provide the appropriate measures for amendment number 54 offered by mrs. burton and john said which would remove the provision that provides for increased medicare payments to hospitals and doctors in the frontier states. >> you have heard the gentleman's motion. any discussion? if not the focus on the ocean by mr. dreier. all in favor, say aye. pos come no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. >> recorded vote. [roll call] the clerk will report the total. the motion is not agreed to. >> of the committee make movement to provide amendment number 70 offered by burton and john said which would repeal the provision offered in medicare coverage to certain individuals exposed to environmental health hazards. >> you've heard the gentleman is motion. is there any discussion? if not, the vote will occur on the motion by mr. dreier. all in favor, say aye. opposed, no degette in the opinion of the chair the noes have it. recorded vote, please. [roll call] the clerk will report the totals. the motion is not agreed to. >> i'm of the committee in order to prov

provide the appropriate measures for amendment number 54 offered by mrs. burton and john said which would remove the provision that provides for increased medicare payments to hospitals and doctors in the frontier states. >> you have heard the gentleman's motion. any discussion? if not the focus on the ocean by mr. dreier. all in favor, say aye. pos come no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. >> recorded vote. [roll call] the clerk will report the total. the motion is not agreed to. >> of the committee make movement to provide amendment number 70 offered by burton and john said which would repeal the provision offered in medicare coverage to certain individuals exposed to environmental health hazards. >> you've heard the gentleman is motion. is there any discussion? if not, the vote will occur on the motion by mr. dreier. all in favor, say aye. opposed, no degette in the opinion of the chair the noes have it. recorded vote, please. [roll call] the clerk will report the totals. the motion is not agreed to. >> i'm of the committee in order to prov

i have an amendment to the rule and move that the committee make an order to provide the appropriate waivers for amendment to be separately debated for ten minutes each and considered. amendment number 105 offered by the gentleman, mr. hinojosa of texas, which would add a pulled harmless amendment for those hospitals that serve high poverty areas and are subject to reductions under medicare and medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments that would require mudpack to conduct a study that determines the continued copper will be of hospitals and the high poverty areas, the secretary of health and human services would enact recommendations based on the study and ensure continued access to care by individuals served by such hospitals. also amendment number 92 offered by the gentleman sheila jackson lee of texas which would strike medicare limits on expanding physician owned hospitals. amendment number 93 offered by the gentle woman represented jackson lee of texas which would provide an exception to medicare limits on physician owned hospitals by providing an exception for safe hosp

as the new chairman of the appropriations committee last year, i vowed to the chairman of the house appropriations committee that we would continue on a path set by former chairman burr to reduce earmarks until they represented less than 1% of discretionary spending. we achieved that objective in f.y. 2010, and we have agreed that we will not exceed 1% as long as we are chairmen of our respective committees. if we look at the numbers in 2006, the completed appropriations acts included included $60.7 billion for nonprisk-based -- none-pro livic-based earmarks. $8.3 billion of these were in defense and the remaining in nondefense programs. in the f.y. 2010 bills, we ended the year with a total of of $8.2 billion in earmarks, earmarks, $4.1 billion in defense, and $4.1 billion in nondefense. well below 50% of the amount of 2006. as a percentage of discretionary spending, nonproject-based earmarks are hardly .5%. not only have we accomplished our objective, mr. president -- madam president, we have exceeded our goal. i'm sure others will cite different numbers and try to say that we have many more ear

clerk and staff director of the house appropriations committee executive director of the house democratic study group and head of their positions. he writes about government's, appropriations, budgeting. he writes also about the economy and in the context of governance he's expressed himself in writing and speaking on the filibuster and other reforms. tom mann to my right is the senior fellow of governance that studies at brookings. he was director of the government studies division. for many years, 15 years. he's written a book that is irrelevant to this with norm augustine, i guess norm cannot his boxter helped with the book and it's called "the broken branch how congress is failing america and how to get it on track oxford university press." he's written almost a dozen other books, several are relevant to the functioning of congress, the permanent campaign and its future party lines competition partisanship and congressional districting. something that redistricting has had an effect especially on the house of representatives and the nature of representation. both will have short state

the goth agenda -- government agenda should be. obviously, there are lots of details that are not appropriate for the planning process, but rather, appropriate for the government as it starts to implement those things. so we were very, very pleased that a wide variety of folks from all folks, all sectors, industry, the public interest groups, elected officials, state regulators, a lot of folks gave us a lot of praise, and we certainly appreciated it. >> host: and one of the critiques that came down was from nicholas johnson, a former fcc commissioner. >> guest: yeah. >> host: and he wrote in "the des moines register": >> guest: i disagree with that critique. i think there are a lot of pro-competitive things in the plan, i think mr. johnson, with due respect, completely ignores a number of, for example, spectrum recommendations. what we're seeing in various places in the world is while wireless is not a complete, perfect competitor, it does, in fact -- as it has done with voice -- provide an alternative way that forces a market-based mechanism of putting some price constraints on certain fixed offerings. we also think that he ignores some oth

it was reported by the appropriations committee in the senate.ut when senator reid decided that there simply was not the floor time to take up those bills, the committee-reported bill was taken to conference with the house and conferenced as though the senate had actually voted on it. it was then wrapped into a conference and voted by the senate and no amendments were offered to change the funding of any of the programs contained. they simply had an up or down vote on whether or not to continue the department of health and human services labor and education. or not continuing it. as bad as that sounds, 3 of the 12 bills actually never being considered in the senate floor or subject to amendment -- that's better than we've done most years for the last decade. on average, over the last decade, we have had five bills that never went to the senate floor but were enacted circumventing the floor because there was not time to get there. i think that's -- that is necessary to get the work done. to get the government functioning. but it is about as big of

the trigger? do you think that is appropriate and one likely to happen? >> we have a couple discussions that take place, and we have put the contingent capital idea on the table internationally. assuming we maintain our consolidated supervision and oversight, we would be working with functional regulators to develop stress tests at that level, so we would be very much involved in the setting of standards and analyzing whether or not the contingent capital should be converted or not. we think that is an intriguing idea with details to be worked out, but we are looking at it pretty actively. >> thank you. countercyclical mortgage underwriting standards are being implemented at various levels in different countries around the world. simply put, when a housing bubble begins to develop, you turn of the down payment, and my first question is, and these policies been in place in the previous decade, how effective would they have been at damping down the housing fell, and secondly, -- the housing bubble, and secondly, would countercyclical underwriting products be

be no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to this matter appear at the appropriate place in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent the senate foreign relations committee be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 431 and we now proceed to that matter. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 431, expressing profound concern, deepest sympathies and solidarity on behalf of the people of the united states to the people and government of chile following the massive earthquake. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the matter. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: mr. president, i now ask consent the senate proceed to the following matters en bloc: they were all introduced today. s. res. 441, 442, 443, 444, and 445. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered.

today the senate appropriations subcommittee looks at the annual budget request for the department of housing and urban development. the white house has requested $41 billion for fiscal 2011. hud secretary shaun donovan is scheduled to testify. watch it live beginning at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span 3 and c- span.org. >> obama and his socialistic ideas, deciding salaries, this is a life lesson in progress right now for conservatives. >> sunday, the founder and president of the booth policy institute. sunday night on "q&a." >> kathleen sebelius testified yesterday for a budget for the health and human services department. increased funding for the food and drug administration and other topics. this is a little less than an hour. >> the subcommittee will come to order. madam secretary, welcome back. i want to start by commending you for the outstanding work you are doing to help enact health- care reform. we can see the finish line. it will be tempting for senators on both sides to want to debate the pros and cons of health reform with you today but i would urge the subcommittee member

furthermore this subject is really worth the purview of the appropriations committee. and i defer to the chairman of the appropriations committee to address this amendment in due course. i also note, mr. president, that the senator from minnesota has been waiting very patiently to speak and we're all anxious to hear from the senator from minnesota. a senator: mr. president? mr. sessions: i would like to make a budget point of order? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: mr. president, i wish to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. 50 years ago this month a group of athletes gathered in squaw valley, california, for the winter olympics. part of the u.s. contingent, the 1960 men's ice hockey team surprised the world and brought home the olympic gold medal by beating the soviet union, czech and canada. three were from my great state of minnesota. as anyone can see from watching this year's games, this outsized contribution from minnesotans cont

>> let me on the accounting rules governor duke was asked this morning and if the answer was appropriate and that this week the federal reserve appreciate our independence and respect the accounting industry's independents as well but i would say that i would hope because i listen to you and other interests as we think about monetary policy and supervision policy i hope the accounting profession will listen to do and us as well for example. the accounting fury is a little bit like economic theory. it works in theory. in practice it runs into a lot of difficulties and we well better listen to people who are on the ground and as jeff said is as practical. so that is where i would leave the accounting for right now. as a final comment i would say simply that i want to end where i started and that is the united states -- i've had a lot of people tell me that the united states has too many banks, too much capital. why aren't we more like canada or more like europe and i asked a very straightforward question why would i want to do that when we are already the greatest industrial country in the

intervening action or debate and any statements related to the measure be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: mr. president, i understand that h.r. 2314 has been received from the house and is at the desk. the presiding officer: thesh will report. -- the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 2314, an act to express the policy of the united states regarding the united states relationship with native hawaiians and so forth. mr. brown: mr. president, i'd ask for its second request. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. brown: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the appointment at the desk appear separately in the record as if made by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business, it adjourn until 10:15 on tuesday, march 16. that following the prayer and the pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be redispleived for their use -- predisple

there are lots of details that inappropriate for the planning process. they are appropriate for the government as it starts to implement those things. we were very pleased that a wide variety of folks from all sectors gave us a lot of praise. we certainly appreciate it. >> one of the critiques was from nicholas johnson, a former fcc commissioner. he wrote that as a result, the national broadband plan offers consumers no hope the protection -- i disagree. there are pro-competitive things in the plan. i think he completely ignores a number of recommendations. we are seeing that while wireless is not a perfect competitor, it does provide an alternative way that forces a market-based mechanism of putting price constraints on certain fixed offerings. we also think he ignored some other things we're doing to bea pro-competitive. while we have received at criticism from some, yesterday there was not a single member of the house to criticize us for not being aggressive enough. there were a number of members of the house who said that we went to fo far. i find that criticism not to b

and when you consider just the $275 billion in the stimulus is appropriated funding for expenditures such as contract grants and loans, just $81 billion, or 30%, has been paid out. that's where i think we need to reassess the three critical criteria on timely, targeted, and temporary. and obviously on the timeliness and being targeted, they have not met those goals. and that's why i think we should redirect some of these stimulus funds to other purposes that are more effective, more immediate to do the job and that's where a small business enters the equation. on these initiatives that i have identified that are absolutely paramount to helping small businesses to create jobs across this country. after all, mr. president, we're depending on small businesses to lead us out of this economic downturn. they have been the job generators in the past. they have created two-thirds of all the net, new jobs in america. we need to create millions and millions of jobs. you have 100,000 new intrantszs in the -- entrants in the market every month of the we have to move expeditiously. that is the poi

this is not the appropriations process. but it is important that we recognize that for our researchers around the country they need to be able to plan looking forward. if they constantly are relying on funding to be done through the appropriations process once a year, whether or not they are going to have the research dollars or not, that is no way to conduct quality research. especially on an issue that's so important. and i, too, call this red tide. this is an important issue for all of us, not just those that live along the coast. but for all of us. when people go on vacation, it used to be thought that red tide was only something that affected the marine life. but now we have seen that this has crossed over and affecting not only the quality of life of people who live or vacation at the beach, but also can cause death. so this -- i commend the committee for this bill. passing this important legislation is the first step in increasing research for red tide while ensuring that scientists and experts in the field and not po

ought to be considered to the community appropriations or sent to the committee of appropriations prior to consideration on the house floor. i've expressed my concern about the lack of regular order, the number of supplementals and appropriations bills that are not being heard in committee or subcommittee. i won't repeat all of those concerns except to say that we are on this disastrous pathway because of our totally ignoring the need to make sense out of our national deficit and get a handle on spending. and so with that, mr. speaker, i ask for consideration of my motion to recommit. the speaker pro tempore: the chair is prepared to rule. the gentleman from wisconsin raises a point of order against the motion that it violates clause 2 of rule 21. the motion proposes to insert a rescission as provided in section 1052 of the house rules and manual, an amendment proposing a rescission constitutes legislation in violation of clause 2, subparagraph c of rule 21. the point of order is sustained and the motion is not in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. lewi

he said, i need a republican sponsor for an amendment in the appropriations committee. i said, ok, what is it? he said, i can't tell you. i said, well, how much money is it? he said, i can't tell you. i said, well, how many years is it? he said, i can't tell you. i said, well, what you can tell me? he said, if you do this for me, i'll do almost anything you want in the appropriation committee for you. so i didn't know, to this day i don't know what that amendment was, but after reading some of the history of that time and that era, my assumption is that i was the republican sponsor of an amendment that got funding for the black box programs in afghanistan for the stinger missiles. now i don't know that, madam speaker, but that's kind of the way he operated. another story i can tell you is that i was standing here back behind the rail one afternoon and we had a series of votes going on and charlie came up to me and he said, what are you doing in a month or? i said, i don't know. he said, i'm going to take a little trip. i said, where you are you going? he said, we'll go

last week the appropriations committee took up the premise of this resolution by establishing a one-year moratorium on earmarks for for-profits. we must make this ban permanent and act in an open and responsible manner, allowing for public scrutiny of all requests. moving forward each dollar spent must benefit the american people, not some special interests. our work today will help us build a safer and stronger community tomorrow. now is the time to answer the president's call. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> today i rise to express how disappointed i am in this institution and the presidency with what's happened this last weekend. when we are a nation that's suffering from terrible unemployment and dramatically poor economic position, to have this house and the president sign into law a job-killing piece of legislation that would put this nation on the

the purse. no money can be spent that we don't authorize and appropriate. nothing can be spent by the president or any other cabinet person that congress hasn't awth rides to be spent. -- authorized to be spent and appropriated to be spent. so that's the deal. and this legislation would put what we call caps or limits on discretionary spending that's non-defense, nonentitlement, not counting social security or medicare. not those kind of things much the discretionary accounts -- things. the discretionary accounts that we have in the senate. it would put limits on it. what limits did we choose for fiscal year 2011 to fiscal year 2014. this would be the budget resolution that we're under right now, passed by a democratic majority and the president of the united states is his projections for and our projections -- the congress's projections for spending growth in the next four years. so it allows that budget resolution that we passed for a 2% increase per year in both defense and non-defense spending. the caps in the amendment are exactly those we voted for in

we now have paid go as part of the appropriations process. are there serious problems with the process and so, what are they and what should we do? >> i often use the graph showing an increase in didn't -- increase and decrease of public debt as a percentage of gdp, which i think is a correct way to look at. at the end of world war two, we had public debt that was 109% of gdp which was dangerously high. over a 30 years, they were able to bring that down to 26%, which is very reasonable. we're headed toward 65% right now. the interesting part of that is the lowest. we have been in terms of the public debt as a percentage of gdp was in 1974 when we passed the budget act. i think there is some connection and the budget act which was supposed to clarify budget choices actually compound of the budget choices and made it look like there were some process to deal with issues that really wasn't. you set up a legislative process which is engaged in planning what the real process is going to be like and it lends itself to members being able to posture t

i'm a member of the appropriations committee and many years ago in committee, we voted to support the scags amendment to an appropriation rule that would have put the war powers in effect, during the clinton administration, but i don't remember what the squirmish is. it is appropriate for us to debate, however, i think the timing not exactly optimal particularly with troops in the field. it does appear to me that if the democrat leadership was serious about this, they would have allowed hearings in the committee and have a committee vote rather than put it on the house floor, but i'm glad you brought it up. and i also want to point out to you as someone who voted no on the litany i'm about to give on spending, that if we're look for money, perhaps in may of 2008, we shouldn't have passed a stimulus program. a $200 billion of fannie mae. in august of 2008, $85 billion by the federal reserve for a.i.g., which is up to $140 billion and november of 2008, tarp bailout and january of 2009 for a stimulus program, which was designed to keep us from getting to 8% unemployment and we are now pu

related to the -- and any statements related to the resolution be place the in the record at the appropriate place. the presiding officer: wowsmghts. mr. baucus: i ask that the senate proceed to calendar number 275, s. res. 414. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 275, s. res. 414, a resolution expressing the sense of the senate on the recovery, rehabilitation, and rebuilding of haiti following the humanitarian crisis caused by the january 12, 2010, earthquake in haiti. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. baucus: madam president, i further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action for debate, and any statements relate together measure be printed in the record at the appropriate place. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. baucus: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the foreign relations committee be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 422 and the senate proceed to its imm

his office declined to comment on the house appropriations move, but the senate appropriators' opposition does not bode well for a prospect in that body. again, i'm not surprised. "the washington post" article i cited earlier also noted that, and i quote -- "the latest earmark reform efforts follow a wave of investigations fowfg on house appropriators' actions. the justice department has looked into the earmarking activities of several lawmakers and relying on public documents the house ethics committee investigated five democrats and two republicans on the appropriations defense subcommittee, finding that the lawmakers steered more than than $245 million to clients of a lobbying firm under federal criminal investigation. the lawmakers collected more than $840,000 in political contributions from the firm's lobbyists and clients in a little more than two years. the battle over earmarks has been waged over many years. i have been engaged in it for 20 years. and i am under no illusions that it will end anytime soon. i was encouraged in january 2007 when the senate passed by a vote of 96-2 an

the rule. we have made our germination as to what we think is appropriate. in light of the process we have to allow the folks to sign off on that. we recognize this is a complicated circumstances. we have relationships of other countries that get complicated. but me just simply say from usda's perspective we are concerned about safety and not to be. that is our number one concern. we're also concerned about making sure the consumers have the right information. we want to make sure they get what they're paying for. we are also interested in making sure that what we do is consistent with the size space systems and we are advocating in relationships throughout the world. those are the three criteria we use. >> thank you. i want to start by thanking you both for your leadership of this subcommittee. mr. secretary, recently i met with a group of potato growers from maine who expressed to me their difficulty in securing funds for it important irrigation project in my state. it is my understanding that there are three usda potential sources for the irrigation projec

i've spoken to art rooney directly out it, and at the appropriate time i'll be meeting with ben. >> theerback's georgia attorney says roethlisberger did nothing wrong. >>> i'm a.j. hammerhis, is a "showbiz tonight" news break exclusively on hln and this is the buzz today. carrie bradshaw sex's new city. sarah jeks qaa parker and her sex in the city posse just revealed the surprising new details to the sequel of the hit movie. th'll bringing sex to the middle east. look for the women to heat up abu dhabi when "sex in the city 2" hits theaters in may. >>> star jones surprising post-surgical treats. the former "view" co-host tweeted days after receiving art surgery. she tweeted to her fans saying who knew ice chips could taste like steak. jones had a heart procedure last week related to a surgery she had 30 years ago to remove a tumor. >>> sarah palin unplugged. palin is very close to becoming a very rich reality tv star. the former alaskan governor is reportedly asking for an unbeevable $1.2 million per episode for her proposed new travel log reality show, sarah palin's alaska. discovery

need to identify the food source and confirm in order to really pursue the investigation and the appropriate response so that's been very important as well but the element of integrated system i think our started to be put in place over what i hope to people to achieve what to continue to extend those important elements of our system to institutionalize them because one of the things i have seen since i've been in this role as the fda has an unfortunate history gearing up after there's been some kind of crisis and resources received and there's another crisis we gear up again. i would like to see us discontinue with sustained support for the key programs such as the rapid response teams that do make a difference that matter to us all. >> i've been a strong supporter of the generic a drug program for many years now. we consistently provided funds to the office of generic drugs and because the number of applications which are rising so quickly we can't keep up in the backlog as continuing to rise. rosslyn and generic drugs in my duty to provide important opportunity to lower health care cost w

that is the appropriate time to do it. if it does not mean -- i could not agree more with your frustration about the current system. i came here to legislate. i cannot believe the energy that went into the 2008 election, electing a president. the present but the huge majority. what he stood for was change. he wanted to change our health- care system. he wanted to tackle the economic systems. here we have a situation where a role is being abused. we have basically given the minority of the power over the will of the majority. i read this book before i was elected. i thought i should offer it in 2009. as i came in, i kept asking the parliamentarians how it worked with the adoption of the rules. two days later, it was opening day. they said, the rules are the standing rules of the senate. they go from 1 cent to the next i did not take that as an answer. i researched it. the deeper i got, i realized that the three vice presidents decided the best time to do it is at the beginning of the congress. there are many things we can do

and that any statements related to the resolution be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaufman: i ask unanimous consent the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 427 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: sense resolution 427, designating the first week of april 2010 as national asbestos awareness month. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. kaufman: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to that the baucus amendment to the the preamble be agreed to be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no intervening action or debate and any statements related to the resolution be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaufman: i ask unanimous consent that the senate now proceed to the en bloc considerations of the following senate

the trigger? do you think that is appropriate and one likely to happen? >> we have a couple discussions that take place, and we have put the contingent capital idea on the table internationally. assuming we maintain our consolidated supervision and oversight, we would be working with functional regulators to develop stress tests at that level, so we would be very much involved in the setting of standards and analyzing whether or not the contingent capital should be converted or not. we think that is an intriguing idea with details to be worked out, but we are looking at it pretty actively. >> thank you. countercyclical mortgage underwriting standards are being implemented at various levels in different countries around the world. simply put, when a housing bubble begins to develop, you turn of the down payment, and my first question is, and these policies been in place in the previous decade, how effective would they have been at damping down the housing fell, and secondly, -- the housing bubble, and secondly, would countercyclical underwriting products be

and thank you for the tremendous job you do on this and other appropriation matters. secretary, it's good to see you. and i appreciate having you here to discuss the administration's budget request. so many of your programs in your department have served my state very well. you have one heck of a portfolio. and there are probably days you probably wish it wasn't quite as much. i welcome you up to vermont sometime to see the good things hud has done to provide affordable housing, especially in our rural communities. we always say housing in urban settings, but my whole state has only 660,000 people. and a lot of it is very rural. but it's something that works in rural vermont could work in rural california or texas or elsewhere. now, i know others have asked you about the president's proposal to cut the budget so the 101 and 202 programs and the home program. i worry about this, because as i look at the budget i'm afraid there's this shift of priorities from rural areas, rural america, to urban areas. and i remind everybody that rural america still is a third or more of

perhaps the appropriate policy response lies somewhere between the proponents and critics of the fedision. i have tried to keep an open mind about the bowl of the fed going forward and hope to use today's hearings to get more information as we move forward to more discussions with the senate if the senate ever passes a bill. we're fortunate to have both the current chair and a former chair who are appearing today to inform us on these difficult issues and with that, i will reserve the balance of our time and recognize my counterpart, the ranking member of the subcommittee. >> i thaink the chairman. >> markets were finding out what could be said at 2:15. they were looking for two words, whether or not they would exist. extended period. whether this process would continue for an extended period. this, to me, didn't change the power and control that a few people have over the entire economy. the economy is virtually at a standstill and immediately after the announcement, billions of dollars can be shifted. it is a system that i think is not having anything to do with the free-market cap

the court serve as the gatekeeper to make sure this is actually an appropriate witness. i recommend magistrate judges who are issuing warrants should eliminate the impression that currently exists that police officers will never have to produce the informant in court. right now, as the kathryn johnson story at told at the beginning illustrates, is perfectly reasonable for police to assume that they can say anything in a warrant and no magistrate will require them to produce the person or explain what they mean by reliable confidential informant particularly at the state and local level. the federal system is about example because the federal system has so many more resources and procedural protective levels. if magistrate judges made it clear that you have to produce the snitch, i think that it would put some pressure on that hydraulic system that you referred to and send a message that you need to believe your informant before you go to a court and ask the court to issue a warrant. your second question, less than quite a bit of time talking about that because they're so

if you have a mandate that does not work and that will not provide the appropriate incentives to keep everyone in the system, and if an average hospital stay is summer between 5000 sandford $10,000, and if you have a requirement that is near zero and near the $400,000 range, that is significant for a family that may face changes in cost due to rating contraction. it is very important in terms of delivering affordable coverage. if you also did not deal with the rising cost of care, which is soaring, then we have a real problem. this is what we have been talking about. >> kathleen civilians has also raised the question of why health insurance -- kathleen civilians has raised the question of why it these increases are happening. why do these increases have to be so high? >> this is an important question. this issue is an important question for boards of directors and every stakeholder, community, and every part of our economy, and we are having those discussions very good boards of directors are increasingly having proxy initiatives. they are increasingly demonstrating the composition is

if you don't believe it, look at the appropriations conference report. where is the focus on the vast majority of discretionary spending which is dolled out every year by bureaucrats. unelected bureaucrats. i wish more people would understand this. because it's -- it's -- i find that a lot of the people that hammer and dell going the ear -- dem gag the earmark are the biggest spenders. it's a nice way of deviating from your behavior. i thinking is needs to be done immediately. today i'm introducing the "help" act, call the honest expenditure limitation program. the act of 2010. now the bill does three things. one, it places caps on nonsecurity discretionary spending, which i define exactly as president obama's budget does. i do this because i want to show the similarities between what h wants to do and what i really want to do. the second thing it enforces the caps by sequestering any spending through across the board cuts, a process that currently applies to mandatory spending but not to discretionary. and, three, it disallows congress from evading the

policy-makers already faced the task of unwinding a sizeable balance sheet at the appropriate time and place. substantially increasing the size of asset purchases could have further complicated the exit process down the road. not today but down the road. changes in economic conditions could alter the cost benefit calculation with regard to withlsap. hope -- with regard to the lsap. as we have repeatedly indicated, the committee will continue to evaluate its purchase of securities in light of the evolving economic outlook and conditions of financial markets. i will stop there. thank you very much for your attention. [applause] >> thank you very much, charlie. charly has agreed to take some questions from the audience. if we can restrict those to the members of name, that would be appreciated. the microphone? >> one of the things that was striking was when you spoke about the implications if this is a structural moved in unemployment on our productivity. can you tell us what the full rate of unemployment might have changed to? how much higher could be? >> that is a good question. it depe

doctors shouldn't be scared off using this in the appropriate women. osteoporosis who are at risk of fractures of the hip. but they should re-evaluate women who have been on the drug for long-term and consider a drug holiday. a period of time where they are off the drug so their bones can remodel and rebuild. >> and merck, what do they say? >> reporter: they are concerned about patient safety. they say there's no evidence that the drugs cause the fractures. >> again, you are saying, talk to your doctor about a drug holiday, if you are on it long-term, and we want everybody at home to know that you can go on our website, and rich has a lot more answers for you there. abcnews.com. thank you, richard besser. >>> and a death to report tonight. a familiar face. actor robert culp, in our lives so long. he starred alongside bill cosby in "i spy." and an interracial buddy show in primetime. after three years on "i spy," he became a tv fixture. he found big screen success with movies like "ted and alice" in 1969. a look at modern marriage, and in recent years,

. >> susie: what do you think is the appropriate rate for inflation in the u.s. economy? some economists are saying up to 3%, it's not a problem. >> i disagree with that. as you know, i'm one of the most hawkish members of the committee-- not because i come from texas and we're hawkish people, but i think 1%, 1% to 2% max, because if you're not careful, things can get away from you. and there's been a recent academic paper which has said maybe we ought to target 4% or more. i firmly disagree with that. >> susie: do you see any inflation now? are you worried about inflation now? >> no, in fact we're seeing pressures that are in the opposite direction. part of it has to be with the entrails of the number, by the way. oddly, the last number that was reported, it was luggage that was one of the most interesting, of all the variables, that drove this number to a very negative territory-- not very negative, a slightly negative territory. there's too much slack in the system right now, and, again, until we employ the biggest factor, labor, until some of this excess capacity worl

the court returned $95,532.20 of the original appropriation to the treasury. it is one of the most riveting structures in washington. stately answer ring, simple get rich with federal symbolism, gilbert selected several design elements that made the building truly this thing. he chose as the exterior construction material the imperial marble from vermont which was stunningly looming as -- luminesce in sunlight. he employed high ceilings for detail in the public spaces to convey the gravity of the court's work. now for some, the court was simply too grand. some and likened it to the car -- to the temple at karnak and suggested that justice is right in on the backs of the elephants. a number came to the court only four arguments. as a result, when hugo black spoke to the court in 1937, he was able to select a choice corner office suite even though he was the most junior justice. but it was skillfully executed by tap and was not to create a building for the comfort of the occupants but to establish a home for the court that would convey to the nation and the worl

the war in afghanistan. each time an emergency war supplemental or defense appropriations bill or a defense authorization bill has come to the floor continued funding for the war in afghanistan is hidden behind spending to create jobs, to provide humanitarian relief or to increase medical benefits to our troops, all of which i support. and privileged resolutions like this which exercise a constitutional right of the united states congress to decide whether or not to continue the use of the military force, rarely see the light of day. this country has spent over $250 billion, mr. speaker, on the war in afghanistan. the sheer of my home state of maine is almost $700 million. and in the next few months the administration will likely ask this congress to spend another $30 billion to fund a surge of troops in afghanistan. at a time when we cannot find $30 billion to create jobs, continue unemployment benefits or help small businesses we need to ask ourselves, is the cost of this war worth it? is it right to spend more money and lose more lives on a strategy that isn't working? can we afford to turn our backs on th

all the defense appropriators are getting campaign dollars from defense contractors. you are not see them give money to people on the agriculture. host: cumberland, maryland. caller:

and the cew is our effort to appropriately resource d.o.d. operations. 'm not talking about the larger civilian component, but it is very much a work in progress. and we would be happy to look at areas where we might complement the crc. thank you. >> and ambassador herbst, are you aware of that effort? and are you looking to see whether or not part of what you can do with a civilian corps fits in with what d.o.d. is trying to do to decrease its reliance on contractors? >> the cew i believe is two years old, and we have been kept apprised of it from its inception. and our understanding it it has been printed as agenda said to provide civilians for strictly d.o.d. related activities. where the crc that we are building is meant to be involved in stability operations. working with the society in which we are, where we're deployed people. >> i guess that raises an interesting point. your description of strictly this agency's operations are strictly that agency operations that aren't we talking about here the fact that those lines have blurred and the way that

we have -- on june 30, 2008, in the 2008 supplement appropriations act, we deemed the extension of unemploymentnefits an emergency. it was designated as an emergency on be june 30, 2008. then when we funded unemployment benefits on february 17, 2009, we designated that extension cost as an emergency. december 19, 2009, when we extended benefits, this time it was in a defense appropriations act, it was designated as an emergency. on march 2 -- just a few weeks ago -- it was designated as is the emergency over. is the recession over? is that what the republican objections are suggesting? it is no longer an emergency? we've been in an emergency since 2008, but that is over now? i do not think the american people see it that way. they see what is happening in their families and homes -- the crisis that continues to exist with the record levels of unemployment. i would hope that we would be able today to persuade our republican colleagues that they should not object to the extension of benefits, and to continue to declare the situation in which we find ourselves as an emergency, since it is so clear

guest: should begin to float the idea of a full moratorium, a full one for the appropriation year. it has now turned into for the last day the appropriations chairman from wisconsin have been announced a moratorium on earmarks to for-profit companies. the context is that you have seen a lot that the democrats have suffered, and they have really been taking a beating on the ethics front in the last two weeks with congressman charlie rangel resigning his chairmanship from the ways and means committee, and a democrat from new york resigning amid allegations of sexual misconduct as well as over health concerns. host: so, the timing of this is a counter to concerns about positions of the democratic majority on health issues? guest: exactly, and the other thing that did not get as much attention on the ethics front is the ethics committee having released its report on -- it is sort of a scandal that happened last year, and that erupted. the fbi rated a lobbying firm, the pma group but that was tied to several members of congress, the now-late murtha and another from a democratic position

found do you have the resources available now or would you need an additional line item in the appropriations bills? i guess that is what i would like to know. do you have the authority to pursue that if you saw a product that you liked and thought was worth purchasing for the troops? host: jess bravin from "the wall street journal," thank you so much for coming in. we're here to talk with you today about military tribunals and how they diver from civilian trials. talk to us about where weir at in this discussion right now. guest: well, last year the congress reauthorized the military commissions anth, added a few more procedureal rights. there are several detainees that have been awaiting charge at guantanamo bay before military commission. but most is focused on five co-defendants who are accused of conspiring and orchestrating the 9/11 attacks. and the obama administration has vacillated between having a military commission trial for them or assigning them to trial in federal district court. initially in new york. and now uncertain where that trial would be, if it does take place in federa

many of the standards that they have for medicaid we set back here, so it's only appropriate that we help them with the money that's so important to the state, especially in these trying times. these governors handed me a letter signed by 48 governors asking that we extend fmap, and we would do that -- not unemployment compensation, cobra is for one year. fmap is six months. that is fungible money. they can use it for things other than medicaid, so we're working to get that done. i think we can get it done. we have had a good debate here this week, and we hope to be able to end this tuesday. later in the day i will file cloture on the bill. people have had time to offer all the amendments they want. some amendments we haven't been able to get to a vote and there won't be votes on those. rather than have individual cloture on -- cloture on various amendments, we simply don't have time for that, so i'm going to file cloture on the bill. those amendments we're having trouble getting votes on will likely fall, those that are germane to the subject matter at hand. mr. president, i wanted t

tonight we have before the house appropriation hearing. s captured the budget director as he prepared to open up playboy magazine. mary's caption is he sits down ready for the tongue lashing. mary, your 360 t-shirt is on the way. the vatican sex abuse. what did the pope know and when did he know it? now there questions about whether she was doing his job. we are keeping it on. >>> the deepening schedule that shook the catholic church is met with silence. mounting pressure on the pope to comment on what is clearly becoming a crisis for the vatican. will he and should he? dozens said they were mo lefed by a german priest when the pope served as arch bishop. one was convicted, but only this week was he suspended from the church. our analyst said the pope's moral authority is called into question and we will talk with him in a moment, but first nick robert with crime and punishment report. >> the questions at the center of the crisis is what did pope benedict xvi know and when did he know about it and what did he do about it? >> we are seeing a

and the cew is our effort to appropriately resource d.o.d. operations. i'm not talking about the larger civilian component, but it is very much a work in progress. and we would be happy to look at areas where we might complement the crc. thank you. >> and ambassador herbst, are you aware of that effort? and are you looking to see whether or not part of what you can do with a civilian corps fits in with what d.o.d. is trying to do to decrease its reliance on contractors? >> the cew i believe is two years old, and we have been kept apprised of it from its inception. and our understanding it it has been printed as agenda said to provide civilians for strictly d.o.d. related activities. where the crc that we are building is meant to be involved in stability operations. working with the society in which we are, where we're deployed people. >> i guess that raises an interesting point. your description of strictly this agency's operations are strictly that agency operations that aren't we talking about here the fact that those lines have blurred and the way that