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Jul 17, 2010
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the chairman of the finance committee, senator baucus from montana, said, "i am troubled that, rather than going through the standard nomination process, dr. berwick was recess- appointed." without a public confirmation hearing on the nomination, the senate and the american people do not have the opportunity to learn about the man who will control one's last three of all health care spending in america -- 1/3 of all health care spending in america. a lot is at stake. it will affect nearly every americans care. medicare sets a course for private insurers. as part of the new health care law, dr. berwick will have to cut a half a trillion dollars -- $500 million from medicare, obviously limiting seniors choices. as a result of the recess appointment, dr. berwick will take office through the back door without any formal public vetting, as prescribed by the constitution. this flies in the face of what was promised to be the most transparent administration in our nation's history. what do we know about how dr. berwick will administer your health care? let's look at his own statements. he ha
the chairman of the finance committee, senator baucus from montana, said, "i am troubled that, rather than going through the standard nomination process, dr. berwick was recess- appointed." without a public confirmation hearing on the nomination, the senate and the american people do not have the opportunity to learn about the man who will control one's last three of all health care spending in america -- 1/3 of all health care spending in america. a lot is at stake. it will affect...
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Jul 29, 2010
07/10
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sterile y to report on the tax gap which senator baucus referenced. they are more than a trillion dollars a year and that the tax gap is more than $50 billion a year based on outdated numbers. no doubt it's grown significantly since then, and these are things that require a focus on our work. mr. sterly was at the treasury in the 1986 reforms, and he urged us to take a comprehensive approach to the reform and to do it based on principles that is improving efficiency, improving the competitive position of the unitedstates, and improving fairness. it had to be based on principles and that it needed to be bro based reformed. on july 24th we had two experts, . many of you remember dr. maren as former head of cbo. they gave a broad we view of tax reform proposals by category. they did it by specific proposals including members on this commission, so they talked about senator gregg and senator wyden's proposal and senator ryan's and others as well. they gave us a very good review of alternatives both in specifics and in categorically. let me just say. my ow
sterile y to report on the tax gap which senator baucus referenced. they are more than a trillion dollars a year and that the tax gap is more than $50 billion a year based on outdated numbers. no doubt it's grown significantly since then, and these are things that require a focus on our work. mr. sterly was at the treasury in the 1986 reforms, and he urged us to take a comprehensive approach to the reform and to do it based on principles that is improving efficiency, improving the competitive...
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Jul 26, 2010
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senator baucus, your office has been enormously helpful.hat has made a real difference in what has happened in our oversight efforts. we have been tough on treasury, that there really has been a great deal more transparency, a great deal more openness with treasury about the infortion we need. our oversight panel has been in effect for 19 months. we have issued 21 monthly reports and two special reports. we have hit the range from llars and cents report from a value of bank treasurynder the capital purchase program to a review of the government's investment in specific companies such as gm, chrysler, aig and g. all of the reports along with videos, summaries, backup documents are available line at cops.senate.gov. we we are part of the senate web site and glad for anyone to come and see what we have. i'm going to just give a very brief summary of two of our most recent programs. the small banks program. you mentioned that senator baucus in your opening remarks. it is a reminder that t.a.r.p. money went to 707 banks. the 17 largest banks got
senator baucus, your office has been enormously helpful.hat has made a real difference in what has happened in our oversight efforts. we have been tough on treasury, that there really has been a great deal more transparency, a great deal more openness with treasury about the infortion we need. our oversight panel has been in effect for 19 months. we have issued 21 monthly reports and two special reports. we have hit the range from llars and cents report from a value of bank treasurynder the...
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Jul 15, 2010
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thank you. >> thank you, chairman baucus and members of the committee. it is a pleasure to be here today to discuss the 2001-2003 tax cuts. our nation faces difficult economic challenges. almost 50 million workers are unemployed. at the same time, a budget deficits have rocketed to 60 year highs. those deficits should -- or long-term fiscal outlook remains a dark. spending will be pushed out of a significantly faster than revenues over the next 25 years. that will put us deeper into debt. i would like to make six points. first, tax revenues are remarkably low today relative to the size of the economy. they are the lowest since 1915. they are scheduled to increase sharply over the next few years. that is not just because of the extent of the economic rebound and the expiration of the 2001- 2003 tax cuts. other factors include the expansion of the alternative minimum tax, democratic changes, -- demographic changes, and the new help for reform law. individual income taxes will still rise to 9.2% of gdp by 2020. that will be well below the level that would b
thank you. >> thank you, chairman baucus and members of the committee. it is a pleasure to be here today to discuss the 2001-2003 tax cuts. our nation faces difficult economic challenges. almost 50 million workers are unemployed. at the same time, a budget deficits have rocketed to 60 year highs. those deficits should -- or long-term fiscal outlook remains a dark. spending will be pushed out of a significantly faster than revenues over the next 25 years. that will put us deeper into debt....
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Jul 15, 2010
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max baucus of montana chairs the finance committee. this is an hour and 10 minutes. >> george burns said that retirement at 65 is ridiculous. today we will talk about people who want to work beyond retirement age and how those decisions affect social security. when it comes to social security, people say there are only two ways to avoid insolvency. there are other ways, and these ways did not involve cutting benefits. for example, there is that tax gap. it is the difference between what taxpayers owe and what they actually pay. the last year for which we have data, 2001, the total tax gap, which includes a payroll tax, was about $345 billion every year. this is tax that is not paid. in my view, as we try to whittle down the deficit, a good place is here. this, nine years later, is probably a lot higher. the point use within that three and a $45 billion there is also the payroll tax gap. $58 billion each year under the payroll tax, the social security that is note, collected. if that were collected, these are dollars that are legally ow
max baucus of montana chairs the finance committee. this is an hour and 10 minutes. >> george burns said that retirement at 65 is ridiculous. today we will talk about people who want to work beyond retirement age and how those decisions affect social security. when it comes to social security, people say there are only two ways to avoid insolvency. there are other ways, and these ways did not involve cutting benefits. for example, there is that tax gap. it is the difference between what...
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Jul 22, 2010
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baucus, has suggested -- bachus, has suggested the same. a fiscally responsible way to not only take care of the forgotten man and woman today, but to prevent even more from being forgotten in the future. and with that, mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield time, three minutes, to the gentleman from louisiana, mr. scalise. mr. scalise and i have worked together on american competitiveness, trying to achieve energy independence, to meet our national security needs, and to grow jobs. with that i yield three minutes to mr. scalise. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for three minutes. mr. scalise: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank my colleague from louisiana for yielding time. mr. speaker, a year and a half ago the liberals running congress passed the stimulus bill claiming they needed to add another $787 billion to the national debt in order to keep unemployment below 8%. of course now a year and a half later, unemployment's approaching 10% so the first plan failed miserably. so they are coming with a plan t
baucus, has suggested -- bachus, has suggested the same. a fiscally responsible way to not only take care of the forgotten man and woman today, but to prevent even more from being forgotten in the future. and with that, mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield time, three minutes, to the gentleman from louisiana, mr. scalise. mr. scalise and i have worked together on american competitiveness, trying to achieve energy independence, to meet our national security needs, and to grow jobs. with that i...
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Jul 21, 2010
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baucus. >> thank you. by thank you for holding the hearing which i think mr. garrett and i requested. this is action in the second oversight hearing. the first rohm & hoss class -- the first one was last july. we appreciate you being here today. i understand he inherited a commission with a tarnished reputation and a significant personnel problems. i think you have performed admirably. clearly, more fundamental improvements are necessary. if there are legal impediments for him missing from new transforming the agency, it is our hope fed we can use these hearings to learn what measures can be taken to manage the commission more effectively and demand high ethical and professional standards. we have experienced the collapse of bear stearns, of lehman brothers, and the consolidated supervise and deprogram -- supervise and the programs. they give us the more reasons to conduct aggressive oversight in to demands along with you that the sec be more accountable at all levels of agency. what many of us find particularly troubling is that the majority of the sec's prob
baucus. >> thank you. by thank you for holding the hearing which i think mr. garrett and i requested. this is action in the second oversight hearing. the first rohm & hoss class -- the first one was last july. we appreciate you being here today. i understand he inherited a commission with a tarnished reputation and a significant personnel problems. i think you have performed admirably. clearly, more fundamental improvements are necessary. if there are legal impediments for him missing...
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Jul 8, 2010
07/10
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senator max baucus is the chair of the senate finance committee, although he welcomes a the doctor and said he looked forward working with him, said he was troubled by the appointment because it sidestepped the standard progress. on the republican side there has been a lot of complaints about the process and have concerns about berwick. host: would you give us a highlights of the major concerns. caller: doctor for wir. berwickd he believes there is a lot of wasteful spending. he believes the decision does not whether or not we will ration care, it is whether we will ration with our eyes open. right now we're doing it blindly. basically saying that rationing is already occurring by insurers that make the choices, and he would maintain, i think, that he is talking about cutting back on wasteful spending and over use of medical procedures that are actually not necessary, but the concerns republicans express is he going to cut back by a care? host: for those that are critics of the appointment, didn't have any recourse -- do they ahve ahe any recourse? hcaller: not really. hone of the thin
senator max baucus is the chair of the senate finance committee, although he welcomes a the doctor and said he looked forward working with him, said he was troubled by the appointment because it sidestepped the standard progress. on the republican side there has been a lot of complaints about the process and have concerns about berwick. host: would you give us a highlights of the major concerns. caller: doctor for wir. berwickd he believes there is a lot of wasteful spending. he believes the...
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Jul 14, 2010
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you have chairman baucus of the finance committee saying it was the wrong thing to do. -- chairman bachus of the finance committee saying it was the wrong thing to do. certainly was not the appropriate action. if i were going to do it, i would not announce it here today. >> [inaudible] >> i am not going to quote secretary gates, but i can tell you that the principal thing that he emphasized -- we already knew, which was that we need to get this supplemental appropriations bill for the troops passed. she wanted us to pass it before the memorial day recess and the senate did pass it before the memorial day recess. the democrats in the house have added a lot of add-ons and sent it back to us again. secretary gates is not involved in the politics but he wants funding for the troops. he told us clearly today that it has to be done by the end of this month or he will not be able to pay the troops because the house is going out at the end of july and will not be back until mid september. this is a true emergency. we need to figure a way to get the funding for the troops in the field and we need
you have chairman baucus of the finance committee saying it was the wrong thing to do. -- chairman bachus of the finance committee saying it was the wrong thing to do. certainly was not the appropriate action. if i were going to do it, i would not announce it here today. >> [inaudible] >> i am not going to quote secretary gates, but i can tell you that the principal thing that he emphasized -- we already knew, which was that we need to get this supplemental appropriations bill for...
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Jul 14, 2010
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this was wrapped together in a bipartisan bill by senator baucus and grassley in the finance committee and that bill had a bunch of tax breaks for businesses and it turned out it did not look very much like a jobs bill, but more like an inside washington deal. democratic leadership kind of blew that up, and the unemployment benefits still had to wait for later. and there were various fits and starts. you may recall, senator bunning held up a temporary extension and got a lot of bad press and republicans were sort of aghast at that. then over the coming weeks and months, the terrain sort of shifted on the deficit. the republicans in the senate felt more and more comfortable making the argument that, sure, extend unemployment benefits, but they should be paid for by cuts to other programs. the federal government is very large, they made the argument that you should cut benefits. democrats argue, well, this money kind of goes directly into the economy, using deficit spending to juice the economy a bit, and they say extending unemployment has never been paid for before. in any event, we fi
this was wrapped together in a bipartisan bill by senator baucus and grassley in the finance committee and that bill had a bunch of tax breaks for businesses and it turned out it did not look very much like a jobs bill, but more like an inside washington deal. democratic leadership kind of blew that up, and the unemployment benefits still had to wait for later. and there were various fits and starts. you may recall, senator bunning held up a temporary extension and got a lot of bad press and...
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Jul 15, 2010
07/10
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frank, and the ranking member, baucus, for their leadership on this issue, as well as chairwoman waters and ranking member capito. unfortunately the iowans i represent know all too well how flooding can ravage a farm, a neighborhood, a city. much of the state is still recovering from the devastating floods of the 2008 as high rivers and creeks are threatening their homes and businesses yet again. neighborhoods are sandbagging and some residents have left their homes for iowa flooding is real and tangible. just last weekend as i arrived back in my district to my capital city i met the mayor, city manager, public works and we went to the leffees -- levees and we were worried whether we would make it through the night. we understand it very well. the bill before us is a good bill. i intend to support it, however i rise today to offer a straightforward amendment that will strengthen this legislation for iowans and the residents of other states that are often affected by flooding. i rtainly understand after being there and seeing the aftermath, the threat and concerns that congressman taylor
frank, and the ranking member, baucus, for their leadership on this issue, as well as chairwoman waters and ranking member capito. unfortunately the iowans i represent know all too well how flooding can ravage a farm, a neighborhood, a city. much of the state is still recovering from the devastating floods of the 2008 as high rivers and creeks are threatening their homes and businesses yet again. neighborhoods are sandbagging and some residents have left their homes for iowa flooding is real...
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Jul 23, 2010
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baucus,as suggested -- bachus, has suggested the same. a fiscally responsible way to not only take care of the forgotten man and woman today, but to prevent even more from being forgotten in the future. and with that, mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield time, three minutes, to the gentleman from louisiana, mr. scalise. mr. scalise and i have worked tother on american competitiveness, trying to achieve energy independence, to meet our national security needs, and to grow jobs. with that i yield three minutes to mr. scalise. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for three minutes. mr. scalise: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank my colleague from louisiana for yielding time. mr. speaker, a year and a half ago the liberals running congress passed the stimulus bill claiming they needed to add another $787 billion to the national debt in order to keep unemployment below 8 of course now a year and a half later, unemployment's approaching 10% so the first plan failed miserably. so they are coming with a plan to ad
baucus,as suggested -- bachus, has suggested the same. a fiscally responsible way to not only take care of the forgotten man and woman today, but to prevent even more from being forgotten in the future. and with that, mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield time, three minutes, to the gentleman from louisiana, mr. scalise. mr. scalise and i have worked tother on american competitiveness, trying to achieve energy independence, to meet our national security needs, and to grow jobs. with that i yield...
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Jul 5, 2010
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. >> senator baucus has not had a turn. i think everyone else has triggered -- everyone else has. >> i am going to ask a couple questions. when i think has already been addressed, but i would like to state it again, because i think this point needs to be addressed. but in march this year they provided a cost estimate for the final legislation. you and i had many conversations about it, and the legislation would reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the first 10 years. that is what they estimated, and many of us pointed out we are actually reducing our deficits and debts by the amount you stated in your letter. the latest reports provide two scenarios. isn't it true they still estimate the health care legislation will reduce federal budget deficit by $143 billion over the first 10 years and approximately half a percent in 17 years? >> that is absolutely true. i began by making that point. >> i know you have an alternative fiscal scenario common and and that has raised some eyebrows, -- alternative fiscal scenario, and that
. >> senator baucus has not had a turn. i think everyone else has triggered -- everyone else has. >> i am going to ask a couple questions. when i think has already been addressed, but i would like to state it again, because i think this point needs to be addressed. but in march this year they provided a cost estimate for the final legislation. you and i had many conversations about it, and the legislation would reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the first 10 years. that is what...
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Jul 23, 2010
07/10
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baucus, has suggested -- bachus, has suggested the same. a fiscally responsible way to not only take care of the forgotten man and woman today, but to prevent even more from being forgotten in the future. and with that, mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield time, three minutes, to the gentleman from louisiana, mr. scalise. mr. scalise and i have worked together on american competitiveness, trying to achieve energy independence, to meet our national security needs, and to grow jobs. with that i yield three minutes to mr. scalise. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for three minutes. mr. scalise: thank you, mr. speaker. i want to thank my colleague from louisiana for yielding time. mr. speaker, a year and a half ago the liberals running congress passed the stimulus bill claiming they needed to add another $787 billion to the national debt in order to keep unemployment below 8%. of course now a year and a half later, unemployment's approaching 10% so the first plan failed miserably. so they are coming with a plan t
baucus, has suggested -- bachus, has suggested the same. a fiscally responsible way to not only take care of the forgotten man and woman today, but to prevent even more from being forgotten in the future. and with that, mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield time, three minutes, to the gentleman from louisiana, mr. scalise. mr. scalise and i have worked together on american competitiveness, trying to achieve energy independence, to meet our national security needs, and to grow jobs. with that i...