there is homeland security alearns due to specific threats against our rail network. not one word from the senator from mississippi's amendment about how to deal with these homeland security bring threats when it comes -- when it comes to firearms and checked baggage. should amtrak be required to allow weapons on trains when there is a terrorismism alert? i'd like to know if the senator from mississippi even considered that. i know it didn't come up in a hearing in this amendment, because there's never been a hearing on this amendment. a serious effort of revising amtrak's weapons policy would include this. it would look at the cost this amendment imposes on amtrak. there's a lot of criticism on the floor about spending and deficits. here we have an unfundedandate on amtrakecause at least one senator, perhaps others, join him, believe it's a good idea that people could show up at the

amtrak station and check their firearms. are the people willing to pay more, every passenger, pay more for tickets so that that person can hav a guard on the check baggage in theaggage car with the firearms in place? we regularly hear concerns about federal spending, particularly from the other side of the aisle. but the wicker amendment imposes significant security costs that would have to be absorbed by amtrak. they're going to have to cut back on services, raise ticket prices to absorb the price of this effort. virtually every amtrak station in peck will have to be epared with the wicker amendment to take on firearms and check baggage. there have not been hearings on this amendment. it has not given homeland security or the baggage handling unions or anyone affected by this amendment the opportunity to testify. given the time to work with these stakeholders, we may be able to work out some kind of

understanding that accommodates the senator from mississippi's concerns. but the amendment that we have before us is not a responsible approach to this challenge. to think that we would allow one person at one station to impose a burden and expense on amtrak to be borne by every other passenger, to me, in this age of terrorism, is difficult to explain and impossible to accept. i urge my colleagues to think twice about this amendment. i know the political force behind gun amendments. but this just goes too far. if it's a good idea, why doesn't it go through the ordinary process here? at least have a hearing an answer the basic questions and others have raised during the course of this amendment. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. a senator: mr. president, i rise to speak as if in morning, i ask unanimous consent to speak as if

in morning business for up to 10 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brownback: thank you very much, mr. president. mr. president, this issue is actually one related to the bill, but it's not directly on point, that's why i asked for that permission. about two weeks ago the world trade organization issued an interim ruling about this month that the european union's launch aid to airbus is illegal. i say that this is related to the bill because it's a major transportation issue for us in the united states is the building of major aircraft, of aircraft to be abl to transports individuals. and what we've seen taking place over the last 15 years is airbus subsidizing their way into the commerchal aviation market and taking market share from boeing and driving mcdond douglas and other competitors out of the field all together. eaier this month, about two weeks ago, the world trade organization issued a major finding that the european union was doi illeg launch aid as

a subsidy and it was happening u.s. participants in this marketplace. this ruling is a big win for the office of the trade representative, which has been pursuing this case for years. the u.s. trade has been remarkably consistent for years and across several administrations. the u.s. has always contended that the launch aid, which the e.u. provides to airbus to develop new aircraft, constitutes an illegal trade practice. now, airbus' dishonest behavior has had a devastating effect on the commercial aviation industry in the united states. launch aid gives airbus access to billions in government funds which it could never afford to borrow on commercial terms. this free money directly harms the united states and our competitors in this field. as ustr pointed out in a 2006 submission to the world trade organization, launch aid helped

force lockheed and mcdonald douglas from the large commercial aircraft market, forced them out of the field because of the government subsidy by europe. launch aid has contributed to a 19% of boeing's market share. imagine two of your competitors are forced out of the field, lockheed and mcdonald, douglas, and you lose market share because of a european subsidization. this has harmed the united states in a big way. this w.t.o. interim ruling is a big win for the united states and for u.s. companies that have had to deal with dishonest behavior from airbus over the years. or at least it should be a big win. for years the department of defense has said it cannot consider foreign subsidies when it holds a competition for defense pcurements. and in particular d.o.d. has said it would not consider

launch aid last year when it evaluated the cos of the abus proposal to build a new aerial refueling tanker for the air force. so here we have a case that has been supported by administrations, republican and democrat, over several years, against airbus, that comes out in our favor from the w.t.o., and the next big bid that this may come into effect in is in the military bidding of this tanker -- the $40 billion u.s. department of defense tanker bid and the department of defense says that we cannot consider the issue of launch aid. i think it is wrong headed. i think it is harmful and cross purposes for government. where one end of the government sues airbus for subsidization, and on the other end the dertment of defense says, we really don't care, and if you give us a cheaper aircraft that way, that's fine. that is at cross purposes, and i think clearly what we should

listen to is what the w.t.o. has said is this launch aid is illegal and it shouldn't be allowed to be used to subsidize a military bid in this country by a foreign competitor. last year the air force chose airbus to build a tanker because it cost -- its costs seemed very low. but now we know the airbus price tag covered up development costs that were illegally subsidized by the e.u. and we have that from a world trade organization interim ruling. the department of defense, i believe, has an obligation to listen to the office of the u.s. trade representative when designing a new tanker competition. defense procurement should be coordinated with our trade policy. if the w.t.o. agrees with arguments made by the u.s. trade represent, why should the department of defense be allowed to object in our department of defense be allowed to object? we cannot afford to have the pentagon undermining our trade reprentative and our trade

policy negotiating position at the world trade organization. we have seen how launch aid to airbus distorts the commercial aircraft market driving two major u.s. competitors out of the field and cutting back boeing's sharef the marketplace by nearly 20%. the w.t.o. ruling should keep us from relearning that lesson in the military marketplace as well. defense contracts should never stack the dececk against americn companies. particularly when the w.t.o. believes foreign companies are engaged in illegal trade practices. everyone agrees that the air force needs new tankers. this fleet of tankers we currently have, many of the planes are already over 50 years old and when they're finally replaced, some of them will be as old as 80 years old and still out there flying. they need to be replaced. tankers are a vital platform for the air force and for all of our ard forces. they enable the rest of our forces to deploy across the

world. taxpayers have a right to expect a new taíker competition will have a level playing field, particularly for u.s. enter rants much we should not ask u.s. taxpayers to ignore the illegal trade practices of kpgs vying to build a new tanker. we should not ask tax payers to out source this to a foreign company to unrealistic bought down by government subsidy bargain basis prices. subsidization from the french government, from the german government to get a u.s. military contract that puts our workers out of jobs. i call on the secretary of dense to ensure th new tanker competition accounts for the recent ruling from the world trade organization. dodd should the -- d.o.d. should actor launch aid subsidies for the cost limits of any tanker proposal airbus might submit. this is the only fair way for the way that airbus mar nip

rates the aircraft mket and has done so in the aviation field to great detriment in the united states. i call on the president to ensure that federal procurements are coordinated with u.s. trade policy. this kind of coordination should really be a no brainer. our trade policy should not be undermine from within and our procurement policy should reflect our trade priorities. this is a key issue. it's a key issue up in front of the military. it's a key economic development issue nor country. it's a key -- for this country. it's a key contract for a $40 billion military contract. it should be won fair and square by a u.s. company, not by a subsidized european group. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. alexander: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: mr. president, i ask to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: thank you, mr. president. i want to challenge two sconceptions in the waxman

markey climate change bill that is in the senate after passing the house of representatives. the first is the idea that raising energy prices will somehow be good for job growth and for t economy. the second is that whatever the problems created by waxman-markey, they can be mostly resolved by building more windmills. waxman-markey started out as a bill to start shall -- to deal with carbon emissions. it ended up being a $100 million energy tax nailed to a mandate that will saddle consumers with expensive energy for years to come. instead of a broad based national energy policy, waxman-markey has given us a narrow, expensive national windmill policy. i believe cheap energy means good jobs. my perspective of courseomes from tennessee where alcoa shut down its smelter where my dad worked. they're looking for a cheaper

electricity contract. goodman makes a large percentage of all of the air conditioners in america, tell me if their electric bills go up, their jobs go overhe's a. eastman chemical employs 10,000 tennesseans and uses coal as a feedstock. the company says that if waxman-markey goes through, they too might be headed overseas. the vero refinery employs 600 people refining fuels, including jet fuel for federal express. federal express employs 35,000 people around memphis, nearly 300,000 around the world. waxman-markey would cost valer valero $300 million or more per year. today that company's profits are $40 million a year that the refinery. we have two big ser computers at the oak ridge national laboratory in part because o our abund ens of low-cost electricity. just one of those machines

consumes megawatts, nationwide computers use 5% of our electricity. it's still growing much our governor has attracted two manufacturing plants to make polysilicon for solar cells. these are the green jobs everyone loves to talk about. but each of those plants use 120 megawatts of electricity. if they're going to make affordable solar cells, they can't pay high electric costs. one-third of the auto job are in auto manufacturing, auto manufacturing watches their electricity costs, if they go up too much, they will make auto parts in mexico and japan instead of tennessee and michigan. last december 10% of nashlleians, even with the relatively low residential rates said that they couldn't afford to pay for their electric bills. let's step back and ask: what kind of america are we trying to

create with this climate change and energy bill? i would suggest we want an amera in which we have clean, cheap and reliable energy. enough to create good jobs and run a prosperous industrial and high-tech society. in order to support the american economy that creates about 25% of the world's wealth, we need to produce about 25% of the world's energy. we want an america in which we're not creating excessive carbon emissions an running the risk of encouraging global warming. we have an america with cleaner air where smog in los angeles and in the great smoky mountains is a thing of the past. and where our children are less likely to suffer as marks attacks brought on by breathing pollutants. we want an america where we're not creating energy sprawl attracking large mountain tops with energy installations.

the great american outdoors is a revered part of the american character. we spant a is en industry preserving it. we do not want to stroeu the environment in the name of saving the environment. we want an america in which we create hundreds of thousands of green jobs, but not at the expense of destroying millions of red, white, and blue jobs. it doesn't make any sense to employ people in the renewable energy sector if we're throwing them out of work in the manufacturing and high-tech sector. and that's what will happen if these new technologies raise the price of electricity and send manufacturing and other energy-intensive industries overseas searching for cheap energy. we want new clean energy-efficient cars, but we want them built in michigan, ohio and tennessee. not jan and mexico. and we want an america where we are the unquestioned champion in cutting-edge scientific research and lead the world in creating

the new technologies of the future. and we want an america capable of producing enough of our own energy so we can't be held hostage by some other energy-producing country. none of these goals are met by waxman-markey. this bill provides a huge new tax on the economy. in addition, it requires 15% of our electricity to come from a narrowly defined tkpwraoufp renewable sources, defined as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. while promising and intriguing, we can't expect renewable energy to do anything more for the forseeable future than to supplement our current baseload production. it cannot replace it. what the bill proves once again is that e of government's biggest mistakes is taking a good idea -- renewable energy -- and expanding it until it doesn't work anymore. republican senators have a

better idea. produce more american energy and use less. first we should build 100 new nuclear reactors over the next 20 years, just as we did from 1970 to 1990. that would double our level of nuclear generation to 40% of our electricity, add 10% for sun and wind and oth renewables, another 10% for hydroelectric, maybe 5% more for natural gas. by 2030, we begin to have a low-cost, low-carbon clean energy policy that also puts us within sight of meeting the goals of the kyoto protocol on global warming. step two is electrify half our cars and trucks. i think we can do it within 20 years. this should reduce dependence on foreign oil by one-third, clean the air and keep fuel prices low. according to estimates by brookings institution scholars, we could do this without the --

with the unused nighttime electricity we have today without building one n power plant. step three is explore offshore for natural gas, which is low-carbon and oil. we should use less but more of our own. and the final step is to double funding for energy research and development and launch mini manhattan projects like the one we had in world war ii to meet seven energy challenges: improving batteries for plug-in vehicles, making solar power cost competitive, making carbon capture a reality, safely recycling nuclear fuels, perfecting advanced biofuels, designing green buildings, and providing energy from nuclear fusion. basically our policy should be to conserve and use our nuclear gas and oil resources until we figure out how to make renewable and alternative energies for reliable and cost competitive.

now instead of following this simple fourfold low-cost clean energy strategy, the obama administration wants to spend tens of billions of dollars covering an area the size of west virginia with 50-story wind turbines while it squirms uncomfortably at every mention of nuclear power. according to "the san francisco chronicle" last week, the department of energy is starting a new partnership with the nation's sixth-largest wind turbine manufacturers in an effort to provide 20% of the nation's energy from wind by 2030. the president in his inaugural address spoke eloquently of powering the country with the wind, the sun, and thearth. and in june "the wall street journal" asked boone pickens and al gore and president obama how to reduce dependee on foreign oil and contribute less to climate change. these four came up with 24

suggestions from placing veterans in gen jobs t generating 20% to 30% of electricity by wind, but made not one mention of nuclear power. over the next ten years, the wind industry will receive direct federal taxpayer subs tk*euz tkeus of about $20 -- subsidies of about $28 billion according to the congressional joint committee on taxation. most of this cost is due to the renewable reduction tax credit that is worth about three cents per kilowatt hours to wind developers and costs taxpayers $26 billion. fully 75% of the renewable tax credit goes to wind. solar, geothermal, biomass and hydropower combined make up the remaining 25%. there will be $1 billion for construction subsidies through clean renewable energy bonds. there will be an investment tax credit for residential and small industrial wind turbines. there will be accelerated depreciation of small wind

turbines. plus there will be $11 billion provided by the stimulus for building a smart gd and new transmission lines. the north american electric reliability corporation tells us the entire u.s. grid needs upgrading but the transmission projects announced so far will all go to bringing wind and solar electricity from remote places to population centers, and all this doesn't even mention the waxman-markey renewable energy mandates. which will have the practical effect of forcing utilities in many states to buy government-subsidized wind energy they don't necessarily need from faraway states with better wind resources. let me have give you an example. between 2000 and 2004, the t.v.a. construct add 30-megawatt wind farm in buffalo mountain in tennessee at a cost of $60 million. it's the only wind farm in the southeast. now you'll read in the papers they're having a 30-megawatt wind farm means generating 30

megawatts of electricity, but that's only what they call its name plate capacity. that's not real output. in practice, buffalo mountain has only generated electricity 19% of the time since the wind doesn't blow very much in the southeast. that mea t.v.a. is paying $60 million over 20 years to generate six megawatts of electricity. multiply this out and you'll see it means spending $10 billion to genera 1,000 megawatts, which makes tennessee's windmills more expensive than the costliest nuclear reactor. t.v.a. considers the buffalo mountain wind farm to be a failed experiment. inact, looking for wind power in the southeast is a little like looking for hydropower the desert. nevertheless, waxman-markey will now force t.v.a. and every other utility in the country to get at least 12% of its electricity from a narrowly defined group of

renewable sources. hydroelectric dams, for example, probably the best source of renewable energy, don't count because well i'm not sure exactly why, but environmental groups have been imposing them since the 1950's. nuclear doesn't count as renewable either, even thoh we've got plenty of uranium and reprocessing the fuel that could stretch it out for hundreds and hundreds of years. instead the t.a. is now requesting bids for 1,250 megawatts of renewable power that it doesn't really need and may not be able to use. wind now produces 1.3% of america's total electricity a 4.5% of our carbon-free clean electricity. yet, according to the energy information administration, wind turbines are being subsidized at three times the rate of all other renewables and 19 times the rate of nuclear power kh-rbgs, by the way, prodes

70% of our carbon-free clean electricity. so instead of a clean broad-based energy policy or even a clean renewable energy policy, mr. president, what we have in practice is a national windmill policy. wait a minute, they tell us. all this isn't really about producing clean, cheap energy. it's about creating green jobs. there are two problems with this argument. first, there must be at least as many welders, mechanics, construction workers and engineers that would be employed in building 100 new nuclear plants through the next 20 years as with all the so-called new renewable energies together. second, while there may be hundreds of thousands of green jobs, there are tens of millions of red, white, and blue jobs in america that will be quickly lost because of rising energy prices. let's look at california, the golden state has been imposing renewable energy mandates for years.

it's not built a baseload coal or nuclear plant in 20 years. meanwhile it built renewables, renewables and renewables with plenty of expensive natural gas to back them up. all of this contributed mightily to the california electricity shortage of the year 2000. now the state has t highest electricity prices in the continental united states west of washington, d.c. manufacters are leaving in droves. even google and yahoo are building their server farms elsewhere. with all this job loss, the state had 11.9% unemployment rate in july and until recently a $28 billion budget gap. its bond rating is now the lowest of 50 states. i can't believe that the high cost of electricity in california hasn't contributed to all this. has thisempered the state's enthusiasm for expensive renewable energy? apparently not. california lawmakers are developing legislation to increase the current 20%

renewable standard to 33% by 2020. state energy agencies have concluded it could cost $114 billion or more to meet the 33% mandate, more than doublwhat the original 20% requirement cost. that comes to $3,000 per californiaan. yet according to "the wall street journal"'s news page in july of this year, the state auditor in california warned this week that the electricity sector poses a high risk to the state econo. a staff report from the state energy commission also warns that california could find itself uncomfortably tight on power by 2011 if problems continue to pile up. continuing "the wall street journal" news story, utilities complain that the ambitious renewable energy mandates combined with tougher environmental regulations are compromising their ability to produce adequateower. conflicting state polics are a

problem, said stuart hefrphill at southern california he ediso. renewable energy is useful. but today it is 4% of our electricity and it has many challenges. what many people forget ishat wind and solar energy is only available on average about a third of the time. and electricity today cannot be stored in commercial qualities with current technology. you either use it or youose it. sohen you see 1,000 megawatts of wind and solar power reported in the newspaper, remember it's really only about 300 megawatts. because these sources only produce electricity about a third of the time. compared to american nuclear plants producing electricity 90% of the time. denmark, with the world's biggest percentage of wind power, claims to get 20% of its electricity from wind. yet it still produces 47% of its

power with coal and imports more than 25% of its electricity from sweden and germany. moreover, it's not clear that their carbon emissions have decreased at all over the last ten years. worse yet, because of wind variability, denmark must export almost half its wind power to germany, and then import nuclear and hydropor bac from germany, sweden and norway. then there is what conservation groups are calling energy sprawl, in which we're only beginning to come to grips with. one nuclear plant generates 1,000 megawatts and occupies one square mile. one big solar thermal plant with giant mirrors generating the same 1,000 megawatts in the western desert will occupy 30 square miles. that's more than five miles on a sign. to generate the same 1,000 megawatts with wind, you'd need

270 square miles of 50-story wind turbines. that's an area more than four times the size of washington, d.c. or an unbroken line of turbines along our ridgeops from johnson city, tennessee, to harrisburg, pennsylvania. and if wind farms move offshore, you would need to line the entire 127-mile new jepsey coast with windmil two miles deep just to replace one nuclear reactor that sits on a square mile. we haven't even talked about whenhese wind farms outlive their usefulife cycle of 20 years or so. who is responsible for their removal? we've already seen this problem in hawaii and in california. the developers should be required to put up bonds to ensure these turbines are tak down in case the developers walk away. to those of us in the south eat where the wind blows less than 20% of the time, they say use biomass, which means burning

wood products in sort of a controlled bonfire. that's a good idea as far as it goes. it might conserve the sources, reduce forest fires, but we'd need a forest one and a half times the size of the 550,000 acre great smoky national park to feed a 1,000 megawatt biomass plant on a sustained basis. it's hard for me to see thousand this reduces carbon emissions. alrey we're going see the problems. boone pickens, who said that wind turbines are too ugly to putten his own ranch, recently postponed what was to be america's largest wind farm becae of the difficulty of building transmission lines from west texas to population centers. the sacramento municipal utility district pulled out of another project to bring wind energy in from the sierra nevada for the same rfnlt the transmission lines were meeting too much

opposition, particularly from environmentalists. we hope that renewable energy can be reliable and will cost enough to supplement. when we talk out using wind energy as a substitute for base load energy, we haven't thought about what it is going to look like in practice. in conclusion, let's take a look at the true source of base load electricity nuclear power. nuclear power already produces 20% of our electricity and 70% of our carbon-free electricity. it's so profitable that there's enough to pay back construction loans and still have low rates. for example, t.v.a.'s brown ferry will be repaid in three years, not 23410, as had been expected. nuclear power receives very little the way of federal subsidies. all 100 plants built between 1970 and 1990 were built with private funds. there are other myths surrounding nuclear power beyond

subsidies. we need to dispel those. nuclear opponents claim we don't know what to do with the fuel. that's not true. scientists, including the administration's nobel prize-binning secretary of energy dr. chu, tells us that we can store used fuel safely on-site for 40 to 60 years while we work out the best way to recycle the used fuel. so, mr. president, we can't wait any longer to start building our future with clean, reliable and affordable energy. the time has come for action. we can revive america's industrial and high-tech economy with the technology we already have at hand. the only requirement is that we open our minds to the possilities and potential of nuclear power. appeared as we do, our -- and as we do our policy of cheap and clean energy based on nuclear power, electric cars, offshore exploration, and doubling energy research and development will help family budgets and create jobs. it will al prove to be the

fastest way to increase american energy independence, to clean the acres and to reduce global warming. mr. president, i yield the floor. ms. klobuchar: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: i ask unanimous consent to speak in morning business for up to 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i am going to be speaking about health care, but did i want to note -- i was listening to my colleague and friend from tennessee, and i have invited him before, but in minute we think our wind turbines are so -- but in minnesota we think our wind turbines are so beautiful that we've opened up a bed and brake fast near pipestone, minnesota. you come and stay and wake up in the morning and look at a wind tour bifnlt so i guess it is all in the eye of the beholder but we are excited about the power that wind has brought to our state. so, mr. president, i am going to address a very important issue of health care. and i first want to commend my colleague who's here with me

today, senator can' senator canr commitment to passing a pro-consumer health care bill that also is focused on reducing cost, so that it makes health care more affordable to all the people of this country. i rise today to speak about an issue that i isn economic imperative to our country: true reform. true reform, mr. president, in the way we pay for health care. if we don't act, costs will continue to skyrocket. the country spent $2.4 trillion on health care last year alone. that's one out of every $6 spent in our economy was spent on health care. and by 2018, national health care spending is expected to reach $4.4 trillion, over 20% of our entire economy. these costs are breaking the backs of our families and our businesses. premiums have doubled in just the last ten years many you can

see this -- 1999, single coverage and family coverage. look at these -- look at this increase, mr. president, from single coverage, 1999 with with $2,196. now it is up to $4,704. a family paid $5,791,000 in 1999. now they're paying $12,680. doubling -- a doubling of the premiums for families. and you know what? all of the statistics, all of the studies show that if we don't do anything, if we just put our heads in the sand, we are going to see a doubling of those premiums again. a recent study by the counsel of economic advisors found that small businesses pay up to 18% more than large businesses to provide health care insurance for their employees, often forcing these businesses to lay off employees or cut back on coverage. i met with farmers today.

i met with -- i met with cattle ranchers, i met with people who are farming and trying their best, self-employed. i met with the small businesses up in northern minnesota in two harbors called granite gear, a backpack company. they are making fine backpacks for our troops. you know how much the owner of that company pays for health care for hisamily of four? $2,4,000. he says employs 15 people. he is proud of that company, mr. president. but our small business cannot afford to pay this kind of money. these costs are also breaking the backs of american taxpayers. at the current rate of spending, medicare, such a crucial, crucial program for our seniors, safety net for our seniors, sothing they must have, that is scheduled to go in the red by the year 2017. 2017. so those people that are 5 yeas

old and you want to have medicare, shoe care about cost reform. if you floon live a great life until you're 95 or 100, you should care about medicare, a strong smed care that isn't going in the red. a recent congressional budget office estimates that the majority of the projected $3 44 billion increase in federal revenues in 2010 are scheduled to go automatically to cover the rising costs of health care. to put it simply, my bottom line for health care reform is that we must get our money's worth. we must get our money's worth from our health care dollars. right now that is not happening. with 92% of our population covered, minnesota is for the into the have one of the highest coverage rates of health insurance i the country. part of that is we have -- we have very good health care in our state. we have a lot of nonprofit health care insurance agencies. we also have -- we also have minnesotacare, which extends coverage to so many of our people that can't afford it.

but as any minnesota family or business knows, the price of health insurance coverage has been going up faster than almost anything else. and much faster than wages and people are worried about the stability of their coverage. and that's why i found unity between democrats, republicans, independents. people want stability. they don't want to be thrown off because their kid gets sifnl they want their kid to have coverage and they want to have coverage. if they change gorks they want to keep their coverage and they also want more affordable health care. i haven pressing my colleagues and the administration to make sure we have reform that results in more affordable and accessible health care coverage. the problem is we're paying too much, mr. president. and we're not getting a good return all the time on what we paism the solution must be to get the best value for our health care dollars. otherwise costs will continue to wreak hal havoc on the budgets f governments, businesses, and individual families. the root of the problem is that most health care is purchased on a fee-for-service basis, so more tests and more surgeries mean

more money. times, those surgeries and tests are completely warranted but we want quality. we want outcome to be the measure of good health care. according to researchers a dartmouth medical school, nearly $700 billion per year is wasted on unnecessary or ineffective health care. that's 30% of total health care spending. my favorite story was about an h.m.o. in the southwestern part of the dwhriews said, let's look at a better way to treat diabetes. instead of having all these people trying to get in to see their doctors, we're going too have them se nurses, nurse practitioners and have it overseen by end christian million to gists. they saw health professionals more often, quality went up, costs went down. they got reimbursed less nor that system because of the way that our current system rewards quantity over quality.

now, this chart here, which i brought because it is something about minnesota, is says $50 billion. the reason it says 0 billion is that an independent study from dartmouth came out and it looked at how mayo clinic, one of the premier health care institutions in the country, treats chronically ill patients in their last four years of life. quality incredibly high from their families. what they looked at -- let's look at mayo protocol. if we use that in hospitals all over the country, how much would it save? you'd think it would cost more because it is higher quality. you would actually save, mr. president, $50 billion in taxpayer moneyvery five years just for this set group of patients if the mayo protocol was followed because they have integrated care, they work as a team, and they' very careful and they do what the patient wants. they put the patient in the driver's seat. in minnesota we have several examples of this coordinated outcome-oriented system, not just mayo clinic, also st.

marry's in del duluth. as this chart shows, if the spenng per patient -- just use that mayo clinic for conically ill patients, $50 billion saved every five years. to begin reining in costs, mr. president, we need to have all health care providers aiming for high-quality, cost-effective results. we must take significant results to ensure that medicare remains available for future genetions. i want to be able to get medicare and so do those people who are 65 want to be able to get it until they're 95. to do that, we have to make the system efficient and cost-effective with the highest quality. let's reduce those hospital readmissions. let's have less infections in our hospitals. let's put those kind of mayo-quality standards in place, like you see in places like the cleveland clinic and others across this country. these policy changes are important steps to make sure that medicare is ping for the outcome of the treatment, not the number of treatments.

i will say this: , we've see basic outlines from the finance committee bill. we haven't seen it yet, but i do support the finance committee efforts to screl a national program on -- to develop a national program on payment funding. patients must struggle against a fragmented payment system. to better encourage and reward this collaboration, we need to have better coordination of care and less incentive to bill medicare purely by volume. increasing the bunds 8 bundling of service in medicare's payment system has the potential to encourage quality, integrated care. when it comes to improving care, change who pays the doctor isn't as much the issue right now and we're looking at improved care as it is change that pavement system. the lesson of the high-quality, efficient states like minnesota is that someone has to be responsible for the care of the patient from start to finish. bundle willing help encourage

hospitals, doctors, and post-acute careroviders to achieve savings for the medicare program through increased collaboration and improved coordination. now, one of the interesting things that i don't think people always know about is they say, if we save money does that mean we're going to get worse care? the answer is, no, it is the opposite. question, does higher spending equal better care? in fact, when you playbook ross the exon, higher spending does not equal -- in fact, when you look across the country, higher spending does not equal better care. in fact it is the opposite. here you have a chart that shows the highest quality of care is the lowest utilization. maybe you know your primary care doctor well. yo go to the specialist so that you're not running around with your x-ray to 15 different specialists. highest utilization has the lowest quality care. a beard cooter nateed delivery systemill save medicare alone up to $100 billion per year.

because micare is the single-largest provider of health care, linking payment too improved health care outcomes for everyone. we must also stop paying for care that doesn't result in quality results, reducing preventable hospital readmissions -- and i'll very hopeful they will be in our senate bill -- is vital to curbing the wasteful health care spending in our national budget. in one year hospital readmissions cost medicare $17.4 billion and in 2007 report by medpac found that medicare paid an average 6 $7,200 per preadmission. that was likely preventable. who wants to go abou back in the hospital? i don't think wants to go back in the hospital. not only are you getting lower quality care because certain quality parameters aren't met, we're also spending more money for t i'm encouraged that the financial committee's outline includes a provision that calls

for reduced payments to hospitals for preventable readmissions. we know that there are some readmissions that are going to happen. it happens all the time. preventable readmissions. paying for quality results also mes reducing hospital-acquired infections. we shouldn't have to pay for an infection that comes as a result of a hospital stay itself. no one wants to get an extra infection in the hospital and there are vast differences among hospitals in those infection rates. so let's put those quality protocols in place. third, we we are needetter integrated care systems at places like a mayo clinic. a person's overall care is managed by a primary care physicians in coordination with other nurses and care providers as needed. it's one-stop shopping. reminds me of a football team, mr. president. you don't have ten wide receivers running around running into each other, just like you wouldn't have ten specialists in health care. you have one quarterback, that's the primary care physician, and then you have a team that works together. that's what we want to encourage

in the health care system to save money. to better reward and encourage thislaboration, we need to encourage the creation of accountable care organization. these are groups of providers that work together as they do in minnesota to deliver quality coordinated care to patients. we want to put incentives in that reward this kind of care. when the president stood up fore his health care summit and asked why should minnesota be punished when it rewards, when it creates this kind of good, high-efficient care, the sad thing is right now it is, because when you just pay based on volume and you don't pay any attention to what the results are or what the infections are, what the readmission rates are, you're not getting that kind of quality care that people deserve. the last thing i wanted to focus on is something that senator cantwell, who will speak after me, that we're so focused on right now and that is putting some kind of quality index in place. the proposal here is to move us towards a system that links quality to cost.

and right now, we don't have that in place, and i believe we need to do more in the finance bill and even then we have -- even than we have in the house bill to get this value index in place. this is a bill that've introduced. senator cantwell is one of the lead sponsors as well as senator gregg of new hampshire. the indexing will help regulate overutilization, because those who produce more volume will need to also improve care or the increased volume will negatively impact fees. this will authorize the health and human services sretary to create a value index as parof the formula used to determine medicare's fee schedule. by adding a value index, our bill uses cost measures that are structured to allow areas with justifiably higher costs -- and we know there are different costs around the country -- to compete on an equal playing field with lower-cost areas. rewarding value in this way would give physicians a financial incentive to maximize the quality of their services instead of quantity.

linking rewards to outcomes creates the incentive for physicians and hospitals to work together to improve quality and efficiency. this proposal would also work in tandem with other proposals, like those being advocated by others and those i've mentioned today, the coordinated integrated care, the bundling, and other ways to improve the medicare payment system. we know there's also other ways, and i will end with just mentioning these, that we can improve efficiency in health care spending. one, as a former prosecutor, i care a lot about this, is to reduce medicare fraud. law enforcement authorities estimate that health care fraud costs taxpayers and costs those seniors on medicare more than $60 billion every year. this is as much as 20% of total medicare spending. there are ways -- and we have some bills that have already been introduced -- to greatly reduce this. secondly, something the esident raised in his speech before congress with this idea of looking at malpractice

reform. i can tell you in minnesota, in 2006, we had the lowest malpractice premiums in the nation, and areas like ours with more efficient care tend to have lower malpractice premiums. and that's what our doctors want. well, one of the things that we do is we have a certificate of merit system that has been implemented in a number of states and goes hand in hand with efficient care, requiring a medical expert to sign off on any complaint, and it has worked. we need to reform our health care system, mr. president. i am so proud to be here with my colleague, senator cantwell, a member of the finance committee, who has been day to day, night by night advocating for this kind of reform. we want our seniors to stay on medicare and have the kind of safety net that they deserve. and we want people who are 55 years old to be able to get medicare when they're the age to get medicare. and the way we do this, by actually increasing quaty and decreasing costs. we do this in the state of

minnesota. we know we can do it in other placesn the country, and i just really plead with my colleagues on the finance committee that we have to look at the long-term costs if we're really going to bring reform. we've outliepped some ways to -- outlined some ways to do this today. we're looking forward to working with people from all over the country on this, but this has to be a major element of reform. thank you, mr. president, and i yield the floor. ms. cantwell: thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. ms. cantwell: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business for up to 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. cantwell: thank you, mr. president. i -- mr. president, i rise to talk about the health care reform bill and most urgent need to make sure that we have provider reform as part of the insurance reform package. and i want to thank the senator from minnesota for her leadership on this issue. she has hit the ground running when it comes to the issue of health care reform, advocating

for changes in policy and introducing legislation at the beginning of this year called the value index legislation. and i'm proud to be a sponsor of that legislation a proud that we have worked together so diligently to try to communicate why this is so important for america. but clearly minnesota has had good results and is leading the country in the kinds of health care practices that weeed to adopt. and senator klobuchar has been able to put that into legislation and to champion that legislation and to work here on the floor, organizing colleagues from like states to communicate this issue, and i'm happy to be joining her in a letter that we are sending to our senate leadership and to the president of the united states talking about why it's so important to get these reforms adopted. so i want to thank her for being ou here this evening to

communicate this important public policy area and, again, for just having minnesota be front and cente in this debate. now, mr. president, what we're trying to address is really a urgent problem and that is that the medicare system is basical basically, if we do nothing, is going to go broke. that is that i, that it is doube cost to the federal government. and we're talking about reform and we're talking about adding more people in. and so if youook at medicare spending of where we are today and the amount that we are going to see in the future, we know that we a quickly growing that number from 2009 to 2015 to be over $1.2 trillion. and so the cost of this, of medicare doubling over ten years, is something we know as a country we can't sustain. now, without health care reform,

without even the discussion of adding the uninsured, we know we can't sustain the doubling of medicare in the next ten years. so we need to change the system. and we know what the cause of this crisis is too. there are many elements to health care and health care costs, but we know from the many hearings and testimony that we had from experts that the fee-for-service system is driving up the cost of health care. that fee-for-service rewards providers for the quantity of services they provide without regard to whether those services really benefit the patient. i asked my colleagues if they've ever experienced this because i know many, many americans will tell you this is exactly what they've experienced. haveou ever asked yourself why your physician, why you're in the middle of a health care

appointment, seems sourried? have you ever asked yourself why the doctor seems so hurried to go to the next appointment? well, the reason is because that is the way we pay doctors. we pay doctors by the number of patients they see and the number of procedures that they order. so the system that we have today actually creates a incentive for doctors to spend as little time with each patient as possible. now, if you think about that and you think about where our health care system is today, how is that good for delivering outco outcomes? how is that good for making sure that the patient gets the best care? now, i want to make sure i'm clear. this is not the fault of the doctors. they are just following the rules of the game as it is bei played today. and, indeed, many physician organizations are advocating the changes of organizational structure that the senator from minnesota and i are advocating.

they understand that health care is a daunting task to reform it, but in this case, they know that the problem is simple enough to grasp. all you have to do is follow the money, and what you see in both private insurance and what you see in medicare is that youre routinely payin for duplicative or inefficient care and in t co of medare and the cost eventually to taxpayers are skyrocketing. so if you look at the fee-for-service model, it's pretty clear. it's a feedback loop in -- in business and technology, we call this a positive feedback loop because it just feeds each other. because you have more use, you order more tests, you have more duplication of services, you have more spending, and the cycle just keeps going and it

keeps perpetuating itsel and the end result is that you just keep adding costs to our system. nowhere is there an outcome that's judged here, nhere is there a value to the patient. it is a fee-for-service that just generates more spending. and we can't emphasize that enough, mr. president, because the current system promotes an over utilization of what -- an overutilization of what really are scarce health care dollars and resources. and as one national study shows, that there is an estimated $700 billion a year in wasted health care dollars. that is, that health care spending that may not even be -- certainly it's wasted dollars and some people hav said can even do harm in the way that the money is spent.

and so, mr. president, we're out here today advocating for a different model. we're out here saying it's good to talk about insurance reform, but if medicare is one in every five health care dollars and medicare is driving heah care spending, it is also driving expensive health insurance. so if we have expensive fee-for-service medicare that is helping to waste precious medicare dolla, you bet that it is also driving expensive health insurance. now, the good news is that we already know that there is a viable alternative. and the reason we know that is because we know that there are states like washington and minnesota and many others across the country that have put some of these new practices into placend we know that they are

working in the real world. in some parts of the country, we have reforms that really have reversed these trends and they cut costs and they put the emphasis where it belongs, and the bottom line is, is that they put the patient first. imagine that, putting the patient first. not the number of procedures you order, not the number of people you see, but putting the patient first by making sure that we are focusing on their outcomes. and these states -- and parts of the country have done this -- have done thisy organizing a deliver riff care so that e doctors can take the -- a delivery of care so that the doctors can take the time with their patients so they can take the fleed coordinating their re. naishts these delivery systems get better access to their physians, they experience shorter waiting times, they benefit from coordinated care that's provided by their primary care physician and other health

care individuals, and the health care outcomes are better. in fact, if you look at some of these states and you look at some of the individual criteria, who in america wouldn't like shorter waiting times to get to see the health care provider they need to see? or better access to doctors? or to have one doctor coordinate with your other health care providers your specific needs and treatments? and to guarantee the outcomes? now, this is dayligh from the robber wood johnson foundation from 2008 -- robertood johnson foundation from 2008 of what you get when you put a coordinated delivery care system in place and you integrate the care of the individual in a delivery system. so this kind of delivery system i good for individuals, but it's also good for the taxpayer. because not only does the

patient benefit, we cut down on the bureaucracy and tha that $700 billion in wasteful spending that i talked about a few minutes ago. so i believe that every part of the country ought to take heed of this phenomenal results and the fact, as my colleague from minnesota said, you could save the taxpayer over $100 billion a year if we made this change to coordinated care across the country. and when medicare is structured in a way that encourages better quality and more efficient care, we will also see the price in private insurance go down as well because the cost and correlation of medicare driving private insurance is there. so my colleagues who come from states where you have more expensive medicare might think that that's somewhat of a benefit, but i guarantee you it is also driving more expensive private insurance and your

citizens are not getting the this robert wood johnson foundation study proves that. if we were looking at other states, all of these check marks went on the cost and utilization would be high. so what we want to do, madam president, is we know that the health care debate puts us at a crossroads. it puts us at a crossroads about what we're going to do about our current health care system. we can either fix these problems or we can exacerbate it and make it worse. and we all want to help the uninsured in america, but to add more people to this heth care system to cover more people under health care whout changing the way that we pay for medicare is going to explode the federal deficit. and so we want to make sure tt we don't exacerbate this problem. now, as senator -- the senator

from minnesota said, her moment state implemented these things, so has washington state. and we know that where health care costs are managed efficiently, that we are producing grea results. but we know that the gap between these reimbursement rates in other areas of the country are still leaving us with inefficient delivery systems. and we know that for our states who are delivering efficient care, if you continue to have inficient system in other parts of the country that pay more, but are less efficient and don't deliver patients better care, you are going to continue to have health care officials migrate to those areas. that's why fixing the health care system, but not addressing th issue is not a real solution for us. because we cannot continue to see people from washington and

minnesota and other places migrate to high-cost, high-doctor-paid states with no guarantee of better outcomes, but certainly more pay for physicians. we know the fee-for-service model is bleeding our country and we know that we need to make changes to that. we need to have a quality care syem. so that's why i joined senator klobuchar at the beginning of the year to have legislation for a value index and that's why we have been fighting in the finance committee to add these kind of reforms to the system. i'm very proud that the finance committee is looking at insurance reform to ban practice such as excluding individuals and making sure that just because they have preexisting conditions, but provider reform in how medicare is delivered is just as crucial to delivering a good healthare sysm in america.

and we are advocating that we have a health care system that puts the patient first, that puts them in the focus of how physicians get paid. now, we do this scifically striking a blow against the fee-for-service an replacing it with a model that allows physicians to spend more time with their patients to bter coordinate their care, to provide them with preventive care for future and to make sure that they are getting the quality of care that they serve. as one o my constuents came in, madam president, to my office to talk about ts, she said: i don't want to be medicated, i want to be cured. what she meant is don't write me just a prescription and tell me to go away. i want you to focus on my specific health care needs. and that is what so many people think about our health care system at a time when we do have advances in new technologies an

preventive care and wellness that can get our consumers cusing onheir own health care needs. so our proposal changes the current payment incentive structe by using a new value index to measure the quality and ficiency of service and only by replacing the fee-for-service system with this newalue index will we start to really control health care costs. according to testimony before the senate finance committee, this is where we're going to get our biggest savings in health care cost reduction. the fee-for-service system as one of the witnesses said is the most broken part of medicare. and under the value index system that we're proposing, the federal government would do much better and taxpayers 0 would do much -- taxpayers would do much better in making sure that we do not see that doubling of medicare rates. that's why my colleagues and i

are sending a letter -- and i see my colleague from washington on the floor, setor murray, who introduced the medifair legislation, that said that we havd to have fairnes in the way that medicare dollars are spent around the country. you can't continue to incent areas of good practic while rewarding areas of inefficient care and she has been a champion behind this issue for many years. so i appreciate her being on the floor. i know that she ces passionately about this issue as well. i guess that's the point, madam president. those of us who are from these regions are tired of providing efficient, cooinated care. i think the presiding officer is also from one of those states. and you can't believe the us from thraition we have of going -- frustration that we have of going to community after community knowing that we provide better outcomes, knowing that we provide better care, knowing that people have made it work on the lowest margins possible and, yet, people are

leaving our states because they can go and make a better buck somewhere else off of the inefficient health care system that we're delivering. now, it would be one thing if they could make that quicker buck by going to some state an saying, you know what, we are more expensive, but we have better care. that's not what the robert wood foundation says. they say that they don't deliver better care. if you can imagine where you have the fee-for-service model where you're just spending more and ordering more and out of time and so you just order all of, that how are you getting -- how are you getting the best outcomes. you're throwing a lot of money at it, but you're not focusing in on what is the real quality of care to deliver to that patient. and i know my colleagues on the finance committee are really trying to focus on health care reforms for the overall system. there are various proposals that i'm sure that we'll see tomorrow as this draft legislation comes out talking about value-based

reforms for hospitals and pilot programs for certain regions and accountable care organizations which can help in the long run drive down costs by having global health care budgets. but i would say to my colleagues that we cannot just have tweaks to this system. we can't just have pilot programs. we can't just gently turn the wheel of the titanic and think that that is going to avoid the catastrophe we are going to see if we don't reform medicare. so we will be working hard in the next couple of weeks, as i said, sending a letter to the president and to the leadership here that it's time to fix this system. that we have the opportunity to have a 21st century health care delivery system with all the great information an all the great tech -- and all the great

technology that's out there. but this system can't keep rewarding insurance companies by 435% annual profits just because our whole system is setup to order more. because this really isn't about paying for volume. the point is not to pay for volume. it is to pay for value. and we want to make sure that we are paying for that value and not just the fee-for-service volume system that currently doesn't put patients first in america. so we will be working hard to get these implemented so that we can support this health care legislation. i thank the president and i yield the floor. a senator: madam president?

the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. a senator: madam president, i seek recognition because in front of us we he have a proposal -- we have a proposal that i think could be very damaging to our country. mr. lautenbe: an amendment has been proposed that i consider unnecessary and potentially dangerous, which is being offered by the senator from mississippi, senator wicker. the -- what we're finding is that there's a challenge to whether or not amtrak can continue to operate after the first of october, it's been

modified. but initially it was proposed that a ban put on amtrak's operations unless guns can be carried in baggage on amtrak trains. and while that is an issue that could be disssed, madam chairman -- madam president, think about it, amtrak carries 28 million people in a year. and amtrak produces far less toxic emission, much more energy efficient. we've been delinquent for so many years in investing in good railroading in this advanced country, in this, the richest couny in the wld, no matter what our economic condition is. it incomprehensible that that kind of a choice is put on, either you carry guns on our

trains -- in our bagge on our trains or else we shut the railroad down. it's preposterous when you think of the services that are offered not just on the amtrak trains, but on the amtrak tracks, where it is also used by commuting services. it would cripple the functioning of our country and it's outrageous that we at this point in time when we've worked so hard to generate funding for -- for amtrak to improve the service, to bring it up to the 21st ctury and it is suggested that maybe we ought to shut it down because we have a disagreement about whether guns can be carried in baggage on railroad cars. this amendment now has been moved to discontinuing the service in march.

well, i don't know what the value of that is, very frankly, if that kind of a threat hangs over us, do we continue to invest billions of dollars? do we try to get private investors and buying bonds of amtrak? i don't think so. not when you face a threat like that. last fall this chamber voted overwhelmingly, 74-24, to reauthorize amtrak andodernize our nation's passenger rail system. and oddly enough, the senator from mississippi voted for this legislation. amtrak has made much progress because of that new law, but the amendment on the floor would undo all of that. senar wicker's amendment, as i said earlier, would completely shut down our nation's passenger rail service.

that is hardly a thing to do when our infrastructure is so severely degraded because of a far greater use than we ever expected. i want to be clear, this amendment would hardly give amtrak any time before it might be required to start allowing firearms to be carried on its trains. at this moent amtrak will tell you the don't have the means to carry these guns securely and safely. senator wicker noted in 2004, amtrak made the decision to stop transporti guns in the name of security. now, why did it happen in 2004? i remind you -- i remind those

suspended. i think the women's tour obviously would not like that to happen because they want the williams sisters to play as much as possible, so in some sense she's got... she's sort of got a stranglehold around the tour. if you really want the put the meat on some sort of suspension, it would have to be at next grand slam event in australia. so it obviously remains to be seen if they'll go that far, but to me that would be the only suspension that would really hurt serena and not hurt the tour because obviously you want her to play as much as possible on the wta tour. >> a number of impressive streaks by fed went down monday night in flushing meadows. federer had won 124 straight grand slam matches against players ranked outside the top five before losing to the sixth seed del potro. he had won 40 straight u.s. open matches since losing to david nalbandian in 2004, and, of course, his streak of five straight u.s. open titles also comes to an end. >> back to college football.

u.s.c. has never lost to a big 10 team under pete carroll. the trojan's latest triumph was in columbus saturday night.sc l snap over billy o'malley's head. terrelle pryor digging that. his buckeyes take a 12-10 lead. 15-10 game. matt barkley, the true freshmanl hits joe mcknight who was huge on the final drive. later on, first and goal, stef n johnson has room to bounce outhe right. t that's your game winner. s.c. wins 18-15. jim tressel now on what's ahead. >> many times when you have an effort like that and it ends up in disappointment, you know, it's interesting to watch the response to it and is forth, and you know, as we were around the guys on sunday a little bit as they came in the training room, you could kind of gauge, you know, just what was going through guys' minds. how good we're going to be is really going to be determined by how well we can stay in whatever

needs to be focused on right now. if we're thinking about last week, you know, we're going to be in trouble. if we're thinking about the big 10 opening a week from now, we're going to be in trouble. if we're thinking about toledo and we execute, we've got chance. >> neither matt barkley nor pryor completed 50% of their passes, threw for 200 yards or even tossed a touchdown pass saturday night, but the up side on each is through the roof. barkley of course came up huge during s.c.'s late game-winning drive despite a bruised shoulder. here's pete carroll on his young quarterback today. >> i thought matt did extremely well in that game, and i'm proud as heck of the way he handled everything and the way he dealt with it. it was much like we expected, but you still got to go do it, and he did it. more significantly was his mentality during the game. he was in it and talking and

communicating. i know i said that a number of time, but a lot of times kids don't commune kate really well. he was fine. he was just like he always was. and he got banged up and his shoulder was sore, you know, and i guess it might have happened in the third quarter. and he made it through it and hung tough and was not feeling 100%. we take that into account. it's even more extraordinary an outing for him. as we go through this week, i saw him this morning. he feels pretty good. we'll just wait and see how he feels when it comes down to throwing the ball. he'll get work at practice but he'll limit his throwing if we do any at all today. aaron will take the bulk of the snaps and we'll just go to tomorrow and see where we are. >> you heard from pete carroll. barkley has that bruised shoulder. he went through drills in practice yesterday but didn't test the shoulder with any sort of throwing. he says he hopes to play saturday at washington against former s.c. offensive coordinator steve sarkisian's huskies.

>> i was thoroughly impressed about what he's been able to get accomplished up to this point. you think about this kid. he started as a freshman in high school through one of the premier programs in california. and he comes to s.c. and he's exceeding i think expectations of everybody but himself. i can't envision, i can't imagine carson palmer, matt leinart, john david booty, mark sanchez doing what he's doing. so to me in four years this guy's going to be better than all of them. >> you know, espn's college football analyst kirk herbstreit gives tennessee no shot of upsetting top-ranked florida, no matter what volunteers' new head coach lane kiffin said in the off season when he got the job. prediction.

them. maybe nose talented defense ever quarterback to ever play college football, so we're going to have our hands full. >> since urban meyer's first season at florida in 2005, the gators have dominated the volunteers in head-to-head meetings taking all four games. the big key for florida had been turn years. they've won the turnover bat until all four game, winning by an average of over 18 points per

game. >> coming up on espnews, what was joe paterno thinking when he brought up death in his press conference today?

sportion here. >> hi, everybody. sports nation here. i'm colin cowherd alongside michelle beadle. mon we're monday through friday, 4 o p.m. through midnight on espn 2 >> it's never too early to makeo huge statements. that's what we like to do.e every tuesday we ask you to go online and rate your top five nfl teams. nfl here are today's power rankingsw mad making their debut on our list, the new orleans saints. >> why not? they beat the lions. let's have mardi gras tonight! >> negative. >> flashy but that doesn't win late in november and december. i want more defendants from thef saints. >> number four, the philadelphia eagles. >> donovan mcnabb throws for just 79 yards and they still ps score in the 30s. love this team. tough and finds cal. >> but he's uncertain for week.. two number three, the giants. >> they face the cowboys in dallas.yses i typical new york giants' game. some big play, good pass rush.

tough, physical football. i love this team.i lo >> do you love the patriots, colin?colin, y do you? do you? >> tom 1 brady, 21 straight wins as the starting quarterback in the regular season. when it counts,t he's absolutely money again. >> and still on top as they wers last week and could be for a c while, the steelers at numberil one.s >> a well, troy polamalu is out and the running game is suspect. patriots' running game a little suspect, as well. wet again, i get ben roethlisberger, mike tomlin, they're tough, they're physicaln they're built like the eagles and giants to win late in thent season. >> you know, the steelers were technically one last year, too. >> sometimes you get lucky. las >> that's it for sports nation for now. we'll be here monday through n, say at 4:00 and midnight on espn 2. >> i think the saints are fine. they're not just five. how about add a one to that, 15. >> what? 15? >> crazy talk. >> beaver stadium is one of the few parts of the penn state

football program joe paterno did not build. paterno arrived as an assistant back in 1950, but by the time he became head coach in 1966, the stadium was six years into its existence. nonetheless, joe pa has coached all 295 games played there, 90% as the head coach. for all intents and purpose, it is his turf. even if it doesn't yet carry his name. paterno was asked about that possibility today. >> i know you hate these kind of questions, but there was a sign on the field last week about official petition for paterno field at beaver stadium. >> oh, geez. >> have you ever given that any thought or has that ever come up with the university? would you like that at all or would you not want that distinction at all? >> oh, i don't... you know, i don't think of those things. i mean, i really don't. i didn't see the petition or

what. oh, i don't know, you know, i don't know that much about what it is to be dead. how much do you know what's going on after you're dead? huh? you look up, i don't know. nobody told me what happens. so i don't know. i think that's up to some other people to decide. obviously i'm... i'd be flattered, and i think it would be nice, but it isn't really something i think about. >> paterno's weekly press conferences are must see. >> tv. >> we're talking about practice when we come back. it's a big deal for michael vick. the latest on his new status with the ( horn beeping )

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tonight the former oriole gregg zaun will join us on "o's xtra." tonight is game two of a four- game series and a battle of right-handers. jason berken goes to the birds and jeff neiman is on the mound for the rays. it is berken and neiman and it is "o's xtra" on masn right now! >> welcome in, everybody. it is "o's xtra" presented by at&t on a muggy night from camden yards. the orioles getting set to take on the tampa bay rays. how are you doing tonight? jim hunter and rick dempsey. it is another game and that means another rookie pitcher is

going to the mound for the orioles. david hernandez struggled and tonight it is jason berken's turn. as you look over and we know what this season is all about, it is all about developing these guys at this level. what have you seen and what do they need to do now to take it to the next step? >> i don't think i would like to change bergesen or pla touse at all. i think they have really showed us what they need to see. they both throw the ball over the plate. they have a great idea of how to go about it. they use their fastball perfectly. all it is is a matter of those two guys getting experience. with berken, he is on the mound tonight. i think what he needs to do is just locate a little bit better. stay out of the middle of the plate. hit the corners a little bit more and i think that is really starting to happen with him because this guy is going to figure it out. he is a scrapper, a gamer. he is learning things as he goes along. he took his beating the first 10, 11 starts and i think now he is starting to change thins around. tillman, he is going to have the learn to pitch with the fastball, maybe adjust the changeup and outside of that, i think really all of them are moving slowly and in the right

direction. i think andy is getting a hains to see exactly what he needs to see going into spring training next year. if he has to make a big deal and get a big picture to go into the middle to be a mentor, it can only help this rotation. we got some talent there. >> and i think what is positive about what you're saying there is just because they're in the rotation now doesn't necessarily mean they have to be next year because there are other guys. maybe they help out in the bullpen. here is the rays' lineup for tonight after tampa bay won last night. bruntlett, crawford and longoria. pat burrell will d.h. aybar up at first. reed will be at second base tonight. last night he nearly hit for the cycle, and went 4-4 with a hour and a couple of doubles and three rbi's. right now we're going to go across the field and welcome in the orioles' bench coach to get some insight as to how to possibly the or slow down some of these hitters. all right, dave. evan lone gar i can't has to be at the top of the list.

he has hit in 14-17 games and last night you held him to oh- fer five? how did you do it last night and how do you do it again tonight? >> caved had really good stuff and he did a good job of keeping longoria off balance. he got the changeup in early. we need berken to command and control the zone as temperaturer said. temperaturer really hit the nose right on the -- hit the nail right on 2 r. the head when he says we have to command. that's what berken has been doing, plus down in the zone which he does very good in the last couple of outings. >> one of the guys that is a very, very dangerous guy in that lineup, carl crawford. when he gets on base, he has already stolen 57 base this is year. how are we going to keep this guy off of base? >> that's right. we have to keep him off base. that's how he doesn't steal bases. she a great fastball hitter. she a very aggressionive hitter. he loves the high fastball. he makes sure he mixes in his off-speed pitches and we make the ground balls bounce a couple more time before being a

one hop rocket. >> one of the amazing things about baseball is there are certain players that certain teams do well regardless of what year it is, what the personnel is, and jason bartlett is becoming one of those players against the orioles. as a lead-off hitter, this is a guy you really have to contain because if he gets on base for those other guys, a lot of good things happen for tampa bay. >> don't limit his success to the orioles because this guy is hitting .330 and even a month ago he was hitting about .350. he, again, is a good high fastball hitter. he really hits the situation well. we have to live down in the zone. and he has really put it together the last few outings living down in the zone and that will help. >> can i write it down, longoria, oh-fer five tonight? >> he is only going to get four a at-bats. >> i like how you're thinking. we aappreciate how you think. let's get a look at the

orioles' lineup tonight and i love what dave trembley did tonight. if you bat left-handed and you're healthy and you can breathe, you're in there tonight against jeff neiman. the entire bench is right- handed batters. markakis, mora and scott, wieters, awe brief and izturis. melvin mora over the past 14 games batting a .362, and felix pie back in the lineup tonight, and he'll be in that lead-off spot. >> i love seeing him getting the opportunity to hit up high in the order. i think one thing this organization needs speed up there. b-rob is the one thing that has been holding it together. outside of him felix pie needs to learn as much as he can. a good contact hitter. i think he has really shown everybody the second half of the season about all of the tools. he is hitting the ball out of the ballpark. terry crowley has done a wonderful job for this guy. he might learn some thins about playing the game of baseball like where to hit the cut-off man, but outside of that i

think felix pie is being an asset to this ball club i'm going to be very interested to see what happens. >> second game of the four-game series. when we come back on "o's xtra," amber will visit with the veteran brian roberts. immaterial l. it is "o's xtra" presented by at&t. before taking it on, one must study it first. rushing in unprepared may prove overwhelming... with all that juicy, 100% angus beef. there! you found a point of entry! the bacon beckons like a springboard to paradise. one small bite for man... etcetera, etcetera. angus axiom number 11: bring on the bacon. the astonishing new angus third pounders. all angus. all mcdonald's. ♪ ba da ba ba ba

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 >> "o's xtra" is brought to by corona and corona light, official sponsors of the time out. please relax responsibly. the o's today announce their 2010 schedule. leer some of the highlights. next year the orioles open up on the road against the tampa bay rays april 6, but it is just a three-game series and the orioles are back home. they have the home opener against toronto on april 9. it is the first time the yankees and the red sox are here the week of april 27. four games in the new stadium in minnesota. that ought to be fun and it is nice that they don't have to go there until may. here is the interleague schedule, home games against the mets, the marlins and the

nationals on the road against the nationals and how about that, a west coast trip to san francisco and san diego. the season will end with a four- game series here late september, early october against the detroit tigers. once upon a time brian roberts was the young player in the lineup and now all of a 1uden he is the seasoned veteran observing the younger players of today. let's get more on that and welcome in amber. >> hello, jim. and not only is brian the seasoned veteran, he is the seasoned veteran with the big contract. last off season he signed a four-year, $40 million extension and his buddy nick markakis is signed a six-year, $66 million deal and the reason both of them did that is they didn't know because they have faith in the fact that the orioles one day could be contenders. they heard about the young talent that was coming up and they wanted to stick around to be with a team that could compete in the a.l. east. so right now we're about a year removed, and i had a chance to

speak with brian roberts about this young team. i wanted to know why he thought they were. a lot of them came upperrer -- earlier than expected. he said he didn't expect to see brian matusz and i asked does he believe this group of rookies ahead or behind the curve? >> i think most of them are ahead of the curve. certainly i had my struggles either on, went up and down a couple of times and you take a guy like nick who has been so consistent. he had his troubles. i remember him hitting .200 for the first two months. i think they have done really well and adjusted well to, you know, major league lifestyle in general as well as on the field, their performance. i think they have continued to get better as the season has gone on. >> like i said, you probably had faith ha the organization was going in there right direction because we heard of these names in the minor reeg league and now do you truly believe it now that you have seen isn't it? >> it helps to believe it now

that you have seen it with your own eyes because you can hear a guy talk about this guy or that guy but until you get them here and put them in that situation, and if that minor league ability is going to carry over into the major league. but it has been good for us. i think some of the older guys appear to see them in person and to realize that that ability is there and it is just a matter of getting them here and getting them comfortable and starting to have success. >> and so brian roberts will be around for the next four years to see how this young group does and look at brian roberts' season. it is interesting. he does have higher numbers than he has in the last six years on average and three different categories. in home runs, he has hit 15. doubles we all know what a year he is having hitting doubles. look at the rbis in 2009. he has hit 73 rbi's. he's averaged over the last six years per year just 50.6 rbi's.

you can see his steals are down and his triples are down a bit. brian roberts will be 32 in november, but we all know the way he takes care of himself. he'll be around this club, play for a long time and many believe he'll play at an elite level for a long time. the rookies, they continue in their careers. >> he brings up a point. when he first came up, he went down and came up a couple of times. the young position players that the orioles have brought up, nolan reimold and matt wieters in particular, they were brought up and are here to stay. david hernandez, who took the loss in the game last night, and following the game in which hernandez was knocked doubt of the game in the fourth inning, he talked about his performance. >> i felt like i had a pretty good changeup. it was just a platter of being able to finish innings and the

second innings, it is unacceptable getting two kick outs and then they score runs after. it is a undower. you were obviously having success early and the past couple of star starts have been tough for you. obviously you want a strong finish. just mentally it is tough to not lose a little confidence right now. >> it is easy right now to lose confidence, but you just know you have to work hard in between starts and i know i have three starts left and still time to finish the season off on a good note. >> you were talking about you're not being aggressive with your pitches and is that part of the problem after you got two out in the second. >> it was kind of a mental letdown. i got two quick outs and then i fall behind and give up a couple of hits and hit it out. >> well, david hernandez agroup of oriole young pitchers trying to learn their way through the major league level and a look over the past six games, the orioles pitchers have gone 2-4. the two wins by tillman and

matusz at yankee stadium in new york. combined overall, the last six games, the e.r.a. very high, 7.59. 80 base hits allowed combined over the past six games and the opposing teams have battle .365 in this stretch. look at the line at the bottom. 10 or more base hits in 32 of the 55 games since the all-star breast cancer including 7- eleven in september. so, rick, the question about all of this is when do they learn and how much do they take from all of the negatives that have been going on? dave hernandez in particular, because you do a lot of times learn more from adversity. >> you're right. david in particular has had trouble getting the ball down in the strike zone. he is a guy what has a swing- and-miss fastball. he was over the top. he was down in the strike zone when he wanted to be, and then when he needed a strikeout, he went up this the strike zone. the home run ball has absolutely ruined his entire major league debut this year and that is just because it is

mechanical. that's all it is is mechanical. i have seen what i need to see out of him as far as the arm strength is there and the repertoire of pitches. and i know that he is disa. >> jim palmer: ed about everything that has happened, but he has pitched very well prom the stretch. when people get on base thrashings's one thing you notice about him. he starts making better pitches prom the stretch than he did. like i say, throw, he's been hit with the home run ball that's where they put up the most runs against him. once he stops giving up that pitch right, there david hernandez is going to be an asset to that rotation. >> and i like his work ethic, no doubt about it. about 3:00 this afternoon, david hernandez was doing his after-game start running. he was going around and around and around the field here. >> frustration. >> trying to keep the legs strong. you to get out there and do it. he was out there at 3:00 this afternoon. >> when we come back, it is the happy family reunion, ladies and gentlemen. gregg zaun, the former oriole, now tampa bay ray, visits with uncle rick.

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 >> fans you can score a fre pir of tickets. a tribute to the great brooks robinson. get online, masnsports.com and locate one of 16 gold glove icons that brooks won for your chance to win. masnsports.com. be there. well, jason berken getting set for his start tonight. one of the many young pitchers. gregg zaun know as lot about and let's get caught up. the family reunion, uncle rick with little greg. >> jim, i'm here talking with my nephew and catcher for the tampa bay rays right now, gregg zaun. greg, you had a little more than half a season with this ball club and you had an opportunity to catch the young pitchers that we're seeing here at the major league level. what were your thoughts about what you saw at spring training with these guy ? >> well, i saw a lot f great arms and i saw a lot of potential there. but as you know, it takes a little while to mature, especially at the big league

level. it seems like more often an not, all of the young prospects, once they get past that double a level they rush him. it is tough, especially in the a.l. east and take your lumps and learn how to get people out. >> one of the guys that you saw during spring training. i know you didn't get to catch him very much, was brian ma toc. he has come up here and made -- matusz. he has come up and made a tremendous impression 5rbgs-2 before they shut him down. did you get a chance to catch him at all? >> a little in spring training acouple of side sessions and no game action. anytime you see a left-handed guy like him who can run it up there in the low 90s and mix in all of the great off-speed pitch that is he has, that is a plus for any team. you try to see a lot more left- handers in the rotation. it is a nice balance that they have because they have power right-handed arms and then the left-handed arm to go with it. >> tampa bay two years ago is what the baltimore orioles are now. can you make any comparison between what you had an

opportunity to deal with since you have been traded there to tampa bay and what you were dealing with here in baltimore? do you see this ball club kind of in the same light moving up the ladder like that? >> i do. it is going to take some hard work, though. they're going to have to make some serious progress between now and the end of the season and over the off season with these kids. they're going to have to really learn how to command their stuff. once they do that, there's really no reason why they can't be competitive for a playoff spot in this division. obviously we know how good the yankees and boston are, and when they're mittsing piece0s the puzzle, they go out and buy them or in boston they develop them, it seems like. everybody who comes up through their system seems to be able too contribute right away. it is a tough division. everybody lines up equally on paper. it is the execution and experience that is the difference maker at the end of the year. the cream always rises to the op in the east and they're right there knocking on the

door. they're ready to be great and it is just going to take a little bit of maturation by them. if they can make it happen, i don't see any reason why they couldn't put together like tampa did last year. >> here is a look back at the starters of tampa bay. 2005 and 2006, the first time they got big league experience, kazmir 2-rbgs-3 with a high e.r.a. james shield whose is now the ace of this staff was only 6-8 and matt garza, a looky with minnesota 3-6, all three of the pitchers instrumental last year as tampa bay won the american league pennant. for the orioles, here are the three at the top of the heap. brad bergesen, brian matusz just shut down. outstanding eight starts, 5-2 and chris tillman. and, again, the key with all of this special now they understand what it is about. now they understand as gregg zaun said you better command your pitches. and now the hope is that they will move forward and be more and more competitive next year hoping the orioles win more

games. here is a look at the pitching match-up for tonight and jeff neiman who is in line for rookie of the year consideration looking for his 15th win and he goes against jason berk long is looking for his fifth. it is a battle of right-handers coming up from orioles park at camden yards. when we come back, rick dempsey breaks down the pitching match- up! 

 >> i think berken has alway been the same since day one. i think he is a grinder, he competes. he doesn't give in. he gets the most out of his ability. and he makes up for any shortcomings that he might have with desire and just the way he goes about it. >> well, the manager dave trembley on his start of tonight. jason berken, what is the rick dempsey scouting report?

>> i think he has turned him around. i look back at the first 16 starts he had at the season, he was 2-11. he did not give up. as dave said, he doesn't give in. his last four starts he is 2-0, so he has really turned it around. 6.7 e.r.a. it is down now to 3.3, and the first 13, he has 13 home runs and he has only given up one home run in those last two wins. he is staying out in the middle of the plate. he has found that command of his fastball that's what is going to take him to the finish line. he may end up winning a few more ballgames before the end of the season. he may not get to .500. probably won't. he may secure himself with a start in this rotation if he pitches well. >> and on the other side you have the rookie of the year candidate jeff neimann. >> he has been hotter than a pistol. since june 1, he is 8-1. that's the best, highest winning percentage in the league and 8.89, and he has been real

stingy with runs as of late. in his last three starts he has only given up four earned runs and he has pitched into an e.r.a. of 1.66. that's got to be real stuff for ---tough for tireless tonight. this guy is on fire. >> second game of the four-game series. what is your key to the game? >> it is to leave it up to b- rob and i don't mean the responsibility of winning this game. leave it much the strike zone because he has the second most home runs against tampa bay this year. nick swisher with the yankees has eight and b-rob is right back there. a little guy with all of that power. leave it up there for him because he is hitting third in the lineup! >> time for the "o's xtra" challenge. dempsey last night snapped my three-match winning streak. i was was on a roll and last night rick dempsey gloaded as he won with brian roberts. he is try okay to get two in a row. what is your guy? >> i'm going for the juggler nick markakis. >> what a shocker! >> he is going to get three or

four hits tonight. >> all right. here is my guy to watch tonight. luke scott. i talked it over with luke. he said, hey, how about a couple of hits? he said, hey, i hop i get a couple of hits. i think he is starting to find it and i think tonight he breaking out. >> i hope he gets two hits. >> i hope my guy gets three. >> that will do it for us on "o's xtra." gary thorne and jim palmer are next. they veal the play-by-play as the orioles take on the tampa bay rays. it is the second game of the four-game series. we're back with "o's xtra" post- game. dave trembley and the birds getting set to take on the rays. enjoy the game, everybody. we'll see you on the post-game show! the new mcdonald's bacon and cheese angus third pounder. before taking it on, one must study it first.

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 it is the orioles on ma and we welcome you to oriole park at camden yards for game two. four-game set with the rays getting out of an 11-game losing streak last night and taking an edge in the season series now by one game with the offensive explosion they had against baltimore in game number one. hi, everybody. i'm gary thorne and welcome.

great to have you with us. for the orioles, it has been about the valleys and the peak this is season, that all too often have come from one game to the next. the consistency that you need to be a winner hasn't within there. where does that show up? one of the numbers this, the consistency is not there when you look at the wins and the losses an the different shalls. these are the runs per game. the largest different shall in the american league. tampa bay is son top, cleveland, and then the orioles, chicago, toronto. what that means is when you win games, you may get a lot of runs. when you lose them you're not getting many at all and in between is a lot of space that is not getting filled neither by the offense shutting the -- the pitching shutting down the other side or the offense getting the runs, jim. >> joe: i think the orioles,

this is a year where they thought they were going to hit more home runs. mora who had a great second as well as anyone who the american league last year, and then you had huff who had the most extra- base hits. he is now in detroit. i think the big difference, and you touched on it, tampa bay, jeff neimann getting all of the runs and he is pitching well and getting the runs agreat combination. for orioles, you couple the fact that they don't pitch very well. they have the highest e.r.a. in the american league. it cause as lot of problems, especially when you don't hit as well as you would like. >> jason berken is one of those young pitchers the orioles have been relying on all season long. she going to be on the mound tonight as the orioles try to get become on the winning track. the o's taking the field. when we congresional back, we'll be checking the lineups for both the rays an the orioles! 

 >> gary: orioles baseball o mass season brought to you by southwest airlines. book your next trip on southwest.com. >> the orioles trying to get back back to a w. column tonight against this tampa bay team that is a whole lot happier today in the clubhouse than they were yesterday when they came in with an 11-game losing streak. today a lot of smiles as their offense exploded in the ballgame last night. for the orioles, let's take a look at what they're going to be facing. a changed lineup a bit. jason bartlett still leading it off. followed by crawford, longoria and disco bust.

upton, navarro, only a pinch hit last night. and brig flak, 4-4. he missed the cycle by a triple. >> jim: jason berken, two-game win streak. anytime you struggle as he did early, you really do have to battle your way back. he's done a nice job of that. a couple of wins, a couple of no decisions in his last four starts and against tampa bay we saw it last night, one run off of david hernandez for jason. he does give up a lot of runs, and that e.r.a. is something like 8.55 early on. so he has been a t lot better. he has worked very much on his four pitches. i ran into jason bartlett and he said this guy has good stuff but he is learning how to pitch in the big leagues and it has been painful on the road. >> gary: let's see what the orioles can do with this tampa bay team who the game was 8-4

last night. bartlett up his average to .328 going 2-4. and he'll take the pitch for a strike on the inside corner. this is the guy who has the highest batting average in the history of this ballpark. here at camden yards. a .394 hitter. 0-1 delivery to him. the irony is the bench coach dave martinez over there, has the fifth best mark here so they have a couple of grows in the ballpark, one playing and one coaching, who like hitting here. into the wind up. berken and the 0-2 delivery ton way and that is going to be punched into right field for a base hit. when you're going good, you get those. that had just enough on it to get up in the air and get out there. >> there is your two seamer. you usually hold it with the seams. it might be something he'll change. there is your two-seam fastball. we have the four-seamer

conventionally thrown, the curve ball. and we haven't seen that yet, and then the slider and then we have a changeup to go with it. so a four-pitch pitcher. >> gary: the lead-off man object here. we'll see if berken has the problem that hey has had throughout the season and that is that 19-run first inning. 20 starts, 19 runs surrendered in the first. and the lead-off man is up for tampa bay and carl crawford is up there. he was 3-5 last night. a chance for two. and they do get the out at first base! boy, good hustle by by berken to get over there in a situation where it looked like the orioles were going to have a shot at a couple. >> jim: you're right. he is going to get down there. it is a chopper. i think michael aubrey is going to say, okay, he has the play. and either he couldn't get it out of his glove, that is must of what happened. again, you have to credit jason

berken because if he doesn't get over there, crawford with great speed, he is going to be safe. you would like to have had that lead runner, but if you get the lead runner, crawford is going to steal anyway. it is almost like throwing a double every time he gets on. he has that capability. >> gary: here is evan longoria with the rbi chance. he took an oh-fer three in the ballgame last night. evan longoriano matter what he had the night before, don't count on it happening again. positive 30 of them and 103 rbi's. that one towards left field is going to be a base hit. a late break for bartlett. he had a way to see if it was going to be held by melvin mora and the corners are covered by melvin mora. >> jim: tremendous bat speed. the bat speed and strength to get it by mora. >> gary: tampa bay is threatening to get on the board once again in a ballgame and

only one away. disco bust, runners in scoring position. disco bust overall a .279, 23 home runs, 73 rbi's. and tampa bay may have found their offense. last night they got eight and now they have two on here and one away. the o's will look for the double play. he takes the fastball and ball one. the runners on first and third. here is the 1-0 delivery. zobrist will take that one away. >> jim: of course the problem with ben jim bris is he has a pretty good idea of what he what wants to hit. when you fall behind, you have to three a strike.

look at that number, .462 with a home run that tells me he's not swinging at too many pitches. >> jim: p. >> gary: the delivery on the way and that is a high strike called a two ball, one count strike on zobrist. >> jim: another big strike zone tonight. dale scott had the size of a national park last night. >> gary: pitchers treasure the national park, though. >> jim: yes, they do. it is you have tough to hit, though. >> gary: and that is a strike on the outside corner. good location on those last two. >> jim: yeah, i think what happens there, fastball, but not on the outside corner. so i think the big difference when you look at the last four starts for jason berken, whether he is ahead or behind, he has made pitches. that's what you have to do against the american league east teams. >> gary: the left-handers have hit him hard, .338 off of

berken and right-handers .297. those are very high numbers combined for .319 average against him. >> jim: and the reason for that, gary, is he has trouble getting in on lefties. me's just not comfortable and that is not where -- that is where the target is here. >> gary: inside, 3-2. the stop made by wieters. so berken, 3-2 with only one away and the runners on at first and second base. here at home he has gone 2-6 and on the road 2-rbgs-5, the e.r.a., though, 7.35 on the road. >> jim: and you talk about the double play, what happens when you go '-2, even when you tonight have a lot of speed, you probably start to run. i would be surprised if longoria doesn't run. >> gary: and he doesn't. he stayed there. three ball, to strike count remains the same. >> jim: we talked about that, that was one of our pnc scouting reports, the record 2- 11, the high e.r.a. and it is difficult whenever time you pitch the 11 losses don't go away.

so, again, this is a 25-year- old right-hander -- >> gary: 3-2 down the line. that's going to be a base hit. that will score one. bartlett crosses. longoria to third. he's going to be held up as the relay throw comes to the plate. a double and an rbi for zobrist, and tampa bay with just three batters to the plate on the board as they take the 1- 0 lead. >> gary: well -- >> jim: well, they are fourth in the league. the changeup, maybe a fastball, but watch that swing. and the key to hitting is what your front arm does. you can see from that angle zobrist short to the ball, able to take a fastball inside middle and just lit it over the head of michael aubrey. >> gary: 74 rbi's ton season for zobrist. and now pat burrell, two in scoring position. burl reel takes it in the air to right field driving markakis back up and good-bye already. buehrle was just one for his

last 19 and did not play last night. he doesn't even bother to take a pitch, and he picks up home run number 14 and now has 61 rbi's, and it is a 4-0 lead. >> jim: the 14th home run of the year. watch this slider hang. again, it is out over the plate. it is up on the outside corner, but, again, markakis can't get there before it hits the top of the grounds crew roof. so that's why they got that. he talked about today, he side my performance this year is just not good enough. well, that certainly wasn't a problem. >> gary: he came back wanting a little vengeance after he got tossed out of the last ballgame and got very upset in it, largely he said because he wasn't performing well. so still only one away. the bases are clear. only one down. aybar gelling the start in the

ballgame at first base. 15 home runs surrendered by berk inn 102 innings. and that one in the air to right center field. pie going back. pie, warning track and he will make a nice running catch. >> jim: i tell you what, that is a terrific catch. felix pie, his ability, all of a sudden it is coming to fruition. good speed. he can catch the ball, strong arm, starting to hit, opportunity to play. things seem to be falling into place. obviously you'd rather have adam jones in center and maybe pie playing left and reimold dh'ing or whatever, but that ball looked like that ball was going to be a double and he just ran it down. >> he came out with the was spasms. he hasn't played since friday. he could have played yesterday, maybe, and certainly they wanted to give him the extra day. so pie is back in the lineup today. the man who has worked so much

with him. john shelby. t-bone has spent a lot of time with them. 0-1 delivery and that will be taken inside. 2-5 in the ballgame last night hitting at .237. tampa bay has picked up four runs in the first. >> jim: another breaking ball. so in you go. upton who has been struggling, still having the shoulder problem having the shoulder operated on the off season, but he hit a laser into the seats on a two-strike fastball down the left-field line and he will take that one down low for a ball. he strikes out a lot. he is ranked fifth in the american league with 144 strikeouts on the season. he has 57 asks coming in and will add one there. tampa bay does damage as they get four runs doing it on three

hits. the big blow, pat buehrle's three rbi homer. 4-0 rays.

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on the big guy, 6'9" out of rice university. the rookie of the year, he is certainly going to get a lot of consideration. he'll probably get three more starts. two or less runs in 17 of his last 26 starts. that give use an idea he is pitching well. when you couple that performance with a lot of runs, you're going to win some ballgames. >> gary: he is 2-1 against the orioles this year. 4-1. he is 26 years old, and he is having quite the year. felix pie will lead it off and pie will take that one for a strike. pie gets the bat lead off with brian roberts bat flag the number three spot. -- batting in the number three spot. hitting a .265 on the year. the delivery, and his manager dave trembley talks about pie getting back into the lineup. >> i think pie get as lot of credit for some adjustments that that he's made -- that he's made. i think a couple of guys got in pie's ear a little bit, juan and izturis and tried to

redirect him and get him more focused. you know, it is another guy that can help your club. you nee, he can play. -- you know, he can play. >> gary: pie is trying to have a strong finish to show what he's got for the orioles or somebody else and wants the rite to play every day. 2-2 delivery and a flies off- speed pitch there and a strikeout. >> jim: just imagine the angle if you're trying to hit off of a guy 6'9" and he just tries the 12:00 to 6:00 curve ball. jeff neimann, the fastball command, and then the curve ball and the good curve ball out of your hand looks like a fastball. and then it just goes straight down. off the table. yellow hammer. you can come up with all kinds of names that was a terrific curve ball. >> gary: the first out recorded as strike out. he has 107 strikeouts in 1 f 1

-- 161 innings. jeff fiorentino, 2-4 in the ballgame last night. he moved up to the two spot in -- spot in this ballgame and starting in left field with nolan reimold out. this is part of the experiment that is going to go on for the remaining 19 game0s the season. there will be guys moved around in the lineup and individuals moved in and out of the lineup in order to see what they can do in certain situations. 0-2 delivery and jeff neimann starts out with a couple of ask's. hello. >> jim: let's take a look at the defense behind jeff neimann. crawford, upton and zobrist. zobrist can play everywhere. a you tilt guy that hits home runs. -- a utility guy that hits home runs. aybar over at second base. and then navarro, still a youngster, 25, behind the plate. >> gary: brian roberts gets the

base hit. so the orioles on the board after a couple of strikeouts. brian has hit jeff neimann hard that is one of the reasons she in the three spot. she 6-14 with a home run lifetime against the tampa bay starter. -- he is 6-14 with a home run lifetime against the tampa bay starter. >> chris: that is one of the keys to liting in the third spot, the table setters. of course, brian is one of the best at doing that. >> gary: now nick markakis is stand in. lifetime 4-12 with a home run off of the rookie right-hander. two down. markakis a strike. neiman his first start was against baltimore this year. he lost giving up six runs on six hits in five and a third and may 13 he beat the orioles giving up two runs on eight hits over five and a 4-1 mark overall in starts that he made

last year. he has faced the orioles more than any other team so far in his young career. and that is fouled away. it is his fifth start, sixth appearance against the o's and the fourth start in appearance against him this season. so he has had a lot of time against baltimore. his last outing was on august 19 where he went seven and a third giving up just a run on seven hits. markakis with the count. fastball up high to him, 1-2. >> jim: again, remember arookie last year, over 130 innings, 16 with tampa bay. but 133 innings, 9-5, 24 starts down in triple-a. so he's not going to go over that magical 20% more innings the next year than he did last year.

>> gary: 1-2 delivery. swung on and missed and he struck the side out with roberts getting a sing until the middle of it. after one tampa bay has ] the 4-0 lead. [ crowd cheering ] ( ding )

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all you have to do is log in to masnsports.com. the orioles giving up four runs in the first now. that is seven consecutive games in which the orioles have surrendered at least one run in the first and they have done that in nine of their last 10 ballgames. >> jim: so now berken has given up 23 runs in the first inning in 21 starts. those are horrible numbers. >> gary: here is navarro. he came on in a pinch hitting role and had an oh-fer one, the switch-hitting catcher. he is hitting .188 left-handed. he has seven home runs total. flay vairo will take that one to center. pie. one down. some of the oriole players may not have known him from the other guy in the uniform. until last night. brignac, reid, first game,

brignac, 4-4. he missed getting the cycle and came very close on this ball to the corner. but he said today i took a look and thought about third and then i said that's nick markakis so maybe i'll stop here at second base. >> jim: the brakes went on early even though he was out of the box thinking triple all the way. it doesn't happen with nick markakis. he plays that corner too well. >> gary: he went 4-4 and he made a great play at shortstop. he is playing at second base in the game tonight. >> jim: the amazing thing, he goes 4-4. he hadn't played second base this year. all of his games have been at shortstop, but that is about as good a play as i have seen shortstop make going to his right behind third base and a strong jump throw like derek jeter does on the money at first. >> gary: brignac was voted in the international league as the number one shortstop, the best defensive shortstop and the fourth best prospect according

to baseball america last season. reid brignac. one ball, two-strike delivery on the way and he'll loop that one towards right field. markakis will have time to get it there. a couple of fly ball outs. i want to remind you that the free prostate cancer screenings that were originally scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at oriole park have been postponed. the orioles apologize for any inconvenience that's going to be tomorrow, canceled for those screenings for prostate cancer. here is jason bartlett, the lead-off baller again. he singled his first time up, so he is 3-2346 the first two games. and a 1-0 count -- 3-6 in the first two games of this series. >> jim: pretty amazing numbers here at camden yards. >> gary: he takes a strike on the inside corner. he is the regular shortstop. he got a day off yesterday. that's why brignac was playing

at short in the ballgame. >> jim: and then you have the d.h. >> gary: one ball, one strike count. chopper. berken's got it. what a difference an inning makes. after sur rending four in the first, hes that a 1-2-3 inning. it will be melvin mora, luke scott and matt e due up! abt g? ♪

♪ i always feel like (announcer) it's right here, it's easy... ♪ somebody's watching me. ...it's the money you could be saving with geico.  >> every thursday at oriole park is kids' night.

up to two free kids tickets per adult. this thursday it is the final kids' night for the season as the birds host the defending league champion tampa bay rays. so make plans for your family to enjoy an affordable and fun night out at the plate. for details on kids night, call the orioles or visit orioles.com. gary? >> gary: the kids right there watching the ballgame. a nice helmet. it just fits perfectly. no need for an adjustment. here is melvin mora. meme vin hitting at .264. he goes after the first pitch played by brignac and mora is retired. one down here in the second inning. scott and wieters will follow against jeff neimann. >> jim: i think when you look at rookie pitchers, up in boston last tuesday, he spent most of his year in the minor leagues, but he has gotten better after struggling. if you look at jeff neimann,

back-to-back games against the tigers, there and then at home, and then the yankees in new york, one run, eight hits in seven innings so that is what, 21 and 2/3 innings, four runs against good hitting ball clubs, especially against the yankees. so this is what you want from your young guys. matusz has certainly done that. he has struggled and he has gotten better. >> gary: he is the real deal. nobody is doubting that anymore. the pitch is going to with taken in a one ball and one strike count. you take a look at the highest win percentage, it belongs to him. baker, hernandez, and john lester in boston. 1-1 delivery. scott will foul it away. 1-2. since june one, garza has pitched well, they pitched on

the wrong night. again, the peaks and the valley with the rays, not consistent. >> gary: did he go? they check at third and no says dale scott and a two ball, two strike count. unfortunately tonight we will not have the opportunity to see nolan reimold bat against him. scott with the ever let me show you i didn't go. reimold not playing in the ballgame, is obviously a rookie of the year candidate. it would be fun to see that is going to go into the corners. brig flak was playing l shallow right. a stand-up double. brignac way out there in that shift on luke scott. it was about one step away from being able to make the catch. but it is a two-bagger. >> jim: he hooks it and hits it so hard. fastball out in the middle of the plate. there is brignac. a rangy kid who is used to playing shortstop, playing second base tonight even though he is playing in the position there with the shift on against

luke scott that is is a little ted williams there. i don't care where you play. >> gary: here is matt wieters. a runner on at second now and matt wieters, and that is going to be a foul ball, but it is to the very last row of the stands and up above the height of the fair pole. >> jim: this is where you get a little lucky if you're jeff neimann. in the only in batting practice, and once again you get to work with terry crowley, pie has done it, wieters, that arm gets through the strike zone very quickly and now he comes back with something else so the swing is getting a lot get better and the experience level has a lot to do with it. >> gary: he is going to hit some home runs before his day is done, matt wieters. he has just continually been on the uptick from hitting the

ball harder, taking it the other way, pulling when he gets a chance. a strike taken and 1-2. >> jim: there you go. the numbers. and this last week he did one of the pre-game show with rick dempsey who does our pre and post-game show, temperaturer, and he said even throw i have been a switch hitter, i feel like i'm a left-hander because i get so many more at-bats from that side. >> gary: the 1-2 delivery will be taken down low a little break on that down and in and a two ball and two strike count from jeff neimann. he struck the side out in the first inning. the orioles have gotten to him with the scott double. they trail 4-0, so they want to get going cutting into the tampa bay lead. luke scott is not being held, getting a real good break at second base. 2-2 thrivery on the way. and wieters jam -- delivery on the way. and wieters jammed. >> jim: you want to do what the orioles did last night. they had the lead and the orioles came right back in the

second with four. they would go on to win l ---8-4. 2 orioles -- the orioles need to reverse the tables tonight. >> gary: dave trembley's ball club looking for their 59th win of the season is. two ball, two strike count. and wieters will take it on the inside corner, and that is strikeout number four, and there are two down here in the second inning. >> jim: that is a running fastball. that is probably a two-seamer. watch him run back over and catch the inside corner. you see matt looking down to make sure that -- it doesn't really matter, but he thought it might have been a little inside, but it appeared to catch the inside corner. >> gary: good movement on it. michael aubrey. he had his career rbi game in minnesota. he did not play in the ballgame

last night. he had 15 games with the indians over a couple of stints last year and now getting a shot here with the orioles. scott on at second and two down. aubrey down do first. strike two. >> jim: it is a funny thing about pitching. when you're out there and you're pitching well as jeff neimann certainly is, getting them a lot of runs. he is a big guy at 6'9", so you just go out there and make your pitches until something happens like they start getting base hits. so the two-out base hit for the orioles is huge here. but he is comfortable until you put some runs on the board. >> gary: there is the 0-2 delivery on the way. aubrey will take that. he keeps it out in front. >> jim: he has come up with the split-finger fastball. the season high is all the way back to the third of june with nine. he has used it a lot. that is the pitch that kind of

takes the place of his changeup. >> gary: we saw anytime the first inning and it had tremendous movement. >> jim: it went straight down. >> gary: is -- 1-2 count. scott on second base. that one went down to first and again it will be fouled by aubrey. the count remains at a ball and two strikes. not a lot of at-bats for him. this is the 14 -- his 14th game. a couple of doubles and the extra-base hit side of it. and right now he gets an rbi off ---opportunity. he has three runs batted in. luke scott will be going on contact here with two down. one ball, two strike count up in the center fielder. in a few steps as he normally is in center. 1-2 inside corner. oh, aubrey backed off and can't believe that is a strike. it is the fifth recorded by jeff neimann in the ballgame and it is still 4-0 rays. 

 >> early in the broadcast w heard dave trembley say how much caesar izturis has helped. he said when he first came to baltimore, he said he could tell he was lost. he didn't know anyone and he had the angry scowl on his face. he said i could tell he had a big heart and i really wanted to help him out. he started helping him out with sort of off-the-feel situations, things like he needed to be at the park on time. if you're in a slump, you need to come in early and get early work in.

most importantly, you need to listen to the people around you. you need to be will to learn and listen to pep around you and that is really good advice because he saw him listen to terry crowley and we have seen him come around. se scar izturis said he was happy to do it because he had somebody help him when he was with the dodgers. gary? >> gary: that didn't work though, there, and that is going to be off the glove of berken. once the ball gets away as an infielder with the speed, there is no chance to get him. >> jim: i don't know how they're going to score this, but you better make this play. it right to the glove. i can't imagine they're going to give him a base hit. whether it is an an error or a base hit, the track meet is going start. >> gary: it is an error. so berken charged with an error. crawford not just a lead-off man. he is the second leading base

stealer in the american league, and he just loves to run. 57 stolen bases, caught 12 times. evan longoria had a single and scored in the first inning. crawford with a good lead. longoria, that is a foul ball. he tried to pull the bat back and that is one of those where the ball hits the bat. not the other way around and a one-strike count. >> jim: hit the ball off the plate. >> gary: longoria, really dangerous in a ballpark like this with the power he's got. crawford will go back in standing, a little closer than crawford wanted that to be. >> jim: what you try to do. first of all, you try to keep him off base, but they didn't make the play and he is there. you knead to stop imand give wieters a pitch 20 throw with. he has a very strong throwing arm behind the plate. give yourself an opportunity to maybe throw him out.

as you mentioned, gary, it doesn't happen a whole lot. >> gary: ellsbury got one last night and crawford got one last night, and then figgins, upton and everybody else not even close. longoria with a two-strike count. the delivery. there is one. and they got the double play! so berken gets the pitch he needed to overcome the error he committed. >> jim: let's take a look. we talked about the fact that jason berken is a battler, but he gives up a lot of runs in the first inning. there it is. ball in the middle of the plate to longoria. base hit. ball in the middle of the plate right there to zobrist. slider for a three-run home run. great hitting approach, but the ball was up a little bit, and buehrle get as three-run home run and that's how your four runs scored and now he's made some adjustments as the game goes on. >> gary: the second time through a little better, but those are very high numbers all

the way around. here is zobrist who had a double. he has a four-game hit streak now and zobrist, the switch hitter batting in the clean-up spot, and it doesn't really matter for zobrist which side of the plate. .263 left and 16 homers left side and seven from the other. one ball, one strike coming from jason berken. so he went up to get it and he fouls it off. 1-2. >> jim: it is kind of interesting when you look at berken and david hernandez if you're going to compare them, they talk about getting side to side. he's already set his angle over towards where we're sitting up in the booth and all of a sudden he goes back. david hernandez does the same thing. they spin out a little bit and the pitch has flattened up. >> gary: that one is going to be taken to the corner by zobrist. it will be chased down by mark mark. he is on his way to second thinking about three. he doesn't have to think about it. where is the ball? markakis can't get it, and it took a long time to get it in.

it will be a triple and a stand- up triple for zobrist as nick markakis had to chase that one down in right field. >> jim: when they built camden yards, they said they wanted to have nooks and krannys. well, there is one of them. zobrist is thinking why not be at third. berken has a breaking ball. you have buehrle coming to the plate. you hit a slider for a three- run home run and they might throw him something down in the dirt and maybe i'll score another run. >> gary: that is seven triples for zobrist on the season. pat bort right up the middle and he's got an rbi base hit. buehrle has seen two pitches in this ballgame and he's got four rbi's a three-run homer in the first inning and an rbi single here to make it a 5-0 lead. >> jim: he doesn't wait a lot. again, where is that pitch? target down and away and policed by about three feet. you don't realize how big pat

buehrle is until you stand next to him. out of the university of miami. arguably the best college hitter the year he signed with the phillies, and they got him to hit home runs and get on base. he can hit home runs. he hasn't done it enough. he has not goaten on base. he has been hurt, neck problems. two, three court zone shots. he said that was not what he wanted to do, but as you said earlier on, not good enough when you talked about his performance. it has to get better and he has done that tonight. >> gary: he has a two-year deal. he'll be back next year to try to bring the power they thought they would get from buehrle back to the table. here is aybar. willy aybar, a runner at first and the triple by zobrist pays off with the single by buehrle, all of this coming with two down. one-run deliver -- 1-1 delivery ton way from berken that will be a strike. this tampa bay team as we know has an outstanding lineup and kind of unbelievable they went

through that 11-game stretch under know maddon without being able to get two runs a ballgame. when they get going again, though, they're a real problem. 1-2 delivery and it will stay at a ball and two strikes. >> jim: well, it is a combination of the fact that they can hit and the orioles don't pitch well. you hate to have to throw that out there all the time, but you don't have the highest earned run average in the american league and it is over five run as game. these guys can hit. the rays have a .310 batting average against the orioles. they have outscored the orioles in the season. that e.r.a. jim is talking about, well, coming into this game, the orioles against tampa bay, 5.06. tampa bay against the o's, 6.69. 2-2 delivery that one towards third. mora has got the force at second. roberts will get over there to take it. but a run in, the rbi for buehrle. he already has four in the ballgame and it is a

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orioles baseball on masn is by southwest airlines. your next trip at and by pnc, pnc leading the way. thorne, jim palmerrened theoharis on another evening here in baltimore. comfortable. afternoon. evening for baseball. he tries to lay it down.

foul ball. get on board. at how far inside that ball is. line. are six inches off the plate. gary: brignac is up with that one and that will be have ended inning, the one we were showing you and you get going to be a long in. think about it, if you're a guy is going to give you, talking home plate umpire. hitter, you want to pride yourself in being between a ball and a strike. the pitches against a guy that is on a roll like this guy, it is to be able to hit the way you want.

gary: the home plate umpire, jeff neimann with nobody on. pie, getting the start in field, a strikeout breaking ball is going to miss down low. i'm sorry. jim: excuse me go ahead. gary: tim lincecum got the cone last night, a great pitching john and san francisco a that is the team they're playing in at neck. down, brignac up, makes the throw and not in time. ball hit very hard. takes his glove off. may have really hurt that glove hand. we saw it last night, his glove hand on a hotshot. line and tonight ball is just hooking. brignac is the shortstop, and he tried to and doesn't get much on

throw. nothing is routine. for felix lately. by running hard, usually a lot of times you might freeze, so jeff neimann wanted the out. he was out, he just wasn't. gary: and that will be a hit. orioles have their third hit of the ballgame. down. start at second spot in the order down the third with pie's speed. jim: they're going to move in. it look him about 20 seconds to carl crawford's a -- attention. behind many hitters. jim: no. in the a trade. this is the fourth guy picked.

90s. have seen it in and out. and keeping it down. gary: it will stay at two strikes. navarro is going to take a little walk here out to the year candidate. the ballgame baseman with year. the detroit tigers with the numbers has put up. nolan is not in the ballgame as starter tonight. 0-2 count. stands back in. not going.

to get around on heater. straight back again. an oriole hitter. on the on the inside. pitches, and that's what rob sets up tonight not being the pitcher. wants. the plate that was supposed to be the intention. he got the 2-4 in the he'll try to put up the best numbers possible here for consideration by the orioles for next year. count. one down. not moved over at first is not moving here. up high. you would like to do something for fun, take a pen

and pencil and jot down the 25- man roster on april 1 of next for the orioles. one ball two strike count. is no better way if club than one, think about, all right. do i want where? that are that ball is going to be a base hit into right field. why fiorentino wants to to keep himself into jim: he really had a nice year. we talked about it - night. play at norfolk, it is

is such a has shown that in his at- here. runs on a regular the ball around. as terry crowley, the hit strine chuck -- instructiture said, you better tenacious and foul pitches and that's hit jeff neimann well so put somebody there who can maybe get to the right-hander in an rbi chance and roberts that. 1-0 delivery. on the year, .314 with runners in scoring position. numbers for the orioles this year.

trailing 5-0. jim: the next rbi will be a high. his home runs, only one right-handed. left-handed. gary: he'll take the pitch and jeff neimann will fall behind. a little tougher when he is working out of the stretch. neimann with runners on, opposition hits .284 against him. .240, so as is the case with most starters. to the tougher on them. roberts is taking all the way a strike on the inside corner. goes to 3-1. nick markakis on deck. it looks like he is going to up there with somebody on as well. strike count, off second base. and that is into the right field corner. be held

it will be a double and an rbi for brian roberts and dei frommably's move with the lineup change, positioningwise has paid off already. >> jim: there is the orioles' record. in front of him and then he does the job. neiman, no different jason berken up in the plate and all of a sudden you become much more >> gary: the orioles back in it 5-1, and they have two in scoring position for markakis. the season double record. roberts besting his own has the top three doubles in orioles' history tied with miguel tejada at the 50 brian still leads the

league in two-baggers. >> jim: let's go back to the last start down in tampa. an jeff neimann, you to be lucky. play by bartlett. good play that instead of getting doubled up, they get the force out with the bases -- bases loaded and from again alot of times you some breaks. gary: and the orioles now need a big hit. on the board. five runs, six hits for the rays. one out. going to be a fair ball. longoria is going to go to great play. get an rbi, and it is a 5-2 game, but longoria the big-time arm right jim: yeah, right off the end

this play. don't know if there is a better fielding third baseman, is your second run. it is still an rbi for nick. to do a little more. helped, what jim was talking gets out and changes the fastball is taken up high melvin mora. out