the sake of balance. in the 1990's, with a golden era, why can we not return to the clinton era spending? do you agree with president obama, the balanced budget is not a worthwhile goal? >> let's go to the early 1990's, when the head 4% gdp projected deficits. we did balance deficit reduction. the projection after that was 2.5%. it was not that different than where we are today. we are at 1.7%, a little below. 2.5%orecast at the time, deficit. what do we end up with? surplus. how did that happen? economic growth. it is exactly why we need a plan here. >> the economic growth happened in the private sector, not the government. >> of course. >> it seems to me the budget before us, pro-government. >> stick with the statistics. these projected deficits for the federal government was 2.5%. we are lower than that in the present's plan. what took us from -2.5% to a surplus of economic growth, absolutely the private sector growth. we need to do both here. we need to get ourselves on a fiscally sustainable path, do

and again, you know, we're not just saying, let's balance for the sake of balance.he only way we're going to produce jobs in our nation, and set free the kids in our country, to be able to have the kind of life that we did and even better, is to get this spending under control. >> mike: congresswoman great to talk to you, thanks for joining us tonight. >> thank you, governor, thank you very much. >> mike: all right, still ahead, my interview with the one and only carol burnett, but first, thieves broke into his business and they robbed him over and over again after more than a dozen thefts in three months, and he decided to take matters into his own hands. the store owner who stood up to the crooks is coming up next. i'd like to hear from you, go to my website, mik mikehuckabee.com and tell me what you think or sign unfor my facebook page and follow me on twitter. >> my next guest is a power equipment shop owner. he was robbed 15 times over a three-month period. he reported the incident to the police and installed surveillance cameras, but the thieves continued to b

the sake of balance. a golden90's, with era, why can we not return to the clinton era spending? do you agree with president obama, the balanced budget is not a worthwhile goal? >> let's go to the early 1990's, when the head 4% gdp projected deficits. we did balance deficit reduction. the projection after that was 2.5%. it was not that different than where we are today. we are at 1.7%, a little below. the forecast at the time, 2.5% deficit. what do we end up with? surplus. how did that happen? economic growth. it is exactly why we need a plan here. >> the economic growth happened in the private sector, not the government. >> of course. >> it seems to me the budget before us, pro-government. >> stick with the statistics. these projected deficits for the federal government was 2.5%. we are lower than that in the present's plan. aat took us from -2.5% to surplus of economic growth, absolutely the private sector growth. we need to do both here. we need to get ourselves on a fiscally sustainable path, down were

i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? mr. rogers: madam chair, while i do not oppose the amendment i ask to control the time in opposition. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rogers: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: without objection. mr. rogers: the amendment clarifies that independent contractors are eligible to receive security clearances to handle cyberthreat intelligence and cyberthreat information under the bill, an important amendment. i appreciate the gentleman's work and effort in offering this amendment and it because the bill was not intended to exclude independent contractors, i will support this important clarification and would reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from michigan reserves. the gentleman from milk is recognized. mr. schneider: thank you. thank you very much. i yield such time as necessary to the gentleman from california. the chair: the gentleman from california is recognized. m

right now we are projecting a balance at the end of the year of 14.96 million of which $12.96 million is from revenues and $2 million from expenditures. you can see the revenue is over budget for interest and investments, that's this small one here due to the size of the fund balance and in charges for services and that's 112 percent greater than bugged budgeted at this point. the license fees are not final. they are due in april with property tax. so we haven't seen what that's going result in, but it typically we are on budget with that also. we'll know more next month. and just as a comparison between the previous fiscal year through march and this fiscal year it's 21.02 higher and that's due to the fact of the evaluation of issued permits is 46 percent greater than last year. in terms of expenditures as you know our greatest expenditure is personnel. right now we are at about 61 percent whereas the year passed it's 75 percent. they are where we start to see the problem that we have with being able to fill positions. if you look at year to date last year, versus year to date this y

always a balance. it's an important balance. i will know for the record that you were dragged kicking and screaming to the committee today. >> that is accurate. >> mr. king? >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me thank all the members of the panel for being here today. and we congratulate director brennan on his appointment to the cia. my question pertains to north korea. director clapper and director brennan. what can you tell us about what you believe the objectives are of the north korean government and what the role of kim jong un in that government is, what the power structure is, and the role of china, what role it is playing now and what role we would like it to play? let me start. as far as the objectives of the new leader, i think his primary objective is to consolidate , a firm his power, and much of the rhetoric -- in fact, all the belligerent rhetoric lately is designed for internal and external audiences. first and foremost, it is to show that he is firmly in control in north korea. grex you believe he has an end game i

i yield back the balance of my time yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition? request permission to revise and extend and unanimous consent? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. bishop: mr. speaker, you can't spend more money than you bring in and that's a fairly simple concept, isn't it? but apparently not for democrats who are in the administration in washington. under president obama we had four years of government spending, each year spending over $1 trillion more than we took in. that kind of spending is not only irresponsible. it's dangerous. it drives up the national debt, hurts families, neighbors and our friends. the time to rein in washington spending is now. a concept so obvious it has become a cliche. house republicans understand this. that's why we passed a responsible budget that keeps our taxes low and balances our spending. that's more money in your family's pocket. the president is going to introduce a budget that does

republicans are going for a balanced budget. we think true balance of means you balance the budget. you stop spending more than you take in. --ocrats would like to seize seymour taxes. the issue is not the revenue. spending and the that must be addressed. i think the president for his indulgence and again, ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, let's work together. to get america back on track and to solve this problem that if we do not deal with it will not allow our economy to prosper and will not allow america to be that beacon of opportunity for the rest of the world. >> more capitol hill reaction to the president's $3.80 trillion budget request for 2014. we will hear from house speaker john boehner and other house republican leaders. the president has backtracked on some of his entitlement reforms in conversations we have had a year-and-a-half ago. he does deserve some credit for some incremental entitlement reforms. they have outlined in his budget. i would hope that he would not hold hostage these modest reforms for his demand for bigger tax hikes. why do we do what we

i reserve the balance of my time.er pro tempore: the gentleman from utah reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank the gentleman from utah, mr. bishop, for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he wishes to consume. mr. mcgovern: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to begin by thanking the majority for bringing up a bipartisan bill. it's not often that this majority works in a bipartisan way on legislation. in fact, it's a rarity. but in this case chairman hastings worked with ranking member markey to produce a bill that should pass the house with very, very little opposition. in fact, we have a streamline process here in the house for noncontroversial bills like this, it's called the suspension calendar. and this is a perfect bill for the su

and i think that we have to figure out a way of balancing everything that needs to be done, balancing our role and our responsibility but at the same time recognizing that we cannot look the other way and let city college go under without some help from the city. and let's be completely honest about this. and i am a strong supporter of all the things that the city has done for the school district. we have done a lot of great things, whether it's the rainy day fund, prop h you name it we have done a lot of good things, but relative to what we have done to the school district, we have done very little for city college. and we are talking about the same people that are being impacted, thousands of the people, of the kids who go to sfusd end up going to city college and they have more or less been on the wrong relative to the city. and while i think it is important for us to make sure that we focus on muny running on time and all of that, i do think that it will be a problem if we have our buses running on time but there is no city college for kids to go to. so we have to figure out how w

say balance we need to have a tax. >> when i say balance, spending cuts and revenue as a balanced approach. >> you mean -- >> not a tax rate that tax reform. >> taxpayers -- >> by closing loopholes. >> when listeners hear you say balance the need to think tax increase because that is what we're talking about. >> the right way to think of it is a balanced approach which is spending cuts. >> right where wrong way -- >> to review the record -- >> to your image two years ago the president, obamacare, achieved a tax increase most of which had fiscal hit beginning next year. a lot of those taxes hit what he calls middle-class families and everybody else. three months ago we had a tax increase under the fiscal cliff arrangement and now we sit here with this budget which proposes a tax increase over the next ten years and you just said from minute ago that even under this proposal, we are not making entitlement programs sustainable but in fact we need to have another conversation after this tax increase gets done and i assume we are going to balance again and increase taxes to make our social prog

we still haven't balanced. we call it balance except for $587 billion. does that seem -- in that last year, the deficit is less than 2% of gdp that means with the economy growing faster than that. set coming down. >> i understand. we see in our budget. we get the actual plan where we're paying out what we bring in and actual balance because the growth as well. i have seen some of the growth estimation. i want to ask you about the -- a bit about oil and gas and coal. yrp those three specific injuries picked out to say it will be taken away from those three. >> it's not what the budget says. the normal business expense will be taken away. >> exactly. but you -- [inaudible] >> the wage fuel. all of that. >> the normal business expense. >> we would apply normal business expense. we wouldn't give extraordinary treatment that the industries have gotten in the past. >> like the 199 that every domestic manufacturing gets. they should get that as well? >> i'd have to look at the specific provision. >> i'll tell you what. the 199 manufacturing right now every dome

i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition? mr. ruppersberger: i rise in opposition even though i am not opposed. congressman paulsen, i thank you for your work on this bill. i support your amendment. which is a sense of congress to encourage international cooperation with regard to cybersecurity whenever possible under this bill. given that cyberthreats are global in nature, as are networks and computer systems, international efforts must work together to protect against domestic and foreign actors who seek to destroy our industries, government agencies, and utilities. therefore i respect a yes vote on the amendment. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. gentleman from minnesota is recognized. mr. paulsen: i yield to the committee chairman. the chair: the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. rogers: thank you, mr. chairman. i support this amendment and agree we must employ international cooperation to combat the scourge of economic cyberesp

they will take the parts they like and not have the balance of president wants and that balance meansng spending cuts that are $2 for every $1 of revenues, so still have significantly more cuts in spending and interest savings than revenue, but also something constructed in a way good for growth, good for our competitiveness because the overall purpose of everything we do on a budget is to help the american people and help our economy grow, make us more competitive for the future. liz: nearly 700 billion in new income tax revenue, obvious republicans would not like that because they gave it on some other issues before the end of last year, but i'm glad you brought up balance change. it did not sound to me like the term balanced budget. isn't that what we really need now? >> what we need to do is get our fiscal house in order and what is most important for long-term investors is to understand, have confidence that a country's debt and deficit is declining as a percentage of our economy. that is the sign of sustainable thing are under control. this bipartisan compromise the president ha

so at the year-end, we are projecting to have a fund balance that consist of $29 million that we have rolling into current year, plus another roughly $10 million or a little more coming to about $10 million at the end of the fiscal year. and we talked about doing a review and analysis about our reserve and what would be logical to do with the fund balance, that report is completed. it was in your package and heather mcdonalds from the controllers office is here to give a quick summary for you about that report. i do want to thank the city services auditor's staff, heather mcdonalds and my staff for working on this report. it was a lot of information that we provided, we poured over whether to have sufficient funding and whether there were other opportunities. so i'm going to turn this over to heather. >> good morning. congratulations on your election. i'm with the auditors division of the controllers office. as deputy director the controllers office was engaged to conduct the financial analysis to recommend an economic stabilization reserve as well as strategic one time investment in

there is balanced budget and there is the word balanced approach. know they are very different point of view on that. >> my colleagues used that balanced word 230 times in the budget debate and the budget of course did anything but balance. the president is not going to submit a balanced budget, you know it and i know it. and you're not going to submit one. isn't that correct? you're not going to submit a budget that you expect to balance next year? >> senator -- i -- >> can you answer that, yes or no? >> senator, i don't know. if the economy takes off and does an incredible, an incredible job this year, if there are incredible dynamics, one of the things that i don't think i can foresee right now and commit to is we could have never known about 9/11 and the commitments that we had as a nation. >> ok. i acknowledge that you won't answer my question. i will tell you, you are not going submit a balanced budget next year. the president has dismissed the value of the idea. i disagree and i think the american people disagree. let me ask you this. what is

speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. holt: does the gentleman from virginia have further speakers? mr. wittman: mr. speaker, i have no further speakers. mr. holt: with that i will repeat my advice to my colleagues that we support this legislation and i will yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. wittman: thank you, mr. speaker. i concur with the gentleman from new jersey is that -- in that this bill should pass and i appreciate the bipartisan and with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 254. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, bams, and without objection the motion to reconsider i

this is a budget he could never balance.t the key would be irrelevant to most american families and businesses who have to balance their budgets and have to meet their obligations, and not live beyond their means. in spite of all the debate that we have had over the last several years the fact that we have not balanced the budget and a long time does not seem to matter to this administration. that is very disturbing. i am proud that we have a budget in the house that balances. that is an improvement over our budget from last year which did not balance. a budget that balanced in four years. serious problem with overspending by our government. we have to tackle that. the few changes with regard to the entitlement reforms. modest steps in the right direction, but he should unchain those from his requirement for yet another tax increase. let's give him the process of looking at that two-thirds of our budget that has been largely untouched and needs to be reformed because that is the part that is growing in the case of the health

one that balances. a proactive budget that eliminates the deficit while also providing economic security for employers and employees. a sustainable safety net for the poor and those retiring and a secure future for our children and grandchildren. americans know what it takes to create a balanced budget for their own families. and their own businesses. and they deserve the same from their government. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the entleman from illinois rise? without objection. >> mr. speaker, the founder of earth day was asked in 2005, just before his death, at the age of 89, if earth day should be celebrated. mr. quigley: our work's not fibbished. as we enter wildfire season, watershed infrastructure that would mitigate future contamination of local rivers and reservoirs is still being rebuilt from last season. and funding for rebuild is only now being allocated, having been delayed under sequestration, affecting lives

napolitano: i reserve the balance of my time serve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i yield to another member of the natural resources committee, mr. lamalfa. the chair: the gentleman from california is recognized for three minutes. mr. lamalfa: i thank the gentleman for yielding. madam chairman, you know, once in a while a bill comes through that even makes great sense in washington, d.c., and this is really a commonsense measure. now i live on a farm in northern california where i'm surrounded by canals and ditches and water moving all about in my daily life in producing rice. so there's all these opportunities we would have on places like that, but today we're talking about bureau installations, to put renewable power in place that, according to this chart here, would affect many, many states with many installations and provide many american jobs. the opportunities of this bill of just putting the bureaucracy and the red tape aside for a commonsense measure to take advantage of an opportunity to do something

i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair will he want taint 15 further requests for one -- entertain 15 further requests for one-minute speeches on each side. for what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. mr. higgins: mr. speaker, america's biomedical research is the envy of the world, but the health insurance model is not keeping pace with the science. for cancer patients, this means it's smart drugs purchased at a pharmacy and self-administered orally are dramatically more expensive than traditional chemotherapy administered at a hospital or clinic. this makes no sense. that is why i've joined with a broad coalition of the cancer compuent to reintroduce the -- community to reintroduce the cancer drug parody act. this would ensure health insurance for smart drugs and injectable treatment

and i reserve the balance of my time the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york reserves her time. the gentleman from texas, mr. burgess. mr. burgess: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the mr.leman from pennsylvania, rothfus. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. mr. rothfus: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. rothfus: i rise in support of the rule, the helping sick americans now act, and the pitts amendment. president obama's health care law is a train wreck. we learn more every day about its failures. h.r. 1549 addresses the problem with the law's provisions for those with pre-existing conditions. the bill takes millions of dollars that the administration intends to spend on advertising its failed law, and instead helps some of the sickest americans get health insurance. not only that, the bill will also end the obamacare slush fund and reduce the deficit. h.r. 1549 is a win on all fronts.

you that a balanced approach isn't a balanced budget . someone's opinion of a balanced approach, like our president's, doesn't mean that the budget balances. no matter how many times he or house democrats say that. but the reason it's so important that a budget balances is because it shows your intent. it shows your intent to finally start paying off the debt. because like everyone knows, you can't possibly start paying nearly $17 trillion in debt until you get to a balanced budget so that you have a surplus, hopefully, and then in fact use that surplus to pay down the debt. so, if you present and pass a budget that never balances, you intend by what you're saying and doing there, to never pay off the debt. and i would submit that when you do that, you can't call it debt anymore. because what you're doing is stealing. you're stealing from future americans, you're stealing from children -- the children of tomorrow, the children that don't exist yet, and therefore have no voice in the matter because they can't vote and what an easy target t

so we have to figure out how we balance this. i don't know what the exact language for some of these issues should be. but i am going to support this resolution because i think that generally, recaptures the spirit of what we are talking about; one we recognize the importance of achieving fiscal responsibility and getting your fiscal house in order but it has to be balanced against the role that the city college is played and needs to continue to play in the lives of these communities. p and third, there has to be some balance so there is a recognition for what is happening in the classroom and how decisions are being made at impacting the lives of the students and impacting the lives of these teachers who have dedicated many, many years of service to city college. the last thing that i would say is that i don't think that there should be a one-time conversation. ,one thing that i have raised as a possibility before and it is something that we should consider, is it we should have in place a joint committee of the board of superv

that is balanced and it is fair. >> i will talk about revenue in a second.ou have the social security disability trust fun that runs out of the money in 2016 on the president's watch . the medicare trust fun runs out in 2024 . we have the social security that only pays out what it takes in . impose the overnight cut in benefits in 2033 . change cpi in 2035. the question is does the president believe that more has to be done? >> the president believes that we will continue to work to strengthen the program in ways that protect them ands for our seniors. what is interesting the alternative proposal from the house republicans, that would voucherize medicare as i said and claims to balance the budget without providing spectaculars . the - specifics. they don't want to get in the details of how you provided tax cuts to the mostly well off. you have to do that in a way that raises taxes on the middle class. >> and you take a pin prick now or a massive painful cuts later. >> no, precisely need to continue to do much maligned affordable care act as you know accordin

, it is balance for balance's sake. it has no coherence economic theory behind it, and requires cuts that are draconian and aren't necessary for any reason except to symbolically say, look at how great i many am, i balanced the budget. >> here the republicans have been given the things, but they could just say balances a budget would be the paper on which -- it's not college ruled. you know, whatever it is. >> to build off what ezra said, it shows a year ago everyone figured that a budget deal would go through paul ryan. okay? paul ryan is last year's news. i don't mean that in a conned sending way, but in a political reality. the president is might with the senate, trying to establish a coalition of the wills, a coalition of the willing on guns, on immigration, a coalition of the willing on the budget, in order to force the house to have to do something. the strategy is a little less than voluntary, but that's the way this thing is going to go. the mantra of let there be a vote is not just going to be something i predi

this is the interest of business communities and i would add a balance of what we try to do here. i know there are folks here who would want to see more restrictions and others who would want to see less and as with the case with many pieces of legislation we try to balance the interest. >> i miss spoke on one piece. the tobacco paraphernalia is one district, i just want to clarify that. >> can i ask about the paraphernalia issue? i apologies. i was hoping you can explain the issue a little bit better. from a lay person's perspective i understand president chiu's point, i understand when there is a big difference between the store that sells multiple thing and that also have some pipes and tobacco rollers and a significant portion that is a tobacco paraphernalia. is it an issue we haven't defined what that means. i was hoping we can clarify that. >> there are a few components to that. within the polk district, the presence of any amount of tobacco paraphernalia. makes it a tobacco store paraphernalia. any store with shelf space makes it a tobacco paraphernalia. >> actually it's no

and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings. mr. cummings: thank you very much. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i first want to just dedicate a oment to our fellow citizens up in boston who are going through some very traumatic times right now. the fact that bombs have gone off in boston, that sadly there have been fatalities and sadly many people have been injured. our prayers go out to our fellow citizens, to the first responders and we pray that matter will be resolved in a way that brings anybody who brings harm to anyone to justice. and with that, mr. speaker, i want to -- on the subject of the bill, i want to thank you and i rise today in strong support of this bill and i yield myself such time as i may consume and i want to society myself with the words of -- associate myself with the words of our chairman, mr. issa.

what does it take for a balanced budget. is that what we need for economic growth. >> that's not what he we need and i want to note that the goal posts for republicans keep moving. they weren't worried about a balanced budget or a deficit under republican presidents and incidentally, when we had good economic times. you know, there's a sort of one size fits all thing we all hear from republicans, which is in good economic times you should cut taxes and in bad economic times you should cut taxes. it can't always be the solution, we already cut taxes and it didn't work, and here is the other thing, not only does it not work, but there was a thing we called an election in november. in which the majority of the american public endorseded ideas of the president and not the party that wanted to cut taxes, give more money to the rich, and cut entitlements in social spending. and it's pretty clear it's a good idea. >> sally, let me propose to you. we raised taxes on quote unquote, wealthy americans and i'm curious, what's the positi

from 2010 and we also keeping family balance, by 2020. we are going to publish medium-term fiscal plans around the middle of this year. the second interest-rate hike is avoidable. economics should take a deep root for an economy to see sustainable growth. finally let me say only a few words about what kind of country japan not to be. japan should be a place where effort, japan must be a place where thinkers, risktakers can be given opportunities not just once but many times. prime minister presents a chance for a second coming in japan. japan must be a place where the sense continues. japan must be a place for innovation. japan is on the cutting edge of new medical technology. the nobel prize winner said japan is a country that is a bonus to bringing stems cell technology. that is about it, ladies and gentlemen. once again we are doing not only for the sake of the japanese but also to make our alliance stronger. at the end of the day the u.s. is the biggest democratic economy. and the sky is the limit. thank you very much. [applause] >> t

it balanced in ten years. the budget that was passed by the united states senate did not only -- it did not balance the budget over ten years but it never balanced, so you had a real contrast in terms of trying to get to a balanced budget over a period of time knowing full well it's not going to happen overnight. we got in a very big hole, it took a long while to get into this whole, it will take us a while to get out, but nevertheless the house budget did balance in a ten-year window, ten-year time frame. the senate democrat budget never balances nor does the budget that we see this morning from the president. now, it's important, i think, for a lot of reasons, this budget debate is, not the least of which is it is a vision, if you will, a blueprint for the future of the country, for each of the respective parties here in the congress as well as the president's about where they want to lead the country. and i mentioned yesterday on the floor that i thought that the basic criteria that should be used to evalua

what's even worse, sean, is his budget never balances. when people do a budget in their own household, they do a budget so it bams so they get out of debt. he adds to the debt more, takes more taxes out of the economy from hardworking taxpayers so he can continue the spending spree. he never fixes the problem. >> he said about george bush that george bush was irresponsible and unpatriotic. this was when the debt was $9 trillion. taking a credit card to the bank of china in the name of our kids and grandkids and ringing up all this debt. now we have $16 trillion, over $6 trillion of new obama debt and now he's going to add $8.2 trillion by his own estimate? where does he think this is going to end? >> this is the real difference between the president's budget and the house republicans. house republicans budget will balance in ten years so we will stop borrowing. at the end of ten years just the debt of what we are going to pay every year will be more than $700 billion. that's what you are going to be paying. and that's -- how can you ever

because it begins to allow us to balance our programs, so we can keep those in balances and we can makeers are prepared and have the best equipment possible and are ready. >> of course. >> for us, it's key. >> now, senator reid says he wants to use savings from the drawdown of troops in afghanistan to repeal the spending cuts. how much money would that save? >> well, there's two different -- we're talking to different things here. the way our budget works, we have a base budget. that's what it takes to run the army, all the services, train, et cetera. then you have our operational budget, which is specifically focused on afghanistan. so that budget will begin to come down. but the problem is, although our troops are coming downing in afghanistan, the cost to close bases, the cost to send our equipment back is quite significant. we've got to make sure we have enough money to do that. so there'll be some reduction. but as we reduce it, we've got to make sure there's enough money to bringç the equipment back and then to reset that equipment, so we're ready to go forward. >> it seems to me

we have things like the balance beam out, and that stimulates their coordination and their sense of balancehave looked at how to provide an appropriate and safe environment and the proper equipment and activities. but there's more to physical development than just the large muscle tasks of walking, running, jumping, and climbing. we must always pay attention to the whole range of development, which includes coordination of eyes and hands-- often referred to as "fine motor development." i have a little scissors at home. you have a little scissors at home? they're lost now. hendrick: using crayons, scissors, stringing beads, and doing puzzles are all examples of fine muscle work. just remember that these kinds of activities are very taxing for young children. teachers should not expect children to work at such skills for too long without relief. notice how these children are mastering a small muscle skill? what else can we do with materials and activities that could help children practice these skills? we have the peg boards with the little... the pegs and the peg boards. um...dress-up dolls

that's the number one objective. >> it's got to be balanced. it's got to be balanced. means by balanced approach is some reproach in spending, some tax increases but it never ever balances. >> bret: this is a busy time on capitol hill. three major proposals that the president is trying to get done up there. first gun control legislation. second immigration reform, a big lift, but the gang of eight is moving that forward, we're told. and third, the president's budget comes out. the budget proposal is late but it comes out tomorrow, officially. where are we with all of this? let's bring in our panel tonight. nina easton, columnist for "fortune magazine." a.b. stod barred associate of the hill. and byron washington examiner. let's start with gun legislation. byron, where are we on this and is there a filibuster of even the background checks that will stay in place? >> well, we don't know exactly what is is going to happen, but the choices are really between just the background check or background checks with or without keeping the results of the records. there are details

>> this is an interesting balancing act by u.s. officials and on the one hand we're trying to not let north korean threats and provocations go unresponded to, but they're also trying not to overreact and give the indication that they regard these threats as reflective of imminent conflict or anything of that kind. jake carney, the white house secretary said on air force one said the president was flying out west for fund raising and gun control, ven events and thia pattern of north korean officialsing to obtain the provocative language and that we have the new young north korean leader you have a temperature tagz for him to try to prove his toughness and prove his worthiness to lead that country, but the administration also can't ignore the things that he's saying. the reports that i've seen indicate that the missile defense battery will be operational within about two weeks, but i don't think the united states officials expect to use that soon, tyler. >> you know, john. i guess we really haven't heard from the president very much.

however, the benefits of these improvements need to be balanced against their costs.hallenge for both the supporters and opponents of the kyoto accords is to come up with better, and less exaggerated, estimates of the costs and benefits. america didn't get dirty overnight, and it's not going to be totally pure tomorrow. but thanks to citizen protest and government response, the country's environment is cleaner and healthier than it was back in 1970 when we first celebrated earth day. and now the challenges are even greater. but along the way, we have learned that if we want a cleaner environment, the way to get it may not be to take every last bit of pollution out of the air, the water, and the earth, but instead, to look for levels of cleanup that provide adequate safety at a price we can afford. this is david schoumacher. annenberg media ♪ annenberg media ♪ they were immigrant garment workers-- uneducated, unskilled, and underpaid. how could they fight for a living wage? after publishing over a century, the prestigious new york herald tribune closed during a strike.

i yield back the balance of my time. i thank the gentleman for yielding. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado reserves. the gentlelady from north carolina. ms. foxx: i'll reserve, mr. speaker, and assume that the gentleman's ready to close. mr. polis: i'm ready to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from colorado. mr. polis: i'd like to yield myself the remainder of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. mr. polis: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the record along with extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. polis: mr. speaker, rather than addressing a number of issues that my colleagues have talked about here today, whether that issue is gas prices, whether it's equal pay for women, whether that's equal pay in the wuss or equal pay in main street america, that's something that's important to american fam