one independent, bernie sanders, voted against the agreement. we're taking your phone calls on the debt ceiling agreement that was reached today. we are speaking with shannon in colorado on the independents line. caller: hello. my name is shannon green bayer, we pay 5355 u.s. -- 535 u.s. congressman equal to 10,000 dying and disabled getting $10,000 a year. the sick, dying and disabled are on the table, the congressional pay needs to be on the table. we had the industrial hemp farming act of 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2011 in the house of representatives and all of them have been suffocated with their neglect. we presently have h.r. 2306 and h.r. 1831, both in the house of

representatives, both would create millions of green jobs throughout the nation, creating biodegradable products so we can compete in global markets that we presently do not compete in. that is billions in g.d.p. and g.d.i. we need these jobs. we need these resources. and for these 535 congressmen, getting paid $187,000 plus per year, while they're trying to cut the sick, dying, and disabled, is not only appalling but is simply disgusting. >> awaiting senate republicans in the capitol. you can see reporters standing by, waiting for their arrival at 2:00. we expect them to brief on the debt ceiling agreement. we continue to take your phone calls. anna marie on the republican line in portland, ohio. >> hello? >> go ahead, you're on crmbing span. caller: i'm calling the republican line, i am a democrat and i don't care, i'm going to get my saying out for

once and for all. >> we're going to ask you to call back on the democrats line. we ask all our callers to respect what we've set up here. we're going to continue with a call from, we'll go to jennifer in merced, arizona. she's on the republican line. >> yes, it's mesa, arizona. i wanted to tell you, it's amazing to me that nancy pelosi is up on the stage talking about republicans that have six months to go and talk about jobs, how many years did she have? how many years was she in charge? the president, the senate and nancy, they never talked about jobs. they shoved this health care down our throats. they never worried about the economics of our country. and that israel guy to get up and say we're taking medicare away, my granddaughter, we heavened her with her taxes this year she paid $300 and she made i think $240,000 for medicare. you take that for 40 year,

that's all she makes, a part-time, get married, i don't know, or whatever, how in the world can that pay medicare? that's what the republicans keep trying to say. they're not trying to take medicare away. they're trying to save it. this program costs nine times as much as it was supposed to cost and nobody will address that. the president tomorrow is going for his birthday bash, the republicans are leaving, democrats are leaving, 20 million people are out of work. mr. president, senate and congress, stay in town, get 20 million people back to work. forget your campaign rks work on this. that's all our president does is campaign. i'm not trying to be a jerk but think of the money our country saves by him not campaigning this month, probably $25 million from that corporate jet. >> jonathan in asheville, north carolina, on the independents line. caller: hello this.

i was listening in while i was waiting, i would just echo everything that the last previous four or five callers had said. america is fed up with politics as usual. we need our politicians to do what they say. and that's all i'd like to say. >> we appreciate your call. thank you very much. we are still awaiting comment from senate republicans. they are set to brief reporters on the debt ceiling agreement at 2:00 p.m. eastern. you see reporters are standing by, waiting for their arrival. until then, senate democrats also spoke about the debt ceiling agreement just after it was passed in the senate. that vote was 74-26. >> the debate was long, it wasn't easy. for weeks the american people have watched and wondered whether congress could get its

job done. well, we got it done and brought our economy back from the brink of disaster. in the end, the two sides came together, that's how our system works. neither side got what they wanted, each side laments some of the things we had to give up. but that's the way it is. it's that way because that's how our system works, that's what compromise is all about. it was a bipartisan compromise. it wasn't the right wing cap, cut, and -- whatever it is other there. it's -- that was not bipartisan. it's nothing that we could agree to, it was a disaster for america. this agreement cuts the deficit by $1 trillion and lays the groundwork for much more in the near future. we look forward to the work on the committee, to make sure that millionaires and billionaires and corporate jet

owners and people who have those yachts who debt get tax benefits, oil companies who get huge tax cuts is in the mix of thinking what goes on. we need to do more for families. the number one job we have as a congress must be creating jobs for the american people. we -- there are a number of things we need to -- we are going to do. senator schumer will address that in a few minutes. today we made sure america will pay its bills now it's time to make sure all americans can pay theirs. senator durbin. >> with this vote, we have averted a crisis. america has avoided defaulting for the first time in our history on our national debt. the fears and concerns of americans across the board were considered by this congress and as a result we've come together on a bipartisan basis. i did not vote for this with a great deal of enthusiasm

because the down payment on the deficit included in this bill comes primarily from working families and those who are struggling in america. if we are going to have true deficit reduction and address this, we have to put everything on the table and bring everyone to the table for shared sacrifice. .

>> it had things we didn't like, particularly making sure social security and medicaid were cut. it's now time for congress to get back to our regularly scheduled programming. and that means jobs. while washington has been consumed with averting a default, our nation's unemployment problem has been worsening, it's time for jobs to be moved back to the front burner. with this dereduction package completed, the decks are now clear for a single-minded focus on jobs in september. by removing the threat of default for the next 18 months and proving that beau both

parties can come together to get our deficits under control we provided certainty to the credit markets. the debt limit agreement largely resolved the budgets for the next two years so the wrangling over spending should be greatly reduced in coming months. we now have the chance to pivot away from budget battles to jobs. we can reset the debate, and that's what we intend to do. the jobs issue won't have to play second fiddle to the deficit issue anymore and that's what the american people want. the public is glad to see we've moved to rein in our deficits but now they'll put the political premium on efforts to create jobs as democrats -- to create jobs. as democrats, that's our strong suit and our high ground. we welcome this chance to shift a very important vote. we needed to raise the debt ceiling to avoid an economic

calamity and we needed to cut spending and start getting our deficit and debt under control. we still have a very long, critical, road ahead of us. we're going to keep working hard to make sure that as we tackle the problems in front of us, we do it in a fair and balanced awere -- balanced way for americans across the country. it is time to get back to priority number one, getting our economy back on track and people back to work. this vote we just had begins to address the budget deficit but as every family and business in this country knows, we also have an infrastructure deficit, an education and skills training deficit and a jobs deficit. track and address that critical issue so american families can feel secure again that they'll have a paycheck and their family will be able to put food on the table and send their kids to college. importantly, i think this vote

just showed us that we can work in a bipartisan way. i hope that we can do that moving forward now to address the number one issue for every family, jobs. >> why would this special committee be more successful in addressing either taxes or entitlement programs when the biden group or the boehner-obama -- >> the answer is pretty obvious. hanging over the head of the joint committee is the trigger that is pretty drastic. >> is there any way to keep this from happening again? is there a chance the house will once again say, we're not going to support a debt ceiling? >> first of all, i think the joint committee will set the

tone for what happens in the near future. if it doesn't, the trigger kicks in, i think that makes it easy. and of course there will be an election take place between that and 2013. republicans don't expect a clean bill for the house f.a.a. on the floor, will you reopen the house version? >> yes. i have said we have 80,000 jobs at least on the line. in nevada, we have a new airport tower there where they started construction two weeks ago. all those people got laid off. that's a huge project. it's nearly $100 million project. barbara boxer told me they have a problem with the control tower in palm springs and as i understood it they've shut town construction on that. and they only have one there so that's difficult. the essential air service is a program that i believe in but i

also believe but i believe it's extreme. i do my best to protect the state but you have to to be reasonable. we learned what this big deal that was just done, you have to step back and find out what's best for the country and not be bound by some of your own personal issues and i'm willing to give that up. i hope the other senators will do the same. . [inaudible] >> we're going to have, we're working on it the next few weeks. we will do it during the recess. for example, i am going to file cloucher today on a procedure to move the patent bill. that's important. that will be the first vote we will have when we get back. it's too bad it's taken so long but that's 270,000 jobs.

i indicated to my friends here that i spoke to chairman baucus today. he's found a source of money to complete the highway bill. so there are many things we can do and there is also, of course, we're concerned about the new energy jobs that are out there and we have a lot of other things. finalized yet but we will. >> [inaudible] >> i think that people going on the joint committee should be open to solving the debt problems of this country and not let ideology stand in the way. this is more about saving our country from the future long-term deficit problems we have than political ideology. >> [inaudible] >> under the law you have to do it within 14 days after the president signs the bill. thanks, everyone.

captioned by the national captioning institute ---www.ncicap.org--- [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] -- [captioning performed by natonal captioning institute] >> reviewing the road to package and renewing efforts at job creation. according to the associated press this afternoon, the president, president obama has signed the bill raising the debt ceiling averting a national debt default. compromise package calling for more than $2 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade. the president signed the bill privately in the oval office. this is more than the senate voted for final package, capping months of contentious and partisan debate. pared and increase in the debt ceiling with a promise of more than $2 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade. and we are live in the capitol awaiting remarks from senate republicans who are caucusing right now. we expect them to make remarks on approval of the debt ceiling

package. right now we will take your phone calls. once again. 202-585-3885 for republicans. democrats, your number to call is 202-585-3886. our line for independents is 202-585-3887. up first is jana from tennessee on the republican line. caller: yes. so i just wanted to say i find this a really sad day. our defense is the most important thing that we have. i think that the democrats did the scare tactic of taking away from the elderly for their social security and their other benefits. and i just find this really, really sad and i think that we should tell our president in a strong voice, stop the vacations, pay for his own -- >> we are going to stop you right here. we have senate minority leader

mitch mcconnell coming to the podium. am >> i know you all are going to miss us, right? hate to see us go. we will miss you. the biggest concern that the american people have is the jobs and the economy. actually, things have gotten worse since the president came to office. we need to move in a different direction. we don't believe and the american people don't believe that raising taxes, job-killing tax increases in the middle of this serious recession is a direct we ought to take. and the bill we just passed avoided doing that even though the administration desperately wanted to raise taxes. every meeting i'm in talks about the regulatory burden that we are experiencing throughout the economy. massive increases in

regulations. senator barrasso has been a leader on that subject. i am often asked, what would you do to get the economy going, and my answer is always the same, quit doing what we have been doing. quit borrowing, quit spending, quit trying to raise faxes, quit overregulating and let the private sector flourish so we could have a chance to have a growing economy which again will produce more revenue for the government. so that ought to be our single focus, not only at home during the recess but when we come back here. one very big thing the administration could do in that direction is get those trade agreements up here. they enjoy bipartisan support. they will create jobs in america, for americans. we hope they will be waiting for us when we get back from the august break. with that, senator kyl. >> i am amazed that the white house believes it's press shop and the president's eloquence and the campaign team of the president can override the

substance of issues with rhetoric. and it's very interesting, therefore, that the moment we got this debt ceiling issue behind us the president decided to pivot to job creation. now, as leader mcconnell pointed out, republicans have never taken our eye off of job creation. but just to illustrate with the very specific example of one of the things we had to deal with during this debate about the deficit and the debt ceiling, one of the taxes that the president actually proposed that we increase was the subject of a report by his own small business administration office of advocacy. and they reported that this particular tax could ultimately force many small businesses to close. that's a direct quoteation. -- quotation. so while the president today would have all of us believe that now he's gotten the light and he wants to, quote, pivot

to job creation, i would just ask, what about that whole debate that we had over the last month or so about the pernicious affects of your tax proposals on job creation? that's republicans were so fixated on stopping these job-killing tax increases. >> senator rubio said yesterday, washington is talking about the debt but americans are talking about jobs. and the president has pivotted to jobs, and usually he begins by blaming his predecessor for the problems he's inherited. we don't blame the president for the problems he's inherited, but we do hold him responsible for making the economy worse. he's made it worse in ferms of unemployment. he's made it worse in terms of the federal debt. made it worse in terms of higher gas prices, individual health insurance premiums are

higher. home values are down. debt projections are up. he proposes high cost to energy plans. he's basically thrown a big wet blanket over private sector job creation and given a chance we know how to make it better. we'll have simpleler taxes fewer regulations, less debt, more exports, fewer health care mandates, job training and finding more american energy and using less. our goal is to make it easier and cheaper to create private sector jobs. >> well, i, too, want to welcome the white house and the administration and the democrats in the debate about jobs after 2 1/2 years of piling up the record that senator alexander just alluded to. if you think about the legacy of this administration so far, it's chronic, high unemployment and massive amounts of dealt. they add 35% to the debt and we got unemployment that is at over 9% and we saw last week

the anemic growth numbers for the second quarter, 1.3% advanced investment and a -- this economy is sluggish. the reason it's sluggish is because the job creators out there, the small businesses in this country are worried about what washington is going to do next. i think that was probably best -- probably verified in a poll that was done by the u.s. chamber of commerce in which they polled small businesses about what they're going to do with regard to job creation this next year. 64% of them said they were not going to add to their pay yols. -- payrolls. of the businesses that responded to that survey, half of them said the reason for that is economic uncertainty. economic uncertainty because of washington, d.c., policies and this administration's economic record which has had a job-crushing agenda since the day they came into office. and so i am delighted to welcome them to the debate about jobs after 2 1/2 years of

being missing in action. >> when the president came to office, unemployment rate in this country was 7.8%. now it's 9.2% unemployment. millions and millions of americans looking for work and can't find someone to employ them. a lot of that has to do with the regulations coming out of washington. in this past month alone in the month of july, the 31 days of july, there have been approximately 300 new expensive regulations coming out of washington. 10 of those are major regulations in terms of impact which means they have an impact of over $100 million in terms of the impact on abilities to create jobs and the impact on those businesses. the total impact has been almost $10 billion of expenses when you look at these hundreds of regulations in the month of july alone. this administration seems to be fixated on finding it -- on finding ways to make it tougher and more expenses for the private sector to create jobs in america.

>> looking forward, one of the most important things to come out of the -- of this debt ceiling agreement is a commitment for a vote on a balanced budget amendment fought united states constitution sometime by october. when you look at everything congress can do, it can't bind future congresses which is one of the biggest challenges we had which is why i believe a balanced budget amendment to the constitution is absolutely essential. all 47 republicans have co-sponsored a version of that balanced budget amendment, and what we now have the opportunity to do as we have taken a small step in the right direction toward fiscal responsibility is to finish that job by passing by 2/3 margin a balanced budget amendment both in the house and the senate and then send it to the states for ratification. we know there's a lot we could do between now and the time that amendment is ratified. but ultimately the question is, are we going to be living by the same rules that apply to

every family, every small business and 49 states which is that they cannot spend more money than they have? and i think we've all seen that this is really the ultimate -- ultimate measure of fiscal responsibility. and i congratulate our leadership for getting that commitment. as you know being in the minority we can't have a vote unless harry reid gives us a right to give us the vote. that's what the national conversation is going to be about going forward. and this is perhaps the most important things, one of the most important things to come out of this agreement. >> we'll take a couple questions. >> [inaudible] >> i'm going to be considering these appointments, senator kyl and i will both consider them both together and i'll be acting very soon.

>> will the federal government spend more money or less money in 2012 than 2012? >> anybody have the top line on that? >> discretionary will be less. the others will be more. >> slow the rate of increase. >> yeah. we set -- i don't have it in my head but we set the number on the discretionary side for 2012 and 2013. it should be immediately available to you. what that allows us to do is to have a normal appropriations process. i mean, normally the senate would pass a budget. you know it's been over 800 days since we actually passed a budget in the senate. and the house had passed one which they have done. you reconcile the differences and then you get at the beginning of that a top line, how much you're going to spend. not on the mystic that we were going to have a budget process,

since we have not had one in 800 days in the senate, but we just put a measure the top line for fiscal year 2012 and 2013. >> can you talk about the president or the white house is saying -- even cut from the joint committee, can you speak to both of those? >> well, the joint committee is not going to gridlock in my opinion. the joint committee is designed to function. and to tackle some of the very difficult problems that we have been unwilling or unable to deal with. the trustees are appointed by the president. medicare and medicaid says they're both in trouble. medicare sooner than social security. we haven't yet been able to do anything on the tax reform side. we decided to concentrate power in this joint committee because we have an extraordinary problem.

if the normal way we do business was adequate, we wouldn't have a $14 trillion debt and over $50 trillion of unfunded liabilities. we needed to do something different. and this is clearly not kicking the can down the road. they're going to report by november 23. it will be voted on before the end of the year. and i wouldn't focus a whole lot on the -- what would happen if they didn't function because i think they are. >> what about the president saying $350 billion will come out of the -- [inaudible] >> do you want to tackle that? >> senator mcconnell. >> yeah. >> [inaudible] >> well, we're so late. i mean, fiscal year 2012 begins at the end of next month. so it probably would be difficult to have a normal appropriations process.

they'll have to be clumped together. but in 2013, now knowing well in advance what the top line's going to be for 2013 it's my hope and i know it's the majority leader's hope that we will be able to do the basic work of government which is the appropriations committee reporting bills, move them across the floor of the senate and getting them done. but this year we're so late it will be very difficult to have that kind of normal process for the fiscal year 2012. >> what do you mean clumping together? >> we don't have enough time so we end up in either a c.r. or putting together several different appropriations bills. that's not the best way to do it. and hopefully that will not be done in 2013. i don't see any way to avoid it in 2012 because it begins in two months. >> what about an om bus? >> it would be hard to move 12 bills across the floor in the month of september. month of september. thank you, everybody.