we had in the budget committee, which i'm the ranking member now, the testimony yesterday of alan simpson and senator simpson, republican from wyoming, bowless president bush's chief of staff and academic leader, and this is what they told us yesterday in their written statement, both of them put this in to us. "we believe that if we do not take december sicive action, our -- decisive action, our nation faces the most predictable economic crisis in history." they have spent much wrestling with these numbers. they reached a majority of the members voted for the reforms they proposed, and they gave a lot of time and effort to it. i didn't think they went far enough in some areas, but i would say they made a real significant attempt to deal with the crisis we face, and in their testimony yesterday, they went even further. what do we mean a crisis? we had a crisis in 2007 that put us in the deepest recession we've had in decades. greece had a crisis. that's the kind of thing they're talking about. 0% of every -- 40% of every dollar we spend is borrowed, and senator conrad, our chairman, senio

implemented the recommendations of the erskine bowles, alan simpson commission today, or a package of reforms with the same fiscal impact, it would immediate move to number threend fiscal governance and become one the top 10 countries in the overall index. guest: that is correct. there is hope. the never take a country, new zealand, had its own currency crisis in the early 1990's. it ty made dramatic and fundamental reforms in what the government did, how did business, however measured success. they've reformed entitlement programs, put in fiscal constraints, reformed the tax policy, and now they are number two. if new zealand can do it, the united states can do it. host: can we do it without tax increases, in your view? guest: no. the simple truth is the government has grown too big, waited too long to restructure and, frankly, promised to much. in my view, to put us on a more prudent and sustainable path, it is about 2 to 3 to 1, spending cuts to tax increases. but w have to reimpose t top statutory budget -- we had it from early 90 through 2002, ones that expired in 2002 things hav

former republican senator alan simpson. >> if you can't get social security solvent for 75 years and this congress cannot do that, you can forget everything. you will never get to medicare, medicaid and defense. >> ifill: former clinton chief of staff, a democrat. >> i niece cuts are politically difficult. but this is not a decision we can propose... postpone. we have got to act and we've got to act now. >> ifill: senators were expected to cast their first votes this week. joining me now for a budget update is newshour political editor david chalian. tell me if i'm wrong but haven't we been here before. >> we were just here in some regard, you remember it was just a couple weeks ago that the congress passed that two- week extension where they did a little bit of the work. they cut $4 billion out of this year's budget and extended the funding of the government for a two-week period to allow for negotiation. what this is now all about is how do we get from here to september 30, the end of the fiscal year? there are only six months left. we're six months into this. this is not already s

president i came earlier todayy from testimony provided y former senator alan simpson and erskine bowles about the consequences of our failure to act if we don't get ouref comprehensive deficit and debt under control. it is a problem that is not going to get any easier. every day we fail to act we had $4 billion to our national debt. unfortunately, some of the proposals coming particularly from the house at this point, the house budget plan says nothing significance to address our long-term deficit and debt.r issues. mr. president i travel around virginia and yesterday i was with her colleague senator chambliss where we met with literally hundreds of business leaders from across centralvi virginia. and their message was clear. no more games, no more showmanship, get something done and that something they want done is a comprehensive approaca to our nation's fiscal challenges. that will mean yes, cutting down on spending. that will mean as well making our tax code more efficient so american business can grow and compete. it will also mean at the same time recognizing as part of that tax r

erskine bowles and alan simpson said members of congress are taking too much time focusing on cutting domestic discretionary spending and not enough time looking at entitlement programs and the tax code. the commission's final report did not receive enough votes to be officially issued and calls for $4 trillion in debt is a reduction over 10 years. this is 2.5 hours. >> i but to welcome everybody to the senate budget committee. we will focus on a fiscal plan and how it would address the long-term debt crisis. i want to begin by thankg them for an outstanding job they did. we would have never accomplished as much had it not been f their extraordinarily gifted and determined efforts. they made a significant personal sacrifice to lead this mission and we owe them deep gratitude. when history is written, their names will bring out as getting the country back on track. i also want to thank them for starting this project and pushing for a bipartisan solution to the debt that we confront. >> he succeeded in putting this issue in the national spotlight. there is now growing consensus on the n

one of the things that erskine bowles and alan simpson said today is there is no silver bullet in thischallenge we've got in front of us. it is going to take significant spending cuts. it is going to take looking at the revenue side through the aspects of tax reform. but those two things -- revenues and spending aloan -- won't get us out of this. the third leg is a growing economy. how do we grow an economy in a place where america while still is the world's leading economy does not drive t economy the way it did even 20 years ago? we saw 20 years ago where the world would have to wait on america to get its financial act together. the world is not waiting now. china, india, brazil, countries abroad are moving ahead. if we're going to remain competitive, we have got to remain to continue to invest smamplet the president has said that we got to make sure that we educate, invest in our infrastructure and be able to outinnovate. that means targeted research and development. unfortunately, the house proposal which not only focuses on domestic discretionary to the exclusion of otr areas of s

alan simpson mentioned i worked for him at one point. he inspired me to take a shot at elected office, which means you'll be blamed for some additional now, senator. >> both of us now. that witness protection program will have to be even better. >> erskine, thank you for your service. ben cardin and i did some work on increasing savings and helping on retirement. i do not think i would have been -- i recall your willingness to step out of the partisan ship into solutions. that is what you've done in this report. i have three quick questions for you. we have discussed two briefly. tax reform quickly. do you think from all the testimony you have heard that the proposals that you have will not just have the impact that the -- but also will make our economy more competitive? >> yes. without question. >> that is an intangible not represented in the numbers you are provided which will help to grow the economy. we will hear later today on social security than they are not getting a dime to the deficit and is in good financial condition. do you

one of the things that erskine bowles and alan simpson said today is there is no silver bullet in this challenge we've got in front of us. it is going to take significant spending cuts. it is going to take looking at the revenue side through the aspects of tax reform. but those two things -- revenues and spending aloan -- won't get us out of this. the third leg is a growing economy. how do we grow an economy in a place where america while still is the world's leading economy does not drive the economy the way it did even 20 years ago? we saw 20 years ago where the world would have to wait on america to get its financial act together. the world is not waiting now. china, india, brazil, countries abroad are moving ahead. if we're going to remain competitive, we have got to remain to continue to invest smamplet the president has said that we got to make sure that we educate, invest in our infrastructure and be able to outinnovate. that means targeted research and development. unfortunately, the house proposal which not only focuses on domestic discretionary to the exclusion of other areas

alan simpson, the cochairman of the commission, popped in and said i think one year. i think by the end of this year we could have a debt crisis. it's time to act and get on the right path and not be in denial as we are at this time. and so i asked ms. higginbottom about some of these issues when she came before the committee just to try to determine whether or not she understood the gravity of the situation in which we're now in. i was not satisfied. first, ms. higginbottom's experience level is stunningly lacking. she was a former campaign advisor to president obama, has had no former budget training or experience, not even a college class in economics. she said i'm not an accountant. no, she is not an accountant. she never served on the budget committee, never studied business, never run a business, never been a mayor of a town, never been a county commissioner who had to balance the budget or a governor or served in a governor's budget office or finance office of any kind, shape or form. has campaigned for, i think, senator kerry. she was -- the highest job i gues

alan simpson, senator simpson, mr. bowles wasn mr. clinton's the fed chief of staff and was appointed by president obama to co-chair the debt commission that did the hea report. this is what he said the day yty before yesterday both of them, s this is a signed a joint joint statement that the budget budget committee the day before that if yesterday. we believe that if we do noteciv take decisive action, our nation faces the most predictable economic crisis in its history,t and of quote. they or these extremists? w they said much of the crisis the nation is in, what it takes toty get out of it and the proposed we ared doing. and just yesterday, they said wi has ever faced in its history. coming. people say it won't happen to us. pbably well they should probably take " up the book. this time it's different.at professor rinehart i believe, one of the other great universi. universities, and other book is proposing and shows hownd how government sovereign get into financial trquouble and quicklye bad things can happen and the title of it s

one of the things that erskine bowles and alan simpson said today is there is no silver bullet in this challenge we've got in front of us. it is going to take significant spending cuts. it is going to take looking at the revenue side through the aspects of tax reform. but those two things -- revenues and spending aloan -- won't get us out of this. the third leg is a growing economy. how do we grow an economy in a place where america while still is the world's leading economy does not drive the economy the way it did even 20 years ago? we saw 20 years ago where the world would have to wait on america to get its financial act together. the world is not waiting now. china, india, brazil, countries abroad are moving ahead. if we're going to remain competitive, we have got to remain to continue to invest smamplet the president has said that we got to make sure that we educate, invest in our infrastructure and be able to outinnovate. that means targeted research and development. unfortunately, the house proposal which not only focuses on domestic discretionary to the exclusion of other areas

hope we follow the model of the deficit commission, which i served on with erskine bowles and alan simpson, appointed by the president. that reduces the budget in a sensible way. host: that same deficit commission also look at entitlements -- medicare, medicaid, and social security -- president obama, so far has not address specifics on that item of the budget. why? guest: he has not because this matter is evolving in the national debate between congress and the white house. first, let me make a couple of things clear. the commission addressed social security. social sector does not add one pay toward deficit. -- social security does not add one penny toward our deficit is not the problem. they do have a problem by the year 2037 if we do not do something before then. we will see it 22% reduction in the social security checks that are going out. until then, it is solvent, and will continue to be. what i believe the commission said and the american people will embrace is we have to look at the entire federal budget, from the mandatory entitlement programs, as to that tax expenditures, which

hope we follow the model of the deficit commission, which i served on with erskine bowles and alan simpson president. that reduces the budget in a sensible way. host: that same deficit commission also look at entitlements -- medicare, medicaid, and social security -- president obama, so far has not address specifics on that item of the budget. why? guest: he has not because this matter is evolving in the national debate between congress and the white house. first, let me make a couple of things clear. the commission addressed social security. social sector does not add one pay toward deficit. -- social security does not add one penny toward our deficit is not the problem. they do have a problem by the year 2037 if we do not do something before then. we will see it 22% reduction in the social security checks that are going out. until then, it is solvent, and will continue to be. what i believe the commission said and the american people will embrace is we have to look at the entire federal budget, from the mandatory entitlement programs, as to that tax expenditures, which means breaks in th

and then what about alan simpson, a great, distinguished senator from wyoming who's so frank and articulate in his expressions. he's always a delight to hear. this is what he said -- quote -- "i think it will come before two years. i'm just saying at some point i think within a year, at the end of the year if they -- the people who hold our debt -- just thought you're playing with fluff, 5%, 6%, 7%, they're going to say 'i want some money for my favor.' if there's anything guys love, it's money. and money guys when they start hraougs money -- start losing money panic. and let me tell you they will, it won't matter what the government does then, they'll say i want my money. i've got a better place for it. just saying for me, it won't be a year. do we have a time agreement? the presiding officer: the time expired some moments ago. a limit of ten minutes. mr. sessions: i thank the chair and wrap up and ask for two additional minutes. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. sessions: let me add a few more things that have happened. in an analysis -- this is "the washington pos

alan simpson, former republican senator; erskine bowles, formerly the chief of staff to president clinton, appointed by president obama to cochair the debt commission, the fiscal commission, reported to us -- and jointly they submitted a written statement that said that if the united states fails to act, it faces the most predictable economic crisis in its history." this is a real warning. and they said that such a crisis could arrive as soon as or two years. people have been saying we're on the wrong track f. we don't get off of it if three, four, five years we're going to have a crisis. more and more people are warning us that that crisis is sooner. mr. bowles said give or take a little bit, we'll have a crisis. mr. simpson said i think within a year. the american people rightly expect their elected leaders to confront this threat with seriousness and candor. but the president has never once looked the american people in the eye and told them the truth about the financial crisis we face. has he ever discussed those kind of words with the american people that we face an actual crisis? we

chief of staff, he was appointed by president obama to cochair the debt commission with senator alan simpson; they testified before our committee last week. and that is what they said about the nature of the crisis we face. they spent weeks studying the numbers, hearing from experts all over the world, economists and others about our debt situation, and they have reported that we've got to take action now. in a joint statement, they presented to the committee, they said that this is the most predictable financial crisis this nation has ever faced. in other words, we're on a course -- they say if we don't change course, it'll be the most predictable crisis we've faced. and so senator conrad, our democratic chairman, who's very concerned about these issues, asked him about when, and mr. bowls, wh bowles, a -- and mr. bowles said, two years, maybe a little less, maybe a little more. and senator simpson contributed to the discussion and said, i think a year. well, i hope we don't have some sort of debt crisis in a career. but the fact that that has even been discussed should be a cause of alarm

presence -- presidents that commission, was former chief of staff for president clinton had a joint alan simpson, former republican senator, testifying before the budget committee and he reiterated a message has been talking about, that the cuts did not go deep enough and did not attack the real problem. here's more from yesterday's testimony before the senate budget committee. >> $61 billion out of a $3.70 trillion budget is 1.6%. i can cut my budget $1.60 -- 1.6% by tonight, tomorrow morning. i took $625 million out of a $3 billion budget at the university of north carolina. 1.6% is nothing. the problem is, that you all are focusing on taking 1.6% out of a very narrow part of the budget come out of 12 percent of the budget, so some of the cuts are having a disproportionate adverse affect on certain groups of people. host: erskine bowles testifying yesterday on capitol hill. politico has this had line. senate showdown on budget cuts. david rogers winning of republicans will bring the -- bring their cuts to the senate floor. among rank-and-file grumbling among the gop and no sign of capturing th

implemented the recommendations of the erskine bowles, alan simpson commission today, or a package of reforms with the same fiscal impact, it would immediately move to number three and fiscal governance and become one of the top 10 countries in the overall index. guest: that is correct. there is hope. the never take a country, new zealand, had its own currency crisis in the early 1990's. it they made dramatic and fundamental reforms in what the government did, how did business, however measured success. they've reformed entitlement programs, put in fiscal constraints, reformed the tax policy, and now they are number two. if new zealand can do it, the united states can do it. host: can we do it without tax increases, in your view? guest: no. the simple truth is the government has grown too big, waited too long to restructure and, frankly, promised to much. in my view, to put us on a more prudent and sustainable path, it is about 2 to 3 to 1, spending cuts to tax increases. but we have to reimpose the top statutory budget -- we had it from early 90 through 2002, ones that expired in 200

erskine bowles and alan simpson came up with a good plan. that is what we have to do. this concentration on domestic discretionary -- let me put it this way. we can eliminate all domestic discretionary -- everything -- and we would have close to a $700 billion deficit. we could eliminate all domestic discretionary and defense and it would be $200 billion. everything has to be on the table. host: the senate banking committee will be holding a hearing today on t.a.r.p. with the special inspector general for t.a.r.p. and others. you can watch it today on 10:00 -- at 10:00 on c-span. ted kaufman is our guest. our next phone call is lawrence. caller: my problem is the debt that this country owes. i have been a professor of math for 20 years. i doubt if any of your listeners or guests at truly understand what $1 trillion means. the way the congressional budget office at figures it, that math does not work. you cannot set up artificial boundaries and bass lines around legislation and, not with an accurate picture. we 0 $15 trillion, and we are at a tipping point. since most p

alan simpson, former republican senator; erskine bowles, formerly the chi of staff to president clinton, appointed by president obama to cochair the debt commission, the fiscal commission, reported to us -- and jointly they submitted a written statement that said that if the united states fails to act, it faces the most predictable economic crisis in its history." this is a real warning. and they said that such a crisis could arrive as soon as or two years. people have been saying we're on the wrong track f. we don't get off of it if three, four, five years we're going to have a crisis. more and more peoe are warning us that that crisis is sooner. mr. bowles said give or take a little bit, we'll have a crisis. mr. simpson said i think within a year. the american people rightly expect their elected leaders to confront this threat with seriousness and candor. but the president has never once looked the american people in the eye and told them the truth about the financial crisis we face. has he ever discussed those kind of words with the american people that we face an actual crisis? we c

hope we follow the model of the deficit commission, which i served on with erskine bowles and alan simpsonpointed by the president. that reduces the budget in a sensible way. host: that same deficit commission also look at entitlements -- medicare, medicaid, and social security -- president obama, so far has not address specifics on that item of the budget. why? guest: he has not because this matter is evolving in the national debate between congress and the white house. first, let me make a couple of things clear. the commission addressed social security. social sector does not add one pay toward deficit. -- social security does not add one penny toward our deficit is not the problem. they do have a problem by the year 2037 if we do not do something before then. we will see it 22% reduction in the social security checks that are going out. until then, it is solvent, and will continue to be. what i believe the commission said and the american people will embrace is we have to look at the entire federal budget, from the mandatory entitlement programs, as to that tax expenditures, which mean

we had in the budget committee of which i'm thehe ranking member now the testimony yesterday of alan simpson and republican senator from wyoming and president clinton's chief of staff in a well-known business and democratic leader.y and this is what they told us. yesterday in their writtenhem in. do n we believe that if we do not dev take decisive action, our natiot faces the most predictable economic crisis in history, in def quote. they have spent months wrestling with these numbers. the members voted for the refore the proposed, and they gave a et lot of effort to it. i don't think they went far f enough in some of the areas, but i would say they made a real r significant attemptea to deal wh the crisis we face, and in theio testimony yesterday, they were not even further. what do we mean a crisis?s we crisis in 2007 that put us it the deepest recession we have had in decades. greece has had a crisis. that's the kind of thing they t are talking about. dolr 40% of every dollar we spend isa borrowed, and senator conrad, our chairman, the distinguishedh democratic leader asked whateadk happe

and then what about alan simpson, a great, distinguished senator from wyoming who's so frank and articulate in his expressions. he's always a delight to hear. this is what he said -- quote -- "i think it will come before two years. i'm just saying at some point i think within a year, at the end of the year if they -- the people who hold our debt -- just thought you're playing with fluff, 5%, 6%, 7%, they're going to say 'i want some money for my favor.' if there's anything guys love, it's money. and money guys when they start hraougs money -- start losing money panic. and let me tell you they will, it won't matter what the government does then, they'll say i want my money. i've got a better place for it. just saying for me, it won't be a year. do we have a time agreement? the presiding officer: the time expired some moments ago. a limit of ten minutes. mr. sessions: i thank the chair and wrap up and ask for two additional minutes. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. sessions: let me add a few more things that have happened. in an analysis -- this is "the washington pos

alan simpson inspired me to take a shot at a elected office, which means you will be blamed for somethingadditional now. that witness protection program will have to be even better. erskine, and thank you courier service. when you were chief of staff at the white house -- thank you of for your service. when you were chief of staff at the white house, we did some work together. i recall your willingness to step around partisanship and come up with solutions, and that is what you have done in this report. thank you. i have three quick questions, just to get your thinking. two we have discussed briefly, a tax reform and social security. on tax reform, quickly, do you think from the testimony you have heard, that the proposal you have will not just have the impact that the committee would indicate from the scoring, but will also make our economy more competitive? >> yes, without question. >> that is an intangible that is really not represented in the numbers you are providing. on social security, we will hear later today, and we have heard all along, that social security is not adding a dime

bunch of us supported, creating the deficit reduction commission cochaired by erskine bowles and alan simpson. they gave us a road map over how to get to a more fiscally responsible place in the next few years, cutting $4 trillion out of the budget deficit. what they said is pretty much everything needs to be on the table, domestic spending, defense spending, entitlement programs, and the tax expenditures, tax credits, tax exemptions and that kind of thing, tax rates. and what they have suggested is a proposal that cuts the deficit by $4 trillion over ten years, and about two-thirds of that on the spending side, maybe a third or so on the revenue side. i actually think that's a pretty good approach and i commend the 18 members of the commission who endorsed that approach. i -- i'd like to -- one of my core values is everything i do, i know i can do better. i think the same is true of all my colleagues. frankly, the same is true of federal programs. what we need to do is to replace what a lot of people think that we have here in washington, a culture of spendthrift. we need to replace it with

he was joined by his co-chairman, allen simpson, at -- alan simpson, and here is a portion of it fromthis morning. >> i am not going to use any notes today. i am just going to talk to you, and i'm really concerned. i think we face the most predictable economic crisis in history. a lot of us sitting in this room didn't see this last crisis as it came upon us, but this one is really easy to see. the fiscal path we are on today is simply not sustainable. this debt and these deficits that we are incurring on an annual basis are like a cancer, and they are truly going to destroy this country from within unless we have the common sense to do something about it. i was with former senator kerry, bob kerry, about a year ago exactly, and he said, erskine, look at the nation's current income statement, and let me tell you what you'll see. you'll see that 100% of the revenues that this nation produces today are being consumed by our mandatory spending and the interest on the debt. that means that every single dollar that we spend today on these two wars, on our military, on national security, on

hope we follow the model of the deficit commission, which i served on with erskine bowles and alan simpsoninted by the president. that reduces the budget in a sensible way. host: that same deficit commission also look at entitlements -- medicare, medicaid, and social security -- president obama, so far has not address specifics on that item of the budget. why? guest: he has not because this matter is evolving in the national debate between congress and the white house. first, let me make a couple of things clear. the commission addressed social security. social sector does not add one pay toward deficit. -- social security does not add one penny toward our deficit is not the problem. they do have a problem by the year 2037 if we do not do something before then. we will see it 22% reduction in the social security checks that are going out. until then, it is solvent, and will continue to be. what i believe the commission said and the american people will embrace is we have to look at the entire federal budget, from the mandatory entitlement programs, as to that tax expenditures, which means

alan simpson, the commissioner's of the president debt commission, they said this whole thing is a sideshow. it does not really do anything to deal with the budget deficit. the deficit is 1.5 trillion dollars a year. we are talking about cuts of about $61 billion. >> covering the debate on capitol hill on spending. you can read his work o nthe hill. >> the quick know, they will meet monday to talk about the resolution. our house coverage monday beginning at noon for general speeches and 2:00 p.m. for general business. an update on the earthquake today in japan, 8.9 a earthquake in japan. authorities in north which japan said they cannot reach an area among the coast where 200 or 300 people were killed. they say the roads are too badly damaged. meanwhile here in the u.s., fema administrator said at this point damage to the u.s. seems to be limited and centered on irina's and boats and roads near the water. most is likely to be private property. the government is ready to assist should state officials call for assistance. he was supposed to be at a hearing today on capitol hill on the nationa

simpson has to make this play to force a playoff. no dice. >> hopefully your texas longhorns will come up big. >> alan: watching right now. stay with us. >> alan: coming up at 6:00, a family is rush to the hospital after suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, what pg&e found out their home. signs of life returning to normal in japan. >> finally, there was enough of a break in this weather for san francisco's first sunday street event of the year to go off without a hitch. city officials closed off part of the embarcadero. it featured biking, skating, tai chi, and dance lessons, the next event is on april 10th in golden gate park. we'll be back at 6:00. thanks for watc.

alan m. dershowitz. what does he do? yes, he's a lawyer--a super lawyer, one might say. celebrated cases come to mind-- o.j. simpsonclaus von bülow. he fears no one in the courtroom, that's obvious, but he doesn't fear the blank page either. he's a very prolific and talented author. his latest offering, the novel the trials of zion. here's alan dershowitz. alan dershowitz, you have written quite the thriller and the page-turner here, so i don't want to give anything away, but i do note that the main character is a super lawyer living on boston who has a daughter, and the daughter at some point comes into peril, and all of that is described so sincerely, i couldn't help but wonder, you the boston super lawyer, do you have a daughter, and have you fantasized in this way about something happening to her? - well, i do have a daughter, and the main character lawyer's name is abe ringle--ringle is my mother's maiden name--and abe is kind of a variation on my hebrew name, avraham--abraham--so the character is loosely based on me, and the character of emma is loosely based on my daughter ella, who is a little younger, not

alan simpson, former republicano senator and formerly the chief of staff to president clintonent appointed by president obama too co-chair the debt commission, the fiscal commission reportedad to us and jointly, a simple a tt written statement that said that if the united states fails to act, it faces, quote, the most predictable crisis in its most predictable economic crisis in " its history, and of quote. such a crisis could a e'se as soon as one or two w years. people have been saying we are a on the wrong track if we don't get off of that three or four or five years we are going to havet a crisis. more and more people are warning that crisis is sooner. take a he said a year give or take a we little bit we will have a crisis.a mr. simpson said i think within a year the american people t rightly expect the leaders toith confront this threat with seriousness and kimber theas president has never once lookede the american people in the law and told them the truth about the financial crisis we face.hod has he ever discussed those kint of words with american people the we face an actual crisi