will, but if there were ever a time it could be done, that would probably be next year, because the senate electoral map 2016 election is so tight, that they really don't ve any idea whether mitch mcconnell, the republican majority leader or chuck schumer of new york will be the majority leader in 2016. when you make changes, even if incremental changes, if senator on the r could cut down standing around time, the amount of time that the c-span viewers are listening to classical music while the senators are in quorum happen, that were to the time to do it would be when you didn't know who would benefit from it. indeed, whatever happens with the majority, the fact that the democratic leader will be congress, gives the institution an opportunity. we're talking on a day when

there was an interesting discussion on the floor, a big tory in politco, the story about the fact that there was such bad blood in the leaders of the senate that they denied it. working s their relationship and how does it impact the outcome? >> well, it's always the most working relationships in the senate, is the way that he two leaders get along, and certainly, there have been tensions on substance between mcconnell and the harry minority leader reed over the years. ist they've sought to dispel this notion that this is more of a personal matter rather than a matter of policy. very policy priorities are different, but as is the case been in the ho's senate a long, long time, a lot do get people still along. personally, their wives know not other, and so necessarily that difficult. >> let me ask you to spend 20 seconds on when people are this on sunday morning,

the senate is likely to have are the d the house in passing omnibus package. mr. boehner's last act, passing to the new speaker so he could basically have his house in order as he took over the gavel. how significant is this deal? >> it's a really significant deal on two fronts. both, it takes care of funding the federal government through the end of this current fiscal year, so through the end of going er, so there's not to be a shut-down stand off, and addresses a lot of long standing tax provisions they've out for ageso sort and keeps people from getting it with a tax hike at the end of the year. >> allison, what's your perspective. which iepublican piece, track most closely, it tracks closely with the every student succeeds act, which was just passed. every kindergarten program created under that bill would be funded under this omnibus, so it

seems that good faith effort is this uing under appropriation. >> thanks to both of you for "newsmakers" on this week. thank you. you.hank >> he was, you know, a light weight grade b actor with orange hair, which is what gerald ford he was ut him in 1976, turning prematurely orange. with all the success and historians have consistently rated reagan low. i believe out of ideaological bias. >> tonight on "q&a", historian craig shirley discusses his book, last act. a look at ronald reagan's life after leaving the white house remembered he's been after his death. so it ew up in the '80s, was a time for us, but i also write about the facts and don't up and i don't

elieve ed neese or luke cannon or anybody else makes things up. and i think, too, we've repositioning people's thinking about ronald emerges of aicture very serious, deep thinking, solicitous man. 8:00 eastern on "q&a." >> abigail fillmore was the first first lady to work outside of the home. she successfully lobbied congress for funds to create the library, te house eisenhower's hair style and pink sensations, pink was marketed as a color. jacqueline kennedy was responsible for the creation of the white house historical association, and nancy reagan as a young actress saw her name of akenly on the black list

suspected communist sympathizers in the 1940s. she appealed to screen actors reagan for helpd and later became his wife. these stories are featured in "first ladies", on the lives of 45 iconic american women. great gift for the holidays, giving read arers a look into the personal lives lady in american history. stories of fascinating women and how their legacies resonate today. share the stories of america's first ladies for the holidays. first lady is available as a hard cover or e-book. book store orrite online e-book seller. order your copy today. >> republican presidential candidate jeb bush was in new hampshire this weekend holding multiple campaign events. at this town hall in windham, the former florida governor talked about several issues, including foreign policy, veterans assistance, and gun

violence. this is an hour and 15 minutes. >> it's a fantastic time for everyone. senator morris is monitoring my every move. thank you for coming. would you all stand and say hello to governor bush? would you remain standing for the pledge?

shall we begin, governor? allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, for which republic, it stands, one nation, under with liberty le, and justice for all. thank you very much. well, thank you, mary, and thank you all for coming out tonight. before the just holiday but when you've had seven years of on the job one thingoing on, the we don't want to happen in the seven years rty is of on the job training so we want a proven winner. we want someone that's delivered eight years of tax cuts in florida and got elected as a republican with eight years of tax cuts. bush, and henor jeb will be the next president of the united states. jeb.me, . [applause]

[applause]. >> thank you, mr. president. thank you all so much for coming out at 4:30 on a saturday afternoon. not the optimum time for a town hall meeting but today was going to be the day i was going to break the record for the most day. halls in a single we were going to do five. a ortunately, we ran into tragic event. amesbury, who w lives in dover, was killed in a training to cise, be an army ranger in georgia, this s funeral took place morning at the same time we were going to do our event. o this was to have been our fourth town hall meeting and it's our third. i'm honored to be here. before we start, i think it would be appropriate to ask for a moment of silence to pray for that lost their loved one who was preparing to serve us with incredible honor and distinction.

>> thank you. to the wake yesterday to pay my respects yesterday to the family of andrew, i saw 20 army rangers strong, sed up, big, strapping young men that are to aring and training my hat goes off to them. how do we provide our young men and women the training and support to keep us safe? they want to know that. they want to know that a commander and chief has their back. they want to know when they go the best e, they have equipment possible to be able to do their job effectively. hey want to know that the next president of the united states will rebuild the military in terms of spending, will make the necessary investment in the 21st century military war fighting. lawyerst to know if the are going to be taken off the backs of the war fighters, case.se today, that is the

this president has actually put so many restrictions on top of the war fighters that the policy of containment, as it relates to isis in the middle east, is a olicy that we lose each and every day. isis is not contained when they terror in paris r san bernardino or take out a plane. they're not being contained. even if they were being contained, the simple fact is iate is not the appropr policy. every day that they exist is a islamic terrorism and for people like us that freedom.in every day they exist they believe they can recruit additional people all around the world, including the united states, to take advantage of our freedom which they believe is our weakness. we need a strategy to destroy isis, and i laid out a plan in library to e reagan do just that. nd it takes, for example, arming the kurds directly, imbedding our troops, 3500 right now, n iraq

imbedding some of those troops inside the iraqi military, reengaging with the suni tribal leaders that were part of the uccessful surge that created a fragile but secure iraq on the day that barack obama was elected president. creating a series of safe zones in syria so that the four refugees that exist in these camps and now going to europe, we won't create a reeding ground for islamic terrorism for the next generation. harbor forlow a safe them and allow us to build a uni-led force of moderate muslims that would do the job of post g the country in a world.d post assad it means a no-fly zone. brutality of the regime, stop barrel bombing of innocent people to the tune now of close to 300,000 people. he insecurities that exist there is a direct threat to our national security and i laid out this plan, getting the lawyers

off the backs of the war fighters, taking away the isis.ng stream for it is a complex challenge, but a detailed plan is necessary and fortitude at has the and will to carry it out. donald trump's idea is two isis isgo, he says that not our fight. really? islamic terrorism is not a threat to the united states? tell that to the family members san bernardino. donald trump says he gets his foreign policy and military shows.from the really? g e commander in chief aspirin to be president of the united states, just turns on the television on sunday morning and thinks that's enough to be able to lead this extraordinary country? thatd trump is all excited vladimir putin thinks he's a ood man, and he rewards vladimir putin with praise as well. really? a man who believes that the united states is in decline and as we very step forward

step back, is a hero of donald trump's? really? person.t a serious he's a chaotic candidate which creates all sorts of fun entertainment for people, but he would be a chaotic president of the united states. steady someone who has a hand, who has plans to keep us safe. and here's my commitment to you. chief, e a commander in not a divider in chief or an agitator in chief. to a lead this country more secure place where we can et to the business of creating prosperity again for our great country. . applause] to giving elates barack obama an a, not just a an a.g grade, an "a" really is an "a" when you have one in 10 people who are unemployed or given up looking for work altogether. "a" when participation

rates are lower than we were in the 1970s? can't be an "a" when one in seven people live in poverty. six million more people living in poverty today than when elected.t obama got and when more businesses are closing than being formed. and a disposable income, the identifier of prosperity, where we stand, median income, $2300 than the day that barack obama was elected. $2300 in washington may not be a lot where you have life titime protection, you basically get up. increases for showing you have more benefits than the private sector. people may not be concerned in watching because they may not have are declines in their income. but $2300 across the board for that reat country means maybe a child won't be able to or maybe y day care won't be able to go to college or maybe can't buy a car, or

rainyyou can't save for a day, or maybe you have a mom who has dementia and you're the care giver and you can't take respite care, take days off to be able maybe you support, or can't take a vacation. whatever it is, $2300 a year is of money.t the next president has to fix his mess, and it starts with changing the culture in washington, d.c. here's what i believe. i believe we need a balanced udget amendment to force the conversation back to where it needs to be, where government doesn't grow faster than our it.lity to pay for we need term limits. in florida, we have term limits. i have some friends here in the crowd today. it works. we have talented people that get chance to take leadership roles where the permanent political class has to take a step back. weigh need to make sure that lobbyists don't control everything. if you finish your term of officials, lected you shouldn't go out the back door and start lobbying the people that you were serving with the day before. this should be a six-year ban on

lobbying.fficials we ought to make sure that there's total transparency, to make sure that people have confidence that their government is the servant, rather than the master. i know how to do this, because i of the state of florida where i had a chance to take these ideas, work with the legislature, turn the place upside down, but then that result was we had a lot better government. we did reform lobbying. we do have term limits. e balance budgets each and every year totalling the reserves of $9 billion, more 35% of general revenue. corleoni ed me veto because i vetoed 2200 separate items in the budget. not to be mean. not to be the big dog on the stage. i did it because the government should not grow faster than the people's ability to pay for it, and in florida, that was the result. [applause] look, there is a big difference in the philosophy of the left and our philosophy.

i believe that everybody has a chance to make a contribution in society. i believe it's a gift from god, that's divinely inspired and i believe if we created a society where everybody's abilities could be reached to their full limits, their god-given abilities, that nothing will stop the united states. the left believes the opposite, in many ways. they believe that life's not that because life's not fair, i'll take care of you with another spending program, another regulation, dividing our country up by haves and have nots and all sorts of ways, that they'll manage your liabilities. for us to win, we need the exact opposite of that. last year, i met danicia merryweather. he's a flowerridian and came to campaign meetings. when she was young, she was held

and i can rd grade imagine she was quite angry. no one ever told her she was capable. passed along to be basically to a dead end. it happens a lot in america. kids nds and thousands of don't get the power of knowledge and they're stuck. and then we wonder why the demands on government grow faster than our ability to pay for it. danicia found out, her godmother found out about the florida corporate scholarship program. it's the largest program in the country. we created the second and third largest voucher programs in the country, turned the system upside down. we eliminated tenure for teachers. we reward teachers for performance. they do aore pay when good job based on student learning. the teachers union didn't like this at all. in fact, they mortgaged their building when i ran for re-election to try to defeat me and to support my opponent. they lost and had to sell the heart,g, which warmed my to be honest with you, because taking on big political fights

is what we need to do in washington d.c. we can't stand pat with the things that are broken. i now how to do this because had a chance to do it, and danicia was the beneficiary. about mother found out this program and she got to go school.ristian i wasn't there, but i know in my heart what happened. n that first week, a teacher put her arm around danicia and for the first time in her education life, she was told capable, that she had god-given talents, that god and so did the teacher, and that together they were going to make sure that she could learn. and danicia merriweather overcame the two years of being held back, she graduated with her age group. she was the first in her family to graduate from high school and college, and this year, she will get a masters degree at the florida.ty of south i believe that we'll be successful politically, and we'll be successful as a nation f we're on the side of the

danicias. i don't know if danicia is a republican or a democrat. it's totally irrelevant. what's important is that she has the same right as anybody else, to live a life of purpose and meaning, that she won't have to get in line and be told that somehow she's not capable of life of purpose and meaning, that she's a liability, that the government will manage her.life for isn't it better to be on the side of people pursuing their wn dreams as they see fit, making sure that people have the capacity to achieve earned success. isn't that the better approach? we're going to win if we're on of the danicia merriweathers. if we focus on high sustained economic growth and keeping our country safe, we'll win. but if we divide ourselves up, if we allow the loud voices to them, the l about narcissists basically saying, hey, i'm the only guy, don't you, , i'll take care of not interested in forging consensus, solving problems, win.l never hillary clinton will be elected president of the united states and god forbid that from ever

happening. i believe you're looking at the guy that can beat hillary proven because i have a record. [applause] it's a record of applying conservative principles in a hopeful, optimistic way, with sheer dogged determination to implement it in the right way, where everybody has a chance to win. have ot about those that already made it. it's not about if you have an your name.by we need to create a rise to right society again. that's my mission and i hope you'll support my candidacy in new hampshire. you all elect presidents. you have a responsibility of being first in the nation and my belief is that you take it seriously, that you want to make sure that we have the right person to win the election in he general election, but also the right person who has the right stuff to be president of the united states. i ask for your support and i appreciate you coming out for this town hall meeting.

thank you. [applause] yes, ma'am? we've got a microphone coming your way >> hey, i was really impressed l for r about your proposa a six-year ban on lobbying. mr. bush: yeah. some of the people who most from lobbying are congressional staffers and pentagon,o work at the both military and civilian, so i'd really like to know if you ould extend that six-year ban to those people also. mr. bush: that's a good question. i'd have to look at the impact but there should be total transparency, so if you're and ng with a lobbyist you're the staffer on the committee of great importance or, you know, you're a big dog inside the department of efense, and you're being lobbied, there should be 24-hour notice. it should be put on the

internet. there should be complete transparency about this. and people can make up their mind whether it's appropriate or not, and that, i think, is across the board, an open government, a more transparent government is what we need. this president promised the most transparent government in haven't history and we gotten it. we've gotten the exact opposite. with thest way to deal transparency issue is to open it up. staffers, you t know, that's a revolving door as well and it makes sense to look at it. need to do asg we it relates to the defense department is make sure there's three, you know, contractors. we've created such a confusing convoluted procurement system that is lobbied up beyond belief defense have the big contractors and the cost is aggregators, in effect. all other parts of the operations, they subcontract out, they use their influence to be able to get these contracts. there's all sorts of legal costs

associated with it. the war fighters don't get the equipment necessary at the speed one of the ould, so other elements is to embrace that we nt reform so have more contractors and it's based on merit rather than influence. yes, sir? >> my father was sent to war iraq afghanistan and during the obama and i've seen many people come back with ptsd. office myself. mr. bush: what are you running for? >> state representative. man?bush: how old are you, >> 18. mr. bush: go for it. [applause] [applause]. >> i'm running on the promise to take care of our veterans. i'm wondering what you would do to take care of the veterans at va. mr. bush: first of all, go get them. that's fantastic. secondly, you're going to have to work with the new president to do this because this is a

federal government responsibility. the state has a role to play. veteran's operation in every department, in every state. but ultimately, to reform the president d a committed to it. here's the things that we laid out in our plan. need career civil service reform. it should not be about the economic interest of the 340,000 employees of the veterans administration. it ought to be about the veterans. and right now, it's about their economic interest. i don't know if you saw recently, there was a hearing in guy had the this gaul to say i didn't know you saw accountability related to firing. that's not how we view it in the obama administration. they sure as heck don't see it that way. here have been three people fired in scandals, which is bonusing people, last year, 140 in bonuses for reducing wait lists without menng care to veterans, and and women died. veterans died because of that.

and yet there were bonuses given and only three people fired. so number 1, career civil service reform so that there's rewards for a job well done, but there should not be lifetime employment in government. should not be a career that gets you 40% benefits and wages more than the private sector. here should be 21st century employment practices. second, veterans should have more choices. the idea that the system is that, you know, the only thing that matters is what's wrong. if a veteran wants to a see a private doctor, they should have a right to do it far easier than exists today. clinic want to go to a or hospital that's the private one, they should have the right to do that. the veterans administration for the services to provide to the veterans. ou know what happens when you provide a competitive environment? everybody gets better. because if they don't, they'll wither away. third, we need procurement

reform and employment reform, reform.ion technology this entity is a disaster. there's a hospital being built in aurora, colorado. a modern hospital. $300 million. that seems to me like a pretty first-rate hospital. $1.8 billion, because the veterans administration cannot organize itself out of a wet paper bag. no accountability, everybody just says, the dog ate my homework. congress is frustrated because entity is so insular and unaccountable, you need a president that will accept responsibility when these things happen. look, when i was governor, we had problems all the time. i'd wake up and read the paper and go, oh, my god, another child has been hurt, or a caseworker didn't identify an abuse the right way. god.my i mean, my impulse wasn't to say, oh, how can i figure out a no one blames e me. how can i make sure that "the

dog ate my homework" is the right excuse. how can i blame my predecessor, which actually has been a common on, if you washingt know what i mean. instead of rolling up your sleeves, accepting responsibility and solving the problem, and that's my pledge to you. on day 1, we'll begin the va, to to fix the modernize it, to make sure that it is effective, to empower veterans to make more choices and at the end of this, we'll have a much better system that with states when you're a state legislator, and you're working with your xecutive branch, to make sure that the care that they receive is the best. there should be no veteran that is homeless in this country. none. should be [applause] nd the long-term disability issues that exist for veterans should be a long-term commitment to solve this thing. and the post-traumatic stress, which is now a serious problem, has to be dealt with. things together, we

can solve this. it does not have to be necessarily all from the top down, but the veterans administration is the responsibility of the president, let us president has down. yes, ma'am? >> i don't have a question, to make a ut i want statement. mr. bush: is it a good one? [laughter] >> and i won't get you into trouble. i've been a volunteer truman and since dewey '48? sh: no way, >> yep. mr. bush: how old are you? >> 85. i live well. well. sh: you do live >> but i moved -- my husband and i retired to new hampshire in 1986. dewey?e you for truman or >> i want to tell you what a wonderful staff you have. staff i have st ever worked with. mr. bush: thank you. >> they are the best.

[applause]. mr. bush: thank you. well, how much were you paid to say that? [laughter] mr. bush: yes? how about a two-part one question. >> the first thing you already talked about, balanced budget, but i have a bigger question. i'd like to know how long it would take to resolve the $18 trillion. don't answer it yet. and the second question is, i we can ke to know how protect our borders better. i know there are a lot of things hat have to be done, but those are the two that truly interest me. mr. bush: sure, so the way to will e the budget, which get us towards the path of reducing the debt, rather than ust accepting the debt level, is to grow the economy at a far faster rate, have entitlement reform, reform our social security supplemental retirement ystem, cut back on discretionary spending in general, shift power back to the

states, and the one reversal of that trend of shrinking government in my mind is, we need to rebuild the military. and whatever it takes to be able a secure america has to be the highest priority. now, we can reform the defense department. there are more civilian employees than men and women in uniform, which doesn't make me.e to their procurement processes, as i mentioned, needs to be stream lined. there's lots we can do to shrink the cost of doing business in the defense department, but we allowed our defense capabilities to flat line, and modernizing it constantly so that the new threats that exist in the 21st century can be met. so other than that, the rest of the government has to shrink, nd ultimately, you get towards the balanced budget, and the growing economy means instead of 100% of gdp, the debt level, you get down to a level that is manageable. on immigration, i've done -- i'm situation. i've had the same view for the last four years.

i know that's really kind of politics because everybody is doing the curly shuffle all the time, whenever there's a little bit of heat, they change their views. i wrote a book about it called a migration war." it's not best-seller. you can buy it for 1.99 on amazing. -- amazon. i encourage to you do it. what i'm ip 1 says saying now, we need to secure the border and we need to deal ly in a ple here illegal way that does not give them a path to citizenship. means g the border building and sensing where appropriate. not across the board. t's not responsible to say we're going to build a wall and let mexico pay for it. file here, mexico is not going to pay for it. shocked. it's not going to happen. but we need more fencing in places where it's appropriate. and it's been funded and the administration refuses to do it. a need to use technology in more appropriate way.

we have drone technology and have been fighting for it so ong, applying that in an appropriate way. gps technology has exploded. there's ways to monitor the a way that creates greater security for us. we need to have more border they need to and be more forward-leaning on the budget. we need an e-verify system which allows for businesses to check to make sure that people are here legally. which means you can't forge a social security card to say hey, wink-wink, nod-nod. you have to have a system that is truly verifiable, and with employers that hire illegal immigrants. across the board, we need to sanctuary cities. this insidious idea that local governments can avoid federal law and endangering their communities, it makes no sense. a targeted approach will create border security. as it relates to people th a