if we want to have radiant life, a radiant marriage, radiant children then let's live according to the word of god and it will happen to us. ♪ [ music ] welcome to change point. a television ministry ridge fating from the lar go moneyty church near washington dc. and now here is pastor [ indiscernible ] >> it is one of my highest joys to come to you with a change point message. today's message is entitled the radiant life. scripture says that jesus is the brightness, fortunate light,

the beauty of god. now when i invite jesus to come into m-:qmv#e, light comes into many life. friend, i want you to hear this with an open heart and an open mind. jesus is the answer. let's hear about jesus and let's receive the gift he has for us. it is good to be in the house of the lord with god's people, with god's word. we are going to take the bible now, we are going hear from heaven. but we need to have an open mind and an open heart. somebody just talk today me the other day and he said things have changed. people live differently today. they have different standards today and pastor, you are going to have to adjust. i said i can not adjust to

this. this is god's record. it never changes. hen and earth la paz away but the word of god will not pass away. if i begin to pick and choose and what ones i am going to adjust and which ones i am not, who gives me that authority? i can not speak for him, he speaks for himself. and that is what we have, the wonderful word of god and that is what is going to happen to us. light is going to come into us today as we hold the word of god in our hearts. we are going to be blessed. let's take the bible, this is the word of god, not the word of man, god doesn't change his,

his wordiestn't change. let his word change us. --his word doesn't change. let us word change us. father god, i thank you for your holy word, your unchangeable word. the word that gives light and life. come to my heart holy spirit, breathe the word of god into my heart. let me hear your voice. i pray in jesus' name, amen. i am going look at just a few of the verses in hebrews chapter one, talking about the lord jesus christ, the scripture says or jesus himself says if i be lefted up, i isle--be lifted

up, i'll draw all men to me. he said i am drawing you to life. i am drawing you to light. and so today by the power of the holy spirit, let's look at his word and let et spirit left jesus up and draw us to jesus. we are going to follow along in the bulletin and on the screen and we are going to look at verses one and the first part of verse two. god speaks through jesus. say those words. the scripture says in the past toothy god spoke through the profits but in the last days he has spoken to us by his son. in the beginning, god gave us the old testament. it was b given to us by inspired profits. you see, we serve a speaking

god a god who is not silent but a got who talks to us. he has eyes to see your situation, lips lips to speak truth and life. he is not just an idea sincerely yours, be thought about. he is a person who does things, who hears us, who sees us, who blesses us and brings goo into our lives. god is not just an idea. he is a heavenly father who brings us into a relationship with himself. but in the old testament, the profits never finished what they had to say. the when the old testament was written, there was a particular revelation nor a specific event is or time and then there was another revelation for a

specific time. but it never went beyond until we reached the new testament and jesus is the new testament. he is the living word of god. he is the final voice of god. friend, god is not going say anything else. he said everything that needs to be said. all i need to do now is just open my heart and ears and listen. what has been said has been said. it is now settled. jesus spoke. it is closed. i don't need to hear, i don't need to look for another revelation, i have got the revelation. you have the revelation, god help us now just to do and believe and receive what we already have. but god speaks through jesus his son. now in the second part of the verse two, god appointed jesus,

the heir of all thing. when we appointed of all things, god did this for jesus. jesus now is receiving and will receive a great inheritance. but here is the thing, listen to this, you and i get to share in that inhair train. ant that great? what god gives to jesus, he turns and and shares it with us: now i need to find out who god has given jesus. it says in romans 8: 17 this you--that you and i are heirs and follow heirs. everything that god gives to jesus, you and i get it also.

that is just great. that does stagger my mind that joe is giving me through jesus what god has given to jesus. now, i don't have all of the inheritance yet and neither do you. already you and i are receiving part of that. we have received it. now, what is some that we have gotten? we are going get a greater inheritance at a later time but we are already starting to receive. what is that? prayer, jesus prayed to the father. now he turns to you, he turns me to and says now because i have thrown room river edges so do you. you can go into present of the god just like i can go in. that is part of the plan. friend, come con, use it. --come on, use it. another inheritance is overcoming power.

jesus was never defeated. he overcame every temptation, every power that came against him. eastern death when death brought him down, he was raised the third day. now when jesus comes into my heart, guess who comes into--what comes into my heart? overcoming pow. er friend, you are only defeated when you allow yourself to be defeated. when jesus is not your champion. he is going to be your champion. now i have this power within me. you have this power within me. i need to think about it and give god praise because i have overcoming power. now i may be cast down but i not going to be defeated. i may be persecuted but i am not going to be destroyed. there are going to be hard

times in life but we are going to overcome. thank god we have jesus. say praise the lord. praise the lord. now i have the joy of obedience. now some find it hard to obey god in certain areas. that is why the lady who talked to me that, god has changed and the things that pertain to life and sex, these things have changed. this is a different day. we are not living in the old and new testament. friend, it is sometime we started to live within the old and new testament. in we wanted to have a radiant life, then let's live accord together joy. but this overpowering, this joy,

it is not hard to obey the lord. jesus found great joy if obeying the lord. i have that same desire to o obey the father that--to obey the father that jesus had. i got that from jesus. and i have a rose registration home. the people who are not said do not know what is going to happen to them in this life and in the next life. but i have a hope and i have a heavenly home. i need to remind myself this haves a man shun there, a place where i am going to be greatly comforted. see i have the thoughts, powers, sensations, they are in me because jesus has given them to

me. god has appointed crease saw heir of all things and--jesus heir of all things and we are now heir of all things. and now it says through whom he made the universe. i think of our friends over at nasa,the men and women, they are awed by a planet that is so many hundred overlighted yearers away, way out there knowing that god by the hands of jesus flung them owl into place space and--jesus--them all into space. you talk about being loved with a love that knows no end. hope he loves us--how much he loves us. what nasa is trying to find out now, we are going to find it out some day when jesus comes back.

but jesus is also the radiance of god's. now let's read together. [ indiscernible ] the radiant in christ, all of the imaginestty and splendor of god ask manage fasted. jesus is the final revelation. he is the imaginestty of god. it is all in him. now radiant, what does that mean? it means brightness. it means light, it means beauty. now in the son, in jesus if we want brightness in your life, beauty, if you want light in your life, i go to him who is the light of the world who now in dwells me.

i have to keep reminding myself that. is why i have to keep coming here. jesus know we have to be reminded. we have to be remindnd of what i am and what i have in christ. i'll forget it. it is easy to be distracted. the striptture those that those who look to him are radiant and that will never have a shadow across their face. those who look to him, i need to say that again, those who look to him because not all of those are looking to him. we may look to him for a time or for a season, but friends, things will distract us and cause our focus is be drawn away from him and when that happens you talk about a dead, down,

sad, blue person. oh, i have seen some of the saddest christians in all of my inlife. haven't you seen that? oh, friends, you are not for real. you are not for real. that sadness comes and when does it come? when we get our eyes off of the lord. when a problem, a physical problem, when we are distracted by any of things, that shadow is cast over us. but we need to look again. how, when your computer goes down. do you have your computer go down? hey, some of you need your christian life rebooted this morning. amen? come on, get it, get a reboot. let god reboot you today. he is going to do it. he is going to bless you and make your life beautiful. he is going to reboot you. now how do we do this?

let me get practical, the scripture tells us how to turn our eyes upon jesus. well you lift the thoughts of your heart, the imagination imaginations. you are going to have to pick up on what fits your need. i pick up the one that a loved one dies. i am going to miss this loved unwitness stand have good memories. but if i keep focusing on that lifeless, cold corpse, if i keep focusing on the casket and i think only see a cemetery not plot, i am going to be--plot, i am going to sad, sad, sadders still. but when i see that loved one or the friend and i think to

myself, i am now going to live my eyes, i think of him who is the resurrection and the life. think of the lovered one no longer sick or ill but now living until the presence of peace, the very presence of god and i think that jesus is going restore us some day. there is going if be another day, another meeting time that this loved one now is healthy and whole again. you see, i can look apartment death, i can look amount coldness and i can be just broken and my life with dismantled but when i look to jesus, when this is not all there is and i start to look and focus on what is mine, i can say imagining the miss you. i--i am going to miss you and love you ever. friend, you decide what you are going to look at what you are going to think about. what you are going to lift your

eyes to. okay, let me pick another one, how about our needs, we have financial needs, we are relationship needs, we have all of these needs and there is a variety of needs, people have come to me and i am so glad that they have and they tell me pastor, i have lost my job or i have been demoted, i still have a job or i still have a job but my salary has been decreased and i don't deserve any--and the sadness, the anger, the feelings of revenge, they start comening. long i keep my eyes on what i have lost, but when i think i have jesus, i have him. i have never seen the children

of god go hungry. he supplies all of our needs and i just need to take a lesson from the little birds. they don't spin, they don't plant, they r don't harvest or store in barns but your father takes care of them. and then jesus says you are of much more value than they. you are talk together me, jesus? you are saying i am more valuable than the spare row spar rows? jesus says look the the lilies of the field, they are clothed in splendor and glory. i am going take care of you. friend, you are not going to lose when your turn your eyes on jesus. you are going to win. you are going to overcome. you are going to be victorious.

and then, i meet a person or i have it or you have it, a physical problem our health is wasting away. our life is wasting away. now i believe in healing, and we may get healed, jesus may do that and then, but even if he does, sooner or later my body is going the waste away again and i am going to die: but i know my body is only a temporary temple and so when this life is over, i have home in heaven. he has prepared a place for me. i am not going to say i am sick and i am dying. no, irk look at that and die earlier but if i say i have a savior and i have another life that is beyond this life, i

have an inheritance, friends you decide what you are going to look at. look to see jus. so you do decide. if you have turned your eyes on jesus, the things overlet then will grow dim. looking unto jesus in hebrews, looking unto jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. he not only started this thing, those going to finish it. he is going to take you all the way to glory. now friends, listen to me, when the dog of hell starts to snarl at you and starts to growl at you, show his teeth at you, that dog may be sickness or finances or broken relationships, that dog is there. what to do?

run to the savior. when a sheep is molested, the sheep go to the shep hard. three no--shepherd 6789 flee to jesus. you know that dog is afraid of jesus. that dog is afraid of jesus because jesus is going to slay that dog with the breath of his mouth. thighthy rod and they staff comforts me. there is help but no help for a complainer o r a whiner. don't--or a whiner. don't get on the phone and say look what happened to me. come on, let's focus on jesus. jesus is the savior that keeps us and then number five, jesus'

word sustains all things. verse three, part b, read it, sustaining all things by the power of his word. his rod and his staff will keep you. will protect you, will sustain you. notice it seisors tanning all things--sustaining all things. there is nothing that is excluded here in your life. anything that comes against you, wherever ever wherever that dog comes, you have a savior that you can flee to. he is going to bless you. you are valuable to god. valuable to god. there you have it. amen. no look at the screen. look to jesus and your life will become radiant will life and joy. he is going sustain and you keep you by his powerful word.

is that true? is that the word of god? are you going to do it? amen. your life will be radiant. let's bow before him. father, god, thank you for you radiant love, your radiant power. that love and power now radiates in pitchers life and in the life of every believer. we give you praise and glory. you have done, you are doing, and you will yet do great things as we trust your word, the word that jesus speaks, the word that he speaks now will sustain us in every and in all situations, the word of god that we will be people of the word, people of the book. we give you praise, we give you thans. just bow with me now. don't rush out. real quick, listen to what the

lord as said, let it sink deep into your heart. now what this v you been talking about? what has cast the shadow? when you look at the light, the light of him who is the light of the world, light will come. glory will come, brightness will come, beauty will come. the lord will do this for you. so i am going to wait just a moment and let you pray and talk to the lord about your particular situation. today this moment, you are turning your eyes on jesus, away from the mundane to jesus. to yo o god we give praise and honor and glory. we commit ourself to following you and doing your will and

serving you. bless the be name of the lord, in jesus' flame, let us all assay min. amenability he is going to do something great for you. --amen. jesus is going do great things for you. now if troubles have cast a shadow over your life, turn to jesus, look to jesus and he will become the light of your life. it's been a joy being with you. we are a deleaving church. i hope--believing church. we are low at a time dated at 1701 enterprise one in mitchellville. friend, if-off prayer request, send it to me, i am play preying over the requests, they are coming in and i am calling the name, or the name of the person

who sends that re-guest. i am praying over the request. and if you have an offering to send to help me with the purchase of television time it would be greatly appreciated. again, it's been a joy being with you. this is change point, i am past morse. overcoming power comes into my heart. friend, you arable defeated when jesus is not your champion. he will be your david. he will bring him down.

from washington, the mclaughlin group, the american original. for over three decades, the sharpest mindses, best sources, hardest talk. issue one. romney video. video recording of mitt romney addressing a fundraiser in boca raton florida, four months ago, created a fire storm this week. it was posted on the internet by a liberal media outlet named mother jones. named after the revered union organizer. >> there are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon them who believe

they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to them, who believe they are entitled to food, health care, an housing you name it. it is an entitlement and the government should give to them. >> the number quoted by mitt romney in the address is correct. u.s. census bureau data published by the "the wall street journal" reports that 49% of american households receive some type of government benefit in mid 2011. that's up from 30% in the 1980s. social security benefits, 16.2% of americans receive them. medicare coverage, 14.9% receive it. food stamps, one in seven households get them. income tax, americans in 2010 who paid none, 46%. up from 27% 20 years ago. unemployment, 23 million unemployed or underemployed today. question, the obama team is

trying to spin the video as meaning romney only cares about the top 53%. not the 47% who get government benefits. is this damaging to governor romney? tim? >> absolutely damaging to governor romney. because he is writing off a portion of the population. it is not just that he is talking down to them, like barack obama did four yeersz ago, when he talked -- years ago when he talked about the bitter clingers who clinged to guns and religion, and obama says we can win them over and romney is saying i can't win this part of the population. anybody who writes off that population, i don't know where he will get off the 50% to win. >> the problem is they're not all democrats. a lot of them are republicans. they're veterans. they're people who receive benefits, social security. people do not think they're undeserving. so he is insulting basically

much of the electorate. and there is a window of his soul. this is how mitt romney thinks, and when he was thinking of that mansion in boca raton, this is i think how rich people talk when they're among themselves. they want to protect their benefits and they see themselves as in something of a war against the hordes of undeserving people. and a lot of the benefits that he is talking about were expanded by republican and democratic presidents. the child care tax credit was doubled under george w. bush. this is part of the reason a lot of people do not pay federal income taxes. before they pay a lot of other taxes. and they feel stressed, and they don't see that mitt romney is someone who is on their side. it is devastating to him politically. >> mark? >> well, i do think it is hugely damaging to him politically. i have to say, i don't believe this is the way all wealthy people talk. i've been to many -- >> i hope not. >> i was a waiter at these dinners and i listened to

those conversations. [ laughter ] >> and i never heard them talk that way. and when they tipped me, they didn't say you deserve this, they basically said i didn't deserve it because i wasn't serving. i do think there is a blind spot in romney that is really spon issuing in the sense that there is something about him that is not coming through. i don't know if it will before the campaign is over. but if it doesn't, he will be in real trouble. it is immense political damage. and the fact that it came out this way, the fact that he said it, and wasn't aware that you can't do anything, or say anything like this today, in this age of cameras and all kinds of things, so i find it really astonishing. it has done him enormous damage. whether he recovers or not will depend in my judgment how well he handsels the debates. and he will have to answer to this in the debate and he bet ver a good answer. >> some people say this is actually an improvement in previous democratic attack lines top 1%.

you ever think of that? >> that is not true. he was a very effective governor of massachusetts. he was not focused on the wealthy. he was focused on health care and a lot of very good things. i think that is just an unfair judgment about him. >> now, he's got the interest of the majority. >> that's what he says now. the problem is, our other colleague, rich lowry has been on this program numerous times editor of national review and says that it sounds like he was repeated something he overheard from a couple of conservatives and of which romney is not. he is a come lately kevin late conservative trying to sound like one. and there is a book written on it about half of the population not paying income taxes than is one for a longer decision. he was more than correct when he said his answer was not as elegant as it might been. >> what about obama, the redistributor? >> a tape came out a couple of days ago, with the president saying, yes, he believes in

redistribution. i don't. i believe the way to lift people and to help people have higher income is not to take from some and go to others, but to create wealth for all of make sure that everybody's got a shot. >> question, is the idea of redistributing wealth popular with middle class voters? >> no, it is a toxic phrase. which is why the romney campaign has unearthed this video from 1998. but what barack obama was talking about was redistributing so that you have a -- to create a safety net, and if you played the rest of

that tape, you would hear him go on to talk about the private market, and he gives a wonderful exposition in defense of capitalism. so he is not for a classic socialistic redistribution. >> eleanor, he just said he favors redistribution. >> well, to create a safety net. >> well, that wasn't -- >> that's what it is about. but if you think this is going to rescue the romney campaign, this is not going to do so. >> does everybody think that this is anything else but dynamite? >> john, obama's redistribution is not just a safety net. the obama care subsidies go to the middle class. you've got cash for clunkers. cash for clonkers. cash for banks. everybody, big bank, middle class, millionaires, they're all getting the money redistributed and paul ryan said it very well once, it is instead of a safety net, it becomes a web that ensnares people and middle class don't like it. they want americans -- >> wait a minute. who does this remind you of?

who does this remind you of? clarence? >> rahm emanuel? >> it reminds me of a web that ensnares everybody. >> did you hear of joe the plumber? >> spreading the weth around, exactly. >> yes. and he said is to joe the plumber. >> and that has been the same for years. >> how is this any worse? recueing the same discussion we had four years ago about joe the plumber. have you heard of the progressive income tax? have you heard about the $10 million amount of money that bain received from the fdic. the companies that bain owned were receiving tax breaks as well. redistribution is the way government operates. the only political issue is who pays and who benefits. that's the real political debate. so let's have it. >> president reagan, who created the earned income tax credit. which bill clinton had expanded on. and that probably is classic redistribution. it is not over the top karl

marx however. >> why can't you say something at this point? >> john, i have the feeling you think i have to defend the 1% or something like that. [ laughter ] >> i don't defend the 1%. i actually believe in higher taxes on the wealthy. i supported it when the president introduced it in this particular thing. i do think we need to do things that require the participation of the wealthy. otherwise the politics will never let us do anything to get our budgets under control and our deficits under control. >> let's sober up a little bit. $16trillion in debt. >> that's right. >> $6 trillion has been added to the national debt since president obama took office four years ago. when the debt clock was at $10 trillion. david letterman slipped mr. obama this sly one. >> now, do you remember what that number one? was it $10 trillion? >> i don't remember what the number was precisely. >> right. but see now, if this is me and i got the credit card guy calling me every day, i start

to get scared. i mean as americans, should we be scared that we owe that kind >> ? >> a lot of it we owe to ourselves, right? >> get a load of that. he developed that train of thought. >> even letterman is scared. what do you think of that? >> i think letterman can handle it. the point that the president is making is that much of the debt is held in terminally -- internally, if one government branch of the debt and social security checks that we owe but some of the debt is owned by overseas credit by the chinese and he made an excellent point that interest rates are so low now, that borrowing money, now is the time to do our infrastructure recovery, and now is the time, while the rest of the world is still parking their money with us, because we're still a safe harbor, and he makes the point that the deficit is of concern. but it is not a concern for the next six months. it is something that you have to get on, on a pattern. but to dive into austerity is to invite the same kind of problems that europe is going

through. and it only crimps any kind of recovery that we have. so i think -- >> don't you think -- didn't kn deficit, i'm sure republicans are going to go to town on that. >> that's not the issue. >> it is ignorant. >> that's not the issue. the issue is raising taxes now. or putting in an austerity program now. the issue is developing a program like the boll-simpson program that deals with our deficit over the longer term. because just like europe, we will end up in the same kind of difficulty. there is a wonderful line from a hemingway novel where somebody says, how did you go bankrupt? he says first, first, slowly and then suddenly. you know, that's what has happened in europe, okay? all of those governments had too much debt on their books. were running deficits. we're running a huge deficit. sooner or later it will burn us and burn us badly and we have to do something about it. and we not support -- he would not support the -- >> you can't seriously deal with the issue. >> he didn't deal with it when

boll-simpson came in with the recommendation. >> romney is now rolling back on obama care. and now maybe the pre-existing condition part is not so bad after all. and like he rolled back on the medicare theme as far as the $700 billion redirected by obama, over to obama care. all of this is in an election year, people are playing around with these issues. you're right. we got to deal with the deficit and the debt. >> the middle class cringes at the idea of redistribution. they know that people like mort and others are -- they can find their loopholes. but they cringe at it. >> social security and medicare are the federal government redistribution. >> do you think that -- >> i think people know -- >> let's talk about political correctness. don't talk about redistribution. it is reality. people like it. >> and people cringe at it. >> people call it earned

benefits. if you earn these benefits as a citizen and pay into the programs, that's how people regard them. >> but they know that their there are loopholes and tax havens and those who have the bucks can get the lawyers and the account assents to finds t and they can't do that. >> home mortgage credit. >> when we come back, america's ally attacked.

it was more surreal than anything. you're under fire. you're getting blown up. there's definitely adrenaline. there was the explosion, and i remember just opening my eyes, and it got both of my legs. i had surgery after surgery, you know, i was on a lot of pain medicine. "what's going to happen next? and how long am i going to be here?" the wounded warrior project dropped off a backpack for me. and it had everything in there that i could possibly have needed at that time. peer visitors, people who have been where i had been before, said, "look, brother, "everything's going to be okay. "three months from now, or four months "from now, a year from now, you'll be fine." that type of thing was an invaluable service. to be honest, i don't know if i would be as well adjusted as i am now if it wasn't for them. to learn more, call... or visit woundedwarriorproject.org.

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issue two. insider attack. >> this is a war. we're engaged in a war. and every day, when you're engaged in war, there are serious risks that confront those who fight the war. >> secretary of state leon panetta is particularly concerned about quote-unquote insider attacks. these in side attacks are ones perpetrated by afghan forces who have been trained by u.s. and nato forces. in other words, our allies in afghanistan are turning their fire on the american force who trained them. 51 deaths from insider attacks have occurred this year alone. an increase from 35 last year.

on sunday, september 16, four u.s. soldiers were lured and then killed by afghan police, supposedly on our side. on friday, one week ago, a particularly audacious attack occurred at camp bastion, a major air base in hellman province. afghan militants scaled the perimeter of the heavily guarded facility and killed two u.s. marines. harrier jets were also destroyed. in response to these ongoing assaults, the u.s. military has suspended most side by side nato/afghan field operations, like joint patrols. quote, it will apply only until the threat level returns to a tolerable level. unquote. so says u.s. colonel and senior nato spokesman tom collins. the u.s. has been fighting in afghanistan since october 2001. 11 years. as of this past wednesday,

1,994 u.s. troops have died in afghanistan. 17,619 u.s. troops have been wounded in action. how much money has the $443billion. so reports the congressional research office. question, the u.s. exit from afghanistan, slated for 2014, assumes a successful training of afghan forces to take over the security of that country. so how will this training suspension affect that exit date? clarence? >> it is going to be a -- it is obviously a problem, i don't think it is going to hold up the official exit date really, but it is something that we have had to reconfigure our troops and the way our squads now have to have somebody watching our afghan allies, afghan security force, at the same time they're looking out for the visible enemy.

it is a chaotic situation in that regard. but i don't think we're going to really delay our pull-out. >> but the issue there is that the joint efforts of both the afghanis and the american forces were to train the afghanis so they could handle the security issues when the americans left. you're not going to have that now. they're not going to be able to handle the security forces when we have made the commit to leave in 2014. so that means that afghanistan may become once again a base for terrorism, against the united states, and this whole effort has been a disaster. >> and it undermines the trust that they hope to build between the americans and the afghanis. but i think it is a little bit of an overreach to say this is the difference between leaving a relative success and a huge disaster. i think whenever we leave, whether it is in 2014, which is when it will be, or 10 years into the future, afternoon is still going to be an unsettled place.

but i don't think we can fix that forever. >> what percentage of nato forces, including americans, have been killed by reason of these insider attacks? >> a small percentage. >> 15%. >> oh, 15% of -- from insider attacks? >> it shows -- >> it is a vial situation. >> it shows exactly why, what george w. bush tries to undertake there in -- after driving out the taliban, and the al qaeda supporters, just that regime, then trying to build it as a nation, that that was folly, and president obama has tried to do that, too and we're playing make-believe, oh, 2014, maybe we won't be able to leave. we will leave. it will be more than unsettled. it is going to be a mess. >> what is wrong with doing what we did in vietnam. just go? you know? >> it is called cutting and running. and it would be a political disaster at the very least. and also send signals to the rest of the world that --

>> you want staying and killing? >> no, i want staying until the determined -- it is determined with our allies deadline in 2014. >> there comes a time when you reach critical mass. and it is not only folly, but it is probably sin -- >> in reality, the only real stable parts in afghanistan as far as we're concerned are the capital and kandahar, major centers like that. most of that country is still controlled by various tribal chiefs et cetera. >> the president of afghanistan has remained remarkably silent since this. >> afghanistan has been a disaster from beginning to end. and there were other alternatives when the president added 30,000 troops when they had done that is correct and it is too late. it is what it is. and we are now where we are. and when the troops leave, it will be a disaster. >> it is when, 2014? >> two years. >> two years from now. do you think we should wait that long? >> that's the commitment we made. i agree with eleanor, you just

can't pull out, okay? it is a staged withdrawal. but the whole idea, the timing of the withdrawal, was to train the afghani troops so they could defend themselves. and now it is not possible. >> this weekend, we're seeing the surge, the afghani surge has been dropped down. our surge there. and now there are afghanis saying look the surge of troops created more ailation and now they're abandoning us, and the terrorists made by the u.s. president are free to operate. >> it is not that different from iraq. there are bad things going on in iraq, too. it is not completely peaceable. >> but iraq has a history -- >> the american people really, are on a quasi-isolationist move right now. they don't care for it at all. >> that's a big reason why -- >> there are circumstances that can intervene. which change plans quite legitimately. >> that's right. >> there is not much to exit question. president obama's aim is to transform afghanistan in a way that is commensurate with the military and economic means that will do do the job.

isn't that true? carney? >> i don't think they will be able to bring enough force to make afghanistan be peaceful or anything. i think obama is looking for an excuse to cut and run without making it look like cutting and running. >> do you think he can find it? >> yes, i think he is very good at finding excuses. excellent. >> eleanor? >> he has put in place a withdrawal plan and i think he is going to stick to it. maybe after the election, president romney or president obama, they will reassess, but i think for the moment the plan is pretty well set in stone. >> he has put in place for a withdrawal date. the plan for the withdrawal date has fallen apart completely. he will stick to the date without question. but let's face. it we will not be able to train the afghani forces to do what we think they should be able to do when we set the date. >> and i didn't say the date would change. >> we have the latest of many empire builders and semi-em

pisser semi-builders to try to go into afghanistan and -- semi- building, to try to go into afghanistan and change it, and then leave. >> and mujahedin, that resulted in al qaeda. >> this moral rut, the ethical rut. >> can you elaborate, john? >> yes, i can. soldiers side by side. one training the other. and they kill each other. >> you may call it rot. but they believe they have a reason to be doing this and that's what we have to deal with. >> there are intervening circumstances that makes the original deal unbearable. that ought to be reconsidered. we'll be right back with predictions.

we know where they've taken her.

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predictions. dim? >> the lame duck congress will avert the fiscal cliff only by kicking the can down the road. >> eleanor? >> both campaigns turning to debate prep, the white house bringing back anita dunn to oversee the pret. >> mort? >> the israelis will not attack iran until after the election. >> clarence? >> mitt romney will do surprisingly well in the first debate because expectations are so low. >> two parts of spain will break away two months from now and the united nations will vote to seek the new nation. bye-bye. love for skating.

it all started when i was little and my dad took me to our local rink.. that love of skating took me to the olympics. i also have a love for reading. i remember my mom reading to me at night. those stories helped me reach for the stars as i drifted off to sleep. that's why i've joined with reading is fundamental, america's largest children's literacy group. together we inspire children to become life-long readers, so they can go for the gold. go to rif dot org, and inspire a child to read today.

>> welcome to "government contracting weekly," sponsored by aoc key solutions, inc. "government contracting weekly" is the only television program devoted exclusively to the competitive and dynamic world of government contracting, a world where coming in second place is not an option but where principled-centered winning is the only approach. >> good morning and welcome back to "government contracting weekly," where each week we aim to provide you, the government contractor, with strategies, tactics, techniques, and current information to help you win a contract, always using principled-centered winning. today we have with us 3 experts. we have with us dr. andrew ritcheson from dynamic research corporation, thomas carrato, the president of health net federal services, and greg mccarthy from key solutions. each one of them is

going to address the issue of health care i.t. this is a critical issue for patients across our nation, whether wounded warriors, returning veterans, the extended family of those veterans, and patients throughout our nation. the issue is that of the transition of a massive amount of information into the technological era and also while driving efficiencies at the same time keeping the patient top of mind. today of course we're focusing on health care, and i'm delighted to have tom carrato with us, and tom has a really extensive background, and it's particularly interesting because he's got a perspective both sides. he's served in government and in the commercial sector now with health net, and, tom, for our audience, could you give a little bit more about your background and share with them the unique perspective you do have? >> sure. i'd be happy to. i spent 30 years in the government service. i was a

commissioned officer in the united states public health service. spent time at the defense department. that's where i ended my career, running the worldwide tricare program. before that, i was the regional health administrator in the southeastern united states, and as you mentioned, most recently i'm currently working with health net, continuing to support government health care programs. >> which is a great track record of service, and you mentioned tricare, when you were head of tricare. now you actually do also oversee and work with a tricare program at health net. what does it mean to military families in terms of your overseeing it and also with your perspective and what help we're giving to military families now? >> yeah. my position with health net, being able to continue to serve and support military families and retirees, and tricare is exceedingly important to military families

and retirees. having a reliable health care program makes it so much easier for our service members who go into harm's way. >> and know they're gonna have this when they come out particularly. >> and know that they have it, but just as importantly, they know their family members, who are at home, are being cared for. >> one less worry that troubles them. >> one less worry, and just being able to continue to serve, being on the government side, supporting the tricare program, and now being able to continue to serve tricare. >> you on both sides personally. >> both sides. and just personally, it's just very rewarding... >> that's good to hear. >> for me to be in that position. >> yeah. very good to hear. with so many military families now having their loved ones returning, we've got so many people that are coming back with great disorders of--very traumatic mentally, physically in great numbers that we've never really had to deal with before as a nation, do you feel

that the government is prepared, particularly with looming budget cuts? >> yeah. it's a very good question, and the country's now been at war for over 10 years, and we are seeing deployments that we haven't seen before, multiple deployments, and they have significant impact upon the service member and their families, and it creates tremendous need... >> yes. >> both physical health and behavioral health. the government is doing a great job of trying to identify what those needs are. they're spending a lot of money on research. they're also spending money on treatment. at health net, we've been able--with our expertise and our long association with the military and with our clinical expertise and programmatic expertise, we've been able to design programs to address some of the needs. so for our wounded ill

and injured service members, we developed a warrior care support program. >> for the families and themselves? >> for the service members and also as a support to the family. >> yes. >> because we will have service members who are severely injured and need intensive case management. >> so the public doesn't always hear about that. even the contracting community may not be aware of the depth of those services. >> correct, and this is a program that we developed based on what we were observing and working with the military hospitals and their personnel and seeing how best we could support the military hospitals and our service members and their families. >> and what about with the families and the service members? are there opportunities for some of our viewers and the audience, contractors out there to subcontract with health net? is that something that you're expanding those. >> well, one of the things we're doing is we as the tricare contractor are responsible for developing a

comprehensive provider network. so we contract with health care institutions, individual providers, and in areas particularly in behavioral health, we look for-- >> very specialized. >> very specialized. >> and traumatic issues. >> correct. health net also operates a worldwide behavioral health--it's a non-medical counseling program called the military family life counseling program, and it's focused on resiliency, non-medical counseling, behavioral coaching, and we also use subcontractors to augment our own associates in delivering that type of service. >> ok. >> so, yes, we do partner with a variety of organizations, small disadvantaged businesses, service-disabled-veteran-owned businesses. >> great.

>> tom, with all those traumatic disorders that are now occurring, you've actually testified in front of a house committee in terms of the need and the future needs that we're going to have that really we haven't faced previously. what does that mean in terms of upcoming procurements? >> i was invited to testify before the house va committee, to talk about access issues particularly as it related to behavioral health for our veterans. >> yes. >> and with the growing need, growing demand, the veterans health administration is starting to look to the private sector. they recognize-- >> more than they ever have? >> more than they ever have because there's a need and because they recognize the value of partnering with the private sector. >> and you hadn't seen that as much when you were at dod? >> seen some of it, but again with the volume of returning veterans and with the unique needs and particularly with

veterans, not all of them live where there's a va hospital. >> no. right. we're not as lucky as in this area. >> correct. >> yes. >> so we're seeing--one example. in rural america, the va has contracted with us in two of their regions to develop a rural behavioral health network. >> ok. which regions are those? >> those are--they're referred to as visns, so visns 19 and 20, and we have developed networks in rural parts of oregon and colorado to bring services to where the veterans are. >> and then will there be more procurements coming out related to that program? >> well, the va has held industry days around the country, and this is a broad objective of theirs is to partner with the private sector to bring specialty care, and the procurement is referred to as patient-centered community care, and it's looking at developing provider networks to

augment the care provided by va facilities. so i think that's an opportunity-- >> great opportunity for our viewers. yeah. >> correct, and the va really understands what's best for veterans. they've spent quite a bit of time evaluating the needs. they've done a tremendous job of developing clinical practice guidelines, and they're now starting to look at how can the private sector assist? >> and then with the private sector if one of the contractors today viewing wanted to become part of this program, what do you view are the most important aspects of winning and gaining such a contract, showing dedication to the government and the program? what should they be looking at and focusing on? >> i think that the viewers need to understand the unique needs. >> particularly the trauma space. >> correct. >> yeah. >> what are the needs of veterans today? this isn't just another large employer account.

it's not like you're going after the walmart account to provide health care insurance. >> and it's very serious, and it's very important to take care--to help the veterans. >> it is. it's absolutely critical. these individuals, these men and women have done so much for us. >> we need to make sure we take care of them. >> we need to make sure we take care of them. >> yes. yes, tom. >> tom, with all that is required--and you've mentioned of course that there's a great volume now of veterans returning--what about the partnering both from the health net side and government with charities and non-profit organizations that want to help, have been set up to help, the wounded warrior program, a lot of health care programs, are you partnering with them, and are you seeing government partnering more with them, and what does it mean to our viewer? >> we are seeing a lot of partnering with charitable organizations both from the government side and from our side, and we're seeing more organizations wanting to get involved. a couple of the critical issues. one is

employment of veterans, and we're seeing different coalitions come together to create job opportunities. >> not just in health care but everywhere? >> right. now there are specific industry coalitions. we participate in one that's supported by a variety of health care companies, and we at health net federal services have actually committed to increasing our hiring of veterans over the next 3 years. >> that's a good example, yes, and a lot of other companies are doing the same. >> and lots of other companies are, and it's critically important that we do so. >> but even with budget cuts, that doesn't always become so easy. >> correct, correct. we're also partnering--because we have providers in the community that want to know "how can i help? how can i help address the growing need, demand?" and they want additional information on what the-- >> what the needs are. >> what the needs are. >> and with sequestration looming, what can we do now,

what can we get in? >> right. so one of the things that we've done is we've partnered with penn state hershey medical center, the american red cross, the defense veterans brain injury center to develop continuing education programs for providers, physicians, social workers, psychologists. >> so they can see how to get involved. >> so they can understand what the signature wounds are, what's the best way to address issues of resiliency, how best to address the needs of service members with traumatic brain injury, posttraumatic stress. so we're partnering with the community to develop content and get it out into the community through continuing education. >> wonderful. >> we're also trying to partner with organizations to help reduce the stigma for seeking behavioral health care. >> that's important. >> so we've joined with both hollywood and nashville, working with the creative coalition in hollywood... >> now that's interesting. again, most people aren't aware of that.

>> and the country music association in nashville to produce public service announcements, and the message is "if you need help, help is there. you just need to reach out." >> that's wonderful. tom, there are a lot of small businesses out there that don't have all the resources nor the offerings of health net, but they want to enter, they want to contribute. they also want to be a part of what's happening in health care. obviously they have to be very aware of what's needed right now, but what else should they be looking to, and where should they be focusing to perhaps be a subcontractor to health net but also entering the health care i.t. space? it's a fast-moving industry with lots of developments. given it's fast-moving, given they're trying to enter, what should they be focusing on? >> yeah. there are a lot of small businesses, and we try and partner with as many small businesses, particularly veteran-owned and service-disabled-veteran-owned, and we look for niche businesses that can bring unique expertise to the

critical needs that we're all trying to address. we also participate in the mentor-protege programs for the defense department and the department of veterans affairs. >> which is new since you were there. those are all newer programs, more recent. >> yeah. i think they were there, but they're being used much more now than when i was there. >> more publicly. >> more publicly used, and we think they're valuable ways to bring small businesses into the game and help us address these growing needs. so as it takes the community, the public sector, the private sector, when we receive contracts, we do look to small businesses and subcontractors to fill in those gaps, those unique gaps that we may have. >> so you can serve end to end? yes. >> correct, correct. >> great.

tom, you certainly have a lot of responsibilities on your shoulders. you were used to being at dod, also, likewise, and not that i'm insinuating that you were up all night or anything, but you're probably privy to some serious issues that maybe not all of our viewers and all of us are. what does keep you up at night? >> well, the makeup didn't hide the bags under my eyes obviously. no. what keeps me up at night is what we've been talking about today, is that we're a nation that's been at war for over 10 years now. >> long time, yes. >> we have many young men and women who are deployed and still in harm's way, and the responsibility i have is to make sure that the programs health net supports--they're there to support our men and women and their families--run flawlessly and that we deliver on the service excellence that these young men and women and our retirees and their families deserve. >> they deserve, yeah, and i can tell, tom, that you really care and health net does. so

thank you for joining us. thank you for being with us. i'm sure that our viewers really learned a lot about what you're doing. thank you, tom. >> thank you, hillary. >> and now it's time for "government contracting weekly's" don'ts and do's. >> hello, and welcome to our segment today on don'ts and then the do's of winning government contracts. as you know, today we're focusing on health care i.t., and there's 3 particular don'ts. just don't bid on an opportunity if the first time your firm has heard of it is on fedbizopps. by that time, everybody else in the market has heard about it. the second don't is don't bid for an opportunity if no one in the government has actually either heard of your firm or you don't have a reputation that you've worked hard at establishing. you need to pay your dues by going on a lot of meeting and greeting people. you need to establish your reputation and make sure that they're aware of your company's corporate capabilities, and thirdly another don't is don't just bid

without a great track record. your track record doesn't have to be necessarily in government. it could be an extensive track record in the commercial sector, but you must have the capabilities and a track record to prove you can deliver so that you can win a health care i.t. contract. in terms of the do's and how you do win, we have with us today greg mccarthy from key solutions, and he's gonna address some of the do's. greg. >> thank you. so i have an example here where my client actually did the do's. they got out. they were aware of this opportunity way before it hit the public domain. they had their key personnel in place, and they knew who they were gonna bid on this job, and then finally they have a track record because they're incumbent on this contract. so in this example, it's in the health care i.t. industry. it's a big market. the government's gonna spend about $120 billion this year on i.t. services alone. within hhs, they're really focused on 3 things: cloud computing, data center consolidation, and big data, ok? and my client happens to be

in this space. they're performing very well. they hired us about a year before their contract was due to expire. so they knew about this before anybody. they had an advantage as an incumbent, and what they did was they hired us to do a third party assessment for them, and what a third party assessment is it's when you bring an outside group in, we interview their customers, try to find out the good and the bad, what they're doing well, what they can work on, what they can improve upon, and this really fits in real well with principle-centered winning because what this does, it provides a service we feel for both the government and for industry. they perform their performance, the government gets a better performing contractor, and in this case, i'm happy to say that they were awarded this contract. they expected a lot of competition, and they got it, but because of their good performance, because the government knew about them, they marketed the contract, they knew about how they were performing, the ended up winning this contract, and we were very excited about it. >> did you know that if you

could change just one part of the traditional proposal process to have the most positive impact, it would be the part that is the most sacred, that is often considered the single most important part of the processes and also the most destructive? pretty interesting, wouldn't you say? for more information contact us at governmentcontractingweekly.com. >> most of our viewers are concerned with the speculation of the collision between traditional health care and i.t. what really is on the horizon, what's very imminent, what is actually happening today, and what you look to see as a solution and/or soft landing for our nation? >> well, certainly this collision that people are suspecting is about to happen or has happened or is happening is a very important one. it will shape the space that we function in, it will shape it

on all sides, all facets, whether that's clinical or i.t. or people seeking to win business in the space or to work the space. i suspect it's a matter of somewhere between a collision and the rubbing together of tectonic plates. it may be that there is a dramatic impact and that the dust flies up and settles over time, or that it may be a slower, more deliberate grinding together of these two areas, which will on its own way cause various phenomena in the future to happen, whether good or bad. >> so what recommendations do you have for our audience that's looking to perhaps make it less of a drastic collision and to soften it. what should they be doing to prepare? >> well, preparedness, i think, is key for this. what we're looking at is a phenomenon that is on its face very simple but is actually very complex. it involves a lot of people, a lot of processes, and there are a

lot of spheres of influence. people wanting to execute effectively within the space will want to prepare by understanding what this looks like from the government's side, to understand the various dynamics, to understand the history but also where they want to get to in the future and then to try to fit their own approach to these problems accordingly in ways that are cost-effective, that are measurably effective, and that are durable, as well. >> so when you say, "look at it from the government's perspective," the government is really looking for efficiencies, and they're looking for end-to-end solutions that people can provide in what particular areas? you work at the va. can you name something specific that maybe the va's looking for? >> well, i think this efficiency point is key. this collision or this grating together of these two worlds will either be successful or wrought with failure based on the ability for different players in the puzzle to understand one another, whether that's on the clinical side, the people actually using the

electronic tools that are gonna be developed, or whether that's on the clinical side with people trying to develop tools for that end user group. i think one of the most critical groups not to lose sight of is actually the patients themselves, and when i think about successful initiatives, bringing together im/it solutions with the clinical personnel in order to better serve patients, whether in the va or not, and that's always been around communications, that's been around multidisciplinary teaming, and that's been around having sense-making agents who are able to stand in between those 3 groups and to take the best from each in order to provide the safest and most effective care to our end users. >> so when you talk about the end users, the patient, that is the most important from everybody's perspective, from government's perspective, from the commercial sector's perspective. so looking at what's happening globally on a global basis, that we are no longer gonna be deploying a lot of the military, they're returning home, so we have the military side, and we also have

domestically in terms of health care. are their differences, or are they the same issues for the patient, the end user? >> there are many similar issues, but there are some key differences. with returning servicemen and women who are coming back, many of whom are suffering from very complicated disorders, a lot of them combined--posttraumatic stress and traumatic brain injury often occurs together--the difficulty there is we don't know how that's gonna unfold over time, and so any solution, whether it's based in im/it, whether it's an im/it solution that is informing clinical care or vice versa, all of these are going to have to be adaptable, agile, able rapidly to change and to accommodate increasing need because we don't know how these diseases and disorders are going to unfold over an expanse of time. >> welcome back to our ask the expert section. today we have

with us richard nathan from ksi, and i know that, richard, you have expertise not just in government contracting but also teaming and health care i.t., and you were in the studio earlier and saw tom carrato and a lot of his comments. do you have some observations for our viewers with regard to what he was saying? >> well, i thought he was right on, hillary, when he talked about teaming. teaming's critical in winning procurements these days and particularly so in health care i.t., where the products and services are beginning to become commodisized. the problem that large businesses have is choosing the right teammates, and what they really need is somebody who can add differentiators and make their story more compelling. >> so the prime can win. >> so the prime can win. if you're a small business, it's particularly challenging to get the attention of a large business. >> because it's so competitive. >> because it's so competitive. there are thousands of small businesses within 5 miles of where we're sitting right now. >> yes. >> but we helped a small business recently get on a team by emphasizing their

performance on a small business set-aside that they were working that is actually scheduled to be rolled into the procurement at hand. we did a third party assessment for them in which we went and spoke to their client, the government, about their performance in over 40 areas, and they scored exceptionally well in most of them, and they then took that information and showed it to the prime and was added to the team because the prime now knew that they would actually bring a differentiator with them to the bid. >> a solid track record, real. yes. >> and the probability of getting very solid past performance scores. >> mm-hmm. >> it also turns out that the government was a little critical in just a few areas when we did the third party assessment. >> "so now the sub can rectify us." >> and now the sub could rectify them. that's right, and by the time the proposal is evaluated, their scores in the government's eyes would even be higher. >> so everybody's winning in this situation. the sub gets to improve their performance, demonstrate their great track record, and the prime gets to

win. >> yeah. that's exactly right. >> wonderful. richard, thank you for your observations. appreciate that. >> "if we focus solely on profit and exclusively on what is in our best interests, we will lose our ethical compass. however if we focus on our clients and what is good for them, then business will naturally come to us. we will reap what we sow. we will not only endure, we will prosper. you've been watching "government contracting weekly," sponsored each week by aoc key solutions, inc. "government contracting weekly" is the only television program devoted exclusively to the competitive and dynamic world of government contracting. for additional information, comments, questions, or suggestions, please write us at www. governmentcontractingweekly.com >> thank you for joining us this morning, and also thank you to tom carrato of health net federal services, and thank

you to dr. andrew ritcheson from dynamic research corporation and greg mccarthy from key solutions. all 3 shared with us issues and opportunities in this immense arena of health care i.t., the move of an enormous amount of data into the technological era. it's driving efficiencies, which is good for the nation. at the same time, all of them emphasized the patient, that we must all keep the patient at the forefront and at the top of our minds. we hope you as a contractor have gained some information this morning that will help you enter this arena or to win a contract if you're already in health care i.t. we also hope you'll join us next week, and we'd really like to hear from you at governmentcontractingweekly.com. what would you like to see on an upcoming program? give us your suggestions. we'd like to know what do you find beneficial, who would you like to see on the program, and what would you like to know? let us know at "government contracting weekly." thank you.

>> you've been watching "government contracting weekly," sponsored each week by aoc key solutions, inc. "government contracting weekly" is the only television program devoted exclusively to the competitive and dynamic world of government contracting. for additional information, comments, questions, or suggestions, please write us at governmentcontractingweekly.com

today on "platts energy week," preparing for an oil spill in the caribbean. one nation steps up to respond. then two years after the gas pipeline explosion, what's being done to avoid another disaster. but first, hard times for coal in the u.s.. you're watching "platts energy week." your independent source for energy news. hello, i'm bill loveless, and welcome to "platts energy week." members of congress are packing up and helding home. many of them to close out their campaigns for re-election this november. the house republicans one of the fine acts is a massive bill aimed at what they consider the obama administration's war on coal. the legislation would block or roll back emission controls and other regulations. the romney campaign is weighing in too with political ads aimed at ohio and other coal producing swing states. here's one of those ads.

>> my family's worked in the coal industry for every 60 years, this is a way of life we know. policies that the current administration's got is say tacking my livelihood -- attacking my livelihood. he was going to bankrupt any new power plants that opened up that's coal fired and he's keeping his promise. i got two young grandsons, i'm scared for their future. let alone mine. >> the lead sponsor of the legislative effort is a freshman congressman from ohio, bill johnson. i spoke with him on capitol hill the other day. congressman, this bill comes at a time when there's been more bad news for the coal industry. alpha natural resources just announced plans to close eight mines in pennsylvania, west virginia, and virginia. and lay off more than 1,000 people. how would this legislation help save jobs like those? >> well, the legislation is comprised of several different sections. several different pieces of legislation. but -- but three of the big ones are one, it's going to

stop the administration from moving forward with what's known as the string buffer zone rule. if you recall, the string buffer zone rule was put in place by the bush administration, took five years to do it. the administration immediately set out after yielding to an environmentalist lawsuit to rewrite that rule and such a way that according to the contractors that did the analysis, would cost tens of thousands of jobs. cut coal production by 50%, cause skyrocketing energy prices, just -- just a disaster for the coal industry. and remember, america gets about 45% of its energy from coal. the state of ohio gets over 80% of its energy from coal. so to virtually shut down underground coal mining which is what that string buffer zone rule rewrite it would do, that's a big deal. >> but increasing registrationlation is certainly one of the issues here and alpha mentioned that the other day when they announced their

plans to shut down mines. but stiff competition from natural gas and a softened market for coal in china and aboard in other countries, aren't they bigger problems  that the problems the coal industry faces right now? >> i don't think so, is truelove the above energy vision for america has room for both coal and natural gas and i've been very fortunate you know. i have a lot of natural gas business and oil business in the sixth district of ohio as well because we sit right on top of the shales. we've established good working relationships with both industries because when you look at the -- at the unbelievable demand for energy in the future, there's a -- there's a place for both coal, which is the most cost effective reliable form of energy on the planet, and natural gas and oil as it begins to mature in the market begins to mature. >> given the choice these days utilities are omentaing to

install gas fire generation rather than coal simply because gas is far cheaper. >> it needs to be market driven. there's going to be some of that. it needs to be private sector driven. >> isn't it mark driven now? >> not if you look at what the administration is domestic. when you've -- driven. when you're got the administration putting such onerous relationlations on the skoal industry on the production side and on the market side or the demand side, driving up the cost of producing coal, and driving up the use of coal, it's an unfair advantage to oil and natural gas. because the federal government as it has done wrongly for so many years is picking winners and losers here. >> well, the administration will say it's still very much committed to coal. it's noted and has again in just recent days said it's committed $6 billion for research on coal. but there doesn't appear to be that much of a market for the clean coal technology.

again, given this high price of the -- relatively low price of natural gas and the lack of regulation. some say. >> let's don't forget that the reason that the regulations aren't there for the oil and natural gas yet is because the administration is just getting started. they're trying. they're trying to insert themselves. the epa is, into the process of hydraulic fracturing. which we know has never caused a contamination of the water supply. but yet they insist that even though we've got 60 years of experience, that they need to regulate something that's working well already. >> some of the regulations on coal, certainly the ones that would curb carbon emissions, have been driven by concerns over climate change and global warming. now, at the republican convention, governor romney seemed to be -- making light of president obama's concerns over

climate change and some of your republican colleagues think climate change is just a hoax. what do you think? >> well, you know, i believe that when you're talking about common sense regulations if you have a public health, public safety or a national security reason for saying no to a particular project or a technology, that's okay. but it needs to be based on sound science. and fact. not on political rhetoric or some kind of environmentalist agenda. the senate rejected the cap and trade bill. thankfully. that they did. and now you've got the -- the administration trying to legislate that through the epa. through the clean air standards. and that's one of the things that is in the provision that we will be debating later today and hopefully passing tomorrow is to keep that -- that train wreck of clean air emission standards from going forward. because it's just destructive. >> there's been a pattern in this split congress where bills

passed the republican led house and fail or go nowhere in the democratic led senate. and that's the case with this bill. the senate's not going to take that bill up. is it just for political show just weeks before the election? >> well, if we were to say that, we'd have to go back and say that virtually everything we've done since january of 2011 would have been political show and that's just simply not true. this is the peoples' house. we were sent here to do the peoples' business. so no, we've passed over 40 jobs related bills, two budgets, numerous pieces of -- of legislation to rein in these out of control regular tear agencies and you're right they it is idle in the senate. but no one can say the republican led house has not done the peoples' business. we've,. the -- acted. the senate and the administration have not. >> congressman bill johnson. thank you very much. >> thank you. up next, exploratory oil

drilling in the caribbean and a contingency plan in case of an oil spill. we'll be right back. nology needed to respond

to oil spills but most of the resources are committed to development in u.s. wa to oil spills but most of the resources are committed to development in u.s. waters.

now, with deep water exploration becoming a reality in the caribbean sea, concerns are mounting over how island nations in this region would cope with the spill. one of those nations, trinidad and tobago is here taking on the lead providing contingency plan. the former director of the international association of drilling contractors, lee hunt joins me from houston to discuss it. welcome back to the program lee. >> thank you bill. >> earlier this month you organized a meeting in trinidad and tobago called one caribbean, one response with officials from caribbean nations, drilling contractors and others, what was the result? >> the result was to bring together both government officials and industry leaders to discuss the interconnectedness of the exploration plans in the caribbean with environmental factors such as predominant ocean currents that sweep through the region, and to take a look at beginning to mesh the expectations of international

governments in their spill response protocols with the capability and capacity of industry to have the resources properly staged in the event of a spill. >> well, lee, there's some big producers in the caribbean already, trinidad and tobago is one and cuba, it's not big but certainly trying to establish the offshore program. where else is there drilling in deep waters likely? >> okay bill. obviously, at the moment, we have extensive deep water drilling in the u.s., mexico. we have the beginning of a program in cuba. french is drilling the first deep water well. trinidad and tobago just issued leases? four areas. beyond that the bahamas is poised to drift their first well given the approval of the referendum next april. jamaica, barbados have expressed interest.

and venezuela, colombia and even up the yucatan, belize back into mexico and the gulf all expressed interest in seeking deep water exploration in the next five to ten years. >> now trinidad and tobago has plenty of drilling experience and offshore drilling and government's exhibit production. it is if -- production. what can the island do? >> the first thing we note is that trinidad and tobago among all the particularly south caribbean nations has a long history of offshore oil and gas particularly gas exploration. they just celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first drilling of the oil well online. they've been drilling offshore and in that they've developed a very strong anestra truckture. they have -- infrastructure. they have ware housing and transportation. they have deep water ports for the support of the larger offshore service vessels that

are required to both service the oil field and to respond to a spill. in addition, they have airport facilities and land transport facilities between the airport and the harbor facilities that can handle most cargo needs. they're not quite up to the 747 tuv range yet, but they can handle most air freight that would be required to logistically to respond to a spill. >> lee, you mentioned the current strong currents in the caribbean ocean. the caribbean sea. the caribbean is also a focal point for hurricanes. what particular risks does exploration does drilling pose for that region? >> hurricanes do not pose a particularly direct risk to the wells because the forecasting and planning of hurricane movements is sufficiently advanced to enable the drilling vessel to disconnect and move

off-site to a safer harbor. so no direct threat to the well is particularly evident. however, the currents link all of the caribbean nations. it's a region of islands, deep ravines, fast currents. the gulf stream which originates off of the coast of brazil and moves up to the french guinea region produces a number of clockwise eddy currents that when they round the northeast corner of south america, break and enter the caribbean with a sufficient amount of energy to carry any oil product two and a half, three miles per hour into the t defend the u.s. coastline from a spill in cuba. >> lee hunt, he's the former president of the -- nal associa drilling contractors. thank you very much. stay with us as "platts" chief editor chris newkumet discovers what we've learned two years

early on a thursday evening to years ago, a -- duoyears ago -- two years ago, a an explosion and fire ripped through a california neighborhood. along with other accidents in philadelphia and allentown, pennsylvania, ushered in a new era of concern about gas and liquid pipeline that run beneath other businesses and public spaces. here to discuss whether they're

any safer now are don santa president of the international gas association of america and attorney and former official biz scott. welcome. don, a year ago at the foundation meeting in san diego, speaker after speaker got up to say that their top priority for the pipeline sector is rebuilding public trust. is that my a matter -- simply a matter of perception or actual safety here? >> chris, we are talking about sexual safety here. i do think -- actual safety here. i do think that pipelines are safer than they were a year ago. congress passed a new comprehensive pipeline safety law. the regulator at the ot has taken steps and importantly the industry has made a real commitment. it's a commitment that we have made to zero incidents and we're backing that up with a set of concrete steps to achieve that goal. >> i would agree. from secretary lahood to the staff at femsa, everyone is

really looking at this and ensuring that pipelines are as safe as they should be. and as safe as the public thinks they should be. >> this -- this figures to be a long journey and what we're going to talk about that in a minute. i recall that late in the -- the clinton administration, federal regulation moved from a prescriptive based scheme to more of a risk based -- you might even call it a roll your own regulatory approach. it reminded some of us at the time and years later of the regulation that led to things like enron and the 2008 wall street meltdown. fair assessment or not? >> well, there's always the possibility for things to go wrong when you're regulating. one of the things that femsa has tried to do is really stay on top of what the companies are doing. so it's not so much roll your own. it's you know your risks. you need to be managing them and we will make sure that you are managing them. we're looking across, we're

looking at what other companies are doing. we're looking at making sure you're deploying the best technology and making sure that the systems are safe and so instead of a prescriptive regulation where people were doing just the minimum. the companies are really being held to making sure that they are doing what they need to do to manage their risk. which done very well, i think has the opportunity to actually have more safety than you know, the minimum of pipeline safety of prescriptive ranks. >> you can understand how americans might be a little cynical about that though don right? >> chris, i wouldn't equate integrity managements with deregulation or light handed regulation. in fact, it's a -- it was mandated by the pipeline safety improvement act of 2002. there's a set of concrete regulations promulgated by femsa and importantly it led to a schedule for operators to inspect their facilities in

populated areas. in fact the requirement to inspect all the facilities by december of 2012 a goal we're going to meet. they have inspected some 8,000 miles of pipeline in those areas and in fact, have gone beyond the requirement of inspected some 76,000 miles of additional pipeline. >> these are icon against aread as they're referred to -- high consequence areas as they're referred to right don? 66% of carter but 56% of the population live in the areas right? >> i think it's a populated areas. in other words the areas where if there were a pipeline incident it would probably have the highest consequences. >> in those consequences include environmental consequences. so even if there isn't population but there's significant water resources, and protected areas, it does cover those as well. and want to be clear. there are companies that are out there doing a gate job. -- a great job. but there are companies that people should be concerned about and those are the ones that we want to make sure that

they are really doing what they need to do. making sure that pipeline companies aren't out there trying to make a quick buck. and not putting safety where it needs to be. and that's really where 2.0 comes in in terms of what integrity and management is going to do. >> talking about the next phase of regulation. >> absolutely. >> got it. as part of the very expansive report on the san bruno accident. the national transportation safety board had recommend daises for everybody. for every -- recommendations for everything. for everybody. one of them was you do away with the exemption for pre1970 pipelines from hydro to static testing. don this raises the technology question -- you know to really do what i think the pipeline industry wants to do we need to see some advances the technology and -- in technology and yet speakers were gloomy about the prospect. basically a fellow from ge say they're just not getting a

return on invest. does that worry you? >> chris, we're very focused on technology. as a matter of fact that was one of the ntsb recommendations to both inga and the american gas association is to develop a technology road map and inline inspection devices. you're right, technology is going to be a big part of it because the other means of testing pipeline can be very disruptive and to the service that we render to the residential and commercial customers, the industrial customers, the electric generator who is rely upon our -- generators who rely upon our pipelines. what the pipes are doing now is going through their records to determine they have complete and verifiable records for the pipes. they're going to have to test if they don't and that's going to create the market that will spur the technological innovation. we're working with the industry, with the technology conusor is a, with the most rel and least disruptive way of achieving that goal.

>> don santa, biz scott a partner with

in "market spotlight," shale gas has been a game changer in the u.s.. could it be in europe as well? from london, "plattpaul whitehead discuss the prospects, richard? >> thanks bill.

unconventional gas development has transformed the energy sector in the u.s. in recent years. could it do the same in europe in research recently published has shone a light on the potential market for shale gas but also highlighted the risk involved. i'm joined today by european policy editor paul whitehead. >> it depends on what you mean by game changer. could it transfer the energy economy in the states than according to these reports than probably not. but what it could do is keep europe in the gas production game. because at the moment we are in a situation where our indigenous gas sourced depletings in the last decade to the external that we now rely on empowerments around 60% of the gas at a cost of $500 billion a year of 4% of gpd. it could keep the dependency at that kind of level. >> what are the hurdles that stand in the way of shale

becoming a bigger thing for europe? >> the biggest thing is public acceptance. there's a concern about the environmental impact of shale gas. not least the impact on potential emissions into the atmosphere. or into ground water. but the biggest public fear if you like is the risk of earthquakes and it's quite a founded fear because here in the uk, we've had some drilling up in the north of england and research has shown that that did cause two minor earthquakes between 1.5 and 2.3 on the richter scale. there's there concern. but on the flip side there are positive climate benefits because using locally produced shale doesn't have the same footprints as whether by pipeline or lng. >> s this european commission's own research here. should we expect it to become law in the future? >> the european union as an entity doesn't have a policy on shale gas. it leaves the decisions up to national governments but it perhaps needs to adjust its existing framework to take account of the fact that we now have shale gas coming into the

system. potentially. and we have laws like the european water framework director for example which doesn't have any consideration of shale at the moment and could need to be adjusted because of both the need for water for use in fracking and also the potential for that water to seep into the ground water or into geological formations potentially causing earthquakes. that's one area of legislation that could need to be changed by the -- by the eu. >> thank you very much paul. back to you bill. >> thanks richard. that wraps up this week's show but keep up with energy news throughout the week on our website. plattsenergyweektv.com and you can download the free iphone and android apps. follow us on twitter too. i'm bill loveless, we'll see you next week. [ captions by: caption colorado, llc 800-775-7838 email: comments@captioncolorado.com ]