this is from a fellow in anchorage also. he says "you're moving a health care bill that can't be understood unless a person has a law degree." another individual, this is an interesting one, he and his family apparently own four indoor tanning businesses in alaska. we need to get a little sunshine, even if it's not what god has provided us. these are good businesses. and he says "when did this go from a 5% tax increase for cosmetic surgery to 10% for indoor tanning anyway?" and he adds that adding another 10% tax hike on small businesses like indoor tanning will likely drive many families just like mine into bankruptcy. mr. president, i could go on and on in terms of the stacks of correspondence and phone calls that we've gotten in, but suffice it to say, the more people understand what is in this legislation, the greater their concerns are. and really the greater their outrage as they learn what is contained in it. one of the things i learned just yesterday, which i don't think we've gotten the focus or the attention on thi

i received a call just one week ago from a practitioner in alaska, in anchorage, a family care practitioner, and i was told that this practitioner who has been practicing for many, many years in her -- in the family care practice, that the decision had been made to opt out of medicare. and in the email that we received and the follow-up conversation that was had with this practitioner, we specifically cited that it is -- it is due to what is in -- i'm reading from the email that we received." due to what is in the reid bill, as it will collapse my practice." now, mr. president, this is incredibly important to us, not only in a state like alaska where -- where we're in a crisis situation when it comes to providers who are willing to take new medicare individuals. right now in our -- in our state's largest city, we have 13 providers who will take new medicare individuals. 13. well, now if this individual who we have communicated with just a week ago is making the decision to opt out of medicare because of the low reimbursement rates, because of what is seen developing here on the floor of thi

it's really good to be back here in anchorage. that's where i was living before i started this reportage from the middle east and all things related six years ago. i'm here to talk tonight's about what is happening in the u.s. military as a result of ongoing occupations. primarily there is a large amount of dissent in the u.s. military right now. it is spreading despite lack of a cohesive organized gi resistance movement like we saw during the vietnam era. but before i can talk about the sense we have a clear picture of correctly what this u.s. foreign policy between both these u.s. occupations a in iraq and afghanistan, what is the immediate impact on the u.s. military and people inside the u.s. military? i want to start by sharing the story reading a bit from the book by a soldier, the story of a soldier named right. this is a guy who went over to iraq, served as an army medic there. i would like to a share the story because it gives people an idea of the first main reason why we are seeing a breakdown in the military, and t

we have got one facility in -- in anchorage where they are taking new medicare-eligible individuals.when we did a count, the institute of economic research did a count as to how many providers in anchorage, alaska, were taking new medicare individuals, it was 13. well, we heard from a provider just last week that she is opting out. these three make a total of four. mr. president, this is simply not sustainable. so for us, for us as a senate, for us as a congress to be moving forward in the name of health care reform, any provisions that will further jeopardize access to the people of alaska or the people of rural america or all over this country, that we would do anything that would jeopardize their access is foolish, it makes no sense. we must, we must stop this reform effort. we must do our job here in congress to provide the people of my state, the people of all of our states real health care reform that reduces the costs, provides for access, and does right by the american people. with that, mr. president, i believe my time has expired, and i yield the floor. the presiding office

anchorage alaska -- anchorage, alaska has half the population of the state and there are 13 providerswho are willing to take new medical -- newt medicare eligible individuals. -- new medicare eligible individuals. one provider said that in view of what happens with reimbursement and in view of what you all are discussing back here, i cannot afford within my family practice to take on newt medicare eligible individuals. she is dropping out and that puts us down to 12. this is a crisis. when we look at proposed legislation that does nothing to expand access and an insurance card that gives you access, there are no providers that are willing to take you on, what have we done? we have gone beyond what is coming out of cms. we have gone to our states think-tank -- our states' think tank and ask them, give us an analysis of the house bill. what it comes to is nothing good for alaska. this does not help us in a state where our medical -- medicare reimbursement rates are lower than medicaid reimbursement rates. there are all kinds of unique factors, but the bottom line is that this increases

>> i can't say that anyone anchorage me to write. i mean, it came from deep inside and what kept me going after my first manuscripts were rejected i think was that determination. i was going to-- and i got a rejection once and twice and after that it would be yeah that book but wait until they see what i do next. iz believe that that kind of determination is what makes 160. you can be talented and be afraid to do it, and while i was a very fearful child, i have always been fearless in my riding and i cannot explain that. >> you mentioned that you are fearless in your riding yet some of your writing has been controversial. >> i never dreamed about that when i was writing. it never occurred to me. i tell people it is dangerous to think ahead when you are writing. you don't think ahead about who is going to read your book, you don't think about a censorship on your shoulder or a critic on the other shoulder. it comes from someplace else and it is so amazing when it actually works, when you sit in that room for a few hours and you look a

host: our first call for kevin stirling it comes from anchorage, alaska, linda on the line for independents. caller: good morning. thank you for coming on this program. what do you see as the next 10 to 20 years, our future in outer space? guest: thank you for your call. that is the question that everyone seems to be asking. where do we go from here? i sort of want to address that. there is one of the reasons i put together the film. i had always thought that the flight of apollo 11 in particular -- this is the 40 anniversary, 2009. i thought, who better to reflect on that that the news journalists in particular who covered everything, everything, and defer remember when it was all over -- saw everything, and at the very moment when it was all over, and they have a perspective that is very valuable and important. i thought with 40 years of hindsight, what an important resource we should be listening to and factor into our views of answering that question. my view, having listened to their perspectives, is that they, i believe, as you hear in the film, were very proud of the achievements of

host: our first call for kevin stirling it comes from anchorage, alaska, linda on the line for independentsorning. thank you for coming on this program. what do you see as the next 10 to 20 years, our future in outer space? guest: thank you for your call. that is the question that everyone seems to be asking. where do we go from here? i sort of want to address that. there is one of the reasons i put together the film. i had always thought that the flight of apollo 11 in particular -- this is the 40 anniversary, 2009. i thought, who better to reflect on that that the news journalists in particular who covered everything, everything, and defer remember when it was all over -- saw everything, and at the very moment when it was all over, and they have a perspective that is very valuable and important. i thought with 40 years of hindsight, what an important resource we should be listening to and factor into our views of answering that question. my view, having listened to their perspectives, is that they, i believe, as you hear in the film, were very proud of the achievements of the program. the

flaunt a lot to alaska, most recently on a small, eight-seater, coming out of a small town back to anchorage, a chemical volcanic ash and we were circling multiple times because the fog was so thick. the stations where doing what they were doing, giving the store right information. we were concerned about fuel. there was an intent to go further than where we were headed. we ended up cutting through the fog visually based on their recommendations on where to land. the person with me from washington had not experienced -- they had the experience of a lifetime. those centers are critical. we greatly appreciate the people who run those. " we have done in alaska has been a very good job. pickens certification does that there knocking filling the vacancies with the rumor mill. we're not interested in a contract a. you do not have to do this now. but when you can give me an update of 40 vacancy levels are and what the rollover rate is. that is critical for conditions in alaska. this was about a month and a half ago. it reassures me the quality of people would have working there. >> you have a high-

flaunt a lot to alaska, most recently on a small, eight-seater, coming out of a small town back to anchorage, a chemical volcanic ash and we were circling multiple times because the fog was so thick. the stations where doing what they were doing, giving the store right information. we were concerned about fuel. there was an intent to go further than where we were headed. we ended up cutting through the fog visually based on their recommendations on where to land. the person with me from washington had not experienced -- they had the experience of a lifetime. those centers are critical. we greatly appreciate the people who run those. " we have done in alaska has been a very good job. pickens certification does that there knocking filling the vacancies with the rumor mill. we're not interested in a contract a. you do not have to do this now. but when you can give me an update of 40 vacancy levels are and what the rollover rate is. that is critical for conditions in alaska. this was about a month and a half ago. it reassures me the quality of people would have working there. >> you have a high-

deadline for the international community, and i think all of those involved in the p5 plus one would anchorages being taken by us to live up to their responsibilities. it is in his control what iran decides to do. the offer that was put forward by the p5 plus one and the iaea, i think make it clear to the world what iran's attention -- intentions were. now they have to live up to those responsibilities, and if they fail to doç so, the international community will react accordingly. >> opec met today and decided to hold out. also, there is a strong message coming out with opec that they are comfortable with oil prices ranging between $70 and $80 a barrel. , i do not have any guidance on opec, but we will try to get some from energy and from an s c. yes, sir. >> once the senate passes health care, how does the presidency his role? is he going to be a bystander and sort of a cheerleader, or is he going to be up his elbows? >> again, i think year-old -- let me say one thing first. i am not going to get into what that conference, what those negotiations may look like. ççobviously we're hopeful t

most recently on a small eight-seater coming out of a small town into anchorage international. volcanic ash closed it down for a period of time. we were circling multiple times because the fog was so thick. i had never seen and i was born and raised here. the stations were giving us the right information and we were also getting a little concerned about fuel because it wasn't intended to go further. we end up cutting through the fog and visually based on the service center's recommendation where to and in a different airport, the person that was with me from washington, d.c. and had never been in a small plane had an experience of a lifetime. i don't want to discount what goes on in the lower 48 but what we have done in alaska has been a very good job. we have the capacity to train these folks in alaska but the concern is they are not filling the vacancies with the rumor mill ripe with -- this is how they are going to contract it out. i want to make it very clear, we are not interested -- i would like for you to get to a point where you can give me what a plan for training and

i served as mayor of anchorage, alaska for a period of five years were just connected to the military significantly. we have before it rich. we spend a lot of time working directly with the military. we have over 4000 of our troops across the state of alaska now deployed, one of the highest in the country and percentage. we have a high amount of people who return and become ventures, was 11% of our state. i want to emphasize last night when i came and asked one of the reporters asked me what it's like coming in at one clock. i had to remind them where four hours back so it's early for me, but the fact was we had to be there at 1:00. and when i decided to run for this office and served one of the reason i decided to run what i think the system here has to change and the games that's going on last night is another reason why americans are outraged by what's going on on this important piece of legislation. it emphasizes when you think about it that the system that we're engaged in here trying to move forward on a very simple piece of legislation, the defense appropriation act which clear

fly a lot in alaska, most recently on a regional small eight cedar coming out of a small town in anchorage international which, i cannot recall volcanic ash that close for a period of time, we were circling multiple times because the fog was so thick which i had never seen since i was born and raised there, had never seen it this thicket of course the stations were doing what they were doing, giving us the right information and we are also getting a little concerned about fuel because it was an intent to go further than where we were headed. we did end up cutting through the fog and visually based on the service recommendation of landing in a different airport. the poor person that was with me from washington d.c. have never been on a small plane and had the experience of their lifetime but the service centers are critical and the people that run those we greatly appreciate. i don't want to discount what goes on in the lower 48 but what we have done in alaska has been a very good job. we have the capacity to trade these folks in alaska but the concern is that they are not filling the vacan

an anchorage, alaska has about half the population of the state and 13 providers who are willing to takemedicare eligibles. we just got confirmation on monday that one of those 13 is dropping out. she says in view what's happening and what is happening with the reimbursement in view of what you all are discussing back here, i can't afford within my family practice to take on new medicare eligible individuals, so she's dropping out. so that puts us down to 12. this is a crisis. and so when we look at proposed legislation that does nothing to expand access that basically says, to die, you now have a card, an insurance card that gives you access, but there's no providers that are willing to take you on, what have we done for these individuals? now we've gone beyond the c.b.o. letters and what's coming out of c.m.s. and looking at the actuary. we have gone to our state's think tank if you will. institute for social and economic research at the university of alaska and asked them, give us an analysis of the house bill and give us an analysis of what we have here on the senate floor. and what

host: our first call for kevin stirling it comes from anchorage, alaska, linda on the line for independentsorning. thank you for coming on this program. what do you see as the next 10 to 20 years, our future in outer space? guest: thank you for your call. that is the question that everyone seems to be asking. where do we go from here? i sort of want to address that. there is one of the reasons i put together the film. i had always thought that the flight of apollo 11 in particular -- this is the 40 anniversary, 2009. i thought, who better to reflect on that that the news journalists in particular who covered everything, everything, and defer remember when it was all over -- saw everything, and at the very moment when it was all over, and they have a perspective that is very valuable and important. i thought with 40 years of hindsight, what an important resource we should be listening to and factor into our views of answering that question. my view, having listened to their perspectives, is that they, i believe, as you hear in the film, were very proud of the achievements of the program. the

we could connect key west to anchorage and back. every dollar, mr.president, is a choice, and we are spending money out of control. so like those who have come before me, i'm going to sound the alarm. i'm going to sound the alarm because we still haven't done anything about this problem. now there are good measures out there. senator gregg from new hampshire has a measure along with senator conrad to put together a commission. i support that. senator sessions has a measure to bring caps back because up until about 2002, we actually were making some headway against the budget. then those caps expired and spending went out of control. i support those efforts. i support any effort to bring spending in control because this body doesn't have any leadership on spending. we just look at what we spend. we don't look at the revenues that are coming in the door. mr. president, you know i served as a chief of staff to a governor in florida when the budget started to go bad in 2007, i was on the phone monthly, weekly, with the person who determined our receipts

he is 47 years old, the mayor of anchorage. term, he walks in yohere and seems to know everything. he is part of the new eagerness of this committee. we are a different committee. we have hired investigators. we look into dark corners. we love of reading up on the insurance industry. we are very good at it. we do not want to have to do that on television. mr. gary knell, can we start with you? >> thank you very much. we are delighted the you have a new vigor added to this committee and are focusing on children's television. this is so necessary as we move forward into the 21st century. we're celebrating the 40th birthday of "sesame street." it was started with the premise of using the power of television to teach preschoolers to prepare them for school. we all know about the success. i wish i could have brought elmo, but he is busy trying to do positive media for kids. today, we focus on the children's television act. when sesame street was created 40 years ago, there were things repeated in the act. he was about trying to harn