along the desert populated east coast are making preparations for her can irene -- hurricane irene. the martin luther king memorial dedication at seven money was canceled last night, allowing people to leave the city early to get to their homes. we will start with the federal response to hurricanes and other natural disasters. in this time of austere budgeting, what should the federal government's response and rolle be? many of you have past experiences with hurricanes and other natural disasters and fema. would like you to weigh in on the federal government's role in 2011. just to give you a sense of the morning headlines, newspapers from the bottom of the country, all the way from miami all the way to boston, all the way -- all feature a hurricane irene the boston herald." in new jersey, like a headline on "the star-ledger." "christie issues state of emergency, readies guard." and in boston, "with irene looming, region gets ready." here are the tabloids in new york city. "the daily news." as the east coast prepares for this potentially damaging hurricane, we talk about the role of the government. "eric cantor -- federal hurricane disaster relief would have to be offset by spending cuts. a spokesman said that the response would be balanced by spending cuts elsewhere in government. has consistently said that federal funds for disaster relief must be offset with spending cuts.' predicted help from the federal government might not be quick in coming" -- that's what it says, might not be quick in coming. we would like to hear from you and your thoughts about the appropriate federal role and natural disasters of this type and what we've learned from past lessons, and we welcome your calls, tweets and emails. jonathan allen is on the phone with us from "politico," a regular voice with us. august is typically been a time when congress has gone on to listen to and the concerns of constituents, and that ties in with our question about the federal government's role. what have you been learning about congress' direction with the public during this particular congressional break? guest: it depends a lot of a member of congress and the type of constituent that shows up at their events and the degree to which they are somebody who is already somewhat controversial. a colleague of mine, jake sherman, went to congressmean fred upton's district during the break. he is chairman of the house energy and commerce committee. the town hall there was a very sedate, nothing like the ones we saw in 2009. earlier this summer, we saw senator john mccain and arizona getting testy with constituents. there was a back-and-forth. i think there has been a variety this year, i think we will still have a lot of opportunity next summer to see how that plays out as the elections actually, a little nearer. host: a watchdog group calling itself no labels did research on town halls and their conclusion was that there were far fewer of them this year. is that surprising, given where we are in the election cycle? guest: i don't mean to criticize without looking at myself, but anytime you do a study on how many people are holding town halls, there are a lot of obstacles to getting information there. the no labels group says that 60% of representatives are not holding town hall meetings, but my understanding, the caveat offices and ask, that is not only a good way to get a response -- not always a good way to get a response immediately. sometimes you get the wrong response. the newspaper reported earlier this week that despite that report, oregon representatives were doing them. it is hard to make a comparison of this year to last year simply because it is difficult to get accurate data. host: certainly the questions, blots on the minds of the people, what some aspect with the economy -- will have some aspect with the economy and federal spending. a reminder of when congress gets back to work, please. guest: they come back not next week but the following week. host: is it possible, if the storm attacks the kind of punch we're looking at, the one of the first items on the agenda might be spending? guest: there could be additional spending for the hurricane. republican leaders in the house insist that a merger to dollars be offset -- that emergency dollars be offset. so far that has not been a problem, but if the east coast were to get pummeled by our r -- by a hurricane, offsets by billions of dollars, the kind of spending you saw in the wake of hurricanes katrina and rita -- that remains to be seen. the preference of republican leaders would be to offset any spending related to a disaster. that has its own political battle that would ensue. host: jonathan allen, thanks so much for your time. members of congress will be for the most part home with constituents on the east goes as we watch this approaching storm. thank you very much for talking to us. guest: take care. host: our topic is what the federal government's role should be. it is a different budget in time, different time in our thinking about the federal government. we want to hear from you about a deficit spending and what the government's role should be. if you live in an area of the country that has had a natural disasters and have worked with fema in the past, please join the discussion this morning. john is a democrat. you are on the air. caller: my suggestion is that many of the red states should do what they have been wanting to do, and that is to show that we need to have our state rights and our states the independent. i don't think we should spend a federal dime. this should be handled on the state level. this is what they have been pushing for a federal rule. they want the federal government out of their lives, and this is the time to move it out of their lives and let the states stand on their own hands of their own problems. host: do you say that from your own philosophical conviction, or are you try to present a test case? caller: well, i guess what they have been advocating for so many years that this is what we need to do -- well, it is what they've been advocating for some years that this is what we need to do. i think the time to start is right now. host: john from des moines. on twitter -- next is all fro -- call from texas. beaumont has seen its share of storms over the years. caller: i have not gotten any help from fema, and i don't want any. but as far as what john has to say, i agree with him. and the federal income tax that we pay -- we can pay for these things. i find it a little ironic that a lot of energy traders on wall street really enjoy it when we get a hurricane in the gulf and are now going to get a ca hurricane themself. host: jim, you are on the air. caller: good morning, thanks for taking the call. i have a question as far as taking government -- helping out our american citizens here with help from the hurricane. i have an idea, i have a question, let me tell you what is wrong with the idea of maybe bypassing more of our payments to china or somebody in favor of taking care of, you know, our people here. host: you would like to pay for it but you would like to see it paid for out of overseas funds? caller: yes. host: thank you for your call. next up is a tweet. in other words, finding offsets for a period. , georgia, as we talk about the federal in disaster planning. caller: i think it is funny that the callers that just came in are willing to let citizens, whether poor or rich, suffer when there is a hurricane and there is a responsibility for the government to take care of the public. these guys in boats and becomes, they have insurance, so they should be able to take care of themselves the way republicans talk. host: at people who don't have boats and big phomes? needs-based response? caller: that is it. host: kelly is an independent. caller: i agree with the last caller, we should do what we have always been doing, take care of our citizens in the event of a disaster. eric cantor and his usual political banter -- if we really want offsets, let's take it away from his budget. host: noah, democrat, you are on the air. caller: so glad i am able to do this. thank you, c-span2 this is the perfect time for ron paul to get up on the bully pulpit -- i live in a gulf coastal town and it was wrecked by a hurricane and i did not ask the government to help me build it back or anything. i am a veteran. i agreed with something one of the other callers say. take some of the money that you are buying friends with overseas and use that money to pay for things here at home. host: thanks for your call. here is an article from 2006 about the tri -- about katrina. the general accounting office looked back at the relief effort. "gao -- millions wasted during katrina relief. the government wasted millions of dollars in its post-katrina contracts for disaster relief, including 4000 beds that were never used, said a federal auditors. the government accountability of this's review of 13 major contracts offers the first preliminary overview of their soundness. waste and mismanagement were widespread, according to the five-page briefing paper released on thursday. that led to money paid for work never used." looking back on our largest hurricane and the federal dollars allocated there. dennis is an independent. caller: i want to tell you this straight away -- if i hadn't had fema with hurricane wilma in 2005, i would have been out the window. i also went through andrew, had a brush with gene . my cousins daughter was a recipient of katrina's catastrophe. certain individuals, whether democrats, republicans, independents, teabaggers, are crazy. fema was set up, and certainly george bush was not offered to help people as was bill clinton before that and so forth. this is rank insanity, is ridiculous. i do have a philosophy which politicians do not like listening to simple explanations. quit giving foreign aid to every country. i don't care which one it is, england, china, vietnam. stop giving them money. stop it for six months. give them no money, unless we have a base in their country, and that will put money in the coffers to take care of fema. i hope any resident from north carolina to maine that does not get any money, if congressmen or senators from those states deplete it or not allow it, they should be thrown out, thrown out on the streets. host: after our live program this month, 10:00 a.m. eastern time, c-span will carry the briefing from fema about emergency preparations in u.s. coastal states. nashville, keith is a democrat there. caller: good morning, how are you doing? host: great, thank you. caller: i have been through eight hurricanes over the years and have seen the damage that can be done. for people to sit ther ande -- sit there and say that states need to fix the problems free to stay in each person, the would- be mass of the destroyed palms, -- there would be a mass of destroyed homes, people would be sitting with no water. i don't think he partier -- don't think tea partiers have a clue. they are sitting in kansas where they ever have or can, no idea of the effect it has on the area -- where they never have a a hurricane,, no idea of the effect has on the area. the first when i was i was donona, two weeks without water or electricity. everybody was afraid of typhoid. nothing there to help you. if you had something to fall on your house, you took care of it. a lot of people did not have the money to take care of it at that time. i wish these people from the midwest -- they have their eyes and snout, but i think they should go ahead and take a vacation -- have hteitheir ice d snow, but i think they should go ahead and take a vacation on the beach and see what it can do. host: do you think that people walked in through horrific tornadoes, like in joplin, know what it is like to live through national disaster -- natural disasters? caller: sure, but fema was helping them there, too -- host: sure, but you are indicating that they do not know what it is like to go through natural disasters. caller: but what is to help them with floods and tornadoes and having a slight -- guest: thank you, keith, national, tennessee. next up is minneapolis. caller: i think it is ludicrous to say that people in the midwest have no idea what sitting on a beach with 120- mile-per-hour winds -- we have a floods, tornadoes, a straight line winds, so we do now our fair share. that makes us look like we're idiots -- that is not true. i think eric cantor ought to think about what he does and reinstate the bush tax cuts, because in minnesota, we do have a high-tax state, and we do enjoy paying those taxes, maybe not so much the fact that it takes out of our pay and everything else, but it used to have a good roads. people in need it did not have to worry about things. i do believe that the federal government has an obligation to help all people, whether it you are republican, democrat or independent. you need to fix the problem that hurricanes, through. i was working out in maine for a while before i was disabled. and we had water that was a-tend -- 8-10 inches, so far inland for maine that it was unbelievable for damage. i think it is ludicrous that somebody within that people from the midwest to do not understand what the federal government does to us. host: cedar rapids, iowa, another kevin. democrat, you are on the air. caller: i live in iowa i just had seven feet of water in my house a few years ago, so i definitely know the feeling of disasters. the, i thought was a little bit outrageous as well, john, -- the comment i thought was a little bit outrageous as well from the gentleman. we have flood insurance and with a mortgage on our home. i did not have a mortgage at the time, so i did not carry flood insurance, but now i am forced to be covered because fema did come in and help me. in a sense, we should demand a some type of insurance for the areas -- 100-year, 500-year flood plain. obviously, the odds are less that what happened, less out there, but higher earthquake areas, it should be the same thing. nothing in this world is free. you're aare if democrat or republican, if you have not realized that, you have a problem. host: on twitter -- next up is riverside, california. tina is a democrat. caller: good morning, c-span. we all come together as americans in at times of disaster. i think we need to support our fellow man, our fellow brothers. the bottom line is we all pay taxes in one form or another, local, state, what have you. we need to help keep america strong and make sure we keep building america. we all live here, and unless you want to move to china -- i am not sure i want to see somebody's house destroyed. we need to come together to keep america strong. host: there is lots on the internet about hurricanes if you are interested in forces of nature. famous hurricane names from the past include mitch, floyd -- termed the storm of the center at one. -- iris, isadore, in south carolina at they well remember hugo. hurricane katrina, modestly it is starting out in the bahamas, the one that has the longest history and biggest impact of u.s. hurricanes.. we are going to move on. george is a democrat. caller: good morning. we need to have a rainy day fund. they used to talk about that, and we actually did have one, but now we spend all of our money on wars and foreign-aid. these wars and foreign aid are methods of corporations to plead our country. there are -- to bleed our country. they are unnecessary. when we give foreign aid, it is not the goodness of our hearts, it is agreed of corporations, because they reap profits from this. all this was the money is waste, fraud and abuse -- all this watested money is waste, fraud and abuse. you had an earlier caller to mention the same thing, and i agree with them. wake up, america. we are being fleeced. host: we talk about the federal government's role in big hurricanes and other natural disaster a as its -- as hurricane irene mixes with the east coast. stephanie, what your thoughts as this comes to your home state? you have got to turn down the volume on your tv. caller: ok. all right. hi, i am actually in -- host: stephanie, quickly hit that mute button, please. caller: sari. -- sorry. i don't know. i have been hearing all that is going to be takinen -- taken away -- [unintelligible] under the water by saturday. all my friends and telling me to evacuate me, and have my family in long island has left, and it has been really terrible. my uncle -- is really difficult, because we have no information up here, because i know somehow we will be affected. we live all day on the east coast. host: do you have access to the internet? caller: actually, no. host: i would really encourage you to find a local news station on the radio. we are reading about new jersey here in washington. i am sure there is much more local news you can find at least under local radio station. good luck to you and your family. next up, baltimore. ray, democrat. caller: first-time caller, actually. with this thing with fema, i and listening to people talking in different parts of the country about how the midwest as tornadoes and the east has hurricanes and west has earthquakes. the federal government should help out. i used to live in north carolina, on the coast by jacksonville, and when i was younger we had two floods, and after that we ended up moving out of their. the first time you have a flood, you have the government come in and help and that is fine. but if you rebuild in the same spot and you know that this area is prone to flooding, that is when you need to have mandatory insurance, like the earlier 10, was saying. he said that it helped him. the government should help people when they are in need, but if it they to keep doing the same things over and over again, living in places where they are prone to accidents from hurricanes and flooding, which everybody saying that you are looking for a free handout or this or that, from what i am understanding, when you go to fema and they help you, they are giving you a low-interest loan to rebuild your life. it is not money that is just coming out of the taxpayers' pockets. yes, it is coming out up front, but in the end, and they are going to be paying those loans back. i just -- you know, i believe in the government helping people. in certain situations, if it keeps occurring over and over again, that is when you have to say that you couldn't do it. that is my viewpoint, and like i said, a first-time caller. thank you very much. front page of "the sun." ray was watching us in baltimore. for one thing on the economy, today, the annual speech the fed chief gives at jackson hole. many are watching to see if he is going to signal if there is going to be and other quantitative easing or other policy changes. here is the headline on the topic from "the financial times ." "bernanke aims to hit right not e at jackson hole. anyone expecting a message that sharply changes occuthe setting of monetary policy is likely to be disappointed. it publicly forecast it would keep rates close to zero until 2014. the title of the speech itself, 'the near and long term prospects for the economy,' suggests a compromise between the theme at the symposium and the need to discuss what happened in the economy. last year, it was on and it was about short-term." -- it was on and thaunambiguous about short-term." hcaller: i have been watching the news, it the internet. my opinion has always been that people need to be responsible to their families, themselves, at the government does have a responsibility to the citizens of this country, helping at the time of disasters and what not. but going in, i agree with the gentleman before that i listened to that made the statement that, you know, when you go in and it is the same flight area, a flood plain, same disaster over and over again, it looks like it is a way to justify people's maybe but it is