this farm bill doesn't have to be the exception to that. we can solve the things we need to solve, but i think we need to look down the road. this bill gives us that opportunity. we have to look at those programs that support economic promise, economic growth. one of those last year, renewable energies on track to average 8.3% growth. those represent tens of thousands of american jobs. we spend over $1 billion a day importing oil from countries that hate us. they'll hate us for free. keep those jobs in janesville, minnesota. keep it on the land where we have things going. in the energy title, the demand far outstrips the supply. we have thousands of people waiting. when the market is fair and open, our producers are trying to access that. they're trying to do that. and so i encourage my colleagues to look what our colleagues in the senate did and get mandatory funding to this. it will come back to us economically. it will come back to us in jobs and national security. we also have to look long term in demographics. 9 billion people on the pl

to be clear, this motion keeps intact the long standing alliance needed to pass a strong farm bill. america's two largest farm organizations, the american farm bureau federation and the national farmers administration, both wrote in opposition to h.r. 2642, the farm only farm bill. the farm bureau president wrote, it is frustrating our members that this broad coalition to support for passage of the complete farm bill appears to have been pushed aside in favor of interests that have no real stake in this farm bill, the economic vy tilt and jobs of riculture pro-- vitility and without these permanent law provisions will make it more difficult to make improvements, changes and reforms over time as we discover they are needed. i urge my colleagues to vote yes on this motion to instruct and reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota reserves. the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. mr. lucas: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lucas: i'm overjoyed to be at this point in the farm bill process where we

today, we begin the long overdue farm bill conference. while it's not easy to reconcile differences between the senate and house bills, that is what the american people are counting on us to do. farmers and families across the country deserve certainty and stability. let's work across party lines and produce a comprehensive farm bill which recognizes the undenial link between feeding and farming. as ranking member of the house agriculture sub committee, the jurisdiction of nutrition issues, i'm concerned about los angeles in the house bill attempting to deny the long standing universally attempt link. it cuts snap to the tune of nearly $40 billion, but the house bill also authorizes nutrition programs for on three years while all other programs for five years. both represent unnecessary and radical changes in our nation's agricultural policy. the house bill eliminates categorical eligibility and ebdz ends ability of state to waive harsh limits to three months of benefit within the three-year period for americans without a job. we all know

a farm bill. many here in america don't realize that our current farm bill has expired. but we have an opportunity, we have an opportunity to pass a food, nutrition and jobs bill that congress is supposed to authorize every five years. but since it expired september 30, the good news, though, is there's still an opportunity to get this five-year farm bill passed. and when we do, we're going to be able to give our farmers and producers the tools they need to do what they do best. we can do this before next planting season. why do we need a farm bill? to promote and grow our economy, provide certainty to our farmers and producers and give them the tools they need to succeed. example, crop insurance. mr. speaker, crop insurance is working. i even had the opportunity to talk to secretary vilsack in one of the hearings in our ag committee and he agreed with me that crop insurance is working. this farm bill strengthens crop insurance which strengthens our economy because it strengthens agriculture. ag is one of the bright spots in our nation's economy right now, mr. speaker. th

the farm only portion of the farm bill authorizes farm programs through fiscal year 2018. however, h.r. 3102 authorizes appropriations for snap only through fiscal year 2016. if enacted and if the two bills were addressed on five and three-year intervals respectively, this would decupple snap from the authorization of farm -- decouple snap from the authorization of farm programs. considering them independently going forward will help take politics out of the equation and allow for reforms that will sustain both categories of programs in years to come. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves her time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: before i yield to the gentleman, i yield myself 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mcgovern: i strongly disagree with the gentlelady's statement. strongly disagree. my friend talks about oversight. there were no hearings, none, none. she talks about research somehow shows that there's lots of fraud, waste, and abuse. what research

that's why an amendment like that is crucial to a farm bill like this. because it's crazy ideas like that that cost our farmers their livelihoods. in some cases. mr. speaker, this is a bill that is going to save taxpayers billions. it is reforming crucial agricultural programs, it is putting us on a path to certainty for america's agricultural future. and there are some in this body, mr. speaker, that believe we shouldn't be involved in ag policy in this country. well, my response to them is, do you want america to be a food exporter like we are now? or do you want toimport our food supply -- to import our food supply? we know the answer to that, mr. speaker. and the answer, the solution to making sure that doesn't happen is getting this bill through a quick conference committee, bringing it back to the floor of the house and ensuring that our family farmers and all those who rely upon the ag committee for their livelihood -- economy for their livelihood are put first. and, mr. speaker, with that i thank everyone who has been involved in this process, my

in the senate farm bill preserves andpartnership between farm food programs and we should defer to thats union president roger johnson wrote, repealing permanent law would remove the which would e bill force congress to act on a piece of legislation that provides a and y net for farmers ranchers and food and security ourhis country and protects nation's natural resources. ask unanimous consent to insert the farmer's union letter record. >> without objection. >> it's important to ensure that revisit programs every five years. these are farm laws of 1948 and 1949 if congress does not pass a new farm bill would go into effect. have not passed a farm bill at this point it we're on october 1, operating on the permanent law right now. obviously, farming has changed a since then. and everybody knows these programs don't make a lot of sense today. that's the point of law. it's the reason we work together pass a new farm bill because the alternative is not very acceptable. compromise.re a there are things that some eople like, some things that people don't like. that law encourages both groups n

but there is no help until we get the farm bill signed into law. so for all the men and women, all the families and the vast majority we're talking about are middle-class families, small farms, medium sized farms who are working hard from sunrise to sunset, day in and day out, with the riskiest business in the world, they can't kick the can down the road. when the crop is ready to be harvested, they have to do it. they are looking at us and saying get the job done. get the farm bill done now. all of those middle-class families, all of the 16 million people who work in agriculture, 16 million people who work because of agriculture are saying we have waited long enough. how many disasters have to happen yet without the right tools before this gets done. ms. stabenow: 16 million people. mr. president, the biggest jobs bill in the past year is the farm bill. rural economic development, energy, food-related industries, our conservation efforts, our help for people who are caught up in their own personal economic disasters, which is so critical, they are

the farm bill policy is wrong. s transferred to the federal government to make farm policy, we had a great depression 70 or 80 years ago. have -- it is all linked to lack of farm income. together with this one size fits all. obamacare and everything, the federal government is going to tell you what to do and how to farm. subsidizing an overproduction is driving the small farms out of business. it is going to drive the doctors out of health care. you, senatoro hoeven, when are we going to quit subsidizing the market place and we're going to start guarding the marketplace. ? all their supposed be doing in washington dc is regulating the marketplace. -- all they are supposed to be doing and washington, d.c. is regulating the marketplace. think clyde makes a good point. we are trying to do what he is talking about. we eliminate direct payments under the farm program. we try to shift over and create a stronger insurance program so that farmers and ranchers can purchase insurance that works, similar to what other business

now is offset by cuts, other areas of the farm bill. and what we're waiting for is for the conferees to get together in a conference to work out the differences between the two bill and to report them back to the house and to the senate where they can be voted on, hopefully passed and put on the president's desk. and that's what it's going to take to get assistance back to these livestock producers because the existing disaster title, as i said, livestock indemnity program in the disaster title the farm bill expired, expired at the end of 2011. and when we passed a bill in the senate in 2012, it reauthorized it. and in the farm bill that passed this year, it has been reauthorized. but until we get the farm bill passed, that authority that can help producers in circumstances like this no longer exist. and so that's why we have got to get conferees together in a conference committee and ultimately a bill on the president's desk that can be signed into law that would allow the department of agriculture to issue the regulations that are nece

the farm bill, for crying out loud, the house has passed a farm bill, prousd a bill.s far as i know it's on its way to conference committee. the president should have encouraged his democrats in the senate to work with chairman lucas and see if we can get something done that is sensible and saleable to the american people without blowing the bank on entitlements. so i think that, you know, that's already in the works. i don't think the president needed to ask for that. again, chairman lucas has done an enormous amount of work in getting that to the point where he can go to conference and surely that is something that could have happened without -- >> you don't think there will be a budget agreement. you do think maybe there will be a farm bill. you don't think there will be immigration reform. quick question. is there any way under any circumstances you could support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants here in the united states? >> no. no, wolf. again, you have 11 million american citizens unemployed right now. that is the priority. and look what it does t

host: why is the farm bill all about the takers? i assume the farmers would be the takers rather than the makers. i think that's the direction we're going. a lot of the farm subsidies have encouraged farmers to produce more. that helps some of the makers. there's a lot of business interest involved in this. the farm bill includes economic development in rural areas. you can characterize people taking food stamps as takers, but a lot of people on food stamps are working. farmers would not call themselves takers. in --s a character race characterization that if you look at the bill holistically, a can break down in a few levels. the comprehensive nature of this bill makes it more complex than that. host: we welcome our viewers across the pond in great britain, and welcome our listeners on c-span radio, heard nationwide on xm channel 120. us, calling for massachusetts. my question is, does the government keep figures on how many people graduate from the food stamp program? i'm not talking about people that are thrown off, i'm talking ab

and the farm bill got a lot right in my judgment. it eliminated direct payments.

the farm bill says let's wait to see how much mexico is going to

you look at remarks, emphasized a talking point on this fight, which is germane for immigration, farm bill, lots of other things. will john boehner keep turning the floor over to nancy pelosi. if john boehner would let there be open votes on senate immigration bill, it could pass the house. i think the president while most people think when boehner has done this on occasion, it's been a one off, i think if the president can have a successful second term, reimagine the possibility of john boehner working with nancy pelosi and enough republicans and most or all democrats to continue to pass legislation. that could be a huge development. that's what he was emphasizing today as far as i was concerned. lets get the votes, solve the problem. >> let nancy pelosi -- a tweet, nancy pelosi controls 198 votes in the house. john boehner controls 87, ted cruz controls 144. how is that for the makeup of the power. >> i have to say we're all being optimistic here. you do have several members of the tea party out today saying the problem wasn't our message. we didn't communicate the message to the america

the 2008 farm bill. when did it expire? not long ago, october 1. of course, spent months holding the bill hostage, demanding that we slash billions of dollars from food stamp programs across america. now, under the farm bill, when it was active, ranchers affected by disasters like this could apply for relief under livestock indemnity programs, and get paid a portion of the market animal's value. but of course we don't have a farm bill. we don't have people who can get along. we're spending too much money. now, at this point, even if we had a farm bill, the government shutdown means that they couldn't have done anything anyway. totally paralyzed across the board. so rural america, let me ask you tonight. how do you really feel about the tea party? how does it feel to have those cattle out in the field dead and now starting to disease, and you have to remove them. and oh, by the way, the local fsa office is closed. what is that? that's the farm service agency office that takes care of all of this stuff when it comes to recording disaster. well, they'

this one to work out differences on the 2013 farm bill. one of the main points of difference between the two chambers is the level of cuts to the supplemental nutrition assistance program. or snap, which provides food stamps to low-income americans. the senate bill cuts $4 billion from the pam while the house version -- from the program while the house version reduces it by about $40 billion. so, again, while the house remains in recess until noon eastern, we're going to go live now to that hearing with health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius. they gaveled in at 9:00 a.m. >> rose just over 9% in the past nine years. this secretary, what does data tell us about health care law since the a.c.a. became law? >> well, congresswoman, you're right. in the last three years since the president signed the affordable care act, we've seen a great slowdown in the extraordinary cost increases year in and year out for health care. and the medicare plan and medicaid plan and private insurance and in underlying health care costs which affect e

next up-- the long-delayed farm bill. it sets agriculture policy at roughly five year intervals but as our cover story explains--much of it funds federal nutrition programs known as food stamps. it was one of the first things president obama listed as priorities. "passing a buget, immigration reform, farm bill. those are three specific things that would make a huge difference in our economy right now." the farm bill comes up roughly every five years and revises u- s agriculture policy. this year's version reflects concern about climate change. many farmers want to expand federally-subsidized crop insurance by ten percent because of recent searing summer droughts. "production has become much more iffy. we went from the dust bowl until just recently with pretty benign weather. that's not been in the case in the last ten years." but 80-percent of the farm bill's funds go to the nation's anti-hunger program--food stamps.,and while the senate passed one version that cut eligibility. house members want ten times the cuts. the b

on to another sexy story, the farm bill. okay, maybe sexy is the wrong word. you're not a farmer or dressed up as one for halloween, you need to listen to this. the bill impacts everything from the milk you drink to the steaks you throw on the grill, not to mention the food stamps that one in seven americans rely on. here to explain is friend of the show, jimmy williams, former senior adviser to senate majority whip dick durbin. always great to have you. when you hear the farm bill, you think tractors, crops, maybe a small population of farmers who rely on it. it's actually much more important than that. it's a massive piece of legislation that billions of americans rely on. it's a bill that has not been able to pass to this point and would have huge implications. help break this down for us. why is it so important? >> walk down the aisle of a grocery store. walk into your cvs or rite-aid, and pretty much everything is dealt with in the farm bill. not directly, but when it comes to the safety of our food, the safety of our tylenol, the safety of any prescriptio

can i go back toÑi the farm bill?hing to do with the 2%, less than 2% of americans entkpwaeublged in farming -- engaged in farming. it's mostly a welfare bill, for food stamps. the president's position is not enough people are on food stamps. more people are on food stamps that live on the west coast of the united states, the populations of oregon, washington and california. i think republicans relish the opportunity to talk about the urgent necessity of passing this farm bill. >> it doesn't look like the farm bill anymore. chuck, let me present to you that got roundly slapped down. it seems to me there is a deal to be done here. the deal is that the republicans who aren't crazy about the sequester have said first of all, don't like the defense cuts, but i would trade short-term entitlements in return for long-term cuts. >> paul ryan said the entitlement tprorpls he would call -- reforms he would call for in return for the ones president obama might embrace. senator blunt said something in the paper today that i thoug

so passing a budget, immigration reform, farm bill. those are three specific things that would make a huge difference in our economy right now. and we could get them done by the end of the year. year, if our focus is on what's good for the american people. and that's just the big stuff. there are all kinds of other things that we could be doing that don't get as much attention. i understand, we will not suddenly agree on everything, now that the cloud of crisis has passed. democrats and republicans are far apart in a lot of issues. and i recognize there are folks on the other side who think that my policies are misguided. that's putting it mildly. that's okay. that's democracy. that's how it works. we can debate those differences vigorously, passionately in good faith through the normal democratic process. and sometimes we'll be just too far apart to forge an agreement. but that should not hold back our efforts in areas where we do agree. we shouldn't fail to act on areas that we do agree or could agree, just because we don't think it'

this week the renewal of a farm bill that expired on october 1st.is more a temporary expansion to the food stamp program is get to expire tonight. every five years congress passes a new farm bill that sets limits. last year farmer subsy idyes in the united states totaled $14.9 billion. and the government paid out crop insurance totaling $15.8 billion. it guarantees farmers a price for their crop. critics charge that big argi businesses benefits more than small farmers do, but both sides in washington seem to agree on keeping most of the subsidies in place. earlier today we spoke with agriculture secretary. >> a lot of people don't understand the risks associated with farming. farmers may spend 500 or more dollars an acre putting in a crop. and they can lose some or all of their operation in an entire year. that's why it is important to have the safety net for farmers. >> now despite being called the farm bill, up to 80% of the money in it goes to food stamps. since the recession the number of americans on food stamps has risen to 48 million. republi

to working constructively with colleagues from both chambers and both sides of the aisle on the farm bill conference report that empowers our agricultural stakeholders and families who are vulnerable and who need this bill. i appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this important process. and look forward to sustaining and strengthening agricultural production in america. mr. chairman, thank you and i yield back. >> the gentleman recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. marino. >> thank you, chairman. madam chair, and ranking members. first, chairman, i asked unanimous consent that mr. royce, the chairman of the affairs committee who was unavoidably called away, have his opening statements submitted for the record. >> seeing no objection, so ordered. >> thank you. hard-working people in my district and across the country work each and every day to provide food for those around the world. in return, they make a simple request to us in congress. certainty. i live in the middle of five farms, beef, dairy, hog, poultry, sheep and goat. and in addition to various crops and also my st

that's the farm bill. the farm bill is a mandatory spending program. we worked hard on change, on improvements, on strengthening the farm bill by strengthening the insurance which is what our farmers and ranchers want. and as we work through that at the same time, we've identified on the order of $25 billion to $30 billion in savings that we can generate by reforming the farm program. the member of the conference committee on the senate side. the house is appointing the conferees. we're ready to resolve the differences between the house and the senate versions of the farm bill and we can have a stronger farm program and save billions of dollars. those are the kinds of mandatory spending program reforms that we need to put in place as part of the debt ceiling agreement. and we need to find a common commitment of bipartisan commitment and a commitment on the part of the administration as well as the congress to do that. what we talk about addressing the debt ceiling, that's what it really means. it doesn't just mean raising the debt ceiling or borrowing

passing a budget, immigration reform, farm bill. ose are three specific things that would make a huge difference in our economy right now. >> the senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill back in june, but speaker boehner has refused to bring it to the house floor so far. let's bring in democratic congresswoman luis gutierrez of illinois. good to see you again, congressman. >> good being with you, richard. >> crystal ball for us, where and when do you see an opening for immigration reform being taken of? >> i still think before christmas this year. let's let the raw nerves settle down a little bit. a pretty contentious rough couple of weeks there. but the sun is going for come out, it's going to dry up. i think someone was on msnbc just yesterday, one of my colleagues, saying he was from -- a new freshman from wisconsin saying, hey, you know, budget guy is going to be paul ryan negotiating there, and at the same time he's been very consistent for comprehensive immigration reform. let me just move forward just a little bit

we could have attached the immigration bill, the farm bill. a lot of possibilities there. none. a clean budget bill for america's government for the next six weeks. and we sent it over to the house and said just vote for this and we don't have to shut down the government, and they have said no repeatedly, and they are about to send us the third effort of the house, and it, too, will be defeated, because they are obsessed with obamacare, obsessed with the health care reform act. more than obsessed. they are living in mortal fear of what's going to happen starting tomorrow. as you see across america, they are going to announce the insurance exchanges in every state. people who have never had insurance in their -- health insurance in their entire lives will have a chance to buy it. some of it will be affordable for a lot of families. some of it will be the first chance a family's had to buy health insurance. we had an article i read over the weekend, one of the chicago papers. a family is raising a child with mental illness. as a consequence, they have been disqualified every time t

let me talk to you about the farm bill for a moment. while we have spent $24 billion on nothing, we've had this huge debate for three years in this country about $3 billion in the senate bill in the farm bill. and then there was $20 billion in the house bill but they didn't like that so they upped it to $39 billion. this huge debate about whether we can even have a farm bill in america anymore because it was just too damn expensive. but in a matter of days, these guys can cost the country $24 billion. and the sad thing about it is they're probably going to get away with it. we have no recourse. this is why americans hate washington. we feel helpless. $24 billion. gosh, i wonder if detroit could use some of that money. i wonder if chicago might like to help out their public schools. they have only closed 50 of them in the last six months. distorted priorities is what the republicans are all about. and just remember when you go to conference, democrats, they're still republicans. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. ton

-- adopted in their farm bill. same 750 number. it does include a study. but one of the main differences between what we're addressing today and what the senate has in their language going to conference is that the study in effect requires that u.s. da look at the -- usda look at the effect of this limitation on participation in the program and determine if that affects the viability of the program. does it change the dynamics? does it suddenly become a greater expense, as you shrink that pool? and it gives the secretary the authority to, if that study determines that this will be negative to crop insurance, to suspend the provision. that's not in this sense of congress. it says you shall, you will. one other passing thought. there's been a lot of discussion bout reducing the numbers from 65% to 50%. the percentages. i just simply note to you that in many cases that in effect is not just a 15% move, it's a 40% to move effect. think about that. -- move in effect. think about that. if you're a farmer, which is a busi

then they decided to divide the farm bill, passed part of the farm bill, pass the other part of the farm bill with nutrition. now had a vote to bring them back together and we're patiently waiting the appointment of a conference committee. mr. president, the passage of the farm bill has never been a partisan issue. in fact, it's a regional issue. things that are good for north dakota may not be good for mr. president's state, delaware, but we all work together and we all compromise and we all come together. this past weekend, south dakota, southwestern north dakota were hit with a terrible snowstorm. over two days, that region was blanketed anywhere from two to seven feet of snow and contained winds over 70 miles an hour. because of the early storm, thousands -- tens of thousands of cattle died because they were suffocated, mired and drowned in stock dams and dropped from exhaustion. the pictures and the stories are devastating. this image is one that's all too common after the recent blizzard in the dakotas. these cattle that died over the weekend near heddinger, north dakota, were owne

and i think the farm bill, immigration reform, so many other areas just are ripe for addressing them and moving forward in a, hopefully, bipartisan manner. look we've got tremendous opportunity in our country right now with the energy opportunities that we have before us, with the innovation that's taking place, the world needs the united states to be a healthy country from an economic and political sphapt. that's really -- standpoint. that's the rudder if you will of the world economy and the geopolitical situation. i hope we can move forward. that's what the president is trying to do. whether he can accomplish that we'll have to see. >> since the clinton days, to today, is there a lack of trust between republicans and democrats or much worse than that? >> i think it's a different kind of place john and bear in mind, now, president clinton in the six and a half years that i was privileged to serve in the white house and thereafter there was even more difficult times with the impeachment proceedings and so forth. although president clinton finished his last year in office very strong

let's pass the farm bill and this bill and that bill. i have been waiting a long time for the president to do something. i cannot see he has done nothing. he denies, denies. he doesn't know anything. it's like a child with his hand in the cookie jar. you want to find out what the child is doing -- "i do not know, i do not know." i am waiting for the president to do something. i just do not have any trust in him. guest: can you hear me? what do you think the president should do right now to get something moving on these things? caller: at least talk. at least tell the people the truth. i do not think he has told the people the truth about anything. nothing. all he does is deny, deny, deny and put the blame game on everyone else. that does not get the ball rolling. stand up, be in charge. he is in charge. host: carol, thank you. jennifer bendery. guest: there are some people say the president needs to lead. you can apply that to just about any issue. i think the president would say, i am leading and congress has a job to do. members of con

how about none for farm bill.a hurtado, james peterson, have a wonderful weekend. you can find more on our panel on our website, tv.msnbc.com. just follow the link to my name. [ male announcer ] when you have sinus pressure and pain, you feel...congested. beat down. crushed. but sudafed gives you maximum strength sinus pressure and pain relief. so you feel free. powerful sinus relief. sudafed. open up. >>> reading fiction may help social relationships. a recent study had people read different types of writing, then guess the emotions of people they don't know. people who read fiction were more likely to correctly guess the emotions than readers of nonfiction and other genres. >>> nearly 50 years after the assassination of president john f. kennedy, questions still remain about whether his accused shooter, lee harvey oswald, acted alone or if he was part of a greater, grander conspiracy. now using modern technology to examine old evidence, university of virginia professor has uncovered new details from that fateful

yes, the farm bill led us to this. the cheap food policy. and the one thing that we have to remember about the cheap food policy is it's still there today. and it works. in part of the cheap food policy is the farm bill. which, of course, is nutrition. food stamps. school lunches. and food security for the country. we're not going to go hungry anymore. we can produce. and you know what happens when people get hungry? they follow extremists. that's what they do. that's what happened in germany in the 1930s. the agricultural markets collapsed. the country couldn't feed itself. and you know the rest of the story. this is important stuff. this is what the country needs to focus on. we don't ever want these days again. but what we're seeing from republicans is nothing but a bunch of division, a bunch of distractions. we have seen it with their attack on the irs, and, of course, there's this big controversy with benghazi. anything to soak up the news cycle to throw something negative on the president. but not focusing on what is so terribly import

farming. it's a welfare and food stamp bill. more people are on food stamps than live on the west coast of the united states. the populations of oregon, washington, and california. i think republicans relish in an opportunity to talk about the urgent necessity to pass the farm bill. >> check, let me present to you what was slapped down. it seems to me three is a deal to be done here. the deal is that the republicans not crazy about the sequester said i would trade short term spending increases, in return for long term entitlement reform. why is that unreasonable? >> paul ryan skillfully framed in in the entitlement reforms that he would call from. the ones that president obama said he might embrace. >> as recently as during the budget this year. but senator blunt said something in the paper i thought was well side. he said you can't fight about having the fight. a key variety for the republicans in temperatures of using the leverage they have here is are they going to unite on a strategy? are they going into these talks with one

congress is discussing the farm bill. 0 percent of the farm bill is made up of the cost of the food stampgram. nine house has cut food stamps by 40% and the senate wants to do the same thing making the exact same trimmings. >> the only thing that will save this business is if the low income americans use their own money to replace what they are not getting in food stamps in food. that of course will help the stores but it will hurt poor people very badly. >> it sounds like you asterty. >> and no time for the congress to act it's happening tomorrow. >> there is much more to come on ththe impact of the food stamps cut. and the top of the hour with sex "real money" with ali veshi. >> how a terrible boating accident with spine injuries to walk again. and boston strong. came in last night with another championship. beabean town still celebrating. actually abusive, because if it doesn't contain language that specifically threatens you directly or is targeted towards you specifically, they may not consider it abuse. they may consider it offensive. and in that case they just recommend that you bl

the bill that house republicans have for a farm bill would got food stamps by $39 billion. er bill would cut up $4.5 billion. huge difference. the foodstamp issue is the most hotly debated piece of the entire thing. >> both conference committees are set to resolve differences. how does that play out? guest: i do not know. i think that is the biggest question ultimately that will have to be resolved in order for the farm bill to move. you cannot see the senate democrats and perhaps some of the senate republicans agreeing to cuts in the foodstamp program that are anywhere near akin to what is in the house bill. so the question, here we go again. the question may come down to what happens if something comes out of the conference committee that is much closer to the senate bill. speaker boehner, what do you do? the question of a bill that is put on the house floor. the house separated the food stamps from the farm bill portion and kept it separate. attempt thatas an was made by the house republicans to divide the farm bill from the nutrition programs, food stamps because this ha

his legislative agenda is a grand bargain and then something on immigration reform and then the farm billact there was a bipartisan bill over on the senate. do you think that's going to pick up any steam? >> i could see a farm bill passing, i guess. but, boy, you know, the other two things, no. as of today, i wouldn't think that there's going to be any kind of a grand bargain. they'll limp toward a -- you know, whatever the opposite of grand is. we'll limp toward a mediocre bargain. there'll be a -- >> a patchwork bargain. >> yeah. but immigration, no. i don't see it. i'm very sorry to say. doim see it. >> you don't think that's way for the republicans to help foundationally improve their brand? >> oh, it certainly is. yeah, it certainly is. that's what i they said after the 2012 loss they wanted to do. but i doechlt think there's a critical mass of people with willpower in the middle of the republican party right now to take on the far right and stand up to it. they're terrified of these primaries that mark murray was just mentioning. and, you know, if pat roberts can get a primary, anyb

also on the hill today.. 41 house and senate members in charge of writing a farm bill will meet about the much delayed legislation. farms, capitol hill, people the farm bill covers crop insurance, subsidies, conservation and food aid programs. currently there is a $35 billion dollar gap standing between democrats and republicans. the gop is made it highly known they would like to severely reduce the food stamp program under the farm bill. a year after superstorm sandy, new jersey governor chris christie is blaming congress for delays in getting help to victims. in an interview with the a-p, christie says congress dragged its feet on a funding package, and then enacted mountains of red tape for receiving aid. the result is victims were caught in the middle. the governor went on to say that his administration did everything it could to help the situation. and, that tremendous progres has been made in the wake of the super storm. in our earnings update this morning... pfizer posted earnings that beat estimates, but revenues at the world's largest drug maker slipped 2% due to a loss of pa

ready to go, we are ready to resolve the differences between the house and senate versions of the farm billnd we can have a stronger farm program and save billions of dollars. those are the kind of mandatory spending program reforms that we need to put in place as part of the debt ceiling agreement. a commoned to find commitment, a bipartisan commitment and a commitment on the part of the administration as well as the congress to do that. about addressing the debt ceiling, that is what it really means. it does not just mean raising the debt ceiling. it does not just mean growing more money. it means fixing the problem. to act.ed we need to address the debt ceiling, we need to get government open but we need to have a common commitment, a bipartisan commitment to solve the underlying problems. to get the reforms and the savings that will ensure that we are not spending more than what we are taking in. the big part of that is economic growth as well. we understand that. the point where we come together in a bipartisan way and i would argue this is that point, this is that time. where we truly