march with full gear. ,very female that goes on that about five miles into the march gets on a vehicle because they can't keep up. they physically can't keep up where there put in a vehicle and ride rest -- the rest of the way. says i takemander the hit for having these people ride. it is a timed event. you have so long to get there. that is why i am saying about the training evolution. people, weined the go from range to range. you go from rifle range to grenade range, and in between these ranges when we are thening females, because of weight that you physically have to carry, they would fall down and look like turtles on their backs because it could not get up. they had too much weight to carry. you can't expect somebody was 90 pounds to carry 90 pounds of gear with ammunition and machine guns and everything else. it is just physically impossible. john talking about his experiences. we have about a half hour left to discuss this topic. some of the lines are still open, but i want to bring our viewers up to date on what is happening this week on capitol hill. to do that we are joined by christina marcos a staff writer with "the hill" newspaper. the house is expected to come in tomorrow and the first vote is expected for tomorrow night. what is on tap this week? when theis will be house is expected to hold former irs official dennis lerner in contempt of congress over her role in the allegedly pardoning by the irs of conservative nonprofit applying for tax exempt status. the house will also vote on a resolution to press attorney general eric holder to create a special counsel to investigate the case. we will also consider a standalone bill to expand the research and development tax credit as championed by the business community. later, we will go to a charter by ericeform bill cantor. >> lerner vote in particular. -- the gop subject sets up tough votes for democrats. loyalties to obama and constituents are at stake. you ran through the house for us, what is on the senate side this week? >> the energy bill will likely take up the bulk of the week. it essentially would expand efficientodes, energy building technology. however, the biggest hurdle for this bill will be senator david fitter, a republican from louisiana, who is insisting we vote on his measure that would repeal subsidies for congressional staff to buy health care on the federal exchange. that is causing a lot of controversy. he insisted he will pull his measure if the senate votes on a binding measure to build the keystone pipeline. keystone issue looms as senate takes up energy bill. talking about that issue that christina marcos of the hill was just talking about very it christina marcos, before we let you go, what is going on in the benghazi investigation this week? >> speaker john boehner and also friday that the house of vote to create a special committee to investigate benghazi attacks in september 2012. it has been put on how schedule, but there is no official vote set at this point. the house may or may not vote on resolutions created. it is certainly on the agenda. host: christina marcos is a staff writer at "the hill" newspaper. benghazi also the subject of yesterday's sunday shows. here's a clip from fox news sunday in which democratic congressman adam schiff and republican senator kelly ayotte were discussing the benghazi investigation. >> we have to get to the bottom of this. i call for the creation of a select committee right after this attack. i'm glad that the speaker has t. why is it that we areigate just receiving this e-mail that really shows where the idea from the videocam? that video is not in the talking points, and yet that is what ambassador rice pushed on your show and every sunday show. >> you have said that the "conspiracy theories" are terrible distraction. is this house committee part of that distraction? how certain are you that democrats will participate and that select bipartisan committee will put those members on the committee. >> it is a colossal waste of time. it is driven by a couple of things, a republican conference that is so fractured that they only agree on two things. they don't like obamacare and they do like talking about benghazi. sense forink it makes democrats to participate. i think it is a tremendous red herring and a waste of taxpayer resources. i hope the speaker will reconsider, but it looks like he has vowed again to those from the farthest right of his conference. host: that was fox news sunday. there's another note on what is happening on capitol hill. the appearance by federal reserve chairwoman janet yellen. she is expected to speak on wednesday at the congress's joint economic committee meeting in washington. according to fox business, yellen will not likely lead to fireworks, but undoubtedly avoid the fed chief. hold off on raising interest rates for the foreseeable future. we're talking this morning about this in combat, which front page cover story from the christian science monitor, this weeks edition. when you're in, about women in combat. we want to hear from our viewers. ron is calling in from eagle river, wisconsin on our line for democrats. ron, good morning. my question concerns an earlier caller who said he wouldn't let his daughter joined the service. perhaps he would've preferred letting her join the service in a previous administration that got us into a war under false pretenses. why this isn't being investigated by the congress, i have no idea. people wake up. the people in office right now are not concerned with us at all . we are learning the truth. , doeshat would happen this mean women in combat, are they going to be required to sign up for the draft right now? men are required to do that. at the age of 18. are women going to be doing the same? this is another concern. i would benk that -- worried have a woman next to me in combat. just because my first thoughts would be about guarding her, not taking care of the rest of what's going on. they are more of a distraction than anything else. jan ness rates in on twitter. -- writes in on twitter. most iraqi men were reticent to speak with him. iraqi women often set up the finalists in the neighborhoods could be persuaded to provide information. first we had to bridge the gender gap and build trust, all of which build valuable time. having women in our platoon with graduate -- would've to radically increased our ability to collect intelligence. again, william dent who served in iraq and wrote his piece for "the washington post" last month. genie calling in from ohio. there is no way i would want a woman to protect me. men and women are not the same. i am against that. i like what that man said if he was in combat he would be looking out for that woman. host: what if a woman met the same physical: requirements as a man. if a woman were able to do that, would you still be concerned? caller: than they would have to be one of those bodybuilders. woman could meet the requirements, would you be ok with that, it jenny? i don't think they could meet the requirements. host: what is your biggest concern? caller: i just think that men are men and women are women. men are stronger. they're just not the same. to mike waiting in ohio as well on the line for republicans. mike, good morning. caller: good day, sir. well, i think women deserve a free choice. if they want to engage in corporate international fascism and be spearheads, that is their choice. i am against all war. have a good day. host: all right, mike in ohio as well. some stories and studies on how those conflicts have impacted female soldiers. female veterans from iraq and afghanistan have returned from war facing heightened strains compared to their male counterparts. a recent report by the washington post looked into this. nearly one quarter of women who served in iraq and afghanistan reported a sexual assault. that according to "the washington post." let's go to that line for active and retired military. tony is calling from st. paul, minnesota. i think the whole idea is rather silly. i am a korean war veteran. there will be another war like the korean war. we were dropped off their in a war scene and left there for over a year. we lost 48,000 men in 2.5 years. could you imagine that today? losing 48,000? one at fighting 10 to sometimes. that, i didn't change my close for eight months. only socks. not only wounds, i had body life. can you imagine a woman with and monthly? the whole thing is silly. that's good to judge in pennsylvania on our line for republicans. caller: hello, i feel as though homeomen should be at making sandwiches and pushing out babies and having the. and --host are trying to have constructive conversation. let's speak with mason. caller: i have got to say. what is being per trade with these collins is astonishing to me. call-ins ise astonishing to me. i was raised with an army major. i wanted to join the military for a long time. at the time, they wouldn't take me as an active member. i know, women can do just as good if not better than men when we are talking about any type of situation. in military, being trained regardless of your gender is actually what it is about. it is a training when you're there that makes a good soldier, not who you are coming in. when you go in, you go through the training, it builds you up as a different kind of person. theirg about women having periods during war is just ignorant. their are lots of different health care matters that we can situation.ress that i think it is crazy that in 2014, we haven't reached a place where women are equal in the military. then we have our government and the same people saying that women do enjoy the same equal rights. it sounds like from your callers they don't believe that. unfortunately, that is a mindset we are going to have to get over. we're going to have to somehow get past that to be a better country and have a better military, quite honestly. one of our earlier cause was talking about training requirements. here, a little more from the christian science monitor piece. it notes let's go to sam waiting in hillsdale, michigan, on our line for democrats. caller: i have a couple of comments. i would be thinking that women would be afraid to be in combat because they would have to worry about their comrades grabbing them from behind while they were trying to fight the enemy. also, relating to benghazi, yesterday, may 4, we remembered the murder of four americans kent, ohio.-- in just is not -- was not done there. they should go to kent and help people there recover from that murder. goodbye. host: the rain car plans to .stablish an elite force from according to a story the spring in usa today. the usa will solicit volunteers. the experimental task force will allow the service to compare the performance of interest -- of an infantry squad of women. , who is on katie active duty in 29 palms. katie, that morning. -- good morning. caller: my husband is deployed in afghanistan. we both believe that women should not be in combat. men act differently when women are around. if you have one or two women in a battalion, the men are going to compete for their attention. thingscan to say certain and they will not be as relaxed. on the other hand, marines are marines number regardless of gender. have one or two females those males are going to instinct really want to protect the females over their male counterparts. host: you think that is something that could be overcome with training or with time? it could, eventually. duty, youeing active see a lot. there is a lot of homosexual harassment. thatarines who do think women should stay at home barefoot and pregnant, there are the other ones, there are females who are more capable than their male counterparts. thanks for calling in, katie. darrell wrightson on her twitter page. on his twitter page. let's go to elaine waiting in on the linelorida for republicans. elaine, good morning. caller: i am a woman and i understand women's capabilities. i have seen some women who have their monthly. , who are so incapable of even walking, let alone fighting. what happens in they're in a foxhole and they are supposed to protect this other guy? what are we going to do? we're going to start drugging them up? what about the point that there are no front lines anymore and the military and women who are serving in transport units are often involved in combat anyway, even if they are not technically on the frontline? caller caller: women are women. men don't have. and men don't get pregnant. if this woman gets married and gets pregnant, what do we do with her than? are we going to send her out fighting someplace? with her stomach big and her baby inside of her? this is ridiculous. there are places for women in the military, but not fighting. i don't believe in that. that is sick. elaine in clearwater, florida, talking about the 2014 campaign subject of several stories today. several primary set for the coming week. set, particularly one being watched in north carolina. here's a headline from usa today. his opinion piece leaving the commentary section of "the washington times." one of the piece of news from around the country, again from the sunday shows yesterday, a topic of discussion was, what is going on in ukraine? we have a few minutes i want to talk about your take on women in combat. deena waiting in hyattsville, maryland. deena, good morning. us.a, are you with just want to make the point about the smallest military piece is the 105 howard served. six stakes. put them in the ground with a sledgehammer and your two the sledgehammer all six of them before he can fire the weapon. that requires upper body strength. with the military needs to do is figure out a way to redesign something like that. if you put women up against men as relates to upper body strength, it is a physical thing. something has to be redesigned because you're going set women up to fail if something is not changed as it relates to the physical upper body strength. jessica on the line for democrats. what are your thoughts? caller: first, i heard some caller start where women being grabbed from behind. that doesn't tell me that women don't belong in combat, that tells me that men need to step up their game and be more respectful and keep their hands to themselves and not worry about a woman's cycle. women have been serving in combat for years. it is just the first time there've been really a knowledge for it. right, johnny depp ritten about two thirds -- this from meet the press. an unlikely guess of the political panel was rapper will i am. here's a bit from that yesterday. the don't understand complex between republicans, democrats, congress. that whole dance to me, turns me off. [laughter] when i went out there and said yes we can, yes we can means what are you going to do as well. when you support obama are you going to dedicate yourself to finding a solution? i went out and created a program in the ghetto that i come from. i can change that. i go out and raise money and use my own money, i talk with his kids and get these kids amped up about science and technology. his kids are at risk. they have coded been -- they could have been in a gang. these kids have been to china to learn mandarin, there've been two d.c. to take visits to the white house. these kids want to join m.i.t.. they want to get enrolled m.i.t.. host: i love that he is doing that. it is a private sector that makes it different people's lives. the disconnect, the reason this apathy happens is that the government is not going to come in and solve all your problems. one of the big issues that i see is -- >> why is he only thing you can care? how about making consumer electronic products. why if i went to singapore and created jobs i would get a grant and it is hard for a person, an entrepreneur, come out with a product in america, where you go? >> regulation, epa. it makes it so difficult at every step. i do see an opportunity for republicans. and safety andy security. >> it is an opportunity for america to make sure companies like apple are in detroit and are educating young kids at an early age to learn and the technical/digital literate. we have time for just a few more calls in this first segment of "washington journal." let's go to estelle waiting in memphis, tennessee. she is on the line for democrats. caller: i said i was independent. let me start by saying don't cut me off. i think the gentleman making a point about a woman cycle was being honest. i personally don't feel that women should be in combat. that wants to. a woman against a man. it is quite clear that a woman cannot do the things that men can do. so that is not putting women aside, i am a woman. it is just being honest. look at how we were created. on the side of this -- of the menstrual cycle, there are other things that go with that. there is pain that is felt. what harm is i going to cause down the road? there's so much out there. some of the points the articles we read brought up are --t the training standards if a woman can meet the training standards, would that be ok for her to serve on the frontline? >> if she can meet the training standard, i would say we can try it. in think there is a drawback regards to these other issues that men don't have. we may like to think that women on, but weed and so are comparing apples to apples. the two just won't be the same. i, as a citizen, would not want a woman in that predicament. there's a chance that we would have to have someone on the line. a system that works, and not something that could possibly break down. go to doug waiting in florida on our line for independent. doug, good morning. excuse me, i am a physician/surgeon/scientist. i find it ironic that the christian monitor is posting about war. that aside, there's the whole focus, speaking in old millennium terms, about war and combat. in the future, first of all, i think we should have a department of peace, not a department of perpetual war. , combat is going to involve fewer people and humans. just the technology and advancement alone, as a scientist i can tell you that science is being thwarted so much. we began the verge of curing energy.w and have green war is going to be something right now, we have drones. i watched the aircraft carrier, they're talking about the uss reagan and watching how difficult it is to land on an aircraft carrier and wondering, you really would need somebody manned by people. certaind even have planes that are commanding other planes by remote control. that is what the future of war is going to be. it is going to need very many fewer people. a lot of those things women are very good. they're very good at dexterity. with that kind of thing, it is where we should be thinking. we really have to be thinking 10 years in the future. that was our last caller in the segment. the cover story in this week's .hristian science monitor toare now going to talk nathan gonzales. we will be right back. ♪ >> half the reason i did this book is martha. when she arrived in berlin with she was in love with what she referred to as a nazi revolution. she was enthralled by not sees, which really struck me as a completely surprising thing, given what we know in hindsight. ed in thrall with the not too revolution, but there she was. eight.'s sundays at now available at your favorite bookseller. >> if you take that hundred 50-ish number -- that hundred 150-ish number, the work to identify that spectrum is now. they are staggering. nowo projects that between and 2018, the demand for mobile wireless will increase eightfold. if you got traffic in washington was going to increase aid for between now and five years from now you would say we need some new roads. well, we face that same problem, we need more spectrum. the additional infrastructure investment will help, new technology will help, that we probably also ought to be working at figuring out what that next launch is after the incentive auction. for the telecom industry. ? we have nathan gonzales of the rothenberg political report. this time he is here to talk about the 36 gubernatorial races taking place in 2014. races,get to specific nathan gonzales, set the map for us. how may mansions are democrats defending and how many are republican defending? guest: we have 14 that held the democrats. both of all the governorships are on a four-year cycle. back we are in 2014, we go to 2010, which was a good republican year. it means there are more democratic offense of opportunities than what republicans have. of the bigger states have some of the biggest fights. we're talking about ohio, pennsylvania, michigan, florida, texas. california is not much of a competitive race. most of the big states are in the cycle. you can check out rothenberg political report.com. we're going to go through several of the states in the segment aired we will start with targets for democrats. here are the top three. targets areop three maine, pennsylvania and florida. there was a three-way race. it was an independent who came from the democratic side, who is running once again. paula paige started by getting lesson 40% of the vote. this time, democrats are trying to avoid the same thing. democrats really feel like he's in a better position to consolidate that democratic support than what their nominee was last time. cutler, the independent, is running again. peakssee if he tends another term without having to get that speaker. right now, a businessman and tell more is a front runner. he is self funding. he went on the air earlier with that. allyson schwartz goes on the air. we'll see if she can close some of the cap. reports say this is possibly the most endangered governor in the country. why is it that way? polling numbers are low. he is suffering from democratic voters and even republican voters. he was attorney general during the penn state scandal. atmanaged to handle things the private level. maybe governor quinn illinois, who i'm sure will talk about, some of the numbers are battling for that most vulnerable position. he is definitely near the top. scott., governor rick he is facing former governor charlie crist, a former republican governor of the state, now running as a democrat. it will probably be one of the most expensive and nasty races in the country. it is one the democrats really want. ever since a katherine harris 2000 president election days, symbolic oflmost what both parties want to win. it was--versus kind of one of the beginning fights between the establishment and the antiestablishment crowd within the republican party. the independent is trying to get elected very i think democrats are excited that he is on their to take this back in and you are in the very extensive state -- a very expensive state. he sees this as a passing back to higher office. as we do, we are opening up our phone lines. open, 202 nathan gonzales at the rothenberg political report. republican top targets. >> i think the first one is arkansas. republican senate primary, but the front runner is former republican asa hutchinson. there is a recent democratic poll last week that came out where president obama's job approval rating was 33%. is a lot to overcome, even in a gubernatorial race, which is sometimes separate. she's a very credible candidate. i think is hoping that a popular .overnor host: do they overlap in congress at all? guest: they did some. mike ross just left a couple of years ago. they're both trying to claim that outsider mantle. emocrats are charging -- host: you mentioned illinois before is one of those endangered governors out there. what happening in the illinois race? polling ispublic slim. he has been struggling. he was a surprise winner in the 2010 10 cycle. to win.ple expected him the primaries are already over. a guy named bruce rounder is very wealthy here democrats are hoping to make that an issue in the race. it is up to quinn. we counted quinn out in that a national election. the clicky wasn't even going to win the democratic riemer in this cycle, but he won the fields. it is one of the republicans tiltingin tossup democrats category, the main race were talking about, a question on the race ratings. how do you rate a race? >> it is not a magic formula. we take as many factors into consideration as possible. it is a mature polling, public polling, private polling, we look at fundraising. we take that all into consideration. also, the national atmosphere has a play. gubernatorial races used to be more separate from government -- from federal issues. now we're seeing some of that come together in the national environment. get closer to election day, it is all about polling and numbers leading to the most likely result and a successful projection. question from still an individual on twitter. guest: in maine, govern the question is whether that independent review is able to catch some fire. he is the most credible independent right now. >> brad is waiting in wisconsin. good morning. .ou are on with nathan gonzales i wonder if the capitalism system is going to fall apart. host: not sure about his overall question about the capitalist system, but talk about wisconsin. governor scott walker is up for reelection. he is already had a reelection of sorts when democrats tried to recall him after his initial election. most likely democratic nominee is a businesswoman. party, iop democratic just do. -- i just do not think -- wisconsin has become so polarized, it it is really only four and six percent of the election that is persuadable. most people have made up their mind on the race. class can we talk about the larger game for governors not just about -- not just talking about 2016? guest: they are trying to do rail some of the governors with high hopes. governor scott walker of ohio, and governor of democrats believe they could not him down the cycle and then they would not have to worry about them in 10 years. governors like new mexico's democrats are trying to weaken them and take them down a notch. martinez has a race, even though we think she is favorite. if they can do some damage this time, it might help them down the line. host: nathan gonzales is with us for the next 45 minutes or so. callers toaiting for call him, we want to ask you about the role of national parties here. the republican governors association, the democratic governors association, how much money are they putting into races this year and how big a role will they play? guest: critical roles in the state. it is different because they are bound by each individual state. you see them set up state that will than advertised. you see them with more ambiguous names. they will be big players. they are able to raise money, sometimes more money, because they are not bound on federal death by federal limits. more money raised than spent in the states. but they are looking for the it ispportunities and probably better that states like california and texas will not be on the most competitive because that will suck up the most money. >> some of the money already being spent on campaign ads. here's one from the republican governors association. hitting on his background as a defense lawyer, in the race in south carolina. we will play that and come back and get a comment. >> have you heard the news? >> a sex offender who abused a minor and negotiated a man's to 38ce from 10 years days. >> you heard right. a sex offender who abused a minor. 10 years-38 days. he personally represented dangerous criminals, reducing their jail time and putting them back on the street. vincent wrapped -- represents criminals, not us. that at getting some pushback from democrats in the race. >> it is an early attack. it is an effort to try to drive up his negatives before the race even gets started, even though he also ran in 2010. this is the rates democrats want to push to the top. he has become a polarizing figure. democrats deftly want to defeat her. ad isype of that -- something they have to deal with. it is a record we have seen come up in other races. it is controversial because he is just doing his job, but almost everything is fair game when it comes to political ads. post""the washington talking about spending by the party campaign arms. having spent about $4.8 million in four skates. you can see south carolina there, and other states, wisconsin, michigan, and arkansas now. the democratic governors association come about half of the spending is playing out in arkansas and michigan. we will talk more about that. alfredring in alpha -- waiting period good morning. class good morning. -- caller: good morning. join the race for governor. general,would say in he is in a state that is trending republican. his handling of the snowstorm, the ice storm that happened, democrats started to see an opportunity. they are likely to be the grandson of former president sometimes, --rea that gets jason carter some attention but president carter has not been on the ballot were almost 35 years. it opens the door and gives him a second look , but i still think it will be difficult for any democrat to win a race in this midterm with president obama in office overshadowing some of the races. think we could see you change the rating from safe. the governor does have some work to do. another race you have rated as safe is vermont. someone on twitter says, vermont will be democrat for sure. we do not even have a republican candidate for governor. the amount of safe races on both the republican and democrat side, this year is it unusual? guest: i would have to go back and look. there are always competitive races. the cycle because 2010 was such a great year in 2014, republicans are defending those needs, there are more safe republican races. and house races, there is that divide between competitive and noncompetitive. quest for minds are open if you have a question or comment about the race. is with us. lee is waiting in philadelphia, pennsylvania. a democrat. quest good morning. nice to see you. i am living in philadelphia. i know it is predominantly democratic or the governor we have now has not done -- done anything for the state. he has ruined the school system. he keeps cutting money off. i would like to see if a female -- i would like to see a female governor. what do you think her chances would be to win the election? would do a whole lot more than the present governor. quest the congresswoman is a credible candidate, running behind in the primary because tam went on the air old -- early with the advertisement and boosted his numbers. allison has had a good fundraiser. we will have to see whether they resonate. there is a second woman in the race. a former's -- former environmental official. his initialon for web ads was raking up the good that exists in harrisburg. have another in the race, pulling in the single digits, that might be, it'd for someone like allison's words. -- allyson schwartz. host: you bring up tom in pennsylvania. where do you think he gets his money from? it seems to be an issue in this race. >> he is a businessman. he has been willing to spend and put that money up front. sometimes, early advertising does not necessarily work. voters are not paying attention, so he could almost be a black hole for candidates. get closerble to into the 40%, which, in that race, can be enough to win in the state. seehe role in 2014, are was are wef self funders -- seeing a lot of self funders? guest: now, they're are able to fund raise incumbents. they could draw on personal wealth to win reelection. some of those are already in, and now they defend themselves. -- : a reflection of what people already think. it does not tell people what to think. be making a calculated decision and they're looking at a nominee and a look at the primary polls, and they see even if their candidate is not getting to the nomination, they might try to look at their second choice because that candidate might have a better shot. there might be some of that calculation going on. sometimes, holes get it dad not. thinkwith people already and not trying to tell people what to do. in florida on our democrats line. caller: good morning. i want to ask your expert there about our governor race in florida. governor scott one last time without any interviews with local newspaper editorial boards, nor any interviews with local tv stations. do you think he could win again without disposing himself and doing more of a grassroots campaign? thank you. florida is such a large stake, you do not have to run the grassroots campaign. is a media battle. it is about being able to raise enough and spend enough money on television in all of the media markets to get your message out. that is part of the reason candidates of florida do not have to do that as much as retail politics. as the incumbent governor, he is getting far more a share of student he than what he did as a candidate. whether he wants to be interviewed or not by different media outlets is almost irrelevant. those stories are going to run. it is a big state, different than almost any other state. one of the questions with the hascratic candidate, he name id, but his campaign throughn, he has gone multiple staffers and he is trying to get that together in order to run. the official campaign is necessary to win in florida. you cannot just be an accidental governor. host: as a former republican does heas a democrat, have anything to worry about in the primary? guest: senator bill nelson is still keeping his toe in the water and wants to be mentioned as a potential candidate. i guess we cannot rule that out now. it seems not likely he will do that in, but in general, democrats are united in their disklike for governor scott and that is amending some of the fractures in the party. they just wanted to beat him and are willing to look past something to get that done. quest we are talking about in 2014. races robert in clinton, maryland. caller: i was wondering about our race in maryland. we have a primary next month. on the republican side, there is a black republican, charles, who won the gop straw poll. your thoughts on his chances on being able to bring fresh air and a new image of the republican party. he has been reaching out into black neighborhoods. could maryland see its first african-american governor on the republican side? i do not think it will be this psychotherapy look back to when michael steele was a credible candidate for the senate, that looked like an opportunity and ended up fading comes final days. when it to the race in maryland, it comes down to the democratic primary. three people are in the race, but it comes down to the lieutenant governor. that primary is fascinating because we are seeing health care and the affordable care act layout in a different way. a criticizedcandidate ofwn for the implementation the affordable care act in the maryland exchange, criticizing the rollout of it in maryland. it is i didn't touch a dynamically do not see in other races, where it is an issue between democrats in the democratic primary. in this cycle, it will be a democratic governor, we just do not know which one quite yet. quest maryland is one of eight states that has currently been ranked as safe democratic states. any other interesting primaries out there among those a? those eight? in july, governor deal is a polarizing figure. he got criticism when he appointed senator brian to that vacant senate seat. , we are seeingy an independent candidate now. peerng as an independent that changes the dynamic for the general election. it is too high of a hurdle for republicans to get over 50%, but if the democratic vote is the governor and a democrat is running as an independent, you could see someone like that governor potentially sneak into that. we have had that related -- rated as safe or democrats there we will change the rating soon. there is at least a viable scenario or path for republicans, though i think it is still a long shot. >> we are talking with nancy gonzalez. , do most states have term limits for their governor? yes.: a majority. there are exceptions. it a rick perry has been governor of texas for the good part of a quarter-century. he is not running for reelection. that is an open seat now appeared a majority of states have term limits. limits to two terms. making newsy yesterday in comments about a possible future presidential run . we're talking about the governor editorial races -- the gubernatorial races. from the republican governors association early in the segment. now i want to buy one from the democratic is as the agent. this came out back in january. class a former congressman who lost to tim walberg. now a congressman. democrats wanted him to run. they feel like he is a credible candidate they need to defeat snyder this cycle. class here is a bit from the ad that came out earlier this year. >> i grew up in livingston county. among was a nurse that was a science teacher. i saw the difference. charge of early childhood education. in congress, i thought for early interest rates on student loans. we need to stop the cuts to school funding. to tax- that money goes breaks to businesses, even if they send jobs overseas. cut a school funding is no way to build a strong economy. earlier thisunning year in michigan. your take on that ad? one of the reasons we have seen that is because he has not been able to keep pace in fundraising. i was an effort to boost his chances, boost his profile, and also get in attacks on snyder to buy some time in order for them to increase his fundraising. what is fascinating about michigan, it will be a great stay to watch in terms of getting the most bang for your buck. you have a competitive gubernatorial race and a competitive over and -- open seat race. you also have multiple or -- multiple congressional races on the ballot. is in theto watch former district now held by the candidacy isif his boosting his turnout, he might be able to be him again. your thoughts on a races taking place in your state. if you have questions with -- , he will begonzales here. dwayne, good morning. caller: i have a couple of questions. what is obama's popularity rating in florida, and what effect do you think that will have on the governor's race? seen a lotis, i have and i was wondering what the reason for that is. the president posses job ratings in florida, it is similar to nationally. --e people disagree with slightly more people disapprove of his job man approved. there was a special election in wherea's 13th district, we were looking at his job approval ratings and it was not something that was an anchor around the neck of the democratic nominee there. it is something democrats will have to deal with. badi do not think it is as as running in arkansas like we were talking about earlier. in terms of ads, rick scott is an incumbent governor and he has personal money. i believe he said he could spend $70 million total raised in his own money getting reelected, and being able to have the deeper well of resources is the reason why u.s. a more scott adds. you will see ads from outside democratic groups coming to help as things get going. --do you think governor stop scott will win in the summer? caller: it is a one-sided race. we are only seeing as from one candidate. it is like chris is not even in the race yet. host: thank you for calling in to add thoughts. we are interested in hearing from you and what you're seeing. nebraska, omaha. joan is waiting. good morning. i have a comment on all the polling places calling. i'm getting maybe 3, 4, and they are coming from all over the nation, and as far as i'm who i willas far as vote for, that is between me and the ballot. it is private. hello? host: yes. caller: i'm getting calls from california and all over, kansas, utah, texas, florida, -- >> is it worse than it has been in previous election cycles? for the election coming up, we have got primary care in nebraska on the 13th of this month. i'm getting calls from all over the nation for who i am going to vote for. it has gotten worse and worse. i have shut off my tv because all they are doing is slamming ish other, and what i mean they are putting the other candidate down i am tired of it. guest: you mentioned the primaries coming up on the 13th. you will see a refrain from some of that. you're right in the epicenter of republican primaries right now. a crowded primary for governor and a crowded primary for senate it. raceple candidates in each , wanting to know where they stand in each race to make those last-minute calculations. in the next few days, it will not end until the primaries are over. >> let's go to john in california, and independent. good morning. your tv and go ahead with your question or comment. caller: i was wondering if you think kevin johnson would ever run for governor of california. guest: good question. moreobably gets as much or attention than most mayors in ,he country from his background but i always think running for higher offices a lot about opportunity. when is the right opportunity coming up, who else is running, whether there is a viable path to the nomination, but he is able to get more attention than most mayors are so he is one to watch. >> california is one of those states where candidates go to fund raise. which state will spend the most money on governors races, how much? i think it will be florida. i think we will see florida and in total, iould see will give a guess of at least $150 million. that could be a low estimate. >> the candidates themselves? could rick scott alone spend between 70 and 100 million. when you add on chris and outside groups, we will get to at least total spending of at least $150 million. host: we are talking to nathan gonzales. the rothenberg political report. lady in california on our independents line. go ahead and turned on your tv. caller: ok. we have a situation going on in california that most elected officials are not even aware of. california, as you know, is a very large state. she does entirely different types of backgrounds. northern california, where most of the resources are, such as water. then you have southern , which is supplied by us. simply, there is not a large population appear. there is a grass movement and to bringions are out california into two separate states. my question is, i am wondering when the politicians will catch all of this and what they will do about it. think we see these efforts pop up from time to time and i think it will be difficult. candidates that want -- want to run successfully, what they want to try to do is bring together different factions in order to win statewide. you are right that some of the issue discrepancies are very different than what someone in l.a. and orange county, how they feel about the issues and what someone in central valley feels about the issues you're we are watching a number of competitive congressional races, one of them district,nia's 21st that water is a central issue in the state, something democrats and their teammates are trying to take issue with. being such a large state with differing populations is -- have tohey live deal with. i do not think we will see us dividing and adding other state, whether in california or the east coast. i do not think we will see that in the future. class we would love to hear from viewers, their thoughts on governor races in their states in 2014. south carolina. the line for independents. dan is waiting. caller: good morning, gentlemen. are determined by how you ask a question. i think it is ludicrous to try to -- last i heard, 70% of people were called for polls. they do not even want to get into them. another thing, we are seeing our elections in completely circumvented, circumventing the will of the people by the wealth of corporate america. it is a terrible thing and it is not inp soon, we will be living a system where the europeans with families inheriting power, wealth, and prestige, and we will be without anything. good they. >> a couple of points, one on polling. you are right some polling, the question wording and the way it is asked can impact the results of the poll. there are some good pollsters who asked the questions and do not ask leading questions in order to get accurate results, but there are some who tried to determine the order in aasking the certain way. a poll came out last week that asked questions about the affordable care act before they even asked about the candidates. you bring up that issue in the minds of the person responding to the poll, and i think that does have an impact on the other questions. in terms of influence and money in corporate america, you are hitting on one of the central campaign issues democrats are talking about, whether it is the white house and equality, to democrats. they want to talk about equality and fairness and he is the influence of outside money as an issue to resume with swing voters. >> what are the polls you trust the most? we try to take in as much polling as possible and not rely on any single poll. when you are looking at polling for a national poll, nbc news in washington journal is a great goal to go through. looking at everything together and trying to take the long view, there are good partisan pollsters on each side. we have a different view on partisan polls. isot of people say if it paid for by republican or democrat, you should throw it out and it must a skewed. pollstersere are good on both sides. remember the candidates pay money in order to do the polling to make strategic decisions. they're not interested in paying $20,000 for a poll just to put to a press release and tried inform public opinion. they're trying to get the polling numbers in order to help them know what issues to talk about, what it is people want to know about, and guide strategic decisions. helps in the following get a better idea of what is going on. classic question for you, how come states like kentucky have democratic governors. chris is a good question. there -- their offices where voters have shown a willingness party, aor the office party we are not thinking of in red or blue. because of federal issues, they are different from state issues. we are not talking as much about social issues but more about economic issues. when one party is in power, they make economic issues they do not poweror they have been in so long, there is an alleged abuse of power. one is in the office for two or three terms or longer, voters are more willing to say, let's give the other party a chance rather than continuing on and sending the same party to watch him. they can begin to everything. -- they can be two separate things. >> there is an opportunity to focus more on local issues. federal issues are going to be guided -- the federal races will be guided by what is going on in -- on the hill. those are questions the candidates have to answer to. --h state is dealing with on economic issues but in a different way. is the state's budget like, what sort of decisions have to be made to balance budgets so it could be a more localized race. it comes back to the federal cannotand the president be ignored. plays into the psyche because it is what is going on as well. victor, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. turn down your tv and go ahead with your question or .omment we will come back to you in a second, get your tv turned down. gladys in maryland on our line for democrats. good morning. i am calling concerning rick scott in florida. he does not seem to want to be reelected there is he has done so many things that are negative. he had people standing in line for hours and hours just to vote. how does he expect people -- deep down, i do not think he wants to be reelected. then the medical care, he is against that? what does he think? so many people are poor. it is a large state. younnot understand how expect to be reelected. cannot understand it. host: bringing up medical care, can you talk about the impact of affordable care affordable car? guest: if governor scott were here, he would give a different story. he would tell us he wants to run for reelection but those are some of the issues democrats want to bring up in order to generate enthusiasm within the base, which can be critical in midterm election. medical expansion is something governors have to do with. that is one of the tangible things with the affordable care act. we are seeing different governors making different decisions and different levels of success. with the state insurance exchanges, i know in kentucky, i know the governor is not up for reelection this year, because they are in an off year, but that is one of the places where democrats have nationally pointed to a success story here that is a place that can impact a senate race where mr. o'connell is running for reelection. also, maryland with the implementation there and talking about lieutenant governor anthony brown having to answer questions about the role out there. the limitation of the affordable the act is something governors in these races are dealing with. happening this november. republicans defending 22 season democrats defending 42 seats in the fall. let's go to pennsylvania on our line for republicans. tell us how you see the race there in pennsylvania. good morning. i'm wondering if a lot of money .s being spent i heard other people that i admire that corbett needs to be the person elected for our especially with what is going on in our state, where everybody else seems -- their campaign thing is to get as much off of the oil companies as they can get and keep feeding our entitlement type of state that we have. i wish we would go more like texas. our local area, there is a lot of improvement, companies expanding, with that industry, it seems to be one of the things that might turn us around here. think.ondering how you you think it might make it? guest: i think it is a tough race. what you describe is a tough race, of who has the best vision for the state, who do you believe is going to take the state and the economy in the direction you want to take? that will be a fight in the general election and will also be a little that about what has governor corbett done in his first term. that economic vision is something you see in pennsylvania and we are seeing all of us the country. sarah in florida on our line for independents. caller: well, i am an independent voter. i tend to be more democratic, but i vote for the person and i am very disgusted with congress and how they do not care about the country and they just care about getting reelected. i am very much a christian and this country started out christian. because of the unbelievers and atheists, they have taken god out of everything in our country and i heard yesterday on that somebody is going to try to take the "in god we trust" off of our paper money and our clients. i could not believe what i was hearing. i could not believe it. where were you hearing that report? caller: on a christian channel. i just want the american people to know and stop the unbelievers from taking away our wonderful god that created us, ok. that is my belief. guest: by disapproving with congress, she is and with 87% of america. she can rest easy knowing she is in the majority on that. on our line for democrats, caroline. good morning. caller: thank you. nathan in george definitely deserves not to be reelected for several key reasons. number one, he is heartless and uncaring. and refusing to expand medicaid. by saying the state of georgia cannot afford to expand medicaid, that is ludicrous when everyone knows it is free for the first three years. nathan has demonstrated his incompetence and management skills. we had two snowstorms in george on his watch. the last one was made worldwide news. his incompetence. the people endangered and into the enhanced for 24 hours because of his incompetence. also, his fellow emergency management director came into the office at 12 noon on the day after a major snow storm was predicted. then we learned in the middle of all of that that that was his usual time for coming in. he comes in every day at 12 noon and he did not change his habits on the day a storm was predicted. nathan is not on top of things. not managed his staff well. he is endangering the people of the state. he does not need to be reelected very thank you. calling from georgia. that is one of the states you touched on before has the key senate race as well. can you talk about the down and out ballot influences of some of the big senate races around the country? guest: in georgia, jason carter was the likely nominee for governor. in the senate race, the likely nominee is the daughter of the former senator. on the republican side, there is a crowded primary. we start on may 20. looks like there will be a runoff. any number from former secretaries, the businessman who is a cousin of the former governor, three members of congress am a so that will go to a july runoff. in the general, this is georgia in the senate race, one of two democratic offices of opportunity. democrats are really pushing. to is the comes down democratic senatorial campaign committee is dedicated to keeping the majority in the senate for democrats and spending $60 million nationwide on over 4000 paid field staff in order to boost democratic turnout, get out the voting efforts, particularly in a place i georgia, with the african-american community. one of the things they are focusing on is identifying new black voters, voters who have 2008-2000oted in the 12 presidential election, to try to identify those people and register them to vote, get them out to vote. if they are able to do that on the senate side, that could help in the gubernatorial race as well. get a few more calls in a while we have nathan gonzalez. bruce, on our line for independents. good morning. caller: generally, as an independent, i conservative on most issues. the size lieutenant governor brown who is running, the other two candidates, the attorney -- ial,bruce i cannot recall forgot the guys name. and the other person running, a delegate, they are extremely liberal. on illegal immigration is ridiculous. some of the other stuff they picked and supported -- one other issue, repeal the death county. listen how stupid they are. there was already a moratorium in the state of maryland for any type of death penalty, they carry out the death penalty because of the drugs involved with that. been anybody executed in something like 20 years. host: bruce bringing up several issues there. i want to get a response from you. when you have a safe state, the site is in the primaries. when you get to the primaries, you are talking to one segment of the electorate. to a polarization of the candidates where they are moving to the left and right on issues in order to win the primary because that is essentially the general election. carl on our line. ofler: i have a couple points about the election process. i would like to know about how you feel about debates. i would also like to know, in the debate process, instead of -- please forgive me, but instead of having a high saluting reporter or a television commentator, i would like to see more directed toward , toward hall mentality the common folks, somebody not in the eye of the media, asking the questions, so you can get, in my opinion, a more honest response from a candidate and not be so scripted. haveems to be, when we debates, it is scripted unless you go to a town hall. i think debates are part of our political process. depending on the state and depending on the race, sometimes you see a mixture of the different formats you're talking about. some of them are guided by reporters and some of them are guided more in town hall. the presidential race has two different styles, of debates. be easyne hand, it can to say, let's take it out of the hands of the reporters, and just by being a political reporter, i am not defending that being the only way, but sometimes with average citizens, you get an issue they might care about nmi not have as broad an appeal. the is one of the things reporter as a moderator should do, is try to boil down what are the most important issues to the majority of voters and try to get answers that way. inre are town hall meetings order to touch with grass-roots voters. those are being recorded. even though they are not debates, the answers are being recorded by the opposition and those are becoming a part of the bigger debate, even though they are not official. , come backn gonzales again later in the primary season to talk about those of us. up next, we will continue to talk about gubernatorial races. politicaleck in with reporters around the country and continue to discuss those races with callers and then later, david cotter will join us to talk about congress passes efforts to restore tax breaks for certain corporations. >> international news this hour. the cia is dismantling counterterrorist forces in east afghanistan. kimberly says the move is leaving a security vacuum. a longtime critic of operatives says the cia has started to and the contracts of some of those militias who were working with them. u.s. and afghan military commanders tell the bees that afghan forces are stretched too thin to replace many of the departing cia paramilitaries. have engaged in gun battles with the progression militia, occupying an eastern city in an apparent escalation and to bringing them back to control. multiple explosions would be heard today. there are four officers killed and 30 wounded. today, the center for strategic and international studies host -- hosted a discussion on the ukraine. you can listen to it on c-span radio or watch it on c-span. those are some of the latest headlines on seas and radio. -- c-span radio. take c-span radio wherever you go. you can tape c-span radio anytime. is a schedule for each of our networks so you can tune in any time you want. -- signature sense programs. onlined your free app for your iphone, android, or blackberry. >> for over 35 years, c-span rings public affairs events correctly to you, putting you in the room at white house events, briefings, and conferences. service ofblic private industry. created 35 years ago and brought to you as a public service here and watch us in hd, like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] we will continue our discussion on gubernatorial races around the country this morning. we're opening our phones up to viewers to ask you about those races and your thoughts on the governor's job performance. minds are open and we will continue going through some of the articles and some of the headlines in the gubernatorial races around the country. i first want to bring in collin of the democratic governors the executive director there. thank you for joining us this morning. for those not familiar with the governors association, what is the job of executive director at the democratic governors association. what do you do? manage our team and it fundamentally raises money and ands with candidates come electionhat invest. are able to we do that by raising resources and as we get closer to the election, we send the resources to the candidate, or in a place where we are not able to give directly to the candidate, we will do advertising and field operations ourselves. host: what are the top targets? our previous to guest says the top tiers for democrats is probably florida, maine, and pennsylvania. guest: >> absolutely. we are an incumbent protection organization, so our top priority is making sure we reelect all of our income and cover nurse. this is a big year, with 36 races this year. willof the governors we work to reelect are very familiar to folks. governor cuomo, governor cuomo new york, governor brown in california. we are making sure we hold the states we arty have, maryland, massachusetts, they are incumbent states, but they will have a new candidate and a new governor because the current governors are term limited, then arkansas is another one where we currently have a democratic governor, the most popular in the nation, and we will be making sure we retain that state. we have then got a group of states where the tea party wave in 2010 elected governors that are now incredibly vulnerable because they enacted an agenda that was deemed very radical and out of touch by the voters. they are very vulnerable. as nathan said, the ones we're very hopeful about our in florida, pennsylvania, and maine. in pennsylvania in the next two weeds, they will decide who the democratic candidate is. the matter who it is, we are confident the governor is so out of touch and his numbers are so poor that we will be able to be victorious in that state. we also have states out in the midwest that were also 2010 tea party or governors who came in and enacted an agenda. , a lot of tax plans women's issues that were unpopular with the voters, labor issues, were on labor we saw out there, and those governors are struggling greatly to get over 50% reelected and none of them have. that is in ohio, wisconsin, michigan, so we feel like we have got great candidates and a real shot. then we have got states not asmally identified democratic states. it is an obvious democratic soft ground for us, but we feel pretty good about some opportunities we have in south carolina, texas, georgia, and even kansas is a state where governor brownback is an act -- has enacted policies viewed as so extreme by even a conservative electorate that we have got a candidate, paul davis, who we think is in really great straight. -- great shape. we do not limit ourselves to any geographic area. make sure we have a great candidate and we go to battle. we are talk --host: we are talking with colm o'comartun. we will continue to look to do that down the road and bring the rj on -- rga on in the future. a lot of the efforts you're talking about will take money. how much money do you think is needed to raise the cycle for what you are trying to do in 2014? year, we have been traditionally outraised by the rga, but we won eight out of the last nine races we have gone head-to-head with them on. we tend to invest our money very effectively and pick the races where we know we have got the voters on our side and have got great candidates. it does not don't us at all that they will raise the state. we tend to have support from a lot of the famous republican right wing backers, koch brothers, etc., donald trump and folks like that. we will have all the resources we need to be competitive in the states that we will go to battle in. we are very confident about that. you about ask president obama is polling numbers. a lot of articles recently about his poor polling numbers. impact impact your democratic governors who are running? do you expect any of them to campaign in any races? guest: many of them will. these races are not like senate or house races. governor candidates have a relation with voters that is quite different and about different issues than those in national issues that tend to be affected by the national environment and the national mood. bread-and-butter economic issues that impact their everyday lives are more important to them, infrastructure, transportation, good schools, property taxes, higher education, in state education. we have been effective elected democratic governors in montana, west virginia, kentucky, nontraditional blue states in national elections. our candidates are really focused on that and not on national ideological issues. in virginia last year, we showed we did not meet president obama at the top of the ticket to ensure we would be able to win. so we are not as concerned about it. we are very aware the off year elections have an electorate that is more conservative, older than in a presidential year. it is our job -- they can touch on this -- it is our job to make sure we turn out our voters and remind voters what is at stake era for those who do not pay quite as much attention like you, the caller, he could not recall the name of the attorney general, although he did not like him, it is our job to make sure when we have got candidates who voters like, that they remember to focus in on the issues in an off year election and turnout. there are a lot of national organizations invested in making sure voters know what the race is and they turn them out. just like in maryland, some folks may claim, like that caller from maryland, he claimed to be passionate against certain candidates, but he could not remember the name. that is because we need to communicate with voters. we will be able to overcome any of the national mood issues to elect our candidates. >> the executive director of the democratic donors association. you joining us. >> thank you. talk to you soon. >> our phones are open to talk to viewers about races in their states. we are asking you how you would rate your governor's job performance as we talk about these issues. for the to florida, closely watched races are taking place. ryan is waiting. good morning. hi.er: give me a few seconds, i've a couple of comments to make. first of all, i and the vice president of the party of florida. that is really attacking the two-party system head-on. we believe a very large percentage of this country is represented. represented. we have a conference call three nights a week for six years where anybody can come on the all and discussed politics. about governors races. kind of problem we are having in this country. it is in iowa. governor five-time and, if he gets reelected, he will be the -- longest-serving governor in american history and, the true david and goliath here, tomuation actually made the ballot with no money and no resources. and he is a moderator. i would encourage anyone to go that what we are doing. needs to be replicated throughout the country if we are to save this nation. florida, one of those closely watched gubernatorial races is happening. let's go down to new orleans on our line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. i am listening to some of the comments being made. i am from louisiana, born and raised, i spent time in the military. bobby jindal is one of the most disgusting persons i have ever run into. he has done nothing for louisiana. thousands of people in louisiana are poor. hundreds of people running around every day picking up roadkill. he is doing everything he can not only to demonize the african-americans but the poor white folks also. if they wanted to do something that was great, stop calling louisiana a red state. people he might know vote red, other people that american. go toin louisiana, let's florida again. our line for democrats. good morning. good morning. i listened very carefully to nathan and his talking points regarding the florida race. i realize that governor scott, who does have a great war chest, which he also had in the prior election. the only problem is that nathan forgot to bring up there is a primary in this state. charlie has got to beat the who is oute senator there and has been out there. speaks regarding what is happening in the state. some of the political junkies out there want to see this head to head, republican-republican reformed into a democrat race. $75rnor scott will spend, million to $100 million to keep a job. kind of scary. you have to understand. to spend thatg much money in the state of florida, what are you going to steal? e are already behind regarding medicaidon, with a b, reform that should have come to this state. that is taxpayer money. we have last two years of that. oft: i want to bring up some your concerns, especially your thoughts on the primary. "the miami herald's us. --t leader joins mark caputo joins us. host: our last caller wanted to address crist's chances in the democratic primary, if you could start there. charliethe chances of who isosing, everyone remotely objective about the race don't see the primary as being a concern for charlie crist. rick scott also faces primary opponents. they are not the same as nan rich, facing charlie crist for florida governor in the primary. she had been running for 19 months prior to crist jumping in the florida governor's race in november. he has now raised 14 times more than she has. lagging indicator of support. it is not a leading indicator of victory. a republican governor, yes he was a republican turned independent turned democrat, democrats at the time said he was a better governor for democrats than chiles was, the last democratic governor of florida before jeb bush. it is comforting for some very liberal democrats and certainly a large number of republicans who are trying to stir up support for nan rich to tar charlie crist, the chances of him having a tough primary are really small. the chances he will not win by double digits are smaller. host: marc caputo with "miami herald." take us through the general election. i want to talk about polling. there has been a lot of polling on this race, where does the rick scott-charlie crist matchup stand? guest: i have averaged and cross averaged and skewed polls. is aheaduess is crist by anywhere from 2 percentage points to 5 percentage points, probably around 3 or 4. the governor is on pace in two $8.5s to have spent million on television since march. who advertises in a governor's race in march? rick scott has to. he is doing badly in the polls. he has been faxed by poor poll numbers almost since he barely won the 2010 governors race. he is up against a seasoned heitician in charlie crist, has run five times for statewide office and is well-known. well like and better liked than rick scott according to polls. host: maybe you can answer this tweet that came in. "what isleclerk asks, the unifying message that democratic governors want to convey?" guest: judging what i have seen across the nation, democrats want to make themselves sound like reasonable problem solvers. their argument is that republicans are simply obsessed ruiningan obamacare, -- obamacare and they have no ideas. that is not me saying it, that is the messaging i am getting from various democratic candidates. whether it is charlie crist here or what i read about democrats in other states. minimum wage is of great importance and they want a turnout for the women's vote. probably were who among the most crucial voting bloc to putting barack obama back in office for a second term. elections, the problem the democrats had is that their days are -- their base are, relatively speaking, that voters. -- bad voters. in florida and 2010 registered outnumber registered republicans by about 500,000, yet every statewide office w as won by a republican. democratic voters disproportionately stay home to conservative voters. southeast florida, palm beach, broward and miami-dade counties consistently underperform in midterm elections. if they perform at the statewide democratn 2010, the would have won by about 250,000 byes instead of losing 65,550. for some reason, democratic voters do not seem to understand that as much as republican minded voters. host: marc caputo with the "miami herald." guest: thank you for having me. host: we continue to discuss ubernatorial races, asking viewers what they think of their governors. mark in hawaii. independent. caller: you showed three guests topthe gubernatorial contenders in the state of hawaii. and thercrombie, republican duke aiona. that was a very informative piece. the scenario described about half an hour ago, possibly a republican in a democratic because ofd prevail the splitting of the vote. talk of starting an independent party. the younger republican, duke he is very popular. as an independent, i rate our abercrombie as all right. he gave up a huge number of years of seniority representing district one congressional half of theu, where live, on that one side of oahu. needed a big name to run against duke aiona. i could not call a winner. i rate governor abercrombie on any system. host: do you want to say whether you would vote for him again? did you vote for him last time? caller: i may have voted for lieutenant governor aiona one ti me out of two elections. i have not voted for the others. independent, i am very satisfied with governor abercrombie. i was skeptical and did not vote for obama. i am just, i feel very well represented by both the president and the vice president and governor. our various lieutenant governors we have had. go to pittsburgh, pennsylvania on our line for democrats. caller: good morning, how are you doing? in pennsylvania we have a gubernatorial race going on right now. is supposed to be the weakest governor running nationally. running against for democrats. rate his performance -- governor corbett, a c maybe. he has held the line. he needs more support. -- penn state, sandusky, he was attorney general. he knew it was going on and hid it until after the election. more children were molested while he was attorney general. some of his weaknesses. if i had known that, i would not have voted for him the first time. my main concern with the gubernatorial race is corruption. new jersey and louisiana, we would be the most corrupt state in the nation. they would do better to take all the advertising money and buy the vote. that is what they are doing. misrepresent., the press says that is the way things are today. no, that is not the way things are supposed to be. jacksonian democrat. i believe in the platform that andrew jackson formed. in pennsylvania offering his view on that race in pennsylvania. let's stay on pennsylvania, i want to bring in robert, the politics reporters with "the patriot" out of harrisburg, pennsylvania. thanks for joining us. caller said his biggest concern was corruption influencing his vote. is that what you are hearing on the ground? guest: i think like him a lot of states, here in pennsylvania the concern is jobs and the economy. the state is just starting to show some improvement in its unemployment rate, 6% in the last examination. voters are really trying to get on board with some of the things that can help us for economic development. host: tell us where we stand on the primary, the democratic primary a few weeks out. are you seeing any movement here? we talked a lot about wolf being the front runner right now. staked an wolf has almost insurmountable claim to the nomination. he has been assailed by two of the other three democratic primary candidates in the last couple weeks. it does not believe that their attacks are sticking. the last poll last week showed him maintaining a 25 point lead over his nearest challenger. even though "the philadelphia inquirer" came out and endorsed mccord, the state treasurer, that is a long way off of changing the genetics of the race. -- changing the dynamics of the race. host: what is tom corbett doing to help himself? we talked about his more abilities in the polls we are seeing. one of your recent stories "big guns firing for corbett in reelection effort." guest: since he announced he was running, he and the state gop chairman has said there would be big names coming to the state to campaign for the governor. seenve not necessarily people out for him, but there is plenty of time. probably the most demonstrative thing he has done is beat a fellow republican off the gop primary ballot. he has aired a few ads, just to let voters know he is out there. a couple moreken moderate policy positions. int should assist him running more broadly in the general election in november. about theave talks governors association, i want to ask you about the national republican governors association. do you think they will play in the pennsylvania race? we have shown some ad spending by the rga so far. has gone to so far four states -- arkansas, michigan, succulent, wisconsin. there's a lot of speculation that the republican governors association will not be spending heavily, if anything. indications they are monitoring the race and if it looks like there's an opportunity for tom corbett, they will be prepared to invest. vickers, follow him on twitter or see his work on pennlive.com. thank you for joining us. we have asked our viewers about their thoughts on their governor as we discussed governors races around the country. texas, karen is a republican. good morning. caller: i am a moderate, i voted in the republican primary. there are certain races i prefer republicans but i want to say there is a lot of excitement in texas about the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor on the democratic side. leticia vanand derpew. the lieutenant position is a strong position. there has been a war on the woman. also in terms of public schools. the republican candidate are more in-line with the tea party. they support creationism. it is unfortunate that we do not have strong leadership in the democratic party -- and the republican party is more moderate. it is becoming even more conservative. karen from houston, texas on our line for republicans. some news out of texas. 2016 aint campaign, he might make another 2016. the white house in "i think america believes in second chances, he told "meet more bys," we see looking at how do you perform after you fail." perry's campaign was marred by a number of gaffes. perry said his focus would be on job creation, according to "the hill." important to listen to the american people and americans are concerned about how i'm going to take care of my family." the idea that there are moral women out of work now than at any time of our history is not right. rick perry on "meet the press" yesterday. that will do it for this segment of "washington journal." up next, we are joined by david kautter of american university on efforts to restore tax breaks that benefit large corporations. but first, here's a news update. is mine: 19 a.m. eastern. target says chairman and ceo gregg steinhafel is out. after thee months retailer disclosed a massive data breach that hurt its reputation. the nation's third-largest retailer says mr. steinhoff will step down effective immediately. he also has resigned from its board of directors. stolet said that hackers t credit cards and debit card information on tens of millions of customers. the world health organization says the spread of polio is an international emergency. it threatens to infect other countries. the agency described outbreaks in asia, africa, and the middle extraordinary situation requiring international response. usually strikes children under five years old and is spread through infected water. there is no specific treatment or chore but several vaccines exist. and filipino0 u.s. troops have begun to weeks of military exercises to prepare for dealing with any potential crises in the philippines, prone to natural disasters and has been locked in a standoff with china over a disputed shoal. to philippines has turned the u.s. to modernize its military amid the territorial rifts. more on this today from the center first egypt and international studies -- more on this today from the center for strategic and international studies at 1:30 p.m. eastern time. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. , if youa broadband plan you that 150ish number, need to figure out what comes next in that 2018, 2020 large. that, you identify need to start right now. you referenced the cisco projections, they are staggering. between now and 2018, the demand for mobile wireless bandwidth will increase eightfold. if you thought traffic in washington was going to increase eightfold, you would say we need new roads. we face that same problem, we need more spectrum. additional infrastructure will help, new technology will help. we ought to be looking at figuring out what that next launch is. >> what is next for the wireless industry? tonight on "the communicators" on c-span2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: each week in this segment wethe "washington journal," look at how your money is at work in a different federal program. continuing our focus on tax breaks being considered by congress. we have looked into clean energy tax breaks. housing tax breaks. today, we focus on tax breaks aimed at corporations. our guest is david kautter of american university. what are some of the tax breaks we are going to be talking about today? guest: there are about 60 decembers that expired 31 last year, there are four big ones that affect businesses. the research and development tax allows small businesses to immediately write off certain amounts of investment in capital put in. affectr provisions that controlled foreign corporations. exceptionfinancing and a look through provision. we can go into more detail if you would like. host: i want to start with a look through provision. guest: it involves a section of that requires u.s. shareholders of foreign corporations, called controlled foreign corporations. is it to a foreign corporation where a u.s. shareholder owns 10% or more, to pick up any income. certain types of interest dividends, royalties, abnd rent, whether or not those are paid to the u.s. shareholders. a u.s. operation that owns 10% or more of a foreign company. that foreign company has interest dividends, royalties, maybe even insurance income. shareholder -- the us. shareholder is required to pick that up in the taxable income even though it does not receive any cash from the foreign subsidiary. the look through provision involves a u.s. company with two foreign subsidiaries. let's say one has a lot of cash and one needs cash. if the company that needs cash borrows from the company that has got the cash, it will pay the foreign subsidiary that has cash interest. that interest would be taxable to the u.s. parent, whether or not that interest is remitted to the u.s. parent. what this looks through provision does, it looks through to the source of that interest income in the foreign subsidiary. it provides interest income in the lending foreign subsidiary, that is from a related foreign do not have to pick up that interest income currently and subject it to u.s. tax. host: plenty of time to go through in this segment of "washington journal." for our radio listeners, here's a chart about the for tax extenders for corporations. the research and development, $ 155 billion. $20 look through rule, billion. small business depreciation, $73 billion. active financing exisemption. tax extender, explained that term. why is congress going back to extending these? guest: there is a series of provisions, about 60, that were temporarily part of the tax law. in the tax law for a year or two years at a time. time, theyof their expire as part of the tax law. taxpayers can no longer take advantage. these 60 expired december 31 of last year. the original extender was the r& in 1981,dit enacted that has been temporary for 33 years. it has gathered a lot of friends that travel with it because these extenders, as a herd. host: there are some members of congress who want it to stop being temporary and make these permanent. guest: that is exactly right. you see that and different approaches between the senate finance committee and the ways and means. senate finance's approach to this problem, this year, has been the same as the traditional approach. thatported a bill temporary extends the provisions for two years through 2015. the chairman of the finance yden, says he expects this to be the last temporary extension and congress should decide. down ad means has gone different road. ways and means is using a more approach,nd extensive examining each provision one by one and determining whether it should be made a permanent part of the law or allowed to expire permanently. last week, ways and means reported 6 provisions, the four we mentioned and to others. they recommended that they be permanently made part of the internal revenue code. there was a vote scheduled for whicheek on one of those, would make the research and development tax credit permanent. host: talking with david kautter of american university as we discussed tax breaks for corporations. some of the tax extenders being debated on capitol hill. if you have questions or comments. .emocrats, (202) 585-3880 republicans, (202) 585-3881. independents, (202) 585-3882. if you are outside the u.s., (202) 585-5883. you talked about the ways and means committee reporting out this bill, it was not without some debate that broke down along partisan lines. positives and negatives both sides see of making the research and development tax credit permanent? guest: the heart of the debate usually on extenders has been whether they should be paid for. if they produce federal revenue on a period of their temporary extension, should revenue be raised to pay for those extenders? traditionally, they have not been paid for. republicans take that position in the house and the senate that they do not need to be paid for. the democrats have split. the democrats in the senate who control the finance committee have said they do not think the provisions need to be paid for. the democrats on the ways and means committee, which is what you are talking about, they have basically said he's provision should be paid for. it is not that we oppose them or thing that they are bad policy, it is that we think there should be some way to pay for those for," they oppose those out of the ways and means. host: house minority whip steny hoyer talking about the research on settlement tax credit and has concerns about the issue of not providing a means to pay for it. [video clip] >> all of your republican colleagues are being asked to vote for a $155 billion increase in the deficit. want toey all say they bring down. i am sure they will get of and rationalize, as they did in 1981, 2001, and 2003, that the growuts would magically the economy so that they would not exacerbate the deficit. in the 33 years i have been in congress, that has not been our experience. host: here's a story from "the bill talking about this that cleared some of these tax break extensions that cleared the ways and means committee, quoting republican congressman dave camp. camp said tax breaks would catch the u.s. up with global competitors that do not allow incentives to expire. some quotes from "the hill" on this. utter on the debate on capitol hill. guest: one of the basic principles for business is certainty. they like to be able to know what the rules will be when they make an investment decision. part of a problem with the temporary nature of these provisions, especially things like the research and development, the look through roles, the active financing, even small business writeoffs under section 179, you can't plan. you do not know what the rules will be from one year to the next. congress has tended to expand almost every provision that has expired over the last 30 years. mostly people believe that these provisions will be extended and bet the r&d credit will around and they can rely on it even though it is not part of the law currently. bey are expecting it to retroactively extended, which congress has done regularly. on the other hand, when you start the plan as a business, you are not just looking at next year, especially with research and development. you are looking out 10 years or 15 years. it is helpful to a business to be able to plan for an e xtended period instead of from one year to the next. host: corporations are interested in these tax extenders, this is from americans for tax justice. a list of the corporations by lobbying for some of these tax breaks. including the research and development tax break. some of the money spent on million. ge, $61 among the top 30 organizations, according to the chart from mericans for tax justice, $828 million spent on lobbying to keep the tax extenders from january 2011 to september 2013. of americanr university, managing director of the kogod tax center. we talk about tax breaks for corporations. jim in ohio on our line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a comment and a question. we reallyt is, do need all these tax breaks when our country is in such poor physical condition? i also had a question about a look through. provisionhrough sounds like it might be a money-laundering types game. -- type scheme. when you take a corporation that has so much money and gives it to another corporation that does not have much cash, that sounds like laundering money. is that laundering money to avoid paying taxes? to help to bankrupt america, what is it? guest: sure. the look through provision temporarily defers, as opposed to permanently eliminates, u.s. tax, on those amounts moves from one corporation to another. the way the u.s. rules work, when amounts are earned abroad by foreign subsidiaries, there are certain types of income that flows immediately to the u.s. shareholders. is allowed to stay abroad and not be subject to u.s. tax until it is paid in cash to the u.s. parent. that are moved from one subsidiary to another would ultimately be subject to u.s. tax. having said that, there is an ability to move money through this technique on a high tax -- from a high tax foreign jurisdiction to a low tax foreign jurisdiction. let's say the company that has money is in a low tax jurisdiction. the company that needs cash is in a higher tax company. by borrowing the higher tax company, foreign subsidiary, gets a deduction at the 30% rate in the country where it is resident. and the lending subsidiary will only have to pick up the income and say a 12% rate. it is possible to have rate arbitrage by moving money around. in theory, when that money is paid back to the u.s. parent, it is subject to tax. the look through is really deferral as opposed to illumination. host: comments on twitter. "american corporations have never been stronger." one other comments from twitter. let's go to aneddy in north carolina on our line for republicans. caller: my question or comment, you hear a lot of people on the left talking about subsidies to oil corporations. they are not receiving any subsidies. what they are doing is they are getting depreciated value on their costs for drilling. where another corporation would have to take it over an extended period. guest: that is correct, there are a series of provisions in the fossil fuel industry that became part of the tax law over the years. special breaks for intangible drilling expenses and other expenses that would have to be capitalized. that the internal revenue code allows to be written off more quickly than if they were written off over their economic life. in that sense, accelerating deductions is a tax benefit. on the other hand, a lot of the green energy initiatives are also funded through tax incentives in the internal revenue code. there is a debate between the fossil fuel folks and the green energy folks as to whether those breaks are equivalent, the breaks for the fossil fuel industry should be whittled back or limited. substantial profits, many fossil fuel companies. the green energy companies are not quite so profitable. it is a debate that has gone on now for years. hasy year, the president proposed in his budget to eliminate most of those incentives for the fossil fuels. so far, they have not been illuminated. host: we talked about the research and development tax credit, the look through rule. talk about the active financing exemption that would cost a rejected $58 billion over 10 years. guest: the active financing exemption works on roles in the tax law. 10% u.s. shareholder owns or more of a foreign controlled corporation, the shareholder has to include in income certain types of income, interest dividends, rents, royalties, and insurance income. whether that income is remitted or paid to the u.s. parent or not. hat the active financing exception provides is that if there is a foreign subsidiary actively engaged in producing interest income, dividend income, right income, royalty income, the u.s. shareholder does not have to currently pick up that income in its u.s. taxable income. it differs picking that up until those amounts are actually paid to the u.s. shareholder. in that sense, it works out the same as we talked about with respect to the look through rules. with david kautter american university. director of the kogod tax center. taking your calls and questions as we talk about tax breaks for corporations for the next 20 minutes or so in our "your money" segment of "washington journal." tom in arizona, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. there should be no taxes on corporations whatsoever. let all of that extra money flow to the american economic system. for that matter, to the world economic system. let jobs be created. to there be heaven on earth not tax corporations. guest: thank you for that question. it is surprising when people find out how much of the total tax paid in the country are paid by corporations. in the1% of all taxes u.s. are paid by corporations. when you look at the business world, about half of all people employed by businesses in the u.s. are employed by what are called pass-through entities. proprietorship, partnership -- the earnings flow through to the owner and there is no corporate level tax. the other 45% of people employed here in the u.s. are employed by corporations,d c those are subject to corporate level tax. when you look at the u.s. tax rates compared to our trading artners, the oecd is collection of major economies in the world. among those companies, the u.s. has a highest corporate tax rate. much of the discussion you care about tax reform is an effort to get the corporate rate down to a level that is more consistent with our major trading partners. the average corporate tax rate is in the upper 20%, 27%. 10%.are as low as corporate tax has been controversial since it was enacted and it will be until it is repealed, if ever. host: on twitter. "if we eliminated corporate income tax, when we become a tax haven for the world?" guest: we probably world. there is only one country with a zero corporate tax rate, in the middle east. places like ireland have become tax havens. other major economies have as they havevens reduced their corporate tax rates. it would attract more investment, more capital. you the question is could run the economy, could you raise the amount of revenue needed -- run the government with the amount of revenue that you would raise if you eliminate the corporate tax. as i said, it still raises about 10% or 11% of all the taxes in the country. host: talking about corporate tax provisions that are being debated by congress and whether to extend them or not. we are joined by david kautter of american university. kim in santa cruz, california on our line for independents. good morning. you with us? caller: yes! yeah. i think they need to close their tax loopholes. anyindustry does not pay tax in california, i don't think that is right. hi -- host: kim, we heard your comment and are going to let david kautter jump in. do you have any thoughts on the oil industry? in totale oil industry pays a lot of taxes. and it pays federal taxes. in many states, it pays estate tax. there are a lot of people who think whatever it pays it is not enough, it should be a multiple of what it pays. and there are others who think whatever it pays is way too much. again, just like the corporate income tax we talked about, it is an issue where people have differing views. i will say that as an industry, oil and gas pays a fair amount of tax. host: jim on twitter. "can you explain why allowing immediate right off generates more revenue?" the immediate impact, if you look at the way the government keeps its books. if you immediately write off an asset, it reduces federal receipts. if you just to the strict bookkeeping. instead of the ducting, let's say you got something for $100. if you depreciated, you would the duct $10 this year. by being able to expense it, you deduct 100. your taxable income goes by 100 instead of 10 and you pay less tax than you would've. is him ofde of that the business that purchased the asset now pays less tax and has more money of its own left to invest in other revenue producing activities. reducingis that by taxes today versus over 10 years, you will have lower taxes today and the businesses will take that money and reinvest in growing their businesses and hiring and creating jobs. host: back to the research and development tax credit. talking about your background on capitol hill. guest: it is interesting. i worked on capitol hill in the late 1970's and early 1980's from john danforth. senator danforth propose a 10% credit on research and development. it started in 1979. the treasury department opposed the enactment of the r&d credit. for two reasons. they said a straight 10% across-the-board credit would reward behavior that would have occurred anyway. so senator danforth amended the proposal so it became an incremental credit, you only get the credit as you increase your recent endowment spending. -- your research and develop a spending. the second objection was it is difficult to define research and development. treasury testified that they looked at this in 1969 and could not come up with a definition. between 1969 and 1981, when the provision was enacted, the financial accounting standards board came out with a definition of research and development for accounting purposes. interesting, senator danforth but to the treasury department the question is a possible accountants can define research but attorneys can not? it was decided to include the research and development tax credit in the 1981 bill. a little bit of political intrigue. theressman dan kelsey -- chairman of the ways and means committee and senator danforth were not friends. senator rostenkowski was chair of the group that put together the house bill. jimmy carter described the internal revenue code as a disgrace to the human race and soposed it be sunset every often so congress would have to reenact everything. congress been wafting caskey -- congressman rostenkowski proposed that maybe we should use that r&d credit as an experiment on how sunsetting the code would work. it was enacted and became effective in june of 1981, expired at the end of 1985. and it has been temporarily extended ever since. interestingly, over those 30 years, the treasury department has completely changed its view. if you look at the studies out of the treasury department, they conclude that the research and develop a tax credit is very beneficial and encouraging businesses to maintain technological advantage. host: to get there is still concern about the research and development tax credit from groups like citizens for tax justice. i want to get your thoughts on what they wrote last year. some of the criticism about the r&d tax credit. the white -- accounting giant deloitte openly advertises its services to help the food credit industry get credits. guest: there are several points in there. one of the basic points to realize with respect to the racers are middlemen tax credit is that it is restrictive in terms of what qualifies as research for computing the credit. but the research has to be technological in nature. it has to be designed towards either establishing or improving a business component and it has to be focused on experimentation that improves functional aspects, performance, quality, or reliability. it is not available for cosmetic changes. to doautomaker wanted some research on whether a rounded headlight looks better and was more appealing to a potential buyer than a square todlight, that is not going qualify for the research and development credit because it is not technological in nature. the headlight works whether it is round or square. it is limited when it comes to the definition. on the other hand, the major area of controversy, from the day that credit was enacted, is what is research? at times the irs has been openly hostile to the research and development credit and has actively audited things that were clearly allowable as research. that is not to say that there are not some businesses who skirt the edges and try to claim the credit for types of activities that are ineligible. for a fewave time more calls. we talk about tax breaks being considered for corporations in this "your money" segment of the "washington journal." detroit, michigan, democrat. caller: good morning. disingenuous for your guests to speak of the 35% tax without immediately mentioning the fact that corporations truly do not pay that. you know, they are hoarding money. talk about the trickle down. ok, you save corporations taxes and they will hire more people. they are hoarding money and then suppressing the wages of workers. no sympathy for corporations trying to get lower taxes. they are not putting that money back into the economy. they are hoarding money. michigan.etroit, guest: where you see the hoarding of the money, if it is a genuine issue, is u.s. corporations have somewhere between $1 trillion and $2 trillion of untaxed foreign earnings sitting abroad. when that money is brought back to the u.s., they have to pay tax at the u.s. rate. which is, going back to the comment about 35%, the top rate is 35%. they get a credit for foreign taxes paid on that income. let's say they paid 12% foreign tax in ireland. they bring it back to the u.s. and pay tax at 35, they get a credit for 12. onessence, they paid 23% those repatriated earnings. there is an enormous amount of cash sitting abroad held by u.s. corporations that is not being repatriated because of the u.s. tax rules work. u.s. is the only major economy in the world that taxes do.usinesses the way we everyone else uses what is called a territorial system. which is foreign earnings are taxed in the foreign country and not in the home country of the parent. we use a worldwide system. we do have a different system, we do have a lot of money that is untaxed by the u.s. taxing system. no question about it. as to the 35% rate, that is clearly a statutory rate. corporations get deductions and credits that reduce that rate. generally, what they pay is called the effective tax rate, which is the amount of taxes paid divided by their income. that is almost invariably less than 35%. effect ofwitter, the corporate tax rate on some of the big corporations like ge and exxon. do we know what those numbers work out to? guest: i don't have that off the top of my head but i believe it was a year or two ago general electric, there were some stories that general electric paid no u.s. tax. that is hard for me to believe. it is possible. part of that, the way the u.s. tax law works, if you have losses and part of your business and income in another part, you get to offset the income and the losses. the tends to drive down amount of tax paid. those numbers are freely available. i just do not have them on the tip of my fingers. host: let's go to jessup, georgia on our line for democrats. caller: the morning. you sit there and you have all the admiration for companies that basically are getting away with murder, they are not paying taxes. almostd at a company for 40 years. in the last eight or 10 years, they were paying about $8 million a year in taxes to the county. today, they are paying less than $3 million. i went from paying $100 a year on a 40 year house i bought when i was 20 years old to paying almost $700 today. that is robin hood in reverse. another thing, you are talking about credit, gas credit. since the year 2008, they have less workers today than they had in the year 2000. they are not adding jobs, they are decreasing jobs. but they are still getting subsidies. will you please explain that to the audience? host: david kautter is more of an academic institution at american university in d.c. at the kogod tax center. guest: it is a fair question. center is actually focus on small businesses. most of the job creation, going to one of the issues the colleges is raised, most of the jobs created in the u.s. economy are created by small businesses. the estimates are anywhere from 65% to 85% of all the net new economy overin the the last 20 years have been created by small businesses. now, that number comes basically from the department of labor study and from the small business association. and the small business administration. it is not a privately funded study. economymism in the tends to be in those small businesses. the entrepreneurs and the start up businesses. that is what our tax center is focused on, how do you get the tax laws to encourage those businesses to be formed and survive questio? no question that is where most jobs are created. host: dorothy and baltimore, maryland, on our line for independents. caller: good morning. i just wanted to say, the thing i think that is not going on. the politicians are going to try to get this solution, let me explain. to give ated corporation tax breaks and it can go -- this is what has to be done. i will say something ronald reagan said, "trust but verify." the more they higher, the cheaper their taxes. that is what you do, you cannot -- they can still hold onto their money. if you make it so that when they a tax break. get it can go down to zero the more people you hire. second thing, about all companies. ll company -- oil companies, they sell us oil off our own land at whatever price they want to charge us. that is no incentive for us but politicians -- and we cannot control the price. oilicans are paying for to make someone else rich. host: i want to give kautter a chance to respond. think the point about reducing federal taxes if someone does additional hiring does exist in certain parts of the internal revenue code. there is the work opportunity tax credit, that reduces the tax liability of a business to the extent that it hires certain, defined types of workers. has ald be somebody who criminal record. somebody who has been disadvantaged. there are certain pieces of the existing tax law that reduce tax liability for hiring. with respect to the oil companies, that is a debate which i do not know has ever been or will ever be settled. you can find studies that talk about how the price of oil is globally determined. it is not determined by the u.s. production. and i think i think the oil and gas companies do pay taxes, in fact i know i do. were some people, is it enough? for some it won't ever be enough and for some it will be too much. host: if you want to learn more about the kogod tax center -- kautter is the managing director there at american university, thank you for joining us. that is it for today on no quote the washington journal." we will see you back here tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] ap

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