when congress doesn't balance its budget it needs to level with the american people. when it incurs a deficit of 1 to $1.5 trillion a year it needs to tell the people what that deficit actually is and what the truly liabilities are on the books. so that it can't make it look like we're balancing what we're not and it can't make it look like we're borrowing less than we are. i commend the sponsors and urge all of my colleagues in both houses and both parties to support this legislation. thank you. >> thank you, martha, for letting us go. we've got a 1:00 that most of our members have to be at. we turn it over to you. >> thank you to our colleagues in the senate for your leadership. anyone who needs to leave, please feel free. >> i think i'm batting first here for the house members. i need to get everybody ready here. we have a news flash. government has been lying to hard-working taxpayers about how we spend money. here's your follow-up story, though. the american people know it, all right? they know it already. and that's the joke that has been going on at so many diff

and on behalf of the american people. i am pleased to introduce the house companion bill to senator sessions' senate bill. i also want to thank all of my freshmen colleagues and let me mention representative huizenga. 13 months ago our freshman class came to washington, and we came from different states with different backgrounds but certainly with a common purpose. we came here to cut spending. we came here to limit federal power, and we came to restore integrity to the federal government. we have seen firsthand the tricks of the trade and the gimmicks used to distort the truth and hide new spending. we learned that through precedent or bad habit, these gimmicks have become institutionalized by both houses of congress and both parties are very guilty of exploiting them. i am convinced along with everyone standing here with me today, that we can do much better. i believe that america deserves a government that shoots straight and that tells the truth. whereas we're all keenly aware that the number one issue facing america

the problem with the american people. >> we kept our word to the american people. >> the american peoplegingrich doesn't need to say anything on behalf of the american people because they have spoken. yes, in two separate polls, the american people have made their feelings abun didn't lay clear. in a cnn opinion research poll, 63% of americans say they have an unfavorable view of newt gingrich with just 25% saying they regard him in a positive light. a new york times poll has 54% of negative view of gingrich. it really is hard to believe that just three weeks ago, gingrich was flying high, leaving competitors in the dust, storming towards the nomination. but in the process, the american people got to see his true colors. they were listening when he chose to use coded language to attack the president. they saw him pick up endorsements from discredited candidates like rick perry and herman cain. they even heard sarah palin offer her support. now the american people have spoken and they say that he is the most unpopular person in american politics at this moment in history. and the worst th

the american people will not -- the american people what stuff fixed.ething for a change. [applause] we have already gotten many representatives running for congress, many senators running for congress who have adopted the 9-9-9 plan. when legislation is completely drafted, we will ask them to do something that many of them normally do not do. read it. [laughter] [applause] after they read it, we will ask for a firm commitment. but i need your help to get them to adopt the nine-nine-nine plan. one of the people that is running for the united states congress in the state of ohio, in a very challenging district, has adopted 9-9-9 and i am endorsing his candidacy. that is mine friend joe the plumber. stand up, joe. [applause] you see, some of us choose to get off of the sidelines and i admire joe for doing that. yes, he will get attacked. yes, they will try to do the same things to him that they did to me. but, folks, more of us have to take that challenge. i do not regret making the move that i made because that is more than one way to skin a cat. stay in

i think all three candidates seize upon that because i think that the majority of the american people see that as an infringement of the first amendment. stand on the message and stand on the issues that are hot button of the american people. >> let's talk about some of the or candidates. you stood on those stages and debated right alongside them. mitt romney, michigan coming up on us is. it's considered his home turf, if in fact he wins there and/or arizona, he will have serious momentum going into super tuesday? >> he will. but with all due respect, i disagree with speaker gingrich, if mitt romney loses michigan, i don't think that is necessarily a sign that he should pull out of the race. speaker gingrich has to win georgia, that his home state. let's look at the fires nine primaries. it's been up and down. so that is saying the voters are still undecided. if on super tuesday, we got nearly 200 delegate votes up for grabs, if the three major candidates, romney and gingrich as an santorum, if they split those 200 delegates, plus or minus fine or ten, i think this process going on fo

the place breathe, to let the people's house work its will. i'd much rather lead a tumultuous majority that listens to the people than one that's controlled that substitutes its will for the will of the american people. this is the -- this is the house that our forefathers designed. this is what they had in mind. and it's only their intent that really matters. i say all this to make a point. all things are possible for those who believe. the utopia that i described at the beginning might sound like a pie in the sky. it certainly would have sounded that way had i presented it to you when we gathered here three years ago at the beginning of this presidency. i remember those days very clearly, all the talk about republicans on the ropes, conservatism in retreat. but we came here and we vowed to stand together, and we all vowed to stand on principle. we've come a long way since. not as far as i'd like. but too far to turn back now when there's so much at stake. now, the path we began forging three years ago now represents the nation's best hope for reclaiming its truce. and three years from now we'll know whether we succeeded. do we want the attendees of cpac in 2015 to say, you know, they spoke

it is hurting the american people. what the poll shows is that the clear majority of registered voters call the bill's passage -- quote -- "a bad thing" -- and they support its repeal if a republican wins the white house in november. 11% of voters in battleground states say the law has actually helped their families, but 15% say that it has hurt. looking ahead shall they predict that by a number of 24% to 42% -- 2-1 -- that the law will make things worse real estate than better. americans overwhelmingly beeive that the individual maned, which is a principle key part of the obama health care larks the individual mandate is unconstitutional, the mandate that every american must buy insurance. americans believe it is unconstitution by a margin of 72% to only 20%. an overwhelming number of americans believe what this senate and the house, under democrat control and the president in the white house, barack obama, have forced down the throats of the american people, they believe -- and i agree with them -- that it is unconsti

it is time for the supreme court as part of america to open up to the american people. supreme court justices are after all public officials. their decisions directly affect the lives of americans. they give speeches. did they do book tours. they make money. some even attempt fund-raisers. i do not know how anybody who voted in the first amendment to allow -- i do not know how they can complain their four days ago, more than 11 million americans watched the super bowl. no one would have tolerated having the game being recorded. just to be broadcast days later. some of us whose team did not do as well as we would have liked, probably would have liked that. we could all either suffer together in real time. the outcome of the supreme court argument next month goes to the heart of our democracy. it also affects the americans more than the outcome of a football game. it does get televised. now, is the time for the public proceedings to become truly accessible to millions of americans. senator grassley, i know you have taken a strong position on this. >> you tube. -- you, too.

the american people need to know mr. speaker, that our colleagues on the democratic side and this president, if they have their way, they're going to deny there's a problem, they're delaying fixing it, they're going to destroy medicare as we know it and they want to demonize us that want to fix it. and we're not going to sit still, not going to have it, we're going to continue to fight, to make medicare available, make insurance available for everybody at a lower price. that's exactly what republicans are doing. we have a plan, many plans, actually, there have been numerous bills introduced by many colleagues on our side, physician colleagues, dr. tom price from roswell georgia, orthopedic surgeon one of our georgia colleagues, introduced his plan. we've got many plans here. we are fighting to save medicare our democrat colleagues and this administration this president, are going to destroy it. i yield back. mr. fleming: i thank the gentleman from georgia, a physician of note and one who has re-entered the u.s. marine cor

the president is ambushing the american people by promising to cut the deficit by $4 trillion when in fact over the next 10 years, he adds to the debt by 1 $11 trillion. additionally he has this pperfe the spending he demands are things that we just can't not afford. this is the fourth year in a row when what we are seeing is a deficit of over a trillion. but remember in 2009, the president has promised the american people that he would cut the deficit and a half by t the last year in his first year in office. so we have gone 1,000 days without a budget passing the senate. last year his budget came to the senate. harry reid wouldn't bring it, mitch mcconnell -- the president ignores the tidal waves that are coming at us, social and medicare and the numbers get so big, that it's sometimes hard to realize how much of a deficit this year alone of $1.3 trillion is, the president sort of pretends if you raise taxes on some people a small amount and there's other people you could stop all these problems. this is how much this deficit is. i you took all of the money earned by everyone in the

they started the american revolution. there were a lot of people that told them they could not win the american revolution, but they did because they believed that they could. a lot of people thought that after the character assassination that was launched against me that herman would shut up and sit down and go away. ain't go to happen. let me tell what you inspires me. i have a long list of things that inspired me to run for president, that inspired me to be a voice for the conservative movement, that inspired me to want to change the direction of this country because we on the wrong track. we need to take it back. there is more than one way to take it back. let me tell what you inspired me. you heard me talk about my granddaughter. when i first saw that little face, she was born in 1999. when i looked in her little face, the first thought that occurred to me is what do i do to make it a better nation and a better world. she was born long before i ever thought about getting involved in changing the direction of this country. in the year 1999. tha

on some of the things the people on the other side of the aisle are calling for now, and additional and more stricter laws. i mean if there was a political purpose to that i think the american people have a right to know about that. so i would urge you to release those documents, let us look at them, and let the american people make that decision. but i'm almost out of time and i've learned from the testimony here things tend not to fwububb up to your desk very often. i did want to make sure you were aware of an operation with the dea that has two houston, texas, based pilots being detained in panama over money laundering. i realize that's out of the scope of this investigation. you can choose to comment on it or not but i wanted to make sure it bubbled up to your level and my time has expired. >> i thank the gentleman. will the gentleman yield? >> yes. just quickly the minority is not objecting to the cole document from march 10, 2011, so that is placed in the record. i thank the gentleman and with that we go -- >> excuse me, did you wish to answer? you're welcome to or not. >> you certainly may respond. >> there's a limited amount of information i can talk about that. the

americans on a real-time basis. just how important is it in a democracy to bring the proceedings of an important american institution like the supreme court into full view of the american people. people in an open society do not demand infallibility from their institutions, but it's difficult for them to accept what they are prohibited from observing. those are the words of chief justice berger in 1986 in the supreme court's press enterprise company versus superior court. for too long the american people have been effectively prohibited from observing the open sessions of the supreme court. think about our extra effort to make certain the nominations process are available to every american on a real-time basis. we believe that is a valuable part of our decision-making process. our bill would require televising all -- a majority of the justices of the supreme court can determine that the public televising of these proceedings would violate the due process rightses of one more or of the justices of the supreme court and could literally close the cameras. there's just no justification about such a powerful element of government to argue such a view outside the american people. t

we now need to get back to working on jobs for the american people. that's why monday we're going to vote on the fa bill creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. we're going to move thereafter the highway bill. we're told that will save 1.8 million and great hundreds of thousands of other jobs. the american people know the only way to solve the unemployment crisis we have in america today is to create jobs. with all due respect to my friends on the other side of the capital, the republicans in the house, what they are doing is not creating jobs. they are doing legislation hard to comprehend. all these things deal with the environment, looking at regulations that would certainly make our water less safe, air less pure and food less edible. i would hope we can get back to working on a bipartisan basis has shown here in the senate we can get things done for the american people. we need to do this certainly more rapidly than we have. we've made progress but not nearly enough. i'll take questions. >> senator reed? >> yes. >> republicans this morning introduc

we'll keep pushing the white house to use american energy a from now until november without reminding the american people of what this president has done. [ applause ] the president got everything he wanted for two long years. i assure you this. when november rolls around, the american people will know who was in charge when the stimulus was passed. they'll know who was in charge when obama care became nlaw. ch when american's credit rating was downgraded for the first time ever. they'll know this president's record. >> aft after that, he'll have as much time to play golf as he wants to. [ applause ] look, let's face it. the only reason we're getting any positive economic news at all, more than three years after this presidency began, is because the american people put a restraining order on him and pelosi in november of 2010. [ applause ] last week's jobs report happened in spite of the president's policies, not because of them. it's the obama economy now. and we're not going to let people forget it. we'll start with his promises. it's a long list. so i'll just mention a couple. three years ago this mon

i will fight for the american people. [applause] he explained why he voted against the repeal of rights to work laws. he said it was against this principle, but he did it for the team. he explained why it voted to protect davis-bacon. he explained why he voted for no child left behind even though that was against his principles. he explained why he voted for the bridge to nowhere even though that was against his principles. i do not know when i have ever seen a politician explain in so many ways why he voted against his principles. i appreciate the work you are doing. i will abide by my principles and my team is the people of the united states. [applause] i know how hard it is. i do not know any industry that is more cyclical than yours. i have a family heritage in our industry. my grandfather was a general contractor. he went from arizona to idaho and to utah. he went broke in each state. [laughter] my father told me he went broke more than once in his life. i remember listening in to my father talking to his brother. the

the nation where people come from all over the world, wanting to see what it means to be great. what it means to realize the american dream. that's the america i'm talking about. this is not frivolous. this is what is right. this is what the american people want. i urge my colleagues to support it. i yield back. the chair: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from south carolina. >> we have roughly 10 months between now and the next election. plenty of time for the folks across the aisle to let us know what they mean by fairness. mr. mulvaney: tell us. what does it mean, when you say we want a fair tax code, what do you mean when you want people to pay their fair share. give us a real proposal and give us a real proposal that solves the problem. raising taxes on the top 1% won't accomplish what they say it will. it pays only eight cents of every dollar of deficit. let us know what fairness is, but i can assure you it is not this amendment. for that reason, i think we should defeat it. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from ohio. those in favor say

the american people found this to be a crime against democracy. they want it repealed and the issue is going to go on and on. what the american people wanted most from health reform was to get their costs down. so could there possibly be a more this name law than the affordable care act? i think not. mr. obama repeatedly has said during his campaign that health costs for the average family would go down by $2500 a year by the end of this first term. but costs are rising faster than they have in a number of years. another kaiser family foundation survey found that premiums for the average family policy increase by $1300 last year alone. three times faster than the year before. and as many more mandates, from washington, those costs will continue to go higher and higher and consumed a bigger share of both family budgets as well as employer budgets. the $500 billion in new taxes, only some of which are in effect, will certainly increase that cost of health insurance for the. there's nobody else to pay for these bills but us, so one way or another, whi

ladies and gentlemen, we need a president who listens to the american people. when the majority of americans oppose these radical ideas and they speak loudly against them, we need a president who listens to them. here's the problem. the problem is in this republican field you have been listening. tonight the voters of america, the voters here in missouri, the voters in minnesota, and i'm hopeful the voters in colorado, right? [cheers and applause] i hope you have been listening to our message because if you listen to our message and you found out that on those issues health care, the environment, cap and trade, and on the wall street bailouts, mitt romney has the same positions as barack obama. and in fact, would not be the best person to come up and fight for your voices for freedom in america. [cheers and applause] ladies and gentlemen, i don't stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to mitt romney. i stand here to be the conservative alternative to barack obama. [cheers and applause] , tonight we had an opportunity to see what a campaign looks

it's bad aws bauds it's the government telling the american people what they have to do. so i'm proud to stand here with my colleagues who voted to repeal the health care law and we wanned to make sure the american people understand we do realize we need health care reform. but it needs to be market-base -- based, as my colleague mentioned, and it needs to be care that doesn't hurt our seniors, doesn't hurt our hospitals, doesn't hurt our physicians and does increase access to health care. i thank you very much to my colleague in michigan and i yield back. mr. benishek: thank you very much of i appreciate the gentlewoman's remarks and thank you for taking the time to come up this evening. we're nearing the enof our hour here and i'd like to give the other members that are here an opportunity to speak. i'd like to yield to my friend from arizona, dr. gosar, who is a member of the dental profession. i look forward to your comments. mr. gosar: thank you, dr. benishek. thank you for giving us the opportunity for this special order. i've got a unique look at health care, lookin

so as part of the supreme court, it should open its argument to the american people, not just those who are able to get a seat here in the hearing room. supreme court justices are in fact public officials whose decisions directly affect the lives of americans. they give speeches, they do book tours, where they make money, some even attend fund-raisers. well, i don't know how anybody has quoted the name of the first amendment to distort or election -- or super-pacs should not be accessible to the american people. four days ago, more than 11 million americans watched the super bowl. know one would have tolerated that game having been recorded and broadcast a day later, or at least it being transcribed later in the week. some of us whose team didn't do as well as we would have liked would have probably liked that. we all can either exalt or suffer together. to have cameras in the courtroom -- it affects americans a lot more than the outcome of a football game which does get televiseded. now is the time for the supreme court to become accessible to every american. senator grassley, i know y

so it's time for the supreme court as part of america to open its arguments to the american people, not just those members of the supreme co have a seat reserved in the hearing room. the supreme court justices are, after all, public officials whose decisions directly affect the lives of americans. they give speeches. they do book tours where they make money. some even attend fundraisers. i don't know how anyone who voted in the name of the first amendment to distort our election process to allow unlimited donations by super pacs can proclaim their own public proceedings should not be accessible to the american people. four days ago more than 11 million americans watched the super bowl. no one would have tolerated having that game being recorded and broadcast days later. or its plays being transcribed and released at the end of the week. well, some of us whose team didn't do as well as we might have liked probably would have liked that, but we could all either exalt or suffer together in real time. so the outcome of the supreme court argument next month goes to the heart of our democracy

that leads to another thing the american people are reminded of the past few years. people should be rewarded for what they know, rather than who they know. you remember throughout the debate over health care, americans saw the white house cut deals with special interest and lawmakers that we later learned foreign-exchange for their vote that favored obamacare. then they watched as they granted waivers to the very groups that lobbied for the bill. they lobbied for the bill, but they don't want it to apply to them. most americans don't think that one group of americans should be entitled to special treatment just because of their political sympathies. that is just one of the reasons they will keep fighting to repeal this bill. [applause] i can tell you this, senate republicans want everybody in america to get a waiver from obamacare, everybody. not just the politically collected project not just the politically connected few. that is why republicans in congress have joined together to fight the individual mandate in the courts and why we will continue to do so until th

i just think that the american people ought to see this as strictly political theater and unfortunate when americans want jobs and republicans have not cooperated in getting us jobs. this is their jobs bill. this the only proposal republicans have for more jobs. they have two others. let the people who are upper, upper income keep more of their money. i talked to a fellow who told me if i got another tax cut, i'm still not going to hire more people unless there's demand. the other way they want to create jobs is throw out regulations to protect public health and safety in the environment. throw those out. that's the wish list of these industries that don't want to spend any money. even the industries that are going to be required to meet these obligations are not asking for what the republicans are advancing. they want to make people think the reason we don't have jobs is because there are regulations, the rich aren't rich enough. this pipeline will provide jobs. well, i think the american people can see through that. that's not a formula for creating jobs. a formula for creating jobs

and we lost the american people's trust. so thus the tea party there was a lack of trust with republicans and the democratic administrations. so i think what we need to do, if we are successful in getting -- when we are successful in getting the senate and the white house back, what we need to do is be faithful to the american people, to do what we said we would do. and that is restore principles to the nation. [ applause ] >> do you -- do you get a lot of pressure as freshmen? do you get a lot of pressure from the house republican leadership to say hey, just go with us this time, this is the best we can do, or is there a countervailing force from them that says you know, we know we're not going to get this through the senate, so we're going to put forth the strongest most conservative platform we. which do you see coming most out of the republican leadership in the house or the senate? >> that's a great question. it's really seems to be a mixed bag. i learned early on if you tell them no, if you say i'm going to cut spending

attention to the economy and we will cut the deficit later it is important to keep spending to keep people employed and just going to say it all year. and the americann november. >> bob, the politics of this is baffling to me. you look at the polling numbers, talk to the american people about protecting the safety net, 76% say don't cut social security. 80% say don't cut medicare. 65 say don't cut medicaid. are the members of congress, the republicans not looking at the polls and understands where the american people are on these issues? >> they are counting on the victory of spin, by which i mean they are not presenting themselves as cutters of medicaid, social security, medicare, they are preventing themselves as the rescuer, save the or, and they are saying this there has to be much more efficiency, there has to be cut backs to make sure medicare, medicaid and social security go on in perpetuity. they are claiming that irresponsible democratic poli c politics -- policies, rather, are endangering all of them so they are spinning things. in reality you of course, they are talking about cutting them. let us not forget historically, they were antagon

rothman: the republicans wanted to privatize social security and the american people knows it. i will not yield. the republicans just voted last year to end medicare, so the american people are not fooled about what's -- who's side the -- whose side the republican are on. the democrats are for working people, for american hilled class, for seniors, for veterans, for labor. so the republicans say, mr. speaker, that they want 160 million americans to have their payroll taxes go up. they want 50 million senior citizens in americans to be thritened with the loss of -- threatened with the loss of health care because they want to deny the doctors who treat those seniors and they want to cut benefits which puts food on the table for tens of millions of americans who have looking for work because the republicans don't want to share the sacrifice. they want to cut spending on the backs of the middle class working americans and seniors. they voted to private sise social security. they voted to end medicare. who's anybody kidding when they say that this bill to extend unemployment benefits

i think it's the american people's view. the rules we work by in the wor the senate, those are designed by senators and house members and suit our interest. they don't get elevated to constitutional rights, they are rules that serve the interest of majority party in both bodies. the problem we're having here is democrats can't work with republicans in either body. the senate, i believe, is seen as having a series of procedures that have one purpose and that is to delay and not get to an answ answer, to move forward on the business america needs to be duchb done. it is an astonishing spectacle what we're doing refusing to do the business. we haven't passed a budget. i don't point the finger of blame at one party or the other. this institution isn't working. it's had a history in the past where it's been able to make decisions. so when we have what sounds to me like a very academic discussion, and i put myself in the seat of a constituent of mine wondering what is it we're talking about, we have not passed a budget. that is dis

before the oil spill in the gulf of mexico, the majority of the american people might have supported that, and then when the well erupted, the vast majority said wait a minute, maybe we shouldn't go that fast. you have to prove it is safe. let me give you my second point. these republicans, this is why they are so -- they are sliding down this hill. this is why the bottom is dropping out of them, because they are hypocrites. when in the history of tax cuts did the republican party ever condition a tax cut on an oil pipeline or on anything else -- >> right, but they are now backing away from at tachg it from the whole issue of tax cuts. boehner is saying we'll attach it to the energy bill. >> this is why the american people no longer trust them. this is not an issue. this is not how you expand an economy. this is how you try to arrest your freefall in the polls. this is a political stunt by the republicans. they started specifically by saying, we only do a tax cut by for middle class and then they got burned on that. >> given the stunts that obviously they are goi

you know, ronald reagan when he left office, his last words to the american people, he expressed concern about whether america was going to do as well in the future, and he said the reason for that is because he was worried about american children in particular not learning about what the real american history is. what the real origins of our country is, but holds us together as a nation. because in america i am a first-generation american. my dad came over and the boat, yet when my father came over to this country with his grandfather, my grandfather, my dad was only seven. but when he came to this country he stepped on american shores and because he came here to be part of this great experiment in america that day he became an american because america isn't about and ethnicity or race. we are all hyphenated americans so what is it? its not indefinite city. what is being in america? it's about an ideal and set of values that make us a country and we forget that. we forget that somehow or another america is in fact an enterprise people participate in and it is constantly changing and the

-- let the american people in. mr. speaker, if we have nothing to hide in this ibs constitution, then continuing to publish more and more information so the american people can come into this discussion process is only going to lead us in the right direction. . taken together these three reforms, bring together the kind of attention we need to a budget process that has been long broken. we cannot make america's future brighter and more secure if we continue to escalate the debt that we pass on to our children and their grandchildren. clearly this body has struggled in years' past to contain that debt. both sides of the aisle. clearly folks occupying 1600 pennsylvania avenue have struggled to contain that debt on both sides of the aisle. mr. speaker, the folks who see these issues with clarity live back home in my seventh district of georgia. they understand what it means to do budgeting around the family dinner table. i know my colleague from massachusetts has those same folks in his district facing those same chall

kills me is that the guys who are making decisions and not square with either congress or with the american people that's got to change so that when congress at least has a chance or the president has a chance to make decisions or the american people have a chance to support or not support on something that's accurate and not this constant spin where they're like i don't know i mean they say this but it looks wrong but they say it's right so it puts you in a dilemma why are they getting away with it isn't it their responsibility if they're going to be asking us to foot the bill and they're going to be asking people to sacrifice their lives to be honest about what a war is yeah absolutely it's a responsibility and they're constantly constantly to do so however there is a lot of elements of this one the american people are calling their offices and asking to get for them be concerned about and stand so if you're a polyp. the best thing to do probably say nothing stick your neck out there but the other part of to is there's we've lost sight of what the line is between respect for what respect is for

i can speak to what the administration has done to help the american people and american businesses. the tax cuts for small businesses to encourage them to invest, the work that they've done on an exported agenda to help american companies sell their products overseas, and the your all policies they put in place for investment and encouraging companies to invest in american workers and in the american economy right here. and thing that we're starting to see those earths to pay off. again, the 23rd consecutive month of private sector job growth and really some evidence here that we're starting to move in the right direction. >> and, anita, i know you hate these sorts of questions. i'm going to ask you anyway. 23 months. let's look forward about ten months. what's the unemployment rate going to be in november, the key re-election date for the president? >> oh, richard, i won't predict unemployment rates anymore. >> i won't tell anybody, i promise. >> it's our secret, right? >> no. i think what's true in november and what's true today is there are two very different choices facing the --

you know, the president wants to go out there and raise taxes on the american people. we believe that if you really want fairness, why don't we take the whole tax code and make it flatter and fairer for all americans. >> woodruff: what do you think it would take for congress to function in a way that would be to the benefit of all the american people? >> well, i've spent a lot of time over the last year focused on the institution itself. if you look back over the last 20 years that i've been here, the process on the floor has been tighter and tighter and tighter where in the last... in 2009-2010, about five members would decide what the beginning and the end of the bill were going to look like. happened to be the same five people. 430 of us literally sat on the side lines. i'm a big believer that we need to open up the process. i think members of the house will tell you, both sides of the aisle, that there's a much more open process here in the house. a much fairer process for members of both political parties. secondly, i believe that we need to rebuild the committee s

the american people deserve a political system that is fair, transparent and accountable and the political system is fair, transparent and accountable, we believe that will result in policies that are fair to the american people. and instead of the union address as we've said repeatedly, the american people deserve a fair shake. everybody deserves the same fair shake, the same shock and opportunity in this country. entity that, we should have a political system that responds to their needs, not to through his bank rolling various campaigns. and so what this says is let's get rid of secret money and american politics. let's make sure that when people contribute to these outside groups that we are seeing, whether they contribute is their corporations or other entities, whoever they may be, that they may disclose who they are. they have to report who the contributors are. the american people have a right to know who's bankrolling television acts. so that is one thing it does. another thing it does is require the people stand by their ads. people are familiar and members of congress run tv ads

that's what the american people want. >> i think in terms of the medium term, having a balanced approach to deficit reduction which creates an investment environment -- >> and will, as you said, we'll let you get back to him in writing. >> mr. ryan? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i feel like i'm living in an alternative reality. i just left the armed services committee in which -- i am. thank you. i left the armed services ght which secretary panetta were presenting $500 billion worth of cuts to the military making very significant cuts that many people were uncomfortable with. and it was my friends on the other side of the aisle saying, wait a minute. maybe we shouldn't make those cuts. maybe we've got to be careful about how deep we go. then i come to the budget committee and we're not cutting enough. so i think that's always proof that we are, i think, striking the right balance and i think you guys are doing that. and i think it's also important for us to know that the republican budget adds almost $9 trillion to the debt over the course of the next ten years. republican study committee

so on principle alone i think we should at least shoot straight with the american people. so i will vote no on the underlying bill. on the rule when we became the majority, we the republicans, we promised the american people that we would be more open and more transparent than the previous majority that was headed by speaker pelosi. and one ever our pry when a majority rule is up and i would hope that this is a one-time exception that we violate the principle that we promised when we became the majority. i thank the gentleman for yielding. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida. mr. hastings: madam speaker, i had hoped that ms. velazquez or mr. engel would be here but i'll say to my friend from south carolina, do you have other speakers? mr. scott: i do not at this point. mr. hastings: all right. then i'm in position to go forward. when the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance renewal came before the house just two months ago, my friends on the right refused to renew either provision while democrats tried to avert a tax hike on the middle class. . i belie

for one thing, it's a hard sell to the american people. the gallup survey just a few days ago respondents were asked to categorize three economic objectives, extremely important, very important, somewhat important or not important. in the extremely very important category, grow an expanding economy, 82%. increase equality of opportunity for people to get ahead, 70%. reduce the income and wealth gap between rich and poor, 46%. if anything, americans have become more skeptical of government centered solutions rather than less. and even less -- they're even less likely to embrace a new birth of progressive reformism that some, i think wrongly, thought they were endorsing in 2008. what's more, if this is president obama's re-election template, it opens a wide space for the republicans, admittedly usually articulate and as yet ununified, to make the broner case for economic opportunity. and the reforms better the conditions of the american people and solve the real problems we face as opposed to tired state centric policies that try to make ever

that leads to another thing the american people are reminded of the past few years. people should be rewarded for what they know, rather than who they know. you remember throughout the debate over health care, americans saw the white house cut deals with special interest and lawmakers that we later learned foreign-exchange for their vote that favored obamacare. then they watched as they granted waivers to the very groups that lobbied for the bill. they lobbied for the bill, but they don't want it to apply to them. most americans don't think that one group of americans should be entitled to special treatment just because of their political sympathies. that is just one of the reasons they will keep fighting to repeal this bill. [applause] i can tell you this, senate republicans want everybody in america to get a waiver from obamacare, everybody. not just the politically collected project not just the politically connected few. that is why republicans in congress have joined together to fight the individual mandate in the courts and why we will continue to do so until th

how do the american people win under this? here is another chink in the armor of the leap frog bill. >> i yield back. >> all right. >> yield the time. are there other members wishing for time? i would note that a series of votes has now started on the house floor. so i'd like -- we've got six votes in essence here so we'll have to come back after the votes. let's finish the debate. immediately following the sequence of the votes, i will leave the house floor when the clock hits zero and walk slowly back and we will start the votes at that point, once we have a quorum here. five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. doyle, i want to work with you to make sure as we go forward we are encouraging trans canada or their contractees who actually developed the pipe to be purchasing as much american steel as possible. i share in your goal there. the problem about the amendment as it's immediately before us is that most of the pipe has already been purchased. adopting this basically says you i don't think that's very practical. there

the endorsement of the people of nevada. [applause] donald trump has shown an extraordinary ability to show how our economy works, to create jobs for the american people. he's done it here in nevada, he's done it across the country, he understands that our economy is facing threats from abroad, he's one of the few people who stood up and said, you know what, china has been cheating. they've taken jobs from americans, they haven't played fair. we have to have a president who will stand up to cheaters. we believe in free trade and free enterprise but we don't believe in allowing people to cheat day in and day out. i'm going to work very, very hard to make sure the people in this country that that just being projected by the cbo. their analysis of what's going to happen in the future of america is driven by the policies from a president who's failing. thatfrequently telling us he did not cause the recession, and that's true, but he made it worse. and he made the recovery long and tepid. the people here in nevada are suffering. so many people have their homes but under water, it's extraordinary. and nevada leads the nation in a very negative way, w

i think there are a variety of things that we can work on as people that are dedicated to the safety of the american people, and i look forward to working with the members of this committee across party lines to reach those kinds of -- successfully reach those kinds of solutions. >> i thank you, general holder, and he we stand adjourned. >> thank you. >>> first of all, thank you all very much. this is the sixth time that the attorney general has appeared before congress, and there is nothing that we heard today that refutes one sill bell of this report. this report lays it out quite succinctly that the attorney general did not know about these tactics with regard to fast and furious until early 2011. and that this was a bottom-up operation, and failure to communicate helped to cause the problems we see here. we also refer back for the report where we talk about an operation called wide receiver. these kinds of operations started back in 2006. and, again, mr. mccasey, the attorney general back then, was never called to testify, and we find that very interesting because we want to get to reform. it wo