quorum call:

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22, on tuesday december 2, following the vote on cloture, calendar number 7 72, the senate proceed to vote on cloture on calendar number the 18. further, if cloture is invoked on either of these nominations, coloretti and adler nominations, all postcloture time baling expired, senate proceed to vote on confirmation of the nominations in the order listed -- i'm so, in the order upon which cloture was i voked. further, that there will be two minutes for debate prior to each vote that. all roll call votes after the first be 10 minutes in length. with respect to the nominations, any nomination, if confirmed,

the the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid on the table, the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. officer without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that we now proceed to morning business, senators be allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the committee on banking, housing be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 2203.

the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 2203, an act to provide for the award of a gold medal on behalf of congress to jack nicholas in recognition of his service to the nation in promoting excellence, good sportsmanship and fill an ploap. the presiding officer: is -- philanthropy. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. reid i ask unanimous consent i ask unanimous consent the bill be -- mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the bill be read a their time and passed, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent, that when the senate complete its business today, it adjourn until tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m., following the journal of proceedings be time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. the senate then proceed to administering the oath of office to senator schatz and scott. following any leader remarks, the senate resume executive session in consideration of the mamet nomination and the senate

recess from 12:30 to 2:15 p.m. to allow for weekly caucus meetings. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, for the information of all senators, there will be four roll call votes at 10:30 on the morning on ma'am et and bell -- on the mamet and bell nominations and other series of votes will occur at 4:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask the senate stand adjourned under the senate stand adjourned under

>> tonight o on on c-span2 at de from louisiana senate race. mary landrieu is seeking a fourth term. she's being challenged by republican congressman l. cassidy. because neither candidate won a majority on election day, the winner will be sick decided in a runoff election on saturday. tonight's debate starts at tp.m. eastern live here on here c-span2.aturday >> good morning to you. remind us again of where this race stands just a few days before the runoff. >> good morning. thanks for having me on. we are just a few days out fromw the election and tonight is theh will be on c-span, online, and on tv.

we are heading into the final stretch. mar: a tonight? caller: there have been some little things being promoted. tonight? right now.w things mary landrieu's campaign is focusing on bill cassidy's time as a teacher. he has also been a congressman. how much work he was doing for lsu. bill cassidy refused the allegations, saying he was doing a lot of work.

had people in d.c. he was working with. as far as the cassidy side, he has been only agreeing to a limited number of debates. this is literally the only debate between the primary and the runoff. for his campaign, it has really keep your head down and get through this. story on the a teaching controversy. askseadline, mary landrieu bill cassidy to bring records. the keystone pipeline has been an issue in the race. especially the votes in the house and senate. what did the votes do for both sides? caller:the keystone pipeline han

an issue in the at the end of t, -- iote was a lot more think it played better on tv and in d.c. than it did here. anything, these are going the way it did and mary landrieu not getting the votes she needed, that probably hurt a lot more than it helped. like getting it to vote or anything like that. i think if it had passed, that would've become a really big campaign issue but it doesn't seem to be something people are talking about here. it was a couple of days or whatever. everyone was kind of wondering what was going on. but once it ended and it didn't pass, i haven't really heard people talking that much about it. people don't seem to care that much about it or if bill cassidy

wins the senate seat it would give republicans 54 seats in the 114th congress in the senate and one and 14 congress. what are the key places to watch on saturday when the runoff vote starts coming in? >> guest: well, obviously the new orleans area is really key. jefferson parish has been a place where mary landrieu has been able to do really well in past elections, even though they are kind of republican strongholds. she's been able to hold her own. it will be interesting to see if those areas decide to go more fully republican. >> host: we will be watching both tonight's debate and on saturday. elizabeth crisp with the advocate. appreciate your time this morning to previous debates happening tonight. >> guest: thank you for having me on.

>> that debate coming up tonight live at 8 p.m. eastern here on c-span2 courtesy of w. a s. dtv and ray, media. live tonight at 8:00. coming up in about 40 minutes or so. head up the look at some of the ads running in that louisiana senate race. >> i mary landrieu and i approved this message. >> on may 31 bill cassidy gave a speech that was nearly incoherent. >> she has she make it senator landrieu make it spent but his record is crystal clear voting to cut social security benefits. to pay for a tax break for millionaires like himself. >> will it be a senate, that, that senate -- >> for this? >> thank you. >> before the end of the year we are going to take whatever

lawful actions i can take. >> that is barack obama promising executive amnesty for millions here illegally. as your senator i will fight his amnesty plan. your tax dollars should benefit you. not those here illegally. remember, mary landrieu, barack obama, 97%. i will stand up to obama. i'm bill cassidy and i approved this message. >> every morning i say a prayer for my kids. i want the him to be happy and o their best. bill cassidy is a doctor. he still vote in congress ticket $86 million from schools to pay for tax break for millionaires like himself. i don't know what kind of doctor would do that to my kids. >> i mary landrieu and i approve this message because louisiana's children should never pay the price for millionaires tax cut. >> i'm bill cassidy and i approve this message.

>> a few words for mary landrieu on obamacare. >> i would vote for it tomorrow. >> on voting with barack obama 97% of the time. >> i'm very happy to see the president defend what i think is really an extraordinary record. >> and if you dare disagree with her. >> if they don't like it they can and elect us because i'm up for reelection right now. >> now you know what to do on election day. >> again of that debate coming up in about 35 minutes, 8 p.m. eastern here on c-span2 and killed in a discussion on the expiring tax breaks come the tax extenders that congress what to do with before the session and. >> and each week in the segment of the washington we take a look at how your money is at work in a different federal program. this week we look at tax breaks that are being considered for a renewal by the house and senate, notice tax expenditures. joining us is the hills cabin,

reporter with the hill newspaper. but tax breaks is congress currently considering extending and is an estimate of much they might add up to? >> guest: thinks having me. the tax extenders to me to something that congress typically takes up every couple of years because they are a series of about a dozen or so tax breaks for businesses that have been really renewed for decades but they are not permanent. so congress has to be authorized in every couple of years. so it wraps up with this lame-duck session of the congress really has to reauthorize them. some of them in the business community would like to see some of these extenders as they're called because their tax extensions, extenders be made more permanent. >> host: what are some of the ones people might hear about most often that come up each year? >> guest: the number one tax

extenders that most people talk about when we talk about the extenders issue is the already extended. that sounds wonky but it stands for the research and development extended. is there a business and you get some type of research or development, you get some tax breaks. this might not, this might sound like chump change if your small business but if you add up all of the extenders in the country for how much they're worth, they are worth billions of dollars. it is a huge, huge, large amount of money that a lot of businesses, it impacts everyone from research world to the big business world come to the small business world, really kind of really important. that's why we're seeing a lot of action on this on capitol hill in one tax extenders to put a dollar sign on it for your money segment it they were made permanent and over a ten-year period according to white house estimates from "the new york

times," the tax extenders that are currently being considered would be about $628 billion in potential tax revenue. the research and the tax credit which you talked about is lifted in the break-in by the new times 155.5 billion over that 10 year period. as we talk about this, what is the current status? most of these have expired already for 2014, correct? >> guest: correct. here's what's interesting. we are coming up to tax season out of one -- ride of the day board will be worried about filling out their tax reforms are getting all their paperwork in. there's a lot of uncertainty right now in the business community. the folks i talk with an abyssal in washington as well as the people up on capitol hill. elsie wait a minute. we need to get this done because if these are not extended, whether it's a two-year extension or made permanent as but folks would like to see are in the extended made permanent,

then people are not going know what to do. people don't know when you're filling out the business tax form if they're going to be able to get those tax breaks. that's why this billion dollars worth of extensions, that's what so important. that's why congress is to act sometime within the lame duck. >> host: what happened at the end of 2013 that these were expired and have to be considered retroactively? >> guest: there was a lot of politicking going on and i think folks really want a lot of folks wanted to see certain extenders made permanent because can you talk about a dozen or so of these such as the r&d. and so the house was passing a series of extender bills while the senate really wanted to act with one package. said at a a lot of politicking going on, a busy time and i was just speaking with chairman

wyden and he was just saying the expectation on both sides of how is it is will always be coming down to the wire. but if they the general washington consensus is that there will be an extension for at least some of them. most likely the r&d would be made permanent. >> host: if some of these were known to be expired at the end of last year, while providing all the way until december for this debate on whether to go renew the retroactively? >> guest: that's the big question. i think that's just a no restriction of a larger problem with congress is that the way to do everything nowadays. i've got to tell you, if utah, icollege the discipline in particular for the hill and that's probably the top criticism i hear from the business community is that they just wait, congress continues to

wait and run out the clock and there's a series of clicks and all of that. now we're in the lame duck and it got to pass a budget by december 11 but this is one more thing on their to-do list. >> host: you talk about r&d tax credits as a big business when. what are some individual tax provisions that the impact viewers washington -- watching at home country that's a great question. some of the ones that really it comes down to, because what's difficult about this is so many of them don't even know if you qualify for but i think you look at the education, if you look at some of the various spendings a very small business owner or even if your boss potentially will be able to qualify for this, that impacts you. it's that trickle down. not necessarily that you don't think about it. you are working for a small business owner, and he's able to

qualify to write something off for what he's buying as regards to some of the equipment that he is buying. that impacts you because if your boss is able to save that money, again, billions of dollars worth, and that's more money for the budget and that's the big argument from the small business committee, folks like the sba, that this really does trickle down and impact the average employee. >> host: for home owners the least the senate package and we can talk about the differences between the two chambers packages, there's things like the mortgage debt forgiveness for home owners, mortgage interest premium deductions also being considered for extensions, correct? >> guest: when you talk about the housing finance community, and what they would like, i don't see that being made permanent. from everyone i talked to i think that's going to be a two-year extension.

with the forgiveness, what's interesting is that when you break down from the housing finance perspective, about everything that people of both sides of the aisle and a lot of eccentrics in the democratic and republican party have tried to do to come together to get some type of package form over the past five years, really the main one that's going to be is just a two-year extension. it's quite remarkable when you look at -- housing finance is the last piece of reform that congress has not addressed since the 2008 collapse. it's remarkable and extender is probably the most that's going to be done on housing finance since 2008. >> host: we are talking with kevin cirilli of the hill. we're talking about end of year tax extenders that are being considered by congress. easier to answer questions, take your comments.

we will start in ohio. scott calling in our line for independence. scott, good morning. >> caller: hi. you know, i want to know how this tax break will affect small businesses because i own a small business myself, small bakery and how will this business affect me, you know? >> guest: scott, that's a great question. and so i think in a couple of ways. in your bakery, you know, if you are able to it's difficult to say because i don't know the specifics of your business. you are able -- it is difficult to say because i don't know the specifics of your business by the larger argument is that a lot of the er ff that you buy, wheth you're shopping from a supplier the equipment that you purchase, is they are able to some of these

extenders. that is probably the biggest argument that i hear from the business you are y is that when it is sort of -- if they do not do this exchange of ckages tha making it a bit more difficult as we all know the economy continues to try to recover and that recovery is frustrating a lot of folks all over this country. >> one of the provisions that talked about in washington or i'm sorry "the new york times" the small business expensing tax credit is it's applied retroactively for 2014 and 2015. it's about $3.2 billion credit over the course of a 10 year permanent extension which was considered in a house package upwards of $73 billion worth of

that credit. scott from "the hill" newspaper going through the end of year tax extenders. let's go to massachusetts. tim is waiting. tam, good morning. >> caller: good morning and i wanted to ask you about the debt forgiveness. it doesn't affect me at all but i was reading about it and i don't see how they cannot give more attention to this because the articles i read this gentleman was underwater and he had no choice but to apprise the debt forgiveness and now they don't take any action at all. they got $100,000 that he was forgiven so to speak would now become income and it would have no way to repay that in taxes

and how is he still maintaining his markets payment. >> host: maybe you can walk us through that as well. >> guest: tim, that's a great question and again if you look at the larger picture here, look at what's happening in the country. there are a lot of folks struggling with their mortgages and a lot of folks still since the 2008 collapse, the housing market is the last piece of the economic puzzle that hasn't really been addressed. so you know folks on both sides of the aisle really want to have some sort of housing finance reform particularly getting rid of fannie mae and freddie mac. taxpayers bailed out government entities but have since repaid back all of the money and i think everyone would agree that was illustrated a long-term

systemic problem if you will. with regards to the extender, that's the one we hear time and time again from i would argue from folks all around the country. we have to remember it's a lot of lobbyists and trade organizations and big business and what's going to happen with those extenders. but i think with the housing extender, i think i would expect the extension of this would have to qualify for it. you would have to be in trouble but i do expect that this will be a two-year extension. it could potentially be made permanent if congress were to take up a larger package and i'm not sure to be quite frank with you if the next congress, if they would want to take up a housing finance reform package. there are a lot of politics still being worked out right now

and to figure out what exactly a republican-controlled congress would look like that i can tell you both parties do want to act on this. for the past year they have been kicking around ideas on how to finance reform and there's a lot of support. >> host: people forget what happened in the 114th congress so what are the options that are on the table for the next couple of weeks on these extenders and how the white house views possible extenders. >> that's a great question because here's what i think it's going to happen. i think at the end of the day you are going to have package of extenders and you are going to see the rnd has made permanent. that's going to be permanent so into more years when we have this debate are indeed will be made permanent and it won't be part of it. i think all of the other extenders to be quite frank with you i think they will be extended for a two-year window and let that means going forward

is that comments to things. the next time we have this debate another extender could be made permanent and continue chipping away at it but it also means the next time we have this extender debate it could be a little bit more difficult because john the rnd extender is one that really has a lot of universal -- in the business community. they love that one and they want that one. if you get rid of that now there's a little bit more incentive. if you make it permanent is no longer included. >> host: what is the white house saying about the options that are currently on the table? >> guest: they know they have to get it done. i would be stunned and i think a lot of people would be stunned if there wasn't extender package. this is just worth so much money and it impacts so many businesses.

treasury secretary lew on the tax extender discussion on some of these business provisions versus individual provisions that are being considered, he says back on the 24th of november in a package that made permanent provisions without addressing tax credits for working families at the wrong approach, at the expense of the middle class. any deal on tax extenders must ensure that tax benefits are broadly shared. >> host: we are talking with kevin cirilli of "the hill" newspaper for the next 20 or 25 minutes. let's go to lake charles louisiana. alice is waiting on our line for independents. go ahead, alice. alex may have stepped away so we will head to bartlesville oklahoma where georgia is waiting. alex, are you there? >> caller: yes. >> host: we will go italics. >> caller: you mentioned a series of clips and negative

implications that would come from these. are those cliffs similar to the ones encountered two years ago where there was so much debate about it that there would be a massive net negative economic implication. are these clips really going to create concrete negative implications or is this one way i think large corporations who are benefiting from extensions of the bush tax cuts are just tripling their ability for profits? >> guest: what i was referring to of course was the interplay in congress with the fiscal cliff and all of that and the government shutdown in all of that political drama that we saw unfold. no one likes that right, and there was a lot of frustration not only in the business world

but also i think for just average americans outside of politics. i think there is a lot of frustration. the point that i was trying to make and it's a great question is simply that i don't expect the extenders would create any sort of coalesced over the next few weeks and i don't expect there to be a government shutdown. >> host: now georgia and bartlesville oklahoma underlined for democrats. good morning georgia. >> caller: good morning. i'm a senior and all these talks about the economy this morning, there has not been one word said about helping seniors. the interest rate has stayed l low. there is no tax breaks for seniors and we are all on fixed incomes. i would like to see and hear something about what the taxes are going to be doing for seniors. thank you. >> guest: will georgia, think that's another great question and i if you are senior citizen

again that's the point that secretary lew is speaking to that unfortunately washington is perhaps only some of the loudest voices in the debate don't necessarily, are not reflected as the larger country as a whole. i think if you are looking for specifics again i think it comes down to how does this larger debate impact the economy as a whole? again that argument that these extenders are extended and they are extended it would help move the economy to get it out of the slow recovery and hopefully make things a little bit easier. >> host: some tax provisions that are being considered for individuals that some seniors like our caller might qualify for, mortgage debt forgiveness is on the table, deductions for

mortgage interest premiums, productions for state and local sales taxes, deductions for expenses for elementary and secondary schoolteachers and a few others including credit for energy-efficient improvements to existing homes. those are a few that would specifically be targeted for individuals as opposed to some of the business once we talked about. >> guest: that's a great point. as you go through that list there isn't much on there for seniors. let's be honest here. the education one is heavily taxed by the teachers community because they view this as the money teachers are spending on out-of-pocket supplies. if you look at also the energy efficiency one as well, again who are the people that are going to be updating their air conditioners or their solar panels? really one can make the argument

that is not necessarily seniors who are going to be able to improve their home in that regard. she had a great point. >> host: it's a matter of who has the best lobbyists on capitol hill that can push for certain tax extenders? >> guest: i think there are lot of those on capitol hill the aarp for example that really do push a lot of senior issues but in this particular debate i don't think that they are dominant, not the aarp specifically but i don't think senior citizens need -- to be quite frank with you. >> host: titusville maryland on our line for democrats. good morning. >> caller: good morning. the first thing is i want to make a comment about the fact that i'm not going to make the argument and that the suggestion is disingenuous but i'm not sure where the corporate entities are given tax abatements etc. that

necessarily trickles down to the employer. the goal for getting in the business is to maximize progress. i'm not sure if it's disingenuous that the fact that employees don't necessarily receive that. we keep having these conversations, these let's go forward conversations. i think what the american people really want to know where the prosecution's? why isn't any group being prosecuted for what happened in 2008? >> guest: first of all let me say and no one is taking aside. i wanted to report with the business community's argument is. and you are right the other side of that argument that you just articulated is hey wait a minute economics doesn't necessarily work.

it's up to you to decide what to believe but after the point you raised about there being a lot of frustration and anger and questions built around the 2008 economic collapse about who should go to jail for instance. there was a hearing the friday before thanksgiving in the senate banking committee and we saw the president of the new york federal reserve make the banking committee folks like senator elizabeth warren and senator sherrod brown to progressives in the senate really asked poignant, pointed questions of william dudley the present of a near kid and say wait a minute why hasn't anyone gone to jail? his argument and again it's up to you to decide whether or not you want to agree with it, his argument is that the 2010 wall street reform act, dodd-frank as it's commonly called, has given him the authority to go after

and to enforce newer regulatio regulations. there are a lot of people in the senate as well as the country who think that regulators are not going after folks who are arguably responsible for the 2008 collapse and further for radio free since probably the most common reason that i hear something called the -- door effect on a lot of the people that are regulators have prior experience working with some of these big corporations and big banks and folks on both sides of the aisle have big concerns about that. so i think that question is still out there and it's a really important question because again it's six years after the collapse. a lot of folks share that frustration and have a lot of unanswered questions. >> host: let's go to texas

where moe is waiting on our line for independents. good morning. >> caller: mail. >> host: sorry, no. >> caller: i just wanted to say some things. the biggest tax. i have three small business and i just started my third but my first business i was a manufacturer's representative. i called on home depot, walmart and i got fortunate to meet sam walton and he told the young man you had better figure out what you are going to do when you are older because there won't be jobs. it's going fast. he definitely was really worried about it and i can tell you as a small business now and from my former experience, manufactures, big manufactures get up to 30, 40% discounts over small businesses and if we don't support the small business this country will not turn around. i'm from an upper-middle-class family and a lot of college

degreed individuals don't have job opportunities. i think the unemployment is 20%. what do you think? >> guest: well, with regards to the unemployment rate i think there are people who calculated differently. the number goes as high from the labor department that puts an employment rate at 5.8%. that has been declining. the unemployment rate, that's part of larger issue. in fact the participation rate, when you look at the unemployment rate at how many people are looking for jobs. it's called the participation rate and when you look at that that is at the lowest it's been since the late 1970s. that means the folks who are

counting to calculate what the unemployment rate is there is someone on the lowest number of people since the late 1970s. there are a lot of concerns about that. economist but i speak with from the fed from all around the country they point to a number of factors including senior citizens, baby boomers who are out of work and not able to step back into the labor market. they also point to milenials being in school a lot longer but either way to have this high up in the unemployment rate does not wear anyone would like to see the unemployment rate be at. you can talk about numbers and participation in unemployment rates but to put it in a larger perspective here gets really how you feel when you are at feeling the pressure about that uncertainty with job security.

he can't really calculate that but it's a tangible feeling that many american chair right now. >> host: job creation and these tax extenders were talking about. in a segment of the "washington journal" a suggestion on twitter, what about actual job creation and not merely making the rich even richer? >> guest: you know, what's interesting and what's great about a forum like this because you can really get into the weeds here, the tax extenders debate for whatever reason has been something that congress is going to address separately. it really is a wonky in the weeds issue that whatever is extrapolated from larger bills i have to tell you we hear that all the time. where's the job still? what can happen to get this economy moving a little bit

faster? ask you eugene oregon is next, john on our line for democrats. john, good morning. >> caller: hi. with these new tax breaks. >> host: i apologize for that we are going to move on. john is in utica honorable line for independents. >> caller: thank you madman. i would like to address what gloria was talking about. >> host: sorry about that done, i didn't mean to lose you. jackie on our line for democrats. >> caller: hello. my question is for individuals, is there a provision where you can have money transferred from your i.r.a. directly to a charity and then it does not count as income? that would be a benefit that affect seniors. >> guest: honestly if you look at the specifics of this, that is not something that we talk about when we talk about the extenders package.

.. addressed earlier this called my ra. am bell is an example of how the and restriction was looking to get lower income folks to be able to begin planning and saving. that has been several notice for senior citizens but for the coming into the labour force. get people to o

a very specially during slow recovery. but there is something we can expect to hear virginia is next on the line for independence. lame f >> good morning c-span. good subject. ller: why they let them put it in places like the cayman islands into switzerland when that is treason to our country. and i like my country and to think that these would be the social security problem stop in taking stopped taking them out on thei cons security. take a portion of the tax rebate they get and put it on the social security card. don't wait 20 years. just like to see some common sense but back in this country and thank you very much for c-span. >> i think that the point that we raised about the corporations

trying to get out of paying taxes there's been a lot of talk about this in capitol hill how to address the corporate version that's when the company literally takes their headquarter address and the changes that oversees so that they can no longer take advantage of a tax break and so a lot of folks are upset about this and we've heard of the headline as well as a company called changing their address but just changing the address to take advantage of the lower tax rate that is something that we hear a lot about president obama in the administration put forth a series of administrative actions that they say will help make less popular or a little bit more difficult and less

appealing and attractive but we are talking about the tax and version. a lot of folks are hoping that there will be companies of tax reform in the next congress. i think it's a little bit too early to tell. >> doesn't put more pressure on doing some of those permanent tax restructures having that debate and actually making it happen in the next congress? >> if they were not to extend, i think that there would be a lot of. to take up the competence of tax reform again as you know and your audience knows everything there is a large debate in congress that debate has been

going on for months and months and years and years under the surface and then it just bubbles up. but guess if they don't, it would be a huge deal. >> host: we have a few minutes left in and of course there's the hill.com. waiting on the line for democrats, good morning. >> caller: good morning. as a person to be held responsible for the failure of the banks and 2008 was bill clinton. he wasn't president at the time but in the last year in office in 1999, he signed a bill that repealed the glass-steagall act that banned the combination of investment banks with savings banks. and it signed the repeal of that bill and that is what led to the disaster of 2008 and he is the one who should go to jail and be

held responsible for this. why would they repeal a bill that franklin roosevelt installed bill clinton ought to face up and be responsible for that repeal of the act. >> it's an interesting issue and there is a lot of shifting politics. >> next on c-span to the final debate in campaign 2014. we take you live to baton rouge louisiana for the senate debate between senator mary landrieu and challenger bill cassidy courtesy of wfab. live coverage on c-span2. >> between the senator mary landrieu and the congressman bill cassidy. we have a pa