chairman baucus and senator grassley came up with a jobs plan. they released it on thursday.en senate majority leader harry reid moved a smaller version of that. that upset senator grassley and other republicans. did reid's move give you any pause? ."çóÑixdguest: i don't know thn say i am confident of anything. i think the process that has been occurring is not one -- it just seems that the teams, the shelby-dodd teams have not been able to make progress. i am just one senator. i do not bring with me a committee. i do not want anybody to think that i think that is what i think. to me, what will make something good happen is if we debate and end up with a policy that is sound. at the end of the day, it is the substance, to me, that matters. i have tried to major in the substance. you are alluding to the harry reid issue on jobs. we have been so inundated, as you can imagine yesterday, after making the decision we made. i have not paid attention a lot to the -- sometimes the shenanigans that exists within the senate. i am more focused on what is appropriate for us to have in f

senator baucus would like a crack at marking up the bill before democrats try to pass one.and would be different the house having already passed a jobs bill, and a good one at that that. anyone notice it's groundhogs day. time now to call in david kohn. good evening. >> good to be with you, keith. >> the state of the union, the house meeting, nashua. has it become clear that the white house has a new strategy four going after these things called facts? >> i think obama is on the offenser, it's game on for obama. massachusetts was a wakeup call to the white house, and perhaps caused them to re-evaluate their legislative and political strategy of the past year, i think obama is trying to address two constituencies at once, one is the american public who indeed -- many of whom are out of patients or worried they see unemployment high even if the economy has grown a lot in the last quarter, and they see big bailouts. the other constituency that obama is aiming at, is the democratic senators, he wants to basically show them that he can be a strong political leader and can be of

letting the jobs bill go back to max baucus, who we saw took forever to mark up a health care bill isng to be successful i think for the democrats overall. obama is still their star, still the leader of the team, the -- to the degree he can take whatever shine he has and put it on what the senate and the house is doing, it can only help the house democrats and the senate democrats. so i think he missed an opportunity to do that with the health care bill a year ago, he has to do that with the jobs bill now, and they have to let him do that. >> i'm going to put you on the spot for filling in the details of something chris matthews said a week ago after the republican event. that the president's learning curve should be a frightening thing to republicans. how does it tangibly -- what is he doing differently as opposed to a year ago, with -- fill in the topic of which policy it is. but just materially, politically, strategically, what does he do when he says to them, do something, and they don't? how does he make it actually happen? >> well, far be it from me to add to what chris says, he

senator baucus would like a crack at marking up the bill before democrats give any thought to trying to pass one. numerous aides telling talkingpointsmemo.com the jobs bill is and would be different the house having already passed a jobs bill, and a good one at that. anyone notice it's groundhog day. time now to call in david corn. washington bureau chief of mother jones magazine and columnist for politics daily.com. >> good to be with you, keith. >> the state of the union, the house meeting, nashua. has it become clear that the white house has a new strategy for going after its opponents with these unusual things called facts? >> i think obama is on the offensive. it's sort of game on for barack obama once again. i think massachusetts was indeed a wake-up call to the white house and perhaps caused them to re-evaluate their legislative and political stratd jif the past year. i think obama is trying to address two constituencies at once. one is the american public, who indeed -- many of whom are out of patients or worried they see unemployment high even if the economy has grown a lot

. >> moyers: last may, before the senate hearings at max baucus...nator max baucus conducted, it seemed like there might be a momentum behind this single payer medicare for all movement. what happened? >> they actually did start inviting us in to have a seat at the table. senator kennedy's committee contacted us. and i was the first person to testify in the health education and labor and pension committee hearing. i sat next to the c.e.o. of aetna, which was a very interesting experience. and then when we went over to the house and spoke to the leadership there, they said, "we want your voice to be heard here." and we testified there. and so we actually thought we were starting to get our foot in the door. and then we had some amendments that were introduced that were good amendments. they would have substituted a national single payer system for the legislation that was going through, so we were really pushing on that. and then we saw that all of that fell apart. >> moyers: and then? >> well, what we learned through this process is there was a lot o

i want to express my appreciation to chairman baucus. under his leadership, the senate finance committee on which i'm honored to serve is currently looking at expanding and improving build america bonds in the upcoming jobs bill. i told secretary geithner this morning that i had appreciated his leadership and the administration's leadership on this issue. we have some questions about how to proceed in the future. for example, whether, as i would like, build america bonds should be devoted to new job creation as opposed to assistance for operating expenses and other areas. but the bottom line is those are the kinds of issues that democrats and republicans here in the united states senate can take on in a bipartisan way. what we know is we have got something that is working, that is making a difference in this critical infrastructure area, and that literally has six years worth of bipartisan history where democrats and republicans have come together to team up on an issue that is extraordinarily important to our nation. if we keep working

max baucus chairs this finance committee hearing. >> gandhi said every worthwhile accomplishment hasts stages of drudgery and triumph. the beginning a struggle and a victory. the effort to enact healthcare reform have seen this struggle. as we look back to the progress that we have made and look ahead at the short distance that we have yet to go, i remain confident that we will soon move to the stages of triumph and victory. we're on the brink of accomplishing real healthcare reform. we're on the brink of reform that will help millions of americans to afford healthcare coverage. we're on the brink to improve and the efficiency of healthcare for all. every day reminds us for the need of reform. the latest report by the nonpartisan congressional budget office warns once again that the growth of federal healthcare spending represents the, quote, single greatest threat to budget stability, end quote. that's because healthcare costs continue to rise faster than the growth in the economy and faster than the growth in wages of the american families. in the last eight years average wages hav

and i will allow chairman baucus and senator sherman to share some of that as well.and foremost, is to move jobs, to spur creation of jobs among small businesses. if you will notice here, the bottom of the first page, we talk about creating opportunities for small businesses. sba lending programs, for example, that have worked, that we know work that will provide credit and opportunities for small businesses, and export promotion that we know will create good paying jobs, credit opportunities for small business not currently available. there's also a move to make sure that we try to lessen our dependence on foreign oil and improve energy efficiency at home. that's why we have a section in this that relates to ways that we can help homeowners and businesses alike stride toward energy efficiency and create jobs in the process. when it comes to creating basic jobs, we of course have our highly trust fund that is an important part of this conversation. we think that we can do more by investing into transportation, school infrastructure which senator harkin and others hav

chairman senator max baucus, democrat of montana. anç you can listen to it on c-span radio. we will be back with another edition of "washington journal" tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern. çho[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> here we go. hearing will come to order. in 1958, former president harry truman said,çç "is a recessioç fáwhen your neighbor losesxd yor job, but it is a depression when you lose yoursç." for more than 7 million çamericans,ç this great recesn has been the great depression. çthe americanç economy has lot more than 7 million jobs since the great recession began. çthe nonpartisan congressional budget office tells us that the recovery act enacted last year added between six and a thousand and 1.6 -- 600,000 and 1.6 billion jobs. plainly, there is more work to do. plainly, creating jobs must be our top priority. we need to work on legislation that will create jobs, and need to work across the aisle said that legislation on wh

host: senator chuck schumer entering the room, along with max baucus.ir. caller: hi. i have a problem with the politics of this, from the republicans and democrats, to one side or the other -- and i am ended ended because of that, because i don't want to go to one side or the other -- i am an independent because of that, because i don't want to go to one side of the other . they should say, let's not to health care reform this way. let's do insurance reform first. that would take care of the costs that they say -- and i have a problem with. host: let me take up that point and ask julie rovner question -- is this health reform or medical insurance reform? guest: iis a little bit of both. a lot of people have been asking, what is the one thing that everybody agrees on? one thing that everybody agrees on is stopping discrimination based on pre-existing conditions. we actually did this in 1996, the health insurance portability and accountability act, for people with group health insurance. if you go from one job to another job, they cannot discriminate agai

sharing with chairman baucus, shared data real-time, watching average to billing practices and go afterthem. we're going to invest in saint partnerships that the medicaid level knowing that having this footprint on the ground, having u.s. attorneys as well as state attorney general who can be very aggressive partners in pursuing fraud is all to the good and we know that there's a huge return. it's estimated anywhere from $2 back for every dollar we spend to $4 packages with attorney-general says to every dollar we spend so this is money that not only makes sure medicare and medicaid will be there long term but also allows us to prosecute the criminals and prevent fraud in the first place. >> one of the things i've been fascinated with my colleagues heard this before, how to harness economic forces and market forces to drive and good behavior and a good example is the medicaid deal. before now even out in the current law because we have a senate-passed bill and signed into law but even now states on incentivize to go after medicaid fraud. can i close with one --? if i may, there is i thi

it is true, republicans have worked with max baucus four months -- for months in an attempt -- in anto put that build together. i always felt that we had better reform when both sides were involved. i am optimistic because i believe that americans are fundamentally pragmatic and interested in common-sense solutions to problems. . >> trying to add some transparency or disclosure in these potential campaign ads. your reaction to both the decision and the democratic efforts. caller: we have been planning this for a year. the citizen united decision is something that happened recently we are going to stick to the spirit of the law in the disclosure. host: joel hung up. it's thomas' lucky day in virginia the democrat line. you with us? caller: hello? host: you are on the air. go ahead. caller: i'd like to ask the question of why illegal immigration -- the issue isn't raised a little bit more. the illegal immigrants in this country are taking job that's americans desperately need right now. nobody is looking at the issue. it's being overlooked at everyday americans over look. >> we are int

i will allow max baucus and charles schumer to address this as well. in general, what we are trying to do is to move jobs -- to spark the creation of jobs among small businesses. if you will notice here, at the bottom of the first page, we talk about creating opportunities for small businesses. lending programs, for example, that we know work, that will provide credit and opportunities, export promotion we know will create good paying jobs, credit opportunities for small business, not currently available. there is a move to make sure we try to lessen our dependence on foreign oil and improve energy efficiency at home. that is why we have a section in this that relates to ways we can help homeowners and businesses alike strive toward energy efficiency and create jobs in the process. when it comes to creating basic jobs, we have our highway trust fund. it is an important part of this conversation. we think we can do more by investing in transportation, school infrastructure, water infrastructure, rural regional economic development, and finally, as we st

we have a lot of federal property that we don't use in our inventory and senator baucus knows we are trying to confirm an administrator for the general service administration that manages thousands of federal properties across the country. but we have a lot of them that are vacant or are underutilized, we pay security, all kind of other costs that relate to the facilities. when agencies want to -- if they want to sell the money to suppress them or fix them up and then the property is sold the agency doesn't get any money back, any money to pay the costs were fixed up costs. they don't get money back to help underwrite the cost some of the programs so as a result we and carrying on our books not just hundreds but thousands of properties which are trained under treasury. at least one agency has figured out how to use market forces. we incentivize the veterans administration. we allow them to keep 20% of the proceeds, the properties they sell and to use that to pay for the fixed costs and use that to also go into their programs to help supplement the appropriated funds. that is the kind

last quote i have in front of me is senator balk cuss who was actively -- baucus.senator grassley who was shut out. max baucus said, quote, this is the way democracy ends, not with a bomb, but with a gavel, closed quote. that's what we're looking at, mr. speaker. but all of these people are in a position to flip around and change their positions. i would remind the american people that thomas jefferson once said that large initiatives should not be advanced on slender majorities. i don't know that jefferson was talking about bipartisan majorities being broader than slender, but he would have rejected the idea that very slender, exclusive party majorities are not conducive to the good future of our country. i would make another point with regard to these negotiations and discussions and that is the president of the united states has had kind words to say to some of the people we view as our enemy. one of them is ahmadinejad, who is the president of iran. and he said in his state of the union address, this is an interesting thing to come from the president. this is s

i think senator baucus said there were not many differences. by the end of the day it was perfectly evident there are huge differences and that there's a good chance the president was going to have to go this alone if he's going to go. >> larry: dr. rohoc, do you expect some bill to come out of this? >> the status quo is unacceptable and i think it was clear in that room. people recognize we need to do something and stalemate isn't good for the american public. physicians across america will continue to see our patients but it's going to be very difficult when they don't have health insurance. they come to us sicker, maybe die younger and using the emergency room as an access point that everybody's paying for. we really need to be focused on what we can do to make sure patients and doctors can continue to get the care that the doctor feels is best for their patient. >> larry: ben, your point about well-off people helping poor people, isn't that as american as cherry pie? >> i -- it is as american as apple pie. it's an extremely good idea. i don

this budget also, chairman baucus referenced the physician payment rate. the budget assumes 0% update for physician payments reflecting the last number of years that congress has taken care to make sure that seniors did not see a dramatic decrease in the provider rates for their doctors. we support the longer-term strategy and look forward to working with congress to that end. so this doesn't continue to be a yearly debate. there is continued investment in neighborhood community health centers, following up on the recovery act investment but, an additional investment that will provide 25 new sites and will eventually provide care for about 20 million people a year, three million more than were served in 2008 with high-quality, low-cost preventative care. there's a continued investment in our health care workforce recognizing that health care delivery falls short unless you have the providers who actually deliver that care and the indian health center continues to be a presidential priority, trying to live up to the commitments made generations ago to ameri

max baucus -- where is max? i think he can testify to spending a little time listening to republican ideas. so can chris dodd and tom harkin. considered hundreds of republican amendments and incorporated many of their ideas into the legislation that passed the senate. so when i start hearing that we should accept republican ideas, let's be clear, we have. what hasn't happened is the other side accepting our ideas. and i told them, i want to work together when we can and i meant it. i believe that's the best way to get things done for the american people. i will call them out when they say they want to work with us, and we extend a hand and get a fist in return. last week, for example, you put up for a vote a bill i suppor d supported, conrad, greg, the fiscal commission. we were assured this was going to be bipartisan. only to see seven republicans who co-sponsored the idea in the first place suddenly decide to vote against it. now i'm open to honest differences of opinion but what i'm not open to is changing po

a bipartisan jobs bill that was introduced on the hill, republican charles grassley, democrat max baucus basically they're talking about tax breaks for companies that hire unemployed workers. is that something that would make a difference in your forecast? >> it's certainly something we could support. we're anxious to work with both houses of congress to get the best kind of hiring credit. our forecast, the one reported both in the budgets and here in the economic report of the president was done way back in november before sort of the the specifics of any jobs package was talked about. so i do... so it has built into it some kind of jobs initiatives but perhaps not the specifics of things like a jobs credit that we think could be particularly effective. >> you... so you're saying something like these two senators are proposing could work. >> i think it absolutely could. again, i think this is... we should think of this as a first step. we know that we're going to need to be working with the house to get a bill. we also know that there will probably be multiple steps in this. that, you k

scott alvarez. >> chairman frank, ranking member baucus. members of the committee.nk you for the opportunity. compensation arrangements soy several important and worthy objectives. for example, they help firms attract and resane skilled staff. however, compensation arrangements can also provide employees with incentives to take excessive risk s that arenot consistent with the long-term health of the organization. this misalignment of incentives can occur at all levels of the firm and is not limits to senior executives. having experienced the consequences, many financial firms are re-examining their compensation structures to better align the interests of managers and other employees with the long-term health of the firm. for firms that have received assistance from tarp, that includes ensuring their compensation structures are consistent with the special masters rules designed to protect the financial interests of taxpayers. the federal reserve has also acted as a supervisor. the guidance which we expect to finalize shortly is based on three key principles. first, c

that after the bill is reported to senator baucus or his designee be recognized to offer a substitute amendment. once the amendment is reported by number it is be considered read, prior to, mr. president, a ruling on this i would like to express my appreciation to the republican leader and those who worked so hard to get us to this point we are today and next week. we should have a very good week next week. everyone should be ready for some legislating. there's going to be a number of amendments offered, some of which i know, most of which i don't know what they're going to be. but we have a lot of work that's very important legislation. i, again, express my appreciation to the republican leader and others who worked so hard to get us where we are. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 4691, the 30-day extension of provisions which expire on sunday, february 28, unemployment insurance, cobra, flood insurance, satell

. >> right and frankly we have the job bill where you had a bipartisan compromise between-- and baucus t was bipartisan but when you look what was in the compromise that too was a silver fork which had nothing to do with job creation. that was politics as usual. and that wasn't even good enough, harry reid came over and said i don't want a bipartisan agreement. i want something a little more partisan so we had bad bipartisanship replace-- so what you see day-by-day is why people are angry. because the ingrained habits of behavior are still going on. >> lehrer: mark, before we go, two well-known members of the house of representatives, one present and one past died this week. jack murtha from pennsylvania, you knew him very well. what are your thoughts about him. what do you think his legacy should be or will be? >> well, jim, all of us in this business try to be objective. none of us can be, but we try to be fair. and i admit right up front, i liked and admired jack murtha. he was a marine in the best sense. somebody who left college and a college deferment, enlisted to korea at the ag

max baucus and charles grassley circulated a draft of their $85 billion package, including tax cuts andns. senator reid of the against the plan, saying that it would not pass and that it would not be helpful for democrats in the midterm elections." oklahoma, democratic line. caller: good morning, how are you? host: fine, thank you. caller: this is a big sucker's game. i have watched everything in this health care debate. i have no health care. i am 58 and from california, where they will let you down. do not yourself. these politicians are using their boats as a commodity. they have been suckered into believing by these political campaign consultants to the need millions and millions of dollars to run a campaign. truth is, for a congressman, the area is not that big. i think that the supreme court is rubber-stamp in what they have been doing for years, which is why there is a mess. the only way handle this is that the local level. i do not care if they are to party groups were liberal groups, often those are people that live right in the community district. start with these congressman,

spwaus and i have spoken -- senator baucus and i have spoken about it.in the 11-page memo the president put forward, it references doing in part what senate bill 2128 would accomplish. i hope that in the new proposal, we will put forward senate bill 2128 and pass it. quickly, what does the bill do? it does three things. one, it creates a chief health care fraud prevention officer of the united states, and that person appointed by the president would work at the agency for health and human services. and their only job would be ferreting out fraud. when there's $60 billion in medicare alone, potentially that much in medicaid, and across health care, we think a quarter of $1 trillion a year is fraud, waste or abuse. it's worth having one person whose whole job is to try to prevent that fraud. remember, if this money is recovered, we can use it to provide health care. we can improve the quality of care because there will be more money going in to actually helping our seniors, helping the poor, helping our veterans. the second thing the bill does is it takes

max baucus -- where's max?ered hundreds of republican amendments, and incorporated many of their ideas into the legislation that passed the senate. so when i start hearing that we should accept republican ideas, let's be clear -- we have. what hasn't happened is the other side accepting our ideas. and i told them, i want to work together when we can, and i meant it. i believe that's the best way to get things done for the american people. but i also made it clear that we'll call them out when they say they want to work with us and we extend a hand and get a fist in return. last week, for example, you put up for a vote a bill i supported -- conrad-gregg fiscal commission. we were sure this was going to be bipartisan, only to see seven republicans who co-sponsored the idea in the first place suddenly decide to vote against it. now, i'm open to honest differences of opinion. but what i'm not open to is changing positions solely because it's good short-term politics. and what i'm not open to is a decision to stay o

senator harkins legislation. >> following up on the question about the bipartisan jobs bill that baucusnd grassley have been working on, the reason given is my understanding by the majority leader read for scrapping the average to the dismay of the senators working on it is that there were protests from some of the more liberal or progressive members of the democratic caucus and the senate, is of this kind of bipartisan move that those four senators bipartisan senators have been working on exactly what the president had been talking about and isn't harry reid move to scrap it regardless of what comes out of the senate eventually, isn't that contrary to what the president's been talking about? >> again, i think again -- >> yes put your support behind a bipartisan effort. >> we support working in a bipartisan way to get these things done. whether the vehicle goes to mingei, whether the vehicle is the four items as century has now and whether that includes an employment, kolber extensions now and whether that includes extension for sba lending, whether that includes tax and standards and d

. >> chairman baucus, ranking member grassley, members of the committee, it is a pleasure to be backtoday. i want to start by welcoming the constructive tone in your opening statements. if you listen carefully, there are at least five things that i think most americans would agree on in what you both said. one is that deficits matterw3. another is tax cuts are not free. another is we should be paying for programs that are new that we commit to. fourth, we face great fiscal peril to the country. finally, our priority has to meet to make sure that the economy is growing snd getting people back to work. a year ago when the president took office, our nation was in a deep recession, the economy was contracting at an annual rate of about 6%, the financial system was on the verge of collapse, credit was frozen, the housing market was in free-fall, millions of americans had lost their jobs, and we were losing about three-quarters of 1 million jobs a month. wew3 also faced a deficitok[ç 0 oktrillionqç, and projected deficits, before weç took a single act, that according to the cbo, would m

and, by the way, the bill that the baucus-grassley bill was totally and completely -- it's debatable according to the senator from illinois. but it was paid for. c.b.o. said it was paid for. at least that's what joint tax said too. because i happen to be on the same committee with those two gentlemen. we wouldn't have spent three hours-plus telling everybody in the united states of america that senator bunning doesn't give a damn about the people that are on unemployment, the doctors that i represent, that i didn't want to extend s.g.r., that all of the other things -- cobra, flood insurance, small business loans and small business provisions. i feel sorry for the people in kentucky that live in east kentucky that may lose their satellite home viewer act for a day or two because they'll miss all those commercials that are going on, and tphoeu how they desperately want to watch those. but if they don't have cable, they won't be able to do it. this debate could have been completely changed had not the other side rammed through a bill, a partisan bill over a bipartisan bill. you can't p

baucus of alabama. >> welcome, former secretary. secretary paulson -- march 16th was when aig, the payments were made or guaranteed. leading up to that, you participated in several meetings about aig; correct that? >> prior to march of -- march of 2009. yeah, i had a number of meetings about aig as we were putting in capital. >> i know one the meetings, i'm looking at march 24th my questioning of mr. geithner, secretary geithner, he mentioned that you -- he and you met with aig to discuss lehman's failure. >> to discuss what? >> september 14th. that was two days. >> oh, yes. you're saying so you were talking about in 2009, march. i think you're talking about september 14th, 2008. >> that's right. okay. i stand corrected. i am. that discussion, but you participated in some of the discussions about aig and their financial condition leading up to -- >> yes, the weekend was the weekend we had financial institutions to previous the failure of lehman. it was that weekend that we weren't also about aig. and i had two weekends with the offi

senator baucus has been supportive of this stuff.ne of the most effective per dollar of tax payers' money that we have seen out there. we think there's also a good case to look at the scope of applicability but we would be happy to work with you and try to make sure that if we expand it, we are not going to reduce its basic effectiveness but we propose something that is no cost in there for me to that basic test of fiscal responsibility. very important to note that because of this program and a range of other programs the cost of borrowing has come down very dramatically and that has been very helpful, because state and local governments still face really difficult challenges that they haven't seen in a very long, many many decades and we need to keep working at trying to help them get through this and we think this program is one way to do that. >> thank you very much. >> senator bunning. >> thank you mr. chairman. i was glad that a lot of my colleagues brought up clarity, confidence and certainty, because that is one of the unbelie

max baucus. where is max? i can think he would testify that listening to republican ideas, so can chris dodd and tom harkin. you considered hundreds of republican amendments and incorporated many of their ideas into the legislation that passed the senate. so when i started hearing that we should accept the republican ideas, let's be clear, we have. what hasn't happened is the other side excepting our ideas. and i told them, i want to work together when we can and i meant it. i believe that's the way to get things done for the american people. i also made it clear that we'll call them out when they say they want to work with us and we extend a hand and get a 15 return. last week, for example, you put up for a vote a bill is supported, conrad, greg, fiscal commission. we were sure this is going to be bipartisan only to the seven republicans who cosponsored the idea in the first place, suddenly decided to vote against it. now, i'm open to honest differences of opinion, but what i'm not open to his changing positi

ranking member baucus, ranking member grades and the nevers of the committee. figure for the opportunity to testify today on behalf of the office of thrift supervision. i think we all recognize that banks and thrift remained under tremendous stress to continued decline in home prices, high unemployment rates, pressures on commercial real estate, and the improving but still hobbled secondary market for second mortgage. we need look no further than the high levels of delinquent loans at home foreclosures in the increasing number of financial institutions that are troubled or fitting under the strain. as a counterweight to the stress financial institutions are building capital levels and loan loss reserves, thereby making fewer dollars available to lend to consumers and businesses. no one wants to return to the days before the recession, when too many loans were made using underwriting criteria based not on the borrowers ability to repay, but on the fight of the collateral. value that we now know was fleeting. but we also recognize the economy will not recover ful

most have not brought into the baucus-grassley compromise. is probably going to get less support off the bat. he seems to be trying to dare challenging them to support it and show that they are ready for a bipartisan compromise. >> when will work begin on the legislation? >> they will be behind the scenes over the next week. we're expecting when they get back from recess they will really get into it. you may see today or tomorrow is that right reid try to bring his bill up on the floor. it is unclear whether that will happen. >> bill schatz of congressional quarterly. thank you. >> thank you. >> in a few moments, a hudson institute forum on national security and foreign policy and wourge is live at 7:00 eastern with segments on u.s. relations with iran and congressional efforts on health care and job creation. a couple of live events to tell you about today. here on c-span. coast guard commandant thad allen speaks to the national press club at 1:00 eastern. witnesses include a member of the federal reserve board of governors. now a forum on t

max baucus, i think he can testify to spending a little time listening to republican ideas. so can chris dodd and tom harkin. you considered hundreds of republican amendments and incorporated many of their ideas into the legislation that passed the senate. so when i start hearing that we should accept the republican ideas, let's be clear, we have. what hasn't happened is the other side accepting our ideas. and i told them i want to work together when we can and i meant it. i believe that's the best way to get things done for the american people. but i also made it clear that we'll call them out when they say they want to work with us and we extend a hand and get a fist in return. last week, for example, you put up for a vote a bill i suppor d supported, conrad, greg fiscal commission. we were assured this was going to be bipartisan. only to see seven republicans who cosponsored the idea in the first place suddenly decide to vote against it. now, i'm open to honest differences of opinion, but what i'm not open to is changing positions solely because it's good short-term polit

the same happened with chairman baucus in the finance committee and that's what we brought to the floor. so the bill on the floor that my friend lamar is lamenting here has significant input from the republicans. so let's look at the facts a little bit more. because they can be stubborn, you know. harvard just completed a study that shows 45,000 americans die every year because they don't have health insurance. almost a thousand a week in america. in 2008, about 750,000 bankruptcies were filed. about 70% of those bankruptcies were filed because of health care costs. 80% of the people that filed for bankruptcy because of health care costs had health insurance. america is the only country in the world where if you get sick or hurt you're going to have to file bankruptcy. 750,000 bankruptcies in 2008. these facts show the story that i told about jesus is not just a story of some young businessman in reno, nevada, running a restaurant that gets jerked around by an insurance company. it happens all over. health reform shouldn't be about political parties fighting each other, it should be abo

baucus and so on and i applied what it's been done.ems with the ones that were picked, particularly in california. i think they're right on. but i think there were some others that should have been done in addition to that. and i think it's glaringly a problem. if further alarms me when i hear your comments about high-speed rail because when you come from a state like california, ok, california cat, we got 2.3 billion, but the route from anaheim to los angeles. so even though that's right next-door to me, that is still not -- if you're looking out well okay, l.a. got x amount and so we now need to do some over here. it's not necessarily reflective. and we need to make sure whoever is making these decisions understands the mass. because it doesn't make sense. and without i've got to second. so i look forward to speaking to you. >> thank you. we'll be happy to do the deeper you can talk about the project criteria. i will say again both high-speed rail in the t.i.g.e.r. grant progress, merit-based progress, overwhelming demand and we look

health care reform bill, and over the last year, and last summer, with the negotiations with max baucus, they have really tried to work with republicans on this. when you look to the bill, despite what you hear about, it is a very centrist bill that maintains the private sector and the bill that bob dole proposed in 1996 and further to the right of richard nixon in the 1970's. but even if there were some place they could come together, the republicans are happy to say that we will wait until 2010 and get congress back weekend and do it our way. -- that congress back if we can and do it our way. guest: it is like the difference between the arabs and the israelis on the west bank. the problem is, the president proposed reform on health care this year, but his reforms to expand the amount of benefits. i suspect that at some point we will have to reduce the amount of benefits by moving the initial benefit eligibility age from 67 to 70, 71, 72, because after all -- guest: for health care -- guest: i am talking about health care as well. when roosevelt set the average retirement age -- but no

health care reform bill, and over the last year, and last summer, with the negotiations with max baucusook to the bill, despite what you hear about, it is a very centrist bill that maintains the private sector and the bill that bob dole proposed in 1996 and further to the right of richard nixon in the 1970's. but even if there were some place they could come together, the republicans are happy to say that we will wait until 2010 and get congress back weekend and do it our way. -- that congress back if we can and do it our way. guest: it is like the difference between the arabs and the israelis on the west bank. the problem is, the president proposed reform on health care this year, but his reforms to expand the amount of benefits. i suspect that at some point we will have to reduce the amount of benefits by moving the initial benefit eligibility age from 67 to 70, 71, 72, because after all -- guest: for health care -- guest: i am talking about health care as well. when roosevelt set the average retirement age -- but not the life expectancy out near 80. people are help it -- we have a li

. >> chairman frank, ranking member baucus, and other members of the committee, i am pleased to presente federal reserve's semiannual monetary policy report to the congress. i will begin with outlook -- comments on the outlook of the economy and for monetary policy. although the recession officially began more than two years ago, u.s. economic activity contracted particularly sharply following the intensification of the global financial crisis in the fall of 2008. concerted efforts by the federal was served, the treasury department, and other u.s. authorities to stabilize the financial system, together with highly stimulative monetary and fiscal policies, helped arrest the decline and are supporting a nascent economic recovery. indeed, the u.s. economy expanded at about 4% annual rate during the second half of last year. a significant portion of that growth can be attributed to the progress firms made in working down unwanted inventories of unsold goods, which left them more willing to increase production. as the impetus provided by the inventory cycle is to prepare -- is temporary, and

before this given we spent months and months last year, while susan collins and olympia snowe and max baucust around in the senate dramatically delaying the bill while they tried to find things to get republican support. it ultimately the republicans in the senate and every republican in the house except one decided under no circumstances would they support anything the democrats proposed. if the republicans have been at the table, they have been repeatedly been invited but they repeatedly slapped back the invitations. host: to many invitations extended? should a move have happened earlier? guest: i think doing this for the american people is far more and pour in than soothing egos in washington, d.c. i would not have done what they did, allowing the entire process to be delayed and jeopardize for those not acting in good faith. i think getting done what the american people need to get done is a whole lot more important than being buddy buddy with someone in the senate dining hall. host: connie on the line from baltimore, maryland. the democratic caller. please turn down your tv if you got i

the same happened with chairman baucus in the finance committee.se were put together and that's what we brought to the floor. so the bill on the floor that my friend lamar is lamenting here has significant input from the republicans. so let's look at the facts a little bit more. because they can be stubborn, you know? harvard just completed a study that shows 45,000 americans die every year because they don't have health insurance. almost 1,000 a week in america. in 2008, about 750,000 bankruptcies were filed. about 70% of those bankruptcies were filed because of health care costs. 80% of the people that filed for bankruptcy because of health care costs had health insurance. america is the only country in the world where you can get sick or hurt, you're going to have to file bankruptcy. 750,000 bankruptcies in 2008. these facts show that the story that i told about jesus is not just a story about some young businessman in businessman in reno, nevada, running a restaurant that gets jerked around by an insurance company. happens all over. health refo

if you think about the number of meetings that senator baucus had with senator grassley of the number of times that they spoke to the president on this issue, the notion that the president has not talked to republicans -- that is a gop party talking point. but let's have a reasonable discussion. but sit down and discuss these issues in a bipartisan way, and do this in a way where we can have this discussion in front of the american people and decide what ideas we can all agree on. the last example the president used, which was bipartisanship is not going to be 100 percent of yours and mine. that is not bipartisanship. there has to be given taken the process. you may not get everything that you want. and the other side made get some of that as well. what senator mcconnell and congressman boehner both said today, is that the status quo we have right now is not fair. we have to figure out the uncertainty and provide the american people. >> the white house is still willing to give in the give-and- take. >> absolutely, during this entire process. >> the underlying issue, does the president

health care reform bill, and over the last year, and last summer, with the negotiations with max baucus, they have really tried to work with republicans on this. when you look to the bill, despite what you hear about, it is a very centrist bill that maintains the private sector and the bill that bob dole proposed in 1996 and further to the right of richard nixon in the 1970's. but even if there were some place they could come together, the republicans are happy to say that we will wait until 2010 and get congress back weekend and do it our way. -- that congress back if we can and do it our way. guest: it is like the difference between the arabs and the israelis on the west bank. the problem is, the president proposed reform on health care this year, but his reforms to expand the amount of benefits. i suspect that at some point we will have to reduce the amount of benefits by moving the initial benefit eligibility age from 67 to 70, 71, 72, because after all -- guest: for health care -- guest: i am talking about health care as well. when roosevelt set the average retirement age -- but no

guest: primarily finance chairman max baucus and ranking member chuck grassley.pretty much involved. chuck schumer. and senator reid and minority leader mitch mcconnell are both involved. they let their other members take a lead on. host: what is the time line? they wanted to pass this before the february recess which is next week. guest: there is some hope they can still get something done. the thing is if these are behind the scenes, begin work on a deal and have one or two votes on amendments. bacon spoke of something done if -- keep them here even if there is a star in and hopefully tomorrow or thursday to vote on the bill. but it is getting increasingly unlikely. host: what are some broad outlines what could be in this jobs bill? guest: it would include an insurance -- unemployed insurance benefits, cobra benefits that will be extended, build a merkel bond provisions, tax provisions for small businesses, particularly provisions on job creation, tax credits. there may be some highway trust fund language but it looks like it may be as an amendment. basically a

those rapidly through the senate. w3only portions of the bipartisn plan developed by senator max baucus surprise and threaten to undermine its republican support for the proposal even as members of congress and the white house saw ways to work together across party lines after months of the partisan division. let's go back to your telephone calls. next a takeoff on al obama -- alabama. -- next, a call from alabama. caller: just washington c-span and i appreciate you letting me on. one of the things i think this country ought to do is to rethink foreign aid. here we are going trillions and trillions of dollars into debt and we are giving more money away than trying to help the american people. the second thing, it should be against the law for any public owned company to give bonuses to their management when they are showing a loss. if they are not showing a profit of at least 10% where they can pay taxes. where they can hire american people -- the american government shouldç make a law they should not receive a bonus. they got these companies set up now where boardç members make l the

the reason we had senator baucus here -- the first package will be funded. number of the things that we talked about here today have been talked by republicans yesterday. i hope we can continue to move forward for a change and a bipartisan basis. we will do that if we can. and this will be said about energy and health care. we want to work with republicans. >> [inaudible] >> not in the near future. we are not going to do step on the message. . be a bipartisan presentation on their jobs program. >> what is your goal? >> we are going to create as many as we can. one of the areas we will look at initially is what the congressional budget office told this will create jobs now. the 11 jobs programs that create jobs -- we have a lot of job programs that create jobs in the future. we want to move to those job- creating measures that will be effective the day after tomorrow. >> what would be your goal to finish this? >> before we leave here a week from tomorrow. >> in a conference with the house? >> you asked me when i expected to finish here. by next friday. >> mar