Please let them find another word that hostage. Both parties share responsibility for the discourse. We have to get back to greater stability where we can respect each others opinions, still have differences, have lively debate about the future course of our country, but lets make it less personal. I agree with you. We have to learn how we can disagree without being so disagreeable. And it is not just elected representatives. This course that we see is all over the country right now, especially on talk shows, pushing those hot buttons. People get riled up all the time. We have a lot of work to do to reach a level of conversation that is conducive to Good Government again. Is next in iowa. Democratic caller. Caller i have a lot of savings bonds. Down, government shuts will i lose them, will i lose the interest on them . The savings bonds you have should be safe and secure. The real danger is on thursday when we run out of the ability to pay our bills, what the government chooses to default on. This could affect Social Security payments, medicare, other payments that go on every day, including the interests on treasury notes and bonds. If we lose that full faith and credit, that the u. S. Will make good on its bills, that could lead to a terrible cascading affect where people lose confidence in this country, they stop buying treasury bonds, Interest Rates woods guy rocket, making it more expensive for the government to borrow, and for businesses and families to borrow a like. That is why we have never done this before. I do not know why we are playing with fire this time, going to the brink of possibly defaulting for the first time in our nations history. We ought not to test this because the consequences will be big. A viewer wants to know, how likely is it that we will default on the debt . The treasury has been clear that they will run out of any measures to pay bills on the 17th it the revenue does not meet the expenses coming in. No one knows when the real Tipping Point will be. It could be on the 17th. It could be a couple days later. Is just sothing that dangerous to do to the u. S. And global economy, we should not be attempting it. Danger, would the you and other democrats agreed to a gop provision that would deny the secretary of the borrowing . Wers on guest the details are being worked out. That is something that we are working on. We will see where they come down on it. I just hope that what we do not do is set up another crisis down the road. The American People are wearing a little thin with his antics. If, two months from now, we are facing another possible default, that will not be good for the confidence we need to get the economy functioning, get the good paying jobs we desperately need. The truth is, a growing economy solid a lot of these problems. That is what we should be focusing on, where we can partner with the private sector. Unfortunately, the dysfunction coming out of congress is more of a hindrance to growth, rather than helping. Is next in tennessee. Republican caller. Caller good morning. You had a caller a few minutes ago talking about how the Tea Party People are called extremists and radicals, but nobody ever mentions that, in the democratic party, like last davis one andman accepted an award from the peoples world, the online publication for the communist party usa. Several years before that, wasresswoman jan g caskey the recipient of the eugene debs award. Others speak at socialist scholars conventions. Is that radical . People that slam the constitution and the capitalist system and praise the marxist system, or is it radical to uphold the constitution and bring the constitution back . We can go around this block as far as you want and continue to divide the nation but i am not interested in that anymore. We need to find a path forward. We need to give this government the power to function properly. That is why i am proud of leading this group of bipartisan democrats try to understand the complexities of the world we are in, how we can help businesses and people be more competitive in the global marketplace, and how do we make sure that no one is left behind . How can we make sure that people fullolder rejig participants in this World Economy . Continuing to blame is not going to get it done. We have to figure out how we can come together again with honest conversations and start solving problems again. Host on the economy, a reaction story. Ashington times guest yes, and justifiably so. This is what we have heard from rating agencies all the time. If you cross the line, they will punish us with a low credit rating. Or importantly, they may be downgrading us anyway because of the dysfunction coming out of congress. Are is a pervasive feeling here in the country and throughout the world, that we have a congress that cannot govern the nation. Us losel help confidence as well. I would not be surprised if we see another downgrade given the recent episode in the last few weeks. Host these are the stories in the papers today. China calling for a de americanization of the global economy. Guest this is the kind of danger that we start to play with when we mess with the credit of the United States. If you take away treasury notes and bonds, which has been the worlds reserve, for a long time, that capital will look for a safer investment. They will take risk out of that decision. This is something that could lead to a decline of u. S. Influence and power in the 21st century. There is more at stake than just making a political point and shutting down the government. And credibility of the United States, as we move forward, that is on the line. Host here is the quotation from the chinese news agency. Still right now, we are first amongst the other nations when it comes to opportunity and growth, return on investment, but there is no guarantee that will continue, especially if we keep playing these games in washington and hurt the full credit of the United States. That is really what is at stake. Lauren, pennsylvania. Independent caller. My question is on insurance. I do believe obamacare has some good points, but my main question is why dont we mandate Insurance Companies and Health Care Providers to bring their cost down . Pay overd and i both 2000 a year for insurance. They only cover 70 , so you pay for all of this insurance him and nothing is covered anyway. Bills keep going up, why are we not mandated to bring these things in at a lower cost to help people get Affordable Health care . Questionat is a great but the focus needs to be in the Health Care Provider community. What can we do to encourage better outcome of care . And then we need to reward the value of care that is given, and that is the volume of services rendered. We have had a messed up Health Care System for too long and basically pays providers on how much they do rather than how well they do it. As long as that is the case, we will bankrupt ourselves. We will only encourage more tests and more things being done without Getting Better results. That is but we need to start changing. There are a lot of tools in the Affordable Care act that have not received a lot of attention that would change the way that health care is delivered so that it is more patientcentered. Wouldare also tools that change the payment system, so it is valuebased, nonvolume based. That has also been an area of bipartisan agreement through the years, im getting to that valuebased system will not happen overnight. You will not change the way that you pay for 1 5 of the economy overnight, but steps are being made in that direction. If we can get there, the insurance rates we pay now would be more efficient, better care would be delivered in the Health Care System. Bob in syracuse, new york. Democratic caller. The air. N ok, lets move on. Craig in scarborough, maine. Good morning. My question was on health care. I know that people that could not afford health care now have health care, but they have deductibles. How are they going to pay these deductibles, lets say they have a 5,000 deductible. I see that going back to building a hospital. They have no money to pay for it. How will that happen . Guest as far as the socalled exchanges, there will be different plan people will be able to choose from, with Different Levels of payment. Abouts what is alluring this. People have a chance to choose amongst competing health care plans. We found when Companies Compete thomas especially Insurance Companies, it is to believe the consumers that win. That is something that has been lacking in Health Insurance market. The lack of competition. For though income families, there is help for the socalled outofpocket expenses, deductibles or copays. I think the exchanges are something that conceptually have bipartisan support in the past. Onntroduced legislation these markets. I had an equal number of republicans and democrats supporting it. In essence, that is what was put in the Affordable Care act. Now we will see if people can find that quality care in these exchanges come a that they have not been able to in individual Group Markets so far. Minutes left a few with congressman ron kind. Lily in california, go ahead. Caller i wanted to see if maybe just one member of congress could finally tell the people the truth. The majority of the people in the United States are hard working people. What the people need to know is, this is not even a country, it is a corporation. The act of 1871, that is why they do not represent the people, they represent corporations. This is not a country at all. It is time for the lie to stop. People are tired of it. The Affordable Care act is nothing but taking power. It has nothing to do with medical. There is a lot that needs to be fixed. We can begin doing that by getting together and not being afraid to listen and talk to each other and work hard to find common ground. One thing we did not talk about this morning are the possible fixes. The redistricting ss is a mess. It is not right that politicians get to choose their voters. Safe seats on too the left and the right, when more americans are pragmatic about their thinking. He had to get rid of the big money in the system. With citizens united, that lifted the lid on political contributions for Large Organizations and unions. The American People do not even know where the money is coming from or the motivation behind it. There are other reform proposals we could talk about, but maybe this will turn opening up more eyes about the structural fixes we need to be a more functional democracy again. Host that is part of the negotiations coming out of the senate from this deal. Open up the government until january, raise the debt ceiling until february, and that gives more time to talk about more issues like entitlement taxes and so on. The best thaty be we can do right now, the concept of walking together first. If we can avoid the default and start helping the Economic Growth we need, maybe that time will be well spent. Host if you are confused about the default and that, everything happening in washington, usa today has a 101. This is what they write you can see under the different president s our total debt, how it has been raised over the years. Last phone call for the congressman. Democratic caller. Go ahead. Caller i would like to know what are the major philosophical differences in health care for members of congress and the American People. Guest there is this myth out there that members of congress and our staff will not be going into these exchanges. In fact, we will be. The irony is, these Health Care Exchanges are modeled exactly after the federal Employee Health benefits program, where employees get to choose amongst competing plans, received some assistance to pay the premiums. It is exactly the model for these datebased exchanges being created right now which worked well for federal employees for many years. It makes people feel more comfortable knowing members of congress and staff will be in these state exchanges. That will happen anyway. Right now, lets stay focused on making sure these exchanges work well for those who need coverage, for those who are uninsured or underinsured for the coverage they are receiving today. Host what happens today . Guest a lot of discussions. The senate will have to see if they have a bipartisan agreement. The house will have to see if what the senate came up with is good enough. Again, 48 hours before we could technically begin defaulting on our financial obligations. There will be a flurry of activity. Again, it has come to this 11th hour of brinksmanship of waiting until the last minute to do something, but it seems that is the only way that congress can operate, when its back is up against the proverbial wall. I hope something breaks today and there is a clear path forward. Host who has to go first, the senate or the house . Guest the senate will probably have to go first. The wider the bipartisan vote, the easier it will be for the house. Host thank you for your time. We appreciate it. Next, americas Global Competitiveness and a new study that finds u. S. Adults score below average on worldwide literacy and mathematics test. We will talk about that after we come back. A terror suspect accused of taking part in the deadly 1998 bombings at u. S. Embassies in kenya and tanzania is scheduled to appear in new york in court today for his arraignment. Recently, u. S. Forces captured a libi and was taken to custody over the weekend. People want to know who set up two dry ice bombs in the Los Angeles International airport. Werether dry ice bombs found yesterday but did not explode. The Supreme Court hears oral arguments today about the shaken voter approved ban on taking race into account in college admissions. The justices will decide whether the change to the state constitution that voters back in 2006 as grenades against minorities. The court is releasing the today. Ts you can hear it this friday on cspan radio. We will air it at 4 00 eastern time. Those are some of the latest headlines. This is a reconstruction of the ship that was built in the winter of 1812, 1813 for the battle of lake uri. Wrest control of lake erie. Timberip incorporates from the original. They are not structural, not loadbearing, but they are embedded in the frame between the pieces. A symbolic presence of the original ship. What is original about the ship is the way that it sales. The ratings, the work the crew has to do, is very much what the seamen had to do in 1817. We teach history, we teach people and appreciation of the war of 1812, the maritime history of the great lakes. Really, most of the learning that takes place on board is about functioning as members of the ships company. It is a real value now because it is a place that we can continue certain traditions, certain attitudes, abilities that have been with us for centuries. We keep that going here. The rest of the story this lowscoringbooktv and American History tv look at the history of erie, pennsylvania. We are back. Our guest is Anthony Carnavale, the director for the Georgetown University center for education in the workforce. About a newo talk study done by the organization of Economic Cooperation and development. What was the headline from the study . Guest essentially that the United States is losing its Competitive Edge in its workforce, not so much at the top. We are pretty good at the top, that is, our best workers are as highly skilled as anyone. It is in the middle and towards the bottom of the education distribution where we are increasingly falling behind in 21stcentury skills. Host what are those skills, what are we falling behind on . Oldt it used to be in the days, only the professional or technical worker needed skills like problem solving, vertical thinking, a variety of other skills, the ability to use knowledge effectively to solve problems. Nowadays, in modern economies, virtually all workers need them. Workers in almost every business or Employee Organization needs manage in a to modern competitive environment. Host who did the testing, what did they test . How do you test those things in adults . Everyone has seen the headlines about american children, but how do you test adults . It is a different kind of test, and in the end, trying to find out what people know. Do you know the first president of the United States . Do you know how to solve a simple equation . To these tests are meant assess whether you understand what you know. Can you use what you know to solve a problem . Can you use what you know to come to an answer that is not simply wrote amortization rote memorization . Here is the chart put together from the study. The u. S. Lagging in reading and math skills. You can see where the u. S. Ranks on reading, math, and problem solving. States, well below countries like japan and finland. What are those countries doing that the united data is not doing . Investing more, in relative terms, in a broader population. In the United States, our Education System tends to sort people. If you are a good student, the next dollar we spend tends to go to you. Think about the transition from high school to college. That is where the big sorting occurs. If you are good enough to go to college, we are willing to invest years i