By host Tom Ashbrook:

Last week in the firestorm debate on immigration reform, even conservative stalwarts finally blinked at the full-blast power of rightwing talk radio. “Talk radio,” said Mississippi’s Senator Trent Lott, “is running America. We have to deal with that problem.”

Problem? Not the way fans of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and Michael Savage see it. This, they say, is democracy in action. And hallelujah their guys have the biggest megaphones. Maybe too big says a new report. But who’s to say?

This hour On Point: the reign of rightwing radio and the buzz in Congress to rein it in.

Guests:

Mark Lloyd, Senior Fellow at the Center for America Progress and co-author of the new report “The Structural Imbalance of Politcal Talk Radio”

Horace Cooper, Senior Fellow at the American Civil Responsibility Union

Paul Waldman, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America and author of “Being Right Is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn From Conservative Success”