you have max baucus and john grassley and john kerry. the philosophical balance is are there. they have had a lot of hearings. when i was on the finance committee in 2007, we were derrek -- we were having hearings then in a run of of what should be tax reform. broadbased, fundamental tax reform takes at least three years to lay the groundwork, have the hearing, the site where you can lose the loopholes. -- close the loopholes. if they would look at this across the board and try to make a more fair tax code and take away some of the incentives, but then tried to lower the rates with individuals and corporate tax rate, i think it would be very good for the country and for job creation. one of the things i say to paul ryan, chairman of the budget committee, remember as jack kemp is to say, never say the word

president, i support the casey-brown-baucus amendment, thank chairman baucus again for his work, and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that andy lipstein, a detailee to the senate health committee, be granted floor privileges for the duration of the senate work today. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: mr. president, i have come to the floor to pursue a unanimous consent request on something that is critical to families in my home state of new jersey, which has the highest rate of autism, but is also critical to families across the country who have a loved one who faces one of the -- in the spectrum of autism and other developmental issues the need to get the help so that their child, their loved one can fulfill their god-given capabilities. last tuesday morning, a full week ago from today, i sent this bill before the senate for unanimous consent, and that unanimous consent was cleared on the democratic side, but it has not been cleared on the republican side which has preve

the co-chair recognizes senator baucus of montana. >> [inaudible] >> thank you, mr. chairman. i just like to address a bit this point that the two points were raised that hurts small business. it is true that as has been mentioned already here today that 50% of small business income is subject to the top two rates, but it's not true that 50% of small businesses and employers are subject to the top two rates. in fact, only 3% are, and it's also -- isn't it true, mr. barthold, again, only 3% of taxpayers are subject to the top three rates; is that correct? >> that's, i believe that's a statistic -- >> 3% of taxpayers, not 50%, but 3% of taxpayers. >> there are a large number of businesses, passthrough businesses, the owners of which -- so the recipients of pass through income, are not in the top tax brackets. >> and in addition is it true that about half of the 3% or taxpayers or bankers or celebrities make salaries and just invest a small portion of their income in publicly traded passthroughs. >> right -- could you -- >> half of the 3% are people who don't really employee peop

the co-chair recognizes senator baucus of montana. >> [inaudible] >> thank you, mr. chairman.like to address a bit this point that the two points were raised that hurts small business. it is true that as has been mentioned already here today that 50% of small business income is subject to the top two rates, but it's not true that 50% of small businesses and employers are subject to the top two rates. in fact, only 3% are, and it's also -- isn't it true, mr. barthold, again, only 3% of taxpayers are subject to the top three rates; is that correct? >> that's, i believe that's a statistic -- >> 3% of taxpayers, not 50%, but 3% of taxpayers. >> there are a large number of businesses, passthrough businesses, the owners of which -- so the recipients of pass through income, are not in the top tax brackets. >> and in addition is it true that about half of the 3% or taxpayers or bankers or celebrities make salaries and just invest a small portion of their income in publicly traded passthroughs. >> right -- could you -- >> half of the 3% are people who don't really employee people, but

baucus: madam president, the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. baucus: madam president, this bill addresses our country's most urgent priority: jobs. it helps american workers acquire the skills they need to compete and win in a global economy. it gives american businesses better access to materials they need to make world class products, and that's just the beginning. it also opens the door to an ambitious trade agenda, an agenda that will increase u.s. exports, grow our economy and create jobs. that agenda includes our pending free trade agreements with colombia, panama and south korea. the first step is to renew trade adjustment assistance. trade adjustment assistance has been an essential part of u.s. trade policy for nearly 50 years. when we negotiate trade agreements, we create new economic opportunity and spur growth. we also increase competition. t.a.a. helps american workers and businesses meet that competition with job training, income support, health coverage and technical assista

amendment offered by my good friend and colleague from montana, chairman baucus. but before i get into the specifics, i think it is important to put this debate in context. for years, i have been working to ensure that our pending trade agreements with colombia, panama and south korea receive fair consideration in the united states congress. unfortunately, while i worked to get these agreements approved, other placed obstacles in the way. as a result, days, weeks and months passed. eventually, those months turned into years. now four years later, we are taking up the sixth renewal of trade adjustment assistance in the time that these job-creating trade agreements have languished. to me it's highly ironic that we not only passed but expanded legislation to help workers who were allegedly harmed by trade agreements five times over the last four years, while we have yet to actually pass a single trade agreement. this march, president obama made himself perfectly clear. unless congress agreed to spend more money for this pet trade priority, he would never send the tra

baucus: mr. president, the senate's not in order. the presiding officer: the senate come to order, please. senate come to order. senators, please take their conversations out of the well, off the chamber. mr. baucus: the senate is still not in order. the presiding officer: the senator is correct. we need the senate in order in order to debate this amendment. we need to give our respect to senator mccain on his amendment. mr. mccain: mr. president, the stimulus -- the presiding officer: the senator from arizona is recognized. mr. mccain: mr. president, the stimulus passed in 2009 was purported to be temporary. as part of that massive piece of legislation, we added a, made a significant expansion and added at least $600 million a year more to the trade adjustment assistance program. this amendment would cut back to the prestimulus number, the t.a.a. it's pretty simple. it will save at least $600 million per year on questionable programs of questionable effectiveness. but the point is that the stimulus was supposed to be a temporary inc

baucus: madam president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: and his education secretary will announce that the education secretary will begin a process to grant waivers to states from the provisions of no child left behind. no child left behind, of course, is a law passed by bipartisan -- with bipartisan support in 2001 and 2002 pie the congress -- by the congress and we're in its ninth year of its implementation. it needs to be fixed. and congress needs to act to fix it. and republican senators and members of the house have already offered legislation that will begin to do that, which i'll talk about in a minute. but my purpose in coming to the floor today is to talk about the waivers that the secretary of education may begin to -- may begin the to -- to approve. and my request of the secretary and of the president is that as they establish a waiver process and as they begin to approve waivers, that they exercise restraint and not take unto themselves responsibilities that are

they are trying to recreate a modern looking building with glass elements in the baucus, if i understand that correctly. i am wondering. you are going from a horizontal sliding to what? >> cement. it is also stuck "in the front. -- it is also stucco in the front. to unify the buildings. we were thinking of steel windows. they are slightly heavier than industrial. but it is similar. commissioner moore: does that track from front to back? >> the front windows, we would keep as they are. we would not change the character. commissioner moore: what is the idea about the glass reeling? is that because you want more transparency to make the building look less massive, or create more -- create more unobstructed views? >> both of those. the primary use our south-facing from this property. it is up on the hill and is a self-sloping property. to reduce the mass, we did not want to use stucco or other heavy materials where we did not have to. commissioner moore: we are very concerned for large glass railings facing public open spaces, because we are concerned that birds have a tendency to confuse gl

. >> senator baucus. >> if you could discuss what changes in policy will stimulate the economy if you could rank them somehow. >> it turns out the table we're looking at from january 2010 report, we did consider the effects of a set of alternative tax cuts. we have not updated the table. we would be slightly different but probably not fundamentally different. reductions in payroll taxes that we studied here were among the more powerful. followed by expensing of investment costs and below that broader reductions in income taxes. the reason for that difference is principally that the money saved by employers or employees in payroll taxes translates into comparatively large amount of incremental spending and in the case of cuts to employers pay amounts to a temporary discounts on the cost of hiring workers. >> we have revenue neutral corporate or individual tax reform and on the individual side it broadens the base. how much growth would result from a simplified tax code? >> tax code with a broader base and lower rates would spur economic growth but the magnitude is something we would ha

. >> reporter: democratic senator max baucus of montana. >> we have a duty, i think, to think even bigger. aim higher. ensuring our country is on sound fiscal footing for the long term. >> reporter: how much bigger? alan simpson and erskine bowles, who chaired the commission that president obama created to figure out how to cut the deficit are among a growing chorus of voices on both sides pushing for $4 trillion in savings. >> that's the minimum amount of deficit reduction we need in order to stabilize the debt and put it on a downward path. >> reporter: house speaker john boehner agreed with bowles today saying bipartisan support would grow with a larger plan where everyone shares the pain. >> i spent months working with the president trying to do the big deal and i always believed it would be easier to get the votes if, in fact, we got a big deal. >> reporter: douglas elmendorf the director of the nonpartisan congressional budget office warned that budget cuts should be spread out over time to protect the fragile economy. >> the combination of policies that would be most effective acco

baucus: mr. president? mr. president? mr. president, the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. please take your conversations out of the senate. the senate will come to order. the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, i ask consent that there be two minutes equally divided prior to the next vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: my amendment on which we are about to vote would grant to the president something that no president has had since trade promotion authority expired back in 2007. with without trade promotion authority, there will be no other trade agreements. we all know that. if america wants to be the leader of the world in trade, we'd have to have trade agreements. what i have done here is offered trade promotion authority, what we used to call fast-track, as an amendment to trade adjustment assistance. they have been historically linked

baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senior senator from montana is recognized. mr. baucus: mr. president, the book of ecclesiastes contained which is come that should guide us today. i ai am paraphrasing this. "for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under the sun." or to state it more colloquially, there is a time and place for everything, sometimes better than others, some place places other than ot. my colleague from texas offered an amendment that would require the president to sell f-16 fighter jets to taiwan. i respectfully note that the debate on this trade adjustment assistance bill is not the appropriate time or season or place to raise this issue. this is a trade bill. this is not sales of f-16's to taiwan or to any country. it is a wholly different surkts has nothing to do with what we're trying to debate here and focus our attention on, so we can get this legislation passed. the adoption of an amendment on an unrelated and controversial issue of taiwanese armies sales would derail the carefully negotiated and bipartisan agreement on

chairman baucus from the great state of montana, his state was helped as well. their increase based upon the 2009 changes was close to 50%. so almost 50% more workers in the state of montana were helped as well to get the skills they need. i mentioned as well my colleague senator brown who has worked so hard on this, 7,706 more workers in the state of ohio were certified to get the skills and the training they need because of these changes. and then finally i mention as well our colleague from arizona arizona, if you look at the total number of arizona workers certified, 8,540 workers certified in total. but of that 8,540, some 4,969, so in arizona, the percent increase of workers who were helped or certified for new training, that number, that's a 58.16% increase. so the increase in arizona was even higher. in some states it was even higher than that. so the point here is that 2009 wasn't just a couple of changes made to enhance the program or expand it just for the sake of expanding a program. i think the evidence shows that we've certified more workers who ha

we have the good fortune of having chairman baucus on it. i serve on the finance committee.on it. chairman dave camp of the house ways and means committee also on it. and what i feel very strongly, as does the cosponsor of the legislation that i have authored, senator coats, they can make a good start on tax reform in the super committee, and i'm going to out line how that could take place and then finish it up early next year. so let's start by talking about how you might see people's behavior start changing and getting consumers back into the marketplace and businesses start making decisions. my own view is if working families knew at the end of the year or early next year that they would get real tax relief as they get under the legislation that i have been part of, senator coats and senator begich and former senator gregg, if they knew middle-class folks that reduced rates were going to be in place not just for a year but for the long term, they would start making the kinds of decisions that they are putting off now because they are uncertain today and they are going to

. >> senator baucus. >> i want dr. elmendorf to discuss a little bit already what changes in the tax policy will stimulate the economy. rank them somehow. >> in the tables we're looking get from our january of 2010 report, we considered the affects of alternative tax cuts. we have not updated the table since that point. the numbers would be slightly different but not fundamentally different. reductions in payroll taxes that we studied here were among the more powerful followed by investment costs and below that by a little bit by brodeur reduction in income taxes and the reason for that is principally that the money that is saved by employers and employees and payroll taxes we see translates into comparatively large amount of incremental spending and in the cut to an employer's pay amounts to temporary discounts on the cost of hiring workers. >> we have revenue neutral tax reform corporate or individual and the tax reform on the individual side broadens the base lowering the rates, how much growth results from a very s

. >> my understand is that max baucus is on the hunt. probably to the extent that you're talking about is unlikely, at least this year but have i a feeling we're going continue on this theme with ron. if you can touch on how state and local governments are involved and also the private sector since this is something that is a topic of great interest. >> ok. thank you. i'm the staff to the metropolitan planning organization. our board is made up of state and local officials. state department of transportation, metro. there is where they get together. and we're looking at highway and transit operations and maintenance and new capacity for the entire metropolitan area. what i want to focus on a little bit is what is the federal role here as opposed to all of the other players, state, local and private. when we look at our total budget and expenditures, the federal government pays about 20% of the total of our transportation system. the rest is state and local transit fares and about 7% or 8% is now private tolls and development fees. so the

ways and means can sit there in the house and say let's watch baucus do these tax cuts and targeted tax cuts to business. by the way, very big corporate tax breaks to big corporations while at the same time an unspecified list of closing some other corporate tax loopholes. you know, chris, what the lobbying is going to be on this in the different committees and the way you would do the plan of targeting the individual congress members is specifically on the committees. you don't just pick eric cantor. you go to the public works committee players and you go to the finance and ways and means players and work on them in their district. you don't have to work on all members of congress. >> i would get a list of every pork barrel project of infrastructure that they have asked for. inventory what they asked for in the past. now you can have it. my name is on it. thank you. good luck with your show. you'll be coming on at 8:00. let me go to rachel whose voice i think i just heard there. rachel, this whole question of how good a politician is this guy, i think has come to the fore. this isn't a

baucus: mr. president, i might say to my good friend from alabama, i don't plan to take a long time. maybe about ten minutes total. i will keep my good friend well informed of where we are at this point. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the following members of my staff be granted floor privileges during the consideration of the generalized system of preferences act. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. baucus: they include jane beard, sarah babcock, madeleine forbes, steven simpson, jonathan goldman. mr. president, in 1934, president franklin delano roosevelt said, and i quote -- quote -- "no country, however rich, can afford the waste of its human resources. demoralization caused by vast unemployment is our greatest extravagance." end quote. president roosevelt said these words at a fireside chat nearly 80 years ago. our economy was slowly on the path to recovery after suffering the worst national crash in american history. and roosevelt had turned his fo

i yield back. >> the chair now recognizes the gentleman from montana, senator baucus. >> we could not hear representative camp. >> i will make sure you get a copy of my remarks. [laughter] >> i will read them very closely. >> we call this room at the big house. we're getting ready for the night game against notre dame. >> i do not know when the disturbance in the hallway will be taken care of so of like for us to proceed to the american -- proceed,like for us to rea and certainly, the american people can hear our statements. it is being recorded. >> when i was in montana and climbing on a mountain, about 10,500 feet high up. myself on rank. -- myself phone rang. it was leader reid. he asked if i wanted to be on this committee. i got off the mountain. in the years i've been in public service, i've never seen so many people say the exact same thing to me with such enthusiasm. basically,we're glad you're on the committee. we feel sorry for you. it is a big task. we wish you the very best. it has to be accomplished. in that expresses a lot of wisdom of the american people. we have a huge

. >> my understanding is that max baucus is on the hunt for offsets in the senate. the extent you are talking about is probably unlikely, at least this year, but we shall see. if you want to talk about -- if you could touch on how state and local governments are involved and also the private sector, at this is a topic of great interest. >> i am on the staff of the metropolitan planning organization in the washington region. it is made up of state and local officials. this is where they get together, and we are looking at highway and transit operations and maintenance for the entire metropolitan area. what is the federal role here as opposed to all of the other players, state, local, and private? when we look at our total budget expenditures, the total government pays about 20%. the rest state and local transit players and about 7% or 8% is private tolls and developer fees. there is a blend of funding sources and the federal government is only 20%. what is the government's particular role? what we need to focus on in the next six months or a year, i think we have the

. >> the chair now recognizes senator baucus. >> mr. chairman, we couldn't hear representative camp. >> i will make sure you get a copy of my remarks. [laughter] >> i will read them very closely. >> if the gentleman would yield, we call this room informally the big house, and we are just getting ready for the night game on saturday. >> in an attempt to gain order again, i do not know when the disturbance in the hallway will be taken care of. so i would like for us to go ahead and proceed. certainly the american people can hear our statements, and it is being recorded. >> up again, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, in the first part of august when i was in montana, as i was climbing on a mountain at about 10,000 500 feet up on this mountain, my cell phone rank. it was leader reid asking me if i would like to be on this committee. i said i would like to have that honor. when i got off the mountain and started talking to people, in the years i have never experienced so many people saying exactly the same thing to me with the same enthusiasm. the

i wish my colleagues could have been at the hearing that was held earlier this year when senator baucus asked young adults who had been part of the foster system for their entire lives how to change the system. i want to thank the chairman for taking into consideration the specific improvements and innovation that washington state has advocated for. and i want to thank my colleague, representative jim mcdermott and the washington state legislators who worked on this, including an organization, partners for our children, and the children's home society of washington, and the various social workers and advocates that in our state continue to try to innovate bh it comes to foster care in america. this legislation is a major step forward to promote innovation son a federal basis and to help people families together. in doing so, we will have the benefit of also driving more efficiency and driving down the cost. but, more importantly, we're going to be working to strengthen america's children and families by trying effectively to keep theme together. i thank the president, and i yield the fl

you have experienced hand in the senate finance committee with max baucus and orrin hatch and john kerry. you have philosophical balances and the lot of hearings. when i was on the finance committee we were having hearings than and a run up of what should be tax reform. tax reform. broadbased fundamental tax reform takes three years. have a hearing and ask questions and close the loopholes that if they get so charged and look across the board and make a fair tax code and take away the incentives and breaks for different groups and individuals but lower the rates for individuals and corporate tax rate it would be very good for the country and for job creation. one of the things i say to paul ryan who is chairman of the budget committee in the house, your old hero jack kennedy used to say never say the word cuts or balanced budgets without saying growth. what is it your going to do to have responsible budget? do in a way in terms of tax code and where you spend or don't spend in a way that will provide growth in the economy and we lost that second word. i would be for the broadbased fundam

congressman spencer baucus thinks that is short sighted and indefensible, in this letter to the president, saying he will introduce legislation to turn things around if the white house and fema don't, and we got a response from fema, jon t. says we continue to evaluate all the options available to fema and school district to ensure each community is provided every resource that they are eligible under the law while remaining proper stewards of the taxpayer dollar. that statement from some president -- for some of the superintendents say laughable, with this policy, gleam is being anything but a good steward of taxpayer money. jon: you build it and you tear it down. that's the issue that's under the microscope, huh? >> one school superintendent says it's like the navy building a new ship, taking it out to sea and sinking it in the middle of the atlantic ocean. makes no sense, jon. jon: a very good analogy. john roberts, thank you. jenna: the hu is jobs now and in 2012, that also is going to be the issue. the president has he has a plan but a lot of the gop say they don't like the way the p

i know senator baucus and i have talked about this, and he's looked at me sadly and listened patiently. but we're down at the licklog and no relief has been obtained and that's why i'm here today. i thank the chair and would yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. sessions: mr. president, i would ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sessions: i would like to share a few thoughts on the passing of senator chuck percy. among other things, he did in his remarkable life, successful in business and politics, he had a connection to mobile, alabama my hometown. i believe he was born in pensacola, florida and was connected to thomas horde heroindon, who was a congressman from alabama and resided in mobile and was well-known and i'll a distant decendant of congressman herndon and i can always remember as a young person -- particularly my great-aunts talking about him and they followed his career. and i began to follow his career. maybe he was a factor factor of

we're willing to look at the baucus camp negotiated t.a.a. and support it, and support it in a way that the white house can sign it and send these agreements up. senator hoeven mentioned as he and i and all of us were sitting in the house chamber last week, thursday night listening to the president's remarks, when he said we need to pass these three trade agreements, i was almost sure the next sentence would be, and so tomorrow i'm sending these trade agreements up. but that next sentence didn't occur. just like the week in august where the president was on his bus tour, and every single day on the bus tour he said the congress can do something right now that would create more american jobs if they'll pass these three trade agreements. and every time he said that, even though i was hearing it on the tv, i couldn't help but talk back to the television or radio and say we can't pass them unless you send them up. you're absolutely right, mr. president, this is one of the easiest things we can do to create jobs, but we have to have agreements fro

senator max baucus chairs the senate finance committee was the biggest recipient of money. senator john kerry was second. how does that shaved their discussion? guest: i have been a doing this for 30 years. i work for a senator who got a lot of money from the energy industry. he did this because when he was elected, he was a very pro- domestic energy. to draw a "they got this money, therefore they got this way" is a little bit backwards. they drop support or oppose, they wanted to get reelected. it does happen a lot the money makes a difference. if elected default people on the super committee, almost none of them are in it delectable trouble. they come from save districts or states. you cannot make a good case that they are being bought and sold will be influence beyond their natural inclinations. host: our guest is with the bipartisan policy center and nici.with p to managiete domionc caller: thank you for taking my call. i like to make a comment on exactly what i think is going on and what i see is going on. on that super committee, the gentleman from south carolina, cli

chairman baucus is in charge.to have a lot of negotiations with respect to trying to find that sweet spot where we can be competitive wage jobs inamily this country. i think singapore has a rate of something like 10%. it is something like that. we are not going to get the rate down to 10%, but we can walk out of this debate with a competitive rate and then get to where you just described, mr. ingram, which is some sense of predictability so businesses are on the country can plan. because that is what i found this summer, all they said was, just get away from this one year or other kinds of things. if we do not get the cooperation that senator nelson and senator crapo are talking about, we will have a lame duck session in 2012 that is along the lines of the lame duck session of 2010. we will be talking about extending a dysfunctional, broken system, rather than getting the family-wage jobs. i really encourage you and i look forward to working with you in a bipartisan way. >> this is clearly a moment in time where w

member of the simpson-bowles commission put forward on the committee were jeff hentai lane and max baucus were people on the committee welcomed to make a deal. rob portman, republican of ohio. john kerry. but when he saw the people being appointed, the fact that mitch mcconnell appointed pat to me, and from someone like tom coburn, an impeccable conservative who worked both on the gang of six, that sent a bad sign. so i think you always want to hope for the worse, you should hope for the best and prepare for the worst. the reality of congress decided to kick the can to the super committee. president obama and john boehner have encouraged them to rate sites from the 1.5 to something more ambitious, to open the door to tax reform. on one level it pathetic to delegate to super community, but that is part of the reality. there is common ground to be built on. that's the point of the jobs plan with the bipartisan legislation. but it takes political courage to reach across the aisle and this preclinical environment. that's the responsibility of the super committee. also john boehner and preside

. >> senator baucus. >> what changes in tax policy will stimulate the economy most?k them somehow. >> the table from our january 2010 report shows we considered the effect of an set of alternative tax cuts. we have not updated this table since that point. it would be slightly different but not fundamentally different. reductions in payroll taxes that we studied were among the more powerful levers, followed by the powerful levers, followed by the expensing of investment costs

senator cash in baucus are proposing we do the same on the federal level.ould consider that as well. a number of states have enacted or are considering measure to try to make sure parents are not using drugs which stand in their way of getting off benefits. our colleague mr. reid raced a shudder last hearing and it is one attracting attention. in a world where employers require drug testing to ensure workers are clean and sober new taxpayers are welfare recipients are held to a lower standard collecting benefits designed to help them work. finally in addition to work and personal responsibility and other key driver involves family formation especially whether children are raised in married two-parent households in which they are most likely to thrive and avoid property. in 2000 the poverty rate for married families with children was a .3% while the property rate for households headed by unmarried mothers was 45.3% almost 5.5 times as high. the current welfare rules create marriage penalties by expecting a greater share of married parents to be working forme

my colleague chris van hollen met in the biden talks, adding james clyburn and max baucus and a weaker 10 days of discussions at the white house, and having seen how the cult is to reach an agreement, i think a dose of realism is called for here. this is tedious, time-consuming work, and will require going through a lot of budget numbers line by line. we already had hearings in both house and senate. it is time i think for us to get down to the hard decisions that are required to go through this line by line items. as chairman murray put it out, the time is short, which complicates our job. not only must we act by november, but we have to have anything that we would make public 48 hours in advance. the cbo must score everything and that may take weeks, based upon some of the complicated things we must do. the reality is we have to act by sometime -- by the end of october, realistically. this means we have essentials six weeks to construct our package. it is a long way of saying we are only going to succeed if we can avoid partisanship, i would say, and try to limit the demands on the c

you have max baucus and john grassley and john kerry. the philosophical balance is are there. they have had a lot of hearings. when i was on the finance committee in 2007, we were derrek -- we were having hearings then in a run of of what should be tax reform. broadbased, fundamental tax reform takes at least three years to lay the groundwork, have the hearing, the site where you can lose the loopholes. -- close the loopholes. if they would look at this across the board and try to make a more fair tax code and take away some of the incentives, but then tried to lower the rates with individuals and corporate tax rate, i think it would be very good for the country and for job creation. one of the things i say to paul ryan, chairman of the budget committee, remember as jack kemp is to say, never say the word cuts are balanced budget without saying growth. what is if you are going to do to have responsible budgets, but do it in such a way in terms of tax code and where you spend or don't spend that will provide growth to the economy? i think we have lost that second word. i think

donations to campaign contributions -- for the super committee, max baucus was the biggest recipient of financial sector money, collecting $6.2 million. -- host: how does that shade their discussions? guest: i've seen a variety of ethics rules and regulations. i worked for a senator who got a lot of money from the energy industry. the reason he did was because when he was elected was very pro domestic energy. i think to draw a they got this money, therefore they have done it this way is a little bit backwards. what happens is, they have certain views in many cases and because those views draw the sympathy or support of groups, the groups want to get them reelected. i am not nighties. it does happen a lot of money makes a difference, but if you look at 12 people on the super committee, almost none of them are in electoral trouble. they come from safe districts or states or they are not coming back. you can't make to be a good case they're being bought and sold or beyond their natural philosophical inclinations. host: our guest is a from the bipartisan committee and was on the senate b

but i'm not going to micromanage what senator murray, senator kerry, and senator bach -- baucus is doing thank you, everybody. >> senator reid laying out some of the senate schedule. also talking about this so-called supercommittee, the joint committee on deficit reduction. remember we will have live coverage of their first meeting tomorrow at 10:30 eastern on c-span3. meanwhile the house will come back this afternoon at about 5:30 eastern to consider three bills, including one to extend duty-free products in the u.s. votes at 6:30. tomorrow the house members consider legislation to authorize $300 million to expand charter schools throughout the country. and tomorrow evening the president address to a joint session of coverage. we'll have live coverage of the house when they return. about 5:30 here on c-span. on c-span3 today all day coverage of a 10-year anniversary of 9/11 and look at terrorism threats and the panels today include current and former members of the intelligence community and homeland security john pistol, the t.s.a. director is speaking live now on c-span3. at 8:00 east

. >> senator baucus. >> thank you, senator murray. we should explore this much more fit gristly than we have in the past. -- much more vigorously than we have in the past. page five, you talk about the timing of deficit reductions. use state according to analysis, credible policy changes that would reduce deficits later in the decade for the longer term -- cuts in spending -- basic question is, can you give us examples of how we can achieve both goals, namely, jobs and that is a reduction? that is one of the key questions here. how do we do it? they're probably several ways. you have to mention that deficit reduction has to be longer-term that is credible. it has to work, we got to find that balance. i was wondering if he could give us a couple examples on how to accomplish that. >> we released a report in january of 2010 that analyzes a set of alternative proposals for growth.g job we look at increased transfer payments. we looked at cuts in all sorts of different taxes. we looked at other types of government spending increases. i do

at the current policy baseline and some of the more realistic substances that my colleague senator baucus about. if you look at your chart with regard to baselines, you say that we have about a $3.5 trillion increase under the current law baseline but under current policy a half trillion i would add tax extenders like the tax credit and others and possibly up to 9.3 trillion so again the 1.5 trillion is relatively small part of the problem. it is about 17.5% of your 8.5 chilean number. so i do think that as we look at our work we are going to need your help on looking at a more realistic baseline. we are making very difficult choices on things like alternative minimum tax, as t.r., ending the ui extension and payroll tax and so on. in terms of what drives that, your figure 14 i think is very instructive which talks about major health care programs. earlier there was discussion about president obama's comments the major driver of our long-term liabilities everybody knows medicare and medicaid and health care spending nothing comes close. assuming you agree with that, which i assume you do

. >> my understanding is that max baucus is on the hunt for offsets in the senate.to the said you are talking about it is unlikely, at least this year. we will see. i feel we are going to continue on this thing with iran. and if you can touch about on how state and local governments are involved in the private sector since this is something that is a topic of great interest. >> i am the staff to the metropolitan planning organization, and our board is made of officials, state department of transportation, metro pictures we get together and we are looking at highway and transit operations and maintenance and new capacity for the entire metro area. i want to focus on what is the federal role here as opposed to all the other players, state, local, private. when we look at our total budget expenditures, the federal government is about 20% of the total. the rest is state and local, transit fairs, 7% or 8% is private full tolls or developer fees. there is a blend of funding sources, and the federal government is only 20%. why do we need the federal government? what is thi

baucus: i want to thank the senator for bringing this up. moldova is a country which joined the world trade organization in 2001 and for various reasons, basically it's jackson-vanik, the relic of jackson-vanik, moldova has not been granted pntr but moldova made huge, successful strides in its government, its political and economic reforms. i'm very impressed with moldova, a friend of the united states. although we cannot deal with an issue on this bill, i want to make it very clear to my friend, we will take up legislation this year to assure that moldova is granted pntr status and is a full member in the world community. i make that pledge to my friend we'll get that done this year. mr. mccain: i want to thank the chairman, and i know he has an incredibly heavy schedule, with the legislation that is before us today and other matters before the committee. but i also know that he knows, and i want to assure him that the people of moldova hear of his commitment, this will be a happy day in moldova. mr. baucus: i thank the senator for standing