ricci and ben vargas described what it meant for them to go from a summary dismissal in the sotomayor court, to a summary judgment court victory in the supreme court. five years of personal costs, stress, and strain suffered by the firefighters were vindicated by a victory in the supreme court. nothing can erase the flawed result of the sonia sotomayor panel's decision or her apparent attempt to sweep the case under the rug. second, judge sotomayor's treatment of critically important second amendment issues have come before her and her treatment is equally troubling for the same reasons. she simply has the text of the constitution wrong and did so in is such a cursory way that her

actions seemed designed to hide the significance of the case and the significance of her ruling. last year in a case of good importance, the supreme court held in the heller case that the second amendment which protects the right of -- quote -- "the people to keep and bear arms" provides an individual right which i think it clearly does, and that, therefore, the federal city of washington, d.c. that we now are in could not ban its residents from having a handgun in their homes, even, for protection. in a footnote the supreme court left open the question not raised directly in the federal case of washington, d.c., of whether the second amendment would bind the states. the question is simple and of fundamental importance to the second amendment. does the constitution bar states and cities from denying their

residents the right of gun ownership? pretty big question. huge question. on january 28 of this year in the malone case judge sotomayor issued an opinion on this issue and in this opinion judge sotomayor again failed to follow the text of the constitution. the constitution is plain and simple on this issue. "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." and when you talk about the people, we're talking about the right of not just the federal government, i would submit, but, also, the state and cities. so the sonia sotomayor panel looked at this text and decided that a state or local government may infringe, even deny, your right. some argue that judge sotomayor

was bound by a precedent in her decision and there was, indeed, old case law that her decision followed. but we've looked at this closely and tried to think it through. i would note that the situation that this court found itself shortly after the well-known tremendously important heller case, had changed and the ninth circuit panel, just like judge sotomayor's panel, facing the very same issue, disagreed with this ruling. it found that the second amendment does apply to the states. the second amendment, in a very thorough and carefully written opinion, at it final conclusion, agreed with judge sotomayor's panel's decision but it did so in such a way that demonstrated its recognition of the

importance of this right and the new situation created by the supreme court in heller. this recognition was utterly lacking in the very brief opinion that judge sonia sotomayor participated in. while it is argued that judge sotomayor relied on press democrat, the precedent she cited was from the 1800's and that does not use a modern test for incorporation that the court employs in deciding what rights apply to states, something that has been going on for nearly 100 years. not only that, but even after the watershed decision by the supreme court in heller, she held that it was settled law that the second amendment did not apply to the states and that the right to keep and bear arms is -- quote -- "not a

fundamental right," keep questions. when the points were brought to the judges' attention during the confirmation hearings, she declined to explain herself claiming that she had not recently read the cases on which she so recently relied. well, this is not the level of analysis that i would think the judiciary committee h a right to expect from a nominee to the u.s. supreme court. make no mistake, the effect of this ruling if not reversed, if it stands, will be to eviscerate the second amendment by allowing states and cities to ban all guns. as the district of columbia had basically done before the supreme court reversed that in heller. in simple terms in a case of good constitutional respose, judge sotomayor once again in an

unjustifiably brief opinion, measured in three paragraphs of analysis gave short shrift to the plain words of the constitution. i would just say, also, that after the supreme court rendered its ruling in heller it had a footnote that said since this was just a federal cities case we don't decide the application of the second amendment to the states. but in that food note footnote e it kauai clear that the prior old cases were decided before a different approach to incorporating constitutional rights to the people. and its pretty clear from that, that they have left this matter open. the judge on the ninth circuit, that court found that the question was an open question

after heller. to say it's settled law is not good, in my view. it is not settled law. i would certainly hope and millions of americans will be hoping the supreme court will not rewrite the constitution. they will declare that the second amendment does apply to the states. and, further, says said it was not a fundamental right. that was not a phrase used by the other two courts who considered this question and it's gratuitous in my opinion and the combination of saying it is not a fundamental right, which is important to the analysis, ultimate analysis, and her statement that it's settled lalaw, to this senator, indicats a lack of appreciation for the importance of the second amendment right and even a hostility toward the second amendment.

and it was troubling also that the judge, judges' equivocation as to whether or not she would appropriately recuse herself from considering this issue that will surely come before her on the supreme court. she declined to commit to recusing herself if the 7th or ninth circuit cases came before the case. and even though those cases raise exactly the same issue as the one she decided against gun rights. in addition to the firefighters' case -- will with, i would note, also, that even the d.c. case, breathtaking to me, was 5-4. that declared the right to keep and bear arms, provided in the constitution, explicitly,

applied, barred the city of washington, d.c., from banning all firearms, base china. basically. it's a much more fragile right than we have. and it's one that is explicitly stated and explicitly given to the people. now in addition to the firefighters' case and the second amendment case, both of which involve important issues of constitutional law, judge sonia sotomayor handled i in a similar manner, a very important property rights case which some call the most eeg greegous propert -- egregiousproperty rim where they took private property for a shopping center.

three years ago after the storm of controversy over one particular case with a great deal of academic writing, her court issued an opinion where a private property owner found his property on which he planned to build a c.v.s. pharmacy, taken by condemnation by the city so another private developer could build a walgreens on the same property. the way the condemnation came about should send chills down the spieps odownthe spines of a. the wall green developer told the land owner that he could keep his land and build a c.v. expvmenvs.and they would not coe just had to fork over half ownership in the business so i look at that and i can understand request the land owner thought he was being blackmailed.

judge sotomayor looked at that and called it a "business as usual," a simple negotiation but it is no negotiation when one party possesses the power through the city to take your property whether you agree or not. in another curiously short two-page opinion, judge sonia sotomayor's court rejected the lawn owner's claim holding that the courtroom doors were closed to a land owner because he brought his claim too late. the logic was the land owner had to bring the claim to court months before the extortion occurred and the afo the affects violating the constitution because the constitution states property should not be taken for public use without just compensation and the court has been clear saying you cannot take private property except for public use. judge sotomayor's hearing,

professor salmon who has written extensively on property matters said this case was the most antiproperty rights case since the decision that was decided by a 5-4 court just a few years ago. again, plain constitutional protections were ignored to the detriment of an individual american citizen who was standing up for his constitutional rights. so in three cases, contrary to the plain text of the constitution, judge sotomayor has ruled against the individual and favored the state in the face of seemingly clear provisions of the constitution furthering what can be fairly said to be in each case, a more liberal agenda in america. now, a liberal or conservative political belief, a republican or democratic political belief does not qualify someone from serving on the supreme court. what does qualify is when a

judge allows such beliefs or ideology or philosophy or opinions to impact the decisions they make in cases. anyone with more than a casual acquaintance with the law would instantly know that each of these three cases presents issues of great legal importance and each deserved to be treated with great thoughtfulness. judge sotomayor surely understood that fact. yet in each instance, her decisions were unacceptably short. and a lot of her opinions were criticized for being too long and too detailed. her decisions also -- her decisions were unacceptably short and, it seems to me the only consistency was the result favored a more liberal approach

to government. so i have come to announce regretfully that i cannot sport judge sotomayor's elevation to our highest court. she also now sits with a lifetime appointment on the nation's second highest court, the court of appeals. her experience, however, well rounded, and background, however inspirational, is not enough. what really matters is her record on the bench and her stated judicial philosophy. i hope i'm wrong. but my best judgment, my decision is that a sonia sotomayor vote on the court, the supreme court, will be another vote for the new kind of ideological judging, not the kind of objectivity and restraint that has served our legal system and our nation so well. thus, i

thus, i am unable to give my consent to this nomination. madam president, i thank the chair and would yield the floor. mr. harkin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator iowa. mr. harkin: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin: madam president, i ask consent that alex ahirenck and matt creshefen be granted floor privileges during today's session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. harkin: madam president, yesterday, july 26, marked the 19th anniversary of the signing of the americans with disacts act by president george herbert walker bush, july 26, 1990. passage of that law was a great

national achievement. i remember being there. obviously -- i was the chief sponsor of the bill, and i was at the white house when it was signed. it was a beautiful, sunny day. and more people were on the white house lawn for the signing that have bill than any signing of any bill in the history of this country. huge. it was a wonderful, wonderful day, and it was one of the landmark civil rights bills of our generation. -- of the 20th century. passage of the original americans with disabilities act was a bipartisan effort. as the chief sponsor of that bill here, i worked very closely with senator dole, others on the other side of the aisle. two come to mind -- senator orrin hatch, who worked very closely with us to get it through, and also senator lowell weicker of connecticut. senator weicker really was the first proponent of the americans with disabilities act.

by the time we were able to get it passed, he was no longer in the senate. but senator weicker did really yeoman's work with getting this going and putting everything together before he left the senate. we received invaluable support from president bush and key members of his administration. i would mention in particular white house counsel boyden gray, attorney general richard thornburgh and transportation secretary samuel skinner. so we look back after 19 years and what do we see? we see amazing progress. thanks to the americans with disabilities act -- or the a.d.a., as we call it -- streets, buildings, transportation is more accessible for people with physical impairments. information is offered in alternative formats so that it's useable by individuals with visual or hearing impairments. need i mention the

closed-captioning that one can be watching my speech on television right now. closed-captioning right now going all over the country now, not just on the speeches of the senate or house floor, but important events, weather, all started after the passage of the americans with disabilities act. these changes are all around us. cacurb cuts, widened doorways, widened trains. you never could get on an airplane with a seeing eye dog. now you can. they're allowed to do that. and so these changes are now so integrated into our daily lives, it is sometimes hard to remember what life was like before the a.d.a. after a.d.a., employers are required to provide reasonable aations so that people with -- reasonable accommodations so that people with disabilities

have easier access in the workplace. there are four goals: equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency. last year and again with broad bipartisan support we were able to pass the a.d.a. amendments act, overturning a series of supreme court cases that have greatly narrowed the scope of who is protected by the a.d.a. beginning in 199 and going through 2000, 2001 there was a series of cases. the three most important was what we call the sutton, the murphy and the kurtenberg cases that came bever the supreme court. in each of those cases, the supreme court did not really lookality the report language and the findings that we had made here in the congress on who is covered by the a.d.a. the fact that mitigating

circumstances were not to be taken into account and that there was not a demanding standing to be met. well, the supreme court turned that on its head. they narrowed who was covered by the a.d.a., a said that mitigating circumstances had to be taken into account, and that there had to be a demanding standard for who was covered. well, again we worked on a bipartisan, bicameral basis to straighten out these hearings, to overturn the supreme court's findings, as a matter of fact. and we d and we did it on a bipartisan basis on both the house and the senate, and president george herbert walker bush's son, now president george bush, was able to sign those into law and i was down at the white house for that, and again a very poignant moment with both president george bush -- w. bush

and his father, president george herbert walker bush, both being there for the signing of the a.d.a. act amendments. so thanks to that legislation of last year, people who were denied coverage under the a.d.a. will now be covered. so as we celebrate the 19th anniversary of this great civil rights law, it's remark to believe think that many young people with disabilities have grown up taking advantages of these changes. and, you know, they really have no memory of the way things used to be before the law was passed. i remember recently i had -- as we want to do as senators, i had my picture taken out here with a group of young people, one of whom was using a wheelchair, and i was talking about the upcoming anniversary of the americans with disacts act, and i had pointed to the curb cuts so that someone could come up and use a wheelchair and i said, you know, those weren't there before 1990.

to which this young person in the wheelchair was astounded to find this out. they'd just assumed that they'd always been able to move around freely. so as we look around after 19 years, we see a lot of changes, a lot of changes for the good. we see more young people taking advantage of educational opportunities, travel opportunities, families going out to restaurants, traveling with family members who have a disability, schools. so we see a lot of wonderful changes that have taken place because of the a.d.a. but quite frankly, madam president, thi there's more woro do. we have not yet reached the promised land. of those four goals of the a.d.a. and at the top of the list is the need to pass the community choice act. now, this bill has been around a long time, first introduced in the 1990's. it was then called mcassa --

micassa it stood for the medicaid community attendance and support community act. no one could ever remember what it stood for. so we changed it to the community choice act. now, what's this all about? right now all over america there are people with disabilities who qualify for medicaid coverage. they're low-income and have severe disabilities and so they qualify for medicaid. if they want to get their full coverage for support services, they have to go to a nursing home. if they go to a nursing home, under the law, medicaid must pay for their support services. if they go it a nursing home,

must pay. but let's say a person with a disability doesn't want to go to a nursing home. they'd line kind of like to livn their own home, with their friends, family, in the community where they know people. do they get any support services? none. medicaid does not have to pay one single dime. you go to a nursing home, they'll pay for t if you want to stay in your own home and get those support services, medicaid doesn't have to pay for it. so they don't have an equal right to choose where they want to live. now, again, some states -- i will say this: some states have applied for waivers and they have extended these support services to people with disabilities in the community. but it varies from state to state. some states don't have the waivers. some states do. and even in some states that have waivers shall -- my state

of iowa has one -- the waiting lists are long, take you three or four years to ever get up in the quie cue to be eligible. so it's been a patchwork of different things around the country. on top of that, 1999, nine years after the passage of the americans with disabilities act, a case came from the supreme court -- we called it the olmstead case, olmstead v. l. crrks came out of georgia. the supreme court made an important decision. it said that individuals with disabilities have the right to choose to receive their long-term services and supports in the community rather than in an institutional setting. the supreme court said that. they have a right, a right to that. so this year marks the 19th anniversary of the a.d.a. it marks the 10th anniversary of that decision by olmstead, of

olmstead by the supreme court. yet people with disabilities still have to go a nursing home, going to a nursing home to get their long-term services and supports. listen to what the supreme court said in 1999. quote -- "institutional placement of persons who can handle and benefit from community settings perpetuates unwarranted assumptions that persons so isolated are incapable or unworthy of participating in community life." end quote. changing these assumptions is what the a. dea. is all about -- the a.d.a. is all about. now, again, as i said, some states have done it. it's kind of a patchwork quilt around the country. the community choice act is focused on increasing the availability of services and supports. now, we know from studies done

-- the most important being done by dr. mitch laplante of the university of california at san francisco -- we know from studies that a person for a disability to go into a nursing home to receive those long-term services and supports costs three times more than it what it does in a community. in other words, for every -- it would cost three times as much to -- for every one person in a nursing home, you can support three people living in their own homes in the community. well, you'd say, well why aren't we doing that? well because there's about 600,000 people in this country. and you know, these are individuals that are -- they're on the bottom running, let's be frank about it, the bottom rung of the economic ladder.

they're poor, they have varying degrees of eligibilities, if a this aif they don't have their support services they can't get out, they can't go to work. they may be capable of working. i mean, after all, we've got curb cuts, buses that are accessible, subways that are accessible, we mandated that employers must make reasonable accommodations. wonderful, but if you can't even get out of your house in the morning, what good does all that do you? so 600,000 people -- c.b.o. did a cost analysis and said this would cost about $50 billion over ten years. to do this $50 billion over ten years. well, that's a lot of money. keep in mind, the health care bill that we're talking about passing here, recent estimates by c.b.o. put it at $1 trillion over 10 years, $1 trillion over 10ears.

so $50 billion? that's about 5%. 5%. is that too much to ask to help people on the lowest rung of the economic ladder in our country, to help them take advantage of what is their civil right, what the supreme court said that they have a right to, a right to live independently, a right t live in their own home to get those services? well, as we all know, civil rights like this are not self-executing. they require some support from the congress. and quite frankly, i must tell you, i disagree with the estimate of the c.b.o. because here's what they don't take into account. they don't take into account that many of these people with disabilities, who could live in the community, get these services and supports, can now get out the door in the morning and go to work, make a living, and pay taxes. i think of my nephew kelley, my

nephew kelley was injured in the military, was serving on an aircraft carrier, got sucked down a jet engine. he lived but he is a severe paraplegic for the rest of his life. my nephew kelly came back out of the military. when he had that terrible accident, he was 19 years old. big, strapping kid. went to school, went to college, then he lived by himself, still does. lives in his own home, has a van that he drives with a lift on it, gets up in the morning and goes to work, comes back. how is he able to do this? because he has support services. he has someone who comes in his house in the morning, gets him ready. someone who comes in the house at night, gets him ready for bed. but he does his own cooking, his own shopping. but he has to have a nurse, someone there to help him get

going. if he didn't have that, he wouldn't be able to go to work. but he has that, and he's able to go to work, and he's a tax-paying citizen of this country. there are hundreds of thousands of kellies around this country who if they had that support mechanism could go to work: so when they say it costs $50 billion, i say, you're not taking that into account. and they aren't taking that into account. so, as we enter the critical stage in hammering out comprehensive health care reform, we must not mitt this -- miss this opportunity to extend the availability of attendants, supports and services which so many have been fighting for for so many years. every individual with a significant disability deserves the choice about where to live and with whom to live and where to receive his or her essential

services. now, that has a lot to do with unemployment. and as i look back over 19 years of the a.d.a., there's one thing that still -- is still lacking, and that is employment of people with disabilities. a recent survey shows 66% of people with disabilities are unemployed. they want to work. they have abilities, but they're unemployed. a lot of this is because there are no support services. much of this has to do with the fact that some employers are not providing reasonable accommodations. someone has to -- some has to do with the fact that there is not an affirmative action program to hire people with disabilities. 21 million people with disabilities of working age are not employed. so we need to do a better job in providing these people with disabilities the opportunity for economic self-sufficiency, as we

promised -- as we promised -- in the a.d.a. on a closing note, madam president, on friday of last week president obama announced that the united states will sign the u.n. convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, an international treaty that identifies the rights of persons with disabilities and obligates countries to maintain those rights. that convention, after it will be signed, i understand this week by our ambassador to the u.n., will go through a process, and then it will be referred to the united states senate for ratification. well, we should take pride in the fact that the united states has always been a leader in ensuring the rights of individuals with disabilities. we have made great progress towards the goals of equal opportunity and full participation and independent living and economic self-sufficiency. by becoming a party to the convention, the united states will continue its leadership

role. on this 19th anniversary of the a.d.a., i want to thank our president, president barack obama, thank him for the statement he made last friday that he was going to sign this this week and maintain the united states leadership role in ensuring the rights of people with disabilities. i only hope that the convention will get through the process rapidly, that we can get it to the united states senate, and i hope the united states senate can ratify it as soon as possible. lastly, madam president, on a more poignant note, i just want to pause on this anniversary to remember people who played such a vital role in passing the a.d.a. some are no longer with us such as justin dart, who was really the person who really pulled it through.

justin dart. we are fortunate his wife continues to carry on his legacy day after day and week after week and year after year. we remember ed roberts, the father of the independent living movement, whose work and vision continue to inspire us powerfully. he's also gone. others who are still with us: pat wright, my staff director, bobby silverstein, who worked so hard to pull this through. and of course the one person who when the going got tough and when we didn't know if we could get everything pulled together, worked his magic to bring people on both sides of the aisle together. and herein i speak of senator ted kennedy, the chairman of the committee. i was privileged to be the chairman of the disability policy subcommittee, but that was under the tutelage of senator kennedy. he was the chairman of the committee, the "help" committee, at that time. and it was because of his great work that we were able to pull

people together to get the great compromise to pass the a.d.a. i would just mention one other person that i think might be somewhat responsible and is no longer with us, and that's my late brother, frank. i've spoken about him many times, my inspiration for working on disability issues. frank became deaf at a young age. he was taken from our home and sent across the state to the iowa school for the deaf. at that time many people called it the state school for the deaf and dumb. that's how they referred to people who couldn't hear, deaf and dumb. i remember my brother said to me one time, "i may be deaf, but i'm not dumb." he also said to me one time, "the only thing that deaf people can't do is hear." and he fought not only in school, but after school, to be independent and to have his -- make his own way in life. and he was able to do that.

i saw how many times he was discriminated against, whether it was getting a drivers license or whatever. it was so many things that he was discriminated against and told he couldn't do because he was deaf. and so they were always trying to hold him back. but he was always pushing. he was able to carve out a life of independence and dignity for himself, but i often thought why did he have to fight so hard for all of this? why did he have to struggle so much just to get people to accept him for what he was and who he was and not just to look that he was a deaf man, that he was deaf, but that he was a person of great capabilities and great ethics and great work? very hard working. why did he have to struggle? then i looked around and saw all these people with disabilities in america that had to overcome all these insurmountable obstacles to be a contributing

member in our society. not to get welfare. my brother was never on welfare one day in his entire lifetime. always worked hard. they just want to work and contribute, to be a part of our society. why did it require extraordinary efforts to do things that we just take for granted in our country? so he was sort of my inspiration and continues on today. so, yes, we've had our share of frustrations. we've not reached the promised land. we've got 60% or more unemployment, and people with disabilities have to go to a nursing home to get their supports rather than living in the community. so we do have a ways to go. we've come a long way, but we do have a ways to go. so we can celebrate this great law, this great civil rights bill, the americans with disabilities act, but now we also have to say we have to take these next steps.

on july 26, 1990, when he signed the a.d.a. into law, president george bush spoke with great eloquence. i will never forget his final words before taking up his pen. he said -- quote -- "let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down." madam president, today that wall is indeed falling. we have to continue the progress. we have to go forward and not back. we must -- we must -- enact the community choice act so that people with disabilities can finally have not only independence, but they can have full participation and they can have economic self-sufficiency. their home, not the nursing home, has been their cry for many years. we ought to hear that. we ought to heed it. and we should make sure that we don't pass a health reform bill unless we have something in there to address this one fundamental flaw in our society

that wreaks havoc against people with disabilities in our country. with that, madam president, i yield the floor. mr. brown: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: before senator harkin leaves the floor, i wanted to add there is no one in this chamber, there is no one down the aisle in the house of representatives, no one in the city who worked harder on issues advocating for those with disabilities than tom harkin has. i heard him make that moving and beautiful tribute to his brother. senator harkin's brother, there is a building on gallon debt's -- gallaudet's campus named after senator harkin's brother. i am fortunate to sit on the board at that university. that institutition has lifted up so many people, and his brother was a big part of that, and senator harkin is a big part of the success of that institution

in advocating for the rights of the disabled. so, thank you. madam president, i ask unanimous consent to insert that at a different place in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: thank you. i rise to speak, madam president, about the united states-china strategic and economic dialogue, the so-called s.e.d., which began earlier today in washington. dozens of chinese officials descended on our city over the weekend and are now negotiating, discussing, engaging the strategic and economic dialogue with comparable officials in our federal government. secretary of state clinton, treasury secretary geithner leading these talks for the obama administration. the challenges they face are daunting. the issues that frame our relationship with china, which range from global security and fundamental human rights to trade and investment to energy and global warming policy, are critical to the future of our nation and to the world. i think we all agree a strong middle class makes a strong economy, and we also agree that the middle class, to put it

mildly, is not faring well in this financial crisis. the united states official unemployment rate is 9.5%. my state, it's 11.1%. it's climbed two percentage points just in the past five months. china has won enormous export platform, in the united states, its biggest customer stopped buying. morgan stanley says the united states consumption accounts for more than 70% of our g.d.p. as revenues flow out of the united states and into china, more than $200 billion every single year, china becomes our biggest lender. this unbalanced economic relationship breeds risk and it's rooted in our nation's passive trade relations with china. ohio is one of the great manufacturing states in this

country, as it has been for about a century. we make solar panels and wind turbines. we make paper and steel and aluminum and glass and cars and tires and polymers and more. look around today, i'm sure you'll find something you use that's made in ohio. let's look at a ohio manufacturer and compare that to a chinese manufacturer. the ohio manufacturer abides minimum wage. the ohio manufacture areer abides by clean air, helping to keep his or her workers healthy and productive and to keep customers, consumers, safe. the chinese manufacturer has no minimum wage to maintain. the chinese manufacturer is allowed to pollute the environment, allowed to force workers to use dangerous and faulty machinery. food safety, product safety are not a must for the chinese

manufacturer. hra*bgz enforcement -- lax enforcement makes it look like an option. the ohio manufacturers pays health benefits and security. typically allows family leave and gives notice when there's going to be a plant closing. the chinese manufacturer often allows child labor. the ohio manufacturer receives no government subsidies. the chinese manufacturer receives subsidies often for the development of new technologies or for export assistance. the chinese manufacturer benefits from china's manipulation of its currency which gives, many kpheuftsz think, a 40 -- many kpheuftsz think, a 40% cost advantage in addition to all the other cost advantages of product safety, worker safety, minimum wage, paying into social security, medicare, all of that. the ohio manufacturer is investing in clean energy. the ohio manufacturer is investing in new technology and efficiencies to create more

sustainable production practices. the ohio manufacturers are part of the movement to make our country more energy-efficient. they will do their part to reduce carbon emissions, but not at the expense of jobs if china and other countries don't take comparable action. yet, madam president, when the ohio manfacturer petitions for relief and says he can compete with anyone, but only when it's a level playing field or emit less carbon, but the chinese should bear similar costs and timeline, what does the chinese government say? they call it protectionism. that chinese government when it labels this behavior protectionism, has allies in the united states -- has allies, all kinds of allies, the chinese government does, right here in washington, d.c. it has allies certainly in the bush white house. it had -- it has allies among

newspaper publishers certainly in this city. it has allies among ivy league economists. it has allies among too many members of the house of representatives and the senate. so when china labels anything we do to protect our workers, to protect our environment, to protect our families, to protect our security, the course of protectionism so often from our own nation's media and from some of -- many of our ivy league economists and many of our political leaders sounds almost as loud as the chinese call -- the chinese accusations of protectionism. earlier this year secretary chu said that the united states will be at a disadvantage. in other words, if we deal with our carbon emissions by stronger environmental laws on american

manufacturing and china doesn't, secretary chu understands that will encourage more industry to move from the united states where everything produced contains environmental costs to china where many things produced contain little environmental costs. the response to secretary chu from a chinese official, he called it an excuse to impose trade restrictions and practice protectionism. chinese officials are quick to call the united states protectionists despite all the protections it affords its manufacturers. these labels launched when congress considers import safety legislation. remember the toys at halloween and christmas and easter that came from china that had lead-based paint on them at levels far in excess of what we consider safe? remember the prescriptive drug ingredients put into prescription drugs that killed many people in toledo, ohio,

with the drug heparin and all over this country. those ingredients that came from china. remember the buy america provisions? all of these are used by our trading partners to influence our own debate about public policy. chinese officials are all too often joined whenever we in this body insist on food safety, insist on pharmaceutical safety, insist on worker safety, insist on environmental protections, it's not just the chinese officials who yell protectionism, it is also american c.e.o.'s, ivy league economists, newspaper publishers and too many people who sit in this chamber. meanwhile, madam president, the united states has the most open economy. that's why i believe today's strategic economic dialogue is so important. china's industrial policy is based on unfair trade policy, it involves indirect subsidies like currency manipulation an hidden

subsidies like sweat shop labor. in total it results in the -- in the loss of millions of american jobs. the economic policy estimates that 3.2 million jobs were lost between 2001 and 2007 due to the trade deficit with china and those were during our good economic times. and during that economic time those first seven years of the bush administration, not only did we lose 2.3 million jobs, many of them because of china trade policy. in addition to that 40,000 -- that 4-o -- 40,000 manufacturing concerns in our country shut down. chinese's policy are depressing wage and income levels worldwide and the environmental and health and safety standards are killing chinese workers an chinese citizens and adding to our climate change challenges. the health of our economy and the strength of our middle class depend on how our congress and

the obama administration engage on these issues. i hope beginning today the strategic and economic dialogue begins a new chapter between two great nation, china and the united states of america. congress can't sit idly by as we debate climate change or trade or any policies or manufacturing or any other policy tha that afs the middle class. mr. hatch: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: i rise today to express my alarm that this congress will raise taxes on all higher income americans in order to finance the cost of health care reform. even though some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle may not see the serious damage to our society and economy that this proposal would create, i want to spend a few minutes on why such a course of action would be a grave mistake. we began of hearing of the talk

of raising taxes on the so-called wealthy last year during the presidential campaign of then can bait obama made -- candidate obama made a number of promises regarding taxes. among them were the following three pledges -- he would cut taxes for small businesses and companies that create jobs in america. he would cut taxes for middle-class families. and no family making less tha than $250,000 per year will see their tax increase. and, three, families making more than $250,000 will pay either the same or lower tax rates than they paid in the 1990's. now, i've been around this town for a long time and i've seen a lot of president yes, ma'am candidates make a -- presidential candidates make a lot of promises. i have seldom, if ever seen promises regarding tax cuts and tax increases made more prominently, more clearly, more often than those made by the president when he was on the campaign trail last year.

it was only a matter of a few weeks before the promise to keep tax rates below the 1990's level for higher income families was broken. in his budget outline for fiscal year 2010 released on february 26, 2009, the president included a proposal to partially pay for health care reform. this proposal would lower the value of itemized deductions for families with incomes over $250,000. when this proposal is combined with the president's promise to allow the 2001 tax cuts to expire for families making over $250,000, we are looking at effective tax rates well above those paid by higher income families in the 1990's. thus the president broke his pledge within weeks of inauguration day. while it is true that none of the health care reform proposals introduced so far in congress includes the limitation on itemized deductions, this preferred offset proposal has

been discussed in the senate as a possible way to finance health care refor. more importantly -- reform. more importantly, the health care reform package reported by two house committees an working its way through a third committee includes an offset that is even more blatantly in violation of the preside's pledge. this is a surtax on the adjusted gross income of single taxpayers earning more than $280,000 and families earning more than $350,000. this surtax starts at rate of 1% at the loews thresholds -- lowest thresholds set at 5.4% at income higher than $1 million. this is projected by the joint committee on taxation to rais raise $544 billion over 10 years. i know that we're getting far too accustomed to seeing scores in the hundreds of billions of dollars, but let me say that number again. $544 billion. that is over a half trillion,

with a t. for those who might be watching or listening at home, that i is $544 followed by nine zeros. whether at the 1% level, at the 5.4% level or in between, this surtax violates the president's pledge to not increase tax rates above the 1990's level. in fact, when combined with the phaseout of itemized deductions -- deductions, which the president also proposed bringing back from the grave, this could raise the tax rate to more than 46%. when state taxes are added the top rate in many states would likely recede 50%. some say this is not the president's idea and that it, therefore, should not be blamed on him. well, it may not have been his idea, but i have not seen the white house repudiate it in any way. all indications from 1600 pennsylvania avenue are that the

president supports this huge new tax increase. do i bring this matter to the attention of my colleagues today merely because i'm irritated to see the president violating 1 of his campaign promises? no. as mentioned earlier, i have seen a lot of campaign promises made and a lot of campaign promises broken. perhaps it's because i'm worried about the estimated 12,900 utah tax filers or the just over two million americans who would be affected by this surtax. after all, some are saying this is just over 1% of taxpayers an after all, they're rich and they can afford it, right? wre, i am concerned about them. a tax on adjusted gross income is unfair and it is discriminatory. if we wish to raise tax rates we should do it in a straightforward way a tax based on gross income provides for few or no deductions and it jolts our long established differential between ordinary

income and income from capital. it is a raw revenue grab justified on the socialistic idea that these people earn more than the rest of us so they should be forced to share it with those less fortunate than they are. but this is also not my primary reason for bringing up this matter today. i bring this to the attention of the senate for two reasons. first, high tax rates on upper-income earners, particularly when combined with ever increasing progressiveness of our tax system, are disruptive to the economy and to our society. second, a good share of these higher income tax also be paid by small businesses, which will harm job creation. important of all jobs are created by the small business sector. today i want to talk about the problems of too much tax progressivity. i will address the issue of how this tax will hurt small businesses and job creation. madam president, we often hear

from those on the left that our tax system is not progressive enough. essentially proponents of a more progressive tax system believe that the internal revenue code taxes lower income taxpayers too much and higher income taxpayers too lightly. in essence they believe the so-called wealthy among us are not paying their fair share of taxes. however, the facts do not support this viewpoint. according to data leased by the i.r.s. for 2006, which is the latest year available, the highest earning 1% of income earners received 22% of all of the income in america. now, this sounds like a great deal of income concentrated into the hands of a few. and it is. one would think and hope that an equitable tax system would require this top 1% of income earners who are earning 22% of all income to pay at least 22% of all of the income taxes. if they paid exactly this

amount, ours would be considered a proportional tax system. if they paid less, we would call it a regressive tax system. if the top earners paid more than the proportion that they earned, the tax system would be considered progressive. now, i do not know anyone who truly believes that a completely regressive tax system is fair. no one should be asked to bear a highering portion of the tax burden than what he or she receives in income. i know that certain taxes are regressive even if our overall system is not. in contrast many americans think the only fair tax system is a progressive one. the more you make, the more you ought to pay. i can understand this and i do not necessarily disagree with it within reason. on the other hand i believe that a strong case can be made that a proportion aal tax system is the fairest tax system. many of my fellow utahans agree with this. i received thousands of letters

over the years asking why we should not have a flat tax asking citizens to pay a fixed proportion of their income and taxes. even though many americans like a progressive tax system, i think they might be shocked to see just how progressive ours has become. mentioned before that the top 1% of earned -- of earners -- income earners received 22% of all income in 2006. however, this group paid 40% of all income taxes paid in america. almost twice the proportion paid as earned. now this is not progressivit, madam president, this is progressivity on steroids. it is not just the top 1% to see this problem. the top 10% of income earners received 47% of all income, but they paid 71% of all taxes.

again, this is way bey bebeyond what i would call reasonable amount of progressivity. this is not the worst. this is only half of what i call the equitiable taxation equation. this is because so far we have only talked about the half of the equation that raises money from taxpayers. what about the other half of the equation where the money is spent? in 2007 study, economists at the tax foundation looked at the tax side of the equation and the spending side. their findings are very interesting. using total federal taxes rather than just income taxes, the study found that the top 20% of income earning households paid an average, upon, on average, $57,512 in federal taxes. however, the average federal government spending received by these households was just $18,573.

the lowest 20% of income-earning households, on the other hand, paid an average of just $1,684 in federal taxes but received an amazing $24,860 average per household in federal government spending. another way of saying this is the top earning 20% of households received 32 cents in federal government spending for every $1 in federal taxes paid. while the lowest earning 20% of households received $14,076 in federal government spending for every $1 they paid in federal taxes. plain and simple this means the top earning fifth of americans get back only a third of what they pay in taxes while the bottom earning fifth receive a bounty of nearly 15 times what they pay. now this is redistributed and -- redistribution going wild. this is all federal taxes, not just income taxes. if the study included only the

federal income tax the amounts would be skewed further because the income tax is more progressive than are other federal taxes. moreover, this study used tax and spending numbers from 2004. our tax system has become more progressive since then. it is very apparent to me our tax system is very, very progressive, already, and when it is viewed in the larger context along with the federal spending, it is nothing short of ultra progressive. and so the question if my friends and colleagues on the other side of the aisle is this: just how progressive is progressive enough? i realize some will not be satisfied until we reach a total redistribution where there is no more rich or poor among us. while that idea might sound really fine, it would create total havoc to our government and our society and i think we all know it. how far can we take this idea of

progressivity before the system collapses of its own weight? our tax system and indeed our entire system of government depends on the voluntary cooperation of citizens. underlying, if unstated foundation of the american government, is the idea that the great majority of us will work hard, take care of our families willingly, pay our taxes, cooperate with the law, do our best to make it all work. what happens to our society if those who are in the top 25% who are now paying 86% of the general cost of government, see their burdens is about to grow bigger and they may be part of only 10% or 15% carrying all the rest of us? where does incentive go as we approach this situation? is there a tipping point where hard-working and successful americans will say "enough is enough." i am no longer willing to be a chump and carry the load for everyone else.

why don't i stop pulling and get in the wagon and get the free ride? we've seen a strong movement toward removing more and more lower-earning americans from the income tax roles. the making work pay credit, another refundable tax credit, gives cash back where no taxes have been paid. they serve as negative, as a negative income tax. according to the tax policy center for calendar year 2009 the number of americans who are not subject to the federal income tax exceeds 43%. this number will likely grow significantly as a result of the enactment of the making work pay credit earlier this year. if the president and his followers in the congress have their way, there will be millions more who will be allowed to stop pulling and get on the wagon to be cared by the few who work. this means the number of american households that contribute nothing to our

subsequent cost of government to our defense and to the thousands of programs that are funded by the income tax, is approaching 50%. asking fewer and fewer to carry more and more of the load is dangerous in a free society. we are approaching that point where the majority can simply vote for higher taxes to funds higher spending with no personal cost to them. when that happens, our representative republic is in grave danger. madam president, there are lots of good economic reasons why we have to be careful about raising taxes too high and those who are bearing the burden of the costs of government. i will talk about those at another time. what i am talking about today is simple but it is scary. there is a limit on how much we can and successful people to contribute to the cost of general government. just as there is a limit to how few people will be willing to pull a wagon that gets heavier

each time we let someone leave the ropes and climb on board for the free ride. ideally we should all have to carry out our weight and while this may not be possible or practical, we surely cannot expect a willing but diminishing minority to continue to pull a heavier and heavy are wagon up a steeper and steeper hill without a breakdown. i urge my colleagues to think carefully before going along with the idea that loads more of a tax burden on the few who seem to be able to afford it. if we go too far down this path we're all going to end up in a ditch. madam president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: we have heard teams, of course, this was a while back, say that

they will not take a chance on vick. now that we know he will possibly... most likely be able to play at some point this season, how much do you think teams are starting to back off of that stance and say, you know what, maybe he has served his time, maybe he can bring him to our place? >> we'll see. you knew that no team was going to step forward while he was suspended, not knowing when he would be allowed to come back, and so now there is a plan there. and, of course, the idea is that you can get him in training camp, have him pray -- play two preseason games. he's probably not going to play the first five game, but it's not out of the question for the commissioner to reconsider and allow him to play. also, too, you're getting the talent you're trying readapt to the nfl, and so to try to judge these calls today is probably impossible. the fact that the phones are ringing, there are options. i'm not saying they're ringing off the hook, but at least they're ringing. you also don't know organizationally where these teams are coming from because also too you may have a coach, a g.m. you still may not have the owner on board, but at least they're

checking in to find out what michael vick is thinking and at least saying, hey, listen, we're at least monitoring this, and that's encouraging, and at least vick's encouraged by that. >> john, we know he was a world-class athlete at one point. in college he was. with the falcons he was. he hasn't played a football game that counts for anything in two full years. how much concern is it, though he may be in shape, we know that, that he is not in football shape? how big an issue might that be? >> well, at least now you'll be able to check him out and have a physical and at least test him out the see where he is physically. so i think from that standpoint, that could be answered. i think the most unfair thing would have been the commissioner trying the keep him out for a third straight year. that's now past. now the commissioner has been very careful on at least plotting a plan that allows a team or a couple teams to check him out and get him back in the league. so i think that those things will take care of themselves. certainly the one thing you know from the physical standpoint, vick hasn't been hurt in the last two years, but also, too, he's way behind as far as nfl

conditioning and relearning an nfl offense. he has a lot to catch up to, but at least now he does have the opportunity. >> john, we know obviously he was a tremendous quarterback in the nfl, but being away for two years, what's the likelihood that a team brings him in to play a position other than quarterback? simply because of his athleticism. >> none. if you're going to bring michael vick in, you're going to bring him in as quarterback. that's what he wants to play. he has the option to go to the u.f.l. it's something that's an option he doesn't want to explore at this time. he wants to get back in the nfl and be a quarterback. really, if you bring him in, you're bringing him in more for the chances of him to develop as a quarterback in 2010. what you're doing is you're kind of using goodwill in giving him the chance to try to come back and relearn things, coach him up, try to make him feel comfortable, and then see where he is as far as at the age of 29, because still that's a very young age for a quarterback. we see brett favre, age 39,

still waiting to come back. what you're doing is setting up a scenario for 2010, and using 2009 as that option to try to wring him back. >> john, is it a team that's not necessarily afraid of any p.r. hit? is it a team that needs a quarterback? is it a team that needs a backup? is it a team with a certain type of head coach? what type of team is the right fit for michael vick? >> well, the two types of teams would be, one that has somebody that knows him, a g.m. or coach that's been with him to some degree. that would be an optimum thing. certainly there's the knowledge and confidence they can do it. secondly, you have to have a coach and general manager willing to take the protests that will be there because there are going to be dog lovers who are going to protest. there could be some sponsorship losses. there certainly can be the protests that could distract the training camp. you do have to have a strong organization that's willing to take that chance. that's why even though teams are calling, we don't know how strong their interest is, but

still at least they're calling. you do need a strong organization to be able to handle. this but certainly in time that will you would think dissipate, and then it's just matter of michael vick just being a football player. >> john, sal paolantonio told us he talked to somebody close to vick and the vick camp, while it's happy to be back in the nfl this season, still is going to push for a full reinstatement by week one. what is the likelihood that that could happen? >> well, if he behaves well, there is a likelyhood. it's not matter of pushing as a grievance, it's a matter of pushing and trying to at least get that opportunity there. because, you know what, they realize, you notice the commissioner, as sal paolantonio said, didn't say suspension. it's not as if he's saying that he's going to lose money for five weeks. what he's doing is kind of having a breathing period after training camp, after those two preseason games to see where michael vick is. if at the end of training camp, if tony dungy calls up and says, listen, i'm as solid on this as

possible, that might be, he might be eligible for week one. that's certainly what his representatives will try to do, try to keep that option open. you can see there is plan there now, and if things go well from michael's standpoint, and there is a team there, at least they can try to suggest making him available for week one. >> john clayton, espn.com senior writer, thank you so much, john. >> thanks, guys. so much more reaction on michael vick's reinstatement to the nfl coming up next here on espnews. chris mortensen will weigh in. stay tuned. - ( microphone feedback ) - whoa. hi, i'm john. all: hi, john! going to college and need a laptop. what do you got? you, in the top corner. our next class laptops could be perfect for you. we got student feedback and designed them specifically for college. are they legit brands, though? boom! we partnered with hp, toshiba, sony and dell. okay. uh, what's the square root of 841? 29. announcer: laptops designed for college and thousands of people eager to help.

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>> witness again, the top story, michael vick conditionally reinstated to the nfl by roger goodell. vick can sign with an nfl team. today his college head coach frank beamer spoke about it. >> well, i'm all for michael vick. i'm glad to see he's going to have an opportunity to get back in the nfl. i think he's a... worked hard to do that. i think he maybe needs to hang out with the right people and do the right thing and make great decisions. i told him, i think he's got a great story to tell. a guy who had it all, he lost it all and now he's worked hard to come back. he's really worked hard to come back and get back on his feet and show the people that he certainly wants to play in the nfl and be player in the nfl and do the right thing. so i'm pulling for him all the

way. >> i talked with him a couple weeks ago. we wrote while he was in prison. michael vick is a good person. he's made some poor decisions, but he's a good person that wants to do the right thing, and like i said, i'm pulling for him all the way. >> all right. so these are the conditions as roger goodell laid them out directly to michael vick. and here it is:

>> time to get more reaction from atlanta where vick spent his entire nfl career to this point. 680 "the fan" in atlanta. >> you can share your thoughts. les, you're back. what's your thought on this with vick being back in the nfl. you're an nfl guy. you involve nfl -- lovely nfl football. is michael vick better than at least some of the guys starting in the nfl right now at quarterback? >> yes. the first name that comes to mind is brady quinn. >> no question. san francisco, do you think san francisco 49ers, he's better than what they got? >> absolutely. >> if 32 nfl teams... well, 31, because if i'm arthur blank, i don't have a "kick me" sign on

my back welcomeing back mike vick to my franchise to potentially skew me over once again. but mike vick better get on an nfl roster. if he doesn't, to me it's an absolute joke. ridiculous. i've watched quarterback play in the nfl. and i have the factual data to show that mike vick... mike vick's career numbers, better than joey harrington's. clearly. >> whose isn't? [laughter] coming up, seriously, folks, more on michael vick. more on michael vick. the nfl commissioner, roger you do get a hint of drinkability right away. does my pen have write-ability? come on people, we gotta focus. we're not leaving until we've met our budget. we need ideas. we could cut back on marketing. we could eliminate bonuses. how about we stop buying bud light for every meeting?

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 coming up, nick marx an the birds are back in town. rhymed are finding their strokes, orioles outfield coming together as a group. the orioles tonight home for the first time since the all- star break in game one of the seven-game home stand. it's o's extra coming up. 

 >> they put runs of board b were not able the win a lot of ball games. the pitches has to come together. the orioles hitting higher at home than they on the road have to show off offensively. they have to put runs on board here. they really have to dominate kansas city the whole time

they're here. bruce chen himself hasn't won a game yet here. he had a pretty good season with us, 13-10. we know he likes to use the checkup and slow curve. everything works in our advantage and the orioles have to stay positive about what's going on and get off to a good start her at home too. >> let's look at kansas city lineup. they come in having lost 11 of 12 and having trouble scoring runs. 

 >> we have another hitter with  a positive streak going, hitting 10 of 12 with 59 hits over the past 50 games. how do you approach a hitter like that who obviously is zoned in? this is over 50 gapes, almost a third of a season. >> this has been a good hitter for cost city for the last few years. he hits lefties okay too because he hits the situation. he goes for pitches. then if it gets in the count, he'll try and jerk so we have to make sure we pitch the situation and get him out. >> we appreciate the update. thank you for joining us. >> there's the orioles bench coach with his update only

kansas city. let's look at the orioles lineup tonight as they are back home to begin a seven-game home stand.   >> looks like as of the sec half, he got his swing back again. he's staying back, staying quiet. he's already got one o. smoothest swings in all of baseball. he never does try to overswing. this is really a good thing for

him, big nice easy swings. he's going to make judgments again because he's off to a good second half, hitting in the middle of the order for the orioles. >> the orioles open up a four- game series with kansas city, the birds back home for the first time since the all-star break. yesterday hernandez pitched seven strong innings and got the win. we're coming back with more xw@

 >> look at the numbers over last four starts. there's the consistency hernandez is showing, 2-0 with a 2.45 era, opposing hitters .245 against him, 7 strikeouts. he's kind of a throw back to a different era because nowadays pitchers come in being taught keep it down in the strike

zone. he survives at the upper zone at times. >> that's what i was thinking. he's like and old school pitcher, comes at you with the fast ball. that's what dominates his pitching program. he's got a good enough breaking ball to keep everything honest. he's got the good breaking ball, good curve billion and slider that he keeps down in the strike zone and uses the upper half of the strike zone with a good 95-mile-an-hour fast ball. good straight hard fast ball but he locates it so well he keys the batters swinging. evident yesterday, the red sox 21 outs to deal with, 19 out on fly balls. he keeps them swinging but doesn't give them a chance to get on top of the ball. >> it was kind of amazing watching him yesterday. the red sox were on several o.

pitches but they were a second late and as a result not getting good wood on it. >> stay out in the middle of the plate, don't give the hitter a chance to get the good part of ball. he has to be aggressive and swing harder. a lot of times when you get hit terse swing hard i, it shows the head of the bat down. that's exactly what he did. he had a lot of popups because they couldn't get it out quick enough on him. when he gets ahead, he can go to that slider. yesterday he had it down in the zone on the corners, stayed our in the middle of plate. that's what got him the win against the red sox. >> the orioles are getting several outstanding performances from their young players. reimold without a doubt is in that mix, found his stroke at fenway park. he's beginning to settle in nicely. let's welcome back amber.

>> nolan reimold will stege her his 200th at bat tonight against kansas city. it seems as with every one, he's taking accepts toward becoming a complete baseball player. he's been on fire especially last weekend against boston. what's been most impressive if you ask anyone in the orioles organization is the fact that he seems to show the ability to do more than what's written on his scouting reports. they said he would hit for power but he can also walk and get on base. he's now showing the ability to steal the bases. i had a chance earlier to ask him whether or not stealing bases has been a pat of his game or something he's trying to add at the big league level. >> i think they've always

wanted me to steal more bases. you know lately, the last series giving me the green light so i just went ant got some stolen bases. yeah, i think as the season goes on, i'll try and run a little more. >> who instaled playing the game hard in you? i'm sure that's benefited you all through your career that you do play the game hard. >> i think when you hit the ball on the ground, they have to field it, throw it and catch it. so there's three areas where the defense could screw up and you want to put as much pressure on them as you can to make a mistake. that's what running hard duh. it does is that. also we have a few more base hits here and there. >> that hustle has worked out well for nolan reimold. he's batting .429, raised his average to .281 total, on base

percentage .529 and three stolen bases. what's interesting is with that big frame you would think he wouldn't be a good runner but dave said back in spring training it can one area he thinks reimold has the ability to do is stolen bases, and the one area he thinks he can improve on is base running. we've really seen that. >> let's not forget when he was drafted in 2005 he was the center fielder. he showed speed way back then. because he's so long and lean, you don't think of him as a guy that has the speed. it's going to prove beneficial for him as he's patient at the plate and has the ability to hit deep. when we come back, we're going to visit with gary reason key in town.

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 >> well, those eight years glorious years. it was fun to come over here. >> did it feel funny? earl was parole the first manager to establish the platoon system and you got stuck there. was it hard to sit on the bench

some days? >> well, i was a regular player. that started -- a lot of people don't realize that started back with joe. earl a few years later said, what's all that about? i played against a lot of right-handers but not the tough ones. when joe came in he saw my numbers an john's numbers from 1982 and thought we played every day. but we played a lot together. >> one of the things we've been talking about with this orioles team because they are rebuilding obviously and bringing in so many younger players here, the ability to go out there and not give into the losing. when you joined this club, this club was already a winning team. if you didn't hold up your part of that, obviously you were the guy that was going rob noticed. >> also i'd be the one sitting

on the bench. i was a national league fan. i'm sure about rick but i didn't know much about the orioles other than they beat the dodgers in 1966. the first year i showed up, i was a baseball fan. i saw all the names and go, these guys are loaded. you see the history of what they have done, you had to live up to your part. that's for sure. >> obviously the orioles respect your opinion as a scout. you get a chance to come in here and see the orioles outfield now. how do you evaluate them compared to the other players that you see throughout the league? >> we're very happy with what we have now, markakis and jones our fixtures, left field reimold starting to show up. so i think it's one of the best young upcoming outfields of the teams that i've been covering. i get the watch the five teams on the west coast. if i don't have a matchup i may see another team.

i'm hearing a lot of talk about the orioles outfield. >> in our role as a full-time major league scout, this is an important week because it leads up to the trading deadline. enlighten the fans how that might work. they may have to decide, who do we want. >> i'm meeting with andy tomorrow. that's what happens. we each have -- i'm responsible for five organizations, as are the other scouts. my responsibility is to know top to bottom the majors who are some of the young prospects that can help the club. when you get that phone call from that organization, who's responsible? if it's one of my teams, industry to put together a list on who i would like to acquire. we did it with seattle and it worked out well. >> were you responsible for the good report only clay meredith?

>> i wrote a report but i don't think it was as good as the other scouts. you know, there was names there. i guess the first couple games he did well. >> as a right-hander i wouldn't want to hit him. >> thanks for joining us. good luck and continued success. >> thank you. nice to be here. >> and he'll be at the bay sox game as well. tonight is game one of the four-game series against kansas city. chen will go against rich hill. when we come back, rick will break down the pitching for us. 

 >> for kansas city, it is

another left hander bruce chen. >> clean is definitely taking it on the chin. he's 0 for 12 in his last decisions, not won a major league game since october 7th back in the orioles when actually baltimore was his best team so far. he was 13-10. let's hope he doesn't pitch that good against us tonight. >> ic dempsey's key of the game tonight. >> rick: be the best at home tonight. they are the best team in baseball, .294 at camden yards. if they can get on chen early, get runs only board and help hill to settle down, we have a good chance with this club. >> time for the o's extra challenge. who's your player to watch? >> right there, cesar izturis.

>> i say tonight it's aubrey huff that goes out there. >> i said, who's your guy tonight. he gave me aubrey huff. i'm down 5 to 1. jones and the birds coming up next, game one of a four-game series against

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 >> for rich hill, this is a earning spots for thissier annex here. he faces kansas city. hill has struggled, 1-8 home stand as they come on to the road. they have starting pitching. easterly and royals next. 

 >> gary: these are the next starletters. rich hill the only, on the season a very high era. tomorrow berken high i railroad and other the last three, his era has gone up. can either of them tern spot? what's up for grabs in the next two. buck martinez is all about trying to do that. >> buck: sure is. six pitchers, five spots. i tell you, it's been a long time since there's been this kind of competition in baltimore. hill has the stuff but it's a mat of taking it from the bull pen to the mound and being aggressive with the fast ball. the hitters around the league know he's thrown a curve a lot. he's got to throw the fast ball to make that more effective. his first start this year was against this same club and he

pitched very well. >> gary: something else, these two teams are trying to do the same thing. these are two organizations looking to put the season behind them. >> buck: they are. any time you have defense up the middle, you're going to struggle. they have the pitching but have not played well defensively. >> gary: hill is going to make the start. dave trembly talked about that prior to the game. that really is what it comes down to. when we come back, we'll have the first pitch, look at the lineups, kansas city in town to

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 >> gary: it is a night for barbecuing, is umer nigh, one of the few the orioles have had to play a game in. here tonight it's not uncomfortable at all, game time temperature will be decent today. no rain here at the ballpark today so both taxpayers able to get out and get their workouts in. let's look at the starting lineup. for kansas city, bloomquist in center, callaspo, olivo, pena, freel, gourd don back in the lineup and betancourt, their new shortstop. take a look at

the numbers for rich hill as he maybes his 13th start, 3-3 record, era high at 7.64. the opponent batting average showing that off as well, hits per innings pitch ready high. add the walks and he's work window a lot of runners on base. he did get the win against kansas city, the first win that he picked up this season. he'll try and replicate that. he gave up two runs and seven hits over five and two-thirds in may against this kansas city taxpayer. bloomquist is in and he'll take the pitch and we are under way. bloomquist at the top of the order with .253, only 18 walks. fast ball is going to miss up and engine to him. 2-0 count. you have to believe hill is feeling so of the pressure.

he knows what's up for grabs this game. pitch is inside and he falls behind 3-o. >> buck: he knows what the situation is. he knows somebody is going to come here wednesday. >> that is in there for a strike. this club kansas city 38-59, 14 games out. they have struggled. there is a lead-off walk t last thing hill wanted to do here. the hottest hitter in the lineup coming up. >> buck: callaspo has been a hot hitter for the royals, hitting it all over the park. the last thing you want to do is put somebody on base ahead of him. this season he leads the royals with a .300 average. >> gary: callaspo playing at second base, a switch hitter.

runner goes and no chance. hill did not look and hold the runner. therein lies another problem. wieters who's thrown out 21% of the base stealers, that's taken on the pitcher. >> look at the great jump. hill hadn't even released the ball and bloomquist was a third- degree of way down to second. >> so bloomquist on with his 17th steal. he's only been caught twice. he's their leader in stole bases he'll take off at third if you let him walk away here. bloomquist goes over, callaspo retired, one away. >> buck: the defense will be out here, reimold, jones and markakis. markakis picked up his 11th of the season in boston. more on huff back the first

base on sunday, wieters behind the plate. >> gary: that will bring up billy butler, third in the lineup and has power. the pitch is taken inside for a ball. this it's it's city team hasn't had a lot of luck against left- handers. they are 13-22 against left- handers. the manager has the third lowest winning percentage against lefties in the majors. the off speed pitch is in there for a strike. >> buck: they have lost some of their key players, though. unlike so of outhouses teams, they don't have the depth to replace those players. >> gary: they have starting pitching. these two teams come at it entirely different ways. the orioles have to do it with their bats and trey's club has to do it with starting

pitching. they've lost a lot of late- inning games. that's a base hit and rbi. butler picks up the early single in this game, done a number on the orioles this year. he's now 6 for 19 with 6 rbis in the five gapes these teams have played. >> buck: he got jammed but he's so strong he can muscle it into left field. the contact is way down by the label. it's a wonder the bat stays in one piece. >> gary: that puts a runner on at first and still only one away with butler delivering. teahen star nothing right

field. there's a strike. there's a strikeout. up and in. and teahen is retire, two down. >> buck: you can see by this swing how he overpowers teahen with the fast ball. watch where this is. it's past him because everybody knows now hill is going to throw a lot of breaking balls. he's got to use his fast ball to be more effective. >> the runner at first and there are two away. olivo is the designated hitter tonight. he's a catcher. breaking ball in there for a strike. he had his first chance as a dh yesterday and went 1 for 4. he gets another shot today as pena will be doing to catching.

butler at first base not a base stealer. olivo 0-1, wieters outside and the pitch is there 0-2. >> buck: they have to use the fast ball more consistently tonight. three walks scored last night, walked a total of four. >> gary: one walk so far and that run has scored. there's the first run in one hit with one left on. when we come back, it's the top of the order with roberts, markakis and jones. 

 >> gary: easterly take the early 1-0 lead. it will be rockets, markakis and jones, huff reimold and scott, mora wieters and izturis. >> buck: look at scouting report for chen. he now when he throws his first pitch to all 30 taxpayers, orioles played for three years and knows the art, absolutely know this is park. he won 13 games in one season here for the orioles. >> gary: looking for his first win in seventh appearance in

six starts. roberts takes that to the seats and a fine catch made. >> gary: roberts started doing that a little bit couple times now. he catch that is third baseman way back. 0-2 could be only him. breaking ball, left center field to bloomquist. roberts is retired and one

down. nick markakis hot at the plate. >> buck: he raised his batting stroke, more upright and he's been swinging the bat great. big game yesterday at fenway, hitting over .400 with 7 rbis and two points under .300 g chen delivers and that will be taken for a strike. markakis takes it outside for a ball. nick hit .267 off the lefties and .321 off right-handers this season. 1-1 from chen, overhand breaking ball misses outside. chen may be one of the few

pitchers in baseball where you sit on the change. he loves the changeup. slow, slower around slowest. you'll see a lot of them. 2-1 on the way. that will be taken up high. markakis up there. >> he came up from the braves organization. there was a time when everybody they produced threw a lot of check ups. they put it in your head and it's something he relies on. >> gary: markakis fouls that off. and the count will go full, 3- 2. orioles would love to put a win streak together. 4 of his 12 home runs here at camden yards. markakis goes down swinging. chen gets the strikeout and there are two down here in the first. >> buck: he used the fast ball that time, kind of surprised markakis with the 3-2 fast

ball. 90 miles an hour, one of his best fast balls. >> gary: adam jones, 18 doubles, 14 home runs. and he bunts. well, early in the ball game. you might figure just try and lash one, try and get a run. >> buck: i don't agree with that. you have a left-handed batter struggling on deck. adam has pop facing a guy that's in the a revolver by any means. >> gary: jones against left- handers .254, .324 off the

righties. chen is throwing what for him is a fast ball. it's not real fast, upper 80s, 87 on that one. if you're on a changeup it looks like 104. the 0-2, breaking ball hit to center field. that's deep, going back to the wall, good-bye. adam jones ties this game up with a dinger. >> buck: adam jones didn't know much about bruce chen prior to the game. he gets a high curve ball over the plate. that's a perfect swing on a breaking ball. don't try to muscle it. take what he gives you. >> gary: 15 home runs for jones. much better than bunting. he's mighty happy he foul off

that bunt attempt now. so the orioles get the home run, surrounded by chen. it's taken a lot of extra batting practice to get things going. just .129, no home runs, two rbis over the last 15 games, average down to .248 now. and the fast ball is in there for a strike from chen. >> buck: you could see aubrey's reaction as you look at jones talking about the home runs with scott. i scored that one right up on the barrel there, luke. >> gary: chen with a 1-2 to huff. breaking ball outside. >> buck: his reaction suggests he's not seeing the ball well. generally that's what happens when you're going through a slump, just not picking up the baseball. >> gary: i went back and looked to see in the month of july for

aubrey. last year he had his best month, .386 in july. his career batting average in july is .284. this july, .147. 2-2 delivery on the way. that's going to be a base hit to left center field. that's what you want, just to get the confidence ebbing back in your favor. huff delivers a single and that comes with two down. >> buck: this is the way you get out of the slump. you go back up the middle and stay on the ball. look how he stays over the head of pipper, ambulanced, stays on the base. he didn't rip it but that's ha much better approach. he's got to start thinking about a big part of the diamond. it will work its way more to the power side of the right field pull side. >> gary: huff is on, orioles get their second hit off chen. here is nolan reimold, continuing to have an

outstanding season. comes in with a .281 average. he'll take that one up high. rookie of the year candidate is genuine, leads rookies in homers, rbis, walks, slugging percentage, second in average, third in bases. all of a sudden around the ballparks now other teams are saying who's nolan reimold and how good is he? >> buck: the average leader is up with rbis and slugging percentage. he was quickly gaining a lot of attention. the red sox players are talking about him at fenway about how hard he plays and how he stays on the bases. >> gary: he got the rookie of the month award in june. you have to have one of those to be considered for rookie of the year. 2-1 on the way and chen just

missed. 3-1 on reimold. nolan's hit .295 off lefties, .395 off right-handers. 3-1, reimold on a breaking ball, in there for a strike, 3- 2. >> buck: he's not pull conscious by any means. that will allow him to stay back and lit the slow breaking ball. >> gary: first base they play behind huff. 3-2, runner goes. reimold is on and all the base runners come with two down, homer, single and a walk. that will put two on for luke scott. here is another of the orioles struggling in july.

luke scott trying to get things going on, hitting .241 in july. he's had four homers this month. only 2 for his last 23, though. breaking ball for a strike. >> buck: when you're going through a slump like luke scott, when they do throw a strike it's like right on the corner. he throws a breaking ball on the outside corner to like scott. >> gary: 0-1 on the way, another pitch down and away. chen gets ahead on the count, 0-2. scott now try and hit it where it's pitched. huff on add second base, reimold on at first, both running on contact here with two out.

>> 0-2 pitch, little further outside. >> buck: upled think chen doesn't have enough fast ball to beat the inside tip. you have to think outer half of the plate, stay on the breaking ball. don't try to be too question and worry about the inside fast ball here, especially with two strikess. >> gary: the 1-2 got him, he didn't agree. it was on the outside corner. scott has a little discussion act that. the orioles get it tied up with two down. jones after trying the bunt drives one to deep center field, home run number 15. it's on. - it's on. - oh, it's on, all right. - it's on. - it is totally on. jimmy, it's on. it's on. oh, yeah, it's on. pilot: affirmative, it's on.

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 >> gary: here is brayan pen he's doing to catching tonight. only had 56 at bats so far. he'll take that pitch and hill falls behind, 2-0. that's what happened in the first inning. pena had been out the last two games. he'll lift that one to the

corner in left. that's a foul ball by that much. >> buck: right now rich hill is struggling to throw strikes. wieters needs to just try to get him back at a time strike zone as consistently as he can. that was a fast ball. he was out in front of it. but when rich gets that fast ball in the strike zone, then he makes his waking moments more effective. right now he's not able to do that as much as he's trying. >> gary: pena will take airstrike only outside corner. brayan pena is 27 years old, born in havana, cuba. he now live in this miami. he's bounced around with the atlanta ors for a none of years. he was with them last season. 3-

2 delivery, ripped to left field. reimold over. one out. that will bring up ryan freel, will theover familiar names. freel spent part of last year with the orioles an was dealt in may to the cubs. that was taken down low for a ball. 1-0 delivery, a little shot to the bermuda triangle. >> the witness: when you see this ball off the bat, you know the second baseman is going to make the play.

the outfielders too deep, roberts knows he's got plenty of room to make this over the gap. >> gary: nice play by ryan. zest goods anyone at second base with his back to the plate. >> buck: he's as good as jeter is at shortstop. he does it very well. >> gary: those are tough plays. here's alex gordon. a-rod came back and a lot of people thought he came back too quickly. kansas city is trying to go slow with gordon. >> buck: this injury is something trainers an coaches are getting used to. you have to be patient between development. the rehab process, utley went through it after a similar

surgery. >> gary: cordon, 2-1 to outside. gordon came become only july 17th. it's only been ten days. the right hip was surgically repaired. 3-1 delivered. he'll draw a walk. hill surrounds his second walk with two down. this weekend the orioles will host to led sox here, saturday game almost sold out. good seats remain for friday, 7:05, sunday 1:35. be here to cheer on the o's. right now 888-848-bird for ticket information. red sox have jumped out against oakland 1-0. hill better herry down to second. not in time. rich hill threw over but took a long time to get it there. >> buck: he sure did, a very

deliberate move. gordon went on his first move. watch how slow hill is. very deliberate in his throw. they just don't have time to get gordon. second base umpire on top of the plate, sticks the hand into the bag before he tags him. there's the land on the base. he's safe. >> gary: so kansas city gets a runner in scoring position, betancourt in for a strike. the city's last in the league in stolen bases. this isn't something they do a lot. the orioles are facing this for the rest of year. the scouting report on the orioles is you can run against them. pitch is taken inside, 1-1 on betancourt. >> buck: there was a great article talking about the resurgence of the stolen base. tampa bay brought it back last year and continuing to build

upon that. the angels run like crazy. but it's coming back. they're getting more and more athletic players in the game. the stolen base is going to be prominent here because catchers aren't throwing because they didn't have to for a long time. >> gary: and pitchers don't hold runners. >> buck: yeah, nobody is concerned about it. >> gary: they tell you you have to steal 75% successfully in order mean anything. mora at first, huff makes the stretch and stays on the bag. no run, no hits or errors with a runner left on. we're tied at one.

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 >> gary: the orioles get a leadoff hit here. >> buck: think about the rays winning 97 games a year ago, they were good young players taking their lumps. they all came together, made a key acquisition in picking up jason bartlett, brought in matt gar zoo, troy percival, grit and drive and all came together. >> gary: no question performance at the plate has been slower than he hoped at .254 but he's picked up extra base hits, five doubles, three home runs. by did that ball have sing on it. wieters is retired, mora back

to the bag. >> buck: that's a top spin line drive headed for the turf. he does to head first slide and garza before it hit the grass, that was up. >> gary: hit it hard but right at him. one away, mora at first and here is izturis. he hit .251. chen will make the throw over the first base.   >> buck: that was a long ti a. it makes no sense.

it's just a based couple throws over the first base 245 does nothing, has no impact on the game. and this comes from the bench. the signs come from the bench to the catcher, relayed to the pitcher on these throws over the first afterstep off or hold the ball. and chen has to be out there going, i know mora, he's not going anywhere. the fast ball is high, out on the turf. >> buck: sometime they just throw over to get a better sign instead of shaking things off. they think, age not throwing that pitch. >> gary: izturis is .365 off left handers, .190 off righties. one more throw over there, melvin is going to think he's a base stealer. one down and a 1-1 game.

>> gary: it's official. melvin's a threat.   >> buck: it doesn't look li he's thinking about running. for some reason chen has it in his mind. >> gary: all right, melvin, take off. >> buck: nobody is giving signs over here. this is not coming from the bench. it's not coming from the catcher. >> gary: chen is doing this one on his own.

and the pitch is up high. orioles fans gave him a little cheer for throwing to the plate. the count goes to 2-1. 2-1, there goes melvin, safe. izturis swung and missed it, so mora shows them. he's got a stolen plate but he was looking in at the plate the entire way. >> buck: he expected this to be put in play. it's not far enough for melvin to vital signs to third.

>> gary: and there's a base hit. mora will get to third. this is a strange inning. a loop singled by izturis and orioles cover to corners with one away. >> buck: melvin mora had to make sure it was on the ground before he advances over to third base keeping his eye on freel and aware there's a throw coming his way. >> gary: chen in trouble here in the second inning. orioles with a chance to get the lead back. rockets flied out to center his first time up. and he goes after it but got jammed by chen. it's handled by betancourt and there are two down.

leave it up to nick markakis. markakis has had more at bats with runners in scoring position than any other of the orioles. he's whittling .327 with runners in scoring position. looking for the two-out rbi, first and third. that was a strike. >> buck: the orioles with the strike zone, we've seen it from huff, scott and markakis. most of the left-handers really have concerns about the strike zone. that might have been off the plate a ways. >> gary: 0-1 count.

we outside that one. chen missed last season with shoulder problems and came back this year the pitch at triple a, called up to make his 249th career appearance tonight, 118th start. 1-1 to markakis fouled it straight back, 1-2. >> give him credit for being out that long. the numbers in 2004 through 2006, 15-18 record in 51 starts. >> gary: 7-5 record here at camden yards. izturis will go back to the bag. markakis with a 1-2 count, game

tied at one, mora on at third and izturis at first. the 1-2 is high, 2-2. the starters for this kansas city club overall have the fourth best earned run average in the league. their starters have 4.23. the orioles have moved into dead last now, starters 5.30. the delivery didn't miss much, full count 3-2. >> buck: the lowest e.r.a. is seattle. everybody knows they are leading and throwing well right

now. >> izturis will be running, markakis takes it. >> buck: he's got himself into a corner here. jones here, went deep on a curve ball over the wall in from field with two outs in the first inning. now he's got the bases full of orioles. >> gary: we'll have to wait if the bull pen is ready, if they want to go there this early. doesn't look like any decision in that regard has been made, bob mcclure going out. >> the witness: trying to help chen get through this

situation. >> the witness: mcclure's done a nice job here. brs   adventure you see the 50-pl rbi players. >> buck: this is pretty impressive when you think about the 50-plus guy. the yankees have four, boston has three, and here we have them. >> that hit him and an rbi, first pitch. jones will trot down hit by a pitch. he'll get his second rbi of the

ball game and easterly take a 2-1 lead as melvin mora stores. >> buck: he misses his target as it hits adam in the backseat, just turns into it. it's painful but he'll take the rbi. >> gary: the bags are still loaded with two down and here is aubrey huff. he'll take a breaking ball for a strike. with the bases loaded 4 for 8 including a couple doubles. he has 11 bases loaded rbis this season. scott leads the club with 13. that's in there for a strike and changes ahead of huff 0-2. chen has a chance to get out of this inning, surrounding just the one run if he can get huff.

aubrey's faced chen more than anyone else in the easterly lineup, 6 for 18 with two homers. 1-2. >> buck: if chen can get out of this jam, it will be a miracle. jones gives up the rbi hit by the pitch. this will probably knock chen out of the game. >> gary: 1-2 on the way, huff fouled it back. there's no play. it will stay at 5-2. bench he's just a guy that puts up numbers in the second half. >> gary: 1-2 delivery, gets

closer and closer. we all remind folks, doesn't mean clunk trade after that but players who get traded after the end of the month have to go through waivers first. 1-2. bases loaded, aubrey goes down swinging. there's the changeup, that off speed breaking ball that we talked about. chen works his way out of it, only one one and bases left loaded. orioles lead 2-1. ?pp÷÷

 >> gary: we've referred owe this season's pitching backwards. it's a tough way to go usually. first strike is one of the fundamental rules of pitching. 2-2 to bloomquist, popping that

up into the seats. >> buck: you could argue it's not working well when you look at his e.r.a. he'll admit that. first time through the order not too bad. second time, they start sitting on that curve ball. that's when the average jumps to .363. he knows what's at stake here. there's another pitcher come and they're only going to use the rotation. >> gary: trembley made that clear, asked about a six-man rotation and he said absolutely not, not until we get to september, we won't have a six- man rotation. 2-2 on the way, another breaking ball, bloomquist fights it off. bloomquist battling here. keep in mind rich hill is 29 years old, not old but we're not talking about a 20-year-old that we have been.

he's been with the cubs and looked like he was going to be successful there. then all of a sudden it wasn't working. 2-2. the orioles took him hoping they could clang some things an fix it and it's not working. >> buck: the cubs system -- loop to right field. >> gary: markakis in the gap. bloomquist is retired. pretty night here at thllpark. weather that's been around fo the summerisonfew  summerfeeling nights and everyone tonight not in any way oppressive. that ball will be fouled off at

the plate. 87 degrees at game time today. >> by and callaspo here, crosby with nine, with eight, damon with eight. the yankees had a great home stand. >> gary: 3-0 early for the yankees. and contact hitter, 1-2 delivery rips that one into left. at the top of the wall, it will be a double. callaspo has a nine-game

hitting streak here in the third . >> buck: he likes that up in the zone. callaspo has himself in scoring position with just one out. >> gary: kansas city has the second lowest slugging percentage and lowest on base percentage of any team in the american league. their offense has not been pretty. the breaking ball in there for bulletter who delivered and rbi single his first time up. >> buck: they went to florida and got jacobs to give them some power. he's provided a batting average just over .200, not been the power source they thought they had.

it's not been a good year offensively. they just haven't been able to put anything together. >> gary: 1-1, breaking ball taken inside, 2-1. there are the numbers for the royals,next to last batting average, in this to last runs per game, fewers stolen bases,. >> buck: in their park you have to be fast, play good defense and have more doubles than that. >> gary: that one is a fair ball, late start by butler who took a lot of time watching it but he's going to get a double anyway. callaspo will score and the game is tied. >> buck: he hits it and thinks

it's going to be foul, then late getting out of the box. but he has plenty of time. callaspo scores easily and we have ourselves a tie game. >> gary: only one away with a runner at second. here is teahen. he'll take the pitch outside for a ball. he was a strikeout victim his first time up. not a good start for the orioles left-hander rich hill. he has now given up two runs on three hits, orioles have two runs on four. 1-1 count on teahen. teahen against the orioles 3 for 12. this the fifth game these teams have played. 1-1. that's on the inside corner for a strike, nothing but off speed